#68 - "Peloton of the mind" - Training for Mental Fitness with Sail Founder, Johnny Chen

Today’s guest is Johnny Chen, founder, and CEO of Sail.  Sail is a coaching community that empowers men to be more vulnerable.  The focus of their platform is the “Peloton of the mind” specifically for men.

Sail currently offers several 4-week coaching programs designed specifically for men.  These programs are comprised of four, 90-minute sessions on specific topics such as leadership, relationships, emotional intelligence, etc.  The groups are comprised of 10 like-minded men who are seeking self-improvement.  These programs are a mix of teaching, coaching, and coach-led practice around certain skill sets.  It’s a safe space for men to open up learn to share and be vulnerable.

Johnny talks to us in this episode about how they help men learn to focus on training their mental and emotional muscles with a focus on active learning backed by the guidance of a coach and a community of like-minded peers.

Links mentioned in the show: Sail Website, Johnny on LinkedIn, Johnny on Twitter, Sail on Twitter,

Join the Sail Men’s Slack Community Here

HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT:

1. Johnny shares his personal story about why and how he found his way into the mental health space as an entrepreneur. Johnny set out to build a platform that helps men that changes the narrative around men’s mental health.
   
   
   
2. We talked about how in America, men have been conditioned to suppress their feelings, “boys don’t cry” and we need to “man up.” The result is that men are 4x more likely to commit suicide, 3x more likely to abuse alcohol and drugs, and 99% of school shooters are men. 
   
   
   
3. We compared the physical fitness revolution to the brewing mental health revolution. We talked about how people spend time working on their physical health, even in the absence of a physical health diagnosis.  We need to get men to the place where they seek to work on their mental health, in the absence of a diagnosis.
   
   
   
4. Johnny talks about who his typical customer is. The profile he described is a male, between 25 and 54 who are hyper focused on improving their lives already.  Johnny calls these people “self-optimizers”.  They are likely already doing some kind of meditation or yoga, and they may participate in CrossFit or run marathons or some other personal performance challenge activity.
   
   
   
5. We talked about how we get people who either do not want help, or don’t know that they need help to self-optimize around their mental health.   We talked about societal pressures, behavioral norms and how we are conditioned as men to think we can do everything ourselves and we do not need help.  Sail is positioning itself to help men get comfortable asking for help even when they are already doing “well.”
   
   
   
6. Sail products / services:
   
   
   1. Coaching Programs – Currently offer several 4-week coaching programs. These programs are comprised of four, 90-minute sessions on specific topics such as leadership, relationships, emotional intelligence, etc.  The groups are comprised of 10 like-minded men who are seeking self-improvement.  These programs are a mix of teaching, coaching, and coach-led practice around certain skill sets.  It’s a safe space for men to open up learn to share and be vulnerable.
      
      
   2. Sail Community – A free community where men can come to connect with other men and talk about challenges they are facing around life, career, productivity hacks, relationships, or anything that’s on their mind.

 

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Connect with host Stephen Hays here: Stephen Hays Personal Website, Twitter, LinkedIn, What If Ventures (Mental Health Venture Fund)