The Tom’s Life Lab Podcast

Episode 44 Mindset series: Focus on what you can control

In this episode of Tom's Life Lab, Tom explores how narrowing your focus to what’s actually in your hands can calm overwhelm, restore clarity, and build resilience especially when the world feels noisy or uncertain.
He shares the story of his book launch and how quickly he spiralled into worrying about reviews, sales, and opinions he couldn’t influence. The turning point came when he shifted his attention back to what was in his control: how he showed up, how he rested, and what he created next.
This episode is a reminder that reclaiming your energy starts with one small, intentional action and that momentum is built through tiny wins, not perfect outcomes.
Listen now and try this week’s Life Lab experiment: write down one thing each morning that you can control today. At the end of the day, reflect on how that focus made you feel.

Episode 43 Mindset series: Stories are just stories

In this episode of Tom's Life Lab, Tom explores how the mind creates stories, sometimes helpful, often unhelpful and how easily we can spiral into beliefs that simply aren’t true.
He shares a moment from leading a major change project when one tough meeting sent him into self-doubt… until he paused, questioned the story, and remembered his strengths.
This week’s episode is a reminder that you get to choose which stories receive airtime and that courage often begins with gently challenging the narratives your mind invents.
Listen now and try this week’s Life Lab experiment: Notice one unhelpful story your mind tells you. Write it down, then write down a time it wasn’t true.

Episode 42 Mindset series: Anything is possible

In this episode, Tom explores the mindset that anything is possible not by pretending things are easy, but by choosing challenges that stretch us, scare us, and grow us.
He shares the story behind writing his book 'People People', the self-doubt he had to work through, and how taking imperfect steps strengthens your ability to adapt, learn and lead.
This is an episode about resilience built on purpose, leaning into discomfort, and discovering what you’re truly capable of.
🎧 Listen now and try this week’s Life Lab experiment:Choose one small challenge that feels just out of reach, commit, tell someone, and take the first step.

Episode 41: The art of reinvention

Starting again can feel heavy, even shameful, as if beginning anew means something has failed.
But as Tom shares in this episode of Tom's Life Lab, reinvention isn’t weakness; it’s courage in its purest form.
Whether it’s a plan that’s fallen apart, a dream that’s shifted, or a life change you didn’t choose, starting again is part of being human.
Tom explores what it means to rebuild, to release the version of yourself that no longer fits, and to find strength in small beginnings.
Listen now and try this week’s Life Lab experiment: Take one small step, not the whole staircase, toward your next beginning.
 

Episode 40: When life throws a curveball

Life has a way of surprising us.
Sometimes it’s a new opportunity, other times it’s the kind of change that knocks the wind out of you.
In this episode of Tom's Life Lab, Tom shares what he’s learned about dealing with life’s curveballs, the moments when plans fall apart and certainty disappears.
He explores why our first instinct to control or fix isn’t always the right one, and how peace comes not from pretending we’re fine, but from feeling what’s real and asking a better question: not “why me?” but “what now?”
Listen now and try this week’s Life Lab experiment: If life has thrown you a curveball, stop resisting, feel what’s there, then choose your next move.

Episode 39: What i'd tell my younger self

In this episode of Tom's Life Lab, Tom shares the lessons he’d pass on to his younger self, an honest exploration of comparison, courage, shame, and what it really means to feel “enough".
It’s about letting go of the pressure to have it all figured out, learning to trust your path, and finding joy in progress rather than perfection.
Tom opens up about the importance of caring for your body, investing in real relationships, and not letting fear dictate your choices.
Listen now and for this week’s Life Lab experiment, do one thing your younger self would thank you for.

Episode 38: Dropping the script: finding yourself beyond overwhelm

Overwhelm isn’t always about doing too much, sometimes it’s about being too much.
In this episode of Tom’s Life Lab, Tom explores how the real weight of overwhelm often comes from the pressure to play too many roles. The strong one. The calm one. The one who keeps it all together.
When we try to be everything for everyone, we lose sight of who we are for ourselves. But overwhelm isn’t a flaw, it’s feedback. A gentle nudge from life that says it’s time to pause the performance, drop the mask, and return to what’s real.
Listen now to explore how letting go of the need to perform can help you rediscover calm, clarity, and your truest self.

Episode 37: Avoidance won’t make the problem go away

This episode of Tom's Life Lab is all about those conversations we avoid. The ones that sit at the back of our minds like unfinished business. 
Whether it's to tell a hard truth, ask for help, or to say sorry, we often tell ourselves that avoiding the conversation means avoiding conflict, but the truth is, avoidance doesn't make the problem go away. Instead, we sit with it, feel the weight of it and allow it to impact our energy and relationships. 
Speaking up is rarely easy, but honesty often brings people together where avoidance erodes trust and pushes us apart. 
Where is your silence shaping your friendships more than your words? Listen now to find how difficult conversations can be a way to build bridges to clarity, connection and growth.

Episode 36: Courage over comfort, making new friends

In this episode of The Life Lab, Tom explores the courage it takes to make new friends. Most people fear rejection but research shows others are more open than we think. Be the one who follows up, sends the message, and takes the step.
Your Life Lab challenge: Reach out to someone you like but don’t know well and invite them for a coffee, walk, or chat. One small act of courage can lead to real connection.
#LifeLab #ConnectionMatters #Friendship #CourageOverComfort #Podcast

Episode: 35 Be yourself don't sell yourself

In this reflective episode of the Life Lab, Tom explores the tension between authenticity and performance in modern leadership and life. In a culture that constantly tells us to pitch, polish, and promote ourselves, he asks: What happens when we stop selling ourselves and start being ourselves?
Through personal insight and coaching experience, Tom shares why overperforming can disconnect us from who we are, and why the most powerful leaders are those who show up grounded, honest, present and real.
He challenges listeners to experiment with presence over performance: to trust that the right people, opportunities, and moments respond not to our packaging, but to our truth.