Kombisations with Pete

MASTERS OF CHANGE 13 * 31 JULY 2018

John Csongei is a great runner, a self employed Financial Planner, a vegan, a loving father and a lover of tropical fish.

He really is such a nice guy and we talk about his entire life, from his early days kicking around a soccer ball and trying his hand at rowing to his lower darker days when his partner left him for another man and John having to look after two young boys on his own.

John loved the outdoors and couldnt wait to get on his bike or go for a long ride or run and escape the discipline and routine of home life by connecting with nature and getting fitter by building his incredible endurance base.

He talks about many of his marathon experiences ranging from his Personal Best time (recently at the age of 40) of 2:33 and the races where he was reduced to walking. Hes battled calf injuries, plantar fasciitis, sacroiliac inflammation and many others. We talk about his recovery tips and also his training schedule.

Above all, John connected with the person he wanted to be quite early in life, he then set about finding a career and lifestyle that would allow him to work hard at becoming the elite athlete he dreamed of being AND the father he NEEDED to be. Hes a devoted Dad and a genuinely really nice guy, I loved this conversation and getting to know him better.

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Do You Have a PURPOSE. Or are you trapped in the daily grind of routine. Find what lights your flame and get on the path to becoming who you were meant to be.

Something very very different this week. I was inspired to write my first ever essay. The focus being PURPOSE. Do you have a purpose?  Living your life with meaning, in line with your true self, to become the person you were always meant to be?

For me, in this point in time, running is the way for me to test myself, push myself and keep on a path to where I should be heading. It helps me to feel every emotion I want to feel, to challenge me and to ensure I stay well connected to nature, a community and to myself.

It keeps my flame alive, my need for challenge, my dreams alive, my desire to achieve and fulfil my potential.

The marathon in particular is the peak of my running and allows me to test myself, learn about myself, connect with others and to feel the reward of accomplishment.

Be curious, find your PURPOSE, keep your flame flickering and let this be your catalyst for CHANGE to lead you to the person you were innately meant to be.

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John Shaw has finally become the elite runner, I believe, he was meant to be!

I caught up with John on the eve of the 2018 Goldcoast marathon that we were both running the following day. Be sure to listen to the interesting post race chat at the end of the podcast.

His early life reads like many lives do, tough childhood, a father that struggled with family life, and young John left to roam free and develop his curiosity with nature and allowed or left to enjoy freedom and the ability to build his engine from running wild up Mount Wellington in Tasmania, Australia.

Before he could even contemplate a running career, he was married, 3 kids and working in a bank. The bank held him, constrained him, controlled his destiny for another 20 years. Finally he broke free and made plans to buy and run his own business.

This was the start, the start to a CHANGE, a new life, where he suddenly started thinking for and about himself, in the world of self employment. I believe this was the start of Johns journey to become the person he was meant to be, this change, this desire to break free.

However, he again succumbed to the chains of routine and before he knew it, he was stuck in the grind of earning an income, gaining weight and becoming a “couch potato”.

At the ripe old age of 59, he decided that things had to change again. This time he wanted to get fit , lose weight and start running. He did this one step at a time on his treadmill. setting a goal to walk or run 1000kms. He said to himself, each 50kms walked would lose him 1kg of weight, this was his mantra.

A couch to 5km program was his next step, then the park run program and then finally he hired a coach to help him plan an assault on the marathon.

At age 64 John ran a 2:45 marathon, completing his journey form couch potato to elite runner. He became the athlete he was always meant to be…………finally.

We talk about all this , as well as his passion for running, loving the “flip flop” of other runners around him and ultimately loving rubbing shoulders with the kenyans, the Boston marathon winner and Australias own marathon legend Jessica Trengrove.

He has a world record, masters records and Australian records. He also deals with a recent failure at the 2018 Goldcoast marathon and joins me for a post race chat, further enhancing my respect for this amazing athelete.

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Matty talks about his familys immigration from England to Australia and the influence of his Dad, being a 2:40 marathoner and how this led to his dream of being a professional athlete.

Growing up originally in England he says he didnt really learn to swim until later and talks about his first ever triathlon being a disaster, a fail, and how this ignited his desire to succeed and highlighted his Fear of Failure. We discuss the Fear of Failure in great detail and Matty truly believes this a very important driver that most elite athletes have and need.

Its a great insight into the mind of an elite athlete and gives us an understanding  of what it really takes to achieve at this level.

He also tells us about his childhood adoration of Jan Claude Van Dam, and dreamed of being strong and powerful just like him, how he visualised being like him and having the same type of body. It highlights the powerful mindset habits that Matty has to visualise what he wants and he talks about how you need to find your purpose and then STRIVE to achieve it by doing something every day.

He trained like a beast with this in mind, to strive forward every day in the direction of his purpose, his goals. He believes you need to know what Y is (the goal) what X is (the required work) and then just do it, whatever it takes. By doing X you will achieve the goal Y. Ask yourself the question. Do you really want Y?

What is your purpose?  Know this and then STRIVE towards it every day.

When it all comes down to it, Matty believes its all about STRIVING, moving forward day by day.

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Michael is a psychologist in Adelaide South Australia, he talks about his journey from working in a bank to becoming a fireman and then how this relates to him ultimately becoming a psychologist.

He has a caring nature and this resonates highly with his wanting to help people, the fire service allowed him to do this on a level, but not as personal and as powerful as being a psychologist.

We talk about the the things you need to do in order to make similar changes and how you too can find the career you were meant to have. Its important to plan, meet with others in that career already, network and also ensure you have the full support of your family and friends. Then, you need to take a risk and make “The Leap of Faith”.

Michael talks openly about the heart attack he suffered and how this led to depression, and what he did to get life back on track.

The importance of a mentor is extremely important, especially if your own parents do not provide this support for you, Michaels own mentor has been vital to his success.

We discuss what it takes to be a psychologist, the personality, the pros and cons and also what Michael loves about this career.

Finally, I put a question to him, “With unlimited resources, what would you do to make the world a better place?”

His answer told me a lot about him as a person, COMMUNITY. His wish that we should become more connected and stop moving away from “getting more into ourselves” and become closer as a community again.

Hes a caring man,and is definately in the career he is meant to be. He lives on a beautiful small farm in Adelaide and I really savoured every minute I spent there and in his company.

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Vincent is not your average successful CEO. Hes a man with a deep passion for leadership and endurance sports and also an ability to appreciate every detail of the present moment. From this he creates a clear vision of what he is striving for and then sets out to achieve his goals with absolute discipline, preparation and routine.

He realised very early in his life about his love of leadership and from that moment since he was House Captain in high school, he set out to travel a path that would lead him to take on many leadership roles. These roles include being president of a triathlon club and then ultimately to the position of CEO of Flinders Ports.

Vincent has a very high level of Emotional Intelligence which I feel gives him a great ability to understand and connect with people from all walks of life. This also enabled him to make sure he has the right people around to help him build the teams necessary to create the success he desires. He talks about what makes a good team. Most importantly he says, you must get three important fundamentals right in order to create a successful team in either business or sport.

Furthermore, you must involve all team members in the decision making process and have their “buy in” to the strategy so that they are all invested in the plan. You must also choose the correct team members who are natural leaders, have a high level of emotional intelligence (more important than normal intelligence) and are smart, as he believes smart people listen better and understand.

He says that quite often you can tell that someone is not a right fit for the job/team, quicker than you can tell if they are a good fit.

The second half of the conversation focusses more on Vincents endurance pursuits including 18 marathons, 3 Hawaii Ironmans and the climbing trek of Mera peak in Nepal. He discusses an interesting cross country marathon he undertook (whilst on “holiday” with his wife) in England (The Dorset Invader Marathon). Where people dressed up as soldiers, representing a famous battle and where the time taken to finish the race was basically irrelevant. He will also be undertaking a walk across England next year with his wife and a group of his mates.

He talks about his training for the New Zealand Ironman in 6 weeks time and his quest to qualify for his 4th Hawaii Ironman, as well as the Hawaii Ironman race he competed in where he was recovering from a previous bike crash and had to race with broken ribs.

His love for the Hawaii Ironman is obvious. To hear him describe looking back from the swim and looking at the palm trees and the people lining the beach, the crystal clear waters and the radiant heat from the road whilst on the bike, really shows the passion of the man and how in touch he is with the present moment. He describes his reason for trying to qualify again for the Hawaii Ironman as, “Because theres something magical about that place”.

He used to watch marathon runners cross the line on TV when he was young, and this used to bring him to tears, this is the passion that drives this man to visualise the experiences he wants to have in life.

He goes to bed at 9.30 in order to try and get the rest needed to allow him to rise early and commit to his disciplined and routine training program.

The conversation with Vince helps us to understand his awareness of his passion and desire to be a leader. It shows that with a high level of awareness and emotional intelligence and the ability to enjoy the small things about every experience, we can discover and connect with our inner passion and purpose.

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Ashley (“Ash)” Ralph learnt an enormous amount from his time in the army, after joining at the young age of just 17. He talks about an early encounter with a large burly officer who was intimidating and aggressive, yet still Ashley, although scared and wanting to run away, toughed it out and stayed for the journey. This was to be a great learning experience for young Ash, teaching him some valuable lessons about persistence and discipline.

Ash has gone on to complete 8 ironman triathlons, he road his bike from Brisbane to Sydney and Perth to Adelaide. Most recently he ran from Melbourne to Adelaide, 1000kms at 100kms a day.

We talk in great depth about what the body is capable of and most importantly, about how its the mind that ultimately decides how far we can go and what we are able to achieve.

Ash has raised over $700,000 for charity whilst completing these endurance events and he talks about how he loves to lead and unite groups and take them on a journey with him.

His greatest role models are not necessarily famous sporting people but are those that are around him, such as his older brother. His brother has an autistic child and Ash describes how hard life is for him and the way he handles this makes him a person that Ash admires and looks up to as a role model.

The fear of failure pushes him to set goals and achieve them, but not to the point that he ever allows it to paralyse him or affect his performance, this is a balancing act that he knows he has to master.

He also talks about the sacrifices he needs to make in order to raise his 3 boys and to also have very close relationships with them all and about his realisation that he cant do it all and that he needs to learn to say no a little more often.

He shares his secret wish of being a singer. Not a guitarist or a drummer, but a singer, perhaps an opera singer

Ash has recently left his 9 to 5 job and has set up his own Home Maintenance business Tick Services (0458153046) , so please support this great man who does his best to raise money for charity and provides his time to help coach and train young men.

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Pete and Dylan talk about this incredible “bucket list” race, the New York Marathon.

From the moment we walked into the expo we could feel the excitement and power of this fantastic event. The race was so well organised and the volunteers and crowds that lined the streets ensured that this was going to be the best endurance event that we had ever done.

We talk about the build up to the race, trying to get enough food into our bodies and enough sleep given the hurdles of travelling so far and having to wait around for hours before the start of the race. The race itself was simply incredible, the large crowds were screaming for the entire 42kms. We talk about the ups and downs through out the race and particular obstacles that this course provides.

We wrap up with another big change and challenge going forward for Dylan with Pete encouraging him to now take on a professional coach.

The podcast finishes off with our announcement that we are planning our next great adventure, the London Marathon. More news to follow shortly, so be sure to check out the Marathon Men facebook page.

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He played 178 AFL games, was a regular star on the AFL footy show, premiership player, author, motivator and more recently TED Talk speaker.

I could not have asked for a better person to interview, he was humorous and very open, his story telling ability, his passion and his genuine interest in talking about anything in an open and entertaining manner made the conversation incredibly engaging. No topic was off limits, including Glenns divorce, his unique piercing, the defining moment at age 17 that completely changed his life, his mentor and many other topics such as the education system and the current problems facing young men and the youth of Australia.

This is a very in depth chat with a man that reached the top of his sport and also became a household name through the exposure he gained as a regular guest on the top rating TV program, The Footy Show.

Most recently Glenn produced a TED TALK, discussing his mentor that helped changed the course of Glenns football career and his life.

Im sure you will enjoy this conversation as much as I enjoyed being there and I hope it helps you to become the person you are meant to be.

Please subscribe to the podcast and I would appreciate any feedback via [email protected] or via the Petetakos.com website. Feedback may be mentioned in the next podcast via a special mention.

You can learn more about this great man below:

https://www.glennmanton.com.au/

https://www.glennmanton.com.au/authentic-by-gm (purchase Glenns new book)

Instagram: GlennManton

“The Kookaburra: A story of male to male mentoring| Glenn Manton | TEDxStKilda

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Pete and Dylan have a great in depth chat about Dylans progress over the past year and how their preparation is going for the New York Marathon in 4 weeks time.

They talk about Dylans progress from being unfit and on a path that was a downward spiral and Petes comeback from a knee reconstruction only 6 months earlier. Also, how Pete was also able to provide guidance and help with setting  goals and writing a training program that enabled them to map a path to attempting to run the New York Marathon…..together

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