E75 | Dr. Jena Gatses: Asserting Yourself & Getting Your Message Across - Art Of Coaching™

Posted March 29, 2020

TRANSCRIPTION

Brett Bartholomew 0:01

What’s going on everybody? Welcome back to another episode of The Art of coaching Podcast. I’m here with my friend, Jena Gatses. Jena, what is up?

Jena Gatses 0:09

Hello, how are you?

Brett Bartholomew 0:11

I’m doing all right. How are you?

Jena Gatses 0:13

I’m great. Thanks for having me.

Brett Bartholomew 0:15

Oh, thanks for making the time. Jena, you have a truly unique background. I mean, there’s a lot to go into here and you fill multiple roles like many of our guests, not somebody who is one dimensional. Would you mind giving everybody a little bit about your background? And then we’re gonna dive into the main theme of this episode, because you have a really unique story to tell. And I think it’s gonna help a lot of people but tell us a little bit more about you.

Jena Gatses 0:37

Definitely. So, you know, wanting to learn about the human body. I just tried to dive into whatever I could related to fitness and the mind and just the human in general. So as far as education, I’ve done exercise science. Besides, I was a physical therapy, tech, strength and conditioning. I’m a Doctor of Physical Therapy, dry needle certified. I pretty much do whatever I can to learn more about the human body in any situation, whether it’s, you know, the ICU and the burn and trauma center or you know, a professional athlete.

Brett Bartholomew 1:12

That’s perfect. And Jenna, when you just to give the audience context, guys, I’m first met Jena at a NASCAR event. And this is something that I think is super cool. We haven’t had a guest on the show yet that has been in this space. And it’s really still a new and evolving space and Jena helped pioneer that

Jena was involved with Joe Gibbs racing. And this was during a time where Joe Gibbs, a NASCAR leader was putting in a state of the art sports medicine room that Jenna really oversaw. Jena, what was that like being a part of that? And how the hell did you get involved with NASCAR to begin with?

Jena Gatses 1:45

Yeah, no, it was amazing, actually. So they never had a full time PT or shine coach, they kind of, you know, they use people from in the area, like the hospitals would lend out a PT or strength coach. So I was the first to because joke is racing has six teams underneath them. And then I was also in charge a three motocross teams. Just so I’ve got a lot of new things. And I actually put in a whole PT and strengthen conditioning facility from some floor and everything. But my reputation for helping people before school led me to meet the athletic director. And he let me come to a race and Richmond and I worked on a bunch of the drivers and a lot of the pit crew and they raved about it. So they actually asked me to quit school. And I said, No, absolutely not. I’m like, if I’m that good, you’ll wait for me to graduate.

Brett Bartholomew 2:42

And like, but with that, like just because some of our guests and people listening. I mean, you just said there was an athletic director for NASCAR. Right? Like, let’s go back for a minute. When did this all happen? You know, and again, you and I reside a little bit more in this world. But for somebody not familiar with performance, when did NASCAR all of a sudden, like why are people that are racing cars, athletes, why do they need an athletic director? Why do they even need this stuff to begin with?

Jena Gatses 3:10

Right? Well, they’re actually they’re trying to be smarter about the sport. So you know, some of the guys I’m fighting, you know, them doing dip while we’re training. And some of the guys are ex NFL players. So, you know, they’re trying to be smarter about it every 10th of a second counts. So when these guys are changing the tires, they’ll change all four tires in under 10 seconds, you know, and if stronger, faster guy can out beat another picture, guys, and they’re going to try to get those advantages anywhere they can.

So when they brought me in, it was to basically do whatever I could with the science. You know, I was traveling with these guys, every weekend, we have our own planes, I still work with a lot of them, but we had our own plane, so I got to manipulate any variables I could, and they want to be better. So you know, you’re sitting here taking an old school sport, and trying to you know, go from good ol boys to you know, smart, elite athletes.

Brett Bartholomew 3:58

So you’re not even just talking about the drivers, you’re talking about the pit crew. And again, I’m trying to make sure that we provide clarity for everybody because I remember I spent a day with you and watching that. And as somebody you know, I didn’t grew up a NASCAR fan. That’s nothing against that, right? I just wasn’t my

Jena Gatses 4:13

I didn’t either

Brett Bartholomew 4:14

scene that I’m watching. And I remember you telling me you’re like, yeah, the pit crew this and that. I’m like, bullshit. Like, let me see this. And then I watched these guys in action in like more in depth Action, not just what you see on TV. And you’re right, those guys have to, like they have to perform some incredible feats. What were the distinctions that you saw between things that you had to work on for members of the pit crew versus the drivers themselves? And to be clear, I’m talking about what were some environmental stressors they had to deal with the physical stressors, what were the unique things between them that the average listener may have no idea or context about?

Jena Gatses 4:51

So I mean, you were down to the pits with me. You see how it is, it’s extreme, you know, cars are flipping around you, you know everyone’s crashing. We’ve had cars drive by and hit lug nuts and the luggage will actually shoot up and hit someone in the face, I’ve had to take people to the hospital for shattered eye sockets. So, you know, some of my guys who’ve gotten lit on fire some of the pictures, because you know, the cars, they’re just trying to win. So whatever they can do, if the car crashes, and it comes in, and it lights on fire, and you know, or they’re trying to bang outside part of the car, because it crashed into the wall, there’s so many different variables for the pit crew, and then the driver,

I mean, you can’t really control anything because you can crash at any time, depending on how another car hits them. So keeping their body prepared and keeping their stabilization on one, their coordination, going, that’s how they’re gonna stay the healthiest because if you just you know, go sloppy, then that crash is gonna affect the body that much more so, you know, the overuse with the pit crew is the most important thing that I tried to you know, contain but you know, again that random variables all over the place, and even on the airplane, you know, you the environment that they’re in, it changes and is extreme at all times.

Brett Bartholomew 6:05

Yeah, I remember, you know, and I almost got sidetracked with what you said there. I’m sorry, guys, this is what you get when Jenna and I do an interview together, both of us can get really crap. But I think when she said lug nut, here’s a random fact about me not to make this about me. But for right now. One of my favorite movies, Amy Silverman. And I’ll never forget the part where Judith wanted to sit down in that chair, that Jack Black, it’s not shows on, it wouldn’t recline, his friend fixes it and goes got it. It was the lug nut. So I apologize. I almost lost it when he said luck, not just recall back there.

No, but you’re right, like being able to see that. And it goes hand in hand with kind of what we talked about on this podcast, and that, whether it’s the weight room, the boardroom, anything, stress is cumulative. And I think people get caught seeing like, oh, NFL players or rugby players, and they think the physicality of that, but they don’t understand the different domains where those stressors also occur. I mean, when it even came to recovery for these guys, how long did these events last? The NASCAR events and then their travel? What were some other compounding factors, Jena that made it even more difficult for you to do their job and them to stay at peak performance?

Jena Gatses 7:21

Well, a lot of them, you know, they’re still new to the, you know, athletic arena. So I had to convince a lot of guys, I was working with a lot of egos. And even higher above me, you know, the egos. It’s just, it’s a different sport, you know, they’re not very scientific. So having to, you know, that’s where I come in, and I do my job, and I educate them. So it’s important for me to establish dominance and to show them I know what I’m talking about through the results that I’m showing them, you know, so that was important. And that was my number one goal at all times. But you totally throw me off now. Go ahead.

Brett Bartholomew 7:57

And not just the compounding stressors. The fact that to me when I’m

Jena Gatses 8:00

Oh, yeah, definitely.

Brett Bartholomew 8:01

We were out there. A and then they sleep in in these different trailers. And they have to, you know, their travel schedule. I remember, you know, when I would try to catch up with you, you were in a different state all the time. And we often hear about

Jena Gatses 8:13

Every weekend

Brett Bartholomew 8:14

Every weekend. That’s what I was going to ask because you know, of rugby teams and baseball teams in basketball that their travel schedule is intense. But you guys go every weekend. Was it really an off season in NASCAR ever?

Jena Gatses 8:25

No. So it’s actually the longest season in pro sports. And the only off months were December and January. So every other weekend, besides two other weeks of the year is you’re traveling somewhere else. So like I said, we had our own planes, wake up five in the morning, you get on the plane, and then you go, the reason sometimes would last seven, eight hours. So if there’s crashes or if it’s raining it away from the track to dry, like it’s intense. And so the guys yeah, they would go and sleep in the haulers above, like where they stored the cars on the hollers.

But then, you know, if a race gets rained out, it’s not like they cancel it right away. You were there during the rain out, you know, we got to entertain ourselves, we found sticky hands or hitting people, you know, so you’re there all day, and they don’t cancel it right away. So then if it rains out, you just wasted the whole day or they’re dragging, eaten bad food, you know, your body’s probably not prepared to do anything. And then the next day you go back and do the same thing.

Brett Bartholomew 9:18

Yeah, there’s a lot of issues there that again, you mentioned the food and everything else real quick to go back just to make sure everybody’s on the same page. And I wouldn’t have known what the term meant. Had I not been there with you that day. Could you describe what a Hauler as you mentioned, they sleep in the haulers they spend time in that. Could you describe that environment for our audience?

Jena Gatses 9:37

Yeah, so the team travels on the airplane, but in order for the cars to get there, the truck driver takes you know, there’s a truck for each car. And for each team and they bring two cars we need a backup car just in case the one doesn’t go through inspection or something’s wrong and then they drive wherever the races. So it’s a pretty huge truck and there Once everything’s out of it, we have the barbecue in there. So there’s food, there’s supplies to the car, all the tech stuffs in there, the engineers sitting there during the race, and they adjust all the stuff with the cars. So it’s really cool. It’s like a one stop shop for, you know, a travel racer.

Brett Bartholomew 10:15

And I imagine being a part of that rehaul or overhaul so to speak, you know, in terms of them, providing new facilities and new kinds of support. I mean, for you, somebody that’s a Doctor of Physical Therapy, licensed massage therapist strength and conditioning coach, you had to kind of see the business end of things as well, right? Because you saw all the things that went into getting the facility approved. And and how are you going to sell this to the guys? Because I’m sure, I have to imagine there were some people that were not bought in either in the organization on the pit crew, or the drivers, right? Or was everybody bought in?

Jena Gatses 10:49

Oh Definitely.

Brett Bartholomew 10:50

Yeah, there was.

Jena Gatses 10:52

You know, how it is with pro athletes, they know everything, and you know, nothing. So I mean, I grew up with all brothers, that’s how I’m able to project my dominance. And I have to, like I said, once you’re educated, you have to learn how to get that education across. Otherwise, your education doesn’t mean shit, you know, so you have to be able to communicate your athlete. So I read people very well. And I just remember the first time I was telling them a workout, or showing them what they were going to do. You know, the one guy was like, you do it. I was like, well first of all, I don’t lift this weight wait, so I’m gonna go get the real weight that I would lift, and then I’ll come back and do it. And I did. And I live really heavy. So like, it was actually like, extreme. And he’s like, alright, I’ll do it. I’m sorry. I’m like, yeah. Like moment of truth.

Brett Bartholomew 11:34

Sometimes that takes that and I’m glad you use great terminology there. Jenna, when you said I have to project my dominance. And this is something that I think is important to talk about, especially in the era that we’re in. One thing that I’ve always appreciated about you is You’re a strong woman and you do not try to downplay yourself, your confidence in your abilities. But you also do it in such a, like, a morally virtuous way. Like you don’t apologize for yourself. And I think that they’re right, there’s a line we all know people that don’t apologize for themselves. And they’re assholes. And, you know, they’re really vain.

But I feel like you’ve always found this balance. And I’ll admit, it caught me off guard at first because when we first met, you know, I followed you on Instagram. And you are as you are on this podcast, you’re very eloquent, you’re very professional. And then I saw, you know, some of the photos you posted of athletic feats, and this and that, but also some more ones that were more modeling based and but they were all always done tasteful. They were you expressing different areas of your life, and you refusing to be defined as only one thing. Can you talk about how just not being apologetic about who you are, and being strong, and your morals and values has served you well, even when things have gotten tougher, people try to make you feel insecure about it.

Jena Gatses 12:45

Yeah, I mean, that happens almost every day, you know, everyone’s watching these things on TV, and just, you know, you’re just, you’re tested every single day. And I grew up with strong morals and values. And it’s gotten me so far. And it’s rare to keep it and it’s really sad. But it’s helped me through pretty much every part of my career. I don’t know, I just I never sacrifice my morals, I never sacrifice my values. And I just tried to lead with a good heart. And I know the work I put in. And so that’s how I can carry my head high. You know, I know the work I put in and if I don’t know something, because no one knows everything. You know, and especially like in the NASCAR world, it was, you know, just like the buy in, like we were talking about some of the coaches, like with Joe gives his son, you know, the one son, he has two sons.

And when the one son took over, he was more old school. So I had to convince him, he brought in these old school NFL coaches, and they were like, if you’re not strong, you can’t be fas and I’m Like do you know anything,

Brett Bartholomew 13:49

Like Ricky Bobby, if you’re not first you’re last,

Jena Gatses 13:51

Yeah, that’s what I said, I swear to God, we were to worry. Oh, I was like, wait are we Ricky Bobby. I’m like, this is science here. And I said a few words about coordination and injury prevention. And he’s like, sweetie, nobody knows what you’re talking about. And I was like, I talked about research, like randomized control trials. And he’s like, no one knows what you’re talking about. I’m like, that’s why you shouldn’t be getting a speech right now. Like, I don’t go off opinion I go off research and science like, so again, like trying to get that buy in. But it was hard for me to project that dominance in that situation, but I never sacrifice my most because I knew the research that I put in and the, you know, all the times that I’ve had that I’ve helped, so I wouldn’t back down to someone that’s just archaic and what they do. So I don’t know, like keeping.

Brett Bartholomew 14:36

Let me check on that for a minute. Like, you know, research can be wrong sometimes. You know, so

Jena Gatses 14:41

Yeah, definitely.

Brett Bartholomew 14:42

What else do you lean on? Because I hear you say, you know, the research and you’re obviously super well read, and this is something we share, we have to be evidence based, you know, even if that evidence proves to be, you know, wrong or or not a full picture, you know, but where do you draw that line and that because, you know, that doesn’t always get you far if you’re like, hey, well, the research says, well, the research says after a while that can backfire.

Jena Gatses 15:01

Oh no. And, you know, this too, like, research is always wrong. That’s why like, as fitness professionals, we have to stay up to date with things. But staying up to date. And using research is also the research we see every single day, you know, all the clients that we train, and we, you know, we’re using and looking at the body like a human, and you’re controlling all these physiological variables. So that is research in itself. I remember people used to tell me in school, like, oh, there’s no research on the side, I’m bringing changing lives every day with touching with training the coordinate of the brain and the coordination of you know, someone’s movement. And, you know, there’s not a lot of research on that.

And I’m like, you know, I’ll go ahead and wait for that article to come out. But I’m going to be helping these people over here, you know, so, like, our research is our clinical experience, do we have that base of the scientific evidence of what we know is true, and the foundation, but as a coach, every thing is changing, and every person is different. And every training session should be individualized, because you know, your people, you know, but yeah, you have to go into your research too, you know, you’ve worked with athletes, their environment, like you have a lot more insight than most people would. So research is not only the paper, it’s you in your craft, and if you know you are visibly good at your trade and you put in the work, then you can treat you can change those variables. And you know, you can stand behind that because of the research you’ve put in as a coach, as far as your experience

Brett Bartholomew 16:26

100%. And I want to shift gears with that in a moment. Because you mentioned some things along this and on, you know, we’re recording this just for the audience that like it’s September 25 2019, although this won’t release until later this year, early 2020. But today, I had posted something. And this is another thing we have in common. And it leads into your adventure, which I think the listeners will find fascinating. I just talked about how all of our lessons, it’s funny. All the lessons we learn within this craft, transcend, you know, strength and conditioning and performance. It’s always about people in some way, shape, or form.

And I know personally, I’m very proud to have my background between strength and conditioning. But I no longer really define myself solely as a strength coach. That’s just not, that’s not the only world I want to live in. I like helping in different avenues. And you do that too. You know, you’ve moved cross country to California after your chapter with NASCAR Jena. Now you’re working with celebrities, and I’ll let you disclose the names if you want because I don’t want to you know, it’s privacy. You’ve worked with geriatric populations, but you’re also expanding into different realms of your own quote unquote, brand, and business and future as well. Can you give the listeners a little bit insight on the bat journey and how these lessons have carried forward?

Jena Gatses 17:42

Yeah, so going into anything that we do looking at the body like a human body, I’m just basically refining people’s skills within their craft. So I moved across the country. You know, I did the NASCAR thing, I still have a house out there. And I still work with a lot of the drivers. I actually just went to the race last week and worked with Denny Hamlin in Vegas, but it’s kind of crazy to still work with them. But I wanted to branch out on my own. You know, me being in charge of the strength and conditioning and the PT with six teams, and three motorcoach teams, like it was a lot. So I moved across the country, I always had my own LLC, and I had some CEOs that needed help.

And, you know, everything I do is the same thing. It’s just taking the person and adjusting their environment. So you know, the CEO is, you know, it’s not a football field I’m working with it is, you know, a private jet, where he’s sitting all day long, or, you know, something like that, but I’m just refining the human body within a different environment. So, I mean, I love that I’ve worked with degenerative brain diseases. I’ve worked, you know, burn trauma wounds, and Alzheimer’s, like anything, where I have to study the human body even more and look into depth on how it functions and how it reacts in different situations.

But now, I mean, yes, I’m working with, you know, the extreme, but I’m also working with professional athletes. I work with a lot of professional boxers. At Peter Berg’s gym, he creates all Mark Wahlberg movies, but at a church, he has a gym, a boxing gym, in Santa Monica, California. So I’m working with a lot of professional athletes out of there and celebrities. But yes, whether they’re celebrity or not, I look at them as a human being and I try to just refine their movement and their way of thinking mindset is huge, too. And just making them better in everything they do. Not just their skill, I educate them, so their whole life is better.

Brett Bartholomew 19:33

No, and that’s why I wanted to bring that up. I mean, this isn’t for humblebrag reasons or anything like that. The Psychology of this is what I’m interested in. And you mentioned very briefly, excuse me, Peter bird, and to give everybody you know, an idea Peter Berg’s and actor, director, writer producer, done a ton of different movies than a ton of like big power player in Hollywood. And, you know, again, this just goes into this is an individual that has countless people working for For him, as did Mark Wahlberg, as does Mark well as as everybody else. Jenna, please. And this is the main question here.

How did you get them to view you as an authority in an honest way, as opposed to just another minion that works for them? Because that’s all these people know. They’re in really powerful positions. How did you assert yourself in an ethical and responsible way to where they’re like, Oh, that’s not just Jena, the chick that makes me feel better and gets my body this and that. That’s Oh, no, I value Jena’s opinion, how did you approach that?

Jena Gatses 20:34

Right, it’s the results. And I think the confidence in what I say, because a lot of people have their own way of doing things where they’ve been working with this guy, they’ve been working for 20 years, and he knows everything. So it’s like, it’s basically trying not to step on toes, but trying to get your message across. And then my results, you know, when I work with people, I educate them, and I tell them what I’m doing, I make them understand so they can be involved in it, because part of their take home stuff in their home exercise program is, you know, refining what they do at home, because they need to get on board with it. And then showing them I know what I’m talking about through the results.

You know, I remember the one time, Pete Berg tried to tell me something about I was telling him about diaphragmatic breathing. And he’s like, Oh, no, it’s like this. And I’m like, No, it’s not. You know, instead of being a Yes, man, there’s so used to all these Yes, men all over the place. You know, they just say yes, because they’re too cowardly to just say what the truth is, or say what they really feel. You know, I’m not like that. I’m not trying to please anyone. I’m not trying to be anyone’s friend. I mean, I like these people’s friends. But I’m here to do my job. And when I know something I will say behind it.

Brett Bartholomew 21:44

Right. Okay, Peter, if I need to know what a dolly grip is, I’ll defer to you. But diaphragmatic breathing. But let’s talk about that. Just to dive deeper. You talked about, you talked about conveying your message and getting your point across? What is the skill? What do you consider to kind of be this skill of? How do I want to phrase this the skill of well, let’s just keep it what it is the skill of getting your message across you have kind of some key think about it as programming Jena, right? We know how to achieve elements of hypertrophy and maximum strength or what have you. What is it about the skill of explaining that you think oftentimes, either you in the past failed at? Or you’ve seen others fail out? What, what is that dichotomy? Where did you explain things in blank way, people will tend to listen, compared to if you do it in this way, just to give some more context, talk about your strengths.

Jena Gatses 22:39

And so I try to break things down. Like I swear a lot. I’m very basic with how I talk. I mean, I’ve looked at people and I’ve said things, and I’ve seen deer and headlight look so many times, and I’m like, you don’t get what I’m saying. But everyone’s different. And you know, every single athlete or session or patient is like a different psychological mind game. So you have to break it down to where it’s so simple, you know, and I put it in a way to where the people are like, Oh, my God, I totally get that. And I’m like, there you go.

You know, when I hear these people, I used to have this physician’s assistant that would use all these big words. And you know, the person’s like, Oh, my God, my legs fallen off, you know, you people don’t even understand what you’re saying. Like, it’s not about you, it’s not about your ego, and showing yourself to where you’re like, Hey, I know lots of big words cool. Again, it’s about the person and what they’re trying to get out of it. So if you can’t break it down so that they understand, you’re not doing your job, you’re just trying to make yourself feel cool, because you’re not.

Brett Bartholomew 23:39

I can appreciate that. But where do you strike the balance between you know, there has to be some element of self disclosure when you’re building trust with people, right? Like it can’t be what’s called a I talked about in my book as a parasocial relationship. That’s if I know everything about you, Jena, and you know, almost nothing about me. So you know, obviously, you have to let these people in to a degree.

Jena Gatses 24:03

Right

Brett Bartholomew 24:04

How do you manage that? And then how do you also walk that line between them knowing you but you also being able to keep your private life your private life?

Jena Gatses 24:14

I’m very transparent when it comes to my athletes. I like using my or my anything, my patients, athletes, I like using my flaws, to help people because people put people on pedestals and they’re like, Oh, well, you know, everyone thinks, Oh, you were born with ABS. Yeah, I was born with ABS. Like I was always in shape. You know, so when when you look at someone, you just classify them as Oh, they’ve always been like that, or Oh, they’ve always had it easy or Oh, they’ve you know, she looks good. So, you know, things come easy to her people that have Oh, you’re so lucky. What the hell do you mean, I’ve had three jobs my whole life, you know

I’ve put time and like, I’ve done so many things for free, just the volunteer to get experience and to network. So I mean, I just I don’t know I don’t understand that. I feel like you put in You get what you want out of life. And people need to stop classifying other people. And I don’t know, I try to relate to people in that sense of I see that they’re blocking out learning because they’re like, oh, no, she does it because of that, you know, you’re just trying to rationalize it, because you’re scared of doing it because it’s something new. So I tried to basically chip off the layers with people so that they understand their actions and why they’re doing things so that I can break down their ego enough for me to get my message across.

And I try to be professional, but sometimes you have to be funny. Sometimes you have to be witty, you know, some of my guys, you have to be mean to them. You know, my one guy would tell me something. He’s like, no, no, it’s like this. This is what’s wrong. I was like, Wow, I’m like, maybe next time I won’t even go to grad school. I’ll just give you my tuition. You know, you’re just invaluable what you say. I’m like, doesn’t even happen in the human body. Like Shut up

Brett Bartholomew 25:51

As you guys can tell. Then as a master a shit talker. What’s it? Let’s not downplay that, that has a role. You know, that’s something that people don’t give credence to talking shit and giving guys I mean, anybody that’s been in a locker room or anybody that’s been in the water. Right? That but you do you do a good job of that. You’re like, you have that jargon. But that’s something that you were just born with it? Did you have a brother that kind of push you around? Where did you?

Jena Gatses 26:15

I grew up with brothers. I grew up with brothers.

Brett Bartholomew 26:20

You grew up with brothers?

Jena Gatses 26:21

Yeah, I’m 100% Greek. So I have a lot of family and a lot of male cousins. And I have brothers and I would hunt and fish. I grew up hunting, fishing, like just hanging with the guys. So that’s all I knew was just being a boy. And playing outside. So I think I tell my brothers every day all the time. I’m like, I like literally, I don’t think I’d be able to survive my job if it wasn’t for you guys, because we should talk all the time, all the time. And I love it. It’s so fun. It like keeps it light. You know, you can’t take life too seriously. And that’s another way I connect with people. You know, just when they’re too serious, I’ll say something witty, and they won’t even realize for a couple seconds. And then they’re like, Wait a second. I’m like, yeah, no Shut up.

Brett Bartholomew 27:04

Just to pause for a moment because you whether you know you did it or not, you gave our listeners some great categorical things here that I want them to reflect on. So guys, if you’re listening, write this down. What I hear and Jena, feel free to correct me, you know, after I say this, if any of it doesn’t make sense or doesn’t jive. But what I hear and through my own studies of kind of self disclosure, and some of the research there is you do a good job of balancing really four domains, right. So there, when letting other people in or interacting with others, you do a good job of displaying your personal self, right, that’s kind of you as a unique individual, some of your ideas, your emotions and your values.

There’s our social self, which is kind of social roles and how you fit with others that you’ve been able to kind of mess with them. And talking smack, like we just talked about that. There’s the cultural self. And that’s not something that I think really has to have a role in coaching. That’s kind of people’s identification with anything that might be spiritual, or their social class or other grouping. This is from research done in the 90s. But then finally, there’s a professional self. And that’s where you, as you mentioned, Jena, you get a display yourself as a subject matter expert, to a degree, but the way I look at that is there’s these four dimensions. And we always kind of have to surf back and forth. There’s times where we disclose something personal. There’s times where we show different social sides of ourselves.

There’s times where I mean, the cultural thing fits right, if you’re a coach from Ireland, or like you said, you have a Greek background, like if you need an athlete that comes from a Greek family, there’s strong cultural bonds there, so that I bring these up, because oftentimes when people say, Well, how do I build buy in with people? I’m like, listen, like, there’s so many different jumping points, if you just take the time and listen and dig, does what I said, makes sense, Jena, or was I off on that?

Jena Gatses 28:51

No, exactly. And I, you know, especially to with athletes, and if you haven’t done anything in their sport, they act like you’re some foreign person, like, oh, they don’t know, like the picture graduate, like they’ve never been a pit crew guy. So you know, they don’t know. And, you know, that’s where again, you have to display your education, you show, you know, you’re still within their skill, you know, your skill is the human body. So, you know movement, you know coaching, you know, all of that. And part of that is connecting with them and all of the psychological factors. And it’s such a huge part. Seriously, I feel like we’re just therapists all day, you know, and you’re dealing with someone where you’re trying to take the stressors, they’re creating in their own mind, combined with environmental stressors, and you’re trying to make them better at what they do. So it’s just so much fun. I feel like every single day is a new puzzle you have to try to fix. So whether it’s one thing or the next, it’s like, you have to take everything into consideration.

Brett Bartholomew 29:46

Yeah. And my next question actually comes from a listener, and it gets a little bit serious here. So I apologize if it makes you feel uncomfortable, but she did ask a super valid question and it’s not one we’ve addressed on the podcast yet, but it is one that people have to deal with. If and everybody what I’m about to say like just, you know, think about that the bigger picture here of what we’re trying to do and guiding others, I want you to know that when you guys ask certain questions, I listen. But we also want to ask people like Jena, who have dealt with this, Jena, so the listener said, and I’m going to paraphrase because there’s a rather long email

Essentially, they’re a female coach in the field. And, you know, they try to make sure that they manage their appearance in terms of wearing appropriate clothing, you know, they don’t try to draw attention to themselves, they don’t try to do anything in the workplace. But they have a hard time dealing with, you know, athletes coming on to them. And they feel like, you know, no matter what, even if I make it very clear, and I walk away, and you know, ardently, I let them know that that’s not appropriate. I’m trying to do my job. They’re like, it happens. And she’s like, you know, I’ve tried to do a lot of different things to continue to suppress anything like, you know, I wear longer shorts, or I wear this, I’ve talked to my bosses about it.

And I just feel really uncomfortable, because I still don’t know how to deal with it. Now, Jena, and my, again, listeners, my wife wouldn’t mind me saying this, Jena, you’re a very attractive woman. You’re very good at what you do. But you know, you’ve worked you mentioned it several times, in a good old boy sport, you’ve worked around guys your whole life, I’m sure somebody has been inappropriate. What is your advice to other coaches, male or female, or whatever, of how to deal with that, and how to make sure that like, you know, you shut it down, but you don’t ruin the relationship? Because it could just be somebody being an idiot, you know, maybe they’re just being it, you don’t want to like, it’s not like you want to affect like, depending on obviously, they do something really ridiculous, right? Then you shut it down. But just where do you walk that line? Would you mind kind of going into that?

Jena Gatses 31:45

Right, And that happens everywhere. Like you don’t even understand how often it happens. And it’s like, you know, if you sit here and you know me to the situation with every situation, like you’re never gonna get anywhere, you know, so there’s always lines crossed, and I’m a very big tomboy, but I also like to be girly. And I used to try to suppress that all the time. And, you know, I’m like, I’m sick of it. I’m sick of always trying to be something I’m not because why? Because people are people, people are gonna be people guys, or guys, they check out anything that moves, let alone like a decent looking human being. So it’s like, that happens. But part of what I do to battle it, I don’t have that issue at all. I was coaching, you know, like, 60 professional athletes, and I would travel with them. I never had that issue. Okay. I mean, yeah, we try.

Brett Bartholomew 32:32

Nobody ever tried?

Jena Gatses 32:33

They would try 100%. They sit there and they’re like, you know, it’s like kids, they’ll see what they can get. And you shut it down. Like I never went and oh, so and so is doing this to me. Like,

Brett Bartholomew 32:43

Oh, Jena, I reckon I’m interrupting you because it is because I want, there are people that they just don’t know, how can you get specific on how to shut it down just so like, because this listener is scared of getting in trouble at work, and I’ll be transparent. I saw this when we’d have female interns at one of my four places of business. There was a lot of cattiness there was a physical therapist that thought every female intern was doing this or doing that. There’s just a lot of that within staffs. There’s some of that within athletes like just you know, can you give us some more specific tips and I’m sure you’re getting there i rudely interrupted, but I just want to make sure like this feel super guided so that it when they hear you, they can send it to friends that are dealing with the same thing.

Jena Gatses 33:26

Now trust me, it happens all the time. I was in Vegas last weekend with a potential sponsor a future sponsor, and someone followed me up the elevator and tried to break in my room. So trust me, this happens everywhere, whether it’s within the company or people outside of the company, or fans or whatever, like it’s going to happen. And how I shut it down is I Stand strong and everything I do, like I would have loved that guy to have actually made it in my room because I don’t know who would have made it out alive. Let’s just say that. But trying to basically stand your ground like

I don’t run and tell on people I yell at them right there and then and not yell you know just like like I said, you have to be witty I tell them to go ask themselves in a very polite slash joking way. So that they understand that it’s there’s no chance. So if you give them hope, or you give them a little a he like a giggle. No, I don’t do that. You know, the human mind is a human mind. As soon as they see an opening, they’ll keep pushing just like a little child. They want to keep pushing, pushing until they get what they want. I shut it down right away. I establish my dominance. And I’m like, yeah, no, that’ll never happen. And you know, or if like they come and they’re knocking on my door. Oh, can I borrow something? And they try to call my room and like, yeah, you’re not coming in here. How’s your wife doing? I just, I make it obvious.

Brett Bartholomew 34:45

I remember you. I actually loved doing, I remember that. That first day I spent around you. Somebody said something to you. And I don’t recall what it was. It doesn’t matter. But that’s exactly what you said to them. And I love that because it’s very direct and indirect. It’s saying hey, don’t Don’t play like, I know you’re in a committed relationship. And I’m letting you know that like, that doesn’t fly with me. But you also, you didn’t blow some whistle, right? Like that person kind of was like, yeah, that person was like Jena, you ass, and they walked away. And that relationship was still intact. But now that person had understood a boundary.

Jena Gatses 35:19

Exactly, because you don’t want to be too much the other way, because I’m not going to draw energy to that, you know, I get hit on all the time. I don’t give a shit like me spending time talking about it, you know? And if I go and tell lines that you know, how many hours a day am I sitting here battling stuff I’m bringing, I’m giving energy to it, I have too much other good stuff. I’m helping people walk when they have never walked or when, you know, like there’s so many other good things that I’m doing in my day that I don’t want to draw energy to that. So I talked to girls about this. And dads I tried to tell them to to teach their daughters, like we need to make our goals stronger.

I’m not a frickin victim. Like, if anything, like I said to a guy in Vegas, he would have been the victim. So just trying to be strong and like, don’t worry about stepping on toes when you do tell people to go F themselves if they’re being inappropriate, because they don’t give a shit about how you feel at that moment. So why should you care about how they feel or, you know, if you’re gonna say something wrong? So try not to be timid, you know, as soon as someone’s inappropriate, that professional line, it’s not there, they’ve crossed it. So you don’t have to sit there and take what they’re saying, you know, just be you and do what you need to do to make yourself comfortable.

Brett Bartholomew 36:26

Yeah, I like what you said about the victim. There are two words and I can’t stand I hate the word victim. And I hate the word entitlement. And I think most would agree that we kind of live in this victim like culture now. And everybody wants to be, you know, fake, my friend, John Murphy. He’s a lawyer at BNSF. He always says, you know, fake rage is the New Black. And it’s so true. I remember, I was looking at something one time, one of my athletes came over to my house, and he was showing me this Tesla, right. And he had posted something online about it having zero emissions and the footprint. And somebody was like, oh, yeah, all the emissions were created during or all the emissions were during the creation of that car and this and that.

I’m like, bro, now we’re getting mad about stuff like this. And in the morning, the wife will have the Today Show on and some reporter drummed up some tweet, this guy had raised like a million dollars for some charity, I can’t remember what it was. And it doesn’t matter to the point. But some reporter found a tweet that he made when he was 16, and went viral with it. And then this guy lost all of his sponsorship. And it was like 20 years, you know, 20 years ago or something like that. And I just thought, like, has that reporter raised a million dollars for something now, of course, there’s lines here and whatever. But everybody’s a friggin victim now, like, what do you think about that culture? And what does it do into, not just our profession, but professionals in general?

Jena Gatses 37:04

I mean, I can’t say those words to the victim and the entitlement, you know, no one’s willing to put in the work, but everyone thinks they should. They’re always jumping like I put in the work, you know, I see people who have put in the work, I’ve seen people that live with nothing, and they act like they have everything you know, so just the perception of our society right now is very skewed. You know, everyone’s again, they’re entitled, and they don’t want to do anything in return. And they don’t want to live by a certain standard. So I just, I don’t know, I cannot stand that it drives me nuts. Because I don’t know, I feel like you need to put in the work and do the time in order to get what you want out of your life. So no one’s going to give you anything. And I don’t think that people should give you anything, you know, you put in? I don’t know, I just think it’s so important that develops the character of who you are as to to own your life.

Brett Bartholomew 38:39

So are you saying that, you know, you feel like people that claim the victim card? Are people that really are more resentful and they feel like really, they want something else? Or they’re not happy with something? Or they feel insecure? Like in that respect? Or what do you mean by that? How does that tie?

Jena Gatses 38:54

Yeah, definitely. I just, you know, I don’t like being the victim, because you’re drawing attention to something that’s not important. You know, I don’t know, there’s so many things that happen and people go through so many things and you know, random things can happen environmentally that you know, can take away something in your life, but you just have to keep chugging along, being a victim and drawing energies, energy to that is just taking time away from you being a productive member of society or like doing something cool with your family or making memories with your family.

You know, if you sit there and harp on everything you do that’s negative, and that’s going to be your whole life and your mindset. So mindset, the huge thing if something happens, I deal with it. And that’s it. And then you know, if I see someone else struggling with the same thing, maybe I’ll give them the cues of what I use to get through it but to sit there and just go over it again and again and again and be a victim it’s just a waste of time. And it is it’s just someone being egotistical or not knowing themselves enough to know why they’re doing it or why they’re sad with the situation.

Brett Bartholomew 39:55

That’s a way to funnel attention and again, this can go a lot of ways are there some people that are Were actually victims of horrendous crimes and things like that. Yes, that’s not what Jena and I are talking about, we’re talking about consistently pull that card almost as if it’s reflexive. Now, Jena, one thing, and I think you and I share this,

Jena Gatses 40:12

Real quick though, just so I don’t, I’m like, I’m gonna lose this if I don’t say something. But I mean, you’re I love failures. You know, that’s what makes you who you are. So if you fail, learn from it, if something happened in your life, it’s only negative if you don’t learn from the situation. So like, you know, everything that happens, everything negative that’s happened in my life, it’s made me who I am. And it’s introduced me to people that I needed to meet in order to see certain things and to learn certain things and to progress and grow as a person.

So I mean, there’s no victim in anything. I feel like if you don’t learn from something, yeah, you’re a victim of your own mind. But learn from everything, like people go through things. And like, I don’t know, God are the higher being they’re trying to show you something. So if you’re just closed mind, and you sit there and soak, you’re missing the point. You know, life is so much fun. And there’s so much to see and to learn, but you shut it out, you’ll never get anywhere.

Brett Bartholomew 40:41

So then what’s your most valuable failure? And I know the most questions are really hard, right? But like you said, you love failure, what is something you consider one of your most valuable failures? A moment where you’re like, Thank God, I went through that.

Jena Gatses 41:23

Oh, my God, there’s so many, like, there’s so many

Brett Bartholomew 41:26

It’s okay it doesn’t have to be the one but share one.

Jena Gatses 41:30

So, you know, my parents were really strict. I would cry if I got B in in high school. And then when I went went away to school, I’m like, wow, I don’t have a curfew anymore. So I live with my brother. And I got my grades slide a little bit and undergrad to where I had like a 3.2, while grad school is very competitive to get into. So I sat there and you’re the face that kind of people apply, they pick 20. And so I only applied to a couple of schools. So I was waitlisted. And I just remember thinking like, What the hell, how can i i applied, like, I didn’t realize that I could maybe not get accepted. So it was such a kick in the ass to be like, Oh my god, I’m waitlisted. I’m a failure, you know, so I volunteered for everything I did after school programs with kids, I did cadaver dissections, I would host them on the weekend just for free just so I can learn more started doing massage, I started take retaking classes just so I can get a better grade to raise my GPA for the next time I applied. Like it was it was such a fire under my assets, see, like, holy shit, I failed right here. And I could possibly not do what I want to do in life because of one little thing. And I didn’t like that I didn’t like someone telling me I couldn’t do something. So it just it gave me the drive. And I’ve always had drives. But you know, when someone tells you I can’t do something. I’m driven a little bit harder. So I it was the best thing that ever happened to me, because I thought it was such a failure. So it made me try even harder at every single thing I was doing. So I mean, it just it made me who I am. And I love it.

Brett Bartholomew 42:59

Yeah, I definitely see that, although I’m going to call bullshit because I know a lot about you. And I know. I know that there’s no way that that experience in grad school, I have no doubt that that was a valuable failure. But I actually think there’s something I think there’s something else, right? Like I again, like consider this right? Like, I remember talking to you when you first moved to LA and I understand that this constitutes what people think is a failure, right? Like whether that, like, you know, we’ve all had bad relationships, and those aren’t failures as much as they are learning points or whatever. So however you want to frame this, but I remember talking to you when you went to LA, and you lived in like, what wasn’t the Airbnb, there were like cockroaches, and it was rotting maggots. And this wasn’t like at the beginning of your career. This was how many months ago?

Jena Gatses 43:47

Yeah, this is probably six months ago. Right?

Brett Bartholomew 43:49

So and follow my logic here, right? Because it’s something I think we share in common. You went from, you know, overseeing this massive overhaul and NASCAR having all this funding and support a good amount of publicity to to driving across the country. I remember you stopped by my house, you know, in your Jeep Wrangler with your cat, and it’s a litter box and everything in there. You know, the first time I call it like, you’re, you’re in this apartment that sounds like the friggin Winchester house. And I remember I could relate because once my you know, I had worked at Nebraska and Southern Illinois and athlete’s performance, and then I went out on my own. And I remember people would come to watch it. They’d be like, Hey, can I shadow you when I moved to Atlanta? And some of them were surprised because they’d see me pull up, they’d see me pull up in my car, and I’d pull all this equipment out of my car training guys out of a local high school, setting everything up breaking everything down. And one of them was like, Yo, like, I’m confused, like, is everything okay? And I’m like, What do you mean? And he goes, Well, you’ve done all these things. You’re 13 years into your career like you. You kind of just look like me. It’s almost like you’re getting started. I’m like, Well, that’s what sometimes Career Transitions look like man when you go out on your own and you roll the dice and you And you do this? Like, again, there’s no overnight like nothing’s owed to you. What are you talking about? And I think that exactly, it confuses people because those those things, show them a reflection of themselves. But I am going to call bullshit on your failure or at least like was there at least a time where you laid in that bed in the maggot infested? Whatever myths of La surrounded by some of the interesting people in LA thinking, Oh, fuck.

Jena Gatses 45:26

Yeah, I mean, I Airbnb for a while before I actually started on an apartment. And I’ve been through some things. Like I’m seeing some things out here. But I don’t know. Yeah, that’s true. I guess I don’t even look at it like that. But I came out here, not knowing what was gonna happen. You know, I mean, I moved everything I drove across the country, not knowing what was gonna happen. I have my own practice, like, nothing’s guaranteed, but I I know how hard I’m willing to work. And I know, I mean, I’m paying my student loans, everything. So it was scary. But anytime I get comfortable, I try to create that fear. Like, I love new situations where I have to, I have to be scared in order to get out of it. And I have to decide and, you know, look at the situation and assess things and see what the best way to handle things are, you know, so I love that. And it’s scary as shit. Cuz I remember that plays, I can’t even believe it. There’s maggots everywhere. And I’m like, what’s happening here, I’m like, my candy. newsmag is amazing. I don’t know what’s going on.

Brett Bartholomew 46:24

Where you deadlifting you have a you have a trap bar. And by the way, because I want to go back to why I want to know why you need to create fear. That’s interesting to me. But you had a video because you know, so many people are like, Oh, I can’t train or I can’t do this, because of this situation. Was it in the maggot infested room where you were also trapped barred. deadlifting super quiet, because you lived in like, a Multi Floor complex. And like, they were like, Tell me about that. What the hell’s going on with you know,

Jena Gatses 46:52

I’m very like, again, at no one teittleman. And like, I don’t like excuses, you can do whatever you like, I’m the one at the airport with my suitcase in hand doing like, carries up the stairs, you know, like, I’m taking the stairs instead of the escalator, like you can. That was my apartment in Marina Del Rey. But I tried to make fitness available, I have a very, very crazy life and schedule. And I’m like, hey, if I can only get this in, if I put this trap bar in my kitchen, then I’m going to put this trap on my kitchen. And I like that environment. I like having weights, I saw bars on my walls, I’m doing pull ups and AB raises and backbends and all this crazy stuff. But I want it there because I want to be able to do it when I can. So I’m not going to create a stressor and be like, Oh, I should have done it. Or I should have went to the gym? No, just do it. You know. So I just try to create the environment I want to live in and just do what I say I’m going to do, because I know what I need in my life.

Brett Bartholomew 47:47

But why do you, talk to me about why you feel like you need to create fear and as somebody because I’m somebody that I’m interested in what makes people tick. Right. And I have some idiosyncrasies way too many. But like, that’s a really interesting one to me. Why do you have to be what is fear mean to you one, just so we can all get on the same page of what you mean exactly by needing to create fear? What does it do for you? And then yeah, well, like what does it mean to you? And what does it do for you? Exactly.

Jena Gatses 48:15

So again, just assessing it is like is the human mind, we get lazy, you know, even with exercises, like subconsciously, the human body is so lazy, it’s just trying to take the path of least resistance. So when I get comfortable, I don’t like that, because you start to Slack a little bit. And you know, and it’s these are subconscious things where I’m obsessive with detail. And I don’t like to just sit back and do the same things I’ve always done. So creating that fear and having that fire of, you know, that healthy bit of fear that that little bit of anxiety that drives you and motivates you to want more. If I don’t feel that I created, you know, I put myself in a situation where I don’t want to be there. And I know I don’t want to be there. But I know it’ll be good for me. And I love it. And I love being in those situations and trying to handle it in the best way I can.

Brett Bartholomew 49:05

Do you feel like you deal with a certain level of anxiety even you know, in terms of and not like anxiety, like, Oh, I’m sitting against the wall, you know, rocking back and forth not to poke fun at any form of like anxiety or quote unquote mental illness or whatever. But I know for me like I know I definitely have anxiety that was as a teenager and it wasn’t like oh god sweaty palms groups just always been somebody that has been and I think mine and I’m just trying to disclose her a little bit so I can guide you on the question in terms of what I mean by this. And I’ve talked about on the podcast before I had, you know, grandparents that died early, my parents got divorced. I saw a lot of weird shit and like as a kid, I tried to process it all.

I was probably like super serious as a kid. I just remember like, I felt like oh my god, there’s not much time left. I need to do this. And if I don’t do that I never had comparison with others as much as like, I felt like I wanted to go in the ground. Knowing that I put my all out there and that has always compelled some level of anxiety to the point where I’ve even had to I talk fast to begin with, but I’ve had to monitor that and just listening to you. You have such a unique and wonderful mind where I can tell you have so many damn ideas in your head, I wonder what your character would have looked like if you were animated in that Pixar film inside out? Because I feel like you would hyped up in a Mario Kart thing bouncing off the walls, just shooting shells at everybody. What is it like inside the brain? And how has that anxiety served you?

Jena Gatses 50:34

It’s so true. I actually someone crashed into my jeep. And I’m in a little rental car. And I was talking about how fun has been to Mario Kart all day long. So yeah, that is me in real life. But I don’t know that fear and that anxiety, it’s not that you know, and that again, I have so many people that are like, oh, i Everything is easy for you know, it’s not, it’s not easy, and it’s not for sure. And it’s not 100% I’m entitled to this, you know, stuff happens. But that fear and that anxiety, like if you can use it and you can be in control of your own brain and your own thoughts, you can use it as a motivation, you can use it to be healthy in your life. And I love that fear and anxiety. And I know that I’m not always secure, but I know that I’ll put in work to either learn something or talk to the guy that can help me or you know,

Ao you have to be able to understand as a human, there’s always a way to get out of a situation, there’s always a way to better yourself in a situation. So don’t let that situation control you and control your mind. I mean, the human mind is unstoppable. So I just, I look at everything like that and studying it from that way. And yeah, my frickin brain is not a sob all the time, ideas, ideas, and then human movement too I can’t get it out of my brain, like I booked my flight based on what side of my neck is tight so that I can stretch it while I sleep. It’s real crazy. That what makes it interesting.

Brett Bartholomew 52:00

You’re right, you’re right. And like, and I always think that it’s important to talk about these things because like, I can’t stand motivational speakers that you know, just it’s all positivity and this and that I’m a big believer, and I talked about this in my book as well. And it’s like, you got to acknowledge your dark side, you got to acknowledge the dark days, you’ve got to acknowledge that I think like, I think our vices are sometimes our virtues and our virtues are sometimes our vices. And, you know, it’s all about how you manage that and scale that. So no doubt that anxiety that resting anxiety has served you well, in many circumstances.

But Jena, how do you slow that down sometimes because even people listening to this right? In this podcast, we’ve covered your adventures with NASCAR, we’ve talked about managing, you know, innuendo and stuff like that, from members of the opposite sex, maintaining professionalism, your ethics, your values, your journeys, so much gets packed into what has been 52 minutes so far, people can’t slow down and they just go on to the next podcast and on to the next podcast. And then they don’t get the full benefit of the moment or the resource.

So what do you do to slow down and make sure you don’t make that same mistake? And you actually live? Kind of in the Now Is there a go to strategy? And please don’t say meditation that you sit down there like I love that that works for some people, and I encourage whatever works, but I feel like that’s the answer. Right? Like, what do you really do?

Jena Gatses 53:25

Yeah, but again, just like with the fads and stuff, people you know, the freak Meditation really is. So become one with the universe. No. So I look at it again, like a human body, physiologically, what’s happening. So when people say meditation, basically, it’s the rest and digest state of the human body. So when I was younger, I used to study the Buddhist culture. And you know, they could with their mind, they would sit there and meditate. And they would imagine all their blood on one side of their body. And then if they would cut the one side, that wasn’t, you know, they wouldn’t bleed. So I’m like, if that my mind is that powerful to be able to do that, and to be able to control your heart rate, like just by thinking about it, you can lower your heart rate 10 to 20 Beats by trying to breathe and relax with your diaphragm.

So like, we’re that powerful, then, I mean, we could do so many things. So I bring that into everything. So taking that whole state of meditation as like the rest and digest the parasympathetic state of the human body. That’s where you release hormones that help you recover and restore and get your thoughts together and get that clarity. So it’s not even meditation. It’s just time alone without stimulus. You know, those float tanks like the assault tanks where you’re sitting there and you’re in a dark room and you’re just floating and you’re to yourself, you know, everyone’s so about, let’s hang out with each other. We gotta be here. We gotta be there together. Oh, well, I like being by myself.

If you need to step back and take a breath, and just gather your thoughts, whatever wherever it is for you, but I love being outside. I like you know, the fresh air. I love being in nature, the hiking, just the feeling it gives me to breathe that fresh air and just sit there by myself and listen to nature, like it’s the best thing in the entire world. So it’s finding your escape and whatever makes you happy and your heart happy. And then doing that and making sure that you give yourself time just like you give your clients and your patients and your, you know your job. Because you that time is so important for your well being, you know, that state of collecting and clarifying yourself is going to set you up for your health for the rest of the year for the rest of your life. You know that it’s all based on the human body.

Brett Bartholomew 55:30

So if I hear you correctly, just to consolidate again, for everybody, you like being outside, you like to float tanks, you like being alone? Are those the big three? Did I miss one there?

Jena Gatses 55:41

Yeah, no, it’s basically I hate the word meditation. People don’t know what it is. I guess it’s like, reflecting, you know, like, reflection. If you aren’t, if you’re never away from your phone, if you’re never isolated, whatever, you know, environment you’re in, then you can’t ever reflect and gather your thoughts and correlate things. So it’s just, it’s kind of that

Brett Bartholomew 56:06

How do you reflect? Yeah, that’s what I’m asking you.

Jena Gatses 56:10

So I stepped back, and I look at situations I try to just go over things that are happening in my life, you know, if there’s something that’s negative, why they don’t what am I doing to make the situation negative? Can I fix it? Can I do other things? So I guess it’s combining the stuff that I learned and what I read. And when I teach, and then gathering and looking at stuff that’s happening in my life, and just, you know, going over everything in my head. So it’s important to have that alone time and reflection, because otherwise you’re just going you don’t even know what you’re doing or why you’re doing it.

Brett Bartholomew 56:45

Yep, no, that answers your question. And sorry for harping on you. I just always try I know you have so much going on and you want to get so much

Jena Gatses 56:51

No you’re good. You helped me keep things organized.

Brett Bartholomew 56:56

Right at the end of the day, the listeners want to know they’re tuning in to hear what like Jenna does what helps them because the thing I found is that everybody is looking for somebody to relate to because we’re all weirdos, we’re all weirdos, and we all have different things that relate. And one of my friends Nate Palin said something great in a presentation, I think was called the Rangers creed. He was a Army Ranger or is your lifelong Ranger. And he said, you know, you can sleep when you’re dead, but you can’t do much else. And you know, some people take that is like this hustle culture thing, which that’s not what Nate meant.

It was you know, like, sometimes you got to make sure that you’re taking the time and really discerning your values, and you’re not tempting fate in the wrong ways. And you’re staying centered and whatever makes you tick, so you can make the best damn decisions you can in the moment now, I started not worrying about failure, because there’s beautiful failures. And that’s just a reality. And I think there’s so much more people could learn from you, Jena. That’s our time today, though. But like, Where can people reach out to you so that they can connect? And guys, I would highly recommend it. Go visit Jena. She’s an open book. You know, just make sure as we talked about on the podcast all the time, be respectful. When you reach out lead with value. Don’t just be like, Hi, what can you teach me? But where can they reach you and we’ll put it in the show notes as well. So don’t worry about spelling it.

Jena Gatses 58:15

So I’m really big on social media. I tried to put out a lot of education out there and I try to interact with everyone my social media is my name. So jena_gatses G a t s e s. And then scientificfitness.com is my website. I tried to bring the science of fitness. And yeah, just again, I like how you say, you know, contact her with intent. Try to you know, I love teaching people things, but I’m not just going to hand you all my education I want you to to have some value and to have that initiative so it’s important for me to see that you’re a go getter also. But yeah, reach out anytime. Email too its jenascientificfitness.net I’m more than happy to answer questions and to shadow or have people shadow me. I love that stuff.

Brett Bartholomew 59:03

Perfect. Well, Jena, I really appreciate you and thanks for taking the time and thanks for letting me play hardball with you a little bit. You’re an awesome person and somebody I feel really blessed to have in my life. I appreciate you and I can’t wait to see what’s next for you.

Jena Gatses 59:17

I appreciate you having me and I thank you I feel the same way about you. You’ve been so so great in my life. And you know we reach out and talk to each other all the time about just the crazy things we go through and I appreciate everything you’ve helped me with and all the advice he’s given me.

Brett Bartholomew 59:32

I appreciate it. Guys make sure again support generous support the podcast please you guys sharing it, support our sponsor Momentous without them and without us spreading the word. There’s no podcast because these things aren’t free to produce. They take time they take money and it’s only through the support of audience members like you that people hear Jena’s message that other people find out about the podcast and that we can keep it going. So your help is appreciated. It just takes a couple moments. All you have to do is click the share button and send it to a buddy, you know and that’s much appreciated until next time guys is the art of coaching podcast Brett Bartholomew signing off.

Cart

TRANSCRIPTION

Leave a Comment
Cancel reply

TRANSCRIPTION

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Leave a Comment
Cancel reply