Please find below some areas of the media where Paul’s coaching, writing, speaking, or life has featured.
In the Media
Paul Guests on the Do A Day Podcast Show with Bryan Falchuk
1st June 2020
This interview provides some great insight into Paul’s life, career, and approach to life and his work as a Future Mindset Coach.
Here are some key points from the interview:
Key Points from the Episode with Paul Stretton-Stephens:
- Paul Stretton-Stephens is a future-focused person, serving as a future mindset coach and futurist, as well as an author and speaker
- A “Futurist” is someone who considers the question of what the future looks like for us as human beings – what skills will we need, what will life look like, etc?
- As we live longer and you have a 60-year career, you may have multiple career stories versus today where we tend to have one or maybe two.
- Paul’s story started with his childhood, where he had been to twelve different schools
- This taught him the need for communication skills as you’re always the new kid and need to start over.
- It also means you need to learn flexibility as you’re constantly finding yourself ahead of behind the students you’ve just joined, and you need to flex to catch up.
- It was strange and tough, but the skills served him well
- Kids in the area he ended up in, Nottingham, were destined to work in a cigarette factory or in the nearby mines.
- He watched his father go into a factory job after his military service ended, and it didn’t serve him well, so Paul knew he needed to do something different.
- He chose to join the Royal Marines, and along the way, he met a couple of Military Policemen and found their work incredibly interesting, and he ended up joining the Royal Military Police
- He was posted all over the world – Germany, Canada, Norway
- He became a PE instructor in his unit, and as he was leaving the military, he found a civilian job teaching PE in the Home Office.
- As a coach, he learned that you’re not just there for the technical skills, but helping motivate the individuals who have lots of other things on their minds taking them away from the sport
- He did that for 10 years, loved the work, and was incredibly fit and healthy.
- One day, he got home, sat down, and tried to get up, and couldn’t. His lower left leg wouldn’t work.
- He ended up having back surgery that night, at 32 years old, due to a disc in his lower spine blowing out.
- His recovery took 6 months before he could return to work given the physical nature of his job.
- One day 3 years later, he was walking in the hallways of his work and hit a wet spot, and hit his back, blowing the disc out again.
- Because of the scar tissue in his spine from the first surgery, he had to go to a neurosurgeon for the operation.
- When he woke up, he had no feeling in his left leg, forcing him to retire from his job.
- A disability advisor talked to him about accepting things, while Paul had already enrolled in getting his business degree to reeducate himself and move forward.
- Why sit there in misery and rest on your laurels. That’s not Paul’s approach – he wants to keep growing and build opportunities.
- The purpose he set for himself helped him out of his adversity.
- In the absence of purpose and the absence of action means we just wallow. We can’t afford to do that as we only have one life.
- Paul was told by his doctor that he had to accept being in crutches for the rest of his life, and he just did not accept that.
- Instead, he started to think about what was open to him rather than what he can’t do.
- As he started exploring what was open to him, he found business, marketing and business management.
- He lacked the math skills needed, so he took classes in math to build his skills.
- He broke out of his comfort zone and asked for him, and built up in the areas he needed to so he could move ahead.
- He took a weakness he had, put in extra work on it, and got a 100% on his final exam, and remembers that feeling of making a weakness into a strength.
- Celebrating these wins, no matter their size, adds up to really build us up.
- He had found a solution for his back pain, which was debilitating. He got an electrical device inserted into his back that he could deliver an electric charge to the injury site that short-circuits the transmission of the pain.
- The process of getting approval to have it implanted took 6 months, which was very hard since he knew a solution was out there, had severe pain every day, and yet couldn’t do anything about it.
- He started to walk, bit by bit going farther on each walk, targeting lamp posts out ahead. He started by getting to one, then went on to the second, etc.
- Building our ability bit by bit, marking the lamp posts out ahead of us, we start to add up to the success we seek.
- He ended up having an opportunity to substitute teach a business class in high school, stumbling on a very interesting new career that he pursued when a full-time role opened up.
- Through that experience, he kept getting more opportunity and ended up becoming the head of a school.
- During this time, an optometrist found a cataract developing, with various specialists all thinking it was something different while the condition kept progressing.
- The concern was that it would spread and wouldn’t be able to be stopped.
- He also had an opportunity to move to Spain and be the head of school there
- There was no time scale for his vision, so he and his family decided not to stop their life for the unknown.
- His family loved the experience, learned Spanish, traveled all over Continental Europe, and took everything in.
- In 2015, he woke up one morning and realized his other eye was impacted, too, and had trouble seeing out of either eye and was forced to stop working by his doctor in Spain.
- In another “why me” moment, Paul asked instead, “What can I do now?” As he was not content to be medically retired again and for good.
- He had been writing a bit, and did it with a microphone instead of typing.
- He wasn’t sure if what he was creating was any good, and found a service to help him with edits and guidance (asking for help, again).
- He kept writing more, with short stories, then three books tied to his military experience as crime and military stories.
- He enjoyed the writing but missed the human interaction that he so enjoyed throughout his career.
- Some friends wanted help from him as a coach, and so he ended up going into that career as a way to continue the human interaction aspect of his career while still writing (though now doing non-fiction).
- As a child, he had been bullied when he was new at a school. At that moment, he decided this would never happen again, and enrolled in a Martial Arts class.
- That was when the switch was turned on inside of him that has stayed switched on through his life.
- For Paul, he feels that if something knocks you down, you just get up, and you carry on. There is no other choice.
- He knows some people don’t have this attitude, but he’s found that they have it within them, but it isn’t switched on yet.
- You may need help switching it on, which maybe someone outside your friends and family.
- It’s the difference between the “Why Me” and “Move Forward” moments. The more we Move Forward, the easier it becomes to do that next time.
You can hear the full episode here:
104. EXPLORING WHAT IS OPEN TO YOU WITH PAUL STRETTON-STEPHENS
The Resilient Team is back on deck with a new smile to join us!
27 May 2020
Paul had the opportunity to take part in another panel discussion on The Campfire Project complete with themed summer Hawaiian style shirts!
This opening question was: ‘How can we control our negative emotions and stop overthinking?’ A great question that deserves a great panel to discuss this opportunity!
On the panel this week we have:
Peter De’Catania, from Men’s Help Group Australia
Stacey Copas from the Academy of Resilience
Scott Carson – Life Assistant and Host
And, Paul Stretton-Stephens the Future Mindset Coach
It was an insightful and meaningful discussion. Here’s the link to the discussion
To view this discussion you need to be a member of The Campfire Project
An Old-New Friend
5th May 2020
I recently met an old-new friend called Kimberly Hambrick and I had a blast chatting with her on her podcast The Cannoli Coach. We chat about everything from adversity into action to coaching and the future. You can listen to the episode, ‘Can’t Storm Off on Elbow Crutches’ here.
Paul Features on the Podcast Thinking Like a Genius
2nd May 2020
RELISH THE JOURNEY PODCAST
24th April 2020
I had a fascinating chat with Myles who is a really nice interviewer. We discussed elements o my life history and my approach to adversity into action. It’s well worth a listen here
Paul Discusses What Opportunities Might We Find In Times of Isolation on The Campfire Project
What opportunities might we find in times of isolation?
Kenny Mammarella-D’Cruz FRSA Mammarella-D’Cruz, The Man Whisperer and Alan Stevens join me to talk about how to best use our time while in the midst of the CoronaVirus.
What opportunities might arise from:
* Being at home,
* Being with family
* Spring cleaning, house, body, and mind
* Connecting and Reconnecting with others, i.e. neighbours at a distance and online
* Learning and Development – take an online course, learn to play that guitar that’s been lying around in the corner
* Personal growth and inner strength
We discuss how we can stay conscious to possibilities while isolated due the CoronaVirus and how we can use this situation to our advantage.
Paul is on the One Day in One Year Podcast with Jerry Won
10th Feb 2020
The Host, Jerry has a really neat concept going on here with this podcast. The idea is as follows:
ONE DAY. IN ONE YEAR.
ONE DAY OF GRATITUDE, LESSONS, AND GIVING IN 2020 FROM 366 FELLOW HUMANS
One Day In One Year is a storytelling project based on the simple idea that we each can invest one day out of a year to be grateful, share life lessons, and give back.
We start by changing our perspective on how we define one day.
We’ll define “one day” not as a consecutive 24 hour period, but rather, as those same 24 hours divided across the 366 days of 2020 (luckily for us it’s a leap year!). That comes to roughly 3 minutes and 56 seconds per day.
Yes, they’re short, yet profound episodes.
You can check out Paul’s episode here: Episode 38 at https://onedayinoneyear.com/#listen
Paul’s Guest Spot on Real Talk Real Lives Podcast
10th Feb 2020
In this episode, the host Mark was interested in talking about how Paul’s life has changed since his two spinal operations. It makes interesting listening, especially if you’re experiencing adversity in your life.
The Episode is titled: How a spinal injury changed Paul Stretton-Stephens Life
Guest on the Talk About it Friday Podcast
6th Feb 2020
I had an interesting chat to host Wayne about my life, my writing, my Future Mindset Coaching, and Public Speaking
You can listen to the episode here: https://www.talkaboutitfridaypodcast.com/
Featuring on The Evolved Caveman Podcast with Dr. John Schinnerer.
5th Feb 2020
How Do You Bounce Back After Life’s Inevitable Difficulties? Become More Resilient!
I had a great conversation with Dr. John Schinnerer on his podcast, The Evolved Caveman.
Here are the details for you to enjoy:
Listen in on a riveting conversation as Dr. John speaks with Paul Stretton-Stephens who has overcome losing his eyesight, the use of a leg and crippling pain. How do we bounce – forward – after difficulty or challenge? What are some tools to develop one of the traits closely linked to success – resiliency? Paul is Mindset Coach, Futurist, Author, and Speaker who brings perspective, wisdom, and insight to the difference-makers in the world. His belief is that the more people experience joy, fulfillment, and peace of mind in their lives, the better they will positively impact their families, coworkers, communities, and the world. Apart from having been medically retired twice, Paul is:
• A husband, a parent, and grandparent
• A military veteran
• A former Physical Education Instructor and a Secondary Headteacher
• Currently registered blind
• Still serving others, only in a different way these days
You can listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/…/the-evolved-cave…/id1463310003…
Visit the Evolved Caveman here: http://theevolvedcaveman.com/episodes
Paul Shares His Goal Setting Formula, SMARTICS Plus on The Life as Leadership Podcast
22 Jan 2020
I had the wonderful opportunity to be interviewed on the Life as Leadership podcast with host Josh Friedeman.
The main purpose of the interview was to talk about my SMARTICS Plus model and we also chatted about some other leadership issues. Here are some insights from that chat:
LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS
– Deal with the key, elemental questions related to your goals before pursuing them wholeheartedly.
– When working on personal goals, identify whether 1) they’re intelligent goals for you, 2) whether they’re congruent with your beliefs, and 3) whether they’re success-based.
– When possible, work on new ideas on yourself before introducing them to others.
– Write down your goals and identify what your life will look like after you’ve achieved them.
– Involve others in your goals.
QUESTIONS TO INSPIRE US TO ACTION
– What is some lesson, saying, or experience that continues to influence your leadership to this day? Learning from lessons from a leader who wasn’t prepared for their leadership role.
– Use three descriptors to finish this sentence: “A leader is…” The figurehead of the organization; the ultimate decision-maker; and the person who is not afraid to effect change, collaborate, and cooperate.
– What is a question that leaders should be asking either themselves or others? What am I asking that I’m not asking.
– What book would you recommend to leaders? The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi.
– If you could get every listener to start doing something THIS week to help them be a better leader, what would it be? Become a super deep listener.
– As a general life principle, is it better to ask “why?” or “why not?” “Why not?” “Why?” is not asking enough. “Why not?” is pre-supposing there is something else out there.
You can listen to the whole podcast episode here.
On the Campfire Project Paul discusses, “How to deal with things beyond your control and contribution.”
16 Jan 2020
It’s a common feeling for people to feel helpless when something happens beyond their control.
I had a great conversation with Angela Heise, Leadership and Emotional Productivity Coach, Heather Joy Bassett, Transformational Spruther, and Alan Stevens on The Campfire Project to discuss “How to deal with things beyond your control and contribution.”
This thing might not be your responsibility but it is your problem?
Pop over to https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheCampfireProject/ to hear the full discussion. A #WeTogether initiative
#vision2020
Paul Shares His Goal Setting Formula, SMARTICS Plus on The Campfire Project
13th Dec 2019
With the year rapidly coming to a close and 2020 bringing new beginnings, goal setting and not new years resolutions, should be the priority. Paul Stretton-Stephens joins me to share his method for goal setting.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheCampfireProject
A Guest on the Stay in the Fight Podcast
13th Dec 2019
I was a recent guest on Kyle Shutic’s fantastic podcast, Stay in the Fight. It was an interesting conversation where we talked about my background, military service and setback recovery. We also chatted a while about motivation and coaching.
You can catch up with the conversation here:
Google Podcast: https://lnkd.in/gCPp_ir
Apple Podcast: https://lnkd.in/gWjCEQZ .
Spotify: https://lnkd.in/g3C6VAC .
Anchor FM: https://lnkd.in/gSUpDZh
Cheers, for now, Paul
Great Fun Over At the Campfire Project
2nd Dec 2019
I recently had great fun over at The Campfire Project with Alan Stevens. We had some very insightful conversation and as usual, overran, but who cares when you’re in the moment?
You can check out the interview here: https://lnkd.in/gkGb7pH
Live on Men’s Radio with Kenny Mammarella-D’Cruz
7 Nov 2019
I recently had a great Facebook Live with Kenny. I met him a couple of days beforehand and what a guy he is. We talked about my history and what I’m doing these days.
Nailing Coaching on The Men’s Radio Station
3 Sept 2019
Last Sunday I had the pleasure of being invited onto the Men’s Radio Station to talk about coaching. We had a great conversation and Russ & James were fantastic hosts.
We spoke about my Optilosophy Project at length and we discussed my onboarding process with clients which I refer to as a Discovery Session. We delved into the reasons for coaching and to be honest we only scratched the surface. An hour just wasn’t long enough to do the topic justice. But the good news is I’ve been invited back, so watch out for that.
Until then, you can hear the full interview here or click the image to be taken to the Men’s Radio Station
