Modern Wisdom - #052 - Leon Scott - How To Use Your Influence

Episode Date: February 18, 2019

Leon Scott is a Semi-Professional Footballer, Model, Influencer and Online Coach. The worlds of modelling, football and Instagram aren't often extolled for their virtue or commitment to mindfulness, but Leon is a non-typical member of these groups and is using his platform to promote mental wellbeing to the thousands who follow him. Great to sit down with a kindred spirit today. We finally got to discuss how we both feel about having a desire to promote mental wellbeing through our channels and the requirement to balance that with the "game playing" which is needed to be successful online.  Extra Stuff: Follow Leon on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/leon3scott Leon's Website - http://www.leon-scott.com Check out everything I recommend from books to products and help support the podcast at no extra cost to you by shopping through this link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/modernwisdom - Get in touch. Join the discussion with me and other like minded listeners in the episode comments on the MW YouTube Channel or message me... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ModernWisdomPodcast Email: https://www.chriswillx.com/contact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, hello, hello. My guest this week is Leon Scott. He's a semi-professional footballer, a care worker for people with mental health problems, an Instagram influencer and a model. He's also a practitioner of mindfulness. It's a non-typical set of attributes for especially someone who's quite young to have. That's the reason I wanted to get him on. His audience on Instagram is very big, and the reason that I wanted to get him on. His audience on

Instagram is very big. And the message that he puts across is quite unique. Talks a lot about virtues within life, happiness, and non-material goods whilst also being flown to Las Vegas and LA to do photo shoots and obviously operating on a platform which is usually quite transactional and surface deep. I wanted to give him an opportunity to put across an alternative point of view to the one of the typical Instagram influencer footballer mindset and he didn't disappoint. I'm hoping that this will open a lot of people's eyes to where genuine happiness can and should be found. Please welcome Leon Scott. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. Leon Scott is joining me.

Thank you for having me there, thank you for having me. Thank you for coming up. It's making me feel incredibly pale. I'm not used to it. I'd be co-host to the show, Joni and Yusuf, ones of powerlifters and ones of gymnasts. So I'm not used to being the not the leanest person on the couch either, but I think we're competing with each other today, which is, which is totally fine. How are you? Are you good? Yeah, I'm good, mate. Very good. Very good. Thank you.

Brilliant. You recently moved football teams, right? You're a new team? I did mate. Yeah, I'm at Wippytown at the minute. I enjoy it. There's a few lads who I know that I've played. I've played there before, so it's a returning club, very friendly family-ranked club. So yeah, I'm enjoying it, mate. It's good to be back and join the football. Fantastic. So, for the viewers and the listeners that don't know you, can you give us a little bit of background about what it is that you do?

You got an interesting, eclectic mix of elements of your life. And I want to train. Yes. Give a nice background. A bit about my background. Well, in terms of social media wise, how that sort of all kicked off was, I think it must have been about seven, eight years ago now. I was quite looking fortunate.

It was actually funny. And not as you've mentioned, I was playing for Wippy Town. How it all started. I was playing for Wippy Town. Just normal football going about a normal thing. And there was a young guy with an idea of a clothing brand back then, seven, eight, seven, eight years ago. It wasn't really a big thing back then. Well, not many people done it. It was now you see every other person is making a clothing brand up, but back then it was one like only your nikes, your Adidas, and so on and so on. So yeah, he had an idea. He asked me would I model his brand. Back then I'd

never done no modeling. I probably wasn't as confident in front of a camera. So I said yeah, yeah, let's give it a go. He was from Scabra, Metapatskabra, and we just done a few shoots. And funny enough, the brand now is probably one of the biggest brands within the industry that I've worked in, which that being six-ilk. They were like the first news. Back then, they were the first people to do it. I believe they were the first people to do it. I believe there were the first people to do it. It was a big thing to get it on a reality TV style back then. You know, if you could get it on someone from Jordy Shaw, from Tariy, etc. It was a big thing. Now it's just the norm. So he managed to do that back then. That's all they were.

I remember, you know, anyone who remembers like the proper heyday, Scottie T and Gars and those guys, that was the... Yeah, so that was it and that was his big break because back then they wanted to wear it. It was all kid to wear it. Now it's a honey wear if it's endorsements etc. So it's an order now. So yeah, so that's how it all started for me. I modeled for him. And then more brands approached me. Jim King being inspired, a lot of other big brands. I think that big break came from Futsalam. They approached me and asked me to do a campaign out in Ibiza. And for me, it was somewhere where I was going on holiday, so to go there and actually be paid and be able to see.

Yeah, it was a bit of an eye-opener because I do remember we were doing a shoot in Ocean Beach and it was all day of season. So we've been sectioned off in Monk, aren't we? To try and do a photos photoshoot and everyone else is in Orchard Beach, party in Dancing and Rhythm. Brits abroad. Exactly, giving it this and all that while I'm trying to keep us through here first. So yeah, that was a bit of an experience, but from then it's just been a complete snowball

effect for me, but on top of that, right at the start, I've always worked full-time. So it was quite hard to link it all together because my full-time job for six years was working with people of autism and Down syndrome. Okay. So all of that was intense, that was really rewarding as well. So when I did get chance to do the photo shoots for me, it was more of a, not so much of a deal, but more of a like, wow, that is this? I'm getting paid to do it. It wasn't didn't feel like work. Yeah. So obviously when I went back to my normal day work, I was full of energy and very grateful of me being able to do that when these guys potentially maybe never experienced what I was experiencing. So I did find a lot of bounties of in between all of that. And I just, it was just like I said, a complete snowball effect.

You got a big contrast there, right? So you know, you're going to go and work with people who've got learning difficulties and real behavioral problems, and then you're going out to some of the best party destinations on the planet. Exactly. So it is, I mean, that will be, must feel like a real contrast. It was, it was, like I said, that, I think that right at the early stages is where I did learn a lot about myself because there was some jobs I had been on and, you know, and every job I went on,

I am still to this day, like blown away by me, I'm getting paid for doing this, you know, and I think that's when it all started for me in terms of like appreciate and all that type of stuff because when I went back to my day job, it was just a complete two completely different fields of area of work. So when I was on the model and type thing, there was some people that I did do jobs with and they didn't really fully appreciate what they were doing or what they were giving or the opportunities of where the arm was going on. It was still a bit of a, sometimes a snot-y attitude arm, the model armness and I was just sometimes that really confused me with people.

And to this day, seven, eight, nine years down the line, I still try not to give that type out of tune, you know, because some people, when they aren't shoot, they believe are still think that model is the model, the model is the main person of the day. It's nice, it's a clutching of everything. You're there at the best of the show. You know, I mean, you're there to give whatever clothes it is. To the guy that designed the clothes,

to put a 150 different samples through it. It's not about the model, exactly. It's the brand that you work with. Again, I believe that's what got me a lot of work back. Not always my looks, I don't think it was the impression I gave them on the day and what I give back and my appreciation. it was the impression I gave them on the day and what I give back and appreciation. And I don't only just think that a lot of people said that. We loved working with you, it was easy going, we had a laugh, it didn't feel like work with us. So I would like you to come back and do another shoot. I mean, it's nice to hear that someone who goes into an industry that is quite shallow by its very nature, like you are there for your looks. If you do go there for that, the people are still taking

notice of the way that you conduct yourself and things like that. Oh, massively, massively. Don't get me wrong, I think looks is a big thing, you see, summer and you're a shatter with true way about the eye. But if there's nothing past that, then it doesn't keep you there. So what was the actual role that you were doing with people who'd learn difficulties and people with all those things? It was basically managing them to live their everyday life. What's the job role? Titan. Support worker. Support worker. So it's basically that they're struggle to live in everyday every day of life as we do things get up brush teeth get the bus go to college go to work, go to doctors go to hospital

see family etc so we'd help them and support them within that day so I'd go to work I'd get they'll get it with one individual and our support and throw is there make sure that you live the life as normal as you could within these means as everyone else you know because because they do struggle like the ones to go and visit parents what bus do I get where do I go we'd support them with that and we'd make sure they're like I say live a life to the fullest as much as their cut. Are you employed by the NHS for that? It was no it was a company value I believe that they are based in Harrogate, but they had about seven houses within the Northeast. So people lived on site?

Yes, it was like a tenence of... It was a big house with five tenants in and we had a staff team and said ten to fifteen people. And obviously that's... But there was different houses around the area, but the house I was based and worked was they were all young and very outgoing because that's what I liked. And not that I did go to the other houses, but they were also the older age who like to sit and watch Italian play board games. And

I think to get my full attention and my to be able to meet and deliver the best I could, I'd like to be more on the zone and zone on like you know like pass on my fitness type of thing, go on a football, I brought some to my football games, took them to the gym, you know what I mean, try to push them like a lot of them are young lads and wanted to live like young lads but maybe they didn't have the confidence, maybe they didn't have the support and that's what we were there for. That's awesome. So you've touched on it there that you also play football, so we've gone through one part of your life, which is the modeling and the Instagram, another which is the support worker,

and you're also semi-professional. Yeah, semi-professional back then I was at Downing, so that was quite intense. I was a very high level footballer. It was, yeah, we were, I was there for six years, we won four promotions in that year, I was captain for three years, so that was a very successful time at Dan and we've won a lot of promotions. The club got

the went down five leagues, there's a big story behind it, I don't know if you're not aware of it, back then, back then I think it was bankrupt so they were in a big stadium, the drop down five leagues. They've been in the feedings, right? Yeah, that's right, so the drop down, it's always been around like professional clubers and I haven't got a bad word to say about the club, you know, the big fan base. For a non league team, they're still getting like 1,500 through the year, which some league two clubs don't even get that.

So yeah, it was a very good time there. Everyone, like, say, four promotions. And so it was a little bit, a lot, I see I had. It was, it was I had, but it wasn't I had, because everything I was doing didn't feel like it was I had. If you get me like it wasn't like, I do like these guys that go to work and you know, a, a bricky or whatever. You want to go like, I feel leg graft.

I feel like that is I'd work. Agreed. And you know,. So for everything I was doing, I was obviously modeling, flying around the world, going to work in terms of support, support work, helping the young lads, and then I was going to football. None of that felt like I was really grafting apart from the only time I was going in the gym. And that was the only time where I was coming to Wales think going I feel knackered here but yeah was to try to keep all the free together and keep more tight because if one fell I felt like it linked in the other and so on and so on so I needed to keep in shape because of the modelling and I wasn't allowed to get too big because of the football you know and it wasn't allowed to get too tight because then I'd only perform

at my job so delicate balancing yeah. Yeah, it was, it was adding people. So how do you fit it all in? But is that all cliche? 24 hours in a day? And you know, some days where I've traveled to London and arrived at eight o'clock, 11 o'clock at night, I've got been put seven. And there's a 24 hour gym or something in the hotel, go down, shut a quick 45 minutes, half an hour, get to bed. So I would always make sure I had done something to keep within a feel good factor, because if I would gym or something in the hotel, I'd go down, shut a quick foot five minutes, half an hour, get to bed. So I would always make sure I had done something to keep within a feel good factor,

because if I didn't, I felt it affected me attitude and the way I felt. So it was like, what's your natural personality? What's your natural kind of mindset? Like, you know, without you, if you've just got a normal day and you're going about your business, what's your mindset like, and then what's it like if you don't train and then what's it like if you get it really good do you have swings and mood swings.

I wouldn't say mood swings in terms of I'd feel the more I tend to do the more energy I've got the less I do the less energy I've got. So I like to stay busy in terms of going to the gym being productive. If I find myself sat around doing nothing, I feel I always feel guilty on myself as if it's time wasted. I find it hard to shoot off, which my girlfriend always says, just relax. You know, out what you're telling, you're allowed to do nothing. And I'm like, well, no, it's time wasted. I can be reading. I can be listening to podcasts. I can be working on something. I can be at the gym.

I always feel like I've got to be doing something and ever don't. I have learned to accept, which my mind flutters as allowed me to do that. I have learned to accept that it is all care to do, nothing. Whereas in the past, I did struggle with it. And it is still times when I do struggle with it,

because like I say, I like being very active and learning and progressing like what I've done a day that's made me feel better or what I've done a day to improve or these are the type of questions that I ask myself before I go out to sleep each night and if anything I ain't got an answer for any. Nine times I'll tell you I have a bad sleep because I can't wait to get up the next day to get after it again to change these answers that I've given myself. It's interesting that there's a lot of parallels that I can draw between your experience and mine, you know, some of the listeners at home may be surprised to hear that someone who is a semi-professional footballer and an Instagram model and you know, flying around the world,

modeling for brands that are worn by party boys and party girls. It's also one of your main concerns is, what sort of value am I adding to my life and the lives of others? Yeah. It sounds quite contrary, right? Yeah, so different sort of mindset. It, yeah, you can see why people think that and look at that, but, you know,

I, I, what, which is the reason I did release my two books, it, it was to give some people back of what I've done myself and lent myself, test trial and error. I mean, I always get, which goes back to my job of support of living. I always get to kick out of helping someone, maybe progress or, you know, just chatting to someone in terms of what can I help with. If I can't, maybe we can just have a chat and listen, you don't have to take it in, you know, but I'm always open to help and I want to help, because I get like a little buzz off that that person is maybe lent, somewhat off

me, or maybe I've passed some on I've lent off someone else, because I always feel like all I like to give advice, I'm always wanting to learn as well, I'm not, I'm never gonna be a master with all the new old scene. I'm never gonna be a master. I'll always be a learner, you know, I'm always wanting to learn. Yeah. So yeah, you can see it, obviously that's, I take a life stable. If you take the headlines, if you take the headlines, semi professional football, Instagram, Wanker,

all the rest of this stuff, you know, flying around the world, got a good looking girlfriend and going on holidays and blah, blah, blah. But it's the same for me, like people say X reality TV star, club promoter, does the Instagram thing like, cunt, like that's just, you know what I mean? Now you can see it and that's just, that's just paid at the dollars by society. But then things like, it sounds crazy because I still to this day don't believe I'm not a model. I genuinely believe that because I'm never in my eyes models are the guys that do big fashion shows, the scientific agencies, the work and with these big billboards, the after-year, for the watches. To me, them guys are the models.

We've just me personally, and potentially, like yourself and potentially the other guys who do that out their model. We've just gained a little bit of a faller and through social media. And now we're used to model because of our faller. Because these brands know that we've got our right faller and that's seen by a lot of younger kids where it's the real models with the agencies who are sick.

They're not really used by the Clorvin brands. But one of the main things as well with my experience, especially in commercial modeling, is that the... I'd love it. If someone knows the statistics, please comment below. But I think that probably 80 to 90% of what would be classed as modeling work will be e-commerce. So it'll just be some guy and a photographer and maybe a stylist if you're lucky on an infinitely bored inner studio just shooting clothing shots. And

that's the highest volume. Anyone who's listening, you've gone on a JD sports to have a look at the new top, the night top that's just gone up or whatever it might be. Like that photo needs to be constructed and it looks like it's maybe a two second job. It's actually quite an arduous process to go through. And I think that that, and that's where the real, that I always make the joke,

that's the only time that for me modeling never feels like work. It doesn't really feel like work when you're on location. It doesn't feel like work when you're on location. It's always e-commerce. Like that's particularly, that for me modeling never feels like work. It doesn't really feel like work when you're on location. It doesn't feel like work when you're on location. It's always e-commerce. That's right. Particularly, that's right.

Then there's where I'm not hard work again. I was still all, whenever I turned up, I was grateful. But then when I did, where I did turn up, say I had to get the train six in the morning to get a Manchester tissue for Fortisarlo, and I'd look up the rail and I'd have like about 40, 50 T-shirts.

When it's T-shirts as well, it just feels like it's not going down. If it's going off, are you looking to get it? It's such any models that I listen to will know the feeling when you're looking at a rail on the other side of a photographer. And you're just like, we've been going, and then what you start to do is you look at how much time you've been in there for, we've got how big garments you've shot, extrapolate that forward, and then you're like, right? So I'm doing one t-shirt around about every four minutes and 15 seconds. So if I really speed up video guidance, pissing himself behind the camera because he knows exactly the pain that we're talking about. Yeah, it was one of those back then.

I had really long hair. So I got to start with like whip back. So it was like, I had to really like slowly get my t-shirt. Oh, you're going to be delicate with that. Otherwise, if I just walked it on quick, then had to really like slowly get my T-shirt. Oh, you have to be delicate with that. Otherwise, if I just walked it on quick, then I'd have to go to the makeup and air style so I'd read them here. So it was like a lot of pros.

So it's like a crystal, man. Yeah, literally. But yeah, then I'd look at the rail, as I was saying there. And although there was 50 T-shirts, I'd like, right, let's try and nail through, oh, I'll be done by one. And from experience, I'd do that, and then all of a sudden, they'll bring another 50, and I'd be like, fuck. Yeah, that's's try and kneel through. I'll be done by one. And from experience, I'd do that.

And then all of a sudden, they'll bring another 50. And I'd be like, fuck. Yeah, that's what I thought. Yeah, from there, I'd be like, right, I'm just gonna time it until the extra four. So the can bring it over 40 hours. So we'll knock off. So we'll knock off, yeah.

I mean, another thing as well, was it at the Sharp project where you went for the silent, where JD Sports shoot the Sharp Project in Manchester, whereas in Media City. No, it might have been the Sharp, it was out in industrial stuff. Huge big thing, you're checking at the front, it's all gated. For anyone who doesn't know, JD Sports own pretty much all of it, but they own Blacks, which make outdoor retail, outdoor get like trespassing, all the face and stuff like that. They've got foot silent, they've got themselves, etc, etc. And you have never, ever seen a facility like this.

So you'll have infinitely wall shooting studios, you'll have models facing models. So you'll have two photographers working away from each other. If you can imagine like an alleyway and at the end of each alleyway is a model that's facing each other and in the middle of the alleyway is two photographers facing away from each other. If you can imagine like an alleyway and at the end of each alleyway is a model that's facing each other and in the middle of the alleyways, two photographers facing away from each other. And then you've got another alleyway next to it and it's like four of these alleyways, each with a stylist, each with a photographer. And then as the rail gets completed, the photographer will crop the photos to the particular aspect it's required to go up online. And then there's a mezzanine level, like a balcony that overlooks where the digital team is, and

something that you photographed 20 minutes ago will be up online, ready to sell. It is. It's a fucking force of nature. It was like a circle, literally, and just fire around and straight. So as soon as you shot it, it would be back on the website. When you see something like that happen, that's when you realize just how sophisticated the e-commerce industry is now. Like they're not fucking about. No, literally it arrives and it's on the online,

so that was like, it just works so quick, but like I say, I used to always do every Thursdays, that I've a set a model for a certain look, but they had these shoots, they nearly every day, you know, like a model for a set and look, but they add these shoots, they're nearly every day, you know, like this model suits this look. So we've got them for that, this model suits that we've got in for that. They've got them, they've got a set of analytics on the back end as well, where they track the sales of garments based on the model. And then they're like, Oh, this particular guy's selling

at a 5% better than this person. And like, this is maybe for yourself as well, as someone who's kind of got a bit of a hunger for learning shit. Like, I had to distract myself from wanting to understand the operation that was going on, to actually focus on my job, which was getting the fucking photos taken. Because I just wanted to be like,

oh right, so where does this go? Oh my God, and it goes straight up there. They put it on straight away so how many do you do a day and I don't know what else is there like Chris can you just slide on the fucking mind so me so my was the other side of that as you were really interested that I was always really interested in the photographer side yeah so I would always walk over and say oh I would you say that I would do that not right right I know I just saw me just just go on I would need to try to take the camera which is where I live I progress now I've done doing that, right, right, I know, I've asked so many, just go, we need to try to put you in the camera, which is where I live,

I progress, now I've done photography courses now. Okay. So now I know, I'm like, I saw an artist's type things, but I'm not massively known on it all, but it was always something like, wow, how's he got that shadow there? How's he got that light there? It's some, I've always wanted to learn and progress in.

So yeah, like you're saying, you put it in my background. My background was on the Oxen, you were on the photography. Yeah, I was on, you back ground, my grandmas on the oxen, you know, I was a photographer side of it. You've touched on the mindfulness before, and I think this is where me and you probably have quite a lot in common. Would you be able to explain the journey that you've had with regards to mindfulness and where you started and what sort of learning to be an

exposed to and stuff like that? Yeah, well, it all started with I wasn't very very well-be-eared that skill in terms of, I had a very short attention, so I couldn't really sit in class and listen too much, I wasn't very good at reading them right in. So it was like, I used to always see people and all the reading books, I used to see, wow, the fuck are reading the book.

And I was like, now I get it. Was that as a kid, maybe? Yeah, of course, that was a kid. And I just didn't get, I used to think, I'd rather be bombing the pool, I'd rather be at the bar, like, you're wasting your time, but the not now that I get it, you know what I mean? So it comes in where my first book was

My Motivation Manifesto by Brendan Butcher. And it was like, I read that and everything just started being so clear and make and sense and then I downloaded an app called Carb which was free for seven days for anyone listening maybe give it a go and I didn't 50 it's like 15 minutes of meditation and the reason I enjoyed it is because I put it into practice and it worked, I tune right, and it worked, you know, it was like, wow, this shit really works, I do it and what I was getting told, I'm like, all right, okay, I'm going to try that. And then I try it and I'd get a good

feeling and a good reaction by. So it was just like, it just progressed and then from the app, I started Google and courses, it was a course not far from me, the main Buddhist monk sent in down town and as a guy that comes round our area every Monday and now we'll meet up with him, we've got very friendly with him, I've learnt a lot of him and just when I walked into the room, I remember my first day when I went into the room, I just looked at him and just without me even speaking, I was just like, you look so happy. And he sits down and stuff out the front and the way he's telling his stories and he's just chukling at himself. And he's saying, he's explaining, is a problem really a problem, but I go ahead and hit the data. I'm like, it's not like what you are saying is powerful and it's real, it's like I've never read this before, I've never experienced this

before and I used to always say myself like I ain't just saying this because I want to say it, I'm saying it because it really works, you know, this type of stuff actually works so try it, so like I was one of them, I did try it, I put things into practice, and it just progressed, and every time I do more, I want to do more and more and more and more. So, yeah, that's what I'll start, and I'm still on that journey now. I want to learn more, I want to go deep, I want to maybe travel and do more meditation and learn more about it. I try to stick to 15 minutes a day, some guys out there, I do two hours a day, you know, maybe I'm not a no-at-well, I don't think I know

I'm not at that stage yet because it's hard, but it's very, very difficult, yeah. But you know, I did at the start, don't get me wrong at the start, we went to the class and one of my best mates when we first went to the, when I told you about. And some past we did look at each other and chuckle and think, what the fuck is this? And back then we look at it, you know, and maybe that's why people don't do it because the thing, whoa close your eyes, the thing gets all this type of stuff, but it's actually not, it's, it's working on becoming a bit of person from within, you know, and a lot of people want to work on what looks good,

but a lot of people are blinding on working on what feels good. Fantastic, fantastic point. I think one of the things that's super interesting is that doing, when you work in an industry like modeling, very transactional, very surface deep and the whole Instagram thing, it is a wash with people that have got undiagnosed,

mental health problems or charisma issues or insecurities that they're then projecting on social media. And something that I always thought would be hilarious would be if in some different iteration of the world, we were able to have an Instagram that instead of showing someone's outward condition was able to represent someone's inward condition. And if you were able to compare the person who's got a lot of followers and looks happy and is always in a fantastic place with on holiday taking photos in the sunshine

and smiling and laughing, and you think, okay, if we were actually able to flip that and show your internal state what sort of photos would we see from that. And I think you totally right, the calm apps, apps like Headspace and Karma, they were a great introduction. Guided meditation is fantastic for people who need to make an entry into meditation. To hear that you said that doing two hours a day is fantastic for people who need to make an entry into Yeah, in the meditation To hear that you said that doing two hours a day is difficult and people think Well, you're just sitting sitting along with your thoughts how hard can it be? Let me tell you I went and did a

Meditation retreat in between Christmas and New Year So there's a place at Belsay up here to betten temple that we went to go and do it and myself and use if who's doing a 10 day 10 hours a day retreat previously. So he was already quite well conditioned towards this, but for me it was going to be new ground. And the plan was to do to total 10 hours of cumulative practice throughout the day. And we got to six and I just had nothing left in the tank. And it's difficult for me to describe what it feels like to have nothing left in the tank with regards to meditation because inherently it's quite a relaxed environment to be in. But when your days spent silencing

your mind, noticing thoughts as they arise into consciousness, labeling them and getting rid of them and then starting again and focusing on your breath. It's the same as doing a marathon. It's tough. It really is. But that's what I mean, what a lot of people, you worked out that and you kept going on that. And that's obviously the stage that I am at. Like, my girlfriend, she does it sometimes with me, but sometimes she struggles with these

thoughts that come and whatever comes. So put you on your things of these thoughts when she tries to meditate. So she tries to keep herself busy other ways so she doesn't think of these thoughts. So she's learning, she's getting better but what I try to pass to her, that's normal, that's okay, you know, did these thoughts welcome, you know, it's learned to accept and like we say, brushing them on the side, they'll come again, accept, brushing them aside. And it's like anything, you know, you've got the gym between your bicep, you do it twice, you do it three times. It gets bigger, it gets a little stronger, it gets wider, and it's exactly the same as

a mind, like I said, well, you don't fight your seconds today. Well, we'll do 40 seconds tomorrow. Progressive over that is coming up. And that, and that's key, and it's just every day, you're just that little more, that little more. And these fours become less, and then four sets are used to think of in the first 10 seconds, you might not even think about for the first four minutes. Totally right. I think what I've found, especially if my practice is deepened

and Brian, my meditation culture, will be listening now from America. What I've realized as my meditation practice is deepened recently is not necessarily that the thoughts don't arise, it's that your capacity to be able to deal with them is just so much, so much more, so much stronger. And the ability to let go, you know, something arises and the ability to let go. You know, that's something arises and you can just let go. Yeah, I think that's the main point for me learning, you know, sometimes he's 40. Regardless, these four to all was come. I believe until I get deeper off, whoever knows, but the four to all was come what the connections we have the photo for me has got weaker.

You don't identify as much anymore right? Exactly, so it's not like at the cum that there you go, the cum, you know, where's before the cum and I'd be like, you're in touch. Yeah, I'm getting really annoyed with it and couldn't fully understand why I was getting out of the photo, I'll fully understand why that was happening and that, but now I'm less sorry. Well you're either there's only two ways why that was happening and that, but now I'm lost. Well you either, there's only two ways based on the shins and young book that I'm reading at the moment, there's two things that happen. You either identify with them or you suppress

them, so it's an attachment or it's a suppression. And you're like, right, okay, I don't want to do either of those things, because if you try and suppress thoughts, that's still not dealing with it. That's putting a cloth over the top of the kale of the birds. Yeah, exactly. It's not working. You're not actually dealing with it. And the same thing is when you begin to identify with them, you're like, right, okay, well, now I'm like, I've jumped into it. I don't need to do that either. I just need to accept it for it isn't let it go. So, something else that I really wanted to talk about was your training. I think that a lot of people know you online from the fact that you do online

courses and you are in good condition and stuff like that. How do you think that marrying the mindfulness and the training stuff and your sport as well has working on your mind helped you with regards to your performance in the gym and your performance at football? Massively. In terms of football, I used to be a, I still sort of am because it's sort of my game. I'm a really aggressive player, I'm a sent-and-made aggressive at the ball, tackle it, break it up, pass it on, move it on, they're not so talented one. Monday, Vinny Jones. Exactly. So yeah, so, but it's let me, as I've got older, the mindfulness is to control these, you know, I've got a lot

of sending off spacking my day, but now I'm a bit more clever about the way I go about things, because like I say, the mindfulness has helped me with that, to deal with like, you will always get the on-player whan in each of a ripple. I always feel like I can win that mental battle when we're whan in each of a ripple now. So, so the mindfulness definitely helped me on the football pitch and also like learning to control situations and heat at the moment because everything that arises for me, not just on the football but in life and the gym. My first part is practice, it's training, it's training. So if I become a difficult challenge comes to it, perfect opportunity

for my mind to get through it now. Instead of, oh shit, I can't deal with this. For me, it's like, oh, brilliant, this, this problems come up. So this is a perfect opportunity for my mind to tackle this problem and overcome this problem. And without this problem, my mind will get stronger. And so things like that on the pitch in my mind, like the mindfulness has definitely helped me within the gym. It's made things a lot more clear and a lot more acceptable for me. You know, like I said, back in the day where I got really big and it wasn't acceptable for

modelling and then I have to trim down for football, you know. So there was a bit of a, like I was always battling with things. So now I feel like I've found that, like, that, you know, that fight club lane type look that everyone types like, you know. And I wouldn't say it everyone, but majority of people do like that lean look all each other on. I know some have got to do competitions, et cetera, et cetera.

So, but yeah, I think overall, the mindfulness, I think has massively helped me in all, everything I do in my work, my football, my gym, which is why, like I said, which is why put it into practice, like anyone watching, give it a go and put it into practice, and you will see, it's not just me saying it because I want you to do it, or, you know, I'm saying.

But I'm in a commission scheme here, but I'm in a commission, I'm in a commission, I'm doing it, because it's worked, like the shit's like, it's, it's up there. I won't do so. I won't put this way. You won't continue to do some of it. That's not work and that's not giving you good feelings.

You look at, you know, as a good example as well for yourself, you are a guy that wants to try and continue to refine different elements of his life, right? Yeah. So you're looking at, I didn't read Nouried and I didn't approach football in this way and now I do, and I used to train in this particular fashion that I found that this worked better for me. You're totally right. Like, do you think that if mindfulness

wasn't working for you, that you just continue to smash your head against the wall for 15 minutes every single day? No, you wouldn't. You wouldn't. You wouldn't. You're doing it because you get this thing out of it. I think, what do you think is the UK's or the normal UK young person's approach towards when you mention mindfulness because sometimes when I say it to people, I just get this look and it's like a, I don't know. It's like I've spoken about being a fucking stanker like. Yeah, well, I've gone back to my younger days, how I would have fought, if you told me when I was a bit younger and probably the rebel that I was and a little bit of that background but if you told me it now I'd be like, yeah no my first fight is these guys

in these dresses and you know it's like what to do though and that's probably majority of what a lot of lads are younger lads with duo are the may to be like what you sit there with a monkey, meditate. That's not cool. You know, it's like what you got the gym in your work and then you're out of the out about trying to work on your inner lock and see the difference in how you feel. So it's just becoming more aware and shown people like it works and and letting people accept it, you know, and doing it. So, yeah, it's one of them. I think it's a bit, not done, but maybe a bit,

it's not a bit manly for a man to sit in the room. Very much so. Very much so. I think that's a good point that, you know, when both Northern lads, like both from Teeside, like, it's not the sort of place that I heard meditation talked about an awful lot as I grew up. And maybe if we were in LA, there was a fucking juice bar on every corner and everyone's vegan and they're wearing, not wearing any shoes, everyone's walking around

fucking bad. Then it becomes type cool. It's just, I think that kind of more progressive side of things is there. And obviously America's got a lot of different influences on it. It's quite fast moving. There's something inherent as well, I think, in the British people that everything's just a bit shit. Yeah.

I mean, like everyone's like the weather's crap. Yeah. And honestly, it's just that type of thing. I mean, there's traffic in this day and there's that. And I think everyone tends to be a little bit more critical about it. But that's what I mean. That is the reason why you need to do it. Yes.

And you've got to deal with the shit traffic and the shit weather. Exactly. So obviously, by constantly, you've got shit weather. You can't change the weather. The weather's shit. You've got shit traffic. You can't change that.

But what you can change is your feeling, your attitude towards that, and that's where people feel like, oh, fucking traffic, I fucking weather. You're gonna continue to do that more than about that all your life, are you gonna try and deal with it in another way? So you can sit in a traffic and accept the traffic.

So you can walk out in the rain and enjoy the rain. You know, it's not always, don't get me wrong, it's not always going to be like, ah, we all love the sun. So it's working towards that and making them feel a little bit better, when we go to work and we sat in traffic and we're beeping our own, maybe just chill out and just accept it. I wrote a article that right now will be out in muscle and fitness for this particular month of February and it was on mindful muscle I called it and it was a 2,000,000 word. Testimonial to mindfulness training and then a couple of prescriptive meditations that you can do yourself. And in that one of the part and thoughts that I had was that your mind is all that you have and it's all that you've ever had.

And your life shouldn't be spent at the mercy of the next action or thought that comes careening into your consciousness. Like, if you spend your entire life at the mercy of things that are outside of your control, you're literally handing your life over to everything else. If you know that traffic will set you off and the weather will set you off and you miss it, having an argument will set you off and this and the other,

you're literally handing control of your life over to something or someone else that isn't. It's not your control. It is. There was a tattoo on that. There was some type of diagram a few years ago that I've seen in terms of like you're seeing the traffic, you know, all these little things that annoy you.

It's like a bucket type thing. If you get up on the morning and you stand on summer, and it goes up, then you go and look for your toothbrush, you can't find it, you get your mornoy, the bucket goes out, then you can't find your car keys, it goes out. Then the smallest thing, the light changes from amber to red just before you get there, it's fucking, it's like, now the booker overflows, so it's instead of like, oh, instead of standing on that plug of like, right, okay, I've like, like, like, let go, it's gone, then bring it back down.

But that's what you're talking about, there's like little things, no, you know, you know, and then you'll have this real big outburst, maybe when you get to where, you think, and then you'll have this real big outburst maybe when you get to where you think, two minutes after you think, oh fuck, I shouldn't have done that. Because it's all come from these little buildups that you've not let go of and you're still all do not, you're getting really aggressive and really annoyed at, but it's the straw that broke the camel's back. But we can't see that off because it's within the mind and it's that, you know, if I gave you a hot call in your animal, would it be the first thing you'd do? You'd leave Gover, you know, so if a thought hurt in you and bringing your pain, why is it walking around with it like, oh Chris, you do my editing, so I'm going to walk around

all day, I'll walk around. And like, that's just painful, you know, so like, all right, Chris, it's me, that's all that got gone. And it's like, if people can visually see that, which is what I'm then and what I'm then, if you can visually see that, you'd let go of it straight away. Well, they say anger is holding onto a hot cold in the hopes of throwing it at somebody else. Exactly, yeah. So you just walk around and you'll try to look for someone else

to let it out. Or to let it out. Yeah, to let it out. And then after that, become regret and everything else. Yeah. And one of the things that I wanted to move on to was talking about the platform that you've got and the other people have online and what they're using that for.

So I mean, if you were to try and, how would you define the message that you want to try and get across to people? And the message to try to get across to people like, there's a lot of opportunities out there to keep learning and progressing, whatever field you're working in, whatever area you want to improve. There's a lot of stuff out there and that I'm still learning that and that's why I'm still progressing into that. I'm just trying to give out not this luxury life that don't get me wrong.

A lot of people like it is good to have, but you've got to try the journey I'm on. It's trying to find happiness from within, you know, and, and, and putting that back to people. What I'm learning, I want them to put back to people. So yeah, it's a, it's a big journey, but that's one of the main reasons that I want to use my social on my platform from. I do get, I do understand. There's a lot of big people out there that you do have to use it for some type of income, you know, some work, you've got to do sponsored posts, I do get that and there will be time where I may have to do that, but the main reasons is obviously I want to push out that the is also false. There's not always, you know, it's not always look sure.

What does happiness mean to you then? Happiness means to me. Elping others progress within the life and finding more about themselves. I'd like to say, so I'm like I say, I'm still learning that about myself. If my love ones are happy around me, the people who I love are comfortable, happy and pain free. I think that is my overall aim. It's amazing to have all these luxuries and attachments that go with it, but I think that becomes because of society and what people are pushing on you and he's got the latest training.

But would you really get them if it wasn't a trend, if it wasn't a fashion, etc., you know, it's finding something else that makes you happy and not something that's an attachment? Yeah. I mean, the hedonic treadmill, there's a really interesting study that use of sites all the time, where he talks about people who become disabled and lose the use of their legs and people who win the lottery

and have like an essentially an unlimited amount of money, they're self-rated happiness after six months is the same. So they have this particular baseline of happiness at month zero, then this incident occurs and they split off and then by the time you get back to six months, both of them have adapted. So I think people that presume that material goods will bring them happiness are chasing down an endless treadmill that's not really actually got anything in the end of it. Exactly. But like I recently learned that one of my courses on meditation that, you know,

attachments will eventually cause suffering and pain. You know, if you're relying on attachment for your happiness, you know, I want the next big car. Okay, I've got the car. Now I want another car. So you're off like you say now, for every chance in the summer, for your happiness, that's only giving you temporary happiness. And again, this is some of our blend and wanting to prove this in terms of trying to find happiness from within. So I'm just happy just starting with you, Chattano. You know, and like, all I do, don't get me wrong,

I'm not saying I don't like a nice car, I don't like nice clothes, because that's the industry that I'm in. You know, and that's the industry that sometimes I in. You know, and that's the industry. Sometimes I feel like I've got to be in, to still have the connection to be able to still speak and pass the message. You still got to come across cool and not crazy. If you were given the choice, would you just be in a pair of elephant pants and barefoot? Yeah, I really would.

If that was acceptable, but again, that's me. I'll kind of say it. If that was acceptable in terms of, because if I just done that now, people would go, they just lost the plot. Literally. And no one would listen to me and what I'm trying to pass out and what I'm trying to say.

You know, so there's a lot of celebrities that's done it where people think, oh, he's got crazy, but when you look like, there's a perfect done, I was going to say, I don't raise. But yeah, these type of people where people go, there's lots to plug, and then actually if you're looking at what they're trying to say, what they're trying to deliver. He's not, he's fucking enlightened. Yeah, they're not off the plot, but a lot of these people are like, oh, he's gone crazy.

They're not. But that's what I'm saying. If me and you, all of a sudden, just... Barefoot, elephant pants, no. Yeah, there's a string back. There's two lines of fucking death. Yeah. It's going to be good, I did.

So I think you've touched on something that's really interesting there, which is that an easy criticism of what you've put across and what I put across as well is, yeah, like good one mate. You talk about all of this mindfulness, but like, you still drive around in a nice car and you're still like, where nice clothes and you know, you're still upload topless photos and stuff. You're not uploading a nice photo of a piece of tree bark

or something like that. And I think the point that is the due-ledg sort of this is that you still need to play the game. We have to play the game. And as you've said, the titular rule. It's not clear the rule that you're given, type thing. You can't just jump from one thing to another when people are ready. Well, yeah, I mean, you need to capitalize on the effective strategies within the particular platform that you're trying to do. Like, it's all well and good. You're being a fantastic footballer, but if you turn up to practice with the tennis racket, it doesn't matter. You're

not, but you're no longer playing the game. And Instagram has the social media platform in general, it has a set of rules. But I think that one thing that is very positive is the fact that you're able to try and put across an image, which is still within that. But on the other side of message, which is maybe trying to progress people's minds a little bit more, you know, in 10 years time, if you go Jim Carrey and you've got to be here, then you've got to see him. You know why? It's been a journey.

It hasn't just long-gain. I just needed to bring you with me. Exactly. It hasn't just been like, boom. It's like a progression thing where you can see, maybe he's getting more cruising. Yeah, more ridiculous. I'll go with him. That is what I'm saying, I'll go with it. I'll see what he does. Yeah, and that is where I'm, that's a perfect what you see.

And you've got to play the game until, you know, you've got to slowly give the, give people what I'm learning, which obviously the people who I'm learning off, that's what I'm feeling off there. Because if I just turned up with a Buddhist monk one doing my hair to be like, are you taking a piss? Yeah. You know, because at the end of the day, I'm still alive. I'm still like, I still have a laugh, I still piss about like I still have a laugh. I still piss about I still have a drink

I still do all the large things But in my spare time, I'm still wanting to learn about myself, you know, within side myself. Yeah, I think It's something that I often get conflicted about which is that There's certain elements of the game that needs to be played with whether it be to do with Club promo or, you know, for me, particularly one of them is the fact that I need to use my phone and I need to continue to use the Instagram platform and my other socials to grow my exposure, which enables me to put things that I genuinely value like this podcast and other projects that I've got coming up across, having to do that whilst not actually believing in the platform itself, like, you know, if I was able to do it in another way, like if I was able to, if I was able to grow my exposure

through meditation hours, like, like, meeting on the cushion, I mean, so, but it's, it's difficult. Do you ever get conflicted with that with having to do the Instagram thing whilst you... Yeah, well like you just twist upon that. I'd love to go to a meditation class and video or take pictures of the meditation. And that... That'd be the con. Yeah, which is what I try to break it up as my stories for that. I'm on main pages of a message, mother, you know, like my projects in terms of like my books,

my six weeks that I've just put on. That's what I'm wanting to do to help people. So I think that I'm learning, I'm wanting to help in that way. So I still need to, I need to practice what a preach type thing is no point me saying, I'll lean 365. being fat 365, you know, these types of things. Exactly. So I need to, that's the message I'm trying to put across on my page, but with that, with me working on my physique, I'm also trying to show within the captions,

the mind type of things, because I can't exactly show my mind on a picture, but I try to show what my mind's seeing or what my mind's lens, but the image of the picture is the physique, what people want to see, or what the one who, well, as she's assumed the one I see, maybe do I see a different one? Maybe dadbugs coming back. Yeah, maybe, well, we'll do bulkings here. If we come back in 12 months time and dadbugs.

We'll do a dadbed on this at any time. That would be great. Some of dadbugs. Well, I'll around. We'll time and dad would do a dad bed on this at any point that would be great. Some are dad, but I know. Well, I'll arrive. Just a few burgers there. I mean, that would be great. I hate having to be in a fucking deficit. But yeah, like I think you're right.

And for people out there who are maybe thinking that it's quite easy to see the lifestyles and stuff to get put across on Instagram and take them at face value. But we've got somebody here, you get two people sat in the same couch who were both saying that the images that we put across are us playing the game. And still something we're proud about, you know, this photo shoots that I'm sure that you love and there's ones that I love as well. And, you know, I think I really, really like that photo of me. I think that photo is awesome. But it's

not me. That's not that's not the essence of who I am. And I don't think it's necessarily the essence of who you are either. It's like, look, like if there is someone that you really, really idolize, think about the message that they're putting across and be maybe a little bit more critical about how high of a pedestal should I put this person on? Like, is it just the fact that they're good looking or if they actually got values that I care about? Have they actually got a level of integrity that I would want for myself? And an easy litmus test, the canary in the coal mine for this is, do you genuinely, genuinely think that that person's happy That because for the most, I know, you know, both you and me will not shitload of people that work a lot on Instagram and have a big

following and this that and you're doing the fucking miserable. Yeah. And that's why I'm sad and that's why I've proved you put the meditation, put the learn and put the read and put it into practice because he has been sad and there's still his times when I'm an appie, I still got fortunate feelings when I'm sad and I'm upset and you know but these forties feelings these moments have become easier for me become less of a problem for me you know I still get them and I will always get them until I get further maybe maybe the mic or maybe the one but you know as people it were constantly still going on about maybe the one, but as people, it was constantly still going on

about maybe not going on, but still having these problems and still suffering these thoughts and feelings, but they're doing nothing about it. Yeah. So which is what? Even doubling down and covering them up. Yeah, I'm trying to, I don't try,

run for them, trying to pretend that, they're happy with the little little little cardless, clover and like, yes, that does make you happy. It makes me happy. It would make you happy if you went and bought like Brand-new pair of trainers. It does as all but maybe for a short space of time It's not wrong. We're still doing that but also working on yourself from within, you know But is it like the message I try to put across the view track combined them both? Well, even all three, you know your lifestyle you live Your mindfulness from within and the look on the outside in terms of your fitness, whatever

like, if you can combine all them three, then you will start to find some like some middle ground of happiness, and that's some of that I'm searching for and still looking at every day. Yeah, that's awesome, man. So before we finish up, are there any resources or books that you would recommend to people, any websites or blogs that you often visit? There's an app, obviously the cam app that we spoke about. There's a reading app that I always use, called Medium, if you have heard of that. Medium's fantastic. So again, any topic that you're interested in, just download the app

medium, set the top, it brings anything up, and just have a read on it you know and do only like 10, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, little articles that you can read and find some really useful information. There's a car, you get a seven days trial so you can do it seven days if you don't feel anything from it, you don't, if you do, you can get the app for a little longer. Motivation Manifestos one of the best books I read. Maybe try and find one of your local Buddhist centres, give it a go see how you feel. Again, it's putting these things into practice. I'll be the first to say I wasn't the best reader at school and as I'm still not now, you know, which is

why I only reach for 15, 20 minutes max half an hour. I'm not one of these who can sit and read for two, three hours. I was a book having a day. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My head just goes all over and I'm thinking of this, thinking of that. But it's getting better, you know, and a lot of my mates and even my family, like, what you read now. Like it was probably the last thing I'd ever think of, you know, when I was back at school, even in college when I played football for Millisbury, because I just didn't get it, but now I get it, I get what they're doing, they're working on. It doesn't even have to be working. It might be just a really nice story that you'll find. Good fiction. Yeah, you're just getting lost, like it's just sometimes in a book, you just like, you know, it's like, wow, wow, you just get

lost of what's actually out there, you know, and disengage from everything else. And it's relaxing and it's peaceful. So yeah, read the reading as highly performance obviously, Brendan Butcher's high performance obviously. That's a really good book in terms of business and applying maybe what goals you've got, maybe what ambitions you've got, and getting the best out of yourself, getting the best out of your team, what's around you, the resources. So that book was good for that. So yeah, that's a few things that I would... I'm a massive fan of medium.

We spoke about it on a life hack, a previous life hack episode, but it's just like the best curated new site that you've ever heard of. So imagine the top filtering of every blog on the planet and it submitted the apps beautiful. It remembers your place, you can get suggestions sent. It's like, if Facebook was meant for learning shit, like, and every, it's like, oh, you recently read something about cryptocurrency. So here's something else that kind of is associated with that. It learns of a type. I absolutely love it. I'm a massive, massive fan.

Yeah. So Leon, where can the listeners find you online? And you can find me on my Instagram, Leon free Scott, or you can find me on my website. It's just Leon. Dash Scott. Dot com. And if there's anything you want to ask me,

just drop it in my comments on the latest picture or DM me. If there's anything I can add up with, I'll find the time I get back to you. Man, it's been a pleasure. Thank you very much for having me. Thank you. Thank you. See you next time.

Thank you. Yeah, oh, yeah. I'll find you. Get off it!