Aspire with Emma Grede

Episode: Unlock Your Brain’s Full Potential

With Guest: Dr. Tara Swart, Neuroscientist and Executive Coach
Released: September 30, 2025

Brief Overview

In this incisive episode, host Emma Grede sits down with Dr. Tara Swart—a world-renowned neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and executive coach—to explore practical, science-backed strategies for unlocking the brain’s potential. The conversation deftly bridges hard neuroscience with actionable daily habits, tackling topics from stress management and intuition to the neuroscience of creativity, social influence, and neuroplasticity. With humor, personal stories, and clarity, Dr. Swart and Emma unpack how leaders and dreamers alike can learn to rewire their minds for greater success, resilience, and wellbeing.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Dr. Tara Swart’s Path: Neuroscience Meets Executive Coaching

• Background & Unique Perspective:

  • Swart’s transition from NHS psychiatrist to executive coach during the 2008 financial crisis exposed her to the severe effects of workplace stress, especially in high-pressure banking.
  • “The mind body connection became a really crucial factor for businesses to understand, to save the lives of their employees.” (Dr. Tara Swart, 04:13)

• Women, Stress, and Social Conditioning:

  • The episode examines if women are inherently more prone to stress.
  • Swart emphasizes society’s role: “Women inevitably are multitasking… there’s a big case of women putting themselves last.” (05:17)
  • Biological vs. Cultural Differences in Brains: The variation is more about social upbringing and expectations than structural differences. Swart uses the height analogy—there’s overlap; differences exist but are not absolute. (07:02–07:44)

2. Stress: Understanding It and Tools to Manage

• Manifestation of Stress:

  • Suppressed stress manifests physically; open conversations or journaling are vital outlets. (09:06)
  • Gladly, women may have a slight advantage because social sharing helps “get it out of your brain-body system.” (08:44)

• Practical Tools:

  • Talking/Sharing or Journaling: Release stress mentally.
  • Exercise: Paradox—gentle activity decreases stress, but high-intensity can spike cortisol, especially for type-A personalities.
    • “That’s probably counterproductive. So more gentle exercise, walking, yoga.” (09:33)
  • Breathwork:
    • Resetting the nervous system is approachable: “Just noticing your breathing and checking whether your exhale is longer than your inhale… It’s all signaling to your brain that I’m relaxed.” (10:53–11:22)
  • Hydration:
    • Stress dehydrates; even 1–3% dehydration impairs thinking.
      • “Keeping yourself hydrated is just such a small but important thing.” (11:54–12:25)

• Why Are We All So Stressed?:

  • Information overload: “Reading today’s newspaper is more information than someone would receive in a lifetime a hundred years ago.” (12:35)
  • The brain’s natural filtering keeps us in survival, not thriving—time to step back and consider what you want your life to feel like. (13:48)

• Social Media Boundaries:

  • Swart is strict about usage—curates what she lets in, sends out value, and is rarely on her phone around others.
    • “The phone’s not the problem, you’re the problem.” (13:58)
    • “When you spend time with Tara, she doesn’t even look at her phone. I’m like, shouldn’t that be normal?” (14:42)

3. Myths of Multitasking and Focus

• Multitasking Is a Myth:

  • “Every time you multitask, you are doing each task less well than you’re capable of doing that task alone.” (16:23)
  • Perceived strength for women is actually a productivity sabotage.

• Loneliness and Connection:

  • Prioritize real engagement over phone distraction—loneliness is “so bad for you.” (16:58)

4. The Neuroscience of Success: Mindsets and Habits

• Loss Aversion Drives Behavior:

  • The brain is evolutionarily wired to avoid loss much more than to seek reward.
    • “Our brain is wired to avoid loss… two and a half times as much as it is to gain a reward.” (17:28)
    • Famous example: Finding $50 vs. losing $50—loss lingers and shapes thinking. (18:34)

• Overcoming the Brain’s Risk Aversion:

  • Recognize patterns in self-talk and underlying beliefs.
  • Use “opposite affirmations” to rewire negative self-beliefs: “Repeat that so many times that that gets wired into your brain as the truth…” (19:57–20:49)
  • Find role models similar to yourself—“if they can, I can.” (21:07)

• Even Billionaire CEOs Have Doubts:

  • All people, even the most successful, harbor vulnerabilities and doubts.
    • “Those people that I coach who are… super successful, have the same doubts and vulnerabilities that anyone does.” (22:56)

5. Intuition, Instinct, and Practical Decision-Making

• Intuition vs. Instinct:

  • Intuition is wisdom guiding you positively; instinct is a shortcut that’s often fear-based. (27:15–27:43)
  • To discern between intuition and fear, ask: What would I advise a friend? Or, try the “Seven-Year Leap” exercise: imagine your future self advising the present you. (28:41–29:52)

• Strengthening Intuition:

  • Through “journaling decisions,” build evidence that following intuition can bring positive results—start with low-stakes choices and scale up. (31:16–32:11)
  • Reviewing journals is like “future journaling” and helps course-correct. (33:00–33:41)

• Intuition’s Undervalued Role:

  • The linguistic “cognitive revolution” led to valuing logic over primal, limbic intuition, but emotion and intuition are tangible and scan-able in the brain.
    • “Now that we can scan healthy brains, we can actually see what happens when you experience certain emotions and how that changes your decision making.” (35:01–35:58)

6. Neuroplasticity: Lifelong Learning & Brain Flexibility

• Science of Change and Growth:

  • Neuroplasticity doesn’t end at 18—the brain can change, adapt, and grow when challenged into adulthood.
    • “From 25 onwards, if you force your brain to learn things and you seek novelty and you’re curious, then the brain can remain really flexible…” (36:56–37:51)
  • For expanding executive function: learn a language, pick up an instrument, or change daily routines for novel input. (39:26)

• Social Reasons to Keep Learning:

  • Flexibility increases resilience, creativity, and higher-level problem-solving—“being open to change… make you more of a healthy risk taker.” (40:21)

7. AI, Creativity, and What Makes Us Human

• AI’s Impact:

  • Swart acknowledges rapid AI advancement is shrinking the sphere of uniquely human value. Thus, “what makes us human”—creativity, art, intuition—becomes more important. (41:30–43:13)

• Creativity and Health:

  • Mind-blowing stat: engaging in arts and culture six times a year lowers mortality risk by 40%.
    • “If you engage in the arts and culture every two months… your risk of dying goes down by 40%.” (43:22–43:34)
  • Artistic or aesthetic involvement need not be for external approval—making art or even appreciating beauty is beneficial regardless of talent. (46:32–46:56)

• Nature’s Power:

  • Time outdoors reduces stress, boosts immunity (e.g., phytoncides from trees), and restores hormones.
    • “Birdsong lowers your stress levels and your blood pressure, because birds only sing when there are no predators around.” (45:10–46:02)

8. Habits and Community for Long-Term Success

• Foundational Habits:

  • “You can’t achieve success if you don’t have these things right: sleep, eating right, hydration, movement, and managing stress.” (50:04)

• Higher-Level Habits:

  • Tune into physicality and senses—embodiment, biofeedback.
  • Hone intuition and creativity. Spend time in nature for reflection and stress management.
  • Community: “Who is around you… that’s a reflection of what you’re going to be and achieve.” (51:18)

• Social Contagion:

  • Behaviors/risk are “catchy”; curate your community intentionally. Evolving relationships is natural and healthy for growth. (53:34–54:46)

9. Leadership, Stress Transmission, and Organizational Culture

• Emotional Contagion:

  • Leaders’ stress leaks—literally—into others’ physiology via cortisol shed into local atmosphere, raising team stress and lowering performance.
    • “That actually leaks out of your skin and goes into the skin of other people around you…” (57:12–57:58)
  • Presenteeism—being physically present but mentally stuck in survival mode—costs more than absenteeism. (58:27–58:58)

• Microhabits for Resilience:

  • Swart focuses on small, incremental changes (10–12 microhabits a year) instead of overwhelming overhauls.
    • Example: sleep improvement (even 30 mins more), hydrating, gentler exercise, time in nature, creative pursuits. (61:53–63:40)

10. Purpose and Motivation

• Purpose Reduces Stress, Boosts Positive Hormones:
  • Purpose raises oxytocin, lowers cortisol; it aligns head, heart, and gut, making decisions easier and life more harmonious.
    • “When you’ve got purpose, you’ll have higher levels of oxytocin… and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol…” (67:05–68:09)
  • Purpose may shift over your lifetime, recurring at points of directionlessness or transition. (68:29–69:16)

11. Beauty, Gratitude, and Next-level Appreciation

• Art of Noticing — “Next-level Gratitude”:
  • Swart practices conscious appreciation of beauty in everyday life—a habit that raises oxytocin and boosts wellbeing beyond gratitude. (70:06–72:11)
  • “I literally think life is so beautiful now.” (72:47)
  • Like gratitude, this can be trained through simple daily awareness. (71:39–72:43)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “The brain is the CEO of your body… Even though it’s so small and you can’t see it, it’s really important to understand how powerful it is in everything that you do.”
  (Dr. Tara Swart, 17:28)

• “If you can separate yourself from that voice…when you do have a negative self thought, if you say, that’s actually not my voice, that’s the voice of that person that didn’t believe in me…”
  (29:56)

• “Intuition is probably the greatest superpower that you can use by understanding your brain-body connection.”
  (Dr. Tara Swart, 73:16)

• “Your brain is a tiny part of your body weight, but it’s a very energy hungry organization.”
  (73:16)

• “Neuroplasticity is this ability of the brain to grow and change throughout life. Seek novelty and your brain can remain really flexible.”
  (Dr. Tara Swart, 36:56–37:51)

• “[On stress transmission at work] That actually leaks out of your skin and goes into the skin of other people around you and artificially raises their cortisol levels.”
  (57:50–57:58)

• “We are capable of so much more than we realize. …There’s actually a massive benefit to being in what’s called default mode, which is the part where you let your mind wander and you generate new ideas and you make connections.”
  (Dr. Tara Swart, 77:05)

Timestamps for Notable Segments

• Career Path & Neuroscience + Coaching Origins: 04:13–04:58
• Women, Stress, and Culture: 05:17–06:45
• Practical Stress Management Tools: 09:06–12:25
• Social Media & Attention: 13:58–14:55
• Debunking Multitasking: 16:17–16:58
• Loss Aversion & Success Barriers: 17:28–18:34
• Overriding Self-Limiting Beliefs: 19:36–21:07
• Even Billionaires Have Imposter Feelings: 22:56–23:12
• Intuition vs. Instinct & Exercises: 27:15–29:52
• Training Intuition via Journaling: 31:16–32:11
• Neuroplasticity & Lifelong Learning: 36:56–37:51
• AI and Human Creativity: 41:30–43:13
• Remarkable Stat — Arts Engagement & Mortality: 43:22–43:34
• Community & Social Contagion: 53:34–54:53
• Leadership and Hormonal Social Transmission: 57:12–57:58
• Microhabit Approach for Busy Leaders: 61:53–63:40
• Purpose and Success: 67:05–68:09
• Beauty & ‘Next-level Gratitude’: 70:06–72:11
• Brain Basics & Side-sleeping Wisdom: 73:16–75:43
• Top Brain Advice — Letting the Mind Wander: 77:05–78:06

Key Takeaways for Listeners

• Stress management, sleep, and hydration are especially critical for optimal cognitive function.
• Social environment—both digitally (feeds) and physically (tribe)—has profound psychological and physiological impacts; who (and what) you surround yourself with matters deeply.
• Neuroplasticity and lifelong learning are fundamental—embrace novelty and creative challenges.
• Building self-awareness around intuition, and distinguishing it from fear/instinct, can guide better decisions and unlock hidden potential.
• Bosses and leaders have the power (for good or ill) to set the emotional tone for the group—stress and positivity are both contagious.
• Regular engagement with art, culture, and nature provides significant, measurable longevity and wellbeing benefits.
• Developing habits of gratitude and beauty appreciation rewires the brain toward more resilient, joyful living.
• Purpose-driven work is an emotional and physiological asset, not just a luxury.
• Your brain’s untapped capacity is unlocked by allowing “mind-wandering” time, especially in natural environments.

Closing Wisdom from Dr. Tara Swart (77:05):
“We are capable of so much more than we realize. …There’s actually a massive benefit to being in what’s called default mode, which is the part where you let your mind wander and you generate new ideas and you make connections.”