Simon Alexander Ong is a globally recognised personal development coach, international speaker and bestselling author who helps people rethink success, protect their energy and build lives that actually feel worth living.

But before speaking on the biggest stages around the world, Simon spent years working in finance, following the version of success he thought he was supposed to want.

Good university.

Good career.

Good salary.

Yet he would sit at work dreaming about escaping his own life.

Eventually, he realised that success on paper means very little if you feel disconnected from the person living it.

In this episode, Simon explains:

◼ How to recognise when discomfort has become genuine misalignment, and what to do next

◼ His SIN framework for changing your future through Skills, Inputs and Network

◼ How to stop letting fear, other people’s opinions and even your family determine your decisions

◼ The four forms of energy you need to protect: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual

◼ Why your partner, friendships and environment can dramatically influence the person you become

But this conversation becomes much deeper.

Simon lost his mother unexpectedly when he was only 17.

Her death changed the way he understood time and left him with two words that have shaped his life ever since:

Don’t wait.

Don’t wait until you feel ready.

Don’t wait for somebody else’s permission.

And don’t spend your life becoming successful according to somebody else’s definition.

Because, as Simon explains, ready is not a feeling.

It is a decision.

Follow Simon:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonalexanderong/

https://www.youtube.com/@simonalexandero

https://www.instagram.com/simonalexandero/

https://x.com/SimonAlexanderO

Home - Simon Alexander Ong

Buy Simon's book:

Book - Simon Alexander Ong

#ThrivingMinds #AlbertoZandi #SimonAlexander #PublicSpeaking #KeynoteSpeaker #Mindvalley #HappinessMindset #AuthorLife #PersonalDevelopment #SuccessTips #Entrepreneurship #SpeakingCareer #SelfImprovement #Fulfillment

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Dr Aseem Malhotra is a world-leading consultant cardiologist, practicing doctor and one of the most outspoken voices challenging conventional thinking around heart disease, nutrition and modern medicine.

After 25 years in medicine and treating thousands of patients, Aseem reveals why you can look incredibly fit and still have serious heart disease, why chronic stress may be far more dangerous than most of us realise, and why more exercise is not always better for your health.

His connection to the heart is also deeply personal. When Aseem was 11, his 13 year old brother died suddenly from viral myocarditis, an experience that helped shape his decision to dedicate his career to understanding heart disease.

He explains:

◼ Why chronic stress could be one of the biggest overlooked threats to your heart

◼ Why having a six pack does not necessarily mean you are healthy

◼ How much exercise he believes we actually need, and when it can become too much

◼ What he recommends eating for better heart and metabolic health

◼ Why he challenges conventional thinking around cholesterol, statins and blood pressure medication

But this conversation goes far beyond cardiology.

Aseem opens up about grief, losing the people closest to him, living with enormous professional pressure, loneliness, relationships and the personal cost of dedicating his life to a mission bigger than himself.

And after decades spent thinking about human health, his conclusion is surprisingly simple:

Our health is not only determined by what we eat or how much we exercise.

It is also shaped by stress, meaning, connection, curiosity and the people we love.

Follow Dr Malhotra

https://www.instagram.com/lifestylemedicinedoctor/

https://draseemmalhotra.co.uk/

#ThrivingMinds #AlbertoZandi #DrMalhotra #Cardiologist #COVIDVaccine #PublicHealth #BigPharma #HealthTruth #CorporatePower #MentalHealth #FoodIndustry #VaccineDebate #HealthPodcast

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Insulin Expert Dr David Unwin has helped 159 patients achieve drug free Type 2 diabetes remission in his NHS practice. He reveals why everyday foods like bread, rice, potatoes and even fruit can spike your blood sugar, why you may be hungry again shortly after eating, and the warning signs that could mean you are becoming insulin resistant.

Dr David Unwin is an NHS GP who has cared for the same community for almost 40 years. He has published around 30 peer reviewed papers, and his famous teaspoon of sugar equivalents have been translated into 39 languages. But remarkably, David says much of what transformed his approach to health only became clear to him at 55, after he developed Type 2 diabetes himself.

He explains:

◼ Why you could be eating sugar all day without realising it

◼ The everyday signs that may suggest you are becoming insulin resistant

◼ Why bread, rice, potatoes, fruit and other foods can affect your blood sugar more than you think

◼ Why you are still hungry after eating, and how insulin can make losing belly fat harder

◼ What actually works for improving metabolic health, including low carbohydrate eating, fasting, exercise and continuous glucose monitoring

And in an unexpectedly personal part of the conversation, David opens up about losing his first wife, reaching some of the darkest moments of his own life, and the lessons about love, failure, hope and resilience that ultimately helped him survive.

This is not simply a conversation about diabetes.

It is about understanding what is happening inside your body before it becomes a problem, and learning how small changes today could completely alter your future health.

Follow Dr. Unwin:

https://x.com/lowcarbGP

#ThrivingMinds #AlbertoZandi #DrDavidUnwin #InsulinResistance #Type2Diabetes #MetabolicHealth #LowCarb #DiabetesReversal #HealthPodcast #ChronicDisease #BloodSugar #NutritionScience

Content Warning: This video contains themes of suicide. Viewer discretion is advised. 

If you or someone you know is struggling, support is available. In the UK, call 111 to reach the NHS mental health services, or call 116 123 to talk to Samaritans. In the US, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

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Akash Mehta is the cofounder and CEO of Fable & Mane, one of the most recognisable Ayurvedic haircare brands in global beauty. The self funded company launched globally with Sephora, became a number one hair oil at the retailer and helped bring traditional Indian hair rituals into mainstream beauty. 

But behind the success is a much more complicated story.

Growing up, Akash struggled deeply with his skin colour. At around 12 or 13, he bought pills online hoping they would make his skin lighter. Later, after building his identity around achievement, he got into Imperial College and failed his second year.

For the first time, Akash had to question whether the life that looked impressive from the outside was actually the life he wanted.

Through failure, therapy, entrepreneurship and years of self reflection, he began unlearning the need for other people’s approval and discovering what genuinely mattered to him.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why other people’s opinions can quietly control your life
• How to stop people pleasing and trust yourself
• Why failure can reveal what you actually want
• How to deal with overthinking, confidence and ego
• Why external success does not guarantee happiness
• How Fable & Mane went from a three page deck to Sephora
• And how reconnecting with his younger self led Akash towards a much deeper purpose

Today, Akash dedicates a significant part of his life to wildlife conservation through the Fabled Fund, with the ambition of mobilising $100 million for conservation by 2030. 

This is a conversation about identity, ambition, confidence and the difficult process of discovering who you are when you finally stop living for everyone else.

Follow Akash:

https://www.instagram.com/mehta_a/?hl=en

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/akash-mehta-425bb783

https://fableandmane.com/

#ThrivingMinds #AlbertoZandi #AkashMehta #FableAndMane #Entrepreneur #PeoplePleaser #Empath #Overthinking #CEOLife #Leadership #PersonalGrowth #Authenticity #MentalHealth #BeautyBusiness #Mindset

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Darryl Williams, better known as BullyJuice, is a fitness creator and entrepreneur with over 16 million followers across social media. Before building one of the biggest audiences in online fitness, he was a collegiate track athlete, served in the United States Air Force and became a physical training leader responsible for helping people get back into shape and meet military fitness standards.

Most of us know we should exercise, eat better and take care of our bodies. The difficult part is actually starting, staying consistent when motivation disappears and turning healthy decisions into a lifestyle. In this episode, BullyJuice explains why discipline matters more than motivation, how to build a fitness routine you can actually sustain and why transforming your body alone will never make you feel complete.

You will learn:

• Why relying on motivation is one of the biggest reasons people quit

• How finding a deeper reason to exercise can keep you consistent for life

• How to turn exercise into a habit instead of something you constantly restart

• The best way to start training when you have no idea what to do

• How to build muscle while also losing body fat

• Why three workouts per week can still produce results

• How sleep and recovery affect your progress

• What to eat if you want to lose fat or build muscle

• Why looking fit does not necessarily mean you are healthy

• How to approach protein, creatine and other supplements

• Why discipline means doing what needs to be done even when you do not feel like doing it

• How fitness can improve your confidence, work, relationships and the rest of your life

BullyJuice also opens up about losing his biological father at seven, struggling with anger, learning discipline through sport and the military, building an audience of millions and becoming the husband and father he wanted to be. He explains why his definition of success is no longer simply about achievement, money or how your body looks, but about continually becoming a better version of yourself.

His philosophy is simple: take care of your body, strengthen your mind and feed your spirit.

Because becoming your best self requires all three.

Follow BullyJuice:

https://gymoclockfitness.com/

https://www.instagram.com/bullyjuice/

https://www.youtube.com/bullyjuice

#ThrivingMinds #AlbertoZandi #DarrylWilliams #BullyJuice #FitnessMotivation #MindBodySpirit #PersonalGrowth #FitnessJourney #SelfImprovement #HolisticHealth #WellnessJourney #FitnessEntrepreneur #MentalHealth #SpiritualGrowth

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Professor Sonia Livingstone is one of the world’s leading experts on how technology is changing our lives. A technology social psychologist at the London School of Economics and Political Science, she has spent decades researching social media, digital wellbeing and online safety, while advising governments and international organisations around the world.

Technology was supposed to make our lives easier. But has it also made us less in control?

In this episode, Professor Livingstone explains why the biggest technology companies are fighting for our attention, how social media can learn and exploit our vulnerabilities, why screen time alone is the wrong way to think about digital wellbeing, and how artificial intelligence could take the attention economy to an entirely new level.

She also explains why children are struggling to put their phones down, what parents are getting wrong about screen time, how our own phone habits influence our children, and why simply taking technology away may create more problems than it solves.

You will learn:

• Why agency may be one of the most important factors in our mental wellbeing

• How social media platforms are designed to keep us scrolling

• Why five hours on a screen does not always have the same effect

• How personalised algorithms can push vulnerable people towards increasingly extreme content

• Why children may feel they have nowhere else to go when we take their phones away

• The biggest mistakes parents make when managing technology at home

• Why children are constantly watching how their parents use their phones

• How to create a healthier relationship with technology without removing it completely

• Why AI companions could become particularly dangerous for lonely and vulnerable people

• How to use AI without allowing it to replace human judgement and real relationships

• Why governments are struggling to regulate technology quickly enough

• The simple changes we can make today to take back control of our attention

Professor Livingstone’s message is ultimately simple: technology should be a tool that helps us live the life we choose.

It should not choose that life for us.

Buy Prof Livingstone books:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B001HP4N1E/

Follow Prof Livingstone:

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sonia-livingstone-6b0b8712

https://www.lse.ac.uk/people/sonia-livingstone

#ThrivingMinds #AlbertoZandi #Livingstone #Professor #BigTech #DigitalWellbeing #TechRegulation #MediaLiteracy #LSE #SiliconValley #MentalHealth #Technology #SocialMedia #Automation #DigitalAge

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Most people believe they should have figured their life out by 30.

Simon Woodroffe says he was lost, nearly out of money and 47 when he opened YO! Sushi. He explains why boldness matters more than following the perfect plan, and why some of the greatest opportunities appear when you ignore how an industry tells you things should be done.

Simon Woodroffe is an entrepreneur, the founder of YO! Sushi and YOTEL, one of the original Dragons on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, and the author of Yo! Man. YO! Sushi grew from one unconventional Soho restaurant into an international brand, while YOTEL expanded from a small airport hotel prototype into a global hospitality business.

He explains:

• Why starting YO! Sushi at 47 proves that you are never too late to build something significant
• How he opened a £1 million restaurant with only a fraction of the money he needed and had queues within one week
• Why being bold, different and occasionally outrageous can become your greatest competitive advantage
• Why founders must eventually give up control and trust other people if they want the business to scale
• Why he believes businesses should be built with an eventual sale in mind
• How childhood loneliness, prison at 17, imposter syndrome and an “I’ll show them” mentality fuelled his success

The views expressed are those of the guest, and this conversation is intended for general informational purposes only.

This podcast and its associated materials should not be used as a substitute for professional financial, legal, business, health or other specialist advice.

Follow Simon: ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠ ⁠Website⁠

Buy Simon’s book: ⁠Yo! Man⁠

#ThrivingMinds #AlbertoZandi #SimonWoodroffe #YoSushi #YOTEL #Entrepreneur #HospitalityIndustry #BusinessWisdom #ThailandLife #FounderStories #StartupAdvice #LifeAfterSuccess

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Most people blame their phone for destroying their attention. Nir Eyal says the phone is often only the outlet, that 90% of distraction begins with something happening inside us, and that the real solution is not deleting every app but learning to manage discomfort, plan our time and challenge the beliefs keeping us stuck.

Nir Eyal is a behavioural design expert, former lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, and the author of Hooked, Indistractable and Beyond Belief.

He first revealed the psychology companies use to create habit-forming products, before developing a practical system to help people reclaim their attention and follow through on what they intend to do.

He explains:

◼ Why your phone is probably not the real reason you cannot focus

◼ Why boredom, anxiety, loneliness, fatigue and uncertainty drive most distraction

◼ The four-step system for taking back control of your attention

◼ Why traditional to-do lists can make you feel busy, unsuccessful and incapable of managing your time

◼ Why emails and other work-related tasks can become distractions disguised as productivity

◼ How the beliefs and labels you repeat can change what you see, how you behave and what you believe you are capable of achieving

The views expressed are those of the guest, and this conversation is intended for general informational purposes only. This podcast and its associated materials should not be used as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, legal, financial or other specialist advice.

Follow Nir:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nireyal/

https://www.instagram.com/nireyal/

https://www.youtube.com/user/nirandfar

https://www.nirandfar.com/

Buy Nir's books:

https://amzn.to/44ZoL6q

#ThrivingMinds #AlbertoZandi #NirEyal #Distraction #PhoneAddiction #BehavioralPsychology #Focus #Productivity #Habits #DigitalWellness #MentalHealth

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Food is supposed to nourish us. So why has eating become a source of guilt, anxiety, confusion and control?

Emily English is one of the world’s leading nutritionists, a bestselling author, entrepreneur and one of the most influential voices in modern healthy eating.

Known to millions as Em The Nutritionist, she has built a global community by making healthy food feel simple, joyful and realistic. She is also the founder of Epitome, a science-led gut health brand, and the author of So Good, Live to Eat and her latest book created for people who want nutritious food without spending hours in the kitchen.

But Emily’s mission began with her own painful relationship with food. After being scouted as a model at 17, one comment about her body led her into a cycle of restriction, obsessive exercise and fear around eating.

She explains:

◼️ Why diets work temporarily but almost always fail in the long term

◼️ Why some people cannot stop thinking about food

◼️ How childhood experiences silently shape the way you eat as an adult

◼️ Why trying to look healthy can make you physically and mentally unhealthy

◼️ The nutrition trends and online advice she believes people should stop following

◼️ Why healthy people may not need continuous glucose monitors

◼️ How stress, anxiety and the speed at which you eat can affect your gut

◼️ Why some people feel bloated after eating foods that are supposed to be healthy

◼️ The truth about carbohydrates, sugar, fruit, ultra-processed food and blood glucose spikes

◼️ Why intuitive eating does not work for everyone

◼️ How to enjoy pizza, pasta, chocolate and restaurants without guilt

◼️ What your gut microbiome has to do with your skin, brain, hormones and immune system

◼️ Why people pleasing contributed to Emily’s eating disorder and later business burnout

◼️ How she recovered after a business failure, betrayal and mental breakdown

◼️ What it really takes to create nutrition habits that last for life

Follow Em:

https://www.instagram.com/emthenutritionist/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCidIG-H2gxf9Wkf30z3aSaA

https://www.facebook.com/emthenutritionist/

https://www.emilyenglish.com/

Buy Em's books:

https://amzn.to/4vO2tzA

#ThrivingMinds #AlbertoZandi #EmilyEnglish #Nutritionist #HealthyEating #FoodRelationship #DietCulture #Wellness #BlueZones #BodyImage #NutritionTips #HealthPodcast #MindfulEating #FoodIsCulture

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Depression is not always sadness.

Feeling numb, disconnected and trapped inside your own mind is the warning sign.

Dr Rosalind Watts is one of the world’s leading clinical psychologists and researchers in psychedelic therapy, depression and human connectedness. At Imperial College London, she worked on one of the pioneering clinical trials investigating psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, as a treatment for people living with treatment-resistant depression.

She is the creator of the Connectedness Scale, now used in psychedelic research around the world, and the founder of ACER, a therapeutic community designed to help people turn temporary psychological breakthroughs into lasting change.

She explains:

◼️ Why depression often feels like numbness rather than sadness

◼️ How modern life, loneliness and excessive screen time are disconnecting us from ourselves and each other

◼️ What psychedelic therapy really does to the mind and why some patients felt alive again after years of depression

◼️ Why psychedelics are not a miracle cure and can become dangerous in the wrong environment

◼️ What people must do after a psychedelic experience to prevent the old patterns from returning

◼️ Why antidepressants help some people but leave others feeling emotionally numb

◼️ How trapped emotions, trauma and the need for control can keep people psychologically stuck

◼️ Why friendship, community and nature may be among the most powerful forms of medicine

◼️ The ACER framework for accepting your emotions and reconnecting with your body, other people and the world

◼️ Why learning to feel your pain may be the beginning of feeling alive again

Follow Dr. Watts:

http://instagram.com/acerintegration

https://medium.com/@UCesynUk4Pi__QGy1SnW92_A

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosalind-watts-89527660/

https://twitter.com/drrosalindwatts

#ThrivingMinds #AlbertoZandi #DrRosalindWatts #Psychedelics #Psilocybin #MagicMushrooms #MentalHealth #BrainHealth #AlcoholFree #PlantMedicine #Neurogenesis #PsychedelicResearch #SoberCurious #Wellness #Microdosing

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