OPTIMISE | Health and Business

Nick Jackson is a clinical psychologist who specialises in EMDR, and on paper his life looked great. Then a near death experience on New Year’s Eve forced him to stop and ask the question so many high achievers avoid: is this it? I sat down with Nick to talk about what that moment taught him, why letting go of control has been his biggest shift, and how working on his inner game changed the way he lives, trains, and practises.

We also get into the emerging neuroscience showing that your brain actively predicts your reality, how EMDR works to update old memories, why insight alone rarely creates lasting change, and how moving from hustle to flow can make striving feel joyful instead of exhausting.

Key Discussion Points:

• A near death wake up call
• Success that still felt empty
• Letting go of control
• Trusting your intuition
• How your brain predicts reality
• How EMDR works
• Why insight alone isn’t enough
• Hidden trauma in high achievers
• From hustle to flow

Time Stamps:

00:00 Meeting Nick
00:34 The near death experience
02:58 Searching for meaning
04:24 Is this it?
06:09 Letting go of control
07:43 Why high achievers feel unfulfilled
09:17 When he couldn’t exercise
10:55 The feather, the brick and the truck
12:27 Trusting your intuition
14:16 Why logic can keep you limited
15:41 Growth never stops
17:01 Perception shifts vs toxic positivity
18:11 Your brain predicts your reality
21:05 What is EMDR?
25:02 EMDR vs subconscious reprogramming
26:51 The future of therapy
30:05 How healing is evolving
33:01 High achievers who say they have no trauma
35:05 Two triathlons, two very different races
39:11 From hustle to flow
40:12 Your energetic intention
41:32 Trusting what comes next
43:13 Why even psychologists need a coach
45:08 Making heaven out of hell
46:08 Where to find Nick
47:56 Final reflections

Brendt Langdon is a country Victoria business owner who built his career in civil excavation and construction before moving into the AI and tech space. On paper, life looked great, yet he still felt something was missing. I sat down with Brendt to talk about what happened when he started working on his inner game, and how asking one simple question, “what does Brendt actually want?”, changed the way he leads, decides, and lives.

We also get into letting go of guilt and second guessing, why giving should come from capacity rather than obligation, becoming more open and vulnerable as a business owner, and how he now uses AI to help founders stop being the bottleneck so they can get back to what matters most: relationships and connection.

• Doing what you want vs what you should
• Giving from capacity, not obligation
• Ending the second guessing
• Letting go of holiday guilt
• Trusting your gut over the to do list
• Vulnerability as a business owner
• Never waiting for life to clear up
• Removing yourself as the bottleneck
• Building business through relationships

00:00 Introducing Brendt
00:45 The conversation that started it all
05:01 Why a country boy gave mindset coaching a go
07:31 When life looks good on paper
09:38 Doing what you want vs what you should
10:44 Giving from capacity, not obligation
12:37 Less overthinking, less second guessing
13:22 How subconscious shifts show up
15:34 Letting go of holiday guilt
18:42 How this differs from business coaching
20:30 Why he couldn’t trust himself
21:43 Trusting your gut in business
23:41 Taking the lid off your potential
25:36 The biggest change in himself
27:13 Vulnerability and relationships
29:08 Science meets spirituality
33:15 Having support as a leader
36:02 From doing to receiving
37:01 Still a blokey bloke
38:02 Why you shouldn’t wait for life to clear up
38:58 From tradie to AI
41:54 Removing yourself as the bottleneck
44:33 Who he wants to help
48:03 Business doesn’t have to be lonely
48:51 Why he signed on again
53:34 Health habits and dropping old stories
57:29 Collaboration over competition
59:35 Where to find Brendt

Key Discussion PointsTimestamps

Jeremy Cabral spent 17 years helping build Finder into one of Australia’s best known comparison platforms, starting from a single Google problem he solved as a young self-taught web builder. I sat down with Jeremy to explore where his drive really comes from, including a childhood belief that he didn’t want to be a burden to his family, and how that quietly shaped his entire career.

We also talk about the punk concert that sparked a complete physical transformation, running a marathon after being told he couldn’t, why letting go is often where the breakthrough happens, and what it means to finally choose a purpose for yourself rather than solving problems for everyone else.

• Saving the family business at 15
• Solving Finder’s Google penalty
• Redefining the word selfish
• Proving the doctor wrong
• Leaving Finder after 17 years
• When obsession becomes self-doubt
• Ambition vs curiosity
• Clearing old subconscious programming
• Passing self-belief on to his daughters

00:00 Meeting Jeremy
00:33 Becoming a Finder co-founder
02:06 Not wanting to be a burden
03:43 Saving the family business with a website
06:11 Going out on his own and meeting Fred
08:16 Redefining selfish
09:04 The punk concert that changed everything
10:23 Committing to a marathon
12:43 Leaving Finder after 17 years
13:33 When strengths become weaknesses
14:38 Solving the Google penalty by letting go
17:17 Does he even have ambition?
20:28 Ambition vs following your curiosity
21:03 Why the marathon really mattered
24:00 Searching for a bigger purpose
25:37 Clearing the programming that holds you back
28:35 An unconventional breakthrough
29:46 From closed minded pharmacist to open
31:02 Marathon week mindset
32:22 A message to his daughters
34:17 Why high achievers keep things hard
35:02 The Bruny Island adventure
39:13 Documenting life for his kids
40:00 Seeing himself in his daughters
42:01 Shortening the time of suffering

Key Discussion PointsTimestamps

Luke Altschwager left school in year 10 to chase a professional golf career, spent a decade grinding the lower tours around the world, and came home with about $11 to his name. A few years later he owned a golf course. I sat down with Luke to talk about how he went from club pro to business owner, how he bought Parkwood International with no capital, and the mindset that let him treat a failed sporting career as the starting line rather than the finish.

We also get into the vision behind Palm Valley, the surf park and lifestyle precinct he is building in the heart of the Gold Coast with Mick Fanning, what it takes to raise over $160 million while protecting your investors, and how losing his dad has shaped what he values most: family, community, and giving back.

Key Discussion Points

• Leaving school in year 10 to play golf full time
• Handling the end of a sporting career without losing momentum
• Learning business from the ground up in a pro shop
• Buying a 56 hectare golf course with no money
• Breaking golf traditions to bring the whole community in
• Why looking forward can be both a strength and a coping mechanism
• Not riding the highs too high or the lows too low
• The vision for Palm Valley and partnering with Mick Fanning
• Raising capital while putting investors first

Timestamps

00:00 How we met
01:06 Leaving school to play golf
02:05 Landing on the Gold Coast
02:53 From tour player to club pro
06:04 Turning a losing pro shop around
07:33 Bringing community into golf
09:50 Buying a golf course with no money
12:32 The mindset behind the pivot from sport
15:45 Where his groundedness comes from
18:42 Not riding the highs and lows
21:03 Staying present through a hard season
22:24 Meeting his wife
23:25 From golf course to wave pool
25:04 The vision for Palm Valley
28:02 Bringing Mick Fanning on board
30:38 The $160M capital raise
33:10 Build timeline and why they won't rush it
35:30 Surf tourism next to world class breaks
37:22 Gratitude and losing his dad
39:22 Giving back

If you want to build a business from love, clarity, and internal alignment instead of fear, pressure, and proving, book a private consult here:

https://www.optimisehealthandbusiness.com/private-consult

In this episode, Skye and Christina unpack the trap many entrepreneurs fall into after achieving success, where the external win never creates the internal relief they expected.

They explore why so many high performers keep striving from fear, proving, and external validation, how subconscious conditioning can quietly run the whole game, and why real freedom starts when success is created from love, authenticity, and internal power instead of force.

They dive into:

◼️ Why external success rarely resolves an internal void for entrepreneurs

◼️ How proving, achieving, and seeking validation can become a hidden trap

◼️ Why relief after reaching a goal often fades quickly if there is no internal alignment

◼️ How early family conditioning can shape the goals people chase later in life

◼️ Why some dreams genuinely run their course and need to be released

◼️ How self-worth changes the way people make decisions, lead, and grow

◼️ Why authentic success comes from love and power rather than fear and force

◼️ How internal fulfilment creates calmer nervous systems and sharper decisions

◼️ Why seeking “more” can actually be a signal that deeper work is needed

◼️ How subconscious beliefs influence health, business, freedom, and relationships

◼️ Why entrepreneurs do not need to find the one perfect next move for life to open up

◼️ How awareness, alignment, and internal freedom can create more sustainable ambition

00:00:00 Why success often fails to create lasting relief

00:00:24 The trap entrepreneurs keep falling into

00:01:04 External validation versus internal alignment

00:01:38 Why reaching the goal does not always feel the way you expected

00:02:05 The discomfort of the unknown after success

00:02:37 How to tell when your energy is no longer aligned

00:03:30 When a dream has run its course

00:03:43 How childhood conditioning shapes adult ambition

00:05:17 Love versus fear as the real business driver

00:06:07 What self-worth changes in your body and business

00:07:10 Why authenticity is more relatable than strategy

00:08:28 The difference between external success and internal fulfilment

00:09:39 Defining love as a level of consciousness

00:11:53 Power versus force in business and life

00:13:50 What force looks like when ambition is fear-based

00:15:02 Why seeking more can be a sign something deeper is off

00:17:46 Why your next level can find you

00:20:31 How discomfort and contrast can still expand you

00:23:05 The real trap is improving at the wrong game

00:26:20 Why love is a powerful fuel for ambition, health, and freedom

00:27:03 Final invitation to work privately

Follow for more insights and updates:

Website: https://optimisehealthandbusiness.com

Skye Swift: https://www.instagram.com/skyeswift

Christina McGrath: https://www.instagram.com/christinamcgrath

If you want to improve your health, energy, and business performance without sacrificing one for the other, book a private consult here:

https://www.optimisehealthandbusiness.com/private-consult

In this episode, Skye and Christina break down why your greatest business asset is not your strategy, team, or product, but your health, and why so many entrepreneurs quietly undermine performance by treating health like a separate issue.

They explain how sleep, nervous system regulation, perception, subconscious beliefs, emotional weight, and self-worth all shape the way a business owner thinks, decides, leads, and performs, and why real health is far more than just fitness hacks or another gym routine.

They dive into:

◼️ Why health is not separate from business performance

◼️ How poor sleep, low energy, and reactivity affect leadership and decision-making

◼️ Why so many entrepreneurs protect cash flow, staff, and product while neglecting themselves

◼️ How the belief that you cannot have both success and health keeps people stuck

◼️ Why high performers often operate from responsibility and protection rather than true alignment

◼️ How identity, self-worth, and micromanagement can push health to the bottom of the list

◼️ Why health is mental, emotional, and energetic, not just physical fitness

◼️ How internal alignment changes motivation, movement, and food choices more sustainably than pressure does

◼️ Why conflicting health information creates confusion unless you personalise the strategy

◼️ How subconscious beliefs around worthiness and responsibility can show up physically in the body

◼️ Why the way you treat yourself shapes the way you lead and treat others

◼️ How your internal state can either catapult your business or quietly tank it

00:00:00 Why your health is your greatest business asset

00:00:31 The myth that you cannot have business success and health at the same time

00:01:25 Why external fixes are not the right starting point

00:02:05 How sleep, focus, and reactivity shape business decisions

00:03:35 Why high performers neglect their health in the first place

00:04:32 How identity, self-worth, and control drive unhealthy patterns

00:05:06 Why health is the first thing to slide for many entrepreneurs

00:06:01 Health is not just fitness, and that misunderstanding matters

00:07:05 Internal motivation, alignment, and sustainable movement

00:07:49 Why health advice feels overwhelming and often conflicting

00:08:30 The power of personalised strategy and subconscious change

00:10:03 How responsibility and self-perception can create physical weight

00:11:42 Why your body reflects how you are living

00:12:08 How your internal state becomes your real business card

00:13:09 Why even healthy high performers still have another level available

Follow for more insights and updates:

Website: https://optimisehealthandbusiness.com

Skye Swift: https://www.instagram.com/skyeswift

Christina McGrath: https://www.instagram.com/christinamcgrath

If you have built the business, made the money, and still feel like something is missing, book a private consult here:

https://www.optimisehealthandbusiness.com/private-consult

In this episode of Inner Game, Skye and Christina unpack why external success so often fails to create internal fulfilment, and why more money, more growth, or even slower living still will not fix the deeper void if the inner drivers stay the same.

They explore the difference between chasing goals for validation versus moving from true internal alignment, why high performers can feel isolated even when life looks objectively good, and how self-awareness, subconscious work, and nervous system alignment create a completely different experience of success.

They dive into:

◼️ Why external success cannot resolve an internal void on its own

◼️ How high performers can feel guilty admitting they are still unfulfilled

◼️ Why success can become isolating when the people around you cannot relate to your experience

◼️ How the drive that gets you to a goal often cannot sustain you once you are there

◼️ Why achieving the target can still leave you asking what is missing

◼️ The difference between chasing a bigger target and feeling internally aligned

◼️ How external validation can quietly replace true fulfilment without you noticing

◼️ Why self-awareness is the first step toward creating a life that feels good from the inside out

◼️ How subconscious conditioning, family influence, and inherited beliefs shape what success feels like

◼️ Why internal alignment can expand your life without forcing dramatic external change

◼️ How joy, curiosity, and health can enhance business rather than compete with it

00:00:00 Why success on paper can still feel empty

00:00:21 The guilt of feeling unfulfilled when life looks good

00:01:16 Why successful people often feel isolated with these thoughts

00:03:05 You can have everything except the feeling

00:04:10 Why the dopamine hit of achievement does not last

00:05:28 The difference between chasing more and moving from alignment

00:06:55 Why fulfilment comes from who you are, not just what you achieve

00:07:59 How bigger targets can become a substitute for internal work

00:08:48 The body signal that tells you you are out of alignment

00:09:33 Self-awareness as the turning point

00:10:25 Why flow, resonance, and alignment matter more than endless striving

00:12:16 Creativity, health, and receiving more from life

00:12:59 Getting to know yourself and asking better questions

00:14:17 Clearing subconscious conditioning that is not really yours

00:15:40 Why it takes bravery to admit something is still missing

00:16:06 When success stops being about chasing

00:17:16 Following joy without letting old programs run the show

00:19:08 Why internal fulfilment does not always require a dramatic life change

00:21:18 Why external changes alone will not solve an internal pattern

Follow for more insights and updates:

Website: https://optimisehealthandbusiness.com

Skye Swift: https://www.instagram.com/skyeswift

Christina McGrath: https://www.instagram.com/christinamcgrath

If success looks good on paper but still feels heavy inside, and you want support calming the hidden pressure behind your ambition, book a private consult here:

https://www.optimisehealthandbusiness.com/private-consult

In this episode, Skye and Christina unpack why so many entrepreneurs build the business, make the money, and create the success, yet still cannot switch their mind off.

They explore the hidden internal pressure behind high performance, why more strategy never fixes a nervous system that feels unsafe, and how subconscious patterns, stress responses, and unprocessed beliefs can quietly stop success from feeling as good as it looks.

They dive into:

◼️ Why entrepreneurial stress is often driven more by internal belief than external circumstance

◼️ How having more roles, money, and responsibility can increase invisible pressure rather than reduce it

◼️ Why technology and efficiency do not automatically create rest or recovery

◼️ How founders can confuse anxiety-fuelled output with real sustainable performance

◼️ Why a calm nervous system increases capacity rather than killing ambition

◼️ How thoughts like “everything depends on me” quietly shape stress and decision-making

◼️ Why wanting more time often points to an internal, not purely practical, problem

◼️ How subconscious programming shapes each person’s reality, reactions, and pressure patterns

◼️ Why unusual symptoms, poor sleep, and chronic stress are signals rather than random annoyances

◼️ How success becomes more enjoyable when drive is paired with flow, recovery, and alignment

◼️ Why subconscious work can shift pressure faster than layering on more tactics and strategies

00:00:00 Why success does not automatically switch stress off

00:00:21 The hidden pressure successful entrepreneurs still carry

00:00:54 Why the entrepreneurial brain never stops running

00:01:35 The problem with fuel that is not sustainable long term

00:02:03 Why recovery is where strength and receiving actually happen

00:02:28 The invisible pressure behind creation and responsibility

00:04:31 How growing success creates more pressure points

00:05:57 The beliefs many founders quietly live by

00:07:14 More money, more expansion, and more to lose

00:08:45 Why most people want more time but try to solve it externally

00:09:01 The subconscious patterns underneath entrepreneurial stress

00:11:20 “I’ll relax after this deal” and other warning signals

00:12:20 Why you do not need more strategy on top of pressure

00:13:11 The myth that anxiety is what makes high performers productive

00:14:43 How to keep ambition while removing internal pressure

00:15:26 Why the body always signals nervous system dysregulation

00:16:45 Why symptoms are not the real solution and alignment matters more

00:17:26 Sustainable success, values, and subconscious motivation

00:18:08 How perception shapes stress, survival, and restoration

00:19:19 The entrepreneur hack for switching stress off

Follow for more insights and updates:

Website: https://optimisehealthandbusiness.com

Skye Swift: https://www.instagram.com/skyeswift

Christina McGrath: https://www.instagram.com/christinamcgrath

If success has increased the pressure but not the peace, and you want support clearing the hidden blocks behind burnout, bottlenecks, and self-limiting patterns, book a private consult here:

https://www.optimisehealthandbusiness.com/private-consult

In this episode, Skye and Christina unpack why success does not automatically expand your true capacity, and why many high performers stay capped by perception, subconscious beliefs, and nervous system limits they cannot yet see.

They explore the hidden ceiling that keeps entrepreneurs, athletes, and leaders stuck repeating the same internal patterns, why self-improvement is not the same as self-expansion, and how subconscious work can create more joy, clarity, alignment, and sustainable growth than another strategy ever could.

They dive into:

◼️ Why your perception can become the ceiling on your growth long before your skill does

◼️ How subconscious beliefs shape what you think is possible in business, health, and life

◼️ Why self-improvement inside the same identity is different from true self-expansion

◼️ How labels and old identities quietly limit expression, ambition, and possibility

◼️ Why success amplifies who you already are instead of expanding your internal capacity

◼️ How nervous system dysregulation can cap performance, focus, health, and follow-through

◼️ Why recurring stress, sabotage, and bottlenecks often point to hidden subconscious blocks

◼️ Why letting go does not mean condoning the past, but refusing to keep living inside it

◼️ How people optimise the wrong things by chasing more habits, systems, and short-term fixes

◼️ Why subconscious change creates a new autopilot identity instead of another temporary strategy

◼️ What alignment really means when your inner world matches your true essence

00:00:00 Success does not expand your true capacity

00:00:21 Why high performers optimise the wrong things

00:00:41 The hidden ceiling of perception

00:01:26 How borrowed belief can expand your world

00:03:05 Why coaches help reveal capacity you cannot yet see

00:04:00 Self-improvement versus self-expansion

00:05:00 How subconscious beliefs shape perception

00:07:20 Why perception becomes a ceiling

00:07:56 When success stops being about money

00:10:06 Seeing clients in their full expression

00:10:56 Why jokes and offhand comments can reveal real blocks

00:12:12 How labels quietly keep people limited

00:13:06 The subconscious, spirituality, and true essence

00:14:22 The language of consciousness in business

00:16:02 Why success amplifies who you already are

00:17:23 Redefining success around joy, connection, and expression

00:19:49 Recurring bottlenecks and what they are costing you

00:20:38 How nervous system strain caps your potential

00:21:35 When the body starts sabotaging the push

00:24:53 Letting go without condoning the past

00:29:58 Why more strategies will not fix an internal problem

00:31:49 Subconscious work and the new autopilot identity

00:32:34 What alignment really means

00:33:29 The invitation to explore your true potential

Follow for more insights and updates:

Website: https://optimisehealthandbusiness.com

Skye Swift: https://www.instagram.com/skyeswift

Christina McGrath: https://www.instagram.com/christinamcgrath

If you want to reduce internal friction and create more clarity, ease, and performance in business and life, book a private consult here:

https://www.optimisehealthandbusiness.com/private-consult

In this episode, Skye and Christina unpack a brutal truth most entrepreneurs do not want to hear: time management is rarely a time problem.

They explore how procrastination, overwhelm, busyness, and the constant chase for productivity often come from internal friction, not a lack of hours. The conversation moves through subconscious patterns, joy, clarity, values, delegation, intuition, and the power of changing your inner state so time starts to feel more expansive instead of more scarce.

They dive into:

◼️ Why most time problems are actually internal friction problems

◼️ How procrastination often comes from unclear thinking, avoided decisions, or misaligned tasks

◼️ Why one hard conversation can drain more energy than hours of actual work

◼️ How subconscious patterns create clutter, resistance, and lost capacity

◼️ Why joy, clarity, and alignment can make decision-making faster and easier

◼️ How productivity addiction can become a trap for ambitious entrepreneurs

◼️ Why following values and internal truth can create more spacious time

◼️ How rushing makes people less focused, less present, and less effective

◼️ Why peace, patience, and presence can drive stronger results than force

◼️ How changing your internal state can unlock more time, energy, and expansion

00:00:00 Why success is not just strategy or hard work

00:00:17 The hidden factor behind different outcomes

00:00:39 The brutal truth about time management

00:01:15 Why procrastination is usually an energy leak

00:01:57 Clarity, chaos, and the real source of delay

00:02:41 How subconscious work creates more space

00:04:47 Follow the joy, not just the task list

00:06:13 The before and after version of entrepreneurial clarity

00:06:57 What bad decision-making really reveals

00:07:24 Why internal joy changes your need to do more

00:08:41 What the version of you who has it all would choose

00:10:18 Why joy can expand time in business

00:11:26 Productivity addiction and busyness as identity

00:13:12 Joy, presence, and the experience of time

00:14:45 Linking hard tasks to a bigger vision

00:16:03 Rushing from one now to another

00:17:16 Why rushing makes you less effective

00:18:42 Peace, patience, and the quality of outcomes

00:19:52 How you attain it is how you maintain it

00:21:07 The real brutal truth about time management

00:22:10 Why getting everything done never creates peace

00:23:11 There is never a better time to invest in yourself

00:24:38 I have all the time in the world for the right thing

00:25:26 How internal work expands what feels possible

00:26:18 Why it is not another strategy or productivity hack

00:27:25 The hidden blocks that steal your time and energy

00:28:14 Final message on leading a life you love

Follow for more insights and updates:

Website: https://optimisehealthandbusiness.com

Skye Swift: https://www.instagram.com/skyeswift

Christina McGrath: https://www.instagram.com/christinamcgrath