Today’s guest is one of Australia’s most sought after high performance coaches – he is the well kept secret of elite athletes including Sally Fitzgibbons, 7 x world champion Steph Gilmore, 3x world champion Mick Fanning, 2 x world champion Chumpy Pullen, sporting teams (such as the Sydney Roosters, Richmond Tigers, and recently worked with the NSW State of Origin team), and many top 1 percenters in the business world.
Nam Baldwin has a gift, one that you will hear throughout this podcast, of simplifying the complicated science behind brain and body performance and delivering it in (if you do the work) life-changing, digestible bites. Nam also has a presence about him – its unique combination of deep of knowledge, absolute focus on getting to the bottom of what’s going on, and a child-like wonder and playfulness that is contagious. He is someone who makes you want to be better simply by being around him….and that presence won’t be lost through this medium of a podcast.
Nam Baldwin Interview | Lift others by your presence
Ali Hill:
Welcome to Standout Life, a podcast dedicated to living boldly amongst the busyness. My name is Ali Hill, and as a psychologist I love asking people questions. And I thought what better way to do this thing, to get the people I admire into a studio to share their stories? This podcast is our corner of the world where all of us can dive deep into what it takes to live a standout life. Today’s guest is one of Australia’s most sought after high performance coaches.
Ali Hill:
Here’s the well kept secret of elite athletes including the currently ranked world number one, Sally Fitzgibbons, seven time world champion Steph Gilmore, three time world champion Mick Fanning and two time world champion Chumpy Pullin. He works with sporting teams such as the Sydney Roosters and Richmond Tigers, and recently worked with the New South Wales State of Origin team who brought home the series win. He also works with many top one percenters in the business world.
Ali Hill:
Nam Baldwin has a gift, one that you will hear throughout this podcast of simplifying the complicated science behind brain and body performance and delivering it, if you do the work, in life changing digestible bites. Nam also has a presence about him. It’s a unique combination of deep knowledge, absolute focus on getting to the bottom of what’s going on, as well as a child-like wonder and playfulness that is absolutely contagious. He’s someone who makes you want to be better simply by being around him, and that presence won’t be lost on this medium of a podcast.
Ali Hill:
He’s a free diver and we unpack the role of breath work and why it underpins pretty much everything that we do. You’ve no doubt heard about the power of morning routines and Nam is a massive believer in that when you win the morning, you win the day, and gives us some key things that you can do even in just six minutes every single morning that will change your day. Openly and rurally, Nam also shares the moments where he has felt untethered at times amongst the curve ball that life can throw at you, and how he has found his way back to his own purpose and life philosophy again.
Ali Hill:
Littered with insights and wisdom that you’ll want to rewind and hear again, make sure you enjoy this conversation with Nam Baldwin. Nam, welcome to the studio.
Nam Baldwin:
Thank you, Ali.
Ali Hill:
It’s such a delight to be sitting down with you.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, [inaudible 00:02:32].
Ali Hill:
At the moment there are many different roles that you play and you work across a whole range of different industries. One of the things that you have done a lot of in your past is free diving. And I want to start there by asking you what is it about diving down deep, and definitely free diving, that drew you to that, I guess, sport, for want of a better word.
Nam Baldwin:
I was a scuba diver for many years, and if anyone’s ever done that, the tanks are heavy and cumbersome. You obviously take air down under water with you and you’re breathing under water. But when you learn to breathe well and calm your mind and nervous system and allow yourself to use oxygen very well through really good breath techniques, et cetera, you can hold your breath for a long time. So one of my little things is I’ve managed to do that very well over seven minutes of breath hold.
Nam Baldwin:
And that gave me freedom in an environment that is uncompromising. The ocean, when you’re deep underwater you’ve got to have your wits about you, especially when you’re under deep. But that, also on the edge of that, that feeling of complete comfort and chaos is that fine line that you walk when you go deep, is that you have to trust in you. And I think for people of today that there’s a lack of self trust for the younger generation.
Nam Baldwin:
There’s so many alternatives and things that they can do and think about. When I was growing up it was all about doing things outside, enjoying the environment and enjoying your capabilities and testing yourself, which I did with free diving, but it gave me this amazing liberated experience of being free. Didn’t have to breathe for a long time, was weightless in an environment that was, yes, there’s pressure, but it’s a different pressure.
Nam Baldwin:
It’s not gravity as such, it’s water pressure. But it’s like you’re flying when you free dive, when you descend you sink after four metres, six metres, you sink. So after six metres I would literally be like a Superman and just fly to the depths.
Ali Hill:
So in some ways the gravity kind of pulling you down.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah. The water pressure is pushing you down and then in that experience you get this tremendous, for me anyway, a tremendous feeling of calmness. And because I was so young and doing that, that became part of who I am. Calm Nam. This guy that’s calm. But it was the free diving that exposed me to so many elements of what it’s like to be very free in your own space. And the environment was so invigorating, the wildlife. We spoke earlier about me free diving with whale, sharks down to the depths.
Nam Baldwin:
And one in particular played with me for about an hour. It was like a puppy and it’s a 20 foot whale shark. Just incredible experience that keeps you incredibly present with what’s going on.
Ali Hill:
Oh, it has to. I can imagine. I can imagine. You described this edge of calm and chaos that you’re balancing.
Nam Baldwin:
It’s like a tight rope walk, right
Ali Hill:
Yeah.
Nam Baldwin:
It’s like when you feel it, that you’re doing it and you’re engaged in it 100% and you feel very safe in that space, the other side is that things can go terribly wrong. But if you can keep your mind and your capabilities on par with what it is you’re trying to do, the experience of living on that edge, if you like, if there is a corny way of saying, it’s where the magic happens. You almost feel invincible, and then very quickly you don’t because you’ve got to come up for a breath of air.
Nam Baldwin:
So you’re down there experiencing this incredible wildlife, this feeling of freedom, being under water for over five minutes with not having to breathe. So there’s no restraints. It’s like you’re free and then suddenly you’ve got to breath. Your brain’s gone, “Hang on, quick, go back up.” So then you’ve got to then learn to regulate your response to that signal. Like in life there’s stress, it’s inevitable, but how we respond is critical. It’s a signal, lots of signals.
Nam Baldwin:
So when you’re free diving, the signal kicks in and then it’s about, okay, now we come and get to the top safely, recover effectively and then let’s do it again.
Ali Hill:
Now, I want to get back … It’s totally fascinating, I want to get back to the wild shark in a moment, but have you ever had a moment that you’ve learnt calm because you were in the midst of chaos, because you panicked or because … Or is that something that just you’ve [crosstalk 00:07:31]?
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah. I grew up in South Africa during apartheid, and I’m not South African, but I spent a bit of time there. My dad was a diplomat and he worked closely with the ANC, Nelson Mandela’s group. And when I was young, when I say young, I was there when I was five till just turning 10. So five years of going home after school and sitting with black South Africans, with my parents and talking about values, right? Values of life and how important they are, and then the behaviours that come with that, that can create freedom or can create constriction and all these things that you and I know a lot about.
Nam Baldwin:
But as an as a five, six seven, eight, nine, 10 year old, amazing thing. And then in that experience-
Ali Hill:
Can you remember what that was like as a five-year-old?
Nam Baldwin:
It was tricky. It was like, “What are you talking about? What’s a value?”
Ali Hill:
When most of us were watching Sesame Street.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah. So my mum would say, “Value is what we do every weekend. When we go camping every weekend and we go to game parks, that’s called adventure. And how do you feel, Nam, when you go and do that?” I go, “I feel free. I feel excited. I feel liberated. I feel …” I didn’t say that but as a five-year-old, “I feel good.” She goes, “Okay, that’s a value. And if you really enjoy it, it’s going to become part of who you are and therefore don’t stop having adventures.”
Nam Baldwin:
So anyway, I [inaudible 00:09:05] that, but then in that as well there was so much chaos in my life that was really strictly governed by order. So what I’m saying there is that at school, they could still beat you. So cricket practise, you drop a ball three times, you get three of the best with a cricket bat across your ass. So, I had this amazing family structure around values and big stuff. We’re talking change of South Africa here, amazing upbringing.
Nam Baldwin:
And then school time you drop a cricket ball, like I said. So then going back to where this calmness come from then coming home and being upset and go, “I don’t want to be here. This is hell. My ass is … I can’t sit down.” So then having a gardener and a friend who basically, martial artist, and that’s a big part of my life too, is martial arts. A gardner go, “Why are you upset? What’s going on?” And I’m like, “I got my ass kicked. I don’t want to go back and I’m here for five or six years.”
Nam Baldwin:
He goes, “Let me show you how to breathe, and I’ll teach you how to be calm.” And he was a [inaudible 00:10:15] black belt. So that exposed me to, I want to learn all this stuff too. So then showed me very simple methods of breath control , I’ll share that later with you, and then my parents were so amazing at dealing with challenges and keeping things in perspective. They were not drama queens or kings. Not about drama, it’s about reality.
Nam Baldwin:
Another part of growing up was having a vision. Having your values, having a vision and then having an identity. Who are you? And they taught us so much around that and in such a calm, loving way that that was what I was exposed to with all these mentors and gurus and in breathing and in building a better country and amazing experiences that then gave me such a broad perspective, that allowed me to see things for what they really are and how amazing life can be if you have these things in place such as good breathing, good values, good perspective.
Nam Baldwin:
You can then choose mental skills that you can become very good at. And one of the mental skills I’m really encouraging people to get good at is be calm. learn to be calm. It’s a skill. So it came from those things. Breathing was the catalyst.
Ali Hill:
How did that help? Going back to dropping the cricket ball, did you go back in?
Nam Baldwin:
No, I didn’t get in. Yeah, absolutely. And the martial arts side was massive too and it was … You just learn. You had to. You had a choice, that’s the thing. Even at that age, I couldn’t not go to school. I had to go to school so I thought, well, I’m going to control myself. Amazing. At that age to go in, and sure it was tough, I cried and I was upset and did the normal things kids do, but my parents were so good at going, “No, no. Come on. It’s going to be okay.”
Nam Baldwin:
“And this is how it is at the moment and let’s just use your practises, et cetera. Let’s have the adventures. Let’s breathe. Let’s do the things that will allow you to feel that you have a sense of control and be you. This is all part of the experience of life, unfortunately. And let’s choose the best of it. Let’s not focus on the worst of it, let’s choose what can happen here. Imagine how good you’re going to be at cricket.”
Ali Hill:
Yep. Even now [crosstalk 00:12:55] don’t drop anything ever.
Nam Baldwin:
So my dad is like, “Imagine how good you’re going to be, because you’re going to be so disciplined. And sure enough, I work with world champions and Olympic teams and all that. It was from them. It’s the conditioning.
Ali Hill:
So fascinating. Do you have a sense of which of those parenting styles influenced you the most, or which of those characteristics? There’s a few you’ve described that have carried on for you.
Nam Baldwin:
So I guess both, because they were so loving and caring yet and they were still fun. In the sense that if we stepped out of line we would be punished in some shape or form. They weren’t just as loving, caring, “Poor you. You’ll be all right.” It was like, “I’m sorry you’re feeling this way but this is how it is.” So they were very realistic but very optimistic. So what a great recipe. And then their way of living, which was about experiencing life as best you can.
Nam Baldwin:
You’re here for a period of time, have a good time and learn from the things that go wrong, and enjoy the things that go right. And the way that they brought us up was experiences, have a tonne, get out. Let’s go to caves in the mountains where bushman lived and camp in those caves often. Let’s go and look at wild animals and learn about them in Kruger national park. Amazing. Sometimes I would come home from school on a Friday and my dad would go, “Pack your bag.”
Nam Baldwin:
“Where are we going?” “We’re going to the Drakensberg Mountains. It’s a six hour drive. We’re going to drive and we’ll camp overnight in the Combi,” because we had a Combi, “And then tomorrow morning we’ll be waking up and we’re going to go and camp in the cave tomorrow night and then we’ll come back Sunday night.” “Yes, let’s go.” Unbelievable.
Ali Hill:
So this never ending playground almost, that kept going.
Nam Baldwin:
Pretty much. And then the school that was so disciplined, because of white South Africa apartheid concept of almost like dictatorship.
Ali Hill:
So those two threads that are coming back to the freediving, those two threads really then become part and parcel when you’re under five minutes in your deep underwater. Being able to have calm but a discipline of I have to do something about this. I have to respond rather than freak out or begin to doubt.
Nam Baldwin:
Yes. Exactly. Yeah, and having that intent to regulate your attention. So good intention regulates your attention. So if I get the signal, time to breath, or I have a stress of something stressing me, if I have a sense of calmness within me, I can help my intention, regulate my attention and therefore it’s time to breathe. And that can be in any part of life. That’s the amazing thing is that now you’re starting to, whoa, hang on, that can be applied in every situation.
Nam Baldwin:
So I learned these skills in a very adventurous and playful way that allowed my brain and body to absorb that type of information, how it can be used in any situation. That’s the beauty of it.
Ali Hill:
With the free diving, did you ever put it to the moon? Did you ever realise that, oh, I left that a little bit too long?
Nam Baldwin:
I never blacked out, but I did at the time … I remember when I was younger, this is 16 year old, I remembered free diving and wondering why I got real dizzy when I came up to the top and felt like I lost my balance and very soon after us being taught properly, “You were about to black out.” So I got close to it, but I got close to it because I was young and adventurous and I wanted to push boundaries. I wanted to see what I could do.
Nam Baldwin:
I was always with someone, so I never did it by myself, and to listeners, you never do it by yourself. Where I really pushed on that envelope But luckily I obviously had the insight and the foresight to go, Hey, when you get the signal, it’s time, come up.
Ali Hill:
And what’s the signal? What are you feeling? What’s the body-
Nam Baldwin:
It’s the urge to breathe. So when you go free diving, it’s not lack of oxygen that makes you want to come up, it’s an excess amount of carbon dioxide that your body’s producing and your blood will … There’s receptors, chemo receptors in your body that will pick up a high level of CO2, which then drives the body to then want to expel that gas to then breathe in oxygen straight afterwards. So the urge is a feeling of gulping in your abdominal area.
Nam Baldwin:
That then is the signal to say CO2 is high, oxygen is probably dropping underneath that, better go back up, remove that CO2, gets some fresh oxygen in my body and recover. So that’s the urge. Now if you go to-
Ali Hill:
It doesn’t say it as gently and as calmly as [inaudible 00:18:06].
Nam Baldwin:
No, it’s-
Ali Hill:
I need a break.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, yeah. And it’s a fight, flight response, if you hold on … You’ve done stuff with me on, oh, this is so comfortable.
Ali Hill:
Yeah. Two minutes in. Seven. Yeah.
Nam Baldwin:
And there’s a tonne of science I could explain about that, but the basic premise is that when you have the urge, it is a feeling of I would rather have a breath now, and it comes through a muscular contraction and relaxation in your abdominal and ribcage area.
Ali Hill:
So it’s being so in tuned with your body and knowing what that sensory is, at what point that is and I have time to respond, as opposed to I’m just about to blackout, which is a different response.
Nam Baldwin:
It’s different. Yeah, totally.
Ali Hill:
It’s not something most people listening would do and experience and so I’m really fascinated, particularly where you talked about playing with the whale shark. Can you describe what that experience is? Because like I said, many of us would never have even seen a whale shark, let alone be in the water-
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, amazing.
Ali Hill:
… and spend time playing and interacting. So what was that like for you?
Nam Baldwin:
So whale sharks are one of the biggest fish in the sea and they are called a whale shark, whale component because they eat plankton but they’re the shape of a shark. The one I was playing with was about six metres long, so it’s a very big fish. And the experience is hard to describe other than you feel like you’re in a movie that’s been set up. So when I found this, whether I found it, it found me, doesn’t matter, when I free dived down to be with this particular whale shark, it had an agenda too.
Nam Baldwin:
It was playful and I remember going down underneath it, holding onto its pectoral fins and its belly is the most beautiful white and the softest feeling that you could probably imagine a fish to have. Super soft, super white. And holding onto its pec fins and then getting taken on a ride. Literally, it’s like a roller coaster ride. So it knew I was there and off I go and we go into the depths. And as we go in the depth, I’m looking from side to side going, “Okay, I’ve got no urge to breathe. I’m totally free of any constraint, even my breath.”
Nam Baldwin:
Unbelievable. And then I’m looking from side to side and going, “Wow, there’s a reef shark. Oh, there’s a couple. Oh, there’s a lemon shark. Oh, there’s a turtle.” So I’m amongst this aquarium whilst having a ride with the biggest fish in the ocean that wants me to be there, and I’m tickling its chin. And it starts to roll back and forth as if to say, “Oh, can you do it more?” So I’m with this six metre creature, not having to breathe and then I’ve got to breath. So I got the urge I’m like, “Oh, the movie’s ended.”
Nam Baldwin:
So I come up for a breath, but then it comes up with me. And I take a few deep breaths, I go down, it goes down with me, I’m back on again. I’m like, “Whoa, it wants to play.” So you can only imagine that this thing that is totally wild, never seen before, and just wants to hang out and play in a water that’s crystal clear. This is in the middle East. There’s so much sea life that you, this is the beautiful thing, you become so present. So in the now that nothing matters. It’s this liberated experience.
Ali Hill:
Is can imagine. I’m almost going like what’s going through your mind? Are you just completely there, is it a part of you going, “Is this going to end? What do I need to [inaudible 00:21:43].
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, it was limited by breath hold. And then that’s probably why I got so good is like I don’t want to come up. It might go away. Anyway, it didn’t for an hour. And then finally I’m done. I’m cooked. I’m like, I can’t keep coming down, and it slowly took off. It realised, okay-
Ali Hill:
Play time’s over.
Nam Baldwin:
… human’s done.
Ali Hill:
An hour must’ve felt like for an eternity though. It’s a huge amount of time.
Nam Baldwin:
I’ve got goosebumps talking about it. And you can probably hear my voice as well because I was just … But at the same time you’re going through, when I think back on it, that was the breeding ground for the inner me. Wanting to be so present with what I was engaged in, wanting to be calm but intense at the same time. What a gift? I have this calmness but I can be intense at the same time. And then being able to focus and refocus on what matters, go back down with it.
Nam Baldwin:
So many mental skills were bred from those experiences of being on the edge and just being really curious of what can happen here, and being okay with it going a little bit wrong. But knowing that you are in nature’s hands and you’re as natural as they are, just be you. You’re partly mammal too. We are, right? Tap into that side of your human beingness and go and do what you want to do so you have what you want to have. The be-do-have concept.
Nam Baldwin:
I was being a mammal, I was doing the right skills and having a hell of a good time. What a concept?
Ali Hill:
Oh, there’s so many bits of that that you always want to jump on from the curiosity to, as you say, inform that calmness and intensity.
Nam Baldwin:
It’s beautiful.
Ali Hill:
We don’t often see or think about that going together.
Nam Baldwin:
No.
Ali Hill:
So it’s you’re either intense and [inaudible 00:23:42]. In the business world it’s hustle, in the sporting world it’s about being the best. And it’s constantly being on that so you’re never off that ever. And yet that duality-
Nam Baldwin:
You have to. Yeah.
Ali Hill:
… can they live together? Is it possible?
Nam Baldwin:
You can.
Ali Hill:
You’re almost describing they have to.
Nam Baldwin:
Well, if you want the best, I think if you go too intense in sport, finer motor skill will get lost. The ability to use your finer motor skill is diminishing as you get more and more intense. If you have a sense of calmness-
Ali Hill:
So the more that you are-
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah. The American movie thing, rah, rah, let’s go, and all the hype and all that is not the answer to high performance. High performance comes from the Zen monk and the MMA fighter. The Zen monk embodying an MMA fighter. You got the intensity of an MMA fighter, but you got the calmness of a monk on the inside. And now you can really utilise your skills and decision making under pressure. And that’s where a lot of good stuff happens is when it’s full, is it, do I make this decision or that one? It’s pressure.
Nam Baldwin:
Now if you have a calmness within you, your brain will work so much better. And therefore you can make good decisions under pressure with intensity or a strong intent and therefore regulate your attention and get the right thing done. It’s a skill that, it’s not something you’re born with. So you’ve got to practise key elements of physical and mental skills and bring them together because the mind and the body are not separate. The mind will work off the body and vice versa.
Nam Baldwin:
Understand who you are and what allows you to be calm and intense at the same time, because that’s skill.
Ali Hill:
Do you think most people walk around with them being separate, that mind and body?
Nam Baldwin:
All the time. Which is unfortunate. Because I work with, like you do, you work in the corporate world where you see leaders that are incredibly good at what they do but then just about the burnout, overweight and they don’t need to be. They just lose their attention again. Their intent is to focus. They got too much intensity in one area where they need more harmony over a couple of others. And now your merge longevity where you create longevity in a business or leader’s career, if you can get those things to come together.
Ali Hill:
So you work with the elite, you work with some of the one percenters in both corporate world, but you’ve done coaching with Mick Fanning who’s now retired, Steph Gilmore, Sally Fitzgibbons. You currently doing work with the Richmond Tigers, New South Wales Blues, and hopefully they get it again this year.
Nam Baldwin:
Absolutely. Yeah.
Ali Hill:
I live in Queensland and I’m a New South Wales supporter, which is always hard. It’s always hard. And the Roosters. So what is it that is different from the elite and what do you bring to them through your work? And I get that that’s a whole range of different things, but what is different about them? What are they chasing? How do they do what they do? And what are they missing that you bring into the picture that changes the game for them?
Nam Baldwin:
How long we got? I’ll probably be brief. I think the thing distinguishing, and I’m thinking that compared to everyday folk, et cetera, those elite, the difference is they have a very, very clear vision. And their vision is obviously, let’s say the Roosters or Blues or Richmond, they want to win the premiership. It’s easy in that sense that of course, but within that, they then work out who they are and their philosophy or their trademarks around how they behave each week and get very, very good at those trademarks and their strategies.
Nam Baldwin:
So it’s a business. It really is. And the difference is, is that there’s this definite vision and then there’s a definite story that’s driving the behaviours, the trademarks, et cetera each week to get closer and closer to achieving that vision. And the difference between the top teams and the lower teams is that that story is shared really well amongst the whole group, and it’s very clear and they stick to the clarity of what it is to behave this way, to act this way, to perform like this today.
Nam Baldwin:
So they try and be very present throughout their week. Meaning today’s session is the session, and they put everything they’ve got into it. Then they do the little extras, which is where I come in, to give them that little edge. So I come in and teach them more about regulating their nervous system and their mind through breath work, and then through mindfulness work and mental imagery work. Then they will do a particular thing every morning that allows them to have this very strong intent, stronger than their other competitors.
Nam Baldwin:
That drives their attention. That drives their attention to this is what I need to do today to get the job done today. That by the end of the week I can look back and this is the amazing thing, I can say to myself, “I’ve done the work, now go play.” And that is a process. Now, there’s a lot more to it than that, but time gives you an idea.
Ali Hill:
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that ability to be able to trust myself that I’ve done the work.
Nam Baldwin:
Yes.
Ali Hill:
And that can be even in everyday life, for want of a better word. We can lose that sense of trust because other things come into play or we get pulled off the radar a little bit by a conversation that’s not the best form of us or a meal that we’ve had because we, comfort food or whatever it is we get pulled off sometimes that radar. So I can understand that-
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, absolutely.
Ali Hill:
… sense of being able to go, “I know that I’ve done the work.”
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah. I guess the takeaway at this point is that having a vision is very important, and then having clarity around who you are and there’s a work to be done there, and then having certain intentions in the morning. Who do you need to be today and what have you got to do? And not too much of how many dos, but more who do you need to be. And then that in itself, if we can get that clear, the having takes place.
Ali Hill:
Because I know you talk a lot about morning routine and the power of what you do in the morning sets up your entire day. Some people listening might have heard, and it’s not new that concept of have a morning routine set up the rest of your day. What is it that you think people need … And I love that sense of being intentional and having an intent. What do you prescribe? What are we missing? What do you think needs to be part of that morning routine?
Nam Baldwin:
I think first of all let’s start with what you shouldn’t do. Grabbing your phone when you first wake up, because now you are putting your mind and your whole way of being into something else or someone else’s world and not you and that’s de-training focus, because now your attention is getting scattered into … If it was social media there might be 10 different things that you’re looking at in 10 seconds. You’re de-training focus. So that was one thing I wouldn’t do.
Nam Baldwin:
One thing I would do would be to go, okay, what I do anyway, but what could I do better? Because changing people is really tricky. It’s more improving what they do would be easier. So people breathe when they wake up, otherwise they haven’t woken up. So therefore, why don’t you focus on some really calm, controlled rhythmic breaths for maybe a minute, and get your breathing to be something that you just focus on straight off the bat.
Nam Baldwin:
Because why? 40% of healthy adults snore. And that may mean that their oxygenation is dropping by 9% overnight. And that’s potentially why heart attacks are happening in the morning and not during the day, most of them.
Ali Hill:
40%?
Nam Baldwin:
Yes, of healthy adults snore. And then if they are snoring and they’re mouth breathing, they’re probably up to 45% more dehydrated than they went to bed. So you’ve got a lot of stress going on when you wake up, irregular breathing, dehydrated. Breath good, reset the nervous system into a state of calm. And then maybe once you’ve been in the toilet, whatever, have a drink of water before anything else, because you’re dehydrated and your brain wants water other than oxygen more than anything else.
Nam Baldwin:
So you’re winning. [inaudible 00:32:59] in the morning, right? So hang on, I do that anyway. Yeah, just do it better. You breath when you wake up, but it’s probably not great. You probably drink, but it could be a coffee. Why not have a water first and get yourself hydrated, and then maybe move a bit. When your blood flows in your body, your brain flows. They’re connected. So then you invigorate. So you oxygenate, you hydrate, you invigorated. What a concept?
Nam Baldwin:
And that’s now bringing you to life, and you’re starting again from yesterday. And then maybe appreciate something. Because most people look at the phone and go, “Damn it, they’re better than me.” Or, “I’m not good enough.”
Ali Hill:
So therefore I have to work and here’s my to-do list-
Nam Baldwin:
Yes.
Ali Hill:
… and here’s my stuff I have to get done.
Nam Baldwin:
Appreciate what you have rather than what you had. And then finally-
Ali Hill:
That’s so powerful.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah. Finally is just to anticipate, who do you need to be today? What is your intention so that you can regulate your attention? Because if you have been the person that’s looking at your phone, I’m telling you, your focus probably isn’t as good as it could be and you will get distracted and governed by all sorts of stuff as soon as you get out of bed. Hang on, be you. Be in control of your thoughts. Be in control of who you need to be and what you need to do so that you can follow through and bring the best of you into the day.
Nam Baldwin:
Now, what does it mean to those around you when you’re at your best? That’s-
Ali Hill:
Changes their day. Yeah, it changes everything.
Nam Baldwin:
So, this could take you five, six minutes.
Ali Hill:
So I want to go through this because-
Nam Baldwin:
Oxygenate.
Ali Hill:
Oxygenate. So be really intentional.
Nam Baldwin:
To explain that in a second, hydrate, four to 600 mil, no less, no more. Otherwise you’ll over-hydrate.
Ali Hill:
And no less because you need that fluid.
Nam Baldwin:
You need it, yeah. You need that. Invigorate. Now move. It could just be jumping on a rebounder, like a little trampoline or doing a little bit of some squats or something. Just something or some band work. Doesn’t have to be exercise. It’s movement is the difference and then appreciate. So you could do something intensive if you want, and then lie down and breathe and just focus on a feeling of appreciation. Now here’s a good thing with that, people go, “Yeah, but I don’t feel it.”
Nam Baldwin:
Well, see if you can engage in a memory or something that you can actually feel, “Well, I’m grateful for that.” And maybe add this, maybe when that happens, nod and now you’re locking in a physical thing to a mental thing. So as I’m nodding, I’m now building an emotional capacity to feel more gratefulness or gratitude or appreciation. The nod, you’re nodding, if you did it every morning and do it, every time you nod, you’re going to bring out, this gratefulness or appreciation.
Ali Hill:
Okay. So the physiology will actually be the expression of that-
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah.
Ali Hill:
yeah.
Nam Baldwin:
And then anticipate. So I’ve got a day ahead of me and I know the things I got to do. Who do I need to be? So, that will take a little bit of work. Maybe the night before you could jot some things down, “This is who I need to be [crosstalk 00:36:15].”
Ali Hill:
Right. Yes. Okay.
Nam Baldwin:
And set my intention around that. You’ve already done it. You’ve front loaded it the night before, you wake up and go, “Yep, remember boom, let’s do it.”
Ali Hill:
Yeah. Right. So the night before you’re prepping, “What’s tomorrow on my plate?” Putting that down, almost getting that to-
Nam Baldwin:
Just bullet points, make it as easy as you can to win that side too. Don’t scribble for the hours just [inaudible 00:36:36]. Cool. Now that couldn’t be difficult to do that. But if you do, you’re doing this. When you do difficult things, you build self trust. And when you build self trust, you’ll have confidence that will sit on top of that. And a confident leader, a confident person is a good person to be around. So therefore, every morning you are building more self-trust.
Nam Baldwin:
And if there was something that’s happening in the world is that people don’t know what to do or who to be, and there’s a lack of self trust, lack of confidence. And you can see where that can go. Because now you’re not being your best and therefore who you’re being? Or I don’t know. I don’t know who I am. I’m not good enough. Oh, hang on.
Ali Hill:
Can be influenced really quickly by people or influences around you, yeah.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah.
Ali Hill:
Rather than that solid anchor. Is that your morning?
Nam Baldwin:
That’s my morning, pretty much.
Ali Hill:
Every morning?
Nam Baldwin:
Every morning I do a meditational practise as part of my breath work that involves some imagery and mindfulness, and then it’s that process. And it works a treat. It brings an energy out of me eight times out of 10, eight, nine, let’s be real. Eight, nine times out of 10 you’re going to get the best of me. There’s times, obviously I didn’t sleep good. Got hammered two days before, and I’m going to be a little bit below my best, but it’s unlikely.
Ali Hill:
So you can trust yourself enough to know, I know what it takes-
Nam Baldwin:
Yes.
Ali Hill:
… to bring the best of me to whatever it is-
Nam Baldwin:
That’s right.
Ali Hill:
… that I’m doing. And that’s something that we don’t always feel we have control over. That those … I know for me, even personally that can feel like, or that my best and my ability to bring that is dependent on what’s happening in the business, is depending on whether the kids are upset, is dependent … It feels like those external factors are the reason about whether I’m okay or I’m not-
Nam Baldwin:
yeah, totally.
Ali Hill:
… as opposed to what you’re describing is, you’ve completely got that.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah. There’s things you can control and things you can’t. So as we know, you can’t control how the kids feel, but you can control how you respond to it. But a lot of that work will be really beneficial to go into a calm state before you go into that experience. So the brain has a greater capacity to learn to respond effectively to it, and own how you feel, not let other things own you, which is a skill, right?
Ali Hill:
It’s so hard. I’m saying it sounds really easy, but it’s so-
Nam Baldwin:
It’s a skill-
Ali Hill:
… hard because, yeah.
Nam Baldwin:
Hence kind of like an 80:20 relationship. 80% of the time you’ll know, there’s 20% you won’t but that’s just life. So here I am, everyone’s going, “Yeah, it’s easy to say I know,” but the alternative is that you may not be doing those types of things, doesn’t have to be that, but where is your life going then? Is it slowly getting a little bit harder or you slowly making it a little bit more enjoyable and having a growth mindset, not a fixed one? And that can open up doors in so many different ways.
Ali Hill:
Which comes back to that intention-
Nam Baldwin:
Yes.
Ali Hill:
… or philosophy, the purpose?
Nam Baldwin:
Yes.
Ali Hill:
Can you describe some of that breath work-
Nam Baldwin:
of course.
Ali Hill:
… just to share some of that for people-
Nam Baldwin:
Absolutely.
Ali Hill:
… because I think that’s the cornerstone of what you’re describing as well.
Nam Baldwin:
So posture is a major component because of the way-
Ali Hill:
I was going to say [crosstalk 00:39:59]. Anyone ever mentions posture all of a sudden-
Nam Baldwin:
What is posture? In a sitting position, it’s where your head is nicely aligned above your shoulders. Your shoulders are above your hips. Your feet maybe are on the floor flat. And there’s just this nice alignment as if someone was gently pulling your head up from above with a piece of cotton. Cool. That’s an easy way to think of it. And then the rib cage is free and not being squished by you and gravity. So when you breathe in, if there was a tip and you’ll probably, listeners can probably do this right away.
Nam Baldwin:
You’re just aware of cool air coming through your nose, and your nose breathing in and out and feeling a little bit of expansion down low around your lower cage, before it goes to your chest. So your big muscle that breathes in for you, your diaphragm is becoming active on the in breath. And it’s as if you’re breathing in silk when you’re calm. So it’s gentle, it’s smooth. When you feel that there is enough air in your lungs and everyone’s different, you then allow that to naturally come out through your nose and soften your shoulders and chest gently away from your ears, because they would have risen a little bit.
Nam Baldwin:
So then you’ve got this ability to regulate your heartbeat. How? Where your diaphragm is attached to your pericardium, which is where your heart sits in. It’s a bag and as your diaphragm contracts and pulls down, it pulls on the heart and literally elongates it and draws blood into the area. When you breathe out, it pushes back up, pushes against the heart, and pushes blood out of the area. So you’ve got two pumps, not one. If I’m a chest breather, it doesn’t really happen.
Nam Baldwin:
If I breathe low, then high first, I’ll get up to 15 times more oxygen into my lungs, and therefore I’m now giving my brain the most important thing, oxygen. But the technique, it’s gentle, it’s smooth. You feel your belly expand before your chest. And then when you breathe out, you soften and let go of your, even your jaw, your shoulders, your chest. And those are signals going into your nervous system going, “I’m okay.” And there’s a feeling of calmness that comes with it. Now, if you could do that for three minutes in the morning, oh my goodness, there’s the foundation to all the things that we’ve spoken about.
Ali Hill:
Three minutes is not long and-
Nam Baldwin:
No.
Ali Hill:
… you can’t feel like, particularly if this is new and I know even for myself and people that have started it, it can feel unusual and what am I doing and is it kind of wrong? I’m I doing it right?
Nam Baldwin:
And is rhythm and depth. It might be five seconds in five seconds out, six seconds in six seconds out. That’d be the most maybe in terms of time, but whatever fits into your body and your feeling of okay, if there is rhythm and there is depth and those areas activating are before the other, the lower part before the upper, you can’t really go wrong. Easiest way to do it is lying on your back.
Ali Hill:
Lie down, go through that low to high three minutes, consistently do it each morning.
Nam Baldwin:
Yes.
Ali Hill:
That’s your Nam Baldwin challenge.
Nam Baldwin:
Yes. And if you’re guided even better, you can get an audio or there’s lots of them.
Ali Hill:
Yeah.
Nam Baldwin:
It is the foundation to being present because you’re in the here and now and you’re connecting to you, and you’re the most important thing on the planet. Not your kids, you because if you’re good, they can be good. If you’re bad, you’re influencing them.
Ali Hill:
You’re on a catalyst?
Nam Baldwin:
Yes.
Ali Hill:
So this is where you start when you work with the Elite?
Nam Baldwin:
Yes. So there’s a framework and if there was a foundation to any framework for putting a strategy on top of it, a skill set on top of it, let’s get the body and the breath right and then everything works off that. And if we get that being a part of the foundation and practise that, it’s so much easier to take on information, take on skills, move better, think better. And then from there we go into the mental skills for into the value systems and so on.
Ali Hill:
Because you talked a little bit about, and have touched on a couple of times the importance of almost that personal philosophy, which then leads into that mindset. So who do I want to be? How do I come back to me? And even beautifully described as a five-year-old, an eight year old, a 16 year old where you were open to that through your childhood and your experience. What’s your personal philosophy?
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah. So I’ll share it in a second, but I’ll just show how I got there. The important thing is, if there was an easier path to get to a person’s philosophy is, and I spoke about it earlier, is looking at the highlights of your life. What really makes you come alive and aligned with your value system, with you being your best, et cetera. And it will usually show up in highlights. So to then, to jot down a highlight and describe how you were feeling, what you were doing, how you were acting, what you were thinking and make it quite, almost like a story if you like.
Nam Baldwin:
And then from that, distil it a little bit and go, what are the key words in there that really describe you and the experience that was such a highlight? And then distil that a little bit and you’ll come down to a bunch of words that describe potentially what you stand for. Then from that, you need to then put that potential into a statement or a sentence that you know has a tonne behind it, but you can go to regularly and go, “That’s what I stand for and that’s how I’m going to behave.”
Nam Baldwin:
But you’ve done the work. Now it’s work as in it’s quite difficult, hence I help people with this type of thing, keep digging deeper.
Ali Hill:
It’s a little bit like mining, I can imagine that exploration of let’s sift all through this and-
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, it’s amazing what comes up. So mine is to live, to love, to create. So to live authentically, to live in alignment with my values, to be healthy so that I give myself the ability to have the best life, to love what I do and to appreciate that I can’t judge myself deeply, so that I can really give myself some space around the fact that we all have saboteurs and we bring ourselves down from time to time. And just to be mindful of the self judgement and love myself so I can then love others.
Ali Hill:
Is that one of the hardest things we have to face as human beings?
Nam Baldwin:
Of course. It is. Yeah.
Ali Hill:
And what a mission in life.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah. And it’s a practise, right? So it’s not like it will be evident every day. It’s a practise being your philosophy, loving yourself, often loving what you do. And then to create, to give yourself space, for me to give myself space with these adventures and these experiences with you right now, so that I can open myself up a bit more and be more creative and therefore give back to people, on the fact that I have the capacity to do so because I know what I stand for and therefore I don’t have to worry about me, I can focus on you.
Nam Baldwin:
But it takes a little bit of work. But when you get it, there’s a feeling in your heart in particular that brings this, things on the back of your neck stand up and you’re like, ‘Oh,” and you get these shivers you’re like, “That is what I stand for.” And I had a moment in my life, unfortunately my dad passed away last year where I lost significance. And it took a lot of this work that I’m talking about now to bring myself back to life is so significant, because at the time it was like, “Why, he was so healthy? Why did he die”? It was so impactful to me to see him and what happened. Like that.
Ali Hill:
What was the impact on you? What was that in the moment?
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, so it was … It was shock, total shock like, “Hang on, this guy …”
Ali Hill:
Did he die suddenly?
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, very suddenly. Yeah. So, very healthy, very fit, loving, a beautiful guy, just the most amazing man. And then we called him boss because he was the boss of adventure. He was amazing and sharing and getting us to be adventurous and so on. And then within 24 hours he had a stroke, within 24 hours gone. And then to see my mom go through, because they’ve been partners for over 55 years, that suddenly gone flying into, because they live in Cape Town, flying into Cape Town and then going, “Wow, that’s it. He’s gone.”
Nam Baldwin:
And then being in that and I remember on the plane I had a moment where I just burst into tears like, “Whoa. Why? It doesn’t make sense.” And then looking at life and having a moment where I go, “What’s the damn point of being so healthy if that can suddenly happen?” Now, there’s so many things may have happened. I found out that you can have a stroke if you’ve got a blood clot the size of a ballpoint pen and like a tiny dot of blood clot.
Nam Baldwin:
So anyway, that significantly hurtful and to a point where I lost meaning. I was like I was void. I was like, “Oh,” and I just felt so flat. So I ventured back into philosophy and then I found the zest of life again based on all my highlights. And if I look back over my highlights, I’m like, “Hey, come on, let’s just carry on and … Let’s take more. And then let’s help others who go through this, and help them find what they stand for that will always serve them and through these other skills, breath, skills, et cetera,” where you can get derailed but you come back relatively quickly. We’re all going to get derailed. It’s all going to happen.
Ali Hill:
Life. That’s [crosstalk 00:50:29] from whatever form in whatever way. What helped you find that significance again? Because in the moment, in the middle of shock and in the middle of overwhelm, it can be hard to see that. Where did you start to see those glimmers again to be able to go, “I can hold on to that?”
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, a couple of key people. So my partner Diva, she’s unbelievable as. She is the best supporter I could ever imagine and gave me love. And we have this amazing connection where no matter what we have got each other’s back. That’s the … The trust is just incredible. And the support and the love that she gave me and then pushing, not pushing me, helping me find the meaning again. Hang on, hang on. This guy lived for adventure.
Nam Baldwin:
We got to go back to doing that. So we’d lock in every 12 weeks. We lock in a week away where we have an adventure without doubt. No matter what’s happening. I’m sorry if someone wants me, no, I’m having my week of adventure and connection and love with her. And that brings back meaning and life is the meaning you give it. So make it a good meaning. How? Go and do things that are meaningful. And she was that person.
Nam Baldwin:
Another thing that helped me was following my values. One of them is living an incredibly healthy life. So eating well, exercising, moving, meditation. Do the things that you know a good for your body, that’ll hire your brain to then help process such a trauma. If I went into then going drinking, I don’t do that. But if I did, if I drank alcohol, it would have taken a lot longer. So following values with the right behaviours, bang, I’m back pretty quick where people go, “Wow, you’re good.” And I’m like, “Sure, it’s terrible, but I’m okay.”
Ali Hill:
Yeah, yeah. The paradise, the strength of the people around you who can see where you’re at, that pull you.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, and my family, my mom is just incredible how she’s moved through that. And my brothers and my sister, we’re such a close knit group. Their support and then I think probably the most important thing for a male is talk, talk, talk, tell people close to you about your feelings and experiences around that type of incident. Get it out. Don’t hold onto it. Have the courage to talk about it, and you will liberate some of those unresolved inner conflicts around the experience so well, just if someone listens. That’s a key component.
Ali Hill:
Did you have to learn that or is that something that’s pretty natural for you [crosstalk 00:53:19]?
Nam Baldwin:
No, I had to learn it. Yeah. I had to learn it because growing up a lot of the times, yes, I was calm and a lot of times it was about being tough, and taking it and-
Ali Hill:
Get on with it?
Nam Baldwin:
Get on with it. And Diva again helped me with that. I realised that there’s a really good book called, I don’t want to talk about it, which is about male depression. And I realised that I had bits of depression all the way through my life, because when things went down, sometimes I wouldn’t talk about it. I’ll just breathe through it and go, “I’m all right.” And really that wasn’t true. And until literally this incident took place and talking to Diva and talking, talking about just the little things that I might feel in a day, I’m feeling really anxious.
Nam Baldwin:
Why? Well, boss has come up in my mind and I miss him. And then talking about that and maybe crying. Wow, that’s an interesting thing for a grown man. And maybe even just tearing up, tearing up or being expressive and telling someone that can listen and it just shifts stuff. You know, you’re a master of this, right? It’s amazing how that is so liberating. And then you can get rid of the stuff and go back to, “Hey, this is what I stand for. This is my intention,” boom. And then things open up, opportunities happen.
Ali Hill:
So it is a skill and it is that permission as much as-
Nam Baldwin:
Yes.
Ali Hill:
… anything, I think to just sit and be and this is very stereotypical, but even for men it’s that’s nothing you have to do about it. It’s just, talk, listen, hear yourself. That presence even that you kind of talk a lot about, but it’s nothing you have to do about. It doesn’t have to be fixed or solved. It’s not a problem that needs a solution sometimes in the moment. But yeah, it’s a powerful experience. And I’m sure-
Nam Baldwin:
It shapes you.
Ali Hill:
… the legacy of boss continues on-
Nam Baldwin:
yeah, absolutely.
Ali Hill:
… and on.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, it’s powerful.
Ali Hill:
And grief itself, I was only listening to something the other day, it’s an emotion that needs movement. It needs to be, otherwise it does get stuck. It does stay and become stagnant and so-
Nam Baldwin:
Resolve your inner conflicts.
Ali Hill:
Yeah. And grief can be, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the loss of a loved one. It can be a job that you didn’t get.
Nam Baldwin:
Totally.
Ali Hill:
It can be a conversation that maybe didn’t go well that grief comes up-
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah.
Ali Hill:
… a lot.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah. And I think a big part of that too is to get clear on your philosophy, your identity as well. Philosophy, how you act and be and so on, but then who are you and are you the worker or the husband or the wife? And there’s parts of your identity that you need to be clear on so that if one goes, the other part’s still there. You don’t get, you’re not your job.
Ali Hill:
Really?
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah.
Ali Hill:
No. It’s so true.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, not entirely. It’s part of you so get clear on your identity and how would you do that? Well, you write down all the traits that you have, you get clear on your character; you get clear on one of the things that sabotage you, et cetera. This is work. Again, I know I’m going deep here, but Holy Molly, when you are clear on that and you realise that you are not your thoughts, you are not your emotions, you have them.
Nam Baldwin:
And where are you having them from and who is that? To get clear on those things, then when these things happen, you become more resilient based on the fact that you have many sides to you that you can bounce off the one moment, change the next and you’re more adaptable based on that.
Ali Hill:
Yeah, that there’s a core, there’s an anchor, there’s a-
Nam Baldwin:
That’s it.
Ali Hill:
… peg in the ground that you are about, tats where I’m coming back to in amongst the waves of whatever’s happening around you. You get centred on that. One of the things I love from some of the work that we’ve done together is that you also describe at any point in time we have our adult or teenager and our child, and that we need to connect in with all three of those. And I remember when you were talking about that with some of the work that we did, and you understood those concepts, but had always thought that they were quite separate.
Ali Hill:
So you’re either in your adult, your teenager or your child, whereas you almost kind of went, “All three of them exist all at once and you need to check in with that.” And therefore, where is that sense of playfulness? I think we’ve just talked about some stuff that’s really quiet deep and hard, but where is that sense of playfulness? Can you describe where that shows up in the work that you do in those three concepts?
Nam Baldwin:
Well, to be creative usually means to be a little bit playful. Creativity and playfulness … Like the kids, when they get creative, they’re playing. So that’s in you. Why don’t you connect with it more often? And allowing the child in you to always be present in what you’re doing, because it may take a little bit of playfulness to get something done effectively, right? Humour is obviously one of the greatest things to dissolve pressure.
Nam Baldwin:
And if you’ve got that child like light way about you and playfulness, it helps dissolve the pressure. And then the teenager is the experimenter and wanting to experiment and doing that. And then the adult is the one that plans and sets things in pace. But you might need all three to work together to get the best out of an experience. An example would be setting an intention and go, “Who do you want to be today?” While I’m with my family, I need to be playful.
Nam Baldwin:
So let’s be playful. What would that look like? What are some of the things? Well, when I was a kid, I used to play music and dance. Okay, let’s do that and get the kids doing it too. And then there’s this playful energy and then let’s go on an adventure. Be the teenager and then let’s put a picnic together, be the adult.
Ali Hill:
Make sure we get the seat belts on.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, there we go.
Ali Hill:
We need to know that it’s okay [crosstalk 00:59:36].
Nam Baldwin:
And it’s just an awareness, right? That’s the other thing with all of what we’ve said is that, it can get quite set and structured and … No, the work is to get the clarity, but then once you have the clarity of who you are, what you stand for, et cetera, think of the best way to operate through that. Is it serious or is it playful? Is it disciplined? And it could change all the time. And that’s part of being human is that; we’re so changeable and can make decisions, but the best, right?
Nam Baldwin:
Try and progress in all the areas as best you can. And I know that playfulness in most contexts is great, because it brings the best out of people.
Ali Hill:
I know it’s something that you bring into and you might share some examples of, even when you’re doing movement staff, you’ll often have a tennis ball. There’s always a sense of playfulness, we go back to the old handball days or you’ve got to play the game around it.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah.
Ali Hill:
Where else do you see playfulness come up [crosstalk 01:00:39]?
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, I think in workshops and stuff. We spoke about this earlier is getting people to draw stuff with colours and so on. It’s like, “Ah, what?” Absolutely, I’m a terrible artist, but it brings out of me information that was maybe buried, because now the child’s coming out and going, yeah, “Hey adult, listen, this is what we want more of.” That’s one way. And then when you are interacting with people, it’s about being playful in a very mild sense, a very extreme sense where it makes people feel freer and have more fun.
Nam Baldwin:
And when you have more fun, I mean humour we know changes chemistry dramatically, and it takes pressure off. So you can have better conversations if it’s playful. My partner and I, she says, “Who do you want me to be today?” Just be playful and loving. And then before we get into anything there’s this younger version of her that’s coming out that’s really attractive.
Ali Hill:
So the Jedi [crosstalk 01:01:46] it’s like magnetic, you almost want to be a part of it?
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah. So it’s, yeah, just observe that we become maybe two adult like sometimes and we have to, there’s parts, but then, “Hey, when we met we were maybe teenagers. How good was it?” “Oh, it was amazing.” “What were we doing?” “Ah, that’s right. We were having dates. We were going on adventures and exploring things, all that.” “Okay, well why don’t we do that again?”
Ali Hill:
Right. Yeah, yeah. What’s the adult version of that [crosstalk 01:02:20]?
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah.
Ali Hill:
I have had that kind of question around what we’re doing and what’s the, what would the child do and what’s the adult s version of that? And it’s going [crosstalk 01:02:26].
Nam Baldwin:
And then we just go wrong. Who’s telling you in your own mind? Is it the adult? Is it the child? Is that the teenager? And how are you acting? Like a child? Maybe get it out now that responds and doesn’t react. Talks, doesn’t throw a hissy fit.
Ali Hill:
I’m not allowed my temper tantrum?
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, yeah. You can but not for too long.
Ali Hill:
Yes. I love that concept of getting all three of them and where can we be much more playful-
Nam Baldwin:
Yes.
Ali Hill:
… in the work that we do while still having that sense of intention and hearing the adults through that process. I know even from when we were talking through that concept, it must have been a week or two afterward, I couldn’t get the dinner I wanted and I ordered a dinner and the steak was terrible and it was just awful. Then I was just this full kind of childlike tantrums, “It’s never going to work.” But almost that question of even what does the child need in that moment?
Nam Baldwin:
Yes.
Ali Hill:
What does the teenager [crosstalk 01:03:30]?
Nam Baldwin:
There you go.
Ali Hill:
What does the adult need?
Nam Baldwin:
There you go.
Ali Hill:
It just needs a meal and to go to bed.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, yeah. Totally.
Ali Hill:
I can go and do that and sort that out. So yeah, to be able to come back to that space and place.
Nam Baldwin:
Which Takes Work, but yeah, it’s beautiful when you get it right.
Ali Hill:
What’s exciting you about what’s next and what’s on your horizon?
Nam Baldwin:
Well, there’s quite a few things really. A, the breath training that we’re doing is going great. People are loving it and corporate businesses are drawing me in. I’ve got a gig with Red Bull next week with the music side of Red Bull. I never knew. Well, I did know, but most people don’t know that they sponsor musicians. And they’ve chosen to again focus on the breath work and the philosophy of life, et cetera, building that together.
Nam Baldwin:
And I’m really excited about exploring that with more businesses and people around this calmness and this intensity at the same time. And so that’s really exciting. And then growing a couple of ideas around recordings for people, that allows them to do breathe work and a few other things, I won’t say out loud. But anyway, there’s some great stuff coming there to then get to people. And then this leadership thing that we’re going, both going to is going to be great.
Nam Baldwin:
I’m doing a talk on leadership presence, around high performing leaders and talking to them about some of these concepts in a keynote. So that’s really exciting. And then, I’m on a gig in Fiji called Nurture Me and Nurture Her, which is all about wellbeing. And with 200 plus business owners from around the world, which will be great. And then working with the Roosters and Richmond roosters are looking, they might get back to back premierships and being a part of that.
Nam Baldwin:
That’s incredibly good. I’ve got a new website coming out. It should be out.
Ali Hill:
We’ll have all the links to all of that. And so workshops, people can connect because you run the general workshops, people can come and be a part of. And we’ll put all the links around that I can definitely recommend because we’ve had you come and work with our team, and there’s something really powerful about having your team go through an experience like that. So we did some breath work in the pool and talked about some of those concepts of who do you want to be.
Ali Hill:
So I know for us as a team, that’s a question we even ask each other ongoing. So you have this common language to keep pulling each other forward around that high performance. What are the ways that we can be connected to that? So if anyone is listening and interested in that for their team, that’s definitely something you can do.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, very powerful. Really and different and playful.
Ali Hill:
Yes.
Nam Baldwin:
And challenging but calming at the same time and all the elements that create good learnings.
Ali Hill:
Yeah, absolutely. And be able to have that language in the middle of the chaos of a work day to be able to go, “What’s the child need now?” Who do we need to be-
Nam Baldwin:
Totally.
Ali Hill:
… is such a powerful way to come back to that. And then the conferences feature of leadership, which is going to be Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. So again, we’ll put all the links up to that.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, that’s going to be exciting. Good challenge.
Ali Hill:
Yeah, really, really exciting. How do you find, how do you reenergize in amongst all that busyness for yourself? Because there’s a lot going on and it can be really exciting, great stuff, but there’s also a space and place where you need to be able to have that energy. So you have your morning routine, you have your, every 12 weeks, you’ve got your adventure week. What else helps you to keep [crosstalk 01:07:04]?
Nam Baldwin:
So obviously eating very healthily and hydrating well is a critical component and it’s a habit for me. I can’t not do it which is great, but it’s critical to balance out the drawings, I guess of energy to these companies and people I’m working with it. You get the life sucked out of you sometimes as you know. So you’ve got to restore that energy balance through nutrition, through movements. I stay very healthy, very fit. I live what I talk.
Nam Baldwin:
And then having a really good partner talk to about stuff, when it gets tiring and her cooking for me and all these beautiful things that she does is amazing. But to talk about why this is important to me. So she has a reason why she wants to help is, I want to help others grow, et cetera. So she wants to be a part of that and she’s amazing at that and she does all bookings and she’s incredible at that. And then at the end of the day, I also jot down …
Nam Baldwin:
I started this relatively recently, three good things that happen today, bullet point. So that I’m building the concept of being optimistic. And I think that’s a key mental skill for people is optimism. So I’d write down three good things and how they relate to me and my life.
Nam Baldwin:
So there’s a little bit of detail there that really evokes some of my traits coming through because those things happened, and reaffirming the qualities that I have. Then I write down three difficult things I did today, and how I got through them and why they’re important. And then I just write down my intention for the next day. So simple, but that helps my mind let go of things. So the difficult things helps my mind, let go of things.
Nam Baldwin:
The good things helps my mind look forward to more of the good things. So, I’m really helping myself resolve challenges that may be happening and setting intentions and controlling the way that I go to sleep.
Ali Hill:
Yeah, lovely.
Nam Baldwin:
And therefore I have good quality sleep, which is the most important thing for health.
Ali Hill:
Great recipe.
Nam Baldwin:
Yeah, and it works truly.
Ali Hill:
Yeah. Particularly, I love that sense of what’s the difficulty in how I got through it. I’m often even talking to our kids at the moment around that whole we can do hard things and face that whatever’s hard. It’s okay. But yeah, to realise that, “Hey, I love that it’s almost kind of … I’m just putting it somewhere before I go to sleep because that’s the stuff that gets me at three.”
Nam Baldwin:
You could try it because what I found is, now I’m getting way better sleep because I’m not thinking hard. When I put my head on the pillow, I’ve done with the thinking; I’ve got it on the paper. I’ve got it down in a very dim lot. I can still sit a write it, but I’m trying to get my environment to be very conducive to having good quality sleep. And part of that is getting out of my head that I don’t want to come jumping in at 3:00 AM in the morning, get it out so I can put my head on the pillow and go, “Ah, good day.”
Ali Hill:
There’s nothing else that needs to do.
Nam Baldwin:
And then I can do these things that we’re talking about because I get good quality sleep.
Ali Hill:
It’s been such a delight to chat with you. I have one final question for you that I ask everyone that comes on the podcast. The name of the podcast is called Stand Out Life. What does it mean to you? What does that term mean to you? What does it take to live a stand out life?
Nam Baldwin:
Be you. Be 100% you. And I say 100%, be authentic, be courageous to be the best version of yourself as often as you can. So that you don’t necessarily stand out in an egotistical way, but it’s in a way where you lift others by your presence and then you’ll stand out in a really giving manner where people … You literally a lift those around you because you’re being so authentic. You’re being you. You’re being the best version of yourself and minimal judgement on you or others as well, so that you don’t create suffering for yourself.
Nam Baldwin:
Suffering happens when you focus on yourself too much, I believe or a thing too much. So I think that’s what I reckon would be a thing to take away.
Ali Hill:
Yeah, really, really powerful. I love every time we get a chance to chat. Thank you so much.
Nam Baldwin:
Thank you.
Ali Hill:
If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, then there’s every chance that you might also enjoy reading a copy of my book called Stand Out: Areal world guide to get clear, find purpose and become the boss of busy. You can grab a copy by heading to my website, www.alison hill.com.au. If you liked what you heard in this episode, I’d love it if you could take a few moments, pop over to iTunes and give this podcast a quick rating so that we can continue to share these conversations with people around the world. As always, I’m Ali Hill and this is Stand Out Life.
