Episode 5: Chapter 3 - Lloyd Polkinghorne - Things which helped him continue to get better.

In the final episode of this initial series we meet Lloyd Polkinghorne, a 36 year old newspaper owner and editor and a former mixed irrigator from Barham in NSW. Lloyd was injured by a misfiring shotgun in 2013 whilst assisting neighbouring farmers to clear birds from their crops. Whilst the injuries he received were largely invisible, the effects upon him were significant. He's a tough, resilient and courageous man and an incredible community advocate.

In this chapter Lloyd describes a number of things which helped him get better, including redefining 'who' he is.

Whilst this is the final episode for the year, I've got some great interviews lined up to record in the months ahead and I look forward to sharing these with you next year. In the meantime, if you have any interview suggestions or feedback on the series thus far please feel free to reach out at: [email protected]

Stay safe... and keep going :)
Cheers, Robbie

Full transcripts and show notes are available for each chapter on the podcast website: storiesofrecovery.buzzsprout.com

Shownotes:

• 00:30 - Lloyd describes how he came to be the owner and editor of The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, initially purchasing it and then taking on the role of editor,
• ^03:06 - Goal setting is one of Lloyd's key pieces of advice to those recovering. He advises setting goals and making them small & realistic. Break them up into tiny bite sized pieces. As Lloyd reminds us: 'How do you eat an elephant?....One small bite at a time'. Consider to yourself 'what's the next little thing I want to achieve?'
  • ^For Lloyd, his kids were a fundamental goal that helped him keep going during the toughest of times. His goal was: "To be there for them and to show them that anything is possible and that they could, despite the challenges, rise above whatever they're going through",
  • Another example of Lloyd's: "In 12 months I want to have lost 'some' weight",
• ^08:00 - Family and community were very important in Lloyd's recovery. When he got back to a level of health where he could manage it he began to ask himself "What can I add to the world?"
• ^09:52 - Getting his hormone levels right was significant. Until he had these levels restored not much else was able to change. Getting these sorted was the starting point. This was the turning point which allowed him to begin to recover. Testosterone and growth hormone were significantly missing following his firearm accident,
• ^10:20 - Lloyd discusses trusting your own instinct and the importance of this,
• ^11:10 - Lloyd's greatest investment: Time spent on self development, meditation, quietening his mind and spending time in nature as meditation,
• ^13:07 - Lloyd talks about the mind shift that occurred over time that allowed him to look for and see the opportunities in his situation. He acknowledges this is very difficult, takes time and advises others to 'stay curious and rephrase the questions that you ask yourself'. For Lloyd, he asked himself "What else is possible?", "What are the opportunities here?" and "What are the things we can find?",
• 15:50 - Lloyd explains that he took 'little things' away from many things that he came across. He mentioned the book: Autobiography of a Yogi (a good description of it) and the video Enlightenment.

^Lloyd's main learnings