Flexibility, humility & personal growth with Sam Hart

MASTER SAM HART pt 1

[: 00:00:00

[00:00:06] Sam: when just so many teachers, teaching assistants, other people working in education are just feeling like they're just doing things for the sake of it.

[: 00:00:14

[00:00:36] Ross: pea soupers. It's great to be back with a continuation of season six after what turned into an extended festive break Me and I'm raring to go. In this episode, I welcome Sam Hart to the podcast. Sam is many things. He's a podcast host, primary school teacher, serious sport enthusiast, entrepreneur, and proud Brummie.

[: 00:00:59

[00:01:08] With a large pinch of humility, you'll hear Sam talk about his love of teaching and his disengagement with the profession. His sporting achievements, the times in his life when he's been dragged by his own mind, and his commitment to making a difference.

[: 00:01:34

[00:01:48] We love it that you're part of our community. A quick scoot over to the news desk. I have some new offerings in 2025. my small group supervision program, for those of you using ACT in the [00:02:00] workplace, has launched, and Cohort 1 starts in March. There's still time to find out more and sign up, and you'll find a link to all the details in the show notes.

[: 00:02:09

[00:02:29] Sam Hart, welcome to PeopleSoup.

[: 00:02:32

[00:02:43] Ross: Oh, bless you. Well, thank you. And we're delighted to have you here. Now, now, as you know, I've got a bit of a research department, Sam. So I'm going to share with you what they found out about you, just to get the ball rolling, just to help us find out a bit more about you. And then we'll go into our conversation.

[: 00:03:00

[00:03:22] He's always been interested in topics like nutrition, fitness, strength and conditioning, and anatomy. How are we doing so far, Sam? Excellent.

[: 00:03:30

[00:03:31] Ross: Excellent. In his early twenties, through his personal experience, he became more curious about the workings of his mind and began to explore meditation, mindfulness, self development and psychology.

[: 00:03:46

[00:04:13] So he's quite a busy chap, you'll be getting the the feel of this folks. And in his career so far, He's also been a primary school teacher in Birmingham schools and also international schools in Spain. His interest in self development and fitness remains. He competes in HIROCS events around Europe, runs cold water immersion workshops, And applies his learning from the guests on his podcast to his own life.

[: 00:04:39

[00:05:03] The timing isn't right here, but they were thinking about, was it anything to do with Black Sabbath? Was it anything to do with Jeff Lynne and ELO? Mike Skinner? Or Duran Duran? Now I don't know if you can comment on any of that band related, um, finding.

[: 00:05:19

[00:05:44] Ross: Yeah, and do you still play?

[: 00:05:47

[00:06:20] Ross: Lovely. Well, I'm not going to ask you to play today, but maybe I can see a sort of spinoff where, where Sam and Ross form a band.

[: 00:06:30

[00:06:37] Ross: well, it's a kind of, yes, but, um, I haven't played for a long, long, long time and I'm talking decades, but, but the instruments, I'm not sure they'd be compatible because I used to play the oboe. And before that there was a virtuoso recorder player.

[: 00:06:53

[00:06:56] Ross: well Sam, come on, be honest, being a primary school teacher, you're probably sick to death of the recorder.

[: 00:07:02

[00:07:04] Sam: That was one of the more challenging topics I had to take up when I was in Spain actually teaching over there because you know in one school it was just Yeah, Sam, you can just teach everything in the primary curriculum, can't you? One thing I had to teach was the recorder. But, you know, I think because of that slightly musical background and, and knowing the guitar, um, I, you know, got them to play a couple of little, a little simple tunes.

[: 00:07:25

[00:07:37] Ross: Yes. Yeah. So, so, PSupers, watch this space, um, it might be something that takes off one day. Or maybe it could be a, I don't know where this is coming from, Sam, maybe it could be a vocal harmony group.

[: 00:07:51

[00:07:56] Ross: Enough frippery, Sam. Let me, let me [00:08:00] take us back to you and your, your career. So I'm really interested in finding out a bit more about what's led you to the point you're at now, and look back on your career so far and maybe give us two or three pivotal moments.

[: 00:08:15

[00:08:35] You know, what's the um, what would it call like the you know, the the tail of them that you're still feeling the effects of? but Yeah to go back. What would I say? At college and university as you mentioned I was I was always always interested in sport. I studied sports therapy for my degree my dad was a head teacher, and I think I didn't really think I'd fall into teaching despite my dad being in that career, not out of any rebellious, um, inclination or anything like that.

[: 00:09:04

[00:09:21] So talking of pivotal moments, I think that was one, you know, 10 years old, actually. Sorry. It was kind of my first niece. Jessica was born when I was 10. And then I quickly turned 11. And so it was always around young Children and being involved in, you know, bringing them up. And So that I guess comes to the head when I finished my university degree, but I ruptured my Achilles right at the end of finishing my degree.

[: 00:09:46

[00:10:10] I need to get out there and I need to go and do something. So I signed up to Camp America, went over to Camp America, started with the older children actually just happened to be put with the inner in a camp with the teenage children. But then they moved me over to the younger Children, like the younger Children at the camp, and I just loved it.

[: 00:10:27

[00:10:48] And then a couple of years down the line after building up all that experience, then thankfully the school that I happen to be working at said that they'll, you know, train me on the job. It was a school's direct course. So I trained on the job, became a primary school teacher. So that's up to teaching.

[: 00:11:04

[00:11:09] Ross: how you became an uncle at such a young age and how through circumstances in Camp America, you, you were involved in educating, nurturing, supporting the learning of young, people. And you really lit up when you were talking about it.

[: 00:11:25

[00:11:38] when you, you know, you're teaching them in their times tables or something or playing a game with them or whatever.

[: 00:11:43

[00:12:00] They get to go away on a residential and camp and, you know, have marshmallows by the fire, whatever it is, that's all very fun. But straight away, it's funny because I want to, like, say, but actually, it's really tough, and that's why I'm kind of getting out of teaching at the moment because it's so tough, and I found it really difficult.

[: 00:12:18

[00:12:32] Ross: cause you know I've done quite a bit of work with teachers bringing, bringing the skills from ACT and ACT training to teachers and I noticed that sense of low morale, should we say. I think that's an understatement to be absolutely honest. And the burden of targets and curriculums and parents has, I hesitate to say cause I'm no, by no means a deep expert in any of this.

[: 00:12:57

[00:13:12] Would you mind saying a bit more about the other side of that balance?

[: 00:13:15

[00:13:41] And feeling like 50 percent or more of their time is spent doing things that don't directly impact children. But it's to help them pass a test. It's to help look good. It's to help, I don't know, You know satisfy the Ofsted inspectors that are just about to knock on the door and give you an [00:14:00] inspection It's all that stuff and then it's parents as well.

[: 00:14:02

[00:14:31] but then you might have the other experience where Parents are putting a lot of pressure on teachers. Why isn't my child doing better? You know, you need to give them extra homework. You need to do this. You need to do that, whatever. So it's kind of both both sides of the of parents the way that they can come at you.

[: 00:14:47

[00:15:00] And. It just feels that teaching used to be such a, a noble and respected profession, where the experts were in control. Those people who were doing the teaching could it seems, could have the freedom and the, opportunities to deploy their skills as to what was most appropriate in those circumstances.

[: 00:15:21

[00:15:38] Sam: That's it. Yeah, it's talked about as a retention crisis. I can't remember the exact stats, but the amount of teachers that leave the profession within the first five years or something, you know, it's supposed used to be something like my dad, something that you got into when he was young and stayed. All the way up until he was a head teacher until he retired.

[: 00:15:54

[00:16:14] Is it a three or five something kind of things that you need in a workplace for your well being and I'm not, I'm not forgetting the phrase, but you know, what is it? The kind of like autonomy and, you know, Creativity and, community and, uh, like continued learning as well. You know, a lot of teachers, well, they don't feel autonomous.

[: 00:16:34

[00:16:50] So teachers don't feel like they're getting better and learning and, you know, Most of us, that's what we want, isn't it? We're not lazy. We don't want to sit back and relax and you know, the an accusation that may be thrown at teachers. Are you just in it because it for the great holidays and things and maybe that's the case for some but lots of us just want to grow and get better and know how to and just learn.

[: 00:17:13

[00:17:21] Ross: I hear you and I, unfortunately, I don't think we're going to solve it today in our chat, but I would like to see the, that respect and that regarding teaching as a noble profession, start to move towards in that direction because I was looking at the reason I was talking about it with my dad is we're looking at some of his school photographs which he kept and the teachers are there and this is in. 1940s but the teachers are there in full suits and a hat and you can see all the kids are kind of like, oh, oh teacher in this blurry old photograph and [00:18:00] it just feels like that is gone.

[: 00:18:02

[00:18:12] funny. But in terms of wider society, yes. Do we have the respect, the admiration for teachers? Do we value them as much as we should?

[: 00:18:21

[00:18:34] Ross: give them time to feel like they belong as a community together.

[: 00:18:37

[00:18:39] Ross: And that they can develop their competence. They can grow, like you're saying that. Learning. Absolutely right. now let's talk about other bits of your, your career if we may, Sam. Tell us a bit more about those. Um,

[: 00:18:52

[00:18:54] Ross: um, um,

[: 00:18:58

[00:19:11] I Loved living in Barcelona and Mallorca. It was amazing A lot of fun. I love the lifestyle. I'd love to go back to Spain and spend more extended time there. I mean, you know, it's just a different way of life. And I love that way of life. Just a bit more relaxed. I love the, yeah, the focus around food and coffee and nature and beaches, all that good stuff.

[: 00:19:36

[00:19:59] So, you know, [00:20:00] quite a deprived area of Birmingham where you feel like you're needed and that there's a purpose. Whereas in these private schools didn't feel as needed and it was much of a purpose and also just some dodgy. Things going on that shouldn't be happening in schools, but because, you know, there's not as much, um, well, like scrutiny that people are allowed to get away with things.

[: 00:20:18

[00:20:38] So I set up a company with my partner at the time around well being and health for teachers, T. A. S. And tried to do our bit to kind of help with all this stuff that we've been talking about, teachers that aren't feeling great, feeling stressed, not sleeping well, et cetera. So we kind of said, you know, we can't fix that side of the things, but what we can do is maybe give you some tools that we've learned or we've researched and find out about, talk to experts about, you know, how can you sleep better?

[: 00:21:08

[00:21:28] So we did some Instagram lives, interviewed people, enjoyed it, and then just thought, well, we can take the audio recordings from that and start a podcast. And then. That's kind of I feel like I'm doing this all over the place, but hopefully there is some kind of chronological order to this. yeah, kind of gave that a go for a couple of years.

[: 00:21:48

[00:22:10] so that's kind of like a really, really fast,

[: 00:22:15

[00:22:15] Sam: fast little bite sized story of where we're up to now. And I've missed lots out, but yeah. Yeah.

[: 00:22:22

[00:22:45] Could you tell us a bit more about that time? Um,

[: 00:22:48

[00:22:48] Sam: Yeah, I mean, that wasn't the first instance of feeling like I'm getting dragged by my mind. I couldn't, I think if we go back perhaps mid, mid teens, 15, 16, I can remember having periods of really low mood, really not knowing what to do with myself, going to some quite kind of dark places. I think that evolved into more of kind of underlying anxiety, constantly worrying about what could go wrong here. what's the worst case scenario? Feeling maybe a bit of kind of social anxiety every time I'm going out. People are looking at me, people are judging me. Am I wearing the right thing? Did I say the right thing?

[: 00:23:24

[00:23:46] You know, Really struggling with my own mental health and then that, being deflected onto my partners. So maybe not being trusting. Maybe, yeah, being suspicious, [00:24:00] worrying, um, Yeah, all that kind of things. I'm looking back. What I know now is just because I didn't have a very high self esteem. I just didn't think much of myself and I just, you know, Constant kind of irrational thoughts going on.

[: 00:24:14

[00:24:34] But yeah, kind of early twenties, mid twenties, it kind of turned from low mood into more of this, you know, Anxiety this worry and I think there are lots of things that happen to make me Pause and think this isn't okay. One of them was my mum who you know, I just I Always been there for me and it's been great to talk to and I've talked to her about this kind of thing.

[: 00:25:00

[00:25:20] That's what it's like to just quiet in your mind for five, 10 minutes. Um, That felt amazing. I want more of that. Um, and then that creating a bit of distance between your thoughts and yourself like, Oh, wow. Like, I don't have to believe everything single thought that comes into my head. So this hit the therapist kind of opened my eyes to that.

[: 00:25:39

[00:25:58] Lots of people get [00:26:00] anxious. Lots of people get wound up. Lots of people take out their insecurities on other people. You're not alone, Sam. You're not a weirdo. You're not horrible person. This happens to everyone and if you want to do something about it, though, it's going to take some work. So, from that point on, I, yeah, I wanted to, I wanted to read all the books.

[: 00:26:19

[00:26:50] I just feel a little bit better Karma a little less hectic. Um, you know, more recent relationships have been a lot more healthy because of this. I feel more connected to friends and family. I feel more present every day. And so, yeah, just those little taste that kind of set me on the path and it's by no means, you know, cured me of all my, I don't know, issues, but it's certainly helping.

[: 00:27:17

[00:27:17] Ross: Yeah. Gosh, thank you. Thank you, Sam. Because, peace seepers, what, what you just heard from Sam there part of the magic of Sam is he will share his experience as a, as a man, as a human being, and some of the challenges and struggles he's faced. And I think we don't have enough men in our population doing that.

[: 00:27:39

[00:28:07] We still have those things. So we're going to spend a bit more time exploring that. But as I was listening to you, I really hear some of your values. I think I'm going to share with you what I think the values I'm hearing and experiencing are. And one of them is learning, curiosity, courage. I feel to, to share this with, with the population, to press publish on a podcast episode.

[: 00:28:33

[00:28:58] any of those values, do they sound familiar to you? Would you identify with them?

[: 00:29:03

[00:29:19] Jack of all trades

[: 00:29:19

[00:29:47] It's like people know no way Sam could write his own music write his own songs well Forget that I'm gonna I'm gonna do it and set up a band with my friend and we did and we wrote our own songs and performed our own songs and went around the UK and played them and it's [00:30:00] like I'm immensely proud that I Wasn't just put in a box, you know I did decathlon 10 different events over two days because I didn't want to just focus on one thing.

[: 00:30:10

[00:30:32] So it is something I'm proud of. Yeah.

[: 00:30:35

[00:30:58] Is that right?

[: 00:30:59

[00:31:26] So, you know, carrying two weights 100 m or so. Yeah. So again, that appeals to me because it's kind of a bit of everything. It's got a balance between endurance and

[: 00:31:34

[00:31:36] yeah.

[: 00:31:37

[00:31:47] Sam: It is. And like I said, I'm not sure where it comes from. I mean, that's not to say that there aren't people in my life that have been flexible and courageous. I mean, my brother finished university at 21, went over to teach in China, bought a one way ticket, [00:32:00] thought he'd go for a year, and he ended up spending, I think, 15 or 16 years.

[: 00:32:03

[00:32:18] Ross: Um. And are there any values that are important to you that I haven't identified? Anything?

[: 00:32:24

[00:32:24] Sam: I think what another value that people notice, which I guess is linked to the courageous is is kind of discipline and hard work. People say that they see that in me and like, you know, how are you so disciplined? How do you keep training and how do you? I don't know. Put out so much for the podcast and social media.

[: 00:32:43

[00:33:27] Um, um, In in the kind of the professional side of my life and with the podcast and things I Would always want to be seen as someone who they can they can, you know, people can trust I'm not going to try and sell you anything. That is, you know a snake oil Marketing or anything like that, you know things that I genuinely believe in and host guests that I genuinely believe in so yeah, I think integrity and You being genuine are two of the values that I'd hope people would see in me.

[: 00:33:59

[00:34:20] which I think is, in my experience of you, typically humble, where you don't, it doesn't really reflect your part in this podcast production, where you create those conditions with your guests to, to help them articulate and talk about their, what's matters to them in such a caring and nurturing environment.

[: 00:34:41

[00:34:41] Sam: I really appreciate that. And, you know, guests more and more are saying that and I really, really I'm grateful to get that feedback because that's the kind of person I want to be. That is the value I want to put out into the world. And so I guess for people listening who are wanting to grow and I want to, I don't know, apply skills and tools to whatever Avenue.

[: 00:35:03

[00:35:27] I'm just going to do it and learn. So. You know, whatever pursuit people are interested in. I just think go for it. Just keep getting kind of the reps and get the reps and just put yourself out there. Because a year or two later, you find that you start getting feedback like that. And it's like, oh, wow, that's exactly what I was aiming for.

[: 00:35:45

[00:35:59] Ross: [00:36:00] Oh gosh, I love, I love that, what you're describing here, because you, you encourage us all to learn by doing and your posts and your, your presence on the podcast. you said there that just gave me goosebumps. You said it's, well, that's the person I want to be.

[: 00:36:17

[00:36:18] Ross: And the way you describe that, it feels like you're on this journey, you're using your values as your, as your guide and, and you're trying to bring them to life and it takes time.

[: 00:36:29

[00:36:32] It takes time

[: 00:36:32

[00:36:51] And I should just give up because there's no point. I say out loud because I need to remind myself that this takes time and thankfully, I've got people like you other people on, you know, LinkedIn and I've got friends and family around me that are saying, Sam, it takes time. It does just take time. And it's just about consistency.

[: 00:37:10

[00:37:28] And he's like, but Sam, why'd you do this? I do it because I love it. How long have other podcasts taken to take off? Yeah, they've taken like five years. Exactly. So stick to it. Keep going. Yeah. Yeah.

[: 00:37:48

[00:38:13] Um,

[: 00:38:17

[00:38:21] Ross: it's a bit of both. It's probably more the internal conversation actually, because I think a lot of people around me just now see me. As a podcaster, and sometimes I get a bit niggly when it feels like they just think I am a highly successful podcast with sponsors. They just assume that.

[: 00:38:42

[00:38:46] And it's really important to me. And, and you're right, those, those moments we get a feedback from our guests or from, from listeners. Make it worthwhile. And those, those bits of feedback often pop up at just the right time. Yeah.

[: 00:39:04

[00:39:18] Ross: Yeah. So, so listeners, PSupers and, and listeners to Sam's podcast too. If you are thinking, Oh, I'd really love to episode. Please, please, please tell us because it means the world to us.

[: 00:39:34

[00:40:05] Kindness has a ripple effect

[: 00:40:05

[00:40:20] And then everyone feels a little bit more motivated to pass it onto the next person, onto the next person.

[: 00:40:26

[00:40:46] Sam: This is so hard because I've got two. I've got two.

[: 00:40:50

[00:40:54] Sam: Are you sure? I know as a host when you will just want someone to pick one. Okay, I will share both one of them. My favorite band of all time probably is Folds and they've got a song called Providence now I just love that word Providence, which I mean I have to look up the meaning but I understand It's something about kind of, you know, God or nature is like your spiritual power or or What's the other meaning I did write it down Like the preparation for the future or something like that.

[: 00:41:23

[00:41:44] So I like the title and I also like the way that it kicks in as well. there's another song by a band called Idols who are maybe one of my more recent favorite bands. And they've got a song called Pop, Pop, Pop. And one, one word that they keep repeating is Freud and Freud, which I don't know if you know [00:42:00] is kind of the meaning of that, as in taking joy in other people's joy and successes.

[: 00:42:05

[00:42:15] Ross: it's schadenfreude.

[: 00:42:17

[00:42:20] Ross: oh God, no. That's, I think that's the only word I can mispronounce in German.

[: 00:42:26

[00:42:48] But also that it's funny that when you get into kind of the more spiritual side of things, mindfulness and meditation, like I needed to slow down and calm down because I was always rev, always like working on high revs, and that was hard to deal with, and I needed to slow down. But then it's like I got to a point where.

[: 00:43:09

[00:43:35] And so, yeah, they're two bands that really mean a lot to me as well. So that was my probably it should have been a much shorter explanation, but there you go.

[: 00:43:43

[00:43:50] Sam: I'm honored.

[: 00:43:51

[00:43:58] Sam: Oh, yeah,

[: 00:43:59

[00:44:01] Sam: yeah. Shadowboxing as I come out. Yeah, yeah.

[: 00:44:03

[00:44:19] Sam: I appreciate that. Thanks for us

[: 00:44:21

[00:44:26] That's it folks, part one of my chat with Sam in the bag. But fear not, he'll be back next week, when we'll explore the skill that we both share, that is, the capacity to worry about what other people think about us. you'll find the show notes for this episode at peoplesoup. captivate. fm or wherever you get your podcasts.

[: 00:44:46

[00:45:16] Just search for my name. Now more than ever, you can help me reach more people with the special people soup ingredients. Stuff that could be really useful for them. So please do share, subscribe, rate, and review. Thanks to Andy Glenn for his spoon magic, for his vocals. But most of all, dear listener, thanks to you.

[: 00:45:36

[00:45:41] Sam: maybe I, you know, guitar robo combo, we could put it together. I'm imagining like that scene from Peep Show. I don't know if you ever watched Peep Show, where they do the advert music with the dread.