081: How Positive Psychology Drives Athletic Performance with Luke Hopkins

In today’s episode, Nick provides a recap from the recent Leadville 100 Ultramarathon, a race that was about “more than the miles” and required the contributions of the BPN team.  On August 21 and 22, Nick raced a distance of 100 miles through the Rocky Mountains, joining only about half of the participants in meeting the 30-hour time limit for completion.  With the help of the BPN team, Nick finished the race in 27 hours, 53 minutes, and 5 seconds, having faced 15,600 feet in elevation ascent and descent, high altitudes, and overall both a great and challenging race.  Now, he wants to share with listeners about the details of the race - talking about everything from checkpoints to nutrition strategy, ups and downs, and the role his teammates played in the competition.  Nick’s training began in the spring after he was chosen by lottery to be allowed entry in the race.  This training included not just preparation for mountain terrain, but training for elevation shifts.   The Monday before the race, he and several other BPN workers arrived confident in Leadville ready for more altitude training and trail reconnaissance (for both Nick and his team members who would be shooting film for a documentary expected out in October!).  Nick and his team built out a plan for the race, with each member having a specific role outlined.  Nick’s main role, himself, was to embrace the suck that would come with enduring the race.  On the day of the race, Nick was up at 2:30 am for breakfast, which consisted of a bagel and some BPN products - G1M and electrolytes; his ultimate goal was to build up his sodium and carbs.  He prepared himself mentally, got dressed in carefully chosen clothes, and loaded up about 100fl oz of water in his pockets.  The race had an exhilarating start at 4am, and Nick explains his steps crossing checkpoints, maintaining nutrition levels, making connections with his crew, and beginning to knock out the many miles of the course.  The course had 13 checkpoints over its 50 miles (traveled twice), and Nick had 7 drop bags placed at checkpoints where he would possibly if not certainly be unable to see his crew.  He shares with listeners about the meals he chose to maximize helpful calories and keep his fluid and electrolyte levels high, the short time windows he allotted for stops, and about his plans to handle GI issues and prevent issues with injury or weariness.  Nick also explains how he felt at different points in the race, and how he paced himself. Listeners will hear about Nick’s fall and bloodied hands, decision to refill water at a mountain stream, and shock at finding crew members at a mountain summit checkpoint.  They will also  hear about the toll the high altitude took as the end of the race drew near;  Nick found himself - with fresh shoes, a pacer, and only 38 miles to go - struggling to breathe.  He started to really feel the previous miles, and knew he just needed to get to the end.  He just needed to go one more.  And one more.  And one more.  Through a temperature drop, a bout of uncontrollable shaking, a transition to a new pacer, and

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Nick kicks off the conversation with a brief introduction of Matthew and his tendency to be “as cool as the other side of the pillow”—acting quickly on the next practical step while maintaining calmness. Asking Matthew to share about his book, Green Lights, Nick appreciates Matthew’s ability to be present in the moment. Learn how this aspect of Matthew’s life has evolved over the course of his various achievements as he has learned the importance of putting his head down to work hard, rather than worrying about the minute-to-minute results. Listen to the importance of having “joy in the doing” and why you should stop anticipating the ending of things. Matthew shares how perspective and experience build maturity and wisdom, and how he fights against the addiction for immediate results and chasing false summits. The conversation shifts as Nick asks Matthew to share about false peaks and points in his own career—times when he felt like he couldn’t continue moving forward. Matthew shares about the importance of a balanced understanding of gratitude, and how complacency can lead to people living off the ‘glory days’ and looking in the rear view mirror for too long. Looking at a story Matthew shares in Green Lights, Nick asks him to chat about what roots him as a man with so much success. Listen in on having a value based life and taking a look at the history of time to see how nothing matters—and everything matters—all at the same time! Through belief, trust, and faith, Matthew works to perform his very best at the one shot he gets in this life! Having faith in yourself is important, but some level of doubt also proves helpful. Matthew tells us about moments where he doubted himself and why he works to process an understanding of why something succeeded or failed. Nick and Matthew both enjoy movement and running to freely process. Turning the conversation towards Hollywood, Nick asks Matthew about his view on expectations. Matthew’s surprising perspective of compartmentalization and going into everything with high expectations has helped him to trick himself to successfully stay in the chase. Why does Matthew dislike the term “unbelievable”? Diving deeper into this word, Matthew says we ought to give more credit to both the good and the bad when they occur—extending the bandwidth of what is believable and giving credit where it’s due. People have more capacity and internal power to self-determine than we give the credit for. In considering risk, Matthew says that the crucial denominator of going all in, and the importance of over-committing. Learn about the largest career risk he ever took and how he worked to challenge the vitality of his own life by un-branding. Nick asks about the most challenging role Matthew has held and how his need to be obsessed with every role he plays has impacted his family. They discuss the challenges of different genres and how he battles to keep integrity in his roles. As this episode draws to a close, listeners hear about Matthew’s ‘Less impressed, more involved’ motto and the unique community in Austin, Texas. Learn about the persona that Austin has and how they work to be trailblazers, marked by optimism and hospitality. Growth and change are happening, but the basic value systems are not changing. You can be who you want to be in Austin, TX! Thanks for tuning in and please remember to leave a review and share with a friend! Timestamps: 1:01 - Podcast introduction 1:43 - Matthew McConaughey welcomed on <span

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