Welcome to OPTIMISE | HEALTH & BUSINESS, hosted by Christina McGrath and Skye Swift.
Explore health, mindset, resilience, performance and business through conversations designed to help you create sustainable success from the inside out.
Whether you're scaling a business, navigating a major transition, performing under pressure or simply know you're capable of experiencing life differently, OPTIMISE helps you build the internal foundations to support your next level.
Success isn't just about achieving more - it's about having the health, energy and freedom to enjoy it.
Clinical Psychologist Explains How Your Brain Creates Your Reality
Nick Jackson is a clinical psychologist who specialises in EMDR, and on paper his life looked great. Then a near death experience on New Year’s Eve forced him to stop and ask the question so many high achievers avoid: is this it? I sat down with Nick to talk about what that moment taught him, why letting go of control has been his biggest shift, and how working on his inner game changed the way he lives, trains, and practises.
We also get into the emerging neuroscience showing that your brain actively predicts your reality, how EMDR works to update old memories, why insight alone rarely creates lasting change, and how moving from hustle to flow can make striving feel joyful instead of exhausting.
Key Discussion Points:
A near death wake up call
Success that still felt empty
Letting go of control
Trusting your intuition
How your brain predicts reality
How EMDR works
Why insight alone isn’t enough
Hidden trauma in high achievers
From hustle to flow
Time Stamps:
00:00 Meeting Nick
00:34 The near death experience
02:58 Searching for meaning
04:24 Is this it?
06:09 Letting go of control
07:43 Why high achievers feel unfulfilled
09:17 When he couldn’t exercise
10:55 The feather, the brick and the truck
12:27 Trusting your intuition
14:16 Why logic can keep you limited
15:41 Growth never stops
17:01 Perception shifts vs toxic positivity
18:11 Your brain predicts your reality
21:05 What is EMDR?
25:02 EMDR vs subconscious reprogramming
26:51 The future of therapy
30:05 How healing is evolving
33:01 High achievers who say they have no trauma
35:05 Two triathlons, two very different races
39:11 From hustle to flow
40:12 Your energetic intention
41:32 Trusting what comes next
43:13 Why even psychologists need a coach
45:08 Making heaven out of hell
46:08 Where to find Nick
47:56 Final reflections
18 Oct 2026
Brendt Langdon: The Question Every Successful Business Owner Avoids
Brendt Langdon is a country Victoria business owner who built his career in civil excavation and construction before moving into the AI and tech space. On paper, life looked great, yet he still felt something was missing. I sat down with Brendt to talk about what happened when he started working on his inner game, and how asking one simple question, “what does Brendt actually want?”, changed the way he leads, decides, and lives.
We also get into letting go of guilt and second guessing, why giving should come from capacity rather than obligation, becoming more open and vulnerable as a business owner, and how he now uses AI to help founders stop being the bottleneck so they can get back to what matters most: relationships and connection.
Doing what you want vs what you should
Giving from capacity, not obligation
Ending the second guessing
Letting go of holiday guilt
Trusting your gut over the to do list
Vulnerability as a business owner
Never waiting for life to clear up
Removing yourself as the bottleneck
Building business through relationships
00:00 Introducing Brendt
00:45 The conversation that started it all
05:01 Why a country boy gave mindset coaching a go
07:31 When life looks good on paper
09:38 Doing what you want vs what you should
10:44 Giving from capacity, not obligation
12:37 Less overthinking, less second guessing
13:22 How subconscious shifts show up
15:34 Letting go of holiday guilt
18:42 How this differs from business coaching
20:30 Why he couldn’t trust himself
21:43 Trusting your gut in business
23:41 Taking the lid off your potential
25:36 The biggest change in himself
27:13 Vulnerability and relationships
29:08 Science meets spirituality
33:15 Having support as a leader
36:02 From doing to receiving
37:01 Still a blokey bloke
38:02 Why you shouldn’t wait for life to clear up
38:58 From tradie to AI
41:54 Removing yourself as the bottleneck
44:33 Who he wants to help
48:03 Business doesn’t have to be lonely
48:51 Why he signed on again
53:34 Health habits and dropping old stories
57:29 Collaboration over competition
59:35 Where to find Brendt
Key Discussion PointsTimestamps
11 Oct 2026
Finder Co-Founder: How to Solve Problems No One Else Can
Jeremy Cabral spent 17 years helping build Finder into one of Australia’s best known comparison platforms, starting from a single Google problem he solved as a young self-taught web builder. I sat down with Jeremy to explore where his drive really comes from, including a childhood belief that he didn’t want to be a burden to his family, and how that quietly shaped his entire career.
We also talk about the punk concert that sparked a complete physical transformation, running a marathon after being told he couldn’t, why letting go is often where the breakthrough happens, and what it means to finally choose a purpose for yourself rather than solving problems for everyone else.
Saving the family business at 15
Solving Finder’s Google penalty
Redefining the word selfish
Proving the doctor wrong
Leaving Finder after 17 years
When obsession becomes self-doubt
Ambition vs curiosity
Clearing old subconscious programming
Passing self-belief on to his daughters
00:00 Meeting Jeremy
00:33 Becoming a Finder co-founder
02:06 Not wanting to be a burden
03:43 Saving the family business with a website
06:11 Going out on his own and meeting Fred
08:16 Redefining selfish
09:04 The punk concert that changed everything
10:23 Committing to a marathon
12:43 Leaving Finder after 17 years
13:33 When strengths become weaknesses
14:38 Solving the Google penalty by letting go
17:17 Does he even have ambition?
20:28 Ambition vs following your curiosity
21:03 Why the marathon really mattered
24:00 Searching for a bigger purpose
25:37 Clearing the programming that holds you back
28:35 An unconventional breakthrough
29:46 From closed minded pharmacist to open
31:02 Marathon week mindset
32:22 A message to his daughters
34:17 Why high achievers keep things hard
35:02 The Bruny Island adventure
39:13 Documenting life for his kids
40:00 Seeing himself in his daughters
42:01 Shortening the time of suffering
Key Discussion PointsTimestamps
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