Ben recently celebrated a birthday and talks to listeners about how he approaches these events and why it is different from all other “special” days with materialistic agendas. This year he is spending the week surrounding his birthday in the woods with his family and a friend-mentor and is looking forward to some time for reflection. For him, always asking questions about your own thoughts and behaviors is a sure strategy for personal development.

In this episode, Ben talks about letting go of the desire to be right, the importance of engaging in conversations with people who disagree with you or hold different values, and how we should tackle our bad habits and behavioral problems at the unconscious level. Trying to destroy or create a habit is difficult or near impossible, and therefore Ben recommends replacing a bad habit with a good one and shifting your perspective from giving up something to gaining. He also answers questions about effective sleep tracking, the most relevant metrics, and the stress and recovery cycle that training produces. The Q&A wraps up with Ben sharing the value of internal strategies for stress management rather than resorting to external coping mechanisms.

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Timestamps

• Hear about Ben’s upcoming meat camp, the location, and his first job as a butcher. [2:40]
• Ben’s stint of vegetarianism, his unhealthy diet, and debates about eating animals. [4:14]
• The advantages of having an in-person conversation with someone you disagree with. [7:42]
• Letting go of your need to be right and what David Hawkins can teach us in this regard. [8:45]
• The well-known book about attachment styles and why Ashleigh finds it problematic. [10:07]
• How Ben approaches his birthdays and what he’ll be doing more of this year. [14:07]
• The value of being your own worst critic and continuously questioning and reflecting. [15:27]
• Objective versus process-oriented goals and why implementing daily habits is best. [16:51]
• Shifting the unconscious and replacing habits rather than trying to destroy or create them. [18:33]
• Why it is necessary to leverage the unconscious to change behavior. [19:51]
• Thoughts on sleep tracking, comparing your numbers, and how lifestyle plays a role. [21:42]
• How training is all about creating physical stress and then recovering as soon as possible. [23:43]
• Why the respiration rate is one of the most important – yet often overlooked – metrics. [25:25]
• Internal strategies for stress management versus resorting to external coping mechanisms. [27:22]
• The powerful opportunity there exists in making food and doing it with care and love. [31:01]
• An actionable tip for improving your glutes and building your lats while training. [32:52] 
• Remembering that exercise execution is about moving toward the maximum challenge. [36:37]