The Journal #39
Jung. Lotion. AP. Letter.
Carl Jung
01. PSYCHOLOGY - Joe Gaunt
Carl Jung – The Man and His Contribution to Modern Society - Part 1 of 3
I have always been and remain fascinated by people.
Why we behave how we do, why things are important to some and not others, what this tells us about ourselves and now as a Psychologist (and coach/ mentor for 25 years and counting) how I can understand this to help others.
Despite much modern day criticism, perhaps the most famous, almost stereotypical psychologist remains Sigmund Freud. However, his one time friend and fellow researcher Carl Jung and his concepts have stood the test of time much better and impacted modern day psychology, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and a number of concepts we understand today generally on a far greater scale.
I first discovered Jung doing my psychology degree in 1998 but don’t think I really appreciated his impact until a couple of years later when I was doing further training on personality and personality profiling where his concepts blew me away and influenced a lifelong interest in personality/ motivation and team dynamics specifically.
So, I am going to write a 3 part works on some of his key concepts for you to understand mixed with some tips on how you might use or think about his concepts. I will say now though that there are a number of big elements I won’t cover and would recommend some personality profiling if this is of further interest to you.
So here are the headlines and some of his key terms you may have heard of for today.
Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, was born in 1875,
Jung originally worked closely with Sigmund Freud, but their ideas eventually diverged, leading Jung to develop his own school of thought known as Analytical Psychology.
While Freud emphasised the unconscious drives of sex and aggression, Jung broadened the conversation by delving into concepts like the collective unconscious, archetypes, and the process of individuation (more on these concepts to come).
One of Jung’s most enduring contributions to modern society is his work on personality types, particularly the concepts of introversion and extroversion. He proposed that people are fundamentally oriented either inwardly (introversion) or outwardly (extroversion), shaping how they interact with the world and respond to stimuli.
In basic terms, an introvert might feel drained by social situations, whereas an extrovert would feel energised by them. This insight into personality forms the basis of many popular models used today, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Insights amongst many others.
Jung also introduced other terms that have become a staple in modern self-understanding, such as ‘the persona’, that is to say, the mask we present to the world—and the collective unconscious, the shared reservoir of experiences and knowledge that we all draw from, often expressed through archetypal symbols.
In part 2 and 3 we will explore The Shadow and introduce the varying personality types suggested.
Dawn Yoga - The Hundred 2024
02. HEALTH
Motion is Lotion
Last week I wrote about the power of doing nowt as a proven mechanism to enhance recovery.
This week I’m going to talk about the power of the opposite….moving more.
The truth is that we need both.
We need to move and to stimulate the body, mind and sprit and then we need to let it sit for a while.
It’s this positive cycle of doing more and doing less that finds us the balance we need.
Specifically, I wanted to note my personal experience of the importance of movement (motion) for speeding up the recovery process for minor injury.
I have been on a bad run recently of picking up little niggles. First a shoulder impingement (which actually needed ‘popping back in’ by The Spine Guy), then a knee ligament strain or ‘pop’ as we call it in the Jiu Jitsu world and this week a groin strain.
We (me and my coach Josh) put this down to me being run down due to a low-level virus combined with some increased demands at work and in my training programme.
When we pick up these niggles our instinct is to stop. We’re told to rest as a means of promoting recovery.
That might be the right thing to do, but it might also lead to longer away from getting back to our proper self.
Sometimes it pays to move.
This week under the guidance of Josh we worked around the groin strain by switching out some movements, decreasing load on others and adding in specifics to work the tissues back to health.
We didn’t stop. We adapted. We saw the setback as an opportunity.
I stayed active which is vital to my mental wellbeing, built capacities in new areas I might otherwise not have focussed on and expedited the recovery process as well.
It worked like a dream.
It’s worth noting at this point the importance of working alongside an exceptional coach who is well versed in dealing with athletes (as they often need to work through injury and niggles).
Investing in a top-class coach will often save you a trip to the doctor or the physio and in my experience the prescription post injury of any sort from a GP is almost always 6-12 weeks of rest.
It needn’t always be rest but sometimes it will.
Often it’s better to do summat (Yorkshire for ‘something’) than nowt (‘nothing’).
Motion is Lotion.
Sir AP McCoy OBE - The G.O.A.T on a horse
03. MINDSET - Mike Bates
AP
Those of you who have followed my journey will know my relationship with physical training, self-inflicted hardship and discipline.
Those of you who know me personally will know that I’m hardly never late, don’t have much time for those who are and that my boots and nails are always polished.
My late Grandad once told me, when speaking of his time as a miner, that ‘you can tell a man by his boots and his nails’…it stuck.
Working hard physically, experiencing and embracing physical and mental discomfort and maintaining high personal standards is a way of life for me as it was for my Grandad.
It’s an imprinted code.
It’s part of who I am and my DNA.
It’s not a choice.
This week I had the privilege of attending a Q&A with the greatest jockey of all time Sir AP McCoy OBE.
AP spoke of how he missed the feeling of the discipline required to keep his weight down in order to ride.
A harsh routine of one meal a day, two hours in the sauna and hours of travel - that’s before he climbed aboard a four legged missile and pointed it toward a number of 4ft fences at 30mph whilst being chased by 20 or so half a tonne thoroughbreds.
As AP put it, frankly I might add, “if I fell I knew that I was probably dead”.
It was the daily thrill and adversity of racing, the hardship of preparation and taking risks that kept him coming back for more (that and beating everyone in sight and in the past to become the very best).
AP’s arrival at the venue was greatly anticipated and the atmosphere made even more tense by the fact that he was running late.
After taking his seat on stage, and before accepting any questions, AP made a number of apologies to the audience about his late arrival. Visibly annoyed and embarrassed, the 20 time champion jockey, winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Grand National and over 4300 career winners was clearly bothered by keeping us mere mortals waiting.
AP explained that his formative years as an apprentice jockey, prior to heading to England as a pro aged only 16 and weighing just 6 stone, had been under the tutelage of legendary trainer Jim Bolger.
Bolger had meticulous standards. Timekeeping was one of them as was the immaculately polished boots worn by his young stable hands and trainee jockeys (today AP sported a box-fresh pair of white sneakers to compliment his starched white shirt and navy blue suit).
I couldn’t help but make the link between AP’s experiences in Bolger’s regime and that of my own in the Royal Marines.
A culture of non-negotiable high standards and self-discipline leading to a lifetime of love for the difficult.
The standards and adversity we both learned back then continue to drive the excellence we search for today.
That will never change.
Now, perhaps you’re reading this in the comfort of your armchair in front of the fire. Heaven.
Perhaps you didn’t experience hardship growing up in the environments I describe above.
Granted, you might have pulled your own socks up and held yourself to account and thus have become a man of integrity, high moral and personal standard and a role model in your ability to withstand difficult.
Equally, you could be sat there in your armchair tucking into your third biscuit, avoiding the run you said you would do today and wishing you had pushed yourself just that little bit more.
Maybe you don’t think twice if you keep someone waiting.
You can’t remember the last time you polished your boots.
Life is too short to worry about those things after all. Right?
Wrong.
Difficult is the thing that stands in between you now and a better version of you in the future.
Ok, I hear you, you don’t want to be better. You’re happy the way things are.
But your kids want you to be better. Your wife certainly does.
And so it follows you should at least want that for yourself also.
Perhaps your all too comfortable existence is manifesting itself in a lack of self-discipline around food, alcohol, work and/or exercise.
You’re the kind of guy who makes excuses.
I’ll start the diet on Monday?
Well, it’s time to stop making excuses.
It is time for action.
It’s never too late to become more self-disciplined and to have higher personal standards.
To sleep better, to get up on time, to exercise, to struggle often and to eat well. To tell your wife you love her more, to be silly and more engaged around the kids. To pack in the booze.
All of those things can be almost impossible if we lack self-discipline.
It’s time for difficult. It’s time for more discipline. It’s time to put the biscuits down.
Wind up your watch and go polish your boots.
04. QUOTE
“Your life is your enterprise, and you are the founder and CEO. Love and happiness are your currency.” – Arthur C. Brookes
08. TIP
Want to make a real impact on someone this week? A child, partner, colleague or friend?
Write them a letter or card.
(Not an email or Whatsapp).
Walk out and buy a nice card and stamp, take time to write something thoughtful, seal it and send it.
The art and power of connection through hand written form has been forgotten in today’s age of type and instant messaging.
Make a real impact on someone you care about this week.
Write them a letter.
Early Bird Tickets for The Hundred 2025 go live on 1st November via a private link.
5 tickets only for each accommodation category.
Each has 20% off.
When they’re gone they’re gone.
If you’re not on the Early Bird mail list then you won’t get the link.
We believe that when men live happier, healthier & more fulfilled lives…everyone wins! - NXT45
The Journal by NXT45
