Host: Marco Noe

Drink: Fixation Squish

Guest: Natalie Burton

Ever wondered what it takes to be a high powered performer? No surprise here - you gotta work, work and then work some more.

In this week's episode, we’ve got Olympic Basketballer, Natalie Burton here to share with the Simple Minds gang how to achieve ultra-high performance. Later in the episode, we share tips on how to dive into a new career.

This round is sponsored by Square Keg ambassador Caitlyn Belle who hooked us up with some Fixation Squish beers! Supported by Marco Noe, Matt Hanham, Justin Bourn, Michael Duncan, Conrad “Swaggy C” Francis. The Simple Minds Podcast unravels topics such as personal development, philosophy, life, and business - one drink at a time.

Episode Topics:

• How to achieve ultra high performance [7:00] 
• How to dive into a new career [58:00] 

Listen on: Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube | SoundCloud

How to achieve ultra-high performance [7:00]

In the studio this week we were lucky enough to speak with Olympian basketball player Natalie Burton. Nat competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. Reflecting back on that time, she wonders: how the hell did I manage that?

The Simple Minds gang were inspired by Dr. Michael Gervais’s talk on How to Achieve Ultra High Performance and what makes a person perform well under pressure. How can we train ourselves to react with more self-awareness?

Playing professional basketball means you need to grow up and learn a lot of life lessons very quickly. Through college and all her training, she’s unknowingly built up the stamina to perform well under pressure.

Basketball aside, how can we all achieve this kind of mindset? Conrad believes you need to be completely honest with yourself about how you feel. Happiness is just one of many emotions. It’s okay to be sad sometimes - as long as you’re honest with yourself about it.

A lot of the time, what’s holding us back is FOPO (fear of people’s opinions). The journey is learning not to give a shit. Easier said than done. But the key is to make yourself uncomfortable. Challenge yourself. Remove yourself from your comfort zone. But know your limit, it’s okay to seek support.

Right now, Nat is learning to disconnect her sense of self-worth with her performance on the court. With coaches yelling at her that she’s done something wrong, she needs to learn that it’s not connected with who she is as a person. But it’ll always be a process.

To achieve ultra-high performance you need to be in the space, to be honest with yourself. So take some time, get to know yourself and learn when to not to encourage your excuses.

How to dive into a new career [58:00]

Nat is reaching the end of her basketball career, and finds herself facing the question: what’s next?

She has an interest in supporting and mentoring young girls interested in pursuing sport professionally. Growing up she never had many female athletes in the media to look up to - she wants to be a female figure that young girls can look up to.

However, her challenge is pushing past her inner FOPO (fear of people’s opinions). While young men in the industry appear to struggle less than women with self-confidence, Nat believes that this is the time for women to be stepping forward and putting their voice out there.

Helping her develop her struggle with FOFO, is writing! Nat uses journaling to express herself, as well as a tool to reflect and give herself perspective.

Conrad asks the group to share one piece of advice for Nat to help her transition into this new phase of her life.

Marco

• Marco’s shift from an engineering career to videography has sparked the question - what does he lose track of time doing? Marco has created a space to let that answer reveal itself. He’s stripped everything back and found answers he needed. Now, he’s working hard to experiment with as much as he can.

Michael

• Stay connected with the community that you know. People you meet. Never lose that connection with these people. Keep the conversation going and don’t forget about them. You never know what opportunity might arise from it.

Matt

• The majority of people don’t know exactly what they want to do. But you have time to figure it out. But in order to figure it out, you need to keep moving. You need to take as much action as you can. If you keep moving, you’ll get somewhere eventually. Might not be what you pictured, but it’ll be a manifestation of that vision.

Justin

• Create time and a space to learn. Then just trust the journey. There will never be a right or wrong because you don’t know where things will lead you. But it’s helpful to have some kind of north star. Ask yourself: what do you want? It’ll help you pull through all the shit and put you on the right path.

Conrad

• Remain humble and stay courageous. That’s it. That’s all you need.

Don’t just sit there. You need to take action. If you spend a lot of time wondering about the alternative, then do something about it. Even if it’s wrong. It’s still a learning experience. You’ll get the answers you need and the ability to move on.

Okay, that’s it. Just put the effort in and you’ll be right.

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