Manfulness

Relationships…..We all have them.  Whether it's friendship, business, family, or romance; these relationships can either provide us with comfort, pleasure, and understanding or be a source of frustration, resentment, or anger.This episode kicks off the first of five special podcast episodes, in which I will be discussing and breaking down the five core principles that my wife and I use to coach our clients (and apply to ourselves) to help improve the health of relationships, release unrealistic expectations, create effective communication and help set healthy boundaries in place.Today's episode is all about principle number one: Understanding our expectations versus reality.  Listen in to hear what happens when we fall in love with the idea of someone instead of the real, flawed person and what to do to overcome the divide between what is real and what is expected, to have a healthy and flourishing relationship.LINKS:Inside Man Coaching Program: https://manfulness.com.au/sessions/Breathfullness Program:  https://manfulness.com.au/sessions/Follow Hamish!Website: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manfulnessmen/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manfulnessmen/YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/

 Today's podcast is the second part of my previous podcast “Let's Talk About Plant Medicine”In this episode, I share my experiences and reflections after attending a three-day retreat where I sat in a ceremony with plant medicine.   It was a very different experience, from my last time sitting in ceremony and I was given three big lessons to take home to integrate.  Tune into this episode to hear about my recent experiences with plant medicine and the lessons I received.LINKS:Inside Man Coaching Program: https://manfulness.com.au/sessions/Breathfullness Program:  https://manfulness.com.au/sessions/Follow Hamish!Website: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manfulnessmen/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manfulnessmen/YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/

This week on the podcast, I have my wife Erika Cramer joining me as she interviews me about all things plant medicine.We discuss  what plant medicine is, why some people are attracted to plant medicine, its benefits and touch on how it may benefit some people. Tune into this episode to hear about my personal experiences with plant medicine and how it transformed my life.  LINKS:Inside Man Coaching Program: https://manfulness.com.au/sessions/Breathfullness Program:  https://manfulness.com.au/sessions/Follow Hamish!Website: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manfulnessmen/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manfulnessmen/YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/

As we grow and move through life, our experiences and thoughts shift and change.  It's natural to have some big realizations and to feel all sorts of emotions bubble up to the surface.And when these emotions surface, you might feel like you need a release in the form of a good cry…. and there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, this actually happened to me a few weeks ago. I was in the middle of a very busy week, there were  many important issues that need most of my time and attention and overwhelm began to kick in.  I felt like I was  carrying some heavy emotional baggage and it was begging to be let out.In today's podcast Id like to share with you this particular experience and the reminder it gave me, click the link to listen and learn more. Stand connected with me!Website: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manfulnessmen/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manfulnessmen/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF25GDdeGoTRmNxrvXw2SKQ/videos How to work with me:Inside Man Coaching Program: https://manfulness.com.au/sessions/Breathfullness Program:  https://manfulness.com.au/sessions/

It's so fun to realize that once you become a parent of little kids, you also get to enjoy whatever they want to watch on the television!At home, we usually watch kids' movies all together as a family, with my children, who are four and six years old.  The Disney Channel has been great as it's given us a variety of movies to watch.To be honest, I also grew up watching Disney movies.   All the films that are now great classics, like Aladdin and the Lion King.   I can say that as an adult, I still find these movies to be just as fun and amazing as I did when I was young!One of the exciting things about any Disney film is that you will always learn a new lesson while watching a movie. I consider family movie time to be a good activity to do at home with my children.  Not only do they get to enjoy the film, they also come away having learned new values that they can apply to their lives now and as they grow up.One day, as I sat watching movies with my kids, I came across a particular film  that is popular right now with the title “Encanto.” It's a new Disney movie; about a Colombian family whose members each have a special power unique to them. Watching this film really touched me.  Inspired, I decided to create a new podcast episode all about this movie and its fantastic story line. As I mentioned earlier, there's always an inspiring story or something new to learn from every movie - and today I want to share two valuable lessons that I've got from the movie “Encanto.” So, if you want to know what those inspiring lessons are, go ahead and hit the play button and listen to the entire podcast. If you haven't watched the movie yet, make sure you do it as a family- all together.  Take the time to treasure making memories together and talk about the lessons you find.  Help your little ones learn how to apply these lessons to their daily lives.As parents, it's our responsibility to teach our children how to live a life full of happiness and values. You can start to do this even when they are very young in age.  Simply by making use of what kids naturally love to do, watching stories unfold on the movie screen!LINKS:Inside Man Coaching Program: https://manfulness.com.au/sessions/Breathfullness Program:  https://bit.ly/3stCQ8z Follow Hamish!Website: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manfulnessmen/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manfulnessmen/YouTube: manfulness

When talking about a domesticated man, what's the first thing that comes to your mind?You might be thinking of someone who is fond of housework and others may think of someone who is fond of home life. I really want to talk about this in this podcast because this has been a big thing for me and it has been on my mind over a couple of years, especially when the pandemic hit the world. When I talk about a domesticated man, it's more of being obedient and being tamed. If you want to look at the definition of the word domesticated, it means to tame, especially in referring to an animal through generations of breeding, to live in close association with humans being a pet to work, and usually creating a dependency.And this is what's important, usually creating a dependency, so an animal loses its ability to live in the wild. That's the definition of the word domesticated I'm talking about here. But, what we're seeing now is the generations of men, who are afraid of their masculinity, who are afraid to be men, who are afraid of their wild-like nature. And I see this in myself, and I see this in the men that I work with for many years. Also, what I'm finding more is that if a man hasn't found a positive way to express his anger, frustrations, or emotions, it only makes it worse inside of him. He only becomes angrier and more frustrated over the course of time. However, that's what I find among men who are terrified of is their anger. Most of them don't want to be angry. And I can understand it because anger is one of those emotions that can be really dangerous if not dealt with properly.  It can become violent and it becomes very destructive. These are some of the exciting things that I talked about in this podcast. So if you want to learn more about a domesticated man, access and listen to the podcast now. Always remember that as men as we are, we're missing an important part of our lives. I think what we're missing is that wild part of us. We haven't had an opportunity to explore our wild side. We haven't had an opportunity to explore what and how we feel. And that's the thing we all need to work on moving forward.LINKS:Inside Man Coaching Program: https://manfulness.com.au/sessions/Breathfullness Program:  https://bit.ly/3stCQ8z Follow Hamish!Website: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/manfulnessmen/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manfulnessmen/YouTube: manfulness 

This is the first episode for 2022! It's great to be back on the podcast. I took some time off and took some time away from doing everything. You all know that the past couple of years brought us all different challenges, but we were able to get through them. And one of the big reasons why I was able to overcome those challenges is because I always love what I do. My coaches, my wife, and I put our hearts into what we're doing. It doesn't mean that we've never experienced being overwhelmed, anxious, angry, and frustrated. We were still able to go through all of those emotions. But because we really wanted to serve our community, serve our clients, and share anything we've learned for the past years, we remained strong and chose to continue our journey towards the life we always wanted. So with this podcast episode, let's talk about this new year and answer the question: “Does 2022 really exist?”How many of you have high hopes for this year?Are you able to find 2022 a great year to make a fresh start?With that, if you want to know more about it and check the answers to these questions, please listen to the podcast and discover yourself what else 2022 can offer to you and your family. Keep in mind that when you try to get the results you want by hitting your target, you're gonna feel much better about yourself. You're gonna feel good every time you have achieved something great for yourself. So if you were able to experience that in the past, you can surely do it again this year. It's because I honestly believe that every human being's main driver is growth. It means that everyone wants to grow in all aspects of their life. So make it happen again in 2022 and continue to witness your growth and success in the days to come. LINKS:Book mentioned: Atomic Habits by James ClearFollow HamishWebsite: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

This is the last episode for 2021! The past year has been full of remarkable highs and impactful moments. This season is the ideal time to sit back and reflect on the year that was and how we can set up our expectations for the year to come. The purpose for this episode is to explore the way we set our goals for the coming year. I've never had an issue with focusing and striving to achieve my goals. So much so that I can become tunnel-visioned and it comes at a detriment to other areas in my life. I tend to not have much fun and found it very hard to justify doing anything that wasn't bringing in any financial success. So over the break, I'm very excited to be focusing on fun. I'll be playing music, doing fun things, working on my car, painting, and doing little projects around the house. I'll take you through the new structure I'll use to set my goals. We all tend to set big large goals for the year and fail to break them down into bite-size timeframes. I'll explain my six week focus blocks and a method to map out your entire year to accomplish goals in 3 big areas in your life.I wanted to send my very heartfelt thanks for all your support and for joining me this year. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time with you and I'm sending all my love for an amazing 2022. LINKS:Download my FREE Mini Meditation Course hereFollow HamishWebsite: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

It's my pleasure to introduce to you my final guest for 2021, a man with an incredible depth of wisdom and breadth of life experiences, Regenerative Leadership Coach, Ryan Kemp. In addition to his Regenerative Leadership Coaching, Ryan is a business consultant, published author, speaker, yoga teacher, and poet. Over the last 10 years, he has worked in, lived in, and traveled to over 45 countries, learning from different cultural elders and working on solutions to some of the world's largest issues such as food waste, plastic, energy access, and the detriments of tourism.Ryan's past work includes counseling with the Prime Minister of Cameroon on infrastructure development, working with the Minister of Energy in Myanma toward renewable energy independence, and living and working on international permaculture communities and farms throughout Hawaii, The Caribbean, and Central America.In this conversation, Ryan and I discuss a wide range of topics from masculinity and how it shows up in different ways in different cultures to the disconnection from nature in western society and how it impacts the way we live, learn, raise our children and generate our food. I resonate deeply with much of what Ryan talks about and I know many of you will find so much value in this episode. Check it out.   LINKS:Connect with RyanInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanj_kemp/Website: https://www.ryanjkemp.com/https://pueo.consulting/Follow HamishWebsite: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

We're fast approaching the end of the year! This is the perfect time for reflection.When I was young, I wanted to be successful, famous, and have women. I wanted to be the quintessential alpha male. So I tried to find every scheme and get rich quick program to reach this goal. This drive came from wanting to prove people wrong and comparison. Even though ambition to succeed from resentment can benefit you and give you some success, it can also push you to overwork, over sacrifice, and become obsessive with your goal. The health of your body can often become of lesser importance (if any) to the goal you're focused on. This unbalanced prioritisation can then lead to burnout and exhaustion. Many people that have had success in money and business have sacrificed success in other areas of their lives. I, myself, had to change my definition of success to learn not to compare myself to others, not depend on quick results, and not to take shortcuts. I had to work out why I wanted to be successful and why I was doing it. I shifted my mindset by stopping comparing myself to others to just focusing on what I was doing and how I could become better every day. This change in thinking and creating a better alignment gave me long-lasting happiness and enjoyment in life. Who do you want to be in 20 years? By looking that far ahead, the small wins and competition around you fade away. You can only think about the big picture and the life goals you want to achieve. What do they look like? I'll share how I moved away from setting goals for myself to improving my systems and my foundations. What systems could you improve? Reflect on all of the things that didn't work out so you can alter your processes to make them more enjoyable and achieve long-lasting success in every area of your life. LINKS:Book mentioned: Atomic Habits by James ClearFollow HamishWebsite: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

Are you okay with being still? Or does the idea of not having something on the go make you feel uncomfortable?We live in a world where it's possible to be plugged in 24 hours of the day. If we're bored, we have access to entertainment at our fingertips. But is that a good thing?In this episode, I talk about some of the things I learned over the extended period of lockdown and home learning and creating an environment in the home where we are okay to sit with stillness and silence.How often do your kids tell you they are bored?How often do you reach for your phone or TV to fill in the gaps between busy tasks?We don't always have to be busy. We don't always have to be consuming.I want to teach my kids that it's okay to be bored, to embrace stillness, and to have real conversations with people instead of relying on devices to keep them entertained. Life has become so much more complex and stressful than it used to be. What kind of life do you want to live?LINKS:Follow HamishWebsite: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

Our bodies are suffering right now. We are living in our heads and our bodies are being ignored. I know that sending your awareness down into your body can be a challenging process but I encourage you to sit with your emotions and truly acknowledge them.We are often so hesitant to stop and embrace this stillness because we just want to jump to the solution. Let go of that urge for a moment. I invite you into this meditation to just be with yourself. Ask yourself, what are you feeling right now? Not with the intention to work it out, fight it or understand it. Just to be present and flow with it. No matter the emotion, let it out and breathe with it. Hold space for yourself and give your body the gift of presence. Send your consciousness into your body to observe your inner and external world without analyzing or problem solving. Slow everything down and enjoy this space of stillness, quiet, and rest.LINKS:Follow HamishWebsite: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

Are you really good at finding solutions to problems?Most men are. Humans are amazing in their capacity to come up with solutions, but this can sometimes be detrimental. One thing I've noticed is that most men are so conditioned to focus on finding answers to problems, that they don't allow themselves to process the feelings that surround the problems.A lot of men think they shouldn't ever feel certain ways. They shouldn't feel anger, they shouldn't feel rage, they shouldn't feel sadness.This is where we can learn to hold space for ourselves. We are human beings who have feelings and these emotions can't be dealt with from the outside. We have to go in. We must be present, surrender to the process and allow those emotions to do what they need to do. In this episode, I talk about how I've learned to sit with my feelings instead of trying to make them go away or find a cognitive solution. Once we properly acknowledge, process and express the emotions going on inside us, we can look at the situations we're facing with a fresh set of eyes. Then, the solutions come.     LINKS:Follow HamishWebsite: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

Today's episode is a meditation dedicated to travelling inwards and finding alignment. The world needs a perspective change to learn not to run from our pain and take steps to truly feel it. The fear of feeling pain causes us to project anxiety, anger, and encourages disconnection around us. There are two ways we feel pain: the pain of the things that are happening to us, and the pain from trying to avoid it. Fear of feeling pain can stop us from trying again but we need this pain because it allows us to grow.  Acknowledging our pain means that we don't throw it out into the world on everyone around us. There is enough of that in the world already.So, I invite you to take this journey to feel peace and happiness by using meditation to travel inwards to recognise, address and grow from your pain. LINKS:Follow HamishWebsite: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

If you're like me and in lockdown, your stress levels may be pretty high and have been for a while. While I know that stress is a natural part of life. Prolonged stress can have such a big impact on your mind and body. I've had my own run ins with stress. Life has become more complicated since I was a young personal trainer and with that there is more pressure and stress. In this episode, I will share with you three really significant ways that stress impacts you. There are so many external stressors in daily life that are influencing us everyday. I am so keen for you to hear this episode because I know that you will be experiencing at least some of these in your life. Our brains are engineered to respond to stress with fight, flight or freeze. We may respond to prolonged stress by lashing out at a spouse, running away and hiding from problems, or numbing ourselves out. We aren't capable of finding solutions because that part of our brain is turned off. I want you to take control of your health back, so I am sharing some of the many ways to reduce stress in your life. You can make your life happier and healthier. LINKS:Follow HamishWebsite: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

Today's episode is a meditation to connect and acknowledge your body, revel in the wonders of the amazing processes in your mind, and really appreciate how you are a cooperative component of the world you want to create. Take a moment and feel the rhythm in your heart, the tingling of your fingers and toes, the flow of your blood, and the release of your breath. Ask your body, what do you need from me? Acknowledge your body and mind, and appreciate the amazing intricate system that is happening every moment of your life. Circumstances may be out of your control right now, but real power is having dominion over your mind and body.That's the place where the true work is done.  LINKS:Follow HamishWebsite: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

We're still in lockdown in Melbourne and some days I wake up feeling good and motivated. Other days I find myself struggling. It's something I've really had to address to get myself back into alignment. Over the years, I've equipped myself with various tools and modalities that really help me understand and process my emotions. Music is one of those powerful tools. As a young man, music was so helpful for me to connect with myself on a deep level and this is something that a lot of men struggle with.They want to access their emotions but they just don't know how to get there. Listening to music really helped me gain clarity on what I was feeling and allowed me to move through the different emotions I had going on. I didn't analyse, I just listened to the music and sat with the feeling. Doing this helped me process whatever was going on and created space for new emotions to come in.I've learned not to just push through negative emotions, but to stop and take note whenever I'm not feeling good inside.If you're struggling with sadness, anger, frustration, depression or anything that isn't serving you, I highly encourage you to use music as a tool to help you to move through these emotions. Create a playlist and just sit with it. What are the songs that really stand out to you?  LINKS:Listen to How to get more sex with Jordan Hackett on Apple Podcasts Listen to How to get more sex with Jordan Hackett on SpotifyFollow HamishWebsite: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

Anger, frustration, confusion and fear from our daily lives causes conflict in our internal worlds, which impacts on our external world. This internal conflict makes it so much harder to make important and balanced decisions. To help you recentre, I encourage you to be still and reflect inward to look at everything in your life with fresh and open eyes. This meditation is all about finding peace and filling your life with joy and love. Imagine yourself like an antenna, sending out high vibrational signals to the external world. Once you're centred in peace, you can either face the problems in your life or choose to back off and regenerate. You will no longer allow your external world to dictate how you feel. So, show each other love and, as one, let's take a deep breath in together...   LINKS: Follow Hamish Website: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

Modern masculinity, stigmas and taboos have such an impact on the way men talk about and explore sex in a positive and deep way. Today I am so grateful to be talking with Jordan Hackett. Jordan is a Men's Coach and Certified Sexologist. He has a background in rites of initiation work and draws on a wealth of integrated personal experience in erotic exploration, diverse relationships and self-development spaces. He offers private coaching and bodywork, online programs and in person workshops. Jordan shares how it is so important to own who you are, your desires, your attractions and commit to the man you want to be - even if it isn't the man you are right now - by having radical honesty in your encounters. I know heartbreak can close men off to ever putting themselves out there again. Jordan describes how heartbreak stretches the spectrum between deep pain and deep joy to have a broader emotional range to experience more of life. He shares with us a toolkit to feel and be okay with those feelings. Feeling your pain tells you that you are alive. Jordan shares advice on how to improve your sex life and your connection with the other person. He breaks down the importance of communication and being honest about what you like and what they like. You are the architect of your life. Go out there, be open to vulnerability and discover what amazing things it creates in your life.   LINKS: eBook Bombshells of Important Truths About Sex: www.jordanhackett.com/ebook Free 30min Discovery Call - www.jordanhackett.com/bookings-checkout/free-discovery-call/book Instagram - @thejordanhackett Facebook - Jordan Hackett Website - www.jordanhackett.com Follow Hamish Website: https://manfulness.com.au/ Instagram: here

If today was your last day, how would you live it differently? One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is that we have all the time in the world. The truth is, we don't know how long we're going to be here for. We gear ourselves up to live long lives with mortgages and preparations for the future but sometimes we protect our lives so much that we don't actually live. This episode is a challenge for you to look at the quality of your life right now. Are you really living the life that you want to live? Or has the assumption that you'll live a long life stopped you from embracing joy, peace, pleasure and fulfillment in the present moment? Do you want to live a long life? Or do you want to live a quality life?   LINKS: Books mentioned: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware Sign up for my free meditation course here My website: https://manfulness.com.au/ Follow me over on Instagram here

Journaling is an incredibly useful tool that has helped me immensely throughout my life to build an understanding and dialogue with my thoughts and feelings. In this episode, I share my story of how I began my journaling journey. I had to move past the belief that women are the only ones that can journal. I gave myself the freedom to write whatever was inside my head without any structure and it allowed me to begin this dialogue with my emotions and thoughts. I share my three uses for journaling which include developing an understanding of who I am and why I feel that way (including triggers), writing down quotes and affirmations that made me feel better and drawing. We, as men, are not given the opportunity to explore emotions. Society views that men should always be strong and emotions are weak, causing us to lose the dialogue with our feelings. This then leads to emotions building up pressure over time, resulting in anger and frustration over small issues. Journaling enabled me to take control over my internal world and have an outlet for these thoughts and feelings. Give journal writing a go and find your own perfect environment for personal reflection. LINKS: Sign up for my free meditation course here My website: https://manfulness.com.au/ Follow me over on Instagram here

There are a bunch of hot topics in the world at the moment and along with that comes a lot of division. We all approach issues from a different perspective and form opinions based on our personal biases, judgements, assumptions and life experiences. It's easy to hold onto our opinions as truths. But when we only listen to our opinions, we miss out on opportunities for greater knowledge, understanding and growth. It becomes “us and them” instead of moving forward together as a society. In this episode, I talk about the importance of growing in empathy, how this requires us to be more accountable with our opinions, understand people who share different views and be flexible to change our own.   LINKS: Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

In Melbourne, we have recently re-surfaced from our fifth lockdown and I feel that this one has hit me the hardest. I had to cancel my 40th birthday party and the Manfulness Masterclass, and I feel frustration and irritability confined to my home. This stasis of isolation can bring on many different emotions for people and they can be challenging to handle as the lockdown is out of our control. In this episode, I examine the feelings that are generated from being in lockdown and how media outlets are using these feelings to consume our attention. Fear draws us in and fine tunes our senses, so when we are bombarded with news programs, press conferences, and social media posts, we are stuck in a cycle of dread and negative energy. I will talk to you through my strategy of disengaging from news programs and social media posts to disconnect from the onslaught of constant fear to give yourself the opportunity to recentre and come back into homeostasis. Use laughter as an important tool to clear your body of stagnant energy and improve your mental health. Bring your level of consciousness and awareness to what you are viewing and it will bring an incredible difference to your health and wellbeing.   LINKS: Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

I'm about to turn 40, which feels like a pretty big milestone for me. I've been reminiscing about the last 10 years of my life; how much has changed and how much I've grown. I wanted to share my reflections with you as I unpack a few of the lessons I've learned and things I've journeyed through over the last decade. I look back at 30 year old me and feel so grateful for that man who said yes to embarking on the journey into the unknown. I faced some real challenges and painful moments, but they all led me to this place of deeper authenticity and greater joy and fulfillment. If you're struggling right now or facing something really challenging, I hope this episode is an encouragement to you to hold on. If you could have the perspective of hindsight, you would know that whatever you're going through right now, your suffering isn't in vain. Embrace where you're at, find the greater purpose inside the suffering and use it for your transformation.   LINKS: Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

It has just ticked over to a new financial year here, and I find this is a great opportunity to really reflect on the past 12 months in business. When I look back at all that Erika and I have achieved in our businesses this year, I feel grateful and proud of what we've been able to do. We've grown so much not only professionally, but personally and when I think about how the end of financial year used to feel for me, there has been such a shift in my mindset. When I was first starting out in the fitness industry, I was really struggling financially. My gym wasn't making money year after year, and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I was tired all the time, stressed beyond belief and everything felt really hard. I realised that I wasn't being honest with myself. I wasn't really looking at the numbers and the reality of where my business was sitting. Once I started being honest about the situation, I could finally start to turn it around. This isn't just something that applies to your finances either. It applies to everything in your life. If you are truly honest with yourself and the situation that you're in, coming to it with an open mind, you can make positive changes.   LINKS: Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

My life completely changed when I started getting deep into personal development. I began unravelling the unconscious habits and patterns in my life, I worked through painful realisations and started taking responsibility for where I was at. Then I had the audacity to tell everyone else what they should be doing to change their lives too. I see a lot of people doing the same thing lately. When you start doing the work and bringing awareness to the darker areas of your life, it's a natural temptation to want to preach positive thinking and gratitude to everyone else. But no amount of positive thinking will ever heal trauma in someone's life. That requires much deeper work. In this episode I want to share with you some of the journey I went through and how I eventually realised that it wasn't my job to tell someone else how to change their life. I share my thoughts on toxic positivity and why it will never replace the deeper, and often challenging, work when it comes to healing trauma. I also talk about what a good coach should do in supporting you in your personal journey.   LINKS: Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

In today's episode I'm going to tackle a taboo topic: porn addiction. Pornography can be a difficult area for men to traverse because it's something we're incredibly shameful of. Most men don't even want to admit they view porn. It's also a common thing for men to struggle with, especially in our younger years when feelings of arousal are high but our understanding of sexuality hasn't fully developed. It's an easy way to deal with built up sexual energy but also boredom, frustration, and other negative emotions. Society as a whole can view men as being driven to sex from a purely animalistic level. This mentality has become so ingrained that many men view themselves this way and perpetuate it in their own lives. Because of this, many men miss out on love and sex at their optimal levels, which is really tragic. Porn makes this problem even worse as it gives us a very mechanical, emotionless portrayal of what sex is. We need to overcome the shame and the guilt in this area so we can reach out for help and begin improving our lives. Take a few steps back and look at your life as a whole. Are you bored? Do you lack creative outlets? Are you nervous? LINKS: Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

I try to be purposeful with the guests who come on the Manfulness podcast. The men I look for are doing something different, who are courageous and sharing parts of themselves that are usually hidden. People who role model a different way that manhood can express itself. Today's guest Christian O'Connel is definitely one of those men. He's recently released a book “No One Listens to Your Dad's Show” that explores his career in radio and shares some deeper parts of his life. He talks to me about his family's recent shift to the other side of the world. What led up to that, what struggles it caused, and how he feels in hindsight. We discuss how parenting has forced him to reassess his perspectives and just hold space for his daughters. Christian is equal parts hilarious and honest, which made this conversation a delight. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did. Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

I’ve had many men come to me in sessions who want to improve their life but have no experience working on themselves. It’s a harmful block that prevents many people from reaching the life they desire. We all face challenges in our lives that shape us but the outlook we hold determines how much control we can take over our own lives.   People tend to fall into one of two main mindsets here. One mindset believes they have no power to change the things that happen to them and that they are how they are because of the inevitable . The other mindset acknowledges that  things happen in life they have no control over, but also that they can choose how to show up in life regardless. You cannot begin to work on yourself if you are stuck in the first mindset, you need to be open and willing to change. I’ve dealt with it myself, which is how I know just how worth it the work will be. In today’s episode I’ll talk about where to start when you want to work on yourself.   Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

Making decisions is a natural part of life. We make hundreds of decisions every day, what we’re going to wear or eat for dinner. We also make bigger decisions over our lifetime like where we’re going to live, what we’ll do for a living, or who we want to be with. These bigger choices often cause us trouble because we can often fool ourselves into thinking we’ve made a decision, while we’re actually sitting in indecision. I had a client come see me recently who suspected his partner had cheated on him. She outright denied this and the two ended up choosing to stay together, but he hadn’t actually decided to forgive her and was just stuck. In today’s episode we’ll dive into his journey and also a broader look at making decisions. What exactly does it mean to decide on something and how can you get there?   contact me via instagram or email: manfulnessmen@gmail.com.

  Some people are charged with energy when they spend time with people, others find themselves drained no matter how much they enjoy it. As an introvert, if I spend too much time in a social situation it can become too much and I’ll start shutting down. I become moody, grumpy, critical and I know I need to leave the situation asap. As a nurturer, I love to support the people around me but if I don’t take time for myself it begins to feel like an obligation and I’ll start to resent them. Recently, I’ve had a lot of clients come to me with this same problem. They feel unappreciated, overwhelmed, tired and are left thinking “what’s the point?” We’ll dive into this in today’s episode and talk about the importance of being able to say no to your partner. If you are an introvert and a nurturer, you need to communicate your limitations with the people around you so that you aren’t pushed too far. Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here  

  In today’s episode I want to talk about something that affects everyone, limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs are thoughts you continuously have so often they begin to structure your reality. In the early years of a child’s development their brains are very susceptible to the environment around them. The situations we are born into, parents, brothers and sisters, culture, religion, all these things heavily impact out development and so the beliefs we carry with us through our lives. This works because our brains need to find the best ways to survive and thrive in the world, but it can’t filter between healthy and unhealthy situations, so we are often left with beliefs that limit us. We all have limiting beliefs, thoughts that hold us back from living our best possible lives, but we don’t have to stay stuck. If we learn to challenge our limiting beliefs, we can move beyond previous limitations. I hope you enjoy this episode, if you want to reach out you can contact me via Instagram or email: manfulnessmen@gmail.com.

Last week I ran my first manfulness masterclass just for men. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time but haven’t been able to until this year.  I was incredibly nervous about running this class because I wasn’t sure how many men would open up or even show up. Many men are ashamed to work on themselves, there’s embarrassment to reach out for help or learn from other people. It actually went really well; we had fifteen guys who were incredibly receptive, and we got a lot of great experiences out of it. In today's episode I want to discuss the lack of existing framework for supporting men, the way men can uniquely support each other, and why I believe the tides are turning and more men are reaching out despite the stigma. Follow me over on Instagram here. Find more information on my website here.

Women are often at a loss for how to help a man in their life to begin to work on themselves. Their efforts can be met with him becoming defensive, shutting her out, or even aggression. Most men struggle to open up about their situation and struggles, so this discussion needs to be done with care. You’re not going to get a man to do anything by forcing him, giving him an ultimatum, or going in guns blazing because this feels like an attack and will provoke a defensive state of mind. In order for emotions to be processed, we need to be out of a state of fight or flight. Feminine energy is often resisted by men, but it is key to understanding and processing emotions. We are not masculine, or feminine, we are a balance of both. Learning to become fluid in these energies will allow men to open themselves up to more joy from life. If you want your partner to work on themselves, you need to learn how to balance your energies. If they are closed off or defensive, use your femininity to hold space for them and allow them to open up. I hope you enjoy this episode. If you would like to dive deeper into the chakras with me, contact me via instagram or email: manfulnessmen@gmail.com.

When we’re in an argument with someone and we start using phrases like, “You never support me. You always put me down. You never listen to me…” If we really thought about it before coming into the conversation, how much truth is there to those statements? Does the person really never do what you’ve said, or is this a generalisation that you’re making to get your point across. Using words like “never” and “always” in my opinion, can start some of the biggest arguments. Instead of coming to the conversation ready to address the issues with truth and respect, we come ready to go to war with the other person and make them feel terrible. If you’re trying to form a stronger bond in your relationship, you have to look at the way you’re communicating and the words that you’re choosing to use. Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

How do we help men open up? I get asked this question a lot from women waiting for the man in their life to talk about their feelings. Often out of frustration, women start nagging to get their man to share more about their inner world and needless to say, nagging isn’t the answer. In this episode, I talk about how you can help the man in your life start opening up and feel safe doing so. I share some of what I do in my men’s coaching sessions and practical tactics I use to help men share what’s going on in their lives. This will be really helpful for all relationships and help you navigate some of the difficulties that can arise when communicating with the people you care about. Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

I've crashed Erika's episode this week as it was such a good conversation and I wanted to share it with you guys here too. We got a lot of questions from you all about how Erika and I set our goals and intentions for each new year, and we wanted to give you the actionable steps that we take to refine how we want to approach a new year. In this episode Erika and I talk through our personal goals and intentions for 2021. My word for 2021 is BREATHE, and so when I look back on the year that was 2020, I can be sure of what I want to take with me into 2021 to accommodate more conscious breath and simplicity. From reflection I’m also able to look at what I want to leave behind. We provide so much value in this episode today, so be sure to grab a pen and paper and take some notes. Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

What I’ve noticed through the work that I do, especially when I’m working with couples is that the female of the relationship is good at dreaming big, setting goals, thinking about all the things that could be achieved, and the male in the relationships is more rigid. Men struggle to dream and they almost assign themselves the role of being the rational, logical one of the relationship to allow their partner to have the big dreams. I can resonate with this as this used to be the case with myself and Erika. She is the big dreamer and the action taker, and I was bringing her back down to earth sometimes with the rational, logical steps that were needed. So I found myself not dreaming of anything for myself. When I started to practice dreaming of all the things I could achieve, I really started to see the power in it, and this is what I want to share with you guys today. In this episode I give you some practical tools that can help you dream bigger for yourself. It’s not easy and you may feel a bit silly to begin with, but the more you practice, the better you will become and the possibilities will start to feel more endless. Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

As we come towards the end of 2020 after what has been a very strange year, I wanted to share with you the questions that I like to ask myself at the end of every year. I think it’s important to ask yourself questions so that you’re able to push towards the life that you want to create for yourself and those around you over the next 365 days. So today I’m sharing with you the questions that I ask myself, in the hope that you will create questions for yourself and contemplate what 2020 has looked like for you. Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

The way I was brought up was that in order to get money, you needed to work really, really hard. You needed to get a good education and then find a job where you could work your way up, work hard and the result would be lots of money. I tried that for a long time and it never really worked out very well. Not because I wasn't earning enough, but because my money mindset was bad. I wasn't treating money with the respect that it deserved. I wasn't looking at the true value exchange that money is. In this episode today, I talk about how my concept of what money is has changed, what my life looks like now and how I approach my career. There are two books that I've read that have changed my life and mindset around money, which I highly recommend you check out if you're struggling with money. Profit First Barefoot Investor   Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

I have something on my mind that's bothering me, and to be honest I don't have the answer to it. But I feel it's important to voice these thoughts and perhaps start up a discussion. What's triggered me is I saw a post the other day about Harry Styles wearing a dress on the cover of Vogue and the backlash that was received. There were comments effectively saying, "Bring back the manly man". This really bothered me because it creates confusion and an intolerance that we really don't need. From the work that I do with my clients, a lot of men struggle with the idea of what it means to be a man. Men are confused about how they are supposed to show up in the world, and comments like the one I've mentioned don't help. We've come so far in encouraging men to embrace the feminine side and allowing themselves to feel more emotions, and then comments like this saying that we should bring back the manly men, just completely derails the whole conversation. I don't know what the answer is here. Tolerance is important but of course I realise that we can't be tolerant of every behaviour because there are plenty of behaviours and actions that are deplorable, but intolerance on something like this seems counterproductive. I'd love your thoughts. Reach out to me on Instagram!   Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

I have another interview coming up for you today and I have to say, I’m loving these sessions. It’s so great to connect with other men and have those deeper conversations. On the podcast today I’m joined by Tim Morrison. I’ve been following Tim for some time and I have been very impressed with the incredible work he is doing for men in the personal development space. Tim began his journey as a personal trainer at the age of 17 and fell in love with deep, transformational work, coaching people from the inside out. During this time, Tim was dedicated to his career as a Thai boxer, competing at high level which saw him win the State and Australian WKN lightweight title, fighting within Australia and also Russia and Thailand. After a severe career ending neck injury, Tim went into his own deep transformational space, losing himself and life as he knew it. He went from a life of passion and purpose to a dark depression, suicidal instincts and what felt like no reason to live, after losing what mattered most to him. After combating a number of mental health issues, Tim vowed that if he ever got through this then he would share how with others. We touch on so many fantastic topics today such as: Masculinity and this idea of hurt masculinity Improving our relationships Shamanic work The power of breathwork The wounds that are birthed in us as children, and how we can heal from those Releasing our traumas to become happier, healthier individuals. You can follow Tim here: https://www.tim-morrison.com/ https://www.instagram.com/timmorrison__/ https://www.instagram.com/timmorrison__/ -- Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

At the moment I'm seeing a lot of the same patterns through the work that I'm doing with my clients. A topic that seems to be a common struggle is boundaries, or the lack thereof. It got me thinking about the fact that as men, we're generally pretty easy going. We don't tend to think too hard about creating space for ourselves or our deeper needs. We go with the flow more, but this can cause issues because it can be misconstrued as us not needing time to ourselves. A lot of the men I'm working with at the moment don't have any boundaries in place for their friends and family and it can be difficult to figure out what your boundaries should be. The way I like to think about it is taking the time to acknowledge what is negotiable for you, where compromises can be made, and what is absolutely non-negotiable. Once you have established your negotiable and non-negotiable requirements, you can start to set up boundaries to support this. Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

This is part two of my chat with Adam Edwards. If you're just tuning in now, I highly recommend starting with part one so that you get the full picture of who Adam is, what he's been through and what he has been able to achieve for himself and for those he's worked with. I absolutely love chatting to Adam and I'm thrilled to have him on the Manfulness podcast.   Find Adam Edwards: Website - Instagram

I used to be out and partying all the time in my hey day and during that time, I came across Adam Edwards. he owned a bars and clubs throughout Melbourne and I always found him to be really genuine, kind and a great person to be around. You can imagine, in the world of clubbing you come across a lot of superficial people, a lot of bad behaviour and not the best atmosphere in a lot of ways, but Adam never came across like that. After many years in the club scene, the industry was wearing thin on Adam. He was suffering from poor mental and physical health, and knew it was time to make a change in his life. Since then, Adam has been on his own spiritual journey that has lead him to his work as a life coach today. In 2016, Adam started a 2 year Life Coach apprenticeship under Carl Massy, ex-army major, and a 20 year Master Coach and Strategist. It was one of the hardest challenges of his life. Since that day Adam has been 100% committed to transforming lives. Victims of trauma and people looking for spiritual healing, guidance and direction in their lives. This is a massive episode guys, so we've split it into two parts. Stay tuned for part two next week.   Find Adam Edwards: Website - Instagram  

Welcome back to the second part of my chat with Dr Jimi. If you're tuning in now, I would suggest going back and listening to part 1 first (my previous episode) so that you get the full picture of our chat!   Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here   Where to Find Dr Jimi Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJimiWollumbin/community/ Website: http://www.doctorjimi.net/ One Health Website: https://onehealthorganisation.org/ One Health Twitter: https://twitter.com/one_healthorg

This was a really interesting conversation and I'm thrilled to introduce you to my guest today, Dr Jimi. Jimi is not a GP or an MD but a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He is one of those rare individuals that is an expert in his field that also knows how to teach others. He has spoken at the United Nations, opened for Deepak Chopra and has even been personally insulted by the Dalai Lama. He teaches integrative doctors across America, sits on the faculty of the America Integrative Health and Medicine Association and is a lifetime member of the Tibetan Medical Institute's 'Friends of Tibetan Medicine'. We touched on so many topics in this conversation that I have split the episode into two parts to give you time to digest it all and enjoy it! We dive into what masculinity really means, the issues surrounding the "woke" movement, how we live with suffering and what it means to be a parent. Jimi was full of so much insight into what the world needs right now so that we can work towards serving each other and our planet in a more meaningful way.   Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here Where to Find Dr Jimi: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJimiWollumbin/community/ Website: http://www.doctorjimi.net/ One Health Website: https://onehealthorganisation.org/ One Health Twitter: https://twitter.com/one_healthorg

You may not know this about me, but I am a massive fan of horror movies. I believe it dates back to that Michael Jackson film clip for his song Thriller which was really iconic at that time. There is an interesting side to this horror genre that I wanted to talk about today. If you’ve seen horror films before, you’ll know they follow a pretty similar path. Everything always seems to be going well, the situation is fine and then just at that moment where something exciting or good is about to happen, a monster or a killer bursts in and the madness ensues. The interesting thing that I’ve noticed here within myself is that I used to live my life like this. I wouldn’t want things to be too good, or I wouldn’t allow my relationships to feel really comfortable because I was too scared of what I thought would be the inevitable demise. I didn’t feel like things could ever just be going well. I was always thinking about the catastrophe of what might come next. This sent me down a path of anxiety and depression and really, not feeling like I was enjoying life very much. I feel as men, a lot of us live like this and I want to challenge you on that. Why do we feel that there has to be a negative coming if we’ve been enjoying good fortune or positive experiences. Allow yourself to sit with that and really feel into the moments that you’re creating in your mind. Once you can let the negativity go, you’ll feel a lot more free. Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here  

We often talk about how men struggle with expressing their emotions. Or that they don't have the broad range of emotions that perhaps our female counterparts do. That we don't feel as much, we're not as sensitive and we don't really need to work on ourselves. I'm calling bullshit on that. I believe Men are sensitive beings with just as much emotion to work through, but our problem a lot of the time is that we don't really have an understanding of how to deal with our emotions. One of the most common emotions that we see as men, is anger. We get frustrated, we're upset and as a result the first emotion we tend to go for is anger. But how do we move through this emotion? How do we acknowledge where that anger has come from and what other emotions we could use instead to get our point or feeling across. Today on the podcast I go through quite a specific situation that I worked through with a client recently. The realisations were so profound that I felt it was a great opportunity to talk them through with you here.   Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here  

I’ve never been that great at playing video games. My brother on the other hand, was a massive gamer. He was really good at figuring them out, and could sit there for hours really going deep into them. I’ve always loved them though and recently we bought a Nintendo Switch for the family to enjoy together. We bought a game that I remembered as a kid, Zelda. It’s obviously changed quite a lot since I was a kid, but the overall feeling of the game hasn’t changed. It’s still quest based. You’re exploring the narrative and you can really go anywhere and do anything in the game. So I had been playing the game for awhile and was getting quite into it. But then, after a while I started to lose interest. It didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere and I was bored with it. When my brother asked me how I was going, I told him that I wasn’t getting anywhere and he helped me find the right quests that got me back on track. Once I was back on track and aligned with the core purpose or directive of the game, I started to get really into it again. I had found the purpose. I find this a really great analogy for life. Often life can get really quite mundane and we become quite bored. We get up, go to work, do the same routine, have a couple of drinks on the weekend, watch the footy...and then we do the whole thing again. It can start to feel like there’s not a lot of purpose because nothing is ever changing. It’s not until we start to explore what else there is, chat to different people, find a mentor (like my brother was for me with this game) that our minds can open up and we can re-ignite or find a new purpose in our lives. I’ve found this to be extremely powerful and I hope you enjoy this episode. Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here

I've been working on a framework around what causes us to seek validation and Erika and I decided to sit down together and record the longest podcast episode ever (it was totally worth it!) to talk through it. Erika has also shared this episode on her podcast, The Confidence Chronicles this week. There have been so many lightbulb moments as I've been delving into work around validation and the interplay between the feminine and masculine energies. I challenge you to observe your behaviour and see where you are still looking for validation. Are you working yourself into the ground because that's what your father did, and in his eyes you feel as if you're never doing enough? Are you moving from relationship to relationship trying to fix your partner, being the provider, the nurturer and ultimately not getting what you need? There is so much to unpack from this episode and I'm excited to share more content on this topic with you.   Power Couples Masterclass Sign up for my free meditation course here Follow me over on Instagram here