Marc Champagne - Behind The Human - a podcast by Anthony Trucks

When we think about physical fitness, it helps us improve our body. So we're stronger. We can do more physically. Marc's area is great because it's one of the underserved areas, which is mental fitness, and why we do not want to have a strong mind. In today's episode, our guest is Marc Champagne, who will share about mental fitness.  

[5:11] Why should we listen to you?

I think other than what you pointed out with the unique care and interesting last name of champagne, I think the other unique part is my characters. I'm just obsessed with questions. So for me, good quality questions are something that I collect, and I collect them off the show, and other podcasts and books and whatnot, and I would probably start asking you questions to unpack or at least leave that conversation, so I've got something new to think about when it comes to an excellent prompt. Cause I feel like it's a universal language that we all ask ourselves these questions. Sometimes they're bigger when we have big life decisions and whatnot, but at the end of the day, if we upgrade the questions, we upgrade the life.

[6:25] How do the questions tied to mental fitness?

The thing I like about mental fitness, just like physical fitness, is that there are just so many different ways you can do it.

[7:15] Someone might try meditation and be like, it's just not for me. What about journaling? What about breathwork or just reflection in general. And that's how it ties in for me. It allows us to pause. I really think that we're in a default kind of autopilot mode most of the time. 

[9:21] How did you stumble upon the beauty and the golden questions? 

Was I was coming out of university; I was starting a corporate-type job. Everyone's going through the same type of training. And I remember asking myself, what if we're all doing the same training? How could I come out of this a bit forward if I'm going to do the same thing? So what I started doing was getting up a little bit earlier and started reading blogs at that time.

[10:00] Robin Sharma was a big one for me. One of his most recent books, the 5:00 AM club, is the principles that I was following, getting up early and just taking in content that would fuel my mind versus starting the day with looping narratives.

[10:42] Then podcasts start coming out, and I'd be listening to these interviews. And there would always be these moments where the guests share that kind of pivotal moment in their life or where they hit a wall and like how they got out of it. And they typically would share this question of some sort. But I've found that the hosts would always just kind of glaze over the question and get into what did you do? And then, all of a sudden, this company has started, or you sold something like whatever the story is. And I was sitting back there, I'm like, hold on, hot one question, pull them out of this and sent them off into this whole other ecosystem or whole other world, and I'd write those questions down. The following day I would journal on them in relation to where I was at in my life. So it was always just again, providing kind of real-life feedback, perspective, and awareness.

[12:23] What's the one that you would share with people?

My big thing is depending on where we're at in our life, the questions change. And that was one of the big reasons why I left that corporate world and started a journaling app because the frustration was there are all these template journals out there that are great, but it's the same thing all the time. It just seems very repetitive.

[13:29]  Something that I've asked myself a lot in the last probably two, three years is what do I want for my life and to really take time, it could be 10, 20 minutes to answer a question and taking time to consciously or intentionally design out the life that you want right now.

[14:52] What do you think happens if Someone in life is not asking the right questions or any questions, and what does that default look like?

I am taking a bit of an audit of what do you want for your life? And then taking a look at this is what I've said that I want. Am I doing those things every day, and are the people in my life and everything that's in my life right now supporting what I want. 

[16:06] You've got some work to do, and it could be hard work. It often is hard work, but once you dedicate yourself to put in the position, whether it's a mental, physical, or relationship, then just like exponential opportunity starts to open up, and it feels the world's connecting with you versus against you and all of that.

[17:47] Is there a point in time when the questions stop? 

You could sit there and reflect all day, but if you're not taking action to then back up of this is what I want; you're just reflecting essentially.

[18:28] I'd be listening to these podcasts and pulling in the content and the information, but then not acting on that knowledge. So then if you're reading a book, then it's just knowledge, which is good. It's on the shelf. And maybe you can kind of pull that at one point when you need it very precisely, but often that doesn't happen versus can I apply this in some way right now in my life? So it's a great question on your part.

[20:42]  Is this something where it's an expansion of this conversation or is it like a better put together of the conversation?

At the core of it, there were great collaborations, a lot of great content in there. And we didn't have the technical skills and developers or the know-how from our perspective to keep up to that level of demand for the app. So it got to the point where we couldn't keep it going mentally or financially. I didn't want to go back to my past corporate jobs. So my backup plan was gone. And then that's when the question why did this happen? How could I fail at a colossal level? What would my ex-colleagues think?

[22:18] The feelings of hopelessness and all of that were there. Anxiety, fear, and it was that question that I mentioned, what do I want for the life that pulled me out of that. And the only reason I thought of that question was the hundreds of interviews that I had conducted through the podcast that we're all in this app. That then sparked the idea if we can upgrade and change the set of questions.

[23:27]  So that's what it is called personal Socrates questions that can change your life. And they're two, three-page profiles designed to either be your mental fitness for the day or at least help you pause and think.

[24:42]  What promise did God make to the world when he created you? 

What intuitively comes to mind is to leave people happier in it and more energized than when they first came into the conversation. With me, that's the objective that I always have on whether it's a podcast or any other conversation. 

Key Quotes:

[14:11-14:24] "How do you pause that? Journaling is one way, but it could be meditation or taking walks without thinking or without cramming in a podcast or music and just thinking. There are so many different ways."

[15:08-15:11] “You are the person you surround yourself with.”

 

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