Happiness And Resilience With Hugh Van Cuylenburg

This episode I'm speaking with Hugh Van Cuylenburg from The Resilience Project. The name might not be familiar to you but he has had a huge impact on some of the most famous names in Australia. From Australian cricketer Steve Smith, to Brownlow medallist Dusty Martin to Australian netball captain, Caitlin Bassett. I'm also excited for this episode because Hugh has actually had an impact on my life too. The origins of The Resilience Project begun when Hugh was volunteering in India after a cricket tour over there. He volunteered at a school for a couple of weeks that didn't even have running water, but he noticed that the people were the happiest that he ever met despite having relatively little. Unknowingly this would lead him onto a journey to find out where real happiness comes from. What did he find out? They practice gratitude, empathy and mindfulness every day; Gratitude: The ability to pay attention to what you've got, not what you don't have. It's not waiting to be happy when you have the next best thing (be it some new shoes, or a new car). Empathy: The ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes. The more empathetic you are, the more likely you are to do something kind. Hugh says the older we get the more we actually move away from looking out for others. Mindfulness: Can be a buzzword in society these days but mindfulness is the ability to be calm and present. Often it's sitting still, and potentially using an app like Headspace, Calm, Buddhify or The Resilience Project's app to help calm your body. After India, Hugh went onto do a Masters to look into where happiness comes from. He started doing presentations for free at schools about what he learnt and the ripples of Hugh's message started to spread. It has spread to schools, businesses and professional sporting teams all over Australia. It has grown so much that as of mid January 2019 he is already booked up for the whole of the year. If you would like to book Hugh to come speak at your school, workplace or sporting club then unfortunately you'll have to book in 2020. However, you can still buy tickets to some of his larger events throughout the year. (See show notes available on the Six Park website) This episode is powered by Six Park, Australia's number 1 online investment manager www.sixpark.com.au