James Ellis - Thinking Fast, Acting Fast & Betting on Myself

Our guest this week is James Ellis. James is a friend here in Phoenix and the owner of Hammer CrossFit. I’ve described James as a guy who would give you the shirt off his back, even if it was the last shirt he owned. This selflessness is juxtaposed by James’ self-proclaimed tendency to be an “over thinker” and today’s conversation is a deep dive into how James is able to both take bold action while still finding time and space to reflect on his decisions.

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Today’s Conversation with James centers around how to apply your strength in productive ways, the risks of using external strength to cover internal struggles, trying to find a balance between overthinking and taking action and expanding a gym-based business in the middle of a pandemic.

Connect with James: @jimsgym1030
Connect with David: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt
Connect with the Show: @essential.strength.podcast
Learn More James' Gyms:  ALL THE GYMS!

Action Plan

James had a very interesting insight on what triggers his tendency to overthink. Contrary to how many of us may view comfort vs. strain - for James its times where he is “too comfortable” that he feels the burden of overthinking creep to the forefront of his mind. So, with this knowledge - he stays active. He puts tasks, projects and goals on his plate and by stimulating a need to think fast and act fast he finds his mind is more at peace. Your action plan is not to do exactly what James does and forefeet yourself task after task and action after action. It’s simply to take the next seven days and bring some awareness to the times your mind feels at ease, like it’s running smoothly and firing on all cylinders vs. times it feels like it’s misfiring, or stuck in neutral. Try to avoid the impulse to judge your mind and force it to feel good in the situations you would like it to, but rather just work on identifying the times, tasks and environments that create the feeling of a happy, efficient mind. Then, with that knowledge, put yourself in position to experience more of these moments!

That’s it for this week. Make sure you’re subscribed to this podcast so that you don’t miss next week’s episode with Matteo Franceschetti - Founder & CEO of Eight Sleep - and a conversation about how to express our power, the roll of sleep in peak performance and how Eight Sleep is using modern technology to recreate a more optimal human sleep experience.

Until then, we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH.

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