Anne-Laure Le Cunff is a neuroscientist, founder of Ness Labs, and the bestselling author of Tiny Experiments. Her work sits at the intersection of science, curiosity, and high performance, helping ambitious individuals build smarter, more sustainable ways to grow without burning out.

Despite achieving early career success, Anne-Laure found herself feeling disconnected and unfulfilled. That disconnect led her back to university to study neuroscience, where she began to understand why so many driven people follow paths that look impressive but feel empty. What started as a personal exploration turned into a global body of work that now helps leaders rethink how they approach growth, goals, and decision-making.

In this conversation, Chris and Anne-Laure unpack the concept of tiny experiments. Instead of chasing rigid, long-term goals, they explore a more adaptive approach rooted in curiosity and iteration — one that allows you to make progress without the pressure of having everything figured out.

They also get into how this mindset rewires your relationship with failure, why the scientists in the room aren't wired differently from the rest of us (they're just trained), and how a simple weekly tool called Plus/Minus/Next can help you stop overcommitting and start building a business you still love five years from now.

If you are building for the long-haul and want a more grounded, flexible way to move forward, this episode will give you a fresh perspective and practical tools to apply right away.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why big, rigid goals create the illusion of control and what to replace them with
• How scientists are trained to approach uncertainty with curiosity and how you can be too
• The Plus/Minus/Next weekly reflection method for cutting through overcommitment and building a business you still love
• The 24-hour anthropologist exercise to design your very first tiny experiment

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:

• 04:24 - What Drove Anne-Laure to Write Tiny Experiments
• 07:56 - Why Your Newsletter Isn't a Book (Yet)
• 10:29 - Replacing Rigid Goals with Experiments
• 13:15 - How Experiments Rewire Your Relationship with Failure
• 15:03 - Using Tiny Experiments to Manage Your Energy
• 20:09 - The Plus/Minus/Next Method for Weekly Reflection
• 26:05 - Running One Experiment Alongside Your Current Career
• 28:41 - How Anne-Laure Tracks Her Experiments (+ A Failed One)
• 34:17 - The 24-Hour Anthropologist Exercise

IMPORTANT LINKS AND RESOURCES:

• Get Your Copy of The Long-Haul Leader
• Connect with Chris on Instagram
• Check Out Ness Labs
• Anne-Laure's Book, Tiny Experiments
• Connect with Anne-Laure on LinkedIn

Will Polston spent his early twenties earning serious money, wearing bespoke suits, and hitting every goal he'd set and still felt like something was missing. That question, "why does success feel empty when you finally get there?", became the foundation of his work as a performance coach, speaker, and author of North Star Thinking.

His framework helps entrepreneurs and leaders stop chasing outcomes and start building a life with genuine direction, one rooted in who they're becoming, not just what they're accumulating.

In this episode, Chris and Will explore why so many high performers quietly drift away from what they actually want. They unpack how external influences shape our decisions without us realising, why traditional goal setting can feel risky or hollow, and how to shift from chasing outcomes to living a mission-driven life.

They also get into the difference between operating from desperation versus inspiration, why goals work better as milestones than finish lines, and how a vision board Will made in 2012 turned out to predict the next decade of his life.

If you've ever hit a goal and still felt something was missing, this conversation will challenge how you think about ambition, direction, and what you're actually building towards.

IN THIS EPISOD, YOU'LL LEARN:

1. Why the people you've accepted as authorities may be quietly writing your life story
2. The difference between living from desperation and living from inspiration and how your language gives it away
3. How to reframe goals as milestones instead of final destinations
4. Why a forgotten vision board resurfaced 11 years later and had come true
5. Why principles outlast tactics when you're building for the long-haul

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:

1. 02:45 - Why other people's authority quietly writes your life story
2. 05:16 - What North Star thinking actually means
3. 06:44 - Why people avoid setting goals (and what it costs them)
4. 09:26 - Reframing goals as milestones, not finish lines
5. 10:27 - Desperation vs inspiration: how to tell which one is driving you
6. 14:24 - The vision board Will made in 2012 that came true 11 years later
7. 20:32 - Why high achievers still feel empty and what's actually missing
8. 32:10 - Why principles outlast tactics when you're building for the long-haul

IMPORTANT LINKS AND RESOURCES:

1. Get Your Copy of The Long-Haul Leader
2. Connect with Chris on Instagram
3. Check Out Will's Website
4. Connect with Will on LinkedIn

Catherine Morgan is a financial coach, speaker, and host of the It's Not About The Money podcast. She spent 15 years in financial services, including as the youngest female financial advisor in the UK before leaving to help individuals and business owners untangle the emotional side of their relationship with money.

Despite her background, Catherine’s own journey with money was far from straightforward. From sitting £30,000 in debt, to experiencing a series of life-changing moments, she discovered that money is rarely just about numbers. It's about identity, self-worth, and the stories we carry from our past.

In this episode, Chris and Catherine explore the deeper side of money. They unpack how our early experiences shape the way we earn, spend, and hold onto money, and why so many leaders still feel shame or confusion around finances despite outward success.

This is a powerful conversation about money, but not in the way you might expect. It is about understanding yourself first, so that money becomes a tool for alignment, not stress.

If you want to build a healthier, more intentional relationship with money, this episode will give you a completely different lens to look through.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN:

• The three money zones and why the holding zone is the most emotionally loaded
• Why understanding financial jargon doesn't fix your relationship with money and what actually does
• How watching money used as control in childhood rewires your adult spending patterns
• Richard Branson's four circles model, and why leaders who close the world circle first end up undercharging and burning out
• The parallel between medical jargon and financial jargon and the shame both quietly create
• Why AI is an identity crisis waiting to happen for anyone whose self-worth is tied to their work

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:

• 04:34 - Money as a Mirror
• 05:57 - From Financial Advisor to £30k in Debt
• 07:27 - The Wardrobe Wake-Up Call
• 11:45 - The Three Money Zones and Childhood
• 13:28 - When Her Son Almost Didn't Make It
• 16:41 - The Shame Hidden in Jargon
• 22:29 - Necker Island and the Four Circles
• 30:39 - Rewriting Your Money Scripts
• 33:13 - AI and Identity

IMPORTANT LINKS AND RESOURCES:

• Get Your Copy of The Long-Haul Leader
• Connect with Chris on Instagram
• Check Out Catherine's Podcast
• Connect with Catherine on LinkedIn