Balance Isn’t Boring: The Power of Pausing, Connection, and Presence | Episode 30

In this episode, Simon and Rusty explore the ways intentional pauses, mindful practices, and strong support networks can enhance resilience, well-being, and personal growth in every aspect of life. They reflect on real-life experiences from the past four weeks - Rusty’s time at home, where spending quality time with family and connecting with fellow coaches reinforced the value of relationships, and Simon’s trip to Lyon, where the vibrant energy of French rugby and the experience of stepping fully away from work highlighted the benefits of taking a proper break.

They explore what life and leadership really teach us—why mentors matter, why building relationships takes intention, and why strong networks make navigating challenges easier. 

If you’re interested in this, and how resilience, growth, and well-being can be cultivated through mindful habits, this episode is for you.

Key Moments:

[00:03:10] Pause to recharge! Rusty shows how certain times of year are perfect for stepping back and refuelling your energy.

[00:06:08] Never underestimate your tribe - supportive communities and mentors are essential for coping and growth.

[00:09:37] Lyon’s rugby magic: a family-friendly, community-driven atmosphere that blows the English Premiership out of the water.

[00:12:04] Take real breaks! Leisure time and keeping a diary aren’t just nice - they supercharge your wellbeing.

[00:13:22] Diary power unlocked: tracking habits, moods, and performance helps you spot patterns and improve faster.

[00:18:37] Mindfulness isn’t fluff—it sharpens focus, reduces stress, and boosts performance, even for elite athletes.

[00:27:57] Step up and step out! Moving into personal coaching pushes boundaries and delivers real satisfaction through direct impact.

Please like, subscribe or follow, so you're notified of any new episodes coming up, and if you're keen to reach Rusty or Simon with any suggestions, feedback or comments, you can contact them via the show's LinkedIn page here: 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-bouncebackability-podcast/

Transcript

Simon Ursell [00:00:00]:
Simon and Rusty here with the Bounce Back Ability Podcast, the podcast that explores how to deal with obstacles, setbacks and challenges.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:00:07]:
Hope you enjoy the pod.

Simon Ursell [00:00:09]:
Looking forward to it. Listen on. Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Bounce Back Ability Podcast. Me and Rusty today having a chat. We got guest Carl Morris coming on next episode, so that's going to be quite exciting. But what are you. What have you been up to, rusty? Anything good?

Rusty Earnshaw [00:00:28]:
16 nights consecutive at home. Possibly a world record for Rusty in 2025. So that is.

Simon Ursell [00:00:36]:
Yeah, that is. That is unbelievable. You're never at home. What on earth are you doing for 16 nights at home? I mean, must have been driving Amy mad.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:00:46]:
Yeah, actually I do work one day that's definitely in Bristol, which is Clifton College Bench Development Day, which I did on Sunday. So that was one of the days was why I was at home. But I think I've been trying to think a little bit, like, oh, in six months time, like, if I was myself in six months time, what would be good decisions now? And so I've been super intentional around being at home about, like being around being present. Kids going back, Fred's got the uni, Elsa's gone to school, we're getting the kitchen done, hence me losing three kilos because I can't be bothered to walk up the stairs to cook food. And so, yeah, it's been. Been pretty cool, actually. And just being able to help out and do all the taxi things that my wife normally does and get a glimpse into her world has probably been helpful for me to. Quite honest.

Simon Ursell [00:01:41]:
Wow.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:01:41]:
And no divorce as yet.

Simon Ursell [00:01:45]:
Your wife's lovely. Says, yeah, she put up with you, I'm sure. But yeah, I mean, well, that's really cool. So what if you notice then? Is there anything different? A bit more sort of together or less together?

Rusty Earnshaw [00:01:57]:
I'm definitely thinking, what's it going to be like when I go back to being on the road again?

Simon Ursell [00:02:02]:
Are you looking forward to that or you or not really?

Rusty Earnshaw [00:02:05]:
Yeah. I think, like, maybe I underestimate the impact of travel. So I'll quite happily. I think I said to you earlier, I'm going to san Fran for 36 hours. You were in Stockholm for a few hours, like, yeah, I think I underestimate the impact of travel.

Simon Ursell [00:02:20]:
I'm not going to lecture you on travel. Yeah, no, I'm not.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:02:25]:
No surprise. My knee felt really good today. I've been doing Bowie Boys every morning, so been on with James Rutland and the Gang every morning. So that's James.

Simon Ursell [00:02:37]:
How's James?

Rusty Earnshaw [00:02:37]:
Shout out to Ruts. He's in good form. He was in Italy at the weekend doing just kind of escaping for a little bit, which look pretty nice. He's gone three or four day week now and doing bits of his own stuff. So I think he's all the stuff that comes with consultancy life. But I think he's enjoying that and spending more time with his family as well. Whether they like that or not, I don't know. That's good.

Simon Ursell [00:03:03]:
I mean, it's kind of a nice little experiment in the art of a pause, isn't it?

Rusty Earnshaw [00:03:10]:
Well, to be honest, I do have a rhythm to my year and this is generally what I do now. I've got a whole new host of hockey coaches incoming and so I'll get to spend a bit of time with them over the next few months. But this is probably the, you know, Christmas is one of 10 days in the summer and then this is probably time when I get a chance to have a pause.

Simon Ursell [00:03:33]:
Yeah.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:03:34]:
So I would be foolish not to take it. That said, as the bills for the kitchen and the various other things start to add up. You gotta earn some money. Yeah, exactly. So. And then it's interesting I haven't done a, you know. And whatever we describe a full day's work as, like, I'm on the. I've been on the pitch pretty much since the end of June and so that's not that cognitively demanding for me.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:04:04]:
So I feel like I could do that. I've got options, I can make good decisions. And then I haven't really done a full day's work. Were chatting about a couple of things I have done that been half days here and there that have definitely like challenged me a little bit. What I would say is. Because I've had time. Exactly. Because we won't get down into those two.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:04:27]:
But what I have noticed is it's actually been. I've been way more. So loads of people generally reach out quite a bit and so I'll often have a phone call or I'll. But I've been way more like, oh, let's just jump on a zoom for an hour because I'm at home. And so I've probably, you know, each day at a couple of zooms with coaches, some of whom I do or don't know. And that has been quite cognitively demanding, like listening to others and stuff going on for them. And just went and met a coach that done a bit of work with in cricket and he's talking about what he does next. And so we just caught up in Bristol Today and went for a walk with another cricket coach actually last week.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:05:07]:
And so it's been cool. I've created space, but I've kind of filled that space with stuff that's been relatively demanding from a brain point of view. And I know we chat about like the thing I did the other day that was very cocky, which was emotionally and cognitively demanding and I felt like I needed a bit of, you know, it's cool to be able to like pick up a phone to you or to Suzanne or to a Fletch or a. I think I'm lucky that I have that luxury that I almost have, like supervision or people that can coach you.

Simon Ursell [00:05:43]:
That's not luxury, is it?

Rusty Earnshaw [00:05:46]:
No, it's not a luxury. It's like. It's an essential, isn't it?

Simon Ursell [00:05:49]:
Well, I think so. And I think it's also easy enough to get. There's. There's plenty of people around, most people that they could work on their relationships so that they have got people they can talk to. Yeah, I'm like. I'm like. I don't really. I don't really like the idea people say I don't, you know, I haven't got anybody to.

Simon Ursell [00:06:08]:
I mean, it's not hard. I mean, yeah, you can pay people and cost a lot of money. You know, you could ask somebody as outrageously expensive as you, Rusty, to talk to or.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:06:16]:
Yeah, I'm not.

Simon Ursell [00:06:18]:
Me either. Yeah. Shout out to everybody. Me and Rusty. Very cheap. Good value. But. But there are, you know, in your network there will always be, you know, and around your family and friends, people that you kind of.

Simon Ursell [00:06:32]:
You got to have a community. I mean, the Bounce Backability podcast I think has proved it. You know, the number of people that talk about environment, community is essential. Part of your ability to cope is really important, isn't it? And that you've got that is amazing. But it's a real work on, isn't it, for most people.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:06:53]:
Something you need to develop. Brene Brown talks about her square squad. Like four people, you know, who's the person that supports you, who's the person that challenges you, so whatever it is you're looking for. And it was interesting. I did the Cat 3 conference at Walsall and I can't remember if I've spoken about this before, but someone from the FA came and spoke about like having a mentor. Yeah. And. And like 90% of people in the room were like, when they did the post it notes at the end and good feedback for me.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:07:25]:
I was on a couple of post. It's not as many as were on the I need to get a mentor post it notes which was like high percentage. Yeah. And I was like, okay, that kind of seems obvious to me. But yeah, maybe people just being a little bit more intentional with who are the people that are going to challenge and support me.

Simon Ursell [00:07:45]:
Yeah, yeah, I guess that is the trick, isn't it? Being very intentional around that. I mean you and I are working with a lot of people and I would say whether we're very good at it or not remains to be seen. But I think having people helping you get better intentionally rather than it just randomly happening around you because you've got a nice network, but intentionally going and seeking out people and having a bit of a. A little bit of scaffolding around that is gotta be helpful. I mean that's gotta be. I mean maybe you're. Maybe your 16 days at home, you've done quite a lot of that from the sounds of it.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:08:25]:
Yeah, actually went well. Yesterday I went to London and back. I just went to a conference to. To be an observer, which is quite nice for me and just catch up with people. And I did get a hug off someone who said that I'd saved. I'd saved his life in lockdown. So he's actually said me and Fletcher saved his life. You don't realize that the stuff you did and put on for coaches to help us was.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:08:48]:
And it definitely made me think about I need to get back on the wagon with that stuff. So that is on my to do list.

Simon Ursell [00:08:56]:
What are you going to do?

Rusty Earnshaw [00:08:58]:
Well, just we might made like we just made people accessible. So you know, you think about some of the coaches like Kenny Lynn who's now coaching Argentina ab, who's at Leon, where you've just been.

Simon Ursell [00:09:15]:
Ah, they are awesome by the way.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:09:17]:
Yeah, Marcus, Josh, Bayless, like loads of just making like people available to people and then also getting a group of people together, putting them in breakout rooms, you know, meeting new people, probably the stuff we're speaking about. So anyway, you've been to Leon. So tell me, tell me about that.

Simon Ursell [00:09:37]:
Hey, it's. Well, it's my wife's birthday so we went with some friends and just happened to be that Leon were playing rassing that day which was, you know, coincidence and what. And, and I have tickets for the game. Yeah, funny, you know. And yeah, so. So me and my mate Big Rob went and watched the. Watch the rugby and the girls went and had a shot which was, you know, it's a cliche and terribly old school but we Had a lovely time and I really, really enjoyed. I thought Leon, the way the French do rugby was, was, was terrific.

Simon Ursell [00:10:12]:
It was a great experience. Family. I mean there were more. There were definitely more women and kids than blokes in the crowd.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:10:21]:
Way more, way more.

Simon Ursell [00:10:23]:
Which I just loved. I thought it was really, really cool. It was just a real party atmosphere. There was loads for the kids to do, lots of live music. It was good. The rugby was great instantly. It was hot though. 32 degrees.

Simon Ursell [00:10:38]:
I'm not sure I'd want to run around a rugby pitch and that kind of heat, but it was. Yeah. They said the bass sides looked a little tart by the end of the second half if I'm honest. But it was, it was terrific. You know just a real party atmosphere in the ground which I mean you get that in, in English rugby in the Premiership. But it wasn't.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:11:00]:
I don't think it's the same. It wasn't the same. So. Oyanak. I just Googled it. Population 23,000, you know, 8 or 9,000 at a hunger. Like it's families, it's, you know they, they'll have the bands and the singing and the face painting and I do get that in England we are trying to do that stuff. But I do think the match to experiences in my experience is different in France.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:11:27]:
Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:11:27]:
And, and that must be a big part of why French rugby's doing so well I think because it's like, it's just a good laugh. I mean it was great, great, great fun. And it started early and went on till late. Just people having a really good time and the food was sensational.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:11:46]:
Did your wife have a good birthday? Did she partake of any of this?

Simon Ursell [00:11:50]:
She had a lovely birthday. We were there for a few days. It wasn't just about rugby. That was just a few hours. We went and had some. Yeah because Leon is pretty world famous for its cuisine. So we had some nice cuisine. Bit of shopping, went around the.

Simon Ursell [00:12:04]:
Are they called the Brackenz or like the antique market? So that was fun. It was nice. It's just a nice place.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:12:11]:
Good.

Simon Ursell [00:12:11]:
A really lovely couple of days. Not working, not thinking about work. Enjoying myself with. With some really good friends. So that was yeah, really good reason. I definitely feel better when I do that if I'm just straight in. Work, work, work, working at the weekend, doing bits and pieces at the weekend, you know and go back to the Tyler Grange four day week and all that kind of stuff. Having a proper break, it just makes you better.

Simon Ursell [00:12:39]:
And I think I Still habitually don't do it enough say. I guess that would. That is. Yeah. Something. I mean, looking in my diary, which I'm still doing. Shout out to Tom Middleton. He's doing his diary.

Simon Ursell [00:12:56]:
Sophie's listening to this. Hope you done your diary, buddy. I think that is really helping me recognize these things. So I can see when I've had a good break or I've been to the gym regularly or I have or I haven't eaten well or if I've had a couple of days where I've maybe drunk quite a bit of alcohol, I can see the impact it's having.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:13:22]:
Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:13:23]:
When you flick through your diary, you can just see it's. There's stuff like slightly grumpy words written and I could see. And you can see the association between that and stuff you've done before. So, yeah, diary writing is pretty. I think that is something I'm really enjoying at the moment.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:13:43]:
So the. So one of the guys at the conference yesterday was David Marquette who's written a few books. Turn the Ship around around. Like. Yeah, I've read it. Ownership. Yeah. The language of leadership, I think.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:13:59]:
And then he's written another one that he's talking about distance. And so I guess what he might say to you is that to do that and then to even maybe think about that in the third person is also maybe even more impactful way of journaling. So almost to write about yourself in the third person. And I guess what he's talking about is creating distance either. I think I just said it earlier, like me thinking in six months time what would be a good decision for. For Russell to make now I might have the first lunch or am I going to have the oats? And then also like, I guess that third person thing is, is quite a helpful tool that we'll use in coaching a lot. Like, you know, if you're coaching yourself or you're observing yourself now, Simon, like, what would your advice be to you? I've got some football coaches next week and I'm going to get them to design their own coach developer and step back into the third person. You look like you're searching around for your diary.

Simon Ursell [00:14:59]:
I'll just. I was just looking to see if I'll talk about myself in the third person in it. I do a little bit. Not, not much, but there's definitely a little bit of that in there. So it's interesting. But when we say Suzanne Brown does our mentor training and there's a bit in there about doing that empty chairing, you know, in either phrase. So when you're, when you're working with somebody, get them to talk to the empty chair about, you know, talk to themselves, basically. So, yeah, I definitely think there's something in that for sure.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:15:29]:
I have done it where I've got them to leave their chair, go and sit in another chair and imagine they're talking to themselves in that other chair as well.

Simon Ursell [00:15:37]:
Yeah, definitely. That is, that is literally. Yeah, it's exactly what we do. So we, we, we do exactly that. So you stand up, sit in the other chair and then start talking to yourself. Yeah.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:15:49]:
And you are. And it sounds like you're trying to stack some good habits and, and maybe notice the impact of them as well.

Simon Ursell [00:15:55]:
Yeah, I don't. I, I'm. I'm thinking now that I am, but I haven't, I haven't actually planned it. I think I've planned it at all. It's been pretty hectic. I haven't been like you. I've been away a lot. I was, I was at home once last week, one night and that was.

Simon Ursell [00:16:12]:
And that one was fleeting. I mean, I really wasn't. I don't think I slept in my bed for that long because I got home late and got up early. So, yeah, I've. I've been moving around quite a bit.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:16:24]:
But then the last. You have the last dance with Luke and the coaches, didn't you? I was, yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:16:30]:
So that was, that was the third session on. Yeah. Luke Doherty's mindfulness coaching. Yeah. Brilliant. I mean, I thought, I think those that came to all three and I didn't make all three sessions, but those that went to all three sessions, I think that has been pretty transformational for their sports coaching. Plus they now are able to lead some mindful practice. So that was interesting.

Simon Ursell [00:16:55]:
We had a bit of a Tidal Grange meeting. We had quite a big meeting with all of the, all of the shareholders of tardiGrange. So it's six or seven of us and so I led and we had some external guys who were helping us. So I did a. They wanted me to do a, A just a 10 minute meditation, which I did. Which, yeah, completely freaked out. The guy didn't know Tyler Grange very much, but I think he enjoyed it. But his colleague absolutely loved it.

Simon Ursell [00:17:26]:
But because I'd been on Luke's course, I felt like I had the tools to lead that and I think a sports coach that is able to do that with their team is going to have, I mean, an obviously better coaching session would be what I'd say it Certainly helped us with our, with our meeting. Everybody felt like that was, that was really quite an important part of being able to perform well in our stressful meeting. Not sport, but similar, you know, high stress environment. It was a high stress environment we.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:18:04]:
Were in because it created a pause for people or space or they were able to like visualize what was about to come. So again, I would agree with you, like the best, the best coaches I see sometimes say just close your eyes or, you know, they do some of this stuff. Maybe it's a bit of storytelling as well. Maybe it's helping people with attention and intent. Maybe it's actually post session, like getting people back from, you know, changing from one mindset to another.

Simon Ursell [00:18:37]:
Yeah, I mean, yes, all of those things for sure. I think as well as that and, and add to that, I would say being aware of what stress is doing to your body and being able to pay attention to that and maybe do something about it is going to really help your performance. So when you, when you're stressed, you tend to. Nerves tend to sit in your belly or your, or your chest. That sort of area meditation allows you to pay attention to that and notice it. And because you're heightened and your brain's busy and you're thinking and you're doing, you might not be able to do that all that well. So to have a, you know, 10 minutes and just actually pay attention to that, allow it for a bit and then allow it to release a bit, it's just like a stretch. It's like doing a, it's like doing a warmup, you know, stretching your muscles out.

Simon Ursell [00:19:31]:
It's basically, it's a mental version of that. Just stretching, stretching your mental muscle out a bit before you perform. And then that helps you perform better because you're, because you've released a bit of that, you paid it, you breathed into it and allowed it to be a bit less affecting you physically less.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:19:50]:
And did you do it before and or after the TG thing, by the way? Like, it's what a, what a great new little skill you've added with the help of Luke Ductier. I mean, I could, could you imagine yourself doing that a few months ago?

Simon Ursell [00:20:05]:
A few months ago? Yes. A year, 18 months ago. Absolutely not.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:20:11]:
Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:20:11]:
Yeah. But definitely having. Having been able to go and do something like that with Luke. Yeah, I mean, it's one of those things. As a coach, it's. It's one of those things. It's forehead slappingly obvious. It's like, oh my God, how the hell haven't I been paying attention to this because it's so cerebral, you say, thinking it's all these, you know, it's all intellectual, isn't it? You're thinking about.

Simon Ursell [00:20:36]:
There's lots of conversations and ideas and process and all the rest of it. Are you really pay attention to the physical aspect and. Yeah, you know, in sports, weights, you know, you are paying attention to building up your ability to do something. But that, that sort of paying attention to what's going on in your body when you're stressed is. It's massive. I mean, to be able to do. And everybody said afterwards that because we'd done. And it was.

Simon Ursell [00:21:06]:
They. They wanted to do it. I mean, all of the Tyler Grange guys, they all work with mindfulness coaches. They all, they all meditate because it helps them perform better. Some of them incredibly cynical about it initially, but because they saw the difference in others that were doing it, got curious, started it and then again, who was.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:21:25]:
Who is the most cynical? Come on, give me some names.

Simon Ursell [00:21:28]:
I think it would be very unkind for me to say on a public forum who. Who was the most cynical? But I reckon you could work out Rusty. So.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:21:38]:
Okay.

Simon Ursell [00:21:39]:
I don't think we should start outing people.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:21:42]:
No, fair enough, fair enough.

Simon Ursell [00:21:44]:
I mean, now I'm not going to say anything because you say naughty, you're gonna get me into trouble. But the.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:21:52]:
That's cool. And shout out to Peter Walton, who used to do that type of stuff with, With England visualization. Yeah. Stuff that I think was pretty. Is very brave for coaches to do. Like sometimes it's just not that normal in sport, is it? I guess it's becoming more and more normalized. I mean, it's.

Simon Ursell [00:22:12]:
Come on, come on. I mean, yeah, brave, sure, I hear that. But if you're a coach and you're not trying stuff out that's difficult and uncomfortable, stop being a coach. Please stop being a coach and go and do something else. Yeah, please, because you are just not. It's. Yeah, maybe, but do it yourself first. I mean, one of the things that definitely.

Simon Ursell [00:22:40]:
I think it's almost impossible to do something like that if you don't practice yourself. I think you're not going to be very good at it because you, you just. I just don't think you. You can really. It's like, you know, it'd be like trying to teach someone to drive if you can't drive. You know, you might be able to work out the mechanics of it, but there's, there's a lot of. There's a lot of feel to something like that. And I think.

Simon Ursell [00:23:03]:
But you know, you don't have to do mindfulness meditation. I mean, you know, the people get worried about the woo woo nature of it, don't they, and think, oh, it's weak or something, but you want to be good. You know, somebody like Novak Djokovic, he won a US Open, I think it was with a major tear in his side. He had a muscle tear. And he puts it down to mindfulness that he won that match because he was able to play and not let that pain that he was feeling affect him. So, you know, you want to. That's pretty tough, isn't it? I mean, I'd say that's quite hardcore. I can't imagine trying to serve a ball with a T with a tear in your side.

Simon Ursell [00:23:49]:
I mean, ouch.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:23:50]:
Yeah, that would be. Ouch. That's pretty cool, mate. That's again, it's a, it's a helpful ritual, isn't it, to have before a meeting that might feel like it's going to be challenging. Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:24:04]:
And I think, I guess I did feel safe in that. So, you know, I wasn't around.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:24:10]:
Any sniggering anyone like, hey, well, the thing.

Simon Ursell [00:24:15]:
Is it's very easy with a bunch of guys who are already doing it, right? I mean, well, there were two people in the room that had never done it before and we were a bit, what on earth's going on? I mean, they, they.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:24:26]:
How did you, how did you sign posted? How did you, did you just go straight into it?

Simon Ursell [00:24:33]:
I think it was Carly said, are we going to do some meditation before we start? And then I said, well, I've just been on, well, I've been hanging with Luke for a bit, so I'm quite happy to do it if everyone wants to. And then, yeah, I knew. We said, right, well, I'm not going to go through a meditation right now. But you just, you just say, right, we're going to do a meditation, get everyone to lower their gaze or close their eyes and off you go. And I'm ready.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:24:59]:
Do it to me. Because it sounds a bit like St. Grace before, you know, before dinner, doesn't it? It's like, who wants to do today's meditation? Like, that's, that's pretty cool.

Simon Ursell [00:25:08]:
Well, I mean, a prayer is meditation. I mean, that's what it is. You know, this stuff is older than history. We've been doing stuff like this since our very ancient ancestors say, you know, and, you know, this is, I guess they get into the spirituality behind it. But you know, that's, that's not why we were doing it. We were doing it because we wanted to perform our absolute best in what was quite a stressful environment. And by having 10 minutes paying attention to ourselves and what was going on internally, it helped release a great deal of that. And everyone was, everyone was.

Simon Ursell [00:25:50]:
There was no nerves in our meeting, which is incredibly surprising given how the potential for that to be really tense. So it's pretty cool that.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:26:02]:
Yeah, that's very good.

Simon Ursell [00:26:03]:
But he translate that into a sport context before a big match. If you're able to. If you have that kind of process in your sport teams, then you can. I mean you're definitely going to perform better. It's just a fact that you will perform better. So, you know, if people are like worried about doing it, you know, like brave of waltz to do that in the England setup.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:26:28]:
Sure.

Simon Ursell [00:26:28]:
Because a bunch of fairly juvenile rugby players are going to struggle to switch their busy. Well, not switch them off but calm their busy brains to do something like that is. But I guess if you introduce it in the right way, in the right context, it helps that I know great rugby players. Johnny Wilkinson's a big, big into it. There's plenty of examples around all sport of. Right. At the very highest level, the really great sports players, Tiger woods, the legends in sport, a lot of them practice meditation in some form because that's one of the reasons they're so great.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:27:09]:
Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:27:11]:
If you're not paying attention to that, I think you're missing a trick. So yeah, ask me that. That last session I did in Loughborough with him and he's going to be doing more. I mean there are going to be. I think they're planning on doing this as an annual thing. Loughborough College were really, really excited about it. So they wanna, they wanna carry on hosting it every year. So yeah, reach out if you, if you or anyone you know is thinking I might be interested.

Simon Ursell [00:27:39]:
I think there'll be another one in the summer next year. So yeah, that's. That's only going to be. That's only going to get bigger that I suspect it's going to get quite popular. So yeah, getting early.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:27:52]:
And what else. What else been going down in Simon's life?

Simon Ursell [00:27:57]:
I've been doing quite a bit. I've started doing a bit more personal coaching which is not. Which is really out of my comfort zone and I know it sounds like what I've been doing anyway, but it's not. I generally am coaching organizations so normally they'll be. I'll be Coaching. It might even be a single founder, but I'll be coaching them in an organization about how to grow a business because I'm. I mean that's. My whole career has been starting companies up and, and making them successful.

Simon Ursell [00:28:25]:
Say that's, that's my comfort zone, the individual coaching around people in their personal performance. It's not something I've done a lot of, but I started doing that. I'm really enjoying it.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:28:36]:
So why, why do you think you're enjoying it so much.

Simon Ursell [00:28:41]:
Success? I guess it feels like I'm doing all right at it. So. You know, that's always going to make you enjoy something, isn't it? I'm getting good feedback about the impact I'm having and I'd like helping people say. I mean, you'd have to ask them. I mean, they might be telling me one thing and thinking another. Slightly worried about that now. Now I'm saying it on here, but yeah, you.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:29:02]:
And you feel like it's a bit more open and exciting than like the business stuff. I'm just curious, like.

Simon Ursell [00:29:10]:
Well, it's a bit, it's a bit different in it. I guess it would be similar with you coaching an individual coach about them and coaching a team in a sport. It's a different thing in it.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:29:21]:
Yeah, but I mean, again, often like when you, even when you work with individuals in organizations, like, lots of it is about clearly sometimes the organization go. We really want it to be about like that work stuff. But the reality is there's. There's this whole other part of the Venn diagram going on, isn't there as well?

Simon Ursell [00:29:42]:
Yeah, I mean, I. To be honest with the business coaching, I'm not, I'm hardly ever talking about business. It's not really the person in the relationship. So yeah, there's. There's a huge overlap. I mean, but it's. But actually paying it, just dealing with that part of. Wasn't necessary.

Simon Ursell [00:29:56]:
It wasn't. It's something I just, I've been persuaded to do by a few people because I wasn't sure I really wanted to do it, but I've tried it out and I've enjoyed it. So I'm going to do more, I think because I've turned down a few opportunities in the past to do that because I'm like, it's not really some. I don't feel like I'm trained to do it. But then as long as I'm honest about not being trained.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:30:20]:
Yeah, it's probably. And I know that you've been probably combining it with golf as well. So, like it just becomes a hopefully helpful chat around. Like.

Simon Ursell [00:30:31]:
Oh, yeah, I've been doing. Yeah, I've been coaching. Yeah. One guy. We just play 18 hours actually. You'll have to come and play that. That's good. That's a good laugh that you should do that.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:30:41]:
I've got 18 holes in my locker at the moment.

Simon Ursell [00:30:43]:
It's just like, don't give me that. And sure, you're doing every morning with the Baity boys. I mean, you can't say. You can't. You can't walk for four hours, for crying out loud. The reason you don't want to do 18 holes is because you know your lose.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:31:00]:
I would imagine I would beat you at golf.

Simon Ursell [00:31:03]:
You won't beat me on 18 holes.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:31:05]:
Not prayer. Are you better than Homer? I, I. Sorry, I, I don't bring him up. I promised I wouldn't bring him up. Are you better than Har.

Simon Ursell [00:31:12]:
We're going to get letters, you know, we're going to get. I would say. I would not say I'm better than Armor because he's a lovely man.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:31:21]:
I am consistently beating Homer.

Simon Ursell [00:31:24]:
Yeah, well, that's because you're in his head. That's got nothing to do with this. You're not going to get in my head, buddy. Not a prayer.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:31:30]:
You got the. Not that. You got the little dot on your hand, have you? All right.

Simon Ursell [00:31:36]:
Yeah.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:31:36]:
Sh.

Simon Ursell [00:31:37]:
That's a secret.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:31:37]:
Sh.

Simon Ursell [00:31:38]:
Secret.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:31:38]:
Toxic.

Simon Ursell [00:31:40]:
That is a secret. Yeah. You can find out about that secret next time.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:31:45]:
And what's coming up, what's the stuff that. Yeah, in the next few weeks that.

Simon Ursell [00:31:51]:
I've got a lot of family stuff coming up which is really nice. I've got a wedding, kid stuff. Say, I'm really looking forward to that. In terms of work and stuff I'm doing around coaching. I've got. I've managed to get myself in a nice balance. So, yeah, I've got some really interesting sessions coming up around. One of the things I'm really interested in I'll be working on this month, I think is around purpose.

Simon Ursell [00:32:17]:
I think that it is. Everyone knows it's important but doesn't really know what it is. Say I was going to do, I'm going to do quite a bit of research and speaking to people around that. So, yeah, if anyone out there knows much about that, I'd be interested to talk because I feel like I've got a relatively good grasp of identifying purpose and describing it through storytelling. With shout out to Claire Murphy as ever. But I think that's something I'm really interested in exploring because I think that unlocks a whole level of performance in organizations when you get a real common sense of purpose that people really understand why they're there say rather than what they're doing, if you see what I mean.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:33:02]:
Makes perfect sense to me.

Simon Ursell [00:33:04]:
I think, I think I'm going to really get into that. It's something I pay a lot of attention to anyway, but it's something I think I'm going to do quite a bit. What about you? What have you got coming up?

Rusty Earnshaw [00:33:14]:
I got a few air miles coming up so I'm going to Porto. I've heard there's a lovely city. I got a guest lecturer in the.

Simon Ursell [00:33:21]:
Yeah, I'm speaking at. I'm speaking at Porto University. I'm doing a four day week lecture at the economics department.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:33:27]:
Yeah, nice. If you need any economics jargon, please come and ask me.

Simon Ursell [00:33:32]:
Maybe. Yeah, definitely do. I'm gonna, I'm just gonna tell stories.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:33:36]:
Yeah. And then got a bit of San Fran coming up with the rugby side going to cargo with moth. So do some coach development which can be pretty exciting actually. We're going to do some stuff around match day and do some live match day stuff.

Simon Ursell [00:33:51]:
So get some mindfulness in there.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:33:54]:
Please try it. I might try it. I might try it.

Simon Ursell [00:33:57]:
Please try it. Give me a call. I'll give you.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:34:00]:
What do you do on your stomach? Feel yourself breathing in and out? Is that what it's like?

Simon Ursell [00:34:06]:
Simple body scan you. And it's quite important. You start, you start around the back of your head and you get on your back so you just, you just talk it through. You don't feel yourself. You can sit and just feel. Go down your. Go down your head, your neck, your back, down the back of your legs, down to your feet, up then back up the front. And the reason you do that is because a lot of emotion sits in the front.

Simon Ursell [00:34:30]:
So if you start there it can be quite uncomfortable. But you get people to chill out by going down the back first and then you come back up the front and then you, then you spend some time around the stomach and the chest and talk about and breathing into places that you notice. If you notice an injury or if you notice a bit of pain or something like that, then you breathe in and breathe into the injury or into the anxiety or whatever it is you're feeling and then read it out. It's powerful stuff, but yeah, I love it. There's. There's nothing wrong with having a go, but I would suggest Getting in touch with Luke or someone like that and seeing if he can give you. They've got some great stuff. There's some really good resources you could use.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:35:11]:
I've written down get in touch with Luke about it.

Simon Ursell [00:35:14]:
Please do. Well, that they, they used. They used an interview they did with you on the second day.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:35:21]:
Oh, okay.

Simon Ursell [00:35:22]:
You know, they did a little short with you, so they sent that round to everybody. They did it not on the day, but in advance. They got everyone to watch it and then they spoke about that. So, yeah, they enjoy hanging with you, Luke and Kareem. And then there's Vin Harris who is just. Yeah, legend.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:35:39]:
Yeah. You're obsessed. You want a hashtag. Be more Vin is what I think.

Simon Ursell [00:35:44]:
I think I should be more Vin. I think the whole world should be more Vin. That guy is a legend. Finn Harris, look him up. He's a unbelievably cool dude. Really, really lovely.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:35:56]:
He built a monastery near Lockerbie or something.

Simon Ursell [00:35:59]:
That's right, yeah. Him and. Him and some of his buddies, they built a Buddhist monastery near Lockerbie. Dalai Lama came over and opened it. He's a Buddhist. That's how he got into the whole mindful stuff. But he's just a really, really lovely human being. Likes his sport as well.

Simon Ursell [00:36:17]:
Very, very successful guy. He would never tell you about it, but I can. Very super successful, granted. Grew and developed an incredible business in Scotland. So, yeah, again, there's something about being really paying attention to the mind that helps people become successful. So, yeah, in terms of bounce backability, I think it's a big one. Well, we've had Luke and Kareem on the pod, haven't we? Who else we had around mindfulness? It's just those two guys, isn't.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:36:49]:
I think so, yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:36:50]:
Yeah. So that's.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:36:51]:
And obviously, obviously you now you're a trained mindfulness.

Simon Ursell [00:36:56]:
No, I'm really not. I am absolutely not. I just take massive issue with that.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:37:02]:
Yeah, I love it, honestly. It's so cool that you are, you know, giving a go at some of that stuff. Yeah, well. And sharpening your. Your ax.

Simon Ursell [00:37:11]:
Curious curiosity, mate. Didn't kill the cat, help the cat climb the wall.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:37:16]:
What would. What would Simon have 20 years ago said if he'd seen Simon now leaving a mindfulness.

Simon Ursell [00:37:25]:
I don't think I. I would have had a day then, definitely.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:37:28]:
Okay, nice. Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:37:29]:
No, I wouldn't, I wouldn't. I've always been open to trying stuff, try new things. Definitely. I've always been. That's always been part of me. Possibly you Know, sometimes a little overplayed, maybe when I've got myself into trouble trying in inverted commas, new things. Yeah, it's got me into trouble in the past, but, you know, it's a. It's a cool thing to do, you know, I think, isn't it? I don't know.

Simon Ursell [00:37:56]:
Like, I say, coaches, you know, be curious and, you know, being afraid of trying stuff out. That worries me, you know, I think if you.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:38:03]:
Yeah. I caught up with a young coach today, so I too, bit of catch with a guy called John Vass. Works at side trade. Great guy. And he's. He's. He's almost as old as me and he's gone back to training and he's training at rugby club at that age. Like, wow, it's mind blowing, that is.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:38:23]:
And he's loving it. And back to, you know, he's moved back to where he's from originally and all that stuff. Anyway, got a young coach who's coaching them. He's 26, so young, keen, from an S and C background. We had a call this morning and that was. He was just like, I just want to try experimental stuff, just want to give stuff a go. I want to learn as quickly as I can. And, like, that's a pretty cool mindset, isn't it, for.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:38:48]:
I was like, oh, my God, I wish at your age, I was thinking like this. I'd be so much better. Like, oh, you were definitely.

Simon Ursell [00:38:55]:
You were definitely like that.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:38:57]:
His age, not at 26. I was definitely, like, disagreeing with coaches at 26. A little bit later, I was. But to be coaching at that age, I think is pretty cool as well.

Simon Ursell [00:39:07]:
Yeah, that's fair enough, fair enough. But that is super cool. I keep meeting people in the sort of twenties who are really cool. I mean. Yeah, it's ridiculous. At the moment, there's like, mayor who's. She started a business up in Aberdeen. She's just phenomenal.

Simon Ursell [00:39:22]:
I think she's 26. Shouldn't be giving people's age out, should I? But she's phenomenal for. For somebody. And I. And then I. And then I catch myself thinking, why do I think that? I mean, you're. You can be phenomenal at an age. I mean, it doesn't.

Simon Ursell [00:39:36]:
That's not like. That shouldn't be. You shouldn't even be thinking like that, really, should you? It's. People can be great at any age, but I do. I do at the moment, seem to be coming across a lot of people who are just doing some very cool.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:39:49]:
Stuff in their 20s and speaking of which, my son is Sir Freddie Earnshaw's 20, studying economics at Bath Uni, perhaps taking the year out next year. So anyone that's willing to give him a little bit of their time or a couple of weeks to let him out, whether or not he wants to work in an office or not will be super helpful, I think.

Simon Ursell [00:40:11]:
Phone Harmer because you know, he owes you for the golf lessons.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:40:15]:
Yeah, armor, of course. Why did I not think of that? So, yeah, if anyone wants to take hold of a 20 year old, 6 foot 5 blonde economic students, then drop us a line.

Simon Ursell [00:40:35]:
You're not, you're not necessarily reading out all the skills he's got for working in an office there, but.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:40:41]:
No, but he's, to be fair to Fred, he spent the last six weeks on the pitch coaching with me and he's like, he's pretty epic at that stuff. He's good with the, he's good at the connection and people. He type stuff. I think he wants to work out. Like there's just way more stuff you can do, isn't it, these days than when we were, when we were little. So I think he's just trying to work like what, you know, where is where his passion is. And by the way, he might not find him for a few years yet, but he's definitely open to experimenting.

Simon Ursell [00:41:10]:
That's cool. I mean my oldest, Ollie, he's, he's really good actor and he's a computer scientist and those two things have. That's a very, very small Venn diagram, overlap of people. Yeah, it is like massively small, but I would imagine in economics and the ability and the peoplely stuff as you describe it, I would suggest that is a very small Venn diagram, so, so that's a pretty cool place to be. It certainly put Ollie in good stead.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:41:37]:
So he had some nice emails over the summer from parents of kids he'd coached and was definitely like putting me in my place from a coaching point of view, so.

Simon Ursell [00:41:48]:
Of course he was.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:41:49]:
Of course he was. He's way cooler than his dad.

Simon Ursell [00:41:54]:
All kids are cooler than their dads. It's the law. Anyway, great to be speaking to you, buddy, as ever. And we'll be back, yeah. Next month with Karl Morris Golf.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:42:06]:
Am I allowed to, Am I allowed to Google him and find out what it's all about or no? Is it going to be a big surprise?

Simon Ursell [00:42:14]:
No, it's going to be a huge surprise. Yeah, it's going to be a massive surprise. Rusty. Yeah. I'm not going to tell you anything about him.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:42:21]:
I'm excited for that. Yeah, over and over. Thanks so much for joining us on the Band Speckability podcast with Sam and Russell. We've been really enjoyed your company if you want to reach out to us. Simon, where can they reach you?

Simon Ursell [00:42:35]:
LinkedIn's best place. Simon Ursul, you are S4 Sugar, E double L. Send me a message. Rusty, where can we find you?

Rusty Earnshaw [00:42:42]:
TikTok? No, not really. LinkedIn, Russell Anshaw. And then the same on Twitter. But please ignore all my political thoughts.

Simon Ursell [00:42:49]:
Yeah, second that.

Rusty Earnshaw [00:42:51]:
Over and out.