Grow the Good

How do your expectations affect your mind and body? In this week’s podcast, Sonya speaks with award-winning science writer David Robson about the expectation effect and how your expectations change how you physically and mentally react to various situations.

David is the author of two books, the most recent, the main subject of this podcast - The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Transform Your Life. He also authored The Intelligence Trap in 2019. 

David graduated with a degree in mathematics from Cambridge University and then worked as a features editor at New Scientist. He then moved to BBC Future as a senior journalist. His work has appeared in the Guardian, the Atlantic, Men’s Health and more. He’s received awards from the Association of British Science Writers and the UK Medical Journalists’ Association (MJA) and, in 2022, won Mental Health Story of the Year at the MJA Annual Awards.

Key Takeaways:

• What is the expectation effect?
• Overcoming negative expectations
• How mindset relates to expectations
• How your relationships affect expectations and outcomes
• Setting yourself up for prime performance
• Setting realistic expectations
• Expectations and food
• The placebo effect

Links:

• Learn more about David Robson
• Pick up a copy of David's books here
• Sign up for my weekly newsletter! 

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Have you thought about what your life could be like if you felt grateful every time you stepped outside? Ryan Van Duzer, a bike adventurer from Colorado, finds himself more grateful every adventure he takes. In this episode, Sonya and Ryan talk about gratitude, stepping outside your comfort zone, the bike community, inspiring others, positivity and more.

Ryan grew up in Colorado. He started as a runner and has learned to love the bike. He joined the Peace Corps and worked in Honduras for two years. At the end of his time there, instead of flying home, he opted to ride his bike back to Colorado. This sparked his love for bike adventures around the world, meeting new people and sharing those moments with others on his YouTube channel.

Some of his favorite adventures include that 4,000 mile bike ride from Honduras to Boulder, surviving the jungles of Venezuela on the TV show Out of the Wild Venezuela, the Leadville 100 ultramarathon, riding across the United States, and so many more. 

He is committed to the environment and had his book, The Long Way Home, printed on 100% recycled paper, using algae-based ink.

Key Takeaways:

• Experiencing gratitude
• Ryan's time in the Peace Corps
• Stepping outside your comfort zone
• Riding his bike from Honduras back to Colorado
• Getting started - starting small and working your way up
• Finding your purpose
• Committing to creative pursuits despite the challenges
• Sharing his adventures with his community
• Finding glimmers of positivity
• Ryan's commitment to the environment
• What makes a good adventure

Links:

• Learn more about Ryan Van Duzer
• Check out Ryan's book
• Subscribe to Ryan's YouTube channel
• Sign up for my weekly newsletter! 

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Travis Macy is a 2x author, world-class endurance champion across many disciplines including Adventure Racing, 100-mile trail running races like Leadville and Leadman, Snowshoe champion, ski mountaineering, and even Burro racing. He is the host of The Travis Macy Show Podcast and a sought-after speaker including being a TEDx speaker. Travis is also an endurance sports coach and a dad to 2 children.

Travis also happens to be a good friend of mine. You may have heard him on the podcasts we recorded about his book, The Ultra Mindset and more recently, A Mile at a Time. Travis and I have been brainstorming fun ways to collaborate. We both headed to the east coast to do one keynote speech each followed by a group Q&A at a Leadership Conference for some very interesting individuals!

We recorded this podcast at the Denver International Airport prior to boarding our flight (and almost missed our flight!)

Key Takeaways:

• My win at Pisgah
• When preparation isn't perfect
• Flexibility around your plan
• How to let go a little bit
• Maintaining curiosity
• Preparing my keynote on mastery and fulfillment
• Intentional imbalance
• Travis's book tour and family travel
• Thinking about what's next
• Travis's supportive personality

Links:

• Learn more about Travis Macy
• Check out Travis's new book with his dad Mark Macy
• Listen to Travis's podcast
• Sign up for my weekly newsletter! 

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

What does it mean to be happy? How do you define happiness? What is the difference between awe and gratitude? How do you stay a New York Knicks fans when they’ve given you decades of disappointment? 

Sonya sat down with clinical psychologist, author and keynote speaker Jonah Paquette to get answers to all of these questions.

Jonah specializes in the science of well-being and emotional fitness. He is the author of four books promoting those topics including Happily Ever After, Awestruck, The Happiness Toolbox and Real Happiness. 

He completed his graduate training at PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium in Palo Alto, California. He worked in the healthcare system at Kaiser Permanente before his newer focus on speaking and training. 

He’s a native New Yorker, but currently resides in California, where he loves to hike, travel and cook.

Key Takeaways:

• The New York Knicks and the New Yorker identity
• How do you define happiness?
• How do you figure out what you need to be happy?
• Making something a daily practice
• The difference between awe and gratitude
• Finding purpose and meaning in life
• Finding your strengths
• The shift to more positive psychology
• The meaning of burnout

Links:

• Learn more about Jonah Paquette
• Check out Jonah's books here
• Listen to Jonah's podcast The Happy Hour
• Sign up for my weekly newsletter! 

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Dr. Zurita Ona (Dr. Z) is a licensed clinical psychologist who founded the East Bay Behavior Therapy Center where she runs an outpatient program integrating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Exposure Response Prevention (ERP). She is experienced in working with children, adolescents and adults with OCD, trauma, anxiety and emotional regulation problems. Her work is dedicated to helping clients get “unstuck” and living the life they want to live. 

She is the author of several books, including her recent publication Acceptance and Commitment Skills for Perfectionism and High-Achieving Behaviors: Do Things Your Way, Be Yourself and Live a Purposeful Life. 

In this week’s episode, Sonya and Dr. Z tackled topics such as achievement, perfectionism, overworking, values and much more.

Key Takeaways:

• Healthy high achievement
• Perfectionistic actions
• How we tie sense of accomplishment with sense of self
• Perfectionism and seeking control
• What to do when you are stuck
• The optimal amount of hard work
• Striving to be the best without comparison
• Perfectionism and passion
• Celebrating success
• Controlling the controllables

Links:

• Learn more about Dr. Z
• Listen to Dr. Z's podcast - Playing-it-safe
• Check out Dr. Z's latest book
• Learn more about Dr. Z's practice
• Sign up for my weekly newsletter! 

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Dr. Matt Smith, DC, CES, is a sports chiropractor, strength coach, and founder of EverAthlete - an online training, recovery, and injury rehabilitation platform for adventure athletes. Matt grew up in San Jose, California and received his doctorate at Palmer West Chiropractic College, graduating valedictorian of his class. He has spent the past 15 years in the fitness and injury rehabilitation field. During that time, he has served as a trusted rehab consultant and coach to professional athletes, Olympians, high school and collegiate athletes, and weekend warriors looking to improve their health and performance.

Outside of the athletic realm, Matt has served as a primary fitness and health consultant to some of the largest companies in Silicon Valley. Matt’s diverse professional background has provided a unique vantage point for helping outdoor enthusiasts improve their performance and create longevity to their journey in sport and health. Matt spends his days working with clients 1-on-1 and working with The EverAthlete Team to build out meaningful programs on The EverAthlete Training Platform.

He currently lives in Santa Cruz, CA with his wife and spends his free time surfing, mountain biking, and running through the trails in the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains.

• Strength training is more than just for sports performance
• Injury prevention
• Addressing fear of bulking up
• How often should you strength train?
• Defining core work
• The important of the breath in the core
• What is Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization?
• The evolution of EverAthlete

Links

• Learn more about EverAthlete programs and use code LOONEY for 25% off the first three months of training.
• Related podcast: Training the Pelvic Floor for Performance with Corinne Wade
• Sign up for my weekly newsletter! 

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Diana Hill, PhD is a clinical psychologist, international trainer and sought-out speaker on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and compassion. I spoke with Diana just over a year ago on my podcast about healthy striving and psychological flexibility.

Diana is the host of the podcast Your Life in Process and co- author of ACT Daily Journal and works with organizations and individuals to develop psychological flexibility so that they can take wise action toward fulfilling and impactful lives. Integrating her over 20 years of meditation experience with yoga and psychological training, Diana blogs for Psychology Today, and guest teaches at InsightLA, Blue Spirit Costa Rica, PESI, Praxis Continuing Education, Yoga Soup and Insight Timer Meditation. n

In this episode, we talked about how to show up as working moms, the importance of balancing values and strengths, competition and collaboration, values-based eating, and strategies we’ve used in building our friendship.

Key Takeaways:

• Knowing when to do it over
• How to balance motherhood and ambition
• How I started mountain biking
• The intersection of strengths and values
• The importance of connecting to our body’s wisdom
• What is wise effort
• How to know when to grit and when to quit
• Values-based eating
• How to build a wise council
• Valuing friendship
• Why more is not always more

Links:

• Learn more about ACT
• Related podcast: Healthy Striving and Psychological Flexibility with Dr. Diana Hill
• Related podcast: The Paradox of Expectations, Pressure, Comparison, in Sport and in Life
• Related podcast: Rethinking Competition: What if it wasn’t only about beating others
• Learn more about EverAthlete programs and use code LOONEY for 25% off the first three months of training.
• Sign up for my weekly newsletter! 

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Jerry Kopack started his career in the corporate world. But at the age of 31, he completely shifted his career and opened a hospice in Colorado with his mom. The perspective-changing experience led him to begin traveling the world and open himself up to new opportunities. 

His biking adventures began in Africa and continued on to India, Nepal, Israel and more. He learned about the beauty of the world and of people and wrote about his journey in his new book The World Spins By. 

In this week’s episode, Sonya and Jerry talk about his key lessons from working in hospice, his mindset shift that led to traveling the world, the amazing global biking community, and more.

Key Takeaways:

• Making big shifts in life
• Key lessons from working in hospice
• Contemplating death
• The value of time and shifting identity
• Being open to travel by bike around the world
• The international bike community
• What traveling on a bicycle entails in less developed countries
• How to have more flexibility, control less
• Vision of success and happiness
• Living with this mindset to always say yes

Links:

• Learn more about Jerry Kopack
• Pick up a copy of The World Spins By
• Learn more about EverAthlete programs and use code LOONEY for 25% off the first three months of training.
• Sign up for my weekly newsletter! 

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Here is an excerpt from the audiobook, A Mile At a Time with Travis and Mark Macy.

Below is the synopsis from Penguin Random House: In October 2018, Mark “Mace” Macy, sixty-four years old, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Mace had spent thirty years competing in Colorado and around the world in ultra-endurance competitions and is one of the few people who have finished all eight Eco-Challenge events. Once diagnosed, Mace feared losing endurance, strength, and independence. 

Mace’s son Travis, also a professional endurance athlete, also struggled to see his father battling the disease. In 2019 they decided to participate in World’s Toughest Race—a seven-day, grueling 400-mile marathon of trekking, climbing, biking, and paddling through the jungle—for one final race together.

Weaving excerpts from Mace’s passionate personal journals alongside a first-person narrative by Travis, A Mile at a Time tells the story of this incredible journey and what both father and son learned along the way.

A powerful story about living—and thriving—with a disease that impacts nearly six million Americans. This timely, and deeply moving father-son adventure sheds light on the hard truths of this disease while giving readers hope of all that still can be achieved.

A Mile at a Time with Endurance Athletes Travis and Mark "Mace" Macy

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Travis Macy is an ultra endurance athlete and coach. He’s the author of The Ultra Mindset: An Endurance Champion’s 8 Core Principles for Success in Business, Sports, and Life. I spoke with Travis on my podcast in January about his racing escapades, embracing training, redefining expectations throughout his career and his experience with his dad’s Alzheimers. This week, we brought him back with his dad, Mark “Mace” Macy, a 30-year veteran of ultra endurance competitions, who has continued to thrive since his early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2018. Together, they authored the book A Mile at a Time, which tells the story of how Travis and Mace conquered the World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji and how Mace has tapped into his inner strength to deal with his disease. 

Mace is a retired attorney and grandfather. He’s a well-known athlete in the endurance sports world, pioneering ultra running in the 1980s and adventure racing in the ‘90s. In 2020 he became the only person to compete in an Eco-Challenge race after having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

In this episode, we talked about Mace's story, resilience with Alzheimer's, having the courage to show up in life and maintaining hope and optimism.

Key Takeaways:

• Mark "Mace" Macy's story
• Resilience after Alzheimer's diagnosis
• Adventure racing in Fiji
• Having the courage to show up in life
• What is adventure racing?
• Extra precautions competing with Alzheimer's
• Maintaining hope and optimism
• Being present
• Sharing the Alzheimer's journey to positively impact others
• What does acceptance look like?

Links:

• Learn more about A Mile at a Time
• Learn more about The World's Toughest Race - Eco-Challenge Fiji
• Related podcast: The Ultra Mindset with Endurance Athlete and Coach Travis Macy
• Sign up for my weekly newsletter! 

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.