The Strong Life Project Podcast

In EP 3630 of The Strong Life Project, Shaun O’Gorman breaks down a truth most people avoid because it removes their excuses: your standards decide your life.

Not your intentions. Not your potential. Not what you “know” you should do. Your standards. The behaviours you tolerate, repeat, and call normal.

This episode is a straight, practical look at how standards quietly shape everything: your health, your confidence, your relationships, your career, your bank account, and the way you feel when you wake up each day. Shaun explains why motivation is unreliable, willpower is overrated, and standards are the real system that keeps you on track when life gets hard or messy.

You’ll hear why people get stuck in cycles of overthinking, self-sabotage, and “starting again Monday” and how to interrupt that pattern by raising one standard at a time. Not through perfection, not through hype, and not through waiting to feel ready, but by getting clear on what you do and do not accept in your own life.

Shaun also challenges the hidden standard that causes most damage: the standard you set for how you speak to yourself. If your internal story is harsh, hopeless, or constantly critical, you will keep living down to it, no matter how ambitious you are.

This episode gives you a simple way to audit your current standards and choose a stronger baseline. You’ll walk away with clear questions to ask yourself, small commitments that actually stick, and a grounded reminder that self-respect is built through repeated action, not big promises.

If you want better outcomes, stop negotiating with the life you say you want. Lift your standards. Then live like you mean it.

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In EP 3629 of The Strong Life Project, Shaun O’Gorman tackles a deceptively simple question with big consequences: does small talk kill you, or are you using it to avoid the conversations that actually matter?

Most people stay busy and stay “fine” while their real life slowly erodes in the background. They talk about the weather, work, weekend plans, sport, and gossip, but they never say what they mean. They never ask for what they need. They never tell the truth about what hurts, what they want, or what they are tolerating. Over time, that costs you intimacy, respect, trust, and momentum.

This episode is not about becoming rude or intense. It is about being deliberate. Shaun breaks down how small talk becomes a pattern of emotional avoidance, social safety, and people pleasing, especially in high-pressure environments where you are trained to stay controlled. You will learn how to recognise when you are hiding in surface level conversation, how it shows up in relationships and leadership, and why your standards for communication directly shape the quality of your life.

You will also get practical tools you can use immediately. Simple upgrades to the questions you ask, how to steer conversations toward depth without making it awkward, and how to speak with honesty while still being calm and respectful. Whether you are building stronger relationships, leading a team, or trying to stop living on autopilot, this episode is a reminder that your life changes when your communication changes.

If you are sick of feeling disconnected, misunderstood, or stuck, start here. Stop performing. Start connecting. The cost of staying shallow is higher than you think.

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EP 3628 asks a simple question with uncomfortable consequences: are you reacting to what is happening, or to the meaning you’ve assigned to it?

“We see things as we are, not as they are” is a reminder that your nervous system, your history, your expectations, and your current stress level all colour the story you tell yourself. Two people can live the same moment and walk away with completely different “truths” because perception is never neutral.

In this episode, I break down how that distortion shows up in real life: reading disrespect into a neutral comment, assuming rejection when someone is quiet, treating uncertainty as danger, and making decisions from fear while calling it logic. When you do that long enough, you end up living in a world that feels hostile, unfair, and exhausting, even when it isn’t.

Here’s the practical move: before you react, separate facts from interpretation.

Write the facts in one sentence. Only what a camera would catch.

Write your interpretation in one sentence. The story you’re running.

Ask: “What evidence would change my mind?” If the answer is “nothing,” you’re not being honest, you’re being emotional.

Choose the response that matches the facts, not the story.

This isn’t about being positive. It’s about being accurate. Accuracy makes you calmer, more decisive, and harder to manipulate. It also stops you pouring energy into people who only take, because you’ll finally see the pattern clearly instead of explaining it away.

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EP 3627 cuts through the buzzwords and gets honest about what “mindset” really is. A fixed mindset is not lack of intelligence. It is ego protection. It is the part of you that needs to be right, needs to look competent, and needs to avoid discomfort. It defends a story about who you are, even when that story is costing you results, intimacy, and peace.

A growth mindset is not positive thinking. It is presence. It is the ability to stay with what is happening right now without defending yourself. Presence lets you hear feedback without taking it as an attack. It lets you own your part without collapsing into shame. It lets you train, learn, and adapt instead of arguing with reality.

In this episode, I break down how fixed mindset shows up in real life: getting reactive in a relationship, making excuses at work, avoiding hard conversations, and quitting when you feel exposed. You will learn how ego disguises itself as “standards” and “boundaries” while actually being fear of being seen as wrong.

If you want a practical shift today, use this three step reset:

Notice the moment you feel threatened, defensive, or eager to prove a point.

Name it: “That is ego trying to stay safe.”

Return to presence with one question: “What is the next truthful action?”

Truthful action might be apologising, asking a better question, doing the rep, making the call, or setting a boundary you will actually enforce.

Fixed mindset keeps you performing. Growth mindset keeps you improving. Presence is the bridge. Listen in if you are done protecting an identity and ready to build a life that matches your standards.

This is for leaders, parents, partners, and anyone who wants to stop blaming circumstances and start taking responsibility, calmly, today.

The post EP 3627 Fixed mindset is ego. Growth mindset is presence appeared first on The Strong Life Project.

In EP 3626, Fill the cup of those that fill yours, Shaun O’Gorman challenges a mistake high performers keep making: pouring everything into work, family, and everyone else, then wondering why they feel flat, reactive, and disconnected. This is not a “be nicer” episode. It is a practical audit of where your energy goes, what it costs you, and how to build a life where you can lead with strength without burning out.

You will hear a clear distinction between generosity and self-abandonment. Being reliable is not the same as being available. Supporting people does not mean carrying them. Shaun breaks down how over-giving quietly erodes your standards, your patience, your health, and your relationships, because resentment always shows up when your needs never make the list.

The core idea is simple: protect the relationships, habits, and environments that refill you, because they are the infrastructure of your performance. That means making time for the people who show up for you, investing in routines that stabilise your nervous system, and having honest conversations when expectations are unspoken and pressure is building.

You will also get a straight framework for deciding what stays in your life: Does it align with who you are becoming? Does it support your values? Does it leave you better or worse after you engage? If the answer is consistently “worse,” you do not need more tolerance. You need a boundary and a plan.

To make it real, Shaun gives you a simple reset. Write down the five people, places, or practices that consistently leave you calmer and clearer. Schedule two of them this week like a non-negotiable appointment. Then choose one energy leak and close it with a direct conversation or a firm no. Consistency beats intensity, and your life improves when your inputs match your standards.

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