2874: Unlearning: The Prerequisite To Achieving Any Goal You Want by Matt McLeod

[00:00:00] Überlass deine gesunde Ernährung und die Gains nicht nur deinem Bauchgefühl. Denn bei der Ernährung gaukelt uns unser innerer Schweinehund manchmal ganz schön was vor. Sag stattdessen Hallo zu deinem neuen Coach, Yasio. Yasio ist die meistgenutzte Ernährungs-App Europas, made in Germany. Egal ob Massephase oder ein bisschen Abnehmen, tracke Kalorien, Proteine, Carbs, Fette, Bewegung und Intervallfasten. Und mit den Tasty-Rezepten bist du ready für deine Ziele. Let's go! Lade die Yasio-App jetzt herunter.

[00:00:30] This is Optimal Health Daily, Unlearning, The Prerequisite To Achieving Any Goal You Want by Matt McLeod of mattmcleod.org. And I'm your host and narrator, Dr. Neal Malik. Hey there, happy middle of the week Wednesday and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily, where I simply read to you from the best health and fitness blogs for free. I cover fitness, nutrition, stress management, weight management, and lots more, just like an audiobook, but from a bunch of different authors.

[00:00:59] And always with permission from the sites and always with a little bit of my commentary at the end. Now remember, on Fridays, I do something a little different. I answer your questions right here on the show. You can send me a question at oldpodcast.com slash ask, or you can send an email to health at oldpodcast.com. Now it's the middle of the week, just like I do every Wednesday. Here's an inspirational quote to get you through.

[00:01:27] Quote, I can give you a six-word formula for success. Think things through, then follow through. Edward V. Rickenbacker. Alright, and with that positivity, we're now in the right frame of mind to get to today's post as we optimize your life. Unlearning, The Prerequisite To Achieving Any Goal You Want by Matt McLeod of mattmcleod.org.

[00:01:56] It's the holy grail of dieting, I told my brother as I was chomping on cinnamon rolls. It's based around the manipulation of this hormone called insulin. All I have to do is eat low carb, but high protein and fat for the beginning of the day. Then after my workout, I can basically eat whatever I want, and it's shuttled directly to my muscles. This was circa 2013, when I found a new diet called carb backloading.

[00:02:22] At a wise 19 years old, I thought I'd just discovered the fitness industry's best-kept secret. See, the creator of this diet checked all the boxes. He was jacked. He got results with others. And he used sciency words like T-glute manipulation and modulated tissue response. I don't know how 19-year-old you would have felt, but I was sold. Turns out, I actually just discovered the power of persuasive marketing and copywriting.

[00:02:50] Don't get me wrong, there are worse diets than carb backloading, but I had no idea what was BS and what wasn't. I'd still be cramming my face with cinnamon rolls to this day if it weren't until an actual nutrition scientist I looked up to, Dr. Lane Norton, claimed carb backloading was BS. I was dumbfounded. It was the ultimate catch-22 between my two ideas, both of which I was certain were correct.

[00:03:17] One, carb backloading was an innovative and science-backed way to reach my fitness goals. And two, Dr. Lane Norton was a credible nutrition scientist whom I looked up to for years. One, had to be a lie. It's clear how this played out, but the crucial lesson was this. To get closer to the truth, I have to be willing to unlearn at any given moment. I have to consistently doubt what I know. Which is difficult. It hurts our egos.

[00:03:47] It breeds uncertainty. And it makes us feel stupid, betrayed even. But it's necessary if we truly want to find the best solutions to hard questions. Which brings us to you. There's a significant chance you're listening to this or reading my blog because you're searching for solutions. You're looking for ways to improve your body, your confidence, your well-being, or whatever else you're hoping I might have the answer to. Maybe I can. Maybe I can't.

[00:04:16] But that's not the point. The point is that you have to be open to unlearning all the BS you've possibly believed until now. What you've been doing isn't working. What got you here won't get you where you want to go. It's time for something different. It's time to unlearn. Unlearning makes you wise and improves your life through subtraction, not addition.

[00:04:41] At this moment, you may be in fairly good shape, eat your vegetables on most days, and have an okay life, all things considered. But you still want to turn the life satisfaction dial up a few notches, while keeping any unnecessary suffering at a minimum. Instead of pretending I'm a self-help guru with all your answers, I'll just give you a collection of ideas I wish I would have unlearned sooner that may help you do exactly that. Three ideas I've unlearned that have made my life drastically better.

[00:05:11] 1. Mediocrity is something to avoid at all costs. Dream big. Never quit. Hustle while they sleep. These are the surface-level quotes that used to motivate me years ago. I remember writing somewhere that I'd make $1 million by age 30. Now that I'm 26, it's funny how romantic the idea of a million dollars was to me, considering I'd be set on even a quarter of that. But it took me time to accept this reality.

[00:05:39] I didn't want to strive for mediocrity or be okay with being average. My inner biology was telling me more. More money. More power. More achievements. More veins in my biceps. Yet, after regularly making enough money to pay rent and afford a semi-expensive bottle of wine with dinner, I arrived at one very sobering question. Why? The answer is probably more complex than this, but it seems like we've all been brainwashed to the addiction of achievement.

[00:06:09] Which begged the next question. Achievement at what cost? My relationships? My personal interests and curiosities? My health? My happiness? These were harsh but important questions I needed to be honest about. And they're tough to answer because being a lazy couch potato who thinks everything is pointless and that nothing matters isn't okay either. What I'm saying is that excessive striving for achievement, without ever questioning why you're doing it in the first place,

[00:06:38] can cause endless, unnecessary suffering. For me, I'm content with spending the majority of my days learning, coaching, spending time with loved ones, eating quality food, drinking quality wine, sweating for an hour or two, and connecting with people like you. If that's called being mediocre, then sign me up. 2. Love yourself and just accept who you are. This is a common recommendation in the fitness space that I used to agree with.

[00:07:07] To be clear, I understand that those who say it typically mean well, with pure intentions. However, I think it's interpreted incorrectly. The usual sentiment is that you don't need to change anything about yourself. You're perfect as is. Society is wrong, and you should blame it for making you think you need to change. But what if you're a terrible person? What if you don't take care of yourself? What if you could be way more than what you are? True self-love is brutal honesty.

[00:07:37] You need to have the courage to recognize every dreadful thing about yourself, then actually work towards improving it. It's okay that you are where you are, but it may not be okay that you stay there. It hit me like a ton of bricks when I realized this. Personal responsibility is difficult to swallow, but necessary. I'd much rather have my happiness depend on changing myself instead of changing the world. Three, food is fuel.

[00:08:04] Back in my bodybuilding days, I used to preach this. But now, a piece of me dies when I hear people say food is fuel, or all I see on my plate are proteins, carbs, and fats. I understand their intentions, but it belittles the magnitude that food, specifically meals together, affects our lives. Take this iconic scene from the movie Goodfellas. In case you haven't seen it, these three guys, played by Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci,

[00:08:33] are gangsters who, by the looks of this short clip, are simply enjoying a warm, home-cooked meal of spaghetti and meatballs with a sweet Italian mother. Off camera, they also have a guy in their trunk. The way Martin Scorsese directed this scene speaks to all of us. These guys might be mobsters, who wouldn't think twice about offing someone, but when it comes to dinner, they're just like us. That's because sharing a meal brings a sense of connection,

[00:09:00] cooperation, meaning, brother or sisterhood, and togetherness. In fact, the term breaking bread originates back to biblical times. Food is much more than fuel or macros. It's not a utility. And thinking of food this way may actually harm our relationship with it. Let's use this as a reminder to make sure we give it the respect it deserves. Oh, and pass the mashed potatoes. Do this next.

[00:09:28] Think of an idea you hold very dear to your heart. Maybe it scares you to think of it not being true. Maybe it scares you to think of it being true. Your task is to try to debunk your point of view. If you genuinely want to know the unbiased truth, you need to be critical and avoid confirmation bias. Doubt what you know. Then, if you find out you were wrong, congrats. You're now slightly less delusional. And let the unlearning begin.

[00:10:01] You just listened to the post titled, Unlearning, The Prerequisite to Achieving Any Goal You Want, by Matt McLeod of mattmcleod.org. And I'll be right back with my commentary. When was the last time you checked if your insurance still fits your needs? With Insurance Pro Agencies powered by VIU by Hub, find the right coverage in minutes.

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[00:11:18] When I first graduated with advanced degrees behind my name, I thought I was the expert of everything health, fitness, and nutrition related. After all, I had just spent the last seven years of my life learning, practicing, and researching the latest and greatest health information. So, if a patient or student challenged me on some fact that I had recently learned, there's no way I could be wrong. I was the expert, not them.

[00:11:45] I spent all that time and money in school, not them. But you know what I learned? I was wrong. At times, I gave out wrong information. I didn't do it on purpose. I always gave my best and made sure I backed up what I said with what the research said at the time. And I was wrong for not believing that I could be wrong. It was unreasonable to think that I could keep up with how fast science was progressing. I had to unlearn.

[00:12:13] Now, just because I had to unlearn things doesn't mean I'm any less of an expert. Instead, it just means that I needed to stay objective. Letting go of old beliefs doesn't make you any less intelligent. In fact, it probably means you're even more intelligent because you can take in new information and hopefully become better because of it. So as Matt said in his post, doubt what you know. And if you discover you were wrong, congrats.

[00:12:43] Admit it. Learn something and move on because now you're a little bit smarter than you were before. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for listening every day. I hope you're having a wonderful week and I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.