Self-Talk, Mental Imagery, and Finding Joy | AMA Vol. 11 with Dr. Michael Gervais

Michael Gervais (0:00)

When something matters to you, you'll do whatever it takes.

Welcome back or welcome to another Ask Me Anything on Finding Mastery. I am your host, Dr. Michael Gervais, by trade and training a high-performance psychologist. And the whole purpose behind these conversations, behind these AMAs, is to hear from you, to explore the topics and questions that you've been wrestling with on your path to becoming. So the goal is to expand on the themes and lessons and best practices that we've discussed on the Finding Mastery podcast in order to make them even more applicable to your own life. We're back with our favorite co-host, O'Neill Sespedes, and today we're covering some really interesting and insightful territory. So we're talking about where joy comes from, why it's imperative to practice self-care, the nuances between ADD and ADHD, how to be a good friend to yourself, the power of imagery and imagination, and of course, so much more. And before we dive in, I want to give a quick shout out to our title sponsor for today's AMA, Carol Bike.

I love their product and I'm so stoked on what they're doing, but stay tuned for more on that later in this episode. So with that, let's jump right into Vol. 11 of Finding Mastery's Ask Me Anything. Okay, my favorite day of the week.

O'Neil Cespedes (1:30)

My favorite day of the week too. Oh, that's good.

Michael Gervais (1:32)

You just say that. No, no, no, no.

O'Neil Cespedes (1:34)

I'm looking you in the eyes.

Michael Gervais (1:36)

This is true. This is happening.

All right, so let's get into it. We've got, I love the questions that come in. There is a response that is noted, and so I appreciate our community that has got some questions for us. And so let's see if we can wrestle down today.

O'Neil Cespedes (1:51)

All right, amazing. And this question is from Dara.

Michael Gervais (1:55)

Wait, maybe before we get in. I kind of rushed us a little bit.

Right into it. Like, how have you been?

O'Neil Cespedes (2:02)

Well, thank you. Thank you for asking that.

Michael Gervais (2:05)

Yeah.

O'Neil Cespedes (2:06)

I've been well. I've been well.

I think the last time we spoke, I had an issue with, you know, the duvet thing. You remember that?

Michael Gervais (2:14)

How's that going?

O'Neil Cespedes (2:15)

I got some good news. So from that last time, I am now the spokesperson for Denver's duvets.

Michael Gervais (2:23)

Denver's duvets. Come on.

O'Neil Cespedes (2:25)

No, no, I said Denver's duvets. Yeah.

I fly out to Denver, Colorado once a month, and I shoot an ad about, you know...

Michael Gervais (2:33)

You would be perfect for this.

O'Neil Cespedes (2:35)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Michael Gervais (2:35)

They knew it. Absolutely.

O'Neil Cespedes (2:37)

So I want to thank you for that.

Michael Gervais (2:38)

So it's the peanut butter? Is that how we did that?

O'Neil Cespedes (2:40)

Yeah. Well, I have the peanut butter in my hand, right? And then I have Denver duvets and I'm like, you having trouble with your duvet?

You just got to watch the commercial. I'm kidding.

Michael Gervais (2:51)

Yeah.

O'Neil Cespedes (2:51)

How have you been?

Michael Gervais (2:52)

Yeah, I think that I've got a really fun opportunity coming up.

And I grew up surfing. It was my first sport that I fell in love with. And it's the thing I really enjoy the most. And I got an opportunity for the second time now to go out to what's called Kelly Slater's, The Ranch.

And it's a yeah. And so I'm really excited to go out there. And it's given me a little bit of a pump in my, you know, get my fitness on to be able to, you know, my flexibility, my mobility back in place. And so it's been fun. It's a small little treat that I'm looking forward to. And it's coming together here in a couple months.

O'Neil Cespedes (3:29)

Good luck with that. That's dope.

Michael Gervais (3:30)

Yeah.

O'Neil Cespedes (3:31)

I've always wanted to surf. I've just never, I've never had the nerve to do it. But yeah.

Michael Gervais (3:35)

We'll get you out there one day.

O'Neil Cespedes (3:37)

I look forward to it.

Michael Gervais (3:38)

It is one of the sports that is really tricky to learn post puberty.

O'Neil Cespedes (3:41)

Yeah.

Michael Gervais (3:42)

I don't know. Something happens, like, you know, like, where like the way that it works, you know, the human works on the wave is tricky, but that'd be fun. We should go do that.

We should host. Why don't we host AMA whatever number on the water? I'm sure the technology is there.