Dot to Dot

We discuss how this has applied to my work in profiling and analysing people, helping me to get clearer and more accurate judgements. And how it applies to Lou’s work in sport. Lou explains that although athletes want to do an analysis immediately after an event, leaving it a) prevents the emotional response to their performance detracting from what they may learn and b) gives the brain time to process, understand and explore it. As a result, mulling it over provides the space to provide a far more powerful experience for that athlete. 

We also talk about how it helps us all in everyday life. And how we need to give ourselves permission to mull things over.

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Or for Lou

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For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

This week I talk to Radha about her journey including the importance of family, studying at Cambridge and Imperial, working as a hospital doctor, a GP, teaching medical students AND everything covered below. Radha shares a bit about her own level of self-awareness, learning what she likes and doesn't like and how to continually use that to navigate a healthy and fulfilling life. 

Radha has appeared as the medical reporter for The Sex Education Show Ch4 and Make My Body Younger BBC Three. She has been the resident GP for the daytime show Live with Gabby on CH5 and for Newsround CBBC. She has also reported on ITV’s This Morning, BBC Breakfast, ITV Tonight, Channel 5 News and ITN News.

Working across all platforms Dr Radha contributes to online projects including BBC Bitesize, BBC Teach, BBC Own It, BBC Advice Pages and BBC Learning. She has also been broadcast on BBC Radio1’s daytime show, BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Asian Network, LBC and Radio 1’s Newsbeat.

Currently writing for Top of the Pops magazine, Radha has been a columnist for the i newspaper, Woman’s Own & MSN Lifestyle. She has written for Female First and Bliss magazine. She has also contributed to multiple books supporting young people & parents. She has a particular interest in young people’s health & supporting parents, and has worked on campaigns with BBC Children in Need, Public Health England, MIND, British Heart Foundation, JDRF, The Mix  and the NHS Youth Forum. She has spoken at many events, including the NHS Health & Care Innovation Expo, at Camp Bestival & for the BBC Children in Need Mental Health Panel Discussion.

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

Even if you think you’re already self-aware it’s still something that need revisiting and refreshing. It’s worth looking at your personal narrative to think through who you are, what your preferences are and what’s happening in your world. This week Lou and I talk about exploring your personal narrative, passions and strengths and making sure that they are part of who you are on a daily basis. We also how talk about how discussing these things out loud makes a world of difference in terms of how we understand them. 

We cover how your values, meaning and purpose all underpin and add to your self-awareness. And how we can lose sight of this when we become focussed on outcome orientated processes such as bonuses at work, projects we need to complete or people we’re trying to impress. How they stop us from doing what’s important to us as a person, what gives us the energy and passion to thrive in life. 

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Or for Lou

Instagram: www.instagram.com/loupylou78

Twitter: https://twitter.com/louisejones78

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

We talk about asking for feedback and how to do it in a way that is constructive and doesn’t make you or the person you’re asking feel awkward. That celebrating small successes through giving people feedback is really important to let them know how they’re doing and to keep them motivated. We discuss the timing of giving feedback - when should you give it for optimum impact? 

We also discuss other ways of collecting data about yourself and how you’re doing like video analysis, audio analysis or simply observing how people are responding to you and your mood. And finally we touch on fixed and growth mindset and how that matters both in terms of receiving feedback but also with regard to who is giving it to you and what you make of the information. 

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Or for Lou

Instagram: www.instagram.com/loupylou78

Twitter: https://twitter.com/louisejones78

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

Some of the topics we explore this week:

How awareness is the basis for everything, followed by attention and motivation. Juna talks about neuroplasticity – that you can change your brain and knowing this immediately brings up your levels of attention of what you can change about yourself. That motivation has a neurochemical component to it which increases your ability to change the neuronal connections in your brain. And that knowing all of this gives people hope Juna says “when you know that something is possible you open your brain up to all these new ways of working and that’s really what learning is about – learning changes your brain.”

Dr. Juna Bobby, is a mom of two amazing kids and a physician specializing in Mind-Body Medicine. 

Juna's passion is to guide youth, at critical times in their brain development, through the science-backed skills of being happy, staying well, and having that extra edge. She founded MindBodySpace LLC to coach high potential teens, students of all ages, parents, and educators.

She is a faculty member at The Juilliard School PC in Manhattan, teaching The Science of Resilience Program. She is also a frequent guest lecturer at Manhattan School of Music. For four years, she created the Wellness program and Exam Performance Workshops at NYU School of Medicine and Columbia Law School. She holds workshops at many schools and organizations, in addition to coaching private students. 

Juna is a board-certified graduate of the NYU School of Medicine, where she also completed her residency and fellowship training. She has extensive training in mind-body practices including, completing a program at the Benson Henry Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, to become a Certified Practitioner for Stress Management and Resiliency.

Connect with Juna:

Juna Bobby M.D. - Mind-Body Medicine

Listen: Rx Chill Pill Podcast: Meditate Your Brain to Resilience

Email:  [email protected]
• with questions for Juna and Guests for Q&A Thursdays 
• guest or topic you want to suggest

Stressed? Need to Focus?

Meditate with Juna over at Juna Bobby MD on Insight Timer

CONNECT WITH JUNA: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn  

Or to connect with Fiona go to: www.fionamurden.com 

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

We discuss the fact that we are thrown so many words of advice on how to think, feel and approach things but in order to really optimise how they help us we need to understand the ‘why’. Lou says "If you’re doing something for some random reason, even if it’s helped you, you may not ever return to it again. But if you see it within the bigger picture it’s another matter entirely."

That you don’t need to be a neuroscientist to understand the basic structure of the brain in a way that’s helpful (with a word of warning – do take your advice from people who actually know what they’re talking about). We explore Dr. Russ Harris’s approach and talk about how to go about knowing more about the functioning of the brain.  I love that Harris describes our brain as a ‘don’t get killed device.’ 

That one of the biggest misconceptions about the brain is that we can control our thoughts and what we’re feeling - but we can’t. Without even realising it we are brought up to believe that we can – and should be able to control our thoughts and feelings e.g. don’t cry, pull yourself together, don’t be scared. There are some things we can control but this requires a nuanced understanding. 

Distinguishing between which of the stories that your brain tells you on a continual loop are actually helpful and which to disregard. As Harris says our thoughts are  "like a radio that never stops broadcasting" – so it’s good to be able to distinguish between different types. 

Also learning that thoughts and feelings are a bit like songs you don’t like on the radio. It’s best to accept that the song you don’t like will pass and that the best thing to do in the meantime is concentrate on what you’re doing. Before you know it music you like will be back on again. That rather than putting effort into fighting our thoughts and emotions, learning how to observe them and let them go is far more constructive. 

That while we all share the same brain structure (meaning evidence based techniques will be most helpful), you are still uniquely you. In Lou’s words “there has never been a research study on you, your brain and how you function in each of the contexts in your world.” So finding out what really works for you requires a bit of a bit of trial and error, explored in a non-judgemental way. 

That we use the neocortex, the more advanced part of our brain, to try and ‘fix’ the limbic system and that just doesn’t work. Instead it gets us tied in knots. 

But that ultimately it's all OK. If you know what to do and how to do it there are a load of strategies that really help. The most simple being just naming emotions (that evidence shows move us from the limbic system to the neocortex allowing us to take a step back), journaling and over the longer term building the capabilities taught in fantastic apps such as headspace. 

For updates, news and info sign up to my newsletter at:

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Or for Lou

Instagram: www.instagram.com/loupylou78

Twitter: https://twitter.com/louisejones78

Russ Harris’s books which are brilliant resources are as follows:

The Happiness Trap – How to Stop Struggling and Start Living

The Confidence Gap – From Fear to Freedom 

The Reality Slap – How to Survive and Thrive When Life Hits Hard

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

We discuss how self-awareness is a business imperative from a financial standpoint. Companies who have a higher number of self-aware people are more financially successful and have better returns. Leaders who are self-aware are more effective and promotable. Leaders who are not self-aware are 600 times more likely to derail. Also how to become more self-aware and the fact that while it does take time getting their doesn’t have to be a painful slog.  

We also explore how Tasha got to where she is today as the principal of The Eurich Group, a boutique executive development firm that helps companies— from start-ups to the Fortune 100—succeed by improving the effectiveness of their leaders and teams. Dr. Eurich has worked directly with tens of thousands of leaders and spoken live to hundreds of thousands more, on every continent but Antarctica. Her clients include Google, Salesforce, the NBA, IBM, Walmart, and the White House Leadership Development Program. 

Dr. Eurich’s first book, Bankable Leadership, debuted at #8 on The New York Times bestseller list in 2013. Her latest book, Insight, explores the connection between self-awareness and success. Brené Brown selected Insight as one of her Leadership / Business books, and famed Wharton professor Adam Grant calls it one of the three books he recommends most often. 

Dr. Eurich contributes to Harvard Business Review, and her work has been featured in outlets like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fast Company, and Forbes. Her TEDx talks have been viewed more than seven million times. 

For more on Tasha please go to

https://thefuturereadyleader.com/.

And for me 

www.fionamurden.com where you can sign up to my newsletter for tips, tools and updates on the latest podcast episodes. 

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

Some of the things we talk about. Why it’s something that most of us think we have (95% of people according to the research by the fabulous Dr. Tasha Eurich who is next week’s guest) but few of us really do (10-15% of people). Why it’s critical to performance and so many other areas of life making you both healthier and more effective. 

Why it isn’t just something you can put on your to do list and how Covid is getting in the way of the moments we do normally have to reflect. We talk about how self-aware leaders are, elite athletes and celebrities and what it means to each of them. Why it’s hard to really explore on your own and how a mentor can help. 

For more tips and tools sign up to my newsletter atwww.fionamurden.com 

Find Lou at 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/loupylou78

Twitter: https://twitter.com/louisejones78

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com