Welcome to episode 111 with my guest Bill Murphy.
Bill has served as a business coach and worked as a juvenile counsellor. He is a marathoner, ultramarathoner, and Ironman finisher and has a second-degree black belt in Krav Maga. He has raised over $500,000 for several charities close to his heart. He is the founder of the non-profit Thrive Foundation. Bill also has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in Counselling.
More recently Bill wrote, “Thriving in the Storm: Nine Principles to Help You Overcome Any Adversity.” In it he details how he overcame countless obstacles and turned them into big successes. He believes when the storm hits, you have three choices: give up and become a victim, do what you can to survive, or learn to thrive!
So, what does this episode cover?
Through personal struggles, trials, and tribulations, Bill put together anecdotes for creating a thriving mentality. These formed the foundations of his book. We talk about how whatever adversity you are facing, you can program yourself to be at an optimal level to deal with it.
Bill explains that there are 3 types of mentality:
- Victim mentality – when facing trials, a person just throws up their hands and gives in to defeat often leading to a physical response of feeling sick/unwell.
- Survivor mentality – this is when a person braces themselves and waits for the storm to pass without taking action
- Thriving mentality – Having a more positive, ‘can do’ and proactive approach to problems. It allows us to accomplish things when facing adversity. High energy enables a person to feel well physically and therefore work at a higher level to solve problems.
Bill and I discuss how mindset or programming can often be fixed or rigid, leading to a survivor mentality that can make us physically unwell. The way that we change this is within our grasp. We must control our mind which in turn will dictate our physiology and how well we deal with it. In adversity it’s important to recognise our feelings and process them.
Leaders are always being watched. They are therefore in a unique position where they have the opportunity to model positive behaviour and actions to their team.
You can read more in Bills book “Thriving in the Storm: Nine Principles to Help You Overcome Any Adversity.” This is such an important episode and I know you will find it helpful; you can hear more of this podcast when it airs on Thursday.