Michael Cheika: Being True To Yourself
Michael Cheika believes a great team is made up of different types of characters — lovers, fighters, jokers, hard men, quiet types and bookworms. Rather than trying to maintain a certain image based on the media, Michael shares how important it is to be true to yourself and what you believe. This includes knowing when to be gentle, tough and never taking yourself too seriously.
Michael Cheika is the coach of the Australian Rugby team. He is also the coach of the New South Wales Waratahs, a husband and father of four children. He’s played rugby, has ran a highly successful fashion business and is the only coach to have won the major rugby competitions in both the southern and northern hemispheres.
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Many of us have been raised to think that men have to act in a certain way. You know the story — be tough, invulnerable, in control, unemotional etc.
He believes a great team is made up of different types of characters — lovers, fighters, jokers, hard men, quiet types and bookworms.
A ‘good life’ as being determined by generosity, caring for one another and acknowledging our shared frailty as humans.
We hear about his experience doing rites of passages with his sons, taking family sabbaticals and how he naturally gravitates to people who are open, emotionally available and vulnerable.
The nature of masculinity is in great transition — and many men aren’t coping well. Men are scoring higher on the markers of ‘emotional distress’ including suicide, substance abuse, online addiction, violence — and even eating disorders.
Graham Long wears two watches. The second belonged to his son, James. It stopped at one minute to midnight during the first year of James’ death — a reminder to live in the present moment.
Believes being born in Australia is like winning the “embryo lottery” — and how important it is to use our time, talents and money to give back to society.
At some point in your life, you have to decide whether you're going to live according to what others expect, or what you feel is right.
He has a passion for removing stigmas and reminds us that by coming back to stillness we can calm our minds and reconnect us to our basic human goodness.
He makes a very clear distinction difference between being “successful” and being “admirable”.
He values people beyond their job titles and always sought to create work environments where people felt cared for, respected and treated with dignity.
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