An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Be mindful of who you surround yourself with — Our emotions and energy constantly feed off by our surroundings. One thing that not only helped my mental wellness, but also my growth in life, was surrounding myself with good people who have similar interests. Here is a quick tip: Begin a hobby or join a group of like-minded people who will give you a feeling of belonging and motivation, plus inspire you to grow more.
As a part of my series about the “5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tim Hall.
Former Australian Rules Football player and mental health sports coach for 13 years, Tim Hall was named the 2015 Coach of the Year in Australia. Additionally, Tim has been a business entrepreneur for 12 years and is fully licensed in breathwork practice.
Recently relocating to Los Angeles, Tim’s years of professional coaching have equipped him with the experience to create an exceptional and unique understanding of the ways in which we can achieve more of our life’s desires and goals.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
I always had a nurturing character from a young age. As a 13-year-old, my mum suffered from MS, so many of my childhood years were spent coming straight home from school to look after her. There was no other option as she needed us kids, which instilled a value to always be there to help others. After she passed away when I was 15, I went through the next six years experiencing heavy emotions, feelings of failure and self-doubt, and with no strong guidance to help me understand this, I didn’t achieve the level of success and true capability at school and in sports. I thought of myself as a failure, and I lived that way. There was blame put on others who were not there to support me through it, but what I didn’t realize as a young man at that point was that everyone else was experiencing their own tough journey and doing their best to survive personally.
I have deeply reflected over that period of my life to not only forgive myself and others but to be proud of stepping up as a child to make my mum’s life the best it could be. I had to do things that no other 13- year-old should experience, and this is why I am a motivated person today. I know the toughest part of my life is done, so there are no excuses to except failure again.
After my mum passed, I slow motioned through the years that followed and it wasn’t until about the age of 22 that I started to change my entire perspective on myself and what I could achieve in life. I had a full-time job which taught me responsibilities, and my enjoyment and work ethic toward football started to grow. I began feeling more in control and knew that there was a lot I wanted to still achieve. I saw my past experiences as the foundation for my newfound feelings, and I started to investigate different ways of personal growth. I signed up for courses, retreats, and did research on expanding my mind to better my routine and my behaviors.
And so, my journey began… it led to playing semi pro football, studying more, taking a chance on a new job, investing my money instead wasting it on pointless things, and I bought a home. I was investing in my future. My mindset was growing along with confidence. I gained awareness in my strengths and was witnessing the best version of me and my life. As my playing career was coming to an end, I stepped up out of my comfort zone again to coach high-level football. This challenge is where I really discovered my leadership, management skills and relationship building qualities. It was a big step, but one my foundation prepared me for.
I was dealing with all levels of players, and because of my journey, I could see people’s true ability before they even could. I loved using sports as a vehicle to help guide them to discover this for themselves. This was the flame I always had inside me, but now it was burning bright!
As a coach my learning never stops, so even though I was on a solid path for more opportunities, I took my development to a whole new level. Not in modern coaching education… I wanted to expand my mind from a different angle. So, during off-season my journeys would continually take me to Bali where I went to learn and discover a more spiritual and holistic approach in my mind and see what would happen when I combined it all together. This helped mold my current coaching beliefs and the daily behaviors in the way I live my life.
As a former athlete, I knew this different approach would help other athletes discover a different side to them; to get out of the way of their old beliefs and let them see their true powerful side.
I knew with my life journey the highs and lows that I went through and the mindset to shift my perspective in life and sports could help other like-minded sports players to fast track their growth and success on the field and off.
So here I am!
Working one-on-one with athletes and business leaders to shape their mindset through self-awareness, behaviors and routines, and giving them a conscious and sub-conscious roadmap to help discover their best path and stay on it.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
A big part of my work is doing Visualization Breathwork and while I was still living in Australia, I was working for a professional football team doing some breathing with a selected few players during pre-games. I was guiding them to be focused and mentally prepared and aligned to their role. One day another player asked if he could join in the session after hearing about all the good results. Normally I would say no because he hadn’t done a session before, but I knew he was an overthinker and would allow his nerves to get the better of him before every game. It was clear that the session would defiantly calm him down and give clarity on what his role was to perform at a higher level.
So, we all jumped in a quiet room and did the breathing session. Afterwards this player had a dazed look to him which got me worried that he might pass out. But I kept an eye on him by chatting and making him drink water. As game time got closer, I could see his focus and confidence was different than normal and his first four minutes of the game was unbelievable! I don’t think I had seen a better start to the game by an individual player in all my years involved in football. The ball was a magnet to him, even when he got knocked on the ground, he would jump straight back up and the ball would just find him. Contest after contest he fought for the ball and found it again in a dangerous position and finished with the first goal of the game. He looked a level above everyone else out there, and to stay involved and as focused as he was takes extreme mental strength. Those fours minute were a turning point for him as a person and a player.
Afterwards we spoke and he told me that he never felt like that before a game. He felt calm and confident to go out there and just play. This is probably the most instant performance result from doing pre-game breathwork I had ever seen. I see players’ games show improvement over time, but his was from the very first minute!
He now swears by my breathwork routines and continues to practice it prior to every game. This has led to consistent weekly performances, and in fact, he won some elite individual awards that year.
Watching his journey, I knew the power that breathwork has in order to be mentally ready, but not just for athletes, for all of us!
Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?
Luckily for me, I haven’t really had one. I’ve been stumped on answering certain questions I have received, but vulnerability is not a problem of mine, so what someone might see as an embarrassing mistake, I embrace it as a lesson and motivation to get it right.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I would credit a group of people over just one. I’ve worked hard and taken risks to achieve everything to get myself to the point I’m at now, but all the people along my journey have been a big part of it. I believe everyone adds value to your life. From a young age, I have listened and learned off football coaches, business mentors, spiritual leaders and of course, my father. All these people have given me great values for success, but I haven’t always agreed with everyone along the way, which in some instances has been my strongest lessons to my success.
As you may tell, I am an open book and have never latched on to one person. I love to share and learn off numerous people as it allows me to continually have a growth mindset, different perspectives in situations, and be in a more balanced mindset in my day-to-day thoughts, decisions and actions.
What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?
I see a long-term change in all my clients when they have clarity in their true-self and their desired journey. This is when their thoughts, routines and behaviors will shift to consistently be more aligned with their vision and goals. Waking up each day with this clarity brings life fulfillment, motivation and focused energy to stay on track, but also exceed expectations.
Think about it! When you need to do something you don’t want to do, what are your thoughts and motivation levels like? You will make excuses and avoid the job for as long as you can because it doesn’t align with your vision and goals. Obviously, we all still must deal with those things like cleaning the house or car, but even then, the more you live aligned to your vision, the easier you will find motivation and see a desired outcome to take the required action.
That is why elite people and athletes have long successful careers at a top level. Even though they will get mentally and emotionally challenged more than you throughout a day, they are balanced in their thoughts and have clarity in their vision and goals, so their belief in those moments is one of opportunity to better themselves.
My biggest tip to get this clarity is to become more present every day. I guide people in breathwork, but finding stillness, meditation, yoga, journaling are great options too. The world is crazy with emails, social media, news, and more. The energy of the world, as we speak, has everyone on high alert. So, your personal time to be more present and away from distractions has never been more important.
Reflect on your thoughts, routines, habits, and your goals, and I guarantee you if there is a disconnect or uncertainty between them, you will be experiencing stress, anxiety, fear in your life today. This leads to one outcome… being burnt out.
What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?
We all have different strengths as leaders, so understand yours and lead by example in ways that inspire you. When your actions inspire you, your actions will inspire your team. So, always lead from your strengths and not someone else’s.
A leader creates a calm and confident atmosphere, always motivating your team to step up. Everyone wants a purpose, so give your team responsibility to have one. When we have a purpose, we have more care in the result.
Build relationships amongst your colleagues on trust and respect. Just because you’re a leader doesn’t make you any different from them. Yes, your responsibilities do, but if you want trust and respect from your team, you must give that to them first.
When I am in a leading position, I focus on these areas because all my success as a coach or in business has come from here.
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Mental health is often looked at in binary terms; those who are healthy and those who have mental illness. The truth, however, is that mental wellness is a huge spectrum. Even those who are “mentally healthy” can still improve their mental wellness. From your experience or research, what are five steps that each of us can take to improve or optimize our mental wellness. Can you please share a story or example for each.
- Find some stillness everyday — With television and social media our minds are always racing. By finding five minutes of stillness through meditation and breathwork, your thoughts will begin to process life differently; you will be calmer in the mind, you will give your mind a break to refocus. This is something I do each day, and when life is hectic, and I need to be more present. Close your eyes and practice being still.
- Movement — I exercise daily to help wind down from a busy day and prepare for tomorrow. Exercise allows my mind to get creative. An exercise can even be the simple act of stretching. By doing movement all down our bodies our brain releases endorphins which is a trigger for positive feelings.
- Journaling — Our minds are computers, always trying to process everything that comes into our lives. I believe, especially for athletes, that we overthink situations and life in general. By writing it on paper your words will allow you to not simplify your thoughts but start processing them in a more balanced mindset. I started journaling three years ago, focusing on gratitudes, affirmations, goals settings, and self-love, and each day it still has a huge effect on my mindset and how I start my day.
- Sleep — Our minds are like cars that need the right fuel to function properly. Sleep is that fuel. I was coaching an Australian athlete who would struggle to turn his video games off at night. He would sleep in during the mornings and the mindset from when he got up was one of lack and frustration. I challenged him to change those patterns, stop playing video games, and wake up at a more productive time. Within days he called and told me how different he was feeling mentally.
- Be mindful of who you surround yourself with — Our emotions and energy constantly feed off by our surroundings. One thing that not only helped my mental wellness, but also my growth in life, was surrounding myself with good people who have similar interests. Here is a quick tip: Begin a hobby or join a group of like-minded people who will give you a feeling of belonging and motivation, plus inspire you to grow more.
How about teens and pre teens. Are there any specific new ideas you would suggest for teens and pre teens to optimize their mental wellness?
When I work with high school athletes, I start with discovering the true version of themselves.
I do this by using daily routines of positive practices to open their mind and set some positive intentions for the day. A simple act of expressing three gratitudes towards others and the world around you will start your day in an appreciative mindset and manner. An affirmation to re-affirm who you are, your strengths, and the best version of you that you know you can be.
Doing a meditation or breathing practices, even for a few minutes a day, provides space to think, re-focus, set daily goals, and just have a few minutes away from the fantasy world around phones and social media.
Diet and exercise are important to instill at an early age. Diet for energy, weight, skin, and health. Exercise to get them out of the house to breathe fresh air and get away from technology teaches them social skills and helps to build friendships, better behavior and self-esteem.
But in the end, I tell parents that you are the one to set the example for your kid(s). Teens are all by products of their surroundings.
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?
I can’t say I have a particular book that has made a huge impact on me, but I love listening to podcasts about personal growth, especially by Dr. John Demartini as his beliefs and mindset are very similar to my own.
I also love watching documentaries about athletes and their life behind the scenes. Everything an elite athlete does, down to the finer details in preparation, their expectations, dealing with fame, and everything that comes with that, gives me a great understanding on how the mind works.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
It would be a breathwork movement for adults and for kids in schools. I have been doing this for over four years now and was hooked from day one. It has changed my life in so many positive ways and I have seen the growth in clients’ energy and mindset after each session.
Athletes I have worked with have gone from uncertainty to confidence, fear to focus. Their thoughts towards life, preparation and game have levelled up. Not only athletes but everyone sets high personal expectations. We are expected to be more and mimic others, which has been a contributor to rising mental health issues.
My goals are to bring more voice to this practice. Team up with a research team and practice breathwork on different patients to see the effects over time. I know it would help relieve comfort in patients and improve mental state. Our greatest power is our breath and it’s time we maximize our health through it.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
“You may be born with certain levels of talent, but you have to continue to grow and evolve as an athlete and person and make the next day better than the previous.” — Tom Brady
This is me. My life changed when I decided to expand my mindset and was willing to grow every single day. And note, the biggest change from doing this hasn’t been my success (but it would for most). It has been my fulfillment in life. Every day I am the true version of myself and push the boundaries so much more than I thought I could.
I have come out from being a quiet, low confident kid to building wealth, travelling the world, and doing something that excites me each day I get out of bed.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
The best way to experience my content is through Instagram: @Timh_pro_minds and through my website www.timhallbranding.com where you can do weekly breathwork practices for athletes and/or everyday life. Work with me one-on-one and feel free to personally contact me with any questions!
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Tim Hall: 5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.