Something for the Busy Brain — honest conversations to help you manage the overwhelm and make the most of your potential.
A supportive podcast for people whose minds rarely switch off: the thinkers, feelers, creators, over-loaders, people-pleasers, idea-machines and quiet battlers of the modern world.
Hosted by ADHD and mental health coach Ben Cook, this is an honest space exploring the highs, lows and intensity of a busy brain - from overwhelm and burnout to creativity, sensitivity and untapped potential.
Through raw conversations, personal stories and practical tools, Ben and his guests unpack what it really means to live with constant inner noise, and how to build a calmer, more intentional life around it, so you can feel more in control of yourself.
This isn’t a podcast about diagnosis or labels. It’s a podcast about humans, emotions, lived experience, identity - and the power unlocked when we understand our minds.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, burned out, stuck, misunderstood or full of unexpressed potential… you are NOT alone.
Welcome to a space where you learn to work with your busy brain, not against it — and gently regain a sense of control, one conversation at a time.
Something for the Busy Brain — honest conversations to help you manage the overwhelm and make the most of your potential.
One Word, Instead of a Resolution
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Send me a message, from episode feedback to theme requests.
One Word Instead of a Resolution
Calling Bullshit on New Year's Resolutions...
January often begins with exhaustion rather than motivation — especially for people with busy brains.
In this short, reflective episode of Something for the Busy Brain, Ben Cook gently challenges the idea of New Year’s resolutions and offers a calmer, more achievable alternative: focusing on how you want to feel, rather than what you think you should achieve.
If you feel overstimulated, peopled-out, or overwhelmed as routines return, this episode is a grounding pause — a simple anchor to help you start the year with more compassion and less pressure.
About the host:
Ben Cook is a mental health and wellbeing coach who supports adults with busy brains — including ADHD — to find calm, clarity, and self-trust.
Support beyond the podcast:
Ben offers a free, no-obligation 30-minute call.
You’ll find his contact details below:
https://www.goodtothinkdifferently.com/coaching
ben@goodtothinkdifferently.com
Ben (00:01)
Welcome to Something for the Busy Brain, a supportive podcast for people whose minds rarely switch off. I'm Ben Cook, a mental health and wellbeing coach, and I help simplify the lives of people with busy brains, including ADHD. Let's get into it. Today is actually going to be a pretty short one because it's about stripping things back to basics, to something simpler.
and hopefully more achievable.
So let me start with a question.
Is the beginning of January really the best time to be thinking up a New Year's resolution?
For some people it might well be. But for many of us, January starts with exhaustion. Over-stimulated by Christmas. All peopled out.
and then suddenly overwhelmed again by returning to work after a period of absolutely no routine.
And yet this is the moment we tell ourselves we should do more. We should be better.
And we hoist our New Year's resolution up on a flag and hold ourselves accountable to it.
I personally gave up on New Year's resolutions a few years ago.
because I always felt like I was setting myself up to fail.
I'd start with good intentions.
then struggle to step through things.
and end up beating myself up and feeling like I'd failed.
But this is old news to a lot of you who experience the same.
So let's have a reality check.
It's okay to challenge yourself.
but it has to be achievable. I'm not saying don't challenge yourself.
I'm just saying give yourself a better chance of achievement
And when the heart is more invested in what you want to achieve, there's a greater chance of success too.
This week, every person I've spoken to who hasn't got a New Year's resolution has said something similar.
I usually fail so I don't bother anymore.
So I've actually been asking them. I'll ask you too.
What if your resolution wasn't a concrete goal? Not quit drinking. Not quit smoking. Not be a completely different person by the start of February. What if it was as simple as this?
How do you want to feel?
by the end of January? Or even how do you want to feel by the end of the year? Let me give you an example. If your word is calm,
or your word is peaceful.
then you've got something you can try and anchor yourself to.
a single aspirational feeling, a single word that helps you navigate things.
A word that doesn't pile on expectations.
but gives you direction.
And that one word can have a really stabilizing effect.
So instead of thinking about
what you feel you should be doing or chasing achievements that might impress other people, have a think about how you want to feel. How you want to feel.
January can arrive and you might not know what you want. But you can get in touch with yourself, get in tune with yourself, and maybe just start there.
Before I finish, I just like to say this. I make this podcast because I too have a busy brain. I know what it's like to feel overwhelmed and I want these episodes to stand on their own. But if you're listening and thinking...
I can actually do with some supports. Then I'm here for that too. You don't have to figure things out on your own.
If you'd like these conversations to keep showing up for you, you can hit follow on the podcast so they land in your feed when you need them.
I'm Ben and I work with adults who have a busy brains, including ADHD to help them bring more calm, clarity and simplicity to their lives. If you'd like, I offer a free no obligation 30 minute call. You'll find my contact details in the episode notes. Be kind to yourself and I'll see you next time on Something for the Busy Brain.