Jeff Weigh

On this episode I interview the excellent Gavin Oattes; co-author of the book Shine.

Gavin shares with us his journey from primary school teacher to stand-up comedian through to inspirational speaker and author.

We talk about the power of story telling and the impact it has on others.

Gavin shares his thoughts on 'doing what you love and enjoy' and how many people 'lose their Sunday to their Monday'!

He talks passionately about 'Fire Up Scotland' and why it's important to him to do be doing this; as well as sharing how him and Andy Cope came together to co-author Shine.

Here's some words of wisdom from Gavin;

"You wake up in the morning and go to bed at night; what you do in between is life."

He also leaves us with some words of wisdom taken from the legend of the All Blacks;

"No dickheads allowed. Don't be a dickhead."

Find out more about Gavin and what he's up to here

Get your hands on his book Shine here

Start a conversation with him on;

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

And his business Tree of Knowledge

I'm joined by Emma Weigh (my wife) as we review and share some of our highlights from Series 1.

This is the first time that we've been in front of the microphone together since co-hosting  a radio show back in 2010/11!

We dive straight into firstly talking about how the podcast came about with Emma asking me some questions for a change.

Secondly we both discuss and share our highlights / best bits from Series 1.

We finish off by providing a flavour of what to expect in Series 2 and sharing some of the other projects that I'm currently working on.

A huge thank you to Emma for agreeing to be part of the review for series 1.

It’s been a pleasure and a real privilege to have interviewed such fantastic people during Series 1 and I’m already looking forward to Series 2 and what that has to bring.

A big thank you to all of my guests;

Mike Pegg, Kim Ingleby, Chris Barez-Brown, Juliet McGratton, Phil White, Damian Hughes, Amy Kilpin, Alex Staniforth, Kirsty Mac, Bri Seeley, Lindsay Woodford and Kriss Akabusi.

Now:

If you have enjoyed the show then please do subscribe to the Perfect Imbalance Podcast through whatever platform you choose to listen to.

Share it with a friend (or colleague) and if you leave the show a rating and a comment it will help the podcast to reach more people and allow others to consider alternatives to striving for a work-life balance.

Thank you so much for listening to Series 1;

Until then, remember this:

"when you have a balance enjoy it; when you’ve got an imbalance embrace it…for in those moments you are striving towards achieving your next success, increasing your happiness or looking for greater fulfilment"

A rolling stone that keeps on going and going.

On this episode I interview Kriss Akabusi;

- not the GB track legend of the 400 metre hurdles & 4x4 relay team

- not as the tv personality that you may have seen in

but as the person he has become; thinker, philosopher, coach and a man oozing with passion to enable and encourage others to shake off the shackles and have some true and meaningful conversations in life.

In this episode we explore some of the deeper questions in life with Kriss.

Kriss has reflected on his life a lot more since the 2012 London Olympics and has discovered a love of philosophy.

We talk about the value of new conversations and agree that you're only as good as the new conversations that you're having.

We talk about whole new area of being and becoming.

All of a sudden, the gift of life has become even more rare and wonderful, with the realisation of how quick it's over.

With his usual mix of energy and passion Kriss shares insight into how he really wants to explore; what is this life, what is this experience. Asking; is any of it eternal or is it temporal?

Kriss's philosophy or view of the world is; none of us asked to be born and none of us want to die. Inside of that there will be many different versions of you. You get to choose at any one time who you're going to be.

What is it or are you hiding from what it is. We have order on one side and the chaos on the other.

"All creativity comes out of chaos"

As a coach, philosopher (and a rolling stone) Kriss shares his views on leading from behind and helping others discover and experiment for themselves. He shares some of the great teachers in his life including Sergeant McKenzie who met him at a key point in his life and his own children who play a big part in his life everyday.

Here's some words of wisdom from Kriss; Here today and gone tomorrow...

The most important thing at all times is to tend your garden - Voltaire

Find out more about Kriss and what he's up to here

More details about The Akabusi Charitable Trust can be found here

Start a conversation with him on;

Twitter: Kriss Akabusi 

Instagram: Kriss Akabusi 

Facebook: Akabusi Company 

Bonus video (as shared by Kriss on Twitter); You are the creator

Tune in next time to hear me sharing some of my best and your favourite bits from Series 1.

Interview with Lindsay Woodford Applied Sports Psychologist and Senior Lecturer at University West of England in Bristol talking about a winning mindset and what she likes to refer to as an 'effective mindset'.

An ex-rower and now dressage competitor, Lindsay helps athletes mentally to prepare and perform.

She has worked with Bath Rugby, England Rugby, GB Triathlon and GB BMX in the past and is currently working with a gymnast, ballroom dancers and athletes transitioning out of sport.

Lindsay shares that an effective (winning) mindset is one that facilitates growth. She sees loving what you're doing as a key to life; helping both mental and physical health.

Some of her work with the athletes focuses in on resilience and how others can develop this. Learning through failure and not fearing it; seeing failure as an opportunity to learn.

In her line of work, failure is still an issue and a frustration. As part of developing an effective mindset, Lindsay seeks to understand;

Then she looks to break it down into manageable results; or rungs on the ladder!

In the final part of the interview Lindsay talks about setting goals that aren't just outcome related. She emphasises the importance of them being task focused; making sure you do a, b and c...and controlling the controllable's.

Lindsay concludes by sharing that she's currently conducting research (as part of Phd) into over training.

Find out more about Lindsay via her website; the sporting mindset

Start a conversation with her;

Instagram

Twitter 

YouTube

Tune in next time to hear me interviewing Kriss Akabusi; GB Legend, motivational speaker and deep thinker.

Interview with Bri Seeley; life coach, reflector and an inspirational woman who talks passionately about creating the space.

On this episode Bri shares her thoughts and personal experiences of operating from the inside out. Bri believes everything comes from within and she shares the benefits of beginning with stillness and creating the space for ourselves.

Her first book; Permission to Leap has been written to support people and help navigate them in their journey towards what they want to achieve. Bri touches on to-do lists, plans and 'not enoughness'!

Listen out for how Bri lives her best version of herself and what's possible, as she talks about 'wholeness' as an alternative to work-life balance.

Bri is a big believer in putting your plans out there and the universe responding accordingly.

Check out Bri's website and start a conversation with Bri;

Twitter

Instagram

Kirsty Mac renowned 'business sorter outerer and all round good deed doer' talks about finding your own formula on this episode.

Sought after speaker and podcaster, she's also the owner of her own stationery business called Copper Scribbles and upside-down yogi!

On this episode Kirsty also shares insight into how she has discovered what she loves, in part by doing what she doesn't love.

She then goes on to talk about her own experiences of leadership, the excitement around AI and the importance of a perfect imbalance in her life.

Listen out for; a life lesson, a quote from Brene Brown and the first time that any guest has mentioned wedgie and onomatopoeia in the same interview!

Start a conversation with Kirsty by checking out her website 

You can also interact with Kirsty by following her on;

Twitter

Instagram

On this episode I interview Alex Staniforth who shares insight into how to overcome adversity through adventure.

We begin by understanding a little bit about Alex and how he discovered his passion for adventure and undertaking challenges at an early age.

He then goes on to talk about his own experiences of being bullied and talks about how we all learn through adversity. As someone who has suffered (and continues to suffer - in his words) with a stutter, Alex speaks with clarity and energy.

Humble and down to earth, at 23 he’s experienced many highs and lows; yet continues in his quest for adventure. Author of the book titled Icefall, he's an inspirational speaker who's spoken on many stages.

Start a conversation with Alex by checking out his website or through the following social media platforms;

Facebook 

Twitter

Instagram

On this episode I interview Amy Kilpin who shares insight into how to combine what you love and being able to pay the bills.

We begin by exploring how Amy came to find herself competing for GB in triathlons having not being able to swim a length of front crawl back in 2012!

We then move on to understand how Amy ‘balances’ running her own marketing business and competing (and training) for triathlons; including insights into what works for her and how she manages time. In her words;

When it comes to time; sometimes its full time, sometimes it’s part-time. As Amy puts it; it’s a mind-set shift and there’s no reason why others can’t do something similar.

Start a conversation with Amy by checking out her website

Or following her on;

Twitter @akilpin 

Instagram @akilpin

Professor Damian Hughes aka the Liquid Thinker is the author of 11 books; including Liquid Thinking, How to chance absolutely anything, How to think like Sir Alex Ferguson and The Winning Mindset,

Damian is hugely passionate about learning and helping others to understand what excites them. He talks about key principles that he's taken from working with elite sport and how we can apply these in our everyday lives.

He shares that on average (during a typical hour) we will receive 37 interruptions through email and social media which in turn if we allow ourselves to be tripped up by one of these it can take us 22 minutes to get back to our original level of concentration.

To find out more about Damian and what he's up to check out http://www.liquidthinker.com/

Start a conversation with him on;

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LiquidThinkerLtd/

YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLiquidThinker

Phil White is an Emmy-nominated writer Phil White, Author of Game Changer (with Fergus Connolly & Jim Harbaugh)

and Unplugged (with Brian Mackenzie and Andy Galpin).

His latest book, The 17 Hour Fast with Dr. Frank Merritt is out now and available on Amazon and all good book shops. Also look out for the forthcoming Waterman 2.0 with Dr. Kely Starrett

Phil is hugely passionate about exercise, science and generally how we can all switch off a little more and achieve what's important in our lives.

To find out more about Phil and what he's up to check out his website www.philwhitebooks.com

Start a conversation with him on Twitter at @PhilWhiteBooks, on Facebook at @PhilWhiteBooks or on Instagram at @philwhitebooks