Good morning. Happy Monday. I have no coffee in hand and it is perfect. Okay. Coming off a pretty solid weekend. Better than expected actually, so that's kind of cool. But let's dig straight into today's Q&A. This is going to be a little something different. We're not going to talk about training per se, but we're going to talk about self-regulation. So I had a conversation with Angkor and we've talked to him before about some training things, but he brought up some really interesting questions. And we touched on this kind of stuff a little bit in the intensive in regards to energy management and productivity, how to get things done. And Ankor came at me with some really good questions. We had a fun time. We actually went over a little bit on the 15 minute console because we were just laughing and having a good time and enjoying each other. And so I hope you guys enjoy this too. Find it productive. Maybe there's a nugget in there that will be useful for you on how to prioritize things and again, how to manage and regulate yourself. If you would like to participate in a 15-minute consultation, please go to askbillhartmanedgemail.com, askbillhartmanedgemail.com, put 15-minute consultation in the subject line so we don't delete it. We will arrange that at our mutual convenience. Everybody have an outstanding Monday. Don't forget to go to the YouTube channel and get subscribed there, and I'll see you tomorrow. All right. Timer has started. What is your questioning course?

So Bill, how do you approach major life decisions like weighing the pros and cons, calculated risk? How do you do it?

Okay, so the pros and cons thing doesn't work because it equates good and bad. Everything comes with its weight, and you have to take that into consideration. You could draw a line down the middle of the paper and list all the good things that could happen and all the bad things that could happen, but again, they're not equivalent. You have to understand what the potential influences may be. You play out scenarios and then make a decision. I don't dwell like everybody else does, I ruminate like everybody else does, but the best thing to do is to try to get things out of your head and then write it down. That's like self-therapy when you don't have somebody that you can talk to. My wife is terrific as far as being the greatest listener in the entire world. She will let me talk endlessly if I would, and that's great to have a sounding board who can reflect things back to help you see where the weighted measures actually are. But I don't spend a lot of time making the decision itself. In most circumstances, as great as we can be at predicting, we're not good predictors. As great as we are at determining the consequences of our actions, we don't know what's going to happen. So we make the best choice that we can within a reasonable timeframe. Once you have accumulated the appropriate information and weighed that information, then don't spend a lot of time making the decision because more time usually doesn't help. It just becomes layers of second-guessing. So you make the decision based on your weighted measures and then move forward. For instance, we just moved IFAST into another facility, which was a big decision. Mike and I went back and forth as we acquired as much information as we could. Then we said the best course of action was to make the change, and that scenario still plays out.

Yeah.

And so you make the decision, you know, based on your weighted measures and then move forward. So I'll give you, for instance, so, you know, we just moved IFAST into another facility. And that was a biggie. Like Mike and I went back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. We acquired as much information as we could. And then we said, best course of action is to make the change. And so there you go. And, you know, that scenario still plays out.

So according to what you said, as a physio and coach who is immersed in your own technical craft, how do you take the financial decisions in your life? How do you manage finance? What are your financial philosophies in life?

Don't spend money. Don't buy things.

You would be surprised what you're capable of. Most people think that they need things that they don't need or they want things that they don't need. The thing you have to recognize is that the thing that drives people to spend on things is the desire to alleviate the discomfort of wanting it. Then once you have it, it just doesn't seem to be that big a deal anymore. It's like the dessert that you have after dinner that you regret. It's like prior to eating it, you're like oh man this is gonna be so good. And then after eating it, you go oh that was a bad idea. From a finance perspective it took me a long time. It took me a long long time. I am a late bloomer on every aspect of my life because I was an idiot for a long long time because I thought it was more important for me to like I deserve this. I should have this. What you learn by gaining maturity is that I need three things. I need my office space that I live in. What you see on camera is where I live. I need my wife and I need my dog. And if I got that I'm doing pretty good. I haven't wanted anything for a very long time. If you can get to that space very very quickly and recognize the fact that you really don't need anything then a lot of good things can happen financially because then you don't spend any money at all on anything other than those things that would be essential. Then next thing you know things are getting pretty good. But it's a long-term process. It's a regular behavior. When you have the urge to spend and if there's a moment where you're questioning should I get this or not it's a no. It's an absolute. It's like if there's a question in your mind as to whether you should be spending this money or not that's your brain saying don't do it. It took me a long time to learn rather than going well and then it's like ah right. That's the mistake. That's the mistake. And that goes for anything. Whenever there's a question in your mind of whether you should or shouldn't don't. If you can wait. Like if it's a life or death decision then you got to do stuff. But on most of the decisions where time is not the factor if there's the question mark in your head of whether you should or shouldn't it's a no.

Because you don't deserve anything.

Yeah, that's right.

People think they do. They think they're entitled to certain things. They think they deserve certain things and you don't get anything. Trust me. And if you look at it like that, you're going to do really well. But understand it's a habit and it's a process. Like every time, every time money comes into your life, keep it.

Yeah. And you being so immersed in your craft and like with a creative mind, but how do you detach that side of yourself when you're supposed to be in a party and you're amongst people, you want to have a great time with people, but you're like observing people like, okay, his ear space is out. Okay, this is Darcy Russell compression. Like, how do you switch off that side and just live in the moment and enjoy because I've been going through this and, why would I ever do that?

Why would I ever do that? I have a brother, and we'll be doing stuff, and he knows what I do and understands that my analytical mind doesn't turn off. So we'll be doing something and he'll point out when I'm analyzing somebody and asks, 'What's wrong with that guy?' It's always on, it's always on. No, but see, that's okay. That's not a bad sign. It's just part of your strength, right? It's the stuff that interests you, the stuff that drives you. And it doesn't drive me crazy. I recognize that, but I also know where I am at the time, so I can buffer it. It doesn't have to come out. I have a prefrontal cortex that can step in and say, 'Hey, just relax and have a good time.' It's always going to be on, but you just have to be aware of it. It's part of the process. Like I said, don't look at it as a bad thing, but you should always be able to control it. See it and then go, okay, but you're not making a judgment. You don't have to make a judgment on that person, but maybe it made you one step better today. I'm okay with that, but I also understand where you are. It's like, nobody else wants to talk about that.

And one thing that I want to confess is that I don't watch your videos before going to bed because that makes me curious. So I just watch things which come without.

Right. And that's a very intelligent strategy. One of the ways that you get rid of those things is to let's just say that you do have a curiosity and you are getting ready for bed and you go, 'Oh, this is going to keep me up.' Write it down. Get it out of your head onto a piece of paper. Do it manually. Put it on a piece of paper so it becomes real and it's outside of your head, because if it's in your head, all it does is recycle and recycle and recycle. Like I said, at the beginning of the call, it's like, this is self-therapy. When you write things down, that's you talking to yourself, and then you can create the response that way, but it becomes real. And that's a very powerful process that's underutilized.

And how do you manage your anger or any negative emotion as such, or even stuff that you see on social media? I am on social media.

I don't consume much of it at all because it's not helpful for me. It's a time sucker and so I try not to spend. I have a couple of things that I'll go to on a fairly regular basis, so I remain minimally informed. I'm at the point in my career where consumption is not important to me. It's more about, like I said, the creativity side of things, about putting the things together. So it helps me to do what I need to do. But as far as consumption, I wouldn't go on to social media to learn anything important because I don't think anybody's offering anything for me right now. Maybe later, I don't know. Maybe I'll change my tune.

Or in life, in life in general.

What do you mean by in life in general?

like anger, managing anger or something like that.

Do you enjoy being angry? No. Me neither. So I try to avoid it. I'm human. I have feelings that get hurt just like everybody else's, but the thing that you gain through becoming more aware of yourself is knowing what your triggers are. Avoid those. Don't go where people make you angry. Don't listen to people that say things that make you angry. And then above all else, words don't hurt. You decide whether they hurt. If somebody sends me nasty DMs, I think, 'How miserable do you need to be to send somebody an A to BM?' You have to feel sorry for that guy. I don't want to be angry. I don't go where it makes me angry. If I do, I catch myself as quickly as possible and ask, 'Is this really worth your time?' I'm old and my time is limited. I'm trying to maximize this to the best of my capabilities. Do I really want to spend time being angry? My wife and I have been together for 11 years. Neither of us knows how long we've been together, so we're perfect for each other. In all that time, I've probably been angry with her less than five minutes in 11 years. I love her. I'm going to spend eternity with her. Why would I waste a single moment being angry with somebody that I know I'm going to be with forever? I don't have to forgive her for much because we just don't have that kind of a relationship, but if I did, it would be instant forgiveness. She gets that from me because I decided that's how it's going to be. You have a lot of control. People think that they don't have control or they think they deserve to be angry or they think that they should be angry. Anger is to get your attention. It's to make you aware of something. It's like being afraid—being afraid is a response to get your attention. That's what emotions are for. Then you get to decide how you respond to that situation. Where is the benefit of anger? If I have to defend my life or defend my wife or defend my dog, don't get in my way. But other than that, there's really not a lot of necessity in it. That's what emotions are for. Any strong emotion that you've ever felt is to make sure that you attend to that. Joy is the same thing.

So joy is to get you to recognize the importance of this moment. That's a really strong emotion. And then everything else in between is peace and happiness. But the strong emotions are just attention-getters. That's it. And then you decide. Then you decide, okay, where's the value in this? And again, life or death situation, you better be angry. Like to the nth degree and then use it to your full capabilities. But other than that, words don't threaten me. You could try to your heart's content to insult me right now. Listen to me. You can try to insult me. It's impossible. I allow myself to be insulted because that's my choice. But if I don't allow that, you can't insult me. You can't hurt my feelings unless I let you. And people don't recognize that fact. They think that, well, this is how it should be. They watch movies and they say, oh, this is normal behavior. It's like, no, it's not.

How do you manage your energy and time management? You had a post stating that energy management is more important than time management. So how do you do that? You are busy in so many aspects of life. How do you take out time to learn new things from other domains as well? How do you manage that?

I create a structure that allows me to do that. For example, I have a physical structure to my two-week schedule. This is my easy weekend, a recovery weekend where I do planning and organization and have more time for things I enjoy. I do some of these calls, which are fun, and work on the creative side of things, like drawing and thinking through enjoyable concepts. I have blocks for clinic time, other business time, writing time, and reading time. Then there are blocks for personal activities with my wife or my dog or whatever I like to do. The key is to plan and adjust when energy is low. That's how you know to make changes—when the structure no longer fits. The mistake many people make is feeling they have no choices. We actually have choices that influence outcomes; we just need to pay attention. Most people reach the end of the week exhausted without reflecting on how they could have saved energy along the way.

Okay. So what advice would you give to someone who just cannot read those big books, whatever novels or something? Because I see everyone reading like thick novels, but I just not textbooks, but novels or some other books. Like I see so many people reading like thick books, but I just can't. Like I can watch videos for long, but texts are not so down.

Any strategy?

So don't. Well, if you don't like it, then why torture yourself? Here's what I say. It is whenever you're going to consume information in any way, shape, or form. Ask a question first—formulated question to keep you focused on the task at hand versus just blindly consuming information. And then you can say, 'Is this information helping me?' And it's okay to have periods where you just kind of go, 'Well, let's just see what random stuff shows up on my YouTube feed or whatever.' It's like, that's fine, but plan that ahead. Like don't use your focused time where you would consider this is important. Right, ask the formulated question, have a reason, and then anything else that doesn't fit into that is what you don't consume. And so what you may find is that if you start asking better questions—and you will, over time, it takes practice—you ask better questions. And then it won't matter what form the source is in. So the reason that you might not like to read the textbooks is because you're not curious enough to use that content, that form, to fulfill it. You're too scattered. You're too generalized. And so anything that seems of interest sort of catches your eye and then takes you on a path that leads you to nowhere. Because next thing you know, you're looking at baby goat videos on YouTube when you were looking for vertical jump information and you ended up at baby goats, right? Okay. So again, just formulate a better question. And then, like I said, then you might recognize the fact that, 'Oh, this book is kind of interesting,' or 'this part of a book is interesting.' So people try to read textbooks like novels—it doesn't work that way. You know, you should go to where the information is that you might need. Like it might be a paper, maybe it is a video, maybe it's a lecture, right? But again, I think if you create the curiosity, the source of the information will be less of a challenge for you. You say, 'I consume information to fulfill a need. Have an intent.'

Yeah.

Good morning. Happy Tuesday. I have neuro coffee in hand and it is perfect. All right, a very busy Tuesday coming up. We're going to dig straight into today's Q and A with Jason. Jason works with young athletes. In our conversation, we talked specifically about one athlete, a 13-year-old pre-pubescent male, and he's showing some strategies associated with a lot of internal rotation and high force production. Apparently, this kid is a very good athlete. The question is, how much of this do we want to allow him to demonstrate? One of the things we want to consider with any athlete is that they're typically demonstrating a solution to a problem. So they're trying to solve some movement problem, either in competition or something that we would prescribe during training. And so they're going to provide whatever solution they can produce. The question is, is it always acceptable? And we have to make that decision. We have to make a qualitative decision as a coach as to how much of this we want to see as representation, knowing what it means, and then how much protection we need to provide. If we look at this group of athletes, they're typically in the 'train to train' phase. If we could break this up into three sections, we would say that early on, it's all about 'learning to train,' then 'train to train.' So we're exposing them to many broad capabilities and slowly evolving that. And that is in preparation for the 'training to compete' phase where they have a much more mature physiology. So we're in the setup phase here. So it is kind of important that we approach this from the appropriate perspective. That's not about maximization. It is more about a demonstration of capabilities and, like I said, a broader scope of exposure. So Jason is doing a great job with this. I actually said this during the call: you kind of already knew the answer before you asked me the question. But I think our discussion is going to help a lot of people that do work with this age group. So thank you, Jason, for your useful call. If you would like to participate in a 15-minute consultation, please go to askbillhartman@gmail.com. Put '15-minute consultation' in the subject line. We'll arrange that at our mutual convenience. Everybody have an outstanding Tuesday, and I'll see you tomorrow. All right. Clock has started, Jason. What is your question, young man?

My question is, sort of an open-ended question. So I work with a lot of middle school athletes and one in particular, which I've been working with for over a year now. Some things have kind of caught my attention. When I watch them train, when I watch them move, I see a lot of compression strategies across the structure. So a lot of internal rotation, pronation at the feet and the hips and the knees and the lumbar spine, et cetera. That doesn't worry me at all. He's a pretty athletic little kid, but he's small for his age. He hasn't hit puberty or anything like that. And we just do very basic strength training, pushes, pulls, and obviously a lot of like jumping and med ball throwing and sprinting and everything that a kid's going to need for athletic development at that age. But my question comes in as when I see a lot of these strategies taking place, I just wonder how much his structure is adapting to do that at that young of an age and like how important is giving him the opposite end of the spectrum like variability from an expansion standpoint because there's no hormones in that body to produce muscle yet or at least not enough and increase force production and things like that that we use training for. So I wonder if over the long term I could be having some negative effects over time. I'm not saying that like doing the strength training is bad, right? But everything has a cost. So I just wonder how, you know, going about training middle schoolers in that sense, like, what is training the opposite end of the spectrum look like? And is it even necessary?