Mahrukh Imtiaz 0:00
Welcome to the Spicy Chai Podcast. I’m Mahrukh Imtiaz and I host this podcast and still work a successful and fulfilling nine-to-five. My guests are content creators just a bit ahead of you, you will hear about their struggles and when learn from their mistakes so that you can avoid making them to grab a cup of spicy Chai. And let’s get started. Here is Mark Metry. And rapid fire with him. Mark, your best purchase in the last year.

Mark Metry 0:25
Oh wow. My best purchase in the last year has been so I really really struggle with with my phone in the morning. I really struggle with not touching my phone in the morning. And so I used to just like always have it there was like my alarm clock, but it just didn’t work. I literally wake up everyday and just Berber Berber. And so what I started doing was I started putting my phone downstairs and then my bedroom upstairs, I bought this thing called like something like a sunset alarm clock where basically what it does like instead of just basically like based on the time that you want to wake up that you program it basically like simulates a sunrise. And so like it’s like a circle. It’s like a really weird circle. And then like the whole thing lights up slowly, and then it gets brighter. And then like trees and birds start rustling and it’s trying to give like the illusion of like a sunset or the sunrise in the morning. So that’s been great for my sleep. I wake up yes, it’s interesting, because I actually read somewhere that like if you wake up at six o’clock every day, and like we have these things called oh my god, I’m so sorry. I thought I just remembered you said this is almost just be like, Oh,

Mahrukh Imtiaz 1:34
This is interesting. So like, Wait, this is called Sunrise alarm. What is it called?

Mark Metry 1:37
Yeah, yeah, it’s called I don’t I don’t even know. It’s called the sunrise alarm, Sun Google that and they’ll come up. But like real quick, like, the reason why it’s very important is because like, if you just randomly set your alarm at like six o’clock. For example, if you look at your brain while you’re asleep, if you get one like those whoop bands, or like those sleep trackers, you basically realize that like sleep is comes in waves, like in terms of your brainwaves. And when your brainwaves are at the top, that’s when your brain is like heavily heavily sedated in sleep. And so if you happen to have like the time of period, it’s different for everyone. But if you happen to have your alarm set on the time, where you are in heavy sort of REM sleep in those waves, then what’s going to happen is when you wake up in the middle of that you’re going to feel exhausted. And so what happens is this sunset thing, it gradually wakes you up the same way that we would like gradually be waking up if you know if this was like 500 years ago, and our bodies tied into our circadian rhythms into the ground. And so this is a great way to like literally feel better when you wake up, and then also be away from your phone and like have that immediate separation from your environment. Right. Love that biggest mistake people make on LinkedIn. Oh, man, the biggest mistake that people make on LinkedIn is I think they just saw your question. I think the biggest mistake people make on LinkedIn is that they just copy and paste whatever they do on social media platforms on LinkedIn. And yeah, and again, like, I mean, I’ve definitely done this in the past for sure. But I think the reason why is because like, you know, like, if you post a YouTube link on LinkedIn, like just the platform, it doesn’t doesn’t work the same, you know, and so I think trying to organically at least, like at least you can copy and paste, but at least try to modify it, right. And so for example, like sometimes I’ll post on Instagram, and like the first caption, the first line, and my caption will be something like, you know, I don’t know, like, Hey, I stayed up too late watching Netflix all night, right? Where’s the caption for Netflix would be I mean, for LinkedIn would be like, Oh, I stayed up all night, you know, I don’t know, like, trying to learn like career advice or something like that? You know, I don’t know. So I think like just doing very, very simple things like that. And then just like making sure that it’s just like built, you know, for LinkedIn, I think those are the most important, like,

Mahrukh Imtiaz 3:46
Biggest mistake people make when they’re podcast guests

Mark Metry 3:49
Ruin their podcast guests. That’s a great question. So I’ve been a guest on over like, 300 podcasts by now. I think the worst times the worst things that I personally did when I look back at it. Let’s see, I told you, I’m a slow thinker, I think the biggest thing would be like to so it’s interesting. So when my book came out last year, I did like this whole like podcast tour, and like, everything in person obviously got cancelled. And so I think I was working extra hard to try to like, make up for that. And I remember there’s this time where I think I did like 2015 podcasts and like a day, wow, 1015 20 podcasts, something around that. I did that for like a week. And so I like really just grinded, grinded nonstop. And I think the biggest thing looking back at that was and this is like a hand in hand situation. It’s not just the guests. It’s not just the host. It’s both but the biggest thing that I did was like I think I treated maybe the hosts like a little impersonally maybe like robots, and maybe the host they did something to like contribute towards that. You know what I mean? In terms of like, I remember I was a guest on a podcast once and the guy interviewed me was like, wait, what do you do again? Something like that. And I remember and like obviously, like as a guest, I’m like, Okay, why? You don’t even know who I am. And I’m, you know, like, I’m here like you and me. So I think there’s just been different things like that. But I think, okay, biggest mistake I got biggest mistake because guests can make is not making sure that they are energetically ready. And honestly, I didn’t do a good job at that before this, to be honest with you, I was just kind of feeling before this not because of you, but just because of me. So I didn’t do a good job at that. But usually, like, I try to, like, amp myself up, I try to, like, you know, try to make sure that like I’m active, I’m focused on the right things I have my intention set out because a lot of the times like with doing podcasts, you know, if this is scheduled, like at 4pm, Eastern Standard Time, you know, I was just like in a completely different kind of meeting before and then I have a different meeting after where it’s like different modes in my brain. Right, you know, and so that’s, that’s been the biggest thing and so making sure that you’re energetically ready.

Mahrukh Imtiaz 5:43
I love that. What is one new and upcoming podcast that has impressed you?

Mark Metry 5:47
Good question. I listen to a podcast on Sunday with Jay Shetty and Russ. Oh, the artist and musician. Yes. And before that, listen to podcasts. Also Jay Shetty with Big Sean, the rapper. Those two blew my mind.

Mahrukh Imtiaz 5:59
Wow, awesome. And what’s one myth that you’d like to debunk about yourself?

Mark Metry 6:02
Oh, this is a great Oh, sure is? What’s a myth? Well, I think when most people like they look at me, and it’s interesting, because like, there’s been different moments in my career, where I’ve had like, viral moments, right? And like, when you get those viral moments, what happens is like, all of a sudden, like, millions of people look at you, right? And including millions of people that may not even be like in your audience, right? And so people can always like, look at what you say, and then look at it based on the problem that they have in their life and then extrapolate whatever like meaning that you didn’t even say out of your tweet or whatever. And so it’s interesting because I think out of those moments, and like, where I get like a lot of exposure, I think the two biggest like myths or angles, or fuck people misconceptions about me are number one, people are like, alright, bro, you’re 23 years old, you don’t know how life works. You’re just talking out of your ass. You just listen to a lot of Gary Vee, and you just regurgitate it. And so

Mahrukh Imtiaz 6:54
that’s one of them. Yes, it’s a thing. Other than

Mark Metry 6:57
for me, it’s like, like, I feel like if you go to my posts, like I thought there’s never a post or anything that I’ve ever made on the internet, where I’m like, I know everything. I’m super smart. A lot of the times like I literally had to learn these things on my own. And they’re always works and progresses. And I don’t know, and I just learned from people who are smarter than me. So I think it’s that but then the other angle of it is people saying it’s like the reverse of ageism, they like look at me as like a 23 year old as like some like, like young demigod from like Earth who’s like been doing this since like the age of five. And like, I’ve been reading Robbins books. Yeah, but it’s just like, but it’s just like, the best part about that is like when people tell me other things that they think I don’t understand. It’s like, Yo, I literally remember being like in that same exact mindset when I was like, 1819, and sometimes still, but it’s just like, I’m crazy. Like, I’m the kind of person who like, I definitely have an obsessive mindset. And so for me, it’s like this whole mission camp. This for me is like not an experiment. It’s not like a side hustle. This for me is like literally my entire life, right. And so I wake up again, sometimes I suck, sometimes I don’t do a good job at this, sometimes I wake up and I’m like, I really don’t want to do this. But every single day I wake up and I do all these things that I have been talking about for the last 48 minutes, whether I’m on podcasts, or whether I have podcasts or whether I don’t and I’m just by myself. And so like that’s just my life. And then that’s the results that I’ve created. And then also based on just what I choose to focus on, you know, like the last month or two, I basically like stepped down and and have transitioned away from like my business, like invest in marketing and just moving more towards like mental health this stuff, because I just think it’s the most important and so like, that’s my take on it. And I think that has to do with my age, I think that has to do with me being like Gen Z and just seeing like, how previous generations have just like neglected different problems or just not really looked at them that honestly. So I just feel like it’s a responsibility that I have to talk about these things. Because I think that it’s people especially my age, and everyone really needs a lot of help including myself. And I think a lot of the times like like there’s so many kids youth that are lost and it’s like adults literally have no idea what’s happening. They can’t be teaching the kids and so I don’t think I know the answers but I just try to like I try to consciously do this every day and then just like report back to like what I learned and that’s really how I kind of view what I do and so if people will find that beneficial if they don’t that’s fine you know it’s it’s totally okay like there’s 7.5 billion people and I have to be okay with the fact that not everyone’s gonna you know understand me or wanna understand me or even like who I am once they understand me

Mahrukh Imtiaz 9:27
love that love that love that level of self awareness as well. What one thing that you would say is your favorite cheat meal I know you spoke about like Gmail yeah very cheat meal

Mark Metry 9:37
ah interesting I guess it depends on like your dietary ideology.

Mahrukh Imtiaz 9:46
What is it for Mark how about if we will keep it complete? What is your comfort food? How about that let’s call it cheat meal.

Mark Metry 9:51
I honestly honestly my comfort food is like the food that I already like I feel like for me like like my favorite foods are again, it depends on your dietary ideology, some People think that you should be vegan or whatever. My favorite foods are probably eggs, avocados, steak, salmon, mushrooms, potatoes. I like ice cream a lot. But I actually I found like a healthy ice cream, I think it’s called. It’s either called like the company’s literal name is keto, or I think the other company has called us it’s called a rebel. Those who make great ice creams that have no sugar have no processed ingredients, chemicals, and I honestly try to eat that as often as possible.

Mahrukh Imtiaz 10:28
It’s awesome. Last question, your favorite creator? Why

Mark Metry 10:31
man, man, oh, man, oh, man, oh, man, why you gotta do this? So honestly, what I would say is this, if you asked me this question, like a year and a half ago, two years ago, three years ago, four years ago, I’d give you an answer. But honestly, now it’s just like many different people for different reasons. And honestly, like, what I’ve learned is like, I remember, I don’t want to say I remember being in your shoes. But I remember from a podcasting perspective, being in your shoes, I remember like being nervous, like, interviewed different guests. And then as the years progressed, I like became friends with some of these different guests. And some of these guests are like crazy people, like they’re professional athletes, like billionaires, people. And like, when you have people like that in your circle, who you talk to on a regular basis, what they do just doesn’t become impressive anymore. From a good perspective. It’s like, hey, if this person launched, like this crazy company, why can’t I do the same exact thing, because that I know, I’ve met that person, I know, they’re a real person. And when you meet someone who’s like a real person, everybody has strengths and weaknesses. And so it’s interesting, because now I just have like a much more contextual viewpoint of like, for example, like, I love Gary Vaynerchuk, like I’ve been on his office before. Oh, nice. Wow, I love the content that he puts around different topics. But I also like, disagree with him on different things. And I also don’t want to live his lifestyle. And I also don’t necessarily like the goals that he has, I don’t want those goals for my life. And there’s different people where I like there’s, they do like a lot of great things, but then there’s a part of them where I don’t necessarily want to emulate that. And that’s not a knock on them. That’s not like, oh, they suck, but like, that’s just like a realistic viewpoint. I feel like I’m looking at the world of almost looking at it as like a buffet where it’s like, you don’t go to a buffet. And unless it’s like some buffet where it’s like, you know, you spend like 1000s of dollars, like when you go to the buffet, you’re not going to like everything that’s like it laid out there. And so for me, it’s just been about like, Hey, how can I get, you know, like the highest quality steak from here? How can I get like the highest quality oysters from here? How can I how can I get this here. And so that’s the mindset that I’ve more or less been taking. And so there’s just different people that I just look at for different things, depending on the genre, depending on the angle, you know what I mean? And so that’s been like a very common theme of like, the last year and I think if anything like that pandemic, I feel like exposed a lot of people and so honest, there’s definitely a handful of people who I used to follow. But now like, I don’t really follow them anymore, because I just don’t like who they are as people because I feel like for different things that they’ve said or different things that they’ve done. They’ve like showed their true colors, because I think it’s really easy to post social media quotes all day and post content. But then it’s like, Yo, when the world is actually like in the gutter and it needs your help, like what are you doing? What are you saying? And I just I’ve seen different behaviors and actions from people who I looked up to who I don’t anymore, and that’s just a part of life and I don’t disrespect those people but it’s just like, everyone is a human. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Everybody has done things that you probably don’t like everybody has done things that you probably love everyone. You know, everyone says things that are amazing an expert, but then I’m sure everyone has a little crazy views and like one area or whenever there’s so that’s just like human nature. And so I try to keep in mind like that perspective.

Mahrukh Imtiaz 13:41
I love that. Awesome. Well, thank you again for this rapid fire. This was really fun. Thanks. Far. Yeah, well, beautiful. It is my hope that this podcast inspired you to create your own podcast. Remember, you don’t have to quit your nine to five to do it. And if you found value in this podcast, you’re gonna love my free training video on how you can get started today. DM me the word if Spicy Chai on LinkedIn and I’ll send it over to you until then lots of love from your favorite you got this beautiful