A short episode with Sarah Grynberg for a focused conversation on what it really means to live a life of greatness. We spoke about conscious awareness, burnout, and why choosing love over fear is a daily practice, not a concept. Sarah shared her own experience of change and why most people stay stuck even when they want more.

This episode is an invitation to look inward, soften the noise, and move through life with greater intention. Sometimes the smallest shifts are the ones that change everything.

https://bit.ly/48sw8Vj

Michele Scherr and I explored what happens when the structure, identity and purpose that once defined your life suddenly disappear. Michele speaks openly about her transition out of military service and the deep emotional toll that followed. The isolation, the loss of meaning and the quiet despair that can sit beneath the surface even when support appears to be all around you.

She is a former nurse, military veteran and precision health specialist who understands transition from the inside out. She shares what it felt like to lose not one identity, but two, and how that unravelling led her into a period of depression, suicidal ideation and a profound questioning of her value and place in the world. This conversation goes where many avoid, into the spaces people rarely speak about once the uniform comes off or a chapter closes.

We talk about why identity and purpose sit at the core of mental health during major life transitions, why the first year after leaving structured environments can be the most dangerous and how the noise of modern life makes it harder to hear what we need. Michele explains how listening to the body, understanding individual design and creating the right environment can become powerful anchors when everything else feels uncertain.

If you’re in a season of change or supporting someone who is, this episode offers clarity, compassion and a reminder that purpose can be rebuilt, one step at a time.

Inside this podcast:

- Why identity loss can quietly unravel mental health

- How major life transitions impact purpose and belonging

- Why the body holds clues to how you are designed to thrive

- The role of environment in healing and rebuilding identity

- Why asking for help is often the hardest but most important step

Connect with Michele Scherr:

LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/michele-scherr

Website → personalisedhealthandwellbeingsolutions.com.au

Connect with Steve:

Instagram → https://bit.ly/3KARQhR

LinkedIn → https://bit.ly/48sw8Vj

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 - Struggling to get out of bed and the silent weight of transition

00:02:00 - S*icidal ideation and feeling isolated despite support

00:04:00 - Why this conversation matters beyond the military

00:07:30 - The growing noise of modern life and constant stimulation

00:11:00 - Leaving nursing and military service at the same time

00:13:00 - Losing identity, value and a sense of contribution

00:17:30 - Precision health and understanding individual design

00:21:30 - Environment as a key factor in mental health and healing

00:26:00 - Identity and purpose as core challenges in transition

00:30:00 - Why defence struggles to prepare people for civilian life

00:35:00 - Creating a foundation before adding support programs

00:40:00 - Personalisation, sustainability, and long term wellbeing

00:46:00 - Gender differences in identity, purpose, and expectations

00:52:00 - Giving yourself grace during transition

00:54:00 - Finding what works for you and cultivating community

00:57:00 - Identity evolution through different life stages

01:01:00 - Supporting loved ones through transition with communication

01:05:00 - Boundaries, behaviour, and healthy ways to release emotion

01:10:00 - Reaching out for help and breaking internal barriers

01:13:00 - Why people struggle to respond when someone is honest

01:15:00 - Where to find Michele and closing reflections

ABOUT THE PODCAST SHOW

The Noise of Life is a podcast that shares real stories, raw truths, and remarkable growth. Hosted by Steve Hodgson a coach, facilitator, speaker and Mental Health First Aid Instructor. This podcast dives deep into the “noise” we all face, the distractions, doubts and challenges that can pull us away from who we truly are.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Monisha Bhanote to explore a kind of noise we often ignore. The quiet signals our body sends long before something breaks. Headaches we normalize, fatigue we push through, gut issues we brush off and sleep we sacrifice because life feels busy. Monisha reminds us that these are not inconveniences. They are communication.

Dr. Monisha Bhanote is a board certified physician, integrative lifestyle medicine expert, culinary medicine specialist, researcher and founder of the Wellkula Institute. Her work bridges science and self awareness, helping people understand how daily choices shape health at the most fundamental level, our cells.

In this conversation, she invites us to treat our bodies with the same care we give our phones, charging them intentionally rather than waiting for complete shutdown.

We talk about why so many people feel depleted, inflamed or not quite themselves and why the answer is rarely found in another supplement or quick fix. Instead, it lives in the intelligence of the gut, the quality of our food, our sleep, our stress and the pace at which we live. We explore why being overfed and undernourished is one of the great contradictions of modern life and how prevention begins long before symptoms arrive.

This episode is also deeply personal for me. I share parts of my own journey through burnout, fatigue and a recent cancer diagnosis, and why listening earlier might have changed everything. At its heart, this conversation is an invitation to slow down, tune in nd reconnect with the wisdom your body has been trying to share with you all along.

If you’ve been feeling tired, off or disconnected from your health, this episode will meet you right where you are.

Inside this podcast:

- Why symptoms are signals, not normal

- How the body whispers before it needs to shout

- Why cellular health is the foundation of wellbeing

- The role of gut health, food, sleep and lifestyle in prevention

- How listening earlier can change the course of your health

Connect with Dr. Monisha:

Instagram → https://bit.ly/3L1m3ak

LinkedIn → https://bit.ly/3LuKMnv

Website → https://www.drbhanote.com/

Connect with Steve:

Instagram → https://bit.ly/3KARQhR

LinkedIn → https://bit.ly/48sw8Vj

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 - Episode Start

00:02:00 - The noise inside the body we learn to ignore

00:03:40 - Why the body whispers before it shouts

00:05:20 - Treating your body like your phone battery

00:08:30 - Overfed, undernourished, and chronically depleted

00:12:00 - Why people are always tired at a cellular level

00:14:30 - Blood tests, ranges, and what gets missed

00:18:20 - Gut health as the foundation of disease and healing

00:21:30 - How many plants are you really eating

00:26:00 - Slowing down meals and the European relationship with food

00:30:00 - Sleep as a non negotiable health pillar

00:32:30 - Diet myths, confirmation bias and health trends

00:36:00 - Protein fears and plant based nutrition

00:37:20 - My personal journey through burnout and diagnosis

00:41:00 - Awareness, early signals, and missed prevention

00:46:00 - Screening, testing, and why people avoid them

00:49:30 - Longevity versus quality of life

00:53:30 - Hope, purpose, and what drives healing

00:56:50 - Key messages for taking ownership of your health

00:58:30 - Building a health team, not relying on one voice

01:01:00 - Prevention over intervention and closing reflections

ABOUT THE PODCAST SHOW

The Noise of Life is a podcast that shares real stories, raw truths, and remarkable growth. Hosted by Steve Hodgson a coach, facilitator, speaker and Mental Health First Aid Instructor. This podcast dives deep into the “noise” we all face, the distractions, doubts and challenges that can pull us away from who we truly are.