The You Project

Rounding off this week's theme of amazing people and their incredible journeys back from the brink, on this episode Craig chats with Terry Mitropoulos: A brain tumour. 13 brain surgeries. A stroke. Temporary loss of speech, sight and hearing. Paralysis. 72 different medications. Depression. 4 years in hospital. Devastated by a superbug. Given 5% of survival and 0% chance of walking and now he's serving others by walking from Adelaide to Melbourne to raise money for the Black Dog Institute. Fucking Champion.For more info on Terry’s mission please visit walkandshine.org.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is not so much a podcast as it is, Craig thinking out loud for a few minutes. It’s something he thought might resonate with his fellow seekers, searchers, students and works-in-progress. And it’s something he hopes will stimulate thought, contemplation, self-awareness and perhaps even a change in thinking, doing and being. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Craig has finally met his match. She’s funnier, cheekier, chattier, smarter and says fuck more than him. She’s also nineteen years old. Her name is Ciara Nelson and at the age of sixteen, she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour and given virtually no chance of survival, until she met Neurosurgeon Charlie Teo. Hers is a remarkable story of resilience, courage, love, healing and research (by her mum). Despite the basis of Ciara’s story, this is an uplifting and fun podcast. Did I mention she’s sweary? (Craig couldn’t be prouder).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Portelli wasn’t expected to live. On December 1, 2017 he was driving a work vehicle with gas bottles in the back. Those gas bottles exploded, tearing the roof of his ute and shattering windows in surrounding houses. So devastating was the event that, when the emergency services arrived, they suspected it had been an act of terrorism. And so extreme were John’s injuries that he was given almost zero chance of survival. He was given the last rites and his family were called to say goodbye. In this episode, Craig sits down with John and his wife Jenny, to unpack this incredible story of pain, struggle, survival, possibilities, hope and love.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode has been stolen from Craig’s ‘Renovate Your Life’ audio program (one of thirty sections) and in it, he talks about the idea of visualising what our life might look, feel and function like a year from now if everything goes to plan (we achieve our goals) and how we might turn that theoretical construct (plan, intention, goal, idea) into a real-world experience and practical outcome.If you'd like further details on Craig's audio program visit https://www.craigharper.net/product/renovate_your_life/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The youngsters call this a ‘share cast’. On it, Craig is interviewed by Russell Jarrett from the Australian Fitness Podcast and discusses staying productive when we can’t be bothered, the need for focus, purpose and meaning, whether we might all be addicted to something, the downside of retirement, the value of doing the hard stuff and lots more. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a coaching session that most people will find relevant, if not, invaluable. Possibly, a little confronting. In this episode, Craig talks about everything from self-talk, self-awareness, self-sabotage, self-pity and self-management to metacognition (thinking about thinking), creating a new operating system, cognitive and behavioural programming and taking back your power. Depending on your learning style, you might want to listen to this one with a note pad.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Getting Mary (who is somewhat private and averse to any kind of limelight) on to TYP is one of Craig’s greatest achievements. It’s fair to say ‘The Old Darl’ (as Craig calls her) wasn’t excited at the idea but warmed up as they discussed everything from never having a mum (Mary’s mum died giving birth), being raised by nuns from the age of four at a boarding school, winning ‘Miss Dairymaid’ and going on a date with Bert Newton through to Craig’s pirate phase, his dubious school years and his unusual punishment for being suspended. Twice. They also talk about love bites (on Craig, not Mary), love languages and Mary’s thoughts on ageing well. If you’re after a strategic, high-performance, change-your-life (type) of podcast, this might not be for you. But if you’re keen to hear a freestyle chat between Craig and his mum around a range of interesting topics, you might love it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doctor Kal Fried (pronounced Freed) is back on TYP sharing his medical wisdom, stories and insights around health, healing and hysteria. He and Craig go even deeper (than last time) on the ‘what is pain and how does it work’ conversation. For reasons explained during the show, this is a non-swearing episode. You’re fucking welcome. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Craig shares stories from his journey as a fitness industry pioneer. For those of you who don’t know, he opened Australia’s first Personal Training Centre in 1990, wrote the first PT certification course, employed over five hundred trainers, owned four studios (including the largest in the Southern Hemisphere) and personally facilitated over forty thousand PT sessions. Considering he had almost no understanding of business development, branding, marketing, employing people, administration or leadership when he started, he did okay. Fair to say it was a steep learning curve. Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick Farr is co-founder of Resilience Builders and is widely regarded as one of Australia’s most accomplished high altitude athletes and leadership development coaches. He has climbed many of the world’s highest mountains (including Mt Everest) and has led and coached more than one thousand people in challenging high altitude environments. On this episode of TYP, Nick and Craig talk all things mindset, adversity, self-management and of course, resilience.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wow, that’s a lot of P’s in one title. Here’s another… Paul O’Brien (Leadership Coach, Ex Police Inspector, Author and Endurance Cyclist) is back on TYP and once again the lads get deep and philosophical, exploring the peaks and troughs, the simplicities and complexities, the light and shade of the human experience.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fitness industry pioneer, Tony Doherty has been innovating, creating, contradicting the norm and calling a spade a fucking shovel for three decades. He has a Ph.D in getting shit done and is simultaneously compassionate, terrifying and inspirational. Tony and Craig have been mates for years and as always, they had a great chat. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Craig sits down with Australia’s best bodybuilder, Josh Lenartowicz, and the boys talk about prepping for the Mr. Olympia, the mind in bodybuilding, dealing with grief (losing his friend Dallas McCarver), his popularity in China, shrinking plane seats, being hangry, his understanding wife (Liz), life post-bodybuilding (with smaller muscles) and impending fatherhood.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For some people, Pastor Rob Buckingham is not ‘Christian enough’. And more than likely, some of those same people will get mad at him for chatting with the bloke who says fuck. Although Craig commits to a non-swearing Podcast at the start, he only lasts ten minutes. There’s a shock. The boys talk about Rob’s work with Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran (from the ‘Bali Nine’) leading up to their execution in 2015, the Israel Folau controversy, whether or not Christianity has a PR problem, raising kids and being the spiritual coach to over a thousand people (his congregation). And before anyone runs away, he’s definitely not a bible-basher.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The other day Craig sat down with Maritza Barone on her Podcast (‘Things You Can’t Un-Hear’) and continuing on with his current pattern of laziness, he’s decided to call her great work, Episode 71 of The You Project. He has no shame. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Craig recently chatted with Jarrod L'estrange on ‘The Super Dad Show’ and because he’s essentially lazy, he said to himself… ‘self, why don’t I put a different label on Jarrod’s podcast and call it Episode 70 of TYP and give m’self an hour off?’. Lazy? Resourceful? Time efficient? Who cares? Enjoy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Damon Hayhow has been a Trailblazer, Lateral Thinker, Challenger of Convention and Shit Stirrer in the Australian Fitness industry for more than a decade. While he challenges the status quo, cuts through the BS and ruffles feathers, he also cares deeply about helping people understand and realise their physical potential. To say he is somewhat direct is like saying the ocean is a bit wet. In this episode of The You Project, he and Craig have a spirited conversation and see eye-to-eye on ‘almost’ everything.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of TYP, Craig talks about the way he manages himself (physically, mentally, emotionally, practically). He doesn't always succeed (of course), so maybe 'intentions' would be a better word than 'rules'.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode, Craig sits down with media presenter, author, speaker, sex-pert and highly regarded health commentator, Doctor Sally Cockburn (yes, her real name, pronounced ‘Co-burn’ and yes, she sees the irony), also know in the media as Dr. Feelgood. They cover a broad range of topics and it’s fair to say, the Doc’s not shy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Craig explores the way we sabotage ourselves emotionally and along the way, derail our own potential, purpose and happiness. He also discusses some ideas and strategies to take back our power, to stop waiting and wasting, and to step into our potential.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Craig sits down with leading Sport Psychologist, Jacqui Louder to discuss everything from anxiety, loneliness, self-awareness, identity and seeking parental approval, to Jacqui’s job working with elite athletes, social media traps, self-management and the idea of success. Jacqui also opens up about some of her personal challenges. This conversation is very relevant and relatable for most of us.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an unplanned and impromptu mini Podcast that Craig recorded in a moment of inspiration after writing about the impossibility of ‘being objective’. It is a brief exploration into the way we process and understand (1) ourselves (2) others and (3) the world around us. If you love ‘mind stuff’, you’ll enjoy this.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode Craig shares his thoughts on BMI, using scales, rapid weight loss, body composition, fitness cults, testing, finding the best program, different types of fitness, developing a personal blueprint for our body and the importance of tracking the physical transformation process.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode, Craig chats with Professor Sharon Ricardo (head of Biomedicine at Monash University) about living longer, stronger, happier and healthier. He also discovers that he needs to eat blueberries. And avoid marathon running. And get longer telomeres.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode Craig talks about his peaks and troughs, lessons and light bulbs, highlights and lowlights as a professional speaker. He also shares key insights, strategies and advice for anyone who might be considering standing in front of an audience (paid or not) in the future. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Navigating life can be a tricky (and sometimes, overwhelming) task. And in the middle of that responsibility, there’s the equally important challenge of managing ‘us’. Specifically, our mind, emotions, self-talk, choices, behaviours and overall ‘operating system’. In this episode, Craig sits down with cancer survivor, leadership coach, endurance cyclist, author and former police inspector, Paul O’Brien. The boys explore everything from passion, purpose and path (as per the title), to insecurity, self-doubt and depression (which Paul has battled for years). It’s a great conversation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Champion Netballer, TV Host, ‘Block’ competitor, Leadership Coach, Corporate Speaker and You Project regular, Bianca is back chatting with Craig about everything from school kids medicating their anxiety, awkwardness around self-promotion and teaching kids how to self-manage (mentally and emotionally) as a school subject, to vulnerability, trust and Bianca’s issue with dating men shorter than six-two.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode Craig gets raw, real and vulnerable sharing insights, stories, lessons, triumphs and fuck-ups from his own journey. Lots of light bulb moments in this one.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Network Ten’s Jason Cunningham (and TYP’s unpaid money expert) is back to help us navigate the murky waters of generating, spending, saving, investing and maximising our hard-earned. This is a user-friendly conversation for people (like Craig) who are not ‘experts’ in this space.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Craig is a life-long learner. The eternal student. Not the best student, but a committed and enthusiastic one, nonetheless. In this conversation with Dr. Richard Huysmans, the boys discuss Craig’s impending PhD. journey and explore the numerous cognitive, emotional and practical benefits of stepping into a structured learning situation, be that a short course to become a barista, a certificate 3 in fitness, a basic book keeping qualification or a million other possibilities, through to something closer to the tertiary (University) end of the scale. Apart from the emotional benefits (self-esteem, confidence, joy, satisfaction), that come with learning, gaining a qualification and successfully navigating any kind of academic journey of any length, at any age, there’s also irrefutable evidence telling us that the longer we continue to consciously learn new things, the ‘stronger, fitter and healthier’ our brain will be into older age.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s the differences between being kind-of uncomfortable (but still capable of much more) and working to our absolute threshold? What’s actually possible when we push through the self-limiting thinking, the fear, the perceived barriers and our addiction to comfort? In this episode, Craig talks about the difference between ‘perception and reality’ when it comes to exploring our performance limits. *This brief episode (just over 20 minutes) has been taken from Craig’s Renovate Your Life audio program (available via his site).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apart from representing Australia at 3 Olympic games, being awarded an Order of Australia Medal, working in the media for decades, being on the board of Swimming Australia, raising three kids and running the AFLW, Nicole’s life is pretty dull. In this episode, Craig and Nicole explore everything from raising twin sixteen year-olds, being insecure, managing self-doubt, navigating social media and helicopter parenting, to being told you’re too fat (as a young athlete), being told you’re not ‘fresh enough’ (for an on-camera media role in your early 40’s), to running one of Australia’s fastest growing, high profile organisations. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you an addict? After this fascinating conversation with Mick Hall, Craig thinks he might be. The lads explore the emotional, psychological, physiological, sociological and cultural issues around addiction and along the way, Mick shares some deeply personal stories about his darkest moments navigating the mayhem of crime, prison, addiction, fatherhood, recovery and redemption.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this freestyle coaching session, Craig goes off like a self-help frog in a sock and outlines the model he uses (personally) to turn his ideas, intentions and goals into practical real-world results. It’s like a ‘how-to guide’ for turning the theoretical into the practical and for creating lasting transformation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Team from Oncore Nutrition are back and in this episode, the girls talk with Craig about becoming more mindful, conscious and aware regarding our eating habits, rituals and social behaviours.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary Wilson is a former member of the elite Special Operations (Anti-Terrorist Group) in the Victoria Police. He has been part of the bomb squad, the anti-terror unit, worked in witness and personal protection and been a bodyguard to people like Pope John Paul II, Charles and Diana, Claudia Schiffer and many other high profile people in dangerous situations around the world. This conversation is equally fascinating, entertaining and terrifying.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At 18, Cameron Schwab was an office boy at Melbourne Football Club and six years later (at 24), he was the CEO of one of Australia’s most famous sporting teams; the Richmond Football Club. Cameron’s amazing journey saw him at the helm of three AFL clubs (Richmond, Melbourne and Fremantle) for a total of 25 years and in this enthralling conversation, he and Craig explore everything from leadership, experiential learning, emotional intelligence, identity and winning, to purpose, self-management, happiness and the importance of family.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is failure? Is it a number? A certain metric? A particular result? Is it the same for everyone or is it different things for different people, depending on their beliefs, thinking, standards, goals and programming? Is it an idea? A label? Is it a story we tell ourselves about certain outcomes? Is it a literal ‘thing’ (like a brick, chair, hat or tree) or is it more of an individual mental construct? Perhaps it’s a meaningful reaction to an otherwise meaningless event. Could the same result (a ‘B’ on an exam, for example) equal success for one person and failure for another? Perhaps failure is a self-created experience. So many good questions! In this episode, Craig puts on his story-teller cardigan and explores the personal nature of failure through some of his own experiences. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're like Craig, then you and food have had an interesting relationship over the years. In this episode, he explores the emotional, irrational, self-destructive, self-sabotaging and let's be honest, stupid shit we do around food. Oh, and he also shares some ideas and strategies on how to create a healthier and more sustainable model for eating.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever feel like you’re busily achieving not much at all? Lots of action but very little traction? Lots of effort and energy for very little return? Welcome to the club. In this episode, Craig explores seven ‘efficiency’ questions and also shares some of his personal experiences and stories about creating a better ROI (return on investment) in his own life. If your productivity and efficiency need to improve, this is worth a listen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to Doctor Kal Fried, we’re getting it wrong. Well, a lot of it. Pain, that is. Kal is a Sports Physician who tells a different story about the way pain should be managed, treated and understood. He believes that much of the current thinking, practice and treatment is flawed and at times, dangerous. This is an enlightening conversation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Craig recently caught up with Tommy and Josh from the Daily Talk Show in front of a live audience at his Melbourne HQ. The conversation might have gotten a little unruly and loose. Maybe don’t have the kids in the car for this episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of TYP, Craig chats with Dr. Richard Huysmans about all things learning, upskilling, research, business development, career change, academia and the trauma of Craig’s first semester of University (at 36). The lads explore everything from getting back into study (as an adult) and navigating the terror and confusion of becoming a student (again), through to the many levels of learning from the ‘Google Classroom’ all the way up to gaining a PhD in something you’re passionate about. So inspired was Craig, that (with Richard’s guidance) he’s thinking about tackling a PhD in Philosophy (his passion), using his work as the basis for his thesis and area of research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Craig intended to explore the remaining Ten questions from his new book. He didn’t do it. Mainly because he’s super chatty and has no idea of brevity. After some side-tracking and detouring, he manages to navigate his way through four of them: (1) micro and macro reality (2) the slippery-ness of success (3) people-pleasing and (4) listening to our body. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Craig delivers a ‘virtual workshop’ (with some help from Melissa) around some of the key themes, ideas, messages and of course, questions, in his latest book.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is more of a Podcast-ette. Towards the end of a podcast a few weeks ago, I soap-boxed the f**k out of everyone with a ten-minute impromptu, evangelical monologue about stepping into your power, potential and possibilities. Well, it seemed to resonate with more than a few people, including Jo Quested (a follower), who shared that she made her husband and three sons listen to my pep-talk over dinner last night. Sorry lads. Anyway, I’ve decided to publish it as a stand-alone recording, in the hope that someone who needs to hear it, will. Love you to share it. Thanks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AFL Legend and all-round good bloke, Nathan Burke, is back to talk Leadership, High Performance, Mental Toughness, Emotional Intelligence, Effective Coaching and the evolution of AFLW.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TV presenter, breakfast radio host, singer, performer, world’s best Kylie Minogue impersonator (as voted by the real Kylie), mum and self-proclaimed over-thinker… and in the middle of it all, Lucy Holmes is trying to live her values, make a few bucks, be a great human and stay sane. Sometimes, she pulls it off.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a fascinating chat about the dichotomy of a high profile person’s internal and external realities; the internal sh*t-fest in the middle of an external success story. The boys cover everything from Danny's coaching and playing days, to his media work, the Essendon drug scandal (when he was CEO of the AFL Coaches Association), spud farming, bullying, his nervous breakdown, eighteen months of severe depression and darkness and his subsequent journey into self-awareness, slowing down, healing and happiness.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.