Podcast 73: Ian Walker on mental toughness
This week’s podcast guest is Dr Ian Walker. A record breaking endurance cyclist and environmental psychologist, Dr Walker not only shares fascinating insight into what it takes to complete epic endurance feats, but also professional advice on mental toughness and how to create powerful habits that stick
Listen to Dr Ian Walker on the 33Fuel Podcast
In his day job as an environmental psychologist, Dr Walker specialises in transport infrastructure, focussing on how to encourage people to make positive decisions and create sustainable habits to increase the use of active travel – think walking, running and cycling.
In his spare time, Ian cycles very, very long distances - he’s pedalled 25,000km in 2019 already, and it's only early November. You may have spotted Ian in the news recently when he broke the world record for cycling across Europe. This solo venture – one of many - saw him pedal 6,300km in under 17 days, breaking the previous record by nearly three days.
When you consider Dr Walker’s professional skills and personal endeavours, you realise he’s in a very unique position to guide to develop mental toughness and create positive habits that last. We hope you enjoy this conversation.
Listen to the interview on your favourite platform
Or watch the interview with Dr Ian Walker on the 33Fuel YouTube Channel
33Fuel podcast: Ian Walker show snippets – on creating powerful habits that stick
“Broadly speaking, we make two types of decisions: quick, automatic ones or slow, deliberate ones.
So, you need to begin by pondering which types of behaviour you want to shift. It’s much easier to change the slow, conscious decision making process than the habits performed automatically.
Firstly, it's important to be mindful about the choices you make.
By far, the best thing – based on research - is to shift those behaviours at a time when your routines are being disrupted…big disruptive events that shake up the context of your behaviour is what breaks habits. Failing that, you can make an attempt to try and take control of the process.”
Dr Ian Walker’s epic bike rides demand the world’s best nutrition. Our Elite Pre and Post Workout Shakes were designed for exactly these kinds of expeditions. With 33 of the world’s most powerful, nutrient dense ingredients, you can rest assured you’re fuelling your body with the absolute best foods nature has to offer
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