Encourager

I recently heard Dan's Do Lecture and was struck by his storytelling, humour and the concept of sch-peel-zoyg. 

That was in 2015, so it was great to catch up with Dan and see how his thinking has unfolded over the past 6 years.

So, we get into sch-peel-zoyg, the feeling, what it is and how it can be used.

And much more in this very open and candid chat, from Dan's car (he was parked!).

Dan is a writer and the co-founder and CEO of unbound.com, the award-winning crowdfunding publishing platform that brings authors and readers together. He was described as "a true disruptor" by Richard Branson. 

You can follow Dan on Twitter & Medium

** please note that there is some swearing in this episode

Andy Williams was excluded when he was at school.

But he became an educator. Then focused on wellbeing and relationships in the school.

Andy understood that the punishment/reward system did not work -- there is something better.

Now he specialises in helping schools develop a way that embraces and accepts the individual, understanding the self, community, engagement and opportunity.

This is with a backing of the spirt of motivational interviewing, Zen Buddhism, neuroscience and the best of education. 

Andy is doing superb and much needed work.

Grab a coffee, listen in and enjoy. I hope there will be a part 2.

You'll know what I mean.

Contact Andy on: [email protected] -- he has no website (love that!)

Why is movement so important? We explore the answers to this question and how people can be encouraged to move from a young age, when many beliefs and habits are born.

Science writer, journalist and mover Caroline Williams talks about her new book, Move: The New Science of Body over Mind.

Plus becoming a science writer, writing habits and meeting some cool people along the way -- including Eric Kandel!

Great for anyone who loves to move (understand why it feels so good), who is thinking about moving more, who encourages others to move (physios, yoga teachers, Pilates instructors, school teachers and more).

Enjoy and please share.

You can read more about Caroline here, follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

Recently Sabrina published a terrific paper (see below*) describing an enactive approach to acute and chronic pain. Her co-author is Peter Stilwell (see his episode here). This is a must read if you are interested in pain. 

In this chat we get into Sabrina's thinking on enactivism and pain as a philosopher. Sabrina has been spending time with clinicians and people who experience pain so that she can gain their perspectives. 

It was fascinating to hear Sabrina, who is making a great contribution to our understanding of pain through her work.

To follow Sabrina's work you can visit her website here and on Twitter.

* Pain and the field of affordances: an enactive approach to acute and chronic pain - read here. 

He has been working as a Consultant Psychiatrist, for the last 17 years working at both Guy’s Hospital and The Maudsley Hospital, London. He treats a range of mental health problems, including those that present to a general hospital, such as the mental health consequences of physical disease and persistent physical symptoms and more typical mental health presentations, such as depression, anxiety disorders, OCD and adjustment disorders.

We talk about writing, the new book, clinic letter writing (how this respects the person/patient and the receiving clinician), the art and science of medicine, the challenge of psychiatry, medical training, medically unexplained symptoms, communication, the person first approach and more. As ever, we squeeze a lot into an hour!

Enjoy, please share and let me know what you think.

Here are the links: website, Twitter, the book

Glenn is one of the few people in the world with a Doctorate in coaching, so it was fascinating to dig into his story, thinking and approach. 

Glenn started his journey as a PE teacher, which he loved. Wanting to progress, he saw an opportunity in leadership coaching and took the plunge. Having delivered programmes, Glenn wanted to formalise his work. He studied coaching and mentoring at the highest level, resulting in a doctorate.

Now Glenn largely spends his time on his business, which delivers AI coaching programmes. This is an exciting and pioneering project as Glenn seeks to make high quality coaching scalable using technology. He also remains active as a coach, working with individuals 1:1.

I love Glenn's approach, which is certainly person-first. He is an encourager, completely authentic and clearly wants to help people succeed.

This is a fascinating conversation for all types of coach or if you are interested in a career in coaching. And who doesn't do some coaching at some point in their lives? 

You can connect with Glenn on LinkedIn and visit the Exigence website here. Glenn's own website is here.

Richard generously shares his journey as a journalist, writer and runner. Turns out that running was rather transformative for Richard, influencing his writing and career. May well have started with an appearance in Chariots of Fire... (read here).

We met when Richard was co-host of a running/writing retreat in 2019 with Adharanand Finn. It was a terrific weekend with the group remaining in touch. I was really excited to ask Richard to join me on the podcast.

What is it about running that makes it such an important part of our lives?

Different running philosophies ~ results v the process... and longevity 

A southerner who tries and tries to do the Bob Graham Round (BGR) and the succeeds - what is this ultra running challenge all about?

On writing -- maybe start by calling yourself a writer and other useful insights into the art 

Emil Zátopek - heading off to the Czech Republic to write a book and learning the language

You can find Richard's books on his website and he is on Twitter. But don't expect too many tweets :)