Bountifull Podcast

For a lot of people, getting older does not feel like winding down. It feels like being pushed to the edges before you are ready. In this episode, Andrew Middleton shares what happened after a LinkedIn post about turning 66 unexpectedly resonated with thousands of people who felt exactly the same. What followed was not just a viral moment, but the beginning of a much bigger conversation about age, work, relevance, and the quiet shock of realising the world may be starting to see you differently before you see yourself that way.
At the heart of this conversation is Andrew’s idea of the INDY: I’m Not Done Yet. It is both a phrase and a growing community for people who know they still have something to contribute, even as traditional career paths begin to narrow. We talk about the emotional reality of ageing in the workplace, the loss of status that can come with later career life, and the experience of being made to feel invisible, sidelined, or quietly moved on before you are ready. Andrew speaks with honesty about his own journey through this, and the deeper challenge of working out who you are when the old identity no longer fits.
We also explore what happens next. For many people, this stage of life leads not to full retirement, but to something much more mixed, uncertain, and unexpectedly creative. Andrew shares how many find themselves becoming their own boss, building portfolio careers, learning new skills, trying new things, and earning money in ways they never expected. It is not always easy, but it can open up a very different kind of freedom.
A big part of the episode centres on Andrew’s idea of “soft retirement” and what he calls the dangerous decade: that stretch of later working life where the old script starts to break down, but the new one has not yet been written. We talk about rethinking life in four quarters, the reality that we are living longer, and the possibility that this stage of life can still be useful, expansive, and full of possibility. Rather than seeing later life as one long holiday, Andrew makes the case for something richer: a third quarter shaped by contribution, reinvention, and the freedom to do things differently.

Episode Highlights
• Why “I’m not done yet” became a rallying cry• The shock of feeling sidelined before you are ready• Ageing, relevance, and the loss of identity at work• What to do when your old role no longer fits• Why later life often means becoming your own boss• Portfolio careers, side hustles, and unexpected reinvention• Learning new skills and staying open to change• The “dangerous decade” before traditional retirement• Soft retirement versus stopping cold• Why living longer changes the whole picture• Health, money, relationships, and planning for the third quarter• A more hopeful vision for what comes next

Timestamps
00:01:22 The post that sparked a global conversation00:04:01 I’m Not Done Yet and the birth of INDY00:08:53 From corporate life to self-employment00:14:15 Identity, ego, and feeling invisible00:19:09 Portfolio careers and unexpected reinvention00:27:45 Why retirement needs a rethink00:32:26 Soft retirement and the third quarter of life00:36:50 Health, money, relationships, and planning for what matters00:50:07 What generations can learn from each other00:56:22 Reinvention, freedom, and possibility

Guest Bio
Andrew Middleton is the founder of INDY, I’m Not Done Yet, a community for people over 50 exploring purpose, relevance, and what comes next. He has a background in corporate and charity leadership and now works as a consultant, writer, and speaker focused on later-life work and reinvention.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcmiddleton/
https://www.imnotdoneyet.co.uk/

Bountifull Podcast
Bountifull is a personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring joy, resilience, purpose, health, relationships, and meaningful living through thoughtful conversations with experts, creatives, and interesting people from diverse backgrounds.

In this episode of the Bountifull Podcast, I’m joined by Eri Kardos, a relationship coach and founder of Relearn Love, for a practical and honest conversation about what it actually takes to build healthy, connected relationships.
Eri challenges the idea that we should instinctively know how to do relationships well. Instead, she frames them as a skill set most of us were never taught. From communication and boundaries to intimacy and conflict, we explore what it means to learn love consciously rather than relying on patterns shaped early in life.
A big part of the conversation focuses on communication. How do you say what you actually mean in a way someone can hear? And how do you listen without jumping to defend or fix? Eri shares simple but powerful tools, like inviting someone into a conversation, being clear about what you need, and creating space to truly be heard.
We also unpack the idea that not everyone communicates or processes in the same way. Some people think out loud, others need time. Some are direct, others more indirect. Understanding these differences can remove a huge amount of friction and make relationships feel a lot easier.
Conflict is another key theme. Rather than something to avoid, Eri reframes it as an opportunity for connection. Most arguments are not about what’s happening in the moment, but about old patterns being triggered. When you start to see it that way, you can approach conflict as a team rather than opponents.
At its core, this episode is about taking responsibility for how we show up in relationships. Learning the skills, letting go of assumptions, and creating something that feels supportive, energising, and genuinely good to be in.

Episode Highlights
Why most people were never taught how to build healthy relationships
The core communication skills that help you feel heard and understood
How to listen with presence instead of reacting or defending
Why inviting someone into a conversation changes everything
Understanding internal vs external processors and direct vs indirect communication
How unspoken expectations create tension in relationships
Why conflict is often about old wounds, not the present moment
Reframing conflict as a way to build connection and repair
The role of boundaries, intimacy, and keeping relationships feeling alive
Love labs, experimentation, and keeping relationships playful and juicy

Timestamps
00:00 Why relationships are a skill we’re never taught03:00 Eri’s background and journey into relationship coaching10:00 Communication and how to be clearly heard18:00 Listening, presence, and creating space for connection26:00 Personality styles and how people process differently34:00 The Relearn Love framework43:00 Relationship agreements and expectations50:00 Conflict and learning how to fight well56:00 Practical tools for navigating conflict in real time

Guest Bio
Eri Kardos is a relationship coach, speaker, and founder of Relearn Love, a global platform helping people build healthier, more connected relationships. With a background in sexual psychology and leadership development at Amazon, she has worked with individuals, couples, and organisations around the world. Eri is also a TEDx speaker and author, known for her practical, science-backed approach to communication, conflict, and intimacy.

About the Bountifull Podcast
The Bountifull Podcast is a personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring how to live a more joyful and meaningful life. Through thoughtful conversations with interesting people from diverse backgrounds, the show covers topics like mental health, relationships, resilience, and human behaviour, offering practical insights and real stories to help you live well.

In this episode of the Bountifull Podcast, I’m joined by Carylynn Larson, an organizational psychologist, executive coach, and mental health advocate, for a deeply important conversation about mental health in the workplace, stigma, leadership, and what it really means to create environments where people can thrive.
Carylynn shares her own personal journey with an eating disorder and reflects on how that experience shaped both her life and her work. We talk about the reality that mental health is not binary — it exists on a spectrum from thriving to despair — and how many people are quietly struggling while trying to appear “fine.” We also explore why work can so often become a place where people feel pressure to perform rather than a place that supports people, not just performance.
A big part of this conversation centres on the idea of healing communities — not in a fluffy or abstract sense, but in the practical, everyday ways we can show up for each other with care, listening, vulnerability, and courage. We also unpack burnout, emotional detachment, shame, and the kinds of environments that can either support us or slowly wear us down. We also explore how to navigate difficult conversations with candour and care, particularly when there are power dynamics at play, and how to raise concerns without being dismissed or labelled as “difficult.”

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:
Why mental health is not binary — and how most of us move between thriving, coping, and quietly struggling
What burnout and emotional detachment can really look like at work — especially in people who appear “fine” on the surface
How workplace culture shapes wellbeing — and why some environments support us while others slowly wear us down
Why stigma and shame keep so many people silent — even when help is available
What “healing community” actually means — and why care and accountability need to go hand in hand
How to notice when someone might be struggling — and what genuine support can look like in practice
How to have difficult conversations with candour and care — without avoiding the hard stuff
What to consider when there are power imbalances at work — and how to raise concerns thoughtfully
Why listening, vulnerability, and small moments of care matter more than we think
How the way we show up affects the people around us — for better or worse

Chapters
00:00 – Why mental health at work matters more than we think
02:14 – Carylynn’s background in organizational psychology and leadership
07:39 – Her personal mental health journey and lived experience with an eating disorder
14:42 – The current state of mental health in the workplace
16:12 – Why mental health exists on a spectrum, not as a binary
20:23 – What workplace care actually looks like in practice
27:30 – How to raise concerns without being labelled “difficult”
31:07 – Dynamic leadership and supporting people differently at different times
33:42 – Stigma, shame, and why people often don’t ask for help
44:11 – What Carylynn means by “healing communities”
53:09 – Small ways leaders can create more human workplaces
56:08 – How to be a bridge for someone who might be struggling
57:59 – A powerful story about noticing, support, and what can change when people care
1:06:17 – Quickfire questions
1:08:51 – Final reflections on the impact we have on each other

Guest Bio
Carylynn Larson is an organizational psychologist, executive coach, speaker, and mental health advocate focused on leadership, workplace culture, and wellbeing. She is also the founder of Rock Recovery, a nonprofit supporting people recovering from eating disorders and body image struggles. Her work is shaped by both professional expertise and lived experience.
www.carylynn-kemp-larson.info/

About Bountifull Podcast
Bountifull is a personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring joyful, meaningful living through conversations on psychology, resilience, science, and practical wisdom.
www.bountifullworld.com/

This week on the Bountifull Podcast, I sit down with Carl Honoré, the bestselling author who helped bring the Slow Movement into the mainstream, for a conversation that feels deeply timely. We explore why so many of us are rushing through our lives, where our obsession with speed actually comes from, and what it’s quietly costing us in the process. From memory and creativity to relationships, health, joy, and even intimacy, this episode is a powerful reminder that many of the best things in life simply cannot be rushed.

What I love about Carl’s work is that “slow” is not about opting out of ambition, throwing your phone in a river, or moving to the countryside to grow organic carrots. It’s not about doing everything slowly. It’s about learning how to do things at the right pace, or what musicians call tempo giusto — the correct tempo for each moment. Knowing when to lean in, when to rest, when to be fully present, and how to stop treating every part of life like something to optimise, measure, or race through.

This conversation is full of thoughtful, practical, and often unexpectedly funny reflections on modern life: the history of clocks, the “virus of hurry”, why busyness can become a form of avoidance, and how slowing down might actually help us live more fully, love more deeply, and remember our lives better. If you've been feeling overstretched, overbooked, or like life has become a bit of a blur, or you're already rethinking how you move through life, this is a conversation worth your time.

Highlights
Why so many of us confuse busyness with living well
Carl’s wake-up call and the moment he realised he was rushing through life
Where our obsession with speed, time, and productivity actually comes from
Why slowness is not laziness, giving up, or opting out of ambition
The idea of tempo giusto and finding the right pace for each part of life
How speed affects memory, creativity, pleasure, relationships, and health
Why busyness can become a way of avoiding the deeper questions of life
Practical ways to slow down, including walking, journaling, boundaries, and saying no
What modern work gets wrong about pace, productivity, and performance
Why some of the most meaningful parts of life simply cannot be rushed

Chapters 
00:00 Why slowness is actually pleasurable
02:35 How did we get so busy?
05:57 The bedtime story that changed Carl’s life
08:02 What life looked like before slowing down
09:37 Why speed makes life feel blurry
11:38 How Carl became the face of slow living
13:57 What it means to live a bountiful life
14:48 What Carl would tell his 25-year-old self
16:14 Slow living is not what you think
18:11 The invention of time and the rise of hurry
24:27 How to change your relationship with time
29:17 Walking as a tool for clarity
31:30 Why you need a not-to-do list
33:28 How to slow down without giving up ambition
36:53 Can you have both success and balance?
37:58 Carl’s real-life slow living experiments
40:48 The hidden cost of always being “on”
44:45 Is slow living only for privileged people?
47:21 Slowing down in love, sex, and relationships
52:32 Why the best parts of life can’t be measured
53:13 Are we forgetting how to connect?
55:25 Why young people are drawn to slow living
59:32 What Italy gets right about life

Guest Bio 
Carl Honoré is a bestselling author, broadcaster, and two-time TED speaker, widely regarded as the voice of the Slow Movement. His first book, In Praise of Slow, has been published in 36 languages, and the Financial Times described it as “to the Slow Movement what Das Kapital is to communism.” He has since written five more books, including The Slow Fix, Bolder, and Under Pressure. His online keynotes have racked up more than 10 million views.
www.carlhonore.info

Bountifull Podcast 
Bountifull is a podcast about living a joyful and meaningful life. Through thoughtful conversations with interesting people, we explore practical wisdom for living well.
www.bountifullworld.com

This week on the Bountifull Podcast, I sit down with astrologer Steve Judd for a conversation that goes far beyond horoscopes, stereotypes, or who should date a Libra.
Steve has spent more than four decades reading charts and helping people understand themselves through the lens of astrology. In this episode, we explore what astrology actually is, what it isn’t, and why so many people are drawn to it when they’re trying to make sense of themselves, their patterns, and the seasons of life they’re moving through.
We unpack the foundations of a birth chart — planets, signs, houses, and aspects — and Steve explains them in a way that is surprisingly grounded and easy to follow. Rather than framing astrology as fate or fixed outcomes, he sees it as a tool for reflection, timing, and self-awareness. Not something that tells you what will happen, but something that can help you understand what might be unfolding, and how to work with it.
One of the most fascinating parts of the conversation is our deep dive into astrocartography — a branch of astrology that maps your chart onto the globe to explore which places may support different parts of your life, from home and relationships to purpose and work. It opens up a really interesting question: not just who am I, but where might I thrive?
Whether you’re deeply into astrology or just astrology-curious, this episode is really about something bigger: understanding yourself more honestly, trusting your own timing, and getting a little more perspective on the strange and beautiful experience of being human. And, as Steve reminds us, not taking it all too seriously.

Episode Highlights:
What astrology actually is and why it is often misunderstood
The difference between prediction, forecasting, and free will
How to understand planets, signs, houses, and aspects
Why astrology can be a tool for reflection, timing, and self-awareness
What sun, moon, and rising signs actually mean
How Steve thinks about patterns, cycles, and personal development
A simple introduction to astrocartography and locational astrology
How different places in the world may support different parts of your life
The difference between astrocartography and relocation astrology
Why understanding what you want matters before seeking answers
Why humour, perspective, and self-honesty matter so much in life

Chapters
00:00 – Astrology, self-understanding, and perspective03:00 – Steve’s path into astrology08:08 – What astrology is and how it works13:53 – The history and origins of astrology17:20 – Sun, moon, and rising signs explained21:02 – Prediction, forecasting, and free will23:42 – What a birth chart can reveal26:38 – The search for where we belong27:13 – Astrocartography and place34:02 – How location can shape home, work, and relationships40:13 – Steve’s documentary and the future of astrology42:43 – Where to start if you’re curious44:23 – Why astrology doesn’t judge49:13 – Consistency, approval, and joy

Guest Bio
Steve Judd is a British astrologer, teacher, and speaker with more than 45 years of experience in the field. He began studying astrology in the late 1970s and has since completed more than 40,000 chart readings, building a global audience through consultations, courses, events, and his long-running YouTube channel. Known for his direct, practical style, Steve’s work focuses on natal chart interpretation, relationships, timing, and astrocartography. He also holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology from Bath Spa University.
https://www.youtube.com/c/stevejuddastrology
https://www.stevejudd.co/

About the Bountifull Podcast
Bountifull is a personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring what it means to live a joyful and meaningful life. Through conversations with interesting people from diverse backgrounds, we explore psychology, science, resilience, and practical wisdom for living well.
https://www.bountifullworld.com/