Stepping outside of your comfort zone

In this episode, Jake has an honest chat about being out of your comfort zone. The High Performance Podcast is currently touring the UK and although this is extremely exciting, it can bring about lots of new challenges. For Jake, one of the challenges is public speaking to thousands of people. 

He opens up about the pressures of performing on stage, making sure the audience enjoy themselves and turning the podcast into an exciting live show. Jake reflects on how he had to learn to lean into his fears in order to face them and how you can too.

Buy tickets for the High Performance live tour - https://www.thehighperformancepodcast.com/live2023

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In this episode, Jake delves into the concept of stepping out of one's comfort zone and using fear as a driving force rather than a deterrent. He draws upon the High Performance Podcast's ongoing live tour as an example, emphasizing the challenges and anxieties associated with performing in front of large audiences.

Jake shares his experience of feeling nervous before going on stage at the London Palladium, highlighting the significance of acknowledging and embracing the journey undertaken to reach that point. He stresses the importance of using fear as a motivator to strive for excellence and deliver a memorable show for the audience.

Jake emphasizes the responsibility felt by the podcast team to provide value and inspiration to those who have paid to attend the live shows, especially in the current economic climate. He explains how they address the fear of not meeting expectations by thoroughly preparing, incorporating diverse content, and inviting inspiring guests to share their expertise.

Jake introduces Owen O'Kane, a psychotherapist and psychologist who will be joining the tour. He shares a clip from Owen's podcast episode, where Owen discusses the tendency to gravitate towards negative thoughts and the significance of learning to observe them as noise rather than engaging with them.

Jake also mentions Roxy Nafusi, a manifestation expert, and Jamie Peacock, a rugby league legend, who will be joining the tour as guest speakers. He shares clips from their podcast episodes, highlighting their insights on personal responsibility, the power of small actions, and the importance of effort in achieving success.

Jake encourages listeners to attend the live shows and emphasizes the audience's role as the heart of the event. He reminds them that challenges and setbacks should be viewed as opportunities for growth and inspiration. He concludes by emphasizing the impact of one's thoughts on shaping their experiences and encourages listeners to reflect on the color they want their thoughts to be.

[00:00.000 -> 00:04.080] Hey everyone, welcome along to the latest episode of the High Performance Podcast.
[00:04.080 -> 00:08.800] Now every Wednesday for the subscribers to High Performance Plus, Damien or myself,
[00:08.800 -> 00:12.720] we just kind of sit and chat and share our thoughts really. And we actually thought that
[00:12.720 -> 00:17.040] this Wednesday we would allow everyone to have a listen into this, not just the people who
[00:17.040 -> 00:22.800] subscribe to our subscription service. Because I want to talk to you about, I guess being out of
[00:22.800 -> 00:30.240] your comfort zone really, the power of fear and worry and anxiety. So we're currently on tour with the High Performance
[00:30.240 -> 00:37.240] Podcast and I do a big sort of piece during our tour nights about using fear as a throttle,
[00:37.880 -> 00:42.000] not a brake. And I know that many of you come to High Performance because you don't want
[00:42.000 -> 00:46.000] stupid, useless, cliched comments like that. You actually want some substance.
[00:46.000 -> 00:47.900] So I want to give you some substance, really.
[00:47.900 -> 00:53.700] I want to talk to you about how fear can be used as a throttle rather than a brake and why it's so important.
[00:53.700 -> 01:02.700] So let me be totally honest, okay? Being on stage, doing a live show, is myself and Professor Damien Hughes all well out of our comfort zone.
[01:02.700 -> 01:09.800] I remember actually standing backstage a few weeks ago at the London Palladium and like, this is the Palladium by the way, so
[01:09.800 -> 01:14.960] underneath the stage you've got the ashes of Bruce Forsyth, you've got the Royal Box
[01:14.960 -> 01:20.100] to your left, you've got about 3,000 seats in front of you. Trust me, going on stage
[01:20.100 -> 01:27.480] at the London Palladium is a good way to scare yourself. And Damien and I, at the beginning of the show, we stand behind these LED screens which
[01:27.480 -> 01:31.320] part and we walk out like a couple of, well I was going to say like a couple of rock stars
[01:31.320 -> 01:35.360] but probably more like a couple of nervous X Factor contestants.
[01:35.360 -> 01:39.320] And then anyway we walk out and just before we went out I kind of grabbed Damien's hand
[01:39.320 -> 01:43.540] as a here we go let's do this together because I think it's really good to always remember
[01:43.540 -> 01:47.540] the journey you've been on so I just grabbed his hand and said, listen, bro, this started out with
[01:47.540 -> 01:52.340] me and you getting on a train heading down to the South Coast to interview Ben Ainslie
[01:52.340 -> 01:58.300] with a microphone and not much else, hoping for the best. And look where we are now, about
[01:58.300 -> 02:02.460] to walk out of the Palladium. And I think it's really important sometimes to remember
[02:02.460 -> 02:05.480] the journey you've been on and the things that you've done and where you've got to.
[02:05.480 -> 02:09.840] But anyway, back to what I talk about on stage, I talk about fear being a throttle, not a
[02:09.840 -> 02:10.840] brake.
[02:10.840 -> 02:11.840] And how do you do that?
[02:11.840 -> 02:16.280] Well, I think actually we can take the High Performance Live Tour as a really good example.
[02:16.280 -> 02:20.160] The first thing that we were worried about is would people come and see us?
[02:20.160 -> 02:21.480] Would people buy tickets?
[02:21.480 -> 02:29.140] And whether it's, you know, the packed out theatre Royal and Norwich for our first night selling the London Palladium tickets or Nottingham where we've
[02:29.140 -> 02:33.200] already been. We had to turn that fear that people wouldn't come into a throttle. So the
[02:33.200 -> 02:38.740] way we did that was we decided to market it and talk about it and promote it and discuss
[02:38.740 -> 02:42.480] it everywhere we could and message all of our friends and say, please don't let us play
[02:42.480 -> 02:47.160] to an empty theatre with three people in. So we leaned into it, we used it as a throttle,
[02:47.160 -> 02:51.200] we used it to inspire us to do even better. And then look I want to be really
[02:51.200 -> 02:54.960] clear about this, like high performance is something that none of us do because
[02:54.960 -> 02:57.740] we want to make money from the people that listen to the podcast or the people
[02:57.740 -> 03:01.160] that engage with us. Which is why no matter what happens there will always be
[03:01.160 -> 03:05.600] an option for you to listen to high performance totally free of charge.
[03:05.600 -> 03:10.080] So when people are paying like, you know, 30, 40, 50 quid, sometimes more to come and
[03:10.080 -> 03:16.360] see us on stage, we really feel a huge responsibility, particularly in the current climate, to deliver.
[03:16.360 -> 03:20.040] So how do we use the fear that people aren't going to get much out of our show as a throttle,
[03:20.040 -> 03:21.040] not a brake?
[03:21.040 -> 03:22.820] Well, we lean into it.
[03:22.820 -> 03:24.360] We go through the archive.
[03:24.360 -> 03:25.160] We try and find as many
[03:25.160 -> 03:28.920] lessons as possible. We bring out clips from high-performance podcasts that people have
[03:28.920 -> 03:33.940] long forgotten about. Wonderful little nuggets of wisdom. We discuss how we can make those
[03:33.940 -> 03:39.680] relevant to people currently. We try and put on an amazing show with Kai Soans, who has
[03:39.680 -> 03:44.160] performed on The X Factor and is now one of the singers with lost frequencies. He recently
[03:44.160 -> 03:47.000] wrote Believe, which was nominated for a Brit Award.
[03:47.000 -> 03:49.000] The song that David Guetta and Becky Hill released.
[03:49.000 -> 03:51.500] Like, he wrote that song and he performs it on stage.
[03:51.500 -> 03:54.800] And there's a great lesson and message behind what Kai talks about.
[03:54.800 -> 03:57.000] We decided to line up some incredible guests.
[03:57.000 -> 03:59.400] Roxy Nafusi, Owen O'Kane, Jamie Peacock.
[03:59.400 -> 04:01.600] I'll talk about them in a second.
[04:01.600 -> 04:08.600] So we decided to use that fear to make sure that this tour had real value so that every single person who bought a ticket left at the
[04:08.600 -> 04:12.520] end of the night feeling uplifted, inspired and equipped to live the life
[04:12.520 -> 04:16.080] that they want to live. And I really want you to use that as your message today.
[04:16.080 -> 04:20.240] You know Marcus Aurelius said our life is dyed by the color of our thoughts and
[04:20.240 -> 04:24.040] there's stuff all around that's sent to test us. There's negativity, there's bad
[04:24.040 -> 04:30.880] news, there's challenges all around us but sent to test us. There's negativity, there's bad news, there's challenges all around us. But your life is dyed by the colour of your thoughts. If you see
[04:30.880 -> 04:35.680] those challenges as a throttle, not a brake, it will change the way you see the world.
[04:35.680 -> 04:42.940] Optimists are happier than pessimists. And it's not just the mindset. It's because good
[04:42.940 -> 04:46.000] things happen to optimists. Why? Because they're expecting to see them.
[04:46.000 -> 04:47.000] If someone says to me,
[04:47.000 -> 04:50.000] what's the one trait you've noticed on your guests on high performance?
[04:50.000 -> 04:51.000] It's that they're optimists.
[04:51.000 -> 04:53.000] It's that they expect great things to happen.
[04:53.000 -> 04:54.000] So when that opportunity arises,
[04:54.000 -> 04:58.000] which may well be an opportunity that's there for anyone and everyone,
[04:58.000 -> 05:00.000] they grab it with both hands.
[05:00.000 -> 05:03.000] Particularly those guests who are self-made,
[05:03.000 -> 05:04.000] who've come from nothing,
[05:04.000 -> 05:07.000] who had the worst possible start you could imagine,
[05:07.000 -> 05:08.500] but went on to do incredible things.
[05:08.500 -> 05:09.500] How did they do it?
[05:09.500 -> 05:11.000] They were optimistic.
[05:11.000 -> 05:13.000] But we know life's a challenge.
[05:13.000 -> 05:15.000] We know it's difficult for a lot of people.
[05:15.000 -> 05:18.000] And that is why one of the guests that we have on our High Performance Tour
[05:18.000 -> 05:19.000] is Owen O'Kane.
[05:19.000 -> 05:24.000] He was on one of the most talked about and shared episodes ever of High Performance.
[05:24.000 -> 05:29.320] He's a psychotherapist, he's a psychologist, he's an amazingly inspiring guy.
[05:29.320 -> 05:32.080] He'll be on stage with us in Northampton in just a few days and
[05:32.080 -> 05:33.480] other tour dates as well.
[05:33.480 -> 05:35.720] Here's a quick clip from his episode with us.
[05:37.600 -> 05:39.760] Our thoughts are not a fact.
[05:39.760 -> 05:42.760] You know, all of this stuff that we spiel out every day, I mean,
[05:42.760 -> 05:48.080] most of it's just rubbish. And it's just regenerated patterns that play out over and over and over again.
[05:48.280 -> 05:51.000] But the stuff like, you know, the internal voice saying you're weak,
[05:51.000 -> 05:53.880] you're pathetic, you're rubbish, you're shit, you're not good enough.
[05:54.080 -> 05:57.640] We tend to gravitate to that stuff like magnets,
[05:57.840 -> 06:00.920] because we may have heard it before somewhere along the line.
[06:00.920 -> 06:02.880] And we kind of tend to hold on to that stuff.
[06:03.080 -> 06:05.000] So we kind of get attracted to it because we think,
[06:05.000 -> 06:06.800] God, could that be true?
[06:06.800 -> 06:08.800] So we start to then link and engage with it,
[06:08.800 -> 06:10.800] and then the minute we start to link and engage with it,
[06:10.800 -> 06:12.300] we start overthinking.
[06:12.300 -> 06:13.600] And the minute we start overthinking,
[06:13.600 -> 06:16.300] in psychology we call it metacognitive processing,
[06:16.300 -> 06:18.200] you start to then overthink.
[06:18.200 -> 06:20.700] You start to think about the thought,
[06:20.700 -> 06:22.300] and then suddenly it snowballs,
[06:22.300 -> 06:23.700] and then suddenly you're overwhelmed
[06:23.700 -> 06:27.040] with just this
[06:24.240 -> 06:29.560] avalanche of negative thoughts. So it's
[06:27.040 -> 06:32.080] about learning that skill of standing back.
[06:29.560 -> 06:35.400] You know, can you start to observe it
[06:32.080 -> 06:37.800] all just as noise? Now what an inspiring guy.
[06:35.400 -> 06:40.000] And when Owen walks out on stage I tell
[06:37.800 -> 06:41.760] you the whole place goes quiet. Owen has
[06:40.000 -> 06:44.080] the floor for 20 minutes and I actually
[06:41.760 -> 06:45.320] said to him, I said look I'm worried that
[06:44.080 -> 06:47.160] people are gonna come along and think 20 minutes and I actually said to him, I said, look, I'm worried that people are going to come along and think, oh, 20 minutes with Owen, I've been short
[06:47.160 -> 06:50.320] changed, that's not enough time to make a difference. And he said to me, listen, you
[06:50.320 -> 06:54.280] can make a difference to someone's life in 30 seconds if you say the right things. 20
[06:54.280 -> 06:59.200] minutes is more than enough time. And people leave like honestly lifted up and inspired.
[06:59.200 -> 07:05.040] Oh, by the way, Owen is also going to be with us in Glasgow as well as Northampton.
[07:05.040 -> 07:08.560] We've also got Roxy Nafusi with us, she'll be on stage in Oxford, she was with us at
[07:08.560 -> 07:10.560] the London Palladium.
[07:10.560 -> 07:15.220] She's a manifest expert, her book has, I don't know, spent about 16,000 years in the Sunday
[07:15.220 -> 07:17.280] Times bestsellers list.
[07:17.280 -> 07:18.880] She's really inspiring as well.
[07:18.880 -> 07:26.100] Here's a brief clip from when she joined us on the podcast. Maybe I'm choosing this.
[07:26.100 -> 07:29.760] Maybe I'm allowing myself to stay in this place.
[07:29.760 -> 07:37.520] And maybe, you know, it's both exciting and incredibly scary to understand that you are
[07:37.520 -> 07:44.500] responsible for your life and for your happiness and for what your life is going to be like.
[07:44.500 -> 07:46.200] But choose to see it as an exciting thing.
[07:46.200 -> 07:51.840] So you can expect more of that kind of thing from Roxy when we're in Oxford. And also if you want to
[07:51.840 -> 07:57.480] come and see the shows in Leeds and in Salford, we are joined by a rugby league legend, Jamie
[07:57.480 -> 08:07.520] Peacock. Here's his clip that went viral about the 1%. When I got into the first team, I thought I'm just going to do all those
[08:07.520 -> 08:12.080] kind of little 1%s that other people have smart enough to recognise,
[08:12.080 -> 08:13.800] you know, what 1%s are.
[08:13.800 -> 08:15.960] Pieces of action that don't require talent, you know,
[08:15.960 -> 08:17.600] just require effort to do that.
[08:17.600 -> 08:19.280] And I thought I can ace these.
[08:19.280 -> 08:22.640] Lots of people have talent in rugby, but to really push yourself to
[08:23.680 -> 08:25.040] get into a situation where you can get
[08:25.040 -> 08:29.680] hurt when you're physically tired, I think it's a skill in itself and I thought they're
[08:29.680 -> 08:33.000] like areas that I can be good at over other people.
[08:33.000 -> 08:36.600] So there you go, those are some of the guests who will be with us on stage for the theatre
[08:36.600 -> 08:40.840] show. As well as that, we've got loads of clips, loads of episodes from the podcast,
[08:40.840 -> 08:48.320] loads of lessons and learnings, amazing music from Kai. We're joined every single tour night by a local listener and we really try and
[08:48.320 -> 08:52.360] make you, the audience, the very heart of what we're doing. So I'd really encourage
[08:52.360 -> 08:56.400] you, if you haven't already, to get a hold of a ticket for the show. We'd love
[08:56.400 -> 09:01.320] to see you there, we'd love to share the night with you, but if you don't, please
[09:01.320 -> 09:06.800] just remember this. Challenge, difficulty, setbacks, negativity, hard times.
[09:07.600 -> 09:13.360] Try your very best to use them as a throttle, not a brake. Lean into them, take the inspiration,
[09:13.360 -> 09:19.360] take the energy. Make sure that you remember what Marcus Aurelius said, life is dyed by the colour
[09:19.360 -> 09:25.640] of your thoughts. So as soon as you finish this episode, make sure you think about the colour you want your thoughts to be.
[09:25.640 -> 09:29.200] Thanks for listening, and we'll see you soon on stage somewhere.
[09:29.200 -> 09:29.700] Take care.