Dec 22, 2022
Whether you're leading yourself or a team, it's important to regularly evaluate how you're progressing.
We all know this but we tend to either make it too complex, and thus not do it as much as we should, or we won't do it often enough to inform our behavior. It's easy to just "keep doing what we're doing", even if we're getting feedback that it isn't optimal. If that feedback isn't severe enough to register on our sensors then we're missing a valuable opportunity to improve. I've found that four simple questions are usually enough to get a good grip on that feedback.
Obviously every situation is different, but these are the four I use myself and I teach clients. They'll get to the meat of the situation and often show us where we need to redirect our energy. Remember, a leader has three primary roles:
1) Determine the desired outcome.
2) Set a course to achieve it.
3) Navigate the course and its modifications necessary to punch the team across the finish line.
Even if your "team" is just you, it's important to use some sort of an evaluation plan to make sure that's happening. These four quick questions are a great starting point.
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Dec 16, 2022
We all want some "go" with our "show", right? It doesn't make sense to look great and not be able to perform at a high level, as well. Whether you are still playing sports, want to keep up with your kid's in a "friendly" game, or just be prepared for what life throws at you it is important to stay athletic. Unfortunately, for a lot of adults it's hard to keep the level of athleticism they were used to from their playing days. It can all come crashing down quickly when they realize that the lifting and cardio they've been doing doesn't prepare them to move when they need to. It can be a bitter pill to swallow when they suddenly feel a step behind. This is exactly the type of guy I work with on a regular basis. I find there's five key areas that usually need to be addressed to take you from stiff and feeling old to regaining that spring and back to dominating. In this episode I go through my five areas and how I address them with my clients, often without adding any appreciable amount of time to their training sessions.
Dec 1, 2022
Imagine the amound of information your brain takes in every second. From your eyes to your skin to your internal organs and beyond, it's massive. Your brain then has to take all of this information, filter it down to what it deems relevant, and THEN decide what to do based on this data. How does it do that? By running it through a filter of beliefs. A difference of beliefs can make the same data be applied to a very different decision. In turn, this different decision can create a radically different outcome. That's great when it's working right, but when you're not getting the results you want... something needs to change. We like to try to change our behaviors, but we're better off changing the filters that cause the behaviors in the first place. That starts with our beliefs.
Nov 26, 2022
Are you someone who does really well during the week but then struggles with consistency on the weekends? What about holidays, events, or travel? This time of year is a tough one for many people to stay on track with their fitness, nutrition, or other lifestyle habits. In this episode I go over a very simple mental shift that allows you to reframe that challenge and get back on track much more quickly.
Nov 18, 2022
We are who we think we are... but it's deeper than that. More specifically, we're who our brain thinks that we are. See, our brain has an image in our mind of "us". It's our identity. This identity shapes how we do things and our decision-making. Your life is largely the result of your identity and how it led to your reactions and decisions. So what happens when we want to make a change? We can brute force it through willpower alone, but if we still identify as that former person we'll eventually slide back. The brain likes to be right, and it'll win in the end. So that means we need to change our identity to someone who lives the life that we want. In this podcast, I explain some of the first steps to doing that.
Nov 10, 2022
"Man, I gotta get in shape!"
What does that mean, exactly?
That's the problem with "conditioning", "endurance", and "being in shape".
We all know what we mean when we say it, and the other person knows what they think it is... but it's often not the same thing.
If you were an NFL lineman, you'd need to be in shape.
If you were a triathlete, you'd need to be in shape.
But those would look very different. That's where an understanding of how our body creates the energy that we need to move comes into play.
In this podcast I get into our three big energy systems, the fuel they use, and the considerations for how to train them to get the results you're actually looking for... so you can be in the shape and condition you need.
Oct 14, 2022
Look around. There are courses, programs, books, and many other opportunities to better yourself. Personal development, whether it's fitness, mindset, or work-related is huge right now. Yet so many people don't succeed in making the changes they are seeking? Why is that? For most of them it's because they try to make too big a jump. They see the end goal and want to be there right away. I get it - I want that, too. But your brain knows better. It knows that with big jumps comes big risk, and it doesn't like that so it pumps the brakes and settles you back into your routine... keeping you right where you are. I have a system for breaking through that sticking point and it starts with four steps. In this podcast I teach the four techniques I give almost all of my new clients and that you can start today.
Oct 6, 2022
I'm a reformed member of the "Grind 'til I die, I'll sleep when I'm dead" club. What is sleep, really? Everyone sleeps, but lots of us take it for granted or think it's something that removes us from the things we want to do. The truth is, sleep is WAY more important than that. Sleep is where our body makes the bulk of its repairs and our brain does most of its memory work and remodeling. Basically, if you don't sleep enough or well you'll always be operating like you're sick and confused... because you are. Sure, you may have more time if you cut your sleep short, but you'll make such poor use of it that it's a net loss. In this podcast I talk about WHY sleep matters, my personal story with sleep, and nine simple ways you can get more and better sleep.
Sep 29, 2022
Everyone makes "Finding Your Purpose" out to be this big, woo-woo, mystical task. It can be - You might be walking down the street and suddenly blindsided by your Purpose. But that's unlikely. Instead, I think there's a simple process that you can use to find the intersection between a couple of key purpose areas. Within those intersection points is where your Purpose will lie. In this podcast I dig into: - What really is your "Purpose"? - Why you should care. - Two approaches you can use to find it. - Two key questions to ask yourself in the process. Finding your Purpose isn't nearly the mystical journey it's made out to be. It can be broken down into a step-by-step process. Once the mystery is gone, you can succeed.
Sep 22, 2022
How can you get a year's worth of wins in just 12 weeks? By getting clear and focused on punching them through to the end. The truth is that most people have a lot going on. That's normal. But the way that most handle it is that they are constantly shuffling things around, moving this or that to the front or back burner. While that is sometimes necessary, it doesn't move us towards finishing things. With this process I'm going to teach you, you'll be able to determine what it is you want to focus on for the next 12 weeks, how it moves you towards your big goals, and how to break it down to actually GET IT DONE.
Sep 15, 2022
There's infinite ways to progress your training, but so many people get caught up in the "new routine" or magic exercise. Sure, those might be the way to go, but often it's getting more out of what you're currently doing OR already know how to do. The body responds to stimulus in just a few ways (I get into it in the episode) and when you understand that it opens whole new WORLDS of training possibilities. I get into not only how the body adapts but also my seven favorite variables to adjust to keep training fresh and progressing. Limited in time and equipment? Working out at a home gym? Stuck in a plateau? This episode is definitely for you.
Sep 8, 2022
I used to ask all my clients "How's your state?" when they walked in the door. Their answer told me what I needed to know for their training and coaching session that day. Your state is the combination of your emotional and physical experience at any given moment. Effectively, it governs how you interact with the world and behave. In turn, that affects how the world interacts back with you. If you have mastery of the three parts of your state, which I cover in this episode, and making changes to them as needed, you can master how the world works around you. In any given moment, your behavior can make a situation better or worse. If you can't control your behavior, or you match the wrong state with the situation, then you're at the mercy of it. If you can control it, you can bob and weave with the flow.
Sep 1, 2022
Everyone has heard of SMART Goals. They're the corporate buzzword for goal setting. The issue is, they aren't the best for goal ACHIEVEMENT. Sure, they sound good. People get really excited setting SMART goals, but then they woosh right on by and rarely are achieved. In this podcast I dig into why the SMART framework sounds good but doesn't deliver. I also teach a more effective framework to get into the meat of your goals, what actually needs to be accomplished to get you to the finish line, and how to repeatedly win.
Aug 25, 2022
Creating successful habits, or getting rid of unproductive ones, isn't as simple as just making a decision.
In this episode I dig into the Fogg Behavior Model and other tools that you can use both immediately and in the long term to reliably remove habits that don't serve you while fostering those that do.
You WILL create habits in life. That's how our brain works. Whether they're the ones that serve you or not is entirely up to your intention. It doesn't have to be a luck of the draw. You can be in control of whether your habits stick or slide.
Aug 18, 2022
We may be living in a modern world but a lot of our mental and physical machinery is still wired for our past evolution. In many ways this is a great thing. We as humans are the most adaptable species on the planet and it's allowed us to thrive. However, some of our new situations don't mesh well with the old stuff. So what's the answer? Go back to living in huts and being scared of the sun? Not even a little bit. We live in the modern world and we should make use of all the advancements it has to offer. There's a reason we've developed it. What we should do, though, is run everything through a filter of our evolutionary psychology and biology. Make peace with how we're wired and you'll be a lot better off than fighting against it.
Aug 11, 2022
Your life is largely a sum of your habits. The issue, if you're like most people, is that your habits are arranged in a haphazard way. Some are great for you where as others are pulling against you. This leaves you stuck with holes and gaps in your life. That's because habits are often not created by intention. In this episode I pull back the curtain on how habits are formed and reinforced. This allows you to tackle habits where they're most vulnerable, as opposed to trying to use willpower to change them... which is a doomed venture.
Aug 4, 2022
Not all nutrition is equal! People come in two camps - They either like to nitpick and micromanage their nutrition or they'd rather not stress about it at all. Both camps have their place, but the point is that if you want to look, feel, and perform at a high level then you have to at least have the basics of nutrition nailed down. So what are the priorities? Is there a hierarchy? There is. In this podcast I go through each stage of nutrition, covering the base first and moving into the extras. You'll leave with a simple priority list so you know where your gaps are and what to address first when it comes to getting your performance nutrition squared away.
Jul 28, 2022
The quest for understanding stress, rationality, and why some people change and others don't led Matt Perryman from the weightlifting realm and fitness to a Ph.D in Philosophy. In this episode we talk about not only the higher level thinking that moves us but how to translate that into actual success. Matt breaks down our environment, our purpose, and our ideal selves... all in an approachable, functional approach.
Jul 22, 2022
You environment plays a huge role in your life. In this podcast we discuss how the environment is WAY more than just the physical place you're in. It can be everything from what's going on in your body to what you're wearing and who you're with. All of those things add up to create a very complex decision-making process that you have very little control of. The good thing? It's often VERY easy to leverage that process to create huge results. You just need to do it with a little strategy. Tune in and we'll get into how you do it.
Jul 14, 2022
Had that moment where you think "I need to get back in shape"? Most of us have. There's plenty of plans out there to do it, but yet so many of us struggle. In this podcast I break down the six steps that you need to go through to build the best plan for YOU to get back in the shape you want... and beyond!
Jul 7, 2022
Leadership is often talked about but rarely broken down to key components. Let's change that. In this podcast I talk about the three things that a good leader must do. It has nothing to do with org charts, conflict resolution, or name games. Instead, these are the three key responsibilities of a leader. Then I talk about my 3S Framework for leadership. This lets you clarify what your role and responsibility is in a moment, which in turn informs your next action.
Jun 30, 2022
Everyone talks about "building your best self" or "being your best", but nobody talks about what really goes into it. Today I break down a 3-step framework I use to help people (and myself) build stronger, more resilient, and more adaptable versions of themselves. You'll see where these three steps get plugged into the Anxiety Equation and how, if you get them fixed, you'll be taking the brakes off of your success... In ANY situation.
Jun 23, 2022
Clarity is one of those terms that gets thrown around a lot, but it's more than just sitting around and making a vision board. Real results come from real clarity. If you're not clear, your brain won't let you invest the energy into something. That would be too much risk, and the brain doesn't like risk. It'll put the brakes on. Plus, it's only one piece of the puzzle. In this podcast I go through, step-by-step, the three pieces of the clarity puzzle and how I move clients through it to make success a reality.
Jun 16, 2022
I always enjoy sitting down with my buddy Justin, owner of Woodshed Strength, to talk shop about coaching, entrepreneurship, and life. He's a wealth of wisdom and clarity. In this episode we get into the importance of Purpose, overcoming burnout, and how to stay focused for the long haul.
