[JOE SANOK]
This is the Practice of the Practice podcast with Joe Sanok, session number 645.
[JOE]
I am Joe Sanok, your host, and welcome to the Practice of the Practice podcast. I am so excited that you are here today. We are wrapping up 2021. It’s December folks, holy cow, just a couple weeks left here. Hope that you have great plans with your friends and family and that you’re safe and that all that is going well for you this December. The end of the year and the beginning of the year is such to good time to start thinking about what did we do this year? What are we going to do? I remember it was December of 2018 and I was reflecting on what’s that next big thing that I’m going to push into that really, if I did that, it would just open up all sorts of doors.

It was December of 2018 and I said if I can get a traditionally published book and potentially have it be a New York Times bestselling book, man, that would open doors. That’s when I started asking every single author on the podcast to introduce me to their agent. Then I started meeting all these agents and finally landed on my agent, Greg. Then he connected me with my writing coach. I worked with Nancy for a year on just my proposal for Harper Collins. Well, and it was for anyone, not just Harper Collins. So sometimes the end of the year can be a time to say, okay, things are going great. I really like, what’s going well. What on my plate that I can take off and outsource or eliminate and make some space for creativity, make some space for the things that I want to work on.

When you then have that space then to say, well, what’s that big gamble that I can really go towards and even if I fail, I know that the regular stuff in my practice is going really well. You can take those big risks because you’ve automated that income through either a group practice or maybe you’ve raised your rates, or you have other things that are predictable. So I want to encourage you being towards the end of the year to really think through what’s that big push for you? Think outside of just that one-on-one counseling, push yourself into other mindsets, push yourself to different levels. Try to find something that you’re like if that actually was successful, that would be a double or triple my revenue type of decision.

I mean, that’s what we want to look for, not just like a 5% growth, 10% growth to really make that impact, influence and income, just continue to grow over time. That’s why I’m so excited to have Eric Deeter on the today. Eric is a mindset coach who also has been working on unlocking the power of the subconscious mind. He knows the feeling of just running on a treadmill and feeling like you’re not going anywhere. For a while he couldn’t get unstuck and so he’s going to share with us how running ultra marathon mindsets and all sorts of other epic things have been part of his journey. So Eric, welcome to the Practice of the Practice podcast.
[ERIC DEETER]
Thank you, Joe. I’m glad to be here.
[JOE]
I am so excited to be here too. I love hearing people’s of when they’ve transformed themselves in a way that maybe they didn’t expect. So tell people a little bit about that transformation for you.
[ERIC]
Well, I’d say a self-help junkie. I read all the books and I was doing all the things through a good part of my life, trying to find that way to get past my limiting beliefs. I knew they were in my subconscious. I knew what they were. I knew kind of how I developed them, but I didn’t have any power to change them. It just kept repeating the same cycle over and over and over and seemed like no matter what I did, I was stuck. But I finally kind of found a solution. It was a book that I read called how to Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself and started doing some mindset work in relation to my thoughts as well as my emotions and how those impacted in my body. I was able to actually make some real significant changes.
[JOE]
So thoughts and emotions. So I’ve been really into Michael Singer’s work recently with The Untethered Soul and also his Living from a Place of Surrender. So he kind of has the mindset that we aren’t our thoughts and our emotions that we should like, let those move through us. For you when you were looking at your thoughts and emotions, what were some of the teachings that really helped you get to a different level of potential for yourself?
[ERIC]
The thing that got me was the fact that I was pretty much brought up to live in my intellect and value my intellect above my emotions. So I kind of had the saying that my intellect was a tyrant and my emotions were the servant. I didn’t allow the two to interact. And then the other part of the soul people, call the will or the power, the center of power is just kind of out there floating on itself. So I say that my soul was fractured, that my thoughts and emotions were kind of acting independently and the way I made progress was to learn how to integrate that. Also physically, and with my body, how my thoughts and emotions impacted in my body.
[JOE]
What did that look like when you were first starting out? How did you start by integrating those?
[ERIC]
It was a meditation practice that I had, which was body focused rather than I tried meditating in the past and some of the meditative modalities that I tried never worked for me, but this one did. It was focusing on how does your body feel in getting feedback from areas? Actually I learned how to manage the state of my body with through my concentration and through that feedback. Then I took that into my running when, I started the mindset work first, and I just kind of brought that into my running. It was to smooth integration for me.
[JOE]
Now, were you always a runner or did that come later in life?
[ERIC]
I was a runner in my twenties, my late twenties, and I quit. I just hit a goal, ran a marathon and then just kind of tapered and stopped doing it. Then I did the mindset work and lost weight in 2017. At the end of the year, a friend of mine did a 50-mile trail race and I saw his pictures on Facebook and I said, I’ve lost weight. I could bet I could probably run again. So I started running at age 60 with the goal that within a year I was going to run that 50-mile trail race that my friend did.
[JOE]
Wow, a 50 mile trail race. So how do you even prep for that from a physical standpoint or even from a mental standpoint?
[ERIC]
Well, the mental standpoint, I didn’t realize how significant it was, but the kind of meditative mindset work being in tune and getting the feedback from my body made my training much easier. So I was constantly getting that, being present, being focused, being in the moment, I was very aware of what my body was doing and how I was feeling. Training was, I didn’t have a, I just kind of went out and started running. I got involved with a group of trail runners who gave me encouragement. So I had set some goals along the way and just kind of just went out and ran. I developed my body and I was able to do it. I picked the 50 mile race. There was also a hundred mile trail race going on and I had the same amount of time that a hundred mile finishers had. So I had plenty of time. I didn’t have to push myself, which sure helped as well.
[JOE]
Now when you’re training do you eventually in the training get up to 50 miles or is the day of the race the first time you hit the 50 miles?
[ERIC]
The day of the race was the first time I hit 50 miles. I had set an intermediate goal a couple of months before to run to 50K, which is 31 miles. I found the power of having a supportive community in that race because I was going to quit. It was three loops of 10 miles. The second loop I was, I felt I was ready to quit. A friend, an acquaintance at the time, she came running up about a quarter mile from the finish, from where the start-finish was and said, you have only eight minutes before you have to leave, or you’re going to have the cutoff and you won’t be able to continue. I said, I don’t have it. I can’t do another 10 miles. She said, oh, come sit down and let’s talk. They poured ice water on me, fed me Coke and watermelon and fixed my hydration pack. I stood up and said, I think I can go on. I left the aid station with a minute to spare or I would’ve missed the cutoff. So I was able to finish that first 50, but it was all due to the power of the fact that I had people in the running community or around saying, well you still have time. Let’s go.
[JOE]
So you started in your twenties and then you took a break. Do you mind me asking how old you were when you started back into this 50 mile race?
[ERIC]
I was 60. I was 60 years old when I went through this kind of mindset stuff and started becoming a runner. So yes, much later in life. In the meantime I had been out of shape, fat. I wasn’t terribly unhealthy, but I wasn’t really fit. You wouldn’t have looked at me and said, oh yes he’s the picture of healthy lifestyle.
[JOE]
Yes, yes, man. When I turned 40, I decided I was going to do a sprint triathlon. Mostly it was because I used to be an absolutely terrible swimmer. I went from being absolutely terrible to being really bad. So it was just like I wanted the motivation to learn to swim better. I had a swim coach, I had this swimming app, I went swimming three or four times a week. It’s funny in that process, I realized that I have some genetic things that my resting float is about an inch under the water. Even the swim coach said that would be hard. I literally have never seen someone that so sinks. She’s like take a deep breath. I’m like I did. She’s like, you’re still under water. So it made me feel a little better that it wasn’t just my own fault.

But to be in these races and at least in the triathlons, they have your age on the back of your calf. To see these people that were just tearing it up ahead of me that were 20 or 30 years older than me, I was like, I can’t believe that these people have just done this. I mean, I’m 40 and feel like I got old here and then all of a sudden these people are just killing it. For you starting when you’re 60, was there part of it that kind of felt exciting that you weren’t a 20 something jumping into this, but that it was something that was maybe a little later in life?
[ERIC]
Yes it was exciting, that I still had the ability, the physical ability at my age to decide a year from now I’m going to run 50 miles. That was kind of a big decision. I didn’t tell anybody that was my goal when I started running. I just told my wife I’m going to start trail running. I saw my friend do it. So it wasn’t until I registered for the race that I said, oh, I’m going to do this 50 mile race. But yes, it was for me very satisfying and again, the kind of going of the mindset of I’m not accepting the fact that people have to get slower, have to slow down, have to pull back on what they think they can do as physical activities as they get older.
[JOE]
You said you didn’t tell anyone other than your wife. I’ve heard that, especially when we’re looking at building habits and mindset, that if you are talking about it too much, like, there’s obviously there’s a level of accountability with your running partners, but that if you’re talking about it on social media, that the parts of the brain that light up are the same parts of when you actually achieve the race. So it can actually be detrimental to tell other people, because you get all this positive reinforcement from doing nothing, from just telling people I’m going to do this thing. Was it helpful to know that other people didn’t know? Why did you decide to not tell people until you were really registered and committed to it?
[ERIC]
It was partly that. I didn’t tell my wife either. I didn’t tell anybody. It was my own thing. Yes, I think instinctively, I kind of knew that. I mean, I knew the principle that you are talking about, that your mind takes that as already having accomplished it. But for me it wasn’t that I was afraid I was going to fail. It was just, it was something that I wanted to keep as my own. I was doing it for myself. I wasn’t doing it for anybody else. I just wanted to keep it that way as my own kind of private goal, the drive. And probably the mindset work that I had done that led me to this step was I factored in it as well that I didn’t need any validation from anybody else. This was just going to be for me.
[JOE]
So then how did you start to shift into doing mindset coaching?
[ERIC]
Well, it got to the point I was, my wife and I are self-employed and we’re looking for what’s next. So I had some things that I was trying to do online, take my knowledge as an entrepreneur and offer coaching. It wasn’t quite my passion. Wasn’t really, I was good at it, but as sometimes the things you’re good at, you’re not necessarily passionate about enough to transition, to teaching about it. So I kind of left that. Then going along with my mindset work, I hired a life coach and she kind of mentioned, well from what you’ve done and the way, kind of what I hear from you, you’d be good as a life coach.

So I kind of went into that, pursued that got certified and realized that really that passion of wanting to try to inspire other people and to talk to people, encourage them, help them develop confidence to improve and move forward with whatever they want, whatever goals are trying to achieve, I’ve been doing that all my life. I mean, that’s just, in natural conversation people will say things and I’ll try to help them speak better. The words that they use are bringing their mindset down. I’m like, well, why don’t you say it this way? For example, a woman in a networking group, her husband told her, “Well, honey, you’re just not good at math.”

I said to her, “Well, you don’t have to necessarily accept that. All you have to do is say, well, I’m not good at it yet because that one word says, if you’re saying you’re not good at it kind of puts the damper on you. But if you say I’m not good at it yet means I’m on my way. I’m still working on it.” So those are the kinds of things that just kind of come out of me naturally. So this life coaching is really where my sweet spot is.
[JOE]
So then how did you start to get clients from that? Was it kind of through the podcast or was the podcast later? Tell me about, how did you start getting your first clients?
[ERIC]
The podcast was part of it. I started a Facebook page. Primarily the podcast, as you know, as a podcaster, it takes a lot of time. So I’ve focused a lot of effort on that. So yes, being guests on other podcasts. Instagram is a favorite spot of mine. I enjoy Instagram. So I post a lot of things on Instagram. So that type of interaction. Social media, just kind of letting people know who I am and what I have to offer and kind of my approach is what brings them to me.
[THERAPY NOTES]
Is managing your practice stressing you out? Try Therapy Notes. It makes notes, billing, scheduling, and tele-health a whole lot easier. Check it out and you will quickly see why it’s the highest rated EHR on Trustpilot with over a thousand verified customer views and an average customer rating of 4.9 out of five stars. You’ll notice the difference from the first day you sign up for a trial. They offer live phone support seven days a week so when you have questions, you can quickly reach out to someone who can help. You are never wasting your time looking for answers. If you’re coming from another EHR, they make the transition really easy. Therapy Notes will import your clients’ demographic data free of charge during your trial so you can get going right away. Use the promo code [JOE] to get three months to try out Therapy Notes, totally free, no strings attached, including their very reliable tele-health platform. Make 2021 best year yet with Therapy Notes. Again, that’s promo code [JOE] at checkout to get three months totally free.
[JOE SANOK]
Then I think about there’s some therapists or counselors that say, oh, life coaches are just stealing our business or they haven’t done the same training as us. Then there’s others that really see the value and the differences between a mindset coach versus a therapist. How do you think through who you are as a mindset coach compared to say the therapist, counselors, psychologists, that are listening to the show?
[ERIC]
I listen to what my clients have to say. And I’m sure that the therapists as well, and they’re skilled at listening. I listen for the language of knowing where my limitations are and the things that they need. There are things that, I don’t know about other life coaches or my mindset coaches, but for me I’m very aware of the fact that I’m not a counselor. In fact, I tell people that. I’m not a therapist. The things that I help with are things like motivation, dealing with emotions and thoughts for maximum performance, physical performance or performance toward a goal. Usually it’s something specific. So if there’s trauma involved I don’t touch that. Those are the things that I, and I’m very aware of need the need to refer those people to a therapist for help.
[JOE]
I think that’s so important to just see all the different puzzle pieces in someone’s life, whether it’s a mindset coach or a physical coach, someone that’s helping them work out more and a therapist. So take us through, if you were working with someone what’s like a typical client and what would you do to help them with their mindset? What are some of the strategies you would teach them? What would that look like?
[ERIC]
Typical client is usually in mid forties to 55. Usually they’ve settled. Somewhere along the line in their life, they have kind of settled for a life that is what everybody expects or what they thought was going to bring them fulfillment. They come to the point where it’s like, it’s just not working. They have, everything on the surface is going well but they’re looking for a challenge. They’re looking for something epic. They’re looking for a change. So what I do is, I mean, I take a, kind of my approach is the mind, body and soul that our thoughts and emotions are tied to our body. So there’s breathwork, and the kind of the meditation of being aware and sensing your body and taking that throughout the day as well as self-talk, the kinds of words that we use to talk to ourselves and how to manage that.

Then, and also analyzing the effects, kind of diagramming the effects of your thoughts, your feelings, your actions, and your results, kind of mapping that out and seeing where those things are taking you. And you can start anywhere in that and help learn how to manage your thoughts and emotions differently. Then also looking at the future, what do you want to be like 10 years from now? If that person will talk to you, if that person could talk to you what are the kinds of things that they would be saying? And then working for plans to create that future.
[JOE]
I remember hearing this thing about retirement plans, where they found that if they took the person’s picture and aged it to age 65 that people were more likely to put money into their retirement plans, just because they could visualize themselves being older, much better than if they just had their regular picture when they were an employee. Just that idea of thinking about who do I want to be in 10 years and how do I really get into that person’s mindset 10 years from now is so important.
[ERIC]
Yes. And visualization is a part of that as well, of the, some people are more auditory, but visual. We all have a visual component. And visualizing yourself, experiencing event, and then visualizing, switching and visualizing as an outside perspective of seeing yourself doing that from outside. That associative and dissociative visioning is much more powerful than either one by themselves.
[JOE]
Yes. Well, the last question, Eric, that I always ask my guests is if every private practitioner in the world were listening right now, what would you want them to know?
[ERIC]
You can do more than you think you. The way that you think, and for all of us ,we tend to think in certain patterns and find a way to make those patterns, you will go down a different path and do something that’s truly epic and that will light the fire in your belly.
[JOE]
That’s so good. Well, Eric, if people want to listen to your podcast and look at your work what’s the best place for them to go check that out?
[ERIC]
Best way, the podcast is The Ultra Marathon Mindset trail talk. We talk primarily with ultra marathon runners but it’s anybody doing kind of epic things and also health and mindset people as well. So it’s primarily ultra marathon running focused, but it’s much about the mindset as it is about the physical activity. Also you can find out about me, my name, ericdeeter.com, my website and everything I have is there.
[JOE]
Thank you so much. Thank you so much for being on the Practice of the Practice podcast.
[ERIC]
Thank you, Joe. I appreciate it.
[JOE]
So go out there and do something. One thing I’ve said on so many of the podcasts that I’ve been interviewed on for Thursday is the New Friday is add something to your weekend and take something away. Add something that is just going to make you so happy, so excited. Do that new thing that’s going to light you up and then take away something that just, maybe you’re worried about, or maybe it’s a coffee date with a toxic friend, and you always feel like trash when you leave talking to them. I give you permission to not do that. Maybe pay the neighbor kid to help with your lawn or have your groceries delivered. Add something, remove something, go live that epic life like Eric was talking about.

We are so thankful to our sponsor, Therapy Notes who offers the best electronic health records out there. We get pitched all the time on other EHRs, and we’re just so happy with Therapy Notes. We know so many of you use Therapy Notes. If you aren’t yet using Therapy Notes, they will actually help you transition for free from whatever EHR you’re using. So just use promo code [JOE] at checkout to get your free months, and that’s going to help you just be able to test it out, try it out. It’s the best EHR out there and teletherapy is now part of their platform. So it all integrates together. You don’t have to worry about having a Zoom professional account or any of that either.

Thank you so much for letting me into your ears and into your brain. Have an amazing day. I’ll talk to you soon.

If you’re coming from another EHR, they make the transition really easy. Therapy Notes will import your clients’ demographic data free of charge during your trial so you can get going right away. Use the promo code [JOE] to get three months to try out Therapy Notes, totally free, no strings attached, including their very reliable tele-health platform. Make 2021 best year yet with Therapy Notes. Again, that’s promo code [JOE] at checkout to get three months totally free.