Build Your Ideal day: Recent Episodes
Duncan Young
Welcome to The Ideal Day Podcast Series. Where we’re breaking down the science of wellbeing into bite-sized every day activities
In 2015 Nepal experienced a devastating earthquake. I recently interviewed Neill Johanson, a prominent principal architect at Davenport Campbell and an experienced mountaineer, including summiting Everest. His life’s purpose was transformed when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, 2015. While in the region for an ANZAC centenary trek, he witnessed widespread devastation: nearly 9,000 lives lost, over half a million homes destroyed, and tens of thousands of classrooms rendered unusable. Moved by the generosity of the Sherpa community, Johanson rallied Australian architects and engineers to partner with the Australian Himalayan Foundation (AHF) and local NGOs. Together, they provided immediate relief and focused on rebuilding with resilience in mind. It's a great story to reflect on this Anzac Day and an opportunity to support the great work AHF do in rebuilding process that continues to this day.
What can we learn about workplace wellbeing from the happiest people?
In 2025, Finland was voted the happiest country in the world for the eighth consecutive year.
Finnish educational expert Dr Terhi Nissinen shares her insights on job crafting and the power of SISU.
Caroline Anderson, Olympian, performance psychologist and dedicated mum of three, shares her insights on the critical elements of wellbeing, particularly for high performers in both sports and the workplace. With a wealth of experience in elite sports, Caroline blends her professional knowledge with personal practices to advocate for a holistic approach to wellbeing. Some takeaways
- Foundational Relationships - Strong relationships and support systems are essential for success and personal growth.
- Mental Recovery Matters - High performers often focus on physical recovery but must also prioritize mental recovery for optimal performance.
- Nature’s Impact - Engaging in outdoor activities strengthens family bonds and supports overall wellbeing.
- · Exercise Challenges - Balancing a busy lifestyle with regular exercise is critical yet hard to do; it requires prioritization and planning.
- · Invest in mindful activities - Fostering a flow state through focused activities, like reading, is becoming increasingly vital in our technology-dominated world.
- Be intentional – creating boundaries and even something as simple as a lunch break can help promote day time recovery and lead to higher performance
Extra information available at https://performanceedgepsychology.com/ and the book https://www.amazon.com.au/Jets-Secret-Strength-Superpower-Athletes/dp/B0DQ8MZ6RL
If you enjoyed the conversation, share the podcast with friends or anyone interested in enhancing their health and well-being!
Nir Eyal, author of bestsellers "Hooked" and "Indistractable" with over 1 million books shares insights on how best to control attention and become indistractable. Key Topics Discussed: * Nir's personal journey to becoming "indistractable" over five years (why he wrote the book) and how applying these principles has improved his physical health, personal relationships, and professional productivity. * Research-backed principles for enhancing productivity and well-being * The importance of doing what we already know we should do for health and relationships * Nir's insights on managing distractions and promoting a balanced lifestyle * Practical tips from Nir’s life illustrating how simple adjustments can lead to significant changes. * Extra notes on: * How to make a schedule that works https://www.nirandfar.com/schedule-maker/ * Common values https://www.nirandfar.com/common-values/ * Time boxing https://www.nirandfar.com/timeboxing/
If you enjoyed the conversation, share the podcast with friends or anyone interested in enhancing their health and well-being!
How likely would you change your diet if it improves your mental wellbeing? Clinical nutritionist and researcher Dr Jessica Bayes joined us recently on the Build Your Ideal Day podcast and has been studying the impact of traditional diets on mental ill health in young men aged 18-25 with clinical depression. Although nutrition is just one pillar of lifestyle medicine, it is good to know that there are small things we can all do to build better mental wellbeing every day.
Dr John Chan joins the Build Your Ideal Day Podcast series to talk about burnout and what workplaces can do about it.
John emphasizes the importance of creating a sustainable work culture to combat burnout, which has affected 38% of employees in the last year.
Burnout, defined by the WHO as a syndrome due to chronic workplace stress, includes exhaustion, disengagement, and professional inefficacy. Prevention is crucial, as recovery from burnout is difficult and can lead to wider organizational issues.
Effective communication and strong employee-management relationships are essential for understanding workload demands.
Organizations are encouraged to experiment with solutions to address burnout rather than seeking immediate fixes, fostering an environment where employees can thrive both personally and professionally.
John can be contacted at John.chan@infinite-potential.com.au
Have you ever felt bogged down by all the negative things going on in the world?
If so, remember that despite all the hardships, there is a lot of good in this world, too. And it’s by focusing on the good that we can find the motivation to make the world a better place for ourselves, our loved ones and our communities.
In this podcast, you’ll about learn the benefits of positive psychology, and how by leaning into all the positive things that people are doing, it can make you - and those around you - happier.
The podcast was recorded with Dr Tim Sharp Tim an internationally recognised leader in positive psychology and mental health, and founder of the Happiness Institute a company dedicated to enhancing our happiness.
Tim offers his insights on what it takes to build a good life.
What can an elite sports mental health expert teach us about the effect of wellbeing on the workplace?
And is it true that rest and recovery are the keys to high performance?
In a recent episode of the Ideal Day podcast, I spoke with Dr. Phil Hopley to find out what he’s learned about wellbeing and high-performing teams from working within elite sports.
Some takeawys
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Health is the key to long and happy lives.
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Recovery is absolutely the most important thing.
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Micro-breaks should be encouraged.
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Pick something small you can adapt and make it part of your daily routine consistently.
Tina Hoffman is an exercise physiologist at global wellbeing business Firstbeat. She has an elite sports background in cross-country skiing as an athlete and as a coach. She is an expert in understanding stress and recovery through the measurement of heart rate variability which helps people see the direct relationship between what they do and their body's response to various activities. Having worked with thousands of people on their stress and recovery Tiina's insights are invaluable for helping us all live our best lives.
The future of work. How the pandemic changed our relationship with work.
Aaron McEwan, VP, Research and Advisory for Gartner Australia HR Practice and was recently names in the top 100 global HR influencers. He provides strategic advice to world leading companies and helps leaders manage their most critical relationships across C-suites and business more broadly. He shares his insights on the future of knowledge work, it's complexity and the why wellbeing is key if we want to do the important work of the future.
The podcast also explores:
- The psychological contract between employer & employee
- Rethinking our relationship with work
- Why successfully attracting talent will be connected to providing 'interesting' work
- The importance of choice and autonomy to retain talent
- Expanding our sense of belonging beyond work and how the pandemic showed that belonging can be found in the communities in which we live.
Link to our blog for a deeper dive on the above www.duncanyoung.com
Social Biome – how you shape your daily relationships and interactions can enhance your wellbeing and help build social fitness.
We have all heard about ‘gut biomes’ and eating a wide range of foods but have you considered your social biome may be similar? A daily dose of alone time, communication types and relationships can help us thrive and flourish.
Joining us on the podcast is Jeffrey Hall who is a Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas and a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School's Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. He is an internationally recognized expert on friendship, courtship, and mobile and social media. Jeffrey explains the practical steps we can all make to climb the ladder of communications and build more meaniful interactions into our lives
This is such an important idea for anyone looking to sharpen our communication and build better relationships.
An inspirational story about community and scientists working together to enhance marine ecosystems. Living seawalls have been recognised in the Prince of Wales Earth Shot awards with a runners-up award. The project had its humble start in Sydney Harbour but now has a global reach and operates across three continents.
An incredible story of ocean restoration at Cabbage Tree Bay, Australia, one of the most marine biodiverse places on the planet, but this has only sometimes been the case. During the 60s and 70s, pollution and runoff destroyed much of Sydney's underwater crayweed forests and the vital marine habitat. The podcast explores how a dedicated group of locals lobbied the government to create a marine sanctuary, collaborated with scientists from Sydney Marine Institute and engaged the local community to restore one of Sydney's most famous beaches to its original glory. It's a great story of hope and perseverance in restoring the ocean environment and provides a blueprint for others to do the same.
#suttonlim, #cabbagetreebay, #sydneyinstitiuteofmarinescience, #sims, #manly, #projectcrayweed, #projectrestore, #boldand beautifulswimgroup, #630drinksexpress, #dorsetsutton, #adrianaverges, #melaniebishop, #buildyouridealday
Interview with Camilla Frumar, Senior consultant at Gallup. As Gallup’s research shows, to truly thrive, we need to find a balance between those five universal wellbeing elements seen worldwide.
Wellbeing is all about a healthy combination of loving what we do daily, the quality of our relationships, the security of our finances, the vibrancy of our physical health, and how we contribute to our community.
And when it comes to the workplace, the best managers will lead with a holistic approach that focuses on the interconnectedness between engagement and wellbeing, and have a core understanding that thriving in one will influence the future state of the other.
How can we reconnect and build the kind of thriving communities were we want to live?
An interview with Andrew Leigh: parliamentarian, academic, author, podcaster and marathon runner about creating a connected and thriving Australia. His book 'Reconnected' is a community builders handbook and offers practical insights to help us all build a stronger society together
We all need to start moving more. Modern technology and changed working patterns have lead to an increase in inactivity and sitting. Research shows our sedentary patterns and high amounts of sitting are associated with an increased risk of early death but also an increased risk of a number of the major chronic diseases.
Professor David Dunstan is the head of the Baker-Deakin Department of Lifestyle and Diabetes within the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition and talks with us about the health hazards associated with sitting and what we need to cancel out the risk.
Maybe we need to do this podcast walking?
Can you prevent a heart attack? – One man’s mission to remove, stop and prevent out-of-the-blue heart attacks.
An interview with Dr Warrick Bishop. A Tasmanian cariologist whose goal is to help prevent heart attacks and the diseases that cause them. Educating and supporting people to understand the importance of heart health. Challenging them to live heart-smart so they can stay alive to be their best possible selves.
How might we shape work in small ways to align our passion, strengths and interests? By applying job crafting principles, we can make your current job a better fit for you and lift your enjoyment of work every day - interview with Rob Baker, chief positive deviant at workplace consultancy Tailored Thinking.
Have you ever wondered where the happiest people in the world live? Professor John Helliwell the editor of The World Happiness Report shares his insights on what makes for a happy life and what we can learn from the countries who consistently feature in the top of the 157 country survey.
This year the report celebrated its 10th anniversary. Interest in the beyond GDP and happiness is growing and the report reached over 9 million in 2021. It has an important message. The true measure of progress is the happiness of the people; that happiness can be measured; and that we know a lot about what causes it. Given this knowledge, it is now possible for policy-makers to make people’s happiness the goal of their policies and for people to understand more deeply their own happiness in life.
Creating the world we want to live in. How positive psychology can build a brighter future. Podcast with Felicia Huppert. A book about hope and call to action to make the world the kind of place we want to live in for individuals, leaders and organizations.
Jennie Sager is the Australia CEO of neighbourhood app Nextdoor. Nextdoor's research suggests that small acts of kindness can improve mental health. Additionally, knowing as few as six neighbours can reduce loneliness and is linked to lowering depression and social anxiety.
Ken is the clinical services manager at leading scientific research organisation Microba Life Sciences. Their leading DNA research is helping unravel the mystery of our gut microbiome and its impact on our physical and mental health.
Martin is an eco-psychologist combining the power of nature with his training as an organizational psychologist and head of Frontier Wellbeing’s European operations. We interviewed him in the Southern Tyrol region of Italy, where he is the only certified nature and forest therapy guide.
Could talking to strangers help boost your happiness? Gillian Sandstrom’s research into the power of inconsequential conversations is fascinating. It will make you think differently about your everyday interactions, which boosts your mood and deepens the connection with the communities we live in.
How can we reconnect and build the kind of thriving communities were we want to live?
An interview with Andrew Leigh: parliamentarian, academic, author, podcaster and marathon runner about creating a connected and thriving Australia. His book 'Reconnected' is a community builders handbook and offers practical insights to help us all build a stronger society together
Jay is a health tech entrepreneur and founder of Employee Assistance Program provider UPRISE who shares his insights on mental health during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Paige is a honorary Fellow of the Centre for Positive Psychology and an Associate of Melbourne Business School, author and speaker who shares research on antifragility and the benefits of bouncing back not just being more resilient.
Andrew is the founder of the 4-day working week movement and shares his real-life insights on creating a 4-day-week culture at Perpetual Guardian, NZ which increased company performance whilst reducing hours at work.
Joining us is Professor Felice Jacka to talk about the link between nutrition and positive mental health. She is the director of the Food and Mood Centre and the president of the International society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research.
Rigorous scientific research has uncovered the link between diet and mental health, in particular, depression and anxiety.
Joining this Build Your Ideal Day podcast episode is Dr. Kristy Goodwin to explore the profound impact of technology on our day-to-day thriving.
Dr. Goodwin is an educator, an academic researcher, and a commentator on the role technology plays in our lives. We all agree that technology plays a critical role in our everyday lives, both positively and negatively.
The show explores the digital impact from both a physical and mental viewpoint and shares the simple hacks to tame out digital distractions.
Did you know that 1 in 4 Australian adults are lonely?
Loneliness is gaining attention globally for its negative impact on social functioning and exacerbating mental health symptoms, such as social anxiety, depression, and paranoia.
We talk loneliness with Dr. Michelle Lim from Swinburne University of Technology, a senior lecturer in clinical psychology, leader of the social health and wellbeing laboratory, and chief scientific advisor for charity ‘Ending Loneliness Together’.
The podcast explores the difference between loneliness, solitude, and social isolation and its link to premature mortality as well as the return on investment of loneliness funding. Importantly she discussed the small steps we can all make to build meaningful connections both at work and in our local communities.
This episode of the Build Your Ideal Day series explores stress and burnout. As we know stress is a natural response to life but when does it become a chronic issue? The recent listing of ‘Burnout’ by the World Health Organisation as an official disease suggests that globally chronic stress is on the rise. What can we learn from elite sports about fatigue and recovery that may provide clues for its application to our everyday lives.
Susan Mackey is the Co-Founder of The Growth Mindset Institute and joined us in Sydney for an interview about Mindset & Me.
Growth Mindset: “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” Carol Dweck
This episode of the Build Your Ideal Day series explores the impact of what we eat on our overall health. This is one of the least researched areas of health science and we explore the diets that extend longevity, time-restricted eating and how to build a healthy gut-biome for better mood and decision making.
This episode of the Build Your Ideal Day series explores the importance of social connections. We are digitally connected like never before and yet loneliness and social isolation is on the rise which will have implications at work as well as on our health system. Building more socially connected workplaces are skills we all need to relearn to help people be their best.
This episode of the Build Your Ideal Day series explores that we are living in a world of constant distraction and stimuli. Attention is a muscle that needs to be developed and the ability to focus and work deeply is becoming more valuable at the exact time that it’s becoming increasingly rare.
This episode of the Build Your Ideal Day series explores why maintaining wellbeing is hard. Most of us already understand the importance of getting enough sleep, moving more and eating well in order to optimise wellbeing, but the reality is harder than it looks. The good news is that by combining a strength-based approach to change, with small intentional choices, we can make a big difference over time.
The secret to a good nights sleep
This episode of the Build Your Ideal Day series explores sleep and recovery. We are living in a sleep deprived society and few of us are benefitting from the restorative power of a good night in bed. Quality sleep benefits us both physically and mentally and we need to reconsider its importance in helping us be our best both at work and in life.
This episode of the Build Your Ideal Day series explores the importance of movement & physical activity on our overall wellbeing. The way we work and live is changing and we are becoming increasingly sedentary with the rise of computerization and knowledge worker roles. Research suggests that physical activity is critical to both our physical and psychological health but we are not getting enough for optimized health which is leading to a range of chronic health issues.