What happens when you bring together 12 clinically obese individuals and a team of experts to tackle weight loss and save lives?

In this episode of The Action Factory Podcast, I share the behind-the-scenes story of a groundbreaking NHS pilot program, where I was invited to be the unlikely "Mr. Motivator." From personal epiphanies to clashes of philosophy, the whole project produced some surprising lessons about the power of mindset in creating lasting change.

Most importantly this project influenced my approach to youth work and personal transformation, it confirmed it’s your brain that holds the key to success. Whether you're a youth worker or someone intrigued by the process of change, this episode is quite an eye opener, and even a sneak peek at Michael’s upcoming book.

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THE REAL MR MOTIVATOR

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Ever witnessed a young person repeat a self-destructive behavior that seems to defy all logic? I know I have. And today, I'm diving into a story I’ve never shared before — not just about the young people I’ve worked with, but about my own inexplicable, self-destructive behavior as a kid. If you're wondering why young people sometimes act against their own best interests, stick around. Because even after decades in this field, I don’t have all the answers — just the questions that haunt me still.

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Finally, if you’re a youth work team who would be interested in building team consistency, better confidence in crises, and offering better outcomes, you might want to check out my webinar below.

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Welcome to The Action Factory Podcast, and it’s great to be back! After a long hiatus due to moving house, I want to talk about how we might save our council a few million pounds.

My name is Michael Dawson, and I developed a universal, principle-based framework for youth work teams. During the design of the Solutions Toolkit, I’m often asked about my experience. It’s broad and covers most sectors, but I’ll always refer to three fantastic and revolutionary projects that I was lucky enough to have been involved in.

In today’s episode, I want to talk about one of them. It was a project where I jokingly used to say that, in private industry, we would all be driving Mercedes.

Why?

Because, based purely on the financials, we were saving city councils millions of pounds a year. We did this by keeping young people at home instead of in the care system. In fact, (after recording) I found a fascinating article in The Guardian by George Monbiot that confirms exactly what I’ve been saying.

If you’re a City Council influencer, we could easily do this again in a new and modern way.

In this episode, I’ll describe our service and what we did. Sadly, it’s a kind of rise and fall of the most cost-effective service the City Council ever created.

Although I found the article below after recording, I think you’ll find it interesting:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/18/child-care-cost-year-wealth-funds-councils-britain-residential

Oh and the Simpsons of course

Finally, if you’re a youth work team who would be interested in building team consistency, better confidence in crises, and offering better outcomes, you might want to check out my webinar below.

WATCH THE FREE WEBINAR