Mindgame

This week's conversation is with with Mick Finnegan, an incredible human being. A human being who has been through a lot, and when I say alot I mean it, nothing I have ever seen on a personal level before. However, he made sure to not let that adversity define his future and him as a person. Mick is now a mental health advocate who has worked in the NHS and with the Royal College of Psychiatrists as a National Advisor for the Mental Health Safety improvement programme in England. He also appeared on the popular sky sports show School of Hard Knocks where he was coached by British and Irish lions Will Greenwood and Scott Quinnell. More recently Mick has returned to Dublin to Study at Trinity College Dublin.

In this episode I break down the idea of "success" and how toxic it can be for individual growth and happiness. 

We give this culturally created term so much power over our lives, allowing it to dictate whether or not we can consider ourselves doing well in life. Allowing it to dictate whether or not we can be happy or feel any sort of positive emotions. Allowing external factors such as seeing other people being "successful" influence our persepctives on our own self, ability and potential is highly damaging. 

We need to realise that we are the only ones that stand in our way of success and that we are unique individuals with our own relative potential. Success or failure is determined and defined by you and no one else. If you can live authentically, live happily, and with your path/purpose your "success" will come.

Amy O'Donoghue is an Irish middle distance runner in 800m, 1500m and cross country. She has won numerous national titles as an underage and senior athlete. She has represented Ireland from U15 all the way to Senior level. Most recently, in the mixed relay at the European Cross Country Championships last december in Lisbon. 

On top of that, Amy is exremely passionate about self-development and mental growth. Sharing her knowledge and experiences and advice on Instagram to her following. In this conversation we dive deep into amys life as a high performance athlete, the mental skills and training she adopts to help her function at peak performance as well as her views on human potential and overcoming adversity. 

Alastair Harte is 5 time world champion fitness model, an avid entrepreneur being the owner and operator of two Body Image Health and Fitness gyms. On top of that, Alastair has a loud voice when it comes to mental health and is a very strong advocate for the conscious practice of bettering the mind. His ethos in life is simple, to help as many people as possible to build a betterversion of themselves from the inside, out. 

In this conversation we dive deep into Alastairs story from drug and alcohol addiction to successful business owner and mental health advocate. His passion for helping people better themelves is unparalleled and itishis solid belief in self discovery and self awareness that is the focal point. Through self discovery you can achieve your own relative potential. 

Frankie Horne is an ex South African Rugby Union player who represented the South African 7s team the BlitzBoks between 2007 and 2016, winning 68 caps. He captained the BlitzBoks in the 2013/14 season and was voted SA Player of the Year in the 2008/09 season. Frankie was also voted into the HSBC International Sevens Dream-team in 2013. He now applies his vast rugby, leadership and development knowledge as a high performance coach within the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport in South Africa. Not only does he help mould the next generation of talent on the rugby pitch, Frankie acts as a pivotal figure and role model who helps drive human performance and human potential. 

In this episode I discuss racism through a Psychological perspective and highlight how cultural norms, group identity and subconscious habits have created and sustained racism up until this day. I also chat about how conscious action is needed to shift the thinking patterns, behaviours and habits of people at an individual level to positively affect a societal and governmental level. By changing the habit we can slowly eradicate the existence of racism.

Jen Martin LLB MAaPPCP works as a Psychological Coach and Corporate Trainer. From SME's, Multinationals and Individuals, Jen has spent the last decade gratefully working with C-suite executives, government officials, diplomats, and actors in Europe, Russia and Asia. Jen’s psychological approach to English language and soft skills training for non-native English speakers, optimises business and management communication through Vulnerability work. Jen's coaching centres on cognitive-behavioural psychology for managing growth and change, harnessing positive change for individual, team and organisations alike. Passionate about supporting her work and clients with empirical evidence, through her leadership research, Jen champions and specialises in Vulnerability and Psychological Safety - promoting increased connection, engagement, commitment, collaboration, innovation and inclusion. Other areas of research interest include Self-Efficacy, Imposter Phenomenon, Resilience, Cognitive Flexibility and Optimal Performance. She is deeply passionate about fostering and leveraging human connection, the driving force behind her work and research.

Jen Martin LLB MAaPPCP works as a Psychological Coach and Corporate Trainer. From SME's, Multinationals and Individuals, Jen has spent the last decade gratefully working with C-suite executives, government officials, diplomats, and actors in Europe, Russia and Asia. Jen’s psychological approach to English language and soft skills training for non-native English speakers, optimises business and management communication through Vulnerability work. Jen's coaching centres on cognitive-behavioural psychology for managing growth and change, harnessing positive change for individual, team and organisations alike. Passionate about supporting her work and clients with empirical evidence, through her leadership research, Jen champions and specialises in Vulnerability and Psychological Safety - promoting increased connection, engagement, commitment, collaboration, innovation and inclusion. Other areas of research interest include Self-Efficacy, Imposter Phenomenon, Resilience, Cognitive Flexibility and Optimal Performance. She is deeply passionate about fostering and leveraging human connection, the driving force behind her work and research.

Dr. Fionn McSwiney is the founder of LUCID Nutrition Consultancy, an online service offering consultancy and coaching to the general population as well as athletes. In addition to his work with LUCID, Fionn is a post-doctoral research fellow at Dublin City University and a lecturer and research supervisor at Setanta College. Fionn holds a nutrition science PhD and has published nine times within the peer reviewed literature. Fionn is passionate about helping people improve their relationship with food through education; with a coaching centred approach around behavioural change. In this episode we discuss Fionns journey from simply getting by to PhD, understanding your own potential and improving your performance through a conscious shift in mindset. 

For more info visit: https://lucidnutritionconsultancy.com/

This weeks conversation is with Eimear Considine. Ireland international, Munster, UL Bohs Rugby player and ex Clare Football and Camogie player. Off the pitch, Eimear is a PE and Irish teacher TV pundit on Eir Sport and TG4 and most recently a Tackle your Feelings Ambassador. In this conversation we talk about being curious, finding the positives, becoming self-aware, coping with loss and achieving YOUR potential.