Brian Pennie combines a powerful personal story with his expertise as a neuroscientist to show leaders and high-level executives that the changes they want to see in their lives are, in fact, possible, allowing them to enhance their performance and unleash hidden potential. And he does it all with wit, charm and warmth.
On October 8, 2013, Brian experienced his first day clean after 15 years of chronic heroin addiction. Instead of perceiving his addiction as a failure, however, he embraced a second chance at life and began developing a programme that would help him to master his mental, emotional, and external world.
Deploying a range of psychological and science-based techniques, the programme focuses on five key areas:

1. Navigating and embracing change
2. Performance enhancement
3. Creative problem-solving and strategic decision-making
4. Burnout prevention
5. Tackling issues that undermine performance (e.g., stress, anxiety, addiction)

Letting go of what you cannot control

We will all face challenges in life. This is inevitable. However, this is not why we suffer. Our suffering lies in our reaction to these challenges, and our illusion that we can control them. This talk focuses on building self-awareness and the problems we face when we try to control things that are outside of our control. I discuss several core ideas, including a concept to help you to identify what you can and cannot control, as well as a metaphorical technique that will help you to catch emotional hi-jackings in full flight.

Beyond Resilience and Becoming Antifragile

Resilience is not something you’re born with. We build resilience over time by learning how to overcome adversity. This talk will focus on two core ideas: (1) How to use challenges as fuel for growth, and thus, become antifragile, and (2) How to create powerful routines that will empower you for the challenges that life inevitably throws our way. The latter is based on a powerful science-based morning routine that has had an extraordinary impact on my life.