Grow the Good

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.

Today, I want to talk about doubt. There are so many times and in different areas of our lives where we have self-doubt.  The thought - "What if I'm not good enough?'  Sport is the easiest example, but it can happen any time.  It can be doubt in your own capability accepting a role at work, it can be doubting a decision you made, or doubt that you're doing the right thing.

Doubt and self-confidence are linked.  Nobody is perfectly confident all the time and every single person experiences doubt, no matter what their level of accomplishment may be.  In my experience, focusing on negative thoughts are what lead to doubt.  Overthinking leads to doubt. And sometimes, self-doubt leads to giving up.

I'll use a simple example.  I did a race called the Nimby Fifty in Pemberton over the weekend. I was afraid before the start because conditions were going to be dangerously wet and slick on a very technical course. I also had chosen a race set-up that was for dry conditions and I didn't have any way to change what I brought. I was ruminating about something bad happening on the descents - I had done the race 3 times in wet and dry conditions so I knew what was in front of me.  My husband Matt said, "you've done this course in multiple conditions: TRUST that you know how to ride the really technical parts."  It was hard - there are days where I really trust my skills and then there are days where I choke.  And in terms of how I rode the technical descents relative to how I normally ride, I totally choked and it was disappointing.  I couldn't overcome my doubt and I walked stuff that I've ridden tons of times.  So self-doubt beat me there.

However, an example of crushing self-doubt that day was at the start.  I have been working hard on my fitness and thought that I was going to have a fast start.  But on the first climb, it seems like everyone was riding away from me and I was in 5th or 6th place. I couldn't even see the women in front of me anymore.

My thought process was:

Objective observation: I'm not riding at the front of this race.  I'm in 5th or 6th right now.

Negative thought: I'm not fast anymore. I suck. I'm too slow. The work I've been doing isn't paying off.

Self Doubt: I guess I was wrong thinking I would be able to race for the win.  I am not good enough.  I want to give up.

Spoiler: I ended up winning the race.

What happened next?

First, I was immediately aware of the thought pattern which is important. The awareness that you're starting to slip into a tornado of doubt and negative thoughts is powerful.  Next, I chose to stop focusing on what everyone else was doing.  We were only 5 minutes into an almost 3 hour day. I looked at my heart rate and power and thought, "well, that's on par for me...I'm doing my best right now. I didn't feel great in my warm-up and it sometimes it takes me longer to get going in races." I tried to stop looking at how fast everyone else was and committed to riding my best, even if it wasn't as fast as everyone else or even if I knew I've been stronger on other days. I tried to stop comparing myself which is hard, because a race podium by definition is  how fast you are compared to someone else.  A few minutes later,  it seemed like everyone started to slow down and I moved up to 2nd place very quickly.  It's because it took me longer to warm-up- I came around.  Disclaimer: I've had this thought process in other races at the start and I HAVEN'T come around.  Feeling stronger isn't point here. The point was recognizing the thoughts and changing my focus.

As the race progressed, I didn't worry about what place I was in. About 50 minutes in, I caught the person who was leading and passed her.  I ov

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

I'm really excited about today's topic. It's something I have spent a lot of time researching and putting into practice.  A few years ago, I read a book called Mindset by Carol Dweck.  It was about the concept that things like talent or intellect are not fixed.  You've probably heard the term "growth mindset" if you've been listening to this podcast.  Someone with a growth mindset ultimately believes that they are capable at improving at anything if they work at it.  In fact, research in neuroplasticity or the ability to rewire your brain proves that we can not only improve at anything, but actually change how your brain works. Growth mindset is something I often talk about in my keynote speeches.  Some examples.  People with a fixed mindset tend to give up when they are frustrated, don't like taking on bigger challenges because they are afraid of failure, and tend to not take criticism very well.  People with a growth mindset say things like, "I didn't get that result yet, but I just need to keep working at it."  They inherently believe that challenges are an opportunity for growth, not proof that they aren't good enough at something. They like to try new things, even if it means they won't be good at it immediately.  If you are fascinated by this topic, I highly recommend picking up Dr. Carol Dweck's book, Mindset. So this is where I'm excited to introduce you to our guest today, Alexandra Eidens. I was scrolling through my IG feed about a year ago and an ad for a growth mindset journal popped into my feed. I love stuff like this, but I noticed that it was a journal for children and they also have a journal for teens.  Our mindset and lens with how we view failures and success starts when we are young.  It is also greatly effected by how we talk to our kids, our friends, and our peers.  As a society, we tend to reward the outcome of something - "you got an A on your test, you're so smart!"  or  "You won your soccer game, you're so athletic."  By engaging in this type of feedback, it can create a fixed mindset pathway so that if someone doesn't get an A, it's then proof that they aren't smart.  Or if they don't win, then that means they aren't athletic. So instead of rewarding results, we need to give feedback rewarding effort instead.  In Alexandra's awesome journal- Big Life Journal, she and her husband wanted to create something so that when kids become stuck in negative self-talk or are paralyzed by rear of failure, they have a resource. The journal provides fun exercises so that kids can develop a growth mindset and learn how to have more confidence.  While this journal is designed for kids, I think that this conversation benefits everyone.

• from working at IBM to creating Big Life Journal
• the ups and downs and process to creating Big Life Journal
• why their first kickstarter campaign failed
• what is a fixed mindset?
• how to build resilience
• effective self-talk
• parenting mistakes with how we talk to our kids

• Book: Mindset by Carol Dweck
• Big Life Journal 
• Big Life Journal Instagram

• • • Get

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

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation in 5 minutes or less to get your week off to a powerful start.  This week, I want to talk about how to be brave enough to rest. 

If you've been listening to this show for awhile, you've probably heard some conversations I've had around identity, burnout, mental fatigue, and how to define rest.  The fact is that for driven people like us, it's really hard to take down time.  I would hazard to guess that the majority of us need more downtime in our busy lives.  Everything we see tells us to hustle, train hard, work harder, crush it, do epic shit! But in order to crush it, we need to look at rest as a more weighted contributor to the equation.  As you heard in episode 14 from the book Peak Performance, Stress + Rest = Growth. And going WAY back to episode 1, we heard from Dr. Kristin Keim that it's not just about time management, it's about energy management. 

There's a couple different types of rest; there's physical rest and there's mental rest.  Last year, one of the biggest lessons I learned was that mental fatigue greatly contributes to perception of physical effort.  If you had a hard day at work, or your "rest" day off your sport involved a lot of mental stimulation, you still may need more time off.  If you're pushing your body hard physically and also expending energy on projects, family, work and feel run ragged, you might need to rethink your training.

In addition to muscles, your cardiac and respiratory systems needing time to heal, we also often forget about our endocrine system and hormonal regulation.  Fatigue also can contribute to hormone imbalances- like cortisol.   I did a videoshoot last week.  I raced Marathon Nationals, got home Monday night, and starting Tuesday morning, I did three 12-14 hour days. I wasn't riding the whole time, but I was standing, hiking, driving, riding technical terrain that involved a lot of concentration, and trying to get email done late when I got home.  I was frustrated over the long weekend because I was completely exhausted.  Instead of crushing it, I spent time laying around, I binge- watched Netflix, and kept my rides really short and easy.  It may sound silly, but it takes courage to rest. 

Personally, I actually feel guilty and anxious when I'm not pushing myself but it helps to recognize that the rest is still a part of training.  And rest also helps with our mental health so that we can show up in a better mood, with more patience, and will have the ability to be more creative.  Rest also means making sleep a priority.  If you can, aim to be in bed for 8-9 hours. There's no magic bullet- but sleeping, eating healthy, minimizing alcohol, and taking down time for reflection can make a big difference. And if you still feel tired, take more rest.  You won't get faster or get smarter if you push too hard while you're tired.  And be kind to yourself while you are resting.  Remind yourself it's part of the process.  On days I feel terrible on my bike, and I start beating myself up, my husband says to me, "That's okay. It means you're still getting faster and just need more rest." I think that's a really positive way to reframe being tired.  Being able to recognize when you're beating yourself up, pause, and then change how you're talking to yourself with self compassion and big picture thinking will make rest seem like a bigger part of your work.  If it's hard, think of what you'd tell a friend if they were saying negative things to themself. Everyone has their individual limit of how much stimulus is too much.  We can't do it all and be the best all the time, and that is okay.  So for

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

Mark Manson is a NYT best-selling author, blogger, and entrepreneur.  You may have seen his bright orange first book, The Subtle Art of Giving a F*ck.  It has sold nearly 8 million copies and has been #1 in 13 countries- pretty much one of the most successful books in our recent history.  Mark is about effective self-help and his demeanor is humble and funny.  Mark has written articles for CNN, BBC News, Business Insider, and more.

We talked about how he started his blog in 2007, and how it has blown up to helping literally millions of people.  This episode is all about his new book that just launched this week: Everything is F*cked. The book goes into why, despite living in one of the greatest time periods in history, we still feel like we aren't enough, that things are really hard, and why we feel isolated.  At this moment in history, when we have access to technology, education and communication our ancestors couldn’t even dream of, so many of us still feel hopeless. Diving into interesting research and stories about great philosophers of our time, Mark dissects our relationships with money, entertainment and the internet, and how too much of a good thing can psychologically eat us alive.  In this episode, we talk about... 

I t is the act of choosing your values and living by them that makes you great, not any outcome or accomplishment."

• How hope can be a bad thing

• difference between conventional self-help and effective self-help
• a little about his first book - the Subtle Art of Giving a F*ck
• how to give a care about less
• how to define success for you
• how success and achieving your dreams can be different than what you thought
• how the success of Mark's last book messed with him
• Where happiness actually comes from

• Buy Everything is F*cked
• Mark Manson's website
• Find Mark on his speaking tour

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

Leave a review or share on social media

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

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays. Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation in 5 minutes or less to get your week off to a powerful start. 

This week, I want to talk about comparison.  It's normal to compare yourself to other people, but with the rise of social media over the last decade, we compare ourselves on a much larger scale.  We can get the play by play of other people's highlight reels. There are filters that can make us look more attractive.  The things we read, see, post all can affect our happiness, our feelings of being "enough" - fast enough, hot enough, smart enough, successful enough, busy enough and it can be really overwhelming.  As athletes, event and race results are based on comparison to others. Comparison to others can be good if it inspires you to be better, but if it leaves you feeling like you're not enough, you might want to change what you are comparing yourself to.

We can't control what other people are doing, what people are showing us online, or even necessarily if someone IS actually better than us at something.  But we can control our own actions - as podcast guest Brad Stulberg so eloquently put it - our only true possessions in this world are our actions. So if you want to compare something, compare yourself to a previous version of yourself. Or even better- compare yourself to where you were a week or a month ago.  We can even get caught up comparing ourselves to the best version of something we did like 10 years ago. The reality is that our lives change, our priorities change- so try to compare yourself to a more recent version of yourself.  Are you committed to showing up to be better than you were yesterday?  Are you trending in the right direction of improvement?

This week, I challenge you to simply be aware of when you are comparing yourself to someone else.  Are you feeling less than or are you feeling inspired?  When was the last time you sat down, zoomed out, and looked at how you've changed to a previous version of yourself?  I'll leave you with that.  Have an awesome week.

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

If you're a cyclist and you enjoy reading about cycling or listening to podcasts about cycling, you have probably heard of Molly Hurford. Molly is like my soul sister- she even married a Canadian guy (Peter Glassford) and moved to Canada!  She is the author of 4 books, the creator of TheOutdoorEdit.com, a coach, co-host of the Consummate Athlete podcast, a badass cyclist and runner, writes for several popular mainstream magazines like Outside Magazine and most recently: her latest book Shred Girls just came out! Her mission is to get girls and women to embrace wellness and adventure.

Molly is a self proclaimed comic book nerd and always wanted to create her own superheroes.  She always had the idea of Shred Girls percolating in the background and brought it to life.  The first book, Lindsay's Joyride, is a middle grade read about how a group of girls get into BMX, find their inner superpowers, and is guaranteed to teach the readers about the confidence that you can gain from participating in sports. 

• Learn about Molly Hurford

• How to keep girls in sports
• The characters in Shred Girls and how Molly created them
• how to make friends
• what Molly learned about herself through writing these books
• how parents can be involved
• real life Shred Girls on shred-girls.com

• Get Shred-Girls
• Check out Outdoor Edit (Molly's website)
• Listen to the Consummate Athlete
• Follow Molly on Instagram

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

Leave a review or share on social media

Apple Podcasts

Stitcher

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

Welcome to Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation in 5 minutes or less to get your week off to a powerful start.

It's easy to get overwhelmed with all the things you feel like you should be doing.  How many times have you skipped working towards a goal altogether because riding for an hour, writing an entire article, doing 10 minutes of meditation, or going to the gym seemed like too much?

I am obsessed with the idea of Kaizen or continuous improvement.  It's not about being perfect, it's about getting better. So what if you committed to doing just 1% more every day?  For example, if you don't have time to ride your bike for an hour, do 20 minutes.  If you don't want to meditate, take just 5 deep breaths with your eyes closed.  If you don't want to go to the gym, commit to 5 push-ups today.

Even small steps forward compound into bigger gains. So how can you get 1% better this week?

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

Brenda Davis is one of the top authorities and dietitians in plant-based nutrition.  As the co-author of the incredibly comprehensive book, Becoming Vegan, a Vegetarian Hall of Famer, author of x books, an expert in reducing the world's Type II Diabetes problems with Plant-Based Diets. She teaches lifestyle medicine courses all over the world, has been flown by the prince of Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia to consult on diet.  A highly sought after speaker traveling several times per month to speak and pretty much the vision of health and fitness, Brenda is amazing.  And I think it's pretty clear that I like her alot! Brenda first came on the show 2 years ago and was my very first podcast episode I ever recorded.  We became friends from that day forward and I'm always inspired by how Brenda lives her life.

• Why keto diets are dangerous
  
• How to eat for weight loss
• Rice and arsenic
• The final verdict on gluten
• Should you buy organic grains
• Everything you need to know about iron as a vegan
• Do you need to supplement?
• How much soy is safe?
• Lectins in beans & bean digestibility
• Sprouting; sprouted breads
• The best anti-inflammatory food

• Get Becoming Vegan
• Her awesome cookbook (great for anyone): Kicking Diabetes Cookbook
• Brenda's website
• The previous podcast I recorded with Brenda (may 1, 2017)

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

Leave a review or share on social media

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

Brad Stulberg is no stranger to my podcast. This is actually the third time I've had him on the show!  He's the co-author of two books: The Passion Paradox and also Peak Performance., a consultant and coach on topics like burnout, resilience, self-awareness, long term goal setting strategies, the linkage between mental health, wellbeing, and performance and so much more.  He also write about human performance in his regular column in Outside Magazine, or in publications like the New York Times, Thrive, Sports Illustrated, and more.  He is my favorite person to follow on Twitter because he always has insightful and actionable information.

In this episode, we got to go deep into his new book with co-author Steve Magness. The book is called The Passion Paradox and it is right up our alley you guys.  We are told that a life of passion is important - that we need to find our passion and pursue it at all costs. But passion can become a curse, leading to endlessly chasing achievement or the next thing.  This book is about how to harness your passion in a healthy, sustainable way so that it leads to fulfillment.  It's a great read and its backed by research and inspiring stories about people who have both had healthy relationships with passion and also people who have suffered from it. 

• Obsessive versus Harmonious Passion
• How to define your core values
• How to have a healthy relationship with numbers & results
• Why our efforts never feel like they are enough
• How do you know if your passion is positive or negative
• What is contentment? 
• Why do we need to keep seeking more and more? 

• Passion Paradox Website
• Brad Stulberg’s Website
• Previous podcast with Brad and Steve on their book Peak Performance
• Previous podcast with Brad about Burnout
• Recent article: 6 Principles to Crush It in Life Without Burning Out

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowd

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

Paula Woodward is a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  In addition to her impactful life experiences, she has also spent time China with rotations in many medical departments, a lot of educational experience in Psychology, and a passion for personal development.  I first found Paula when my friend who was suffering from a "hard to treat" skin condition started drinking some Chinese herbs and was seemingly cured.  Another friend was struggling with Post-Partum depression and was using acupuncture to help her symptoms. Both friends had experienced amazing life improvements and had been seeing the same Chinese Medicine Doc: Dr. Paula.  I'm a generally curious person and love trying new ways of self-care, so I went to see Paula for no symptom in particular.  What I did notice after my first treatment was that I was able to fall asleep on the table (daytime sleeping never happens for me) and I felt more calm for days up to weeks post treatment.  I got curious about acupuncture for some of my more frustrating issues like major decreases in race performance from jet lag. I tried acupuncture for jet lag last year and had also NO symptoms of it.  It wasn't a fluke and is part of my travel.  

Acupuncture was a little hard for me to get behind because my brain was so ingrained in Western medicine and western science, but I did my best to have an open mind.  Low and behold, Dr. Paula is now a part of my village that keeps me going!

"Life is as fascinating as it is magical. What has continued to reveal itself through 10 years of practice, is that we are in a constant relationship with nature. How we move through our life is a response to our past experiences, and it dictates our future. We are often unaware of what is creating our experience and if we are aware we don’t always know how to shift our current circumstance to create a new future."

• what does an acupuncturist actually do
• the many different (heart) pulses in Chinese medicine
• Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture fundamentals and elements
• how Chinese medicine and Western medicine differ
• yin and yang
• acupuncture points and meridians

• Paula Woodward's website
• Paula's online course

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

Leave a review or share on social media

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