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See You In The AM: A Mental Health Podcast

See You In The AM:
A Mental Health Podcast

Available wherever you get your podcasts.

Episode: Athlete's Mindset & Mindfulness with Christian Straka

Show Notes

"From my own experience, when people talk about mindset, it refers to a perspective that one has on life, on performance, on a certain situation. And to change one's mindset can be synonymous with the ability to change one's perspective."

In today's episode, we will discuss the athlete’s mindset and mindfulness-based mental performance with professional coach and athlete Christian Straka. Christian has extensively studied mindfulness-based mental performance training and has years of personal athletic achievement and successful coaching experience under his belt, including his career as a Global Mindset Coach for Adidas Runners.

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Transcript

Allie Nickle: 

Welcome to the See You in the AM podcast,where we explore the many facets of mental health and wellness,share our personal experiences,interview mental health experts,and offer practical tips and resources to help you prioritize your mental wellness.I'm your co-host,Allie Nickle from Aspyn Market,and I'm joined by my friend,business partner and founder of Aspyn Market Wynter Johnson.We know there are a lot of mental health resources out there,and it's overwhelming to find the right resources that fit your time needs and budgets.So we're here to help.In each episode we'll talk with mental health experts and dig into a mental health topic that so many of us struggle with.In today's episode,we'll be discussing the athlete's mindset and mindfulness-based mental performance with professional coach and athlete Christian Straka.Christian has extensively studied mindfulness-based mental performance training and has years of personal athletic achievement and successful coaching experience under his belt,including his career as a global mindset coach for Adidas Runners.Thank you so much for joining us.We are so excited to talk with you today.

Christian Straka: 

Thank you very much for having me.

Allie Nickle: 

And with that,I'll hand it over to Wynter to start us off.

Wynter Johnson: 

Thanks,Allie.Uh,so I've been doing a lot of research on what you do and what you've been doing,and you have a really impressive background.So before we dig into some of our questions today,would you mind sharing with us a little bit more about yourself and really how you got into coaching and really what drew you to athlete's mindset and mindfulness and really just the overall focus that you have.

Christian Straka: 

Yeah.Um,you know,so I originally come from tennis.I used to play since I'm four years old.It kind of organically so happened that that was what I wanted to do with my life and I had the fortune to be able to kind of exercise it,uh,from a young age.Um,and then I became,you know,went onto the professional tour,but,uh,had a little bit bad luck with,uh,injury.They removed my first rib,so I had to stop playing pretty early.So by the time I was20,I actually started coaching.Um,and coaching was nothing that I had ever thought of that I would want to do or should do,or never even an option in my mind.Um,but my mentor and coach kind of suggested,you know,that I should try it out.He thought that might enjoy it and be good at it,and so I kind of,uh,you know,explored that route a little bit and it turned out that it was like my favorite thing to do.And,um,then I was very fortunate that he,uh,actually taught me how to teach for,you know,year,six years,basically every day,4,5,6hours.So I was very fortunate to be in a situation where I don't just take my own prior experiences,you know,go through some kind of certification or,um,training program,and then have to kind of figure out everything by myself as a coach.How to communicate,what to look out for,what to pay attention to.But um,really having one of the more experienced coaches in the world right next to me in my ears,literally,and just telling me like,oh,this is what you have to pay attention to and this is what you have to focus on and you can't say this,and like,this is what you have to say and now you have to wait and you have to like maybe mention it later.And,um,being in a situation like that for years,um,you know,kind of accelerates your learning curve significantly.And during that time,I,so that was all in tennis and,uh,during that time I then also realized as a coach,now as a tennis coach,that,um,the main reason for any of the people that I was coaching,whether they were professional athletes or recreational,they,um,were not competing at the optimal level of performance that they know they had as often or for as long as they wanted to.And every time they didn't,whether it was a brief period of time or,you know,in the entire session,uh,session or even longer,they would have certain reactions.They would get frustrated,they would get nervous,they would be,um,in doubt,they would be unmotivated.Um,so everybody's kind of reacting differently to it.But the cause is always basically knowing,um,in the best case scenario,of course,also,some people believe they have a certain level and they actually don't have it.But,you know,when you just take the facts and you know,by experience,this is the level,um,that you are able to compete at and then you're not doing it,um,then most of the time that's not a physical reason why you're not competing at that level.It could be,of course you didn't eat right,you didn't sleep right,uh,you didn't recover the right amount.Um,but even that most of the time is not the cause for most athletes,that they're not competing at that optimal level that they have done many times.And there it hit me because I was in the exact same boat,uh,when I was younger throughout my entire career.When I was playing at my best,I was able to compete.You know,I was at the top of the world,but I wasn't at the top of the world most of the time because my performance was too inconsistent.So I was like playing some,like somebody who was at the top of the world in the top10,and then like somebody who was number500in the world or a thousand in the world um,and that the whole time.And once I realized that that was kind of starting to become an interest of mine to coach people in that aspect without really having any training in that field,it was just more something that you realize is the problem or something that you need to improve at but you didn't know how to,there was no methodology um,there was no system in place.There was more opinion based,you know,maybe psychotherapy,which can be very powerful,but doesn't develop that many skills.It's more developing understanding.Um,and then I had,um,you know,in my early twenties,my,um,uh,mental breakdown myself and when I experienced the power of my mind to that degree,just in a very unpleasant way,um,It kind of started a very intense,rapid cascade of events that then kind of motivated me to kind of look deeper into,well,if my mind can do this in a negative way,why can I not do it in a positive way?Right?And that didn't work,but I didn't understand why it didn't work.Um,and I was exposed to other people and teachers and mentors.Um,and with that,basically I decided once I realized that these are skills,internal skills that one can develop and improve to a degree that I had never thought would be possible,um,I dedicated all of my time to developing these skills,understanding these skills.Um,and once these skills had improved,you know,now I'm really fast forwarding,like,kind of many years now.But once they had improved to a degree where I realized it's different now to live my life and to perform than it was before,um,I,I kind of made the choice that this is what I want to teach.I didn't want to teach tennis anymore.I wanted to teach any athlete,not just tennis players.These fundamental skills,explaining these skills to them,why they're beneficial so that,you know,optimal case scenario can result in more.This understanding can result in some additional motivation to want to develop these skills.And once these skills,um,are trained and improved,then any anybody's athlete,uh,any athlete will,you know,kind of be able to tap into their optimal level of performance more frequently and for longer.

Wynter Johnson: 

I love,thank you for sharing your story and your background and how you got into this.It's tremendous.And I think one of the things,you talk a lot about mindset and asking yourself,if my mind can do this in a negative way,how can I get my mind to do this in a positive way?And I think for a lot of people,understanding their mindset and even what it is,is a really interesting place to start.And so to ask yourself that question in the beginning and then start your journey from there is really fascinating.And Allie and I have noticed a trend in our coaching app.Some of our most popular,most watched courses right now are all of our mindset series courses.So can you kind of walk us through a little bit about truly understanding the basics of what is mindset and how as a coach you really start to work with people on shifting your mindset?Because a negative mindset can do a lot of harm,but it's not,like you said,it's not as easy as just deciding.I'm gonna think differently.

Christian Straka: 

Yeah.Um,for sure.I mean,I think one of the challenges here also is the definition of the term mindset.Um,to my knowledge,you know,the word mindset is being used in many different ways by many different people.Um,and so I use mindset because that's what Adidas has defined.Uh,anything that has to do with mental performance as one of their key pillars,um,when they work with athletes and even within the brand with with employees.Um,but that being said,I kind of use it synonymously with mindfulness and there's for sure many people that actually use mindset in a very different way.And they're not talking about mindfulness at all.Um,so.You know,just,um,from my own experience,when people talk about mindset,uh,in a more broad term,it many times refers to a perspective that one has on life,on performance,on a certain situation.Um,and to change one's mindset can be synonymous with the ability to changing one's perspective.Um,changing one's perspective basically means that you have different thoughts.You are able to look at or understand a situation from a different angle,and then additionally,you believe the possibility that that can be true to a degree.You can have a thought of a certain situation,but if you don't believe it,you're not changing your perspective.Right?So the belief factor is kind of a key.And depending if on,if somebody has a,so to speak,now we're coming into this,you know,um,somewhat challenging terminology,but growth mindset or a fixed mindset.Um,If somebody has a fixed mindset,it's much more challenging to change your perspective because you basically are stuck with your current belief system on a situation.If you have a growth mindset,then most of the time you have the ability to take in a different perspective.You're open towards that perspective.You don't necessarily just leave it and take it at face value,but you are open to exploring it.You become curious and if you see scientific evidence,if you see personal kind of benefits when trying it out,then you,you're open to changing your perspective,meaning changing your belief really based on new data that's available to you.So,um,In regards to,you know,changing your mindset and um,having a mindset that is more beneficial to you.Um,the key or not that the key,a key,uh,is for sure the ability to take a step back and being able to observe the effects that your current mindset,your perspective,your opinions and beliefs have on your situation,on your performance.Are they benefiting you or are they not?And that is where a lot of people kind of get stuck.So they have a certain mindset,they believe this is the best course of action,they follow that course of action,but,the result is not what they're hoping for and they continue repeating this same activity without seeing the results that they want.And if you then don't,if you're then not open enough to realizing,Hmm,well this approach that I'm trying is actually not working,maybe I want to take a different approach,then you're going to be either not improving at all or at a very slow pace,relatively to if you have a more growth mindset and you're able to take the mistakes that you are experiencing from your activities and learn from them,and then change something based on the outcome of your activities.

Wynter Johnson: 

Do you think that people are able,and I've had a lot of debates about this in the past,to shift from fixed to growth or growth to fixed and kind of alternate in between the two?Or do you think it's something that's really innate within a person and whether they're a fixed or growth mindset?

Christian Straka: 

A great question.Um,you know,I think believing belief systems are very strong and has to do with how you grew up.I don't think it's,it's a black or white,like either you have a growth mindset or you have a fixed mindset.I think everything is on a continuum.Um,and people can move along that continuum depending on their experiences of people around them,of situations,their own experiences.They might have a belief where this can't change and that person can change and I cannot change.But once they actually experience the opposite,their mindset,their belief system can change.Um,but depending on far how far you are on the one end of this continuum,you are gonna have a more challenging time to move along the continuum.I think if you're on the far end of a fixed mindset,then no matter what anybody says or does,you're just,you're not going to kind of move along very far.But I think that's,that exists for sure.But I think it's on the rarer side.I think more often than not,people are like somewhere in the middle,uh,on this continuum.They have somewhat of a fixed mindset on certain aspects in their life.They have a growth mindset on other aspects in their lives.Um,and once they start to be able to take a step back and see that they actually have a growth mindset,just in this area of,in their life or this subject matter and that it had a certain benefit,then they can apply that same principle to another area and start to kind of question,Hmm,is this actually helpful?Is this right what I'm doing?Or what?Or my belief is this actually objectively truth or is it just my belief?Because that's why I feel,but I'm close to taking in additional data outside that basically is showing the opposite to be true.

Wynter Johnson: 

I really love looking at that as a continuum,and you're one of the first coaches that I've heard describe it that way.You know,a lot of the times,you know,they ask you to think about are you fixed or are you growth and it's one or the other,and so really thinking about it in the different areas,how it moves,and asking yourself,do I know this to be true related to this is really important.I really like that perspective a lot.Um,so the athlete's mindset.So my brother is an incredible athlete and it's been really interesting growing up with him and watching his mindset over the years and how it's so different from mine.And I'm,I'm in awe of his mindset and the way athletes think about it.And you watch them,and my son is really like this as well,where,you know,if you say,I'm gonna,I'm gonna get my body to do this,I'm gonna perform in this way.And I'll ask him often,how did you do that?And he's like,I just told myself I was gonna do it and I do it.And it is,you know,I watched the pain they go through,but just the determination and I,I am envious of that mindset.Do you think that,and,and both of them,both my brother and son have always been this way.And do you think that it's something that can be developed and learned?Or do you believe that it's more of a mindset that you're born with?

Christian Straka: 

Um,I think it's both.Um,again,I,I mean generally speaking,it's very rare that I will put something in like two buckets.Um,so when somebody has the ability to basically deal with,let's say with fatigue,okay,in a different way,then um,a couple of things can be happening.One thing that can be happening is that they have the somatic experience of fatigue in that muscle,but this experience of fatigue is not the same somatic experience that person B is having.It might not be as intense.Even you,you're doing the same exercise just because of how,you know,genetically you have been kind of,um,you know,Uh,what you've been given from,you know,uh,life.The,the next aspect is that the exper,the somatic experience of the fatigue or the pain,let's just say even the broader,um,is actually identical.But just because the sensation is identical doesn't mean that the sensation will trigger the same experiences within you.So when you might experience pain and fatigue in your biceps from biceps curl,this experience might trigger without your doing a certain thought in your head and you're like,oh my God,this is so tough.This is so tough,I can't do it.And then,In turn,this thought can cause aversion.You don't want it.So the very lack of motivation,um,an increase in aversion and that's going to make it very difficult for you to continue doing this exercise in the presence of fatigue and pain.But another person might not have actually that reaction at all or to that degree,or it might jump in much later when the,um,pain,um,has a much higher intensity.So maybe you have these thoughts and this aversion when the pain in your biceps is at a five out of10,and the other person might have it only once it sets in at an eight out of10,the intensity and then the thoughts.So they can already train kind of harder without having even having done anything.And then on top of that comes the layer of training.So just training physiologically of course changes,um,what the sensation feels like,how much you can withstand and so forth.But also the training of the inner system.So the more often you are exposed to unpleasant sensation in your biceps,the more you will get used to it.It's like the first time you see the President of the United States,you're gonna have a certain reaction and you're gonna be excited and nervous,and you don't even know what to say and do.And once you have seen the President every single day for two hours,for two years,your system isn't gonna have the same reaction.So when you're training your biceps all the time,your inner system is,your thoughts and your emotions and your aversion and motivation are not going to be reacting the same way.So a lot of times when people say,I don't understand how she can do that,or how he can do that,is because they're missing the point of that person doesn't have the same inner pinball machine that I do.It's everything looks different.You know,they have this sensation and it causes pleasure completely.You know?

Wynter Johnson: 

How.You know,it's interesting.My brother,I asked him,what,how do you just do that?How do you run and run and run until you know you,you can't anymore.Like you mentioned,he is like,I just tell myself to do it.So when I'm in a situation that when there are times,whether it's you know,at work or I'm physically doing something and I get to that point where I think I just can't do this anymore,I have to tell myself,yes,you can just keep doing it.Just the pain will go away.You'll get through this.You know?Are there some,some tips or tricks that you use when you work with your clients to kind of get to that next level of mindset when you,when you kind of make yourself feel defeated,but you know,you can,how do you power through the way those athletes do to get to that next level?

Christian Straka: 

Yeah,so in that case,you basically have the contents of your mind,what you believe and what you want,are at odds.So you believe you can do it,but you don't want to do it.Um,so it's exactly what we just talked about.Um,the fatigue is causing aversion within you emotionally,but psychologically you are maybe not quite there yet and you're actually telling yourself,oh no,I can do this.And whether you're telling yourself I can do this or not is really just a reaction that you had.You didn't plan on doing it anyway.In that moment you have a thought of,I can't do this.And then you remember,oh no,actually I can do this.And those are all thoughts that are popping up.The vast majority of those thoughts that go through our mind are not thoughts that we have planned out and want to be thinking.They're just like popcorn that are coming up.And even those thoughts,um,are basically luck.You know,it's just how you've been pulled,what you've been exposed to your whole life.So,what I kind of try to focus on more than changing the thoughts and changing the belief system of I can do this,i,I want to believe that I can and I don't want to believe that I can,is just changing the relationship to the thoughts and the feelings itself.So you have a overarching goal.You kind of,it's very helpful to remember and know why you're doing something,why you want it.Um,and then every other,every step of the way,there's going to be something that's going to interfere with that.So once you know,I want to get fitter,I want to improve my,um,my stamina,part of that is going to be you have to be running,let's say you wanna do that with running,you can do that in other ways.Um,and part of that is going to be experiencing fatigue.Part of that is going to be experiencing aversion and doubt and lack of motivation.It's all part of the journey.That's not right or wrong.That's just like,that's how it works.So it's not about necessarily changing the thoughts or it's not about not experiencing the aversion.It's about experiencing it,the aversion and the doubt and the lack of motivation,allowing it to be there,but doing what you know is in your best interest intellectually,because that was your goal to begin with,and not doing in the moment with just what you feel like or what your mind's telling you,because that is just a reaction to aversion and desire in the moment.

Wynter Johnson: 

I love the thought of experience and let it be there.I think so often we are trained to avoid situations that don't make us feel good or are negative,and I think just let it be their experience and keep the ultimate goal in mind is a really great perspective to have on things that feel like they're a challenge.

Christian Straka: 

Yeah.And that's when you go back to kind of mindset,you can use that overall encompassing kind of,uh,term,you know,where you're able to change your mindset because you just remember why you're doing this,why you want okay to be doing this.And once you understand intellectually that all of these different things are part of the journey then it's not about not experiencing unpleasantness,it's not about not making mistakes.It's not about not being tired,and it's not about not having doubt,not being anxious,not being stressed,all of that stuff.It is a absolute necessity of these experiences and of the journey and all the people that improve to whatever degree that they want to develop the ability or have been the given,the ability to a degree,to deal with all of these factors in a way that allows them to continue on the journey.And what definitely I have never heard of at least,and it's not been my personal experience,that anybody ever improved at something and got really great at it in sports and any other thing in their life and they did it because they weren't experiencing lack of motivation.Oh yeah.I was never stressed.I never had any pain or I saw it was easy to,for me to become number one in the world.Like that's not how things work,unfortunately.

Wynter Johnson: 

It'd be nice if they did.So I saw another video.Um,I was watching you were talking about,um,you know,there are a couple of things that really impact your mindset and your ability to become an athlete is really what this was focused on.And you were talking about access to resources,being one of them,and really kind of your luck into where you are born,who your parents are,you know what that situation looks like.You don't choose your parents,you don't choose your childhood,you don't choose your lifestyle.And,you know,you've talked a little bit about that.You mentioned luck a couple times today and really,you know,how are you raised and you know,I think there were a lot of us who were raised with,you know,emotions are bad.It's not okay to be angry.It's not okay to be upset.It's not okay to,you know,give up.And so learning to do some of that is really complicated and difficult.And I'm sure that's what you see when a lot of people come to you looking for a coach,you know.But what are really some of the things that you see people need help with or reasons they come to you as a coach?What are they really hoping to change or do?

Christian Straka: 

Yeah,that's a great question.Um,you know,people come,I mean,I teach at the university,you know,so,um,in that case people are young,they're curious.Some of them take the program to take the course because kind of it's a two unit course and it might be helpful.They've heard of mindfulness and they don't know anything.Others in the university kind of feel come because they're suffering,you know,to a degree with stress,with anxiety or something.And there this might be a way out for them.Um,and I'm glad to,you know,that these skills are able,are accessible for them and I can help them with that.What I focus on though myself is really,um,helping people that don't necessarily feel like they're suffering in life and they just want to use these skills and learn about these skills to get better at whatever they're most interested in,in,in this case,specifically aesthetic performance.Um,it is,um,you know,the subject that you brought up with luck and that you haven't chosen all of these things.It's a very tricky,um,uh,subject matter for most people because people that are very determined and strong-minded,they feel like a lot of times it's,they are the ones that have,are doing all of this.They're the ones that are the hard workers.They're the ones that have decided to do it,and they're the ones that went through the hardship and I did it anyway.But if you kind of look behind,many,many,many curtains within you,it's possible to discover that like all of what you are experiencing is,again,like what I refer to is this inner pinball machine that you have never had really almost any impact on.You were lucky,unlucky in many situations now where,where you're at.Like you said,you never chose who your parents are.You never chose how much money you have or your parents had.You didn't choose where you were born.You didn't choose when you're born.You didn't choose where you went to the school.You didn't choose who your teachers are when you're young.I mean there,there's so many things that have such a influence on your life that you never had any impact on.Plus the biology and the genetics and evolution,all of it combined.But now I'm sitting here and I feel like I am the doer and the maker of every single action and of every thought.But the reality is that every thought that I have is really just a,um,result of previous thoughts and previous experiences that I had.And if I can sit back and observe it with enough attention to detail and clarity and the awareness,I can see that like the vast majority of my thoughts just pop up and then a thought causes,again,desire on diversion.And if a thought causes desire,I will act on it.If a thought causes aversion,I will not act on it.But on the surface,it seems like I don't want it,so I'm not going to do it.But it really is just aversion why you're not doing it.You're not choosing to have aversion.So there's not really a choice for you to begin with until you develop the ability to have a little bit more freedom because you're able to act in the independently of desire and aversion.But that's not a,that's not a,not a skill that most people have in most areas in their life.

Allie Nickle: 

So how do you build that awareness,build that skill to realize that you're having that thought?Cuz you have to realize it before you even can decide whether to act on it or not.

Christian Straka: 

Yeah.So,and that's where,you know,mindfulness meditation comes in.That's exactly what you do.There is an infinite amount of techniques,um,with,uh,many different,uh,kind of goals that you can set out.Um,there's almost contradictory kind of goals that you can have.You can have a goal or you can have the absence of a goal,but all of it includes consistent systematic practice where you develop actual skills.It's not developing intellectual and conceptual understanding and knowledge,even though we're not obviously dismissing intellectual knowledge and conceptual understanding,that is a very important element.But if you go and you go into the ocean and it's high waves and you have studied intellectually water and swimming for five years,and you've written a PhD about it,it still doesn't give you the ability to swim if you never swam in your life.Or you can do the same thing with honey.You can know everything about honey from the molecular kind of composition to the chemistry behind it,to the bees,to how it's made.You can write5,000pages about it.But if you have never tasted honey,you don't know what honey is experientially,you know it conceptually.And the big challenge for many people is that they think that they can solve everything intellectually.Just by knowing things and understanding things is sufficient.To solve all these problems,but that is not the case.It's helpful,it's important.Very,very important,but it doesn't cut it.Knowledge doesn't cut it.If it comes to skills,and if somebody's sitting across from you and says something that upsets you and you have a visceral reaction,all of your understanding and knowledge flies out the window because you don't have the ability to deal with the emotions,even though you know what you should be doing,but you can't do it.It's like,I know what I need to do when I'm swimming.I know I need to put one farm in front of the hour.I need to move my legs.But you can't do it.You haven't practiced it.And if you're doing it,you with high waves,you're gonna drown.If you're doing it with,you know,a little support in a pool,you might be able to do it.So in these situations,the skills that are lacking that everybody has but they're not developed enough,are the ability,like you just said before,your ability to be aware of something,but whether it's pleasant or unpleasant,a thought or feeling,anger,sadness,and allow it to be there.Not to try to suppress it,not to try to avoid it or if it's pleasant not to try to cling to it.You just allow it.You let it be there.Just the way it is.If it wants to stay,you let it stay.If the anger is there,you let it be.Anger is intensifying.You let it intensify.The anger might be something that you're feeling,might be in your mind.You're telling yourself,how could they do this?Who do they think I am?Um,don't they know what I've done?Whatever it is that your mind is telling you,but you are not your thought.You are aware of the thought since you're listening.So there's two.There's you who's listening to the thought,and that is the thought itself.So once you who is listening to the thought is able to listen without being so affected by it,and you create some distance to the thought,you'd create some distance to that feeling,then it's not like you are having this,I am angry.No,you are noticing anger.The anger consists of certain sense categories and elements,auditory thoughts,visual thoughts,emotional body sensations.You'll start to be able to distinguish it and then the skill is called equanimity,right?Or acceptance.You can kind of call it whatever it is,uh,or whatever you want.Um,and that in turn also helps you to improve your awareness,being aware what's actually happening.So you're able to distinguish what is happening internally.I mean,this is just the example.You could be aware of anything,right?To kind of skip like,or,or do a little detour,uh,for a moment.That is one of the big problem when people say you gotta be present,you gotta be in the moment.I mean,that is for sure true,but it is so vague of a statement that what does that even mean?You gotta be in the moment.You gotta be present of what I could be present of infinity.Everything in my life is happening right now.I can be aware of my breath,I can be aware of my thoughts,I can be aware of my emotions,I can be of the sounds around me.I can be aware of what you're saying.I can be aware of your,um,gestures.I can be aware of your,the surrounding.I can be aware of anything.What should I be aware of?So when you improve your awareness,you improve your ability to be aware of certain characteristics that matter to your current situation.Your current situation might be performance related.Well then it's very limited or your current situation is just an open situation where you're not doing really doing anything.You're sitting at the beach.You can literally be aware of anything.It's all beneficial in a way.And then the third skill is your ability and your understanding to direct your attention to where it needs to be.And where you want it to be.So understanding where it needs to be,that's the intellectual part,but then the ability to keep it there when you want to.That is the experiential part.So many times,you know,um,everybody's in a situation and maybe somebody's saying something that is not that interesting,but they kind of need to be listening.And then they can notice every single thing that they are aware of,their attention gets hijacked.Somebody walks behind them and they go,eyes go over there.They all of a sudden think of their phone and they look at the phone and then they know they shouldn't be looking at their phone,but they have the of urge to look at the phone.And now they're not looking at the phone,but they're thinking about looking at the phone.And although what's happening is their attention is everywhere,but the person that's talking and then they're hearing,but they're not listening.So those three skills,the,the ability to pay attention to what you want for how long you want,your ability to be aware of what matters,and your ability to allow what you're experiencing to be there without push or pull are these skills where understanding is helpful,but it,it's not going to improve the skills in itself.

Wynter Johnson: 

There's so much that you just said there that as an adult I take in and I think,am I learning these skills?Am I growing these skills?Am I developing them?But as,and I don't know that I have a question here,but as you're,you're explaining all of this,the thing that's going through my mind is my kids,you know,I think that it's interesting the external factors that they have that influence mindset and what do they take in,what do they not,what are certain coaches telling them?What are they hearing at school?But you know,the ability to limit what you take in,how long you allow it,what that is,I think is really changing right now with social media.And I think as a parent,it's harder to teach these skills to kids.It's harder to reinforce the positive things that you want to go in,but they're constantly bombarded with everything that's coming in that's affecting their mindset.It's hard for them to really know what to allow and not allow and,and control that.And I worry,I.You know,if our generation and we are struggling with this right now,what does that look like as our kids and their mindset and their ability to overcome,you know,some of these negative things or to grow it in a healthy way,what does that look like as they get older?You know,and,and I'm really fearful of that for them and very aware of what it looks like for them.

Christian Straka: 

Yeah,I mean my,you know,what science has been showing in studies and my personal opinion is I do not have a high,uh,view of social media.I think it's one of the worst things that happened to society.There are obvious benefits,um,that are undeniable,but in my view,they do not outweigh the negatives.The negatives are tremendous.It is,um,absolutely devastating to many people's lives and wellbeing,but we are evolving.Um,I think what we're seeing right now,um,with AI and many things that we don't understand yet is there's always two sides of the coin for sure.I think over the last10years at least,this has been going,this has been a downward spiral,but my hope,you know,just at the other side of that tunnel,what you are kind of afraid of,which I share,I am also kind of hopeful that there will be people that develop technology that counteracts that.So I don't,I think,and when I say say,I think like it's my opinion that can change at any moment based on information that I,uh,you know,receive.But at this very moment,um,I think that it's possible with future tech,technological,um,advancements to aid those skills that I've been just talking about.And,um,I mean,we're not going into any kind of,uh,hypotheses there because I'm very uneducated on kind of what I have been reading and hearing.But like you listen to somebody like Ray Kurzweil you know,and if that is something that you believe to be a possibility,I mean,humans would have,um,mental and emotional abilities that are not even comparable to what we are experiencing right now.And then something like,uh,desire to looking at a little screen and um,you know,the dopamine hits that we are experiencing and the attention deficit disorder that is being developed would be like,uh,a non-issue anymore.But for sure there's going to be completely other issues that are going to arise,um,that nobody's aware of right now.But,yeah,I think for me personally,I'm just definitely taking social media in as little as humanly possible,only using it professionally,outward facing,not like I'm not taking it as a tool where I absorb information.I'm using it as a tool to share information,um,and in a very limited capacity.Um,but I'm,I'm hopeful that,you know,in the future,technology will also in these categories get to a point where it's going to be beneficial for our children.Um,and for,you know,every,anybody that is coming into life really.

Wynter Johnson: 

I certainly hope so,and things are changing so quickly.I hope that is,you know,a benefit that we start to see sooner rather than later.And I hope our kids,you know,both of my kids often say they wish social media wasn't a thing.You know,as much as people say kids are addicted to them.I saw a study recently about the number of teens that would uninstall social media.They didn't feel they needed it socially,and it was,it was a high number.And so hopefully we start to see that transition as it just kind of loses maybe some of its novelty and we find other ways to share and connect and communicate.

Christian Straka: 

That's my hope also.

Wynter Johnson: 

Um,so what advice would you offer or advice or resources or,you know,if someone comes to you and says,I really need help developing my mindset,changing my mindset,um,what resources do you recommend to them outside of coaching?

Christian Straka: 

Um,Um,I mean it really depends on,um,the more specifics of what they're interested in.Right?Is this something that's more performance related?Is that something that is more related to overall wellbeing?Is it,um,related to,um,behavior change?Is it related to,uh,overarching degree of suffering that the person is experiencing?Um,which would then basically,which when I would kind of point them in a certain direction?What I generally say,and what has been true,um,in my life is that I am very interested and a lot of desire and motivation emerges if I get inspired.And inspiration happens many times if you meet or hear someone that connects with you on an experiential level,it's like you hear them speak and they speak as if they're talking directly to you.If you find that person,then you are off a great start.That is just follow that person.Take in every single thing that that person is saying or has written or is sharing.That is wonderful because if you find that person,you will not experience so much aversion towards like,ah,I knowing I should,but I don't want,it'll be the opposite.You just want the whole time you want to listen.It's interesting to you.So it's much more effortless.However,for a lot of people,they don't find that person.Um,but partially because they don't understand this principle that I just shared,and they don't go looking out for people.It's just exploring.You don't know who you're gonna connect with.Um,so start looking.There's so many teachers out there that are so amazing.Um,and now,nowadays you don't necessarily have to read all these books anymore.You can listen to podcasts,like when people listen to your podcast or you can listen to audio books,to YouTube videos.There's all these great,fantastic teachers in the world,they're out there.Um,and if you keep looking,chances increase significantly that you will find somebody that you really connect with.Um,and in order to increase the chances of you finding somebody that really connects with you um,there's actually also a couple of podcasts or institutions that where just like amazing teachers are at.So one podcast,um,is actually Andrew Huberman.There's a lot of fantastic scientists,uh,in their fields that are talking about certain subjects that can be very interesting to people.There is a podcast called,um,from Dan Harris.I forgot what the name of the podcast is.

Allie Nickle: 

Uh,10%Happier.

Christian Straka: 

Yeah,exactly.Yeah.10%Happier is a great podcast.Um,especially the first few,maybe a hundred episodes or200because um,there's a lot of different teachers on there and they basically all talk about the exact same thing,but they talk about it in so many different ways and that so many different experiences that you will for sure love listening to somebody and like not be interested in all listening to another person.Sam Harris is another great resources and terms of being exposed to many different individuals.So not necessarily Sam Harris,but the teachers that he brings on,even though I think he's also a wonderful teacher.And,um,so that's one way.And then the other way is kind of,what is your overarching goal?Like I said at the very beginning,is this like performance related then?Yeah,I will obviously kind of relate them to MindSize,which is the company that I've started,um,which I have started so people that don't have the financial resources or are physically in the location to,um,develop these skills with the goal of improving their performance.So it's an eight week course,uh,program online that you can do,and if you can't afford it,um,then you can reach out to me and I'm more than happy to make that available to you for free.Um,and if it's not performance related,um,and you're just generally interested in developing mindfulness,um,and you're somebody who it's not so much about necessarily being at the point where you want to be inspired and you just want to learn,but you're actually at the point in your life where you are interested to really learn these skills.Not learn just intellectually,but also really practice,then I will direct you to Unified Mindfulness.That is in my,uh,opinion by far the most comprehensive,um,mindfulness system because it incorporates all of mindfulness systems.It's not a system that found out a new way to practice mindfulness.It's the first system that I'm aware of that just encapsulates all of the field of mindfulness,secular,as well as traditional.Um,and you now have the abilities,uh,to learn about and practice all of the techniques that have developed,develop the ability to understand how are techniques developed,um,what are techniques beneficial for,and how can you create your own techniques?Because that really,as long as you're not practicing your own technique in many different situations,you are not at a point in your life where you can fully integrate these three skills into your life.It's going to be like,still like a kind of an add-on.You do it for your life,but it's not in your life.

Wynter Johnson: 

And thank you for sharing those resources.I definitely wanna check them out,especially some of those podcasts.I haven't heard of all of those,um,so we'll definitely check those out.So before we wrap up,is there anything else you wanna share with anyone about what you are doing,your goals,any advice you have,anything at all?

Christian Straka: 

Well,um,I kind of,uh,even though I come from the kind of performance world and sports world,um,I like to just share with everybody always that just to try to relax a little bit wherever they at is where they're at.If they're not motivated right now and they're not interested,it's not up,it's not their fault.They're not doing anything wrong.They're not inferior to somebody that is like the most motivated person ever.Um,the motivated person might be not motivated in a week and vice versa.Um,so I would just be saying,take it easy.Take care of yourself and try to develop the ability to do what you believe to be good for your own future,and not only doing things that you want to do right now while forgetting about your own future.

Allie Nickle: 

That is great advice.I love that.Thank you.All right.Well thanks for tuning in to the See You in the AM podcast.We're your hosts,Allie Nickle and Wynter Johnson.And a very special thanks to Christian for taking the time to chat with us today.Uh,our goal at Aspyn Market is to make mental health,self-guided therapy and coaching resources available to everyone and we just skimmed the surface today.If anything we discussed resonated with you and you're interested in learning more to help your mental health,check out our app Aspyn Coaching,where you can get unlimited access to hundreds of hours of self-guided therapy and mindset coaching from our team of Aspyn Coaches.Hit just head over to Aspyn market.com.That's Aspyn with a"Y"to get started with your seven day free trial now.Get full access to all of our features for seven days,including featured daily videos,guided journeys,journal prompts,downloadable resources and exercises.The path to a happier,healthier use starts here.Until our next episode,we hope you have a wonderful day and we'll see you in the AM.