Podcasting

When you get home from a stressful day at work, take some time for yourself to decompress. Tell your significant other that you need some alone time, and use methods such as meditation, deep breathing, and positive thinking to relax.
 
Transcript: "Well, I'm retired from law enforcement, but when I am stressed at work and I get home, I take time for myself. I think that's important when you get off work. If you're a first responder to come home, tell your significant other if you have one, look, I just need a little bit of time by myself to decompress. Because what happens if you don't say anything and just go into your zone of being alone or kind of isolating? That's when the problems start. But when I get home and I've had a stressful day or I had in the past, I would tell my wife, look, I just need a little bit of time to decompress, go to my room, go to my office and just meditate, deep breathing, you know, try to have some positive thoughts. I know that sounds kind of corny, but that's the way I decompressed. So I hope this helps you. And I would advise you to do the same thing."

Personal wellness for first responders can be challenging to manage, due to their busy schedules and frequent shifts. However, it is important to make time for yourself and decompress in order to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
 
Transcript: "I think as a first responder, we're always, we're very programmed to respond and work on the needs of others. But personal wellness means different things to different people. I look at it, in my opinion, as the mind and body. And it's challenging for a lot of first responders because they're very busy, obviously. They're working variety of shifts, sometimes graveyard shifts, they're trying to balance that and family. So it can be challenging, but I tell everybody I talk to that you need to take time out during the day for yourself. There's nothing wrong with taking me time and being by yourself for a while to decompress. And once you do that, get back to your life. So it can be challenging, but it can be done. There's a lot of first responders out there that manage to have it all because they're able to balance that work-life component. So hope this helps."

The most significant decision I have made in my life is reaching out and getting help when I was depressed and had some bad thoughts. This decision has dictated the rest of my life and I encourage anyone else who is struggling to do the same.
 
Transcript: "The most significant decision I have made in my life so far, personally, it was reaching out and getting help when I was depressed and I had some bad thoughts, wanted to harm myself. That was a big, huge decision because that dictated the rest of my life, and it still does. So I encourage everybody out there, if they're going through some difficult times, to reach out. People are only phone call away. There's a lot of resources out there. But that definitely was a huge decision in my life to reach out and ask for help and get the help and get the treatment I needed so I could become better and have that foundation to go forward with my life. So that has gotta be the most important decision I've made in a long time, and I don't regret it. The only regret I have is not doing it sooner. I had to put my fear and ego aside and pick up that phone and ask for help. So if you're struggling, I would encourage you to do the same."

Networking is the best way to collaborate and expand your network. Get out there, shake hands, talk to people, go to conferences and podcasts, and use social media and the internet to get connected. Take that first step and start with an idea, take action, and let it grow.
 
Transcript: "Great question. I would say network, network, network. Get out there, shake hands, talk to people, expand your network. How do you collaborate? You know, use social media, use the internet. We live in a great age when it comes to technology. So that is just a fabulous way to collaborate with industry exports or expand your audience and network. But nothing beats face-to-face. So go to conferences, go to podcast conferences, learn as much as you can. That's how you are going to expand your network and get those people that you want on your show, those guests. So I've had my podcast for seven and a half years and I just started with an idea, I put it to action and now it keeps growing and growing and growing. So, but it started with that first step to want to bring forth a podcast that was good and had value. So I hope that helps."

A common misconception about podcasting is that you need to be an expert on the topic. However, this is not necessary and you can draw from experts in the field to create content. You can also take a viewer perspective to ask questions that they would be interested in.
 
Transcript: "All right, so we have a question. What are some common misconceptions about podcasting and how would we correct them? Well, one of the biggest misconceptions I think that people have is that I have to be an expert at what my podcast is about. And I tell you this right now, that is not the case. I started my podcast, Tactical Breakdown, in 2019, and it is built on my ability to draw information and expertise from the experts in their respective fields. So my entire podcast, I'm not the expert. I don't frame myself as the expert. I take the position of the viewer or my average viewer, and in our case, which would be a police officer, and I ask questions that I feel that those people would be asking those experts if they had the chance. And so the biggest misconception I see is that people think that they have to run the show, they have to know everything. And the fact is you do not. Find the people that are experts in your space, reach out, talk to them, let them share the information you just facilitate."

Getting good sleep and utilizing blood flow restriction training are two great recovery techniques.
 
Transcript: "What types of recovery techniques do you recommend? I think the main one for me, there's a lot of different techniques out there, but the main one for me is getting your sleep right. And with sleep it's staying consistent, consistent wake times, consistent sleep times. That's the most important thing, regardless of what time you're getting up. It doesn't necessarily have to be too early or too late or anything like that, but just stay consistent or as consistent as you can. Another one, a big shout out to one of our partners at Football Fitness Federation, that is Hytro. Hytro are doing some great work around blood flow restriction training. They've got some great pieces of kit to use for that in terms of recovery and some great protocols that I've used as well with some athletes."