Overview: This transcript captures an episode of the "Mornings in the Lab with Keith and Friends" podcast/show, featuring hosts Keith, Jon, and Marty. The primary focus of the discussion is the concept of "failing publicly," exploring its nature, fear, and perceived benefits. The conversation also touches on related topics such as personal health (sleep, stretching, injury, pet health), professional sports (NFL draft, parenting in sports), communication styles, and consistency in fitness. Technical issues with the live stream are also a significant, and ironically relevant, element of the episode.
Key Themes and Ideas:
Failing Publicly and its Value: The central theme is the idea of failing publicly and why the host (Keith) is glad he has done so. The conversation explores the fear associated with public failure, contrasting it with failing in private.
Fear of Judgment: A major barrier to failing publicly is the fear of what others will say or think. Jon highlights that people are often more afraid of the judgment associated with failure than the failure itself. "And the thing is, is that, is that it's be, it's, people are fuck, are far more afraid of what people are gonna say because they failed in the failure itself."
Normalization of Failure: The hosts, particularly Jon, emphasize that failure is an inherent and necessary part of the journey to success. Jon uses the example of Michael Jordan's game-winning and game-losing shots: "He also owns the statistic of the most ever game losing shots. So mm-hmm. He, under he, Michael, clearly understood, Jordan understood. I have to fail more to, if I want to succeed more than everyone else, I need to fail more than everyone else."
Failure as a Roadmap: Failure should be reframed not as the opposite of success, but as a component and even a guide towards it. Jon states, "Failure is not the opposite of success. It's a part of it. Failure is a piece of the equation to become successful. So now that you understand this, you gotta reframe it. You gotta look at failure as your, basically, your roadmap to become successful."
Overcoming the Fear: Strategies for overcoming the fear of failure include having courage ("If it's a man or anybody? Anybody have fun trying to make real progress is what I'd tell 'em. If it's a man, take a look down. You got a sack. Sack of balls. Use them."), surrounding oneself with supportive people (either in person or through media like podcasts and YouTube), and understanding that those who judge are often themselves afraid to pursue extraordinary things.
Personal Health and Well-being: The conversation begins with discussions about personal physical health, highlighting the importance of sleep and stretching.
Importance of Sleep: The hosts discuss the Whoop company potentially paying employees for quality sleep as an incentive, leading to a broader point about individuals not recognizing the value of sleep and self-care. Jon expresses frustration that this needs to be incentivized: "It's just fucking sad that people don't invest enough into themselves to, to do."
Stretching and Injury Prevention: Jon and Keith share personal experiences with hamstring tightness and the need for stretching, especially as they age. Jon offers a tip: "when you're exercising, once you're done training a muscle, it's tired, it's warm. You can stretch the shit out of it without any pain in just a few short minutes."
Burnout as a Signal: Keith talks about experiencing burnout and realizing it wasn't just about working long hours, but a sign of misalignment between his actions and his values. "burnout isn't always about the hours. Sometimes it's a signal that what you're doing doesn't match what you value or frankly who you want to become." He advocates for open communication about feeling burnt out.
Communication and Demeanor: The hosts reflect on how communication style and demeanor influence perception and build trust.
Calm and Confident Delivery: Jon notes that a calm, confident demeanor from a professional (like the vet he consulted) can be very comforting, even if the words are the same as they would be if delivered nervously. "It's interesting how demeanor and delivery gives us confidence, eh?"
Thoughtful Pauses: Keith shares an anecdote about a guest who was self-conscious about pausing before answering due to a medical condition. Keith argues that thoughtful pauses in conversation can be appreciated by the listener, indicating processing and intentionality. Jon agrees: "But when you're, you know, you could see that someone's [00:16:00] processing, you could see that someone's choosing how they're gonna answer."
Self-Judgment: Keith points out that sometimes our own self-judgment can be a greater barrier than external opinions. When the guest apologized for his pauses, Keith told him, "your own mirrors judging you... Buddy, I, because he was all apologetic. I'm like, no, man, that's your own mirror... So that's your own mirror, my friend."
Professional Sports, Parenting, and Politics: The discussion shifts to the situation of Shaar Sanders falling in the NFL draft.
Parental Influence and "Politics": Marty and Jon discuss how Deion Sanders' public statements about his son's draft prospects likely negatively impacted his draft position. Marty refers to this as an example of "politics" playing a part in sports. "this goes to show that politics do play a part in sports... you could land up in the wrong" Jon adds, "That is so, oh, that's an understatement, brother."
Managing Parental Involvement: The hosts touch on the challenges of overly involved parents in professional sports, citing an anecdote about a hockey dad calling the team owner about his son's playing time. "I remember a conversation I had with some fellows at the Winnipeg jet a few years ago, and there was a pro playing on the Winnipeg Jets Pro whose dad was calling the owner saying, why is my son not getting minutes?"
Athlete's Character and Response to Setback: They commend Shaar Sanders and his brother's positive celebration after he was drafted, viewing it as a sign of good character and resilience despite the draft slide. Jon: "the celly, I love that the celebration, he, they, they were fucking celebrating like he was first round. That shows a lot about their character."
Consistency in Fitness: Marty provides a "fit tip" emphasizing consistency over finding the "perfect" workout split.
Split Doesn't Matter: Marty argues that the specific muscle group division of workouts ("your split") is less important than consistent effort and adherence to a plan. "your split does not matter... What matters is what you actually do with your time in the gym and how, how, how that nutrition is when you leave the gym."
Avoid Overthinking: He advises against constantly changing routines and encourages sticking with a proven method for a significant period to see results. "Stop looking for the next best thing and focus on what you have right in front of you."
Technical Issues as Live, Public Failure: Ironically, the live show experiences significant technical problems, with Keith's audio and video repeatedly freezing and lagging. This becomes a real-time example of "failing publicly."
Embracing the "Failure": Keith acknowledges the issues directly and frames them within the context of the show's topic: "today's show's about failure and my internet is failing on the show here today in real time, which is, uh, which is great. And we could have a, I could freak out about it or I can just take a nice pause and just get after, like, we're getting after this morning."
Most Important Facts/Quotes:
Failure as a Part of Success: "Failure is not the opposite of success. It's a part of it. Failure is a piece of the equation to become successful." - Jon
Fear of Judgment vs. Failure Itself: "people are fuck, are far more afraid of what people are gonna say because they failed in the failure itself." - Jon
Michael Jordan Statistic: The anecdote about Michael Jordan holding both the record for most game-winning and game-losing shots illustrates the necessity of failing more to succeed more.
Burnout and Alignment: "burnout isn't always about the hours. Sometimes it's a signal that what you're doing doesn't match what you value or frankly who you want to become." - Keith
Communication and Demeanor: "It's interesting how demeanor and delivery gives us confidence, eh?" - Keith
Politics in Sports: "this goes to show that politics do play a part in sports... you could land up in the wrong" - Marty
Fitness Consistency: "your split does not matter... What matters is what you actually do with your time in the gym and how, how, how that nutrition is when you leave the gym." - Marty
Noteworthy Absences/Rescheduling:
A planned guest, Cameron Smedley (dental tech), was rescheduled for Friday.
A planned guest, Axel Cantana (content consultancy), had their interview cut short and rescheduled due to Keith's significant technical issues with the live stream.
Summary: The episode effectively uses the theme of failing publicly to explore various aspects of life, from personal growth and overcoming fear to navigating professional challenges and maintaining health. The live technical difficulties serve as a timely and authentic demonstration of public failure and the need to persevere despite it. The hosts emphasize reframing failure as a necessary step towards success and the importance of self-care and supportive relationships.
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