It will never feel like a good time to follow your dreams ... There will always be barriers, blocks and reasons not to. But if you don't do it now, when will you? 

The books you read, shows you watch and the company you keep literally shape you. They will change how you think, feel and ultimately behave ...

So choose them wisely.

This is a follow up to my blog post "Your Passion Is Detrimental To Your Cause - Why Militant Veganism Doesn't Work" In this episode I respond to the significant amount of feedback (positive and negative), as well as offer further advice for anyone who wants to convince someone to change their opinions/behavior - primarily they should: make slow and incremental changes rather than the 'cold turkey' approach.

The problem comes when these feelings are projected and forced onto unwilling and unsuspecting ears. This is often met with anger, annoyance and confusion...

Maria Phillips joins Zachary, to provide a follow up on how they are now finding parenthood. Recorded at three months in, they cover the joys and challenges that they have faced, as well as provide advice as to what information and purchases were useful and which were not.

Teachers and parents often push the importance of reading. But what they often fail to do is explain why it is so important.

In this episode, Zachary discusses how widely reading (particularly of fiction and autobiographies) increases detachment and allows you to live someone else's life.

"When the characters in our books face moral dilemmas, overcome obstacles, learn and grow, so does the reader. I will never be able to see the world through your eyes, but if I read your book, I would have a greater ability to empathise with your perspective"

Zachary talks about his day off from life, spent in solitude meditating. No social media, communication, reading, writing or eating; just observing the mind.

"I noticed that my mind would throw up strong urges and emotions. I started to act on them before I realized that I was doing so. This led me to wonder (in normal waking life) how much do my emotions, thoughts and feelings control me? I always presumed that I lead them, but I think I am drastically wrong about that."

"I am planning on taking a day off everything to just meditate. I want to see what my mind throws up at me, and what I am often striving to avoid. I will spend a day with out technology, talking, writing, reading or eating - with the sole focus of meditating and facing the demons of my mind" 

"For me, a lot of the symptoms of anxiety are physiological: shortness of breath, headache, coldness, and clumsyness. I get trapped in rumination, often overthinking everything. This has an impact on my ability to cope in social situations as there is a lot of stimulus to take in and process.

I find myself creating multiple potential futures for each outcome and simultaneously contemplating the worst of each. This causes my mental state to be focused on the worst possible outcomes for futures that never eventuate."

"When you open up and start to talk about your traumatic experiences, a few things will happen.

More memories will come flooding in and that may become overwhelming. In addition, people will react differently to what you will expect. Some will be supportive and will share their own experiences, while others will disbelieve what you say..."

"Protect your mental state, that way you are in the best place to help others.

It is important to realise that your mental state is the lens in which you view the world, if it is compromised, so to is your ability to judge the people, events and actions of your life..."

"Writing has been one of the most therapeutic things that I have done. I started with poetry, but quickly moved into a longer format of fiction and blogs, culminating with a book ..."

Zachary reveals how he discovered his obsession with avoiding his own thoughts, the addictive pull of social media as well as how creativity can be stifled by too much external input.

"If you are always listening to other peoples words, you are always having an external person influence your thinking process ... by allowing for silence, you get to discover what you truly believe and feel about things."

In this episode you will hear about Zachary's experiences with depression, the symptoms and impact on his day to day functioning.

"When I am depressed people want to cheer me up, which is a nice sentiment of course, but it doesn't address the issue completely. It is analogous to complaining that you cant understand a radio and to help, people keep raising the volume. You can hear it just fine, it is the tuning that is the problem"

"When somebody is in a down mental state there is a tendency for them to feel like they have always been in that state.

Personally, when I am going through a bout of anxiety, depression or disociation I feel like I have always been suffering from it. It taints every memory of my past and makes me feel like it will be there for each instance in my future.

To combat this, I have written a 'mental health check list' that outlines that things have and will get better (they always have). As well as lists the activities that have worked for me in the past . 
I leave this on my wall as a reminder and promise to myself that I will try to get better, even if it feels like I can't. 

In this episode I go in depth, explaining what I do to pull myself out of a down mental state..."
 

"Low Self Esteem can lead to self blame. In relationships this can result in putting your partners needs, wants and desires over yours.

If left unchecked this process can result in an unhealthy relationship where issues are not addressed, and the potentially toxic or unhealthy relationships are not ended..."

“The midwives wanted to send me home with some Panadol, giving me the instructions to return in two days when the contractions were more serious - the baby was out in six hours” - Maria Phillips.
On meditation, mindfulness and having a 'Calm Birth' ..."

"There is a risk of falling into the trap of defining ourselves based on our trauma. We might relive it over and over again -in our minds, contemplating what happened, wishing it was different.

Or perhaps we are the complete opposite - running and hiding from it, doing everything we can to not accept the event as part of our past. Perhaps we do both..."

Social media is a highlight reel of life - not a true representation of reality. People only post the best and worst of their lives, not the mundane.

In this episode, Zachary Phillips discusses the impact that social media consumption has on our mental state.

In this episode of the Reality Check podcast, Zachary discusses the benefits of starting daily meditation practice. He takes you through some examples and gives advice on how it can be implemented in your life.

Zachary discusses the concept of turning up to achieve success. If you want to accomplish something amazing, you first need to turn up and put the work in. Remember, the world owes you nothing, only you can shape your future.