Uncomfortable Is Ok Podcast

Dave Wood 

Happy 2023 Expert business consultant, venture capitalist and my good mate James Brummer-Taylor joins the podcast for the first episode of 2023. It's that time of year when a lot of us are thinking about making change in our lives. We often do it at this time of year. And research shows us that usually those changes don't tend to stick around longer than a couple of weeks. James and I have a conversation about getting strategic about the changes we want to make, so that 1- they stick, and 2 - they positively impact our lives in a meaningful way

Hey everyone - I have Covid so no new episode this week   BUT we do have a fantastic past episode for you fro back in 2018. It's with the author of "Atomic Habits", James Clear.   James's work has had a big influence on how I shape my behaviour, and with the work I do with my clients.   It's a great refresher coming into the new year and thinking about change.

The end of the year is fast approaching, as is the time we start thinking about the changes we want to make in 2023.   Change is hard, so once you've figured out the changes you'd like to make, here are some idea to help make them stick.

Brad Dixon, holistic physio, author, and expansive wellness practitioner joins the podcast.   Our conversation centres on the concept of expansive wellness. How we can adopt health practices that are not only good for ourselves but good for our communities, the environments we live in, and the world at large. And they're not as hard to do as you might think.   We talk through Brad's journey to this point, how he has expanded his view of health and wellbeing and get stuck into some strategies you can use today.

Author and behavioural science expert Dr Kris Lee joins the podcast to talk about micro-dosing bravery and the importance of taking strategic risks and building sustainable resilience.   We talk in depth about What resilience is - not just the "ability to bounce back" The adaptability of the human brain and all our human systems Partying at university Keg-stand bravery and how to avoid it Dealing with insecurity Cultivating sustainable meaning The stigma of mental health A universal precautions approach to mental health Moving from a what-if life to a what-is life And of course getting uncomfortable  

Richard Bowles joins the podcast today. Richard is a multi world record adventurer and founder of Adventure Alchemy which is dedicated to helpingleaders lean into the challenges of the modern world.   Richard takes perverse joy in doing the things he doesn't like, watching his reactions in real time, and synthesising that information into practical learnings for others.   Today we talk about - The importance of doing things you don't like - Why you shouldn't rely on positive emotions - How to embrace the dark side of challenge - Goal attainment - Running through war zones - Getting saved from falling off cliffs - Having a shot gun placed in his mouth in the Outback - Running a marathon a day for 5 months - Moving from reactive to proactive to adaptive 

Kane Brisco farmer, father, partner, authour of "Tools from the top paddock", and founder of FarmFit joins the podcast. Kane is a dude from the 'Naki just trying to inspire others to be better. He is open and real, and has conversations about lots of important stuff that most of us keep hidden. His ability to do this comes firstly from his lived experience of pain and trauma, as well as the self-awareness he has developed and the skillset he has learnt to process and grow from these experiences. He is a bloody good dude, and we go to some heavy places today. Talking about pain and motivation, the reasons we need problems to solve, taking the power away from negative thoughts, the importance of acceptance, developing emotional literacy, and navigating discomfort. It's a convo that is a bit rough in places, and a bit raw in others. If it triggers anything then please reach out to Kane or myself or someone you trust.     • FarmFit Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/FarmFitNZ/ • FarmFit

Ant Williams, world record freediver, leadership expert, keynote speaker joins the podcast.  Ant worked as a Sport Psychologist coaching big wave surfers, motoGP riders, rock climbers and other risk takers on how to break through mental barriers when he realised, according to him, he was a fraud. He hadn’t done anything risky in his life. He wanted to know if anyone could learn how to become a risk taker. So, Ant decided to take up freediving and learn firsthand how to perform under pressure. Ant has pushed through both physical and mental barriers to hold his breath for over 8 minutes, dive to -100m and to swim 240m on one breath. In short, he knows how to overcome some of the most demanding and uncomfortable challenges a person can face. Ant teaches others how to “lean into discomfort” and take positive, calculated risk. Our conversation is about Ant's journey and the tools he uses and teaches others about performing under pressure, navigating discomfort, and calculated risk tak

Portia Bing, counter fraud advisor and international track and field athlete joins the podcast.   Our conversation explores the complexities of life, of performance, leadership, identity and personal growth with the lens of sportplaced over the top.   We chat through - Experimentation and refining processes - Watching for gaps that you can leverage or develop your skillset - The power of eliminating options - The joy of improving when you're a beginner - The value of having multiple areas of focus - The challenges of missing Olympic selection - Creating an internal pivot - Reciprocally providing value in relationships - The value of diverse backgrounds and experience in creating innovative solutions - Understanding when to let go - Creating a ripple effect of impact  - and of course getting UNCOMFORTABLE   This episode is brought to you by www.healthmentors.nz Improving performance through health and wellbeing  

Recently I put together a short e-book helping people to craft an individualised health plan.   This episode is the audio version of the book plus occasional off script commentary around part of the topic   This episode is proudly brought to you be www.healthmentors.nz

What does the future of work look like? How does it look for organisations? How does it look for you and me? They way we work is evolving and at times it's butting up against a lot of the social constructs we've previously held tight about what work is. Belinda Morgan, flexible work expert and author of "Solving the part time puzzle" joins the podcast to help us make sense of this change and how it benefits us as individuals, as well as organisations. Bel brings her expertise to the conversation and I bring some of my experiences working part time, and spending time as full time Dad for 11 months, plus the unconscious biases I had to face in that journey.

Callum McKirdy joins us un the podcast. Callum is all about amplifying the power of ADHD+ minds. He is a speaker, author, facilitator host of the "You, Me and ADHD podcast" and author of the the upcoming book "Tilt: thinking differently about thinking differently" This is a conversation about understanding ourselves, and our superpowers and wading through the internal messiness as we do it. We chat through - Watching and understanding people - Watching and understanding ourselves - The power of people who think differently - Embracing your quirks and differences - Questioning "best practice" - Callum's experience with his ADHD - Working super hard to be "average" at certain tasks - Dealing with our internal chaos - Putting on a face to the rest of the world - Including diversity in the workplace - Starting with stupid so we can get to better - Getting comfortable with looking like a Dick

Wahoo 300 episode's not out   In this special episode I'm joined by James Brummer-Taylor. International business consultant, Venture Capitalist, entreprenuer, and best man at my wedding.   James has spent over a decade inside a multitude of companies helping them to perform better across all aspects of their business. He has seen the themes that drive high performance, and also the things that don't work so well.   More recently James has left his decade long comfort zone in operational and strategic consulting to take on the new challenges of being a venture capitalist and entrepreneur Today we talk through What makes a high performer Helpful mindset shifts Becoming a business athlete The power of practice and repetition James' 5 tips for improving your personal performance How James looks after his health to support his performance And how we can build our capacity to take on challenges   This episode is proudly brought to you by https://www.healthmentors.nz/  Reach out to Ch

This week on the podcast I'm joined by an old High School mate, Luke McFarlane. Luke and a couple of his mates have set up The Lighthouse Project Charitable Trust which aims to raise money for local legends doing their bit to improve men's mental health here in New Zealand. Earlier this year, Luke and his mates road tripped 6000km around New Zealand in 12 days stopping at 24 prominent Kiwi lighthouses along the way, and catching up with local legends striving to improve wellbeing in their communities. In this episode we talk through Luke's journey with his mental health The ins and outs of 4 dudes in a campervan for 12 days on a tight schedule Some of the awesome people working to improve the health of Kiwis Opening up the conversation around mental health with your mates Role modelling honesty in how we are actually doing What the Lighthouse Project is striving for Challenges of fatherhood Some ways that we like to look after ourselves Connect with the Lightlhouse Project https://www.facebook.com

This episode flips the usual switch and I'm interviewed by Si Alhir. Our conversation was recorded back in early 2020 as Covid was ramping up for an event si organised called "Transcending the Crisis" Our conversation is all about pressure, it's effect on us, and how we can respond. We talk through - How we can become overloaded by pressure without even noticing - The relationship between pressure and performance - The importance of self-awareness and some practical tips - Lots of exercise analogies - Some practical ideas to reduce pressure - Choosing the right direction to move in - Putting knowledge into action   This episode is proudly brought to you by https://www.healthmentors.nz/  Reach out to Chris with questions or topics chris@healthmentors.nz 

In this episode we're joined by Chase Hughes Chase Hughes is a leading behavior expert in the United States and the #1 bestselling author of two books on tactical behavior skills. He is the author of the worldwide #1 bestselling book on advanced persuasion, influence and behavior profiling.​Chase teaches elite groups, government agencies and police in behavior science skills including behavior profiling, nonverbal analysis, deception detection, interrogation, and advanced behavioral investigation. This episode was orginally recorded in 2020, and hasn't seen the light of day until now. We talk through - Leading our own behaviour - The power of persuasion - Looking after our future self - Cognitive disonance and how we can get rid of it - Why we should work on our weaknesses   Connect with Chase https://www.chasehughes.com/   This episode was proudly brought to you by Health Mentors https://www.healthmentors.nz/ Get in touch with Chris chris@healthmentors.nz