CounterPunch Australia

05/10/2026

You cannot talk yourself out of a body that has already gone off.

Anger, frustration, overwhelm. By the time you notice it, your body has already decided. Heart rate up, jaw tight, heat in the face, voice getting faster and louder.

That is fight or flight doing exactly what it is built to do. It is not a character flaw and it is not something to be ashamed of.

But a body in that state does not reason. It reacts. Which is why "just calm down" has never worked on anybody, ever.

So the fix is physical, because the problem is physical. Get up. Walk out of the room. Change what you can see. A minute or two somewhere else and the surge starts coming down on its own, and then you can respond instead of react.

The skill is not staying calm. The skill is spotting the warning signs early enough to leave.

Parents, this one matters: when a teenager walks out mid-argument, that can be the skill working rather than disrespect. Worth knowing which one you are looking at.

https://counterpunch.com.au/

04/10/2026

Incredibly interesting keynote from Prof Serena Bartlett re Neuroplasticity and the impact of screens 🙏

03/10/2026

Conference dinner! Hanging with the random Tasmanian 😉

02/10/2026

02/10/2026

What a way to kick off the Glasser International Conference! 🥊

Yesterday Jalen and I had the privilege of presenting a half-day workshop on The CounterPunch Method – Empowered Identity through Movement, Mindset and Meaningful Connection.

Such a wonderful audience who were genuinely willing to get involved, experience the Method and explore how movement can create another way into connection, self-awareness, confidence and leadership.

The feedback about CounterPunch was fantastic and it's always pretty special watching people experience something we've spent so many years developing.

But personally, one of my proudest moments was getting to present alongside Jalen.

Jalen first came into CounterPunch as a young participant. He progressed through the program, returned as a mentor, continued through our leadership pathway and became our first CounterPunch Facilitator to graduate through the participant pathway.

And yesterday, there he was confidently facilitating alongside me at an international conference 🙏

That's CounterPunch.

Not simply helping young people feel more confident or resilient in the moment, but creating opportunities for them to discover what they're capable of — and eventually use that capability to lead and contribute to others.

Very proud of you, J. 😉

And very grateful to everyone who joined us yesterday, threw themselves into the activities and gave us such encouraging feedback about where they can see CounterPunch going.

Days like this make me bloody excited about what's ahead.

Connect. Relate. Communicate.

The future is looking pretty exciting. 🥊🔥

01/10/2026

"I hate this." "I am stuck." Those are not descriptions. They are instructions.

Most people think the words just report how they feel. It works the other way round. Reach for the heaviest word available and the feeling grows to fit it.

"I hate running" is a much bigger thing to carry around than "I find running hard". Same situation. Completely different weight.

"I am stuck" closes the door. "I have not worked this out yet" leaves it open. Only one of those is something you can do anything about today.

So the skill is not positive thinking and it is not pretending you feel fine. It is catching the word you grabbed and asking whether it is accurate or just loud.

Nine times out of ten it is just loud.

Catch the dialogue. Take the intensity out. Keep the truth. That is one of the first things we teach at CounterPunch, and teenagers pick it up fast once they hear themselves do it.

https://impact.counterpunchlife.com

30/09/2026

CounterPunch on tour again. Glasser International conference Gold Coast here we come!
Excited to present with Jalen at the pre conference workshop tomorrow 🙏

29/09/2026

No boxer loves running at 5:30 in the freezing cold. They love what it buys them.

That is the whole difference, and almost nobody gets taught it.

The run does not become enjoyable. It never does. What changes is that it stops being a pointless misery and becomes the price of something you actually want. Being the one still standing in the later rounds. Being someone who does not fold.

There will always be things in life you do not like doing. Trying to learn to love them is why people quit.

The move is to link the uncomfortable thing to something that sits high in your own value system. Once that link is real, you stop needing to be talked into it.

So the question is not "how do I make myself want this". It is "what does this get me that I actually care about".

https://impact.counterpunchlife.com

28/09/2026

What is one uncomfortable habit you stick to because you know it brings results?