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This evening I had a great conversation with Cork's Super Featherweight and Ireland’s youngest ever professional boxer, James Power! In this episode, we talked about his journey from starting out as a young kid in the boxing world, through his amateur years, and then finally signing his contract with Sheer Sports Management as the youngest ever pro boxer in Ireland. James's boxing career has been put on hold over the last few months due to the pandemic but this hasn't stopped him from setting out huge physical and mental challenges for himself that have kept both his mental and physical state fresh and ready for his return to boxing shortly. A man with an old head on young shoulders, James shared some invaluable lessons with me on the mental game and mental performance that he has cultivated and developed over the many years of boxing and it was a pleasure having him on the show. No doubt this man will excel in the boxing world and represent Ireland with the Irish people supporting with pride right behind him.

When we practice mental imagery and visualization on a certain skill, we are activating the same neural activity in our brains as if we were carrying out the skill physically. The more we practice mental imagery and visualization the easier it becomes. I know some might find it a bit hocus pocus but just try it for 5 to 10 mins before a match, game, or practice and see if it helps with a certain skill set. I only touch on this skill set briefly in this video but if you would like to learn more or find out how you can work with me on this, please feel free to reach out.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the PrimeLife podcast. I am your host Alex Collins and joining me in today's conversation is Ultra Endurance Athlete and Mental Health Advocate, Conor O’Keeffe. In this episode, we talk about Conor’s journey from competing in Muay Thai fighting events to winning the Endurman 200, a 200-mile ultra-endurance marathon race, based here in Ireland. We also dive deeper into his passion for personal development and personal growth and discuss some of his practices and values that he implements on a daily basis that helps him appreciate life more and ultimately live life to the fullest. So, without further a due. I hope you enjoy my conversation with the gentleman himself. Conor O’Keeffe.

I often get asked, "how do I keep a cool head and stop any negative self-talk in the middle of a game/race?" • One very effective and quick mental skills tool you can use is ABC. • A - Awareness B - Breathe C - Control • Get back to the present moment, focus on the task at hand and trust your abilities. If you want to learn more about mental skills training in sports, feel free to reach out! #focuszone #focus #sportpsychology #trainthemind #trainyourmind #mentalfocus #gametime #performance #anxietyawareness #amxietytips #trustyourself #mentalskillstraining #mentalskillscoach #monday #motivationmonday #triathlon #tennis #golfgame #athlete #success #enjoythemoment #livelife #sportpsychology #race #swim #bike #run #duathlon #ironmantri #playpresent

This evening I had a great conversation with one of the world’s leading mental performance coaches, Graham Bethart. Graham has worked with some of the NBA’s best athletes including Aaron Gordon, Ben Simmons, Karl Anthony Towns, and Andrew Wiggins (to name a few) He has also worked with professional organizations such as True Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, and the Utah Jazz. In this episode, we talk about his journey into mental performance coaching and how he ended up working with professionals and some of the top athletes across the USA. Graham’s work is all about helping athletes play in the present moment and firmly believes that if you can play in the moment and focus on the task at hand, you will ultimately play at your best. We talk about how important it is for athletes to practice mental performance skills but how a lot of these skills don’t come naturally and take time and hard work to master. Graham shares with us some mental skills and actions that you can implement and practice in your game to help you bring you back to the present moment and play at your best. I really enjoyed this episode with Graham and I have no doubt I will be having him back on the show in the near future.

’A man often meets his destiny on the very road he takes to avoid it’’. Jean De La Fontaine You’re standing over a golf putt & all that’s going through your head is ‘’ don’t miss it, don’t miss it, don’t miss it’’. All your energy & mental focus is on ‘trying not to fail’. Your arms tense up. Your hands start shaking. Your heartbeat starts to rise. And so, most likely, what happens? You miss the shot. This is called playing in a fear-based state of mind. It’s natural. Your mind & body is tapping into it’s ‘fight or flight’ system. It believes there is a threat and so the body tenses up limiting itself both physically and mentally. We see this in all sports and even in some workplace scenarios like presentations. How do we stop this? We need to neutralize the fear. We want to arrive at a place of peace with both outcomes. We want to be ok with either winning or losing. To do this you need to think about the worst-case scenario. Missing the putt. Missing the penalty or losing the game. Visualize yourself in this scenario and sit with it. It may be uncomfortable and feel weird but just sit with it, embrace it and feel it. The navy seals call this ‘emergency conditioning’. After you have sat with that feeling and feel comfortable with the idea of losing, start focusing your attention and energy on the enjoyment of the game. Focus on the process. Play for the win. Don't play so as not to lose. When you do this, you're no longer running away from the ‘fear the failing'. Now if you miss a shot or mess up, you’re ok with it. You have familiarized yourself with the situation. You won’t overreact and let your ‘fear of failure’ and emotions take over. We want to be able to play for the win but not by running away from the fear of losing. Neutralize the fear and then start playing for success. Let go of any expectations and focus on the process.

In this episode, I sit down with a renowned international free diver and breathwork specialist, Claire Walsh.  • Claire spoke about her journey into the world of freediving and how the sport has brought her around the globe, diving in some of the most beautiful dive sites on the planet. • With the wealth of knowledge and skills that she has obtained over the many years of freediving she is now coaching people from all walks of life around the importance of breathwork and how it can have a huge impact on our general wellbeing. • Her love and passion for both freediving and breathwork is infectious and I have no doubt she will help many people along the way.

In today’s episode, I sit down with former professional rugby player, traveler, and extreme adventurer, Damian Browne. After 16 years playing in The Celtic league, English Premiership and French Top 14 Championship, injury forced his hand and he made the tough decision to retire. During his downtime from the intensity of professional sports Damian indulged his passion for travel and adventure, visiting more than 50 countries on 6 continents and challenging himself in different ways with a 3-week expedition into the high altitude Pamir mountains in Afghanistan, summiting Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, climbing Mont Blanc, France and Gran Paradiso, Italy. Damian is also on a quest to scale the highest mountain peaks on all seven continents around the world with only Mount Everest and Mount Vinson left to complete. In April 2016 Damian took on the might of the Sahara desert, completing the 6 day, 257km Marathon des Sables, also known as 'The Toughest Footrace on Earth'. After the race and a period of reflection, Damian committed to taking on the incredible challenge to row across the Atlantic Ocean, alone! 18 months of physical, mental  and technical preparation led to the 14th of December where Damian kissed goodbye to his parents and shoved off into the unknown. 63 days, 6 hours and 25 minutes later he crossed the finish line of the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge arriving in Antigua 28kgs lighter and much hairier to a heros welcome. Having endured 9-meter swells, a badly cut head, capsizes, encounters with Whales, sea & pressure sores, losing an oar and complete steering failure with over 2000 nautical miles to Antigua, Damian said, "A hell of an experience, hell of an adventure and hell of a challenge. It was exactly what I wanted from the challenge, I wanted to be pushed to my limits mentally and physically and I sure got what I wanted and then some". This man has a mind of steel and has developed an unbreakable mentality by pushing his mind and body through difficult situations and challenges that he has set out for himself. He firmly believes that setting out personal challenges and overcoming them no matter how tough or miserable they may seem is the key to building resilience, confidence and self-worth within yourself. Damian shares some incredible stories from some of his extreme and daunting expeditions, along with many actionable and valuable mindset techniques that he had used and continues to use in order for him to get through some of his toughest and grueling experiences in life. What an incredible human being! I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

In today’s episode, I sit down with professional speaker, goal-setting coach, and author Gerry Duffy from Mullingar. Gerry has coached some of the top leaders from Facebook, Google, and Coca Cola to name a few. In this episode Gerry talks about his inspirational journey from being four stone overweight at the age of 27 to running 32 marathons in 32 days and winning the 2011 UK DECA Enduroman Iron distance challenge, (10 Ironman Triathlons in 10 consecutive days), an event dubbed the ‘’The toughest ten-day endurance challenge in the world’’. Gerry believes that in order to grow and develop as human beings, we first must be brave enough to step out of our comfort zone and then courageous enough to challenge ourselves with being uncomfortable. In 1995 when he took up running for the first time, Gerry discovered that  ‘life rewards effort’.  Gerry firmly believes that human beings can do far more than we give ourselves credit for and is keen on leading by example. 

In today’s episode, I sit down with ultra-endurance athlete Shane Finn from Kerry Ireland. Shane cycled and ran across the USA in 36 Days to raise money for Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland. This was by far one of my favourite conversations to date! What he has achieved over the last number of years is a reminder to us all that the human mind and body can adapt to any situation when the right training, beliefs, purpose and mindset is put into place. In 2010 Shane ran his very first marathon and since then has run 12 marathons in 12 days, run 24 marathons in 24 days, completed multiple Ironman triathlons and cycled and ran across the USA in 36 days. In this episode we touch on the following topics; his journey and story into becoming an ultra-endurance athlete and why he decided to run and cycle across the USA in 36 days. How he prepares both physically and mentally for endurance events and how these skill sets can be easily transferred over to real-life scenarios. We talk about his nutrition and training plans and he maintained enough calories per day during his journey across the USA. We touch on the importance of having discipline when motivation starts to run out and he builds emotional resilience and a strong mindset with every decision he makes throughout his day. He also shares some valuable insights into how we can cope more effectively when living in isolation and practicing social distancing during these trying times. I hope you enjoy my conversation with the great Shane Finn. 

THE MAN BEHIND THE IMPRESSIONS Last week I sat down with impressionist, comedian and good friend Conor Moore. • A few years ago, some might have thought he was crazy to leave a good-paying job to go create videos on snapchat in the hope of making it as a successful impressionist. • Fast-forward on three years, and he is now starring in TV adverts with Tiger Woods and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Justin Timberlake, Frank Lampard, Jack Nicholas and some of the most elite athletes and TV personalities in the sporting world. • Conor has been on a rollercoaster of a journey so far, and on this episode we chat about how he went from creating videos on his phone to having his very own show with the NBC golf channel. • As you can imagine, this level of achievement isn’t reached by talent alone and there are many other variables involved such as learning from both his wins and losses, building a strong mindset and attitude, facing adversity head on, making sacrifices and being persistent, ignoring the naysayers and the importance of truly putting in the hard work and long hours. • This chat will leave you feeling giddy for the rest of the day with sore cheeks from laughing and, most importantly, feeling inspired with the belief that you truly can go off and achieve anything you put your mind too.

In today's conversation I sit down with one of the most intriguing, energetic and warm-hearted punk rock and roll performers in today’s Irish music scene, Ethan Scally. He is known for his wild and controversial antics onstage but also expresses a softer side of himself through poetry and actively getting involved in local charities. I believe that an important part of personal development is understanding and embracing every aspect of who you are and my guest today is someone who does just that – Scally embodies what it means to be yourself regardless of what anyone else thinks, and that was a major theme of our conversation. We discussed everything from rock & roll to religion, from magic mushrooms to mindset, and I hope you all get as much out of this conversation as I did.  If you can, please rate this podcast on whatever platform you are listening on as it will greatly help with the visibility of the show.  A very special thank you to the sponsors of this episode: @spoonful_botanical Website: www.spoonfulbotanical.com @nutsandgrains Website: www.nutsandgrains.ie  Use promo code: primelife10 to get 10% off your entire order online or in store!

I have been dying to share this episode with you all because I truly think it’s gonna blow you away. Jack is one of the most uplifting and positive guys I have ever met in my entire life and I was completely taken aback by his story, his journey, and his outlook on life. His mindset alone will make you think twice about what small things we all worry about in our day to day lives. • In 2012 Jack suffered a life changing spinal cord injury which left him with only 15% muscle function. This ignited a passion to explore both his own and others’ potential. In the years since, he has become a noted life and performance coach, international speaker, and pharmacist, motivated to help others live more aligned, fulfilling lives. • He was included in a list of “50 Incredible People Who Are Shaping Modern Ireland” in 2017 and was awarded as one of "Ten Outstanding Young People of the Year" in 2019 as a dynamic individual who is doing inspirational work. • For this episode of the podcast, Jack and I are raising money for Spinal Injuries Ireland; please see the link in my bio where you can donate through the GoFundMe page. For the cost of a cup of coffee, you can help make a difference for victims of spinal injuries here in Ireland. • A special thank you to the sponsor of this podcast, @spoonful_botanical. Website: www.spoonfulbotanical.com

This is episode 4 of the AC Podcast – my name is Alex Collins and my guest today is truly an inspirational woman who I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with, Grace O’Rourke. So just to give a small bio on Grace before we get stuck into the podcast, Grace was the joint winner of RTE’s Ultimate Hell week and was the first woman in the history of the state to pass the elements of the Irish Rangers selection process. Now her interest to join the army all began back in 4th year of secondary school when she was selected to take part in the Gaisce defence forces 4 day challenge and it was from this moment on her passion to be in the army was ignited. Grace applied for the army three times in between pursuing her Sport and Exercise Science degree in the UK, but unfortunately was never successful. Despite all odds and setbacks Grace continued to follow her lifelong dream and decided to apply for the Special Forces ultimate Hell Week on RTE. Grace’s ability to push on and bounce back from various setbacks in her life is truly incredible - from being turned down by the Irish army three times, to nearly handing in her badge in the early stages of hell week and then ultimately winning the show and becoming the first woman in history to pass the selection process, displays an otherworldly  amount of resilience. Her story is a real life example of why you should always stay true to yourself and never give up on your dreams. So without further a due, I hope you enjoy my conversation with the amazing Grace O’Rourke.

In honour of World Mental Health Day this Thursday, Vinny and I sat down to discuss our own mental health journeys to shed a light on the importance of opening up. Vinny has been on an incredible transformational life journey, and his wealth of knowledge in the fields of neuroscience, physiology, yoga/meditation, movement and the Mind-Body connection left me wanting to speak with him for hours! The stories and experiences he shared left me questioning my own spiritual connection to the world, and definitely made me look into broadening my understanding of who I am and how we’re all part of a much larger energy force.

My guest today is one of Ireland’s leading Health Performance and breathing specialists, Leo Ryan. Leo suffered from chronic asthma for years to a point where he was bed ridden for a total of 6 months. He stumbled across the Buteyko method and practiced this until he was off all medication. After mastering the Buteyko method he then went on to become an Oxygen advantage master instructor, a course designed by Patrick McKeown. Leo then discovered the Wim Hof method and was intrigued by the differences of the two methods and so this led him to train and spend time with Wim, leading him to become a certified Wim Hof method instructor. Now during this podcast we discussed Leo’s experiences living with chronic asthma and how he transformed his life through the power of breathing. We talk in depth about the Oxygen Advantage method and how important nose breathing is for health and sports performance. Leo’s passion for health and physical performance has seen him research more than 50 breathing techniques, mentor with coaches to Olympians, UFC Fighters and World Champions. I hope you enjoy my conversation with the Great Leo Ryan.

 "Failure is not failure, failure is just a result...It's something you can learn from, and when you learn from it, it's actually a win" - James McGee  I had a great talk with James McGee, one of  Ireland's most renowned and respected professional tennis players.  He kindly shared his inspiring story, transitioning from his professional career to finding meaning and purpose working with a youth foundation in Las Vegas.    So, throughout this Episode we touched on a number of topics such as his professional career, coaching, mindset consulting, mentoring, psychology, yoga, meditation, and at one stage we dove a little deeper into the importance of values and beliefs and how they can play in with our intuition when making life changing decisions.    James was an absolute pleasure to spend some time with and is honestly one of the most genuine and real guys you will ever meet. So, without further a due, I hope you enjoy my wide-ranging conversation with James Mcgee.  

 - This is the introductory episode to ''The AC Podcast''. - In this episode I give a quick summary on what you can expect from the show. - I point out the type of guests I will be having on and also discuss the areas we will be focusing on throughout the show.