You have the mind of your last 1,000 conversations.

Now, just like the 1,000 meals idea…

I don't mean that literally.

There is no neurological accountant sitting inside your skull counting conversations.

But the underlying idea?

I think it's incredibly important.

Your mind has a history.

The things you've practiced thinking about.

The skills you've practiced.

The problems you've practiced solving.

The stories you've practiced telling.

The language you've used.

The conversations you've participated in.

The reactions you've repeated.

The attention you've repeatedly directed.

All of those experiences become part of the person sitting here today.

Because just like your muscles adapt to repeated physical demands…

your brain adapts to experience.

Resources:

Brain.fm App 

(First month Free, then 20% off subscription)
Discount Code: coachdamiensd

Links:

IG:
@coachdamien_sd
@damienrayevans
@livinthedream_podcast

YouTube:
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FB:
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I think people often imagine exercise almost like depositing muscle directly into a bank account.

I lifted today…

therefore I built muscle today.

I squatted today…

therefore my bones are stronger today.

I ran today…

therefore I am fitter today.

But that isn't really how adaptation works.

Training creates a challenge.

A demand.

A reason for your body to change.

Then, between workouts, your body responds to that challenge.

And after enough properly dosed challenges…

with enough recovery…

repeated over enough time…

the accumulated response becomes something you can finally see or measure.

More strength.

More muscle.

Greater work capacity.

Improved skill.

Stronger connective tissue.

Potential improvements in bone.

The workout is not the finished product.

The workout is the request.

Resources:

Brain.fm App
(First month Free, then 20% off subscription)
Discount Code: coachdamiensd

Links:

IG:
@coachdamien_sd
@damienrayevans
@livinthedream_podcast

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6VuPgtVsdBpDj5oN3YQTg

FB:
https://www.facebook.com/coachdamienSD/

Life is far too complicated to reduce a human being to a thousand decisions.

But as a metaphor?

I think there is something incredibly valuable here.

Because so much of where we find ourselves today is the accumulated result of things that happened repeatedly before today.

Not yesterday.

Not last weekend.

Not the last seven days.

Often…

years.

And that is what I want to talk about all week.

Resources:

 Brain.fm App
(First month Free, then 20% off subscription)
Discount Code: coachdamiensd

Links:

IG:
@coachdamien_sd
@damienrayevans
@livinthedream_podcast

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6VuPgtVsdBpDj5oN3YQTg

FB:
https://www.facebook.com/coachdamienSD/

In this episode, I want to close this week by talking about self-care.

But I don’t want to give you another list of things to buy.

I don’t want to tell you that self-care is a bubble bath…

a massage…

a vacation…

a candle…

or a face mask.

Those things can be wonderful.

I love a good Thai Massage.

I love getting outside.

I love the ocean.

But self-care is bigger than any individual activity.

Here is the question I want us to explore today:

What if self-care isn’t only about escaping your environment?

What if it’s also about creating an environment you don’t constantly need to escape from?

Resources:

Brain.fm App
(First month Free, then 20% off subscription)
Discount Code: coachdamiensd

Links:

IG:
@coachdamien_sd
@damienrayevans
@livinthedream_podcast

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6VuPgtVsdBpDj5oN3YQTg

FB:
https://www.facebook.com/coachdamienSD/

In this episode, we’re walking into one of the most influential environments in your entire life:

Your kitchen.

Because your kitchen is not just a room where food is stored.

It is a decision-making environment.

What you buy…

what you prepare…

what you place on the counter…

what you keep at eye level…

what can be eaten immediately…

what requires thirty minutes to cook…

what appears first when you open the refrigerator…

and what can be ordered from your phone in three taps…

all of it begins influencing what you eat before you consciously decide what you want.

Your kitchen starts making food decisions before hunger ever arrives.

Resources:

Brain.fm App
(First month Free, then 20% off subscription)
Discount Code: coachdamiensd

Links:

IG:
@coachdamien_sd
@damienrayevans
@livinthedream_podcast

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6VuPgtVsdBpDj5oN3YQTg

FB:
https://www.facebook.com/coachdamienSD/

This week’s throwback takes our question—“How’s the water?”—all the way down to the ground beneath your feet.

Because your feet are your foundation… but for most of your life, that foundation has been surrounded by shoes.

Cushioning.

Arch support.

Narrow toe boxes.

Raised heels.

And footwear designed around fashion, comfort, or performance—sometimes without considering what your feet were naturally built to do.

In this episode, we’re exploring the history and evolution of footwear, how the shoes surrounding your feet may influence the way you stand, walk, and move, and why foot strength and ankle mobility deserve far more attention than most of us give them.

We’ll also cover exercises you can use to begin rebuilding stronger, more capable feet—and why transitioning toward barefoot or minimalist footwear should always happen gradually.

Your feet carry you through your entire life.

Maybe it’s time we stopped ignoring the environment we keep them in.

Resources:

 Brain.fm App
(First month Free, then 20% off subscription)
Discount Code: coachdamiensd

Links:

IG:
@coachdamien_sd
@damienrayevans
@livinthedream_podcast

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6VuPgtVsdBpDj5oN3YQTg

FB:
https://www.facebook.com/coachdamienSD/

Your environment becomes biological information.

The light entering your eyes…

the noise reaching your ears…

the messages appearing on your phone…

the emotional energy in the room…

the people sitting beside you…

the amount of safety or uncertainty you feel…

Your nervous system is always receiving information.

Always interpreting.

Always asking:

“Am I safe here?”

“Do I need to be alert?”

“Can I recover?”

“Is it time to perform?”

“Is it safe to let my guard down?”

Your nervous system does not exist in isolation.

Your nervous system lives somewhere.

And where it lives matters.

Resources:

Brain.fm App 

(First month Free, then 20% off subscription)
Discount Code: coachdamiensd

Links:

IG:
@coachdamien_sd
@damienrayevans
@livinthedream_podcast

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6VuPgtVsdBpDj5oN3YQTg

FB:
https://www.facebook.com/coachdamienSD/

The workout begins long before the first repetition.

It begins when you decide where your shoes live.

It begins when you choose a gym.

It begins when you put a workout on your calendar.

It begins with the people you spend time around.

It begins with whether movement feels convenient or complicated.

It begins with the environment that either carries you toward exercise…

or forces you to fight your way there.

Your environment is always coaching you.

And when it comes to fitness, that coach may be more influential than you realize

Resources:

Brain.fm App
(First month Free, then 20% off subscription)
Discount Code: coachdamiensd

Caldera Lab Skin Care
www.calderalab.com

Discount Code: CoachD

Links:

IG:
@coachdamien_sd
@damienrayevans
@livinthedream_podcast

There’s an old story that was made famous by writer David Foster Wallace.

Two young fish are swimming through the water when they pass an older fish.

The older fish greets them and asks:

“Morning, boys. How’s the water?”

The two younger fish keep swimming.

Then, after a little while, one looks at the other and asks:

“What the hell is water?”

The story isn’t really about fish.

It’s about us.

The things that surround us every day become almost invisible precisely because they are always there.

Our homes.

Our neighborhoods.

Our relationships.

Our workplaces.

Our phones.

Our food.

Our stress.

Our air.

Our routines.

Our social media feeds.

The voices we hear.

The standards we accept.

The behaviors everyone around us considers normal.

That’s our water.

And most of us rarely stop long enough to ask:

Is this water helping me become healthier… or is it quietly pulling me in the opposite direction?

Resources:

 Brain.fm App
(First month Free, then 20% off subscription)
Discount Code: coachdamiensd

Links:

IG:
@coachdamien_sd
@damienrayevans
@livinthedream_podcast

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6VuPgtVsdBpDj5oN3YQTg

FB:
https://www.facebook.com/coachdamienSD/

This week we've spent a lot of time talking about the ocean.

The waves.

The tides.

The rhythms of nature.

And today...

I'd like to end the week with one final lesson the ocean has taught me.

One that I think we all need to hear a little more often.

Sometimes...

the best thing you can do...

is float.

Resources:

Brain.fm App
(First month Free, then 20% off subscription)
Discount Code: coachdamiensd

Caldera Lab Skin Care
www.calderalab.com

Discount Code: CoachD

Links:

IG:
@coachdamien_sd
@damienrayevans
@livinthedream_podcast

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6VuPgtVsdBpDj5oN3YQTg

FB:
https://www.facebook.com/coachdamienSD/