Mike Dicks - Who's saying you can't do what you want to do?

Explicit content warning

09/13/19 • 116 min

LifeDoneDifferent.ly

In this conversation we explored:

Why people often apologise for the work they do
The stories we tell ourselves and how they can limit our development
The inevitably of the ups and downs in our lives
Why he eventually got expelled from college
His first job selling computers at Dixons
Meeting Sir Clive Sinclair
His expected life trajectory of marry, kids, mortgage
His problem with authority
His ability to translate the features of technology into the benefits for humans
The moment he realised his employer was trying to trap him
Why it's important to expose your kids to people who live different lives
Why Mike leaves things to the last minute
The healthy discipline of deadlines
Careers 1, 2 and 3
How a career in TV lead to a career developing websites for Channel 4
Why people try so hard to see something new as a minor variation of something old when in fact it's so very different
How Mike got TV Producers
Why Mike and authority are not comfortable bedfellows.
Why he's the captain of his own ship and how he takes full responsibility for it.
Mike's Beatles moment when he turned down the opportunity to develop the Big Brother website because he thought the whole Big Brother idea was a stupid concept
Why Mike operates at the bleeding edge and why it doesn't make financial sense
What happens to cool ideas when the money men arrive
Edisons idea that the best use of the telephone was to broadcast the opera directly into peoples homes
The importance of vision versus the dangers of being wedded to it
Would you want to be Elon Musk?
3D printing and space exploration as the bleeding edge technologies of now
Wanting to be remembered for something
Why Mike changed his story from 'I've had so many bad bosses' to 'I shouldn't have a boss'
Why pilots died when the designers designed for Mr Average
The moment Mike was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
How Mike's fatigue facilitated focus
How Mike managed to treat his Cancer as a selfish creative Cancer
Mustard Gas = Chemotherapy
The importance of white blood cells and why they're like aged skinheads
The importance of managing energy when you have the CLL cancer
Why you should have a blood test if your neck starts swelling up and your energy levels are low
The importance of doing things that make you or the people you love happy and not the things you feel compelled to do
The importance of dealing, living and dying gracefully with cancer
Why people stick with work they don't enjoy when they could stop and learn to live on less money
Why Mike got a rescue dog and how Scrabble taught him
The unexpected consequence of UKIP taking offence to one of Mike's tweet
Why he watched every single episode of Trumpton
Why it's important to say what he wants and if the audience reacts well he explores it further
His search for a lovely publisher
The joy of negotiating a publishing deal through his dog
How Greta Thunberg talks truth to power
The rough and the smooth of changes to our DNA
Poo powered rockets
The joy of seeing his art on someone else's wall
What it's like to live day-to-day

A few nice quotes:

"Whose voice is it telling you that you shouldn't do something you want to do?" Mike Dicks

"I love deadlines, I love the whooshing sound as they pass me by" Douglas Adams
"Why do we work so hard to impress the people we so dislike?" Cameron and Rob
"Neil Armstrong left a poo on the moon" Mike Dicks
"Every 24 hours you get another chance to have a good day" Mike&Scrabble
"How can you release yourself from the trap of money?" Mike Dicks
"There is a dog for everyone, if you don’t have one it’s because you haven’t met enough dogs yet" Mike&Scrabble

Mike's Shop
https://www.young-enterprise.org.uk/
https://www.sketchup.com/
Peter Dawe
BPS Space (Elon Musk's Prodigy)
99 Designs
Scrabble & friends on the Number 25 bus
Greta Thunberg - full speech
The Brexit Comic

Twitter
@mikedicks @Trump_ton

In this conversation we explored:

Why people often apologise for the work they do
The stories we tell ourselves and how they can limit our development
The inevitably of the ups and downs in our lives
Why he eventually got expelled from college
His first job selling computers at Dixons
Meeting Sir Clive Sinclair
His expected life trajectory of marry, kids, mortgage
His problem with authority
His ability to translate the features of technology into the benefits for humans
The moment he realised his employer was trying to trap him
Why it's important to expose your kids to people who live different lives
Why Mike leaves things to the last minute
The healthy discipline of deadlines
Careers 1, 2 and 3
How a career in TV lead to a career developing websites for Channel 4
Why people try so hard to see something new as a minor variation of something old when in fact it's so very different
How Mike got TV Producers
Why Mike and authority are not comfortable bedfellows.
Why he's the captain of his own ship and how he takes full responsibility for it.
Mike's Beatles moment when he turned down the opportunity to develop the Big Brother website because he thought the whole Big Brother idea was a stupid concept
Why Mike operates at the bleeding edge and why it doesn't make financial sense
What happens to cool ideas when the money men arrive
Edisons idea that the best use of the telephone was to broadcast the opera directly into peoples homes
The importance of vision versus the dangers of being wedded to it
Would you want to be Elon Musk?
3D printing and space exploration as the bleeding edge technologies of now
Wanting to be remembered for something
Why Mike changed his story from 'I've had so many bad bosses' to 'I shouldn't have a boss'
Why pilots died when the designers designed for Mr Average
The moment Mike was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
How Mike's fatigue facilitated focus
How Mike managed to treat his Cancer as a selfish creative Cancer
Mustard Gas = Chemotherapy
The importance of white blood cells and why they're like aged skinheads
The importance of managing energy when you have the CLL cancer
Why you should have a blood test if your neck starts swelling up and your energy levels are low
The importance of doing things that make you or the people you love happy and not the things you feel compelled to do
The importance of dealing, living and dying gracefully with cancer
Why people stick with work they don't enjoy when they could stop and learn to live on less money
Why Mike got a rescue dog and how Scrabble taught him
The unexpected consequence of UKIP taking offence to one of Mike's tweet
Why he watched every single episode of Trumpton
Why it's important to say what he wants and if the audience reacts well he explores it further
His search for a lovely publisher
The joy of negotiating a publishing deal through his dog
How Greta Thunberg talks truth to power
The rough and the smooth of changes to our DNA
Poo powered rockets
The joy of seeing his art on someone else's wall
What it's like to live day-to-day

A few nice quotes:

"Whose voice is it telling you that you shouldn't do something you want to do?" Mike Dicks

Twitter
@mikedicks @Trump_ton

Previous Episode

Pablo Woodward - What would you do if you only had one life?

This conversation in the Bunny Bus covered many moments in the life of Pablo Woodward. This includes the arrival of his 3 children and the Disco Bunny plus:

Realising he didn't have a life he'd asked for or wanted
His quest to understand himself
Going from not believing in himself to doing what he does with passion
Going into shock when one of his first video's went viral
Being accepted
His need to learn, grow and push himself
His sales pitch of free positive energy, free music, free smiles, free glitter, free chalk
Pablo noticing the different reactions from different people and understanding he makes people feel uncomfortable
Wanting to stop dreaming and start doing
His mission to unite people by providing them with opportunities to share positive experiences
What it's like to survive on £20 per day
A life where material success is living in the Bunny Bus, not the car.
His perfect future where he's disco bunnying all over the world
His search for love
The huge difference between his first and second lives
The unexpected consequences of being adopted by a new family into a new and very different culture
His time spent doing conventional jobs
His breakdown or breakthrough moment
Why you don't have to wait until you're desperate to inspire yourself and make changes to your life
Noticing that he was living in his very own metaphorical prison, his feeling that he was trapped and wanting something else
One day living in a castle, the next day living in a car
The worst thing in life being death by boredom
His faith in people and that cries for help will be heard
On receiving sexual abuse because of the way he looks
The confusion caused by the Disco Bunny
Countering aggression with politeness and the importance of emotional intelligence
Why The Disco Bunny goes wherever you least expect to see him
On not wanting to live in a house
On the very recent arrival of baby Rainbow Soul who right now has everything she needs i.e. warmth, milk & love
Life is a puzzle. How can I continue to work on and share my happiness?
Why he left his two oldest children, his house, his job, his relationship and Australia
A good father is a happy father
If you only had one life, what would you do with it? I've decided to be the Disco Bunny

Cafe Bombon - freshly brewed coffee served in a glass with a dollop or two of condensed milk
Jeff from Oregon mentioned the Aria Code Podcast with Rhiannon Giddens
Viral video of the DB and old lady on the streets of Brighton
https://www.thediscobunny.com/
https://www.pablowoodward.com/

Next Episode

Neil and Ray at the Cottage

We recorded this episode at Port Moor Cottage, a shack on stilts sitting on an island in Essex. It would be an understatement to say we've learned from our conversations with guests. They have been kind enough to share their stories of change and do so in some depth. In this wrap-up episode we talk about:

The importance of a Support Team, positive people that have a genuine interest in you, your wellbeing and your growth
The benefits of adopting a child-like curiosity to life
The doors that can open when we reassess what we value (trading with different currencies)
The way the stories we tell ourselves can either slow down or speed up our growth
How redefining something we value e.g. adventure, can open up new doors
How difficult, exciting and rewarding stepping into the unknown can be
The importance of noticing how you feel
The importance of sharing the story you want to be able to tell about yourself