Mental Fitness - the Gateway to Success

Mikal Nielsen
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Providing business owners, leaders and entrepreneurs with the 3 INs: INsight, INspiration & INtentional Actions to grow yourself and better serve those around around you. Monologues and Dialogues addressing topics like leadership, productivity, time management, work-life balance and challenges like stress, conflict, mental health and much more.

  1. 1D AGO

    From Heart Transplant to Business Reinvention: The Heart of Transition with Jeff Parnell

    What happens when a literal new heart inspires a mission to help others find theirs in business and life? Join me for an inspiring conversation with Jeff Parnell, a transition specialist who survived a life-saving heart transplant in 2018. This experience became the foundation for his upcoming book, The Heart of Transition, where he guides high-achieving professionals out of long careers into meaningful next chapters—using mental fitness as the key to success. Jeff opens up about the emotional and practical challenges of change, plus shares the transformative book that boosted his own resilience: Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers by Robert Kriegel and David Brandt. Ready to rethink your own transition? Reach out to Jeff on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffparnell/ or at jeff@transitionyourbusiness.com.

    52 min

  2. FEB 25

    In Bed, In Business, In Life: How Mental Fitness Transforms Intimacy

    Success leaves clues — and so does struggle. In this powerful episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success, I explore a topic we don’t often connect to high performance: sex, love, and intimate relationships. Because the truth is simple: Where your mental fitness is low… everything feels harder. Where your mental fitness is high… connection, intimacy, and love flow naturally. In this episode, I share openly what happens in my own relationship with my wife when my mental fitness drops — and what shifts when it rises. The difference is like day and night. We explore: • Why mental fitness directly impacts intimacy • The hidden link between emotional regulation and sexual connection • Why growing your mental fitness is essential for deep fulfilment • A simple yet powerful tool you can use — alone or with your partner — to create immediate deeper connection If you’re watching the video version, I also give you a glimpse of the breathtaking view from our new Sanctuary — the space we’ll be using for upcoming couples’ retreats. This episode is honest. Practical. Personal. And potentially relationship-changing. Because mental fitness doesn’t just help you succeed in business or on the golf course. It shows up everywhere. Including in bed. If you want support with this in your own life, reach out to coach@mikal.nz

    26 min

  3. FEB 18

    From Mountain Bike to Wheelchair: How Mental Fitness Saved Clayton’s Life

    What would you do if you were lying alone on a mountainside with a broken neck… for six hours? In this powerful episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success, I sit down with Clayton Hairs — also known by his artist name Clayton John — who shares the raw and extraordinary story of the mountain bike crash that left him paralysed and fighting for his life. For six hours, Clayton lay on the ground till he was found. What got him through wasn’t luck. It was mental fitness. Clayton speaks openly about: • What was going through his mind as he waited to be found • The journey that followed in the ICU and beyond  • Adjusting to life in a wheelchair as a family man, artist and teacher • Continuing his work as an artist despite being unable to move his arms • How he built and continues to strengthen his mental fitness As a meditation teacher, Clayton also shares the practice he facilitates called Heartfulness, which you can explore through their free app. He also references the profound book The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon, a powerful exploration of resilience and the human mind and how it benefited him. This episode is a moving reminder that while we can’t always control what happens to us, we can train how we respond. If you’ve ever wondered whether mental fitness truly matters in real-life hardship — this conversation will answer that. Follow Clayton and his recovery journey on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=cclayton20hairs Clayton’s artwork can be found here: https://www.lintonandkay.com.au/artists/clayton-john/ https://www.instagram.com/clayton_images/?hl=en https://heartfulness.org/magazine/contributors/clayton-john He can be contacted by txt to +642041025259

    59 min

  4. FEB 11

    Mental Fitness Gyms: Where Do You Actually Train Your Mind?

    Mental fitness is essential for success — especially if you want to achieve it without stress. But here’s a question I get asked all the time: Where do you actually go to train your mental fitness muscles? In this episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success, I share the story of discovering what I now call a mental fitness gym — a powerful system I came across four years ago and still use today, both personally and in my coaching work with leaders, business owners, and high performers. Just like physical fitness, knowing your starting point matters. That’s why this gym begins with a free mental fitness assessment, helping you understand where you are today and where to focus your growth. In this episode, I cover: • Why mental fitness needs structured training • The surprising way I discovered this “gym” • How it supports real-world stress reduction and performance • Why assessment is the first step toward meaningful change If you’re curious to explore the free assessment I mention in this episode, email me at info@mikal.nz and I’ll send you the best link to get started.

    22 min

  5. FEB 4

    From Helicopter to ICU: How Mental Fitness Carried Me Through Christmas

    Welcome to Season 2 of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success — and thank you to everyone who supported Season 1. In this episode, I share my unexpected Christmas story: a surprise helicopter ride, 14 days in the ICU at Auckland Hospital, and celebrating Christmas in hospital instead of at home with our children. This isn’t a medical story. It’s a mental fitness story. I talk about how mental fitness helped me through the toughest moments — not with forced positivity (there was none of that), but by removing worry, minimising stress, and supporting both healing and recovery. As Season 2 continues, I’m inviting guests to share their own stories of challenge, resilience, and growth. If that’s you — or you know someone who should be heard — get in touch: info@mikal.nz

    21 min

  6. 12/10/2025

    Why I Almost Ended My Podcast (and the 2 Fastest Tools for Christmas Stress Relief)

    Feeling stressed heading into Christmas? You’re not alone. In this final 2025 episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success, I share two simple tools that can reduce stress and mental tension in just a few seconds — perfect for busy leaders and business owners. This episode also marks an important milestone for the podcast. After 26 weekly episodes in this 6-month trial run, I originally decided not to continue the show next year. But something changed… and I share the full story of what made me reverse that decision and commit to continuing in 2026. 🎧 In this episode you’ll discover: 00:00 – Why this episode matters 01:10 – Gratitude for your support + Spotify award 03:25 – The surprising turnaround: why the podcast will continue 07:45 – Why stress levels spike before Christmas 10:30 – Tool #1: Rapid stress reset in seconds 13:10 – Tool #2: A simple mental tension release you can use anywhere 17:30 – Final reflections for the year If you celebrate Christmas, I wish you a joyful, restorative, and peaceful one. Thank you for supporting the podcast during its first year — your messages, comments, and listens have meant more than you know. See you in the new year! Warm regards, Mikal

    23 min

  7. 12/03/2025

    Meditation, Made Practical: The 5 Stages to Deeper Joy & Fulfilment

    In this episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success, we take the next step in the meditation journey we began over the last two episodes — and this time, we actually meditate together. I guide you through my personal 5 Stages of Meditation, a process I’ve developed over 32 years to help busy professionals move from basic awareness to profound inner stillness and fulfilment.Here’s what we explore: 1. Mindful OF X – Building awareness of what’s present. 2. Meditate ON X – Deepening the experience with focused intention. 3. Experience Mental Stillness – Meeting the quiet beneath the noise. 4. Meditate ON Stillness – Deepening your relationship with that quiet. 5. Dissolving the Meditator – A transformative shift beyond effort and identity. Whether you’re new to meditation or you’ve been practicing for years, this guided experience offers a simple, practical way to access more joy, clarity, and presence in your daily life. If you’d like more personalised guidance with this practice, feel free to reach out — I’m always happy to help you explore it further.

    32 min

  8. 11/26/2025

    Meditation Without the Cushion: 32 Years of Practice in Real Life

    In this episode, I take you on a very personal journey through 32 years of meditation — from living for a year at a meditation centre, to a deep 3-week solo retreat in a mountain hut, to multiple 10-day silent Vipassana retreats… all the way to where my practice lives today (spoiler: you’ll find me meditating while driving, cooking, working — even making love). I share the meditation system I designed specifically for busy business people, and how my understanding of meditation has moved far beyond the cross-legged-on-a-cushion stereotype. Together, we explore the Purpose of meditation, the Outcomes it creates, and the real-world challenges that get in the way of actually doing it. And to wrap it all up, I give you a couple of simple, practical ways to either start — or deepen — your own meditation journey. All of it is aligned with the three ‘IN’ pillars of this podcast: IN-sights, IN-spirations, and IN-tentional actions. There’s a lot of value in a short episode — and I hope you find something meaningful for you. Got questions? Don’t hold back. Comment or email me at coach@mikal.nz

    32 min
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Providing business owners, leaders and entrepreneurs with the 3 INs: INsight, INspiration & INtentional Actions to grow yourself and better serve those around around you. Monologues and Dialogues addressing topics like leadership, productivity, time management, work-life balance and challenges like stress, conflict, mental health and much more.

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