Take Charge with Doug Hay
Nov 20, 2019
Welcome to Take Charge!, a series of interviews with some of our favorite health and wellness thought leaders. Each post features advice on topics like longevity, nutrition, exercise, and physical optimization. You'll also receive guidance on how to follow through with your goals and work through feelings of fear and doubt. Plus, we compiled the best tips in this free ebook - click here to download it.
Today we're featuring Doug Hay, COO of No Meat Athlete, founder of Rock Creek Runner, and a running coach. He has completed five 100 mile ultramarathons and loves nothing more than being in the woods with his wife and 3-year-old daughter.
Whitney and Jason connected with Doug through the annual No Meat Athlete Black Friday bundle sale, which we have been participating in since 2016. His kindness, big heart, and commitment to excellence made him a perfect addition to this series. Below he shares valuable perspective on topics like handling lack of motivation, tapping into passion, moving through doubt, and the value of focus and consistency.
Doug's Tips on How To Take Charge Of Your Life:
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A near-daily physical activity you're passionate about is critical to living a long, healthy life, according to Doug. He says, "I don't care if it's running, yoga, cycling, climbing, disc golf, or ballet. I believe that it's wildly important to find an activity that both moves your body, drives you to improve, and gets you excited every single day. The best part is that it doesn't have to be one single activity all the time. I consider myself a runner, but I go through waves when I'm really unmotivated to run and instead motivated to get on the bike or do yoga. Whatever is exciting you in the moment is the right activity. "
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Motivational tools or hacks don't appeal to Doug. "If the motivation isn't there, you can only fake it for so long and forcing yourself into something usually bites you in the ass further down the road. Instead, I think it comes back to finding an exciting activity. We all go through seasons of life. Even if you're primarily a runner or a yogi, if you're not motivated to do train or do that activity for a while, honor that. Find something else. It might not stick and you go back to running or whatever else, but that break could be what brings back your passion Professionally, I think it's the same way. We all have to do things in our jobs that we don't want to do, but if you can shape your work -- even in a small way -- to focus on a project you're really excited about, that passion will flow into the rest of your work."
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When it comes to emotional struggle, Doug has some simple tips on how to push through stress and find your confidence: "When you're down, you're down and all the cheesy advice people like to share feels like it won't work. From my experience, the best way to get out of a funk or move past doubt is to focus on small, mini wins. Make it a goal just to get out a run 3 times that week, no matter how short the runs are. Or to write for 15 minutes a day, even if it's all garbage. Once the first few wins come, they begin to give you a bit more confidence to push a little further, and eventually, you're back at it.
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Consistency is the most effective avenue to achieving peak physical condition that is sustainable and healthy. "Consistency with your physical activities and consistency when it comes to eating. All the time I see people who go through quick surges when they're really focused on training or nutrition, only to go the complete opposite direction a month later. When you build consistency, you establish habits. Then when you're ready to go through a more intense period of training, you're already miles ahead of where you'd be starting from scratch, and the hard part of actually starting feels like nothing."
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Finding a mentor is Doug's best advice for learning how to make money by sharing your knowledge and passions. "Someone who is already doing something similar to what you want to do (even if the subject matter or medium is completely different) and can both share advice and act as a sounding board. Then, of course, you have to actually start. No matter how terrible your first blog post, podcast, video, or craft is that you release into the world, it's a hell of a lot better than not doing one at all."
- Travel is less about where Doug goes then it is whether he goes. "It's wildly important for me to take regular breaks from work to spend time with my family or by myself. Shutting off for even just a few days from work and the day to day grind is like hitting a giant reset button and refocuses me on what's most important."
Want more tips to help you take charge of your life?
Click here to receive a free ebook with advice from health and wellness thought leaders who want to help you thrive. Uplevel and get more consistent with a balanced diet, impactful fitness routine, and positive mental health practices. Find the motivation to achieve your goals and release feelings of doubt, fear, stress, and anxiety. Gain clarity, a sense of purpose and the drive to follow through so you can take charge of your life like never before!
Get more from Doug on his website, Instagram, and Twitter.
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