This is the first Personal Strength podcast episode where we introduce the podcast, Personal Strength and us.
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Welcome to the Personal Strength Podcast. Where we help you, your children, and your students to grow and thrive, through discussions around fitness, self defence, mental strength, well-being and positive psychology.
Transcript
Nicky:
Hello! Welcome to the Personal Strength podcast! This podcast will be a series of interesting discussions on everything Personal Strength. That includes physical strength and fitness, mental strength, resilience and confidence, and also physical safety and self-defence. We hope that listening to this podcast will be engaging, and each time, you’ll learn something new, and leave with a practical tip to help you to thrive. This episode is just a short one. To introduce the podcast, Personal Strength, and us. Tim, as founder of Personal Strength, why don’t you start…
Tim:
Thanks Nicky, more than 10 years ago I started Personal Strength. But it’s never just been about fitness for me. In those 10 years there have been maybe two days when I haven’t wanted to go to work. I love it because I get to spend my days hanging out with awesome people who want to improve themselves. The before and afters I see can’t be captured in a photo. I get to see my 50 year old client continue surfing. I get to see parents fit enough to play sports with their children. I get to hear about the kid from my ninja classes who was getting picked on. Who escaped a wrist grab and told them firmly to stop, and felt stronger and more confident at school. I get to see timid kids, teens and adults realise their own strength and find their voices.
Initially we mainly did fitness and strength training, and were called FunFit, short for functional fitness. But as we grew, and incorporated more and more self defence, and then mental strength programs too, we became Personal Strength. Now we provide age appropriate self-defence, strength and fitness training for kids from 4 (Mini ninjas) through teens, up to adults, and provide a series of mental strength workshops.
While it seems like a diverse range of programs, they are really all building towards the same thing. Confidence for life. The confidence to take on physical challenges, confidence to defend yourself and your loved ones if you need to, the confidence to stand up for what is important to you, and the confidence that you can get through hardships. In short, the confidence you need to thrive. Personal Strength isn’t just a service, it’s a community. An important part of that community are our clients, our students, and our staff. Nicky has been with me throughout this journey as my wife, and now I’m very happy to have her expertise as my co-worker. Nicky is a registered psychologist who has her Masters and PhD in Psychology. Nicky can tell you the rest.
Nicky:
Thanks Tim, I’ve always been fascinated by what motivates people, how people are affected by their environment, and how and why different people can react very differently to similar experiences. And I’ve always wanted to help people, not just to be, to survive, but to thrive. So naturally, I studied Psychology. I’ve been working in Psychology since 2008, first as a research assistant and tutor, and more recently as a Senior Research and Evaluation Officer, and for Personal Strength as a mental strength coach, including researching, designing, conducting, and evaluating workshops.
Throughout my career in Psychology I’ve been involved in research projects on topics including motivation, national defence intelligence analysis, confirmation bias (that was my PhD topic), parenting, sleep, psycho-oncology, childcare, and resilience, and I’ve tutored in statistics and positive psychology.
I’m very excited to have the opportunity to work with Tim at Personal Strength. We have been discussing our vision for Personal Strength for a long time, as not just a place for physical fitness and strength, but as a wholistic centre for mental strength and wellbeing too. Now it’s a reality!
OK, so we said each episode would have a practical tip that can help people to thrive. So I wanted to share with you a principle from ACT – Acceptance Commitment Therapy – which I have found extremely helpful personally and professionally. I like to think of it as being the captain of the ship, not the ship itself. The ship is blown by the wind and buffeted by the waves, just as we are often swayed by emotions, thoughts, and situations. Being like the ship is where you are constantly acting and reacting to the internal and external turbulence. The captain on the other hand has a very clear destination. While a good captain still needs to be aware of the winds and turbulence, and sometimes factor it in to actions, the captain continues to direct the ship towards the desired destination. The captain chooses when to deviate due conditions and when to stay on course. Being the captain of your life involves feeling and understanding the turbulence, but maintaining focus and acting towards your values and valued goals.
I feel this analogy is relevant to all we do at Personal Strength. Workouts aren’t always physically pleasant, but acting as a captain, we push through the discomfort to achieve gains in strength and endurance. Acting in self-defence it becomes extremely important to hear and trust the warning signs that our emotions send us, just as a good captain is aware of the winds, waves, and weather. And this is such an important component of mental strength – the ability to work towards your valued goals despite the turbulence of emotions and thoughts. In the next episode, we’ll delve a bit deeper into the skills that you can use to be the captain of your life.
For the transcript for this episode, follow the link below this episode: www.personalstrength.com.au/P1
Thank you so much for listening to our very first podcast, please tune in next week as I provide an overview of resilience and the research behind it.
Outro:
Personal Strength is in Gordon, on Sydney’s North Shore. We run workshops and weekly sessions, including personal training and group classes for children from 4 years old, teenagers, and adults. We also have a range of ebooks and online courses available at www.personalstrength.com.au.
