Matt Mills is a speaker, trainer, and professional running and leadership coach, who coaches runners and leaders who are ready to take bold action for major change in their life, and are eager to accomplish their top running and self-leadership goals.
As a former Hollywood executive turned coach, Matt focuses on helping runners stay committed to their top goals, and create results with great speed so that they can experience more mental and physical self-mastery, becoming more purposeful, powerful and passionate in their life - on their own terms.
During the course of this interview we discuss what running and triathlon has taught us both. The highs and many lows experienced during races and ultimately how it has delivered key lessons in self-leadership and personal resilience.
“Running serves a huge purpose beyond just racing.”
Matt Mills Top Takeaways:
- Matt was always really focused in his coaching career on helping others who were stuck and could not meet their wanted goals in their lives. While he was training for one of his marathons, he decided to start posting on social media about how he used running to help himself with his goals and help him be better in life. That’s how ‘Coaching on the Run’ was born!
- Matt decided to apply the principles he learned in pushing himself during his runs, races, and marathons in other aspects of his life. How could he challenge himself? What steps can you take to be one step further? These questions applied to both his exercising and his career all while benefiting his mental health.
- Running is not just about taking care of yourself physically but also mentally and emotionally. Whether it’s running or walking, if you need to get away from family for a bit and get time to yourself running can be one of the easiest ways.
- Running is one of the greatest forms of self-leadership because you do not have to wait on anyone else. You can do it by yourself, you can accomplish it by yourself, and you do not have to wait for someone else’s permission. This can give you an immediate feeling of accomplishment and success that can benefit your well-being and self-esteem instantly.
- Matt explains how he reframed his outlook. When he runs in the morning, he frames his mind to remind him that it will help him feel ready for the day and accomplished before even taking a shower. When he runs in the afternoons or after work, he explains that he puts himself in the mindset of washing away his worries or struggles from that day. These two mindsets help him stay motivated no matter when he decides to go for a run.
- Matt and Peter both explain how during some of their early marathons, they both made the mistake of running too fast and keeping a pace that was too fast for the distance. In that experience, Matt learned the hard way that marathons require lots of preparation and you have to put in the work to get the end result that you want. Everyone can run a marathon if they are just willing to put in the work whether they enjoy running or not.
- It’s your mind that will get you through, not your body. Reframing your mind about running is vital to being successful when you hit your lowest point, and this applies to other areas in your life as well, not just running. You first want to visualize what you want to accomplish. How would you feel, or what do you want to do? It’s about reframing your mind to not just think about your run time but how you want to feel when you reach your goals.
- First thing to always thing about, what do you want to accomplish? You should always be thinking first about the person they want to become at the end of their goals, and this applies to both running and life. Then you should ask yourself some hard questions such as, what are your limiting beliefs? What is holding you back?
