Self-development: Ebony Rainford-Brent

Why continually working on yourself is worth it, and how to do it, with Ebony Rainford-Brent. Ebony is a former England cricketer who won both the World Cup and the Ashes during her career. She was also the first black woman to play for England. Since retiring, she’s joined the Test Match Special team, becoming a part of one of sport’s great broadcasting institutions. She’s also a motivational speaker, a podcaster and was appointed Surrey’s first director of women’s cricket. The theme of this chat is 'self-development'. Ebony suffered a huge personal tragedy when she was just five, her oldest brother died after being a victim of knife crime. They discuss how that impacted her and her family, and some of the reasons why knife crime is such a big issue, and what could be done to help reduce it. Ebony grew up without much material wealth, but her early experiences helped her develop resilience, and a willingness to take risks. She discovered a passion for cricket aged 10, despite having written it off as a boring sport before having even tried it, so they discuss the importance of trying things and capitalising on opportunities. Aged 19, she suffered a pretty catastrophic back injury which meant she could barely walk and faced never playing sport again. Despite sinking into a deep depression, that experience eventually shaped her future as well as her interest in self-development. Ebony and Simon discuss some powerful techniques for being able to perform on command and the importance of habits, they talk about embracing your dark side, and accepting yourself rather than trying to fix yourself, and seeing opportunity in situations that others would simply dismiss. They also discuss strategic thinking and embracing JOMO (the joy of missing out) not FOMO (the fear of missing out). Ebony and Simon also discuss a number of books that have impacted their personal quests for self-development.