Steven Bartlett has revealed four guests who have transformed his life for the better after appearing on his hit podcast The Diary Of A CEO
Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett has released a special episode of his popular podcast, A Diary Of A CEO. In this special episode released Monday, Steven highlights four guests who have appeared on his podcast.
Not because they were his favorite guests or featured in his favorite episode, but because they’ve “really changed.” [his] Life”. The first was Egyptian entrepreneur Mo Gawdat, who spoke to Steven about how we can all retrain our brains.
His message to Steven was that in order to be the most effective version of ourselves, we need to be happy. Mo said: “When you work the muscles in your arms, it’s exactly the same process that’s going on in our brains. It’s called neuroplasticity.
“The only difference is that you don’t see it. What happens in your brain, again like computers, is almost as if you had new software or a new operating system loaded into your brain.
“Anyone listening to us now at the end of this conversation will have their brain wired differently than when we started.
Mo Gawdat said one of the functions of the brain is to be happy
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He continued, “The problem with neuroplasticity is if you tell your brain to rewire to tap your finger on the table, it will. When I tell it to rewire to solve complex math equations, it may take a little longer, but it will.
“If you tell him to rewire because he hates people, he gets very good at hating. If you tell him to wire because he fears the end of the world, because the media tells you he’s going to get very good at fearing the world.
“The challenge of the modern world is that we think the brain is there to make us successful — yes, but most importantly, it’s not its primary brain function. The brain’s primary function is to keep you safe.
“But believe it or not, your brain is supposed to make you happy. If you are not happy then you are not as effective as you could be.”
Mo Gawdat explained how humans are constantly rewiring their brains
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Next was consultant and author Africa Brooke, who spoke to Steven about overcoming a sexless relationship. She told Steven that her “soberness” was so “transformative” and led to her learning so much about herself that she claims she never imagined.
Africa explained: “So something that happened in my sobriety – I think it was a year into my sobriety – made me realize how much sexual shame I had. So much of it.
“And I wanted to fix it first, wanted to do something about it. I quickly learned that I have to trace it back to where it came from.
“I realize, like so many other things, that it stems from my childhood. Growing up in a Christian home I learned, again not directly but rather indirectly, that being a sexual being is not something of God.
Africa Brooke spoke to Steven about overcoming sexual shame
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“It shouldn’t be part of what I am. Pleasure was never discussed, sex was never discussed – I didn’t even see my parents hold hands.
“I never saw them kiss, I never saw them hug — I never saw any kind of affection, but I knew they loved and cared for each other.”
Africa then admitted she found it very difficult to express herself as a sexual being unless she was drunk or high. She told Steven how drinking and drug use meant she didn’t feel like she was “doing anything wrong.”
Afrika added: “When I got sober, all these things came to the surface and I had to face it. That also became something I shared over time and also shared my journey with sobriety. Then I started sharing the things that were uncovered as a byproduct of my sobriety.
Africa said she learned so much about herself from being sober
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“And sexual shame was huge.” Third in line to give Steven an eye-opening lesson was Bear Grylls.
The explorer and ex-soldier spoke to Steven about how he could build his resilience. A humble bear told Steven how he “just” got through the SAS selection, saying that being selected for the special services is all about heart and mind – a muscle built by going “through the door again and again of failure”.
“I’m a normal guy and that’s why I’ll always say ‘just’ to so many things, because yes I passed, yes I got to the top of that mountain, but it’s always just. And that’s okay — and it’s also sometimes like standing on the shoulders of giants who helped me.
Bear Grylls said the most important thing in life is never to give up
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“I just think about the SAS selection – there have been so many times someone just believed in me at a critical time. The more I look back on so many ‘so-called successes’, the more I see the hand of good people at critical moments, but as you know, you have to win the hearts of those critical people first.
“But also the role of that stubborn determination to keep going, and that doesn’t mean being brilliant, just trying to keep going. Often taking another step back, but moving on.
“I have three boys, three teenagers, and I think if you told them what your dad says to you, it would be easy not to give up. Never give up and be kind, be determined but never give up.
“They roll their eyes, but one day they’ll know that’s the most important thing in life.” Finally, Steven highlighted the words of Mel Robbins, an American lawyer, television host, author and motivational speaker.
Mel, best known for covering George Zimmerman’s trial for CNN, spoke on The Diary Of A CEO about what to do when you’re feeling stuck.
Mel said that feeling stuck is just a signal from your body
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She told Steven that when you feel stuck, it’s just a signal from your body that you need to grow. She explained how to know when you’re stuck and how to get out of it.
She said: “Being stuck is one of the most universal feelings of the human experience and no one understands what it is. In your body, we’ve talked about one of the signals, fear.
“Fear is a signal to pay attention. That’s all, it’s a signal, an alarm signal.
“Your body has an elaborate system of alarms and they are all tied to basic needs. Fear is tied to your basic need for security—that’s why it’s a signal.
“People are meant to grow – how do you feel when you stop growing?” To get stuck. Feeling stuck is a signal that you have stopped growing.
Mel Robbins taught Steven how to get out of feeling stuck
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“And if most people feel stuck because they don’t understand it’s tied to a fundamental need for growth, we believe it’s an existential crisis we’re looking forward to.”
“Or take a class where you learn something or change a routine so you try a new glass at the gym. When you learn something, you reconnect with the basic need and know that things are moving.”
A diary of a CEO can be found here on Spotify.
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