Season 2 of the GYTC podcast kicks off with a reminder of what the show is all about and how the title came to be. It's been a three year break since the podcast was started way back during the throes of the pandemic and now it's back!

As well as the origin story to the phrase #GYTC, in this episode, a monologue by me your host, Peter Lewis, the primary source of my motivation and the behaviours that help me deal with life's challenges gets thrown into sharp contrast.

To be honest, at the time, it was the least inspiring thing to happen to me, but now I see how it has been one of my life's most valuable teachers and the motivating force behind everything that was to come!

What is Stoicism? Why is it on the rise? And what can we learn from this ancient philosophy that can help us as we navigate the challenges of modern life? These are just some of the areas I discuss as a newcomer to this topic with John Sellars, not only for my own understanding but also to encourage you to delve deeper into this most practical of philosophies.

John is a Reader in Philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London, a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London (where he is an Associate Editor for the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle project), and a member of Wolfson College, Oxford (where he was once a Junior Research Fellow).

He is the author of The Art of Living: The Stoics on the Nature and Function of Philosophy (2003; 2nd edn 2009), Stoicism (2006), Hellenistic Philosophy (2018), Lessons in Stoicism (2019), and Marcus Aurelius (2020).

He is one of the founder members (and currently Chair) of Modern Stoicism, the group behind Stoic Week and Stoicon.

http://johnsellars.org.uk

This episode has been 28 years in the making and an opportunity to dig into what leadership really means in today’s complex and demanding environment. As fresh-faced Officer Cadets, Neil Jurd and I embarked on a lifelong journey of discovery and passion for leadership which we discuss in this episode; one of my favourites so far!

A mix of military anecdote and contemporary thinking on leadership in the modern age, this episode is more than just two old chums having a catch up. Neil explains how his ideas and thoughts on leadership have been forged, honed and challenged by his experiences on operations and latterly as a coach and consultant to the public and private sectors.

Leadership is a simple concept, but often poorly executed and it is Neil’s passion to spread best practice that has driven him to write his first book on the subject and in the hope that more people see leadership as a force for good, rather than self-interest.

“Leadership. It’s about knowing where you’re going and connecting with people.”

Top Takeaways:

• Neil was fascinated with leadership and he has always had a type of leadership role. He believes leadership is a massive force to get things done and he believes in its power. With this curiosity, he finally decided to write a book about his thoughts and put pen to paper with all his findings in the subject of leadership.
• The most fundamental principle is knowing where you are going and taking people with you. If you know your purpose and are good to people, others will follow and want to be led by you. There needs to be an alignment of where you are going and what you are trying to achieve. You need to throw yourself into what you believe in because that passion will bring an excitement to the work. The passion will be more compelling, and people will be more connected to the work.
• In politics, you rarely see leadership being for the greater good. You often see selfishness, dominance, and manipulate in politics to be in charge. These styles of leadership will have an impact because people often mimic what they see. If they only see a toxic leader, they will be encouraged to act the same. Instead, you should try breaking the cycle and providing a leadership style that is for the greater good.
• The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. These deep moral values can shape you as a leader and this type of thinking can reveal what you accept in your moral values. It was all about how to react when things go wrong and taking time to think.
• Leadership is really just about understanding, revisiting, and applying the basics. It does not require a mastery or a strategic knowledge. Instead, it just about doing the basic things beautifully and wonderfully. You constantly revisit and relearn until you are a master of the basics. Leadership is not about higher knowledge, but instead digging deeper into the basic fundamentals to understand the core of it. Treat people well and know the basics; and repeat!

Key Moments:

• [3:52] Neil’s British Citizenship Award.
• [5:14] Neil’s leadership book and why now?
• [7:35] How Neil’s beliefs on leadership have evolved.
• [11:21] Leadership in politics.
• [17:05] The different styles of leading in training.
• [20:06] The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.
• [24:35] Understanding people’s strengths and weaknesses as a leader.
• [29:15] Neil’s two biggest leadership influences.
• [31:44] Mastery is not necessity, but understanding the basics is.

Neil Contact Information:

http://neiljurd.com

What is at the true heart of leadership and why do we need to take back the term? In this week's episode, Chance Stewart, adjunct professor and speaker, dives into the world of Servant Leadership, what a true leader looks like, and what defines a good leader versus someone with positional power.

Chance explains how leadership has played a role in his life and describes how he found leadership in his life, and what defines it from a moral and personal perspective. A subject that can be as divisive as much as it unifies, there is a sense that what it means to be a leader has been lost somehow and now is the time for individuals to re-connect with the term and lead with love and service in mind.

Listen in to discover the hard questions you should be asking yourself to see how you could be a better leader and how to benefit the world around you.

“Authority and power are the antithesis of leadership because if that is what you are relying on that means you’ve lost the battle.”

Top Takeaways:

• Chance explains that leadership is not about making others do what you want. Instead, it is about making the choice to figure out what you can do, what steps you can make to create change and benefit others around you. What do you choose to do?
• Leadership is not necessary following a series of boxes or checking off a list. It is about showing the world your best self and being the best version of yourself. How is the world going to be better because you were around? What is the world going to say about you the last time they say your name?
• Leadership is something that happens when you’re not around!
• A position of power does not determine someone’s leadership because if you rely on your authority to have leadership than you are missing the point. Leadership is how you live your life and treat others instead of the title you have.
• Chance came to the realization that leadership to him was treating people with love and respect. He always felt his leadership role, but it was not necessarily apparent in his life. Sometimes finding where you need to go means opening your mind up to who you have been the whole time even if it is not obvious at first.
• A definition of leadership is not always clear, but when a leader walks in a room we feel their presence. Servant leadership is not about being soft, but the question should be how are we taking care of people first? Servant leadership should be the decision to serve first.
• Leaders eat last. When you make sure people are taken care of first, you are putting your best version of yourself forward. When you put others first, they will then look after you as well. This type of love feeds off of one another and it’s not about one single person. Instead, it is about the team and how they take care of one another.
• Leadership is controlling what you can control, be the best version of what you can do, and it creates one more person who is doing right by others. What kind of person do you want to be? Am I going to be a person of love? What kind of hard decisions are you going to make? The hard thing to do is doing the right thing when everyone is looking, but no one else is prepared to.
• Leadership is not about being perfect, but it is about being the best you can be to serve others. Leadership is not always about knowing the way or being perfect or having all the knowledge. Instead, it is about being vulnerable, admitting mistakes, and finding the way together.

Key Moments:

• [2:32] Why leadership is a choice.
• [6:10] Leadership as a way of life.
• [9:34] Leadership is not a position of power.
• [12:35] Chance’s experience with leadership.
• [18:16] Servant leadership
• [

Matt Mills is a speaker, trainer, and professional running and leadership coach, who coaches runners and leaders who are ready to take bold action for major change in their life, and are eager to accomplish their top running and self-leadership goals.

As a former Hollywood executive turned coach, Matt focuses on helping runners stay committed to their top goals, and create results with great speed so that they can experience more mental and physical self-mastery, becoming more purposeful, powerful and passionate in their life - on their own terms.

During the course of this interview we discuss what running and triathlon has taught us both. The highs and many lows experienced during races and ultimately how it has delivered key lessons in self-leadership and personal resilience.

“Running serves a huge purpose beyond just racing.”

Top Takeaways:

• Matt was always really focused in his coaching career on helping others who were stuck and could not meet their wanted goals in their lives. While he was training for one of his marathons, he decided to start posting on social media about how he used running to help himself with his goals and help him be better in life. That’s how ‘Coaching on the Run’ was born!
• Matt decided to apply the principles he learned in pushing himself during his runs, races, and marathons in other aspects of his life. How could he challenge himself? What steps can you take to be one step further? These questions applied to both his exercising and his career all while benefiting his mental health.
• Running is not just about taking care of yourself physically but also mentally and emotionally. Whether it’s running or walking, if you need to get away from family for a bit and get time to yourself running can be one of the easiest ways.
• Running is one of the greatest forms of self-leadership because you do not have to wait on anyone else. You can do it by yourself, you can accomplish it by yourself, and you do not have to wait for someone else’s permission. This can give you an immediate feeling of accomplishment and success that can benefit your well-being and self-esteem instantly.
• Matt explains how he reframed his outlook. When he runs in the morning, he frames his mind to remind him that it will help him feel ready for the day and accomplished before even taking a shower. When he runs in the afternoons or after work, he explains that he puts himself in the mindset of washing away his worries or struggles from that day. These two mindsets help him stay motivated no matter when he decides to go for a run.
• Matt and Peter both explain how during some of their early marathons, they both made the mistake of running too fast and keeping a pace that was too fast for the distance. In that experience, Matt learned the hard way that marathons require lots of preparation and you have to put in the work to get the end result that you want. Everyone can run a marathon if they are just willing to put in the work whether they enjoy running or not.
• It’s your mind that will get you through, not your body. Reframing your mind about running is vital to being successful when you hit your lowest point, and this applies to other areas in your life as well, not just running. You first want to visualize what you want to accomplish. How would you feel, or what do you want to do? It’s about reframing your mind to not just think about your run time but how you want to feel when you reach your goals.
• First thing to always thing about, what do you want to accomplish? You should always be thinking first about the person they want to become at the end of their goals, and this applies to both running and life. Then you should ask yourself some hard questions such as, what are your limiting beliefs? What is holding you back?

Jamie Woodhouse, author, campaigner, vegan and Sentientist tackles two of the biggest questions in philosophy; what is real and what matters from a moral perspective? In this week’s episode, Jamie discusses at length Sentientism, how Jamie discovered it, his goals and his thoughts on how many people already practice Sentientism in small ways.

Simply put, Sentientism is evidence, reason, and compassion for all beings; going beyond and further developing ideas grounded in atheism and humanism. Growing up in a traditionally religious household Jamie later discovered other religions and after much learning and researching, he came to the realisation that religion was more than likely man made. This eventually led him to finding a moral ground and evidence-based perspective in Sentientism.

Listen in to discover how this new perspective could shape your worldview and provide ideas on how to look at the world from a different point of view.

“And I think nearly everybody is compassionate, but we find it very easy to be compassionate with people that agree with us.”

Top Takeaways:

• One of the biggest questions is what is real and should be believed? The other big question is what truly matters at the end of the day? By using evidence to find what is real, by using reason to determine what should be believed, and by using compassion to find what matters, Sentientism is the sum of reason, evidence, and compassion to answer these two important questions.
• The idea of suffering and of moral circles should not be limited to just humans. The moral circle should be widened.
• Peter and Jamie both have explored religion in their lives. However, they both discovered that they felt like there was a lack of evidence and a certain amount of belief or faith to be committed. Peter described how he could find more comfort and joy in what he could explain and see with his own eyes. Jamie then debunks the idea that atheism is cold, lonely, or dark, and he explains how he is comforted in his certainty.
• Jamie is in favour of total freedom of belief, but people should be able to respect one another’s differences without forcing a religion down someone’s throat. He explains that sometimes corrupt ethics or harm is being caused and that’s where modern society needs to re-evaluate their standings. A religion or belief is not bad, but warped teachings can create harm to others that should not be tolerated today.
• In religion, good and bad is often determined by the deity, but when people move away from religion there are two ways of thinking morally.
• Jamie explains that in Sentientism there is a moral baseline where suffering and pain is bad where flourishing and growth is good. He believes this can also be extended beyond humans, and that life is life. Life is good and pain is bad. Suffering is not just about physical pain and flourishing is not just about success. Emotions, life situations, relationships, and every aspect of your life can reveal suffering or flourishing in your world.
• There are many beliefs that posit a need to achieve this perfect ethical state as a worthwhile goal, but it is also a dangerous mindset. This is because almost everything we do causes harm to another. The idea of purity is not achievable, but that does not mean the idea is not worthy of trying. We should always be working to be better, but we need to be realistic and honest that we cannot attain perfection.

Key Moments:

• [1:08] Definition of Sentientism.
• [2:32] Jamie’s path to finding Sentientism.
• [6:54] Peter discusses the ideas of religion and questioning different beliefs.
• [11:16] Jamie explains people’s evidence in the cases of religion or their beliefs.
• [14:41] The

Levison Wood is a best-selling author and photographer who has worked and travelled in over a hundred countries and has written seven best-selling books. He has produced six critically acclaimed documentaries which have aired around the world. A former paratrooper and Army officer, in this episode Levison and Peter will discuss what he’s doing during this pandemic, his travels, his inspiration behind his career, and what projects he’s been working on.

Levison explores the importance of resilience in all its forms and explains how his perspective keeps him grounded, how his charity work began during his explorations and gives a sneak peek and summaries of the latest books he’s been working on. Finally, there will be several in depth discussions about some of the craziest explorations he’s been on, and some curious quotes that still hold merit in today’s pandemic-stricken era.

Listen in to discover all this fascinating explorer has to offer and get inspiration to push yourself to doing more within a mindset of ‘grateful perspective’.

“Yes there’s a conflict that’s affecting however many thousand people, but actually, most people are just trying to get on with their lives.”

Top Takeaways:

• While travel is ceased, Levison has published a new book called Encounters: A Photographic Journey where he went through 50,000 photos to choose 150 to put in a coffee table book. He describes it has an image journey of the last ten years of his life. His book is currently available for pre-order and discusses human communities around the world.
• Levison always wanted to see the world after growing up in a small village, and his natural curiosity drove him to want to see the world. He wanted to turn all his passions and interests into a way of life, so he could travel, document, and be creative. He soon found importance and power in his images and discovered he could make a difference with his work that lead to his charity work. For the past decade, he’s worked hard to team with charity organizations to benefit others.
• When choosing his adventures, he makes his decision as part of a personal connection. This could mean watching something on the news that strikes a chord with him, having a previous encounter with someone from that city, or a former visit that makes him curious to see how things have changed.
• His explorations are not ‘made for TV’. One of his biggest challenges is finding ways to go to places that others might consider too dangerous and he often does not have all or any of the permissions required to explore these areas. These are journeys to places that are forgotten about or unheard of.
• Levison gives some examples of personal resilience in an extreme way and how to relate it to others in a practical, everyday sense. Showing how we can survive through different types of situations, balancing risk and developing fortitude.
• To keep him grounded on his travels, Levison explains how he keeps a grateful outlook on his perspective. This allows him to be thankful for where he’s at in life and remembering that he is blessed for the life he gets to live when others are suffering.

Key Moments:

• [0:36] Levison talks about how he’s doing during the pandemic and his new pandemic puppy.
• [2:46] Levison describes his latest projects and book that he’s been working to keep work going.
• [4:22] His inspiration behind becoming an explorer and how his curiosity drove him.
• [7:54] He explains how he chooses his adventures.
• [9:39] Levison gives details about how he gets permission to go to different places that could be dangerous in some cases.
• [11:26] He talks about some of the craziest moments

Having been tipped for a great career in professional football at a very early age, Drewe Broughton, high performance coach, author and public speaker talks openly and honestly about the career that promised so much but ended up leaving him homeless, addicted and alone.

In this episode, Drewe discusses the mission he is on to help players deal with the pressure of professional sport and how to access their peak state when they need it most. Learning how to harness the energy surrounding fear and acknowledging that experiencing pain and suffering can often be our greatest teachers, Drewe is all about changing attitudes and methods of getting the best out of sporting and professional talent.

Listen in to discover how you can use your struggle to push you to your full potential and see the world around you in a new light.

“I just think advice can be quite sick if someone is not super emotionally aware.”

Top Takeaways:

• Peter and Drewe discuss for the first few minutes about the importance of getting up early, taking time for yourself, and getting things done before the madness of the day begins. This is guaranteed time to yourself each day and it is a benefit to your soul.
• Drewe is open about the fact that he was constantly soul searching, and he realized that it hurt his career. He knows now he was a good player, but he was constantly trying lots of different tools to bring back the great player he once was.
• When you live off of sensitivity and drive, there often comes a natural fear to be the best, do the best, don’t make mistakes, and don’t disappoint. Drewe explains how fear has governed him and others in the football world. This fear includes being affected by family and additional pressure from coaches.
• One of the easiest things to do is give “advice” and thinking you’re helping people. However, it could actually be you projecting your own problems and issues onto others instead of dealing with your own issues. The best advice is to be self-aware and work on self-growth.
• Drewe explains how he believes there is something greater than humanity out there, and he discovered this by needing to surrender and be powerless. In one of his games, he had to let go in order to succeed, and that helped him realise the need for a spiritual aspect to his life.
• People need pain in their lives because life can drag you down and can be brutal. The idea of pain is not about brutality but instead about learning to suffer. When you learn how much you can suffer, you learn how much you can endure and that allows you to push yourself through the hardest of times.
• The difference between a good player and a great player can be as simple as having the courage to get back out there again and again. Fear can consume, but it does not have to.

Key Moments:

• [0:34] Peter and Drewe discuss the need to wake up early and spend time on themselves.
• [3:16] Drewe describes his football career and what he learned about himself in realising that he was constantly soul searching.
• [6:49] Driven and sensitivity can work hand in hand, but it is difficult to find the balance. Fear often governs instead.
• [13:30] How advice can actually be hurting others unless you’re very self-aware.
• [16:21] Drewe discusses what he discovered in his spiritual journey.
• [24:23] Why pain is the ultimate influencer and why we need to experience it.
• [32:04] Drewe discusses his latest project to help the players he coaches.

Drewe Contact Information:

Website:

https://www.drewebroughton.com

LinkedIn: