Real Men Feel: The Courage To Be Yourself [Podcast]

Inclusion and excellence.

Listen to Real Men Feel, #195, “The Courage To Be Yourself” here:

Martin Stark is a Courage Champion and an Inclusion Practitioner who through personal experience has learned the importance of believing in yourself and unapologetically being who you are. He is also out to make boxing the most inclusive sport in the world.

“Diversity is about celebrating our uniqueness, while inclusion brings everything together. Have the courage to be you, but also invite others to join you.” ~ Martin Stark

There’s an old expression that claims to come from a Chinese blessing or curse that goes “May you live interesting times.” Which these certainly are. And it takes courage to press on.

Martin Stark is one of the most resilient men I’ve ever met. In this episode, Martin shares how a performance review got him to turn on his courageousness, develop the PACE system (Passion, Action, Confidence, Excellence) and create his own courage bank; memories of his most courageous times. We discuss maintaining a vacation mindset and the difference between excellence and perfectionism.

Martin opens up about his many surgeries and health challenges, including Addison’s Disease, and how they’ve shaped him. He shares that often the toughest part is dealing with survivor’s guilt and explains why he stresses inclusion over diversity. Martin also lets us in on his goal of creating the World Gay Boxing Championships.

Topics and Questions Include:

(0:35) May you live in interesting times.
(2:39) What does a courage champion mean to you?
(4:02) How did that feel, having courageousness come up in a performance review?
(5:44) What sort of practices did you do to turn courageousness on?
(8:08) The difference between excellence and perfectionism.
(10:10) Did you learn about courage and excellence from your health challenges?
(20:45) Dealing with survivor’s guilt.
(21:44) What is an inclusion practitioner?
(27:10) Slavery and racism in Australia.
(33:07) How did you discover boxing?
(39:20) What to do to add more courageousness in day to day life?
(40:42) Failure is great.
(44:39) Can you share a habit, practice, program, or book that has helped you?
(48:39) Is there anything you wish you had learned at a younger age?