April 23, 2024 • 26 mins
In this episode, we're joined by Dr. James Rouse, a renowned expert in the science of daily performance. We dive into practical strategies for crafting a day that not only supports high performance but also prioritizes health and well-being. Dr. Rouse shares insights on the optimal structure of a day from morning routines that energize, to work habits that maximize productivity, and evening rituals that ensure restorative sleep. Listeners will gain actionable tips on integrating movement, mindful breathing, and nutrition to enhance focus and energy levels. Whether you're looking to boost your productivity or elevate your overall quality of life, this discussion will provide you with the tools to transform your everyday into an exceptional one. Join us as we explore how small, intentional changes can lead to significant improvements in both personal and professional realms.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Doctor James, here we are. Oh my gosh, buddy, there's an
there's a really cliche. It's so cliche.
I'm going to say it. This is so overdue.
Like, what are we doing? What have we?
Been doing for the last decade. I've been in love with you for
10 years. What have we been doing?
(00:24):
It's our first public date that we've never actually gone out in
public together. It's been a 10 year hidden
relationship. We are coming out.
I love it. So good to see you buddy.
So good. To see you, good to see you too.
We had a chance to hang recentlyand everything that we did was
just like super fun. We were up early in the gym.
(00:44):
You were there before me, but itwas like 430 when I got there.
So you had a head start. And then we did hot, cold and we
went for walks in the woods and we brainstormed.
And I, I gave one of like the best talks I've ever done
because I was in such a great headspace from all the things
that we did. And I know that you're writing a
book on the perfect day or the ultimate day or.
(01:07):
And I think that's kind of what I want to do today.
It's just like, let's walk through an incredible day
because I know a lot of people are struggling and they're
struggling with like, how do I do all this stuff?
So let's just give people ideas.What do you think?
Is that cool? I think it's an awesome idea and
I think for a lot of us who've punished ourselves with a 30 day
(01:28):
or a 60 day or a 90 day program and wondering why we fell off,
why we didn't stick to it, we put ourselves in the penalty
box. Greg I think what I've learned
clinically, but more importantlywhat I've learned in my own
life, everyone has a day and it gives us an opportunity to lean
into something that I think is manageable and we get a chance
(01:49):
to really kind of critique as wego and we can fine tune it the
next day, the day after. So my next book is kind of like
the book I should have written 30 years ago because I really
wanted to give people an opportunity to look at 24 hours
as a way in which they can fortify the opportunities for
self-care. Do it in a way that absolutely
(02:09):
gives people permission to see themselves follow through.
And I think it really connects us from the science that you and
I love to talk about around circadian rhythm, ultradian
rhythms, and really seeing how you can really cultivate a 24
hour experience where there's a tangible physiological
experience that you have and then a spiritual, emotional one
that really leads to wanting to do it the day after that, the
(02:32):
day after that. You kind of catch fire in that
day and. Isn't it interesting that like
it becomes just the way that youare?
It's like this is something thatyou're doing for 30 days or it's
the 90 day reset or anything like that or all the, you know,
6-6 pack abs in six weeks or sixdays or whatever, six hours,
(02:52):
whatever people are trying to sell these days.
It's like this just becomes youridentity.
This is what you do. This is who you are, this is how
you function, and you either have practices that lead to
mastery in the areas that you want to be great at, or you end
up practicing all of the things that still don't serve you.
(03:15):
How wild is that? I think that really is a perfect
lift off. And I think this is a this is a
personal book for me because I think when I started looking at
the day, I remember way back in grad school, I was reading about
a guy named Albert Bandura. He's the guy that actually
created the whole self efficacy studies where his whole idea is
(03:36):
like witnessing yourself following through, being present
for the good that you do, but also being present for the stuff
that you know, you're not necessarily awesome at or you
don't like the way that you're doing certain things.
But having the courage to be a witness.
I mean, Greg, you've you've seenthis clinically across the
board. It takes a lot of inner work to
be a witness who's not necessarily judgmental, but
(04:00):
discerning a good observing eye that can be compassionate, but
also strong and saying, hey, listen, you're doing some things
that you know are not serving you.
You've got some opportunities toreally do some incremental
changes. Don't try to make your entire
life amazing, but start with a morning.
Start with an afternoon and giveyourself some snackable success
(04:22):
and see how that actually startsto generate a self belief.
Then almost like an opportunity where you start to see yourself
going. Gosh, I love feeling good about
myself. I love the follow through.
I'm really starting to realize how character and integrity are
foundational for me and my personal piece and how those
affect our Physiology is absolutely life changing.
(04:46):
How do we become the witness? You mentioned that that takes a
lot of work and I have been practicing becoming the observer
of my own thoughts and the observer of my own practices and
trying to be or practicing non judgmentalism as well so that I
(05:10):
can be the observer. No judgement, but become aware
of whether or not the practice is serving these just so that
can make better decisions in thefuture.
What's wrapped up in all of that?
Gosh, I, I think what you just said is really where it's at,
Greg. We get an opportunity.
I, I used to love to coach my patients in this idea of having
almost looking at your life likean ethnography.
(05:31):
You've got one foot in principles, 1 foot in the things
that you ideally, you know, you'd like to feel.
This is how you want to show up.This is the things that you
really aspire to bring into yourlife as core to who you are.
Then you put the other foot in your practicality of your real
life. I've got my 1 foot.
What would be amazing and what is my what is my actual
(05:52):
experience? This is the opportunity to be
the witness in experience of going, OK, you know what, when
you sleep in or you snooze alarm, what do you believe that
is actually in relationship to your integrity, your character
or the ideas of what you'd really love to be experiencing?
And it's actually kind of as somebody kind of comes in as a
coach versus a critic. And I think that's really an
(06:14):
interesting distinction for a lot of us because I, I, Greg, I
can share this deeply and you and I are very, very close
friends. I think perfectionism for a lot
of us is a very insidious disease or dis ease where it's a
cover up for a lot of shame the way that we think it should be,
but the way they actually are showing up.
And perfectionism doesn't want to see that necessarily.
(06:36):
And we don't want to look at ideas around where we might be
falling short in relationship tothe way we think we should be
performing versus the way we actually are performing.
And an ethnographer gets a chance to be an observer who has
heart, who has an understanding of the realities of our life,
but as always being a witness towhat it is that we can
incrementally do. As you know, like I look at the
(06:59):
ideas around Kaizen, which is the Japanese way of incremental
improvement. I look at the day that way.
And when I name my book or create the title, it's DM, which
is an acronym for Discipline, Intention, Energy Mastery.
Those are the four opportunitiesI think everyday hold for us and
discipline right at the gate. That idea of kind of structuring
(07:22):
your day with discipline, being a student of the things that you
would love to be doing more of, or I love to say being a student
of what makes you come alive. And that ethnographer gets a
chance to be the witness relationship to the the foods
you're choosing, the community you're hanging out with, the
media that you're listening to and watching, and really a lot
about what it is that's going inside your inner dialogue.
(07:44):
These are all the opportunities that we have with discipline.
I like to think of structural discipline, reactive discipline,
growth discipline, expansive discipline.
These are all the opportunities that we can integrate into our
day to help us kind of fortify aplan that is actionable and a
way we can witness the way in which we did certain things
(08:05):
really wonderfully well and would love discern where we
still have some good work to do.What does the morning look like
'cause when we were hanging out,we did a morning workout and you
mentioned that you can like there have only been a handful,
literally less than like less than 10 times, might even be
(08:25):
less than five that you have notgotten up early and done a
workout in the last 30 years. So or whatever.
I, I don't know the number. Tell us the numbers first of
all, and let's start to talk about winning the morning.
How do we get around into a great place to start our day?
You know, and I shared that withyou because, you know, you and I
were saying, you know, sitting in the sauna and, you know,
(08:46):
talking about, you know, the craft of our life and you know,
this. And maybe some of your, your
community might know this. So I have a deep history of
addiction and I kind of switchedaddictions.
I went from doing a lot of things that were not good for me
to trying to figure out what I could find myself newly addicted
to. And a Dick is a strong word,
maybe for fitness or for spirituality.
(09:09):
But I have an attachment to feeling good, and I have an
attachment to waking up and feeling like I have a
possibility of really curating my Physiology in such a way that
my psychology gets a chance to experience what Physiology good
Physiology feels like. So you're right.
So maybe since my early 20s, I don't miss.
And I don't miss not because I'mawesome.
(09:30):
It's 'cause I love to feel awesome.
That's a key distinction, and I think around the ideas of
cultivating a great morning plan, it's really getting in
line with circadian rhythm. Our Physiology wants us to get
up in the morning and move. Our Physiology wants to actually
get up in the morning and be intentional.
Our Physiology loves to have something to do with a level
(09:53):
that's going to actually put us into something that's working
against edges, making us a little bit more uncomfortable.
And then our psychology loves tobe the witness.
It loves to say look at you, look at you showing up.
Look at the way you're leaning into those things.
Look at the way that your craft of self-care has become a
prophecy that you predictably can curate and cultivate.
(10:15):
A day that you know. Each and every day offers you
possibility in a way that you never thought was possible.
And then it becomes predictable.When we are crafting these
practices, often it requires us to change our behaviors.
And there's the inertia of the old way that runs up against the
(10:38):
dream of the new way, and there's a decision to be made.
How do we make those decisions that we know that we want to
make? And I guess there's two
scenarios. One is everything's going great,
it's easy. Another scenario is struggling.
How do we still make the right decisions and shift the inertia
(11:00):
towards all of the positive practices that elevate our
mastery? That's a so I'm better, but I'm
still working on that one. So I'm I'm asking this for Greg
actually. Greg, And I'm gonna answer it
for both you and me, because this is something we're all up
against. I think it's very few people who
can say, oh, man, every morning's amazing, I'm awesome,
(11:21):
and it's just easy for me to pursue greatness.
Not my story and not a lot of people's story, but here's the
thing I think you and I really love around science is where
sort of science and spiritualitydo a dance every single morning.
I remember when I was in high school learning the Latin sort
of idiomology of the word decision, which comes from the
(11:42):
Latin desideray, which means to cut yourself away from
everything that is not true. That is awesome.
And when you cut yourself away from all that is not true,
you're left with your truth, your essence, your, your
humanness. And what I've learned is that
getting up in the morning and choosing to move my body or
choosing to meditate, choosing not to allow inertia to
(12:06):
captivate me. It allows me to experience what
you and I have really jammed on over these last few years, what
we want to call sort of the neurochemical upward spiral.
When we're in a place of motion,our body in kind responds.
Our psychology starts to, if youwill emulate this upward spiral
of like, wow, you are moving, wow, something is changing.
(12:30):
Oh, this is an experience of excellence manifesting in you in
this moment. Do you like this?
This feels awesome. This is dopamine, this is
serotonin, this is cortisol. Getting a job to do that is the
opportunity. It's a choice point.
We meet ourselves every morning we wake up and we meet
(12:50):
ourselves. Do we feel we can meet ourselves
to the level of reverence, a level of acceptance, a level of
compassion, and then we can takethat spiritual any energy and
turn it into a movement making. And I think that really is the
decision that always is up for anyone who, especially in your
community. Greg, this is a it's a group of
people who love Physiology, theylove science, they love the idea
(13:13):
of spirituality as a personal development tool.
Well, here's the beautiful thing.
We are intonately, if you, we are fully innately available to
do these things every single day.
I think it's more about a willingness than it is a
willpower. And I think the willingness is
really giving ourselves permission to do the check in
(13:36):
with our our heart maybe versus our mind and let our heart be
the one who actually catalyzes our mind.
Let the heart be the one that actually moves us into motion.
Speaking of motion, talk to me about the importance of a daily
movement practice. Exercise, sweating, stretching,
(13:56):
whatever it happens to be. I think that's where that is
probably my drug of choice. There's nothing I love more than
the act of sweating, the act of putting lean muscle on my body,
the hormonal opportunity that muscle and sweat hold for all of
us. You know, Greg, there's so many
things in life that are they feel completely like out of our
(14:17):
hands. We live outside in versus inside
out. You and I have talked a lot over
the years about the idea this isa pharmacy waiting to be open.
We are a pharmacy waiting to be open.
Jacqueline Lane once said, all motion creates positive emotion.
And if we can get ourselves intomotion, go with willingness.
Look at the idea of having our heart and choosing a way in
(14:39):
which motion cultivates and circulates this.
You're gonna find a whole cornucopia of hormonal
opportunity that really starts to initiate the way our day will
be when you start to see dopamine levels start to rise
with us. Confidence, motivation,
resilience, serotonin, that kindof ability to kind of within, be
(14:59):
calm within the storm, have an optimism about ourselves, how
that affects our telomeres, how it affects our Physiology.
All of this opportunity how motion literally opens a door to
what it is that all of us would love to be feeling more of.
And if we will give ourselves permission to not look at it as
everyday having to be a marathonbut snackable movement first
(15:20):
thing in the morning, maybe mid morning, late in the afternoon,
after dinner. These all integrate and
culminate to a day in which we have done all kinds of things
for our Physiology that helps tostabilize a way in which a level
of performance becomes our norm to.
Sustain that level of performance that is high,
(15:43):
normal. You and I both have hermitic
practices, practices where a little bit of stress is good, a
lot is not. That is the balance that we seek
to achieve. But it's interesting that the
balance that you and I are seeking to achieve now involves
some pretty significant discomfort and deliberate
discomfort around getting into the sauna or the very hot tub or
(16:08):
the icy cold water and moving back and forth between those
temperatures to train the mind to stimulate the body to adopt
positively. Talk to me about the practice of
hormesis and hot and cold. That is probably one of the most
interesting places where I feel like emotion, spirituality and
(16:32):
Physiology go to battle. They literally go to battle and
I think this is the place where a lot of us who are seeking and
you know, ever, ever expanding experiences of, of the way in
which we would love to be a witness to what is possible
within us. I think contrast of hot and
cold, it unlocks so much mysteryaround what we are capable of
(16:54):
doing, what we're capable of experiencing.
So for me, the contrast of hot and cold is really a place where
I get a chance to really face all the parts of me that I'm
scared to look at. The what?
The parts of me that doesn't want to be uncomfortable, the
part of me that doesn't want to stay in the cold water any
(17:16):
longer. And I can witness myself
breathing through that discomfort in the training
ground that that gives us. Greg, because you and I are
parents, you and I are entrepreneurs.
There's something about being inice cold water and then going
into hot and back in the cold that you will carry 4 hours
later when you're in a really difficult meeting, you're with
your family, you're with your kids and something's happened,
(17:38):
something in your business, you know the wheels came off.
This is what gives you the ability to not abandon yourself.
I've always looked at the contrasting of hot and cold as
practice so we don't abandoned ourselves.
Light right now for most all of us, everyone I know peculiarly
(18:00):
hard. There's a lot of stuff that
world is presenting to us that is really hard to understand.
And then to try to figure out where do we put it.
We need to train our Physiology and the the love and then the
hate, the hot and the cold, the dark and the light, so we can be
(18:21):
vigilant, we can be courageous, we can be empathetic, we can be
compassionate. We can stand for the things that
really are truthful for us and not abandon what we believe are
core character integrity principles for us that we never
want to abandon. And I think the work that we get
a chance to do in silent when noone sees us, hot and cold
(18:44):
breathing practices, lifting heavy weights.
This is the way we get a chance to then walk out in the world
and be a beneficial presence. Hold fast to the things that we
value and the ways in which we want to be proud of the way that
we do show up. We don't show up without having
done the groundwork, and the groundwork happens in a lot of
(19:07):
places that people don't want togo and do it.
But I feel like there's something about being a witness
in those hard and comfortable places that give you permission
to show up in the other hard places.
When we do get into the hard places, we do the hard work,
whether it's on ourselves or outin the world, sharing our craft
to try to make the world a better place in whatever way
(19:28):
that is relevant for you, the listener, the the viewer.
That then causes physiological and psychological stress.
And one of the core practices and mindset shifts that you gave
me a while ago, which I'd love to share with the group, is not
necessarily thinking of nutrition as fuel, although it
is, but thinking of nutrition ashealing.
(19:52):
And that when we go out into theworld, we do the work.
We're tired, we're stressed, we're fatigued, we're broken
down. There's an accumulation of
oxidants. Inflammatory markers, but
nutrition is the path to healing, and that was a subtle
shift that really changed thingsfor me that I'd love for us to
share with everybody else as well.
(20:13):
Gosh, Greg, that one, that one is so good.
It's so good to look at food as medicine.
And I think food as medicine gives us an opportunity to look
at the fact that a lot of us have a fairly inflammatory world
that we live in. Lots of stuff moving, lots of
(20:33):
parts that are hard to control, ways in which we want to show up
that are unpredictable. We do our best.
All of this creates a lot of inflammatory opportunity where
the body can be breaking down our our, our mental fitness can
be up against anxiety and depression with inflammation
circulating inside of us. There's nothing quite like
(20:54):
sitting down and looking at goodfood.
Not in terms of just macros. Like I got my fats, I got my
proteins, got my carbs, but morelike I've got something in these
blueberries that have been shownto really help my brain to heal.
I've got something in this tomato sauce with this beautiful
pasta that's gonna actually helpmy heart to quell the fires of
(21:16):
inflammation. I've got lycopene that's
actually gonna go into my systemand actually start to do things
that actually really help to normalize an inflammatory
process, which can be helpful toa certain degree.
But how do we heal it so the inflammation doesn't run out of
control? I think when we look at food as
a healing opportunity, it's an act of self love that really
(21:38):
helps to culminate in a way thatour self-care practices land in
a way that's very mindful but also very present.
I think sometimes in the fitnessspace, you know, we're moving
fast, we're lifting things, we're getting in cold water, a
lot of action. Something about sitting down and
having grace with food, being intentional about what's in the
(21:59):
food and why we're using it. I love going in the refrigerator
and kind of choosing food based on the day I just had for dinner
and going out. You know, that was a tough
meeting. Or, you know, my daughter's
going through a hard time. Or, man, that news article just
really rocked my world. What medicine is in this
refrigerator that's gonna help heal?
And when you do it in that way, there's almost an intuitive
(22:19):
knowing in how our Physiology responds.
And they can take those caloriesand put them to work in the
places that can be most beneficial.
I don't know if there's any science on that, but man alive
does it feel that way after I'm done, When I curated a meal
based on what I knew my body wasasking for, what my heart and my
mind were asking for, and go, you know what?
(22:40):
I'm gonna go ahead and feed you.What's gonna help you to heal
and be strong and whole? So tomorrow, we're not
reactionary. We're proactively moving into
the day knowing the healing has already happened and I'm strong
and fortified to go out there and do the next level of
serving. Yeah, imagine walking up to your
refrigerator, your pantry, and thinking, what's the medicine
(23:03):
that I need right now? My mind immediately goes to ice
cream for a whole host of different reasons, but I'm sure
that there's some better optionsin there too that I'm gonna
think about next time as well. Doc, I know we've got a limited
amount of time, but this is actually gonna be the first of a
series that we're doing, so we don't need to cover everything
all at once. Perhaps the last thing is, and
(23:25):
then we'll just sort of tell people how they can get in touch
with you. But how do we close out our day?
How do we land the plane? How do we close our eyes at
night with a little grin on our face?
If we were to wrap all these things up and sort of thing
about a core practice to end ourday, what would you suggest?
I would suggest some of the bestresearch I've read two places, I
(23:47):
think one was Tufts, the other one was Stanford.
And they were talking about something great called a self
recognition practice, which is basically, you know, a lot of
people recommend gratitude practice.
I think it's amazing. Doctor Emmons has done decades
of research on writing down fivethings you're grateful for, help
your happiness, help you sleep better.
Self recognition does all that, but it also kind of helps you to
(24:09):
kind of look back at your day and really recognize the ways
that you showed up, to see the little incremental things that
you did that were awesome, that were loving, that were patient,
that were kind, that were heroic.
And so at the end of my day, I, I try to take at least 1520
minutes, reflect on the day and recognize myself, recognize
(24:32):
myself for the good that I did, the challenges that I overcame,
the failures I had, but I still showed up.
I think that life is moving fast.
It's moving so fast. Sometimes we can lose ourselves.
And I think in that losing of ourselves that we miss all the
good that we do. We are constantly thinking where
we need to be next and what we could have done better.
(24:54):
But if we can slow down and recognize the good that we've
done, that is medicine. And we fall asleep under a
sweetness of self reflection that makes us feel whole, makes
us feel peaceful, makes us feel.Possible and I'm.
Finding the next morning I wake up with a level of grace.
(25:14):
Grace. I think all of us are searching
for grace. And I think in the world of
Wellness and performance and fitness that you and I do our
best to teach and show up in forour families and our friends and
people we love, Grace is a thingwe don't talk about nearly
enough. We all need grace right now.
Grace is an opportunity to reflect on how good we already
(25:36):
are and the ways in which we'd love to show up and be that much
more. But it only happens under the
influence and abundance consciousness, which I think
grace is the foundation for. Abundance consciousness, our
ability to believe in the possible, that we already are
worthy of receiving and living up to.
Perfect way to wrap things up. If people want to learn more
(25:57):
about you and your work, where can they find you in the
interwebs? You know what, thank you for
asking Doctor James rouse.com isa good place to go.
My Instagram is Doctor James Rouse again, and you and I
pretty much comment on each other's stuff every day.
So you go to Greg's Instagram, you're gonna see me there with a
bunch of emojis every day, so. Unicorn posts are Doctor
(26:21):
Rouse's, so if there's a Unicornin the comments, that's Doctor
James. Yes, hilarious.
Doc, thank you so much for taking the time to hang out with
us and meet my audience. I'm really psyched about what we
have planned for the future. It's gonna be awesome and I'm so
grateful for your time. Greg, it was an honor.
Thank you, Doctor. I love you to the moon and back.
I love your family. And I love the way that you have
(26:42):
chosen to use your brilliance tobe a beneficial, beautiful
presence on the planet. Thank you.
You're my inspiration buddy. We're on good path.
Peace and love.
Doctor James, here we are. Oh my gosh, buddy, there's an
there's a really cliche. It's so cliche.
I'm going to say it. This is so overdue.
Like, what are we doing? What have we?
Been doing for the last decade. I've been in love with you for
10 years. What have we been doing?
(00:24):
It's our first public date that we've never actually gone out in
public together. It's been a 10 year hidden
relationship. We are coming out.
I love it. So good to see you buddy.
So good. To see you, good to see you too.
We had a chance to hang recentlyand everything that we did was
just like super fun. We were up early in the gym.
(00:44):
You were there before me, but itwas like 430 when I got there.
So you had a head start. And then we did hot, cold and we
went for walks in the woods and we brainstormed.
And I, I gave one of like the best talks I've ever done
because I was in such a great headspace from all the things
that we did. And I know that you're writing a
book on the perfect day or the ultimate day or.
(01:07):
And I think that's kind of what I want to do today.
It's just like, let's walk through an incredible day
because I know a lot of people are struggling and they're
struggling with like, how do I do all this stuff?
So let's just give people ideas.What do you think?
Is that cool? I think it's an awesome idea and
I think for a lot of us who've punished ourselves with a 30 day
(01:28):
or a 60 day or a 90 day program and wondering why we fell off,
why we didn't stick to it, we put ourselves in the penalty
box. Greg I think what I've learned
clinically, but more importantlywhat I've learned in my own
life, everyone has a day and it gives us an opportunity to lean
into something that I think is manageable and we get a chance
(01:49):
to really kind of critique as wego and we can fine tune it the
next day, the day after. So my next book is kind of like
the book I should have written 30 years ago because I really
wanted to give people an opportunity to look at 24 hours
as a way in which they can fortify the opportunities for
self-care. Do it in a way that absolutely
(02:09):
gives people permission to see themselves follow through.
And I think it really connects us from the science that you and
I love to talk about around circadian rhythm, ultradian
rhythms, and really seeing how you can really cultivate a 24
hour experience where there's a tangible physiological
experience that you have and then a spiritual, emotional one
that really leads to wanting to do it the day after that, the
(02:32):
day after that. You kind of catch fire in that
day and. Isn't it interesting that like
it becomes just the way that youare?
It's like this is something thatyou're doing for 30 days or it's
the 90 day reset or anything like that or all the, you know,
6-6 pack abs in six weeks or sixdays or whatever, six hours,
(02:52):
whatever people are trying to sell these days.
It's like this just becomes youridentity.
This is what you do. This is who you are, this is how
you function, and you either have practices that lead to
mastery in the areas that you want to be great at, or you end
up practicing all of the things that still don't serve you.
(03:15):
How wild is that? I think that really is a perfect
lift off. And I think this is a this is a
personal book for me because I think when I started looking at
the day, I remember way back in grad school, I was reading about
a guy named Albert Bandura. He's the guy that actually
created the whole self efficacy studies where his whole idea is
(03:36):
like witnessing yourself following through, being present
for the good that you do, but also being present for the stuff
that you know, you're not necessarily awesome at or you
don't like the way that you're doing certain things.
But having the courage to be a witness.
I mean, Greg, you've you've seenthis clinically across the
board. It takes a lot of inner work to
be a witness who's not necessarily judgmental, but
(04:00):
discerning a good observing eye that can be compassionate, but
also strong and saying, hey, listen, you're doing some things
that you know are not serving you.
You've got some opportunities toreally do some incremental
changes. Don't try to make your entire
life amazing, but start with a morning.
Start with an afternoon and giveyourself some snackable success
(04:22):
and see how that actually startsto generate a self belief.
Then almost like an opportunity where you start to see yourself
going. Gosh, I love feeling good about
myself. I love the follow through.
I'm really starting to realize how character and integrity are
foundational for me and my personal piece and how those
affect our Physiology is absolutely life changing.
(04:46):
How do we become the witness? You mentioned that that takes a
lot of work and I have been practicing becoming the observer
of my own thoughts and the observer of my own practices and
trying to be or practicing non judgmentalism as well so that I
(05:10):
can be the observer. No judgement, but become aware
of whether or not the practice is serving these just so that
can make better decisions in thefuture.
What's wrapped up in all of that?
Gosh, I, I think what you just said is really where it's at,
Greg. We get an opportunity.
I, I used to love to coach my patients in this idea of having
almost looking at your life likean ethnography.
(05:31):
You've got one foot in principles, 1 foot in the things
that you ideally, you know, you'd like to feel.
This is how you want to show up.This is the things that you
really aspire to bring into yourlife as core to who you are.
Then you put the other foot in your practicality of your real
life. I've got my 1 foot.
What would be amazing and what is my what is my actual
(05:52):
experience? This is the opportunity to be
the witness in experience of going, OK, you know what, when
you sleep in or you snooze alarm, what do you believe that
is actually in relationship to your integrity, your character
or the ideas of what you'd really love to be experiencing?
And it's actually kind of as somebody kind of comes in as a
coach versus a critic. And I think that's really an
(06:14):
interesting distinction for a lot of us because I, I, Greg, I
can share this deeply and you and I are very, very close
friends. I think perfectionism for a lot
of us is a very insidious disease or dis ease where it's a
cover up for a lot of shame the way that we think it should be,
but the way they actually are showing up.
And perfectionism doesn't want to see that necessarily.
(06:36):
And we don't want to look at ideas around where we might be
falling short in relationship tothe way we think we should be
performing versus the way we actually are performing.
And an ethnographer gets a chance to be an observer who has
heart, who has an understanding of the realities of our life,
but as always being a witness towhat it is that we can
incrementally do. As you know, like I look at the
(06:59):
ideas around Kaizen, which is the Japanese way of incremental
improvement. I look at the day that way.
And when I name my book or create the title, it's DM, which
is an acronym for Discipline, Intention, Energy Mastery.
Those are the four opportunitiesI think everyday hold for us and
discipline right at the gate. That idea of kind of structuring
(07:22):
your day with discipline, being a student of the things that you
would love to be doing more of, or I love to say being a student
of what makes you come alive. And that ethnographer gets a
chance to be the witness relationship to the the foods
you're choosing, the community you're hanging out with, the
media that you're listening to and watching, and really a lot
about what it is that's going inside your inner dialogue.
(07:44):
These are all the opportunities that we have with discipline.
I like to think of structural discipline, reactive discipline,
growth discipline, expansive discipline.
These are all the opportunities that we can integrate into our
day to help us kind of fortify aplan that is actionable and a
way we can witness the way in which we did certain things
(08:05):
really wonderfully well and would love discern where we
still have some good work to do.What does the morning look like
'cause when we were hanging out,we did a morning workout and you
mentioned that you can like there have only been a handful,
literally less than like less than 10 times, might even be
(08:25):
less than five that you have notgotten up early and done a
workout in the last 30 years. So or whatever.
I, I don't know the number. Tell us the numbers first of
all, and let's start to talk about winning the morning.
How do we get around into a great place to start our day?
You know, and I shared that withyou because, you know, you and I
were saying, you know, sitting in the sauna and, you know,
(08:46):
talking about, you know, the craft of our life and you know,
this. And maybe some of your, your
community might know this. So I have a deep history of
addiction and I kind of switchedaddictions.
I went from doing a lot of things that were not good for me
to trying to figure out what I could find myself newly addicted
to. And a Dick is a strong word,
maybe for fitness or for spirituality.
(09:09):
But I have an attachment to feeling good, and I have an
attachment to waking up and feeling like I have a
possibility of really curating my Physiology in such a way that
my psychology gets a chance to experience what Physiology good
Physiology feels like. So you're right.
So maybe since my early 20s, I don't miss.
And I don't miss not because I'mawesome.
(09:30):
It's 'cause I love to feel awesome.
That's a key distinction, and I think around the ideas of
cultivating a great morning plan, it's really getting in
line with circadian rhythm. Our Physiology wants us to get
up in the morning and move. Our Physiology wants to actually
get up in the morning and be intentional.
Our Physiology loves to have something to do with a level
(09:53):
that's going to actually put us into something that's working
against edges, making us a little bit more uncomfortable.
And then our psychology loves tobe the witness.
It loves to say look at you, look at you showing up.
Look at the way you're leaning into those things.
Look at the way that your craft of self-care has become a
prophecy that you predictably can curate and cultivate.
(10:15):
A day that you know. Each and every day offers you
possibility in a way that you never thought was possible.
And then it becomes predictable.When we are crafting these
practices, often it requires us to change our behaviors.
And there's the inertia of the old way that runs up against the
(10:38):
dream of the new way, and there's a decision to be made.
How do we make those decisions that we know that we want to
make? And I guess there's two
scenarios. One is everything's going great,
it's easy. Another scenario is struggling.
How do we still make the right decisions and shift the inertia
(11:00):
towards all of the positive practices that elevate our
mastery? That's a so I'm better, but I'm
still working on that one. So I'm I'm asking this for Greg
actually. Greg, And I'm gonna answer it
for both you and me, because this is something we're all up
against. I think it's very few people who
can say, oh, man, every morning's amazing, I'm awesome,
(11:21):
and it's just easy for me to pursue greatness.
Not my story and not a lot of people's story, but here's the
thing I think you and I really love around science is where
sort of science and spiritualitydo a dance every single morning.
I remember when I was in high school learning the Latin sort
of idiomology of the word decision, which comes from the
(11:42):
Latin desideray, which means to cut yourself away from
everything that is not true. That is awesome.
And when you cut yourself away from all that is not true,
you're left with your truth, your essence, your, your
humanness. And what I've learned is that
getting up in the morning and choosing to move my body or
choosing to meditate, choosing not to allow inertia to
(12:06):
captivate me. It allows me to experience what
you and I have really jammed on over these last few years, what
we want to call sort of the neurochemical upward spiral.
When we're in a place of motion,our body in kind responds.
Our psychology starts to, if youwill emulate this upward spiral
of like, wow, you are moving, wow, something is changing.
(12:30):
Oh, this is an experience of excellence manifesting in you in
this moment. Do you like this?
This feels awesome. This is dopamine, this is
serotonin, this is cortisol. Getting a job to do that is the
opportunity. It's a choice point.
We meet ourselves every morning we wake up and we meet
(12:50):
ourselves. Do we feel we can meet ourselves
to the level of reverence, a level of acceptance, a level of
compassion, and then we can takethat spiritual any energy and
turn it into a movement making. And I think that really is the
decision that always is up for anyone who, especially in your
community. Greg, this is a it's a group of
people who love Physiology, theylove science, they love the idea
(13:13):
of spirituality as a personal development tool.
Well, here's the beautiful thing.
We are intonately, if you, we are fully innately available to
do these things every single day.
I think it's more about a willingness than it is a
willpower. And I think the willingness is
really giving ourselves permission to do the check in
(13:36):
with our our heart maybe versus our mind and let our heart be
the one who actually catalyzes our mind.
Let the heart be the one that actually moves us into motion.
Speaking of motion, talk to me about the importance of a daily
movement practice. Exercise, sweating, stretching,
(13:56):
whatever it happens to be. I think that's where that is
probably my drug of choice. There's nothing I love more than
the act of sweating, the act of putting lean muscle on my body,
the hormonal opportunity that muscle and sweat hold for all of
us. You know, Greg, there's so many
things in life that are they feel completely like out of our
(14:17):
hands. We live outside in versus inside
out. You and I have talked a lot over
the years about the idea this isa pharmacy waiting to be open.
We are a pharmacy waiting to be open.
Jacqueline Lane once said, all motion creates positive emotion.
And if we can get ourselves intomotion, go with willingness.
Look at the idea of having our heart and choosing a way in
(14:39):
which motion cultivates and circulates this.
You're gonna find a whole cornucopia of hormonal
opportunity that really starts to initiate the way our day will
be when you start to see dopamine levels start to rise
with us. Confidence, motivation,
resilience, serotonin, that kindof ability to kind of within, be
(14:59):
calm within the storm, have an optimism about ourselves, how
that affects our telomeres, how it affects our Physiology.
All of this opportunity how motion literally opens a door to
what it is that all of us would love to be feeling more of.
And if we will give ourselves permission to not look at it as
everyday having to be a marathonbut snackable movement first
(15:20):
thing in the morning, maybe mid morning, late in the afternoon,
after dinner. These all integrate and
culminate to a day in which we have done all kinds of things
for our Physiology that helps tostabilize a way in which a level
of performance becomes our norm to.
Sustain that level of performance that is high,
(15:43):
normal. You and I both have hermitic
practices, practices where a little bit of stress is good, a
lot is not. That is the balance that we seek
to achieve. But it's interesting that the
balance that you and I are seeking to achieve now involves
some pretty significant discomfort and deliberate
discomfort around getting into the sauna or the very hot tub or
(16:08):
the icy cold water and moving back and forth between those
temperatures to train the mind to stimulate the body to adopt
positively. Talk to me about the practice of
hormesis and hot and cold. That is probably one of the most
interesting places where I feel like emotion, spirituality and
(16:32):
Physiology go to battle. They literally go to battle and
I think this is the place where a lot of us who are seeking and
you know, ever, ever expanding experiences of, of the way in
which we would love to be a witness to what is possible
within us. I think contrast of hot and
cold, it unlocks so much mysteryaround what we are capable of
(16:54):
doing, what we're capable of experiencing.
So for me, the contrast of hot and cold is really a place where
I get a chance to really face all the parts of me that I'm
scared to look at. The what?
The parts of me that doesn't want to be uncomfortable, the
part of me that doesn't want to stay in the cold water any
(17:16):
longer. And I can witness myself
breathing through that discomfort in the training
ground that that gives us. Greg, because you and I are
parents, you and I are entrepreneurs.
There's something about being inice cold water and then going
into hot and back in the cold that you will carry 4 hours
later when you're in a really difficult meeting, you're with
your family, you're with your kids and something's happened,
(17:38):
something in your business, you know the wheels came off.
This is what gives you the ability to not abandon yourself.
I've always looked at the contrasting of hot and cold as
practice so we don't abandoned ourselves.
Light right now for most all of us, everyone I know peculiarly
(18:00):
hard. There's a lot of stuff that
world is presenting to us that is really hard to understand.
And then to try to figure out where do we put it.
We need to train our Physiology and the the love and then the
hate, the hot and the cold, the dark and the light, so we can be
(18:21):
vigilant, we can be courageous, we can be empathetic, we can be
compassionate. We can stand for the things that
really are truthful for us and not abandon what we believe are
core character integrity principles for us that we never
want to abandon. And I think the work that we get
a chance to do in silent when noone sees us, hot and cold
(18:44):
breathing practices, lifting heavy weights.
This is the way we get a chance to then walk out in the world
and be a beneficial presence. Hold fast to the things that we
value and the ways in which we want to be proud of the way that
we do show up. We don't show up without having
done the groundwork, and the groundwork happens in a lot of
(19:07):
places that people don't want togo and do it.
But I feel like there's something about being a witness
in those hard and comfortable places that give you permission
to show up in the other hard places.
When we do get into the hard places, we do the hard work,
whether it's on ourselves or outin the world, sharing our craft
to try to make the world a better place in whatever way
(19:28):
that is relevant for you, the listener, the the viewer.
That then causes physiological and psychological stress.
And one of the core practices and mindset shifts that you gave
me a while ago, which I'd love to share with the group, is not
necessarily thinking of nutrition as fuel, although it
is, but thinking of nutrition ashealing.
(19:52):
And that when we go out into theworld, we do the work.
We're tired, we're stressed, we're fatigued, we're broken
down. There's an accumulation of
oxidants. Inflammatory markers, but
nutrition is the path to healing, and that was a subtle
shift that really changed thingsfor me that I'd love for us to
share with everybody else as well.
(20:13):
Gosh, Greg, that one, that one is so good.
It's so good to look at food as medicine.
And I think food as medicine gives us an opportunity to look
at the fact that a lot of us have a fairly inflammatory world
that we live in. Lots of stuff moving, lots of
(20:33):
parts that are hard to control, ways in which we want to show up
that are unpredictable. We do our best.
All of this creates a lot of inflammatory opportunity where
the body can be breaking down our our, our mental fitness can
be up against anxiety and depression with inflammation
circulating inside of us. There's nothing quite like
(20:54):
sitting down and looking at goodfood.
Not in terms of just macros. Like I got my fats, I got my
proteins, got my carbs, but morelike I've got something in these
blueberries that have been shownto really help my brain to heal.
I've got something in this tomato sauce with this beautiful
pasta that's gonna actually helpmy heart to quell the fires of
(21:16):
inflammation. I've got lycopene that's
actually gonna go into my systemand actually start to do things
that actually really help to normalize an inflammatory
process, which can be helpful toa certain degree.
But how do we heal it so the inflammation doesn't run out of
control? I think when we look at food as
a healing opportunity, it's an act of self love that really
(21:38):
helps to culminate in a way thatour self-care practices land in
a way that's very mindful but also very present.
I think sometimes in the fitnessspace, you know, we're moving
fast, we're lifting things, we're getting in cold water, a
lot of action. Something about sitting down and
having grace with food, being intentional about what's in the
(21:59):
food and why we're using it. I love going in the refrigerator
and kind of choosing food based on the day I just had for dinner
and going out. You know, that was a tough
meeting. Or, you know, my daughter's
going through a hard time. Or, man, that news article just
really rocked my world. What medicine is in this
refrigerator that's gonna help heal?
And when you do it in that way, there's almost an intuitive
(22:19):
knowing in how our Physiology responds.
And they can take those caloriesand put them to work in the
places that can be most beneficial.
I don't know if there's any science on that, but man alive
does it feel that way after I'm done, When I curated a meal
based on what I knew my body wasasking for, what my heart and my
mind were asking for, and go, you know what?
(22:40):
I'm gonna go ahead and feed you.What's gonna help you to heal
and be strong and whole? So tomorrow, we're not
reactionary. We're proactively moving into
the day knowing the healing has already happened and I'm strong
and fortified to go out there and do the next level of
serving. Yeah, imagine walking up to your
refrigerator, your pantry, and thinking, what's the medicine
(23:03):
that I need right now? My mind immediately goes to ice
cream for a whole host of different reasons, but I'm sure
that there's some better optionsin there too that I'm gonna
think about next time as well. Doc, I know we've got a limited
amount of time, but this is actually gonna be the first of a
series that we're doing, so we don't need to cover everything
all at once. Perhaps the last thing is, and
(23:25):
then we'll just sort of tell people how they can get in touch
with you. But how do we close out our day?
How do we land the plane? How do we close our eyes at
night with a little grin on our face?
If we were to wrap all these things up and sort of thing
about a core practice to end ourday, what would you suggest?
I would suggest some of the bestresearch I've read two places, I
(23:47):
think one was Tufts, the other one was Stanford.
And they were talking about something great called a self
recognition practice, which is basically, you know, a lot of
people recommend gratitude practice.
I think it's amazing. Doctor Emmons has done decades
of research on writing down fivethings you're grateful for, help
your happiness, help you sleep better.
Self recognition does all that, but it also kind of helps you to
(24:09):
kind of look back at your day and really recognize the ways
that you showed up, to see the little incremental things that
you did that were awesome, that were loving, that were patient,
that were kind, that were heroic.
And so at the end of my day, I, I try to take at least 1520
minutes, reflect on the day and recognize myself, recognize
(24:32):
myself for the good that I did, the challenges that I overcame,
the failures I had, but I still showed up.
I think that life is moving fast.
It's moving so fast. Sometimes we can lose ourselves.
And I think in that losing of ourselves that we miss all the
good that we do. We are constantly thinking where
we need to be next and what we could have done better.
(24:54):
But if we can slow down and recognize the good that we've
done, that is medicine. And we fall asleep under a
sweetness of self reflection that makes us feel whole, makes
us feel peaceful, makes us feel.Possible and I'm.
Finding the next morning I wake up with a level of grace.
(25:14):
Grace. I think all of us are searching
for grace. And I think in the world of
Wellness and performance and fitness that you and I do our
best to teach and show up in forour families and our friends and
people we love, Grace is a thingwe don't talk about nearly
enough. We all need grace right now.
Grace is an opportunity to reflect on how good we already
(25:36):
are and the ways in which we'd love to show up and be that much
more. But it only happens under the
influence and abundance consciousness, which I think
grace is the foundation for. Abundance consciousness, our
ability to believe in the possible, that we already are
worthy of receiving and living up to.
Perfect way to wrap things up. If people want to learn more
(25:57):
about you and your work, where can they find you in the
interwebs? You know what, thank you for
asking Doctor James rouse.com isa good place to go.
My Instagram is Doctor James Rouse again, and you and I
pretty much comment on each other's stuff every day.
So you go to Greg's Instagram, you're gonna see me there with a
bunch of emojis every day, so. Unicorn posts are Doctor
(26:21):
Rouse's, so if there's a Unicornin the comments, that's Doctor
James. Yes, hilarious.
Doc, thank you so much for taking the time to hang out with
us and meet my audience. I'm really psyched about what we
have planned for the future. It's gonna be awesome and I'm so
grateful for your time. Greg, it was an honor.
Thank you, Doctor. I love you to the moon and back.
I love your family. And I love the way that you have
(26:42):
chosen to use your brilliance tobe a beneficial, beautiful
presence on the planet. Thank you.
You're my inspiration buddy. We're on good path.
Peace and love.
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