56 years on planet Earth. 18+ years Coaching. 1000’s of conversations. 500+ personal development and growth books. 14 years as an Officer in the army. 5 years as a senior security consultant to mega events. Business co-owner of a successful yoga centre in Bali for 4-years. Published 6 books. Insatiable curiosity and thirst for greater knowledge, truth, wisdom and my own evolution. And a love to share. So, here is what I think are pretty useful and practical insights.
Once a month I will record a short 3-5 min video with a practical Tip, Tool, or Strategy. Today is the first edition, and is one of the most important (and simple) STRATEGIES that I teach all my private Coaching clients. It will improve your decision-making “RESULTS” by about 200%!
Enjoy.
I wrote the first draft of this Newsletter as I waited at the Brisbane airport.
And before I sat down, I was not entirely sure what I was going to write about.
But I figured I would write about what might be at the forefront of people’s minds right about now.
And not just about the specifics of the shenanigans going on right now – whether that is a USA / Israel / Iran thing, or a Russian / Ukraine thing, or a Israel / Palestine thing, or a Jeffrey Epstein thing.
Or whatever it is – of the many things to choose from – that is trying to pull a lot of our attention now.
My primary interest is not in the state of affairs or even the (real “why”, I am a lot more interested in how we become the type of person who is not affected, or less affected, by WHATEVER the apparent crisis might be, regardless of how close we are or aren’t to the epicentre of the issue.
I am most interested in how we can become a powerful enough person, so we can maintain a sense of calm, clarity, stability and with a luminous mind shining brightly; REGARDLESS of the flavour of the world or local issues going on.
And even how we can get and remain in love with life, regardless of the veracity of the storms we weather.
Rather than trying to “logically” figure out why things are happening, or how they will unfold, or who is telling the truth and who is telling ‘porky pies’, which will just send us all nuts.
And is not that useful for us in our day-to-day.
I wrote a pretty long Newsletter article last week (which many people enjoyed, so check it out), so this week I will keep it shorter.
I am also on holidays in Australia catching up with family, which actually inspired today’s conversation.
The other night I was having a conversation with my sister, who has been teaching children for a handful of decades, plus has done studies in Positive Psychology, so also loves to get into the phycology of the underlying motivations for different behaviours.
She was telling a story about some kids (good kids), who while in another classroom, trashed some fabric furniture with a bunch of glue.
She found it a bit odd, but she also said she had a bit of an epiphany.
One I also thought was pretty interesting.
The question was whether we (and kids especially) have a lower understanding of the monetary value of stuff, since many (or most) financial transitions are just a bunch of 0’s and 1’s on a digital screen?
A child may rarely see “physical” money during a financial transaction, so perhaps they don’t link a physical monetary value to physical items in their life.
It is certainly an interesting subject of contemplation; so I figured I might also riff on this, as it pertains to us big grown-ups.
One of the things I talk about when it comes to having a powerful mind is mental flexibility.
Being able to see things differently.
To change your mind.
Even radically.
It might even mean holding two opposing points of view in mind, and seeing partial truths in each of them, and not being overwhelmed; because you are unable to figure out a singular truth.
Take the example of Creation Vs Evolution.
They both have pro’s and con’s to them, but neither (in my mind) is an absolute fact, and by doing so, I open my mind to a 3rd (or 4th) possibility, which is a combination, plus a little bit of something else (yet to be figured out).
I have also never been much of a fan of being given only 2 choices.
Which essentially says if you don’t believe one, then you MUST believe the other.
That is a great recipe for getting hoodwinked, and not seeing the (much) bigger picture.
All that to say, keep an open mind, and feel free to change your mind (even radically), if new, more compelling information becomes available.
Like in the aforementioned case, evolution might apply to a lot of plants and animals, but it does not account or explain the apparent “big leap” in homo sapiens mental capacities about 200,000 years ago.
Apparently, Charles Darwin’s co-author of “On the Origin of Species” (Alfred Wallace), 10-years after its publication, suggested that the theory they had developed could not apply to homo sapiens.
Interesting.
But that is a whole new conversation, for another time.
For now, let’s see what I have flipped the script on.
And right from the get go, let me make it clear what I did not learn.
I did not learn how to cook.
So, sorry, but there will be no kitchen hacks or fab recipes in this article.
You see, I do know my place (it is not in the kitchen).
Ferry is the foodie, who LOVES cooking, and even loves cooking for me.
So, why would I waste time and energy on something, which someone else loves, and also makes them happy?
Instead, I put my energy into trying to understand the psychology and “why” of things.
Why does A + B = G?
In this article, I decided to share my psychoanalyzing of Gordon Ramsay, from his Netflix show “Being Gordon Ramsay“.
It was not only entertaining, but deeply informative for me, as I asked myself the question, “I wonder why he does that?“.
So, let me share with you what I learned.
But, before I go on, I am going to assume that you know who Gordon Ramsay is.
But, just in case you are a hermit, he is one of the most prolific and successful chefs on the planet with multiple restaurants (over 90), a bunch of Michelin Stars along the way, numerous successful television series and documentaries, a prolific impact and following on Social Media platforms, and a worldwide recognizable and impactful brand identity.
I am also VERY clear that Gordon Ramsay is no saint, has had a very colorful and checkered life and career, is obnoxious and abrasive at times, swears like a trooper, and rubs a lot of people up the wrong way.
This is not about promoting him, but trying to understand what drove him, and also what stabilized him, so he did not take a wrecking ball to his whole life (as many others on the pursuit of fame and fortune have).
Once a month I will record a short 3-5 min video with a practical Tip, Tool, or Strategy. Today is the first edition, and is one of the most important (and simple) STRATEGIES that I teach all my private Coaching clients. It will improve your decision-making “RESULTS” by about 200%!
Enjoy.
I have one Goal today.
If I achieve this one thing, I know it will change your life.
I am also here with an overlaying goal with every newsletter I send you – to EMPOWER you.
Let me tell you my specific goal today.
I want you to read or listen to a book.
A book which I believe is in the TOP 5 of the 500+ books I have read over the last 26 years on physical and mental health.
For insight, impact, and practical capacity to change your life.
The book is “Mind Your Body“, by Nicole J Sachs, who is a psychotherapist that worked with Dr Sarno (more on him later) and has personally reversed decades-worth of multiple chronic symptoms in her body.
She has also enabled 100’s and 1000’s of other people to do the same.
Through her direct clinical work, her books, and her Podcast (A Cure for Chronic Pain).
And by the way, the reason I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her book is because she has expanded on, synthesized, and broadened the leading-edge work of Dr Sarno, around the TRUE causes of chronic pain in our bodies.
The book is also packed with real-world cases of people with multiple chronic illness symptoms with years of pain, $1000’s and $1000’s of dollars spent, and complete loss of faith in the modern medical system (whose most common professional advice was “take these pills and learn to live with the pain, discomfort and embarrassment”).
If you trust me to offer you good, no-strings-attached advice, then just go an order the book now (Amazon). Or, if you need more convincing, read on.
I have coached lots of different people over the past 18 years.
Plus, I have been “coaching” myself for the last 26 years.
And something that has come up frequently in those conversations, when people reach out to me ready to do the “deeper inner work“, is their thoughts about “Who am I?”
Maybe you can relate to this.
In fact, if you ask yourself that question right now, do you receive a very coherent and clear response?
It’s actually a great question to play with.
But what I have consistently witnessed over time is that the idea of “trying to find yourself” is not the most effective Strategy.
And perhaps causes people to look in all the wrong directions.
Additionally, it doesn’t seem to tap into the most powerful parts of self.
The human being-ness of us.
One of the most powerful things we have access to is an UNIMITED potential to CREATE.
Which is our discussion point today.
I must admit, I had a really hard time selecting my Top 5 books of 2025, so I added a few extra’s beyond the 5.
I am also reading an EXCELLENT book at the moment, which expands on Dr Sarno’s work on what causes pain, chronic pain, and a whole shopping list of other debilitating symptoms.
The book is called Mind Your Body by Nicole S. Sacks, who also has a podcast on the topic of chronic pain, called The Cure For Chronic Pain.
After almost 27 years of reading about, researching, and writing about, physical and mental health, I can say that she is pretty much bang on with her understanding and teachings about the actual “root cause” of so much chronic pain.
Check it out.
And just before I started reading Mind Your Body, I had finished another great book called Germs Are Not Our Enemy by naturopathic doctor Marizelle Arce.
It comes from the perspective of Terrain Theory, which has been disputing the validity of Germ Theory for well over 150 years.
Terrain Theory makes a lot more real-world and practical sense than Germ Theory (with its ludicrous idea that a sterile environment, free of microorganisms is healthiest for us, when there are more micro-organisms in the body than there are cells (i.e. > 50 Trillion)). Huh?!?!
Anyway, that is a topic for another day.
Also, if there are any books you have read in 2025, which caused a major Knowledge spike for you, please do share.
And now let’s see who the winners were, shall we?
Enjoy.