# Man Alive Podcast | Will Foden: What Actually Builds Mental Toughness

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-built-for-pressure-podcast-7108833/man-alive-podcast-will-foden-what-actually-builds-mental-toughness
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-built-for-pressure-podcast-7108833/man-alive-podcast-will-foden-what-actually-builds-mental-toughness.md
Podcast: [The Built For Pressure Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-built-for-pressure-podcast-7108833)
Published: 2026-04-22T07:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/fcde3c0e
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/fcde3c0e/9929c46f.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-built-for-pressure-podcast-7108833/episodes/man-alive-podcast-will-foden-what-actually-builds-mental-toughness
Duration seconds: 3674

## Resource

Most people talk about resilience like it's something you read about. Mine was built on a rugby pitch, in a hospital in Hereford, on a sofa in Doncaster at 2 in the morning, and in four weeks watching my dad go from cycling 12 kilometres a day to unfortunately passing away with us by his side. This conversation with Colm on the Man Alive Podcast covers a lot of ground. Professional and semi-professional rugby. Signing my first contract at Doncaster Knights and having a horse kick both legs through my knee eight weeks later. Being told I would never play again. Coming back ten months later. Playing seven more years across England, Singapore, and Australia. Leaving a relationship I had outgrown years before I was brave enough to admit it. Moving to Singapore with 700 quid. Losing my dad in four weeks to lung cancer when he was in the best shape of his life. None of that is the story. Those are just the conditions. The story is about what happens to a man when everything he built his identity around gets taken away, and what it takes to not let it bury you. - We talk about why men lose themselves when they leave elite sport. - Why being all in professionally is often the thing that destroys everything else. - Why self-awareness and self-management separate good from elite, not pedigree. - Why your gut has been telling you what to do for years and you are still not listening to it. - And why the men who are most stuck are not lacking motivation, they are lacking a system. Built For Pressure was not built in a boardroom. It was built in every moment I had a choice between sinking or getting back on the pitch. This one covers all of it. Very lucky to be on the podcast with Colm. The Yana mission is something men across the world need to take note of, be part of, and talk abo…

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## Transcript

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