NEW: Plant Yourself merch designed by my daughter, Yael Zivan.

PYP 080: Mike Crockett on Overcoming Addiction, Reconnecting with His True Nature, and Becoming an Unlikely Love Warrior

mike-crockett-veganMike Crockett, aka Big Bald Mike, has an amazing and inspiring story.

A young, gentle giant whose soul hungered for music and peace.

A childhood in Marlin, Texas, being fattened up like a calf for slaughter so he could dominate high school football games.

A carnivorous hunger that had him eating 2600 pounds of meat in a single year – and had him topping out at 571 pounds.

A long spiral into addiction, crime, violence, and self-loathing. A world in which numbing out the pain – physical and emotional – became a full-time job.

A dark night of the soul that culminated in a attempted-suicide overdose that would have killed five ordinary men.

And a path to redemption that includes professional wrestling, a caring lady, kale, and bunnies.

[powerpress]

In our conversation, we cover:

  • Mike's early years, and the cost of living up to other's expectations
  • his ongoing struggles equating sheer size with self-worth
  • the crucial difference between remorse and guilt
  • how a video on animal cruelty broke the floodgates of self-protection and returned Mike to his compassionate heart
  • how a whole food, plant-based diet cured his body
  • Mike's life in professional wrestling, including a featured cameo in the Mickey Rourke movie The Wrestler
  • The story and meaning – then and now – of his profane tattoos
  • the differences and similarities between Mike Crockett the person and Big Bald Mike the brand
  • junkie guilt and the phenomenon of drunk dialing
  • the courage required for Mike to face himself and write his autobiography
  • how his love of animals has provided his life with meaning and direction – and how that makes all the effort at self-improvement worthwhile
  • his speaking career – and how little old ladies who used to cross the street at the sight of him now come up and give him hugs
  • and much more…

Note: if you're a commuter, this is a two-ride interview. We spoke for over 100 minutes. (If your commute is longer than an hour and 45 minutes, I don't want to hear about it 😉

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Links

BigBaldMike.com

Mike's Facebook Profile

Bonus Smiling Photo

mike-crockett-3-people

 

 

Dr Howie Jacobson

This podcast is a labor of love and a way to give back to the world that has given me so much. That's why there aren't any sponsors (except me :).

My day job is helping leaders and their teams master their mindsets to remove all obstacles to heart-centered high performance.

Here are three gigs that I do:

1. Executive and Senior Leadership Mentoring and Facilitation

I work with high performing executive teams in organizations — and executive teams that need to become high  performing. My focus is mindset mastery, because it’s our mindsets that either support high performance or get in the way.

At this level, everyone’s got the skills and experience to excel and contribute at the highest level. What holds people back is mindset stuff: specifically the triggers that get them out of creative engagement and into fight-or-flight defensiveness.

My practice is all about teaching people to respond differently to those triggers by updating old maps — essentially removing the glitches that the triggers grab onto.

2. Executive Coaching: Quick Wins for High Performance

I work with individual executives and leaders, one on one. The program is called Quick Wins for High Performance, and what we do is, we work strategically on one or two areas that are holding you back and keeping you from performing at your best.

We reverse engineer the presenting problems — too much work and not enough time, underperforming employees and teams, maddening organizational inefficiencies, etc — and identify and rewire the suboptimal mindsets that are behind those problems.

The work is all about updating your mental maps so your actions and responses are always appropriate, proportionate, and strategic.

3. High Stakes Conversations for Fast Growing Small Business Teams

I help small business teams have high stakes conversations with skill, humor, and grace. When people feel safe, they can do their best, most creative, most collaborative work.

So that's what I do. If you'd like any of those results, drop me a line and tell me about yourself.

You CAN Change Other People!

Well, that's what Peter Bregman and I claim in our provocative book of that title.

What we really mean is, you can bring out the best in the people around you. If you think you're powerless to help people change, it's because you've been going about it the wrong way.

Discover our straightforward, replicable process here: You Can Change Other People.

 

Music

The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.

It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.

You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.

Gratitudes

Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.

Disclosure

This post may contain amazon affiliate links. I may receive compensation from your actions on such links. It don't cost you a dime, tho.

4 comments on “PYP 080: Mike Crockett on Overcoming Addiction, Reconnecting with His True Nature, and Becoming an Unlikely Love Warrior

  1. Sonya Taylor says:

    Does anyone have any idea how I can get ahold of Mike? Of just like to know that he’s ok.

    1. Howard says:

      I’m sorry, I don’t. You might try Engine 2 – they’ve had him speak at events.

      Warmly
      Howard

  2. Sonya Marie Taylor says:

    If anyone knows how to get ahold of Mike Crockett now days, please ley me know if he’s ok.

    1. Howard says:

      I’ve wondered myself – haven’t heard from/of him in a while.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *