A Lot To Talk About

This entry should begin with a little bit of pretext to explain why I’m doing this. I’ve been loving writing these journal posts over the past few weeks, what started as just a way to share my thoughts has really expanded and become something I look forward to every time I sit down to post something. What I’m doing is nothing new but the way I see it is this is my own version of a throwback to the days of Tumblr combined with what many people have jumped into these days with podcasting. Whilst this is a great forum to share my own thoughts I can also see it growing into a space where I can share and reflect on the stories and experiences of others which excites me too.

This thought brings me to today’s entry which is my first foray into something resembling an interview. I want to keep it short and sweet like all of my other posts so I’ve decided to ask a few questions via text which I’ll share but also include my reflection on the conversation and some things that really stick out to me.

Although I’ve only known today’s subject for a relatively short period of time, I’ve always felt like we’ve had a really strong connection through our completely different experiences which hold so many profound parallels. He’s a man who’s taught me a lot and although I could listen to him talk for days on end, what inspires me most about him are his actions and how he lives out what he speaks on every single day. This man is none other than the self-proclaimed ‘Captain’ himself, Mr Bradley J Dryburgh.

Brett - We can start off with your elevator pitch of who you are and how did you get here?

Bradley - My name is Bradley Dryburgh. I’m a 26 year old podcast host, keynote speaker & average marathon runner.
I was born with cystic fibrosis, a genetic illness that effects a number of the bodies organs & comes with a life expectancy of 41 years of age, but I do not believe that will limit or define my life.
In 2020 I was at a crossroads. Feeling unhappy, unfulfilled & my health was on a downhill slide towards a destination that would have rendered me as another sad statistic or the prisoner of a hospital bed. Reaching a low point as I sat in the emergency room with bleeding lungs, I decided to take back control of my life.
By the end of 2020 my podcast ‘A Lot To Talk About’ was kicking goals, I had run the first of my 3 charity marathons & my purpose was clear: to uplift & inspire hope in others through story.

Brett - Very succinct! I think I like to start with that because there’s often very subtle difference between who we are and what we do. I’ve known you for a few years now and have seen you grow a lot in what’s driven you to become the person you are today which is obviously a huge leap from where you were in 2020. Feel free to tell me if I’m wrong but based on what I’ve taken away from speaking to you and listening to you is that one of the things that helped with the turnaround and what you do today is rooted in purpose. Talk a little bit about that journey in finding purpose and how that may have changed over time.

Bradley - You are spot on Bretto.
Like many Aussie blokes would, I often heard people talk about ‘purpose’ & thought ‘what are these hippies on about’ haha. The idea felt a bit fugazi to me. That was until I started listening to pods, reading books & understanding why purpose is powerful & more importantly, how important it is to not only find, but craft a purpose for your life.
Jay Shetty was the first to paint a clear picture of purpose for me. He suggests, identifying what you are passionate about & then asking how you can use that passion in service of others. Once I sat with that question, I started to test what that would look like for me. I’d always been passionate about storytelling & decided to use the podcast as a platform to share stories that uplift & inspire hope in others.
With clear purpose, the trajectory of my life was catapulted in an exciting direction. Purpose fuels progress!

Brett - I always liken finding purpose to the feeling when you’re swimming and you come up from being submerged and the moment the water clears from your ears, you can suddenly hear everything perfectly. I know I speak on purpose a lot now and you’ve been a big motivator for that through how well your story relates to it. Obviously though doing the podcast and hearing so many amazing stories I’m sure you’ve seen the impact of purpose come through time and time again but what are some other things you’ve learned through not only hearing all of these stories, but sharing them too?

Bradley - I couldn’t agree more.
I was recently reflecting on the past 140+ episodes of my poddy & how I’ve evolved through them. I honestly believe that the poddy has made a ‘man’ out of me. It’s opened my heart to real empathy & my eyes to true perspective as so many have walked a different path than I. Quite often, your own lived experience creates the context of how you see the world & feel about it. The stories my guests share on the podcast have reminded me that the world may be big but you’re never too small to leave your mark on it & have an impact on the people you cross paths with.

Brett -I love that man! Speaking of a big world though, I know there’s always a motivation to do more and reach more people etc, there’s so much opportunity out there to do good and that recently led you to explore the potential of moving overseas to spread your wings a bit. What was that thought process like for you and what have you taken away from the experience?

Bradley - The idea to move overseas was a major consideration for some time. The biggest challenge for driven people is our dreams are so big, we tend to compare our early chapters of success & challenge with the later chapters of those we look up to.
I am not backwards in going forward & I truly believe that I can be a world class storyteller. Most of the people having big success in my lane are within the US or the UK & that was something on my mind for a while. I decided to travel to the US solo for a few weeks to sit with my thoughts & explore what that would feel like for me.
In my solitude & silence, I spent most mornings journaling on the idea of ‘what does my ideal life look like’. I broke this concept down into 4 pillars: my health, my people, my work & my environment.

By the end of the trip, it was pretty clear to me, that my people & my environment have a huge impact on my work & my health. I’ve thoughtfully & intentionally crafted an incredible environment for myself in Australia, full of people I love & adore. So I decided that right now, home is where I need & want to be. There are no limits to the impact I can have in my own backyard & I intend on doing that alongside the people I love & adore.

Brett - You know I’ve heard that from you before but I think it’s so valuable and I’d love for it to reach more people. So finally, and on that same note. I think the pillars are amazing, I have the same thing that I look at regularly that helps me not only reflect on what I’m doing, but forecast what I want to do in the future. What advice or motivation would you give someone who’s looking at installing something similar in their own life?

Bradley - For me it was a matter of asking myself: when I picture my dream life, what does it look like? How does it feel? Who is around me? & how have I made the world a better place than I found it?
Once you have an answer to those questions ask yourself: if it all went pear shaped tomorrow would each of those answers still hold true within my heart & if the answer to that is yes, then you’ve found your pillars.
The truth of life, is that it is actually quite tough. We all face challenges & not everything goes to plan. Bank on the fact that pain is inevitable & use your pillars to power you along!

I admire Bradley and his perspective a lot. He projects an aura that combines enlightenment with passion and drive which would probably lead a lot of people to conclude that this is a direct result of his experience living with and managing Cystic Fibrosis. A mistake a lot of people tend to make when weighing up what to learn from hearing someone like Bradley speak is that they have to go through something similarly as life changing in order to gain this perspective and while I believe there’s great value in the adversity we face in life, we can definitely look at this from a different angle.

It’s all about the little steps. I think it’s true that we all want to live by a purpose in life and I highlighted a few things through Bradley’s messages that start small and create a waterfall type of effect. The pillars come first, what means the most to you? Once you take care of your own backyard you can start looking at what you have to offer the world around you so you have the chance of leaving it better than you found it. This is what purpose looks like and in the words of Bradley “Purpose fuels progress”. How far you push that and progress is purely up to you.