S9E5 - Freddie Titcombe
In this episode of 'More Than Work,' Rabiah sits down with Freddie Titcombe, co-founder of Evolve Journey. Freddie shares how he and his brother turned their personal journaling practice into a bestselling all-in-one journal and a thriving community focused on reflection, action, and accountability. He discusses the challenges of building discipline, the importance of balancing the four pillars of happiness, and how Evolve Journey helps people move from feeling stuck to making real progress. The conversation covers Freddie’s career journey from tech sales to care work to entrepreneurship, the power of community, and practical strategies for building better habits. Plus, Freddie shares his favorite productivity tool, the story behind his “Eat the Frog” method, and answers the Fun Five questions.
00:00 Introduction to More Than Work
00:26 Meet Freddie Titcombe & Evolve Journey
01:08 Freddie’s background and the start of Evolve Journey
03:10 Journaling, reflection, and building a business with his brother
05:07 Why blank-page journaling didn’t work—and creating a better system
08:07 Developing the all-in-one journal and its unique features
10:14 How the journal blends gratitude, habit tracking, and productivity tools
12:00 Advice for people who struggle with daily journaling
14:16 Launching the Accountability Academy and building community
17:00 Coworking, office hours, and the power of accountability
20:00 Consistency, discipline, and the value of partnership
23:00 Balancing health, wealth, relationships, and freedom—the four pillars of happiness
27:00 The “Eat the Frog” productivity method explained
29:00 Building confidence and overcoming self-doubt
32:00 Freddie’s career journey: from tech sales to care work to startups
36:00 Sam’s background and their complementary skills
39:00 The importance of service, helping others, and finding balance
43:00 Fun Five Questions
48:00 Freddie’s inspirations and how to connect with Evolve Journey
50:31 Closing thoughts and credits
Note from Host:
This episode took me way too long to get from recording day to publish day.i Ihad to deprioritize or maybe just reprioritize the podcast for a little while. The next one will be out soon too and was recorded during the same week.
I loved chatting with Freddie. We had fun and he shared a lot of wisdom along the way. Personally, I’ve started going through the journal he and his brother sell and think that journaling, in some form everyday, is the way to go. It is a form of mindfulness and can really compliment another practice. Check out Evolve Journey after you listen.
Host Rabiah (London) chats with vicar and comic Ravi Holy (Wye).
Transcript
Rabiah Coon (host): [00:00:00] This is More Than Work, the podcast reminding you that your self worth is made up of more than your job title. Each week I'll talk to a guest about how they discovered that for themselves. You'll hear about what they did, what they're doing, and who they are. I'm your host, Rabiah. I work in IT, perform standup comedy, write, volunteer, and of course, podcast.
Thank you for listening. Here we go.
Welcome back to More Than Work everyone. So this week I have a guest that actually came to me via email and I checked out his website that him and his brother put together and their product, and I'm really excited to talk to him. So it's Freddie Titcombe and he is the co-founder of Evolve Journey.
So thanks for being on Freddie.
Freddie Titcombe: Thank you. Thanks very much for, for your prompt reply to my email and for having me. It's, uh, exciting to chat to you.
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah, you hit me on the right day. 'cause someone might be listening who's contacted me and been like, ah, I've never heard from you, and that's possible too. So [00:01:00] just hit me back up. But, um,
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (host): but, uh, let's see. So first of all, where am I chatting to you from right now?
Freddie Titcombe: I am down in Devon at the moment. Um, yeah, I've been here for the weekend visiting, visiting my parents and catching up with some old friends, so yeah, down, down by the seaside. Hopefully we won't get interrupted by the terrorist seagulls that are out there like dive bombing everyone in the garden and coming in my parents' house and eat, eating the food. That's a new trick that they've learned.
Rabiah Coon (host): they come in?
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah. It, it's, I think if they evolve one step further, they might figure out that they could actually kill us. I if they wanted to, if they ganged up, you know?
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah. Or maybe they'll, they'll like own property.
You'll have to go into their house.
Freddie Titcombe: yeah, yeah. It's one of those where it's like if they did evolve to do that and they, um, like killed one person in a group, then the human reaction would be so aggressive.
It would be like wipe seagulls off the face of the Earth immediately.
Rabiah Coon (host): It would, [00:02:00] there would be a hashtag for sure, right? I see seagulls, but I'm in Camden in London, but pigeons are kind of like the seagull of Camden, I think, right?
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah. Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (host): there's a comedian and I know that refers to them as like lads, like just on the corner, just hanging out on the corner, walking around.
I'm like, yeah, they totally are. And it's just, um, yeah, it's wild. So, yeah. And uh, yeah, seagulls are awful. I know. It's like the birds you see most and like the birds you dislike the most right, are seagulls, pigeons.
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Um, and you've got people that they've never seen them before when they come here and there's loads of them and then they feed them and then the, that the whole thing gets worse and worse and,
Rabiah Coon (host): yeah.
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah. We were like hiding underneath an umbrella yesterday with my friend and his kids whilst they, so that they could have snacks.
That's, that's what it's come to.
Rabiah Coon (host): that's, that's wild. I guess, um, I'm gonna tie this together, but you were talking about seagulls evolving into possibly [00:03:00] murderous birds, but your company's called "Evolve Journey", which is about a different type of evolution. So, what, what is Evolve Journey?
Freddie Titcombe: So Evolve Journey is a business that me and my brother set up, um, back in 2020. Um, at the time if you cast back, we were in a position where like we were best mates and then all of a sudden, uh, we weren't allowed to see each other. So we were like, this sucks. Let's start a business that would keep us chatting, that would keep us busy.
And the first few iterations of that business were just like, um, really crass moneymaking schemes and all the rest of it. And in the, in the process of iteration, we, we had both started journaling and then one day the, the penny dropped and we were like, wow, we're actually getting quite a lot from this, this journaling, uh, and the reflection, it's helping us take action.
It's helping us get clear on the direction that we want to take and then stay consistent, which is something we'd, we'd struggled with before. So, [00:04:00] we were like, okay, cool, let's level up our journaling game. And then we looked out there because all of a sudden the blank page started to become a little bit intimidating.
I dunno if you've ever sat down to just journal and you're like, whoa, where do I start? What am I saying? It feels kind of cringey. You're like, what am I talking about? So for us anyway, and I know it is powerful for some people, the like freeform journaling, but for us it just didn't work. So, we were like, let's buy one.
Um, and we went out there and then it was just like a slog of really cringey, repetitive stuff. We actually felt worse from writing down three times a day, what am I grateful for? What am I grateful for? And like, like a week in, you're like, I dunno, I really dunno. And I'm just saying the same stuff and I'm not getting anywhere.
So we, the penny dropped and we thought that we could do journaling in a better way. We back then in, in 2020 then spent, um, yeah, hundreds of different iterations, working through to create our own [00:05:00] all in one journal. Um, and then fast forward to today, it's like the bestselling all in one journal in the uk.
Um, and when I say all in one, what that means is inside the journal, you have a discovery course, which is where you start, and that's your journey that helps you to remove limited to get clear on your vision that you are building towards your, um, your main focus that you're gonna set out in the, in the coming up journal.
So that really primes you ready for the the "evolution", the journey that you're about to go on. And then after that, we have a, a daily system that is a blend of, um, gratitude, habit tracking, different productivity tools like Eat the Frog. And then there's some stoicism sort of mixed in there as well. And some, some unique questions to get you thinking to, to basically take you on a journey, and get you from lost, stuck, confused, wanting more to consistent and moving in the direction that, that [00:06:00] you are, um, you're excited about.
Rabiah Coon (host): Great. Yeah. And it is, it is intimidating and, and uh, just even in writing, like non journal stuff sometimes. For me, like just in, in comedy specifically, like, it'll be like, well write a joke about a subject and it's just like, no, you know, I can't, or just write down ideas for five minutes and something will come up or whatever.
But then. Sometimes you can get going and sometimes you can't. Especially it is, journaling can be very isolating and a, a thing that's you do you, well, it is very isolating. It's something you do on your own. You're not necessarily gonna share it with anyone unless you're gonna publish a book of your journals eventually or something. But it's, it's a exercise that then it's easy to stop doing and easy to just skip because no, there's no accountability other than to you. And so I think, um, you know one thing, I, I read through a lot of what you guys are about and I'm getting my journal soon and I'm looking forward to trying it out 'cause I think it's something I [00:07:00] need and just, um, we had talked personally like last week about some things, but I think, what do you tell someone who goes, well, I'd buy it, but I tend to end up skipping a day at some point and I'm not gonna be able to stick with it every day. What do you say to them?
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah. I mean that for me, that is completely fine. And it's almost like part of the, the process that there's, we're not, we're not trying to journal every day. It's like, you know, it's, it's a tool that we can fall back on, that we realize if we do it, we have a better day. If you go on holiday, our journals are very focused on appreciating what you have and doing more in a day. Essentially, if you were to boil it down into a nutshell. On holiday, you are naturally, you don't need to kick up the ass for that. You, you are appreciating the holiday day. It's great. And you don't need to be more productive. You're trying to do the opposite.
So you, you wanna have a break from, from journaling, maybe. The, the interesting part [00:08:00] is that then you break the habit, you break the cycle, and then you come back from holiday and then all of a sudden you, you don't journal for the first week that you're back and then you start having these conversations with myself like, oh, I've stopped journaling. I remember when I used to journal. That was good. Oh, it's just difficult and there's a bit of friction. So, yeah, I, we always recommend to just treat it flexibly. It's a system that you can use and adapt to yourself. And then, um, where, where we've come as a business, um. Recently we launched, our accountability academy, which is an online community of people that are using the journal, um, but wanted an extra bit of support and feeling like they're going on a journey with other people that helps them stay, stay consistent.
So people are using that as a way to sort of that extra little reminder and motivation to, to keep on with the, with the habit and, and go that step further as well.
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah. And so how's that work with the it's [00:09:00] people? Do they just join a Facebook group and they, they journal together? Or what, what is the accountability part and what's happening with, with,
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah, sure. So, so they, they come on to our, our online platform and inside there they've got everyone else that's on the, on the same journey with them and there's tons going on there, but we've got things like, uh, co-working sessions happening every week. And then that people can join. It would look like this, me and you, except we'd be silently working.
And I found it incredibly useful since I started doing it because I am, I realized how much, when I think I'm working, I'm not working. So when I'm in those sessions, I'm very aware that if I'm gonna pick up my phone and then start scrolling through my phone, that's not work. And I'm aware, 'cause I set my intention when I go into to the coworking that I'm gonna do this one thing.
I'm aware of just how much I'm a scatterbrain of like task [00:10:00] switching. I'm always productive when I'm there, but I'm going between different things. So it's actually helped me go deeper into specific exercises. So there's that, which is the coworking. We have, uh, regular office hours where people can come in and have a chat.
So that would be like, I'm struggling with this blocker at the moment. Any advice? Or sometimes people just wanna feel like someone's in their team, so they join in and they're really proud of something they've done 'cause they've been taking consistent action towards. Whatever their goal was, maybe like something in their career or their, uh, their business or something toward, towards their, their health and they just want to, to feel like celebrated.
So, there's that part as well. And then we have weekly check-ins with people, and that's where we provide the accountability, help them identify what their biggest blockers are. So I could go on, there's, there's tons going on in there, but it's, it's an exciting project and it's the first time that we've had.
Regular FaceTime with the people that are using the journal, and it's been [00:11:00] really cool to see the community that we've built just in action, live, working together and, and how people are building themselves up.
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah. Yeah. So the, the thing with the whole coworking kind of thing, I had told you that I was recently diagnosed with A DHD and I had no idea I had it. So it was just very shocking to me. 'cause I always had a bad attitude about A DHD and now I'm like, oh, it's me. But one thing I heard about was the whole idea of body doubling, which the coworking sounds very similar to where just there's an accountability just with someone else being there versus you.
Yeah. Going off and doing five different things. I think even keeping it your computer, which, you know, um, I'm not gonna get up in the middle of this chat certainly, but I will when I'm trying to work on something, start doing dishes, because of course I have to do them while I'm trying to get something done.
Right. But, um, do you, do you find, like, how did you come up with like the different aspects of what you guys are doing [00:12:00] in, in the group that you've created?
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah, I, I guess it came from a bit of reflection on our part where we were seeing some people that were just incredibly consistent with the Journal and then others that were, they'd come to us and they'd recognized when they use it that the impacts are great and they love it. However, they've not used it for two months because of insert reason.
Right. And they, they were like coming on and falling off. So, we'd naturally stayed consistent, but quite a lot of that had come from the fact that me and my brother being business partners were, had the systems that we were using to hold each other accountable. We had the weekly meetings where we were going through the system that we now use in the academy, and we thought maybe there's something to this that people might
be interested in themselves. And we sort of went through, uh, it's about 12 months in the making of [00:13:00] like coming up with these different systems, trying them on ourselves and being like, no, that's gross. Hate it. And another one for the bin. Um, but it's like, I guess. Yeah, we're, we're pretty open to the fact that the majority of what we do is gonna be a failure and we treat it as a test and then we go on to onto the next one.
So we basically tested the, the life out of it, and now we're launched for our founding members, which is the first round of like real tests with real people getting feedback from them. And we're treating it like an experiment really, and we're open to learning from their feedback. And then we're gonna approve it again, and then release it to, to the wider, wider public and, and hopefully continue to grow it so we have a, a good percentage of the people that are journaling if they feel like they want that extra support and that community that they join us there as well.
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah. Cool. Is there something that you've, well, first of all, I guess with the journal, since it's more, it's structured and there are different aspects that you would do every day. Then other [00:14:00] questions you add in, is there a part that you look forward to the most? And then is there a part that you go, man, this is still something that's a challenge for me and it's good it's there 'cause I wouldn't do it if it wasn't there?
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah, I think the, the one that I look forward to and dread the most, depending on what I've written down, is the "Eat the Frog". So that's the, the productivity tool. Eat the Frog. It comes from the saying that if your if your job is to eat frogs, make sure you eat the biggest, ugliest one first, right? So what we try and do is either that morning or the night before, we'll, we'll set the big task for the day, the big frog.
So this is the thing that's gonna have the highest impact on whatever. Um, we try and link it back into our main mission for the, the six months that's in the journal. So, my main mission at the moment, my, we call it "Domino goal", um, is quite related to the business. So I will have something that I do every day that I've identified as the highest leverage [00:15:00] activity for that day.
And sometimes it just sucks and it's like a slog and it's something that you don't want to do and you dread it. But the fact that you've written it down, you, you know that if you eat that frog in that day and everything else goes to shit. Hope, hope I can swear on this podcast. Uh, go, go, goes to shit, then um, then your day's been a success 'cause you did that one thing. And then that's how we see people that come to us who are struggling with, uh, confidence. They've got quite a lot of self doubt and they are often overthinkers. We find that having something like that, especially if you make that frog smaller, you've got quite a nice win each day and then you start building momentum. And then we've seen those people that struggled with the self-belief sift into almost confident in themselves because they've got a stack of undeniable proof over the, the days, weeks and months that they've [00:16:00] been able to do the thing that at once say, like, felt so big and scary and insurmountable.
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah. No, that makes sense. And I mean, I think even in, um, like I'm a project manager outside of, you know, podcasting and comedy and other volunteering and things I do, and even when you're doing your planning, I mean, there's always something you have to do. There's like the idea of dependencies, right?
Different tasks being dependent on each other, then usually there is one that as a, in your day you might avoid. Like I don't wanna write the business requirements for example, but I have to do that in order for them to build anything, for example, right? And there's, I think for me, I've thought about that in terms of my life and like things I have to do and even the, the frog one day might just be the thing that's burdening you the most. Like, it might not even be that hard of a task to do, but it's the thing that sticks in your mind that you're not getting done. And so it's like keeping you from doing everything else, right? I
mean, there's all different things for people.
Um, [00:17:00] were you, prior to starting this company and starting the journaling with your brother, which is great that you guys found that, I mean, there were some positive things that came out of the, the 2020 - 2021 period, which is we're lucky for, right? And it's good that you and your brother had each other to, to do that with during that time but were you, did you consider yourself a disciplined person before or has this changed something about the way you kind of run your life?
Freddie Titcombe: I was an aspiring, disciplined person. I was like listening to the podcasts, reading the books, try like, I'd always been consistent with going to the gym. That was probably one thing that I'd managed to nail since I was like 16 and, and that wasn't for aesthetics or anything other than the fact that that's the only thing that keeps me fully sane and not stressed, and it's just so good for my head.
So I've al always been able [00:18:00] to identify the, I'd say the reward in going to the gym rather than any of the punishment.
Rabiah Coon (host): Okay.
Freddie Titcombe: So that that's always come, come easy. But other than that, yeah, I was struggling with, with discipline and consistency. Chasing shiny objects, getting really excited about one thing until it gets slightly hard,
then dropping it. And then, which realistically I think if I'd started this business just on my own, it has got so hard on so many different occasions that I probably would've quit. Whereas because we've got the the two of us and we hold each other accountable and we also- quite often- it's been lucky that if one of us is sort of feeling a little bit pessimistic, the other one lifts the other one up.
And, uh, we kind of like meet in the, in the middle to, to keep, keep con consistent. But yeah, dis discipline is not, [00:19:00] um, an easy thing and it's not something that like happens overnight because I think modern day lives, it's very, very easy to be, keep, be comfortable. And that's almost like the status quo for a lot of people.
And we're almost rewarded in the short term for avoiding discomfort. And then in doing so, our long-term situation becomes uncomfortable because we've not done anything and we've not tasted the thing, and we've not pushed ourselves outside of our comfort zone. We then reflect back, and then we have that sense of, oh, I've not done everything that I could do. I'm not fulfilling my full potential, if that makes sense.
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah. No, it makes, I mean, it makes a lot of sense, so. What, I mean, obviously you've been doing stuff before, before you and your brother started the company. So you guys have a website, you have your physical [00:20:00] product, you are marketing it, you're doing
basically all the aspects, developing a program that has to, that ability, I know you can learn some of it, but some of it has to come from prior experience.
So what is your, what experience did you bring? What's your day job and like and then maybe even your brothers too. Like what are you guys bringing before this that is letting you kind of do this, you know, new company that you're doing, um, and just bring some experience to other people?
Freddie Titcombe: Sure. Yeah. So I guess if, if I look at my career and where it started, I, I started like an internship while I was at uni and I went to a big old school tech sales, cybersecurity. Everyone was, had a nice little belly and was wearing the suit. Um, and it. It just put me off that like the, the corporate world like so heavily when I was there because I did the classic [00:21:00] look up to what I would be if I spent 30 years in this career and I was just like, these guys are just not happy.
The way they talk about their, like spouses is horrible. The way that they like, like everything that's going on here is just like iffy. And I don't wanna paint them all with a terrible brush. 'cause there were some lovely people in there as well, don't get me wrong, but they were kind of stuck and I, I just, I was disillusioned by the whole thing.
So. When I graduated uni, I then went into working in care jobs. So I worked with, uh, like the National Autistic Society. I worked in various different schools, in like homelessness, worked with the elderly, so a real full spectrum of like helping people on, on a sort of like one-to-one basis. And then the disillusion came again because I was like, I went into that because I wanted to do the opposite of what I was doing before I went to help people.
And then I was kind of like, this is great and I'm helping people, [00:22:00] but it's such, it's on such a small scale. So then I, I went and joined a, a startup. I was like one of the first people to, to enter the company, me and the co-founders. So I kind of had like the, um, entrepreneurial sort of university at that point when I joined that startup that I learned a ton from them.
And I also was sort of saw how exciting it can be to be in a company and if the mission's aligned with what you want, you really feel like you're building towards something bigger than yourself. So that was my history. So I've got like the, the background in helping people. And then I also had the, the background in entrepreneurship, sort of that from shadowing those those successful, um, startup founders in the early stages. And [00:23:00] then for Sam, my brother, he, um, started his own digital marketing agency, which has been really, really helpful because he's managed to do a lot of the customer acquisition piece. Um. And yeah, he used to be a be a school governor and, and stuff like that.
And he was, he had a similar sales career, which he left in a much more dramatic fashion than, than myself. Um, had the packing my bags and starting my business, um, um, mic drop kind of moment which was cool because he, since then, he is just been out on his own and, and like having to learn and figure, figure things out.
So we've kind of met in the middle and our skillset sort of overlap and intertwine.
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah. And did you guy is who's older first of all. Which one of you?
Freddie Titcombe: Sam is older. I'm younger, but everyone thinks the opposite. Um, I dunno whether that's just 'cause I've aged terribly or because I'm boring. Um, but [00:24:00] that's the, that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Rabiah Coon (host): But it's, it's cool that you guys have found like what your strengths are that you can bring to it too, because I think that's a, that's a strength because like a lot of founders will end up having a strength and it's vision, and then that's that. And then everyone else is scrambling around them trying to sort the business out.
You know, that's what I found, um, in different companies and it's really awkward and then everyone kind. Yeah, they're a genius. And every time I, for me, anytime someone's called a genius, I'm very like, apprehensive about anything else about them because I'm like, you're calling them that, that's like saying someone like, oh, how was your date? Well, they were nice. Yeah. Okay. It's not, you have a lot more to say and you're just being diplomatic. I don't know. That's how I feel. I mean, yeah like, or someone said, you know, says you're unique. It's like, uh, so you, it's not gonna, we're not gonna go out again, are we? You know, like,
Freddie Titcombe: [00:25:00] Well, unless you are, and you found the one because they appreciate the weirdness and the wonderfulness. Um,
Rabiah Coon (host): yeah.
I'd rather be called weird. But anyway, we can talk about, maybe I'll journal about my dating and send it to you. Um, if that's what you help with. See how
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah. I can, I can feel a viral blog coming on.
Rabiah Coon (host): Can you imagine? Well, hey, if we can get, if we can both get famous that way, um, that's cool. And so do you, so the idea, I mean the, the idea of service and helping others resonates with me too, and I think I, I admire people who make that part of their career or make that their career because especially like just with charity work and stuff, because I think first of all, the money's not there usually. Like you're, if you work for a charity and you're making a lot of money, there's probably like a questionable thing going on, right. With the charity. But, um, but for me, it's always been part of my life. So now with Evolve Journey, I think that's an act of service for sure.
But do you have any other [00:26:00] ways that you kind of like, um, take care of that part of yourself that does want to serve others and help others?
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah, I think it's been so consumed with the business really and trying to, um, just focus on that and we, we sort of see it as like every, every new milestone that we make there, then we can like attribute helping say, 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 people. And then you're like, if you wanna get really mathematical about it, then you're like, oh, and then their whole family and they're probably a family of five. They help all of those and their work's better. They probably, there's like 30 people that they're dealing with, and then you're like, oh man,
Rabiah Coon (host): Millions.
Freddie Titcombe: yes, we've helped the world. Um, no. So that's, that's been, um, really sort of like all, all consuming, if I'm honest, um, in trying to. [00:27:00] Um, especially balance that with keeping the lights on while the, the business is growing and, and then, um, it, it's an interesting one as well because it's like
You're kind of forced into a situation where you're like, the, the money needs to be in the business, uh, like a, a metric of success, because without that, then you can't have the influence to help people. So it's kinda like, yeah, if a charity's doing that and they're optimizing for cash, it's, it's a bit dodgy. Whereas we kind of have to have to do that to be able to then reinvest into the new products to offer more, to expand to more places. And, um, yeah, that's, that's it.
Rabiah Coon (host): no, that, I mean, that makes sense. And I think, yeah, when you have a business and focus on mean, my parents had a business, auto repair. Like a, my dad's a mechanic and my mom and dad ran the business together and they were busy, you know, at like six days a week. They were closed one day and then they were working, you know, 12 hour days and that was just their shop.
And I don't think they ever gave themselves [00:28:00] credit for the fact that they were doing that. And because then, and then I know when you're running any other kind of business, it's the same thing. You don't really have time off 'cause you're the one responsible for it. Right. So do you, what do you do to like, make sure that the business isn't taking over everything. So you're not like giving yourself kind of what you're trying to give other people, which is some kind of balance in their life?
Freddie Titcombe: Mm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's a, it's a good question. And I think probably if I was being like, completely honest, honest, like there's been.
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah.
Freddie Titcombe: time where there definitely hasn't been enough balance. Um, however, I think one of the things that makes it a lot easier is actually one of the frameworks that's inside the journal that we naturally reflect on quite a lot.
So the, we call it the four pillars of happiness. And this is a critical thing that we try and keep in balance at all times. So I can, I can sort of talk them through what the four pillars [00:29:00] are and how we got there. So the, the four pillars are happiness, are health, wealth, relationships, and freedom.
And what we, what we say is if you are seriously deficient in any of those areas, then your, um, your long term happiness and your level of just your average day happiness. Is gonna be impeded, basically. You're gonna struggle to, to have that. So we try and look at those four different pillars and focus on what we can control because there's things in those four pillars where you just can't control it.
And in, in like, you know, getting stuck in a, in a doom loop about it isn't gonna, isn't gonna solve things. So. Um, we try and build sustainably each of those four pillars. And the, the reason for that is the, uh, the head hedonic treadmill. So essentially there's a ton of research that came out, which basically means if you've had your leg chopped [00:30:00] off, amputated, or you've won the lottery, you're gonna have a, a massive low or a peak high.
Then you're gonna return down to or up to a baseline level of happiness. So knowing that that exists, the philosophy isn't around sort of like chasing the highs, um, the quick dopamine hits, it's more about trying to build those four pillars up. So our average day is much happier. So in answer to your question, how we get the balance is, I would, it's a question that I ask myself, and quite often it would be my relationships. If I'm in a work sprint, I'll be like, oh, I've not really spoken to, and then the like, the list of people that I should have been speaking to will come up and then I'll go on a frenzy of messaging loads. Loads of people I've not spoken to in ages. Booking in the calendar, adjusting things, chopping out different priorities, and putting in time with friends.
And then before I've even met them, [00:31:00] I feel so much better 'cause I know it's all sort of like planned in. I try and sort of balance things like that. But it's a constant balance to be honest.
Rabiah Coon (host): yeah
Freddie Titcombe: . Is it something that you've ever like consciously thought about in terms of those different priorities or would you say where you try and find balance is
something that just? 'Cause I, I think before I started doing this, I was doing it instinctively in a way, but not so proactively, if you see what I mean.
Rabiah Coon (host): Right. Yeah, I mean, I think I see where. Uh, not as much. In the last, well year, I mean this, in the last year, my, the balance has been off because I, my work hasn't been as consuming as it had been. And I think I was, I was almost balancing things by always being hectic, if that makes sense. Like
I was used to that. I was used to a certain level of stress where you kind of said, there's a baseline of happiness. I had a baseline of stress and I that I operated under, and I think in the last year I've realized that that's [00:32:00] lifted, but not, but I didn't handle that in a healthy way. But I think as far as I've been in situations where, yeah, I'm focusing on one area so much.
And I think where actually I, I, I didn't expect to get asked a question, so I'm like, oh, what is this? How dare you? But my, I think where I realized something was years ago when I was like, probably 10 years ago that I, I was not being balanced at home because I was at my mom's house and I had, I always had my computer on, always on my lap, always on my desk, whatever, doing something.
And my nephew sat with me with his iPad and said, and I said, Hey buddy. And he goes, oh, you're working. Like he was telling me I'm working. So he couldn't talk to me and he brought his iPad so he could work. And I thought that was really sad because it's one of the most important people in my life. He's, and he very much is still, and I had made it so that me, not even as his parent, somebody he saw [00:33:00] every day had made it so he didn't feel like I had time for him because I was working. And I think that that made me realize like, okay, at some point you have to stop working. And plus, I wasn't working for me, I was working for someone else that was making the money, not me, right? I was getting paid, but, and so I think that was a big "aha moment" for me where I was more conscious of it. Even over time, like, try not to have my phone out as much if I'm with friends or something, because if they're gonna do that, fine, let them, that's their behavior, that's what they're choosing to do when they're spending time with me, but I'm not gonna do it when I'm spending time with them.
So I've thought about it, but not consistently. I've thought about it almost out of duress a few times, you know? If that makes sense.
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah. And just subconsciously it's like there's been turning points and things have just come, come up that have yeah changed the, changed the perspective. But yeah, that, that's, I think that's what you hit on there is also one of the interesting parts about the four pillars, because they all sort of intertwine.
So what you were speaking about [00:34:00] there is actually, it's like you could link in and say that's a wealth thing because that's part of your job and that's how you're earning your money. But then you could also say, this is a freedom thing because this is where you are and how you are choosing to spend your time and because of your work situation.
That's. Like eating up time that you could spend on Insert the, insert the other thing, so.
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah. No, it's true and I think that it's it it is interesting when I think coming from America, and this is all in the US and there's definitely a different attitude and mindset around work in the US and there was something about burning yourself out that was almost rewarded. Like there would be the idea that you'd thank someone for ending their vacation early.
Oh, they're a hero because they left their vacation or they were on vacation with their family and they ended up working for three days with us instead. And that, and that's really sick [00:35:00] because you as the business or the boss, you said you don't value them at all as a person.
They're just working for you, even in the time that they earned off. And, um, last time I heard someone do that, I just said like, I thought that was really gross, because that person should have never been asked to come back.
You know, it's not like you're doing heart surgery or something, or
whatever. It's just all, it's, you know, you're doing something that's relatively meaningless in the context of humanity.
Freddie Titcombe: And it's like they could have been with their kids. That could have been a memory that that, that everyone involved could have taken with them for the rest of their lives, you know? And that was cut short because of, uh, culture within, say, a society or, or a company.
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah.
Freddie Titcombe: it's, it's interesting. Have you seen about like certain companies that have, I don't know if it's over in the US but I know it's becoming more of a thing in like the European UK startup market where [00:36:00] they're giving employees unlimited leave and you think on face value, you're like, oh, that's so nice, so generous. And then you get, you look underneath the hood and then you're inside the actual culture. And then it's kind of like everyone's peer pressured to take way less than they would've if they just had the 25 days or, or whatever.
And. It's kinda, see, I can see how it would be great in certain organizations and I would just do the, the most highest impact thing, get the results, and then I would put my feet up and then I'd come back and it like, it'd be great. But in, in reality, it feels like, um, a little bit of a, a trick
Rabiah Coon (host): No, it is. It is. So our, in the US the people who work for my company have it because that parent company has it there. In the UK we don't, but we honestly get more time off. I mean, I went from three weeks off and that was after working somewhere for six years, I got 15 days off. And then I moved here [00:37:00] and it was 25 and then now it's 30.
Right. And so over there, so there are a couple things, and I have friends who also have the unlimited leave and there's really, yeah, you, there's this idea that you can, but then should you take the days off and then you don't wanna take too many off and then really they can't take like a month off. It's like really two weeks like most.
And what I, which honestly makes sense, like at some point, like taking a month at a time off is really tough on a business or for a business. But yeah, I think people don't, yeah, they don't feel like they can actually take unlimited time off. I mean, the nice thing is if you have a doctor's appointment and take a half day instead of pressuring yourself to like go to the doctor appointment, come back, work. Make up the time, that kind of thing's. Good. But yeah, I think a lot of times they found out and there's research online. I remember reading something about it that people who have unlimited PTO take less time off than people who don't because they're not gonna also, ah, this is the other thing, you know, when you leave it, I'm all, yeah, dude, your brother would like this 'cause of how he must have left his job.
He sounds like [00:38:00] me. But basically also like when you leave a job, you get paid out your PTO, right? Like if you have two weeks left or three weeks left. When you have unlimited PTO, you get paid out nothing. So now the company's no longer carrying a balance on you. That's the, that's the one that was, I remember hearing going, oh, that's like, you know, because that's kind of a nice boost sometimes especially if you didn't mean to leave your job maybe.
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And especially if, you know, um, you are only getting 15 days and you're getting job to job to job, like, that's, that's crazy. Have,
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah.
Freddie Titcombe: have you noticed a difference in sort of having lived in both places? Do you think that that has an effect? We're talking 10 days a year here, but I think on, on, on average, right.
But do you think that that has a effect on people's health, like the way that they show up their overall, like stress level or do you think [00:39:00] people have adapted to it and actually the 15 days is, is fine and you know, we need to work harder? Like where, where do you sort of sit having seen both sides?
Rabiah Coon (host): Well, I think that, no, because I think in what happens in the US too is this idea of sick time. I've never had a job that had sick time, so that 15 days also counted for being ill. And so you would work when you were ill. It didn't matter. And then over here, a lot of times you do get some kind of thing for sick.
I mean, not in, I, I don't think in wage jobs where you're working per hour. I mean, I think that's still rough everywhere, but I think in, you know, salary jobs. But I think no, it made a big difference because it was the difference between going on an actual vacation and just using all the time to travel back home to see my family, for example, or, you know, yeah, take a few more long weekends. It's, it's a big difference. Or, you know, the pressure to use all the time off during the holidays, like, um, the festive season as they call it over here, right? Like, if you only have [00:40:00] 15 days, then you, and maybe your part, like my case, not a partner, but whatever, my family, they have these days off and you have to take those days off now you have no more time left. And so I think, yeah, it's a big difference in giving people a little more time off. And I, I think then they can feel more like that they can live and not just work and then get resentful about it.
But it is an interesting, um, there's, it was definitely culturally different and I mean, when I moved over, it was right, I moved into my flat the next day. It was the lockdown, so it was a lot different. But, and I didn't really need to use time off. I mean, I was like, gonna do just like sit, oh, I'll sit in my flat with nothing to do versus something. But, um, but yeah, like it's made a big difference since, since then. For sure.
It's, it's, it's way different.
Freddie Titcombe: And if you look at those four pillars, like I would argue that someone who's sort of limited to that degree, their, their baseline level of happiness is just limited in a way because they are, their time for such a disgusting [00:41:00] proportion of the year is just dictated to them, right? Are they, and often it's time and location.
And then that stops them from being able to pour into health and relationships, for example, which then just makes the problem even worse.
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah, for sure. And I think then, and then if they don't have a way or an understanding of how to balance it or even a way of understanding that this isn't good for them, it, it gets, you know, worse, and I think that's where you do see a lot of burnout and people not being happy and, and health problems and things like that, right? It's just the constant stress.
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah, and, and people don't necessarily. When they don't, aren't self-aware and there's no reflection practice, what we see is that people understand that there's something not right. There's this ambient feeling of things not being in the right place and feeling [00:42:00] stuck. Feeling stuck in a pattern, but they don't actually either 'cause they're not reflecting or because they don't have the support and someone who's got a fresh perspective to say, hey, it's actually this really obvious thing that you're neglecting. So there's none of that. So then they're stuck in a position where they want better, but they dunno how to get it, or they don't know what it is that's blocking them from where they want to go to because actually knowing the thing and knowing the blocker, that's half the battle.
And, and almost the, the hardest part and actually removing it. Is is quite often sometimes just made up of really small little decisions that are quite, quite simple in practice, and then all of a sudden you're in a much better place.
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah. Yeah, it's just, it's just that ability, right, to zoom out and get that 10,000 foot view when you're, all you can see is weeds 'cause you've just gotta be in a grind. So, which journaling can help with, I think, you know for sure.
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And, and going back to [00:43:00] what you were saying earlier about the, um, the specific, like, and that's why being really specific with these prompts can be helpful because you gave the example of like, tell a joke. It's like, yeah, tell a joke and then I dunno, I'm lost. And then tell a knock-knock joke. Oh right. I've got, I've got three here. Here you go. They're all bad. Um, but the, the specific prompt actually brings so much more out of you than just sort of vague thoughts like, oh, try and do my thinking in the shower. 'cause it's the only time I'm not on my phone and it's just all very vague. Nothing's written down. You feel cleaner, but how much has actually changed?
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah. And now your journal's wet.
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (host): Like don't try to write when you're in the shower please. Well, Freddie, I mean, it's been great to just chat through all this with you and, given me a lot to think about and I hope people listening a lot to think about or, you know, [00:44:00] even the thought that maybe they want to, they want to, you know, join you on the Evolve Jounrey.
But, do you have any advice or mantra that you, you use that either you have always used or that you've got out of, of doing the work you're doing now that you'd like to share with people?
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah, I think it's a, it's a simple one and it is, reflection plus action equals progress.
Rabiah Coon (host): Hmm. Yeah. Nice. I like that. So I think what we'll do next is, um, very predictably get into the fun five.
Rabiah Coon (host): So it's five questions I ask every guest that I personally think are fun. And sometimes they do. So we'll see how it goes for you.
The first one is just what is the oldest T-shirt you have and still wear?
Freddie Titcombe: Uh, it's a t-shirt that's about 11 years old and it says, "don't be a prick" on it. [00:45:00] And there's a silhouette of a cactus and it's got a massive hole there. It's completely falling apart. There's probably been ironic moments along the way where I've worn it and been a prick, so there you go.
Rabiah Coon (host): Nice. Well, you couldn't always see the writing on it when you were, when you were wearing
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. That was, oh, that was me.
Rabiah Coon (host): Good reminder. Um, all right, so if every day was really like Groundhog's Day, like it seemed like, um, well it can seem like that for people now too, but it seemed like when I wrote this question in 2020, um, what song would you set your alarm clock to play every morning to wake you up?
Freddie Titcombe: Uh, good question. I will go for Nelly Furtado, "i'm Like a Bird".
Rabiah Coon (host): Oh, that's
sweet. I didn't, I almost, well, I, I didn't expect that. All right. So is
Freddie Titcombe: I, I was, I was flip flopping in my mind because that was like a fun, happy version. And then the other one, [00:46:00] which would be like, let's set ourselves up for a crazy day. Every day would be like, uh, have you ever heard of the guy Jocko Willnk? Um, he's like a ex-military guy. He's got this album of, it's just him talking on Spotify.
It's this album, it's called "Psychological Warfare", I think. And it will start and he'll be like. That thing that your head is on is a pillow and it's suffocating your dreams. Get up. Um, so you could go happy, nearly like a bird or you could go like, woo a bit of a, a bit of a spicy one.
Rabiah Coon (host): Oh my gosh. All right. So yeah, I can see why you ended up with, I'm Like a Bird
if it was gonna be the same every day. Um, all right. So coffee or tea or neither?
Freddie Titcombe: Coffee. I'm, I'm big on the, the mushroom coffee at the moment. Um, yeah, I would, what I've been drinking during this has been [00:47:00] Space Goods. I'd really recommend it. It's tasty.
Rabiah Coon (host): okay. Cool. I just got that, um, the Lion's Mane
powder for my coffee and I really feel like it actually. It is helpful, so.
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah. Yeah. There's so many good ones out there. Um, the main thing is like, you want the, uh, I think it's like the fruit and body of the mushroom. Because some of them are just sort of like cheap stalk, like it, it's lion's mane, but there's nothing actually good in there that will, will have the effect.
So, yeah. I, I love it though. I can, I can notice a real difference when I'm drinking it and I don't have like, the, I'm very sensitive to the, to the caffeine, so I'd have like a horrible crash and get all like anxious afterwards. But just the, the lion's mane coffees, yeah, it's great.
Rabiah Coon (host): Oh, awesome. Okay, cool. Good shout. And okay, Can you think of like something that just makes you laugh so hard? Do you cry or just something that cracks you up when you think of it?
Freddie Titcombe: A recent one in that comes to mind probably 'cause I'm in my parents' house, was we all found out that. When [00:48:00] there's like a storm and it's like really raining outside that my dad goes out and checks the, the gutters and the, the drains because we had, we had a flood once he does this butt naked in the middle of the
Rabiah Coon (host): Oh,
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah. Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (host): I mean, wow.
Freddie Titcombe: So imagine like a, like a British version of like Peter Griffin
Rabiah Coon (host): yeah.
Oh no, you're dad.
Freddie Titcombe: out there in like a, in a deep squat trying to get leaves out of a drain. So that, that makes me chuckle every time
Rabiah Coon (host): Did you find
Freddie Titcombe: wanna get his clo,
Rabiah Coon (host): Yeah.
Freddie Titcombe: he didn't wanna get his clothes wet, you know? Sleep naked. So why, why put clothes on?
Rabiah Coon (host): how did you find this out? Did you see this or you just heard about it?
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah, luckily I didn't see it
Rabiah Coon (host): Good, man.
Freddie Titcombe: else. That would be a, uh, yeah, something ingrained in my mind and, and not necessarily something that I want, um,
Rabiah Coon (host): yeah.
you'd have to lend them, lend them your shirt, but, [00:49:00] um, wow. Okay, cool. And, um, that's crazy. Um, all right. Who inspires you right now?
Freddie Titcombe: Um, good question. I would say, uh, Pierce Brown. I'm reading a lot of his books at the moment. He's got a series called Red Rising. I'd recommend that for people. That's my like way of switching off when I can't work anymore, um, and just like transport myself into another planet.
Rabiah Coon (host): It's fiction. yeah.
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (host): Cool. Nice. Yeah. 'cause I saw you guys have a book list and you've read a lot of some books that overlap with what I've read or what I have on my shelf that didn't read but have there. But yeah, that's cool. So good, so fiction and have fiction out there. That's awesome. All right, well, um, the last question I have for you, Freddie, is just like, how do you want people to find you guys and. And, um, where do you want them to look you up? And if they do wanna check out a journal, where should they go?
Freddie Titcombe: Yeah, head over to our website. Um, [00:50:00] or you can find us on, on Instagram. We, we read all of the, the emails that come in, all of the dms they go directly to, to me and Sam. So, um, Instagram we're evolve journey (@evolvejourney). And the website is just evolve journey dot co dot uk (evolvejourney.co.uk). We're, um, we're live in America as well. We ship direct from there.
And then same, same in the UK. So yeah, get, get, get in touch. We're always happy to, to help. You don't even need to buy a journal if you wanna just chat about things. If you're unsure about anything, we're always, always happy to help.
Rabiah Coon (host): Awesome. That's great. Well, thanks so much for doing the More Than Work and for getting in touch. It was really, it was really great to meet you and chat with you, Freddie.
Freddie Titcombe: Pleasure. Thank you so much.
Rabiah Coon (host): Thanks for listening. You can learn more about the guest and what was talked about in the show notes. Joe Maffia created the music you're listening to. You can find him on Spotify at Joe M-A-F-F-I-A. Rob Metke does all the design for which I'm so grateful. You can find him online by searching Rob, [00:51:00] M-E-T-K-E.
Please leave a review if you like the show and get in touch if you have feedback or guest ideas. The pod is on all the social channels at at More Than Work Pod (@MoreThanWorkPod or at Rabiah comedy (@RabiahComedy) on TikTok. While being kind to others, don't forget to be kind to yourself.
