Create with Franz

When a chronic illness diagnosis hits, it's so easy to feel like your life is no longer your own.

In this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Dr. Kevin Payne, a sociologist, psychologist, and passionate skydiver who has lived with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for over 32 years. Instead of letting his diagnosis dictate his limits, Kevin used his deep research background to turn his own body and daily habits into a project of thriving.

We talk about everything from how he learned to skydive without being able to feel his legs, to the simple daily practices that keep him resilient. If you've been looking for a way to shift from "just surviving" to truly living a life lived well, you're going to love this conversation.

🕒 Key Timestamps:

03:17 - Rebuilding Identity: Why Dr. Payne took up skydiving after his MS diagnosis.

09:42 - The "Hara Hachi Bu" secret to mindful eating and energy management.

13:12 - Why your personal health is 80% cognitive, behavioral, and social.

14:35 - Self-Research: How to track variables and understand your own body.

18:02 - Navigating physical limits and listening to hidden sensory feedback.

24:25 - The absolute necessity of self-kindness when dealing with chronic illness.

📘 Recommended Resource for This Episode:

If you want to dive deeper into taking control of your daily variables, tracking habits, and managing cognitive stress, check out The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything... Fast! on Amazon. It is the perfect blueprint for learning how to break down self-research and physical adjustments when facing physical limits:

https://amzn.to/4aPB0G8

(Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.)

🔗 Connect with Our Guest:

Learn more about Dr. Payne's books, podcast, and coaching for patients and caregivers at: yourlifelivedwell.co

Check him out at: https://yourlifelivedwell.co/ There, you can download a 100-page book preview and listen to his podcast, too.

🙏🏼 Thank you for investing your valuable time with us today. If this message spoke to your soul, you are now a messenger. Choose to be the light today and help someone to change their life, too.

🌅 Share the Light: leave a comment, hit subscribe and share this episode right now with one friend who needs an actionable solution.

✍🏼 Leave your legacy: write a quick rating and review on iTunes to help others find true wellness. This is a zero cost way to spread your message even further.

❤️ Thank you for being the reason this message reaches the world. God bless you!

Topics covered: reclaiming life after MS diagnosis, dr kevin payne, living well with multiple sclerosis, chronic illness self care, mindset for chronic pain, psychology of chronic illness, self research health tracking, hara hachi bu philosophy, mental resilience techniques

Research shows that giving responsibilities helps more than we think!

"Change is the end result of all true learning." (Leo Buscaglia)

Do you agree with Leo? I do. Education is power. Yet, so many spend their time unfulfilled and in chronic distress because their lack of education is stemming from - and also causing - a lesser quality of life, worse health outcomes and lack of opportunities.

I am not advocating a world-wide rush to gain a university degree but I invite all of us to consider learning new skills, and to develop a love for life learning, which will improve our mental health, our socio-economic situation and our self reliance.

In this episode I will be sharing some concepts from the NCBI site Study of 2019 'Education Improves Public Health and Promotes Health Equity' which concludes that,

"Education improves health because it increases effective agency, enhancing a sense of personal control that encourages and enables a healthy lifestyle. Education's beneficial effects are pervasive, cumulative, and self-amplifying, growing across the life course."

Tune in to learn more and be inspired by the achievements of many dyslexic people who have become scientists, artists and even Presidents by looking at their challenge as an opportunity to grow.

We live in an uncertain world where our economic situation, our health an our freedom can deteriorate at any time. What can we do about it?

We can learn about self reliance and plan ahead for what is more likely to happen to our family, our city or country. When we consider what lies ahead, what type of education and skills will we need? What type of job will be more helpful? Can we lower our debt and learn to live within our means?

By preparing now we will feel more peaceful.

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In this episode I will share what happens when we allow painful past events, mistakes and experiences to influence our present mindset.

As long as we carry a heavy emotional luggage our future is polluted.

Learn how to look at the future with an eye open for new possibilites!

Millions of people suffer from depression but relatively few openly talk about it, especially men. Having intense feelings or being suicidal is not something to be ashamed of. Instead we can recognise the symptoms, seek for help and learn that feeling better is possible.

In this episode I quote author Matt Haigh whose awesome book you can buy here: https://amzn.to/3Dl3lAy

Aged 24, Matt Haig's world caved in. He could see no way to go on living. This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again. If someone you care about has depression, give him this book!

PS Image credit: Franz Sidney

What do you tend to do when you are stressed? Happy? Busy? Hungry? Frustrated or late? Do you eat something, smoke, lose your patience, shut down, go for a walk or work until you drop?

Did you know that our actions and reactions are often just a habit and not quite a thoughtful decision designed to achieve a certain goal? In fact, most times our habit are shortcuts for efficiency reason and do not serve our higher purpose.

In this episode I will share with you a few concepts about:

• What habits are and where do they come from
• What routines are
• How to change your bad habits
• How to keep them for good
• How new habits can change your life

Let me know if you need help changing your habits so you can become happier, calmer, more balanced and productive.

Christmas is coming! We are all thinking about festive food, right? Well, not everyone! Some people are terrified of meeting up and eating contaminated food or touching germs.

Did you know that 1.7% to 3.1% of males and 6% to 7% of females are terrified about the idea of vomiting? This disorder is called emetophobia and can change the life of the sufferers, who go to great lengths to avoid contamination in order not to see or experience throwing up. Shame and embarrassment about the condition keep it hidden until their life becomes miserable. Even watching someone being sick on TV can trigger a reaction.

In this episode I will share the main behaviours that come with this disorder, such as obsessive cleaning and avoiding people, foods or transport, what are the reasons that may cause emetophobia, and how by using a blend of hypnosis, coaching, NLP and psychotherapy anyone can overcome.

And this can happen not in 20 session but in one!

Now that you know about this disorder, you might notice how many friends or work colleagues might be offering in silence and need help.

The message is clear: once we uncover the causes of this condition, during a hypnosis/RTT session, we are able to reframe our mind and move on!

As Stephen Covey said,

'You don't see the world as it is, you see it according to who you are.'

For more information and an informal chat, feel free to contact me on calendly.com/franzsidney