[Transcript starts at 1:41]
What up, my homies. Welcome back to another episode of My Favorite Podcast. Right off the bat, thank you. I've been asking for some reviews, testimonials, those kinds of things, the stars, and you've been doing it. So thank you. I think the most recent one is PT Mommy 12. You frickin rock. So if you want to leave one, awesome.
If you've already left one, double, triple, quadruple awesome. Uh, but you folks are the best. All right. Just absolutely the best and I'm truly grateful. So today's episode inspired by my girl Holly. Uh, I was doing Instagram Live. I love doing Instagram Lives. It's probably one of my, one of my best ones, one of my favorite ones that I've done in a bit.
And Holly, she is Holly Empowered on the Instagrams, asked a question that's basically like, Hey, Maestro, you say that you have no bad days now, which I honestly, I don't, uh, but was there a time when you did? And if so, you know, how'd you get through them? I think this is a fantastic question because, quite frankly, happiness and joy,
I think that some of us are more predisposed to it and more inclined to it, and we're inclined to them, and it's a bit more, you know, ingrained in our, our disposition, but they are absolutely choices. So there's a phenomenal question, and then I gave a really long winded answer, which I'll explain now as well, but Holly summarized it by saying, oh, got it.
Diversify your joy portfolio. And I was like, yeah. Yes, that's exactly it. You said it in 10 seconds. Took me about 15 minutes to answer this, but that is exactly it. So yes, I, I, or no, I do not have bad, you know, bad days in where they're just like get me down and I get stuck in them. And I attribute this to the fact that I have so many ways to get out of it.
I have so many things to draw from. that bring me joy, that bring me happiness. That yes, I need to look for those things, but it's much easier. All right? If you put signs all over your room, I don't know, put post its all over your room, it's much easier to see them. You don't have to really look, you just turn your head like, there's one, there's one, there's one.
Whereas if you keep it like in the bottom of like a drawer, and like, yeah, maybe I said that word weird, I don't care. Uh, but you put it like in the bottom somewhere, like the bottom of a bin, then suddenly you're like, where the fuck is a post it? I gotta go look over there, and like, ah, Jesus. Is it even there still?
Maybe I moved it, I don't remember. But if you literally have them all over, they're just, you've pasted them on the floor, on the ceiling, on every single wall, maybe over, you know, some on top of the windows, it's impossible to not see them. And one of the things that I've pulled from my movement background is a carry over, carry over is very real.
Yeah, specificity is helpful, uh, but we cannot overemphasize or overstate the value. And the reality of carryover, meaning you do something in one area, and yeah, that shit carries over into another area. You train one thing, and yes, that carries over into another area. Like, that's, you know, one of the biggest things we're seeing against, uh, specificity for young kids, right?
Like, let them become athletes, not a sport specific athlete. We see less of the overtraining, we see less of the burnout, we see less injuries. And these kids can go on to become, you know, great athletes. athletes later in life, but they don't need to start and specialize super early. So that's exactly what happened.
And what I've done with joy and happiness, right? I have found different, you know, found, created, highlighted, stuck on my wall, different ways, different things that bring me joy. And this way, if something is not going well in one area, I can lean on another area and that carries over and I'm like, okay, I'm good again.
I'm not just going to focus on this one thing. This was something that actually came up in the dinner, uh, the mafia dinner with, uh, Winnie Linkvick. And for those of you wondering about the mafia, the doors are not open. I'm going to be opening them up soon. Uh, but I say this in a previous episode, if you're looking for a community and you're like, you know, Maestro, you've been talking about a bunch, you're looking for community and you don't want to wait, text me.
Okay. 3 1 0 7 3 7 2 3 4 5. Text me. I'll send you the registration page and the password for it. You can check it out. You don't have to sign up this way, this way you can, at least this way, you can check it out. Um, but I will be doing a, a, an official, uh, opening soon, but since you're my people, I have no problem giving you early access to that.
Um, but this came up in the dinner with, uh, one of the most recent dinners with, uh, with Winnie. Uh, and it's something I talked about in one of the emails I sent out to that crew before. Now, the importance of finding value and validation, self validation in multiple things, right? I see nothing wrong with having your, you know, I don't want to say your worth, but finding a lot of validation in your work, or from your work, or from sports.
I see nothing wrong with it. The problem is when that's your only source of validation, when something goes wrong, You kind of screwed and you just stay in that dark place because you got nothing to pull you out. Whereas if you find validation in your work, but in all different parts of your work, right?
Where, so for me, work is like, let's say Instagram. So now I have sales, sales are fun. That's definitely very validating. But I have my emails and people that respond to my emails. I have my mafia, I have my intensive, I have my Insta fam. I have my DMs, I have the posts that I do, the content that I create, the different types of content that I create, my IG lives, and suddenly I can draw from any of these things if one thing isn't going really well, right?
So if the algorithm, Jesus Christ, people be so stuck on that fucking algorithm. But if the algorithm is not treating you well and your posts aren't doing well, all right, well, that's not the best thing, but how are your sales doing? How's your email opening rate? Are people writing back to you? How are your DMs?
You can look at these other things, and if when you look at these other things you're like, shit, they're all doing bad, well now you know, you gotta start diversifying. And you gotta start working on these other things and putting effort and energy and attention into these other things, one of the, one thing at a time.
So as it relates to joint success, it's the exact same. I opted to use more of a tangible, like a business example, but with joy and happiness, it's no different. And it may require some really big moves on your part. And that was huge for me, you know, moving to California. I don't have bad days now, and I will say largely in part to where I live.
When I was in New York, it was really, really tough because when work would be overwhelming, right, I always loved my clients. I mean, we all have some bad ones, but for the most part, I loved what I did, and people were so good to me, but the weather was shit. And it was cold and it was dark and the hours that I was working.
So then I'd be, I'd walk to work and it was dark and I'd leave work and it was dark. And during the day, it was kind of dark because the buildings are really tall. And so for me, that made it really difficult to be like, okay, well, work is tough, but like I had these things outside of it. One of the things that helped me out there was Crossfit.
All right. Doing things outside of work and, and. actively choosing to go and do, find and do things outside of work. So I started, you know, training for the marathon, uh, the New Xtreme Marathon, did that twice. Or once we ran it in Central, in Prospect Park cause, uh, what was the name of that? Hurricane, uh, Sandy hit and just, that was bad.
Uh, so that got postponed, but we ran it in the park and then we ran it officially the next year. But I had, uh, And then CrossFit came, but it was definitely more difficult for me because I didn't have as many outlets. And then I got into, I got in with Rock Tape and the traveling for that. Became a really good joy outlet and joy opportunity.
Uh, and I had social media. Uh, not for a bit, you know, in the beginning when I first started working I didn't, but then 2014 I started using social media and fell in love with it. And that's honestly why, likely one of the reasons why I doubled down on it because I did find so much joy in it. And while I would be like, you know, not as happy at work all the time, or feeling kind of stressed out, I knew I had this other thing to lift me up and lift me out of that.
So yes, it may take some radical responsibility and some bigger steps. I, I moved across the country. I left my PT job and went out on my own. Thanks to, you know, I say one of my own, uh, but just meaning I wasn't working for someone else, but I had people helping me, absolutely. You know, renting space from my friend, shout out to Peter Huang.
Just that dude is awesome. It's incredible. Actually, uh, Courtney, if you could leave, if you could link that episode, um, I recorded with him right in kind of during Rona and we're talking about, you know, starting a clinic and having a clinic. He just hit seven years, I believe, of having it, of having reset PT, which is fricking incredible.
So if you are thinking about starting any kind of brick and mortar practice, any kind of, uh, you know, hybrid model or anything like that, that is an episode to check out. And he is a phenomenal, phenomenal resource. For that, especially, you know, he's making it in New York city, so high overhead, uh, and he's doing the thing.
So I, I didn't go at it alone per se, but I just didn't have a boss, but was able to create ways and, and differ, diversify the things that brought me joy and the things that I could lean on to find joy when, you know, wasn't going so great in one. It is very, it's a lot easier now, I believe, because literally it's like having post its all over my room.
I can literally look outside my window. I'm looking out right now. I'm looking outside the office window. And I can see a palm tree. It's not like directly in front of the, in front of the window. Like I have this kind of ugly, uh, pole here with all the, like the telephone wires. But at my like 11 o'clock, there's a palm tree.
And I can see that. And that lights me up. Three miles from where I live is the beach. I go to volleyball and this is why I'm, you know, I freaking love it. Working on my jump serve, folks. I don't know how many of you care, but I care. And today we had some contact. I, I am a very excitable player. I jump early, I swing early, miss the ball sometimes.
It happens. Uh, But today was a good day. And so I have all these things that I can find joy in the people that I play volleyball with my, again, my online community, my, uh, the DMS, the content that I get to create the email that I get to emails that I get to send out and read from you folks, you know, Uh, the podcast, that is an outlet, that is a great source of joy.
All right, even though it's kind of one sided, I know that's why I continue to ask for you to, you folks to text me and thank you for any, you know, when you post in, on Instagram that you've listened and things like that, because it is very, very unidirectional. All right, I got a Rupert. As he is just like a fricking gigantic source of joy and just so much comfort from that guy so much.
I put so many areas in business and then I have my gym downstairs. If I'm having a not so good day, I can go downstairs and do bicep curls and I know I'm going to feel better. I already know. Cause I have something that brings me joy definitely and I'm in full control of it. There's no external factors there of like, Oh, I gotta, you know, wait for a reply from someone or anything like that.
I have all of these things that are very much. Many of them, not all of them, but many of them that are in my control. And I can lean on any one of those. So this way, if I am having a down day, I am having an off day, right? Because sometimes it usually happens more so with volleyball. If I have a bad volleyball day, I'm like, fuck man, I'm in the dumps.
But I can go and DM my, my Insta fam. I can go to my mafia. I can go and, you know, I'm in the Mimigi season right now, teaching the intensive, about to wrap it up. I love those Tuesday nights. At least they literally set my soul on fire. I freaking love it. I can hang out with Rupi. I play for he plays fetch.
Sometimes he does bring it back, and it's more me just fucking walking around the house getting the thing that I'm throwing, but when he does decide to play, it's great. I love my apartment. I renovated my office because, because of that. I was like, you know, I'm in here all the time now. Like I don't travel for work anymore, so I dropped some dinero, and I got new shelving, and I got my high low desk.
It's not a high low desk, that is such a PT thing, I just said a high low desk. I don't even know what it's called anymore, but the desk that can go up and down. For those wondering, I went with Uplift, they didn't give me a, you know, code, I don't have anything from that, I just looked at a bunch and I was like, okay, I like this one.
Uh, I just bought a new glass, um, A humongous glass whiteboard. I'm all about whiteboards. I have one on my desk right now. I have one that's double sided and it's like, I don't know, three feet by four feet. But it stands in the ground and I want to open up that floor space. So I got a glass one that is four foot by six foot.
It is huge. And so I'm hiring someone to hang that because I do not trust myself and I knew when to outsource. I know my limits. So, you know, I got this plant. Rupert kind of, man, he's kind of all up in that plant. But. I changed my backdrop, my, my wall, I finally hung up all my, I hung up my degrees, or I guess I didn't hang up my degrees, I hung up the diplomas, I hung up my, uh, trademarks, I have six trademarks, shout out to hashtag legal for helping me out with that.
And I can just look at it, I bought a maestro green chair. I have a winged back chair because I'm old, I'm an old man, uh, but I made this environment, you know, again, it's putting those post its all over the wall, those happiness post its, those joy post its all over the wall where it's like, you can't, you can't miss it.
I can't help but see it because it's ever like, Oh, look, there's some joy. Oh, look, there's some joy. Oh, look, there's some more joy. So it's very hard for me to have a bad day because I have made it easy to see the things And to experience the things that bring me joy. No, it doesn't happen overnight. And yes, it was one of the first things I said in this episode, it is a choice.
I chose, I put the things in place to move across the country, put the things in place to leave that job that was really draining for me. You know, I actively chose to change the things in my office. I chose to, you know, uh, what do I want to say, uh, organize my schedule such that. You know, my happiness comes first and I go to volleyball and I make sure I get my other stuff done during the other times.
I chose to invest in my home gym and use the funds for that. Chose to invest in my home office. Chose to take on some responsibility and get a cat. I don't even like traveling anymore because I'm like, but what about Rupert? I don't think he fucking misses me, but I think he misses me a little bit. He gets a little bit weird when I come back, but uh, You know, these are all choices, happiness and joy is a choice.
Uh, shout out to my girl, Stephanie Hein, we were talking about this and I do believe that some people are definitely more predisposed to it for sure, but you still have to continue to actively choose it. You still have to actively, you know, put yourself in a position such that it's easier to see. All right.
I'm reminded of a quote. I'm going to butcher it, but the sentiment is from, uh, Well, the quote that I can't remember is from James Clear. Um, I believe it's in his book, Atomic Habits. And I think I saw an excerpt, maybe it's in his 321 emails on Thursdays. I don't know, but basically it was just saying that, uh, people who are successful at something, oftentimes it's not that they have the most willpower.
It's that they have set themselves up for success by removing the things that would require, would require, would require. That would require them to have willpower. He said it, you know, way more succinctly there. Obviously, brevity isn't my strong suit. Uh, but to reiterate those folks who saw success with certain things, it wasn't that they exerted the most willpower or had the most willpower, it's that they put themselves, they actively chose to put themselves in positions that didn't require them to have as much willpower.
So if you're like, you know. Again, food and stuff is way outside my wheelhouse, but if you're like, man, I don't want to eat potato chips, don't fucking buy them. It's literally that simple. Like, if you have them in your house and you have to have willpower, you can't be like, I'm gonna buy them, but I'm only gonna have like one a day.
No, you're not. We already know, right? Pringles told you. It literally tells you. There's a warning. It says once you pop, you can't stop. We have no one to blame but yourself. They literally warned you. So, don't pop. Don't buy it. Don't put yourself in that situation where you have to exert this kind of willpower, the whole sentiment there really being, you know, creating that environment that sets you up for success.
Put all of those joy post its all around your room. And you're going to have to actively choose to do that and actively, you know, set that up and make decisions such that you have more joy. more joy post its, right? You've diversified that joy portfolio, right? And then you hang those things up and you can see them everywhere.
If this is something that's super foreign to you, and maybe your disposition isn't one such that you, you know, are inclined to, to joy, but maybe you've been told you're not supposed to have it. I don't know. I don't know how you grew up, but that means in the beginning, you're going to have to make more of a concerted effort and you're going to have to truly celebrate, right?
You're going to have to take more active measures to focus on the successes and the joys and seek them out because you're, you know, again, your previous position may be to like focus on the bad stuff. All right. Well, if your goal is to get through those, those bad days, cause they do happen or there's down days that do happen, you have to actively set yourself up to succeed.
More joy post its. Hang them all around your room so you can't help but see them. And then you celebrate them, right? When you experience it, when you see it, you celebrate it. You express gratitude for it. That's why you see me all the time on Instagram just being like, I love this. I love where I live. I love that palm tree and take a picture of that palm tree.
I love that I can play beach volleyball. I'm going to be where my feet are. I'm going to truly enjoy that moment. You build on that and suddenly. It becomes way, way, way easier to get through those down days. Right? I do believe, I'm looking at my little, wait, I do believe that is all that I got for you next week.
We got the one and only James Olivia coming back on the podcast for a Monday long episode. Remember I only do two of those a month. Um, and I love it. I love that we've dropped it down to two. It seems like it's way more digestible for you folks. It's way easier for me to create them and stay ahead of them, uh, and not feel stressed out about it.
So it seems like a win win, but we got James Olivia back. Uh, we recorded that episode, I don't know, a week or two ago. And, oh gosh, just. It always lights me up to, to speak with them and just learn from them, listen to them and gain insight about myself from them. I really respect the work that they have done on themselves.
Uh, and when I see that, I'm way more apt and way more open to listening to thoughts about me. All right. If someone's like, I'm like, you haven't done the fucking work. I don't want to hear what you have to say about me. Go work on yourself. Uh, but James Olivia is in it and just a thinker and got to hear about their background and just, uh, So freaking good.
I'm incredibly stoked for that episode. So make sure you tune into that one. That one will drop Monday. What's the date? Uh, May 17th. Uh, don't forget. On the 20th, May 20th, uh, that is the PESI Women's Health Summit. So we will link that again, Courtney, thank you. We'll link that again in the show notes. Uh, I had Celestie on, Celestie Roofs on, on Monday the 3rd for episode 295.
You can check that out as well to hear all about it. I'm actually the keynote speaker. I am stoked for that. So that's the upcoming, uh, uh, Next week, right? 17th we got J O, and on 20th we got the Women's Health, excuse me, the PESI Women's Health Summit, and yes, there will be a replay. Alright, officially wrapping it up.
Super grateful for the, the reviews and the likes, the stars and such. Really, really appreciate you being so receptive and, and taking action on that, so thank you. Anything else? Nope, I do believe that is officially a wrap. It as always endlessly appreciative for every single one of you. Until next time friends, Maestro out.
MOTM #212: Weathering The Storm: Owning A Physical Therapy Practice During Coronavirus With Dr. Peter Hwang
PESI Women’s Health Summit
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