We’ve all done it — assumed the worst about someone else’s actions.

The colleague who doesn’t reply, the driver who cuts across, the friend who forgets. It’s easy to think they meant to hurt or ignore us. But what if most of it isn’t personal at all?

This week, Michael Comyn explores Hanlon’s Razor, the simple rule that reminds us not to attribute to malice what can be explained by misunderstanding, distraction, or human error. Drawing on Stoic wisdom, emotional intelligence, and his own experience in live broadcasting, Michael reflects on how quickly we fill in the blanks with blame, and how we can learn to pause instead.

Discover how applying this principle can reduce conflict, strengthen relationships, and even soften the way you treat yourself.

Most of the time, it’s not about bad intent, but rather imperfect communication.

There is a moment on every journey when the light fades and the world outside disappears. The train slips into a tunnel, and for a few seconds, it feels as if everything has stopped. Yet even in the dark, the train keeps moving.

In this episode of Mind the Gap, Michael Comyn delves into the quiet power of limiting beliefs, those inner convictions that tell us what we cannot do or who we cannot be. Drawing on Stoic philosophy, modern psychology, and emotional intelligence, he examines how these beliefs take hold, how they narrow our vision, and how we can begin to challenge them.

From Marcus Aurelius to Daniel Goleman, the message is timeless: we may not control the darkness, but we can control how we see it. The tunnels of the mind are never endless, and the next station is always waiting.

📘 Mind the Gap and The Next Station Is… are both available now, with Mind the Gap also released as an audiobook on Audible.com.

In this episode of Mind the Gap, Michael Comyn continues the journey through his book The Next Station Is… — turning from the tickets we carry to the masks we wear.

At any given moment, each of us plays a role: the Hero chasing the next challenge, the Caregiver holding everything together, the Ruler keeping control, or the Seeker searching for something just beyond reach. Drawing on Carl Jung’s concept of archetypes, Stoic philosophy, and emotional intelligence, Michael explores how these faces shape our choices — and how they can quietly keep us from stepping off when life offers a new direction.

This episode is an invitation to pause, notice the role you’ve been playing, and ask whether another part of you is waiting to take the stage.

Themes:

– Jungian archetypes and self-awareness

– The masks we wear in work and life

– Stoic acceptance of the present moment

– Balancing energy between giving, leading, and resting

– Emotional intelligence in recognising and releasing roles

Quote to Remember:

“If you wear only one mask, you will miss the stations that require another.”

Related Reading:

This episode is based on Chapter 2 of Michael Comyn’s book The Next Station Is…, available now in paperback, hardback, and eBook editions on Amazon:

👉 https://amzn.to/478Ru9G

In the opening episode of Season 3, Michael Comyn introduces The Next Station Is… — a new season of Mind the Gap inspired by his latest book.

Standing on a railway platform one winter morning, Michael reflects on how so many of us travel through life on tickets written long before we learn to choose our own destinations. Drawing on the work of psychiatrist Eric Berne and the Stoic wisdom of Epictetus, he explores the “life scripts” we inherit — the quiet rules and expectations that shape our choices, our confidence, and the stops we miss along the way.

This episode is an invitation to pause and ask: whose handwriting is on the ticket you’re holding?

Themes:

– Life scripts and early conditioning

– Emotional intelligence and self-awareness

– The courage to question inherited beliefs

– Stoic and psychological approaches to choice and change

Quote to Remember:

“The next station is always ahead. The question is whether you’ll believe the ticket in your pocket, or dare to write your own.”

Related Reading:

This episode is based on Chapter 1 of Michael Comyn’s new book The Next Station Is….

Find it now on Amazon in paperback, hardback, and eBook editions: https://amzn.to/478Ru9G

Why do so many people start their working lives with energy and enthusiasm, only to end up doing the bare minimum? Cabin crew once said they loved meeting people. Nurses spoke of healing. Teachers dreamed of inspiring. Yet, years later, many are drained, disengaged, and doing what appears to be half-hearted work.

In this episode of Echoes from the Margin, Michael Comyn asks what really happened. Is it laziness, or is it the natural response to poor leadership, lack of psychological safety, and systems that grind people down? Drawing on Stoic thought, Daoist wisdom, Confucian duty, and the African philosophy of Ubuntu, he explores why enthusiasm fades and how we can rekindle it.

From Ireland’s “ah sure, it’ll do” to Japan’s meticulous service culture, Michael brings a global perspective to the question of effort, expectation, and meaning. And he offers practical ways to move from half-hearted to wholehearted, reclaiming the spark that first led us into our work.

For more weekly reflections, listen to Michael’s companion podcast Mind the Gap, and discover his new book Mind the Gap, available in paperback, hardback, and Kindle.

In this special bonus edition of Mind the Gap, you’ll hear Michael Comyn in conversation with Gerry Kelly on LMFM’s The Late Lunch. Together, they discuss the book that now accompanies the podcast, how it came to life, and the ideas it explores.

The book Mind the Gap gathers many of the themes shared here each week, blending philosophy, emotional intelligence, and personal reflection in a way that invites you to pause and think differently.

Tune in to this behind-the-scenes conversation and discover how the book and podcast work hand in hand.

`The book Mind the Gap is available now on Amazon in Kindle, paperback, and hardback worldwide.

Listen to new episodes of Mind the Gap every week, wherever you get your podcasts.

For more, visit: https://www.comyn.ie

In a world that demands you choose sides, what happens when you no longer recognise the middle ground?

In this month’s Echoes from the Margins, the monthly companion to Mind the Gap (now in its second season), Michael Comyn reflects on life when the centre no longer holds — in politics, in community, and within ourselves.

From Yeats’ haunting words to ancient Chinese philosophy, from Arabic wisdom to modern psychology, this episode explores how binary thinking has pushed us apart, and why nuance and balance have become rare. Michael invites you to step away from the noise, to discover that the true centre is not a position on a map, but a daily practice of listening, questioning, and living with integrity.

If you have felt pulled to the edges by the world’s divisions, this reflection offers both comfort and challenge.

Even the sharpest minds can be fooled — not because we are careless, but because con artists know how to pull the emotional levers that make us human. In this episode of Mind the Gap, Michael explores how scams old and new trick us into lowering our guard, from the classic infomercials that promised six-packs in six weeks to today’s deepfakes that use familiar faces and voices to convince us to click.

You’ll hear why trust can become a trap, how urgency, flattery, and hope can override logic, and why emotional intelligence is one of our best tools to pause, reflect, and verify before we act.

This is the sixtieth episode of Mind the Gap, and after this one, we’re taking a short break to practice what we preach. If you miss us while we’re away, now is a great time to revisit earlier episodes — or dive into the Mind the Gap book, available in paperback, hardback, and ebook here.