Burn the Boats

Why tuning into your intuition changes everything

In 2017, I made a crucial decision: to get on BBC TV at Wimbledon by hook or crook - or annoy the big bosses so much trying that I’d have to leave the BBC.

I call it my burn the boats period.

Every time I chased the head of BBC TV sport, my mind would scream:
“This is it. He’s going to tell you to do one. What the hell are you doing? This is painful!”

Thankfully, I didn’t listen to that pesky internal narrator.

And after turning up on the first day of Wimbledon 2018 - deftly armed with a Cornetto as a gift - he told me I had my chance.

The door was ajar and I kicked it open. And I fulfilled a childhood dream in the process. Interviewing Federer, Serena, working with boyhood hero Boris and running around with a camera crew.

But here’s the interesting bit: that burn the boats attitude bled into other areas and led me off on an unexpected tangent.

A frank chat with a Radio 4 editor about how sport was a metaphor for life led to my podcast getting commissioned in 2018. I remember my wife saying at the time, this is going to be more important than working on TV at Wimbledon… and she was right.

My BBC podcast prompted Bloomsbury to ask me to write a book, in which I blended sport, philosophy and spiritual insight.

From there I was invited to give talks to businesses, sports teams and the UK Government, particularly on avoiding burnout and experiencing flow.

And now it has led to the coaching I do (and love) helping people get into inner alignment.

That’s the direction my life moved. My head thought TV was the goal, but my heart knew different.

And if I hadn’t tuned into my intuition and acted - none of it would’ve happened.

In the words of Steve Jobs: “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

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The coaching I do is about helping people see through the limiting stories and patterns of the thinking mind and reconnecting with the intuitive wisdom underneath.

I call it inner alignment because it is about opening to the love and wisdom that is our essence - and living from that place. Spiritual practices and insights are only truly helpful, in my view, if we are bringing them into every aspect our life.

The beautiful thing is: the more you do that, the more joy, peace, flow and freedom you experience. It really is a virtuous circle.

If you’d like to explore whether this work could help you, you can book a free consultation here.

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This week’s podcast is with Lisa Cairns, who knows a thing or two about what happens when you let go of your identity. She experienced a sudden, profound and disorientating shift in consciousness that completely changed how she saw herself and the world.

We talk about what awakening really means when your sense of self drops away, and how freedom isn’t about escape, but deeper intimacy with life - even the messy parts. You can watch the below clip on YouTube here or listen on all podcast platforms here.