speaker-0: Welcome to Life by Design. I'm your host Robin, and I am thrilled to welcome you to this space for real conversations about how we live, how we show up day in and day out, because the quality of our life is shaped by our habits. What we do in ordinary time allows us to be extraordinary. We can unpack what it takes to truly live well and be well in real life. Welcome to Life by Design. And I'm just so excited that you are here on today's episode of life by design. had the opportunity to have a conversation with Justin Meise. Now he is a high performance coach. He also is a freestyle motocross expert. ⁓ somebody who is just like, ⁓ my gosh, living big, bold dream life. who also has experienced some adversity and some setbacks. And in our conversation, Justin is super candid about how he has built a comeback, how he is able to take lessons he's learned on his bike, bring them into other places and spaces. And I am so excited to share this conversation with you because there's this genuineness about Justin that, gosh, it is contagious. And he brings such... clarity and energy and good intentions to the work he does. His books are terrific. I'll link those in the show notes for you. If you are looking for some kind of just insights for perspective, Justin has them for us today. So stay tuned to our next episode. Justin, welcome to the podcast. I'm so excited that you're here today.

speaker-1: I'm just as excited maybe more excited. It's not a competition, but I was I was pretty giddy. I was pretty giddy this morning for sure

speaker-0: ⁓ well, thank you so very much for being here. And ⁓ again, so as you know, I'm a huge fan of your work. And I mean, like all of it, like I have our peak performance pyramid. I've gone through that, my performance Bible, ⁓ performance matrix, which happens to be one of my favorites. And then this one was my unexpected. ⁓ my gosh. The FMX Bible. I'm like, I didn't even know I needed to know this much about the X games.

speaker-1: Of course, of course.

speaker-0: Yeah. And again, I'm just so appreciative to be able to have this conversation with you today. would you mind just giving our listeners just a wee bit of a snapshot of who Justin is as this high performance coach and a little bit about your story.

speaker-1: Definitely, definitely. Well, I'm actually located in Austin. Now I had my ⁓ upbringing difficult time in West Texas and transitioned from you have the book from freestyle motocross, which was the highest and lowest of my life, which you you're probably familiar with. And then migrated used all my experience and certifications to migrate to Austin where West Texas had motocross, but it didn't have the social life, the events, the nature, anything like that. So migrated over here and now I have a lifestyle that I didn't know was possible. There's, there's like still things like popping up. Austin is just a super, super fun city. And, and now I just use my education and experience just to be able to help other people. So it's been, it's been super cool. It's been super cool.

speaker-0: And watching your journey as a high performance coach while you still are like, it's like this parallel experience, like you yourself are still growing, like evolution, like evolving. And it's so amazing to watch. And also you're helping people along the way, which I think is just an amazing way to be of service for other people.

speaker-1: We're, both in the same, in the same business, in the same business. mean, I have, when you showed off your books, I have yours also. Of course, of course. And then, ⁓ and then I just realized just a day before yesterday that you also have it on Spotify for like the audio. I'm like, ⁓ my gosh. Yeah. So that's going to be my next time I'm in the gym or I got a car ride next week. So that's going to be my, that's going to be, you're, you're going to be. Monotone like. Given me the commentary, the commentary on my drive for sure.

speaker-0: love that. Justin, first of all, the degree of like, I like to think of bravery and courage to be, ⁓ it's like for, for how you ride and how you like compete and what you do, like even watching your videos, like, dude, like you're intense, like that's, that's scary. Like you are defying like human nature. That would be like, don't do that. And you lean in like you're all in. So how did you get involved in writing like that?

speaker-1: It's funny. It was, it's actually my dad's fault. I, I grew up doing like the football, baseball, like all the ball sports. And when that wasn't going on, I just played video games all the time. And my, my dad wanted me out of the house because his upbringing was just softball all the time. Him and his dad, they were big national softball players and I couldn't catch the same ball. No pun intended as he was, as he was throwing, but so he, as a hobby, he did like trail riding, like dirt bike motocross trail riding. And so when I was like 13, 14, Santa brought me a motorcycle and it was, was funny cause I hated it at first. Cause it took a lot of coordination and like pulling in the clutch and gas and the clutch, the shifting all that. And I didn't, I didn't like it. Him and my mom thought I was just going to be cute, like riding trails. then I saw the X games on TV. I'm like, ⁓ my gosh. And it just like, it just, it just shifted me. Cause I was just like, man, that's just, it was just, I really like, I mean, mainstream sports a hundred percent. I mean, I still, I still watch, watch them when they're on TV at the gym. ⁓ but I really liked the, just the aspect of just like the style and just it's kind of. niche niche. it's just very different, just pushing yourself to a ⁓ level that's, it's very almost theatrical. ⁓ instead of, you know, just throwing, making a great catch or being able just to throw the ball as far as you can. And, and so the plot twist was instead of trail riding, I started doing the freestyle motocross and wanted to start doing little baby jumps and it escalated to backflips and double backflips and as many tricks as, as I could without getting, getting hurt. So that's, and then that's when my, my mom wasn't on board and then my dad was kind of perplexed cause he started me, but didn't like the direction I went with it. So it was a, there's worse addictions, but that was the addiction I chose.

speaker-0: Yeah. And I love that you, you know, here you are kind of figuring out like your own way, right? So you grew up in a, you know, great family support. You know, they, have this great exposure to lots of sports, which I think is so important for our young people that they get exposure to lots of different sports. And then you, again, you find your thing, you see that on TV, you get inspired, that little spark, you know, activates in you and you're like, yeah, I want to do this. And what does it. take. So this is what I'm really curious about. our human condition, right? Our evolution, our human condition would say like, there's a degree in which we push ourselves and then it would have those alarm bells going off that would be like, Hey, Justin, this is dangerous, right? Or, Hey, Robin, like careful. And there's something about elite performers and athletes like yourself that it's not that you don't have that system. And I think that's a big misconception. People are like, ⁓ they just don't feel fear. No, you abs like I believe Athletes I've worked with are like, no, no, they, they feel the fear and they do it anyway. So when you are going for your first backflip on literally a motorcycle, when you are doing a double, when you literally like leave your body and only your hands are holding your handlebar, like all those red flags and alarms should be going off in your nervous system. Yet you've learned how to channel that. You've learned how to show up even when it's scary and dangerous and you perform, you, you achieve, you deliver. How does that happen?

speaker-1: So I've had several doctors and people say like, when are you going to quit? Like, what are you doing? And it was, it was cool. Like I ⁓ almost got emotional. ⁓ it was cool. had this realization that like what I've learned cannot really be bought. Like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, they can't like spend a billion dollars and flip a motor, like have that experience. And it's like something that I. earned over time. And so, I mean, it's, it's a lot of like nervous system training. mean, you have those alarms, but it's all like baby steps. Like I didn't just go from, you know, this beginner rider and then just trying to backflip, you know, to dirt. It's, you know, it's, it's a gradual progression. then once you have that foundation, it's, like, you have to, it's, it's odd. It's learning how to listen. intuitively, but also logically, because it's, you know, you have those alarms go off. You're like, is this my intuition telling me, or is this an actual real alarm? Because there's things that look scary, but they're not like a roller coaster. It's you're safe the whole time, but you're, you know, you got the jitters. And so there, there's a time where you have to just pretty much trust, trust yourself, but also just be very logical. Like statistically I'm like, four for five, jumping in the foam pit. And on the bicycle, I was like nine for 10. So you kind of have to just go like statistically, and then it's really just learning how to like trust yourself. And that's what was cool because the motorcycle freestyle motocross was kind of like my tool to be able to like hone that and learn like what I'm capable of. Because if I didn't have that, I wouldn't have known what I could do.

speaker-0: Yeah, you wouldn't know your limits, right? Like I think that's so amazing. And what I know so much of what I work with athletes like yourselves and others is that it's so much more than just the sport. Like your ability to regulate your ability to trust yourself, to trust your body that serves you in so many other life areas, like getting up on a stage, giving a talk, training people, doing sales calls. Like, dude, if you can flip off on your motorcycle twice into dirt, like you can do a sales call. Right? Like it's really not that deep. And so I just love how we find ourselves in different places and then we can use those skills, those gifts and those talents in other areas of our life. And you've done that so beautifully. You've done that in your writing as an author, in your coaching. I just love how those skills from that you learn on a bike or transferable in different life areas.

speaker-1: That's, and that's actually my goal. I, it was like, progressed in motocross and I didn't realize how to transfer or like integrate those skills and that lifestyle to like work and relationships and you know, managing like money and time and all that. it was, that's what the mentality or the culture in action sports is like, it's very segregated. like categorized, like departmentalized. And it's, it's like, all right, we do this, but then we have this life and this is our, so I really encourage guys and especially guys that I work with, like, Hey, man, like you can do this and the discipline that you learned on this and the skills you did. Now you can be able to like to transfer it over to just, mean, just pretty much like you said, and it's funny because they don't have that connection. Like you just brought up, it's like they segregate it. So it's super cool.

speaker-0: So here you are having this again, the success in your sport where, learning skills that you, as you said, transferring how we figure out how you take this, essentially this identity and we're putting in different places and spaces. And then all of a sudden, like your world just changed radically in a moment, in a minute. ⁓ And again, I appreciate that before we hit record, you said you were okay to share some of your story because like Justin, like that's a really big component of how you got to where you are today.

speaker-1: Yeah, it's funny. I know people have way harder lives than me. just don't... I don't know if this is bragging or not, but it's probably the opposite of bragging. It's like, I don't know anyone else that takes things so hard, is like how I just took things very personally and permanently. And... Like, you know, people can cry over spilled milk and I would, mean, I, I built my identity so much on that one aspect of freestyle motocross. And when I was in West Texas, I didn't, I didn't really have like, ⁓ I was a PE teacher, ⁓ elementary school. So like you said, I tried to expose the students to like a lot of different sports and so they could kind of see what else was, was out there for them if they didn't, you know, like what they were doing, but I really, I didn't know how to transfer everything that I learned from the motorcycle and not build my identity just on that. so once, once I would have an accident, I mean, I had, had a lot of, I've, gone like, uh, 14 years, no, 24 years, he, he teacher, not a math teacher on the, doing a lot of, I mean, I've had a lot of. lot of injuries like since 2002 to actually 20 years to 2022. had my worst accident. I shattered my femur. It was just a flute deal. A lot of the accidents are like your fault. it's like, okay, I know what to do. But when it was just a bike malfunction and it was, it was odd because I, it's like my identity just fragmented just because it was just, was. freestyle motocross rider, you know, and I didn't have the relationships. didn't have like a sustaining career that I was like progressing in. didn't have, and like going back to your resilience model, like that belonging social support. I didn't have that. went from living, going back home, living with my parents and was on SSRIs and my value was based on motocross and I couldn't do that. So. I didn't feel valuable. didn't feel... I went...

speaker-0: discovery was intense. Like you could not to suggest that you're glossing over how significant your accident was, but it was substantive, Justin. Like you talk about it in your book where it was like, it was very, very serious.

speaker-1: It, was on disability two and a half years and it's, it's interesting because like we see the physical and it's like, ⁓ man, that's, that's, that must be tough. But like the mental and emotional aspect is just, it's so unreal because, ⁓ I mean, my, would go to the, to my, to my doctor, my surgeon and you know, we were on disability for the physical injury, but my dad was like, you know, toss them back and forth. Like, do we need to continue the disability just like mentally? Because I was just not, not in a health, healthy state. And it was just, everything was fragmented. So I had to, I, was, I tried, you know, I did counseling for years, um, like SSRIs, even like psychedelics, like everything I could think of to fix myself. And what was so cool is my parents were supportive through the whole process and what was like really powerful for me like it it wasn't per se like the counseling or the psychedelics or the SSRIs or it wasn't all this all the external things I guess you could think of but it was My initiative to fix myself that actually changed that and it was because I mean being Being broken and having the strength and the resiliency to actually take a risk and go outside of your comfort zone is, I mean, it's difficult in itself, but that's what changed it. I mean, I really was thinking, I think unconsciously was hoping someone could, from the outside could fix me or ⁓ get my worth from, you know, I would try to get my worth from like people or organizations or... status. mean, I was just trying to get, you know, fixed and validated any other way. And until I was able to understand like my worth apart from my performance, it was like, ⁓ my gosh. So it was, mean, yeah, physically and mentally, it was just, it was just a trip. was just, it was gnarly. It was gnarly.

speaker-0: And again, there's so much in your story and so many threads to pull on. And the pieces that really come top of mind when I hear you share that is that, you know, any recovery, like a physical recovery, I know it's not linear, but there was a pretty clear kind of treatment plan in place, right? Like you have this catastrophic injury, are building, you you're healing, you're growing, you know what to do in the gym, you know what to do in rehab. Like there's a plan and it's a clear course. The emotional... and the spiritual and the psychological, there's no blueprint for that per se. And I just think what you talk about in your work and how I see you've integrated the physical with the emotional and the spiritual, it is such a testament to the fact that you figured it out bravely, courageously along the way. Like you were heroically hope-filled that you just kept trying. that you just kept showing up. you know, I've met your dad. I know you have a great system, a family system. And, you know, I don't doubt for a second, your mom is right there too. But the reality, and there was something that a Navy SEAL actually said to me, Justin, this year that like blew my mind because obviously I have enormous amounts of respect for Commander Mark Devine. I was sharing about some of my own story of my own accident. he said, he interrupted me at one point and he said, You're giving credit to everybody else in that story. You're giving credit to the man who rescued you to the hospitals, to your mom, your dad, all of this. And he said, Robin, you know that you made yourself saveable, right? And like Justin, man, like that was like, damn. He's like, you made yourself saveable. Like you allowed yourself to be able to be in a position where you could receive help. You were able to do the work. And it was interesting after Mark said that to me when I was rereading a part of the passage of your book. That's what really came through for me as well is that like Justin, you did the work. Like you made yourself saveable. You made yourself to be able to learn, to grow, heal, to level up, to skill up. And now you're sharing your gifts so generously with other people. It's really cool to watch.

speaker-1: I mean, that gave me chills. That gave me chills. Cause I, I was, I mean, I tried everything I could think of and you're right. Like they're like the physical, you have like metrics, like time and zones and percentages. And, like the internal there's, don't, you don't have that. You don't, you don't know if you're, it's not a tangible progress. Like, like it is with the physical. That's why I love. Like working out, see the weights, you see the times, you see the measurements. ⁓ but that's, that was actually why I wrote that peak performance pyramid, just cause it's like the internal things that you're progressing in, but you can't really track like with metrics. And so that's why I just, really, tried to tangible make tangible eyes. try to make everything just as tangible and just be able to encourage. like, I mean, I'm serious. Like if I just see like just a little bit of improvement and. Even just encouragement. mean, people just need to be encouraged. It's, it's, it's, it's crazy because it's so many people aren't. then when you get just like a little bit momentum, it's, you can just, it really allows you to like compound and just encouraging you to be consistent. And cause it was, it was tough. couldn't like pinpoint, like I did this and this happened. It was just kind of like an accumulation of just being consistent. like you said, doing the work and I put in, I put, I did, I did as many as I could, as many as I could. just, wanted to fix myself as fast as possible. I was, I was desperate, desperate. that's, and that's like what you teach. And that's what people are able to, you know, once, once they can understand and just realize they're not like the only one, because I think that's another belief that

speaker-0: in the reps you put in the reps.

speaker-1: You know, I had and a lot of people had like nobody understands, like I'm the only one who feels this way. My experiences are only mine, so no one else can relate. And I think it just kind of boxes you in to, you know, to, guess, not let yourself be savable, like you, like you mentioned. And I was, ⁓ I mean, I was shooting. What is it like when the, when the ship's going down, they're like shooting, the flares in the sky. I was, I was doing that, but I just. I was, um, you know, I just didn't, it's like, you don't, you're so close to a breakthrough and you don't, there's no finish line inside or like shot clock that's going down. You're like, if I just last, I know you don't, you're not as excited about cold punches as me, but like, if it's like, uh, I'm a dude, I'm a dude, but you know, like,

speaker-0: You're a dude! You're like

speaker-1: There it's like, all right, I just got like three minutes. just got to last like 10 more seconds. like when you're experiencing something like that, there's no, there's no like finish line in sight. And you really just have to just like have faith and courage just to like keep going. And then, and then when it finally happens and you hit a breakthrough, it's like, ⁓ it's like, it's so worth it. And then I like in retrospect, I, I tell myself this, it's like, You know, once they're like, everything's, you know, I'm going to be okay no matter what. But how do I want to show up for myself when things are uncomfortable? Like, do I want to look back and be like, dude, I was like, you know, flying off the handle. was treating people bad. was like negative and pessimistic. Like, you know, I don't want to be like that during, during the test, you know, if that's what you want to call it.

speaker-0: Yeah, I love that perspective. Yeah, it's beautiful. you know, one of the things that it makes me think about is, you know, what you were saying about, like, you know, if you're physically, we can measure everything emotionally, it's hard to see when we're going to have a breakthrough or when we will have alignment or integration or whatever it is that we're striving for, even just peace, right? Acceptance, like all of those kinds of untangible and untangible, those things that we can't measure and hold. And what I think is so interesting is, as you said, there's no shock clock on mental anguish, right? Like we don't know when we're going to have, let's say a brighter day or an easier day or a moment where we get some reprieve. So it's harder and that mental endurance is often the part where people stumble and we get stuck in old stories. We get stuck in labels and we kind of start to develop that mindset and that attitude that really holds us back. And one of the small little measures that I have learned along the way is, especially with emotions, is being able to say, I handling this better than I would have yesterday? Am I handling this better than I would? And there are moments and situations, Justin, where I'm like, damn, I am handling that like so much better than I would have five years ago. Like five years ago, I would have been making horrible choices and now I'm doing it. And then there's also, I think, a wee bit of grace. where we also recognize our limitations with emotion. And what I mean by that, I shared this story recently. walked into, ⁓ Jax, my baller, my youngest one is the senior, we walked into a pretty big tournament and we walked in and I couldn't figure out what this other school was chanting, but it just got really loud, really fast when we walked in. And I recognized that they were yelling overrated and they're like, you know, overrated. And I was just like, what are they doing? And Jackson kind of looked at me he's like, mom, it's no big deal. And I'm like, are they chanting overrated about you? And I, in that moment, Justin, I literally said to the mom that was sitting beside me, I am not evolved enough right now to handle this. Like emotionally, I am not evolved enough as a parent to have a hundred kids screaming at my kid. And anyway, so I texted Hunter, his older brother, who's off at university. And I'm just like, I am not coping in this moment. He's like, mom, what's happening? And I said, we just walked into the gym. They all started chanting overrated about your brother. And I am not evolved enough. And I'm like, I'm just really not coping right now. And Hunter said, let me talk to Jack's. put Jack's on speaker. So of course I'm like holding up the phone awkwardly, Justin. And Hunter said, dude, are they chanting overrated at you? And Jackson's like, yeah, yeah, man, they are. And he's like, do you know their names? And Jackson's like, no, I have no idea who they are. He's like, but damn, they know who you are. And I was just like, yes, exactly. was just like, ⁓ the power of a 21 year old brother. And, and, and what I, the reason I share that Justin is the fact that as we learn and grow, we also recognize sometimes we might not have the right, that moment might not be available to us to react how we want to, our emotions get really big, but knowing when to ask for help and knowing who your people are. Right. Like I knew in that moment, my anchor was to reach out to Hunter.

speaker-1: Damn.

speaker-0: even though he was hundreds of miles away in that moment, I knew he would be able to help manage this moment. And I'd be able to show up in a way that obviously like was, you I can make it through. ⁓ so again, I think part of the evolution with our emotional side is I would have never made that call five years ago, right? Like I would have, I would have stood, I would have got myself in a tizzy or whatever you want to call it. So again, it's just learning different ways and knowing ourselves well enough to know when we need help. and knowing what that looks like. And it's not going to be the same in every situation.

speaker-1: Yeah, that's, that's so cool. Cause the older brother, he like saw it like as a positive thing and not like a negative, a negative deal. I think I heard Chris Williams say on his podcast, somebody is a quote from someone like, I'm not, I'm not impressed with your booze because I know what makes you cheer. And it's, it's like, ⁓ I noticed like, if you, it's like a intentional like seeing I mean, like you were saying, like with the attitude and the optimism, it's like, you know, how, do I want to show up right now? Like if people, if this is like the crowd's reaction or someone else's reaction, like, you know, it was cool that the Hunter is your oldest one. Yeah. It was, it was cool that he like saw that as like a good thing instead of like a negative thing. ⁓ yeah. And then he.

speaker-0: Right, that perspective, powerful.

speaker-1: Yeah. And he, was like in a state where he could, like he wasn't, he wasn't there and emotionally involved, you know, so he was, you know, able to be like more, more rational. Cause I know like when you're there and it's, it's emotional and you're in it. I mean, it's, it's easy. It's easier to get like triggered and like reactive. so it was, so it's, mean, that's just an awesome example, just to like, you know, what you look for is kind of like what you. what you see, and fortunately.

speaker-0: Awesome. So just to change gears for a moment, in when you are supporting people, like with their physical wellbeing and all of these different things, is there a particular like athlete or person that you love to work with the most? Like, is there ⁓ a type of person or a type of goal that you really love to work with people in that area?

speaker-1: I mean, I'm biased towards like the freestyle motocross guys. I, you know, but I, I love working with, you know, motocross. And then I even have like a couple of women that I'm working with just for like general fitness and, know, whether it's like gut health, thyroid, but I also really like the physical is cool. And to me, that's just easy. That's conveniently, it was like my default cause my parents were, you know, fit. And so I just, you know, it was just easy for me, but. I really like working like mentally with emotional and identity, identity stuff. have a client in Spain of all places and it was cool because he's younger than me and he would experience similar reactions instead of, you know, taking like responses. He was just reactive to like the weather, his bike braking, ⁓ just didn't trust himself. You know, like, what should I do? What should I do? And it was, it was cool just cause it's like, you know, think the education and stuff is great, but when you've experienced it, you're like kind of in their shoes ⁓ and you can, you can help navigate, navigate the waters better. And so that's just, what's been really neat is just like, I mean, it's so cool. Like when somebody wins. that I'm working with, it's like, win. It's like, I'm like, ⁓ my gosh, that's like, it's so cool. And then also like just seeing them progress like, you know, over the weeks or months. And so it's just super, super rewarding. And that's, I think that's, you know, the most excitement that I get, you know, in what I do. I love it. I love it.

speaker-0: And what I see in what you're sharing and celebrating other people's wins, Justin, like, you you were a PE teacher, right? You love progression. Like you love setting people up. it's, education is also continues to be part of your story, even though, you know, it might not look the same as it did years ago in the classroom. Like you're, you're, you're making like life classroom and you're just helping people learn the tools and the skills to be able to hit their goals, which is really remarkable.

speaker-1: Yeah. Well, what, what made me want to be a teacher? was subbing after college and this one girl, I think it was like in middle school, she was like, needed to learn like the seasons of the year. And I like taught her like, yeah, spring, summer. And then she like wrote it down and she's like, okay, spring, summer, winter, the fall. And I was like, and my grandma pointed it out. She's like, she's going to know that like forever just because she like taught her that I'm like, ⁓ my gosh. Like, and so it was like, You know, just the connection, cause you don't, you don't realize, ⁓ like Andy Stanley, he had a really good YouTube video, just kind of like the butterfly effect of just like, you know, every action and words you speak and things you do like has meaning and you don't really see like the trajectory and the impact that happens over time. And so instead of, you know, working specifically with students at a guy from the gym, ⁓ this week, I told him what I'm doing. He's like, ⁓ it sounds like you're working with. the adults that didn't pass your PE class now. like, I, I, guess I, guess I am. I guess I am. I know I never made that connection either. so yeah, so it's, it's like, ⁓ cool. So it's, it's just really rewarding just to be able to, guess, I mean, of course you don't always see like the impact you have and, you know, people usually, I mean, it's kind of like, Like, ⁓ people don't really, they don't really open up like, man, like you really like help me in that area and stuff. mean, you don't really know, but when you, you know, are lucky and fortunate enough to actually like see like your impact on people, it's like, ⁓ man, that's like so cool. So it's, it's almost like you have to trust yourself and have faith that, you know, what I'm doing, I'm doing the best I can and, know, not really be dependent on, you know, if they're able to, you know, pick it up and apply it or, but just know that you, I mean, you're really only in control of like, you know, what you can do, but when you see the result, it's like so much more rewarding for sure.

speaker-0: I wish other people understood how fun it is to cheer for other people. Like I have like a very small group of friends that are literally like my hype squad, right? Like they're literally like people who, and it doesn't even matter, Justin, if I say like the most unhinged thing, right? Jill is going to back me up and she goes, yes, sister, like you are good at like, just, how fun it is to cheer for other people. And I think that's why we love to watch sports so much, obviously, like we're cheering for other people, but It's easy for us to cheer for, well, it's not easy to cheer for the Cowboys as a Cowboys fan, but we try really, real hard. It's fun to cheer for people that we don't know. But one of the invitations that I often share with folks is cheer for people you do know. Get so excited about other people's progressions, like the little wins, the micro moments. Because when you start, I think creating that energy and those relationships, And I love the fact that, people, know, they, you know, I don't think of it as bragging when people call me up and be like, Hey, Robin, I just landed that huge client. Thank you for that little pep talk. And it's like, damn, yes, you did. Right. Like, of course you got that. And I really love the feeling of cheering for people in our own world, in our own systems. And again, I see so often, especially in corporate work that the people at the top are collaborating and cheering for each other. And at the people at the bottom are competing. Right? Like people who get it, they are collaborators. They want you to win. They want everyone in your circle to win. Whereas the people that are at the bottom competing against each other, I've learned that those just aren't really my people. Right? Like that just doesn't feel good. That energy doesn't feel very helpful. And I just would love people listening to our conversation today to be like asking yourself, like, where can you cheer so loud and encourage people in your everyday circles. And maybe it's clients, of course, even just like even cheering up, right? Cheering for our parents or just really encouraging people to step into big bold dreams. one of my favorite questions, just that I love to ask people since the new book came out was, what are you hoping for right now? And asking people, because I believe everyone's got hopes and dreams on their heart. And after they kind of think about it and just yesterday I was talking to a parent and she's hoping that her daughter gets accepted into this particular college. And after she told me that I said, my follow-up question, Destin was, may I hope with you? And just for a minute, we just like held this moment. And again, wasn't woo woo, it literally was science in the sense of collective hope shared. We know actually outperforms a lot of other type of intervention programs. It's just, yeah, that's what's coming top of mind. And I love that you get so excited for your clients, for your teammates. And I just think that's something we can bring into lots of different places in our lives.

speaker-1: 100%, 100%, I think, especially with, you know, seeing like what you can encourage people doing. But I mean, even, even with myself, I had to see like the little things that I could encourage myself with. Like, you know, I showed up today, I didn't sleep in, I ate this meal right. You know, I went to the gym, like it's, it's not just so outcome outcome based. But I mean, seeing that for other people, but also just you know, have having the self compassion to, you know, do that for yourself. But I mean, are you, are you asking me what I'm hoping for? ⁓

speaker-0: As we're to land this plane, Justin, that is literally what I'm asking. What is Justin hoping for these days?

speaker-1: Yeah, that's, that's a great question. And I think other people could ask themselves that too. I really just want to be proud of how I show up for myself and for other people. Not, you know, dependent on, you know, can I reach, you know, hundreds, thousands or whatever, but just genuinely being authentic to myself and to be able to. be authentic for other people too, instead of just dependent on, you know, what my vice was, was external validation and good enough and all that. just being able to, I just hope I can look back and be proud of how I'm showing up today.

speaker-0: Well, I am hoping for you for that. And I see you doing that every day. You're doing that in your social feeds, but you're also doing it in terms of the examples that you are setting. So I will continue to hope with you for that, my friend. And is there, that's a beautiful answer, by the way. Like, thank you. Is there one like little nugget, like behind that answer that you're really hoping for? Like even if it's something like little, like, is there something that you're hoping for that's specific?

speaker-1: That's a good question. I didn't rehearse this. You know, I, just, yeah. Just.

speaker-0: Yeah. ⁓ Judgment no pressure

speaker-1: That is, that is really good. That is really good. think just being proud of myself and loving myself, despite, despite the money, the fame, the status, not just, just being able to love myself and be proud of myself. Cause that was, it sounds, it may sound elementary, but that was, that was really difficult for me.

speaker-0: It's not elementary. It's the piece, right? It's the piece of being able that missing piece that I think so many people don't have that degree of self-awareness to realize that they're, know, an expression that we often use is that you'll never have enough of what you don't need. So like we don't need that social approval. So there'll never be enough of it because it's actually not what we need. And there's these holes essentially in our hearts or in our psyche where we will constantly be trying to pour into these things and we'll never have enough of what we don't need. And the reality is we don't need that external validation. It's nice, sure, but it's not a need. It's more of a want. It's not a need. And the stuff that is genuine and real and like literally like the stuff that's been part of the human condition since, know, since we got here or how we are here, it's the real stuff. And that's the stuff when you get it, we feel like it's enough. So.

speaker-1: Definitely and being and being able to see like what she said because I I chased the carrot, you know, and then when you realize that Did you already have the carrot? Yeah, like it's it's it's an illusion It's an illusion. And so I mean that was just something that just hit me the last couple weeks So I'm like, man, I just want to just keep you know Keep this perspective and attitude and just stay keep evolving and progressing and enjoy the enjoy the process

speaker-0: love everything about that. Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Justin, for joining me today. This has been a trip. hope we can get you back. I've been looking forward to this conversation since we connected. again, thank you. ⁓ I'll make sure to put all of the links to your material and to your books and to your website and your socials in our show notes so people can learn more about your work and Again, maybe there's some young motocross spurs out there that are just like, want to hear all of more about that side of it so they can find you. ⁓ And again, just thank you for just showing up for your vulnerability, for your strength, and just for you being you, the world needs way more Justin. So thank you.

speaker-1: That's a compliment. Thank you sincerely. That means a lot.

speaker-0: Awesome. Thank you for spending time with me on this episode of Life by Design. I appreciate if you have a moment to pay this forward, share it with someone who you think might benefit from the ideas shared in this episode. If you're feeling so inspired, please also rate and review the podcast wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Again, thank you for listening. Thank you for your time. Take good care and I'll see you next time.