0:00

I was hating him

0:00

the way he was bragging about

0:03

himself how good he was at young

0:03

age compared to me. And this was

0:08

a clear driver for me to move

0:08

forward that I hate listening

0:13

his own bragging about this, how

0:13

good he was compared to me when

0:17

I was at my age. So I said,

0:17

like, Screw your father. Yeah,

0:20

I'm gonna show you one day I'm

0:20

gonna be asking.

0:25

In this episode,

0:25

you'll get to know Pyry Salmela,

0:28

the Formula One performance

0:28

coach, and you'll hear the story

0:32

of how he went from playing ice

0:32

hockey in Finland, to becoming a

0:36

Performance Coach and Trainer of

0:36

the world's top motorsports

0:40

drivers, including Pierre Gasly,

0:40

and Daniel Ricardo. I'm Dave

0:44

Crenshaw, and this is my success

0:44

Show. Welcome back friends to

0:48

the Dave Crenshaw Success Show.

0:48

This is where I speak to some of

0:52

the most successful people I've

0:52

met in my life journey. And I'm

0:56

on a mission to find universal

0:56

principles of success. I want to

1:00

find them to help my family

1:00

succeed, and to help you

1:03

succeed. In case it's your first

1:03

time here. I'm a best selling

1:07

author. I speak around the world

1:07

to Fortune 500 companies, and

1:11

I've taught millions of people

1:11

how to be successful through my

1:15

online courses. With this show,

1:15

I wanted to create something

1:19

lasting sort of a legacy project

1:19

to help my family succeed, and I

1:23

thought you'd enjoy learning

1:23

along with them. I interview

1:27

people who have multifaceted

1:27

success, not just financial or

1:31

career success, but success in

1:31

many areas of their lives, so

1:34

that they're happy, and they're

1:34

well rounded. And I do that

1:38

because I want to help you have

1:38

that kind of well rounded

1:42

success. Before I begin, if you

1:42

know someone that you think

1:46

would make a great guest for the

1:46

show someone you admire, please

1:50

email your suggestion to guests

1:50

at Dave crenshaw.com. The other

1:54

thing I'd like to ask you to do

1:54

is during this episode, I want

1:58

you to look for something you

1:58

can do. The goal, your goal in

2:02

listening to this should be to

2:02

take action, find something you

2:06

can do to make my guest success

2:06

story, a part of your success

2:10

story. I'll help you out with

2:10

that, too. As we go along,

2:13

especially at the end, I'll

2:13

summarize a few action steps

2:17

that you can take from my guest

2:17

story and my guest today. I

2:20

admit, I'm a little bit of a

2:20

fanboy about what's going on

2:24

here. I'm into Formula One. I'm

2:24

into motorsports. And so the

2:28

fact that I get one of the

2:28

world's top performance coaches

2:32

to Formula One drivers is

2:32

absolutely amazing to me, I

2:35

think you're really going to

2:35

enjoy my conversation with

2:39

today's guest. Pyry Salmela is a

2:39

Formula One performance coach

2:43

with over a decade of

2:43

experience. He joined Formula

2:46

One in 2014, where he's

2:46

currently coaching Daniel

2:49

Ricardo for the visa Cash App.

2:49

RB Formula One team that's Red

2:53

Bulls second team. His

2:53

background as an ice hockey

2:56

athlete and fitness trainer has

2:56

given him a unique perspective

3:00

in the motorsports industry.

3:00

Pyry was born and raised in

3:04

Finland, and he enjoys traveling

3:04

across the world with his

3:07

fiancee. Pyry, thank you so much

3:07

for joining us today.

3:11

Thank you so much.

3:11

I'm super excited to be on this

3:14

podcast. And thanks for the kind

3:14

words and the invitation. And

3:17

I'm very much looking forward to it.

3:19

And I'm especially grateful to because I know how demanding that schedule

3:20

is. Where are you located right

3:25

now. Currently,

3:25

I'm in my

3:25

hometown, Dubai. But I just came

3:29

from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from

3:29

our previous race. And I'm

3:33

getting ready for my next

3:33

travels to Australia in

3:36

Melbourne. Now we are fully into

3:36

the f1 season. And there's a lot

3:41

of travel days, but been there

3:41

quite a while already. So I know

3:44

what's coming for it. So

3:47

yeah, because I

3:47

think about the time demands and

3:51

the travel and the many

3:51

different locations you have to

3:54

go to, for me, someone who works

3:54

from home. That seems very

3:59

tremendous to have to deal with all of that.

4:01

I think what I see

4:01

is like when you build a plan

4:04

for yourself how you want to

4:04

plan your day or routine, and I

4:07

think a lot of us is functioning

4:07

pretty well when we have a plan

4:11

and we have a routine to repeat.

4:11

I think where many people fall

4:15

off is when they fall out from

4:15

the routine. And for many people

4:20

it means when they start

4:20

traveling. And it was also like

4:24

it took time for me to you know,

4:24

get used to for the lifestyle

4:28

that you're consistently

4:28

packing, unpacking, finding your

4:32

routines in a foreign place,

4:32

which is not yours. And that

4:36

definitely took quite a while

4:36

for me to get on top of my game

4:39

on that.

4:40

So I want to come

4:40

back to that a little bit later.

4:42

I want to talk about how you

4:42

manage that new techniques for

4:45

that. I want to start with you

4:45

in the place where I start with

4:48

every guest, which is where were

4:48

you when you were a teenager

4:54

before the career began. What

4:54

did you think you were going to

4:58

be doing in the future with your

4:58

career rear.

5:00

But the funny thing is that I certainly didn't plan to be where I am today. So

5:02

I was born and raised in

5:07

Finland, I was driving ice

5:07

hockey player who wanted to make

5:11

into the NHL, the big league.

5:11

And you know, ice hockey was for

5:15

me something that I was living

5:15

and breathing. And that's where

5:19

I thought that's my destination

5:19

will be also the end

5:21

destination. But despite I, I

5:21

made to a level where I did it

5:27

as a full time job, I still did

5:27

not receive the reach the level

5:31

that I was looking for.

5:33

How did you know

5:33

you hadn't reached that level?

5:36

What told you that so wait,

5:36

maybe this isn't gonna work out

5:39

the way that I thought,

5:40

you know, you've

5:40

come to those crucial years

5:42

where you have the draft year

5:42

and you see the your peers, what

5:46

is the next step. And when you

5:46

feel like this is next step, and

5:49

then you take two step back, and

5:49

then you take the next step

5:52

back. And that's where I started

5:52

realizing that despite I was

5:55

moving forward, I was also

5:55

moving too often backwards. And

5:59

then you go through injuries,

5:59

and you always every year you

6:04

seeking them, which team I'm

6:04

going to sign in is a two year

6:07

contract is a one year contract,

6:07

and I start feeling like I'm in

6:11

this trap, that it's just not

6:11

moving to the direction that I

6:14

wanted to. And I think this was

6:14

also naturally the time for me

6:18

where I started, you know,

6:18

thinking about the after

6:20

carrier, I started studying or

6:20

in my latter stage of my hockey

6:24

carrier. And I kind of had a

6:24

feeling what was coming for,

6:28

because I was always so into for

6:28

the human performance factor.

6:32

And you know, I think where the

6:32

inspiration came from Mr. Light,

6:36

because I thought I had pretty

6:36

good skills. And yet, I still

6:40

made it to the top. So it was a

6:40

source of inspiration,

6:44

personally, where I wanted to

6:44

understand why I didn't make it.

6:48

What was the reason? And how

6:48

could I translate it to other

6:52

people that they wouldn't do the

6:52

same mistakes, I always say I

6:55

wasn't the smartest athlete. And

6:55

I truly believe that's also

6:59

true. But this was something

6:59

that I wanted to translate. If I

7:04

learned from my own mistakes, if

7:04

I get more knowledge base, maybe

7:08

I can help someone else be

7:08

smarter than I was. Right

7:12

there. There are a couple of things that I really want to highlight because your

7:14

career is in coaching. And as a

7:17

coach, both in performance and

7:17

entrepreneurship, our job is to

7:22

see others get amazing results.

7:22

And at an early age, you were

7:28

already demonstrating a couple

7:28

of the traits required for a

7:31

great coach. One is

7:31

introspection, right? Where

7:35

you're always evaluating how

7:35

well you're doing. And then the

7:38

second one is, how can I relate

7:38

this to someone else? How can I

7:43

teach someone else with this? So

7:43

as you started to think that

7:47

way, did you think you know

7:47

what, maybe coaching is for me?

7:50

Or were you not quite to that

7:50

point yet, when you were, you

7:53

know, in your late teens or early 20s?

7:55

I think in the

7:55

late teens and teens I already

7:58

felt inside. Not to say

7:58

different but I was super

8:02

curious, I was super curious, on

8:02

understanding who we are, why we

8:08

are who we are, psychologically,

8:08

physically? And what are the key

8:12

traits on high performance that

8:12

I could you know, learn and

8:16

properly translate to future

8:16

clients. And you know, I started

8:21

coaching or like, while I was

8:21

still playing, I did my first

8:24

few assistant coach roles

8:24

already at 15 years old. So when

8:29

I was preparing for my season, I

8:29

was already participating on

8:32

camps that I could learn from

8:32

others like how they are doing

8:35

and I just always had this

8:35

curiosity on learning and

8:38

coaching and leading,

8:40

there's a word

8:40

that is used a lot of different

8:44

ways in different careers. And

8:44

you're using it right here,

8:47

which is performance. And I

8:47

think in professional context at

8:51

work, someone is thinking, oh

8:51

performance, maybe in sales, how

8:54

many sales I get, or how the

8:54

company is doing? How do you

8:58

define performance? Is it just

8:58

about physical fitness? Or is it

9:01

something more to you?

9:03

No, not at all. I

9:03

always say like, when we talk

9:07

about my specialty, and how

9:07

people are calling me as a

9:10

fitness trainer in Formula One,

9:10

like, you know, top performers

9:14

is so much more than a physical

9:14

performance. And I think this is

9:19

so much product topic. But it's

9:19

really about this holistic

9:23

performance on human

9:23

performance, which encounters so

9:27

many different elements, which

9:27

are somewhat task specific. You

9:32

know, you personally have tasks

9:32

specific skills that makes you

9:37

perform top in your own field.

9:37

And then they say, for example,

9:41

about Cristiano Ronaldo, that

9:41

okay, Cristiano Ronaldo is not

9:45

the best in all of those

9:45

aspects, but he's there at that

9:50

one person in so many skill

9:50

sets. What makes him the top

9:54

performer?

9:55

Yeah. So let's

9:55

continue your story here for a

9:58

moment when Did you start

9:58

developing your career in

10:05

performance coaching? Was that

10:05

something that you were studying

10:08

for? Or was that something that

10:08

a mentor was helping you with?

10:11

Where did you first get your

10:11

foot in the door for performance

10:15

coaching.

10:16

So while I was

10:16

playing since I was six years

10:19

old, in ice hockey, I was also

10:19

working out in the gym at very

10:25

early age. And my father pushed

10:25

me into weightlifting. And

10:31

that's obviously something that

10:31

was very much where you were

10:35

comparing your result by one

10:35

pillow, one pillow, and that's

10:39

where you started seeing how

10:39

logical is that the physical

10:43

effort you can put in, that's

10:43

what you're gonna get out. And

10:46

that's where I kind of learned

10:46

that the discipline that your

10:49

own effort equals outcome as a

10:49

black and white thinking. And

10:55

that also means that all we're

10:55

doing things will cost you more

10:59

than it gives. So I got into the

10:59

human performance world at very

11:05

early age, seeing examples on

11:05

how you can really maximize

11:10

human potential on certain areas

11:10

of physical performance. But

11:15

then I did study started

11:15

studying or I went to the sports

11:19

College in Finland while I was

11:19

playing. So this helped me

11:22

understanding that I could

11:22

incorporate both ice hockey and

11:26

the school and then my early

11:26

20s, I went to general sports

11:31

instructor school where I got

11:31

the first, you know, educational

11:35

specific course, that I did for

11:35

sports coaching. And that kind

11:40

of gave me the road to actually

11:40

for this performance coaching.

11:44

And then later on my age, I

11:44

applied for university, and I

11:47

did four years in university and

11:47

so forth, plus all the courses.

11:51

So I think I always been also

11:51

very curious that it's not only

11:55

experienced base, but it's also

11:55

knowledge base that comes

11:58

through educational path. Was

12:01

there a mentor

12:01

who helped you during those

12:04

years, someone that you look

12:04

back on and say, Wow, they

12:07

really had a huge impact and the

12:07

approach that I take to

12:10

coaching, there's something

12:10

maybe I think about all the time

12:13

that they told me, could you

12:13

relate a story about a mentor

12:16

you worked with?

12:18

I think I had few

12:18

of them. And I think the first

12:20

one was my father, my father

12:20

used to be an Olympian in speed

12:24

skating, and I was hating him

12:24

the way he was bragging about

12:27

himself how good he was at young

12:27

age compared to me. And this was

12:33

a clear driver for me to move

12:33

forward, that I hate, pleasing

12:38

his own bragging about his how

12:38

good he was, compared to me when

12:42

I was at my age. So I said,

12:42

like, Screw you, Father, I'm

12:45

gonna show you one day, I'm

12:45

gonna be as good. But then I had

12:49

multiple good mentors. And I

12:49

never said that I never invented

12:53

my own wheel. It's a product

12:53

that I've learned from plenty of

12:56

people that has helped me the

12:56

carrier. I have so many,

13:00

starting from the weightlifting

13:00

gym, where I had Olympians

13:04

teaching me how to lift weights,

13:04

then I have had performance

13:08

coaches that used to work in

13:08

Formula One. I have professors

13:12

that helped me to learn those

13:12

foundational skills in

13:16

physiology and biology and so

13:16

forth. And you know, like I

13:21

said, it's not only about having

13:21

had to mentor, but the hours and

13:26

hours dedicated to understanding

13:26

not only in performance, but all

13:31

in aspects in life. I think this

13:31

always been the strength on

13:35

mine, that I've always been so

13:35

curious about everything in

13:38

life.

13:39

So as a coach,

13:39

I've learned the importance of

13:42

having a philosophy, a

13:42

perspective from which you come.

13:46

And I don't believe there's one

13:46

right philosophy. But I do think

13:51

it's critical to have one. And

13:51

it's interesting, because my

13:53

wife is the High School swim

13:53

coach. And that's a fairly new

13:59

position for her, but she was a

13:59

collegiate swimmer. And when she

14:03

was, you know, first thinking

14:03

about what she was going to do,

14:06

I said, Well, what's your

14:06

philosophy? Coach? Have you

14:08

developed that perspective? So

14:08

that you have a foundation for

14:13

coaching others? So, what is the

14:13

core of your philosophy and

14:19

coaching? When you approach

14:19

working with someone like a

14:23

Formula driver, like Daniel

14:23

Ricardo, what's the mindset that

14:26

you have coming into it? That's

14:26

going to help someone succeed?

14:32

I'm a very simple

14:32

person, and that's why

14:34

therefore, so is my philosophy

14:34

and it start always from what

14:38

what are we targeting, so what

14:38

is our end goal? And then we

14:42

start looking the next step. How

14:42

do we get there which start

14:46

meaning that okay, we need to

14:46

break down the picture, what are

14:50

our strengths, our weaknesses,

14:50

and then we start building the

14:53

plan after so this is the how,

14:53

and then the last question based

14:58

on what based on What? Yes, the

14:58

last question is based on what?

15:03

What does that mean? It means

15:03

that like, Okay, is there

15:06

evidence that our strategy is

15:06

going to work? If we don't have

15:11

the evidence, research evidence?

15:11

Do we have experienced evidence

15:16

like that? So while we're

15:16

building this plan and this

15:20

strategy, but we actually know,

15:20

does it work? And can we justify

15:25

our actions? Because when I

15:25

always think there's so many

15:29

different roads to Rome, and

15:29

there's so many great

15:33

application solutions,

15:33

technology, that we have a

15:36

really available, and I think we

15:36

are so much more limited about

15:40

the time. So I think it comes

15:40

down to this needed meeting that

15:45

actually what is important, what

15:45

is the most important thing? Are

15:48

we focusing our time on the

15:48

99th? Most important thing? Or

15:52

is our plan actually following

15:52

the linear? What is the most

15:57

important thing that we get?

15:57

What is the second most

15:59

important? What is the third? So

15:59

this is the kind of the

16:03

framework that I'm playing with?

16:05

And I'm assuming

16:05

if the based on what if the

16:07

evidence starts to look, not

16:07

what we hoped, not what we

16:11

expected, then you're going to

16:11

make adjustments to the how and

16:15

the process that you're using.

16:15

Because

16:17

then you also have

16:17

time variability that if we see

16:20

a weakness, which we want to

16:20

improve, if we know that we have

16:24

only a limited time, and then we

16:24

have to evaluate, will it pay

16:30

back the time we're going to

16:30

invest? And is that going to

16:33

take time away from what is

16:33

actually even more important? So

16:37

I think it's a very logical

16:37

framework.

16:40

I like it. And I love that you're saying that it's simple. Because I believe

16:42

that it's easier to execute on

16:45

something simple than something

16:45

that's very complex, lots of

16:48

steps, especially in the world

16:48

of Formula One where there's so

16:53

many different inputs happening

16:53

in a very, very brief amount of

16:57

time. It has to be simple, or

16:57

it's not going to be very

17:01

usable, is it? And

17:02

he's going to lack

17:02

efficiency. Yeah. Because you

17:05

know, when you have a plan, and

17:05

when that plan creates autonomy,

17:09

that's where you pick the

17:09

efficiency. Yeah.

17:13

Okay, let's return to your story for just a moment, when you first began

17:15

performance coaching, I'm

17:18

assuming there was another group

17:18

of people that you specialized

17:21

in, or who were your first

17:21

clients as a performance coach,

17:25

as a performance coach, like I said, my first clients were ice hockey players,

17:27

okay, both the Youth and

17:31

Development athletes. And I

17:31

always felt that like, this was

17:35

the easiest for me, because I

17:35

could understand what an athlete

17:38

mindset is, I think the second

17:38

step where I went into the

17:42

general population, I understood

17:42

that this field is actually very

17:47

different. Our goals are very

17:47

different, even though there are

17:50

similarities, but coaching an

17:50

athlete compared to someone that

17:56

has, for example, aesthetics

17:56

drives, for exercising, it's a

18:00

very different world.

18:02

Just to clarify

18:02

that you mean, someone who's

18:04

trying to get beach muscle,

18:04

someone who's just trying to

18:06

look good, versus someone who's

18:06

actually trying to win at their

18:10

sport?

18:11

Yes. Because

18:11

that's why start again, what is

18:16

the first question? And the what

18:16

is so different to the other

18:20

one? That that's why the roads

18:20

will go left and right.

18:25

Okay, so you were

18:25

coaching ice hockey players. And

18:30

where did this pathway start

18:30

where you started to get your

18:33

foot in the door with

18:33

professional racing, is that

18:37

seems very, very different to me

18:37

than ice hockey.

18:40

That is a very different and it was something that I never planned, and I was

18:42

never even seeking. So

18:46

everything till that point was

18:46

quite logical. I saw it coming.

18:50

But this formula one, and this,

18:50

I never saw it coming. And this

18:54

came by total coincidence. I was

18:54

one Thursday evening, I was in

18:59

my car coming back from work.

18:59

And I got a text message, where

19:03

I read an old friend of mine,

19:03

who was working in motorsport,

19:07

text me, a gentleman called Aki

19:07

Hinson knows about you. And he's

19:13

interested on hearing more about

19:13

you, because he has a possible

19:17

job for you. Are you interested

19:17

on getting into an interview?

19:21

And that's all and I called him

19:21

and I said, Okay, what is this

19:24

about? He said, I don't know.

19:24

And you just reach out to him,

19:29

and he will tell more, reach out

19:29

to him. And he has, yes, I know

19:33

about you. Could you come to

19:33

Helsinki and meet me for an

19:36

hour? I did it. And after the

19:36

talk, we had a talk for two

19:41

hours where we didn't speak for

19:41

one word about Formula One. And

19:45

I always say after the

19:45

interview, and that like

19:47

whatever that was, I'm never

19:47

going to get the job, because I

19:51

was way too honest.

19:54

What does that

19:54

mean? In what ways were you way

19:56

too honest.

19:57

I had no filter

19:57

because, like I He said, I

20:00

always say why I got the job was

20:00

not because I was more

20:03

experienced, or I was more, you

20:03

know, advanced compared to other

20:06

coaches or I was more

20:06

experienced? No, it was purely

20:11

because I think they saw that

20:11

there was a guy who understands

20:14

nothing about Formula One. And

20:14

he's almost this young, naive

20:19

mindset that don't care about

20:19

the clam, or anything, what he's

20:22

just passionate about is both

20:22

helping others, and working with

20:26

the people that is willing to do

20:26

the next step. So I think the

20:31

what they saw on me that they

20:31

can, you know, develop, they can

20:34

mold me with a skill sets that

20:34

are applicable for Formula One.

20:40

And, you know, week after they

20:40

call me and Okay, we have a job

20:43

for you. Are you interested? The

20:43

thing is that you have to be in

20:46

Bahrain in three days. That's

20:46

your first day. And I remember,

20:51

like I said, I didn't see coming

20:51

because I had already other

20:56

plans. But I said, why not? We

20:56

live only once. And I always

21:00

wanted to live the life in the

21:00

fast lane in a way. So yeah,

21:05

three days after I checked my

21:05

passport, it has just expired.

21:09

So I had to get an extra

21:09

passport, and three days after I

21:12

was in Bahrain, and that's where

21:12

it all started. And the whole

21:14

life changed in two weeks.

21:16

Were you starting

21:16

in Formula One? Or were you

21:19

starting at like Formula Two or

21:19

something like that,

21:22

I went straight to

21:22

the deep end, the Formula One,

21:24

which I would say that never

21:24

suggest to anyone? Wow. Because

21:28

when I started, I can literally

21:28

say, I didn't feel like I knew

21:31

anything about it. On my luck,

21:31

what I have is that I had a very

21:36

talented driver. But the thing

21:36

is that his physical qualities

21:41

were very raw,

21:43

who was your

21:43

first driver? Are you able to

21:45

say that

21:45

I had the Red Bull

21:45

driver called Danny, yet, he was

21:49

my first driver, okay. And he

21:49

was 18, he was about to start

21:53

his first year in Formula One.

21:53

And I was thinking when I was in

21:57

Bahrain, so how on earth I can

21:57

help this kid because I have no

22:00

clue about the sport. The luck

22:00

being on my side is that he was

22:05

so raw, in his athletic

22:05

qualities, that there was so

22:08

much to do from a basic,

22:08

fundamental physiological

22:12

development perspective, that

22:12

that gave me the time, before I

22:17

had to know more. That gave me

22:17

the time to just focus on those

22:21

key pillars on physical

22:21

development, which are the base

22:25

of all qualities of physical

22:25

performance. The last pillar you

22:30

enter a lot later, where you

22:30

start really about focusing on

22:35

task specific skill sets and

22:35

qualities from a performance

22:38

perspective.

22:40

So you use the

22:40

word. And I think it's important

22:44

to highlight for someone who is

22:44

listening to this, and they're

22:48

saying, I want to have the kind

22:48

of success that Purdue has had,

22:52

and the word is luck, and luck,

22:52

certainly factors into things.

22:58

But I think that just chalking

22:58

it up to luck, sells your story

23:03

short, you prepared, you went to

23:03

school, you were working with

23:09

clients, and you were building a

23:09

reputation, which without that

23:14

reputation, the luck would have

23:14

never occurred. Did you just

23:18

kind of expand on your thoughts

23:18

about that? Yes,

23:21

I have to agree

23:21

with you that there's definitely

23:25

the lack of momentum where I

23:25

thought about, but you know, I

23:29

always had the feeling that I

23:29

will get lucky. Because how

23:33

intentional I was, since I was

23:33

young, you know, like, after

23:38

school after my own training,

23:38

what I was doing, I was spending

23:42

my time on a sport Institute,

23:42

looking at other people, other

23:48

sports, how do they prepare

23:48

themselves? What kind of

23:51

difference they how do they

23:51

prepare differently compared to

23:54

myself? So I was surrounded by

23:54

this symbolize that was coming

24:01

all over because I was living

24:01

and breathing the sport and

24:04

understanding the different

24:04

fields. So I was very

24:07

intentional, since I was very

24:07

young. About that. And I had a

24:11

feeling that you know, at some

24:11

point, that luck is going to

24:15

knock my door when I just keep

24:15

showing up.

24:18

Where did that

24:18

come from? Was that from you

24:21

internally? Or was it the way

24:21

that your parents talk to you?

24:25

What did you do to create that

24:25

feeling is I guess what I'm

24:29

asking.

24:30

It's difficult to

24:30

say because I have to say, I

24:33

have this naive belief on

24:33

myself. And I always remember

24:37

that I somehow felt different

24:37

compared to other kids, because

24:42

I have this huge drive on

24:42

succeeding and I always felt

24:47

that like one day I'm gonna make

24:47

it a one day I'm gonna you know,

24:52

the Lucky's gonna knock my door

24:52

and I'm gonna crap it on it and

24:55

I'm gonna make it work. So I

24:55

always had that night belief on

24:59

myself. But I was lacking self

24:59

confidence, I was a little bit

25:04

shy. And I felt like, I wish I

25:04

had the courage to express what

25:09

I have in my side because the

25:09

fire is incredible. And I just

25:14

wish that one day, I want to

25:14

show that I have the courage to,

25:18

you know, excel in my carrier,

25:18

and I'm going to show what I

25:23

have to give and I was very poor

25:23

at selling my own self, you

25:27

know, I was very poor giving a

25:27

price tag. So then I knew, I

25:33

will start from adding value. So

25:33

this was a key point for me, I

25:38

always just tried to get my foot

25:38

in the door between the door and

25:44

start adding value. And people

25:44

would, after all, they will see

25:48

that when I just keep adding

25:48

value, someone will notice it

25:52

sooner rather than later. I

25:55

love that phrase

25:55

adding value, I've found that to

25:57

be true, where I've made my

25:57

goal. And I've seen many people

26:02

do this meet their goal to give

26:02

more than they're receiving. And

26:05

I think that a lot of people,

26:05

when they think about their job,

26:08

they go, I'm going to do just

26:08

what I need to do to get paid.

26:11

And that's the mindset that gets

26:11

you stuck in the same spot, over

26:14

and over and over. But if you

26:14

say I'm going to do more than

26:17

what I'm getting paid for, I'm

26:17

going to deliver more value than

26:19

I've got that I think is what

26:19

opens up the door to luck. And

26:22

it sounds like you agree with

26:22

that perspective,

26:25

I have to say,

26:25

like, I didn't grow up in money.

26:28

So I didn't even understand

26:28

about money. What I was just

26:31

passionate about was adding

26:31

value. I just had this huge fire

26:35

on myself on helping people and

26:35

understanding what makes Michael

26:41

Jordan Michael Jordan then

26:41

trying to replicate it and

26:44

transfer those skills to new

26:44

athletes. Personally, I never

26:48

thought about that. It has to be

26:48

ice hockey, it has to be Formula

26:51

One, what I all I wanted is to

26:51

have resources, which also means

26:56

individuals that are willing to

26:56

make the extra effort the extra

27:00

mile without asking what time it

27:00

is, or how much it cost.

27:05

So let's return

27:05

back to that story. You started

27:08

coaching immediately. Did you

27:08

feel like you struggled early

27:14

with it? Did you feel that you

27:14

were adequately prepared? Or was

27:18

it natural? The reason why I ask

27:18

is because as an entrepreneur, a

27:22

lot of times where I've had

27:22

successes, I sold myself into a

27:26

situation meaning I got people

27:26

to agree that I'm going to

27:29

provide something for them. And

27:29

then I was like now I need to

27:31

figure out how to provide this.

27:31

And the moment that I put myself

27:36

in forces me to be prepared and

27:36

do better. Where do you feel you

27:40

fit on that spectrum of your

27:40

early experience with coaching,

27:44

I do have a good

27:44

example to give you like I was

27:47

giving a presentation and there

27:47

was a colleague of mine who was

27:51

telling his story. And he said

27:51

that before I took this

27:56

opportunity, I went through a

27:56

very logical framework on what I

28:00

ready for it. And I said to him,

28:00

like, amazing, you know, when I

28:06

took the job, I didn't think for

28:06

one minute, I just went for it.

28:10

And then I will figure out

28:10

damages. But I actually don't

28:15

Yeah, so I always have had this

28:15

kind of moving forward, and I

28:19

will figure it out. And it

28:19

sounds wrong. But I was still

28:24

saying to myself, fake it till

28:24

you make it doesn't mean that

28:28

I'm a big believer on honesty.

28:28

And I think everybody who knows

28:32

me who I work with, knows what

28:32

an advocator I'm for honesty.

28:38

But for myself, I was saying

28:38

many times I have no clue what I

28:42

should do, but I'm going to

28:42

figure it out. It hurts. But I'm

28:46

going to figure it out. Clearly

28:49

you deliver.

28:49

Because the world of Formula One

28:52

and for those who are not

28:52

familiar, it's a revolving door.

28:55

Yeah, right. There are

28:55

constantly driver transitions,

28:58

constant team transitions,

28:58

constant new sponsors, all of

29:02

this. It's very chaotic, from my

29:02

perspective. And yet you have

29:07

remained in the midst of all

29:07

that chaos. So clearly, you're

29:12

doing something right, that

29:12

says, Well, we have to keep you

29:16

on the team, no matter what

29:16

happens.

29:18

So I would also

29:18

say that very early on, I

29:21

realized that I got lucky. But

29:21

the luck usually doesn't sustain

29:26

if you don't actually deserve

29:26

it. And I realized that very

29:30

early on. And I realized that

29:30

now I've got a golden

29:34

opportunity, which I'm going to

29:34

hold on, but I need to earn the

29:39

respect. And earning that

29:39

respect means that you go

29:44

through the bend, you figure it

29:44

out. You work hard on yourself

29:47

that you develop the skill and

29:47

you show evolution. And I'm just

29:52

a big believer on that. You

29:52

know, you earn your respect, the

29:56

respect is not given. It's

29:56

earned. And I realized very

30:00

Early on, and I knew that Okay,

30:00

Now is my time to, you know,

30:03

work hard and get through it and

30:03

show to the world that I'm here

30:08

to stay. You

30:10

just use a great

30:10

phrase, which is show evolution,

30:13

can you expand a little bit on

30:13

what you mean by that,

30:17

you know, when you

30:17

are young, you think you know a

30:20

lot more than you do. And it's

30:20

actually a scary place because

30:24

you don't know what you don't

30:24

know. So showing the ability,

30:29

actually having the awareness

30:29

that I don't know everything,

30:33

but I have the will to learn.

30:33

And I can show that like,

30:37

despite I'm not good at

30:37

everything, I can still

30:39

progress. And even on things

30:39

where I think I know everything,

30:45

when someone brings a different

30:45

viewpoint. And you're still able

30:49

to change your mindset and

30:49

evolve with the more information

30:54

you have. Because after all, we

30:54

make our decisions based on the

30:57

information we have. Which means

30:57

that it's likely that we are not

31:02

always right. Because when

31:02

someone else making more

31:06

information, also, our decision

31:06

making should be able to be open

31:10

to different decision.

31:13

That's a great

31:13

perspective, thanks for sharing

31:15

that. And I think that's what

31:15

people want to see of their co

31:18

workers, the people that they

31:18

lead the people they manage,

31:21

even family members, we want to

31:21

see that someone is growing, we

31:24

don't necessarily expect

31:24

perfection. But if you can

31:26

demonstrate that evolution,

31:26

that's a huge thing.

31:29

I think you'll see

31:29

in the work environment, I

31:31

always even know more that when

31:31

you see the hungry individual

31:36

who is showing the humility, the

31:36

willingness to learn, and

31:41

showing that while they're

31:41

willing to learn, they're also

31:44

showing the progress that

31:44

actually that's what you thought

31:47

I took on board. And I'm

31:47

evolving and creating this own

31:51

ownership on their own thought

31:51

process. So I think this you

31:55

really value on a work

31:55

environment for yourself that

31:58

independence, independent

31:58

decision making, based on the

32:02

information that you learn from

32:02

others. Okay,

32:05

so let's return

32:05

to your story again. And I'm

32:08

going to call back to what you

32:08

were saying about based on what

32:12

write that evidence, the proof

32:12

that it's working. What was the

32:16

first moment where you look

32:16

back? Because Formula One is all

32:23

evidence based? Right? You won?

32:23

Or you didn't? What was the

32:27

first moment where you felt I

32:27

made an impact? What just

32:31

happened that victory? I feel

32:31

like I had a hand in that. I

32:36

know, you're humble guy. But

32:36

yet, you can also recognize,

32:39

wow, I trained this driver to do

32:39

something that they didn't do

32:43

before. Did you have a moment

32:43

like that? Where you felt like,

32:46

Okay, I belong here. You know,

32:48

I think that was

32:48

the time also, that's a very

32:51

early, early stage on where I

32:51

really didn't know everything

32:55

where I thought about like,

32:55

okay, now I made amazing

32:58

offseason preparation. And now

32:58

they are hitting new PRs, they

33:02

are developing as an athlete.

33:02

And I thought that that's the

33:04

result because of key results on

33:04

track. But that was also the

33:08

time where I didn't know what I

33:08

didn't know. And it was almost

33:12

the other way around, that I

33:12

started learning about the

33:15

Formula One that it's so

33:15

complicated. It's so complex,

33:19

where the physical performance,

33:19

the driver is just one big piece

33:24

of the puzzle, but not all. So I

33:24

think those were the

33:29

enlightening moments that you

33:29

understood that like, Yes, I can

33:33

see the progress on the athlete,

33:33

I can see that they are

33:35

developing skills, what they

33:35

didn't have, how it's going to

33:38

impact the end result, after

33:38

all, and that's where I started

33:43

realizing that, okay, this

33:43

formula one is actually a lot

33:46

more complicated than I thought.

33:46

But that also keeps you very

33:50

much grounded. That despite you

33:50

see, you're growing as an

33:54

athlete, having a new skill sets

33:54

in the sport, but also outside

33:59

the sport. Those are the moments

33:59

where you really feel rewarding

34:02

that okay, you know, after all

34:02

we are, so to say that teachers

34:07

for the young kids or the young

34:07

athletes, and that's why you

34:09

feel immense reward. When you

34:09

see them growing, however, the

34:15

sport is so much more the car

34:15

and the 1000 people that is

34:19

working on those two cars, keeps

34:19

you quite grounded on that

34:24

despite you doing your job, it

34:24

doesn't mean that it that's all

34:27

down to you. So

34:29

in a situation

34:29

like that, where there are so

34:31

many variables, right, massive

34:31

team, hundreds of people, the

34:35

car is a factor. The track is

34:35

affected the weather is all

34:39

these different things. How do

34:39

you measure your success as a

34:45

performance coach? How do you

34:45

How can you say objectively that

34:49

what you did is having an impact

34:49

on the outcome? So I

34:55

think this has

34:55

been a big struggle over the

34:57

years because it's such a skill

34:57

With an past specific sport with

35:02

so many elements on it, that I

35:02

really struggled on, really

35:06

quantifying my own input. But at

35:06

the same time you go again, back

35:10

to the first question, what are

35:10

we looking for? And then you

35:14

start looking for, are we

35:14

getting closer? Where we're

35:17

supposed to go? What part of a

35:17

smile? And what is not? Is that

35:23

important? I don't think so.

35:23

Because in the end, I'm there

35:27

for the athlete, not for myself.

35:27

So if we are moving towards our

35:31

what, what is the target and the

35:31

goal? I think that's after all,

35:36

the most important thing isn't

35:36

about me, it's about that self.

35:40

Always that there is KPIs where

35:40

you see that, like, there is

35:43

some markers reports that where

35:43

you try to have objective and

35:47

subjective measures where you

35:47

think about a lot, okay, you

35:50

know, for

35:51

those who are not

35:51

familiar, what is a KPI and what

35:54

are some of your KPIs with the

35:54

driver,

35:57

it's a key

35:57

performance indicator. So it can

36:00

be as easy as let's say, hi, you

36:00

jump, and you measure the jump

36:05

height over time where you see

36:05

your evolution. That's an easy

36:09

example of KPIs

36:11

for Formula One

36:11

driver though, what are those

36:13

KPIs? That's,

36:15

I think, what is

36:15

the one of the most difficult

36:17

thing to actually set objective

36:17

where you can say, Okay, now for

36:21

the Formula One driver, this is

36:21

a very relevant KPI. So then you

36:26

are rather having KPIs which are

36:26

external, and not internal,

36:30

because those KPIs has so many

36:30

variables that they have become

36:34

very unreliable. So then it's

36:34

really a physiological markers,

36:38

which can be a test results. It

36:38

can be autonomic nervous system

36:42

data, longitudinal sleep

36:42

tracking, whatever you use it in

36:47

your training to measure your

36:47

own performance. So it's more

36:50

like those external KPIs rather

36:50

than internal because in the

36:54

internal, it's difficult to set

36:54

one internal KPI because there's

36:58

too many variables. Yeah. Which

36:58

makes it very unreliable.

37:02

So you mentioned

37:02

sleep, which I imagine is a huge

37:06

factor in what's going on. Let's

37:06

dig into this just a little bit.

37:09

What is a training week, like,

37:09

with you? And one of the drivers

37:17

like, let's say, Daniel, how

37:17

many times do you meet? How many

37:21

hours are you spending each

37:21

time? What are you doing? Can

37:24

you just kind of paint a picture

37:24

of what the day and life is of a

37:27

performance coach for f1?

37:29

Yes, I think every

37:29

single driver has their own bus

37:32

driver performance coach. But I

37:32

also think there's almost 20

37:36

different roles. When I started

37:36

the job. I was a 24/7,

37:40

performance assistant for my

37:40

athletes, where I spend the

37:43

morning till the evening with

37:43

the driver. So it varies a lot

37:48

between the drivers. For

37:48

example, now I'm with Daniel,

37:51

where Daniel is already a lot

37:51

more experienced athlete, which

37:55

needs a lot less one to one

37:55

time, because he's been in the

37:58

game for very long. And for us,

37:58

it's mostly a distance coaching

38:03

when it comes to outside of

38:03

track training activity. It's

38:06

more like consultation. As then

38:06

if I compare my previous ones,

38:11

for example, for PA Gastly we

38:11

spend about 300 days together

38:16

from morning till evening. So

38:16

the framework looks very

38:20

different. How a week look like,

38:20

that also varies because we

38:26

think that we have 24 raises in

38:26

the calendar. But there is 25

38:31

simulator days, there's 30

38:31

marketing days, and so much

38:36

more, as well as there is also

38:36

the personal life. So there's a

38:41

lot going on also outside a

38:41

track. So your whole schedule,

38:46

pretty much tells how much time

38:46

we have. And then you try to

38:51

play between the recovery time

38:51

and the development time. And

38:56

that's the Juggle. I always say

38:56

that getting fit in Formula One,

39:00

I think, is doable, because it's

39:00

just following a logical

39:05

framework and path. What is most

39:05

difficult is the lifestyle of an

39:09

f1 driver. Because it's so

39:09

chaotic. Okay,

39:13

so let's talk

39:13

about that a little bit. First,

39:16

let's paint a picture of the

39:16

chaos that is a Formula One

39:21

driver. And then the more

39:21

important thing with me speaking

39:24

to you is what do you do? What

39:24

do you say to them? To help them

39:29

manage that, so that it doesn't

39:29

become physically and mentally

39:33

fatiguing? So yeah, if you can

39:33

just kind of paint like, what

39:36

it's like and then what you're

39:36

doing to help them with that. I

39:39

will start from

39:39

the framework again, it's like I

39:42

think so much time we're paying

39:42

attention on optimizing

39:46

everything, but the real life

39:46

world in Formula One is non

39:51

optimal. So I always approach

39:51

the coaching philosophy on

39:57

building resilience, because

39:57

like Say, now we came from

40:02

Saudi, Daniel flew back to

40:02

London form simulator the day

40:07

after he flew to Australia, then

40:07

he's having number of marketing

40:14

activities before the crown Prix

40:14

in Australia. So it's far from

40:19

being ideal. And the same

40:19

pattern, repeat itself, so

40:24

often, that the preparation

40:24

between optimal is far from

40:29

being optimal. And therefore,

40:29

being having the resilience

40:34

psychologically, and

40:34

physiologically is so important.

40:38

How

40:38

do you arm them

40:38

with that resilience? And what

40:40

does that mean in the context of

40:40

Formula One? What practices do I

40:44

need to have to be resilient,

40:46

there's resilience, let's say psychologically, you already

40:48

know is that you build that

40:52

framework for them that they

40:52

know what they are supposed to

40:56

do, and repeating, repeating.

40:56

And then you know, building

41:00

resilience is applying,

41:00

breaking, regenerating,

41:04

breaking. So it's this kind of

41:04

cycle where you create this

41:08

toughness on just repeating

41:08

similar activities, and being

41:12

able to go through when it

41:12

doesn't feel always good.

41:15

And regardless of

41:15

where they are, right, even if

41:18

they're on the road, they repeat

41:18

those same activities, yes,

41:21

because after all,

41:21

they have so many stakeholders

41:23

that are expecting them to

41:23

perform at the highest level,

41:27

you have 330 days when someone

41:27

is expecting something from you.

41:32

And it's no way that they always

41:32

feel optimum. As

41:35

a time management

41:35

guy. I feel overwhelmed just

41:39

thinking about that. Because

41:39

when you're not on the road,

41:44

it's easy to have a regimen,

41:44

it's easy to say I wake up at

41:48

this time, I exercise at this

41:48

time, that's how I operate. So I

41:55

can see this difficult balance

41:55

that you must have to help them

41:59

achieve, which is the regimen,

41:59

but also the flexibility. Right?

42:05

How many hours a day when all

42:05

this other stuff is going on?

42:09

How many hours a day, does a

42:09

driver have to devote to

42:13

physical fitness or doing things

42:13

that promote their wellness? Is

42:18

it an hour a day? Is it two

42:18

hours a day like? And how do you

42:21

help them manage that

42:23

I think that's

42:23

also varies a lot. Because you

42:25

know, when you have preseason,

42:25

the drivers can train up to 20

42:28

hours a week. But when we come

42:28

to NCS and then the competitive

42:33

season, it suddenly goes down at

42:33

half, and then you have between

42:38

five and 15. And we are probably

42:38

somewhere in the middle 10 hours

42:43

a week that they have the time.

42:43

And you know, even the

42:46

trainability because you know

42:46

that it's not pointless to push

42:51

over the limit when the body's

42:51

not ready to receive the

42:54

stimulus. So there's always this

42:54

battle of playing with what is

42:58

optimal? And what is the

42:58

development work and what is

43:02

like, let's say when we gather

43:02

sleep data from the weekend, and

43:06

then we still have to go for

43:06

session on Monday or Tuesday, we

43:09

know that body is not ready yet.

43:09

The battery is not 100%. And we

43:14

still we got to go through it.

43:16

I want to ask one

43:16

question specific to that, which

43:20

is the sleep data. What is your

43:20

belief, or what have you seen is

43:25

necessary for the right amount

43:25

of sleep for a Formula One

43:30

driver, I've

43:32

seen quite a big

43:32

variety on the way they sleep

43:37

and some of them functions in my

43:37

extremely well with six. And you

43:44

still know that that's not an

43:44

optimal amount. As we know that

43:48

if I had the six hours a day,

43:48

which I have, often I feel sub

43:51

optimal. And yet I've seen other

43:51

examples that feels like they

43:57

just can't go. And despite the

43:57

types of changes, they just be

44:01

able to repeat this nine hours

44:01

of great sleep. So I've seen

44:05

such a huge variety on that. And

44:05

what I always say is that, like

44:10

I think individually, you cannot

44:10

look fully on the daily number.

44:13

You gotta go look at the trends.

44:13

Interesting.

44:17

Yeah, I think

44:17

that's a huge factor in

44:19

productivity and performance.

44:19

And I think it doesn't get

44:22

talked about enough. Yeah, I

44:22

know. Personally, I require

44:25

nine.

44:26

Yeah. Then I think

44:26

there's always the differences.

44:30

I think the harder your life is,

44:30

the more demand there is.

44:34

There's also the more demand for

44:34

self care. And I think that's

44:38

where the balance always fall

44:38

out, is that when things get

44:41

tough, we also fall out on that

44:41

self care. Whereas when the

44:46

harder the physical stress on

44:46

the body, the more you need to

44:49

recover. And that's not usually

44:49

the balance that we see.

44:53

That is so true.

44:53

I wrote a book imperative called

44:57

The Power having fun and I Talk

44:57

about how it's mandatory, it is

45:02

something that we need to

45:02

schedule in our life. In

45:05

addition to the sleep and all of

45:05

the exercise, we have to have

45:08

that self care. And yes, I love

45:08

that the higher demand, the

45:12

higher the need for self care.

45:12

What a great statement. And

45:15

I think that's

45:15

always the first one to fall

45:17

out. You know, like when the

45:17

things gets tough, when it gets

45:20

stressful, that's where we start

45:20

eating bad, sleeping bad. And

45:26

just feeling bad as it's should

45:26

be the other way around, the

45:30

harder it gets, the more self

45:30

care we need. It's such a

45:34

reality in today's world that,

45:34

you know, when I don't sleep

45:37

well, or when I'm very stressed,

45:37

I started skipping on the things

45:41

that actually really make me

45:41

feel good and relaxed and

45:45

recovered.

45:46

Yeah, I think

45:46

that's a great place to bring up

45:48

a question I had about your

45:48

personal life. You were recently

45:53

engaged. Congratulations on

45:53

that. Thank

45:56

you. Thank you.

45:57

So brings up a

45:57

couple of questions with such a

46:00

demanding schedule. How were you

46:00

able to carve out time to build

46:06

that relationship? And how do

46:06

you continue to make time for

46:09

that relationship?

46:11

You know, I always

46:11

had the rule on me that like, I

46:14

really want to separate my

46:14

private line and work life. So I

46:19

always was thinking that I never

46:19

want anyone that knows that

46:23

world. Because when I come home,

46:23

I want to be in a world where my

46:27

partner doesn't talk about my

46:27

work, or doesn't know about this

46:31

so much. Yes, after all. That's

46:31

the place where I met my

46:35

fiancee. And then I realized

46:35

that actually, she understands

46:39

me. And this is such a relief,

46:39

because I always had the

46:43

struggle that if I ever met

46:43

someone that I felt like they

46:47

could never relate and fully

46:47

understand why I'm not at my

46:51

peak, when I come from travels,

46:51

why I need a little bit time to

46:55

recover why I've seen the

46:55

challenges on keeping the

46:59

relationship because the limited

46:59

time I have and the very

47:03

unstable life I have. But then

47:03

soon, I realized that actually,

47:07

it was great to have someone

47:07

that actually understands the

47:10

world. And yet, it's still

47:10

always a juggle. She doesn't

47:14

work in Formula One anymore. But

47:14

she's been working there. And

47:17

she knows exactly how it is. And

47:17

that's been amazing support for

47:21

me that I don't need to feel

47:21

always bad when I come home, and

47:25

I have no energy. It's rather

47:25

being someone having

47:29

understanding and giving you the

47:29

energy and support and that I

47:32

have time to, you know, recover

47:32

myself, but also actually, what

47:36

I always value is the time then

47:36

outside of work. And this is

47:41

something what I learned over

47:41

the years is how important for

47:44

me is to separate those two

47:44

worlds.

47:47

From a systemic

47:47

perspective, how do you carve

47:50

out that time, we've talked

47:50

about the demands and all the

47:53

different things that need to

47:53

take place with Formula One? So

47:56

how do you say here is time and

47:56

I'm going to protect that time?

48:00

I'm not going to let other

48:00

things get in the way. From a

48:03

practical standpoint, how is

48:03

that accomplished? So

48:06

for the most part,

48:06

and for the most part of my

48:09

life, I have failed massively.

48:09

Because the internal drive and

48:15

the fire that I have had to make

48:15

it no matter what. And I still

48:20

feel like I haven't made. So the

48:20

fire that is inside has always

48:25

been. I saw that. I don't care

48:25

how much I have time, I'm just

48:31

willing to sacrifice over and

48:31

over and over time to get to the

48:34

next stage. And this. I think

48:34

having Kiara in my life has

48:40

brought for me the contrast on

48:40

understanding what actually can

48:44

be also very important and even

48:44

more important than the work and

48:47

the success. And I think she's

48:47

been the biggest impact on my

48:51

life on bringing the contrast

48:51

and the understanding for my own

48:56

blind spots. That is not all

48:56

about work in then you know,

48:59

like one day when you're in the

48:59

deathbed, you don't think about

49:02

your your bank account. What do

49:02

you think about is the people

49:06

that you have spent time with?

49:08

Yeah. And so do

49:08

you have a specific date that

49:11

you have each week or you look

49:11

ahead on the schedule to

49:14

beginning of the week and say,

49:14

here's the time that we can

49:16

reconnect?

49:17

We do that

49:17

actually, when I'm back from

49:20

travels, we always try at least

49:20

once a week to do a date night.

49:25

And I think we have been pretty

49:25

adamant on having that time

49:28

together. And but also now with

49:28

a partner I have, it's almost

49:33

also coming also naturally,

49:33

because I also look the place

49:37

for myself where I feel like I'm

49:37

relaxing. It's almost like this

49:41

vacuum cleaner that I start

49:41

pulling towards because I felt

49:45

like that's the place where I

49:45

recharge my battery.

49:49

That's great.

49:49

Talk to me about the future.

49:52

What do you see ahead? In the

49:52

next few years. I saw that you

49:57

have an app that you're working

49:57

on. Is that correct?

50:00

Yes, that is a

50:00

work in progress, which I've

50:02

been working for over a year

50:02

now. And I always also been in

50:07

my career quite strategic. And I

50:07

knew that the Formula One won't

50:11

be there for the rest of my

50:11

life. And there is skill sets

50:15

that I would like to learn with

50:15

outside of Formula One. And

50:20

that's why I took this app

50:20

project on my own as my personal

50:25

development project, to develop

50:25

skills. But again, even more

50:30

importantly, give for the people

50:30

that I didn't have a chance to

50:33

do it before. Because I've got

50:33

so many times I've got reach out

50:37

where people are asking, like,

50:37

Could you help me on this? Could

50:41

you have advices, and I always

50:41

felt so bad that I just didn't

50:45

have the time what it required

50:45

to really build the system. So I

50:49

wanted to create a platform

50:49

where it's accessible for very

50:54

low price and gain get into my

50:54

coaching system where which I

50:59

believe, can provide life

50:59

happiness, better performance,

51:04

because I'm not particularly a

51:04

big fan of the current fitness

51:09

trend. And the mentality that

51:09

seems to be where it's very

51:12

aesthetically driven. Because I

51:12

feel like working inside out is

51:18

probably even better. Like

51:18

finding a purpose that improves

51:23

your life quality is something

51:23

way more valuable than your

51:26

biggest biceps or your quads or

51:26

something like that. So I wanted

51:31

to bring something that come

51:31

from my heart and brings my

51:34

system into people's

51:34

approachable for people to join

51:38

into the moment, and I can't

51:38

wait to be out it will take

51:41

probably some months. But it's

51:41

working progress. And it's

51:44

coming nicely together. I'm

51:44

super excited. Where's

51:48

the best place for people who want to follow you they want to stay up to date

51:50

with what you're doing with the

51:52

app? Where would you like people

51:52

to go to to stay connected with

51:55

you.

51:56

I'm probably the

51:56

most active on Instagram, I

51:58

could still be even more active.

51:58

My handle is Guru dot Salmela.

52:03

And my app is called period app.

52:03

And

52:07

for those who are

52:07

not familiar with Finnish,

52:11

pronunciation, that's p yry. Sal

52:11

me la Yeah,

52:16

that is called a p y ry.

52:19

All right. So

52:19

here's the point in the

52:22

interview. And by the way, I

52:22

feel like we could and, and I

52:25

honestly feel like I should go

52:25

on talking to you about this for

52:28

quite a while. But I know your

52:28

time is very limited. So what

52:31

I'm going to do now is I do this

52:31

with every guest, where we

52:35

summarize possible action items.

52:35

And I'm sure you'll agree with

52:38

this. It's not just about

52:38

hearing, it's not just about

52:41

learning, it's about doing it's

52:41

about putting it into practical

52:45

application. So what I want to

52:45

do is suggest action items that

52:49

someone listening to this,

52:49

regardless of their job, could

52:52

implement this week, something

52:52

small that they could do. So I'm

52:56

going to suggest three and I

52:56

love periodo for you to suggest

53:00

one as well. My gosh, there's so

53:00

much here in this interview. The

53:04

first one I'm going to start

53:04

with is that concept of when

53:07

you're helping someone perform

53:07

when you're helping a driver

53:10

improve. You look at the what,

53:10

which is the end goal, the how,

53:15

and then the based on what the

53:15

evidence, I'm going to focus

53:19

first of all on the based on

53:19

what the measurement, too often

53:23

we set goals, and we are not

53:23

properly measuring them. We're

53:27

not saying here's how I know I'm

53:27

moving toward that goal. So I'd

53:32

invite someone who's listening

53:32

to this, whether you're trying

53:35

to lose weight, or get a

53:35

promotion, or crease your

53:37

savings, define how you're going

53:37

to measure your progress on that

53:42

and then start tracking that

53:42

measurement over time. And

53:46

that's going to help you know

53:46

whether or not you have to make

53:48

adjustments to what you're

53:48

doing. The other one that I want

53:52

to highlight is that concept of

53:52

adding value, how you recognize

53:58

that you had this lucky moment,

53:58

you created the lucky moments

54:01

for your preparation, but you had this lucky moment with Formula One. And then you said

54:03

I'm going to hold on to this,

54:06

I'm going to maximize this. And

54:06

the way that I'm going to do

54:09

this is by adding value. And I

54:09

would encourage anyone listening

54:12

to this to ask the question, How

54:12

am I adding value to my job call

54:18

my adding value to this

54:18

opportunity that I have not? How

54:22

can I do what's expected of me?

54:22

That's not enough. It's how can

54:26

I do just a little bit more than

54:26

what's expected of me. And

54:29

that's what's going to help you

54:29

maximize the value of these

54:32

opportunities. That's what I did

54:32

with LinkedIn learning. That's

54:34

what I try to do with my books.

54:34

That's what I'm trying to do

54:37

with these interviews is to add

54:37

value give more than expected.

54:41

And then the last one is I'm

54:41

going to highlight that phrase,

54:45

the higher the demand, the

54:45

higher the need for self care.

54:48

So with whatever it is that

54:48

you're pursuing in life right

54:51

now. Always need to carve out

54:51

time to take care of yourself.

54:56

That's physical fitness that's

54:56

getting the sleep that you need.

55:00

That's making time to have fun.

55:00

So ask yourself, Am I giving

55:05

myself enough self care? And if

55:05

not, where can I schedule some

55:09

time to provide more of that for

55:09

myself, and make that a priority

55:13

in your week? All right, those

55:13

are just three that I focused on

55:18

Pier two, what would you add to

55:18

that?

55:21

I would add on

55:21

winning a focus on your

55:24

environment. We often talk about

55:24

the motivation, the how

55:28

important is the internal

55:28

motivation. And I say that,

55:31

whereas it's important,

55:31

personally, it's a little bit,

55:35

or I would say that motivation

55:35

is important, but often

55:40

overlooked, because that's only

55:40

the initial spark. It's the

55:45

consistently what gets you

55:45

things done, not the motivation,

55:48

the first part that you got. So

55:48

creating an environment that is

55:53

posting those positive

55:53

behaviors, that makes you in a

55:56

good mood, that's how I always

55:56

create the framework on how I

56:00

make my day. And this is a lot

56:00

about how you create your

56:04

environment. So what are the

56:04

steps that makes you in a good

56:07

mood, how you get started, you

56:07

get a good start on your day,

56:12

how I make my day. And that's a

56:12

lot about posting environment.

56:16

I love it. Anyone

56:16

can take a moment and consider

56:19

their environment.

56:20

And just think

56:20

about your fridge. If you only

56:23

see the healthy stuff, you're

56:23

likely going to stick with the

56:26

healthy stuff. If you walk by

56:26

your fridge, and there's always

56:30

those junk foods. So no later,

56:30

you're gonna crap on one of

56:33

them. So creating those Yeah,

56:33

habits and behaviors that are

56:38

boosting good habits. And that's

56:38

why the environment is such a

56:43

powerful tool on empowering

56:43

those

56:45

behaviors.

56:45

Fantastic. Thank you for sharing

56:48

that. And we all can take a

56:48

moment to consider if the

56:51

environment is contributing to

56:51

what we want to achieve. Here,

56:54

too. Thank you so much for your

56:54

generosity of this. I know that

56:58

it's a demanding schedule right

56:58

now, in the middle of the

57:01

season. So I'm absolutely

57:01

grateful that you took the time

57:04

to do this.

57:05

Thanks to you.

57:05

It's been a pleasure. And I hope

57:07

there was some valuable thoughts

57:07

on that listeners can learn from

57:12

it's been a great pleasure.

57:12

Thanks for inviting me. Yes.

57:15

And thank you,

57:15

everyone for being here and

57:17

listening. Remember, it's not so

57:17

much about what you heard, or

57:22

the knowledge you gained. It's

57:22

about the action that you take.

57:25

So do one thing based on this

57:25

interview and you'll make

57:29

periodu success story, a part of

57:29

your success story. Thank you

57:34

for listening.

57:36

You've been listening

57:36

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57:38

Show, hosted by my dad, Dave

57:38

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