In this episode of the podcast Gavin is joined by Rick Ruppenthal, a retired paramedic who came across the Three Principles in 2017 and saw them as the missing link between thriving or just surviving in an industry filled with chaos and uncertainty.
Since joining the 3PGC Apprentice Programme, Rick has turned his attention more to the mental health and wellbeing of responders and others who feel disconnected.
Rick is the founder of the Unbroken Hero Project, dedicated to bringing mental wellbeing to those who serve in the military, medical, fire and police services.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Being a paramedic is filled with experiences, some could be classified as good, some bad. I didn’t ask or look to be a paramedic, it wasn’t on my bucket list, but being a paramedic turned out to be my calling. But after being talked into it and completing my training, the very first patient I treated, I reached down and touched this lady’s radial pulse and something sparked in me and said “you’re in the right profession at the right time, this is for you”, and I took it as a gift and ran with it for the next 30 years.
- I noticed some people that were not thriving [like I was], they experienced the same scenarios but were having totally different experiences. Some coped with them in far different and not healthy ways. Towards the end of my 30 years, I got into the educational department, and I wanted to work on programmes that would change mindsets around understanding why people weren’t thriving. One of the things I discovered was that we don’t teach soft skills, coping skills, mindsets, feelings, we teach content: You see something you deal with it.
- We live our experiences through the feelings of our thinking, it’s inside out. As a society, and particularly around the culture in the service, we really don’t have a grasp on our feelings. In fact, I think we have a phobia of our bad feelings that, when we have upsetting feelings, there’s a misunderstanding that we must do something about them, that there’s something wrong with me when I’m having them.
- What if we are already more than equipped for failure, we just forgot about that? We have innate health and wellbeing within us, we have the ability to talk ourselves out of that space, through all the chatter and all the noise of the content of our thinking; the judgements and the meanings that we put on things. When we let go of that, we naturally fall back into that space of wellness, where resilience really lies.
BEST MOMENTS
‘When I first started, post-traumatic stress was not an acronym, we called it burned out, shell-shocked. And we didn’t know how to deal with it, it comes with the job, what were you expecting?’
‘People are always doing the best they can with the level of understanding they have at the moment.’
‘We have a very high suicide rate among responders, across the world. We’re in the top 10 of professions with high suicide rates globally.’
‘F.E.A.R. is False Emotions Appearing Real.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
I am Rick Ruppenthal, retired paramedic with 30 years of service and now a Mental Health Educator, Transformative Coach/Mentor and Certified Change Practitioner.
When it comes to our mental wellbeing and peace of mind there is only ONE PROBLEM – psychologically, we get caught up in the content of our thinking and get lost in it.
THERE IS ONE CURE: Through an understanding of who we are, how minds work, and where experiences come from, we wake up from it. A deeper knowing rises up and we become resilient, and feel better.
My mission is to bring hope to all military and first-responder personnel who are suffering and/or not coping well, by introducing a non-prescriptive mental health understanding called the Three Principles Understanding. This understanding has remarkable results in offering well-being, peace of mind, and resilience to those suffering from diagnostic labels for mental distress, including PTSD.
CONTACT METHODS
Website: https://unbrokenhero.com/
ABOUT THE HOST
Gavin Scott is a born entrepreneur with a passion for start up and scale up. He has over 20 years real estate experience in investment and development.
Gavin says: Over the years I have discovered that mindset is everything. Now, that might sound obvious, but it is! You see the number of awoken minds are very few in reality. Whilst acknowledging mindset is key it is absolutely different from utilising, influencing, impacting and effecting great change, for yourself, your loved ones, friends, colleagues and the wider public.
Why?
Like most of us I have had many ups and downs. I want to share the lessons learnt and promote a better environment for all, internally and externally!
How?
Through sharing my own experiences and hosting some fabulous individuals including some big household names to discuss key topics around mindset and the success formulas I hope the listener will become inspired to create space for change for betterment in their lives. I aim to inspire change by encouragement, not by force. I intend to inspire by education, not by regulation.
CONTACT METHODS
[email protected]