The Next Level Guy Show

Welcome to an episode of 'Top Tier Talent', a new series, where I focus on stars who are top-tier prospects in their sport or industry, and focus on finding and highlighting the key skills, habits and mindsets that make them so successful.

Based in Montreal at the Pointe-Claire Diving Club, Caeli McKay is one of Canada’s top 10-metre tower divers as well as forming a partnership with Olympic medallist Meaghan Benfeito in the 10-metre synchro event.

At age 16, she made the difficult decision to leave her family and move to Montreal and became Meaghan Benfeito’s new partner in the 10-metre synchro event. McKay initially resided with Benfeito, whom she credits for helping her get acclimatized to her new surroundings.

While there was initially an adaptation period with the young teenager joining the Olympic veteran â€" McKay even grew taller during the early period â€" they have gone on to become Olympic medal contenders for 2021.

Together, McKay and Benfeito have won medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the 2019 Pan American Games, the FINA Diving World Series, and the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup.

Individually McKay has emerged as a diver to watch notably winning a silver medal at the 2019 Pan American Games, and a bronze at the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup.

McKay was initially a gymnast and started diving when she was six years old. She attended an intro-to-diving summer camp hosted by the Dive Calgary club. However, her passion for sport was born when she was five, while watching Olympic medalists cry on the podium at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. She told her parents: “I want to go there, I want to go to the Olympics!â€

McKay’s first podium at the senior national level came at the 2014 Winter Nationals when she was 14 years old â€" behind her idols Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion on tower. That’s when she realized she could go far in the sport.

She recently came #4 in the Women's Synchronised 10m Platform Diving.

In this interview, we cover her story, diving, skill development, competing and the Olympics, injury and recovery and so much more.

Top Tier Talent utilise a lot of great mindsets, skill sets, training hacks, and approaches to life - these are some of the key points from this interview think you should pay attention to:

• Caeli was inspired by her parents love of sports growing up. Please encourage your kids to try sports, believe in themselves and chase their dreams.
• To be the best, it takes a lot of dedication and you have to sacrifice the parties, the normal rites of passage. However, when you consider that by accepting short-term sacrifices will produce a long-term gain instead. Caeli forged her own path based on her goals. What could you do if you chased your dreams, rather than likes?
• Caeli took time to adapt to her new location when she started her full time training. Remember that all transition will affect you, you can't change and expect everything to feel right straight away. Caeli, built up a support network to help her settle. When you need to deal with change, accept it will feel bad at first, fear will always be there but control what you can, and let the other things go, like the top performers do. Look at people in your area and network, family members, friends, coaches, teachers, support groups etc, look for hobbies you can do to get you out the house, use Meetup.com for groups etc, build up a network of people and places to go, to go to for the support you will need.
• There are many different areas that you will need to focus on to be a better athlete. Physical, mental, flexibility, strength, conditioning and so on. Seek out coaches and experts to assist with each area.
• Learn the basics and the fundamentals of the sport when you start so that when you build towards more advanced movements and techniques, you have a strong foundation to build from.
• Caeli utilises visualisation to mentally rep and prepare her dives. She feels the dive, the movement of her body etc in her head, and reps the movement. So when she gets on the board, the movement is dialed in and she just needs to follow the pattern in her head.
• You will lose the fear of high diving when you practice a lot. The more you do something, the less the power it has on you.
• Caeli has a power stance and mantra that she uses before she dives. This lets her enter her competing zone, to feel confident, centered and it sends a message to her brain to be primed for diving. Try and build a practice that you can use before training and competing that will let you enter 'Boss' mode.
• You will never remember everything about a technique as you try it. Focus on the key things, like the feeling, the main movements, and just let your body and brain follow your reps, go to your training and work from there.
• Caeli utilises breathing methods to control her stress levels, her fight or flight feelings. She uses the five senses method to distract her from the pressure and stresses of the competition. All top performers have a routine, a ritual that they do in the warm up, preparing, competing etc, to ensure that they are mentally, physically and emotionally ready to compete.
• Caeli is very analytical and breaks down her training, focus and how she prepares herself for training on a daily basis. She approaches her training and life very smartly and builds systems to help her chances for success.
• Caeli knows her learning type - find out more here. She will watch her dives back and use slow mo technology etc to analyse her dives and where she can improve on. There is some amazing technology available, find the right apps, tools and accessories to help you be analytical on your performance, see where your strengths are and what you can work on to improve.
• All sport can be intense and demanding on the body, but to become top-tier, you need to implement a proper recovery process and procedure to recover when you are not training or performing, and to recover for the next session.
• Caeli loves to learn and always is looking for new things to learn and try. I would highly recommend MasterClass to help you on your journey for learning new skills.
• As you level up, you will need to learn new skills, some soft, some hard, and understand that as you improve, new demands and pressures will arise, and you need to understand that you have control on what you will accept, comment on, post etc, it is all a learning curve. Expect to make mistakes, to mess up, but you will quickly learn.
• It is normal to feel flat after a competition, after competing or a big event. Expect it, and assume it will come. Take your time, recover, eat well, sleep, give yourself time to grieve for the loss of the challenge, take your time, don't rush back and catch your breath. Then when you are feeling better, set new goals and chase them again.
• It is OK to ask for help, to admit you need some support and advice and speak to a doctor etc. Don't bottle up the stress etc, and speak to someone if you need help.
• Caeli mentions how she can struggle with the many demands that she faces and works with a psychologist who helps her break down all the problems, analyse them for the truthfulness and then set smaller goals to achieve each day. A large goal can be terrifying and seem overwhelming, so if you break it down and reverse engineer how you are going to achieve the end goal and work out what you need to do to get there, you can then write out a list of small manageable goals and start ticking them off daily. As you achieve the goals each day, your momentum will build your confidence and drive you onto towards success.
• To overcome her fear of diving again after her injury, Caeli just followed Nike's advice, and just did it! The reality is never as big as the drama that you make up in your head. Feel the fear, hit your power stance, and let that and the mantra flow through you, and fall back onto the highest level of training and succeed!

Today's guest is Mat Fraser

Mat Fraser is an American Professional CrossFit Athlete with the mantra "Hard Work Pays Off" (HWPO). He is the most decorated and dominant athlete in the history of CrossFit. He is the only CrossFit Athlete in history to win 5 consecutive CrossFit Games Titles as the Fittest Man on Earth (2016 - 2020), as well as finish on the podium 7 consecutive times (2014-2020). Prior to finding CrossFit, Fraser was the 2009 Junior National Weightlifting Champion and Resident Athlete at the Olympic Training Center.

In this interview, we discuss:

• How Mat used his engineering qualifications to build systems for his training and competing.
• The importance of Mat's mantra HWPO and how it has helped him achieve his life goals.
• How Mat saw the bright side in breaking his back and his mindset shift can help you to see the silver lining in problems too.
• And so much more!

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on

• Cross-Fit challenges athletes on many different modalities and areas of fitness. To be truly fit, you need to build a body and a mind that deal with different styles of demands and taxes from 1 rep max attempts, to marathon distance rowing and anything in between!
• Mat is driven by his mantra of HWPO, he lets his mantra of 'Hard Work Pays Off' motivate him, drive him and what he wants to achieve in life. You need to pick a mantra like this that will drive you on and motivate you to get out of bed each morning, and chase your dreams.
• Motivate yourself and your children to pursue an activity, sporting or otherwise, outside of work. It will build your understanding of team-work, your work ethic and build experiences in life you will be proud of.
• Try new things when you get the opportunity, like Mat did when he found a Cross-Fit gym during his weight-lifting injury surgery. You never know where trying something new may take you, you may not be a world champion, but it will certainly help you change and develop as a person. The uncertainity and fear of starting something new will always be there, embrace it as a motivational fire to ignite you onto success.
• Accept uncertainty in your life, you will not always know what is happening, if you are on the right path, what to do next etc, take the top perfromers method of controlling what you can control, and ignore the rest. Top performers only focus on what they can affect and let the other things happen and look at ways to deal with the changes as they arise.
• Look at tough events in your life as a learning experience and as a motivational tool like Mat does. He looks at breaking his back as a way of being motivated and driven to overcome new problems and obstacles, as he knows he has been through a lot worse, and he looks for the silver lining in the problem - now if you did the same how would it change your life?
• Problems are relative as Mat says. Don't judge what is happening on what others are doing and what is going on. Look at what is going right and how you can change things and not give up as you spend more time judging and comparing!
• Treat your body as a engineering system like Mat did - improve the quality of the fuel (food) you put into it, improve the mind muscle connection ability to lift more efficently, work on your cardio in different modalities such as sprinting as well as long distance running so you are able to have prime anaerobic and aerobic endurance and so on. Don't think of yourself as a man, look at yourself as a set of systems and look at how you can make your systems and functions as efficient as possible and work to the best of their abilities.
• Your body is a set of levers ... look at your body as a machine." Mat looks at how to use his levers and tools to move the bar and equipment as efficiently as possible. Record your lifts, have a coach analyse your techniques etc, look at where you are expelling energy unnecessarily, how you are causing yourself problems etc and it can be rectified with a change in technique etc, to make your system run smoother and the levers work more efficiently. How can you run at 100% efficiency?
• Adopt an analytical mindset during your training and your competition mindset, analyse where you can improve the system on each and ramp things up.
• Accept your faults, Mat uses his addictive personality to better his training, his focus and his effort to training and so on.
• Mat learnt from his mistakes that cost him the win, he learned from what caused his second place and fixed the issues to create a better system for the next competition and won it!
• Mat wants to kill all 'What If's' in his life. He fixes all the potential issues so that he knows he is at his best, and little changes add up to his total success. Stop looking for the golden ticket, and fix or improve the system and let the small changes compound together to create further success.
• Mat utilises spaced repetition of his notes/guides to improve his technique, and looks to comment/analyse how he can improve on these so he has goals to focus on at the next session or competition.
• Mat knows the goals and targets he wants to get to and when for, and then reverse engineers a training and life plan that will help him work towards his goals, and give him a daily dose of gratification and success when he could tick off his small, manageable daily goal.
• Mat knows he doesn't know it all, and finds the right coaches to help him improve his various areas of fitness, his training etc.
• If Mat performance in a particular area is winning well, he will then scale back training in that area to focus on areas he needs to work on. You should approach your training etc the same, keep your strengths routinely oiled and moving, and focus instead on your weaknesses and the fixes you need to make in your system to make it more efficient.
• Do not tie your identity in with winning, instead tie it into your own journey of becoming a better person, a better man, a better father, brother etc and you will never be truly unhappy.
• A key skill to learn is how to truly learn. Find people that are specialist, find the tweaks and the information you need to keep leveling up your life, business, relationships etc. Don't let your ego or need to do it all stop you from asking for help, delegating and connecting with others, and instead of your ego holding you back let the specialists etc fill the gaps to help you level up.
• Mat uses the Serenity Prayer to keep calm, focus on what he can control and fix and what he can do to fix the situation and not blame others.
• If you struggled in one area, don't let it get you down, look to build on the next events and on your own effort etc, you can't control what others do but you can control what you do and the level of the effort you put into it.
• Mat worked a ten month training block. You should block out your training times, what you will focus on, what you need to improve and find the experts to help you improve on the areas you are doing poorly in and set expectations on your training and what you will do and how you will get there.
• You do not have unlimited time. Mat looks at what effect working on his weaknesses will affect his other training areas - if working on one area affects other areas badly, it won't be worth it, so he needs to analyse how he allocates his willpower, time and ability each day to get the best return for his effort each day.
• Set up your lifestyle, with little changes to improve your health, your training, your mindset etc. Build small and make small changes to fix your weaknesses and bad habits, to improve your system so it can work better each day.
• Find your own motivation on why you are training etc. Mat found that when he focused on his singular goal, he could ignore the other problem and issues, and they didn't matter, he knew what he wanted, what was on the line, and what he needed to do to get there, and not waste time and energy on things that didn't matter.
• HWPO is a juggernaut training platform, you need to check it out!

Today's guest is Jonas Deichmann.

Jonas Deichmann is a German extreme athlete, and is the holder of seven world records. He's the man that knows no limits and sees challenges as 'Don't see things as it can't be done, instead have the mindset that you can be the first person to do it!'

- First to have completed a Triathlon around the World 🌠- Fastest to cycle across continents 🚴‍♂ï¸

In this interview, we discuss:

• How you can build adventure into your life.
• How to take a goal that is a massive challenge and break into manageable goals and find the key skills and experience you need to achieve them.
• How to build a mindset of wonder and joy through hardship and challenges.
• And so much more!

To get a flavour of the challenge he undertook, please watch this

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on:

• You are only defined by the limit on your imagination, you can be whoever you want to be.
• Encourage your children to be adventurous and dream big, Jonas was inspired by a family member to try things himself too - imagine what you can do by inspiring those younger than you, to try and do in their life.
• Use Jonas amazing mindset of 'Don't see things as it can't be done, instead have the mindset that you can be the first person to do it!' He has the belief that it can always be done, he just needs to find a way.
• The first step on your journey will be the hardest to do, but so worth it!
• We all need a challenge in our lives - Jonas wants to inspire to chase their dreams, whatever they are.
• We are all too comfortable in our lives, find something that you are passionate about and give everything you have to achieve it.
• Break goals down into smaller, more able focuses and challenges, such as completing the next 1km, aiming to swim past the next buoy and so on. Don't look to eat the whole frog at once as they say, take one small bite, then another, then another, and before you know it, you will have achieved your goal and finished the overall meal!
• We all have too much stuff in life, and choose comfort over functionality. Look at your life and see what truly matters.
• You do not need to do everything yourself, there are experts all over the world, knowledge sources you can access, free resources etc, take advantage of the skills training and knowledge available to meet your goals.
• Planning now saves problems later.
• Things will go wrong, bad things will happen, problems will arise and you will make mistakes. Train effectively so you fall back to the highest level of your training and not to the level of the problem. Challenge yourself daily, so you can take adversity head-on and not let it negatively affect you. Do small challenges daily, so you are used to it, so problems seem possible to overcome and not insurmountable.
• Surround yourself with positive people on your team.
• People will normally respond to change, they will say it won't work. It doesn't mean that it won't work, it just means no one has tried and made it work ... yet. Make your own path (safely and legally!).
• "If you define the rules, you can also define the solutions".
• "... real failure is to have a big dream and never follow it".
• Concentrate on the things you can influence, let the rest flow past and deal with what happens. "There is always a solution".
• Technology is a great resource, but don't let it become an emotional dummy to avoid feeling lonely.
• There are a lot of amazing people in this world, you may need to leave your comfort zone to truly experience life as it can be!
• If you want to challenge yourself but struggling for motivation, consider adding raising money for charity, doing it as part of a team etc, having others that will keep you accountable, will help motivate and inspire you to do it.
• Try and see the good in life and in others.
• Rest days don't need to be total rest, you can still use them to explore and have adventures on another scale, and embrace life.
• Learn how to be comfortable in the uncomfortable by pushing yourself into uncomfortable situations regularly, so it becomes second nature to you.
• Don't always believe what others tell you, or the worst of someone or something - go on your own experience and make your opinion. Don't let others spoil your potential!
• Have the courage to follow your own dream!
• Watch the trailer for the upcoming film below:

Today's guest is one of my favourite people ... Josh Settlage, CSCS!

Josh (or Coach J) has spent over a decade studying grappling sports and human performance, working with and learning from the best minds in physical therapy, biomechanics, strength, and conditioning. He studied kinesiology with a concentration in exercises science at William Jessup University and is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist within the National Strength & Conditioning Association. Coach J has studied under and worked alongside world record holders in powerlifting, professional bodybuilders, NCAA wrestling All-Americans & national champions, and IBJJF Worlds & Pan-Am champions.

Coach J has worked with high school & college wrestlers across the country, and many more Jiu-Jitsu athletes across the world. His unique blend of knowledge in strength & conditioning and experience on the mat, provide him with the tools necessary to help all of his athletes, win more matches & get injured less.

In this interview, we discuss:

• How to build your ability to squat, pull-up and move in general better.
• How you should adapt your training to your experience and personality type to excel in your training.
• A breathing hack that can save your relationships as much as your ability to roll better.
• And so much more!

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on

• Time on the mat is not enough to build an overall athlete who will be successful during competitions.
• A lot of BJJ movement is unnatural and taxing on the body.
• There are hundreds of strength programmes available, but few take into account the challenging demands placed on the body just from BJJ training.
• Conditioning needs for BJJ are different than most sports, being able to run a 5k might not help you survive the demands of BJJ, you will need to use specific rolling and training to build the endurance threshold needed to work at a high workrate in BJJ.
• You need to train all fitness and systems of the body to ensure that you can have longevity in BJJ.
• You should be able to/work towards sitting in the bottom part of a squat for ten minutes. Bodyweight exercises can give a good indication of how your general fitness is and the health of your body.
• You can build to pull ups by using dead-hangs on the bar, to build your shoulder muscles and improve your grip strength.
• You don't need to spend hours in the gym to improve, and you can start small or partial movements, to build in the strength and movement ability needed to make the movements required in the training programme. This is not a race, it is a journey towards a better you and as a fitter BJJ player.
• A lot of techniques do not work well, because of the ability of the player to utilise the body in terms of speed, explosive power etc more than their knowledge of technique.
• Everyone can have good technique at the start of a round, but as we tire, things can go wrong fast. Working muscle holds after sets with the goal to pre-fatigued the muscles with high reps can help you build specific attributes needed to have tighter triangles, control your body better when you need to finish a sub and breathing out your ass and so on.
• Strength is not a bad thing and should be something you work on. However, you never want to just strength a move over applying the technique right, the strength should allow you to apply the move better, tighter, more efficient etc.
• There is no stupid questions, ask the guys who are stronger, fitter or more technical for advice on how to improve. Your teammates should be there to support and help you evolve your skills.
• BJJ is a physical sport, you need to amend your training to allow recovery, so your poor recovery or DOMs etc are not affecting your performance on the mat. As you get fitter you can increase the sets, reps, etc. You need to listen to your body and use your brain.
• Different athletes will have different levels of aggression and approaches to things. You need to adapt your style of rolling and training to the type of personality you have, rather than trying to be more aggressive on the mat.
• You can use situational training to work on your ability to overcome claustrophobia and work on escaping from bad situations, so you can improve your skills rather than just get smashed in a live roll.
• Nasal breathing can be a free simple change you make to your training that will have the biggest impact to your training.

Today's guest is David Haze.

So many of us have lost track of our sense of freedom and passion for adventure succumbing to the pressures of modern life. We should never let go of our dreams and always strive to gain new experiences and enjoy life for everything it has to offer.

After reaching the lowest point in his life David realised he was distracted from his true values and what made him come alive. He is now on a journey of 'self discovery', a quest to take his love for adventure and bringing people together out into the world with the aim to inspire and motivate personal growth. He wants more people to break free, come alive and take that step into the unknown to truly live through adventure no matter how big or small. If you have a vision, then commit to it, give it your all and do not let outside factors stop you. The only thing that will hold you back in life is yourself and his whole life he did that but no longer and you can do the same too.

David wants to live by his own example, which is why he is about to launch his 'Europe's Untamed Beasts' a first of its kind SUP adventure. He is also attempting to be the first person to SUP the river Nile and the formidable Skeleton Coast.

As he says "Through adventure we live..." and he is now the proud owner of 7 World Records!

In this interview, we discuss how your past doesn't define your future, how you can choose to change your life at any minute and how you too can chase a goal in your life.

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on

• Your starting point does not need to be your end point - you can change at any moment. Your history doesn't equal your future.
• It can be very easy to lose a sense of who you are, and try and build a facade or an image of a life that isn't real that you try and keep to. Pretending to be an unreal version of yourself will put a terrible strain on yourself and your mental health.
• Prison or getting into trouble does not need to be your defining moment, you can change and go on to live a good life and contribute to others.
• A true apology is a change in behavior.
• We need to break this stupid image of men that they need to be 'strong, manly and sort all their problems themselves' - there is nothing wrong with asking for help, it is a sign of strength to look for help or advice.
• You can make your biggest failure, your biggest success - you can use it as a motivational tool to help others and support and help others.
• No matter how dark and alone things feel, you need to remember that "there are so many people around you ... plenty of people who will love and support you". You are never truly alone, there are charity groups, free law advice, doctors etc that can help you no matter what.
• Own the situation, apologize where possible, learn from it, grow and change and live a better life thereafter. No matter how bad it is, things will get better.
• If you want to rehabilitate yourself, you need to be proactive and ask for the help.
• You are not worthless, no matter how much you are told you are, your self-worth is never defined by your past or what others think of you.
• Treat everyone as an individual, not a label or a number.
• Prison should be about teaching people to grow and change so they never go back there, that they learn from their darkest time.
• Dr Sarah Lewis - Penial Reform Solutions
• A kind word, offer of support, even helping someone in a small way can change theirs or your life. Be the change you want to see in the world.
• Criminal records are no longer a stop to getting jobs, it may restrict some work options but thankfully things are offering chances to people who have been in jail and want to change their lives.
• Everyone makes mistakes and does bad things, but it only defines you if you keep doing it.
• Most people rarely commit crime because they want to, there is normally a story behind and a reason that caused it. We need to stop punishing the symptoms and fix the cause of the issue.
• "... failing doesn't make you a failure, it just makes you someone who has failed and you just need to embrace the failure, grow, change your ways and come back stronger."
• "You need to find your why in life."
• Sport and adventure can help us find and define who we are, and find a purpose and challenge in our life.
• Find an adventure on a level that works for you , to find out about yourself and challenge yourself. There are a lot of methods that you can try if you have kids, are older etc, you don't need to paddle board but it is great fun!
• Build your self-worth by making promises of changed behavior ... and then achieve them! Stick to your word to yourself, learn that you can achieve what you say you will and that you matter.
• You may need to leave a friendship, a behavior or even an area if you want to truly change.
• Break down your goal or challenge into manageable parts, take the overall goal, and look for what you need, why you are doing it, what you are going to do, what you need to do it, how you will fund it, how you will fuel it and work on achieving each area.
• Only you can change yourself, you need to take charge of your own life and own change.
• Punishment is a great tool but it needs an element of rehabilitation in it or it is just a revolving door for people to commit crime after crime.

Today’s guest is Brandon McCaghren.

Brandon Mccaghren earned his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt under Eddie Bravo and was the first 10th Planet Instructor in the entire Southeastern United States. He has received each of his Jiu Jitsu ranks directly from Eddie Bravo, currently holding the the rank of 1st Degree Black Belt.

Brandon is one of the most highly respected instructors in the global 10th Planet organization, teaching seminars all over the United States and Internationally on a regular basis.

10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Decatur was recognized as the top-ranked academy in the 10th Planet system in 2014, largely in part to the team's competitive successes and Brandon's reputation as a world-class instructor.

In this interview, we discuss:

• How to be the best you possible in BJJ
• The importance of situational sparring.
• Why you should consider competing at BJJ.
• And so much more.

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on

• Age is not a barrier to starting a martial art. Older athletes just need to adapt their training methodologies for better recovery, diet and sleep.
• You need to be consistent in your training, as martial arts are a marathon, and not a microwave meal! To succeed, you need to put the effort in each day, and build on your skills.
• To be a better competitor, you need to spend adequate time on the mats, feel comfortable moving your body, using your problem solving muscles and leaving your ego at the door, and forget about the ego and the pursuit for win and instead focus on your journey and your work ethics.
• Control the controllable and ignore the rest, do not let your self-worth get tied up with your win/loss margin. Focus on the process of the training instead.
• Concepts are great but you need to have a technique to be able to use that concept. You need to have knowledge of both to be successful. You need to know the how as much as the why you are doing something in BJJ.
• You should look at learning the concepts as filters in the art of learning BJJ.
• There are many gyms and different affiliations of BJJ and other martial arts. You should trial a few places to see what suits best, a coach that you click with, a class you feel safe in etc.
• You should roll and train with a lot of people in your gym, you can learn many different things, different styles and different ways to learn from other coaches, training partners etc.
• Situational sparring is a holy grail for learning new techniques, it exposes you to the same scenarios over and over and lets you remove the ego and learn in the min-game without letting the ego try and take over and think your masculinity is tied up with whether you win or lose.
• Ego is important ... to a certain level. We need to get the ego under control, he can come along on the journey but it can't drive the bus!
• You don't need to compete to be brilliant at BJJ, but as Brandon says, by not competing outside of the gym, we look to challenge in the gym and can compete in every roll if we let the ego run wild.
• To see how you are progressing, look at your training partners who started after you, look at your skills and see if your old you would beat the new guys just starting, and if the new you could control you, then you are progressing.
• BJJ can be whatever you need for in your life, to test yourself, to get fit, to meet new people, to learn new skills.
• You should want to train, the gym should be a place you want to be, and not something you have to endure.
• Find something that keeps you excited and focused on learning in BJJ to avoid the blue belt blues and let the excitement of learning that, and after achieving that, let it spark a new stem of interest in the next area and you will progress from there and so on.
• We all doubt ourselves, others just hide it better than others.
• It's not about who's best, it's about who is left - being consistent and turning up each session, is more of a key skill than aggression is. Keep showing up and putting in meaningful hours of training.
• Your goals from what you want from BJJ will help you dictate what your parameters for success from BJJ training are. Always remember it is OK to change your goals as you change yourself.
• Your goal should be to enjoy, explore and deepen your understanding of the art of BJJ and not to be the best in the room.
• BJJ is important but shouldn't be your entire life.
• Doing an activity together, and learning new skills with your partner, can be a great way to connect and bond with your significant others.
• 'How you learn anything is how you learn everything"
• Cardio is the mother of all techniques!
• Competing is a skillset of it's own in addition to the skill-set needed to be good at BJJ. Delegation is key to running multiple ventures in your life.
• Find a training environment that makes you want to train.

You can't go wrong with BMac's YouTube, every video will help you level up!

Welcome to an episode of ‘Top Tier Talent’, a new series, where I focus on stars who are top-tier prospects in their sport or industry and focus on finding and highlighting the key skills, habits, and mindsets that make them so successful.

Today’s guest is David Jp Phillips who is an international public speaker, author & coach.

Throughout his career, he has delivered over a thousand presentations and coached hundreds of people in the skill of communication. He loves analyzing why we humans behave as we do and what our communication means for us in life.

• Ranked 8th in Communication GLOBAL GURUS
• 8 million views on TED
• 🇸🇪🇬🇧 Follow me to get motivated, hack sadness & achieve happiness!

In this interview, we discuss the importance of communication, the ways you can be a great and also an ineffective communicator, some key skills to utilize to improve your communication and so much more.

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on

• We are very social animals, and we bond, mate, connect and form groups between ourselves using communication. Being a better communicator can change your life.
• However, too many people seem to think we cannot change our communication skills, that we are born with it and cannot change ... which cannot be further from the truth!
• Communication skills are learned, not inherited!
• Once you notice the role that communication plays in our life, you will notice how truly bad the majority communicate, in business, in relationships, and everything in between. Don't be the same as others, be different and change how others perceive you, and build the interest few others ever reach by listening to David!
• "We have been using narratives for longer than anything in our communication arsenal"
• There are five layers of communication: words, voice, gestures, body language, and facial expressions. When you meet someone who is synchronized in all five, you 'buy' whatever they say as they come across very trustworthy.
• Its often a problem with the method of the message more than an issue with the message itself, when it is not being very successful.
• We can lose attention during movies, tv shows etc when an actor does not show synchronicity across the five layers. To learn how to be good at these, you should look at the great actors of today's media.
• There are 110 skills that affect how good a communicator we are!
• To give a successful speech on a certain kind, eg emphatic or sad, you should try and enter those emotions beforehand.
• Not all communication needs to be verbal, your facial expressions, head nods and body language also play a key role in how you communicate.
• Someone with good communication skills can present far better without practice than someone who has spent weeks practicing etc and has no grasp of the communication skills.
• It is not just what you say, but how you say it, the volume you say it, the speed you say it, the tone and so much more..
• "Your facial expressions have a direct connection to your emotions" - by feeling the emotion, you will show the emotion, and emotive people connect with their audience better.
• "Create the right state (within yourself) before going up on stage".
• Your internal communication to yourself is just as important as the external communication you give to others. Your brain listens to the things you say to yourself, and your sense of self, self-esteem etc are affected by the nature, the aggression and the quality of your internal speech. Talk negative and you'll be negative, talk positive to yourself and you will be positive. Your choice!
• David's videos on self-leadership are amazing and can be life-changing!

Welcome to an episode of 'Top Tier Talent', a new series, where I focus on stars who are top-tier prospects in their sport or industry and focus on finding and highlighting the key skills, habits, and mindsets that make them so successful.

Today's guests are the fabulous Dorina & Ronja Klinger. They are Medal winners on the World Tour, vice state champions, and the youngest team in the national beach volleyball team - that's Dorina and Ronja Klinger. Their ultimate goal is a medal at the Olympic Games.

We cover their story, volleyball, skill development, competing, mindset, recovery, #WeirdWorkoutWednesday and so much more!

Today's guest is Robb Kelly!

Robb Kelly, PhD is a renowned addiction consultant who believes in treating the problem of addiction, not the symptoms. He has worked for many years helping addicts and alcoholics to recover their lives from the disease of addiction. Based on his own experiences working with addicts and alcoholics over the last 20 years, a PhD in Psychology from Oxford University and as a recovered alcoholic himself – he is a triple threat against the disease of addiction. Dr. Kelly was the CEO of a thriving telecommunications company when the walls came crashing down on him due to alcoholism. He ended up homeless and broken on the streets of Manchester, England until he found the courage to save himself.

He has lectured on the subject of addiction at many high-profile universities, national conferences, public schools, churches, business organizations and hospitals, and is recognized as a leading authority on addiction recovery methods that are changing lives all around the world. Dr. Kelly is currently the CEO of the Robb Kelly Recovery Group, an addiction recovery coaching company he created based on extensive research and behaviour studies that he conducted over the last 20 years. Dr. Kelly's methods may seem unconventional leading some people to refer to him as "The Gordon Ramsay of the Addiction World" because of his direct, no-nonsense, and candid approach to treating addiction. Dr. Kelly works to "make the road of recovery less of a mystery tour."

He is passionate about educating the public and professionals on the dangers of alcohol and drugs.

A sought-after recovery expert, Dr. Kelly has appeared on such shows as The Doctors, Eye Opener, Good Morning Texas, and Kens5 morning news. A sample of radio and print interviews include The Jim Bohannon show, Miracles in Recovery, and USA Today. Dr. Kelly hosted Sober Celebs show on KLIF radio in Dallas, and currently hosts the Recovery Channel podcast featuring special guest discussing a variety of mental health issues. Instructor/speaker for Let's Get Back to 98% Recovery DVD's used in prisons and recovery treatment centers throughout the US. Dr. Kelly shares his personal highs and lows as he struggled and overcame crippling alcoholism in the November 2019 release of the book "Daddy, Daddy Please Stop Drinking".

In this interview, we discuss:

• The true causes of addiction.
• How our past is shaping our future and how we can resolve the issues we are carrying around.
• Why you need to and how to make amends.
• And so much more.

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on

• Alcoholics are born and not made. Alcoholics are a predisposition condition, passed down through generations.
• Alcohol has one percent to do with alcoholics. It is a symptom of the problem.
• There are various scopes of addiction, but the traits and behaviors are typically the same.
• Alcoholism is not a behavioral problem, it is not a choice. It is a progressive illness, one that normally ends in violent actions.
• An alcoholic/addict cannot moderate their consumption, it is never enough.
• Most of the addiction in the brain is accelerated through self-sabotaging behavior.
• We need to work on our inner child, to deal with the trauma that is held in our life. We only see the big things, and not the little waves that build up to the tidal wave of destruction.
• We are born with Million Dollar Minds, don't hang around with people with 10 cent views of the world.
• You can be the leader that you see others are, you need to find that inner faith in yourself.
• We attract who we think we are worth. You want to attract someone better, you need to change the level of worth you feel about yourself.
• Our past doesn't define who we are. You can decide right now to change your life.
• Our past can be our greatest asset, but it can also be our greatest prison, you need to come to peace with it, heal it and use it as an asset to become a better man.
• We do not shake off our trauma, and try and push it down in our lives. Yet we focus on the bad things and ignore the amazing things that we do.
• Everyone is perfectly imperfect. Everyone has problems and has done bad things in their life. Stop thinking you are the only one.
• The brain will believe what we hear, and what we hear we believe. Your brain will listen to your inner voice as much as those around you. Eliminate the 10 cent views from others and yourself.
• "Show me your friends, and I will show you your future"!
• The sub conscious brain is where all the trauma is. Everything we see, feel and believe is stored there, and like a computer needs to be organised and cleaned out.
• The medical scene in America is controlled by money, there is no money in recovery, but there is in pills etc.
• Robb wants to help you with the deep dark shit, the things you want to take to your grave, what's the stuff that is killing you deep inside.
• Stop letting others destroy your dreams.
• What you tell a child, they probably will become. We all have trauma that we pass on to our kids as well.
• We see the problems others are facing, but we rarely look at ourself and deal with our own problems.
• The abused tend to become abusers because we repeat what we learnt from others.
• Change your life by doing small things differently, like brushing your teeth with the other hand, build new neural pathways and reshape your brain to change your life.
• Every successful has a daily routine to create success in their life.
• The key to success in your life is the belief you have in yourself.
• "We wouldn't speak to ourselves the way we talk to yourself!"
• You'll find out your true friends when you find out your true worth."
• Hang around with the guys that you want to be like.
• "Stop putting the brakes on your own imagination!". We have a mind that can do anything, but it starts with you.
• You need to make amends for the bad shit you do, but the amends is for you, not them. It helps you deal with the trauma, the bad crap you are carrying, you deal with it, and not push it down and undiscover it and discard.
• What we put out in the world will always come back to us. Be the good Samaritan, help others, give out good energy.
• "Anybody can change if you want to"

Today's guest is Adam Hill.

It was never part of Adam Hill's life ambition or his genetic constitution to wear a Speedo in public, let alone compete in a triathlon. For the first three decades of life, he was the poster child for non-athleticism, obsessively unhealthy habits, and an intense fear of...well...everything.

Yet at the age of thirty-three, with a physique that could only be described as "Sasquatch with a Dad Bod," he put aside his insecurities and took his first step toward an outrageous dream: to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.

It was a dream shared by nearly every other triathlete in the world, reserved for the top 1 percent of all athletes in the sport—a sport in which Adam had exactly zero experience.

In Shifting Gears, Adam shares his harrowing, inspiring, and sometimes-clumsy story of transformation, from the origins of a debilitating anxiety disorder to his battle with alcoholism to his rise to the top of the triathlon world stage.

Adam Hill is an elite amateur triathlete with multiple podium finishes and has earned the distinctions of USA Triathlon All-American and Ironman All World Athlete. He was featured in the NBC Sports series Ironman: Quest for Kona (2017), which chronicled his successful attempt to qualify for the Ironman World Championship.

Today, Adam is a business executive, coach, speaker, and author. Through his triathlon platform, Extra Life Fitness, he provides coaching, guidance, and resources to triathletes of all levels. You'll often find him speaking about personal transformation and overcoming anxiety at company events, on podcasts, and in other media—usually because they invited him.

In this interview, we discuss:

• Anxiety, panic attacks and alcohol.
• How he went from the addict mindset to the athletes way of life.
• How he learned how to use his anxiety as a superpower in his life.
• And so much more.

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on

• Everyone needs a challenge in our life, just because something is not on your radar when you younger doesn't stop you from doing it later in life. Make a challenge from it, push it and see where it takes you.
• Men are taught to be strong, quiet about their problems and do everything ourselves, but this is BS, it is OK to ask for help, to speak to doctors etc about your mental health. It is OK not to be OK and speak to someone and get the help you need.
• Using alcohol as a social lubricant to help nerves or deal with stress is never a good idea as it rarely deals with the issue and just numbs the symptoms for a while.
• When we don#t live to our true values, we will find life and the universe will send us warning signs, be it stress anxiety or panic or push back from life, and it will try and force you to address and revise.
• You can use shameful actions or bad events as a way of knowing you need to make a change and make a hard turn about in your life.
• It is very hard to notice you have a problem when you are going through it, but when you notice you depend on the vice to cope, it is time to speak to a medical professional.
• You are not selfish for trying to get help and support for your medical and mental health needs. It is an act of strength to ask for help.
• There are a number of successful programs that you can use to deal with alcohol dependency, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, the 12 Steps program etc. You can find a method and style that works best for you. Find a group that has a method and approach that works for you. The community of the group you work with can be the biggest factor in changing or not.
• The best apology to others for your behavior is changed behavior.
• You will make mistakes on your journey back but look at them as learning experiences, you are not perfect you are just human. Learn from the mistake and don't do it again. You only fail when you give up and fall back to the bad habits.
• Top performers know they cannot control everything, they will aim to control the controllable, and let the uncontrollable happen and just adapt to it.
• Make treating your addiction as your top priority, put your treatment as first priority in your life. It is not selfish to take time for yourself and get healthy. You owe it to yourself as much as you do to friends and family.
• As you change your life and remove the bad habits, find a challenge or focus that you can put your attention into so you keep focused and driven away from the old channels of behavior.
• Anxiety rarely goes, you will always feel fear, but you can learn to accept it, learn from it and use it to grow and help yourself.
• Everyone struggles with something, we all deserve to have validation to our feelings and be empowered to help us change our life.
• Interview your therapist, find someone that you click with. Build a relationship with the therapist and really be open to what they say and try.
• Adam found being open and honest about his story was a great motivation to keep accountable and sober - what transformation could doing the same do for you?
• If you want to get healthy, start small and short. Go for a walk, try a stationary bike. You don't need to live in the gym and there is a lot of information online that can guide you on how to change and build up your fitness skills and enjoy the journey as you go. There are hundreds of ways to work out, do a sport, keep healthy, play around and find the thing that appeals to you and that you can do.
• There will always be dicks who criticise and joke about you but remember only people who are terrified of your potential will comment, people in the gym, bike shop etc will be glad to see you start, encourage you and be glad you are now part of the community. People who are working on bettering themselves see it and appreciate it in others and will help you on your journey. They will welcome beginners as we have all started from somewhere.