MARK Oh, this is very exciting. Hello. Welcome. Good morning. Happy New Year. Happy January. How has your first week been? There was a fantastic email received this morning from Mark Masters, the genius and founder behind You Are The Media Community, who said the first week can be so tough. It's such a jar to that wonderful pause that hopefully you had over the Christmas break. So, I hope it hasn't been too jarring for you, and you've eased yourself back in and you're starting to find that pace and that kind of rhythm, but also, you're finding yourself and you're starting to reconnect to that joy, that energy, that passion that you want to bring to your business in 2026. How very exciting. I can see Nick waving on screen. Hey, Nick, how you doing? Excellent. That means I must be live, which means I can now say thank you to you all for joining me this morning on Mind Monkey's Welcome Bananas Optional. And this is where we get to name, explain and reframe those monkeys, those hesitations, the limiting beliefs, the fears that whisper in our ear and slow us down or maybe even prevent us entirely from becoming or being that best version of ourselves. What is this all about? Why am I here? What are we talking about? What do I mean monkeys in the first place? And why mind monkeys welcome? What's behind that name? Mind monkeys, I'm sure, is a term you are familiar with. You may have heard it before. It's not my words. I actually asked ChatGPT, how would you describe mind monkeys? You know that kind of slightly colourful, warm, friendly, fuzzy, irreverent take on those hesitations, those limiting beliefs, those Things that we tell ourselves impact our self-value. And it came back with a lovely kind of analogy, really, which I'm going to share with you, which is this idea that mind monkeys are kind of like that unhelpful colleague who just keeps turning up at work and not contributing in a way that is particularly helpful. The challenge that we have, the majority of the people who are hopefully sort of joining today, is that we're self-employed. So that unhelpful colleague is us. These are the things we tell ourselves. These are the whispers, the hesitations, the worries, the wobbles that we are introducing into our own narrative. And when they do appear, we kind of come back to this. I've used this so many times. This wonderful equation, this event plus response equals outcome is something that I stand by a lot. I think it's very, very powerful. In the context of the mind monkeys, let's say something has just happened and let's say that something is less than ideal. This is where the monkeys get their cue. This is where they step in. They see an opportunity to weigh in unhelpfulness. They want to offer their opinion. They start chittering. Chittering is a wonderful word. I wasn't aware of the word chittering, I have to say, until I put the subtitles on for Stranger Things. And apparently all the Demogorgons just kind of chitter. It's that kind of straight sort I like that. Wine monkeys chittering. They start chittering. They start whispering their concerns. All that thing that just happened. That didn't go particularly well, did it? And all those people who just saw you do that, what must they be thinking? Oh dear. I tell you what, let's not do that again. And that typically becomes the outcome. We don't do it again. We retreat back into the relative safety of our own comfort zone. And we deny ourselves the opportunity of future bravery, potential success. Those whispers If we're going to continue with the monkey analogy, those whispers are in some ways the bananas, the optional bananas, or if we're going to be true to the analogy, the banana skins, the things that are thrown out by the monkeys to trip us up, to slip us up. The other day I posted on LinkedIn, I had this, I was going to create this AI image of me sat in a Mario Kart throwing bananas, because I did quite like the idea, just thinking about how frustrating those banana skins can be when they slip you up. There is nothing more frustrating than when I'm playing Mario Kart with one of my kids, even though they're grown up now. And I'm thinking, I'm catching them up because they always beat me. I'm catching them up. This could be the race that I finally win. And out I come. Little Mario throws out those banana skins. And there goes my kart. And I say, race over. But I thought, no, better avoid the whole Nintendo thing because they might sue me. My little head, my little plumber's outfit. Let's not go there, that sounds weird. Anyway, the banana skins that trip us up, that slip us up. The response, coming back to the event plus response equals outcome. The response we have to those whispers, to those banana skins is everything. That's what defines the outcome. Better still. Hey, John, never met you before either, but lovely to see you. Thank you for joining today. The response is everything to those banana skins. But I want to ask the question. What if we could get that monkey to whisper more supportive, more helpful concerns in the first place? What if we could retrain, reframe that monkey to actually be of more value and actually introduce thoughts that are more aligned with where we want to be and where we are going now? That's exactly the conversation. I'm planning to have with people, with wonderful guests on Mind Monkeys. Welcome. Now, I'm on my own today. Really, I just want to set the scene, give you a feel for what the show is going to be about, how it's going to work, talk to you about the kind of value and purpose that it's going to add, hopefully for you, the sort of listener and viewer, as you continue that ongoing journey of becoming braver and more brilliant. So what is the plan? Every month, typically ten o'clock on the first or second Friday of the month, that's what I've got in my head, I'm going to have 30 minute-ish chats about these whispers, these hesitations. In order to give them a name to those fears, because as soon as you name something, it becomes a little less daunting. want to explore the origin story behind some of those fears where have those monkeys come from and I want to challenge their relevance let's say in terms of today's you because that origin story those monkeys are born out of something that happened in the past that has had a meaning a decision a behaviour attached to it that's what the monkeys have learnt from And whilst that may have served you back then, chances are it no longer serves you now. So let's challenge the relevance of those concerns, those whispers, those comments. I'll help you build a more resilient, optimistic, a more accepting mindset. I make it easier to sidestep those future banana skins. The format is going to be completely organic. That countdown at the start, first time I've ever used that, that's pretty cool. I am most definitely not going to get involved in glorious tech, lovely little swift kind of segues and scene cuts, all that kind of stuff. This is all about having deliberately formal, light-hearted, engaging, valuable conversations. The topic, yes, it is quite serious. But I want to bring humour as well as value because again naming those fears embracing those fears changing that energy into something more positive something that works for us rather than against us that I very much believe is the key to dining down those hesitations embracing the 4 fears having more supportive monkeys Why? Why am I doing this? What's the whole sort of driver behind this show? So, again, as I've just said, I want to give a name to those hesitations. I want to reduce their power, the power they have over us. I want to normalise the conversation around limiting beliefs and foster greater self-value. One of the things that I always say when people say to me, where do you find your clients? How does that work? Do people just come up to you and say, oh, you know, I'm struggling? And it does happen. But of course, more often than not, those whispers, keep them to ourselves. and we're not naturally inclined to put up our hands and say in a very vulnerable honest and open way this isn't quite working for me so the idea behind these monthly conversations is again just to give people space to listen to other stories perhaps connect and identify with some of those monkeys that are being shared and think yeah okay that sounds a little bit like me I’m not on my own And perhaps now that gives me the confidence, the kind of focus and support rather than someone kind of sitting down next to you, rather than that sort of immediate coaching relationship, just that kind of slightly wider, less intense opportunity to start saying, right, yeah, I get it. I see this energy is not working for me. I want to switch it up. The energy that I've previously given to these beliefs, I want to turn that around. I want to make it something positive, something that serves me better. We're going to give you guidance. We're going to talk about how you can raise those levels of self-value and self-trust and dial down some of that fear. What's in it for you? We all have mind monkeys. That's it, we will have them. They all throw out those banana skins like little Super Mario. And the thing is, they can't help it. The monkeys are responding automatically to patterns, predictions, learned behaviours, behaviours that have been picked up by our brains from our past. Our brain is trying to shape our experiences and our outcomes based on things it has learned from before. Our brain likes, it doesn't like to do the same things again and again and again, but it likes to know what the outcome is going to be before it makes that decision. That's why it enjoys those kinds of patterns and predictions. So, as the monkeys are concerned, they are leaning into stories you have told yourself before in order to keep you safe from the mistakes that you might make if you ignore that historic narrative. But historic is the kind of key word there. The messages, the whispers that the monkeys are kind of carrying forth, they're based on, as I say, those decisions that we've made in the past, things that have happened to us that we decided we didn't like, that we didn't succeed in, that we messed up, that we don't want to revisit. Again, coming back to that, what did other people think of me when that happened? Best I don't do that again. That's what the monkeys are leaning into. And the question I want to ask and the challenge I want to throw down in terms of those automated responses is, thinking back in time to that moment, that event, where that response first happened to that particular event. Did we actually get it right? Did we actually respond in a way that was correct for that moment? Or did we misinterpret the data? More importantly, and the second question is, that historic response, that decision that the monkeys are trying to make for us now, is that still relevant today? Because thinking about who we've become, where we are heading, what matters to us most now, what is the response that best serves us and delivers the kind of outcome we're hoping for, regardless of the event that manifests before us. The first step towards building really, truly resilient, more optimistic response and raising that bar of self-value, having a higher, more honest, more confident opinion of oneself is essentially to say out loud, look monkey, I see you, I hear you, but I don't accept that your whispers are truth. You do not have to shape my response today. Through the conversations we're going to have on the show, we're going to help you lean into some of those historic habits, some of those historic beliefs. We're going to share mindset tools, little hacks, tips, habits that you can start introducing that are more appropriate to who you are today, the today you and the future you, in order to help you skip around those bananas. Now, it's entirely possible we will touch on neuroscience, we will get into neurochemistry, we'll dig into exactly what is happening, what's going on between your ears in those moments of hesitation. But mostly, and again, coming back to the raw, organic, natural, vulnerable, honest conversations, I want this to be about sharing learned experience. Experience is generously offered by the amazing guests that I'll be sharing the screen with that are literally joining me for no other reason than to offer their help to you. And again, there will be those tips, you know, tips on embracing hesitation, building a more abundant mindset. relatable stories of moving beyond limiting beliefs that have previously helped some of those guests. And I'm going to share some of my own stories too, things that have held us back in the past that no longer serve us and that we have moved beyond by having that conversation with our monkeys and saying, nope, not today. The beauty of having guests is it's different voices, different voices being elevated, sharing their expertise, as I say. We might get into recommended reading, recommended listening, other places that you can go to kind of help you build up that toolkit of things that will help you navigate around the banana skins We may well go beyond the 30 minutes. One of the comments I had from a future guest yesterday is, and knowing him as well as I do, we are going to struggle to keep to time because we do like to chat. And I know that he's got an awful lot of value to add. So I say 30 minutes. I don't know. I mean, whenever you're talking about mindset anyway, it's always good to building a little bit of buffer time afterwards to kind of let it sink in, get a glass of water, just give yourself some time and breathing space. So 30 minutes is the plan. I might keep you online a little bit longer but of course the beauty of LinkedIn and there's many reasons why I’m doing it as a LinkedIn live but the beauty of LinkedIn is you can watch it back at any time without any kind of subscription or login or kind of me adding you to newsletters this is just you know completely accessible as long as you're on LinkedIn who is going to be joining me let's talk about the guests so I’m not going to name too many names now in fact I’m only going to name one but I’ll come to that at the end Yes, they will probably be mindset experts and coaches in the first instance, people who live, breathe and work in this space. They practice and specialize in different sectors and industries and they know the know, they do the do, day to day. They help people like you dial down those fears and move forward. But my overarching desire is not to focus on people in this profession in terms of bringing those guests on. What I really want, this big desire that I have in terms of the people I want to put in front of you, I want brave and brilliant individuals who know that the biggest step towards embracing those monkeys, those 4 fears, is to put their hand up and say, I feel you, I see you, but no, I no longer intend to let you define me. And when those fears come back, those monkeys reappear because they do. This is why we're not talking about dismissing or removing. We're talking about embracing and again, shifting up that energy and having a much more positive relationship with ourselves. When they come back, we are in a place where we are more inclined. It becomes easier for us. It is just more natural for us to minimize that chittering and move forwards. So essentially, what makes the ideal guest for Mind Monkey's Welcome? It is anybody with a beautiful story around banana avoidance. There you go. There's a term you probably weren't expecting to hear today, banana avoidance. And hey, if this is a conversation that you think you can contribute to, get in touch. Hit me in the DMs. Like I say, the only criteria for being invited on this show and sharing the screen with me is simply this. You are a marvellous human who wants to help others. You are a marvellous human who wants to help others. Think about adding that to your LinkedIn bio. I wonder if there's a mind monkey saying, no, I can't possibly say that. I can't possibly pick myself up in that way. You know, I'm pretty good at what I do, but no. Sorry, Mr. Mind Monkey, not today. If you are a marvellous human who wants to help others, you are very welcome to share this space with me at any time moving forward. Told you the format, told you what it's going to be, told you what can expect, the whole purpose behind it. The last thing I kind of want to share with you is the feels. The kind of emotional element of why we are going to put out Mind Monkey's Welcome, but not as optional. I think it's really important to touch on that rawness, that honesty, but also the levity and the irreverence. These conversations are important, but they have to be enjoyable. They have to be engaging. They have to be kind of magnetic in a way that attract people into that space where they become a little bit more comfortable with that thinking. Yeah, this has been a hold me back. Now I want to do something about it. There's not going to be much polish, as you can tell. There's not going to be any sort of thrills, like I said at the start, no beautiful segues from scene to scene and lovely kind of animations and all that sort of What was really interesting this morning, because I was thinking about this, and this is a mind monkey of mine, and this is why I'm deliberately making this as kind of low-tech as possible. I was in the gym this morning. I thought, oh, wouldn't it be really good, you know, if I've got kind of notes or sort of a script to read, if I get one of those pedals, those teleprompter pedals that will scroll up and down, so, you know, keep my hands free and everything I want to read just moves. I was like, no! That's exactly the opposite of what this show needs to be. All of those kinds of thoughts of, you know, I can't possibly do Mind Monkey's Welcome until I've got the right lighting, until I've got a better camera, until I've got a list of at least 6 months’ worth of guests, until I've designed the logo. All of that stuff, that's Mind Monkey's whispers getting in the way, saying you're not ready, you're not good enough, it's not going to work, people won't tune in, people won't like it. None of that matters. I am rejecting those bananas. So that's where we're at. How are we doing for time? Not bad. OK, so let's just set up the next, well, the first proper episode then. So Friday the 13th of February, ten o'clock UK time here on LinkedIn. I will be setting up an event in the next couple of days. I'll be inviting you again. If what you've heard today, you like the sound off, if you know somebody who you think will benefit from kind of tuning in, let them know, tag them in the event, et cetera, et cetera. More the merrier. Everyone welcome. But yeah, on the 13th of February, I will be joined by the author of This book, The Easy Yes, the incredible, the amazing Janine Coons. Janine is, well, I wouldn't say she's a coach. She is an offers expert for coach-shaped people. So, the kind of people who do what I do, who are looking to build a successful, profitable business, but for whatever reason might have those kinds of hesitation, those monkeys around. So, what does that look like? what am I going to offer? How am I going to present myself? How am I going to show up for those people that I want to help as a coach? So, she's perfectly positioned. Also, and I'm going to unashamedly say, I adore Janine. I just think her energy is phenomenal. I think what she puts out on LinkedIn, the videos, the content, et cetera, is brilliant. She has this incredible energy, which I'm so pleased to kind of be launching the show with. And honestly, of all the books I read last year, this is the only one I read twice. The easy yes. So go check Janine out. I'm sure you know already, but if you don't, Janine Coombes, she's on LinkedIn. Great video content, great book. Go and find that wherever you can. I'm sure it's on Amazon and that sort of thing. Janine Coombs, ten a.m. Friday, the 13th of February. Together for that half hour conversation, allowing the mind monkeys in, but suggesting to them, that some of the things they're leaning into, those historic whispers, those stories that they are carrying forward from a time gone by, they're no longer around them. So, no thank you, not today, monkey. We're looking for a better, brighter, more appropriate future to where we want to go, what we want to achieve, and who we want to become. That's it. That's my monkey's welcome. What sort of comments have we got? Awesome. Ah, LinkedIn user. I wonder who that guest is. Surely, you're not viewing anonymously. I think I know who that is. ......... But anyway, I can't quite see the comments brilliantly in Restream. So, I'm going to jump over into LinkedIn itself now and spend some time in Any questions you've got, again, if you fancy being a guest, DM me. But any questions, anything that I've missed in the chat, I will pick up right now. Thank you so much, sincerely, for listening in this morning or watching back whenever you're kind of sort of picking this up. And again, if you think this is something that could be valuable to someone you know, share the link, let them know. The next one's the 13th of March, pretty easy to remember. Hope to see you on screen soon. Thank you again. Keep contributing, keep commenting. It's been a joy. I hope you've enjoyed it too. Anyway, take care. Have a wonderful Friday.