Why Everyone is an Athlete: Dr. Rob Bell's Revolutionary Take on Mental Toughness

Have you ever wondered how professionals like Steph Curry and the Manning family achieve greatness?

Unlock the secrets of mental toughness and resilience as we sit down with Dr. Rob Bell, a renowned sports psychology coach.

Imagine experiencing a life-altering fall that completely redirects your career path from athletics to psychology. Dr. Rob takes us through this pivotal moment and shares his philosophy that mental toughness is "caught" rather than taught.

You'll learn how to adopt an athletic mindset in your daily life, whether you're a stay-at-home parent or a tech entrepreneur, and how the principles of preparation, handling losses, and competition can be universally applied.

Dr. Rob and I discuss the importance of mastering the fundamentals through small, consistent efforts. We emphasize the power of taking full responsibility for your effort and attitude and the significance of structured daily routines to eliminate time-wasters. From ultra-marathon training to overcoming life's hurdles, we delve into the crucial balance between urgency and patience and how your relationship with time directly impacts your stress levels and experiences.

Lastly, we explore the transformative power of "hinge moments"—those critical events that shape our lives. Dr. Rob shares compelling stories of individuals who turned personal tragedies into remarkable achievements, illustrating the profound impact of resilience.

Tune in for an engaging conversation filled with actionable insights that can help you become mentally tougher and more resilient personally and professionally.

Connect with Rob at:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube

Chapters

• 0:08 Mental Toughness and Human Performance
• 7:35 Philosophy of Athletic Improvement
• 18:29 Value of Time and Patience
• 32:25 Effective Time Management and Reflection
• 37:36 Lessons From Hinge Moments

Transcript

Dai Manuel: 0:08

Welcome back to another episode of the 2% Solution podcast with your host Diamond. Well, that's me. Today, we have a truly exceptional guest joining us, dr Rob Bell. He's not just any sports psychology coach. He's a mentor to athletes of all kinds, from corporate executives to professional champions. Dr Rob's passion for mental toughness and resilience has not only shaped his career, but has also impacted countless lives. With eight yes, I said eight books under his belt, including the latest, I Can't Wait to Be Patient. Dr Rob is here to share his invaluable insights on patience, the power of time and what it truly means to be mentally tough I mean we hear that expression all the time.

Dai Manuel: 0:56

But what really mean? Stay tuned as we dive into life-changing moments and stories that inspire you to find your own 2% solution. And with that let's get to the interview. Welcome back to the 2% Solution Podcast. I'm Diamond. While you're hosting today, I'm super stoked. We get to talk to an amazing individual, but also he's got some really cool philosophies around human performance, life, athleticism, ah, just even around time and time, concept of time and how we relate to time and uh. So I want to welcome to the show dr rob bell yeah, thanks time.

Dr. Rob Bell: 1:36

I appreciate it put on a great show, two percent, so it's great man well, thank you and listen it.

Dai Manuel: 1:43

Listen, it's all about those small incremental steps and I know you totally get that. You talk about the compounding effect, you talk about the power of this, micro commitments, but being consistent and frequent enough to see the changes through, and I know that's a big part of how you support people professionally, personally and everything in between. And so I was wondering, I thought the best place to begin, because I know you do a lot around sports psychology and I'm really curious, you know, can you give us a quick overview of your journey to why to choose to specialize in that of all things?

Dr. Rob Bell: 2:14

Sure man, I say, like mental toughness, it's not always taught, but it is caught. And even going down the field of sports psychology I was. I mean, sports was my entire life and I got to school and college and I kind of got off on the wrong path. I was going down the wrong path and when you get down the wrong path you stay on it until you can find another path. Well, what had happened was a hinge moment and I'd fallen off an 80-foot cliff. It was laying at the bottom of this crevasse, had a crammy up out of it, fractured back, broken arm, gaping head wound, but you know I was alive man. So it's like, but boom, hinge moment because baseball was then no longer going to be part of the equation in my life and it was that that the next semester, still in a lot of pain physically and mentally.

Dr. Rob Bell: 3:03

But I took the first psychology class I ever had in my life and it was tattooed in my heart that this is what I want to do with my life, man. It's just working with athletes, coaches and teams on the mental game and sports psychology, because I was the athlete that always thought way too much right. I was stuck inside my head and I was the athlete that coaches hated because I was an all or nothing Like. I was stuck inside my head and I was the. I was the athlete that coaches hated because I was an all or nothing athlete. I was either the best, like things were great, or I was the worst. There was no in between, and when I took that class, that's when the journey started and that's what I mean it was caught. You know, I didn't really pick it. Uh, it kind of picked me and I felt a blessing in that regards that. That's, that's the path I was going to do.

Dai Manuel: 3:46

I love it. I love it. Well, I guess it just probably leads into a little bit of the conversation, cause I know there's a lot to unpack there, cause obviously that that was a very pivotal. I love how you say it's a hinge moment. I love that it's a. I just love that that the idea of that that engine cause it's still attached right where pivot sometimes incorporates a very different concept when you sort of follow it through. So I really appreciate that.

Dr. Rob Bell: 4:10

Yeah, every door has a hinge Ty. You know a door without a hinge is a wall man. It just doesn't work.

Dai Manuel: 4:16

Unless you want to crash right through it, right, but that's another thing entirely. Well, let's talk about this, because I think this sort of plays. You sort of alluded to this mental toughness piece, not only your own mental toughness, but now also how you support others in this area of sports psychology and life psychology, and I know you refer to everyone as an athlete. So can you talk about that? Because I love this. I think it's just such a cool philosophy and such a neat concept, and I'd love for the audience to really get a feel for yeah, absolutely man.

Dr. Rob Bell: 4:47

But like a long time. You know, if I'd be presenting to executives working with them, they would automatically just come up front say, well, I'm not an athlete and you know, and I'm sure that. And then it made me just think I was like, yeah, you are an athlete, you know, and that's what I believe. I believe everyone's an athlete. Your office is just different. Because what does it mean to be an athlete? And as an athlete, we all prepare way more than we play. And if you put more preparation into your actual performance, then you're going to be an athlete. In life we're going to have more losses than we do wins, right, we're going to have more of these incremental losses just to get to that win. So I think if we have more losses than wins, then you're going to be an athlete. And then the one main reason why I think everyone's an athlete or office is just different, is because we compete.

Dr. Rob Bell: 5:34

And when we compete, sometimes you might think about an opponent, but there's a way more difficult opponent. You and I both know this, right. This opponent knows our strengths and our weaknesses, knows our hurts, hangups and headaches, knows everything about us. So try to beat somebody in a one-on-one basketball if they already know what you're going to do. And that's who we're competing against is our own mind, and in our own mind, the reason why we're all competing against is because it just tries to keep us safe. That's it. It does a remarkable job at it. Right? Just stay safe. So anytime that we get uncomfortable whether it's going to be in a personal situation or relationship, working out, training, whatever it is it just wants to stay safe. That's who you're competing against and you got those three components like in your life where you have to perform at any level then you're going to be an athlete, it's just. Your office is going to be a little bit different, and that's the way I look at it.

Dai Manuel: 6:32

And so when you say office, you're referring to just what you do in life.

Dr. Rob Bell: 6:37

Is that what your office looks like? I mean, when I get to work with PGA Tour pros, I'm out there on the PGA Tour Boy. Let with pj tour pros, I'm out there on the pj tour boy. Let me tell you that is a great office, because that is that is, pristine golf courses, beautiful areas in life. So it's like what you want your office to look like.

Dr. Rob Bell: 6:53

So if I'm working with the swim team or working with swimmers, then I'm there at the natatorium uh, basketball team, it's going to be, you know, gymnasium, but you know, a lot of the times I mean, this might be the office, might be a cubicle that we're at, but it's like you get to define what your mental space kind of looks like. And that's what I mean in terms of what your actual office is. And that's what I'm always encouraging people, whatever field you're going to be going into, pick your office. And you got to know what your office wants to look like. Because, yeah, man, you want to be on the beach, being able to make money right, residual income. I'm like that's a great, that's a great office, and so that's why I kind of look at that man in terms of what your office looks like.

Dai Manuel: 7:35

So how would this differ, say, for a stay-at-home dad, right, yep, right, yep, versus, maybe that I don't know like a founder of a tech company Right To you know that? Like, I mean non typical what we think of an athlete, right, and I'm curious like what? Where is the parallel there? How are you inviting them to look at themselves as athletes? Because I can imagine how people would say listen, I'm not an athlete.

Dai Manuel: 8:06

I get that, I've heard people reference that, but I think athletes are often made right. I mean, there's a mental piece I'm sure you can speak to. What's the DNA of a competitive athlete, especially if you're talking about people on the PGA Tour. I mean there's a certain amount of work and effort and commitment that's gone into getting to that level. But I I love for you to just sort of describe, I mean, how can we see ourselves as athletes, no matter the office that we're in? Like? Do you know what I mean like that, that stay-at-home dad, because I I'm connected to a lot of dads in those groups right now I hear that all the time, right, but they'll slowly, and once you prod them enough, right?

Dai Manuel: 8:43

it's amazing that they'll point fingers at everything outside of themselves besides themselves. Right Like that. That radical accountability piece, yeah, I live, you know so please go ahead, go ahead.

Dr. Rob Bell: 8:52

I think that's that's probably like the key to me with great athletes that's what I see, man is they take full responsibility for their. You know, sometimes their results are out of our control, but they take full responsibility for their effort, their attitude toward what they're approaching to. I think another aspect is is are they willing to get better? Do they want to get better? And you just have to have the willingness. Willingness is key, like I just don't like exactly where I'm at and I'm willing to do the things I don't want to do, or I know where it is that I want to go and I want to do these things just a little bit better. That's the component. So, if it's going to be a stay-at-home dad, I remember man, when I had my kids and I chose that. I mean there were specific days that I would stay with them, and man especially like it just kind of varies in terms of like where they are in the stage of life, like when you become a dad, like the days are long but the years go by fast. I would have the workouts with them.

Dr. Rob Bell: 9:49

I was looking back just the other day when COVID was there this was when shutdown happened and I'm looking at these videos and it pops up on the screen. It's just exactly four years ago. They were out there running, we were doing workouts. I look back on it and then I got to show my daughter, who's now a freshman. I'm like, hey, remember these. She's like, yeah, I remember that. I hated going through it at the time.

Dr. Rob Bell: 10:14

But it's just, man, where in my life do I want to get better? I think that's the part where we have to start at, and I think, man, it might be in relationships, it might be in my own personal journey and I want to get better at this. Man. It might be an addiction, right, it might be something, man, I want to stop doing. But we all have these areas that we can improve upon, and that's where I think we just have to start with. You've got to take an athletic mindset towards improvement, because if you ease into it, two weeks later, man, you're done already, and there's no easing into a street fight. You don't ease in anything. If you want to, you have to be urgent towards improvement, piece Now, you have to be patient with the results, but you got to be urgent towards the consistency and getting better at it. And that's, man. There's so many avenues. We can go down with that, but that's the part I look at. That's how you got to look at the improvement piece.

Dai Manuel: 11:13

Yeah, I think that's beautiful and also it's empowering at the same time, because I find it it's a simple answer to a complicated application right or implementation. Simple answer, a complicated application right or implementation, because I I tend to see and I'm sure you see this too, but I mean, obviously it's different for those that are competitive athletes in a professional league, uh, whatever level, I mean, they put the reps in, so to speak, you know. And but for us that maybe don't have that kind of athletic background, or at least that, that prescribed background that we get from a lifelong commitment to a sport, what, what's the best way to get started to adapt to that kind of an?

Dr. Rob Bell: 11:50

out here you know, yeah, no, this great question, man. Um, I always get back to this the fundamentals never change. Improve the fundamentals, you will see. I mean, let's just look at steph curry with steph curry just doesn't show up game day going through his dialed in routine and make all these shots. He does 500 shots a day and that's every day. And that's the fundamentals.

Dr. Rob Bell: 12:16

If you ever watched the book of Manny, you know on, you know Peyton and Eli and then the patriarch there with Archie, they had entire practices where they would look at just their plant foot when they would take the snap, go back and plant their foot. I mean, do you know how many times they've done that every season on how we tie our shoes? Because there is a, there is fundamentals that we do every single day in terms of how we get up, how we approach the day, our attitude, our effort, how we're um connecting with others. That we can always improve upon.

Dr. Rob Bell: 12:57

And I always say you just got to start with the fundamentals, man. Start with the fundamentals of one to get better. Look at your routine, look at your daily schedule, look at the time wasters that you have, look at the relationships that are going on in life, look at your overall joy and happiness. And where can I fundamentally just get better at that? That's the part that I look at. Man, we got to start. You don't have to go crazy. I think consistency beats crazy all the time.

Dai Manuel: 13:27

I love it. I mean, I'm like man. I'm just thinking of all these quote graphics I'm going to make because I'm tired.

Dr. Rob Bell: 13:32

Oh yeah.

Dai Manuel: 13:34

It's like a waterfall of these, but I love it. I love the quotables because it's often those little snippets are the things that in those moments when we're feeling low, it's just enough to give us that perspective shift of a small like an incremental change right, just to see things a little bit differently, to go from. You know that seems really hard to you know what I think I can and I'm going to try right and I think that's just wild, it's wild.

Dr. Rob Bell: 13:57

You have to have, and we always get away from it right. It's like you know, rome wasn't built in a day, but it wasn't destroyed in a day either. You know it's always a slow fade, but I think you have to have a philosophy for life on how you want to approach things. What's, what are the values that you hold dear? And just start with that, because the philosophy sometimes and that's the part about being able to look at other people are what said that die does right, like, what are his core values? How does he approach this? And you don't have to tap into other people's why. You just got to look at their how and you just have to know what your why is. And that's where I look at man. Having a philosophy of life, how you want to approach it is huge.

Dai Manuel: 14:41

So what's your core values then? Since we're on that topic, I'd love to know what yours are, Dr Rob.

Dr. Rob Bell: 14:46

Yeah, I mean, you know we share this a lot with, especially with the family. When we're talking about it, A couple of the core values we talk about, our most important relationships, are inside our four walls. Our relationships have to be strong. Things are off. We need to talk about it, whether it's me apologize and you apologize and we got to. They have to be the strongest, because it's really tough to have good relationships outside the four walls when the relationships inside the four walls are all and I'm buddy, I'm guilty of it, you know what I mean. I've neglected the relationships.

Dr. Rob Bell: 15:24

I get off on these obsessive journeys that take me down rolling paths, man, and it's very easy to see. Yeah, I was being selfish and self-centered there when I was really focused on writing this book or whatever that's going to be speaking engagements, and so I think that's a big one. The other one that we always get back to is you. You just don't quit. You simply don't quit, and that means we're trusting the process of time that you are going to have adversity, You're going to have setbacks, You're going to have major lows, and you know this, man, being business owners, man, I mean there are major lows that you go through, no-transcript.

Dr. Rob Bell: 16:27

We don't always know when it's going to pay you back, but it will pay you back if you stay in the game. Those are probably the two man. And then the third component and this is where we always got to go through is God, man and spirituality, and that has to be the core, fundamentals of where we are, our relationships, our relationship with God and for us man, it's Christ, Because if Rob's doing it all or we're doing it all, I'm going to mess it up. Man, I cannot do that and I believe there's a God and I just know that I'm not it.

Dai Manuel: 17:01

So insightful but also profound. There's a couple of pieces there. You just reminded me I think it's a Nietzsche quote. It says with a strong enough why we can endure anyhow, and it is. There's something to that testament of really knowing your values and the non-negotiables and how enlightening that can be to the path that we're trying to trailblaze a lot of the time, because it's not like we have other people we that are going to walk in the exact same path, because it's it's uniquely our own right and also that that faith is also one of my five f's values.

Dai Manuel: 17:31

you know family as well. So I, I, we, I I relate very much to what you're sharing and I know when we start talking about adapting or implementing some of these philosophies, these ideas that you've come to know based on life experience, right and schooling and whatnot. And I guess this is a great sort of segue because it involves time. You know it all takes time, effort, energy. It's not like things happen instantly, and if you're looking for the instant gratification, the one click buy well, there's Amazon for you, right? It's amazing how our culture is just so conditioned to want things immediately, with as little effort as possible, and we all often know that things worth working for doesn't usually come that easy. And so your new book. Could you sort of just talk a bit about that? I can't wait to be patient because I think it's just a great read but very insightful, and so maybe we can sort of segue. Why this book? Why did you write it?

Dr. Rob Bell: 18:32

So I had experiences in some races and then specifically in preparation. Do you want me to tell a quick story?

Dai Manuel: 18:39

Yeah, please, I would love that. That's so, so great yes.

Dr. Rob Bell: 18:42

So I had a hundred mile trail race that I was doing, and you know we prepare way more than we train. So this was I had 16 different training runs over a marathon distance, just on trail, you know. Well, I mean. And then one run in particular. I had about eight miles left and I'd never listen to anything when I'm out there. I never listened to any music, no podcast. I'm there with my breathing and my thoughts. Well, there's a lot of thinkings if you're going to be out there six, eight hours at a time. You know, and that's again a little bit, I'm a little bit off. I get it. You know that's that's fun, you got it. You gotta be a little bit off.

Dai Manuel: 19:17

All the crazy ones are awesome. That's the way I look at it. We're all a little crazy, man. Well, continue continue.

Dr. Rob Bell: 19:23

So I had eight miles left of this training run and it was hot, it was humid, I was tired, I mean the and I just wanted to be done. And I remember thinking I can't wait till I'm done. And it kind of grabbed me at that time and I was like you know, no one ever says what we say we can't wait for, right. Hey, I can't wait for that episode to come out, I can't wait for that birthday party, I can't wait for next season, says I can't wait to be in a lot of financial hardship, I can't wait to be in a lot of pain, I can't wait to really be suffering. And it grabbed me at that moment that I needed a mind shift because that wasn't going to work.

Dr. Rob Bell: 20:09

And that is not true. Time is hinged there. We go on a door that swings both ways. None of us get to speed up time when things are bad and none of us get to slow down time when things are really great. No matter how wonderful that steak dinner is, this too shall pass. No matter how great that mountaintop moment, that championship was, that bid that you got, the payday that you received, this too shall pass. No one lives up on the mountaintops, man, you got to come back down and again, this too shall pass. No one's ever telling somebody at a birthday party or a wedding ceremony hey, don't worry, this too shall pass. Right, that would be. You get kicked out of birthday parties for that stuff.

Dr. Rob Bell: 20:54

But it's true, man, time is the most important resource that we have, and time is what we want the most, but it's what we use the worst. The more money we get in life, we spend it to get more time, and so that's where I look at. It's the most precious resource. And, like I said earlier, man, the days are long but the years are fast. So we have this supply-demand theory. When it comes to time, when we are young, we have all the supply in the world. We have an endless supply of time and very little demand. Why does time become so valuable as we progress in life? Because now the supply we see the supply is now actually limited. There's a finite amount, and the demand has now increased. Well, hence our time becomes so much more valued. So if we say yes to everything, we're putting a value on our time, and that was the piece of where we needed to look at the mental gate, the mental toughness that we have all our issues, all our stressors. I'm not saying time is the ultimate end-all, be-all, but what it is is it should be the first entryway that we look at for our issues, for our stressors.

Dr. Rob Bell: 22:15

I get stressed out, just like everybody. I get overwhelmed, I'll get anxious and when I really peel back and look at it, I just didn't process this situation well. I needed more time to think about it. I needed time to pause and reflect. When do I make mistakes? When I react and don't respond? Because it was so immediate, it was so urgent that I just didn't pause, reflect, think about it, pray about it, go for a run. I'm just going to sit on that for a minute.

Dr. Rob Bell: 22:49

The reason why this book became so difficult to write, man, was because there is times to be urgent. Like we said at the beginning, you've got to approach your craft, things that are important, with a sense of urgency, because if you don't push back towards the things you believe in, you're going to be pushed out. However, there has to also be this level of patience. So when I look at patience and time, think about it. It's the recovery of the mind. When does the muscle really grow? And you know this man, the muscle doesn't grow during the workout, it grows during the recovery piece, right. So urgency is the workout, but the recovery is the patience that we need to allow that. So it's like the day that the seed is planted is not the day that it's harvested. There's so many different avenues we can go through, man, so many different take-homes. But that was the essence of the book, man is we got to approach our times through the first entryway and that is through time.

Dai Manuel: 23:54

I just think it's amazing, because I'm a big proponent for this. I know there's a book called the Big Leap, and he talks about Einstein, time, and this idea of just our relationship with time is often very I mean, it's very subjective, even though it's something that we can objectify, you know, and even I just read Tim Grover's book Winning, you know, and he talks about the power of just stopping. And then also in a men's health book called the gosh what is it, david Dida? The Way of the Superior man he talks about there comes a phase in men's life where they're encouraged to just take a pause. Take a pause, you know. So I really love how you approach this especially.

Dr. Rob Bell: 24:35

Why do coaches use timeouts? You know they use timeouts because we need to pause. Man, it's the end of the sport. You know? Sorry for the tangent brother. No, no, me fired up, man.

Dai Manuel: 24:46

I love this and I guess, like I recognize in your book, you really provide some insightful examples, also some great stories. But what can people expect if they pick up this book, they read it? What do you feel is the main thing that you were really looking to support people with by writing the book? Because I always know, as an author myself, there's always that intention. It's like I mean, of course, we're writing it for ourselves first and foremost, right, because we feel it's that story we have to tell, but there's always that intention to support and create impact in others' lives, right. And so I'd love to hear sort of that approach, but also what people can expect when they pick it up, because I know there's nothing but value bomb after value bomb, you know.

Dr. Rob Bell: 25:30

Yeah, absolutely man, and I look forward to having you on my podcast, man Talk, couple of pieces that I think are really important. One like patience, and what is patience and what does it really mean? You know, why is that important? Because there's just you know it's such a strength, man, uh. But there are more components that go into just the ability to wait without haste or restlessness. You got got to have acceptance of people and situations. You have to have a lack of resentment towards yourself and other people and you have to have hope. These all factors go into what it means to be patient and I think the biggest take home, the two biggest take homes, if I could say, people look up the book and read it, and that is the importance of speed. We're designed to get from point A to point B as fast as we can. No one puts in their GPS and takes the slowest route, but rhythm is more important than speed. It's the ability to change speeds that really become important, that becomes powerful, but rhythm is more important than speed. Try to tell people, man, here are the things you got to put into play on how to incorporate rhythm into your life.

Dr. Rob Bell: 26:40

And then the other piece is you have the important urgencies in life. You have to know what is important and approach urgency with that. Too often we're urgent towards the wrong things, man, and we get urgent towards the wrong things like urgency by itself that we just become a lunatic man Because why didn't they reply? What is up with that reply? I got to send them another message here because they haven't replied yet, when, if we would have just waited, we wouldn't have got caught up in all the drama and cloud and murky stuff that was going on because we were so urgent towards getting an answer right away that we didn't receive and we didn't have the proper boundary set in our daily schedule. So it's like to handle the code reds that happen up throughout the day.

Dr. Rob Bell: 27:38

I'm guilty of it too, brother, but I feel a need. I got to reply to this right away because it's something urgent, but is it important? And if I really schedule my day, you know what? That's something that I take care of from 11 to 12 every day, man. What are these code reds that are going to happen? And when you do that now, you can get into flow more often. Throughout the day, man, you get really ingrained and not get so distracted and out of the rhythm of what you're trying to do. So those are a couple of the key components, man, that I find to be like hey man, how can I read this and apply it to my daily life?

Dai Manuel: 28:13

Yes, and I think that's the one thing I took away from the book is that there are some wonderful examples and resources, you know, for people to start to implement this sort of shift in relationship with how we look at time to the concept of patience. Usually there's parents as kids right, you know, waiting in a line to get on a roller coaster. Listen, you just got to be patient, you know. It's like oh hey, I want the cake that you're baking for my birthday. I want it now, just be patient, right, like. So we sort of have this negative relationship with the idea of being patient, you know. And but for us to develop a healthier relationship with this concept and to start to lean into some of the things that you speak about, what would be a great example or an exercise that you could leave with the audience today to start to get a little flavor of Dr Rob and some of these insights, yes, good example, man, good example so I kind of mentioned one there that segment your day.

Dr. Rob Bell: 29:17

that I mean. One number one is just look at the time that you spend towards things. Right, I think we it's the time wasters that. Look, if time's our most precious resource, then why are we wasting it? You know what I mean and I get guilty of it too. Right, but hey, man, if you want to scroll, just schedule the time throughout the day. Man, I'm going to take 30 minutes here and just really scroll, that's my thing. Fine, but schedule it into the day, because too often we do it and we get lost. Man, 15 minutes later I was laying in bed and why didn't I just hop out of bed? I was just looking at what again? And we get so lost in that and then our mind starts taking over.

Dr. Rob Bell: 29:56

So I look at segment the day, look at the day of when you are going to schedule just your really focused time towards the task at hand. What is really important, what is I'm really working on? I've got to be in these calls, man. Be in those calls, because if you get distracted in this, if it's a sales call, sales call is important, your bottom line man. You get distracted.

Dr. Rob Bell: 30:18

In this, you're not as sharp as you need to be if it's going to be writing a book, if it's going to be in the workout, you know, and that's why I'm a big proponent of I would say look, people got to listen to your podcast when they're working out. I get it, man. You know your podcast when they're working out, I get it, man. Your podcast is powerful at helping motivate people. But I just think too often, man, we got so much stuff that's going on. You got to de-stress, decompress, just keep the mind quiet, man. People meditate. I'm not a meditator man, I'm a runner. I meditate when I run. I'm out there, I'm just breathing, praying out there with my chocolate lab. That's the best time, but I think we have to have these times throughout the day, man, where everything just gets shut off, and that's how I think that we get in flow, get in the zone more and ultimately, get more productive and efficient.

Dai Manuel: 31:06

I think this is great and actually you just reminded me there was a question I wanted to ask you because, this is all on the same subject, and so our theme and I, with your, I'd be reg toughness wise, probably the same as your 100 miler, all right, again, it's all perspective, right, and I'm not a runner, I'm a sprinter, and so anything over 5K I'm like. But I'd love to know, and also for those that are listening, because I think we all have that 100 miler or that thing that we would treat as a hundred mile run for ourselves in life. You know that, that, right back to that sort of idea that everybody's a life athlete, right, and and and so what is your preparation light for something like that or for any of these races that you've done? I, I'd like to just know what's your ritual, what's it? Look, chair.

Dr. Rob Bell: 32:10

But you know, and I can say this too, man, it's like, uh, if people want, like I give a resource out on my websites just drdarkocom they go there or even go to the book website. Do the book, man, and that is I schedule everything as like a workout. And so if it's like, hey, man, you just got to know, like for Ironman training, like there's three different disciplines to focus on, as you know, you know what I'm saying. For running, there's one discipline, but, yeah, you got to have that strength component as well, and it's really just focusing on making things to work out like a workout time scheduling it workout ends, no matter how hard the workout is, it's going to end.

Dr. Rob Bell: 33:19

And Steph Curry has a training regime that he does every single day, but it's not like he's shooting baskets 24 hours a day, right, he segments his time of when the preparation is and when the recovery is, and that's just the biggest thing that I do. And I set the goal and then just focus on segmenting when is going to be the time that I'm scheduling towards that and and how I'm incorporating that into like the life. Um, that's probably the biggest thing, man.

Dai Manuel: 33:48

You know I like it.

Dr. Rob Bell: 33:50

Some of the tough ones are like the, you know, the David Goggins, like 48 hour, like four by four, by 48.

Dai Manuel: 33:56

Like I've done those Wow.

Dr. Rob Bell: 33:59

And it's just remind ourselves like look, this weekend will be over. But what's the lesson that I can learn when I'm going through this suffering here and the reason why those are sometimes more difficult? Because there's not enough, it's not an ultimate goal. You know, you're not training for race, you're just training to train buddy. I think that's the best part is, when you are just doing something for no other sake, then you'd rather not do it like william james philosophy. When it comes to that, right, like when you get to the point where you're doing something because you simply don't want to do it. That's the mental toughest part, right? Um, but that's how I kind of prepare for and train. That is, just make everything that's workout. Mental toughest part right, but that's how I kind of prepare for it in training. Man is just make everything that's workout-driven. So when I would write a book, I'd write for one hour every day. I'd have notes with me throughout the day. But one hour every day, man, and that's how I approach it.

Dai Manuel: 34:53

And it's owning your time, and I guess what I mean by that is like I, I do live on my calendar. My wife and I joke about it at times and she'll be like, oh yeah we have this thing.

Dai Manuel: 35:04

Like, did you send me a calendar invite for that? Well, no, like, well, I I don't think I can do that and it's like it's got to be on my calendar. Like I'm big on time'm big on time blocking, you know, but I also like to color coordinate it so I know at the end of the week if I'm reviewing, or at the end of the month or a quarter, I can see, okay, well, how much was dedicated to my fitness, you know, how much was dedicated to my family, you know, and I just color coordinate it so I can. The nice thing about Google calendar it does it will give you a. As long as you take the extra time to tag everything correctly, you can start to analyze and see patterns right. Or see, I didn't work on that business project that I really thought would be off the ground now, but when I look at my time and energy, I really didn't put that much into it. So I can't be disappointed with a lack of results.

Dr. Rob Bell: 35:52

And that's why you were so successful, man, is because the real power is in the debrief. You have the test first and then you get the lesson afterwards. Right, you got the test of the race. Man Race didn't go well, oh, what did I learn from it? Well, what was my training from it? What was lacking in that?

Dr. Rob Bell: 36:10

I've bonked in races before man. I bonked in a Boston Marathon, the one race that you do not want to bonk in. Right, you want to have a great performance for that. Well, what was wrong with the training, man? Well, here in Indiana, here in Indianapolis, not a lot of hills. How much hill training did trails, if I'm trail running, but not on the road? You know, buddy, I know this. I studied the race course. I've done trails. Man Could be the same thing. Well, in trail races, you're walking up a lot of those hills. You're not sprinting up those suckers. Right, you got 50 miles, man, you're power hiking. Well, in road races, you're not power hiking up that stuff. So my point is is like you got to deep breathe. You have to look at and see man, do an autopsy on the body. Right, that's what I love Do an autopsy on the body. Look at the body? What was the cause of death? Where did we go right? Where did we go wrong? And that's, that's such powerful stuff. People were to do. That exponentially, you improve upon life.

Dai Manuel: 37:25

Love this. I, I, you know, and I'm like I'm looking at the time, I'm like, oh man, I could just keep jamming with you all day long and I already know I'm getting back next season and every season thereafter already, because I just feel there's so much. I know people are taking away, they're nodding at their, their, their well, whether I was going to say, listening to their on the radio on the way to work, but you know, and everyone's got the Bluetooth. But either way, I know people are digging this and you have an awesome podcast, the mental toughness podcast, and you've had a bunch of amazing guests on your show. I want to just ask you you know what has been some of the most surprising or takeaway conversations that you've experienced since starting your podcast? Because you've had just such a wide breadth of different types of people, but obviously they all, in their own right, have a certain way of tackling their lives you know, and so what?

Dai Manuel: 38:17

what are some of the biggest lessons that you've sort of taken away by having these conversations, cause I know that also comes into some of your books right, like in your talks, like I know that you reference a lot of these wonderful examples of people that are doing amazing things, and so, please, and don't worry everyone, all this is linked to one of the books, the website, the free resources that Dr Rob's offering up, as well as a link to his podcast, which you're definitely going to want to go subscribe to. It is like you need that little pick me up in the morning to get out of bed and kick butt. Uh, well, tune in, dr Rob, please. Uh, what are some of those lessons?

Dr. Rob Bell: 38:51

No, I appreciate it, man, some of those lessons. No, I appreciate it, man. I. Just one of the questions I kind of ask is about, like their hinge moment, so that one person, one moment, one event that made all the difference in their lives. It connected who they were with who they became.

Dr. Rob Bell: 39:05

We have multiple hinge moments throughout our life, but it's the tragedies that happen in our life, you know, getting fired, death of a, of a loved one, right, cancer, I mean, I mean the real tragedies that happen. And the part that has struck out to me is that people's worst day end up becoming sometimes their best. Now, they would never wish the tragedy that they went through, but that is life, unfortunately, man, life we know is not fair. There are a lot of difficult and uncontrollable things that happen. How people have responded, from never getting to any point in time to getting one shot, to being an alternate and then winning a championship. You know, I ask him and that's the part that just really sticks with me is their hinge moments, from somebody getting hit by a car on her bike, car on her bike, her last ride before she's getting ready to ride across the United States, to then that dream now gets put on hold for five years, um, to deal with, you know, the fractures, man, that all the pain she had to go through to finally finishing it.

Dr. Rob Bell: 40:32

And then hearing, like her story, man, it's, it's inspired, it's like you, you did all this to ride across the United States Again, I'm a, I'm a Yankee, right, I'm in the United States. And you know what her response was Like when she got to the other side she was like sad. It was all, all the preparation, everything into it, man, she was actually kind of sad. Yes, she was happy to be done, of course, but there becomes so much effort and goes into the journey that we go through, that the process becomes more important than the product they apply it. That's the part, I think, that just motivates me, man, and, like you know, to hear people's struggles, to what they go through, how do they overcome it, and that's the part it really just sticks with me, man, it's their hinge moments and what they do with that pain and lesson this too shall pass, and you know man.

Dai Manuel: 41:34

And even when it passes, it's amazing how we can look back and really gleam the learnings from it. You know, and that sort of comes back to the whole debrief idea, right, it's like, yeah, I got through it, and I and we hear about that sort of when, when champions finish, right, they'd finished, they've won, but even though they've won, they've won, but even though they've won, they've recognized oh gosh, new season begins tomorrow. You know, it's like here we go again and and I guess that's the perpetuity of life and recognizing, but you've gained so much more experience and knowledge on the, the process to getting right or, as the angst can say, process. So, uh, in the case, you got my Canadian accent there my process, uh, anyways, uh, um, you know, I, I recognize in the time where we're going to, I want to respect the audience. They know that we've tried to keep it, uh, under an hour at the very least. Uh, if there was.

Dai Manuel: 42:29

Well, actually, before I ask this question, cause I think this is sort of in line of I always like to give my guests the, the last word. For people that want to connect with you, at least just follow along, because I love following you on social. I think there's just some great inspiration, motivation, but, more importantly, education that's accessible for all of us. What would be the ideal platform? Because I know everyone's like, I can't follow all of them. But for you yourself, what is your platform that you enjoy using the most to connect with an audience?

Dr. Rob Bell: 42:57

Man, I love connecting with them over email, to be honest, because that's the time where I really just kind of get to give quick hitters and pointers in terms of where I'm at and what's going on and what's coming up and lessons and what we need to do, and I bet it's still really my favorite one. You know, yeah, there's Instagram, man, there's Twitter apps and I'm on those and LinkedIn as well, but those social media platforms I still like kind of holding the space for people to reply and people that reply, man, I always get back to everybody. You know, sometimes it takes a little bit and I'll let them know that, like, let me think about this one, uh, but I'll even ask them you know, hey, what is it you want to hear, what you want to know more about? You know? So connect them with with my audience that's growing throughout the year or so on, uh on email.

Dai Manuel: 43:50

That's my favorite one well, that's, uh, an easy one, everyone, because you're going to go get some of those free resources that dr rob's providing, as well as get on his newsletter and doing so so you can be able to start connecting with dr rob through email.

Dai Manuel: 44:03

Uh, but be sure to check out some of the other links in in the show notes. You just click that little button on your wherever you're listening to this, and there's all hyperlinked there. So make it nice and easy. Grab a copy of the, the book, connect with Rob and you know what, do yourself a favor to start shifting your perspective for your next hinge moment in life, so when you're called to action, you're ready to take it and feeling prepared for those moments and listen. Dr Rob, thank you for being here today. I'm so grateful for you allowing me the time to surely dive into some of these topics. I'm excited to have you back to go even deeper on a few of these, because I know we're going to get some audience people reaching out with questions, and that just means I'm going to have to get you back to answer them.

Dr. Rob Bell: 44:45

So I'm going to have you on my podcast here this summer.

Dai Manuel: 44:51

Can't wait, man.

Dr. Rob Bell: 44:52

I'm there, I am so there.

Dai Manuel: 44:53

It's not's not even funny and and you know I always like to give my guests last word. If there's people there sort of I, I guess what would be your advice, you know to, to for the audience who are looking to enhance their mental toughness you know, whether it's in sports, maybe their career gosh personal lives, what would be something you'd like to leave them with today? Um?

Dr. Rob Bell: 45:20

you know it's. It's on the same scene that I think you talk about man, two percent, right, like you just got to pick one area, one small thing, and start with that. Make that your masterpiece. Don't care what it is, man, but one small thing, and other things start to line up. When we do that, we get in the whole habit of setting smart goals and all that, and we set 10 different things we want to do in order to lose 10 pounds. We do maybe one of them well and the others are junk, junk, and then it brings us down anyway because we, you know, weren't really focused on the one thing. So we picked the one thing that we really want to focus on and then, if I could leave it with this and I'll leave at this point, please it's kind of like with puke and rally, like it's not about the setback, it's about the comeback. It's always going to be about the comeback. So, no matter how well you're doing, there are going to be about the comeback. So, no matter how well you're doing, there are going to be setbacks.

Dr. Rob Bell: 46:17

And the point is, is the one quote that I hate in life is that if you fall down seven, you get up eight, and here's why I hate that. Okay, down for the seventh time. You remember the third, the fourth and the fifth time that you fell and all the feelings of the failure, the dread, how painful it is. All that stuff comes back and haunts you and that is what keeps you from putting yourself out there again, when what we need to do, man, is you got to realize when you fall down, when you fail and it's okay to say fail, man like there's failure and feedback, but when that happens, you just have to focus on that one and not bring all the past experiences and junk with you, because you're so much better off now than what you were before.

Dr. Rob Bell: 47:10

You've just got to focus on this one, this occasion, right here, and just focus on coming back from that. So if you miss the gym, just don't miss tomorrow. If you eat the piece of cake, you don't have to eat the whole cake. And that's the part that I see that messes up so many people. We mess up the one time. Oh, man, see, I knew deep down I couldn't do that, because you're thinking back to the third and fourth and fifth time you fell, when you just got to focus and isolate it on this one, right here, that's. That's the mic drop that I can leave.

Dr. Rob Bell: 47:44

I was like my mic right in the ground right now, because that was awesome.

Dai Manuel: 47:48

And oh, I love it. Thank you, Dr Rob. That was just. I'm feeling like I want to go to the gym right now. I'm like you fired me up and I always love that. But my guests, you know I come to these conversations feeling really good but I always leave feeling great and you've definitely delivered on that. So thank you again for being here today, dr Rob. Everybody reminder I'll see you in the outro.

Dai Manuel: 48:11

We'll recap everything that Dr Rob left us with today. And don't hesitate, reach out to him, get on his email list and start a conversation, because you know what that one little thing will be, the thing that changes. Thanks again, rob. Thanks brother. Thank you for tuning into another lightning episode of the 2% Solution Podcast. We hope Dr Bell's insights on mental toughness and patience inspired you as much as they inspired us. Remember, everyone is an athlete in their own right and our offices are just different. Our offices are just different. If you found value in today's conversation, please share this episode with your friends, family and colleagues, and don't forget to subscribe and leave us a five-star review on your favorite podcast platform. Your support helps us bring more incredible guests like Dr Rob to the show. Until next time, keep pushing towards your 2% solution and I'll see you in the next episode.