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Cam Charbonneau on mental skills and how it impacts performance, proper intensity, finding confidence, understanding where you're at, listening to your body, positive self talk, goal setting and planning
178 Plays1 year ago
As the end of 2023 approaches, it’s fun to look back and see everything we’ve been through. The wins, the loses, the challenges, the triumphs, the hardship and the moments of joy. Personally, as much as I use this time to reflect on the past, I also love to learn from those experiences and see how I can improve moving forward.
On this episode of Just In Stride we uncover some valuable tools with Olympic lifter, runner and mental skills coach, Cam Charbonneau.
She’s been a high performance athlete her entire life. Whether it’s rugby, lifting, martial arts or running, Cam always strives to train and perform at the highest level.
As a professional mental skills coach, she gets to share her own experience with others and help athletes navigate their own mental struggles, allowing them to achieve optimal performance. We covered a wide range of topics from self talk, to confidence, planning, goal setting and recovery too, all of which can be applied in many aspects of life, not only sports.
Cams Offer to You: If you'd like to purchase her Performance Planner: Inner Pace, you'll get 30% OFF when you use promo code JUSTINSTRIDE Innerpace (myinnerpace.com)
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Offer from Xact Nutrition: This episode is presented by our friends at Xact Nutrition and they are offering you 15% OFF your order when you use the code JUSTINSTRIDE. So head to xactnutrition.com and fuel your goals today! Now shipping in Canada and the U.S.
Thanks for tuning in to the Just In Stride Podcast. I truly appreciate you taking the time to listen and I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. Please take a minute after this to rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts. With your feedback we’ll be able to make the show even better and it’ll help us reach new listeners too. You can also find us on Instagram @justinstridepod and YouTube @justinstridepod for all the latest episodes and updates. Glad you came along for the ride with Just In Stride!
Transcript
Introduction to Podcast and Host
00:00:06
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Justin's Drive Podcast. I'm your host, Justin Puleze. If you love endurance sports, you've definitely come to the right place. On this show, we'll talk to athletes, coaches, and professionals who can help us reach our true potential. Being a student of distance running for over 10 years and interviewing people in the sport for the last five, I've learned a ton, but there's always more to discover.
00:00:29
Speaker
Everyone has a story, and I know you'll resonate with each of our guests as we embark on this new journey together. Join us at home, on the road, or while you run. Together we'll have some fun. So
Episode Sponsor and Special Offer
00:00:42
Speaker
follow along on Instagram at justinstridepod and your favorite podcast platform and prepare to be inspired. Come along for the ride with Justin Stride.
00:00:53
Speaker
This episode is presented by our friends at Exact Nutrition, a tasty and healthy way for you to fuel your body before, during, and after a solid training session. I can't leave the house without a few fruit bars in my pocket and they never make it back home. Exact is offering you 50% off your order when you use the code justinstride.
Interview with Cam Charbonneau
00:01:12
Speaker
So head to exactnutrition.com and fuel your goals today.
00:01:16
Speaker
As the end of 2023 approaches, it's fun to look back and see everything we've been through. The wins, the losses, the challenges, the triumphs, the hardship, and the moments of joy. Personally, as much as I like to use this time to reflect on the past, I also love to learn from those experiences and see how I can improve moving forward. On this episode of Justin Stride, we uncover some valuable tools with Olympic lifter, runner, and mental skills coach Cam Charbonneau. She's been a high performance athlete her entire life,
00:01:46
Speaker
Whether it's rugby, lifting, martial arts, or running, Cam always drives to train and perform at the highest level. As a professional mental skills coach, she gets to share her own experiences with others and help athletes navigate their own mental struggles, allowing them to achieve optimal performance. We covered a wide range of topics from self-talk to confidence, planning, goal setting, and recovery too, all of which can be applied in many aspects of life, not only sports.
00:02:18
Speaker
Welcome to Justin's Stridecam. Long time, no speak.
00:02:22
Speaker
Yeah. Thanks for having me. Super excited. It's been a while. Yeah. I mean, seeing you've been posting a lot about, um, mental skills and I know your mental skills coach. And I think it's just, it's always valuable to have these conversations, not something, you know, we think about mental toughness in sport. And I just think it's great to have you on just as a refresh, uh, for people that don't know you and maybe introduce this topic to people that didn't even don't even know it exists, perhaps.
00:02:52
Speaker
Right. Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of the work that I do is like the educational piece is just letting people know that it's a thing because I've made a lot of athletes and non-athletes and they're like, oh, I can work with someone like this, right, that can help with my mental skills.
00:03:12
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, I guess for those of you that don't know what it is, I mean, mental skills, mental skills is based on sports psychology. That doesn't mean that I only work with athletes. And, you know, I work, I can work with anyone because mental skills is valuable for, you know, life. But essentially what I do is I help
00:03:32
Speaker
I help people change the way they think, help them manage challenging situations better, and ultimately just help them, I guess, show up as the best version of themselves, right? So whether that means at work or on the field, at the track, in relationships, or even just for yourself, right? And I do this through discussion and practical tools based in sports psychology research.
00:04:01
Speaker
Nice. And what drew you to that in the first place? So I was always interested in sports psychology. I started in my bachelor's at McGill. I was in physical and health education, and we had sports psychology classes as part of it. And I was always so drawn to the course and the content, but I did not want to do a PhD. I couldn't fathom
00:04:28
Speaker
writing a thesis and doing a PhD. And so actually after I finished my degree, I went to University of Ottawa in Business Management and Sport Management.
00:04:43
Speaker
which turned out just to be business. But actually in that time, two things happened. One was I was able to play varsity rugby for the first time. So that was pretty cool. But also I had a class with the class that I ended up switching to about positive living skills. And it was a sports psychologist who was a prof and he was basically telling us his experience working with Olympic athletes and like all these
00:05:10
Speaker
tools and strategies and discussions he would have with them about training their brain. And I remember sitting there and I was just like mind blown because I've been in sports since the age of five. And this was like the first time I was really learning tools and strategies and really like diving into it. Like, yes, I've had the sports
Mental Skills for Young Athletes
00:05:32
Speaker
psychology classes at McGill, but I feel like this was the first time I really like was able to connect the dots.
00:05:38
Speaker
And then I decided to just finish that semester because I was playing rugby and then I switched over to the Masters in So it's human kinetics intervention and consultation, but basically it's sports psychology But it's Masters right not a PhD. So Yeah, so during that class a light bulb went on and I decided to apply to that program. They only accept 15 people and I got in and Yeah, I did that and my mission was to
00:06:06
Speaker
help athletes at that time, my specific mission was to help athletes, you know, build the these tools that I never got to build at a young age. And at that time, it was probably in my late 20s and
00:06:19
Speaker
A lot of things happen. I think the timeline's a bit blurry, but I ended up stopping rugby after 10 years because I got hurt and didn't have the mental skills to overcome the fears I had coming back after injury. So part of my mission also was to equip athletes with mental skills, tools and strategies to
00:06:37
Speaker
basically keep sport fun, right? Because when we start to get scared or add pressure, too much of it, too much stress, it's not fun. And then, especially when you talk about younger athletes, that leads to stopping sport altogether. So yeah, that moment in my life was pretty pivotal for me. So like you said,
00:07:01
Speaker
in that these skills, you could have learned them earlier. So how, what age are they teaching these skills to young athletes? Are they introducing it much earlier now than they ever have?
00:07:16
Speaker
You can start, so I remember during my stash, because the professor, that same prof that I talked about, he had a book where he was basically giving tools with his work with like five to eight year olds or something.
00:07:32
Speaker
like really, really young. And obviously you have to adapt things and they weren't specifically athletes. It was just like, yeah, positive living skills with really young kids. And so during my field experience, I actually worked at a daycare that my daughter's at now. It's crazy, comes full circle. I worked at a daycare where I was teaching three to five year olds what I was learning. And
00:07:58
Speaker
It was interesting because you have to be so creative and you almost have to like kind of dumb it down, right? Like you have to make it fun. And I was able to do that. And so to answer your question, like you can start at a really young age. Right now I work with athletes. I think the youngest athletes I work with right now are like 12, 13. And like they'll grasp the concept, especially, you know, those in individual sport.
00:08:23
Speaker
They're a lot more mature than I remember being, especially if you're an individual sport like the skating, tennis. Our sessions are a bit shorter. I usually make it like 30 minutes instead of an hour because nowadays I also realize that
00:08:39
Speaker
there's a lot of pressure for young athletes, like, especially ones in Sparga too, like they're expected to perform at school and perform in sport. And like you're 13. It blows my mind. And then so then my boyfriend and I have a conversation about like, well, what do we do with our daughter? Like I, we don't want her in Sparga actually. Cause it can be dangerous, right? And it comes back to down, back down to that. One of my missions was like, can I, can we keep it fun?
00:09:06
Speaker
I'm not saying this happens to all young athletes, but I see it a lot, let's say. And so if we can teach this, and this is something that's not being taught, parents are finding me online to the association I'm a part of, but I think ultimately we could be teaching this as young as elementary school and then equipping, again, not just athletes, just equipping people with these skills that can help
00:09:34
Speaker
us ultimately manage emotions, manage situations that come up, right? So I don't know if honestly, I haven't seen much evolve in that sense, because the field itself is still evolving, especially in Canada, like I literally have to create opportunities for myself. I can't just go find, like I can't go on, whatever, find a job online, like that's in the States, sure. It's bigger. But here,
00:10:03
Speaker
Yeah, it's a bit tougher. Just like relatively in, in the beginning phases, let's say of, of that type of work that's being done. All right. More in Canada at least. But when you say like dumb it down or.
00:10:17
Speaker
introducing it to children, like what are you talking about exactly? Like, yeah, just just make like you said, make sports fun. That's that's part of it for sure. But how do you make them understand that this is important, you know, kids can absorb so much at a young age. So yeah, it's like keeping their attention to you know, just like you're you're doing with your
00:10:40
Speaker
Teenage athletes, you probably have the same, maybe even less with your younger kids. And that's why I even keep it to 30 minutes is exactly for that attention. It's hard for anyone to have this conversation for an hour after a day of class or work. So when you ask me that, I think of the first steps I do with anyone is always building self-awareness skills.
00:11:08
Speaker
So if it's with really young kids, let's say five years old, it's literally getting them to kind of work their memory too and just be like, what did you have for breakfast? How did you feel about it?
00:11:24
Speaker
And really just tapping into feelings and emotions and these type of conversations that they might not have at school or at home. So, you know, I'm thinking back to, again, there are silly exercises, but it's just like drawing how you feel, right? Or like most young kids don't remember what they had for supper last night.
00:11:45
Speaker
Right? So how do you expect them to know how they felt after, you know, a certain competition? They can't even, you know, just as an example. So part of the work is exercising that muscle, if you want to say, is that reflection piece and going back, retrieving information, but also being able to, I guess, put words to how they feel and what they're going through right now.
00:12:15
Speaker
right, especially when when we're young, we just I don't think we weren't I didn't learn how to do that. And then with adults who, you know, hopefully have more awareness. It's more about asking them really powerful reflection questions to get them to
00:12:32
Speaker
recognize how they think and how they react to certain situation and not always like the negative stuff or the bad stuff, but it's also like what did work, what did go well. And I always say it's not about reinventing the wheel.
00:12:48
Speaker
for sure you have things at work, can you do that
Balancing High Performance and Recovery
00:12:51
Speaker
consistently before we add new things? And just like you, when you get a run coach or strength and conditioning coach, how they might assess, they have to assess you to then give you a program. So same thing with mental skills, but obviously mental skills, maybe not obviously, but it is a harder thing to measure.
00:13:11
Speaker
So for me, that assessment and evaluation is through the reflection and through just kind of putting those reflections on a document that we could come back to and continue to reflect on and check in with, if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. And like, I always find when I talk to you about this stuff,
00:13:36
Speaker
it's, it's kind of the same way where we get talking and go down a certain path. And then that gets me thinking about something related to my running or related to life or relationships or whatever, you know? And I think that's, that's more so what it is. It's that it, it gets out of your mind and it gets onto paper or it gets vocalized and that's where you can,
00:14:04
Speaker
make some improvements, you know, and you're the person for them that sees these patterns in athletes or has been down that path with someone or has solved this situations specific situation. So I think that's like, when we just talk about anything, whenever we talk mental, like that's something you can't see. It's not a performance. It's not a, it's what's in your mind and
00:14:33
Speaker
the better we are, like the better we've already thought about these things, the more equipped we are to handle them or to handle these downfalls or to handle success or to handle injury or whatever, you know, I just think it's really interesting because it's just like, it's almost like things you don't think about or realize you're even thinking about and then learning how to tackle it, you know, so.
00:14:57
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, a lot of the times I ask, you know, I get into the first second session and I'm asking people these questions and it seems like they feel
00:15:08
Speaker
bad or guilty that they don't have the answers. And I'm like, it's fine. This is probably the first time you're thinking about this. I'm probably the first person to ask you this question. It's okay. And we don't need to know the exact answer right now. And most of the time, after the conversation, they just need to go out for two weeks and gather the data now. And then we could come back and
00:15:31
Speaker
The answers are more clear. But yeah, it's interesting because a lot of the work is done through the discussion through verbalizing things and I know
00:15:42
Speaker
Part of my job is then when if I can get you to have an aha moment or a shift in the way you think while we speak, then yeah, that we did something right. Yeah. Usually that happens when we have a conversation. Hopefully that's happening for people right now. Um, and like, so how has it evolved for you over the years? You know, we like, we maybe spoke or had a conversation about this, like on a podcast, like three years ago or, um,
00:16:09
Speaker
How have things changed? Is the literature changing? Are you constantly also learning about this stuff to improve your strategies or advice that you're giving people? So the biggest change or shift that comes to mind right now, it's right at the forefront because it's something that has just been in my face for the last probably two years, is just the idea of
00:16:40
Speaker
a slowing down and setting boundaries and being okay with recovering. And I'll, I'll explain it because the last, so I've been doing this for about seven, eight years now. A lot of my work has been revolved around helping people with like peak performance. Right. And then I.
00:17:02
Speaker
I don't know how to say the story in a nutshell, but basically I'm also a high performer. I work with a lot of high performers and I don't know about you, Justin, but I would categorize myself as like type A perfectionist. I'm organized. I get stuff done. I'm on time.
00:17:17
Speaker
I over train, but like, you don't know that that's not sustainable until you hit one wall, two walls, three walls. Well, for me anyway, hopefully for most people it's you don't hit a wall or just one wall.
00:17:34
Speaker
But anyway, so I hit a wall at one point, physically and mentally. So I was like over training. So I ended up hurting my back, couldn't lift for three months. And then at some point I like felt really burnt out with work. And just even becoming a new parent and just managing so many new things at once.
00:18:00
Speaker
And even before I became a parent, I was trying to learn so many things. I was getting coached and that in itself was very draining. And I think it led to like me feeling burnt out at that time as well was the work, but also like when you put yourself in uncomfortable situations.
00:18:15
Speaker
all the time, it's a lot. And then everyone talks about stepping out of the comfort zone. How about the opposite of that? Because I've stepped out of my comfort zone too much, it was like really draining. And so all I have to say is that I've had all these experiences, you have all these experiences and then one day hopefully it's like, oh, now I need to change, right? So then that's kind of what I've been going through the last few years is
00:18:39
Speaker
okay, now what? I need to do something differently because I can't keep doing this. And at the same time, it was also happening with the clients I was working with, especially after COVID and coming back into it. I've had conversations with athletes realizing that the break was good and maybe they realized that they don't want to do the sport anymore. Or recently, it's just been high performers that are burning out, that are getting hurt,
00:19:10
Speaker
Yeah, and I mean, the common denominator here is as much as we know how important it is to rest and do all these things. It's just so hard.
The Role of Rest in Performance
00:19:21
Speaker
And so now what I find is that
00:19:24
Speaker
I'm talking about mental skills, the same mental skills for peak performance, goal setting, self-talk, setting boundaries, mindfulness meditation. For peak performance, these are the same skills that we're talking about to kind of
00:19:43
Speaker
lean into slowing down, changing the pace, being flexible, trying to let go of too much control, perfectionism, rigidness. And how I see it is like most high performers, again, I don't know if you're like this, Justin, but we're black or white. So it's like, how can we be more gray? And let me tell you, just this whole journey being a mother has like, I have no choice but to be gray.
00:20:11
Speaker
Cause I just don't have energy to push my limits anymore. And to be quite honest, I don't even feel like it. I don't know what it is, but it's just like the universe has its way of like giving you these things at the right time, I guess. But it's just like, I have no will to push my limits anymore. I've did it for 34 years and I'm just like, this is a phase of my life where I'm just going to be comfortable.
00:20:34
Speaker
in the chaos and i'm still learning and i have no choice but i just i can't push and but i also have to have the confidence and trust in myself that when it's time to to push my limits i know i can do it because i've done it for so long so these are the exact type of conversations i'm having with like 90 of my clients right now which is crazy but not
00:20:57
Speaker
Right? And it's like, part of me is reflecting on, am I just seeing this because I'm going through it? I don't know. Anyway, so in terms of what has evolved in the last time we talked, it's really that piece of how can we, as a high performer, understand that to perform our best, we need to accept and embrace this idea of boundaries and rest and
00:21:25
Speaker
Yeah, let go of perfectionism and learn to adapt and build that trust and confidence in ourselves that we can get through those uncomfortable situations because we've done so many hard and uncomfortable things. Yeah. It's like the reverse. Is that possible? Is it like possible for peak performers to tap into that? Is that what you think now?
00:21:56
Speaker
it's possible to reach peak performance by going against some things that you are and some things that you aren't and grabbing some of those things that you aren't to
00:22:12
Speaker
to find progress and to find performance? Absolutely. And it's mostly because I had to experience it. So I'm used to training, you know, five to plus times a week. And then there were moments in the last few years where I couldn't. And I think we're all scared of losing the gains. And oh my God, like,
00:22:29
Speaker
what's going to happen in like two weeks but then I couldn't run for six months like after I had a c-section so I couldn't run for six months and then I couldn't even lift heavy weight for like three months so when you're forced in these situations that you just have to experience then you can that it like you realize things and so for me by changing the way I was training
00:22:49
Speaker
and still being and still seeing progress or still seeing, you know, strength, then it really I realized that like, okay, this is possible. And I think we all know that really, it's the old way of thinking, right? The no pain, no gain kind of thing. It's the old way of thinking. But that's how I trained for so long. And I think that's how a lot of people think. And then we still have coaches out there that are like that, let's be honest, right? So
00:23:15
Speaker
But for me, I definitely was over training like two days. Like I was a personal trainer for a long time. So it was just easy for me to do. I kind of lived at the gym. So for me to go from over training to like normal training, like, of course I'm going to see progress, right? So is that equation going to work for everybody?
00:23:38
Speaker
I don't know, but right now the conversations I'm having with high performers, again, like the common denominators that they just, they're not, most people aren't resting until they feel like they have to rest versus being preventative, right? And so right now the conversations are, okay, let's set goals in terms of like, not just physically, but mentally, like when are you,
00:24:03
Speaker
When are you going to find time in your schedule to just be still, whether that's meditation or having doing something mindfully or when are you doing yoga instead of forcing another run or so it's really setting goals around these items and when they do.
00:24:21
Speaker
So far, like we're seeing a difference. Even mentally, it's like, I think we put so much stress on ourselves to perform all the time. And when we take time to just, you know, sometimes go with the flow or be in stillness or recover or rest.
00:24:37
Speaker
It helps us not just physically, but mentally clear out so much space that we can then tackle the next training or next thing with just with more clarity and focus. Right. So, so far, like everyone that I'm having these discussions with like, yeah, absolutely. It's, it's changing the way that they're showing up. That's really cool. Yeah. It's cool. And you can.
00:25:01
Speaker
That the key is practicing that or giving it a chance because it's hard to believe. It's like even in running when you're talking about like recovery runs and like that running can be recovery too. And just running slow and like not going crazy. Like that can be recovery, you know, but it's hard to believe that you can get fast by running slow or get fit by running slow, but it's true, you know?
00:25:31
Speaker
Like talk to ultra runner, like all they do is run just hours and hours of slow running, but still they're managing to build this fitness or this endurance in their body that allows them to run for who knows how long these hundred miles and crazy stuff like that. You know, that's on the extreme, but slowing down the stress, then stress and rest. We hear that too a lot. Um,
00:25:56
Speaker
It's kind of like a fine example of that, you know? And I guess going through pregnancy too, you're voicing something that, you know, a lot of women go through and it's a difficult thing. High performance athletes that decide to have children and some are able to run. It's really how your body's recovering. So there's no better time to listen to your body.
00:26:22
Speaker
And to build in that, that rest stress, rest strategy, let's say, then like, then that time, that's like a perfect time to kind of test that theory. You know, are you kind of, are you finding your way through that, like balance through that finding
Building Mental Resilience in Athletes
00:26:38
Speaker
fitness again and like finding your body again, it must be like coming from the high performance side and you did, you've done rugby and you've done lifting and personal training and.
00:26:50
Speaker
and the running also, like you're really in tune with your body on that side of things, you know? So how's the comeback coming along?
00:27:00
Speaker
It's been challenging and interesting. So I worked out till the day before I gave birth. I stopped Olympic lifting because I mean, like the bar is not going over my belly, but I was just in the gym doing what felt good. And for the first time I wasn't following the program and I just had to accept and it took me a few months. I had to accept that the goal was just to move and to feel good. So during pregnancy that the shift started where I was like, okay,
00:27:30
Speaker
can't be competitive. I mean, that voice will always be there, but I need to listen to my body because it directly affects the baby that's growing inside of me and directly affects the rest of my energy the rest of the day, right? So that why
00:27:49
Speaker
is really important no matter what. And because on the challenging days, it's coming back to that, right? So during pregnancy, it took me a few months, but then I was like, okay, I'm just going to move. So that was, it was fun. It was good. And then, um, I ended up having a C-section and that was really hard because even though I hired a doula, which is like basically a coach, a breathing coach, we, I guess I didn't feel prepared enough for the C-section and I was basically forced to just stay on, to not move for two months.
00:28:20
Speaker
And it was December, January. And honestly, looking back, I don't think I accepted it. So that was really hard. And just, this is something that comes up in conversations with clients too, is like when we don't accept things and we have resistance, then it's so much harder to go through. Right.
00:28:42
Speaker
But anyway, so my friends, my family helped me through that period. They would come by and say hi and just seeing them and connecting with other people in that time helped me. But then fast forward, I have been working with a pelvic floor specialist for even the time before that because of back injury.
00:29:02
Speaker
And so she helped me, um, slowly get back into moving. So after, I think after two months, I started doing like body weight stuff at home and that was like super exciting. I was like, Oh, now I have a goal. My goal is just to like get through these exercises. Right. Um, and I had to listen to my body because if I would do too much, then it would just backtrack my whole progress. Right. So I didn't want that to happen. So I was really good at just.
00:29:28
Speaker
following my body and not pushing limits because my motivation was to come back as fast as I could. And I did everything right. And even as fast as I could was like running took six months. That's long. Right. Um, but like I had to rebuild my core and my pelvic floor. And I also had to change my mindset and just like a day at a time, a week at a time.
00:29:55
Speaker
listen to your body that was like that's been my I guess my mantra was just like slow down listen to your body there's literally no reason for me to push limits or like
00:30:07
Speaker
hurry. Like, there's just no reason to rush right now. I've been rushing my whole life. So again, it came back down to the the why. And for me, it was just like, okay, I want to get back to moving. And I want to feel good. And this is a lot of it's around my mental health, because a big as you know, Justin, a big part of my identity is being an athlete and competing. So
00:30:30
Speaker
to this day, I still don't have a program. So I've been going to the gym that I was working at. I was doing group classes and now I finally have a routine where I can train like between three and four times a week, which is like nowhere near how I was training before, but it like, it's still fine. Like I still feel like there's still progress. It's slower, but it's still fine. You know? And then I was, this is, it's great that we're having this conversation today because last week I was just like, man,
00:31:00
Speaker
It's been like a year and a half that I didn't follow a program. I'm like, you know, I, I gave it its time. I just, I'm going, I've been going with the flow for a very long time. And like for me, a year and a half is a long time. Um, and I show up at my group trainings, but like, there's just something about following a program and seeing results and seeing progress and growing strong and, and accomplishing.
00:31:26
Speaker
you know, programs and races and these goals, like that feels good, right? And that confidence and strength that, you know, training has given me trickles into other aspects of life, right? And so I feel like that's a piece I miss the most. And it's tough because I'm in this crossroads right now where I'm like,
00:31:53
Speaker
I miss competing and I want to compete, but I have no energy to show up for a training if I don't feel like it. Whereas in the past I would do it. No question. Discipline, discipline. Now I'm just like the total opposite of what I was and it blows my mind and I'm like, I don't know what to do. And so anyway, last week I decided to go back to my Olympic lifting with a coach.
00:32:20
Speaker
And today I have a second training and it's tonight. And then I'm usually I would just go and I'm just like, I don't feel like going. So do I go or do I not? And I'm like, this, this has never happened before. And if I go back to my why, yeah, yes, it's mental health and moving. And part of me wants to compete. And the coach is like, Oh, like there's one February 3rd, you want to compete? I'm like, nah, like this, that's too early. But I miss being part of.
00:32:49
Speaker
of that. When I'm there and I'm lifting, it's just a piece of me that I haven't had in a while. I don't have to think about anything else. And it's not to be selfish, but I think it is important for everyone to have that time alone. So to go back to your question, I'm in a place where I'm just figuring things out.
00:33:12
Speaker
Like where I've, I've been listening to my body. I've been so good at it that I don't want to push my limits anymore. So I'm just like, I'm not sure what to do. Yeah. I mean, also if, uh, fear of setback also, you know, it's been going well, making progress, you know, you don't want to jump too far ahead. Also probably, um, it's just like running in mileage. You know, you don't want to go from 50 to a hundred. You want to go like 50, 60, 70, 80, you know?
00:33:40
Speaker
People, some people do it differently, but you know, then, uh, you know, some people get stress fractures too. I mean, I don't know, like I, I'm always airing on more on the side of caution. Like I'm coaching a few athletes now running. And it's just like you ran two marathons, unstructured training plans. Like, no, let's build something structured and let's build something progressive. You know, that's not too much because everyone else is running a hundred K a week. You know, it's like.
00:34:11
Speaker
It's all individual, it's all for you. Listen, I'm there too. This is the hardest time of year as a runner unless you're training for Boston or something, going into the holidays, eating and family and not many races coming up.
00:34:33
Speaker
to build mileage now and with nothing on the calendar. Listen, I'm not the same as I was 10 years ago either. It's hard to get out the door sometimes. And I just chalk it up to just like, I'm going to go move today. And that's OK. Life is funny that way. Priorities change in life, and also our goals change in life, and our motivation for doing stuff also changes too.
00:35:00
Speaker
So I totally sympathize with you on that front a hundred percent. Cause yeah, just some days it's like, I got to work on my strength and I don't feel like running today. You know, it's just my back sore.
00:35:15
Speaker
Yeah. You know, something that's been helping me, that helped me get through this last year, like, cause it had to, there was a complete mind shift, right? Where competitive, like I had to let go of me competing and something that helped me was just realizing that whenever I'm ready, it's always going to be there.
00:35:37
Speaker
the race, the competition, it's always going to be there. So why do I have to feel like I need to do it now? And then that, when you actually take the time to answer those questions, then you learn a lot about yourself, right? I realize that, yeah, I mean, obviously it feels good when people are like, when people see your accomplishments and like, at the end of the day,
00:35:58
Speaker
we have to do things for ourselves, right? So if I'm just going to do something just to like get the praise, that's not, that shouldn't be the reason, right? So anyway, I'll have to say it's going to be there. So there's no point forcing it or rushing it.
00:36:16
Speaker
And the competitions you're talking about now doing, it's like Olympic lifting competitions. Yeah, exactly would be Olympic lifting. There's opportunities all
Introducing the Inner Pace Performance Planner
00:36:28
Speaker
year. So when I read February 3rd, I was like, well, that's like in two months. Then I started feeling stress and pressure and fear. Then I knew right away that the answer would be no. So that's like my sign too. And that's again, comes back to conversations I have with people. It's like,
00:36:46
Speaker
When there's fear and anxiety, sometimes we have to push through that, but other times it's a sign that maybe we don't have to go there. And it's an opportunity for us to ask ourselves, why? Why do we feel like that? Should we plow through? Because again,
00:37:07
Speaker
This is something I've did for so long was I just went through, I didn't set boundaries or push, push, push, but like, yeah, I might, you could do that up until maybe your late twenties. I don't know. Or later if you're lucky. Yeah. There's a lot of external factors that go, that come into those decisions later on, you know, like, what do you think when you talk to athletes, what do you think is the biggest
00:37:30
Speaker
hurdle that they're facing. And you mentioned also, are you doing it for yourself or are you doing it for somebody else or for praise? I mean, this is a big thing too, I feel now. Running world majors and stuff, it's cool and stuff like that. I wanted to run one mixture too. I didn't get into one.
00:37:52
Speaker
What do you do? You don't run a marathon? No, I'll find another marathon. That's just another marathon on the list. Cause I want to run one. So the motivation is there for myself, but maybe it's not as shiny as some other race. I mean, I think I wrote down three things when you asked me that what comes to mind is pressure, confidence, and comparing, and they all kind of tie in together, but.
00:38:21
Speaker
What comes up a lot of the times is, I mean, it's confidence in general. I haven't met, you know, one person that is, you know, confident in everything. And I guess they wouldn't be talking to me in the first place, but I mean, I think we all compare, right? So, and it doesn't have to be a bad thing all the time. I've,
00:38:43
Speaker
compared myself to others, and it could be inspiring. When I see videos of others Olympic lifting, I'm like, oh, I want to do this. It's inspiring and motivating. But then when it becomes negative in the sense we're like, oh, I should be doing this, or like, oh, you're wondering about this other person's training or life and thinking you should be at a certain place, obviously that's not helpful. And then that can also affect your confidence. So a lot of the conversations I have is,
00:39:10
Speaker
around the comparison game. How can we, again, self-awareness first catch or notice when you're comparing? Okay, is it helping or not? If it's not, well, then we need to talk about how do we change our conversation.
00:39:25
Speaker
And a big, I guess a tip would be to, a lot of the times I help people come back to their own goals and things in their control. You can't, you have no, you have no control over the person that you're comparing yourself to or whatever other situation. And you only, you don't know this person's life, right? We just get all the highlights on social media and
00:39:50
Speaker
If you don't have a goal or a plan, then it's really easy to fill that space with other people and other things and comparing. So in the first sessions, I try and get to know the person in front of me and understand really like what their goals are. We create an action plan. We
00:40:09
Speaker
break that down into like, okay, what does that mean in terms of even habits and mindset this month to get closer to that goal? And so now when you find yourself comparing, which you will, because it's normal, can you accept it?
00:40:24
Speaker
right? Except that we're comparing and come back to you, your action, your habits, and just focus on that and growing that trusting and knowing that the more you focus on what's in your control, the more success you'll have, right? Because I mean, everyone knows this, it's easier said than done, but the more energy you put into comparing, the less energy you're putting on yourself.
00:40:50
Speaker
Right. So, and then obviously when you focus back on you and what you could control, then that builds the confidence. And then that helps us show up better and perform better. Right. And then to touch on the pressure piece, a lot of athletes put pressure on themselves to perform a certain way based on their teammates or whatever, based on the comparison game. They also.
00:41:20
Speaker
feel maybe pressure from coaches or the people around them. And again, that hurts confidence because you end up doing the comparison game and thinking I should, I could. And, um, so in those situations is learning how to, again, accept, accept that. Okay. You're putting pressure on yourself, but then kind of shifting the focus.
00:41:46
Speaker
to something else, but a lot of the times I also have conversations with athletes about just having fun again. I think it's really easy to get serious and to focus on our goals and things, but can we just zoom out and remember that I think for most of us, we're not getting paid to show up to training, you know? And fine, if you're like a professional athlete, yes, these pressures, all this is real.
00:42:13
Speaker
That's another conversation and they obviously have mental skills applies to them too. But at the end of the day, most of us, like this is a hobby. This is something we like to do. And, and if it's not fun anymore, then what's the point? Right. So do you get to that point with athletes where they're like, I'm not having fun anymore.
00:42:35
Speaker
Yeah, all the time, especially now, because it's the end of the year. And there's so much fatigue and buildup, especially for a sport like hockey that is such a long season.
00:42:49
Speaker
We start in August, we end in the spring. They have two games a weekend, right? So yeah, especially now. Everyone's so happy to have at least a two-week break. And some of them are like, should I do mental skills? And I'm like, if it feels forced, no. Take just two weeks off
00:43:12
Speaker
to just chill, practice going with the flow, have fun, laugh. Like if you feel like training, train, if you feel like meditating, meditate, you know, uh, like I, I think all of us need this type of break just to reignite fire and motivation and passion and focus, you know? And I mean, I guess this comes full circle to that idea of like recovery and rest, right? If we're running ourselves to the ground all the time at some point, it's not fun. Yeah. And find,
00:43:43
Speaker
Maybe some positives in the way you're performing now, you know, meeting yourself where you're at too. Like maybe like high performance, maybe you're performing at your highest level right now for where you're at. Like that also is a thing, right? Like you got to give yourself, cut yourself some slack too and say, I brought a human into the world. You know, my body went through a lot.
00:44:14
Speaker
They're not, some people might say those are excuses, they're not. It's just the facts of life, you know? And there's that kind of self-talk as well, right? Like, I'm doing great. Like, this is amazing. My body's healing. My baby's happy. You know? Yeah. That's a great point. And I think a lot of the times we hear this, like, you're doing your best, right? And I'm coming back to the example of these students. It's like the hockey season.
00:44:43
Speaker
where you have exams. So now you're expected to perform in your exams and do games and practice. So yeah, it's about performing your best at this point in time definitely looks different than, you know, let's say August where you're fresh from the summer. Right. And honestly, sometimes I forget that.
00:45:06
Speaker
But yeah, it has come up in conversations where I need to remind them and it comes back to the self-awareness, right? So like example, waking up in the morning, just assessing how you feel mentally and physically so that you can put
00:45:22
Speaker
a realistic intention or goal for the day because I think a lot of us what we do is we expect to perform at our best all the time and then we get disappointed because yeah we're tired we're tired from life and other stuff maybe we were sick there's no way you're performing at your best when you've been sick for two weeks but for some reason we all think that we should be right so I think a good practice is is waking up assessing how we feel and putting an intention to our day
00:45:53
Speaker
and letting go of expectations and focusing more on intention.
00:46:00
Speaker
an action versus like the result or outcome. And that could be helpful too. I was just sick for two weeks, so I can relate. So was I. So was I. And for the first time in my life, I allowed myself to do zero training for two weeks. And guess what? It was fine. Great spot. What's the best way? Because I just had this conversation. And because you're talking about goals when you wake up and
00:46:31
Speaker
setting your intention for the day and Sometimes I find it difficult, you know, like we just came off a weekend. We were away visiting family Came back had a day off today thought I was gonna crush it and get a lot of stuff done but it's like this mix of like I want to relax and I want to get stuff done and I I want to go running, you know, and then it's like that's all in my brain, but is it I
00:46:59
Speaker
I guess the more general question is, what's the best way to achieve these goals? Is it to make a list? What do you find? Are there tools and tricks? I mean, this is just analysis for my own personal benefit. But I think just like when you're building a plan, no matter how long it is, if it's daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, what's the best way to navigate that?
00:47:27
Speaker
Yeah, that's a great question. And I am totally feeling like you today. And there's two things I want to get at. So I'll come back to the goals and setting that up. But what came to mind right away was intuition versus anxiety. And this is a podcast that I heard from my leadership coaches. But basically, it was a conversation around that idea of listening to what we actually need today.
00:47:58
Speaker
intuition, right? The gut feeling versus anxiety, which would be like the fears, right? Like, Oh, like I have all this time to do things, but what if I don't do this or, you know, you know, so I think the conversation in that podcast was essentially about most of the time we act on the anxiety, the fears and like the pushing limits too much, right? Versus coming back to what I said about like the body scan in the morning is can we actually
00:48:26
Speaker
It is a skill to actually be aware and listen to our body and actually see what we need. I know today I need to do nothing, but my brain keeps telling me to do shit because I'm just wired that way. But if I were to listen to my gut after our call, I would Netflix. But my brain's like, no, you need to do the laundry and this and that. But actually, no. I know I need to rest because I had a very social weekend.
00:48:53
Speaker
And if I rest now, I'll be just more productive when I decide to be versus like doing things half-assed because I haven't chosen really. So one piece to all this, so guess what I'm getting to is the idea of being, not just listening to that intuition and getting to know that, but also being okay to adapt and adjust and be flexible. And this kind of brings me to
00:49:24
Speaker
my performance planner and my new branding which is inner pace and I hate the word balance because I think there's no such thing as balance because I think once we feel like we hit balance
00:49:38
Speaker
shit just happens again. And then it's just like, okay, now what? So to me, it's like, how do we find a rhythm or how do we find our pace? Because that changes all the time. Right? So if we think about a student athlete, or like your, you know, your run cycle or program all year, there's different cycles and phases, you can't expect to have the same habits and mindsets the whole season, the whole year that just doesn't make sense. Right? So can we be better at
00:50:09
Speaker
recognizing when you know the seasons change in a sense and how do we adjust to that and how do we what mindsets should we adopt to certain seasons right and I think that's I'm saying this because a lot of the times again high performers are black or white we set goals and then if something doesn't happen we
00:50:29
Speaker
If we're not good at adapting, then it's really easy to get disappointed and frustrated and stop things. Right. And so to go to the point for the goals, if we use your example, right, you're not for sure like a list, I think would be useful because even talking out of personal experience, a lot of clutter in our heads already. And especially I don't know about you. I work from home a lot.
00:50:56
Speaker
And there are so many external factors, like working from home that adds to the clutter, right? Whether it's a physical mess. And so I think it could get, we can get overwhelmed really quickly by all the little things we want to do. So it does come down to like, let's put these thoughts on paper so it first they have a place to live and then we can clear some space.
00:51:18
Speaker
then can we prioritize maybe based on, I guess like actual urgent things, but also based on how you feel today, right? So yeah, maybe there are actually one or two things you absolutely need to get done today. Okay, fine. But after that, if truly like deep down you need to rest, can you be okay just chilling? And that in itself takes practice. Because that's uncomfortable.
00:51:45
Speaker
right? So like, the list is just like a tiny piece of the whole, I guess, system, I like to call this system of like the goal setting and the action plan and the habit tracker. I love systems like this, because I think honestly, I probably have ADHD, that's not diagnosed. But I've had systems like this that work for me that keep me organized, right. And so when I work with someone, it's about
00:52:12
Speaker
first thinking big picture is the long term goal. So for you, Justin, I guess if you think about like your bigger goal, it would come down to is there something you need to do today that
00:52:25
Speaker
that will bring you closer to that. Do you feel like you need to take that little step? But also, rest is a step. Now we're discovering that rest is a step here. Yeah. To me, it always comes back down to the why and the ultimate goal. And are you doing things that feed into this ultimate goal and your priorities? So it takes me multiple sessions to get to know the person in front of me, the client.
00:52:55
Speaker
And as we go through sessions, we talk about the long-term goal or objectives and we break that down. So let's say, so first of all, long-term could be mean different things to people. Some people are scared of dreaming big. So just to make this simple, let's say long-term is a year. Okay. Yeah. That's how I think about long-term. And that's like more achievable, more realistic, maybe. So, okay. So let's say. Like five, 10, that always freaks me out. Right. I've gotten everything wrong.
00:53:26
Speaker
That's another conversation for another day. I've gotten everything wrong up until now. So OK, so let's say 2024. What do you want to accomplish? How do you want to feel? So we really hash out this. What does that look like in 2024? Then it's about breaking that down to smaller pieces about.
00:53:46
Speaker
Now, what do you need to do to get there? What do you need to do to feel that way, to be that way? And we could break that down into semester or quarters. But essentially, we are breaking it down to the quarters and then to the weekly habits that bring us closer to that. Because a lot of the times what I see is everyone has a goal. I think it's pretty common that we think about a goal. But we don't take time to create the action.
00:54:14
Speaker
and create and think about what habits and things need to what things need to be changed to get there. The support system. I mean, I could talk about goals for another session, but it does come down to the daily habits and not just physical but mental and the mindsets and intentions we have. And when you get sick and when life happens to be okay,
00:54:43
Speaker
accepting that and knowing that's part of the journey like success is not a linear you know path upwards so I think a lot of us need that reminder we all know that but when we're in it and no one's there to kind of remind us or pull us out of that tunnel vision it can be really hard so
00:55:02
Speaker
I tend, I like to do monthly check-ins where, so we set the goals, we break them down into like monthly, I guess milestones. So for example, by the end of the January, by the end of January, you know, we want these habits in place or these accomplishments done to be closer to the end goal. And then we'll have that conversation at the end of January. Okay. What went well? What didn't? And, you know, sometimes the whole month went crap.
00:55:31
Speaker
But it's okay. What are we learning from that? What is one thing we can do better in February, right? Whereas some people might just totally give up altogether because
00:55:44
Speaker
It's that whole resilience piece and bouncing back, right? And there's so many factors to successfully bouncing back. And I think a big part of that is support. It's so hard to achieve goals on your own, right? And so a lot of what I do is support people with their goals, but also helping them get back on track and helping them build the confidence that they need in themselves to do that on their own as well. Cause I'm not there all the time and I don't want to be there all the time. That's true too. Yeah, exactly. You want to give them the tools so they can handle it.
00:56:14
Speaker
So we developed these systems, which could look like a goal-setting document or a habit tracker. And of course they have these templates, but ultimately I want the person in front of me to make it their own. And one system in December might not work in June, and that's normal.
00:56:33
Speaker
So at least at the end, my goal is to give these tools or guidelines where, okay, this is a template. These are systems we can use. But at the end, I want you to like run with them and make them yours, right? Because these are lifelong tools and skills. Do you find it funny, like at this time of year, especially that people do these things or set these goals based off calendar years?
00:57:02
Speaker
I mean, I think it's normal because that's just how we are. But I think that I personally tend to encourage people to start whenever. And which is why I made my performance planner undated. There's no excuses. You can start any day. That's chart. That's really sad. I like it already. Yeah. That's perfect.
00:57:28
Speaker
But there's a lot of pressure around January. But for me, it also means excitement because it can also be like this new chapter where you can not start over, but almost have like this. It's weird. It does have this feeling of like blank plates start over. Sure. Yes, please. If that feels good, do it. But also you can set goals on the other 364 days of the year. Right. And you could start over in June.
00:57:57
Speaker
or in March or whenever you want. Yeah, that's, yeah, that's totally, I think if anything, like sports teaches us this better than anything. Cause I think about it when I was hearing you talk, it's when we put a race on our calendar or we have a tournament or an event that we have to perform at, we do everything we can to prepare ourselves with a plan.
00:58:27
Speaker
to be ready for that moment. And that's kind of like, if we look at life like that, not just sport and just life goals, it doesn't have to be sports, then we should technically be able to prepare for those moments. Also, I don't know if that makes sense, but like I just had this kind of thought in my mind. Like I always mark my calendar with races, but
00:58:56
Speaker
I'm not looking ahead to anything else really. I mean, you're absolutely right. And when I do goal setting with some clients, it's the sport goal, the career goal. It's the same. And for me, man, working for yourself is so hard. I wear so many hats and I literally, I have to put deadlines. I have no choice. I have to be like,
00:59:19
Speaker
you know, maybe I want to get out this like group challenge. So my dude, I have to put a due date. Otherwise, like there's no sense of urgency. You know, and I have all these projects and things I want to do. And if I don't put them in like a calendar, like you're saying, or have these goals of when to launch these ideas or have certain ideas complete,
00:59:41
Speaker
I'm just gonna, this is because literally this is what I've been doing. I've just like kind of dabble in like, I do 10% of one 10% of the and then nothing gets done. Unless it's an urgency would be like, obviously my individual clients, my workshops, but then all the other cool ideas I have are just like floating around, because I don't put a due date to it. And I'm only accountable to myself.
01:00:04
Speaker
right? So that's where goal setting and that phases of my year where I'm really good at it, and some I'm not. And I just went through this whole change in my life. So routine and schedule and putting things in a calendar right now is like, it's hard, like, I can't do that. Or I'm just learning how to get into it again. So
01:00:24
Speaker
but absolutely just like you would plan your races and prepare for them. Like, yeah, that's the same system you would use for, for anything else. And I feel, I feel what you're saying too. I just thought of this podcast, like I have to schedule guests. I have to make the content. I have to, I do every, you know, do just about everything on this thing. So the engine behind these things, these ideas, you know, it's, it's me. So if you don't think about it,
01:00:55
Speaker
It's usually too late, you know, or late. Maybe not too late, but late. So yeah, that's a thing. So talk to us more about this new branding that you did and this plant, this planner that you put out. I'm like very interested in that. Yeah. So how man, so I've been wanting to put out, okay, let me rewind. I don't know where to start. Okay. So when specifically when I work with student athletes,
01:01:23
Speaker
I began to realize that a lot of them are really
01:01:29
Speaker
They find it really challenging to organize their time. And I mean, time management is directly related with stress, right? So a lot of the work I did was teaching them how to use a calendar, organize their time and an agenda. And then parallel with that, we were also learning how to use a journal and build that self-awareness, write down thoughts, goals. And so now like years go by and I'm like,
01:01:56
Speaker
Every time I tell a client to buy a certain agenda, they'll go out and do it. And then they use it, and it works. And then they'll go buy a journal. And now they have these two things, two books, that if it could be one, would be great. And so I was thinking, and this thought probably started three years ago, why don't I create my own kind of planner where I can combine the two?
01:02:20
Speaker
And so that's where the idea started, was literally because I saw a hole in what I was doing, and I realized that if I could just make my own, they could just have this one book. Obviously, the idea of creating something physical for the first time was very scary. I didn't know where to start.
01:02:43
Speaker
my brother supports me a lot with my ideas and he gives me really good advice. He's basically the person just saying like, do it. And ultimately what happened was fast forward to now my mat leave last year. And I was like, I'm just gonna use this time to do it. And I was still, was it my mat leave? Yeah, it was my mat leave. And before that, while I was pregnant, I started as well, I think. And I actually met,
01:03:11
Speaker
my now friend who I met her through the run group. She's a graphic designer. We hit it off and she helped me with the design of it. I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like or I thought I did, but the other part was like, what's my branding? What color? Like what are the pages going to look like? And so she helped me with that. And
01:03:33
Speaker
The idea of the branding in her pace came from one of her classes. So she teaches design at College La Salle and she actually had me come to her class and had all her students rip on my current
01:03:49
Speaker
or my old branding, which was Peak Perform. I was in a place where I was ready to let go of it because I created it when I started and I've evolved so much in the last seven years. And just looking at my website and everything around it, I was like, this isn't me anymore. It was
01:04:07
Speaker
I feel like now I'm somewhere more, I don't know if this will make sense. I'm in a place that's more soft, right? Leaning and embracing the recovery and all that versus the old one with mindset was like the no pay, no gain, if that makes sense. So I was really ready to let go of peak perform. And anyway, so I showed up to her class, all her students kind of, yeah, ripped apart peak perform, which whatever I was ready to hear. And then they all kind of based on, on telling them about myself and my vision for this
01:04:37
Speaker
how my coaching has evolved. Now they were going in groups and they offered different names for branding. And anyway, long story short, I left with inner pace. Something stuck with me. But that idea comes back to what I was saying about hating the word balance. And whether you're a high performer or not, the whole concept around inner pace is being able to adjust our pace and adjust our rhythm
01:05:06
Speaker
no matter what comes our way, so we can show up as our best. And it comes back to what you said, Justin, about performing at a high level today might look like something else tomorrow. It's just that whole idea of being adjustable and finding your rhythm depending on the season and what you need any given day.
01:05:32
Speaker
Yeah. So I took that name and we built this book together and oh my God, it was so complicated. Like just to find a color or, you know, I wanted to add bookmarks and this and that, and it just, the price adds up like it's crazy. And so I ended up making, so it's called the inner pace performance planner. So it's more of a planner than a journal, but essentially what it does. So it's like an agenda, but in this planner agenda, there are quarterly reflection questions.
01:06:02
Speaker
And then there.
01:06:05
Speaker
Where do I start? There's a habit tracker. Basically, the idea is that, yes, it's an agenda. But the idea is to get you to think about your mindset as well. So there's no space really to journal. But let's say at the end of each day, there's a check-in. So at the bottom, it says there's a space where you can write what you're grateful for. And there's three happy faces. Well, it's not a happy face. Basically, you rate your focus, your confidence.
01:06:33
Speaker
and what's the other thing anyway you check in on your mindset right so like there's a happy face a sad face and that like that middle face guy and so the idea is that the straight face
01:06:48
Speaker
So the idea is that, okay, focus, would you rate it like happy face, like great guy, or sad face, but at least you're taking a moment to color in the face or whatever, check it off, and then think about like, why? Why am I a sad face for focus today? Right. And it's just simply to start that reflection or that conversation with yourself. Because honestly, if this planner was what I wanted it to be, it would be a giant Bible.
01:07:15
Speaker
I had to choose what to prioritize in this first version of the planner. And I'm happy I did it. I just basically I just had to do it. I had to get this first version out, even though it's not perfect. It's just doing it. So thanks to my brother for just letting me get me to just get it out there. Yeah. And it's scary. But, you know, part of this is like I'm emailing clients and people who bought and I'm like, I would love your feedback.
01:07:42
Speaker
please give me feedback because I want to make another version. And so that's part of this process too is like being open to that feedback. And like, yeah, this might not be the perfect version, but at least it's a version. Right. Um, and so.
01:08:01
Speaker
So this is a performance planner where you can set goals at the beginning of the planner. There's pages for that. Track goals on a monthly basis. Check in with your mindset. And then every quarter, like I said, there's reflection prompts. So every quarter has a theme, like just self-awareness in general. There's, I think, mental preparation. There's stress. I don't know why I'm, I can't think of it right now, but anyway.
01:08:29
Speaker
Um, so it's different than your everyday planner because you, the idea is to get you thinking about your mindset on a daily basis too. Just starting that conversation with yourself. Yeah, that's amazing. I think it's really good. And I think the fact that you maybe not have as much space for journaling or it's not really a journal, I think that's good for people. Like most people don't, I'd say a lot of people don't journal, but for anyone like for myself, I don't journal, but like.
01:08:58
Speaker
It's a good starting point to putting stuff down on paper because it's maybe easier. It's more engaging. It's kind of short point form is what I'm hearing. And so you can gain a lot, maybe a lot more from that than you could.
01:09:16
Speaker
just writing everything down on a page. Also easy to look back on too, because it's like engaging with questions and which face am I to be. So that's also good. And also to your point about starting stuff, I was a bit the same with this new podcast. I wanted it to be perfect. And the fact is,
01:09:40
Speaker
The first version of anything is never perfect. And the scary part is putting something out that's maybe in your mind not perfect, but it's a start. And that's where you grow. So I can also relate to that very much because this show was the hardest thing to put out for me because I was like, how do you, I want this to be like,
01:10:09
Speaker
next level, you know, I want this to be the greatest thing. And you just got to start it so you can evolve, you know, so. And you've evolved so much. Sure. Yeah. So I've listened to some of your podcasts last week just to like, you know, get mentally prepared for our conversation and you've done such a great job and just how consistent you've been with like putting content out is. Yeah, that's that's inspiring. Thank you. I appreciate that. You know, and it's
01:10:36
Speaker
You never, like with performance, you're just never perfect. No one's perfect. And you can always grow and you can always learn something new, you know, and you can always evolve. It's never like, this isn't the final version. This isn't the best version of this. It's going to be, it's going to change. And the best will look different to you also, just like your planner will, you know.
01:11:01
Speaker
Like, well, that was, I thought that was great. And then two years down the road, you'd be like, this one is great. But you know, that gets me thinking about another topic that comes up in conversation is also like, when is it enough? Right? When is it good enough? Right. And that's a tough thing to manage. Because if you feel like you're always chasing something or the perfectionism or the right thing, that takes a toll on you. I think it's a fine line, you know,
01:11:31
Speaker
Because I think if you have the approach of like, if you can learn more, but don't seek perfection more just in the sense of like, I can learn more and I can be more well rounded or
01:11:46
Speaker
instead of seeking perfection, like this has to be perfect. Then I think if you let go of perfection, I think that's where you can grow. You know, I don't think like perfection is a cap because you think this is what's perfect, what perfect might be or, or should be. I don't know. I don't know why I'm getting off. No, that makes sense. I don't like, I like go perfection. No, but I, what you're saying is making sense for sure. And I think when most high performers can let go of perfectionism, that's where we can, like you said, we can grow.
01:12:15
Speaker
Because it's like, it's like even running in pace, you know, when I don't give athletes paces, I just say should feel like this because like you say, any day could feel different or you might be fast today, you might be slow tomorrow. But I also think that the pace limits your potential.
01:12:35
Speaker
Right. Like if you tell me to run four 15, I'm going to run four 15, but what if I can run four or five, or what if I can run four? And that's what that pace feels like to me. And so instead of looking at my watch, I'm just running with the feel is like, instead of like limiting myself to a number. Yeah. I remember you telling me this at one point and you've actually popped up in my brain a few times because now that I'm.
01:13:03
Speaker
I'm running, but not so much. And like, I think it's normal to just get so focused on the number and the pace and oh, I should be running this or like, why am I feeling this tired? And then for some reason your voice comes up and I'm just like, just kind of just feel, feel good or like just focus on feeling and I'll put my watch on anyway, for some reason, cause Strava, I don't know. But then I'm just like, can I just not look at the watch and go with feeling, especially with, I have so much trouble with slow runs because I'm just like,
01:13:34
Speaker
I don't want to run this long and it just will take me longer to run this 5K. But then again, it comes back down to the why. I want it to feel good. So if I stop looking at my watch, which if I do look at my watch, my heart rate will be 170 for no reason. If I can just accept that
01:13:53
Speaker
I don't need to perform and just feel good. It will just be better. Good. It's helpful. I'm glad. It's like probably one of the hardest things to teach people. It's so hard. Where can people find your planner?
01:14:09
Speaker
My planner is on my new website. It's myinterpace.com. So M-Y-I-N-N-E-R-P-A-C-E.com. There's a section there. So right now,
01:14:25
Speaker
Oh man, shipping is so expensive. So there is like a pickup location in Montreal. Around Canada, the shipping seems to be $25. I haven't shipped anything outside of Canada yet, but I am available to ship. That's just a conversation that we have to have an email. Otherwise you could pick it up and appoint St. Charles in Montreal.
01:14:46
Speaker
Nice and it's going well. Like are you just seeing athletes going after it or are you seeing just? Every, you know everyday people like what's where I'll be totally honest. How's it gone so far? I mean, no, I know I know what you mean. So it's not this it doesn't it's called a performance planner, but it doesn't have to be for athletes. Yeah you get what you put in so the times where I've put energy to
01:15:13
Speaker
maybe like, let's say market my planner or talk about it, more people buy it. I've been not doing that so much. Like, obviously when I received them, I was like, you know, there was a few days I was so excited. And so at that point of time, a lot of my current clients, which are mostly athletes, purchased them. And then it was kind of like crickets because, you know, life and honestly, it's not a priority. I know I'll sell them because they're undated. So I'm not in a rush.
01:15:40
Speaker
And I'm not going to lie, some days I'm like, oh my God, I just need to get rid of all these patterns in my office. But actually, it's not a rush. It's undated. And so I'm planning to launch some type, say I need a due date. I need to launch a discount code or something for the holidays because it's Christmas and January is coming up. So I feel like now is a good time to post and market it and sell it.
01:16:04
Speaker
That takes energy and I like to be creative and I love to do this stuff, but I feel like that's something that I would want to do like tomorrow when I don't have much stuff going on. Well, you just, you just give us the code. We'll make it a podcast exclusive. Oh, yeah, let's do it. Well, let's make a code. Let's do a Justin Stride is the code for 30% off.
01:16:28
Speaker
Oh, wow. Live. Okay. Perfect. I'll make it right now. Yeah. Amazing. And we'll put it like everywhere where we post about the show and stuff and hopefully, hopefully that helps. So we'll answer this question. Like this planner is good for you. If
01:16:45
Speaker
if you suck at planning. If this planner is good for you, if you want to feel more in control of your day to day and feel like you need a tool to help you organize your tasks and your habits. Yeah, I'll leave it at that. And with this planner, you hope that people will
01:17:08
Speaker
look at you. With this planner, I hope that you'll feel more confident with your day to day and showing up and confident with your bigger goals because because ultimately your day to day routines and habits feed into
01:17:24
Speaker
how successful your ultimate goal is, if that makes sense, right? Our routines, I think, dictate how success, I don't know if the right word success, but anyway, ultimately, the planner, I hope, gives you confidence in your journey and your action plan so that you can get closer to what you want to achieve and those goals.
01:17:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's great. And holiday exclusive here, definitely stride for 30% off the planner. So I find there's no better promotion than just having yourself on and hearing you talk and stuff like that.
01:18:02
Speaker
What's a message you'd like to share, you know, after every, you know, you've learned so much in, in the time that you've been practicing and speaking to athletes. Is there, is there something maybe, I know it's very individual. I know we always say that and, um, but is there like a message that you'd like to share through like mental skills coaching?
01:18:26
Speaker
Because I read the questions you sent me before, I'm thinking of the best advice I've ever received. And what came to mind right away was this was specific to at the beginning of my career when I spoke with someone, I was trying to find a mentor. And basically this person told me, not in the same words, but basically to focus on the work you do now and the rest will take care of itself.
01:18:50
Speaker
And to me, what that meant was to like, trust yourself more. And that there is a fine line between preparation and, you know, overthinking and over analyzing. And if I, if I relate back to like the context, which was my career was that if I, you know, if you focus on your clients now and the work that you do now and you do really good work.
01:19:14
Speaker
People will talk and people will refer to you and things will just grow from there versus if you're too much in the future, that takes away from what you're doing now. And same thing for training, same thing for runs, right? You need to trust the work you're doing now because if you start to think about the outcome of the race and you start comparing,
01:19:33
Speaker
Then that adds pressure. And now, back to what I said earlier, now we're taking away energy and time that we can be putting on today in the present. We're letting the future steal it, or we're letting the past steal it, right? And this comes down to just, I guess, being present.
01:19:54
Speaker
Yeah, being present and building trust and confidence in yourself that if you do good things one day at a time, the rest will take care of itself. You don't need to worry too much about the future. Yeah, be here, be now. Be here, be now.
01:20:15
Speaker
Yeah, it's so easy to like, look ahead and worry about things to come. But yeah, you just got to focus on today. And like, it's cliche, take it one day at a time. But it's true. I mean, that's, you have to like, focus on the task at hand. And all those small steps lead to something much bigger. And I'm saying not to do it. Right. And like, again, that why are the bigger goal is so important, especially on the challenging days. But I think a lot of us get so caught up in it. So.
01:20:45
Speaker
Like, yeah, during pregnancy and after my, it came down for me to like one hour at a time, one day at a time. And that in itself, you can build confidence and trust pretty quickly too.
01:21:01
Speaker
Yeah. And it's like, it all helps to work towards a goal because I find that sometimes these things can become paralyzing also, you know, you can be paralyzed by your own thoughts or just like stuck in, stuck in this, some ideas too. And, um, it's also just helpful to kind of move, keep the ball moving forward, however that looks for you, you know, what the goals look like for you, uh, next calendar or in the next, in the next year, we won't say next calendar year, but in the next year.
01:21:30
Speaker
Training wise, I had no idea up until yesterday where I told myself that I think I'd like to do one competition. In terms of running, it's more social for me. That's okay. I like that. In terms of my career, I mean,
01:21:54
Speaker
There are a few things I have. I'm going to keep them private for now, but, um, I definitely wrote out some things in my, on my whiteboard where I'm like, you know, this in 2024, I want to get like these three things done. Not 10, cause it's probably not realistic, but anything over three is a bonus, but I definitely have some projects and stuff in mind that I, that I want to work on. Awesome. Well, Cam, thanks so much for taking the time and sharing with me and.
01:22:22
Speaker
I know we didn't get to all the questions. This could be a three hour conversation. But yeah, I hope I definitely learned a lot from you today. And I always do. You got so much to share and knowledge and this planner sounds amazing. Sounds like something I definitely need in my life. But I just want to thank you so much for taking the time today and sharing with us. Thanks for having me. It was fun. You're welcome. Talk soon.
01:22:51
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in to the Justin Stryde podcast. I truly appreciate you taking the time to listen and I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. Please take a minute after this to rate and review our show on Apple podcasts. With your feedback, we'll be able to make the show even better and it'll help us reach new listeners too. You can also find us on Instagram at Justin Stryde Pod for all the latest episodes and updates.
01:23:16
Speaker
Of course, this show wouldn't be possible without a solid team behind me. With logo and design by Vanessa Pugliese, as well as audio, music, and editing by Forest McKay, a huge thank you goes out to both of them. Guest outreach, social media, writing, and advertising are handled by me, your host, Justin Pugliese. Finally, we'd like to thank you, our listeners, for coming along for the ride with Justin Stradd.