The Outlier Project: Recent Episodes
Daniel
Exploring human potential and tacking on the beliefs and challenges that are holding us back from achieving our true potential and becoming an outlier.
In this episode, I speak with Sam Cox. Sam was raised in South Devon and throughout his school years developed a taste for the outdoors living close to both the beach and Dartmoor.
This sense of adventure continued after he left school and joined the Royal Marines in 2010. He has tested himself throughout the globe’s harshest environments from the humidity of the jungles in Brunei, the heat of Central Asia, to the depths of the iciest temperatures in Norway. He will be using these experiences to help tackle the challenges of crossing 1,950km of Antarctic tundra and glaciers.In November 2023, Sam will embark on a unique solo and unsupported journey across Antarctica. Starting at the coast of Berkner Island and finishing at the base of the Reedy glacier, via the South Pole, this expedition is a total distance that is likely to exceed 2000 km.
As one of the last wildernesses, this will be a pure test of physical and mental endurance.
If you would like to support Sam on this incredible attempt or follow his journey, more details are available at;
https://www.frozendagger.co.uk/about-sam
https://www.linkedin.com/company/frozen-dagger/
https://www.instagram.com/frozendagger/
https://www.facebook.com/FrozenDaggerSolo
Today I want to ask the question, could the Pygmalion effect be having an impact on individual mental health outcomes?
The Pygmalion or Rosenthal effect is a psychological phenomenon in which the leader's high expectations can lead to improved performance and low expectations lead to worsened performance. Subconsciously influencing their actions and behaviours in relation to those individuals leading to the realisation of those expectations.
Are we asking the right questions about veteran suicide in Australia? Should we look at it as a wicked problem, where each individual has their own multifactorial circumstances and co-dependency from their own environment that we can find specific interventions for? Rather than grouping everyone into a causal effect theory from Defence Service?
Rather than classify everyone who has one day of service as a veteran, should we look at separate groups of long-term ex-serving Defence members, combat veterans, early career separation..etc?
When you look at the data, each of these groups has significantly different risk ratios and factors.
Does combat create widespread problems? What impact does DVA have? does it create financial dependency? and what effect do the extensive number of charities actually have on outcomes?
The right solutions and interventions exist on the other side of the right questions.
In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking to Shuan O'gorman.
Shaun O’Gorman is a Human Behaviour, High Performance and Resilience consultant, keynote speaker, and author. After joining the Queensland Police Service in 1989, Shaun worked in the Police Dog Squad for many years as well as the Covert and Surveillance unit working on Major and Organised Crime. While in the K9 unit Shaun was involved in daily high-risk critical incidents ranging from violent street brawls, high-speed pursuits, barricaded suspects, domestic violence, and shooting incidents. The majority of these placed him at high risk of serious injury or even death. He also performed duties with the Special Emergency Response Team (SWAT) as a tactical K9 handler.
Shaun left the QPS and was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The years of exposure to violence and tragedy resulted in clinical depression and a battle with suicide. Shaun spent three nights in a row, a Glock pistol in his hand, laying in bed trying to think of reasons not to end his life. To overcome his mental health injuries, Shaun spent the next 17 years immersed in the study of personal development, human behaviour and high performance with a goal of healing himself and living a happy life. He now devotes his life to helping others using the knowledge and education that helped him help himself.
Shaun also had a successful 15-year corporate career working for multi-national corporations in commercial property development. This career included being The National Leasing Manager for a $1.6billion retail investment fund.
While forging his successful corporate executive career Shaun developed an interest in mentoring and coaching others and now continues to follow his passion for helping others to create high performing lives for themselves. He established “The Strong Life Project” to deliver High-Performance Mentoring, Workshops, Keynote Speeches, daily podcasts, and articles focused on providing tools and strategies to empower people to conquer challenges, manage stress, and create happy and fulfilled lives.
As an accomplished author, Shaun’s most recent book, “My Dark Companion”, chronicles his own highly personal fight with PTSD, depression suicide and how he has come out the other side as a role model for people of all walks of life on how to create a life that you love.
If you want to reach out to Shuan, he can be contacted though the following links or if you want to learn from his resources just follow his social media
Website: https://www.thestronglifeproject.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-ogorman/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/thestronglifeproject/
fb: https://www.facebook.com/thestronglifeproject
Welcome to the Critical Response Performance and Innovation podcast, this episode's guest is Andy Bell.
Andy Bell is a Senior Lecturer in Paramedicine at Griffith University, Gold Coast Australia. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Southern Queensland and most recently took up a full-time role as Paramedic Team Leader for TacMed Australia. His role at TacMed includes the clinical governance, educational development and team leadership of a group of specialized Tactical Paramedics, who operate extensively in the defence force space. He continues an ongoing 16-year career with the Queensland Ambulance Service, both in clinical and educational roles, and has worked for a number of private medical providers specialising in clinical care in mass gatherings and remote and austere environments. As a result of his work in these environments, he has always had a particular interest in the quality of performance in high-stress/threat operators. Andy is part of an extensive group of performance and wellbeing researchers from Griffith University working towards improving operator decision-making and resilience to stress under cognitive load. His personal research predominately focuses on educational methodology as a vehicle for developing improved clinical decision-making and reasoning in paramedics, and more recent investigations into the psychophysiological nexus as a measure of performance and stress inoculation in high acuity operators. He has several academic publications to his name and is an Editor for the Journal of High Threat and Austere Medicine, and an Associate Editor of The Shift Extension Paramedic Publishing Platform.
If you would like to learn more, follow or get in touch with Andy please visit the following links.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-bell-64104562/
https://twitter.com/paradub
https://www.theshiftextension.org/
Today's episode is a special edition dedicated to those who serve in the QPS and broader Law Enforcement community, as a special thank you for doing what you do in keeping us safe and to try and offer something back to help, in your time of need.
In this interview, I have the pleasure of being joined by Melanie Freeman to cover topics around leadership, social connection and growth following traumatic events.
Melanie is a registered psychologist and management consultant and has practised for over 25yrs. Most of her work is in developing the capability of leaders and teams and this includes first responder populations. Melanie has also worked as an army reserve psychologist for over 20yrs, 12yrs of that with Special Operations.
I hope you enjoy this episode and that it provides some valuable information, if you or any of your team are experiencing difficulty please do not hesitate to reach out to your network and support systems to seek professional guidance or help.
If you want to reach out to Melanie or learn more from the resources she has made available please head to;
https://performance-science.com.au/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/performance-science-hpo-pty-ltd/
Stay safe and look after each other.
In this episode, I talk with Nathan Durbridge about leadership and considerations for managing the health and wellbeing of healthcare staff during periods of intense disease outbreaks.
Nathan is the Deputy Nurse Manager Quality and Risk for Alfred Health Emergency, Nathan is responsible for the delivery of the National Safety and Quality Health Standards across both the Alfred Emergency & Trauma Centre and Sandringham Emergency Departments.
Nathan has extensive experience and leadership in Emergency Department clinical operations, education, infection prevention, risk mitigation and emergency management. More recently he has provided leadership in the health response to the COVID-19 pandemic for Alfred Health Emergency. Nathan’s current research focuses on health care emergency disaster preparedness in ED setting.
During Nathan’s career, he has developed an interest in building interoperability and collaboration between agencies and disciplines to inspire the delivery of high-quality emergency health care.
In this episode, I talk with Nathan Durbridge about leadership and considerations for managing the health and wellbeing of healthcare staff during periods of intense disease outbreaks.
Nathan is the Deputy Nurse Manager Quality and Risk for Alfred Health Emergency, Nathan is responsible for the delivery of the National Safety and Quality Health Standards across both the Alfred Emergency & Trauma Centre and Sandringham Emergency Departments.
Nathan has extensive experience and leadership in Emergency Department clinical operations, education, infection prevention, risk mitigation and emergency management. More recently he has provided leadership in the health response to the COVID-19 pandemic for Alfred Health Emergency. Nathan’s current research focuses on health care emergency disaster preparedness in ED setting.
During Nathan’s career, he has developed an interest in building interoperability and collaboration between agencies and disciplines to inspire the delivery of high-quality emergency health care.
In today’s episode I speak with Dr Dan Pronk about self-care and developing resilience for front line health care workers during times of increased pressure, specifically as we are experiencing right now in Australia. Dan openly shares from his experience working extensively in high pressure, high threat environments and personal experience with both acute and chronic trauma with the contextual understanding of the risks, impacts and constraints. To provide a number of personal habits he has developed, as well as a number of the latest evidence-based tools and strategies for maintaining performance, health and wellbeing and the platform for growth and positive adaptation. I certainly encourage every health care worker to listen to this episode with Dan, share into your community and reach out to him for any assistance.
If you want to get in touch with Dan or follow him on social for practical tips go to:
https://www.instagram.com/danpronk/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danpronk/detail/recent-activity/posts/
https://www.instagram.com/resilienceshield/
https://resilienceshield.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-resilience-shield/
Dan entered into the Australian Army in 2001 on a scholarship to study medicine. Upon graduation he completed his internship and first year residency in civilian hospitals before posting to his first Army unit and quickly moving into Special Operations following successful completion of the Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment selection course. Dan spent the last five years of his service working between the SAS and the 2nd Commando Regiment and saw operational service in Timor Leste and Afghanistan. Dan was awarded the Commendation for Distinguished Service for his leadership in action during his second of four operational tours of Afghanistan.
Following leaving the army in 2014 Dan has held positions as a remote mine site doctor, a ship’s doctor, the Deputy Medical Superintendent of a regional hospital, and the Medical Director of the South Australian Prison Health Service. He co-owns and serves as the Medical Director for the private medical company TacMed Australia. He currently works in the Emergency Department of a regional hospital.
Dan holds a Bachelor of Exercise Science, A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, A Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, a Master of Business Administration, and an Associate Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of Medical Administrators. He is an instructor on the Royal Australian College of Surgeons’ Early Management of Severe Trauma course, a board member of the Australian Tactical Medical Association, and a former Independent Medical Advisor to the Department of Home Affairs. Dan regularly presents to corporate, military, and government groups on leadership under adversity, resilience, and social psychological theory. He has co-authored a book on resilience titled The Resilience Shield, which uses the evidence base from both the scientific literature, as well as Resilience Shield’s own government grant supported research project, to present resilience as a multifactorial, dynamic, and modifiable construct. He lives in Adelaide, is married to a very tolerant wife and is the proud father of three boys.
Values are generally considered part of our morale compass that guides our behaviours around who we want to be and where we want to head in life. If we don't know who we are though, how do we know where we want to go and the behaviours that we need to develop along that path.
As well well as how we act when our path conflicts with our values, or our intended destination changes.
This episode looks into some considerations for values and some different contexts and situations that may help to develop or challenge your values.
The Outlier Project is supported by, FEAR LESS - Developing a high performance mindset. If you want to achieve the same mindset and belief as the worlds leading performers then this 12 week education and virtual mentoring program is exactly what you need. For more details or to sign up visit: https://join.fearlessseminar.com/
In this episode we talk about IDENTITY, a lot of the complexity we introduce into our world comes from how we form our identity and the emotional impact that can have. So in this episode we explore;
- Where our identity comes from,
- How this determines who we are
- How it impacts how we see our self value
- How we compare ourselves to others
- How does this impact the way we seek reward and avoid punishment
- How this influences our thinking and decision making
- How this impacts our behaviour
- Why this is important for our long term health
- Does this restrict who we can be
- Is there a better way to approach who we are
This episode is supported by Komanchi Group and the FEAR LESS seminar, if you would like to support our work and help us to continue to provide zero cost evidence based information and tools, as well as develop your mental strength to the levels seen in special operations, fighter pilots and formula one drivers then check out;
https://join.fearlessseminar.com/
In this episode its an absolute pleasure to speak with the Author of the great new book, The Sporting Parent. Nathan Parnham is a strength and conditioning specialist located in Brisbane Australia. His career spans close to two decades in working in both amateur and professional sport. This includes setting up several successful high school athletic development programs throughout the country across both government and private schooling sectors. In doing so he has proven his worth and versatility being one of the select few to not only progress into elite professional sport but do so across both genders (NRL and Australia Women’s 7s). If there is one individual who knows what it takes to succeed throughout your child’s sporting journey Nathan is the one.
This is one book I think is a must for any parent wanting to have their child or children, not only involved in sport but develop the right physical activity behaviours for a life that is physically and mentally healthy.
If you want to get in touch with Nathan or get a copy of The Sporting Parent, you can use the following links;
https://nathanparnham.com/
https://www.instagram.com/thesportingparent/
https://www.facebook.com/The-Sporting-Parent-110538013686337/
In Episode #5 of the Solo-cast we discus several of the factors associated with increased risk of male aggression from childhood to adolescence and adulthood. We discuss what those risk factors are, what really underlies these factors and the interventions that have shown to mitigate these risks. If we want to reduce aggression and then we need to understand how these behaviours evolve and what responsibility we each have.
Think about how you think. When you are faced with something important or the unknown, do you think about what could go wrong, what will cause you to fail or what you are afraid of? What if your thoughts focused on what if everything went to plan, everything went right, I'm am good enough to do this, I will belong here or I deserve this?
Think about children, a child will see something new an unknown and see it as opportunity and focus only on getting after it, they don't fear failure, set back or not being good enough. At some point we all seen opportunity in everything and as we developed, our environment changed our thinking to mostly see failure and to be averse of taking these risks out of fear.
Changing you thinking however, could dramatically change how you experience these situations, your final outcomes and ultimately how you fulfill your life.
Listen in to understand how we develop resilience or lack of through our learned behaviour. How from an early age we learn how to respond, or react to situations of adversity, setback or challenge through observing the behaviour and actions of those with significant influence over us. Or even how our own responses are observed by those who we hold influence over.
If you want to be more resilient, find more resilient people to to improve your learned behaviour.
This episode is supported by the the high performance mindset seminar FearLess. Fear is the number one obstacle stopping you from having the courage to live the life you want to live. If you want to learn how to overcome this and Fear Less, get started now at;
https://www.fearlessseminar.com/
Making the CHOICE to be mentally strong or resilient in the face of adversity is literally the first step in being mentally strong.
To achieve what you want from life you need to lean into discomfort and make the choice to take whatever comes at you.
Avoidance however, is also a choice!
Welcome to the new Solo-cast, this weekly podcast will bring you the latest evidence based concepts, theories and research aimed at developing the behaviours and habits to optimise your mental and physical performance to get you to your peal potential.
Rachel Vickery is a Human Behaviour and High-Performance Consultant, optimising performance, culture, communication and resilience in high pressure, high-stress and high stakes scenarios. She consults with Professional and Elite athletes, coaches and organisations; and other high-performance arenas including C-suite execs, trauma and emergency medicine personnel, elite military teams and tactical professionals as examples. In the sports world Rachel has worked with individuals and teams in the NBA (Golden State Warriors USA), the NRL (Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters) and the AFL (Brisbane Lions and Adelaide Crows) and numerous National, Olympic and World Champion level athletes, coaches and organisations from NZ, Australia and the USA. She was an elite Gymnast on the New Zealand team for 6 years (Commonwealth Games and World Championships) before qualifying as a Sports Physiotherapist, then adding a few more qualifications to the toolkit to transition to her current field.
Rachel believes that life factors and doing essential prevention and intentional preparatory work away from the environment where performance is needed impacts performance in high-pressure scenarios far more than applying coping skills at that moment. “Consistent, high performance under pressure comes from working on becoming a better well-rounded Human, rather than merely focussing on excellence in tactical or technical skills. There is a big difference between a reactive process of “fixing broken”; and intentionally setting people, cultures, and systems up for excellence and success. To be successful at that takes congruence and alignment right from the top”.
Rachel can be contacted at:
rachel@breathingandperformance.com
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelvickery/
To optimise your performance and improve your relationship with fear and anxiety, head to https://www.fearlessseminar.com/ and learn how you can achieve the life you want.
Shannon is a seasoned former Physical Training Instructor (PTI) from the NZDF. With over 19 years of experience as a strength and conditioning coach her lifestyle and family life revolve around sport, health, physical fitness, adventure, and hunting. She is married to a serving member who spent 22 years in the Defence Force and has two young sons. Aside from her work with military personnel, She has trained sportsmen and women from grassroots to national level. She has competed in numerous sports, multisport races, powerlifting and bodybuilding events and is gearing up to compete for the first time in Brazilian Jujitsu.
She is passionate about building great movers regardless of training level sporting code or gender but more recently her focus is around females. This focus came about as she kept seeing women been given small snippets of miss information on how to train and eat. Also noticing that there is a lack of adequate trainers, training women in line with their female physiology, she designed and created TrainHer — a one-of-a-kind bespoke training program to support active & athletic women, in their female bodies, to optimise their training and health.
I hope you enjoyed this episode, if you would like to get in contact with Shannon, you can find her at
Train Her Athletic Performance
Email: info@trainher.co.nz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trainher_athletic_performance/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrainHerAthleticPerformance
Website https://trainher.co.nz/
This episode is supported by the FEARLESS, developing a high-performance mindset seminar because if we want to reach our true peak potential and confronting life’s challenges and disruption, we need to look beyond simple tools, strategies and quick hacks, We need to take an in-depth exploration of our belief systems, who we are, how and why we think the way we do, how this influences behaviours and habit formation and how these daily actions accumulate over time to define our outcomes. If we can optimize our beliefs and thoughts and understand who we are what important to us then we can align our behaviours to accelerate success by our own definition and live what is ultimately our best life, to our maximum potential.
For more details visit. https://www.fearlessseminar.com/
In this episode I am extremely fortunate enough to be joined by Jeremy Robinson, Jeremy has worked as a strength and conditioning coach and educator for over 15 years having worked with junior, semi and professional athletes and the various specialised tactical professions including law enforcement and military. Jeremy has a post-graduate degree in exercise science strength and conditioning and is recognised by the ASCA as an elite-level coach on the ASCA Professional Coaching Scheme and Tactical Strength & Conditioning Facilitator with the NSCA.
Jeremy's primary research interest is improving first responders and military occupational performance. He has authored and coauthored over 10 peer-reviewed publications. Jeremy's research focused on injury reduction and tactical strength and conditioning of specialised policing tactical units spanning initial training into specialist selections.
You can get in contact with Jeremy at:
Email: Jeremy_mxaperformance@yahoo.com
Instagram: Jeremy_mxa_performance
Website: OPS.live
This episode is also brought to you by the FEAR LESS - Developing a high-performance mindset. If we want to reach our true peak potential and confronting life’s challenges and disruption, we need to look beyond simple tools, strategies and quick hacks, We need to take an in-depth exploration of our belief systems, who we are, how and why we think the way we do, how this influences behaviours and habit formation and how these daily actions accumulate over time to define our outcomes. If we can optimize our beliefs and thoughts and understand who we are what important to us then we can align our behaviours to accelerate success by our own definition and live what is ultimately our best life, to our maximum potential.
More details availalbe at: https://www.fearlessseminar.com/
In this episode, I am fortunate enough to be joined by International Rally Driver Molly Taylor. Molly talks about her journey into professional motorsport and becoming both the youngest and the first-ever female Australian Rally Champion. We also discuss the devastating feeling of watching the title defence slip away and the importance of what she learned from that and the subsequent growth. Molly is not only a champion on the track, she has also shown a desire to push herself outside of her comfort zone, becoming one of the first finishers in the reality TV show SAS Australia as well as being involved in a number of community and charity projects.
During this episode we also discuss developing healthy early beliefs in what you are capable of, challenging your own fears and pursuing your passion, overcoming setback and continued growth, performing under pressure along with a host of exciting topics.
I really enjoyed Mollys’ honesty and her humble approach to life, high performers live with the same fears, and doubts as the rest of us, they just find a way to pursue their passion
This is someone that you will take inspiration from and definitely one of those people to put in front of your children.
To follow or get in touch with Molly head to;
http://mollytaylor.com.au/
IG - @molly_rally
FB - https://www.facebook.com/MollyRally
This episode we speak to Rick Pedley-Smith from PF Welfare and engagement and Adam Demamial from Boys to the Bush. These two not for profits are working with at risk boys to try and improve the lives of some of the most troubled youths and keep them from continuing the cycle by showing them a better way and providing mentoring programs to help them establish a better life.