Brain health with Dan Murray-Serter – Founder of Heights

Our next guest on the DOSE podcast is Dan Murray-Serter – founder of brain care company, Heights. He’s also the host of the UK’s #1 business podcast, Secret Leaders.

We talk about his journey to creating Heights, via experiences of founder burnout, insomnia and anxiety, how he got Stephen Fry to become an ambassador, how he’s feeling about juggling his work life with becoming a dad and all things Clubhouse – the social networking app based on audio chat and he’s definitely someone you want to follow!

Dan Murray-Serter on insmonia

“I’d go to sleep at midnight and wake up at 2am, like there was an alarm… I would be wide awake with so much energy. I thought, maybe I’ll just start work now and be a bit more productive…and maybe I’ll fall asleep in a couple of hours. It never happened. I ended up powering through and going to the office, having already done 8 hours of work. I was starting to think ‘I’m the world’s most productive person’ – telling myself the story that fit my narrative. As an entrepreneur I was thinking ‘great, I’m now getting two days, in other peoples’ one day – that’s going to really serve me well’.

Dan Murray-Serter on anxiety and panic attacks

I took a very cavalier attitude towards my wellness and very focussed on a faux sense of productivity that I’d crafted for myself. This went on for five and a half months… A couple of months in, I started to get really chronic anxiety. I’d get panic attacks in meetings, hot and cold sweats and have to leave meetings. I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on. The anxiety manifested from my fear of going to sleep and knowing it was a futile effort”.

On visiting a dietician

After going to the doctor and being prescribed sleeping pills and sleep therapy, Dan took matters into his own hands. He took a friend’s recommendation to look into brain nutrition and ended up meeting with a dietician.

“I didn’t think of insomnia as a mental health problem – when I went to dietitian she diagnosed me in seconds”. The dietician prescribed supplements but Dan remained cynical. “They have a bad rep” he says. “99% are super bad quality but I was prescribed the scientific dosage, which you cant get on the high street. When you pay more, you’re getting the quality you were meant to”.

Dan says he went and spent £120 in Planet Organic on DHA Omega 3, Blueberry Extract and B Vitamin Complex and within 7-10 days, says he was sleeping until 7am, waking up with energy, feeling amazing. The anxiety slipped away. The rest is history and brain health and nutrition brand Heights was born. Listen to the full podcast on iTunes, Spotify or Acast.

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