It's an Inside Job
Imagine responding to challenges with quiet strength and living with a clearer sense of direction. It's an Inside Job, hosted by Jason Birkevold Liem, guides you there. This podcast is for anyone who believes cultivating inner resources is the most powerful way to shape their outer reality. We explore practical approaches for fostering resilience, nurturing well-being, and embedding intentionality into your daily rhythm.On Mondays, we feature a rerun of the most popular conversations with insightful individuals, uncovering practical wisdom on how your inner world serves as a compass for your outer experiences, shaping everything from your career to your...
The best of "Its an Inside Job": The Contrarian Mindset Skill 6: Embracing Obstacles as Opportunities
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"Obstacles arenât barriers; they are the stepping stones to becoming your best self."
In this BiteSize Fridays episode, Jason explores the second skill in the "Mastering Perspective" cluster of the Contrarian Mindset series: Embracing Obstacles as Opportunities. He unpacks the psychology behind challenges, the natural human aversion to failure, and how adopting a contrarian mindset can reframe obstacles as stepping stones for personal growth, resilience, and creativity. Jason shares personal insights, psychological strategies, and practical tools to help listeners approach life...
The best of "Its an Inside Job": The Contrarian Mindset Skill 5: Challenging Unrealistic Standards
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"By letting go of unrealistic standards, we reclaim our autonomy and align our actions with what truly matters, creating a life of authenticity and fulfillment."
In this Bite Size Fridays episode, Jason explores the second cluster of skills in the Contrarian Mindset series: Mastering Perspective. Specifically, he delves into the importance of identifying, challenging, and reshaping unrealistic standards that often hinder personal growth and well-being. Jason discusses how these unattainable expectations, driven by societal norms, inner critics, or external pressures, can le...
The best of Its an Inside Job: The Contrarian Mindset Skill 4: Embracing Uncertainty
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"By challenging established fears and mindsets, we unlock the door to greater resilience, clarity, and the ability to thrive in lifeâs uncertainties."
In this Bite Size Fridays episode of Itâs an Inside Job, Jason Liem dives into the fourth and final skill in the Mastering Self cluster of the contrarian mindset: embracing uncertainty. Jason explores why humans have an inherent drive for certainty and how the contrarian mindset equips us to face lifeâs unpredictability with resilience and strength. This episode provides...
The best of "It's an Inside Job" - The Contrarian Mindset Skill 3: Letting Go Of Fixed & Desired Outcomes
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In this Bite Size Fridays episode of It's an Inside Job, Jason White Birkevold Liem explores the third skill of the contrarian mindsetâletting go of fixed outcomes and focusing on our actions and efforts. Jason delves into how this principle empowers us to live authentically and fully, embracing lifeâs uncertainties with grace. By emphasizing effort over outcome, we build resilience, develop a growth mindset, and find fulfillment in the journey rather than just the destination.
Three Key Takeaways from This Episod...
The best of "It's an Inside Job" - The Contrarian Mindset Skill 2: Focusing on Reality Over Emotional Reality for Resilience
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In this Bite Size Fridays episode of It's an Inside Job, host Jason Liem continues the series on the contrarian mindset by exploring the second skill: focusing on reality over emotional reality. Jason delves into how we can use emotional wisdom and disciplined perception to interpret life events more accurately. By understanding emotions as valuable messengers rather than obstacles, we learn to make informed decisions and build resilience, transforming challenges into opportunities for growth.
Three Key Takeaways from This Episode:
D...The best of "It's and Inside Job" - The Contrarian Mindset Skill 1: Focusing on What You Can Control for Resilience
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In this Bite Size Fridays episode of It's an Inside Job, host Jason Liem introduces the contrarian mindset and its first skill: focusing on what we can control. The contrarian mindset is about challenging the status quo in our minds, questioning our typical reactions, and discovering unconventional yet effective ways to enhance resilience and navigate lifeâs unpredictability. Jason explores how the practice of focusing on controllable aspects can alleviate stress, streamline decision-making, and foster a proactive approach to achieving personal and professional goals.
Struggling with Negotiations? Learn the Key Communication Skills from an International Expert.
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Curious about what it takes to become a successful negotiator? What if you could learn from a negotiation expert with extensive international experience? If you're ready to enhance your negotiation skills and navigate complex discussions with confidence, this episode is for you.
In this episode, I have the privilege of speaking with Dr. Remi Smolinski, a negotiation professor at HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management. With a focus on negotiation theory and practice in international settings and innovation management, Dr. Smolinski brings a we...
The Psychology of Emotional Abuse and Coercive Control: Rebuilding Self-Worth with Deena Korda
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In this episode of Itâs an Inside Job, we take on the often overlooked reality of domestic abuse with Deena Kordtâadvocate, author, and podcaster. Drawing on her lived experience of emotional and psychological trauma, Deena explains how non-physical abuse works, why itâs hard to name, and how it can reshape a personâs sense of self and safety. She shares her path from a strict conservative upbringing to surviving an abusive marriage for more than three decades.
We talk about...
An Empty Planet: How Population Decline Will Reshape Society with Darrell Bricker
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âThe problem for the future isnât production. Itâs consumption.â - Darrell Bricker
Global population decline is accelerating faster than anyone expectedâand it will reshape economies, politics, and society. In this episode of Itâs an Inside Job, I speak with population expert Darrell Bricker about fertility collapse, aging societies, and what leaders must understand to prepare for an âempty planet.â
What happens to economies, innovation, and social stability when the world stops having children?
Key Takeaw...
Staying Focused Under Pressure: Practical Tools from Performance Psychology with Dr Dana Sinclair
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âConfidence is about how you feel. Performance is about what you do.â - Dr. Dana Sinclair
How do you perform at your best when pressure is highest? In this episode of Itâs an Inside Job, performance psychologist Dr. Dana Sinclair breaks down practical, evidence-based tools for staying focused, calm, and effective when it matters mostâwithout relying on confidence or empty positivity.
What if peak performance isnât about feeling confidentâbut about knowing exactly what to do when pre...
What Are the Repeatable Behaviors Behind Great Company Culture? with Chris Dyer
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âWhat you are not changing, you are choosing.â - Chris Dyer
Chris Dyer breaks down how to build a strong company culture in remote and hybrid teams using simple, repeatable practicesâespecially around meetings, team norms, recognition, and psychological safety. Youâll leave with concrete tools (meeting audits, team charter, feed forward) to improve engagement and performance.Â
Key Takeaway Insights and ToolsÂ
Run a quarterly âmeeting audit.â Cut unnecessa...P7
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The Survival Mindset: Why Your Old Coping Mechanisms Are Making You Sick with Kristin Grayce McGary
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"When we operate from a 'fight' mentality, we are keeping our nervous system in a state of high alert. True healing begins when we move from combat to curiosity." - Kristin Grayce McGary
Discover how to break free from unconscious childhood patterns and transition from a "fight" mentality to a healing mindset with holistic health expert Kristin Grayce McGary. Learn how integrating emotional awareness with functional medicine can build lasting resilience and transform your physical well-being.
Are the survival st...
From âWhatâs Wrong With You?â to âWhat Happened to You?â: Louise Rellis on Youth Trauma and Resilience
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âThe nervous system runs the show, even when you think youâre in control.â - Louise Rellis
In this episode, I speak with Louise Rellis, founder of the ANAM Rural Youth Association, about providing vital mental health support to marginalized youth in Alberta. We discuss the effects of trauma on behavior and practical strategies for emotional regulation, including informal conversation techniques that create a safe space for youth to express themselves.
Louise emphasizes the importance of commu...
How to Overcome Decision Fatigue: The 3-Step Reset for Mental Clarity
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"Thinking feels heavier, not because the task is complex, but because the space required to think has become crowded."
Struggling to finish simple tasks? Learn about the "Clarity Tax"âthe hidden cognitive cost of overthinking and decision fatigueâand discover a three-step micro-reset to reclaim your mental focus and emotional steadiness.
Why do straightforward tasks like writing a short email sometimes feel impossibly heavy, even when you aren't "busy"?
Key Takeaway Insights and Tools
...The Leadership Skill Most People Ignore: Balancing Purpose and Process (The Poet & The Plumber)
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Are you leading with clarity and structureâor are you unintentionally relying too much on inspiration or too much on systems?
Discover how balancing meaning and mechanismâthe âpoet and the plumberââcan improve your leadership, strengthen your routines, and increase follow-through. This episode breaks down practical tools, including the pre-mortem, to help you align purpose with process at work and in your personal projects.
Key Takeaway Insights & ToolsÂ
Leadership requires balancing meaning (poet) and mechanism...
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The Courage to Say âNoâ: How to Set Boundaries Without Guilt or Burnout
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âProtecting your time isnât selfish â itâs self-respect in action.â
Do you ever say yes when every part of you wants to say no â and walk away wondering why you agreed in the first place?
Learn how to say no without guilt or apology. In this solo episode, Jason Lim explores the psychology of boundaries, how over-agreeing drains our energy, and how clear, values-based decisions protect focus, time, and peace of m...
13 Seeing Sideways - The Sunk Cost Fallacy: Why âIâve Invested Too Much to Quitâ Is Holding You Back
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âResilient people donât let past investment dictate future choices. They measure value by direction, not duration.â
What would you walk away from today if you werenât busy trying to justify the time, money, and effort youâve already spent?
In this solo episode of Seeing Sideways, I unpack the Sunk Cost fallacy and how it quietly sabotages decisions in your work, relationships, and goals. Youâll learn practical ways to let go of draining commitments so you can choose mor...
Losing the Uniform, Losing Yourself: Finding Identity, Purpose & Community Again After the Military with Lee James Hanna
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âWhat veterans need more than anything is a new mission. Weâre built to serve others, to protect. Give us purpose again and incredible things happen.â - Lee James Hanna
In this episode, I sit down with Army veteran and Western Regional Veterans Program Manager, Lee James Hanna, to unpack the hidden struggles of transitioning from military to civilian lifeâaddiction, PTSD, moral injuryâand the practical tools of purpose, community, and self-compassion that support real recovery and resilience for veterans...
Seeing Sideways - The Narrative Fallacy & the Stories We Tell Ourselves
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"One honest detail added can shift the entire meaning and make your story more real and not just more comfortable."
Is the story you tell about your past actually the truth, or is it just the most comfortable version?
Understand the Narrative Fallacy, the cognitive bias that makes your brain rewrite the past into a neat, consistent story. Learn how to spot this mental shortcut to embrace life's complexity and build authentic resilience an...
The War Within: Turning Off Combat Mode After Military Service with Clay Rojas
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âCombat mode can lead you through war; it cannot lead you through life.â â Clay Rojas
U.S. Marine veteran and counsellor Clay Rojas joins me to unpack the hard transition from combat to civilian lifeâcovering post-traumatic stress (drop the âDâ), dialling down âcombat modeâ at home, and how families and communities can become real rally points for veterans. Practical steps, plain language, and resources from The Forge Initiative and Clayâs book, Rally Point.
Key Takeawa...
Seeing Sideways - âWhy Donât They Get It?â Egocentric Bias Explained (and What to Do)
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What changes when you stop assuming people âget itâ and start checking what they actually heard?
In this chapter of Seeing Sideways, I break down egocentric biasâwhy we think others see what we seeâand show simple ways to improve clarity, perspective-taking, and leadership communication. Walk away with practical prompts and routines that cut misunderstandings and build trust.
Key Takeaway Insights & ToolsÂ
Egocentric bias definedââwhy we think others see what we see.â<...Resilience Debt: How Borrowing Against Your Well-Being Leads to Burnout & Four Buffers That Protect Your Energy
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âBurnout doesnât book a slot in your calendar. It just shows up and takes what itâs owed.âÂ
Are you living on resilience creditâspending todayâs energy while expecting tomorrowâs self to pay the bill?
In this solo episode of Itâs an Inside Job, I explore the idea of resilience debtâhow constantly borrowing against our well-being leads to burnout, illness, and disconnection. I share practical strategies and tools to help you build buf...
Seeing Sideways - Emotional Reasoning: When Feelings Masquerade as Facts
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âEmotional reasoning is the shortcut that convinces us our feelings are facts.â
A clear, practical walkthrough of emotional reasoningâthe bias that makes feelings feel like factsâand how to separate signal from story. Learn simple tools to build self-awareness, better decisions, and steadier leadership.
When a strong feeling hitsâanxiety, shame, angerâare you reading the room, or just reading your nervous system?
Key Takeaway Insights & ToolsÂ
What emotional reasoning isâand why it f...The Power of Reinvention: What Happens When the Role That Defined You Ends
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When the title, team, or role that once defined you falls awayâwho are you in the silence thatâs left, and how do you start to feel solid again without pretending youâve already âmoved onâ?
In this solo episode, I explore the rarely spoken âmiddle stretchâ of transitionâthe quiet space between roles, careers, or identitiesâdrawing on stories from former elite athletes to offer grounded tools for anyone feeling unmoored, uncertain, or in between. Listeners will learn how to rebuild rhythm, l...
Seeing Sideways - Cognitive Dissonance: Making Peace with Our Contradictions
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âDiscomfort doesnât mean youâre wrong. It means youâre growing.â (08:37)
What if the very discomfort youâre trying to escape is actually pointing you toward your greatest growth?
In this episode of Seeing Sideways, I explore Cognitive Dissonanceâthe mental tension we feel when our actions contradict our values or beliefs. Learn how this hidden bias shapes our choices, fuels rationalizations, and stalls growth, and discover practical strategies to embrace discomfort as a path to clarity...
From Pro Athlete to Purpose: Abiola Wabara on Reinvention and Resilience
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âBasketball was something that I did, not who I was.â â Abiola Wabara
When your main identity suddenly endsâwhether itâs on the court or in the corner officeâhow do you rediscover purpose and rebuild a sense of self that feels whole again?
Former professional basketball player Abiola Wabara shares how she rebuilt her identity after retirement and injury. This episode explores life transitions, identity reinvention, and emotional resilience, offering practical strategies for anyone rede...
Seeing Sideways - The Self-Serving Bias: Why We Claim the Wins and Dodge the Blame
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âGrowth doesnât come from protecting the ego. It comes from seeing clearly what you did well, what you missed, and where you could do better.â
Do you protect your ego at the cost of your growth?
In this episode of Seeing Sideways, I unpack the self-serving biasâour tendency to claim credit for success while shifting blame for failure. Discover how this hidden mental shortcut shields the ego but limits growth, and learn practical strategies...
Self-Worth Over Wins: An Athleteâs Guide to Mental Health and Identity with Isaiah Neil
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âMental health often gets worse before it gets betterâbecause youâre having hard conversations and making changes.â - Isaiah Neil
How can accepting your vulnerabilityâand creating a safe space for others to do the sameâbe the most powerful play you ever make, both in sports and in life?
Discover how former collegiate athlete and mental health advocate Isaiah Neil navigated crippling performance anxiety, injuries, and depression to find true self-worth, offering essential tools for youn...
Seeing Sideways - The Dunning-Kruger Effect: Why We Think We Know More Than We Do
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âConfidence can signal progress, but unchecked, it can also become a ceiling.â
Have you ever felt overly confident about a skill, only to later realize how little you actually knew?
Discover the Dunning-Kruger Effectâwhy the less we know, the more confident we often feelâand learn practical tools to balance confidence with humility, curiosity, and growth. This episode from Seeing Sideways explores how to build resilience and clarity by questioning what we think we a...
Life After Sport: How Athletes Can Rebuild Identity, Mental Health and Resilience with Emily Huston
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What happens when the role that has defined your identity disappears overnightâand how do you rebuild when the structure, community, and purpose are gone?
âRetirement for an athlete isnât stepping downâit often feels like falling off a cliff.â - Emily Huston
Former pro volleyball player and HomeTeam founder Emily Huston joins me to discuss athlete identity loss, retirement, and mental health. Discover how community, connection, and support can help athletesâand anyone fac...
Seeing Sideways - Spotting Patterns vs. Chasing Ghosts (Apophenia): A Guide to Clear Thinking
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âClarity means letting insight be earned, not assumed.â
Have you ever convinced yourself that âthis always happensââonly to realise it might just be a coincidence?
In this episode of Seeing Sideways, I explore how our brains connect the dotsâeven when thereâs no real picture to see. We dig into pattern-seeking and apophenia, the bias that fuels superstition, flawed decisions, and false clarityâand I share tools to help you stay curious, grounded...
The False Promise of DEI: When Diversity Divides Instead of Unites
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âDEI isnât a cure-all and it isnât a poison. Itâs a toolâand it depends how we use it.â
Is DEI expanding opportunitiesâor unintentionally fueling resentment and division?
In this solo episode of Itâs an Inside Job, I unpack the promise and pitfalls of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). I explore where DEI policies strengthen resilience, where they backfire, and how leaders can rethink fairness, pipelines, and trust to create lasting impact.
Key Takeaw...
Seeing Sideways - âI Knew Itâ â The Lie Your Brain Loves to Tell (The Hindsight Bias)
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âResilience isnât built on perfect foresight. Itâs built on honest hindsight.â
In this episode of Seeing Sideways, I explore the Hindsight Biasâhow the brain tricks us into thinking we âknew it all along.â I share tools to help you separate real insight from illusion, so you can reflect more clearly, lead more fairly, and build true resilience.
Have you ever looked back at a decision and thought, âI shouldâve seen it comingââbut did you really?
Solving the Right Problem: Design Thinking for Leaders and Resilient Teams with Kat Mather
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âDesign thinking is conscious decision-making.â - Kat Mather
In this episode, I discuss design thinking with Kat Mather from Design Linking, a design professional with over 25 years of experience. We explore how design thinking helps teams address root causes instead of surface-level issues, enhancing problem-solving. Kat shares her transition into facilitation and the importance of balancing divergent and convergent thinking.Â
We delve into the five phases of design thinkingâempathy, defining the probl...
Seeing Sideways - Wired for Worry: How to Overcome Your Brain's Negativity Bias
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âThe negativity bias doesn't just distort your moodâit reshapes your attention.â
Why does your mind hold onto criticism more than compliments? In this episode of Seeing Sideways, Jason Birkevold Liem explores The Negativity Biasâyour brainâs built-in tendency to focus on whatâs wrongâand offers practical strategies to shift from survival-mode thinking to emotional clarity and resilience.
Why does one small mistake outweigh a dozen winsâand how can you retrain your brain to see the full pictu...
