The One You Feed - Akshay Nanavati

Episode Date: June 2, 2015

This week we talk to Akshay Nanavati about learning to use our fearAkshay Nanavati is an explorer, volunteer firefighter, former U.S. Marine, and masters graduate in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He has been mountaineering all over the world, glacier caving in Nepal, skydiving, ice diving, cave diving, scuba diving, and spent one month dragging a 190 pound sled 350 miles across the second largest icecap in the world.His current project is to run across every country in the world. His website is called Existing to Living and uses the principles of human psychology, neuroscience and a greater understanding of how we function as human beings, to help you master your mind, body, heart, spirit and business. Our Sponsor This Week is Aloha- Try their new Plant Based Superfood Smoothie Kit. Enter GETFIT20 for 20% off your order.  In This Interview Akshay and I Discuss...The One You Feed parable.The difference between the human brain and the animal brain.His goal of running across every country in the world.Breaking things down into smaller steps and taking them one at a time.Learning to control how we respond to our environments.His forthcoming book: The Other Side of Fear.How fear and nirvana work together.For more show notes please visit our webpage   Some of our most popular interviews that you might also enjoy:Dan HarrisMaria PopovaTodd Henry- author of Die EmptyRandy Scott HydeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You want to use willpower, which is consciousness, to then reshape habits, because willpower is an exhaustible muscle. Welcome to The One You Feed. Throughout time, great thinkers have recognized the importance of the thoughts we have. Quotes like, garbage in, garbage out, or you are what you think ring true. And yet, for many of us, our thoughts don't strengthen or empower us. We tend toward negativity, self-pity, jealousy, or fear. We see what we don't have instead of what we do.

We think things that hold us back and dampen our spirit. But it's not just about thinking. Our actions matter. It takes conscious, consistent, and creative effort to make a life worth living. This podcast is about how other people keep themselves moving in the right direction, how they feed their good wolf. I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together, our mission on the Really Know Really podcast

is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like why the bathroom door doesn't go all the way to the floor, what's in the museum of failure, and does your dog truly love you? We have the answer. Go to reallyknoworeally.com. And register to win $500, a guest spot on our podcast, or a limited edition signed Jason bobblehead. The Really No Really podcast. Follow us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks for joining us. Our guest today is Akshay Nanavati, an explorer, volunteer firefighter, former U.S. Marine, and master's graduate in journalism. He has been mountaineering all over the world, glacier caving in Nepal, skydiving, ice diving, cave diving, scuba diving, and spent one month dragging a 190-pound sled 350 miles across the second-largest ice cap in the world. His current project is to run across ice cap in the world. His current project is to run across every country in the world. His website is called Exist to Living and uses the principles of human psychology and neuroscience and a greater understanding of how we function as human beings to help you master your mind, body, heart, spirit, and business. Before we get started,

many of our regular listeners may know that Eric also does some personal coaching for people who would like a little more of a one-on-one experience with the one you feed. We thought rather than Eric explaining what he does again on this episode, we would play you one of the testimonials from one of his clients. I kind of lack that motivation at times. And I know that when confronted with a difficult decision, a difficult situation, a lot of the times I just do what's easiest. He helps me a lot and kind of motivating me and structuring my time and yeah, and helped me get a job. And here's the interview with Akshay Nanavati. Hi Akshay, welcome to the show.

Thank you so much for having me. Real pleasure to be here. I'm excited to have you on and talk about your, I guess I've heard people refer to things as big, hairy, audacious goals, and yours certainly would fall into that category. But first, let's start with the parable. Our show is called The One You Feed, and it's based on the parable of two wolves, where there's a grandfather who's talking with his grandson. He says, in life, there are two wolves inside of us that are always at battle. One is a good wolf, which represents things like kindness and bravery and love. And the other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed and hatred and fear. And the grandson stops and he thinks about it for a second. And he

looks up at his grandfather and he says, well, grandfather, which one wins? And the grandfather says, the one you feed. So I'd like to start off by asking you what that parable means to you in your life and in the work that you do. Yeah, I absolutely love that parable. I've heard it some time ago. And I think what that parable means to me, it really expresses the fundamental concept of a free will, or actually in actuality, the lack of it, and ultimately the two brains that we have. So I'll kind of explain what I mean by that. You know, we have our conscious brain and the subconscious brain. So the way I describe it is the human brain and the animal brain. And the animal brain responds to the world around us. And we don't control what that response first is. Neuroscientists have actually shown that they can predict up to seven,

even up to seven to 10 seconds that the brain registers information before an action is actually taken. And now because our brain is not trained to handle life in the modern world, we respond in ways that don't ultimately serve us. And this is essentially the evil wolf. Because our brain is not trained for a world where essentially survival is not a concern, we create things that trigger our brain in the same way a saber-toothed tiger or an explosion might. So with this concept and our brain's inability to respond to the environment in the way that serves us, that becomes the evil wolf. And the good wolf is our ability to control that. That's where we have our highest point of control, essentially where we can direct our human brain, our consciousness, to then respond to and interpret

the meaning of our animal brain's response. So let's say I get scared of a situation, I can choose how I respond to that fear. And that's the good wolf. So to me, that parable means it's really how the ultimate formula for success in life is seizing control of our consciousness to regain and reshape the way our brain responds to our environment, which is ultimately that evil wolf. You have set a goal of not just visiting every country in the world, but running across every country in the world. So tell me a little bit about that. in my business, I stopped doing what fulfilled me, which was outdoor adventure, pushing my mind and body to its limits, serving humanity in a bigger way. So I decided to come up with something that would essentially, like I said, give that good wolf direction for the rest of my life,

seize control of my consciousness, and allow me to do the things that I really enjoy, which is traveling, exploring my own potential, engaging humanity, engaging different cultures, and serving humanity. And that's how this came about. And now I've already started, I've run across eight countries. The goal is to essentially show the world that no matter where we're from, no matter what our race, no matter what our religion, we're all the same. We go through the same forms of suffering. We all have these two worlds, right? We all go through the same suffering and the same joy. And by doing that, ultimately hoping to shed some of the inhumanity that exists in the world.

I was in the Marines and I served in Iraq, so I've got to kind of taste some of that. And I want to put an end to that. I want to help people. I think if when we stop seeing differences in each other and we see us as one, then we can work together for the common good. That's kind of the inspiration behind the project, and running is my kind of art form to do that. And so how far are you along in your, your goal? What, what countries have you run across, uh, at, at this point? I'm fairly early. I've crossed eight

so far. The idea, the, the inspiration for this project just came actually mid last year or early to mid last year. So I've run across eight. The biggest one is Greenland where I spend a month on the ice cap, dragging 190 pounds sled for 350 miles in temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees. That was the most challenging one so far. And then I've started off with smaller ones. I've done 55 miles across Luxembourg, 33 across Singapore, 28 across Andorra, 28 across Barbados, and 20 across Malta. And there's, I think, one or two smaller ones in there as well. So I'm at eight right now.

That's eight more than either Chris or I have done, I think, one or two smaller ones in there as well. So I'm at eight right now. That's eight more than either Chris or I have done, I think. I think I drove my car partway across town the other day. I ate eight pizzas. Chris ate eight pizzas. No, that is quite, I'm sure you hear this all the time, quite a goal. But what I thought was really interesting about your goal, and on this show we talk an awful lot about the idea of breaking things down into smaller steps, about starting where you are and starting with what you have. And what I love about the way you approached this was that you just said, okay, I'm going to go,

this is my goal, I'm going to go do it, and I'm going to start with what I'm able to do. And so you started, I think, in Singapore, which is where your parents were, and it was a, you know, I think 33 miles, which is not a reasonable distance to me, but it's a distance that's, you know, in the realm of possibility, and you just kind of started there and you're kind of going after some of the ones that are, um, smaller because, you know, logistically it, it's less challenge. It's, there's a lot of different reasons, but you're building momentum and getting experience. And I really liked that approach of, of starting, you know, where you can, because you could say, well, I'm going to wait and do America first, but you might be planning and getting to that stage for years instead of just going after a few things you can get done and getting moving. Exactly, exactly. It's as you mentioned,

the logistically, it's even more challenging sometimes in the actual run. So part of the reason for starting small is one, to build up my own endurance and two, just to learn how to manage this. I mean, when I went to Europe, I was supposed to run seven countries and said I only did five because I made a few mistakes in logistical planning. So, you know, you learn kind of through the process. And I'm just, I mean, the nature of this journey, you kind of have to take it one step at a time. There are moments sometimes when I'll get real excited, I'll get on Google Maps and start planning countries. And I'm like, there's a lot of countries in the world, and some of them are pretty big. So it becomes kind of scary. And I'm like, can I really do this? So you really have to break it down one step at a time, take it one,

one, one step at a time. And ultimately, I don't know when I'll succeed or even if I will. But to me, it's really more about the journey than it is about the destination. And that's really what life is, right? Yeah, it absolutely is. And that wisdom of one step at a time or one day at a time is so profound because very often it's so easy to get overwhelmed with the thought of, you know, the thought of how many miles you have to run to run across every country in the world. But really all you got to do is do the next one. Exactly. Exactly. So that's why I just break it down one step at a time, one country at a time, and not worrying about the Russia's and United States and Canada's just yet.

Yeah, China. Yeah, China too. So you are working on a book. You and I were talking before the interview, and you are kind of putting the finishing touches on the first draft of it. Can you tell me a little bit about your book? Yes, of course. My book is called The Other Side of Fear, and really what it references is this concept of what I call fearvana.

And it's very similar to the idea of the two wolves in the sense that we have, you know, with the two wolves, it shows that the evil wolf is still a part of us, right? It's not something we can just get rid of. It's part of who we are, as the grandfather illustrates. And in this concept of fearvana, what it shows is how two seemingly opposite forces, this is fear and nirvana, are in actuality one and the same. They work together and we can use both these forces to achieve a fulfillment and peak performance. So what this book does is breaking, you know,

as I mentioned at the start of this conversation about the parable, it uses the concept of free will and using neuroscience. It uses a lot of neuroscience and psychology to describe this concept of fearvana and how we can use it to ultimately embrace our fears and do something with it. Because fear, for example, constantly has a negative reputation. And I noticed everything I've ever done in my life that was ultimately worthwhile was prefaced by fear. And I had to learn how to manage that, how to move through it. And so that's why my wife actually came up with the terminology, which I fell in love with, and now is kind of defining this idea of fearvana and how we can, and the way I actually define it is a state of unity and bliss without fear that is only achieved through immersion in fear. And the book is essentially that concept,

describing it, how to achieve it, and how to overcome our brain's lack of free will, our brain's inherent state of chaos, and all those evil wolves so we can keep feeding the good wolf. Can you maybe share a concept or two from the book of maybe some, a couple of the key points that I know you're going to take a whole book to lay it all out, but just, you know, a couple of small things that maybe we could give to the listeners to think about. Sure. Of course. One of the fundamental concepts is in this book is this, it's a spiritual concept as well. Buddha says that we are all plagued by two darts. And the first dart is the one that we have no control of. So this is either

our brain's initial response to a situation or it's an event itself. And the real problem is a second dart. So for example, let's say I stub my toe against the door. The first dart is the pain. My toe hurts. There's nothing I can do about it. The second dart is when I start saying things like I am stupid. The door is stupid. This house is designed badly. And I start kind of blaming myself or blaming the world. So that's what this book is all about, is acknowledging and letting go of those first darts by seizing self-awareness and releasing that. And I'll give you a quick story to explain this. So I'm not sure if you saw this in my blog or not, but when I came back from Iraq, the VA diagnosed me with PTSD. And I struggled with many of the traditional symptoms of PTSD.

You know, I jumped when there's loud noises. I didn't like crowds. I struggled with feelings of guilt. I struggled with sleeping. And when the VA diagnosed me with PTSD, I thought, okay, you know, what's wrong with me? I have this mental disorder. And through learning more and more about the human brain and how it works, I realized that my brain's response to these, to this experience like war in Iraq was a very normal and natural response. It doesn't equate to a disorder. So all these things were happening with me were just these first starts to a situation as, as, as intense and as trauma as, you know, as yeah, as intense as war. And what I could do was reshape the meaning I had to that. So I realized that the

guilt, for example, I lost a very close friend in Iraq, and I always felt to this day, I feel guilty that I wish it had been me instead of him. And ultimately, I reframed the meaning by feeding the good wolf, which I call the human brain. This is where you seize consciousness. The ability to be aware of our, essentially say, I'm not just talking to you right now, Eric, but I'm aware if I'm talking to you. That's consciousness. That's our awareness. So by seizing awareness, I was able to reframe the guilt and tell myself that the guilt is a good thing. If I'm still guilty that I'm alive and my friend was not, then let me use this guilt to do something meaningful with my life. And that's how we, that's how this whole book is essentially seizing control of consciousness to then not let this evil

wolf or not let our animal brain run the show. Because, you know, there's, I mean, I've heard some of your other interviews and many of the people say similar concepts about how when the animal brain runs the show and when subconsciousness takes over, we, it tends to be chaotic. It tends to be negative. There's psychology calls it negativity bias. So we really have to, to, to gain self-awareness to ultimately step outside of that negativity. And now back to Akshay. Give some other examples of maybe common fears that we have and how we then use those. It sounds like you're talking about using your fear in a positive way.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah, and actually, you know, when our brain goes through the experience of fear, anxiety, and stress, I use those three similarly because they all have essentially the same neurological process. It actually...

I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the Really Know Really podcast, our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like... Why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor. We got the answer.

Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? His stuntman reveals the answer.

And you never know who's going to drop by. Mr. Bryan Cranston is with us today. How are you, too? Hello, my friend. Wayne Knight about Jurassic Park. Wayne Knight, welcome to Really, No Really, sir. Bless you all. Hello, Newman.

And you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging. Really? That's the opening? Really No Really. Yeah, really. No really. Go to reallynoreally.com. And register to win $500, a guest spot on our podcast, or a limited edition signed Jason bobblehead. It's called Really No Really, and you can find it on the iHeartRadio app on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. When we learn how to use it, it actually releases a lot of chemicals that make us stronger,

that make an experience very blissful and peaceful, which is why I do things like go cave diving, climb mountains and things like that because I feel terrified and then it makes me feel peaceful. So I'll give you another example and actually this is one of the tools that I created that I work with when I work with my clients. I call it the LMNOP cycle. And this cycle really helps you essentially step outside of your brain to train it to serve you. So the first step in that cycle is label and language. So this is when you label the emotion. And I had a client I worked with who every time he sat on the computer would get anxiety. He would feel terrified that, you know, that essentially for his writing. So I

had him label it. Okay, this is anxiety. The next step is shift your body language. And Amy Cuddy has a great TED talk where she talks about the power pose and how that shifts our biology as well as our internal physiology and what the effect that has. So we label the emotion and then we shift our body language. By labeling emotion, it automatically, neuroscience has shown that it actually activates parts of the consciousness and deactivates parts of that part of the brain, the subconsciousness. So the next step is M. This is when we attribute, we ask ourselves, what is the meaning we've created to this experience that leads to this emotion? So for my client, it was that people are not going to enjoy my writing.

People are going to think it's garbage and so ultimately lead to anxiety. The end step is where I think it's a really revolutionary part of the process, is where you tell yourself, it's not me, it's my brain. So you separate yourself again, and you say, this is not me having anxiety, it's my brain stuck in a pattern as a result of habits, preconditioned forces, and all the years I've been building these patterns, essentially ingraining these highways in the brain. So you say, this is not me, this is my brain. The O part is where you opt for a new meaning.

So even if you don't subconsciously believe it yet, you can say that, you know, people will like my writing. And he was actually very successful in a prior life that, you know, I've worked with the Pentagon, I'm very successful, people are going to enjoy my writing. So you create a new meaning. And in time, this will start implanting into your subconscious. And the final part is P, where you choose in line with your higher purpose and you take preemptive strikes. So the choosing in line is taking an action in with your higher purpose. So that is ultimately sitting down and right, even if it's for just five minutes. And what that does is it's literally changing the physical structure of your brain. You're rewiring your brain. And preemptive strikes is when you preemptively prepare for

obstacles you know will show up. So he knows that when he gets the computer, he'll feel anxiety or he would run off to the TV. So maybe you hide the TV remote so you don't have that escape. So you preemptively prepare for things and conditions you know that will hold you back. So this cycle, the LMNOP cycle, goes through a kind of step-by-step formula to ultimately help you reshape and step outside of your brain to then regain control of your consciousness and ultimately rewire your brain. Excellent. That's a very, I like that, LMNOP, because I can remember it. Yeah, exactly. I think Chris only got-P, because I can remember it. Yeah, exactly. I think Chris only got to M, though, in the alphabet, so he's going to only get part of that.

But it'll help, nonetheless. Nonetheless. One of your blog articles, you talk about three bars that keep you imprisoned by the fear of failure. The negativity bias, the availability heuristic, and the chaotic mind. Can you walk us through that? Sure, of course. So we touched on briefly the negativity bias. And what that is, is basically how our brain, as I was mentioning, how our brain is conditioned for a survival world. So the way you think about it is imagine our archaic ancestors living in, you know,

the sort of the natural world. If they don't pay attention to the saber-toothed tiger around the corner, they don't live to get food the next day. But if they miss a sunset, no big deal, right? We're still all around. So our brain is essentially trained to focus on the worries and the dangers because they keep us alive. And in today's world, that doesn't really serve us because we don't have those dangers. So now we just find and create them. And working in conjunction with the chaotic chaotic brain we essentially because the neuroscientists have shown that the brain is a natural state of chaos and you can think about it from if you try to meditate what happens right your your brain it's it's hard to to settle in on one on one thing our brain naturally goes all over

the place and working with the with the negative negativity bias what happens is that it it ultimately navigates to the negative point, right? And that's obviously not a good thing. So those are two of the forces. And in my book, I forget actually which one is the availability heuristic because I reframed it in my book, and that's kind of been top of my consciousness. And I talk about a few other cognitive biases, essentially how our brain works. And what happens in all these cognitive biases is our brain is finding ways to simplify a complex world, and a complex world that we're not essentially trained for. So I think the availability of your stick, what I actually now call the top-of-mind rule,

yeah, that's what it is, is where we look to what is first on top of our mind. So when we surround ourselves with the media, like turn on the news, what happens? We only see negative things bombarding us. Those negative forces become a top of our mind, and that's how we believe the world to be. So working with all these forces, a chaotic mind, the top of mind rule, and the negativity bias, we ultimately just focus on negative. And that's what makes it so hard to feed that good wolf. And that's what makes that evil wolf ultimately dominate our consciousness. I was talking the other day about something similar to the, you know, the availability heuristic, but the, the, um, human principle of, we sort of tend to believe what we hear by default.

Now, then our conscious mind can kick in and, and, and start to question some of that and how, how part of the challenge a lot of us run into is when we get stressed or tired or all those things is that, to your point, those cognitive biases kick right in because the brain is looking for the simplest approach. And so that ability to kind of go back to trying to think those things through a little bit more is always a very helpful thing to do, but often difficult to remember to think those things through a little bit more is always a very helpful thing to do, but often difficult to remember to do. Exactly, exactly. I mean, Nobel Prize psychologist Daniel Kahneman, great book he wrote, Thinking Fast and Slow, he says that the human brain is

lazy. And that's exactly what you said, that it ultimately retreats to all these easier forces. And when our cognitive biases take over, that's when that evil wolf gets, continues to get fed, right? The interesting thing about that book I found though, and I'm curious, um, your, your perspective on it is, is he talks about sort of that, that fast brain, um, or the, the, the more chaotic, uh, animal brain, the one that, that, that, but also very powerful brain, right? The one that allows us to walk without thinking about it. And then sort of that conscious brain or the faster brain. And he really lays out the value of both of those brains in different things. And a lot of what you're talking about is really emphasizing that conscious brain. What do you think the role of the unconscious brain is, or are there ways to

harness its strengths instead of kind of always going against it? Of course. I think ultimately the goal is, this is sort of the fundamental thesis of my whole book, is ultimately the goal is to use our conscious brain to then reshape our subconscious brain. Because like you said, having the conscious brain be active 24-7 is extremely burdensome. We won't be able to function. We can't, I mean just talking to you or walking, sitting in front of my computer, I don't want to have to think about that.

I want to be able to do it just automatically and fast. And that subconscious brain is fast, it's quick, it reacts to the world around us. But we want to shape it in a way that serves us and that's where habits come in. So essentially the way, I mean to summarize it in more traditional terminology is you want to use willpower, which is consciousness, to then reshape habits, because willpower is an exhaustible muscle. So that's why habits are so important. You want to train your brain in something like the LMNOP cycle where I mentioned the last step, preemptive strikes. And I'll give you a quick example of how I did that. One day, I knew I was, I had set

it in my schedule to go for a run, for a five-mile run, but I hadn't slept much the night before. As I mentioned, I used to struggle with sleep issues, and I had two client calls. So I worked through my client calls, and I knew that my subconscious brain, because it's going to respond to my emotional need for, which I was fatigued, it would retreat into wanting to go to bed after my client called. So what I did was before my client call, I put on my running shoes, I put on my heart rate monitor, I sat with my iPod around my arm, fully ready to go for my run. And by the time my client call ended, I made it as psychologically easy as possible to step out the door and go for a run. And slowly by doing these kind of things, I make it a habit, and then ultimately I don't have to think about it anymore, and my sort of that subconscious animal brain can just react. It just says, okay, I'm just going to go for a run.

subconscious animal brain can just react. It just says, okay, I'm just going to go for a run. So I really think the subconscious brain is vital to the process. And ultimately, we have to use the conscious one to shape the subconscious one in a manner that serves us, as opposed to in a manner that is just so that you can use it on things like, um, you know, the things it's supposed to and, and taking, you know, for me, taking as much of the moment to moment decision-making out of certain things is really powerful because it does. If I don't, if I don't, if I don't have a plan a lot of times for things, then I'll spend all my time thinking about what I should do. Like, you know, the great example for me is going to the gym. I'm so much better when I know when I'm going and exactly what I'm going to do. oh that can you know i may eventually make it but i'll have spent you know at least an hour contemplating when am i going to go and what am i going to do when i get there and and those very simple things can be very profound in allowing us to to be more effective exactly exactly like

exactly what you're saying you want to make it a psychologically easy and sort of not let your brain retreat in wondering what to do and that's why when you create a schedule when you have clarity of purpose and that's ultimately what led create a schedule, when you have clarity of purpose, and that's ultimately what led to my whole run around the world. I wanted something to, a long-term, lifelong project to give order to my consciousness, essentially, and give myself that direction. So I always have something to focus on for the rest of my life. And then it's just a matter of,

and it just makes it that much easier to then have a desire, sort of a why to then go out for a run or go training or write my book or build my nonprofit foundation, all of those various things that I'm doing in partnership with the run. Well, I think that should certainly take you the rest of your life. Certainly, exactly. It's definitely a lifelong project. Tell me a little bit about your nonprofit foundation. Sure. I call it the Fervana Foundation based on, again, that concept of Fervana. And the

nonprofit foundation is essentially my change-making arm of my run around the world. So, for example, later this year, ideally, I was supposed to do it last year. Again, it's not going to all pan out as planned. But I want to run across Rwanda. And there's an organization I'm working with, I'm partnering with out there called Create Global Healing. They do fantastic work where they help genocide survivors heal from their trauma and then ultimately create economic sustainability and fulfillment from that. So when I run across Rwanda, for example, and as my run continues to build more publicity, I want to then help this organization not just in terms of fundraising, but also in terms of getting on the ground and doing the work.

So long term, the way I see it is we build partnerships with various nonprofits throughout the world, and as this run kind of keeps growing and growing in the publicity for it, everything gets funneled into my nonprofit. And the way that I've arranged it is that 100% of proceeds will go towards the cause and the nonprofits we partner with, they handle their administrative costs on their own. So even my book, for example, 100% of my proceeds will go towards the nonprofit. So that's really my main passion is using the run to serve the world. And the nonprofit foundation acts as that change-making arm, acts as a service arm to the run ultimately. That's awesome.

Yeah, I'm very, very excited about it. It's kind of just being built. We just got finished applying for the 501c3. I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the Really Know Really podcast, our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor.

We got the answer. Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? His stuntman reveals the answer.

And you never know who's going to drop by. Mr. Bryan Cranston is with us today. How are you, too? Hello, my friend. Wayne Knight about Jurassic Park. Wayne Knight, welcome to Really, No Really, sir. Bless you all. Hello, Newman. And you never know when Howie Mandel

might just stop by to talk about judging. Really? That's the opening? Really, No Really. Yeah, Newman. And you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging. Really? That's the opening? Really, no really. No really. Go to reallynoreally.com and register to win $500, a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition signed Jason Bobblehead. It's called Really, No Really and you can find it on the iHeartRadio app, on Apple

Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. That should be ready within the next eight weeks and then the website and all of that. So it's all moving forward very, very nicely. So we're near the end of our time, but I wanted to wrap up with, I want to ask you about, you've got something, a guide that you call the driving force of all human behavior. And it's about asking yourself some of the right questions. Because, you know because the questions we ask ourselves shape our action. Can you give me an example of what do you mean

by the driving force of all human behavior and what are a couple of maybe key questions that we could start with? Sure, sure. So the driving forces of all human behavior are essentially the desire to avoid pain and the need to avoid pain and the desire to gain pleasure. And when you really think about it, ultimately everything we do boils, if you kind of break it down and dig deep to the reasons behind it,

boil down to those two forces. So when we ask ourselves questions, you know, these kind of self-defeating things, we can ask ourselves questions that allow us to use these forces to our benefit. So for example, when I came back, struggled with PTSD, I struggled with alcohol addiction as well. So, you know, asking myself questions like, okay, what is this going to do for me long-term? So essentially driving in the pain of this, what is the pain in this? How will this serve me? How will this make me, allow me to run across the world? What is the long-term consequence if I continue like this? So these are questions that are looking for pain points to then ultimately, you know, drive away from that because it's also

been shown that we will do more to avoid pain than we will to gain pleasure. And then ultimately asking us questions because I think Tony Robbins talks about this, how all thought is essentially a response to a question. So right now, even if you're agreeing with me or disagreeing with me, it's because your brain is subconsciously asking, is that right? Is that wrong, right? Or if I have to drive, do I need to take a left? Do I need to take a right? We're constantly asking these questions and our brain has to respond to it. So we can just, again, proactively take control of this experience and ask ourselves, okay, what is the value in doing this run around the world? How can I use it to serve the world? How does it make me a better person? What's the pleasure I can gain

from it? And essentially, so questions to then to look for the pain point and look for the pleasure point and then Use both those forces collectively because one one I think it's great if you use one or you know one or the other but I think It's even more powerful if we use both so right now That's what keeps me away from that that sort of evil wolf of alcohol or drugs is is Seizing the pain point acknowledging and remembering that pain point and remembering like do I ever want to go back to that place? What was that place like for me? What was that dark place like and then remembering, do I ever want to go back to that place? What was that place like for me? What was that dark place like? And then remembering it so I never want to be back there. So that's, again, drive, using those two forces to drive your life

forward and create, to ultimately in service of the goals that you want to, that you want to achieve in your life. Excellent. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the show. I know you're busy with a lot of things going on, so I appreciate you taking the time. Thank you so much for having me. It's been a real pleasure and I really enjoyed our conversation, Eric. Yeah, and best of luck in all of your running. And if you're heading across the U.S. and you're in Ohio, let us know and we can help out. Absolutely. Will do. Thank you so much. All right. Take care. Have a great evening. You too, Eric. All right. Bye.

Have a good one. Bye-bye.