← Kreatures Of Habit Podcast 
Kreatures Of Habit Podcast
Overcoming Addiction Through Routine and Prayer with Mindless Labs | Kreatures of Habit
00:51:40
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- [00:00]
Mike
When life gets really hard and it's impossible to expect tangible things to help you get through a situation, you just got to kind of white knuckle bear and get through. Most people say, God, please help me. Like, what do I got to do here? Please help me. Doesn't matter if you're religious or not.
- [00:21]
Chris Magleby
One of my favorite quotes about religion says religion gives a language to the ineffable. And like our relationship with divine, we, we can't really understand it. It's like our brains really can't comprehend it. It's like if you're trying to teach a bird scale of a music, like the bird's never going to understand that scale, but the bird can sing beautifully. We can't really understand God, but we live it, we're like the bird, we can sing it. And religion almost gives us a way to like, it's. I've heard it said, it's like the blanket that you put over God to give it shape, you know, because it's this invisible, like ineffable thing. And, and I like that. It's like it does provide us a common language to talk about something that is inexpressible. An entrepreneur straight out of New York City. Michael Chernow. What's cracking?
- [01:20]
Mike
I've built my life today as it is on habits and routines. And for years before I was, you know, sort of sent off on this journey, my habits were killing me. Habits are a double edged sword, you know, Like I think up until pretty recently, like when you hear the word habit, rarely do you think positive. You typically are like, oh, I gotta break this bad habit. You know, this habit's killing me. And I think, you know, with the sort of explosion of people becoming more comfortable talking about mental health, the positive habit making has become way more common.
- [02:05]
Caitlin Hansen
Well, think about everyone talking about this is my morning routine. And there's been spoofs on it. Like people put their face in a thing of ice in the morning, right? And so it's like, it's kind of trending to like have a good morning routine or a good evening, evening routine.
- [02:18]
Mike
I think that there are going to be. And I've kind of battled this because I've been talking about morning routine forever. Because it is truly what, you know, prayer is a huge part of my life. Some people like when I say that, some people don't. Like when I say that. I've been praying for 21 years, every single morning on my knees to God. And I do that.
- [02:45]
Chris Magleby
And what will you walk me through? Like, what's what's your prayer? Unless this is too personal. But, like, what. What are you going through when. When you pray? Like, I got taught to start with gratitude and then, like, ask for the things you want. And the way I prayed later in life became very different from that. So I'm curious, like, how you pray?
- [03:05]
Mike
Yeah, I'll tell you my prayer. So I get on my knees and I put my head in my hands like that, and I say, God, grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, the courage to change things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. So I always say the serenity prayer first is what I was taught. It's the first prayer I ever said. And that's how I start my prayer every day. And then I say, God, please help to remove my fears, my insecurities, my character defects, my character assassinations, my wrong thinking and my rationalizing. I can spit it out like that because I've been saying it for 21 years, right? But basically, I built that over years of listening to how other people prayed. And typically, it was like asking God to remove the things that stop you from feeling awesome, you know, only recently. And this came from my breath work coach, he said, you know, Mike, in your prayers, you always ask God to move all the bad things, to remove all the bad things. But what you're kind of doing there is you're putting those things into the world, right? You're saying fear, you're saying insecurity. You're saying character defect. You're saying a set, character assassination. You're saying wrong thinking. You're saying rationalizing. So, like, by you even just mentioning that and asking God to relieve that from you, you are bringing it up. So why don't you try either removing that and not saying those things or adding, and God, please introduce happiness and confidence and courage and kindness and positivity and presence, optimism. And so I've now added that I first removed the fear stuff. And then I felt like, you know, I've been saying this for a long time. My life is pretty damn good. I. I'm going to keep that in, and I'm going to add the stuff that I want in a positive way. So then I go into that, and then I have a very long list of people that I pray for, and I think the bulk of my prayer is honestly saying their names. So I say, God, please help to bless a long list of people. And once you are on that list, you're just there. And so, as you can imagine, I've been doing this for 20 years plus. Like there are people that are dead on that list. And what I've thought about in my prayers when I say their names and the cool thing about saying and praying for other people is that you like for me anyway, is that I see their face in my prayer. So I intentionally say their name and I think of them and that's kind of like. And specifically for the people that I'm struggling with. I add people that I battle with onto that prayer and. But I also pray for everybody I love and I care about and I want the best for. And so it starts my day and it's kind of that gratitude thing where I think about all the people in my life, whether close or far away, that I really care about and I really love. And for the people that have passed away, I think of them as guardian angels. So I think of all of my grandparents. I say their names every single morning. My angels, friends who have overdosed on drugs, my angels. And, and, and now I have this team of like living and, and, and people that are no longer with us in, in my morning that I'm just thinking about in a positive way. It just puts a smile on my face and it makes me intentionally think of, of, of people that I care about and people that I want to, you know, have a better relationship with and.
- [06:41]
Chris Magleby
Pretty cool, by the way.
- [06:43]
Mike
Yeah, I mean that's been a really. And like that's the bull bulk of the prayer. You know, it probably takes me like three minutes or so to get through that list. And then I say something called the set aside prayer, which is basically, lord, please help to set aside everything I think I know so that I can get through this day with an open heart and open mind and a new experience. Basically asking God to let me start off on a clean slate, not allow yesterday's pain to impact how I feel today so that it influences my decision making with someone else. So I'm not projecting what happened yesterday into today. And then I say that will not mind be done. And, and that's been my prayer. And you know, for a long time I was praying to the universe. I didn't really know what I was praying to. I never grew up in a religious kind of situation, so I, I just didn't have like any sort of secular. But quite frankly, over the last year or so Jesus has become a part of my life. And, and I'm not like all in there ne necessarily yet. Like I'm still skeptical and doing my research, but I've been using Jesus and the Lord as Like my. Who I'm praying to. And I think after 21 years of having this spiritual practice, having a real direction has felt good for me. It's just felt good. So I think prayer is really awesome. And, you know, for anybody who. And. And I've taken a lot of. From this too. You know, talking about God and Jesus and prayer, you know.
- [08:15]
Chris Magleby
Interesting.
- [08:16]
Mike
Yeah.
- [08:16]
Chris Magleby
Seems like it's. People are becoming more. To me, it seems like more accepting of.
- [08:22]
Mike
Of.
- [08:23]
Chris Magleby
Of that kind of stuff.
- [08:24]
Mike
I think it is. But I still think that the people that just don't have that practice tend to feel icky around hearing it. My thought process is, hey, if there is a free. Like, if there's a free support system that you may or may not know, but it's just free, it's not hurting you. It's not hurting you, you can just tap into it. You could talk to a potential power that really is the Master and the Creator. Like, if you could talk to that and there may be some chance that that, that energy, that power is going to help you get further along. Why wouldn't you opt in, man? It's like, why wouldn't you? It's just like. And by the way, don't like, roll your eyes at the people that are passionate about it, right? Like, look, I understand when there's, like, real evangelical Christians that are, like, in a setting and they're just like, no, no, no. Like, Jesus is the way. And you're like, all right, dude.
- [09:32]
Caitlin Hansen
What's interesting is it's something that you do in your morning routine that makes you feel good and starts your day off well. And for you, that could be that. But there's also people that go to the Church of Sauna Cold Plunge that will tell you all about it, and they do it every morning no matter what. And those people, I do it as well. I don't preach about it, but, you know, it's like, people don't like hearing from those people. People don't like hearing from. You know, there's all the fanatics for whatever they're doing and if that's what they do in their morning routine in the privacy of their own home.
- [10:06]
Chris Magleby
Yeah, that's the joke about CrossFit.
- [10:07]
Caitlin Hansen
I was just gonna say that. I'm like, I don't know if I should be caught on a mic. Um, but I mean, why prayer versus whatever you do next in your morning? I mean, of course there's reason, but for me. No, I'm saying why people are mad about it.
- [10:21]
Mike
Well, I don't think People are mad about it. But I, but I think that, you know, there are just certain people that have either bad experience with religion. And so I think that also the misconception is like prayer and religion are not the one and the same. Right.
- [10:41]
Chris Magleby
Like it's, I mean, religion is complicated. Especially like, like you said, we're about the same age. I was born in 1980 and like.
- [10:49]
Mike
In the 80s, we're the exact same age.
- [10:51]
Caitlin Hansen
Don't loop me into the same.
- [10:54]
Chris Magleby
Well, you and I are. Caitlyn's 15 years younger than us. Okay, but like in the 80s and 90s, religion was different. It was like, it was hardcore. Like, I grew up very religious. I, I went on a religious two year mission and I don't practice it anymore. I practice my spirituality very different, but the things I learned are still very beautiful. I still respect it all. But I think even the religion I grew up in is very different now than it was. It was hardcore back then. And I think people who grew up with that have some bad taste in their mouth and I think that's okay.
- [11:33]
Mike
Totally. I mean, look, my wife, for instance, right? Like, my wife is a full fledged atheist. Just she.
- [11:45]
Caitlin Hansen
Is she one of the people heckling you on your podcast about talking about.
- [11:49]
Mike
Interestingly, she wants nothing to do with my prayer talk. And although she's been with me the whole time I've been praying, she has woken me up many a time because, I mean, before I opened up restaurant, I mean, I used to work until 2:30 in the morning, right when I was, when I met Donna. Donna and I have been together 20 years. I've been sober 21 years. And I would come home from work and I would get on the floor and I would pray before bed and sometimes I'd be so damn tired that I would fall asleep in prayer position and literally she would wake me up on the floor of the bathroom being like, what the hell? And I'd be like, oh God, yeah, I'm sorry, you know, but like, she knows the person I am. She knows that this is a big part of my life. And I, and for years I kept it to myself. I did not talk about it. It was just super personal to me. What I have found out is that, you know, this practice can help a lot of people. It doesn't have to be Jesus. It doesn't have to be Buddha, it doesn't have to be Allah, it doesn't have to be Mormonism. It doesn't have to be anything. It really can just be your relationship because it is ultimately A relationship. Right. It's a relationship that you have with a power greater than yourself that you probably would not be able to describe necessarily, like, in detail, but who cares? I just kind of believe that that's a big. It's been a big part of my thing. And my wife, she's just not down. She's not down with it. I wish she was, because if she was, chances are, you know, she doesn't listen to this podcast either, so I could say whatever the hell I want, but if she was, chances are we would probably belong to some church. But, you know, that's a journey that. I'm one of them.
- [13:41]
Chris Magleby
One of my favorite quotes about religion says, religion gives a language to the ineffable. And, like, our relationship with the divine is. Is almost like we. We can't really understand it. It's like our brains really can't comprehend it. It's like. I think of it as like a bird trying to. If you're trying to teach a bird this, like, scale of a music, like, the bird's never going to understand that scale, but the bird can sing beautifully. And it's like, we. We can't really understand God, but we. We live it. We're like the bird. We can sing it. And religion almost gives us a way to, like, it's. I've heard it said it's like the blanket that you put over God to give it shape, you know, because it's this invisible, like, ineffable thing.
- [14:32]
Mike
And.
- [14:32]
Chris Magleby
And I like that it's like, it does provide us a common language to talk about something that is inexpressible.
- [14:41]
Mike
I mean, like. And I think that that actually, like, envisioning that blanket over God like, that, that makes sen. I also think that I've had too many personal experiences that I cannot just, like, I cannot give you a good explanation as to how they manifested outside of the action that I took before it happened and the consistency that I've had within that action that has led me to believe that there is something out there watching my back. And so I kind of look at it as, like, hey, like, I've got a chance every single morning to connect with this thing. You know, chances are, if you got paid to do it, a lot more people would. You know what I mean? Like, if it was like, hey, you know, you're gonna get five bucks every morning.
- [15:32]
Caitlin Hansen
You know, a lot of people will be religious.
- [15:35]
Mike
Oh, yeah, You.
- [15:36]
Chris Magleby
You started off talking about how. How there's science that says your brain might be wired different from someone else's. As having tendencies for addiction. And there's this great book by Dr. Lisa Miller that talks about the brain that spirituality can actually has preventative qualities against depression. And she's, and she has studied the brain and they look at people who practice spirituality and spirituality doesn't. It's not ne. She goes to say it's not necessarily, not necessarily religion. It can be religion, but it's personal spirituality and people that, what you just said, like have this connection to something greater and, and it feels like something has your back. That feeling of something having your back I think is one of the biggest ways to prevent depression and anxiety. For, for me, that's what I felt. And in this book, the Awakened Brain.
- [16:36]
Mike
Is what it's called.
- [16:38]
Chris Magleby
She says we've actually studied brain maps of people who practice spirituality and the part of their brain that prevents against depression is actually stronger. And it's, she talks about the relationship between religion and, or spirituality and mental health and it's very, very interesting.
- [16:56]
Mike
Well, when you really think about it, right, like religious people are not people that deal with mental illness or not. When, when life gets really hard and it's, it's, it's impossible to expect tangible things to help you get through a situation. You just kind of, kind of white knuckle bear and get through. Most people say, God, please help me. Like what do I got to do here? Please help me. Doesn't matter if you're religious or not. And so, you know, I just kind of say, hey, like if you could do that every day, God please help me. Like your chances of like, you know, being a little, like life being a little easier on you are just greater, you know, like little actions that you can take. So like that prayer piece is a big part of the morning stuff for me. I go right into pushups. I go right after those pushups, I go right into stretching. I've got a skincare thing, an oral care thing. And, and that's like my non negotiable morning routine, right? I think that that is, I have found that routine in the morning is just having a structure. It's a win. A win makes you feel good. The little wins stacked up together over time compound. Just like if you were to put a dollar into a bank account every single day, you know, it's just a dollar, it's just a dollar is just a dollar. But at the end of the year it's $365. At the end of 10 years is $3,650. At the end of 20 years. You know, like. And then. And then it gets interest rate and we just forget about the interest too. You know, like, the interest is just. It's just free. You know what I'm saying? It's just free. So, you know, you. You do these things, not only are you doing them every day, not only are they little wins every day, but then there's interest on top of it. So it just gets bigger and bigger and better and better. And. And so that's how I kind of think of these, like, morning routines and morning rituals. And it's been so helpful for me because I know when I'm not doing it, there is a stark difference in how I feel.
- [18:59]
Caitlin Hansen
Absolutely. You know, we were talking about this yesterday, commitment. You remember that? And it's been interesting. It was actually interesting to start thinking, you know, habits versus routine. Because for me, right now, more than ever in life, those are not the same thing. And my commitment to my habits is greater than my commitment to my routine. Right now it's really hard for me to wake up and get to the gym when I can't leave a newborn child or wake up and do the things that I normally do in my routine. But those habits that I've committed to over my whole life. Right. Every day, like you're talking about, are still there. And so right now I'm just giving grace and realizing it can still have that same impact to work out it. Sometimes it's at night, at night. Sometimes it's at 6 in the morning. Sometimes I read the book that, you know, I try to read every day. And sometimes that happens in the morning and sometimes it doesn't. But the ha. The commitment to the habit is there. And I'm seeing for this chapter of life that that can still feel as fulfilling and as can get me off on the day, like still feeling like I've accomplished something.
- [20:00]
Mike
Right.
- [20:01]
Caitlin Hansen
I wanna make my bed. I usually do that first thing every morning. Sometimes I do it in the middle of the day. And that's still a win for me. And so I think this is like this huge transitional time in my life, for sure, in so many ways. But to realize the rigidity of routine that I've always had, that I've prided myself on, that you probably feel in your morning routines with your meditation and getting your day started like that. Having that go out the window doesn't mean I have to fail every day at my habits. I can still keep the commitments to those habits in maybe a little bit different form for this period. I don't know. Do you feel like if you don't accomplish those things first thing in the morning, it sounds like you always do, but if you don't that it's a failure right now in your life. Because that's something I think I'm battling a lot right now.
- [20:44]
Mike
So one thing that I'll say is that I think that there's for me and I think for a lot of people that have fallen into this sort of like morning routine, morning ritual thing, there's certainly two different morning routines. There's my non negotiable morning routine that I do no matter what, traveling, tired, whatever, and that is always. I try to wake up, I try to, I mean really where my morning routine starts. And I know this is corny, but it's true. It does start at night when I go to bed. And I like to say, you know, have, have a go to bed alarm over a wake up alarm because if you, if you, if you set an alarm in, in your phone to tell you to go to bed, right? Typically for me it's 9:30, that's when I go to bed. Waking up early in the morning just happens, you know, it's like, it just happens. It's so much harder to go to bed than it is to wake up in the morning. Because if you go to bed at midnight or 1 o' clock and you wake up and you want to get a head start to the day, waking up at 5:30, it's just like not going to happen. And if it does happen, it's not going to be good because you're going to suck all day. So I like to go to bed at 9:30. But I do think that like having that morning routine, which is wake up early, prayers, push ups, stretches, you know, wash my face, oral care, those things I do no matter what the ideal scenario for me is when I'm at home and I'm not traveling and I've got all the toys, you know, I got my sauna, I got my cold plunge, I got my red light therapy, I got my, you know, the, the book that I want to read, I've got the journal that I want to write. Like I have all the things there. And you know, I also, there was a period of time where everybody was like, oh my God, that's such a great morning routine. And then there was a period of time, you know, probably more recently than not where people are like oh my God, that's ridiculous. Like how could you possibly be so selfish to want to do 17 things in the morning? And I'm like, hey, like, the truth is that I do this way before my family wakes up. And I have the ability to do it. We don't have newborns at home anymore. And I can do it. I can wake up at 5:30 and by 7:00 clock in the morning when everybody else is getting up, I've done all these great cool things that make me feel unstoppable. And. And so I did that for a long time. The. The sauna, the call, the reading, the writing, the. That. And honestly, it sucked when it didn't feel good when I decided to pull back from that because I wanted to just be the person that can dip in and out of those things. And. And now I dip in and out and it's totally fine. And I don't feel bad at all this. The other stuff, the prayers, like, it's almost like putting on shoes, you know? Like, sometimes I'll even say to myself, like, am I really. Do I really have a morning routine? Because it's so. But then I play the tape and I'm like, yeah, well, if somebody like there was a video camera on me right now in the morning, waking up and getting on my hand, my hands and knees and praying and doing these pushups and doing these stretches and doing like everybody, that that would be like, that is a definite morning routine, you know? So I think I. I know that if I'm not doing those things, something deep is going on. And like you said earlier, like, when life starts throwing haymakers, like, our first instinct is to retreat and just stop doing the shit that we know makes us feel better. I don't know why that happens, but it is kind of like this weird defense mechanism that I think our ego throws up and it's just like, hey man, things are really hard. You might as well make it tougher, you know? You know, I am like super stoked to have you guys on. Can you just quickly walk through the app and just tell, like, share with the audience, like how they can interact with it and you guys and where they can find you?
- [24:42]
Chris Magleby
You can find us@mindless.org and from there you can. There's a page for the app where you can click and read about the app. You can download it for Android or for Apple. And I don't think we have a smartphone 3 or what's it called? The Light Phone 3. We're probably not going to have one for that, but you can download. The app is free and we partner with mental health professionals that curate all the content. There's hundreds of articles on all sorts of different things. And then there's dozens of practices that people can do on their own. There's also a, a glossary of, of mental health terms. There's assessments that you can do to kind of assess your well being, all sorts of great stuff. And so I, I, it, you know, having gone through my own mental health challenges, this is something that I would have used back then. And that's what we've tried to make. And then like you said earlier, the way we pay for all this is through the apparel. And so we kind of have a premium apparel line, not kind of have one. We actually do have one that has interesting sayings about mental health. And they all have a QR code. Everything that we sell has a QR code embedded on it somewhere that if you scan, it will take someone to the, to the free resources that we, that we offer. And so if people buy the apparel from us, we also love for them to talk about it and to try to reduce stigma and, and kind of share the help that's out there available from us. And, you know, we also have other resources that we can point people to on our website when it gets a little too acute for us to be helping. So we're just trying to make a difference and help people, you know, elevate their consciousness and also understand their, their inner wellness and their, their inner self a little bit better.
- [26:32]
Mike
Awesome. And then for people to find you guys, where would they follow along on your personal journeys? Do you guys share about your personal lives out there in the interwebs?
- [26:42]
Caitlin Hansen
Yeah, I mean, we both have social media for sure. We, on our website, we share our stories in our journey through mental health. We're very open about it. Chris's story is what was the genesis of Mindless Labs. But we kind of actually simultaneously were going through some of the darkest days of our lives. And we're very open about that. We share it on our, on our socials. I think we've both posted about it. Mine's Caitlin H. Hansen. Chris.
- [27:08]
Chris Magleby
Chris Underscore Magleby. I, I post quite a bit on there, but I, we also post to our Mindless Labs account quite often, both of us. So on Instagram you can find us at Mindless Labs, but I'm happy to, I share my stuff as well.
- [27:24]
Mike
Cool. I appreciate you sharing that stuff. You know, look, Creatures of Habit, this is the podcast that we're on. But Creatures of Habit is also a business that I run. And our goal is to really help people make better decisions. Right. Because better habits do equal better lives. It's just, it is a fact. I don't think anybody would kind of attest that. And so the backbone of. Of the business is very similar to what you guys are doing. Right. Help people feel more comfortable in their own skin when battling like everybody else on the planet is battling with the things life throws our way. And we sell oatmeal and a sleep support. And we just made a protein bar that I'm gonna give you guys right now on air.
- [28:12]
Chris Magleby
I thought I saw your story yesterday. It looks like it was being produced. Yeah.
- [28:16]
Mike
So you guys are gonna be the third and fourth people to try this bar outside of Creatures of Habit. So I'm gonna grab them right now.
- [28:22]
Chris Magleby
Okay.
- [28:26]
Caitlin Hansen
And before you walk back on to film, you got to tell me if it's gluten free.
- [28:29]
Chris Magleby
It is gluten free. It's dairy free.
- [28:30]
Mike
There are nuts in it.
- [28:32]
Caitlin Hansen
It's fine.
- [28:35]
Mike
So these are fresh off the press. They were made today.
- [28:38]
Chris Magleby
Do these need to be stored in the fridge? No, no, they don't have to be.
- [28:43]
Mike
No, I mean, they don't have to be. I think they probably. I mean, literally, this is like the first day that we have them.
- [28:49]
Caitlin Hansen
The only dessert I care about eating is if something is chocolate peanut butter. I don't have a sweet tooth and it's a waste of my time. If not.
- [28:57]
Chris Magleby
These are good.
- [28:59]
Caitlin Hansen
Let me tell you how big of a deal that is. Every day he talks. My protein bars. Every.
- [29:04]
Mike
I hate protein bars.
- [29:06]
Chris Magleby
I drink my protein. But what did I just say about your protein bar? It's.
- [29:10]
Caitlin Hansen
I was eating sawdust.
- [29:11]
Chris Magleby
It's sawdust wrap that they make out of.
- [29:14]
Caitlin Hansen
Don't say what brand it is.
- [29:16]
Chris Magleby
I'm gonna say what brand it is. But it's sawdust packaged with clay and.
- [29:22]
Caitlin Hansen
All right.
- [29:22]
Chris Magleby
These are very good.
- [29:23]
Caitlin Hansen
Meeting right now.
- [29:24]
Mike
They're good, right? Yeah. And they're clean as hell.
- [29:32]
Caitlin Hansen
Creatine.
- [29:35]
Mike
So there's 20 grams of protein.
- [29:36]
Caitlin Hansen
I've never seen that in a bar.
- [29:38]
Mike
20 grams of protein, 3 grams of creatine. Plant based, gluten free, dairy free, non gmo.
- [29:46]
Caitlin Hansen
A slow clap.
- [29:47]
Chris Magleby
These are great.
- [29:47]
Caitlin Hansen
They're really good.
- [29:48]
Mike
Like, thank you.
- [29:50]
Chris Magleby
These are going to be successful.
- [29:52]
Mike
Thank you.
- [29:52]
Caitlin Hansen
Yeah, you gotta try their oatmeal.
- [29:56]
Mike
The oatmeal is, is what the business is kind of based around. And I, I'll.
- [30:01]
Chris Magleby
I'm gonna get some because I love oatmeal, actually. And that's.
- [30:03]
Mike
I think you'd love it. If you love oatmeal. If you, if you already Drink your protein and you love oatmeal. It's a no brainer. The only people that I have come across that are just like, no, not for me. Are people that are, that don't have any experience with protein powder. There's 30 grams of protein in the oatmeal. Yeah.
- [30:20]
Caitlin Hansen
So you can taste it, but it's.
- [30:21]
Mike
Still good in my opinion too.
- [30:23]
Caitlin Hansen
What's your favorite flavor? Because there's a lot.
- [30:26]
Mike
Well, there's no doubt that the peanut butter banana has just always been my favorite. However, I just sort of dialed in all the flavors and I, I made. I didn't change any ingredients, but I did increase a few ingredients in a few different flavors. That has made a massive impact on my favorite flavors. Blueberry Banana was always kind of like at the bottom of the list for me. Even though it's a lot of people's favorites. I increased the blue spirulina in the Blueberry Banana. And it's super blue. And it just some, whatever the balance in flavor, we really tweaked everything. So I just like, I, I sat down with our, our formulator and I just said, hey, I want to go through every flavor. I want to touch up some of the salts. I want to, you know, I, I like the. It is the best versions of each flavor, I think ever to date, actually. I know ever to date. And the Blueberry Banana has become a real winner in my, in my book.
- [31:30]
Caitlin Hansen
How long have you been in business?
- [31:32]
Mike
Four years.
- [31:34]
Caitlin Hansen
Is this the first time you've, like, iterated on the product like a whole new line?
- [31:39]
Mike
Fifth.
- [31:40]
Caitlin Hansen
Four years. Okay.
- [31:41]
Mike
So, like, I try to at least once a year, sit down with all the flavors in front of us and just try to tweak it. I am just so happy with how this came out, though. Yeah.
- [31:54]
Chris Magleby
When will these be available?
- [31:56]
Mike
November 14th.
- [31:58]
Caitlin Hansen
Online in stores.
- [32:01]
Mike
Not in stores yet, but online.
- [32:04]
Caitlin Hansen
Do you have other flavors?
- [32:05]
Mike
Yeah. So we have the chocolate peanut butter banger. This is what this is called. Okay. And then the other flavor that we're launching is cookie dough Dazzler. So Cookie dough chocolate peanut butter. Not original. Those are the two best selling protein bar flavors of all time. And so those are the two that I wanted to launch with. We'll have a third flavor coming out in the beginning of the new year. And, you know, congrats.
- [32:32]
Chris Magleby
Honestly, I do not like protein bars. This is very good. I, I honestly will be buying some and having them.
- [32:39]
Mike
Thank you so much. Yeah, that means. That means the world. Like, I. Full transparency. Two years I've been Working on this bar two years.
- [32:49]
Chris Magleby
It tastes like it. It's really good. It's really good.
- [32:52]
Caitlin Hansen
Say that. Is that not kind of validating, being entrepreneur to entrepr? Like, it's hard. It's hard, and it is so much work. And I can't imagine every little detail that you've gone into for these to come up with this product, but I hope you're stoked on.
- [33:06]
Mike
I'm so stoked on it. And thank you for saying that, like, you know, knock on wood, like, creatures of habit has grown every year. And the beauty of the business is that it was all built on my story of overcoming adversity.
- [33:25]
Chris Magleby
Right?
- [33:25]
Mike
Like, I was a deeply addicted to drugs and alcohol. I finally found the courage to ask for help. I called the only person who I knew would. Would actually, like, be helpful, who was sober. She introduced me to her boyfriend. I didn't know her boyfriend, but I. But her boyfriend was also sober. He showed up and he was this super cool tatted up, tough guy that was like this wellness guru 21 years ago. And in those days, wellness wasn't even a thing, right? Like, it just wasn't a thing. And so I meet this dude. He was like 15 or 20 years sober at the time. He wasn't. He was like 35. I was 23. And I was like, oh, my God. Like, is that what sobriety can be? Cool looking dude, guy that I could just totally relate to and like, deeply passionate about how he moves his body and what he puts into his body and his connection to God. I was like, it took me a little while to piece all that together, but this dude was. Wanted to help me. And I was like, I could freaking do this. I could actually, I could get out of this prison. I had overdosed and flatline two weeks prior to that. And I was like, wait, there is, like, this is real. And so this dude gave me this plan. And it was a fitness plan, it was a nutrition plan, and it was a getting to God plan. And he told me to eat oatmeal. He told me oatmeal every morning. He was like, when was the last healthy meal you had? And I was like, I. I have no idea. You know, like, food for me was like mozzarella sticks and like a bowl of pasta and pizza. And I did love marinated mushrooms, so I would eat those strangely. But this guy really introduced me to it, to eating healthy. And it saved my life. It saved my life. And so I've been eating oatmeal from the day he told me to do it to this morning. And that's why I built Creatures of Habit. Because I really wanted to say, hey, like this guy walked into the room right at the perfect time for me. I needed to look up to somebody. I needed to see that somebody cool was doing this. And I've realized now that I personally have been that person for a lot of other men. But now I've created a business that, that, you know, creatures a Habit is not only for people dealing with mental illness or trying to get sober, but it certainly is that too, you know. And so we've created this business to give people, you know, a win in the morning that was massive for me. Like, did oatmeal change and save my life? Honestly, interestingly enough, like, it did it. Like, I needed that win. I needed that win that I could start my day with every day. And, you know, and you guys are doing a very similar thing, my morning.
- [36:26]
Caitlin Hansen
Routine that I could probably commit to every day when everything else goes out the door.
- [36:31]
Mike
Well, the coolest thing about that is that now we just have an easy to eat snack, right, with the oats. Like you have to make it the night before, right. Or you can, or you can make a smoothie. I mean, there's a lot of things to do with it, but this, it's so nice for me to be able to be on a podcast and be like, boom, boom, try this and get that reaction.
- [36:49]
Chris Magleby
Well, it's. For me, it's like 4pm Every day is like when I start filling the. And I've got to eat something.
- [36:56]
Mike
We.
- [36:56]
Chris Magleby
I end up like in our fridge and we have, we call Chip Chat. We have like some chips on top of our fridge. I'll end up like rummaging through the chips. But what I really need is something that's going to give me nutrition instead of just satiate the hunger.
- [37:11]
Mike
Yeah. And that's also not going to like totally destroy your gut. Yeah, right. Like a lot of protein bars, you know, like, the reason why this has taken me so long to make is because I just did not want to sacrifice. But I also did not want a 350 calorie bar because so I met in the middle, right. I knew I wasn't going to be able to make a 200 calorie bar because that's what most people want is this super low calorie, high protein thing. And there are people that have made tastes like sawdust.
- [37:36]
Chris Magleby
That extra 50 calories will be the best 50 calories in your day. It's so much better than the 200 calories.
- [37:43]
Mike
Well, you just know that that is a real food bar.
- [37:45]
Chris Magleby
That's real food.
- [37:47]
Mike
That is like there's not, there's. Yeah. Nothing about that bar says that's my.
- [37:52]
Chris Magleby
Complaint is when I have the other ones, it's like, this is, this is not meant for human consumption. It tastes like not food.
- [38:00]
Caitlin Hansen
You know, this is owning a mental health company. We talk about protein consumption so much at work. It's always like it's a full time job to eat enough protein.
- [38:08]
Mike
Well, now you have at least an additional 20 grams and 3 grams of creatine, which has also been studied with, you know, to help cognitive health. It does.
- [38:18]
Chris Magleby
Hey, before we wrap up, I have to say something that you said earlier that I think it, I guess this came up on a previous podcast. But that idea of that you have addiction instead of you are an addict. What an incredible like mindset, shift and change that can help so many people. It's like, and I would say that that extends beyond addiction. Like, whatever it is, you know, I.
- [38:42]
Mike
Have.
- [38:45]
Chris Magleby
Propensity for certain types of bipolar. It's like I'm, I'm not, I, I'm not. How do I say this? I am not bipolar, but I have some of those tendencies, you know, and it doesn't define who I am as a person. I'm not flawed. And it's just same for you. You know, you have those tendencies that you have addiction, but you as a, as a being, you know, are powerful and whole and as entitled to happiness as, as everybody else.
- [39:16]
Mike
Thank you for saying that. Because I think it's so, the shift in, in the way our words are so powerful. Right? And if you categorize yourself, I am schizophrenic, I am bipolar, I am manic. No, you are Chris, right? You have bipolar disorder. It's something that you have, it's something that you can, you can separate from yourself and work on. And when, when this guy said to me, hey, like, you have addiction, you are not an addict. You have addiction. You, you're like saying, I am X. You're really just putting yourself in a bucket, right? And it was, it was really helpful for me to be able to say, no, no, like, I am not an addict. I have addiction. It's something that I have. It's something that I can work on. It's something that I can manage. It's something that I can deal with. It's something that I can get help for. Something. There, there is a solution for this thing that I have that has, that has really Tried to hold me down, you know, and. And so I think it could live across all sort of mental disorders, mental health disorders that, you know, people are so scared to talk about. You know, people hide these things deep, deep, deep down inside. And, well, we hope that.
- [40:44]
Chris Magleby
I mean, the same way that you took your struggle and then the way out of it through the oatmeal, and you brought that to everybody else, which is like, your story's so powerful, by the way. Like, that's what we're trying to do.
- [40:58]
Mike
We've.
- [40:58]
Chris Magleby
We've been through it, and we want to talk about it. And as a matter of fact, there's so many more people that. That you could even realize who are dealing with it. And we're trying to make a brand that is inviting, that's interesting, that's built on art, that is built on love. And if you are feeling like something's not quite right or you're not quite yourself, come join us. And there's a community of us, and we're getting. We're all getting better together.
- [41:28]
Caitlin Hansen
One of the things that I think is part of my why is when we started this is when I was in the darkest parts of my mental health journey. Like, I just wanted someone to reach down and, like, give me their hand and pull me out of it. And I felt like there was no one. And it's lonely, it's isolating. It makes me emotional, like, to put myself back in those situations. And that's one of the things that gets me going every day to do what we do is because of that, because I want people out there, whether they're in crisis or if they're just, like, wanting to feel a little bit better or optimize how they're feeling, to be able to reach out and have resources and we can grab their hand and say, like, we see you. It's okay to just not feel okay, or for my circumstances to say, like, this can't be it. Like, this can't be all that life feels like forever. Like, I have this one life, and this is it. And to be able to give a hand, whether it's your app or the apparel or a phone call or anything to somebody and just say, like, hey, here we are. Let us pull you out of this. You're not alone. Like, that's what we're doing here.
- [42:33]
Mike
You know, I want to add one more thing to that, because I think I know that we're going over here and sorry to keep you guys, but I just. I think it's important to say Like, I know that when I'm dealing with some of my mental illness, like, when it, when it flares and it does, you know, specifically around my health, I've got like this crazy thing around my health. When I get some sort of a health scare, I go. I shut down and it's bad. And I think I go to the worst place. And really all I'm looking for is. Is love. That's really all I'm looking for. Because I know what's happening. I know it's part of my mental illness. I'm aware of it. Like, and the other thing that I think is important to say out loud is that, like, a lot of people that deal with mental illness know when it's happening. It's not like they're like, oh, I'm not, you know, I'm not dealing with this. Like, what do you mean? It's like, no, no, they know. They know that they're in a dark place. They know that probably a lot of the thoughts that they're having are not real. And what they're looking for is love, period. They might not say it, but that's actually it. Because when I'm now on the other side of it, I just went through a gnarly roller coaster with this. Really all I wanted was the people closest to me to cuddle up as I was under the blankets and give me a big fat hug and tell me they love me. And that's. And, and so just like, sharing some advice. If someone that you're dealing with, people listening here that, you know, deal with mental illness and have struggles or going through it, like, the greatest thing you can do is not try to help them figure it out necessarily, although that can be helpful at times. Give them a hug, tell them that you love them, sit with them, sit with them, space for them, hold space for them, you know, don't make them feel like they are crazy because everybody else is going to make them feel that way, you know, like, that's like the worst thing you can do. Trying to. Trying to talk them out of their situation. Oh, you know, this is in your head. Like, that drives you. Someone who's dealing with a bout of anxiety, deep anxiety or depression or just illness in general, it drives them deeper in. When you try to explain to them that, like, this isn't real, what you're dealing with, really what you should think about doing is just making them a bowl of soup. That always helps. Cup of tea, sit down next to him, put your arm around him, tell him you love them and it's going to be all right. We'll get through this together. You know, and that's not always people's first. You know, everybody wants to help fix things. Everybody wants to, you know, fix someone's problem, especially if you love that person. But really, you know, one of the greatest things you can do is not try to fix their problem. Because from what I have experienced personally, like, really when I'm deep in and I, and I'm battling and the thoughts in my mind are just like, crazy and not, you know, irrational, I just want to be hugged and kissed and loved and maybe my foot rubbed something.
- [46:04]
Chris Magleby
Thanks for being, like, brave enough and strong enough to say that. I think for men especially, I think women have it a little easier that they can say things like that. Like, a little easier for men. It's, it's not easy to say, like, I just want to be hugged and loved and kissed. And like, you being able to say that, I think is a big deal.
- [46:25]
Mike
Thank you. I, I, I, I, you know, I could just say that, you know, I, I literally just went through a really, really rough bout with some hardcore irrational thinking. And, you know, the people around me love me. My wife, my kids, my friends, they love me. But sometimes they just don't know how to deal with someone who is like, when I say battling, I mean, like, on, like in my head, I'm on the battlefield, like, fighting these thoughts, you know, and it is, and, and, and totally aware of it, like saying to myself, mike, this is nuts, man. Like, this is nuts. Like, snap out of it, dude. You know, but really, you know, I, I just would say if you're dealing with someone in your family, your love, you know, your partner, whatever that, that goes, that has this, like, just give him, give him a hug, give him a hug, make him a bowl of soup. Like, I know that that sounds crazy, but like, a lot of the time, like that is, that will crack me out of like these, these shitty thoughts that I'll have, you know.
- [47:41]
Chris Magleby
That's great.
- [47:42]
Mike
You guys are awesome. Yeah. Two hour long podcast and what you guys are doing, like, I, I think it's like one in four people battle, right? Isn't that right?
- [47:52]
Chris Magleby
It's one in five is like the official stat. But there's so many unreported that it's like there's estimates that up to 50% of U.S. adults have generalized anxiety symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder, but it's about 1 in 5 that are reported that actually have some sort of a mental illness or general anxiety disorder.
- [48:15]
Mike
I'M going to keep you guys posted on my. My Light Phone 3 journey.
- [48:21]
Caitlin Hansen
Please do.
- [48:22]
Mike
I really think it's going to help and make me just, you know, if.
- [48:27]
Chris Magleby
Nothing else, maybe a new sponsorship for the podcast. I'm expecting them to mail you one pretty soon after this discussion.
- [48:35]
Caitlin Hansen
To Google what that is. Yeah, I'll do it on my phone because you can't Google it.
- [48:42]
Mike
Thank you, guys.
- [48:43]
Chris Magleby
Yeah, thank you. This was awesome.
- [48:46]
Mike
All right, if you've listened this long, you know that there was a reason why I have extended this podcast for double the time that we normally do podcasts. Because this topic is so important to talk about for men, for women, for everyone. It is a real thing that far too many people for years have kept under the carpet and have allowed to essentially infiltrate from the inside out until it gets to a point where there's an explosion and bad things happen and divorce happens and suicide happens and addiction, you know, gets, you know, blown out of proportion and escapism becomes like the norm. I am throwing my flag in the ground to try and help people get more comfortable talking about their thoughts and their mental health or unhealth. It's an important topic that we need to be talking more about. It's just that simple. And this podcast is not only focused on that. Creatures of Habit is not only focused on the mental health kind of situation we're dealing with, but we spend a lot of time talking about it. And I spend a lot of time thinking about it and sharing about it vulnerably because I know that when I hear somebody talk about it, it makes me feel better. So hopefully I can talk about it with guests on this show to help make you feel better. The only rent I ask you to pay for listening to the Creatures of Habit podcast is to share it. This is a good one to share. This is a great one to share. Share it with your friends, Share it with your family. Share it with someone who you think might benefit listening to this. Post it on social media. Even though I just said, look, you know, I'm going to no social media through this, this phone thing that I'm gonna try share the podcast. I have learned about some of the greatest podcasts and heard some of the greatest conversations from getting recommendations from friends and seeing other people post about podcasts on social media. That's where I found some of my favorite podcasts and heard some of my favorite conversations. So it mean the world to me if you did, that five star rating and review would be cherry on top. And I am just so grateful for you guys listening to and subscribing to the Creatures of Habit podcast? I love you. I appreciate you. Until the next one, y'. All. Peace.
- [51:35]
Chris Magleby
Ra.