Lift Your Game Podcast

This week we relaunch into the new brand, Lift Your Game Podcast. As the head trainer at Lift Your Fitness. I believe everyone of us has the potential to find another level, we can all Lift Our Game.

In 1992, two months after his 22nd birthday, Cordell was en route to his first professional audition when an accident changed his life forever. Only a mile and a half away from home, his Jeep was t-boned and flipped, and Cordell was ejected from his vehicle, hitting a telephone pole that crushed his spinal cord. The accident left him paralyzed from his mid-chest down. 

After four months of recovery and physical rehabilitation at the Rusk Institute at New York University, Gabriel continued to pursue his dream of being an actor, now as a paraplegic. He established his acting career on stage and screen, with credits including Dexter, Numb3rs and Joan of Arcadia.

At the age of 42, Cordell focused on a different kind of role. He set out to become the first person to roll across the United States in a standard, manual wheelchair — a 3,100-mile journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic, the final destination being his hometown of West Hempstead, New York. The inspiring trek is the subject of an upcoming documentary film called, Roll With Me: A Journey Across America.

In 2014, Gabriel traveled to Israel and mounted a Roll for Peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, completing that 100km journey from Haifa to Tel Aviv in his wheelchair.

In 2015, he teamed with the North Shore Animal League America and Bianca's Furry Friends to raise money and awareness by rolling 123 miles across Long Island, New York.

As a motivational speaker, Gabriel Cordell finally gets to share his inspiring story of turning tragedy into triumph. His topics include, Finding Your Purpose, Embracing Your Circumstances and The Power of The Human Will.

It is impossible to overstate the impact on Australian Sport this week's guest had during his career. Anthony Koutoufides revolutionised the greatest game on earth, Australian Rules Football.

The story of Kouta is so much more than that. It is a family story, with his father fleeing Egypt and his mother leaving Northern-Italy. A migrant success story of family sacrificing it all for the next generation. In this episode we touch on a number of these achievements including some memorable moments and also Kouta reveals some of the tougher moments. One moment that stands out to me, is that whilst Kouta was both a gifted athlete and an exceptional footballer, he had to earn his opportunity. It was not simple a given that he would go on the become one of the greatest to play the game, he had to work tirelessly toiling for years before being given his opportunity.

This story is one of perseverance, relentless work ethic and the evolution from a shy kid from the burbs to a self-assured superhuman of god-like proportions.

Manuela Berchtold is a pioneer in Australian Olympic history. Before we could walk on the moon we had to first realise it was possible to reach outer space. Manuela represented Australia at the 2002 Salt Lake City and 2006 Torino Winter Olympics. In between these games Manuela had to overcome two knee reconstructions, which is absolutely incredible. Manuela set a new high for Australian women moguls reaching the final, showing the next generation anything is possible if you put in the work. Now as the Founder of High Country Fitness and SnowFitness Manuela continually sets a high bar for the industry. If someone could bottle the energy Manuela has they would be an overnight millionaire. We go into a number of defining moments throughout Manuela's life which I find absolutely fascinating.

Peter is an internationally recognised thought leader of culture as a driver of peace and innovation. Before founding Cultural Infusion in 2002, Peter had an extensive career in the arts as a creative director, producer, artistic director, music director, composer and a champion of intercultural dialogue. He produced major intercultural productions for the United Nations, the Parliament of World Religions, and the United Religions Initiative. As the CEO and Founder of Cultural Infusion they have developed an incredible tool called Diversity Atlas which gives organisations the power to unlock the potential of diversity in our global wold. If you are a business leader you should definitely check this out.

To sum up Peter's life in just a few minutes is impossible, but in today's episode we delve into some of the greatest moments in his life including studying the art form of conducting in the former Czechoslovakia, his incredible experience exploring all parts of the world. Importantly we talk about the nuances of intercultural dialogue, a skillset that is so important in our world at this moment in time. We reflect on some lessons history provides us and so much more. This episode leans into one of the core Quartic Pillars, philosophy and provides you an opportunity to reflect on the important question of how can we all develop greater empathy for our fellow human beings from all corners of the globe. I really enjoyed this episode, Peter is incredibly knowledgeable on so many different topics.

Sue's transformational journey is phenomenal. At 335 pounds which is approximately 152 kilos, Sue couldn't walk a block, fit into a restaurant booth or even tie her shoes. But one day Sue decided this lifestyle was no longer who she wanted to be. Today Sue shares the journey from this beginning to representing America in her age group at the Sprint Triathlon World Championships finishing 6th and placing as the first American. This story is truly inspiring and proves to anybody that anything is possible at any age. All you have to do is decide what your standards are and take actions to live up to the standards you set for yourself. Sue has recently written a book detailing this journey and her philosophy titled The Athlete Inside: The Transforming Power of Hope, Tenacity, and Faith. I will include a link to this book in out weekly email, The Sunday Setup and also on our website. I definitely recommend you grab a copy of this book or gift this to someone you know. If you haven't signed up to the Sunday Setup I highly encourage you to do so, simply head to quartic.club to do so.

Today on the show I am excited to bring you one of the all time nice guys, the truly humble and unbreakable Joel Dunstan. I first met Joel in a physical rehabilitation platoon in the Australian Army, a space where people with significant injuries would spend time with specialists, PTIs and physiotherapists. Joel's story is one of battling through a ridiculous amount of injuries and setbacks which we will go into today. Despite all of the setbacks and injuries, Joel still found a way to overcome these and has gone on to use this life experience to help Invictus Games competitors, support the South Australian Fire Service in developing injury screening protocols and also serve as the Head of Strength and Conditioning for the Adelaide Crows FC AFLW team. We talk about injury prevention and his journey thus far. Joel is understated, genuine and truly remarkable.

As always, if you enjoyed this episode which I know you will, please share this with one other person you know and we would really appreciate it if you could leave a review on Apple Podcasts. That would seriously mean a lot.

We are always bringing you stories of remarkable people and given tomorrow is Mother's Day here in Australia, I wanted to bring you in part the story of my mother. An inspiration to me, the person who has had the greatest influence in shaping who I am in my life. We go into some of the interesting characters in our family including the incredibly inspiring Sheila Mageean, my Nan, a strong and incredibly kind woman. We talk about some of the family stories, that I am sure we all have, whilst we only scratch the surface, this might give some insights into what it was like in our family household. Definitely what some might say is unique. The reason I have decided to bring you this episode, is firstly I consider my mother to be remarkable and secondly I am extremely grateful for the upbringing we had. Whilst it was certainly no picnic in the park, the lessons learnt helped shaped my perspective on life and I will be forever grateful. Whatever you are doing this mothers day, show gratitude to those that helped raise you. I would encourage you to look at even the toughest moments in your life as opportunities to learn from and harness your own sense of resilience.

What a special episode we have for you today. I am especially thrilled to bring this episode to you. As I have shared with you in the past, I've turned my attention to training in the sport of triathlon and our guest today is arguably one of, if not the most in form 70.3 Ironman athletes on the planet, Dr Hannah Wells.

2019 was a fantastic year for Hannah, winning every race she entered including on home soil, the Ironman 70.3 Taupo in NZ. As I find with most Kiwis, Hannah is incredibly humble and we touch on how Hannah managed to find her own sense of self belief, a process that has taken time, and some fantastic recommendations you can take away an apply in your own life.

Today on the podcast we have a really passionate guest who is beginning to create something truly special. Jackson Irwin is from the tech world and given Anzac Day is this week, his story of galvanising a local community to reinvigorate his local RSL is timely. We go into a number of topics of conversation but one key learning is how to start a movement and how to build an Army of highly engaged supporters.

Jackson originates from the Tech and Start up world and has recently created an initiative known as the one piece Army. The concept is really simple. People join a movement whereby you collect one piece of rubbish, take a selfie and upload it to the WhatsApp group he has created. This idea has lead to a ground swell of support across the world with his latest overall update, in week 9  - that I received as part of this group, is 22 people 9 countries including The US, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Laos, Thailand, Portugal, Colombia and South Africa, totals 30,401 pieces of rubbish.

This amazingly simple idea is gaining serious traction and is going from strength to strength, lead by Jackson's passion and skillset. This week is also Earth Week and just another reminder that we need to take care of our planet. We are capable, we are smart enough to solve the greatest problems we are facing and I believe with great leadership we will create a more just world that is peaceful and sustainable.