The You Project

I’m tied up today, so I’ve decided to re-share one of my absolute favourite TYP chats. *Here’s the original synopsis.. In seven years of podcasting and twenty years of radio, this conversation is in my all-time top ten. Justin Wren is a both a cage fighter and freedom fighter, who has fought on the world-stage in the UFC and in the jungles of the Congo, championing the cause of one of the most marginalised groups of people in thew world; the Mbuti Pygmies. Justin's personal story (as an elite athlete battling all kinds of problems) and the story of his mission and purpose to liberate, empower and love the Mbuti, is both inspiring and confronting. Enjoy. *Warning: parts of this conversation might be confronting for some.

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No matter when I talk to some people, today is never the 'change' day. It's always soon. Not now. Not today. Soon. The mystical, mythical, magical... soon. Sadly, some people have been waiting for the right time for years. They are the 'almost brigade'; almost making the necessary decision, almost taking action, almost doing the work, almost using their potential, almost creating positive change but actually, doing f**k all. And then one day they mysteriously ask "how did my life end up like this" and say something intriguing like "this wasn't my plan", when in fact, they had no plan. Don’t. Waste. Your. Potential. 

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Like it or not, want it or not, you've been programmed. By life. Family. Friends. School. Culture. Religion. Society. Media. Social media. Experiences. Interactions. Relationships. In many ways, you weren't taught how to think but rather, told what to think. If you're like most, then many of your beliefs were not consciously chosen (by you) but rather, unconsciously adopted. In other words, their beliefs became your beliefs and you had very little say or awareness in it, or of it. Without knowing or choosing, you became a version of them. And when you pushed back against the group think, you were quickly corrected, chastised and coerced back into conformity and compliance, because that was the price of 'membership'. And no, not all programming and conditioning is bad (of course) but now that we're grown-ups, the challenge for us is to find the place where our programming finishes, and we start. Unconscious. Conscious.

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Depending on where you're at on your personal growth journey, this episode will sit somewhere on the relevance scale between totally irrelevant (the bottom) through to 'do you have a f**king camera in my house' (top of the scale, pay attention, take notes, re-listen)? This list is a collection of some of the most common self-destructive, time-wasting, talent-wasting, toxic habits and behaviours that I've observed (in myself and others) over the years. 

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Obviously it's no revelation to suggest that the combination of young kids and vast amounts of time spent on smart phones (and the like) is problematic but it might shock to you know just how bad it is for the developing brain, nervous system, emotional system and mental health of our future grown-ups. Interestingly, one of the UK's largest mobile network providers is now (to their own commercial detriment) advising parents not to buy smartphones for their primary school-aged children. Gillespo earns his keep in this episode. Enjoy. 

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When we dig down deep into people's goals (the 'why' behind their ‘what’), what they really want is generally something in the ballpark of emotional and psychological calm, contentment and peace. In other words, the opposite of anxiety. Less over-thinking. Better sleep. An internal state of bliss. As always, this was an informative and helpful chat with clinical psychologist and author, Dr. Lillian Nejad. Enjoy.

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Carly Taylor is Japanese Psychology Practitioner, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Practitioner, Counsellor and personal friend. This time we had a conversation, essentially exploring the 'how, when, why and why not' of personal transformation. Among other things, we chat about why have some people been 'almost' changing their lives for years. Enjoy.

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Our body is always speaking to us; trying to gain our attention so that we might give it more of what it needs, and less of what it doesn't. Yep, the human body is an amazing biofeedback system and it's constantly communicating some kind of wisdom. Sadly, sometimes we inhabitants (of that amazing biofeedback system), have our metaphoric fingers in our ears. While this conversation with Unna and Tiff was mostly focused on female health, I think it's universally interesting. Enjoy.

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Sure, you've had lots of days 'like' this one but you've never had, and will never have, this particular day again. For me, that day (as I write) is Sunday, August 25, 2024. And while I've had thousands of Sundays, I've never had this one. This one is unique because, in the history of humanity, there will only ever be one August 25, 2024. And this is the one. This is my one. We commonly say that every day is a gift (and it is) but in the proximity and familiarity of so many days, gratitude (for a single day) and awareness (that every day is precious) are typically absent. If you could magically have a billion dollars right now but only 365 more 'todays'.. or you could live into old age with your potential and possibilities intact (but no additional money), l'm pretty sure what you'd choose.

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Hi Everyone. I’m having a TYP breather today, so we’re re-visiting this chat I had a while back with Dr. Adam Mastroianni. He is a postdoctoral research scholar at Columbia Business School who studies how people perceive and misperceive their social worlds, from the person sitting across the table to the broader community buzzing around them. He writes a great blog called Experimental History, is a stand-up comic, a Harvard Graduate and I think even he'd admit that he's kind of a quirky academic-comedian-philosopher hybrid. This conversation was about as loose, freestyle and entertaining as you can get with a post-doctoral researcher. Enjoy. 

Twitter: a_m_mastroianni
experimental-history.com

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