Perfect Imbalance Podcast

On this episode I interview Andrea Goodridge, entrepreneur and owner of a business called Ad Florem and she's on a mission to help people understand more about 'energy in versus energy out'. On work-life balance Andrea says; If you can find out what gives you energy and where you can add energy; that's where I get work-life balance. I make my own definition of work-life balance; I don't compare mine with anyone else's. Background Andrea has a background of working within learning and development and has spent the last 20 years in this space. In other words; she challenges leaders to challenge themselves. This includes thought processes, mind-set, how they're feeling, behaviour and the impact that they're having on other people. Whilst others will be talking and focusing on resilience and burn out, Andrea is seeing something else with her work. Leaders need to look inwards so that they can start to challenge themselves. There's a general feeling of leaders being overwhelmed. Andrea is seeing them litera

On this episode I interview Tim Roberts; speaker, thought provoker and business owner on a mission to ignite your enthusiasm. On work-life balance Tim says; It's a fascinating topic as I think it's very individual. I prefer the term 'life-work balance' because that's the way around it should be. Our priorities change with age. Background Tim has a background of working within learning and development for a number of organisations. 2018 has been a defining year for him as he struggled and came to terms with his own mental health. Emotional intelligence and being able to draw on this has enabled him to find the strength and the courage to be able to start to talk about this. As 2018 came to a close, Tim set up Enthuse Coaching. He's now ready to embark on a different journey in 2019 and help others find ignite (or re-ignite) their enthusiasm for life and for work. I'd really encourage organisations to look at people as human beings and individuals and not be afraid of saying; 'this person needs something

On this episode I interview Di Murray, entrepreneur and the energy behind Coming up 4 air and creating space to breathe. On work-life balance Di says; It's quite an over-used term. I've become sensitised to the term work-life balance; the holy grail of what we're trying to achieve. I wonder if it's less about having a perfect balance and more about what happens when we don't have choice in either of those arenas. Background Di works with individuals and organisations to (in her words) hold the space for people to explore, ponder and be more curious. Noticing and doing some deep listening was ultimately the essence of how Coming Up 4 Air came about. Allowing others the space to breathe, in a place free of agenda Di sees herself more as a guide and a facilitator. As opposed to being the expert who has all the answers. People attending Di's retreats and workshops can expect an element of dis-comfort and intrigue which in turn builds trust through autonomy. Di sees her approach as a bit of an anti-dote to t

On this episode I interview Dave Algeo who talks amongst other things about being stressed out and the damage of the 'shut the f*ck up type of attitude' when it comes to mental health. On work-life balance Dave says; I like the perfect imbalance idea. I remember when work-life balance became a thing. I get it but the world of life is far more complex. Background Dave spent a number of years working in the police force before setting up his own business in 2006 in the world of learning and development. His focus tends to be in the space of resilience and mental health and helping those feeling stressed out. Calling himself the Stress(ed) Guru; a tongue in cheek play on the perception of the many Guru's out there! He's open about the rough and tumble of life and says that's what is exciting about life. Host of Man Sprouts the podcast, Dave can often be seen and heard talking about vegetables! For those that remember Crackerjack, the losing contestants would often be saddled with cabbages!

On this episode Dr Emma Foden and myself wish you the listeners and all our guests a happy new year.  The majority of podcasts don't get past 7 episodes and today we have finished the year with 31 episodes. The purpose of the podcast was to provoke new thoughts around balance and challenge the myth of work-life balance in particular. A Perfect Imbalance This has been presented as an alternative to work-life balance; one which is more empowering rather than limiting.  We've captured this with a simple formula; Purpose + Awareness +/- Balance = Success Lessons from 2018 The lessons learned from series 1 and series 2 include; The power of connecting and reaching out to others in your network and social network. Prior to launching the show, I'd only met 8 of my guests and interacted with 9 via social media. Intermittent fasting has had a significant impact on both of our lives and this was first shared with us by Phil White on episode 5. Better choices around food and portion size

On this 'advent special' episode I look back over series 2 with Dr Emma Foden.  Series by numbers; 16 guests 18 episodes  2 x 2 part episodes 9 authors, 2 doctors and guests from 5 countries; England, Ireland, Scotland, USA and Australia. Advent Calendar In advent calendar style, Emma & I take it in turns to select a number. Behind each number is a guest from the series. We then share our own thoughts on the episode, the guest and the messages that they left us with. Thank you for joining us on the advent special episode. We will be back on New Year's Eve with a special show; looking back over 2018 and giving you a flavour of what to expect in 2019! As always you can catch up on any episodes you've missed on; iTunes Spotify or through the Ignite Website. Have a very Merry Christmas and thank you for taking the time to listen to the show this year. Best wishes Jeff & Emma x x x

On this episode I interview Kate Richardson-Walsh; Olympic Gold Medal Winning Captain and most capped female hockey player in her country's history. We talk about transitioning out of elite sport, obsession and making things happen. On work-life balance I think it is individual and it will change. Be curious about it and make the best decision for you  As an elite athlete, sport can become obsessive yet Kate has always tried to find ways to switch off. Working in 4 year cycles (as all Olympic sports do), Kate and several team mates believed after London 2012 that they could go better in Rio 2016. This was a straight line; they failed hugely as a team after London 2012 before turning things around in the 18 months leading up to Rio 2016. Transitioning away from hockey In the lead up to Rio Kate was made captain of the team and part of her role involved doing more speaking engagements. Following the Rio games Kate and her wife Helen decided to set up their own business, combining speaking with going into

On this episode I interview Angela Cox; Mindset Mentor, Motivational Speaker & No 1 Best-selling Author, who helps others on their journey to 'being their best self'. Passionate and driven on by her own earlier experiences in life, Angela is also on a journey herself. From being abused as a child to spending all of her adult life on a diet and being fat, Angela is very honest and open during our interview. A secret binge eater alongside being a high powered *successful) executive; she went on yet another diet in 2016 only this time things were different. What changed? Well it turned that this latest diet was a healthy eating diet with incorporated exercise, and at the same time Angela started reading a book called Positive Thinking. The book talked about affirmations and she started doing them every day without fail. Everything combined together allowed Angela to lose over 8 stones in weight! At the same time the inner critic's voice inside of her started to become more positive. As part of her own jour

On this episode I interview Nick Littlehales, Elite Sleep Coach and author of Sleep; the myth of 8 hours, the power of naps and the new plan to recharge your body and mind. Very soon into our conversation, Nick talks about the need for downtime and recovery. He goes on to share his journey so far and the paradigm shift that he's starting to see in relation to how people view sleep and recovery. Nick talks about there being no budget for sleep in a lot of sports and businesses that he's gone into. Sleep and recovery are relatively new concepts compared to diet and exercise. It's fascinating to hear Nick explain chronotypes and the impact that this has and can have on our sleep and recovery. For those not familiar with chronotypes, essentially we are talking about whether you are an 'am'er or a pm'er'! In simple terms; are you a morning person or not! The book 7 steps to Sleep smarter: Included in Nick's book are a number of 7 steps including; Circadian rhythms Chronotype Cycles not hours Pre & p

On this episode I interview Dr Steve Marshall; the man behind seeing differently, working on purpose. On work-life balance Steve says; On the face of it, it's a good idea but I've never achieved it. I think my most successful moments have been when I've not been in balance. Background Steve started out with a career in photography before deciding to apply for a role in the military. Having spent 22 years as a fighter pilot which he describes as an excellent career, he lost 26 of his friends in accidents. As he came towards the end of his 'flying job' he pondered what he might be able to do about the future accidents, as the current loss rate seemed to be deemed ok. Working with others he was able to influence some change to the organisational culture. Helping others Steve left the military in the hope that he could help people change the way that they think. In his work as a change consultant, Steve worked with groups of people to help them learn in ways that they achieve a collective personal transformat

On this episode I interview Fiona Murden, Occupational Psychologist, Speaker, Blogger and passionate about doing what makes your heart sing. Fiona spends a lot of her time profiling senior leaders of organisations (around the world) and helps them find a good fit within the business. On the back of this she is involved with executive coaching within organisations. Outside of the corporate world, Fiona is also a blogger with a fascination of understanding the brain and helping others make sense of things happening in their worlds. Background Fiona started out reading medicine and openly admits to her own life never being a straight journey. She does admit during the interview that she wanted to be a fighter pilot! Fiona shares; Even when you're exploring; it gets messy, it's difficult. You have to stick to it and find what makes your heart sing. Making time to think Fiona promotes the action of making time to think; time for thinking ahead. It's easy to get caught up being busy and everything associated w

On this episode I interview Todd Brown; co-founder of Next Action Associates and pioneer of the Getting things done methodology created by David Allen. In a nutshell (Todd's words) they are helping people be as productive as they can be and focused on the right things. Todd says; it's not just about being busy. They want to help people at the same time to lower their stress levels. Background Todd discovered the work of David Allen when he was starting a new job; watching a seminar of his whilst he was waiting for his computer and work-space to be set up. However, whilst it was an epiphany moment, a lot of what David was talking about resonated with Todd. Things like; how do I keep my head clear so I can focus on whatever I choose to focus on. Over the coming months Todd started to implement some of the tools and ideas from the Getting things done methodology before deciding to set up Next Action Associates. At Next Action Associates We have a definition of work; work is anything in your life that isn't

Welcome back to the second part of this episode where I interview Katy Murray & Fiona Smith from Catalyst Collective; the co-founders of a global network of world changing women with a focus on changing the dialogue. They came together and founded Catalyst Collective just over 12 months ago and provide a community and resources, including on-line programmes and face to face coaching. Both have 20 years' experience in organisational consulting and leadership development and focus now on sharing that expertise (wisdom) with women leaders, and consulting with organisations that want to make a difference around inclusion. In part 2 Katy & Fiona share their insight and research into the gender pay gap, shifting the focus of discussion and how do we re-define leadership. They truly are two minds working in collaboration; looking to address the balance of leadership. We delve into comparison in the workplace and competition, discussing organisations and experiences where sharing isn't encouraged. They delibera

On this episode I interview Katy Murray & Fiona Smith from Catalyst Collective; the co-founders of a global network of world changing women with a focus on changing the dialogue. They came together and founded Catalyst Collective just over 12 months ago and provide a community and resources, including on-line programmes and face to face coaching. Both have 20 years' experience in organisational consulting and leadership development and focus now on sharing that expertise (wisdom) with women leaders, and consulting with organisations that want to make a difference around inclusion. Through their research What they are seeing in organisations is a model of leadership which is 50-60 years old. People are unsure what 'good' leadership looks like. This model was shaped in a time when men dominated the workplace. They are seeing women grappling with 'what is authentic leadership' and how can they remodel what 'good' looks like. In addition it's not just women either; it's men as well who are demonstrating femi

On this episode I interview Richmond Stace the Pain Coach and one of the co-founders behind Understand Pain. Richmond is a Chartered Physiotherapist specialising in treating and coaching people to manage and overcome their pain. His purpose is to improve the world by reducing the suffering caused by chronic pain, measured by people living their best lives. His vision is a world that understands pain, which would mean less suffering and more living. Where it began Richmond started out training to be a nurse before he progressed into physiotherapy. Through working with people who were suffering, he made a conscious decision to focus his time and energy on pain. He explores with his clients (and his audience) what he calls a 'complete' approach to pain and suffering. He treats the person as a whole; combining biology with psychology as he sees them being dependant of each other. Richmond talks about the importance of mindfulness but not from the point of having a chilled out life, being calm or sitting

On this episode I interview Sarah McKiernan founder of Work-life Balance Management who talks openly about her own mental health experiences and how finding joy in what we are doing is so important. Sarah is a coach, consultant and speaker who’s work is focused on mental health and well-being as a whole. Where it began Sarah's first career was within the IT industry in Australia, working long hours and with a lot of pressure. As a result (and in her own words) she had a nervous breakdown. The medical terms she was diagnosed with were; anxiety disorder, somatic disorder and panic attacks. Through her own pain and suffering Sarah discovered her passion; helping others. Finding her own joy has provided a platform that allows Sarah to combines analysis and process improvement with her coaching; working with organisations and also private clients.   Whilst we share a slightly different view on work-life balance, we both agree that a balanced life is not a perfect one. Balance is important (at times) and th

On this episode I interview Fergus Connolly, author of Game Changer. In his own words; Fergus owes everything to failure and making mistakes. Where it began He moved back from the US and took up playing Gaelic football in his teens (which is quite late to take up the sport). Because he wasn't as good, he studied what other successful people were doing. He was always striving to get better and working with the best that he had available to him. During our conversation, Fergus refers to what he does for a living as an interest, a hobby, a passion. A passion that he admits to being fortunate enough to get paid for doing. You only have to hear him talk about using all of his free time and holiday time to go and visit coaches to understand how obsessively driven and dedicated he has been in his life to date. Sharing ideas Learning from others, Fergus has taken every opportunity to learn and found other coaches to be very welcoming along the way. This includes working with a number of different teams in a numb

On this episode I interview Osmaan Sharif, owner of Rapid Transformation and host of The Get Out Your Way Podcast. In his own words; Osmaan saw the ‘light’ (in a really non ‘woo-woo’ way) & quit his corporate job to start his own business back in 2007 to  help people get better results, by changing the way they think, feel & act. Osmaan works with people; helping them 'Get out of their own way'. He finds himself doing this on a daily basis; helping people to challenge some of their thoughts and overcome some of their fears. Since launching his own business in 2007 he’s helped hundreds of small to medium sized business owner’s transition from the corporate world thinking and being an employee, to thinking and behaving like an entrepreneur. Transform your Mindset As a coach, Osmaan talks passionately about using tools & techniques from the world of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) & Wealth Dynamics to help people get unstuck. Osmaan took the decision to launch his own podcast in May (2018) this year

On this episode I interview Alison Jones; business book publisher and podcast host with something to say. Her podcast, the Extraordinary Business Book Club has over 100 episodes for listening to check out. Alison works in publishing and partners business people 'who have something to say'. Having been in publishing for over 25 years she knows what she's talking about. At one point Alison grew frustrated with the publishing industry and was about to quit. She trained as a coach and developed a 'side hustle' working with people in a coaching capacity. As soon as they found out she was a publisher, all they wanted to do was then publish a book! Part of what drives Alison is helping people to develop their business through writing and publishing a book. Providing those people with something to say, a platform for there message. Driven by (personal) embarrassment. Alison set about writing and publishing her own book. In March 2018 she became author of the book; This Book Means Business; Clever ways to plan an

On this episode I interview Jim Lawless; motivational speaker, author of the book Taming Tigers and living proof of why we all need to act boldly as time is limited. As a result of an unfulfilled job as a corporate lawyer and unsure about what the future looked like, Jim decided to act boldly and left the city to explore what would give him greater purpose in his life. Jim shares his story and how Taming Tigers came about. As a result of taking on a bet from one of the audience to ride a horse in a televised race, Jim embarked on training to become a Jockey. First of all it's worth pointing out that Jim had never been on a horse before in his life. People laughed of course and some of the videos of Jim (learning to ride) are hilarious. Taming Tigers is centred on Ten rules; 1.Act boldly today - time is limited 2.Re-write your rule book - challenge it hourly 3.Head in the direction of where you want to arrive, every day 4.It's all in the mind 5.The tools for Taming Tigers are all around you 6.There is n