Today on Start Scale Succeed, Nicole is talking to Martin Durrant, mental resilience and wellbeing advocate and the founder of Out of The Grey. They’ll be chatting and giving you advice on building resilience, managing stress, and coping strategies. You’ll also get to hear Martin’s incredible story of fighting off illness all while keeping a positive mindset.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• In 2014 after 8 years of things going wrong with his body, Martin was finally diagnosed with MS. He felt this was a relief because he finally knew what was wrong with him and through finding the charity Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis, he was able to change his life for the better, not just with his health but also his diet and mental wellbeing.
• In 2021 Martin was told he had a brain tumour and because of its location, although it was operable, after surgery he’d be paralysed on his left-hand side. Martin had to learn to eat, walk, and talk again.
• Martin is actually grateful that he had MS, because if it wasn’t for this and his yearly brain scans, he would never have known about the tumour and lived to tell his story.
• When he was on the ward recovering from his surgery, Martin was the cheerleader, cheering up and keeping his fellow patients spirits high. From this experience he decided that’s what he wanted to do for a living.
• Mental resilience is the ability to bounce back and not dwell on a situation. If something bad happens, it’s okay to feel sad, resilience is the ability to get back out of that state after an appropriate amount of time.
• You can have depression and have good mental resilience, that resilience allows you to identify your feelings and actually gives you the ability to seek help easier and faster.
• Create an environment where you are looking after yourself first and foremost. Diet, exercise, having a positive mental attitude, these things do actually improve your mental health. Even if it’s just a 15 minute walk or fitting some meditation into your day.
• If you give acts of kindness, it releases serotonin into your brain and makes you feel good. It doesn’t have to be a huge action, even small ones can have a big impact.

BEST MOMENTS

‘You should be your biggest fan, not your biggest critic’

‘7 - 11 breathing is my number one trick’

‘I’ve never been a victim, I’ve never let my mindset be that’

‘Be kind to yourself, trust yourself, you’ve got the abilities’

‘I was more worried about not being able to drive than having a brain tumour’

EPISODE RESOURCES

Overcoming MS

Martin on LinkedIn

ABOUT THE HOST
Buying & retail expert Nicole Higgins spent the last 18 years sourcing & developing products from all over the world, building strategies for blue chip businesses, and increasing bottom line sales and profit, adding over £40 million in incremental business to the bottom line. She now uses that experience and works as a consultant and coach for entrepreneurs and business owners, helping them start and scale their product businesses.
Join the Start Scale Succeed waitlist. How to start & scale a product business. A 12 Week programme:  thebuyerandretailcoach.com/startscalesucceedwaitlist

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