The Keep Smiling Podcast

Hello confidence, goodbye insecurity!     

Confidence isn't necessarily a characteristic that we immediately acquire... it's something we build, develop and progress over time.       

Living a lifestyle with crippling self-doubt, insecurity, apprehension and low self-esteem can often become debilitating and preventative... so hopefully this conversation can enlighten and inspire you to proactively make changes to push yourself to become a more confident, optimistic version of yourself.       

- Discussing the topic of challenging your comfort zones, changing your perception, adapting your inner-dialogue, saying 'yes' and purging the need for external validation.

I am joined for an exceptional conversation with Ash Dykes - 3x World First Record Holder, Explorer, Extreme Athlete, Motivational Speaker and Author of Mission Possible.

During this episode, Ash provides detail into his countless incredible achievements. A few include cycling 1,130 miles through Cambodia & Vietnam in 15 days on £10 bikes, walking across Mongolia solo and unsupported, covering over 1,500 miles in 78 days while pulling a wheeled trailer weighing 120kg, walking the entire length of Madagascar covering 1,600 miles, taking 155 days to complete (where he was held up by the military, contracted the deadliest form of Malaria and crossed crocodile-infested rivers) and more recently hiking the entire length of the Yangtze River in China which was a 4,000-mile journey, taking nearly a year to complete.

So as you can probably imagine, the stories and experiences Ash has collected are nothing short from jaw dropping.

He discusses the psychological component of undertaking these huge challenges, the emotional challenges and how he proactively utilised visualisation and self-belief to push on whilst maintaining a head strong mentality despite external doubts and concerns.

He also reveals the true extend of his expeditions – the years of planning, commitment, surviving near death experiences, cultivating true mental resilience and shares the lessons he learned throughout his extreme endeavours.

Today I am joined by Kristy Harris. An elite Australian boxer, who has cultivated countless accomplishments and has overcome many moments of adversity.

In this episode, Kristy discusses her impressive boxing career and empowering journey of flourishing as a strong, successful, and powerful athlete. 

She provides detail of her mental heath journey and how boxing became an outlet… focusing on the precise and matriculate nature of the technique was almost meditative and peaceful.

She also discusses the stereotypes of participating within a male dominated sport, her inspiring journey of building resilience and the priority of developing facilitative psychological skills – both in and outside of the ring.

Today I am joined Jayne Nisbet. A 2014 commonwealth games finalist, Scottish record high-jump holder and author of ‘Free-Ed’ – a book written about her turbulent battle with bulimia.

Jayne was introduced to athletics as a teenager and was very rapidly applied into a highly competitive environment. This unfamiliar, high performance culture, and poor influence from fellow athletes, triggered the development of a perfectionist mindset and disordered tendencies towards food.

Her eating was controlling and restrictive. Working with a nutritionist further enforced her to overanalyse food, becoming concerningly analytical.

Transitioning to train full time in Loughborough University, she faced phenomenal pressures and massive performance expectations. She was young, vulnerable, and overwhelmed… understandably, this culture only exacerbated her downfall towards bulimia and poor relationship with her food, body and self-worth.

Thankfully, she formed a trustworthy relationship from her empathetic coaches. They provided constructive guidance, care and a new perspective… subsequently allowing her to flourish again as both an athlete and a young woman.

In this episode, Jayne also discusses her experience of receiving therapy and the value of truly uncovering the underlying psychological triggers and factors behind her battles. It was about re-establishing her purpose and rediscovering her identity - focusing on building a solid foundation, enabling her to constructively rewire her mindset.

We also discuss how sport organisations need to ensure the health of their athletes by consistently bringing awareness to coaches, providing proactive tools to allow the identification of mental health complications and overall creating a non-stigmatised environment…. enabling athletes to feel comfortable to vocalise their struggles.

Today, I am joined by Jack Green. Double Olympian who represented Great Britain at the last two Olympic Games, and more recently a passionate wellbeing consultant and mental health advocate.

In this episode, Jack discusses his successful professional sporting journey, his massive performance accomplishments from a very young age and the psychological consequences of becoming immersed within a highly elite training environment – one which which influenced huge expectations and phenomenally high-performance demands. 

Gradually, his identity, perception of his worth was consumed within the sport – only causing his mental health to deteriorate.

At 20 years of age, Jack stepped out in front of a crowd of 80,000 spectators in the London 2012 Olympics. His primary memory of this period was the overwhelming fear of failure and anxiety. This experience played as a significant trigger to his mental health struggles - subsequently receiving a diagnosis of anxiety, depression and bipolar tendencies.

Jack decided to take a break. But although, in hindsight, Jack wasn’t prepared, he returned to competing after 18 months, applying himself in yet another incredibly intense scenario... only triggering the old mindset to resurface. 

Despite self-coaching, he continued successfully within his sporting career – only highlighting how his obsessive characteristics, extraordinary work ethic and drive to succeed played both a facilitative and debilitative role – playing culprit to his performance achievements, but also a trigger to his psychological complications.

As time continued and his career progressed, he acknowledged the detrimental effects of his mental health. He balanced out the possible future consequences and made the courageous decision of retiring – focusing on his wellbeing, prioritizing his happiness, and finally allowing himself to be vulnerable.

Jack’s purpose has now inspirationally changed to wanting to support others and empowering individuals to thrive. He is incredibly passionate about wellbeing, mental health awareness – today working alongside Champion Health, a personalised wellbeing platform, as their head of performance – now utilising his previous experiences and vast knowledge in an extremely positive and uplifting manner.

We also discuss the outdated stigma of mental health within the sport culture. How it is deemed as a weakness and why psychological input and mindset coaching is paramount to ensure the health and overall wellbeing of competitors. 

Today I am joined with Richie Powell. An ex-Paralympic athlete who has had huge success in his sporting career and is now utilising his influential platform creating content regarding the reality of Paralympic sport. 

In 1989, as a teenager, Richie was involved in a near fatal motorcycle accident which left him paralysed. Within seconds, his life immediately changed. However, he failed to allow this disability to consume him. Following his intensive treatment, Richie was introduced to wheelchair racing.

Sport provided a purpose. An identity. An opportunity to optimise, accomplish, achieve, and belittle doubts. Within 3 years following the traumatic accident, Richie was competing in the 1992 Paralympic Games in Barcelona, at 21 years of age…. only highlighting his exceptionally dedicated mindset. 

Alongside BBC Panorama, Richie recently launched the documentary 'Paralympics: Unfair Games?'. The film investigated the classification system, which has been accused of being easily manipulated and lacking credibility. 

The aim of the classification system is to create a level playing field by grouping competitors into classes based on their physical abilities, to then decide which athletes are eligible to compete within their sport. However, the evaluations conducted have been criticised as being flawed. Some athletes can exaggerate their disability to be placed in a more disabled class to subsequently provide an unfair advantage. Which raises the question… how can Paralympics be fair when we are witnessing deliberate attempts of inaccurate classifications? 

Further on in the episode, Richie also discusses the stereotypes and inconsiderate comments he has continually faces as a disabled athlete. We also touch on sports psychology and how it is essential to cultivate characteristics to promote resilience and to become self-regulated within the use of psychological skills… coping with phenomenally high expectations and competition anxiety.

Overall, this episode demonstrates remarkable acts of perseverance, determination, endurance, and persistence... and how with flexibility, adaptability and one hell of a strong mindset you can drive you onwards, no matter the challenges, obstacles, and external doubts.

Today I am joined with Joshua Kinsey Clough to discuss all things bodybuilding, identity, self-discovery and life. 

From a young age, Joshua was immersed within the bodybuilding culture – which subsequently pushed him to embark upon his very successful competitive career.

Joshua provides a raw and realistic insight into bodybuilding culture. The ritualistic lifestyle of bulking, cutting, dieting… what he describes as an ego-driven sport, solely motivated by an external image. The countless sacrifices, tunnel focus mentality, the topic of identity, willpower and so on.

Joshua discusses the exciting, adrenaline-fueled period of the competitive season – providing direction, routine, structure, identity, success, and drive. However, outside of the competitive season, he describes losing a sense of self, feeling lost… subsequently causing him to struggle with his mental health. 

Forwarding on to 2020, lockdown eliminated the stage from his routine, breaking his previous habitual pattern, only triggering him to re-evaluate and re-analyse aspects of his life.

He decided to make changes. This included retiring from bodybuilding, breaking away from a lifestyle derived from external validation and embarking on a journey on re-discovery, focusing on fulfilment, purpose, and contentment.

We also discuss growth mindsets, how self-belief can get you anywhere, proactively pushing away from comfort zones and appreciating what truly makes life valuable - experience, spontaneity, exiting adventures, inspirational conversations, creativity, uncovering your true capabilities, finding freedom and comfort to pursue your authentic, intrinsic motivations.

*TW – Conversations of Suicide* 

Today, I’m joined by Luke Fullbrook, an international strongman competitor based in Stoke, currently working as a personal trainer, who now consistently promotes the vitality of maintaining a healthy mindset as a complement to physical health and strength. 

Luke’s training was initially derived by his abusive home life and experiences of bulling he endured at school… wanting to make himself bigger, more intimidating… thus utilised as a coping mechanism to the accumulation of stressors.

Fortunately, improving his training performance, witnessing progression within lifts and developing his overall strength provided a sense of accomplishment, achievement and confidence – and thus a sense of purpose.

Luke discusses the lifestyle of a strongman competitor. The dedication, routine, training. The positive & motivating relationship he’s built, the sense of community…. but also the pressure of the high-expectation competitions, the constant anxiety of falling victim to significant injuries and debilitating performance comparison – which consequently enforces competitors to habitually diminish their achievements. The tendencies of bigorexia, unconventional relationships with food, and the shocking badges of honour within that culture – ranging from sleep apnoea, daily caloric intakes to exceptionally high blood pressure. 

Throughout the episode, we focus on the perception of discomfort equating to growth… how Luke values the trauma, the discomfort, the immeasurable personal challenges faced as they have only equipped him with transferable skills, tools, resilience, and a whole new perspective to life… through embarking on an enlightening journey which subsequently has allowed him to find happiness and peace.

In this episode, I'm joined by Rhiannon Linington-Payne – current Welsh International 400m athlete, Head of Competition at Welsh Athletics and National-level hockey player, who highlights her experiences with disordered eating, and how sport played a facilitative role within her recovery. 

At an influential, impressionable age, Rhiannon found herself within a harmful, competitive environment where weight loss was celebrated and disordered, destructive behaviours were normalised… thus triggering her unhealthy habits and mentality towards her food and body.

She discusses the inadequate support she received when she developed the courage to seek support. Disappointingly, weight gain and increasing caloric intake was the primary focus… the mental complications and underlying psychological factors were seemingly ignored.

And despite the years of growth, it’s a continuing battle, where voices and thoughts resurface. I suppose understandably as it was so heavily ingrained for a prolonged period.

However, the performance element of her sport was the driver and motivation towards recovery. Determined to ensure her behaviours were healthy to allow progression within her training and subsequent competitions… wanting to fuel her body, to feel strong, powerful, capable, and successfully achieve in her sport. Thus, highlighting one of the many positive attributions of sport participation.

We also discuss the empowering nature of strength training. The overwhelming sense of accomplishment, the release, and satisfying progression… again acting as a motivator to remain healthy mentally and psychologically. 

And finally, we relate on our continues frustrations of gym closures and the disappointment within our government with their refusal to acknowledge how much these environments contribute to positive physical and psychological health. 

 ELITE ATHLETE WELLBEING 

For the first episode, I’m joined with Pippa Woolven - a cross country runner and steeplechaser, who balances athletics with a part-time Masters in Positive Psychology and working for the National Trust. Pippa has won 4 BUCS gold medals in cross-country, duathlon and athletics and her career highlight was finishing 8th in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Pippa now acts as a mentor for other athletes and recently created a resource for athletes struggling with RED-S.

As a young athlete, Pippa transitioned into a very regimented, high pressure, elite environment in the US. This transitioned thus played as a catalyst and encouraged Pippa to develop disordered tendencies towards her food, body, and training.

Pippa initially began manipulating her diet to lose weight, to subsequently benefit her sporting performance. However, as explained in this episode, her tendencies gradually built and became a habitual, destructive component within her lifestyle….. highlighting how high athletic performance expectation can often influence athletes to go down routes that aren’t necessarily that healthy – to meet this perceived standard for success.

Finding herself surrounded by athletes exhibining unhealthy behaviours and eating disorders, Pippa was poorly influenced by this somewhat toxic culture… consequently progressing her desire to lose weight, increase training and food restriction. 

This thus triggered Pippa’s development RED-S (Relative energy deficiency in sport), which we discuss thoroughly in this episode.  However, years and years of practicing self-care, self-compassion, allowed Pippa to find a balance… motivating her to fuel her body healthily - developing a positive relationship with food and prioritising her wellbeing.

We also discuss the process of transitioning out of the sporting culture and the tedious process of athletes having to rediscovering their identities.