The You Project

What am I going to talk to the grumpy judge from Dancing with the Stars about? I wondered. The bloke who wrote and starred in The Boy from Oz? I wondered. The bloke who starred in 42nd Street, The Pirates of Penzance, Camelot, La Cage aux Folles, Singin' in the Rain, Priscilla Queen of the Desert (the musical) and Baz Luhrmann's film, Strictly Ballroom? Well, the answer is.. plenty. We spoke a lot and laughed a lot. He’s funny, real and loves dogs (big tick). Of course, he’s a talented, successful and well-known performer but more than that, Todd McKenney is a genuinely interesting bloke who’s done a sh*t-load, is a brilliant story-teller (no surprise), is great to chat with and I absolutely loved meeting him. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There aren’t many people who inspire me mid-podcast but Susan Sly is one of those people. Not only is she a wildly successful business woman, author, speaker, AI entrepreneur, media commentator and philanthropist but she’s also an ex-professional athlete, mother and grandmother. Like me, Susan was an obese kid who turned who ‘thinking and doing’ around and along the way, became fascinated with human potential and possibilities. Oh, and she also cured herself from MS in her twenties after being told she’d be in a wheelchair within 10 years and dead within 20 years. I loved this chat. Enjoy. *NOTE: For the youngies.. MacGyver was a TV character who had a gift for solving problems in the most creative and resourceful ways. The Oxford Dictionary states that to ‘MacGyver’ is to make or repair something "in an improvised or inventive way, making use of whatever items are at hand", eg. "he MacGyvered a makeshift jack with a log".See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professor Peter Brukner OAM, is a specialist sports and exercise physician and the founding partner at the Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre in Melbourne. He is a world-renowned sports medicine clinician and researcher. His most recent team appointments have been Head of Sports Medicine and Sports Science at Liverpool Football Club and, until 2017, Team Doctor for the Australian cricket team. He is Professor of Sports Medicine at La Trobe University, Melbourne and other than that (and a few hundred other things), he also co-hosted a show on Melbourne radio with me for a few years. Despite all the ‘medical stuff’, this conversation is actually about his current passion (obsession?); nutrition. Keep in mind that this information is not a personal prescription or program; just two blokes chatting. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At eighteen Lachie Smart created aviation history by becoming the youngest person to fly solo around the world in a single engine aircraft. The journey took nearly two and a half years to plan, fifty-four days to fly and almost cost the teenager his life multiple times. Now at the ripe old age of twenty-three, this impressive young man and I chatted broadly about the principles, habits, ideals, behaviours, skills and attributes required for success (no matter the goal). Oh, and of course, the trip. When I grow up, I want to be like Lachie.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So, Tiff and I were sitting on Zoom waiting for our guest to ‘show’ and they didn’t. Well, we’re always talking about adapting, solving problems, dealing with uncertainty and finding a way, so we did. We recorded an episode with zero planning, preparation or prior discussion and what transpired was a meaningful chat about the human experience. Including, managing fear, self-sabotage, self-limiting thinking, optimising our mental and physical energy, the benefit of doing new things, finding our excellence threshold, paying attention to our inner wisdom, thinking for ourselves and discovering what works (uniquely) for our body. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So much information, inspiration and education, so little consistent application. So much knowing, so little doing. So much theory, so little change. So many intentions, so much stagnation. So much talent, so much wasted potential. In this lengthy (two-part) instalment of TYP, Mental Health Consultant, Author and Speaker Anna Feringa and I talk about the overwhelm of change-your-life (type) resources (books, programs, podcasts, people), the underwhelm of amazing results and the variables which (actually) stand between us and success. Enjoy.annaferinga.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So much information, inspiration and education, so little consistent application. So much knowing, so little doing. So much theory, so little change. So many intentions, so much stagnation. So much talent, so much wasted potential. In this lengthy (two-part) instalment of TYP, Mental Health Consultant, Author and Speaker Anna Feringa and I talk about the overwhelm of change-your-life (type) resources (books, programs, podcasts, people), the underwhelm of amazing results and the variables which (actually) stand between us and success. Enjoy.annaferinga.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I often talk about the importance of having a purpose bigger than ourselves, well, Anika Molesworth (PhD.) is the epitome of that idea. In fact, she has multiple ‘purposes’; the environment, climate change, the health of rural communities, nature conservation, farming, farmers, wildlife and education. In short, helping the earth and its inhabitants. She is an award-winning advocate, farmer, scientist, academic, media commentator, author, researcher and believe it or not, introvert. Yep, she hates public speaking but does it because of her commitment to making our world a better place. Her new book is called ‘Our Sunburnt Country’ and I loved meeting her. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

These days Brett Turley is a High-Performance Coach who helps people optimise their physical, mental and emotional potential. He guides and empowers them to do what’s required to create lasting positive change in their world, to build resilience, to perform under pressure and to become a better version of themselves. Previously, Brett served in the Australian Army (two tours, almost ten years of service) as an Explosives Detection Dog Handler with his boy (Gus) and along the way, saw the best and worst of people. Enjoy.minimalismfitness.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the universal goal but what (exactly) is happiness? Where does it come from? Does ‘happiness’ (the word) mean the same thing for all of us? Can it be lasting or is it fleeting? Is it about the ‘thing’ that’s happening in our physical world, is it about our internal ‘story’ about those external things (event, situation, conversation, outcome, encounter) or maybe something else? Is happiness the same as joy? Euphoria? Calm? Satisfaction? Contentment? Perhaps (for some) it’s the absence anxiety, depression, over-thinking and discontent. Is it possible to experience happiness, despite being in a crappy situation? Can we consciously ‘create’ it? How does our thinking influence our overall level of happiness? What role does our programming, upbringing and conditioning play in ability to ‘be’ happy? This episode is me thinking out loud about all these questions (with input from Melissa). Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.