by Chris O’Connor – playwright and co-host of the Mantality Podcast. Intelligence is a very complex concept to pin down, but loosely, it aligns with the ability to acquire knowledge. Similarly, knowledge is difficult to define but broadly refers to the facts, skills and information we obtain. Ignorance, considered the opposite of knowledge, is defined as a lack of knowledge. Using the above definitions, there is a sort of sliding scale from ignorance to knowledge, with the more knowledge you acquire, the less ignorant you are. And intelligence would be the skill that makes It easier and qui ..read more

by Chris O’Connor – playwright and co-host of the Mantality Podcast. The Battle For Ideas The world we live in is the frontline in an ongoing war of ideas that has been waged since Homo sapiens first began to communicate. There are many battlefields in this war. It is a complicated, ever-changing picture where the realities of victories and defeats play out over years, decades and centuries of human existence. And even today, certain ideas reign supreme in some parts, have a foothold in others and have been all but defeated in other parts. These ideas seep into us and inform how we act, liv ..read more

What is an authenticity mindset?  Being authentic is all about being true to yourself.  It’s about making sure that what you do and say is well aligned with what you believe, and what matters to you. Our mindset is all about the underlying belief systems that that shape who we are, what we do, and what we allow ourselves to be capable of.  So an authenticity mindset is when we are able to connect with what we believe and show up fully as who we are. This sounds so easy, but for many of us it can feel too risky to show ourselves in this way.  It can be easier to fit into ..read more

As an ex-rugby player who had to walk away from the game due to post-concussion syndrome, I can tell you retirement is a shock. Since retiring, my sole focus has been to heal. Yet, it is hard to get away from the massive question mark hanging over every elite athlete’s head: “What will you do when you finish playing?” After getting the go-ahead from my neurologist – and two more for good luck – I took the opportunity to try scuba diving with PADI in Playa Potrero, Costa Rica. Unable to do standard forms of exercise, I dared to dream this might be something I would be able to do despite my b ..read more

Stevie's experience Stevie suffered two concussions on the 19th January and the 2nd February 2020, leaving him no choice but to retire in January 2021. Having sustained these injuries, Stevie is living with the after-effects in 2022. Daily, he struggles with migraines, dizziness, motion sickness, sensitivity to light and screens, short-term memory issues, slurred speech, and an inability to exercise or do daily tasks. After wrestling with these symptoms for 18 months, Stevie decided to leave the UK to reduce exposure to daily stressors and environments that trigger his symptoms. Stevie has ..read more

BY Magnus Davies WE ARE RICH As a society, we have never been so rich. We have technology that can switch on our oven before we get home from work. We have phones that enable us to order a month’s food shop from our fingertips. On paper, our lives look fucking easy- but it seems like we are more stressed than ever. In the UK, 828,000 people take a sick day off work due to stress every year. Since 1990 the impact of chronic stress is acutely evident in the UK’s rising suicide rates. DARYL O'CONNOR In preparation for this article, I listened to the Mantality podcast with Daryl O ..read more

Magnus Davies The Shock Like the rest of the world, I couldn’t quite believe my eyes as I watched Will Smith slap Chris Rock on arguably the world’s biggest stage. Because attention is the most valued currency in our modern world with the dominance of social media, my mind instantly thought this must be staged. But I watched it again and the emotions are were too raw. I know Will is a good actor, but nothing could hide the emotions that he displayed when he was shouting at Chris. I recently read Will Smith’s memoir that he had released earlier this year. I didn’t know much about Will Smith ..read more

BY Magnus Davies EXPLORING VULNERABILITY WITH EVOLVE This week Evolve members had a zoom call with Mantality’s counsellor Jon Bell. Evolve teammates get access to these seminar-like calls every month. The theme of this month’s call was vulnerability and authenticity. Having researched the subject of vulnerability for the last month this is what I’ve learned. Do Vulnerability or vulnerability will do you. (it will destroy you emotionally) Healthy Vulnerability has a time, a place and a carefully selected pair of ears. Showing Vulnerability is a risk. Sometimes invulnerability is the b ..read more

BY Magnus Davies WE ARE RICH As a society, we have never been so rich. We have technology that can switch on our oven before we get home from work. We have phones that enable us to order a month’s food shop from our fingertips. On paper, our lives look fucking easy- but it seems like we are more stressed than ever. In the UK, 828,000 people take a sick day off work due to stress every year. Since 1990 the impact of chronic stress is acutely evident in the UK’s rising suicide rates. DARYL O'CONNOR In preparation for this article, I listened to the Mantality podcast with Daryl O ..read more

BY MAGNUS DAVIES STOICISM AND THE 21ST CENTURY In the past few years, Stoicism as a philosophy has left the dusty shelves of academics’ and has made its way into the mainstream. Stoicism has become prominent for several reasons. A key reason is because the works of Stoic philosophers remain applicable to the modern day. Although, society has developed significantly since the time of Stoic Philosophers, the advice remains freakishly relevant. They offer answers to questions we still ponder: how do we live a happy life? How do we deal with adversity? How should we treat other p ..read more