The Good Builder Podcast today Az sits down with Dr Yannick Van Heeden, a mindset and leadership specialist (and founder of Impaktr) whose work sits at the intersection of behavioural science, ancient wisdom, and real world performance.
It is the first time The Good Builder has had a doctor on the show, and the conversation quickly moves past motivation talk into practical, measurable change. Dr Van Heeden shares how he went from directionless and self sabotaging in his early 20s to graduating in the top one percent at university, then building a coaching practice helping business owners and leaders achieve more without burning out.
The core message is simple: your mind can either work for you or against you, and most people do not realise how often they are being run by their impulses, distractions, and stress loops.
A turning point in a lecture theatre
Dr Van Heeden grew up in the Netherlands and arrived in Australia at 24 feeling unsure of his direction. He describes sitting at university expecting a PhD lecturer, only to be met by a yogi who had spent decades meditating and walking barefoot in India.
That yogi delivered a line that changed everything.
Dr Van Heeden realised his own mind was actively working against him. He knew what he “should” be doing but consistently did the opposite: procrastinating, scrolling, partying, missing deadlines, and pushing his degree back by a full year. He describes a lack of confidence, insecurity, indecision, and low self trust.
So he made a call: stop letting his mind run the show.
He started meditating, redesigned his phone to reduce distractions, took exercise and nutrition seriously, and committed to habit change. The result shocked him. He went from almost being kicked out of university to finishing in the top one percent.
That experience led to a deeper question: why does this work? He then spent four years completing a PhD to understand behaviour change properly and combine practical psychology with ancient mental training traditions.
The big trap: “I’ll fix myself later”
When Aaron asks what common traps leaders fall into, Dr Van Heeden points straight at a pattern most builders and business owners will recognise.
People get stressed and feel behind, so they say yes to too much and try to work their way out of the hole. The first things that drop off are the very habits that keep them strong: movement, nutrition, and sleep. They tell themselves it is only temporary, just six months, just until things calm down.
But the “calm down” never comes.
Aaron shares his own version of that story, including putting on significant weight and drinking heavily while trying to keep up with business pressure, and how it took years to unwind those habits and rebuild a healthy routine.
Redefining success: self mastery, not milestones
A key part of the conversation is Dr Van Heeden’s view that mastering your mind is not a nice add on. He argues it is success.
He explains that many people define success as a future milestone: paid off house, certain income, certain lifestyle. The danger is that everything before that feels like failure. And if life throws a curveball (he shares a story of a man whose retirement goal was derailed by divorce and asset splits), the whole definition collapses.
Instead, he frames success as self mastery: understanding who you are, how your mind works, and having the freedom to use your time and energy to create value for your family, business, and community.
Ancient wisdom + behavioural science (and why both matter)
Aaron asks how Dr Van Heeden blends “ancient wisdom” with modern behavioural science.
The ancient core is the idea: you are not your mind. Thoughts are not commands. Desires are not orders. You can step back and choose your response.
He even shares a blunt line from a traditional teacher: you have to “beat your mind with a shoe a hundred times a day” not literally, but as a reminder that your mind will try to bargain, justify, and pull you off track if you let it.
Modern behavioural science is how you make that practical. Rather than arguing with your thoughts all day, you change your environment and habits so the right behaviour becomes easier.
Example: if driving past the bottle shop triggers drinking, take a different route. If certain mates always push drinks, spend more time with the friends who support healthier activities. If your phone hijacks your morning, redesign the phone and your routines so it cannot.
His point is that mindset and behaviour work both ways. Sometimes beliefs shape actions. Sometimes actions reshape beliefs. The best results come from using both.
How Impactor works: time, energy, resilience
Dr Van Heeden outlines his coaching process in three core areas:
- Time and attention
Start with an honest look at how time is actually spent. He often tracks calendars and phone usage to reveal the real priorities. His line is sharp: your calendar is a true reflection of your goals, not what you say you want, but what you actually do. - Energy and physical stability
Leaders carry heavy responsibility, teams, families and financial pressure. If they are physically unstable (sleep deprived, unfit, poor diet), they eventually break under pressure. - Resilience and calm under stress
Stress cannot always be reduced, but it can be handled differently. He shares that he is currently more stressed than ever (running a business while raising young kids), but also more resilient than ever, because he has practices in place that allow him to accept pressure without spiralling into unhelpful coping strategies.
What effective leaders do differently
When asked what top leaders practise, he gives two clear habits:
- A daily moment of intention: “What is the highest and best use of my time today?”
This pushes leaders to say no, stop reacting to everyone else’s agenda, and own their time. - Protected deep work: a 90 minute block for the most important work only they can do.
He shares a case study of a client who resisted the idea, then tried one 90 minute session per week, loved it, and scaled it to five days per week. The result: finishing in one week what used to take a month.
For builders and trades, this lands hard because construction is reactive by nature. Phones ring, trades shift, clients chase answers, suppliers delay. Dr Van Heeden’s argument is that without a protected block of deep work, you end up spending your whole life in response mode.
Practical starting point for builders: control the phone
If someone wants to improve their life without overthinking it, Dr Van Heeden says start here:
- Do not look at your phone first thing
- Create solitude time in the morning (walk, daylight, quiet thinking, meditation if you are open to it)
- Use “Do Not Disturb” scheduling so your phone is boring and silent early
- Charge your phone in another room, or use an analogue alarm clock
It is basic, but his point is powerful: design your environment so it works for you, not against you.
Jiu jitsu, mental toughness, and “hard now, easy later”
The episode closes on jiu jitsu. Dr Van Heeden competes regularly and uses it as both stress relief and mental training. He explains that competition forces you to face the voice in your head that says “give up”, and practising the skill of pushing through builds toughness that transfers directly into business and life.
He sums it up with a line that fits builders perfectly: hard now, easy later. Whether it is saying no to distraction, cutting drinking for a period, or doing the training you do not feel like doing, the reward is a calmer, stronger life down the track.
Learn more about Impaktr here https://www.impaktr.com.au/
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