You love learning about mental toughness, mental running tips, and how to mentally prepare for a big race. I love learning about the mental aspect of running, and therefore, there are going to be a lot of sports psychologists and mental coaches on the Running for Real podcast. Dr Bhrett McCabe has authored one of my favorite mental training books, and you are going to love this one too. Dr. McCabe might not be a runner himself, but the running advice he gives us in this podcast is absolute gold. We talk about why we feel like we are holding ourselves back, why we compare ourselves to others, how our goals often become our identities, and why we shouldn't focus on fixing problems in our running, but instead learn how to focus on mastery. And of course, how to switch your mindset around each of these. Dr McCabe, like me, is not a fan of goals, but he suggests we should focus on desires, wants, and visions for ourselves to achieve our potential. Oh, and he does explain exactly how to figure out what you really do want. We talk about doubts, fears, insecurities, and why they are so damaging to our running (and the rest of our lives), and how we can overcome those to push through the pain barrier in a race. There is so much good advice in here, I am confident you will want to note this one down as one to go back to over and over again. This is for you if you struggle with the mental aspect of running and racing. If you have self doubt and struggle with self belief as a runner. Every runner can learn something from this episode, no matter what your running desires and wants are. Today's Guest Bhrett McCabe Dr. Bhrett McCabe is a practicing Sports & Performance Psychologist. He recently authored The MindSide Manifesto and has published several academic journal articles, presented numerous scientific presentations, as well as provided insight and authored numerous articles for trade magazines. What You Will Learn About Why we always feel like we fall short of our goals and how we can stop the feeling of inadequacy. How to know what it is you really want (and why it is the million dollar question!) The difference between fixing problems and constantly growing. Why we should see ourselves as a work in progress. Training is like investing in yourself, but you are not entitled to a good performance. Get out of that expectations mindset. How to stop adding bricks to your backpack.   Inspirational Quotes One of the reasons we feel inadequate when we compare ourselves to others is because we never compare ourselves to areas we have strengths.  We identify things in other people that are our inherent insecurities We cannot be content in life, we simply can't, because if we are content, we would never grow, and if we never grow, we stop getting new experiences, and having new, valuable learnings. A lot of us are afraid to really open up and be honest and be vulnerable to ourselves to say, I want this, I really do.  We want success all the time, a part of us deep down wants success because we have to have it in order to feel valued by ourselves. If you don't fully declare it (your manifesto), how do you know if you ever achieved it? People who have a growth mindset, believe that they are constantly a work in progress, and that is a very powerful and successful mindset to have. Everything I do, is not a determinant of who I am, everything I do is an opportunity to build who I am. Where we get in trouble is where we take the moments of today and the outcomes of today to prove, to validate our underlying ability. Expectations are entitlements, they are based on something we have done in the past trying predict something we want to do in the future based on something we usually fear. Don't should on yourself. Should and must are both ways of telling you that you failed to do something. Most people run because they love the challenge of themselves. Most of us are trying harder because we feel like we need to do more, and we don't allow what we are