Sean Cochrane is an award-winning interior designer and CEO of Cochrane Design Ltd with an impressive list of clients including, Dame Helen Mirren and Westlife’s Mark Feehily.

He is also an advocate of following a healthy lifestyle and daily mindfulness practice- which will be the topic of today’s interview.

I am extremely excited to have Sean as my guest in the “Mindset for Business” series for some tips on how to incorporate self-care into a busy schedule. Self-care is something which men struggle with and something which I wanted to highlight.

Q.1 Hi Sean, thank you so much for taking the time out to talk to me today, I know that you are a very busy man. Please could you share how you first got into fitness, especially kickboxing?

Sean:

I always loved Bruce Lee films as a child. 

I was living in Brixton when I was 19 and found karate at a local gym.  I Instantly got addicted and was competing within 6 months. I moved into kick boxing, Thai boxing, Boxing, judo, ju jit su and eventually MMA. 

Became Intercontinental Kick boxing champion 

World ranked no2 

South African Champion

Britain ranked no1

Q.2 You regularly squeeze in gym sessions in-between meetings; what benefits does this have for the rest of your day?

Sean:

It balances my day and resets the day. 

But you can restart you day at any point regardless. 

Q.3 Your job involves a lot of travelling, what advice would you give someone who struggles to fit fitness into their busy schedule, especially when working away from home?

Sean:

You owe it to yourself to find the time.  I find the best thing to do is not sit down. Just go straight to it. If you get there, you’ll do it. 

Q.4 How do you handle stressful situations?

Sean:

Meditation and training help greatly. I let things settle and try not to react instantly  or overthink as that brings ego into the situation which has no value. 

Breath and let it settle so I can see it for what it is. 

Q.5 Your Instagram stories are very motivating, and I always find myself looking out for your daily ‘Calm’ mindfulness quote. How do you incorporate mindfulness into your day?

Sean:

Living now in the moment is the most productive use of time. 

‘Time is the most precious thing we have as it’s not thing we have a limitation on.’

Bruce Lee 

Q.6 Lastly, I can’t let you leave without asking about whether you have offered to design Archie’s nursery yet? I know that Prince Harry is an ideal client of yours! 😊

Sean:

Unfortunately they didn’t have the budget so we are still considering 🙂

Final Thoughts- Thank you so much for your time Sean, it is always good to get tips on how to balance career and self-care. I will defintely be taking on your tips, especially not to react to situations straight away.