Sharon Pearson first met behavioural mindset expert John Assaraf around ten years ago, when she “cornered’ him at one of his events and invited him to lunch. As she recalls it in 2020, “you were curious and open. That’s one of the things I fell in love with about you, wanting to brainstorm about how do we make it bigger and better.” A decade on and in vastly different circumstances, Sharon and John brainstorm again on Perspectives podcast ‘The question that changed my life’. John talks how he went from a high school dropout to building five multi-million dollar companies and what success looks like today. For him, it’s his strong marriage to wife Maria, their two boys, and mental, emotional, physical and spiritual good health. The conversation ranges from both losing a parent during COVID to business strategies, generosity, neural networks, interest vs commitment and authenticity. John says a mentor told him to give as much as he can to help other people: “I seek to be a go getter but also a go giver. I’ve discovered I can’t outgive the universe.”

Juggling three kids, a high-profile media career and a marriage (to Geelong’s two-time AFL premiership captain Tom Harley), Felicity Harley found keeping up a veneer of perfection hard work. And she didn’t want to do. It. Conversations with friends at the school gate, with celebrities and with her barista led Felicity to wonder about the overwhelm most women seemed to experience, and what was behind it. Inspired, she cranked out her first book (in three months!), Balance and Other BS: How to hold it together when you’re having (doing) it all. The former editor of Women’s Health talks to Sharon Pearson in #Perspectives podcast ‘Done is better than perfect’ about how she got a new handle on life with small techniques (a daily gratitude) and mindset shifts: “It comes back to perfectionism,” Felicity tells Sharon. “Now I’m a lot about getting things done or saying no. I always used to strive personally, I have to do the best work on this story, build the best Lego house, run the fastest. Now it’s 80 per cent. As long as I get my ass to that gym—it doesn’t have the to be the best workout session ever, but I got there.”

Two years ago, social researcher Rebecca Huntley, author of How To Talk About Climate Change in a Way That Makes a Difference, pledged to dedicate the rest of her personal and professional life to the climate change cause because of her three young children. “I spend years getting them to brush their teeth and learn to swim and do their times tables,” she says. “I realised I have a responsibility as a parent to do everything I can to ensure there is an actual viable world for these children with good teeth, who can swim and know how to do their times tables.” She acknowledges in the #Perspectives podcast ‘Red Alert’ or ‘Hot Button Topic’ that the environmental movement has a serious PR problem. She tells Sharon Pearson about the imperatives facing our planet, why she’s excited about renewable energy, the surprising group of Australians who are most disengaged from the issue of climate change and what we can do as individuals and a society to put the brakes on.

Three months after she did a live coaching session with Sharon Pearson for #Perspectives podcast ‘Mother Load’, Sydney corporate recruiter and life coach Sasha Dumaresq returns for a second session and follow-up episode. Sharon and Sasha discuss how the strategies and frameworks explored in the first session have helped Sasha to let go of expectations about ‘perfect’ children to empower both adults and kids. Again, Sharon demonstrates expert coaching does not need fancy linguistic acrobatics and Sasha reveals the “most outstanding part” of what she took home has been “the discovery of so much brilliance in my daughter … in her just being who she is without me needing to focus or change or put some sort of mask on her it. It is just seeing her, and there have been some wonderful shifts.” The women also explore new frames for Sasha to try at a time of day she and her three daughters find challenging: the scramble to get everyone out of the house for school at 8.30am.

In her thirties, high-flying corporate lawyer Kate Christie found herself with three children under three, a barrister husband who took just two days ever off work when the kids were sick, and conflicting feelings about her personal and professional priorities: “It would be easy for me to say ‘my bloody ex-husband never helped out’ but that’s not quite true. I was the one who wanted to stay home when the kids were sick.”

Now 50, Kate is a single mum to three teenagers, has given up law (“I hated it”) to run her own successful business and is an author of four books for professional women and executives looking to overhaul chaotic lives. Her latest, Me First: The Guilt-free Guide to Prioritising You, has attracted interest in the US with its promise that you don’t have to do it all to have it all. In Perspectives episode ‘Your Time Starts … Now’ Kate discusses with Sharon Pearson the modern pressures that caused her marriage to crumble and the strategies she’s taught to businesses including L’Oreal, Westpac, Deloitte and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to find 30 extra hours a month as ‘me’ time. “I turned 50 this year and it is a very reflective time and it’s about saying, ‘Don’t compromise too much, this is ‘me first’. I have the confidence now. If you’re 20 or 30 or 40, I want women to have that level of confidence I have now.” She says. “Regardless of what age you are, don’t always put everyone first, put yourself first, be the best person you can be and live this amazing life right now.”

Every week, someone on Twitter gets to be the person everyone else piles on, the person who is universally hunted by the social media warriors in the cheap seats. In May 2019, it was award-winning US author Natasha Tynes’ turn to face cancel culture. The mother-of-three was traveling by train to her Washington communications job. When she saw a transit employee eating on the train—illegal in Washington—she snapped a photo and posted a tweet calling out the woman. In the 49 minutes the tweet was up, former journalist Natasha’s life blew up forever. She was denounced as a “petty and spiteful” racist, lost a book deal and had a breakdown which saw her flee the country: “I grew up in the Middle East and lived through two Gulf Wars but this was the most difficult thing I ever went through and it scarred me forever. I think about it every single day. If I could take this back I would.” More than a year on and still receiving hate mail, ‘They Called Me Wyatt’ writer Natasha shares her cautionary tale about the world of online rage, mistakes and second chances with Sharon Pearson in Perspectives episode ‘The Tweet I Wish I Could Take Back’: “The fact I’m back on social media shows I’m still the same person and I made a mistake but I’m going to continue being who I am. Yes, you crushed me but I’m still alive.”

Three years ago, Channel Seven Brisbane newsreader Katrina Blowers was on set, ready to read the live Sunday night news bulletin. As the autocue rolled on the first story, Katrina had her first-ever panic attack. Without a co-host, she had to stay on—terrified, struggling to speak—in front of half a million people for the next hour: “I had a shortness of breath, my chest felt incredibly tight, I couldn’t talk properly.” Katrina tells Sharon Pearson about how the experience and subsequent panic attacks nearly saw her leave the beloved job she’d worked towards since she was seven before she used science and therapy to rebuild her life including new business, Claiming Your Confidence. “The thing about confidence is that up until that point I had thought it was my superpower. I just took it for granted, so to have this fundamental knock to my confidence and have to learn it all over again … now I’m getting to teach other women what I’ve learned which is great.”

The science of what’s happening in the world now is overwhelming but the economics of COVID-19 is a subject that’s just as vital and affects all of us. Entrepreneurs John Anderson and Perry Mardon join Sharon Pearson to share their future-proofing strategies and discuss how to create the life you want in the second part of the ‘Lockdown: The Way Out’ podcast. They talk innovation and opportunities—Perry advises looking for trends while perhaps parting ways with existing parts of your business—and John made me laugh with his description of where to find your next big thing: “Fish where the ducks are quacking.”

Resources:

Follow Perry Mardon:

www.facebook.com/PerryMardon

www.twitter.com/PerryMardon

www.youtube.com/user/PerryMardon

www.perrymardon.com.au

www.recessionbusters.com.au

Follow Sharon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SharonPearsonFanPage/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharon.pearson.official/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonpearsontcicoach/

Website: https://www.sharonpearson.com/

Follow The Coaching Institute:

Website: https://www.thecoachinginstitute.com.au/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BecomeALifeCoach

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Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thecoachinginstitute/

Eventbrite:https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/the-coaching-institute-21677000212

- Order Ultimate You Book: https://tci.rocks/ultimate-you-book

· Upcoming Events at The Coaching Institute - www.thecoachinginstitute.com.au/trainings

· Disruptive Leadership- https://www.disruptiveleading.com/

· Phone The Coaching Institute - 1800 094 927

· Feedback/Reviews/Suggest a topics be discussed - [email protected]

Like Sharon Pearson—who they call Remi—Australian entrepreneurs Perry Mardon and John Anderson have run businesses with global clients for decades. When the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and lockdown hit, they were in different stages of preparation and acceptance, but both quickly pivoted to an online presence. “We got whacked,” admits Perry, whose major move was his purchase of site recessionbusters.com.au for $12. The trio talks business in these times, their strategies for finding a new way to do business, social and mainstream media, silos, values, mentors and rituals. “You want to be flowing with the stream,” says John of where to put energy, time and money. “Fish where the ducks are quacking.”

Resources:

Follow Perry Mardon:

www.facebook.com/PerryMardon

www.twitter.com/PerryMardon

www.youtube.com/user/PerryMardon

www.perrymardon.com.au

www.recessionbusters.com.au

Follow Sharon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SharonPearsonFanPage/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharon.pearson.official/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonpearsontcicoach/

Website: https://www.sharonpearson.com/

Follow The Coaching Institute:

Website: https://www.thecoachinginstitute.com.au/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BecomeALifeCoach

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-coaching-institute/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thecoachinginstitute/

Eventbrite:https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/the-coaching-institute-21677000212

- Order Ultimate You Book: https://tci.rocks/ultimate-you-book

· Upcoming Events at The Coaching Institute - www.thecoachinginstitute.com.au/trainings

· Disruptive Leadership- https://www.disruptiveleading.com/

· Phone The Coaching Institute - 1800 094 927

· Feedback/Reviews/Suggest a topics be discussed - [email protected]

Coronavirus deaths in Australia as of June 28: https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-current-situation-and-case-numbers

Flu deaths in Australia in 2019:

https://www.sonichealthplus.com.au/health-hub/flu/item/2019-flu-season-2nd-worst-on-record

Road accident deaths Australia:

https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/ongoing/road_deaths_australia_monthly_bulletins

Opioid epidemic in the United States of America:

https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis

Scotland’s drug death crisis:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-48853004

USA unemployment figures as of June 5 2020:

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

When she was a mother of three children under four, Sasha Dumaresq “had no connection really to my emotions—I was over functioning, controlling, very controlled,” she says. Post-natal depression led to her feeling that “I shut my eldest down”, a situation that has created a feeling of guilt Sasha believes hold her. Given the opportunity for a one-on-one coaching session with The Coaching Institute founder Sharon Pearson, Sasha—a Sydney corporate recruiter who is now herself a life coach—was “quietly delighted” and very open during her hour exploring feelings and outcomes. Sharon demonstrated expert coaching does not require fancy linguistic acrobatics and was able to help Sasha (whose daughter is now nine) by asking simple foundational questions and allowing her the space to find answers within herself that were already there. A key takeaway: as a parent, it’s really easy to internalise and blame ourselves for creating dysfunction in our children, which clouds our vision by making it about us. Letting go of expectations about ‘perfect’ children empowers both adults and kids and is a powerful way forward for families.

Follow Sharon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SharonPearsonFanPage/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharon.pearson.official/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonpearsontcicoach/

Website: https://www.sharonpearson.com/

Follow The Coaching Institute:

Website: https://www.thecoachinginstitute.com.au/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BecomeALifeCoach

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-coaching-institute/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thecoachinginstitute/

Eventbrite:https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/the-coaching-institute-21677000212

- Order Ultimate You Book: https://tci.rocks/ultimate-you-book

· Upcoming Events at The Coaching Institute - www.thecoachinginstitute.com.au/trainings

· Disruptive Leadership- https://www.disruptiveleading.com/

· Phone The Coaching Institute - 1800 094 927

· Feedback/Reviews/Suggest a topics be discussed - [email protected]