Hardiness with Dr Paul Taylor

This week's Mojo Monday looks at four Stoic steps for cutting down unnecessary suffering, starting with Epictetus's dichotomy of control: sorting what's actually within your control from what isn't, redirecting your attention toward your own response, pivoting into useful action once you've accepted the facts, and taking the view from above for perspective. It also unpacks the difference between rumination and genuine processing, and includes a reflection on ego, injustice, and why choosing not to react can be its own kind of strength.
Carly is a counsellor and coach who specialises in building psychological hardiness, which is the ability to navigate challenge, stay engaged, and take meaningful action under pressure. Her work integrates modern psychology with Eastern and Stoic approaches, helping people build resilience, live with purpose, and respond to life’s challenges with greater clarity, courage and steadiness.
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The education system is sending kids the wrong message about learning, ability, and success - and it’s leaving far too many behind. Dr. Geoff Masters reveals why age-based schooling, narrow assessment, and one-size-fits-all teaching are failing students, and what a smarter redesign could look like. Geoff is the former head of the Australian Council for Educational Research, explains the hidden lessons schools teach children: that learning is for pleasing others, that the body is separate from the mind, that learning happens alone, and that progress is just a sequence of disconnected content chunks. He shows how those assumptions shape disengagement, frustration, and the belief that some kids are simply “good” or “bad” learners.
You’ll discover:
Why 40 to 50 percent of students are disengaged in the middle years
Why the top 10 percent in a year level can be five to six years ahead of the bottom 10 percent
Why that makes the current model nearly impossible for one teacher to meet.
Geoff also breaks down how assessment should change from “how well did you learn what I just taught?” to “where are you up to now, and what comes next?
“We also unpack what schools can borrow from Finland, Hong Kong, and Wales, including multi-year learning spans, progression steps, and greater teacher autonomy. Geoff and I explore why scripted lessons and rigid standardisation often backfire, how teacher expectations shape student outcomes, and why rebuilding self-efficacy starts with showing children the progress they are already making.

Key Takeaways
00:30 - From science teacher to educational research leader
01:27 - How educational research shapes policy and school systems
02:18 - Why The Children We Leave Behind was written
04:39 - What the system teaches students about learning
05:45 - Learning as cognitive only, and the body being left out
06:52 - Learning as isolated and competitive rather than social
07:52 - The problem with treating learning as disconnected content chunks
09:45 - Why the early years handle learning better than the senior years
10:52 - University, relevance, and preparation for the real world
12:03 - What schools teach students about their ability as learners
13:53 - Disengagement in the middle years and the loss of agency
15:13 - Why age is a poor proxy for learning needs
17:09 - Why the system needs redesign, not just small fixes
19:23 - Moving from age-based grouping to individual learning pathways
20:29 - Why assessment should measure progress, not just completion
22:40 - Building self-efficacy by making progress visible
23:30 - Teacher expectations and their impact on student outcomes
25:16 - Why this is a whole-school and system-level challenge
26:56 - How much autonomy schools actually have
27:25 - Rethinking learning across year spans instead of single year levels
29:37 - Examples from Finland and three-year schooling phases
31:41 - Wales and progression steps instead of year-level lockstep
32:46 - Why Finland’s teacher preparation and autonomy matter
34:15 - The downside of scripted lessons and excessive prescription
35:58 - Standardisation versus true evidence-based teaching
37:19 - What parents can do to support engagement and growth
38:44 - Whether learning styles are real and how schools should respond
40:22 - If education were redesigned from scratch
41:20 - Music, proficiency levels, and learning as a continuum
42:46 - Organising mathematics around proficiency levels
43:41 - Using growth data to guide teaching and communicate progress
44:58 - Why teacher quality and pay need to rise together
47:48 - What society values, and why education needs a new starting point

Resources
Geoff’s book: The Children We Leave Behind
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-masters-a8526a88/
Institute for Educational Reform: https://educationalreform.org.au/who-we-are/

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If you found this conversation valuable, consider subscribing and leaving a review on your preferred podcast platform. Your feedback helps us continue to bring you insightful discussions on important health topics.
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Carly is a counsellor and coach who specialises in building psychological hardiness, which is the ability to navigate challenge, stay engaged, and take meaningful action under pressure. Her work integrates modern psychology with Eastern and Stoic approaches, helping people build resilience, live with purpose, and respond to life’s challenges with greater clarity, courage and steadiness.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stoicism is not soft self-help - it's the philosophy that helped prisoners survive torture, submariners survive confinement, and warriors keep their heads when everything else is falling apart. William C. Spears shows why this ancient mindset still matters on the ocean floor, on the battlefield, and in your everyday life. I chat with William C. Spears, an active-duty US Navy submarine officer and author of Stoicism as a Warrior Philosophy, to explore why stoicism resonates so deeply in military life. From the brutal reality of hot bunking and months underwater to the moral pressure of captivity, William explains why the Stoics were right about freedom, duty, and character - even when you have zero control over the situation around you.
You’ll discover:
Why the submarine environment is the ultimate test of composure and team culture
How Vice Admiral James Stockdale turned Epictetus into a survival framework in the Hanoi Hilton
The Stoic meaning of honour, and why it matters when nobody is watching
How the four cardinal virtues - wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice - work together in real life
Why the dichotomy of control is more than a slogan when your options are limited by pressure, fear, or fate
William also breaks down how to apply Stoicism outside the military, whether you're facing parenting stress, illness, grief, work pressure, or just trying to be the kind of person others can rely on. This conversation makes the case that virtue isn't abstract philosophy - it's practical training for being a better human under pressure.
Time Stamps
07:18 The Influence of Stoicism in the Military
18:14 The Dichotomy of Control in Submarine Operations
27:51 The Essence of Stoic Virtue
29:58 Understanding Virtue in Stoicism
35:46 The Cardinal Virtues Explained
38:42 Applying Stoicism in Daily Life
43:53 Choosing the Hard Path
46:39 The Warrior Mindset Beyond the Battlefield
51:39 Playing Your Role in Society


Resources
William’s Book: Stoicism As A Warrior Philosophy
Website: https://williamcspears.com/
X: htttps://X.com@WilliamCSpears
Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/william.c.spears/
Substack: https://williamcspears.substack.com/

Support the Podcast
If you found this conversation valuable, consider subscribing and leaving a review on your preferred podcast platform. Your feedback helps us continue to bring you insightful discussions on important health topics.


See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.