My Instruction Manual

We all want to live better lives. In this special episode, host Keith McArthur brings back 10 of his favorite guests and asks them to share the most important life lesson they've ever learned.

Feedback / Connect:

• Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
• Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
• Email: [email protected]
• Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
• Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
• Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
• Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
• Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE

Episode 63 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:35] Cait Flanders: Don't be Afraid to Fail

Cait Flanders is the author of The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life is Worth More than Anything You Can Buy in a Store

Cait also appears in Episode 62. Listen here.

[4:51] Kristen Meinzer: Forgiveness is overrated

Kristen is co-host of the By the Book podcast. Kristen works full-time in the podcast industry as a producer and host.

Kristen also appears in Episode 45. Listen here.

[8:19] Chris Browning: Bad things get better when you talk about them

Chris Browning is the California-based accountant behind the popular Popcorn Finance podcast. He launched the podcast after he and his wife got out from under $27,000 in debt

Chris also appears in Episode 41. Listen here.

[11:54 ] Gretchen Rubin: The biggest failures teach the biggest lessons

Gretchen Rubin is New York Times bestselling author of multiple books including The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies.

Gretchen also appears in Episodes 50 and 51. Listen here and here.

[13:49] Laura Vanderkam: Hard work pays off

Laura is author of several productivity and time management books. Her most recent book is Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done. Her TED Talk on how to gain control of your free time has been viewed more than 10-million times. Laura is also the co-host of the Best of Both Worlds podcast.

Laura also appears in Episode 44. Listen here.

[18:00] Shawn Francis: Hold yourself accountable

Shaun Francis is author of Eat Move Think: The Path to a Healthier, Stronger, Happier You. He is the CEO of Medcan, a Toronto-based company that provides holistic health services.

Shawn also appears in Episode 42. Listen here.

[21:45] Kerry Rowett: Trust Yourself

Kerry is author of Align + Attract: Align Your Energy to Create a Business You Actually Love. She is a Holistic Kinesiologist living in Adelade, Australia.

Kerry also appears in Episode 46. Listen here.

[24:40] Mark Hamade: Don't be happy with second best

Mark Hamade is a fitness enthusiast, an entrepreneur, a business coach, a Lebanese immigrant, a former Marine, and a cancer survivor. He set a resolution to lose more than 200 pounds.

Mark also appears in Episode 58. Listen here.

[26:55] Kathleen Trotter: Movement is non-negotiable

Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit and Your Fittest Future Self. She is My Instruction Manual's regular fitness contributor, and a Toronto-based personal trainer with a degree in exercise science.

Kathleen also appears in Episode 61. Listen here.

[32:00] Allison Melody: The body is designed to heal itself

Allison Melody is host of the Food Heals podcast. By her 25th birthday, Allison lost both her parents to cancer. This led her to explore non-traditional healing methods, including nutrition.

Allison also appears in Episode 43. Listen here.

Cait Flanders gave up shopping (and take out coffee) for a year. It turned out to be the most difficult year of her life - and not for the reasons you'd expect. Cait Flanders is the author of The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life is Worth More than Anything You Can Buy in a Store. She joins us today to talk about her shopping ban, and the important life lessons she learned along the way.

Feedback / Connect:

• Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
• Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
• Email: [email protected]
• Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
• Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
• Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
• Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
• Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE

Episode 62 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:53] Featured interview with Cait

In this conversation, Keith and Cait discuss:

• How Cait got out of debt before the Year of Less
• The rules behind Cait's shopping ban
• How the shopping ban got harder as Cait's life got harder when Cait lerned her parents were getting divorced
• Cait's Black Friday slip
• What Cait learned from the shopping ban
• Why the shopping ban was more of a browsing ban

[32:30] Cait's Instruction Manual

1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? 

• Go for a walk or hike every day
• Go to bed early and wake up naturally

 2. What personal development book do you recommend? 

• Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote  

•  "We need much less than we think we need." attributed to Maya Angelou, but source not available
• "What consumes your mind controls your life." Cait adds "and your finances."

4. What's your one guilty pleasure? 

• Taking a long epson salt bath 

5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? 

• As someone who helped people to realize that it's possible to change your life, but it's not always going to be easy.

[38:15] Where to find Cait

• Website: CaitFlanders.com
• Instagram: @caitflanders 

Fitness is about more than exercise. It's also about nutrition and mindset according to Kathleen Trotter, author of the new book Your Fittest Future Self. She joins us in this episode to talk all things health.

Feedback / Connect:

• Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
• Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
• Email: [email protected]
• Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
• Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
• Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
• Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
• Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE

Episode 61 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:00] Featured interview with Kathleen Trotter

Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit and Your Fittest Future Self. She's a Toronto-based personal trainer with a degree in exercise science.

In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:

• Kathleen's three pillars of fitness: nutrition, workout & mindset [2:20]
• The workout pillar is about strength, cardio, and flexibility [12:00]
• Finding your kiwi [16:32]
• The New Canada Food Guide [20:41]
• Mindful eating [28:15]

[34:45] Kathleen's Instruction Manual

1. If you had to pick one music album as the soundtrack to your life, what would it be? [32:26]

• Britney Spears
• Fight Song by Rachel xx

 2. What is one personal development myth you want to dispel [35:24]

• That you're either striving or you're content

3. What is one unusual or surprising gadget you couldn’t live without? [39:20] 

• Wireless headphones
• Her slipper collection

4. What does a bad day look like to you and what are the steps you take to turn it around ? [42:00]

• Doesn't happy as much, but now Kathleen knows what to do including: Going for a run, putting on slippers, putting on the Fight Song.

5. Looking forward, what’s your biggest goal or wildest dream? [45:50]

• Meet and / or work with Tim Ferris, Chase Gordon and Brene Brown and more motivational speaking.
• Love more in the moment and experience joy

[48:00] Where to find Kathleen

• KatheenTrotter.com
• Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
• Twitter: KTrotterFitness
• Facebook: KathleenTrotter

Why do we set resolutions at New Year's? Scientists have uncovered a psychological phenomenon known as the Fresh Start Effect. It's the idea that big events like the start of the year, the first day of school, or a milestone birthday encourage us to make positive changes in our lives. One reason? These so-called temporal landmarks allow us to relegate mistakes to a past imperfect version of ourselves, and imagine a better version beginning with the temporal landmark.

In this episode, we're joined by Hengchen Dai, a researcher at The Anderson School of Management at UCLA, who was part of the team that identified the fresh start effect. Later in the episode, we're joined by mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson. She says the positive emotions that arise during meditation can be challenging, and offers tips on how to cope.

Feedback / Connect:

• Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
• Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
• Email: [email protected]
• Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
• Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
• Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
• Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
• Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE

Episode 60 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro Keith explains the research that led to the concept of the Fresh Start Effect. [4:45] Featured interview with Hengchen Dai

Hengchen Dai is an professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

In this conversation, Keith and Hengchen discuss:

• Hengchen explains "temporal landmarks" and the "fresh start effect" [5:25]
• The psychology behind the fresh start effect [9:10]
• How upcoming temporal landmarks affect current motivation [10:45]
• Are people more likely to keep goals set at temporal landmarks? [13:40]
• Is a fresh start always a good thing? [18:00]
• Where to find Hengchen.
  • UCLA website
  • Personal website

[23:50] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on coping with positive emotions

Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.

In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:

• Mindfulness doesn't create emotions, it helps us to feel the emotions that are already inside us
• Why happy emotions can be difficult to deal with
• Where to find Joelle
  • • Kernelofwisdom.com
    • YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1

What exactly is willpower and how do we get more of it? Willpower researcher Michael Inzlicht joins host Keith McArthur to talk about his research into self-control, and why the best way to master willpower might be to avoid having to rely on it.

Feedback / Connect:

• Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
• Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
• Email: [email protected]
• Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
• Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
• Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
• Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
• Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE

Episode 59 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro

Keith discusses:

• Walter Mischel and the Marshmallow test [2:15]
• Roy Baumeister and Ego Depletion [4:55]

[7:40] Featured interview with Michael Inzlicht

Michael Inzlicht is a professor of social psychology at the University of Toronto with a focus on the study of self-control. He is co-host of the Two Psychologists, Four Beers podcast.

In this conversation, Keith and Michael discuss:

• How Michael got into researching willpower [8:00]
• Is glucose the "limited resource" that leads to ego depletion? [12:30]
• Inzlicht's research into self-control and emotion [18:00]
• What can we do to boost self-control? [22:00]

[31:30] Where to find Michael

• Twitter: @minzlicht
• Podcast: Two Psychologists, Four Beers

[34:00] Closing words

This week's guest set a resolution to lose weight. And he did - more than 200 pounds. And dropped his waist size from 58 to size 30. Mark Hamade is also fitness enthusiast, an entrepreneur, a business coach, a Lebanese immigrant, a former Marine, and a cancer survivor.

Feedback / Connect:

• Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
• Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
• Email: [email protected]
• Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
• Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
• Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
• Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
• Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE

Episode 58 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:10] Featured interview with Mark Hamade

Mark Hamade is a fitness enthusiast, an entrepreneur, a business coach, a Lebanese immigrant, a former Marine, and a cancer survivor. He set a resolution to lose more than 200 pounds.

In this conversation, Keith and Mark discuss:

• Mark's immigration to the United States when he was 10 [2:30]
• Mark's back injuries [6:40]
• How Mark made a decision to lose weight [9:25]
• How Mark broke his big resolution into smaller steps [22:00]

[33:15] Mark's Instruction Manual

1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [33:30]

• Mediate for 2-3 minutes each hour
• Each night write down what did well and didn't do well

 2. What personal development book do you recommend? [34:43]

• Willpower Doesn't Work by Benjamin Hardy

3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [36:00] 

• Without people problems, you have no problems
• Your heartaches and misfortunes will turn by never giving up

4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [37:25]

• Nutella

5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [38:20]

• That he was able to make a difference in people's lives for the better

[39:00] Where to find Mark

• Website: MarkHamade.com
• Twitter: @markhamade

[39:30] Closing words

Christine Hamilton took her first puff at age 13, and was a pack-a-day smoker by the time she was 17. Some family members warned her about the dangers of smoking, but Christine responded with the language she’d picked up from the relatives who smoked: “We all gotta die from something.”

By the time she married a non-smoker, however, reasons to quit were starting to pile up. In this episode, Christine talks about the steps she took to quit smoking once and for all.

And nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin joins the podcast to talk about three nutrition myths she wants to see busted in 2019.

Feedback / Connect:

• Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
• Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
• Email: [email protected]
• Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
• Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
• Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
• Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
• Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE

Episode 57 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:34] Featured interview with Christine Hamilton

Christine Hamilton lives in western Tennessee. Her successful resolution to quit smoking is featured in my new book Winning Resolutions.

In this conversation, Keith and Christine discuss:

• Growing up surrounded by smokers [2:45]
• Why Christine finally decided to quit smoking  [5:20]
• Christine's final cigarette [10:15]
• Why Christine decided to blog about her effort to quit smoking [11:30]
• Christine's advice for people trying to quit smoking [18:15]

[28:49] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on nutrition myths she wants to see retired in 2019

Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.

In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:

• The Keto diet [29:10]
• The plant-based diet [31:40]
• Gluten free [32:00]
• Why coconut oil isn't a health food [33:20]
• Where to find Michelle:
  • Twitter: @nutritionartist 
  • Instagram: /nutritionartist
  • Facebook: /nutritionartistRD

[36:45] Closing words

If you're going to achieve your biggest goals and wildest dreams, you need to believe in them. And you need to believe in yourself. But we all have an inner critic that tries to sabotage our success. In this episode, author and life coach Andrea Owen joins us to talk about how to prevent our inner critic from killing our dreams. And author and fitness trainer Kathleen Trotter joins us to talk about whether rest days as part of a fitness routine are a bad idea or a good excuse.

Feedback / Connect:

• Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
• Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
• Email: [email protected]
• Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
• Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
• Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
• Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
• Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE

Episode 56 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [5:10] Featured interview with Andrea Owen

Andrea is author of How to Stop Feeling Like Sh*t: 14 Habits that Are Holding You Back from Happiness. She is a life coach based on North Carolina and hosts the Your Kick-Ass Life Podcast. She first appeared on the My Instruction Manual podcast in episode 13.

In this conversation, Keith and Andrea discuss:

• Her book Stop Feeling Like Shit has been translated into 16 languages [5:10]
• Why Andrea sets new goals   in the Spring [8:00]
• What is your inner critic? [9:10]
• How sexism and racism feed the inner critic [11:30]
• How our inner critic kills our biggest goals and wildest dreams [14:15]
• Andrea's three-steps for managing the inner critic. [17:15]
  • Andrea references the book It's Not About the Food
• How negative self-talk gets in the way of setting goals [24:00]

[27:30] Andrea's Instruction Manual - Part 2!

1. If you had to pick one music album as the soundtrack to your life, what would it be? [28:00]

• Can't pick one album but one artist is Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine

 2. What is one personal development myth you want to dispel [28:30]

• 1) Time Heals All Wounds
• 2) You can change your life with positive affirmations

3. What is one unusual or surprising gadget you couldn't live without? [29:20] 

• Voxer app. Voice messaging app

4. What does a bad day look like to you and what are the steps you take to turn it around ? [30:00]

• When Andrea has been triggered in her relationship with her husband. To turn it around, she owns it and apologizes.

5. Looking forward, what's your biggest goal or wildest dream? [33:40]

• To reach 1-million women through the Your Kickass Life Community

Where to find Andrea

• Website: YourKickAssLife.com
• Instagram: @yourkickasslife

[35:20] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on Rest Days

Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit

In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:

• Why rest and recovery matters
• The four components of recovery: Sleep, diet, rest days, recovery workouts
• Where to find Kathleen 
  • KatheenTrotter.com
  • Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
  • Twitter: KTrotterFitness
  • Facebook: KathleenTrotter

Is New Year's the best time to set resolutions? Why are most resolutions health and fitness related? How do we ensure we're successful with resolutions? We answer these questions and more in this special New Year's edition of the My Instruction Manual podcast.

Feedback / Connect:

• Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
• Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
• Email: [email protected]
• Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
• Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
• Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
• Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
• Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE

Episode 55 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:50] Audio comment from Sarah Warsi [7:10] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on New Year's Resolutions

Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit

In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:

• Is New Year’s really the best time for resolutions?
• How Gretchen Rubin’s The Four Tendencies can help you with your resolutions
• Where to find Kathleen
  • KatheenTrotter.com
  • Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
  • Twitter: KTrotterFitness
  • Facebook: KathleenTrotter

[12:25] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on New Year's Resolutions

Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.

In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:

• Why are health-related resolutions so popular?
• Michelle explains the “false hope syndrome”
• What should people do if they’ve already fallen off track with their resolutions?
• Where to find Michelle:
  • Twitter: @nutritionartist 
  • Instagram: /nutritionartist
  • Facebook: /nutritionartistRD

I've always loved year-end countdowns. Somewhere in my basement, I have a still have a set of cassette tapes I recorded with the top 84 songs of 1984 from a local Toronto radio station. It includes Madonna, Van Halen, and songs from Footloose. So in the final days of this year, I bring you my own countdown: The top 19 ways to achieve your New Year’s resolutions in 2019.

Feedback / Connect:

• Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
• Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
• Email: [email protected]
• Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
• Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
• Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
• Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
• Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE

Episode 54 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:45] 19 Ways to Keep Your Resolutions in 2019

• 19) Schedule forest time
• 18) Set precise resolutions
• 17) Re-frame negative resolutions into positive language
• 16) Set peaceful resolutions
• 15) Set resolutions for a season not a year
• 14) Take time to plan
• 13) Anticipate pitfalls
• 12) Track your resolution
• 11) Go public
• 10) Buddy Up
• 9) the Best offense
• 8) A Good defense
• 7) Do delay
• 6) Get willpower contagion
• 5) Leverage friction
• 4) Precommit
• 3) Piggyback your habit
• 2) Shrink your habit
• 1) Make a vow

[23:45] Closing words