The Strong Life Project Podcast

We pull the curtain back on the invisible code that runs your life. Most people think they are making conscious decisions, but they are mostly executing old patterns that were installed through childhood, culture, trauma, peer influence, relationships, and the job they do. That programming shows up in the same places again and again: the way you react under pressure, the stories you tell yourself, the standards you tolerate, the relationships you repeat, and the excuses you keep protecting.

This episode breaks down how your programming forms and how it becomes automatic. If you have a short fuse, avoid conflict, chase approval, self-sabotage, procrastinate, overwork, or numb out; those are not random flaws. They are strategies your nervous system learned to survive. The problem is that what once protected you can now keep you stuck. Your default settings might be costing you your health, your leadership, your confidence, and your closest relationships.

You will be challenged to identify your triggers and the moments you “switch” without thinking. You will learn how to spot the thought loops that sound like truth but are actually conditioning. More importantly, you will get practical steps to start rewriting the code: slow down the reaction, name the pattern, interrupt it with a deliberate behaviour, and reinforce a better response until it becomes your new normal.

This is not motivational fluff. It is a call to take ownership of your internal operating system. Because if you do not choose your programming, someone else already did. And if you keep running the same code, you will keep getting the same results.

The post EP 3601 What is your programming? appeared first on The Strong Life Project.

In this episode, Shaun O’Gorman breaks down a modern trap that’s quietly crushing good people: productivity dysmorphia. It’s the distorted belief that you’re never doing enough, even when you’re performing, progressing, and carrying serious responsibility. You look at your week, your body of work, your family load, and your leadership demands and still feel behind. Not because you are behind, but because your internal scoreboard is broken.

Shaun unpacks how this mindset forms through comparison culture, endless metrics, and the addictive pull of “just one more task.” You’ll hear why high performers are especially vulnerable: competence raises expectations, so you keep moving the goalposts. The cost is brutal: chronic stress, short fuse, poor sleep, relationship erosion, and the constant background guilt that you should be working.

The episode gives you a practical reset. First, separate activity from impact by defining what “productive” actually means in your current season. Second, install a daily definition of done so you can finish the day without negotiating with your own mind. Third, audit the lies driving the pressure such as perfectionism, fear of falling behind, and identity tied to output. Shaun also challenges the common mistake of trying to fix a mindset problem with more time management. If you don’t address the belief…

Shaun shares signs: you minimise wins, you feel anxious during rest, you constantly rewrite your to do list, and you judge yourself by what’s unfinished rather than what’s completed. He offers a seven day challenge: document evidence of value delivered, not hours worked.

You’ll leave with a simple framework to measure progress without self-punishment: choose three priorities, track one meaningful outcome, and deliberately create recovery so your nervous system can handle the load. This is about building a life that performs without breaking. Stop chasing more and start owning enough.

The post EP 3600 Do you suffer from productivity dysmorphia? appeared first on The Strong Life Project.

In EP 3599, What is your highest ROI behaviour change, Shaun O’Gorman cuts through the noise and asks a ruthless question: if you could only change one behaviour that would create the biggest improvement across your life, what would it be?

This episode is about leverage. Not motivation. Not a new routine you do for three days. Leverage means one behaviour that multiplies results across your health, relationships, leadership, mood, energy, confidence, and performance. Shaun breaks down how most people chase low value changes because they feel productive, while avoiding the uncomfortable high value behaviours that actually shift identity and outcomes.

You will hear a practical way to identify your highest ROI behaviour change by tracking where your life consistently breaks down and linking it to the behaviour that drives the pattern. Shaun explores common high ROI levers such as sleep discipline, emotional regulation under pressure, honest communication, removing alcohol or junk inputs, daily training, and taking ownership instead of blaming circumstances. The point is not the specific behaviour. The point is selecting the one that creates the greatest ripple effect, then locking it in through standards, environment design, and repetition.

Shaun also challenges the listener to stop negotiating with themselves. If you keep treating your best life like an optional extra, you will keep getting optional results. The episode closes with a simple commitment framework: choose the behaviour, define the minimum non negotiable version, set the trigger, and track it daily for long enough that it becomes who you are, not something you try.

The post EP 3599 What is your highest ROI behaviour change? appeared first on The Strong Life Project.

Most people don’t fail because they can’t do the work. They fail because they keep running from the thing they most need to face. In this episode, I break down why avoidance looks like comfort, but it quietly destroys your confidence, your relationships, and your results.

If you keep distracting yourself, blaming timing, waiting to feel ready, or hoping the pressure will disappear, you’re training your brain to believe you’re not capable. Avoidance isn’t neutral. It’s a vote for the version of you that stays stuck. And the longer you do it, the heavier it gets. What you won’t deal with doesn’t go away. It builds interest.

We talk about the real cost of running, how it shows up in everyday life, and why it often hides behind “busy” and “I’ve got too much on.” I also share a practical way to identify what you’re avoiding and why. Because there’s always a payoff. It might be avoiding discomfort. It might be avoiding failure. It might be avoiding success and the responsibility that comes with it.

You’ll learn how to stop negotiating with yourself, how to take the first small action that breaks the loop, and how to build self trust by doing what you said you’d do. This isn’t about motivation. It’s about identity. Every time you face the thing you want to avoid, you become a stronger, calmer, more reliable person.

If you want better outcomes, stop sprinting away from the hard conversations, the hard choices, and the hard work. Turn around. Face it. Do the next right thing.

The post EP 3598 Stop running away from what you don’t want appeared first on The Strong Life Project.

In this episode, I challenge the trap most people live in: judging your life by outcomes you can’t fully control. Results are noisy. They’re influenced by timing, other people, the economy, the algorithm, injury, weather, luck and variables you’ll never master. When you build your self-worth, motivation, and discipline on results, you become emotionally fragile. You win and feel fine. You lose and spiral. That’s not high performance, that’s gambling with your identity.

Instead, we go behaviour-based. Behaviours are controllables. They’re the daily standards you can execute no matter what happens. The goal is not to ignore results. The goal is to stop using results as your scoreboard for who you are. Results are data. Behaviours are the driver.

I break down a simple framework: define the identity you want, convert it into non-negotiable behaviours, then measure consistency, not mood. You’ll learn how to set process goals that stack into outcomes, how to build momentum when progress feels invisible, and how to stay locked in when life punches you in the mouth. We talk training, business, relationships, and mental health, because the same principle applies everywhere.

You’ll hear practical examples: chasing scale weight versus hitting protein, steps, sleep and training; chasing revenue versus making the calls, shipping the content, and following up; chasing a perfect relationship versus showing respect, listening, and keeping promises. I also cover the excuses that sabotage people: “I’m not seeing results yet,” “I’ll start when I feel motivated,” and “It’s not working.” It is working. You’re just addicted to feedback.

Your challenge is simple: pick three behaviours for the next 14 days, track them daily, and judge yourself only on execution. If you miss, don’t negotiate. Reset and execute the next rep. Pick your standards. Track your behaviours. Let the results catch up.

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