Most people think creativity is about art. Ben Rennie thinks that's exactly the problem.

Ben is a designer, author, and now a lecturer at UNSW, and in this episode we go deep into the stories behind his book Lessons in Creativity. I read this book a few months ago, and it genuinely changed the way I think about creativity, confidence, and what it means to actually live a full life. Getting Ben on the podcast felt like a milestone.

We talk about writing the book as a promise to his dying mum, deleting 38,000 words and starting again in Byron Bay, leaving a $1M consultancy because it was destroying his mental health, discovering his Indigenous heritage in his 50s, and how chasing curiosity is the only antidote to fear.

This one goes deep. I think you're going to love it.

What we cover:

• Why creativity is not art; it's the belief you have the right to create
• Fear vs. curiosity: why you can only choose one at a time
• Writing Lessons in Creativity as a promise to his mum
• Deleting 38,000 words and starting over in Byron Bay
• Leaving a $1M business to go skiing in Lake Tahoe with his family, and why it was the richest period of his life
• Discovering his Indigenous heritage after his mum passed away
• The "poor vs. broke" mindset his dad taught him
• Writing your personal manifesto on a napkin
• Why 90% of his readers are women and what that tells us about creativity
• Execution: why intention comes before everything

Get Ben's book: Lessons in Creativity; search for it wherever you buy books.
https://benrennie.com/products/thepractice

Support the show

Want to put what you just heard into practice? I've distilled the biggest lessons from 287 episodes into a free guide, 9 strategies to boost your performance without working overtime. No fluff, no gimmicks. Just the fundamentals that actually work. Grab it at https://www.trueformpodcast.com/true-form-guide

Want the quick takeaways? Read the blog post for a full breakdown of the episode. https://www.trueformpodcast.com/blog

Take the first step toward better recovery and overall health with Lumaflex.
Use code TRUEFORM for 10% off:
https://lumaflex.com.au/TRUEFORM

Most people don't struggle because they lack motivation. They struggle because they've been given the wrong approach, too much focus on extremes, not enough on sustainability.

True Form Coaching is different.

This isn't a generic program. It's personal coaching built around you, your schedule, your goals, your life. Together, we work across three areas that drive real, lasting change:

Mind - how you think, focus, and manage stress
Body - how you train, move, and fuel yourself
Identity - who you become through the process

https://www.trueformpodcast.co...

What if losing absolutely everything- your home, your business, your identity- was actually the beginning of your greatest comeback? Heather Simco built what looked like a perfect life from the outside. Homeless at 17, she clawed her way to becoming Mrs New York, earning a master's degree, and co-owning a successful MMA gym with her husband. Then she threw it away, one drunk email to a shareholder, and watched it all disappear. That rock-bottom moment on April 30, 2014, became the first day of her new life. Now 12 years sober, Heather is the founder of Sober Boss Babe, where she helps high-achieving women run thriving businesses and navigate life without relying on alcohol to do it.

In this raw, no-BS conversation, Jack and Heather unpack what addiction actually is, why "good" addictions (exercise, hustle, achievement) can be just as dangerous as obvious ones, and how the "same root, different branch" concept explains why people often swap one addiction for another without ever fixing the real problem. They also get into the practical stuff high performers need to hear: the "why test" for digging to the real issue beneath surface problems, why scheduling a vacation every 8 weeks is a non-negotiable for sustainably high performance, the power of a 15-minute morning stillness practice before you touch your phone, and how to do a time audit that shows you exactly where your life is actually going.

One quote from this episode will stay with you: "Feelings are like children, you can't let them drive the car, but you can't put them in the trunk either."

This one is for the coaches, entrepreneurs, and high performers who are winning on paper but quietly wondering if the cost is too high.

GUEST LINKS

Heather Simco | Sober Boss Babe
Website: www.heathersimco.com
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/heathersimco

BOOK MENTIONED

Buy Back Your Time - Dan Martell

If this episode hit home, subscribe to The True Form Podcast for weekly conversations on fitness, mindset, entrepreneurship, and becoming the best version of yourself. Drop a comment below with the moment that hit you hardest; Jack reads every one.

Hosted by Jack Graham | Melbourne, Australia

#SoberBossBabe #AddictionRecovery #TrueFormPodcast #SobrietyJourney #HighPerformance #EntrepreneurMindset #PersonalDevelopment #FitnessEntrepreneur #BodyAndBusiness #SoberLife #MorningRoutine #TimeManagement #WomenInBusiness #MindsetCoach #RecoveryPodcast

Support the show

Want to put what you just heard into practice? I've distilled the biggest lessons from 287 episodes into a free guide, 9 strategies to boost your performance without working overtime. No fluff, no gimmicks. Just the fundamentals that actually work. Grab it at https://www.trueformpodcast.com/true-form-guide

Want the quick takeaways? Read the blog post for a full breakdown of the episode. https://www.trueformpodcast.com/blog

Take the first step toward better recovery and overall health with Lumaflex.
Use code TRUEFORM for 10% off:
https://lumaflex.com.au/TRUEFORM

Most people don't struggle because they lack motivation. They struggle because they've been given the wrong approach, too much focus on extremes, not enough on sustainability.

True Form Coaching is different.

This isn't a generic program. It's personal coaching built around you, your schedule, your goals, your life. Together, we work across three areas that drive real, lasting change:

Mind - how you think, focus, and manage stress
Body - how you train, move, and fuel yourself
Identity - who you become through the process

https://www.trueformpodcast.co...

What if everything you believed about cooking your food was wrong? In this episode, I sit down with Axay Shah, founder of Raw Foodiest, bestselling author of IN NATURE WE TRUST, and a man who at 67, has been 100% plant-based and raw for over 16 years, with 21 years of documented medical proof: zero medications, zero chronic disease, and 8 marathons completed. Axay isn't a doctor or a nutritionist. He's a businessman who ran an experiment on himself at age 50, and never looked back. In this conversation, we break down why cooked food is draining your energy, how your body is like a business running on a currency called energy, and why listening to your body might be the single most important health habit you're ignoring.

In this episode with Axay Shah:

🔷 Why humans are the only species that cook their food, and what that's costing us.

🔷 The evolutionary reason cooked food was once a blessing but is now a burden.

🔷 How raw food went from a 6-week experiment to a 16-year lifestyle.

🔷 What a full day of eating looks like at 67 with more energy than most 30-year-olds.

🔷 Energy as a currency: why low energy is like being financially bankrupt.

🔷 The five "poisons”, Axay says, are wrecking your body's factory.

🔷 How to transition into raw food without shocking your system.

🔷 Why self-experimentation and tracking beat any study funded by industry.

🔷 Supplements: what Axay actually takes and why he's not against them.

🔷 His one practical tip for every person on the planet: start listening to your body.

Connect with Axay Shah:
Website: www.rawfoodiest.com
Book (IN NATURE WE TRUST): https://a.co/d/0j5uR0Am
Medical Proof: https://rawfoodiest.com/medical-proof/
Author's Website: https://innaturewetrust.net/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rawfoodiest/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RawFoodiest
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shahaxay/

Want the quick takeaways? Read the blog post for a full breakdown of the episode. https://www.trueformpodcast.com/blog

🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Watch me on YouTube

https://youtu.be/c1wyb-FE8yM

Support the show

Want to put what you just heard into practice? I've distilled the biggest lessons from 287 episodes into a free guide, 9 strategies to boost your performance without working overtime. No fluff, no gimmicks. Just the fundamentals that actually work. Grab it at https://www.trueformpodcast.com/true-form-guide

Want the quick takeaways? Read the blog post for a full breakdown of the episode. https://www.trueformpodcast.com/blog

Take the first step toward better recovery and overall health with Lumaflex.
Use code TRUEFORM for 10% off:
https://lumaflex.com.au/TRUEFORM

Most people don't struggle because they lack motivation. They struggle because they've been given the wrong approach, too much focus on extremes, not enough on sustainability.

True Form Coaching is different.

This isn't a generic program. It's personal coaching built around you, your schedule, your goals, your life. Together, we work across three areas that drive real, lasting change:

Mind - how you think, focus, and manage stress
Body - how you train, move, and fuel yourself
Identity - who you become through the process

https://www.trueformpodcast.co...