LifeDoneDifferent.ly

In this episode, we talk to Dave about:

• the importance of articulating a vision when you're working in a team
• the move from graphic designer to Adventurer
• the move from adventurer to community leader
• not wanting to wait for the bad thing to happen before making changes to his life
• being a fortunate kid
• having 18 different addresses by the time he was 18 (because his Dad was in the RAF)
• not needing to make long-term friends because he was going to move on
• being physically and mentally bullied at school
• when football isn't enough
• planning his suicide 
• feeling there was something important inside waiting to get out
• the deliberate act of escaping home so he could grow up
• beginning to understand the importance of long-term relationships
• understanding that nobody else cares what you do, you have to make it happen
• university life 
• becoming a football entrepreneur 
• becoming a writer, storyteller and maker of small films
• teaching himself graphic design so he didn't have to make the trip across town
• being lost/having no direction
• feeling there was something more to life
• his 'crossing the threshold' moment 
• the first step being late for work
• understanding he had a negative approach to live 
• starting to say yes instead of no
• starting to explore the town in which he lived
• the benefits of a cardboard programmer
• wanting to impress himself
• his habit of not spending very much
• the skateboard that became the turning point
• breaking Jack Smith's world record for the longest journey by skateboard
• understanding it's not what you earn, it's what you don't spend
• understanding that the feeling of being alive comes with higher highs and lower lows and that it's worth it
• the importance of taking small steps / one day at a time
• the importance of focusing on what you want to achieve NOT what you want to avoid
• post-trip book writing depression
• the joy of being in nature
• finding the things that bring him joy in life
• turning pub ideas into reality
• ten years living out of a rucksack
• combating post-expedition depression with expedition 1000 - having the next thing to look forward to
• paddleboarding the Mississippi with alligators
• wild camping  
• Yestival, a festival where people share their stories of adventure.
• how one step leads to another
• why an 'existing life' isn't enough

  https://sayyesmore.com/

We talked to Kim about

• Studying the stoner's degree that is music technology
• Not feeling he could focus enough to become a professional singer-songwriter
• Swapping music tours for travelling
• Enjoying the creative process
• Going to the Happy Startup School Summercamp five years previously when first looking to leave employment
• On the travelling bug and finding the places that other people don't
• Having a Mum and Dad who encouraged adventure
• The importance of a 'Buddy' (Nicola in Kim's case) when stepping outside a comfort zone 
• Wanting to be a pioneer
• Travelling to Central America not understanding that no one speaks English
• Almost leaving Central America because it was too daunting
• On the words of Warren who becomes Kim's Central American Mentor "don't be soft"
• The kindness of strangers
• The fine line between trusting and being wary of strangers  
• The adventure of moving from Bognor Regis to Brighton
• Being a confident version of himself and getting his first career job in social media 
• Becoming bored and selling everything to go on another adventure when life was perfectly comfortable
• His obsession with islands
• Finding the edge's of the territory in which he's just arrived
• Not wanting to miss out on an experience 
• The moment he realised he wasn't going to get another job again
• Arriving back in the UK with no money
• Living on a leaky boat with nappies on the ceiling to collect the drips 
• The need for resilience when making a transition (for Kim, from employment to self-employment) 
• Starting the adventure company 'Unknown Epic'
• The importance of direction / a goal when trying to make decisions
• Becoming a coach to friends who struggle to step outside their comfort zone
• The extent to which we all grow is in direct proportion to the uncomfortableness we experience
• Getting married one day and losing his father-in-law the following morning 
• Losing confidence, depression and letting his wife down    
• The importance of noticing rock-bottom
• The importance of asking for help, talking and therapy
• How Barry the Van became Kim's therapist and allowed him to focus on something other than his depression 
• The benefits of living on a shoestring
• Setting up Touch Video Academy and learning about business
• The difficulty of balancing adventure and the environment
• Founding Unlost  
• The constant challenge of balancing the need for money with the need for adventure  

Derek Sivers Ted Talk covering the Leaders & Followers
Unknown Epic - Forgotten Valleys
Touch Video Academy
Unlost

We recorded this episode at Port Moor Cottage, a shack on stilts sitting on an island in Essex. It would be an understatement to say we've learned from our conversations with guests. They have been kind enough to share their stories of change and do so in some depth. In this wrap-up episode we talk about:

• The importance of a Support Team, positive people that have a genuine interest in you, your wellbeing and your growth
• The benefits of adopting a child-like curiosity to life
• The doors that can open when we reassess what we value (trading with different currencies)
• The way the stories we tell ourselves can either slow down or speed up our growth
• How redefining something we value e.g. adventure, can open up new doors
• How difficult, exciting and rewarding stepping into the unknown can be
• The importance of noticing how you feel
• The importance of sharing the story you want to be able to tell about yourself

In this conversation we explored:

• Why people often apologise for the work they do
• The stories we tell ourselves and how they can limit our development
• The inevitably of the ups and downs in our lives
• Why he eventually got expelled from college
• His first job selling computers at Dixons
• Meeting Sir Clive Sinclair
• His expected life trajectory of marry, kids, mortgage 
• His problem with authority 
• His ability to translate the features of technology into the benefits for humans
• The moment he realised his employer was trying to trap him
• Why it's important to expose your kids to people who live different lives
• Why Mike leaves things to the last minute
• The healthy discipline of deadlines
• Careers 1, 2 and 3
• How a career in TV lead to a career developing websites for Channel 4
• Why people try so hard to see something new as a minor variation of something old when in fact it's so very different 
• How Mike got TV Producers 
• Why Mike and authority are not comfortable bedfellows. 
• Why he's the captain of his own ship and how he takes full responsibility for it.  
• Mike's Beatles moment when he turned down the opportunity to develop the Big Brother website because he thought the whole Big Brother idea was a stupid concept
• Why Mike operates at the bleeding edge and why it doesn't make financial sense
• What happens to cool ideas when the money men arrive
• Edisons idea that the best use of the telephone was to broadcast the opera directly into peoples homes  
• The importance of vision versus the dangers of being wedded to it
• Would you want to be Elon Musk?
• 3D printing and space exploration as the bleeding edge technologies of now 
• Wanting to be remembered for something
• Why Mike changed his story from 'I've had so many bad bosses' to 'I shouldn't have a boss'  
• Why pilots died when the designers designed for Mr Average 
• The moment Mike was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
• How Mike's fatigue facilitated focus
• How Mike managed to treat his Cancer as a selfish creative Cancer
• Mustard Gas = Chemotherapy
• The importance of white blood cells and why they're like aged skinheads 
• The importance of managing energy when you have the CLL cancer
• Why you should have a blood test if your neck starts swelling up and your energy levels are low   
• The importance of doing things that make you or the people you love happy and not the things you feel compelled to do
• The importance of dealing, living and dying gracefully with cancer
• Why people stick with work they don't enjoy when they could stop and learn to live on less money 
• Why Mike got a rescue dog and how Scrabble taught him
• The unexpected consequence of UKIP taking offence to one of Mike's tweet
• Why he watched every single episode of Trumpton
• Why it's important to say what he wants and if the audience reacts well he explores it further 
• His search for a lovely publisher
• The joy of negotiating a publishing deal through his dog
• How Greta Thunberg talks truth to power
• The rough and the smooth of changes to our DNA
• Poo powered rockets
• The joy of seeing his art on someone else's wall
• What it's like to live day-to-day

A few nice quotes:

"Whose voice is it telling you that you shouldn't do something you want to do?" Mike Dicks   

"I love deadlines, I love the whooshing sound as they pass me by" Douglas Adams
"Why do we work so hard to impress the people we so dislike?" Cameron and Rob
"Neil Armstrong left a poo on the moon" Mike Dicks
"Every 24 hours you get another chance to have a good day" Mike&Scrabble
"How can you release yourself from the trap of money?" Mike Dicks
"There is a dog for everyone, if you don’t have one it’s because you haven’t met enough dogs yet" Mike&Scrabble

Mike's Shop
https://www.young-enterprise.org.uk/
https://www.sketchup.com/
Peter Dawe
BPS Space (Elon Musk's Prodigy) 
99 Designs
Scrabble & friends on the Number 25 bus
Greta Thunberg - full speech
The Brexit Comic

Twitter
@mikedicks 
@Trump_ton
@TheBrexitComic
@TheLastIceberg
@mikeandscrabble

This conversation in the Bunny Bus covered many moments in the life of Pablo Woodward. This includes the arrival of his 3 children and the Disco Bunny plus:

• Realising he didn't have a life he'd asked for or wanted
• His quest to understand himself
• Going from not believing in himself to doing what he does with passion
• Going into shock when one of his first video's went viral
• Being accepted 
• His need to learn, grow and push himself
• His sales pitch of free positive energy, free music, free smiles, free glitter, free chalk
• Pablo noticing the different reactions from different people and understanding he makes people feel uncomfortable
• Wanting to stop dreaming and start doing
• His mission to unite people by providing them with opportunities to share positive experiences
• What it's like to survive on £20 per day 
• A life where material success is living in the Bunny Bus, not the car.
• His perfect future where he's disco bunnying all over the world
• His search for love  
• The huge difference between his first and second lives 
• The unexpected consequences of being adopted by a new family into a new and very different culture
• His time spent doing conventional jobs
• His breakdown or breakthrough moment 
• Why you don't have to wait until you're desperate to inspire yourself and make changes to your life
• Noticing that he was living in his very own metaphorical prison, his feeling that he was trapped and wanting something else 
• One day living in a castle, the next day living in a car 
• The worst thing in life being death by boredom 
• His faith in people and that cries for help will be heard
• On receiving sexual abuse because of the way he looks
• The confusion caused by the Disco Bunny    
• Countering aggression with politeness and the importance of emotional intelligence
• Why The Disco Bunny goes wherever you least expect to see him
• On not wanting to live in a house
• On the very recent arrival of baby Rainbow Soul who right now has everything she needs i.e. warmth, milk & love
• Life is a puzzle. How can I continue to work on and share my happiness?
• Why he left his two oldest children, his house, his job, his relationship and Australia    
• A good father is a happy father
• If you only had one life, what would you do with it? I've decided to be the Disco Bunny 

Cafe Bombon - freshly brewed coffee served in a glass with a dollop or two of condensed milk
Jeff from Oregon mentioned the Aria Code Podcast with Rhiannon Giddens
Viral video of the DB and old lady on the streets of Brighton
https://www.thediscobunny.com/
https://www.pablowoodward.com/

We talked to Rik and Hen about the new life they've created and how. They talk to us about:

• The productivity benefits of slowing down
• The importance of taking ownership of how we spend our time
• The importance of understanding when working harder isn't working
• Financial security in the future v being energised and healthy now
• The importance of creating time in order to connect with oneself
• Recognising rock bottom
• 'Time' becoming their new currency 
• The vicious circle of the hard working week followed by the getting smashed weekend 
• The crucial difference between knowing what to do and doing it 
• How a focus on his own health lead to Rik developing HAPS 
• The link between nutrition and mental health
• The health benefits associated with learning and purpose 
• How to increase your serotonin levels naturally
• How crucial a 'support team' is to creating personal change
• What it means to be a 'digital nomad'
• How a change in our environment makes personal change so much easier
• Enjoying the journey versus getting to the destination
• How cutting cuts can lead to innovation
• The importance of telling people what you're going to do
• The power of becoming vulnerable
• Why we should avoid Instagram lives
• The importance of tribes
• No decisions to make v Many decisions to make / Unconscious v Conscious / Unknown v Known
• The benefits of travelling on a limited budget
• Setting up The Slow Farm in Arrabida Natural Park south of Lisbon, Portugal

https://www.propellernet.co.uk/
https://www.wearehaps.com/
http://www.thehappystartupschool.com/
https://slowcowork.com

These show notes are a duplicate of those found in Part 1.

 Our conversation with Liam covered many topics. He talked openly about:

• Growing up thinking he was the dumb one
• Failing all his GCSE's 
• Thinking he has undiagnosed dyslexia
• Finding confidence in his quick-wittedness and his climbing ability 
• Deciding to study climbing trees because he was already good at that
• Feeling part stupid, part genius
• His talent for doing dickish things, just to see a person's reaction
• Telling himself "don't be nervous because your brain will cope when the time comes"
• His preference for enduring the feeling of being afraid than being someone who couldn't do things
• Telling people he can do things and then works out how to do it
• Not celebrating early. He waits until the job is done and he's home.
• Getting  into trouble on the first day of everything and puts it down to being over-excited
• Being a bit of a show-off and his six months working on the stage at the Blaydon Races Bar in Tenerife
• His spell working in customer services as a stepping stone to Big Brother
• His confidence that he would be chosen to appear on Big Brother 6 in 2005
• His Mum's Multiple Sclerosis as a reason for auditioning for Big Brother
• Being turned down for Big Brother 6 and not knowing why
• Why it's important to be the best version of yourself, you can be
• His last-minute application for Big Brother 8, his invitation to take part and his last-minute rejection
• What it's like to be chopping trees when you're meant to be live on Big Brother 
• Two weeks into BB8, finding yourself in Chris Tarrant's dressing room waiting to go in
• Enjoying Big Brother because he wasn't at work
• What it's like, after 6 days in the house, to be voted by housemates as the person to receive £100k no strings attached
• Being motivated by experiences, not money and why the £100k prize didn't cause the controversy it was designed to cause
• His attitude of a no, only being a no today and feeling that something might happen tomorrow
• Seeing his brother and Dad as he came out of the Big Brother house 
• His Dad's ability to bring him back down to earth
• The first of 600 personal appearances at a Glasgow student union and why red wine and vodka is essential
• Why it's important to share the experience with friends
• Why he didn't buy into the fake girlfriend's scene
• Shutting down the Metro Centre
• The low point where he feels numb and is pretending to be busy and okay
• Moving to London and the relative obscurity 
• Giving stand-up comedy a go and believing he can do anything if he's motivated enough
• Auditioning for Billy Elliott when he can't dance    

Liam McGough - The Tree Guy
Big Brother 8 - Wikipedia
Liam in action on Big Brother 8 
 

Our conversation with Liam covered many topics. He talked openly about:

• Growing up thinking he was the dumb one
• Failing all his GCSE's 
• Thinking he has undiagnosed dyslexia
• Finding confidence in his quick-wittedness and his climbing ability 
• Deciding to study climbing trees because he was already good at that
• Feeling part stupid, part genius
• His talent for doing dickish things, just to see a person's reaction
• Telling himself "don't be nervous because your brain will cope when the time comes"
• His preference for enduring the feeling of being afraid than being someone who couldn't do things
• Telling people he can do things and then works out how to do it
• Not celebrating early. He waits until the job is done and he's home.
• Getting  into trouble on the first day of everything and puts it down to being over-excited
• Being a bit of a show-off and his six months working on the stage at the Blaydon Races Bar in Tenerife
• His spell working in customer services as a stepping stone to Big Brother
• His confidence that he would be chosen to appear on Big Brother 6 in 2005
• His Mum's Multiple Sclerosis as a reason for auditioning for Big Brother
• Being turned down for Big Brother 6 and not knowing why
• Why it's important to be the best version of yourself, you can be
• His last-minute application for Big Brother 8, his invitation to take part and his last-minute rejection
• What it's like to be chopping trees when you're meant to be live on Big Brother 
• Two weeks into BB8, finding yourself in Chris Tarrant's dressing room waiting to go in
• Enjoying Big Brother because he wasn't at work
• What it's like, after 6 days in the house, to be voted by housemates as the person to receive £100k no strings attached
• Being motivated by experiences, not money and why the £100k prize didn't cause the controversy it was designed to cause
• His attitude of a no, only being a no today and feeling that something might happen tomorrow
• Seeing his brother and Dad as he came out of the Big Brother house 
• His Dad's ability to bring him back down to earth
• The first of 600 personal appearances at a Glasgow student union and why red wine and vodka is essential
• Why it's important to share the experience with friends
• Why he didn't buy into the fake girlfriend's scene
• Shutting down the Metro Centre
• The low point where he feels numb and is pretending to be busy and okay
• Moving to London and the relative obscurity 
• Giving stand-up comedy a go and believing he can do anything if he's motivated enough
• Auditioning for Billy Elliott when he can't dance    

Liam McGough - The Tree Guy
Big Brother 8 - Wikipedia
Liam in action on Big Brother 8 
 

We chatted to Alastair at the British Library. He talked to us about:

• His natural personality of nervousness, stress and hate of late 
• Coaxing himself to become more curious, more spontaneous, more relaxed and more adventurous  
• Differentiate between the things where you have control and those you don't i.e. don't get frustrated with the waves because you can't change them
• Confidence is built from doing things and the trick is to keep the momentum going
• The impact of his adventures on his life - and becoming more of the person he wants to be
• Learning to focus on what matters in life
• The power of laughter when things aren't going so well
• Cycling 46k miles around the world which took him 4 years, through 60 countries and 5 continents - all on a total budget of £7k
• Cycling around the world when you begin to understand how little of the world you've seen 
• Walked across India and Iceland
• Ultramarathons and expeditions across oceans, deserts, the Arctic and Greenland
• On wanting to become a tough guy like Ranulph Fiennes
• Summoning up the guts to take on an adventure when normal guys like him don't do adventures - they live normal lives
• The moment he committed to his first adventure - when he wrote a letter to Mr Walker saying thanks but no thanks to the offer of a job as a Science Teacher
• The power of writing a letter to tip his head full of daydreams and insecurities into action 
• Why cycling is the perfect way to travel
• Wanting to break free from ordinary and do something extraordinary and difficult for the first time in my life
• The chip on his shoulder at being so ordinary and average
• His habit of getting his school work done immediately and then relaxing 
• His spur of the moment decision to join the Territorial Army and why he enjoyed the experience
• Underestimating the horribleness of the adventure and craving a normal life
• The uselessness of using the finish line as motivation because it's so far away   
• When during the 3rd year of 4, he finally started to enjoy his trip
• Solitude and Loneliness being two sides of the same coin   
• When he came back, noticing that his values hadn't changed but his focus had - he was far more aware who he was and what mattered to him
• The two years he spent talking in schools about his adventures  
• Ditching his planned South Pole trip with a mate in favour of time with his son 
• The routine of the school run
• Learning to make a living from adventure writing
• Becoming a brand
• Switching from a few big adventures to many small adventures
• Being motivated by the opportunity to become self-aware and not the finish line
• Understanding that the reasons he started his adventures were no longer relevant and he needed to find a different way 
• How he used the violin to bring fear and excitement back into his life
• Why travel doesn't have a monopoly on adventure  
• The benefits of becoming more childlike in his approach
• Not coping with the routine of being a father
• Designing short meaningful adventures for others
• Learning the violin for seven months (and still being rubbish)
• Walking 500 miles for one month through Spain with his violin, no money and no credit card
• His No.1 rule of spending the money earned each day from busking (120 Euro's in one month) - he spent it all so he'd be back to no money and a state of fear
• Looking for the opportunities to have micro-adventures in nature
• Scheduling a tree climb once a month into his Google Calendar
• Learning that it's more important to have a lifetime of small little adventures than it is to do a few big adventures
• The ongoing wrestling match he has with himself    

https://www.alastairhumphreys.com/
Living Dangerously by Ranulph Fiennes
Seth Godin Blog
Do Something Different 
My Midsummer Morning
https://www.nicolabenedetti.co.uk/