The Overly Excited Podcast

This episode is brought to you by Swash Clothing and Sugar Life.

Welcome to the overly excited podcast hosted by Jack Watts and Dale

Sidebottom. 2 friends with a passion for life, learning and all

things that get them jumping out of their

seats. That's good. You're up to rock? Yeah. Ready to go. Alright, everyone. Welcome

back to the podcast. Episode number 47 of the overly excited podcast. My

name is Dale Silber. Enjoyed by the one and only Jack Watts. We're nearly raising

the bat side. We are. We're nearly there. Half pint workout. Bloody

exciting. I tell you what. Now more excited about today. Now we've obviously found out

a little bit more since we sat down. We didn't realize the great man, Conor

Scott, has done 50 in 50, 50 k's in 50 days. We're

not even gonna talk about that, but we will. More importantly, founder of 9 for

9. And this is what I love, 9 minutes of movement every day for the

9 lives that is obviously lost in Australia for suicide every

day. 7 of those roughly on average is about

male. Yep. Yep. So obviously hugely skewed with there.

Mhmm. And it's something that isn't

changing. Like, and we we we've known this for a long time. So really excited

to talk about that, mate. But firstly, Connor Scott, welcome to the podcast. Thank you

so much. I reckon that's the, the highest gusto intro I've ever had.

That's what we're here for on the overly excited podcast, Connor.

Kick off with how we started. Then. That was just the intro. Get

into it, my boy. You're looking suave. Wish I could take a picture. Out of

me, Scott? No. Go, Scott. What gets you excited?

What gets your blood gurgling? Like, what gets you pumped, mate? Oh, great

question. I think, like, for me, in my turn, it's typical

of a runner. But, I love running. Like,

it gets me up in the morning. I actually get excited about it. One of

those weird ones where it's I do find it really

exciting, and I I look forward to doing it every day. Is it the

process or is it that adrenaline hot or that dopamine

high you get afterwards when you finish the tough run? Or is it the whole

thing? I tend to get the dopamine hit, like, kind of a

minute in. Like, you know, where you just have where you've overcome all the

barriers that have told you to not go? Yeah. You're getting there. Yeah. You wake

up. It's it's freezing cold. You've had to get out your bed. It's,

you put your clothes on. You've gone everything in your mind, so you just stay

in bed. Yes. And then you get outside, you do that you you run a

little bit, and you're just like, yeah. This is it. This is what we're here

for. And then I do this. I try and make myself laugh. So I'll

if you ever see me running, I'm like a crazy man. So the first

the first like 30 seconds, I'm, like, laughing to myself at

how stupid is this that we're doing this right now. And that just gets me

excited to to go on again. Yeah. Obviously, with Taylor Swift blasting through the, the

hip on. Hey. Squeezele. Yeah. You do a good body. Squeezele. Yeah. We've been

talking about the similarity. We've got we've both got the little hoop through

the left ear. We both love running. No.

That's not a feeling. So I wish I loved running, but we're both,

you know, 6 foot 5. Yeah. That's right. Strappy young lad.

Now what time are you getting up in the morning? I always find this interesting.

When are you getting up in the morning, Connie? Because, obviously, you're a physio. You're

doing all these different things. You're running charities. You're trying to help so many people.

What time do you have to get up to allow yourself that time to do

something for you? I try and get up at around about I've actually had difficulty.

I went to Bali recently, and my routine's out of work. But

usually, I'm trying to trying to trying to get up by about 5 o'clock

Yep. To try and fit as much as possible in. I

know people wake up much earlier than that, but 5 seems to be the sweet

spot. Yeah. Do you, you know, now that you've done 50

in 50, 50 ks for 50 days, Like,

what's your, what's your distance of run? Because, like, I'm guessing if you

go out for a little 1 hour run, like, that's sort of nothing for

you, but there's not a lot of time in the day. If you've, you know,

you're working, you got your physio, you can't get up and run a 3 hour

for 4 hour marathon day. Well, through training, that's what I kinda had to do.

So you'd wake up at a silly o'clock in order to so there were

some weeks where I was doing, like, a half marathon every day. Every day. And

I'd do that before work. So I'd get up and do the half marathon. Or

if it was a double run day, I'd do a half marathon in the morning

and then go and do 15 k at night to try and to try

and squeeze her all in to to a day. Yeah. So what's

like, you know, what's like a real cruisy, easy

run for you these days? Look, I I do like, 5, 10 k's.

Like, I I still, like, just enjoy the 5, 10 k's, and that's that's nice.

Like, I do enjoy that. Yeah. So people listening along, they can

probably resonate with that. Yeah. And look, you do 50 days. I think it's all

relative. Like, it's I wasn't, you know there was a couple of years there where

I didn't run. And the the idea of running 5 or 10

k's was a nightmare. Mhmm. So it's just through the

repetition and doing it more and more frequently that you get more and more competent

and confident at what you're doing that those distances become more achievable.

So if someone can't run and that that or they think they can't run and

it's or doing a minute of running is better than Yeah. Nothing.

And that just builds up, and that's slow accumulation and that improving 1%

each time is just something you've gotta accumulate. And you you will find

that 5 k will become easier. And then once you've done your 5 k, you'll

find that 10 k's is your sweet spot. And you just you just build from

there like anything that you do. It's interesting. It's like So many people have said

that. Yeah. Yeah. It's funny. We've attracted so many

ultras, like, crazy people that don't just do little things,

do big things. But in in a more relatable sense, I guess,

like, Stubby, one of our other guests on the he was very similar.

So and he was very overweight, and he started this

running journey and he was starting with 30 seconds jog,

like real slow jog, 30 seconds walk for 5 ks.

That was where he started. And now he's running marathons and he's running. But

he, you know, he that's where he was at at that time. He couldn't run

more than 30 seconds to a minute and now he's running marathons

in 4 minute 30 ks pace and smashing it. And it's

like, so as you said, it is just that consistency. And I

find it interesting because it's, there's no shortcuts

is that you can't just take, you can't, you know, get, take a

shortcut and all of a sudden be a good marathon runner or be able to

run. You've got to put in the work. So anyone that can run a marathon,

they've clearly worked their ass off. And it's that consistency

of discipline to get up. As you say, when you don't want to get up,

I fucking just want to sleep in bed and stay in bed for another 2

hours, but you get up and what, what is it that gets you up? What

is it that, you know, what is it that in your mind you've got this

discipline, you know, this ability to force yourself to do things that you

don't wanna do? I think it's the big thing for me is

I struggled for so long mentally, and it's

going reverting back to being in that position that I use as

fuel to get up each day to do it.

So maybe it's a little bit of fear, and it's fear of going back to

that spot that kind of, like, lights a fire to go, okay, this is

your process. But that was the thing. It's finding your process. Like, running

50 k's or running a marathon isn't for everyone. But

I knew from my past that running always helped me feel

good. So it was just something I tapped into when I wasn't

feeling good, and therefore, it's just something that continues.

So I just know that when I'm disciplined and when I'm doing those things that

I can show up as a better version of myself and therefore

impact the people around me as a better version of me. Mhmm. So it

just allows me to to make a greater impact on myself and

the people I surround myself with. So it's it's it's so simple, isn't it? And

that is what I always interested in. Like, a lot of people that

create something. And essentially, what you've done with the 9 for 9 is you've

created something to help people empower themselves, but also raise

awareness for something that, you know, particularly mental health that we're

so aware of it now, but it's not improving. Did you

yeah. You obviously mentioned, you know, you've had sort of battles in your past. Was

there something, you know, have you do you wanna explain more?

Or, like, is there is there something you've gone through that, you know, you've obviously

overcome and running's been a big part of that. But now you're like, I wanna

do something to help others. Was it was there a catalyst or was there a

time that really amplified that? Absolutely. I think,

you know, it's hard to understand mental health unless you've gone through

it. And that's something I experienced was you'd hear about mental

health or you'd go into schools and people would come and talk to you about

it and you kinda went, well, why can't people just be happy?

Like, I'm happy. Like, I just don't get this other side to the

coin. And it's a very privileged position to be in. But

then when shit hits the fan and you are on

that other side, you go, holy shit. I didn't know that this is what it

was like. Yeah. And that's kind of what happened to me. Like I was, you

know, I went to school, was sporty, which had an

accent. Like, those things kinda help you in a social situation. And he's

nice. It's a lot nice. We'll get to that beautiful that beautiful accent of yours

soon. But it's social. Giving me the

tingles. Oh, that's the best compliment I've had.

But, yeah, you have all these things and, like, I was very privileged. Like, I

I was able to kinda coast to school. I was quite academic and,

got to got into the uni course I wanted to get into straight away, did

that, like, had a supportive family, like, was just kind of in a

perfect position. A bubble. As you wanna say. Yep. But then that bubble popped.

Mhmm. I I lost my auntie,

to alcohol induced liver disease, when I was

22. And within a month, broke up.

I went through a relationship breakdown of 4 years,

and then didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life, but didn't

have the tools to kinda process the emotions that I hadn't

really felt before. So watching kind of so

my parents got divorced, my auntie passed away, and,

I went through a relationship breakdown in the space of probably 2 months. And that

was just too much for me to handle. That's a lot fair. A lot of

people that's a lot. Yeah. Yeah. And it was just I didn't have the tools

nor had I experienced any of these emotions. Didn't

want to talk about it because I was embarrassed about how I was feeling. So

I was supposed to be this successful, you know, young sporty guy

that had everything going for him. So this was, in a sense,

embarrassing that I was struggling to get out of bed or was

calling in sick to work for weeks on end or, you know, these things were

kind of snowballing. And that kind

of we went into lockdown as that kind of was

coming to a to a point. And, then you lose a

social connection and all of those other other things that we we hold

so dearly. And, I actually attempted to take my life in that

period of time because I didn't know how to talk about it.

Mhmm. And thankfully, I had a big support around me

once I did reach out and kinda get some help.

And then I just thought, well, how are the how many other people are wearing

these masks each and every day that no one on the outside would have known

a thing, but, you know, internally, you're dealing with these

these issues. And that's how it kind of my passion for it

started. Wow. And how, like, what were the

things that did help you once you sort of tried to, you know,

obviously like that's, you know, thanks for sharing. And it's,

do you find that hard to share? Like,

it's weird because I now I view it as a different person.

I think I I've kinda compartmentalized it as someone

else went through that, just through the work

that's been done over the the last few years to to move

forwards. And look, there's still elements of that person within me

where you have your down days. It's not like everything's perfect. But,

yeah, it felt like a different me to to

the me that you're talking to now. So and and and I

know story has power. And I know that sharing that is

something someone will resonate with that that they're going through.

So sharing that is is now a comfortable thing to do.

I think for people to be able to see you and see how vibrant you

are and what you're doing with your life now that are going through

something really tough to hear you talk about it like that and to hear

you, you know, like tell everyone what you've been through and how low

you've actually been. So inspiring. I hate to see someone who's

like courage because they'd be looking at you going, fuck, I just wish I could

be like that. It was like, I've been, you've been exactly where they've been, you

know, and that's like seeing someone being able to relate

with someone like it's like, as you said, yeah, mental health, it's hard to

understand until you've gone through it. I think it's so it's

so interesting with so many walks of life and other other

issues in life, it's like unless, unless you've been through something like

that or you've experienced something similar, it's very hard to empathize or

to, well, it's easy to empathize, but it's very hard to

you know, literally understand what is I think that's probably the understanding.

Like, anyone can be empathetic. Yeah. But if if you don't

understand, it sometimes come across the wrong way. And that's where the disconnect

is, I think, in when we talk about the statistics aren't improving,

or people who aren't who don't get it or or haven't

had that experience, it's hard to relate. It's like anything.

Like, it's trying to relate to someone, like, who's run 50 k's a

day. You can't quite understand what that's like. It's like running, like

we were talking about before. What we we tend to see like that celebration. So

if you look at me on social media and it looks all, you know, great

like everyone's does. But you you don't see the

process and you don't see that all the little things that have gone on on

the grind to get to that point. And we're constantly comparing

ourselves to these family polished,

people Mhmm. That we've got such easy easy access

to each and every day that, you know, we kind of are our

own harshest critic and that kind of eats away at us, but everyone's going through

their own daily grind. Yeah. That comparison to, you

know, what we see as you even what you said, like your social media would

look perfect and everyone. So people, you know, from the

outside, you're looking at everyone in the in the highlight reel and everything that's

perfect and you go and shit my life's not like that, even though that person

isn't anywhere near perfect and they're struggling and they've got all this shit going on.

But what we put on social media is, you know, it's the best parts of

it. And, and we compare ourselves so heavily to that. And it just tears so

many people down. I find, do you find like, I think we'd be

better off without social media. I've spoke about this a few times, and

as good as it is for what it does, I think it's done way more

harm. But it's here to stay. Yeah. I don't know. What's your, like, thought?

Like, we we we've gotta live with it because it's not going anywhere, but I

just see kids, and I I do a lot of school talks and,

just just completely different world that they're living in. And

it's odd feel it's because of your devices and social media. Yeah.

I it's a really it's a complex topic. A

100%. Because then you got you got to use it these days and

you, and I guess you just want to try and use it for good. But

it's, and so many people, you know, it's, it's revenue for so many

people. It's, giving you opportunities in life. It's, you

know, a lot of these things and it's doing great things in so many aspects.

But as you said, Dallas We're gonna do more damage and good. I think the

hard thing is I don't know if you've ever read, I actually see his book

up on your desk that Johann Hari Stolen Focus. Yep.

But if you've listened to anything he said or, you know, you you've read that

book, he he really puts you in a perspective of it's one

individual against the most

highly educated engineers of human

psychology, and you are trying to fight against

that. It's an impossible task. Yeah. And social media

is here to stay. Like, it's not going to go anywhere.

And we're fighting it. Well, it's a losing battle because our

attention is being taken by Instagram reels,

TikToks of all these amazing people who are travelling the world

or running this or, you know, we've just

gotta control our own worlds in the best way that we can. And who do

we choose to follow? Who do we who choose to engage with? But,

again, that's such an easy way to think about it. It's not that easy. Everything

in the algorithm is based to get you hooked up to something else. Oh, no.

So it needs to change. I don't know what the change is. Mhmm. There is

some great things on there, but I think I agree that it does more harm

than it does good at the moment. Yeah. Hopefully, that changes. Hopefully, it

changes. And then, like, I'm I'm trying to be optimistic about it. It it

just I see what it's doing, and it it it just makes me sad, I

suppose. So let's change the topic a bit more upbeat. Like, where did the 9

for 9 start? Like, what where did that concept come from? Do you remember

or did you think about it for a while? Was this you know, obviously, after

everything you went through, was that, like, an idea you had and then you just

brought it to life? Yeah. So I went through that period of time,

and my best mate at the time was,

I reached out to him. And I was like, look, I'm struggling. This

is what's going on. I haven't spoken to you about it, but, these are the

things I think I need to tell you. And he

was fantastic. Like, you know, where you just have some of those mates that are

just so on the ball. And he just he didn't

question me. He just sat. He just listened. He let me just speak

my mind. And this was in COVID, so we were just on a phone call.

And he's like, look, Brandon, I don't have any words to say that, you know,

we're gonna help this situation, but there's one thing I do know about you, and

is that you love to run. And he's like, well, I noticed

that you haven't been doing that. So what we're gonna do is you're

gonna run 3 times a week, and I'm gonna run 3 times a week, and

you're gonna send a receipt of you running, like a photo or

video of you running to prove that you've done it, and I'll send one to

you. And if you don't do your runs, you owe

$50 to the kitty. Mhmm. And at the end of lockdown, we'll go out for

a nice dinner with the money that we raise Yeah. In this thing. So

we started doing that through lockdown, just him and I, and then we were like,

oh, Drake, can we just get our other mates from uni that we went to

uni with involved? So we had 10 blokes all doing these challenges and we

had people trying to learn how to do a kick flip on a skateboard, some

people meditating, gratitude journals, all these all these things. And then

what ended up happening is every Friday night, we'd catch up for a

phone call, and we'd talk about our week and how our goals went and what

we what we did. And we had 10 blokes

who'd never talked about this stuff in our lives opening up

about how we were were really doing. And it became less

about the goals and more about that Friday night going, boys, I've had

kind of a shit day at work this week or this is happening in my

life. Like, I'm actually struggling with this. And it became like this

on my first exposure to vulnerability in a in a sense. And we

had 10 blokes doing this and we're like, wow, like, this is really cool,

like, that we can all open up. So in lockdown, we actually started this

thing called Zoop. And this is where the 9 for 9 started and

Zoop was we had about 200 or 300 people

just from families to everything doing these challenges together and catching up

once a week to talk about their goals and open up about how their weeks

were going. Wow. And then one of my goals for

one of these challenges was to get a cold shower every morning. Mhmm.

And I was in the shower and I just read some statistics about mental health

and I was just doing some some research. And how you in the

in the cold shower, I've just gone, I wonder if you could do 9 minutes

of this. And I I went to the boys, and I was like, boys,

checking we could do a fundraiser where we jump in the bay every day for

9 minutes, of August, the coldest month, and raise money for a

mental health charity. And they were, like, absolutely fucking not. We're not doing

that. And they

were, like, no way. There's no way we're doing that. And I was, like,

I think this is a good idea. Like, people are not connecting. People are

stuck in their homes. Like, it gets them out, gets them into something hard, but

we can do it together. During COVID too. It's the only thing you could

connect, you know? Exactly. And we were it was in July

and we reached out to Batia, who we raised money for still. And and we're

like, we've got this idea, what do you think? And they were like, we're behind

it. Let's do it. And that year we raised $40 for for

them by just getting people doing 9 minutes in the cold water every day

of August. So this is our 4th year of doing it and we've

raised just over a $150 for batia doing

doing that, jumping in the cold water every day. That is

so good. It's I love the concept and it's,

it's so interesting because the similar sort of messages come through

from week to week, different people we speak to. But

the, the thought of like setting down

and, an intentional period of time in your week to

talk with your mates Like, and it's, you know, I've had my run with Mitchie

and it's, we speak about all the time. You're not down the pub having a

beer and giving shit to each other. And because, you know, when, when

you're down there, those conversations don't happen. But clearly

like the same thing with what you did and your best mate, like, fuck, what

a legend. Yeah. Just unreal. Yeah. Love why he's handled that. And

then he's got, you know, you bring people together and you get a community and

you and your teammates sitting there over zoom talking about

real stuff. It's not like the jargon that, you know, and the bullshit

that most of the time goes on. If you catch up with your mates down

the pub, it's like, no boys. Like, this is what's actually going on in my

life. Like, and I've I've just find, like, when you

set a period of time in the week to do that, it's so

valuable. And it's such a ripple effect because it only takes one of you,

one person to just open up. And then you create this space

where other people feel like they can have their own

space within that to actually open up and tell the real story of what's going

on. Because same with social media or just general life, we tend to want

to show the best things that are going on. Like how good work's

going, the promotion that you've just had, the marathon you've just

run. But those conversations,

there's there isn't a lot of space or we don't create those spaces or those

intentions for conversations about the not so good stuff that's

going on. And I think that's what was so special about those Friday nights that

we had every day of lockdown. Yeah. Do you look at, from what

I'm hearing about, you went through some horrific things during COVID and not been

able to deal with things. But looking from it from now, you're

probably a completely different person because of that. Do you look at it as maybe

a positive? I look at I don't know. You can look at things in different

light. But from everything you've said, I think you've figured out so much about

yourself. You've changed for the better because you've had to deal with adversity

and things that you may not have ever had to before. And because you've dealt

with it, now you're helping other people, it's probably been a blessing.

Yeah. It's it's one of those things. I think I described it the other day

as a land landings that I never wanted, but

landings I wouldn't be here without. Mhmm. That's nice. Because

there's no way I'd be doing this if those things didn't happen. And

it's bittersweet, like, you don't wanna lose those things,

but on the flip side, look at what's come from

those things. And as long as you are, like, still having

the the capacity to honor, let's say, my auntie and the loss

of her, it's it's this weird feeling of of kinda

taking ownership of that and going well, because that happened,

everyone I meet gets to interact with a little piece of hair anyway. Because

that happened, like, you kinda carry hair through into every day that you have.

But none of this would have happened without, you know,

those hardships. And it also allows you to relate to other people. Mhmm.

And like you said, empathize and and really grasp

or gain an understanding to what people can be going through. Mhmm.

So true. Because you you could get up. Anyone can get up and tell us

stats. Do you mean, like, how many people are going through anxiety, stress? How many

people, like, 9 people a day are dying? That's all well and good. People

can only relate to people that have lived experience through story.

Few opening up and being honest, vulnerable, whatever you wanna call it. That's

how people get engaged. That's how people make change. You know? And

that's that's how powerful it is like you said. Have you

noticed because of doing that, and now, obviously, with 9 for 9,

it's not just going in the bay now. Like, it's just move your body for

9 minutes in any way. You can't skip, roll, run. Yeah. I don't know. Hop.

Whatever you want. Like, I love that. Yeah. Do you find it's because you've got

so many different things going on now, it's bloody exciting. Because it starts soon. Yeah?

Yeah. It starts on Thursday, and I'm shooting bricks, You don't

look like you are. Oh, that's good. That's good. No. This year, we

wanted to make it a little bit different. Getting in the cold water is obviously,

again, a privilege, like, physically to be able to go down and get

in. So this year we want to make it a little bit more inclusive.

So not only inclusive, but give people a taste of

what other mental health activities you can do, or

mental and physical health, because it's a spectrum, like

and what you do for your mental health isn't necessarily gonna

be what I do for mine and same with you Jack, like those things aren't

gonna be the same for everyone. So what we want to do this year

was create a month in which you get a taste of

everything. So we've got, you know, a gym's

given $9 casual classes to go down, Pilates sessions for

$9 with all the money going to charity. We've got Doctor

Happy who's running gratitude, sessions.

So, you know, you hear all these things about gratitude, breath work, meditation, but where

do you start? So this month's just about a little taste of those things.

And at the end of the month, you might go, actually, I felt really calm

after doing meditating. Maybe that's something I could continue on. Or I went down

to Maldi Sea Dippers and they've got a really great community. I think I might

go there every Saturday morning because I felt at home there. It's just about giving

people something that once August is done, they've got

somewhere to go Mhmm. Or they've at least got a taste of what what you

can do for your mental and physical health. Gives it gives them a start

somewhere to get started. Exactly. And to find a safe

space where this is, you know, accepted. And this is because as you

said, like you can hear, like, I often think we speak about it

so much, but I feel like the people who are already doing it, they just

assume that it's easy for everyone, you know, going down, getting in the water

or going down to a, you know, sauna or or yoga class

or whatever. But it's actually really hard to get started because

you've I'm like, I'm fucking nervous going into a Pilates session or

yoga or and are they gonna am I gonna be stupid? You're not

you're not nervous. Not not anymore. Not anymore

but but you know Sorry, mate. I was about to say that

you're not. Yeah. I get too nervous about my.

But for a lot of people, yeah, it is very difficult.

So that's such an awesome thing you're doing is giving them here you go. Here's

a smorgasbord of what you can do. Give it all a try and

see what you enjoy. Yeah. And, like, doing it from the comfort of own home

if you want. It's go spend 9 minutes in nature. Do that on your own.

Like, see how that feels. Do the guided breath work.

Yep. Like, I know for a fact that I thought meditation and breath work was

a load of woo woo, like, 3 or 4 years ago. And I was like,

what's this, like, hippie stuff that people are doing? But, you know,

you you get experienced or you you get an experience of doing

it. And you're like, holy shit, this feels good. Like, I feel calm or I

feel energized, then it just gives people options. Yep. And give it a

go. Like, go in with an open mind. Like, that's I I love what you

said because it's like so many people are out. They're going, oh, that's bullshit.

Oh, I suppose a bullshit.

Oh, great. But you you gave it a go. I don't know if you went

in with such an open mind, but, you know,

go you go in. Go back and

forth. That's right. But going with an

open mind, give it a chance, and you'll be amazed at what you might

enjoy and what might resonate with you because, you know, I was similar.

Like, you know, the whole meditation and visualization and

all this stuff was, you know, this is going back 15 years now. I was

a bit like, oh, that can't work or whatever. And then, you know, one

of my footy teams, we had Paul Rose and his wife Tammy, and and

they brought that in in a big way. And it was something that I

just gravitated to and loved. And it like,

and I found, you know, it was enough, you know, as disappointing

because I haven't actually done it much recently. And I

notice every time I do it, I'm calm. I come out. This stresses

of my life sort of deteriorate because, you know, you,

you realize what's important. Your priorities get put straight sort of

thing. So yeah, give it a go. Go in with an open

mind and, yeah, I'm looking forward to this 9 for 9. It's going to be

good. It's going to be fun. Yeah. Can we, can we get back to this

sexy, beautiful accent that you've got over your car? I'm waiting.

Where's this? Took it off an hour. Yeah. I know. We've gone through We got

through the serious stuff. So give us the give us the history. Where's where's it

come from? Where are you from? Yeah. I'm from Liverpool in the UK. There

we go. So I moved here when I was 13 or 14. So I've

actually been here longer than I've I was there. Mhmm. But it's one of those

accents that's that's hard to share. Scouser. Scouse up. Yeah.

So my mom's a scouse. My whole family. Yeah.

Really? Yeah. So mom's so iconic.

That is so crazy. So that's incredible. Yeah. So she's

got a big family. They came over when she was sort of 4 years old

or something. But, you know, nana and the whole family, they're all

yeah. So they go. Wow. Yeah. That is a yeah. Do you follow the

APL at all? Yeah. I'm afraid. Yeah. It's

always a dangerous one, isn't it? A red or a blue? But, yeah, definite

definitely a red. Woah. Too much choice in the matter. That's so good. Yeah. What

do we think about Cloppy gone? I'm devastated. Devastating. He's the man.

I did it. I'm still grieving, to be honest. His

attitude in turn, like, that's what I find. And when people get

to that point in their careers and that, you know, manages for these huge clubs,

it's like it changes them. The pressure gets to them and they start doing

things because they think that that's what they're meant to be doing. Whereas he just

seems like his whole way through from Bruce Dortman through to

he does what he believes in, and he's there for the players. That's

that's And the people. Like, I've never seen the people of Liverpool connect

to Yeah. A football team manager like

they have with Jurgen Klopp. He was a working class

person for a working class city and a working class football club. Like, it was,

yeah. He just connected with the people, which I think brought the love back to

the city. Yep. He was always having fun. That's one thing, like

I talk about this all the time, Connor. Like, we just don't have

fun. And it a lot of people have seen, like, if you're a CEO or

principal or somebody of, you know, manager of an EPL

team, like, you're not meant to be having fun. You're meant to be serious. But

that is crap. Every time he looked at you, he was having fun. He was

doing something that he wanted to. Yeah. And it radiates everywhere. And that's

the thing. Like, as adults, I think we forget how important play is

in, like, even accessing that, like, inner child

and exploring those emotions. Like, play You're talking my

you're languages, Connor. I'll tell you. There's a bit of blood flow going on

just next week. He's already just gone. Excited, are you?

We're just we've we need more players. Oh, we do. Yeah. But it's

huge. It's huge. And we we we don't do it enough. No. I feel like

people at the tops of their game, they are the ones that are enjoying themselves,

the ones that are relaxed and having fun and they're doing well at their work

or whatever it might be, sporting field, the ones that

are tight and stressed and anxious, and they're not the ones

performing out of their skin. It's the ones that are, you know, having a good

time. And But you you watch the footy, and you watch the players that

got a smile on their face and going through, like, their processes,

and they they'll like, someone I think of is, Jack I

don't watch Footy, but Ginuven Ginuven. Whatever. Jack Ginuven. Yep.

Hawthorne. And, like, you watch him, like and he just looks like he's got the

biggest smile on his face, and he's, like, such a privilege and he's just enjoying

every moment. And considering I know he had a tough year last year, I

think it was, but coming into this year and you just go, wow. Like,

this guy just looks like he's having the time of his life. And it's just

yeah. You you feel like you wanna have the time of your life with him.

Like, it's just, like, such a good feeling. It's infectious, isn't it? But what I

hate is we try to beat it out of him. You know? We we try

to get it because, oh, he's, you know, he's been his he's been a larrikin

or he's been an idiot or he's not taking it seriously enough or, you know,

it's like, come on. He's shown a bit of flare. He's been himself, and

he's enjoying it. Yeah. But but for that for the other people, I think,

well, that's your showboating or you're big nanny. You're gloating. You know, that's the tall

poppy syndrome, you know, like But that's the thing, like, why did why do footy

players become footy players or why soccer players become soccer players? Why does everyone

here do what they do? It's because they've like, when they were younger,

they found joy in what they were doing. And we tend to

lose that as we get older, and it becomes this serious thing.

But joy is what gave us that little burning fire of

what we want to do. And then we have this thing where you we want

to stop people being who they are, and then we end up stopping

being who we are as well. And I think when we look at these statistics,

like how many people know who they are or and know what they want?

Mhmm. Not a lot of people, I don't think. So therefore, we just don't have,

like, that purpose for why we're doing things. Mhmm.

And a lot of that comes down to just a lack of joy for doing

it Mhmm. And getting that kind of inner child kicked out of us. Yeah.

And getting back. Yeah, exactly. And then, like, I guess as you get older,

the responsibilities and you got to earn money and you got to put

a blah, blah, blah. And it's like, but I guess the, you know,

the core, you know, the important thing to do in

life is to have fun, to enjoy yourself. What's the point of any of it

if you're not enjoying yourself and having a good time? So I think we

sacrifice that. Like it's so far up the list on what we,

what we sacrifice quickly is the fun and enjoyment when it should be,

you know, it should be the number one thing that we keep. Well, I think

that we, we view it as a goal. Like, we've we like, we view

happiness as something that we'll get to someday once we get

to this or this. Whereas,

I I worked with a coach for a couple of years, and something

he said to me was, like, happiness is a choice if you

decide that happiness is an action. So you can do

happy, like happiness is something that you do. So instead of something that you're trying

to achieve, you'll never get there. Like, you're never gonna get to happiness by

trying to achieve it, but me going for a run is

doing happy. It's not gonna, you know, necessarily mean that I am

gonna be happy after the run, but it's a form of me just doing it.

And the chances are I probably will feel a certain way afterwards. You will, exactly.

And like just reframing those things into, you know, your

actions are happiness actions. Mhmm. The story the

narrative we tell ourselves. 100%. And with that being said, like,

obviously, you've done things to change your mental health and

improve it. Over the last 4 years of doing the 9 for 9

and putting it out there for other people for charities, but

getting community together and helping other people, what have you learned about

yourself from doing that? Oh, that's a good question. Isn't it?

What have I learned from myself?

I I've probably learned that I'm more capable than what I

give myself credit for. I think that I put a lot of pressure on

myself to, that everything's gotta be

perfect and that an idea has to be perfect or, you

know, the 9 for 9 has to run perfectly.

Whereas, I've learned that it really doesn't matter. And just

putting yourself out there, you're gonna you you're gonna make an impact in some way.

So I've learned to, like, reframe things into, you know, if I

impact 1 person after my job, like, that's fine. And

that, you know, just me putting my myself out there

is enough. Like, I don't need anything else. Like, that's enough. Mhmm. Did

that that's obviously amazing what you just said and well

done. It's not easy, though. Like, that would have been like, I'm

guessing that was very hard. It's still not done. Yeah. Yeah. Like I

don't think it'll ever be done. It's always a work in progress. And there's still

that critic inside that's gone Of course. Yeah. This month's gonna fail.

You're not gonna raise enough money. You're like that. You've always got that

little voice. But that drives you as well. Like, that

draws, you know, to pursue these things and reach for

bigger and, you know, be good at what you do and And also challenge the

ego. Mhmm. Because, like, at the end of the day, like, if it does, like,

what's the worst that can happen? Like, the worst thing that can possibly happen here

is we raise a little bit of money for charity, and we impact

a couple of people. And if that's the worst thing that can happen, then that's

pretty bloody good. But it challenges, you

know, your view of yourself and your your bruise. There you go and

get you to put that aside and and kinda go, you know what? It really

doesn't matter. Yeah. Is it, is it got easier

from the 1st year to the 4th year, or has it has it changed because

the goalpost had changed? It's got harder. Yeah. Isn't it

funny how all that you answer, but I find this so funny when you start

something, like, you've got no end like, you got no pressure on you

whatsoever. You're doing something, and you but it's all for good. But then the longer

it goes on, you put all this pressure on yourself, but it's still good, but

you make it harder. Yeah. Yeah. I I don't know why we just didn't stick

to the same product that we had the 1st year. I was only gonna say

that, but good on you if you're trying to win. Pumping over how good it

was to, you know, spread your wings. No. I wish we're just going in the

ocean. Yeah. I don't know why we made it hard for ourselves.

It's actually a waste of time. And everyone just stay in your comfort zone because

that's where it's like They're trying to think you never fail.

Yeah. Oh, I love that. I love that. That's so funny. Oh,

that's great. So have you got any more like, obviously, doing

50 marathon 50, not marathon, but 50 k's in

50 days. That's crazy. After, obviously, this year's

9 for 9, is there anything else? Because, obviously, you've got a

desire to push your body and and do good things for good people.

Have you got anything else planned? See, this like,

the what's next question always scared me. So I was like,

when I finish this challenge, are people gonna expect me to do more and more?

And I decided that, no. Like, I'm just gonna see

what happens. Good. Because I didn't wanna put that pressure on

myself to constantly have to beat another thing. Like, the

reason I did the running was because running got me

out of a situation or really help me get out of that

situation and it was kind of felt like a full circle moment to see what

I was capable of whilst raising money for a cause that I'm passionate

about and that's enough. If that comes up again and I feel an

edge to do it, then maybe something will come up. But

I'm pretty happy with not doing anything like that again.

Yeah. It was pretty cool. It was pretty cool. Yeah. I I love

that so much. That's beautiful. Like, do what presents it, like what

you are passionate about and what, but don't force it. You don't need to force

it. And if, as you said, if something comes up down the track

that you're super passionate about and you want to extend yourself, then you'll do

it, but you're not forcing it just because you've done the first one. It's

like, yeah. I love that. Yeah. And, like, I just think, like, there's more to

I I had the thought that there's more to me than just doing

these challenges. And, you know, who I am is enough without those things

added on top. And that's tricky. Because,

obviously, when you do these sorts of challenges, there's the whole thing. It's all

about social media and, you know, people start to follow along. And then

you have people who you then go, oh, are they expecting this of me?

Are they wanting me to do this sort of thing? But I've kind of just

taken a step back. I have I started a run club, which is

not really a run club. We we do movement and do a little mental health

activity and get some coffee and that's perfect. Yeah. We've got a great

little community down there at Mind Over Miles and, yeah, it's it's

again, it's pushing more of that mental health side than it is the

running side because I just think that connection's the most important thing. I

think it's so nice. Like the, all those things, like just surrounding yourself with

people who are in a similar mindset and who are open to,

to being, I don't know. I guess Like minded

community. Yeah. That's we just need our own tribe. That's all it

is. And if people are going to something like that, you know, they're the people

that are nonjudgmental. They're the ones that are open. They're coming in welcoming

anybody. They're curious. All things that any human needs, but,

unfortunately, a lot of time, we don't have them because we're

uncomfortable with war. And, normally, the worst comes out in that situation. Whereas if you

create a community where that is just accepted and that's a nonnegotiable,

bloody amazing. Yeah. Like, that's that's why you'll get more and more people

because we crave it. We crave it as human beings for your

own like minded people that make us feel good. And just be accepted. Yes. Like,

you don't like, we say a thing every week at our run club. We don't

care for your PBs or we we don't need you running a 100

kilometers. It's just turn up and if you turn

up or if it is for you that week, great. If it's not, then that's

okay. Like, but come down if you wanna walk, if you wanna run, if you

wanna do a mix of both, like, doesn't matter as long as the only rule

we have is that you just got to high 5 people on your way through

and show some support. Like, that's our only rule. So it just creates,

like, this environment where everyone's accepted whether you're running, walking, you

know, taking the baby out. Like, it doesn't matter. Like, it's just

just no place to go. There's no pressure. It's just No. And, like, pressure if

you're wanting to perform and you're wanting to, you know, as you said, hit PVs

and all the rest of it and, you know, set yourself for something like, yeah,

you do need a bit of pressure. But I think for the majority of the,

if you, if you're there for your own well-being, the pressure often

is a negative thing. So if you can, yeah, you've taken that

away. So there'd be, if you want that, there'd be a community for that. That's

right. Do you know what I mean? That's right. That's the thing. Like, we're not

gonna be for everyone. Yeah. The 9 for 9 is not gonna be for everyone.

You know, I'm not gonna be for everyone. But it's finding

your little tribe or your niche or your your people Yeah.

That you can connect with. Yeah. And I think that's the most important

thing. Well, Connor, I bloody love the 9 for 9 concept. Why?

Because not only is it simple, it's easy. Anybody can do it.

But more importantly, it's raising really big awareness around

suicide. You know? And essentially, mental health, we talk about a lot in

suicides, the end result of somebody that haven't been able to

cope. So I know, obviously, this is gonna come out once

the 9 for 9 started, but that doesn't mean that people can't jump on board.

You don't need to do the full month. You can still come on because as

you said, it's like a it's like going to a brewery and you got little

samples or it's going to a tasting plate and you've got everything you need. Mhmm.

Go into a lolly store and you don't know where to start. Where can people

follow along? Where can we go? And also, where can we join up if we

wanna come for a run for a high five? Yeah. Absolutely. So the 949,

the website 949.com.au. Instagram is

949.au. If you wanna come for a high five on a Sunday morning in

Germanna, that is, Mind Over Miles, run club,

and all the money raised from 949 goes to Batea. So like you said, with

storytelling, they share stories of people with lived experience in schools,

and universities. And they will share stories around mental health

and then give the toolkit for our youth who are the most impacted, you

know, 15 to 25 year olds Yep. And make a

difference in that in that space. Bang. Love that. It's

amazing. Okay. Well, we like to finish our podcast with with one

last question. This is a big hit, Jack. I love I love this question.

I've been wanting to big time, please. I've been wanting to ask him this the

whole podcast, but that's how I hold out because I know it's our last

question. But, Connor, throughout your life,

you've been through a lot. You've done some amazing things. What are you

most proud of personally that you have either, you

know, that you've done or achieved or, you know, done for someone

else or, you know, just in in your own sort of world,

what are you most proud of of yourself? Oh,

God. I I honestly think the

thing that I am most proud of is how

I was able to manage that

hard period of time in my life and come through the other side. Mhmm. I

think that's the one thing that I look back on and go,

fuck, you did a good job there. You didn't do it perfectly, but, like, you

did a you did a really good job to get through that. Like and that's

like, you look at 9:49 or the runs or anything like that. I don't think

of those things as I don't necessarily feel proud of those like I do

how I feel proud of just how I got through that time.

I would say just meeting you for the first time and having

this 45 minute chat, the person that you are, I can feel

this like warmth and kindness and just

want to help other people. And it's like so

noticeable. So I would be very proud of that as well if I was you.

So thank you. Yeah. Thank Thank you so much. Thanks for coming on. Yeah. I

think you're using your story in such a incredible

light, and you should be extremely proud of that because,

like, I know you're helping people you see, but you'll be helping so many other

people. And there'll be people listening to this podcast or other other platforms that you've

been on, you'll never know the impact you're having. But by you just being you

showing up, helping others, and more importantly, walking the walk,

incredible. That and that's that's why people like this on

podcast, bloody amazing. So, Connor, thanks so much for being on the show, mate.

Thank you so much for having me. And, I do appreciate those words. I don't

take compliments very well. But You're taking it nicely. But

no. I appreciate it. And thank you for chatting. It's been it's been awesome. So

thanks. Alright, mate. Thanks.