463: How to Make Change Enjoyable with Mae Steigler

[INTRODUCTION]

 

Hal Elrod: Hello, friends. Welcome to the Achieve Your Goals podcast. This is your host, Hal Elrod, and today, I am joined by Mae Steigler, the CEO of Organifi, yes, our sponsor Organifi. Mae is joining me today and she’s been the CEO for about two and a half years. And today, we’re talking about real behavior change, how it’s created and how to make it enjoyable. Change can be painful. It can be uncomfortable. It can be something that we resist and we put off as long as we possibly can, which often is never.

 

And today, Mae and I are going to dive into how to understand the psychology of making a change and how to create a lifestyle that supports the goals you’re trying to achieve. So, she uses the example of rather than like a fad diet where you’re temporarily changing the way you eat, kind of against your will and you’re resisting it, but you’re doing it to get a quick result. I want to lose 10 pounds for my high school reunion or whatever. We talk about, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. How do you create and implement changes in your life that are healthy? Healthy in whatever that looks like for you, we’re not talking about just your health, but healthy for your relationships, healthy for your finances, healthy in whatever context you are applying a change to. But how do you do it in a way where it’s actually so enjoyable that it becomes sustainable? And so, that is what we’re talking about today.

 

Before we dive into the episode, I want to take a minute to thank our two sponsors, one, Organifi, of course. We got the CEO on today, but Organifi makes the highest quality whole food organic supplement. And at the end of the episode, Mae and I talk about our favorite, I ask her, what are your favorite Organifi products? And then she turned it around, so what are yours? And so, we share what those are and why those are. Check out the product line at Organifi.com/Hal, that is O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I, Organifi.com/Hal, and then use the discount code HAL, H-A-L, at checkout for 20% off your entire order as a listener of the podcast.

 

And last but not least, our newer sponsor, CURED Nutrition. They also make some of the highest quality whole food organic supplements. With Organifi, they’re kind of my one-two supplement punch, if you will. And with CURED Nutrition, I take three of their supplements every day. In the morning, I take Rise, which is a nootropic, to help with focus and clarity. After my smoothie, I take Aura, which is for gut health and immunity. And then in the evening, I take Night Caps, which are a combination of CBD and CBN oil to help you fall asleep and stay asleep and wake up rested. Head over to CuredNutrition.com/Hal, that is C-U-R-E-D, CuredNutrition.com/Hal, and use that same discount code H-A-L and you will get 20% off your order there as well, as a listener of the podcast.

 

And then just one more thing before we dive into this conversation with Mae, I mentioned this last week, but we just launched a premium subscription for the Miracle Morning app. So, the Miracle Morning app is free. It has a lot of great features in it, including a habit tracker, customizable timers, a journal program, an affirmation’s creator, so on and so forth. And now, there’s an optional premium subscription where you can get tracks, guided audio and video tracks, that walk you through the SAVERS. So, head over to the App Store to download the app on either Google Play or Apple, or if you have the app, just update it to the latest version and you’ll see where there is now a library of SAVERS tracks for you to complete your Miracle Morning by simply clicking play and completing all six of the SAVERS.

 

Without further ado, let’s talk about how to make a change enjoyable with the one and only Mae Steigler of Organifi.

 

[INTERVIEW]

 

Hal Elrod: Mae, it is so good to see you.

 

Mae Steigler: Hal, thank you for having me on. It is wonderful to be on the show with you.

 

Hal Elrod: We just talked about it’s been a few years since we saw each other back at– you were one of the Best Year Ever events representing Organifi, right?

 

Mae Steigler: I was, yeah. I think, actually, before 2018, because I got to see you and you visited the office in 2018, so it must have been ‘17, maybe. So, a couple of years back now, it’s great to see your face.

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, yeah. And I mention it for recording, but you were promoted to CEO of Organifi three years ago. Congratulations. That is such a huge accomplishment.

 

Mae Steigler: Thank you so much. It’s been a big new hat to wear. Huge adventure. And I couldn’t ask for more. So, it’s been a total treat. Quite an adventure that I will say. Thank you.

 

Hal Elrod: Tell me the story of that, like where you met Drew, you said over a decade ago. So, when did you start with Organifi? Like, how did you work your way up from– where did you start? And how did you end up here?

 

Mae Steigler: Well, I was employee one.

 

Hal Elrod: Oh, you were, okay.

 

Mae Steigler: I was, yeah, working with Drew back when we actually had a media company. So, we were making a lot of content and educational information like YouTube videos, actually, around juicing…

 

Hal Elrod: That’s how I discovered Drew. I used to watch his YouTube channel all the time.

 

Mae Steigler: Remember Mindset Monday, Saturday Strategy?

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah.

 

Mae Steigler: He made some amazing content and that was actually the way that I met him. I was just blown away with his level of just sharing the experience. It was like, live broadcasting before it was a big deal on YouTube, and just really, really enjoyed that experience.

 

And so, 10 years back, I was a personal trainer, I was in the health industry. I had just come out, and actually, I had studied pre-vet in college and animal nutrition, and so, was in big ag and really saw how dysfunctional that was. And I really wanted to address some of the food system dysfunction that I saw by really getting involved in human health and personal training.

 

So, I actually went back and studied personal training, got certified, and worked with clients. That’s when I met Drew. And so, I was in the personal training field in nutrition and was really just impressed with how he was creating content and educating and building this really amazing community on Facebook actually at the time. And Facebook was very different then than it is now, but we had this really vibrant community.

 

Hal Elrod: And yeah, was it hundreds of thousands or millions? How many Facebook– I remember that.

 

Mae Steigler: Yeah, Hal, when I first started working with him, he was around 30,000 on this– it’s an interest group. It was called Juicing Vegetables.

 

Hal Elrod: Something green juice?

 

Mae Steigler: Yeah, it was called Juicing Vegetables and it was around 30,000, and we grew that to two million and that was organic. So, like we weren’t buying these numbers and it was a really cool experience. I learned so much in those first couple of years and that was for Life TV, the company before we launched Organifi.

 

Hal Elrod: Life TV, that’s what it was. That’s right.

 

Mae Steigler: Yeah, you can still, on YouTube, we have an amazing channel. You can see over 700 videos that Drew had shot during that time and released, like just really cool content way ahead of his time. And he was just going through his own transformation, and that was really like the compelling, authentic way that I met him. I was actually working at lululemon in personal training and he lived above the shop. So, he’d come down and share videos and make videos in the lululemon shop. So, so much fun, but…

 

Hal Elrod: So, behind the scenes story, somebody, I think, Brad Weimert, a buddy of mine, was like, hey, you have to meet Drew Canole. And he introduced us, and then Drew invited me to shoot a video with him and we went, and I think the Miracle Morning had just come out or something. And so, I went with him and we went and got a smoothie together and then we went up to the studio and then snap, and I don’t know if he ever published it. We need to ask him about this.

 

Mae Steigler: We got to go find it.

 

Hal Elrod: I never saw it.

 

Mae Steigler: I’m sure he did.

 

Hal Elrod: And I think for weeks or months after, I would Google Hal Elrod, Drew Canole. There’s nothing. So, anyway, I don’t know, maybe, it didn’t turn out well. I don’t know.

 

Mae Steigler: I’m going to group text you with Drew after this. Where is Hal’s video? Where are you hiding it?

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, did that ever see the light of day? What the hell, Drew?

 

Mae Steigler: Oh, my God. Hal, that’s so funny.

 

Hal Elrod: Before I get bitter, let’s keep going.

 

Mae Steigler: We’ll stop it right there. Perfect. And that’s really the foundation of the conversation and where I got connected with Drew, started to work with him. I’ve worn kind of all the hats, as I was saying. Since then, my background focus has been on team development, organizational design, just building teams from 10 years ago to the business that Organifi is today. That was launched in 2014, kind of from the creation of that beautiful community that was looking for an easier way to be healthy, to enjoy juicing, and to see the benefits of juicing.

 

And so, we made– our greens powder was kind of our first hero product. We had no idea it would become the brand that it has since, now almost eight years old. Yeah, eight years old. Yeah, nine years old. It’s been a while. And so, it’s just been a tremendous adventure since then. But it was just solving that initial challenge to being healthy with this interest group that really wanted to learn how to integrate juicing into their life. And so, we said, hey, try this lightly dried greens powder with all the best juice recipes we can imagine.

 

Hal Elrod: That actually tastes good.

 

Mae Steigler: That actually tastes good. And like such a key part of that was…

 

Hal Elrod: And that’s where I want to go today. I really want us to talk about how to make change enjoyable. When I was prepping for this conversation, I was listening to some other interviews you’ve done on other shows, and there was a powerful conversation you had to understand the psychology of habit formation. Like how do you actually change your behavior? And that is, arguably, I think, one of the most important areas of life to master, right? Because if you master the ability to change behavior, then you literally can go, okay, I want this goal. I want to make more money. I want to be fit. I want to– whatever it is. And if you mastered the art, the science of behavior change, there’s really nothing that can stop you.

 

And I think that people make it too– we make it too difficult in our mind, right? Like we never get started because we’re like, oh, I’ve never done that before. I always say we suffer from rearview mirror syndrome where you look at the past, like…

 

Mae Steigler: So true.

 

Hal Elrod: Well, I got nothing in the past that shows that I could actually make this change. I never did it before, so I don’t think I could be a morning person. I don’t think I could start running. I don’t think I could start drinking green juice, you know what I mean?

 

And so, I want to simplify that for people. How do we make it easy for them? So, let’s start there. And by the way, before you answer that, one more thing, that’s what I kind of love about the green juice, is that that literally is kind of how Organifi became successful, is that they were like, scoop this green juice because Drew used to deep juicing, which is I’ve done juicing, it was a pain in the butt. Like cleaning the juicer that stops people from juicing. It’s like so much work.

 

But this is like easy to make that behavior change of drinking green juice with a simple scoop. So, let’s talk about that. How do we make behavior change enjoyable and easier?

 

Mae Steigler: Yeah. Thanks, Hal. This is such a fun topic to look at, behavior change, and just transformation, in general, starts so much in the mind. So, to your kind of point, it is the mindset around how we think about change that has one of the, I think, the most fundamental impacts to our ultimate success in change. And this is also why, in the very beginning, 10 years ago, we had two series of videos. We had Mindset Monday, which is all about the psychology of change, and it was all about the mindset of transformation and thinking differently about how change happens, and then Saturday Strategy, which is very tactical.

 

And so, when we look at habit change, making it enjoyable is so much to do with our perception. And as you said, if we have this like, and I love that analogy, the rearview mirror syndrome. We have no evidence to show I can be confident in our change. It makes it so, so hard. And so, I think first to look at the almost like a little bit of the energetics of change if we’re coming from a place of lack, if we’re coming from a place of like, I don’t think I’m strong enough to change, I don’t have confidence that I can change rather than looking at what’s possible and looking at maybe the excitement of what you can accomplish when you’re changed. Like the driver of change gets to be positive over negative, right?

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah.

 

Mae Steigler: And so, I think getting really clear, so it starts with getting really clear and excited about why you want to change and what you’re going to experience when you’re in that change state. Whether it’s like very simple habits or a really big life change, I don’t think it matters. So, I think that come from why we decide to make change gets to be ideally motivating and positively framed over I need to lose weight because I’m unhappy.

 

Hal Elrod: So, I always try to understand things in the simplest terms. So, if I understand you correctly, if you’re like, I need to lose weight because I’m so unhappy if that’s what the focus is, you are amplifying that I’m overweight and I’m unhappy. And then from that place, it’s really hard to generate the motivation, the energy to make a change because you’re focusing on the thing that doesn’t feel good. Is that a good way of putting it?

 

Mae Steigler: I think, yeah. So, well said, Hal, thank you. And looking at also removing the obstacles to change and that’s kind of like there, again, if I story right, we’re like, hey, let’s make this easier. And so, from that perspective, setting yourself up for success is one of the other kinds of areas that we spent a lot of time either coaching in when we worked with group coaching clients or our community, and really looking at how can we design our path forward to really support ourselves by knowing what we need rather than saying, hey, do a regular diet plan or just go to the gym like everybody else, really taking a moment and saying, hey, for me, what is it going to take to remove some of the things that are maybe making it hard for me to be healthy right now?

 

And so, some of those really simple steps in juicing, for instance, was like, hey, the act of juicing is super hard. So, we made basically a powder to make it easier. And then looking at how do you make it enjoyable, so it’s something that you look forward to. And there’s so much habit, science, and behavior science around, just like how to make change these days, Atomic Habits, an amazing book, lots of great, great influence in that area. But how do you make it attractive and enjoyable?

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, the other thing that goes along with that, I heard Mark Victor Hansen once speaking at a live event that I was at and I loved what he said. It was so simple. He said, people always feel like they have to go from 0 to 60 when they’re making a change. There’s this whole quantum leap idea that I’ve got to make this quantum leap from where I’m at now, eating unhealthy or whatever it is to like this radical that’s going to take so much discipline. I don’t have the discipline to go from 0 to 60. And he says, just lean into the change. Go zero to five, zero to two, zero to one. He said, and if you go zero to one, and in the next, you go one to two, and the next, two months from now, you’re at 60.

 

And I loved it was so simple, but I was like, yeah, lean into the change. And I remember that, too. It’s probably a decade ago that I saw him say that. And to this day, I’ve never forgotten that. Whenever I’m thinking of, man, I really want to start exercising more running or this or that, I hate running. You know what? I’m going to go run for two minutes today, and then, it was like, that’s easy. I could lean into a two-minute run or a one-minute run. I can run that far, that long. And then from there, it’s just inching forward.

 

So, what are your thoughts on that? How has that shown up in your own life or in people you’ve worked with? Like just leaning into the change, taking baby steps, not needing the quantum leap, but just being able to inch forward.

 

Mae Steigler: Yeah, there are two things there. And I love the mentality of– and recognizing why there’s that resistance to changes that feels overwhelming most of the time because we’re looking at an end state when we set a goal and we’re comparing it to our beginning state. So, two things, the first being really focusing on upgrades, and so, I love the mentality of like, hey, how can I upgrade maybe my consistent lunch, if I’m trying to eat healthier? And so, it’s this mentality of maybe 1% better. We used to always say like, hey, if you’re having a hard time drinking enough water, like, can you just drink a little more, one glass more?

 

And if you’re focusing on tracking that action, that action is actually the thing that compounds to the result versus simply drinking way more water because it’s so hard to make that leap. And so, you’re right in identifying what are the bite-sized pieces that get us to the results. And it kind of breaks out to another area that I find really fascinating, which is basically measuring the right milestones.

 

So, as a personal trainer, I often saw this contrast for people, for clients that were able to get results and those that were not. And those that were able to get results were able to kind of watch for the right indicators of progress over those that typically just watch maybe the weight on the scale in comparison to their goal. So, for instance, I’ll kind of contrast these to clients.

 

Again, the one client would be watching, and this is like more of the client that has more stickiness towards their transformation, and typically was the one that saw greater success and was motivated throughout the process rather than measuring simply their weight every week because we know, while it’s directionally probably going to go in the right direction as you’re consistently taking action, it’s going to go up and down. So, it’s hard to use that as the key indicator of success or not. Instead, they were measuring actions, which was, hey, I went to the gym every day, like I said, I was going to. Hey, I ate this way, like I said, I was going to. I did my best in these areas consistently, so was measuring the actions and letting the score take care of itself.

 

And then to contrast, the other client would be challenged to see value in those actions because they were just looking for the outcomes. In business, this feels like leading a lagging KPI, right? You have a lot of actions that end up changing the scoreboard. If you only watch the scoreboard, man, it’s hard to stay motivated. And so, I think it’s kind of aligning these two then principles, which is saying how can my small upgrades or my 1% better or my small actions be the measure that gets me these checkmarks that builds motivation and has me say I’m on track, more so and even more valuably, than measuring the outcomes.

 

And this is kind of the end state that personally, my husband and I talk about this a lot. He’s also in this industry. He’s a personal trainer and nutritionist. We always have a lot to talk about. And we’re consistently in the conversation recognizing what’s our normal. So, hey, our new normal is really great. I love this area in our life where right now, our weekday, how we eat is so consistent. We love kind of our way of doing our evening routine and our kind of dinner. What was that like? A matrix style for our meals that we enjoy? It’s a protein, a carbohydrate, and good roasted vegetables. We love our air fryer. We had this really consistent normal. Our normal affords a lot of flexibility if we go out to dinner, like I’m not going to be off track or even stressed about eating in a different way because my normal is really healthy.

 

And so, I think as we look at habit change and transformation, if we can begin to design and really architect our personal, new, healthy normal, and again, our focus is health here today, but you can apply this to any habit and transformation in general. But as you look at what is your new normal, then you have a lot of flexibility for new and different changes and handling off–plan exercise or eating or travel because your normal is very healthy. So, I think it’s the small habits and design and that 1% better in measuring the right progress to get you to a healthy normal.

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, I love that. I think that everybody is focused on like I want to lose 20 pounds, and I think, for that specific goal, if you start working out and you’re including weight training, muscle weighs more than fat. So, if all you’re going is off of the scale, you’re not going to see progress as fast because you’re building muscle while you’re losing fat, so your weight is not demonstrating your results. And for me, it’s always like this year, and I think I really set this as a goal last year, I was like, my goal is to work out five days a week. I don’t care what happens.

 

Mae Steigler: Right. That’s the definition of healthy.

 

Hal Elrod: What did you say?

 

Mae Steigler: Your definition of healthy is very different than measuring the outcome, but it’s the way you’re living.

 

Hal Elrod: But when I was younger, I was like, I want to put on 10 pounds of muscle this year. I want to– you know what I mean? And now, I’m like, I want to be healthy and strong and fit and energized. And so, every day I’m going to engage in physical activity and not worry about weighing myself or measuring it, that kind of thing.

 

Mae Steigler: And really quick on that, I think we often have quite outdated ideas of what healthy used to look like in our lives. I know for me, in particular, I get to catch myself being like, oh, I want to get back to doing this because it was my way of healthy 20 years ago or 10 years ago and remembering that, ooh, that’s probably not the right fit, not just because doing exactly those things won’t create the same outcome now, I’m a different human being. My hormones are different. I’m 15 years older, but also just even that concept. So, saying, hey, I want to get back to 110 pounds, I’m a very small person, very small, 110 pounds.

 

Instead, as you pointed out, the more effective goal would be, of course, focusing on actions around that, that had me feel as healthy as I did when I was 110 pounds. But actually, it’s more like looking like I was 110 pounds. In my mind, it’s a more accurate goal than the actual weight on the scale. So, I think, and to that point, it’s like being aware enough of what your goal is and clarity rather than simply a metric because that metric may be accomplished in ways that don’t have you feel healthy like you thought it would.

 

And so, it’s kind of like that answering the so what. I want to weigh 110 pounds so that I fit in these clothes, that I feel this way, so my energy is great, so I sleep well. So, it’s just a bigger conversation that has so much more value and relevant when we’re at different life stages, that ideally is actually quite exciting to redefine what your healthiest and most optimal way of living is at age 30, 40, 50, 60, very different than when we were 20 and 25.

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, and I think a lot of us hang on to that when we were 20 or 25, right? Because one thing that I’ve realized is that as we age, our body ages, our consciousness does not.

 

Mae Steigler: Shockingly.

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, the consciousness, the you that’s who you are that looked in the mirror when you were 15 years old or 20 years old is the same you look in the mirror at 60 years old, it’s the same you. You didn’t age. Your body aged. And so, that’s why I think a lot of us, as we get older, you still try to do the things that you did when you were like– what the heck? Why can’t I lift this anymore? I used to be so much– I could go all day. I can, whatever, whatever. You had a word for that earlier, we were talking before we started recording, adaptive something.

 

Mae Steigler: Yeah, ASR, adaptive stress response. And this is something that as we age, this is like the major internal change that happens. Essentially, you can look at a really good example, is like when you were younger, you could consume more toxins and handle that fine alcohol.

 

Hal Elrod: Yes.

 

Mae Steigler: You could handle a little more drinking than you can now. You could handle staying up all night and be fine the next day. I don’t know about you, but if I lose an extra hour of sleep, I’m out the next day. I’m a mess. So, basically, our body’s ability to maintain homeostasis in the experience of stress, so when we’re under any kind of stress – environmental, dietary, emotional, physical, even if it’s like working out, our bodies respond very differently as we age. And that’s our adaptive stress response changing over time and why, at Organifi, I’m so passionate about including adaptogens in our diet because that helps buffer our homeostasis, our normal, our healthy normal. And our bodies need a little more support as we age because we’re not those abundantly energetic children that we used to be that could handle– it’s like the idea that I don’t know if you remember being sore when you were less than 15. There’s no such thing as being sore as a child, right? Your body just handles it.

 

And so, it’s just that perspective that, to your point, while our consciousness may be the same, our physical bodies require quite different management and support. And so, that’s why including adaptogens, and especially like scientific doses of adaptogens are really helpful as we age and something that very passionately we include in our green juice blend and the rest of our products are those adaptogens. And it’s really, I think, a fascinating spot to look at with the stress load that you’re experiencing at any state in life. How do you give your body the support it needs to produce a state of wellness? And this is like right back to basically creating enjoyable change that you want.

 

And so, it’s like designing a support system-built self-awareness, like that’s such a key spot to say, based on my lifestyle today, what are the support systems that can help me? Is it a meal, a food service, or something? Is it, yes, supplementation? Is it a coach for fitness? But building that in the different levels and different stages of our life looks very different. And I think it’s a fascinating perspective to consider that adaptive stress response.

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, it’s so true. When I was younger, I could eat a huge meal right before bed.

 

Mae Steigler: And sleep like a baby.

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah. And it was like Taco Bell when I was 20, right? And then I would sleep like a baby and wake up feeling like a champion.

 

Mae Steigler: Right, right.

 

Hal Elrod: And now, if I eat after 7 p.m., I’m screwed. And I’d sleep terribly, and I wake up with a headache.

 

Mae Steigler: And just feel wrecked. So, things are very different. I think so much of this is like the perception of aging and change and creating transformation or allies at any stage. But I’ll offer a different perspective, too. I saw this when I was in personal training. Actually, there’s really great advantage when you’re starting new behaviors. I would see older clients come in and they hadn’t worked out for years and they were like, oh, I’m so far away from where I used to be. This can be so hard. And I was like, oh, you’re so lucky, because right now what you’re going to get is the advantage of high adaptation.

 

So, your body’s going to be undergoing, basically, it’s a different set, and I’ll contrast, a person who’s been doing the same workout for 20 years, their body is not experiencing the benefit anymore. They have adapted, like there is probably no benefit to that same treadmill I saw lots of clients doing this, even if we ate the same all the time, we wouldn’t really see the benefit of those nutrients to some degree. There’s like some diminishing returns with static habits that are not adapting with our needs.

 

Contrast that to someone who hasn’t worked out and/or they’re doing something new, a new mode of fitness. They’re challenging their body in a progressive way. They’re getting a really special benefit that, and even as we age, we don’t have to do as much fitness as we used to when we were younger because we had such a capacity to handle stress in a positive way. So, exercise, even like dietary restriction is a form of there’s a bell curve of positive stress with that. We’re trying to find the peak benefit before we see diminishing returns and/or corrosive stress in the body. You stress versus actual negative stress. There are two different types of stress, positive and negative stress.

 

So, it’s actually really amazing to think as a benefit of getting older, I also don’t have to work out as hard, as long, as intense as I used to, to see a lot of the benefits and probably define my great spot of optimum health in maybe three times a week working out, maybe twice a week strength training, and twice a week cardio. Before, I would work out six or seven days a week and I’d barely notice when I was 20. So, there’s also this other perception that like, ooh, what a nice experience that we don’t have to do what we used to have to do.

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, I love that. And then, that’s true for me. I used to work out five days a week, one hour a day. Now, I work out, I lift only three days a week for 20 minutes each time. It’s this really short, simple super setting. And then on Tuesday, Thursday, all I do is a seven-minute workout.

 

Mae Steigler: How great is that?

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah. So, it’s super short, super easy, right? And I feel great, I feel fit, I feel strong, all of the above, so.

 

Mae Steigler: And I think that’s that great example of not trying to do what we’ve always done and/or did in the past, but saying, I think this is where, like, I’m really passionate and excited about individualized wellness and building everything from intuitive, it’s almost like interoception, right? But it’s the ability to understand what our body needs at different times and different stages of our lives. But tuning back into that, we’re quite far away from it. I think wearable tech is helping us get a little bit more in touch and build some more self-awareness, everything from like continuous glucose monitoring.

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, sure, how many steps you’re taking each day, all that stuff.

 

Mae Steigler: Yeah, and I think, historically, and even then, like traditional medicine and ancient times, we are much more in tune with that because we didn’t have all the other indicators of our health and wellness. We really had to listen. So, I’m very excited about what individualized wellness looks like for that reason, but also, just for the built self-awareness of like, hey, I’m not going to do the same workout and/or diet that I did 20 years ago. Great news.

 

Hal Elrod: It is great news.

 

Mae Steigler: What do I need right now? And it’s not even what my best friend’s doing. It’s not even what my sister is doing, but it’s like at least trying some of that for directionality, and then getting the experience of fine-tuning for what I actually need. Going back to the beginning of the conversation, there’s such a different intention from that, which is like the contrast. What do I have to do to change my body rather than, and I think much better to say, what can I do to support my body being as healthy as I know it can be?

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, and I think that the theme of today was making change enjoyable. And for me, it’s like I choose to do, when it comes to working out, exercising, or eating, it’s all enjoyable. I think that’s a big thing. A friend of mine, when I was 20 years old, I started on the health kick. I went to a Tony Robbins event, Health Day.

 

Mae Steigler: Good catalyst.

 

Hal Elrod: What did you say?

 

Mae Steigler: Good catalyst.

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah. Unleash the Power Within, right? And I remember I was in my apartment in Fresno, California, and my buddy was over, and I had soymilk in my fridge. Now, we know a lot more about soy. But back then, I was like, all right, no more dairy milk. I’m a health…

 

Mae Steigler: You’re upgrading.

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah. And so, I had my soymilk, and he looked and he goes, “oh,” he’s like, “is it worth it?” And I said, “What do you mean?” He’s like, “You have to drink this stuff just because you want to be healthy. Is it worth it?” And I said, well, a couple of things, number one, I said, I’ve been drinking that for probably about six months now. I said, in the beginning, it was kind of an adjustment. Do you think I even think about it now? I mean, give it a second thought. It’s just my norm. And so, for me, I eat one of the– and sorry, I’ll make it up really quick, but I think this is helpful for people.

 

Mae Steigler: I love this.

 

Hal Elrod: I eat one of the– probably the healthy, and like ever since cancer especially, I was healthy before cancer, but my health is impeccable now. Like, I will not put anything in my body which is why I love Organifi because you guys bet out the highest quality whole food organic ingredients, right? And most supplements have all sorts of fillers and crap.

 

But for me, I eat really healthy, but I eat food that I absolutely love. Like I enjoy my diet as much as the person that enjoys the taste and texture of a cheeseburger, which occasionally I have, or pizza or whatever. But to your point, my baseline is I have an organic vegan smoothie every morning with organic pecans for protein and fat and Organifi vanilla protein powder and spinach and some other supplements and herbs that go in there, and they’re all blended so they break down easy. But I make a smoothie that I love the taste of, I love the taste of it.

 

And then, at lunch, I have the most amazing salad you’ve ever had, but I’ve tinkered with it until it’s the most– it’s like a party in my mouth. The flavor profile is incredible, right? But it’s super healthy and it gives me a ton of energy because it’s all raw, living, organic foods.

 

And so, the point is make change enjoyable by first deciding what your value is, like okay, I want to be healthy, I want to be fit or strong, and then go, what’s an exercise routine that would be fun? I love riding my bike, so that’s what I do for my cardio. I don’t run because I hate running. So, make it enjoyable by saying, okay, here’s the outcome. I want to be healthy, I want to lose weight, I want to, whatever. What’s the most enjoyable path to get there because there are infinite options available to you? Any thoughts on that?

 

Mae Steigler: Yes. And I will share a funny example of that as well. So, coming from being a personal trainer 10 years ago, my mindset around strength training and everything has been fundamentally important. Hey, go to the gym. Even as I age, very important. I was just challenged over the last probably five to six years, actually, to redefine what my physical fitness looked like. I was having a hard time enjoying it. I was really not having fun in the gym anymore after, again, more than 10 years ago, not being a personal trainer, it really changed for me. And I found pickleball.

 

Hal Elrod: Yes.

 

Mae Steigler: And so, it’s something where I have never been this active kind of in my adult life, actually. We’re playing literally 15 hours a week, if not, maybe 20 hours a week of pickleball, or doing like Saturday and Sundays, three, three and a half hours of open play, and just like more activity than almost like my husband and I can barely eat enough food to power our pickleball habit. But it was such an eye-opening experience last year this time, we had just gotten into it together and just had a really fun community around it. And neither one of us are big on cardio, and so, we do biking. And I used to play a little bit of tennis, but not very consistently. And just for both of our heart health, it was an important component to add to our strength training.

 

Again, he’s a personal trainer, so he’s got that handled. But for myself, I just had a hard time finding it. And so, a big revelation last year was like, wow, I couldn’t have imagined how important it was to find a– and I’ve always coached on this, so like, oh, do the mode of fitness that you enjoy. But wow, for myself to experience it, after just being in a limbo for about six years, now, it’s the most simple experience because it’s so much fun to think about. Like, how can I eat enough to play pickleball rather than, and again, a very high-quality set, same as you, but it’s such a different experience.

 

And so, just to reinforce the idea of finding a format of physical fitness, a way of consuming healthy, high-quality foods that you enjoy is removing the obstacle to a healthy lifestyle. And it’s different than the kind of fad diet mentality. And like, let me get this result quick. It’s like to be healthy and to create habits around it, find ways to make it enjoyable. And so, funny story, but pickleball made that happen for me for physical fitness, so found that.

 

And I think, at Organifi, we talk about making wellness easy, and so much of that is enjoying the experience of being well and it comes down to, yes, removing the obstacles, but looking at like kind of why we take so long to formulate the products at Organifi, each superfood blend, is because it needs to taste amazing without cutting corners on quality, which takes us a long time, and to be craveable right? There’s something amazing when you give your body the nutrients it needs. You remove most of the cravings because you don’t have mineral deficiencies that have you craving sugar, salt, and fat. And it becomes really easy to actually curb your cravings and manage your blood sugar and not necessarily crave the food that maybe is part of your regular diet now.

 

So, fundamentally, I think there’s that path towards designing habit change, first and foremost, from a place of self-awareness that will be most enjoyed by you. And then finding the way that you can at least start to right size, maybe your new normal, and begin to build a foundation that’s sustainable. Look at like the choices you’re making now. Can you filter that with the idea of or the question of, will I be happy doing this in ten years or five years even for what you’re eating? And I think that really exercising is a really good way to filter. Is it long-term? Or is it short-term?

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, I like that. Rather than a fad diet, it’s like when they’ll find a breakfast that’s healthy and that you love to eat. Like, for me, my smoothie, I can’t go without it, right?

 

Mae Steigler: Yes.

 

Hal Elrod: So instead of having a bagel in the morning or a doughnut or something or a bowl of cereal, make a smoothie and you can– I love a smoothie because you can throw anything in it. You don’t really taste it because there’s so much different stuff. You’re like, ooh, the spinach should be great. Oh, I don’t taste it. Cool. Now, what else can I put?

 

Mae Steigler: It’s in there.

 

Hal Elrod: I don’t know if you know this at Organifi. So, when I launched this podcast, the intention was very pure. I had just written the Miracle Morning. And I’m like, I need a way to keep adding value and nurturing my readers, right? So, I refused to take a sponsor on for five or six years, I think because I thought, I don’t want my listeners to think I’m doing this to make money.

 

Anyway, and then my friend was like, that’s kind of stupid. But then that’s what she said. She said, you always talked about Organifi. She said, you always are recommending different products that you like. She goes, you’re like the biggest– for your friends, you’re like, dude, you have to try this. You have to try this. She goes, why don’t you reach out to somebody like Organifi and see if they would sponsor you because you’re recommending them anyway.

 

Mae Steigler: Yeah. So authentic.

 

Hal Elrod: I was like, yeah, that’s a good point. And so, like, it’s a match– you guys are the first sponsor we’ve ever had. And I think it’s our fourth year together or something, but it’s amazing.

 

Mae Steigler: That’s a huge honor and thank you, Hal. I think that the ideal for any partnership is just having that level of authenticity, and knowing as a listener of your podcast and a huge advocate of your books and like what you’re about, it means a lot to have the busy brand partnerships come from that place, which is like this is stuff that you truly have integrated into your life and believe in. And that’s such a testament to who you are as a human, but just our relationship between the brands. So, thank you, Hal.

 

Hal Elrod: Totally, totally. You’re welcome. And if you’re listening right now and you haven’t gone to Organifi.com/Hal as a listener to this podcast, go to Organifi.com/Hal, and then use the code H-A-L, my name Hal, and all listeners of the podcast get 20% off everything on the website all the time, so whenever you want to try out the product. Do you have a favorite, like the top one or two favorites of Organifi’s products?

 

Mae Steigler: Yeah. My top two are Harmony and Green Juice. So, Green Juice is incredible, kind of like, it’s our first product we made and has an incredible dose of ashwagandha in it, so the KSM-66, 600 milligrams of ashwagandha, amazing for cortisol management, stress management. In my position and in my life, it’s a very key daily support.

 

And then Harmony is our women’s hormone product and it’s also just the combination between the two, so the Shatavari and chaste berry, amazing for just balancing women’s hormones. So, the two of them are just a really nice blend. Everything in my mind kind of comes back to hormone balance for our homeostasis and ability to manage stress and weight and energy and sleep. And so, those two are my fundamental go-to.

 

And there’s one caveat, which is every morning we have Balance, which is our kind of Pixy Stix-style pre- and post–biotic and it’s just such a powerful product before we go on to eat at a restaurant where we’re having a quick Pixy Stix on the way out. And so, those three products are kind of my tops. What about yours, Hal, if you could only have maybe three tops?

 

Hal Elrod: So, Organifi Vanilla Protein powder is every day in my smoothie.

 

Mae Steigler: It’s so good.

 

Hal Elrod: And then, Pure for cognitive ability. It’s interesting. I was getting ready. I was speaking at Best Year Ever Blueprint, the event that we met at. It was the morning of the first day and I had my opening message at the event, my brain was not clicking over, leading up to the event, and I could not figure out how I was going to open the event. And not kidding, woke up at like 4:30 in the morning, took Pure, and 30 minutes later, whatever, 20 minutes later, I get kicked in and my mind just sharpened seriously, and I was like, I got it, I figured it out. I figured out the opening. I mean, I was like, that’s a real result. And I was hooked from that point on.

 

Mae Steigler: Such a powerful product. That’s exactly the storyline we often hear is like, my brain came online. Like everything became clear again. So, it’s that amazing combination of Coffeeberry, the NeuroFactor, and the lion’s mane, just like an incredible brain support, cognitive support. I actually really like that one before and during my workout. So, there are really cool clinicals on the ingredients in there for improving reaction speed and performance, plus it has that hydration component which is just incredible. So, really cool product to try. Also, I guess high performance would be stage time for you, so that makes a lot of sense. For me, sometimes, it’s a pickleball court.

 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, that’s amazing. It’s great, though. You found something you love to do and it helps you be totally fit. And that’s the whole point of this episode, y’all, is make change enjoyable. Like how do you do that? You decide the changes you want to make, and then you find enjoyable ways to make them. Find foods that are super healthy but that also taste really good. Find an exercise that will help you be fit and energized but that you actually enjoy doing.

 

For me, actually, pickleball is a lot of fun, but I love basketball. And so, playing basketball just like you, a pickleball, it’s such a joyful activity for me that I’m not feeling like, oh, I have to play basketball. It’s like I am looking for any chance I get to play basketball.

 

Mae Steigler: It’s so great.

 

Hal Elrod: Figure out the change you want to make and find fun ways to do it. Well, Mae, it’s so great to finally connect. This is the longest conversation we’ve ever had, and I really, really enjoyed getting to know you better today.

 

Mae Steigler: Well overdue. Thank you, Hal. It was great to be on the show with you. Thank you so much.

 

Hal Elrod: You got it.

 

[CLOSING]

 

Hal Elrod: Goal achievers and members of the Miracle Morning Community, I love you, I appreciate you. Thank you so much for your time today. And I hope you enjoyed talking with Mae as much as I did. And I will talk to you all next week.

 

[END]