[00:00:00] Jenn Trepeck: Welcome to Salad with a side of Fries. I'm your host, Jenn Trepeck, talking wellness and weight loss for real life. We're here to clear up the myths, misinformation, bad science and marketing to teach you how to eat and how to cheat. Are you ready? I'm having salad with a side of Friess. This week we're talking about three decisions.

[00:00:27] Specifically three decisions that will determine the next decade of your life. I know it sounds big,

[00:00:34] Steph: it like feels loaded secret or

[00:00:35] Jenn Trepeck: something. Right. You know? Right. It feels very loaded. So I learned this, it was early November at a conference, sort of like a long weekend seminar I was speaking on. I actually did a talk about social media stuff, and this was from one of my business mentors in his talk.

[00:00:55] And it was a way of getting us to think about and be really intentional. But I wrote it [00:01:00] down because it struck me so hard, and I feel like this is the perfect time as we stand at the beginning of a new year to think about this stuff. So the first decision that will determine the next decade of your life is who you spend your time with.

[00:01:15] We can think of this as all of these questions kind of come back to a piece of our environment. But the people we surround ourselves with are like our social environment. And by the way, there is some wild research on this and like way beyond what you would even think. So New England Journal of Medicine analyze findings from a study.

[00:01:40] It began in 1948 and long story short, they tracked obesity through social ties. And while I wish they tracked other things. It is a piece of understanding that our choices are very much influenced by those around us. Mental [00:02:00] illness is also now being looked at as being contagious. So there was a therapist who worked in, I think it was prisons, and she had award basically, where one of the guys had schizophrenia.

[00:02:20] Over time, more and more of the inmates in that cell block developed schizophrenia. Wow. When she or they removed that original person, over time, the other people's schizophrenia dissipated. So there's some research now around this idea of mental health being contagious.

[00:02:46] Steph: I believe that, yeah. I mean, I've had friends who I'm no longer friends with because they would stress me out or their anxiety would rub off on me.

[00:02:58] And then that's what the [00:03:00] friendship became about. Yeah. Then it no longer was like, it didn't feel fun. And then when I sort of stopped speaking to those people, you realize like your whole kind of world shifts a little bit.

[00:03:11] Jenn Trepeck: Totally. So we're gonna talk about that in a second. I, one more study that I like wanted, I couldn't get past.

[00:03:16] So this one was the International Journal of Epidemiology, where they basically found that back pain. So they call it pain is a communicable disease that spreads through social contagion. So their study looked at early nineties, like East Germany and West Germany, and basically the incidence of lower back pain when they were two separate places versus when it was combined basically.

[00:03:44] So they said, we hypothesize back pain as a communicable disease and suggest a harmful influence of back related beliefs and attitudes transmitted from west to East Germany via mass media and personal contacts.

[00:03:58] Steph: Whoa. [00:04:00] Wild back pain. Just back though. What about like, my knee hurts,

[00:04:04] Jenn Trepeck: so I don't know. Right.

[00:04:05] But like they studied back pain, but I, wow. I think it's just worth us then saying, okay, maybe we need to be careful who we allow. Into our sphere. Yeah. You know, like they talk about the idea of like your income is the average of the five people you spend the most time with or those kinds of things, but clearly it goes so much further than that.

[00:04:27] Steph: Yeah. Well think about something if you have a hypochondriac and that's all they talk about and like germs and all this, like Right. At some level I feel like if, if people kept saying, you know, you should be scared of this thing like. I would go and be like, okay, I gotta be on high alert 'cause I'm, I gonna be scared of this thing.

[00:04:42] But if they hadn't done that, I probably wouldn't have.

[00:04:46] Jenn Trepeck: Right. So maybe as we say, okay, who we spend our time with is going to determine the next decade of our life. To your point, maybe there are some people that we may need to say a kind goodbye. Yeah. You [00:05:00] know, who do we wanna spend less time with and what's our criteria for friends like you and I?

[00:05:07] Single. We date ish, but we date and like, and we, people will say to us though, like, what's your criteria for a partner?

[00:05:16] Steph: Mm-hmm.

[00:05:16] Jenn Trepeck: Well, let's all just take a step back and decide our criteria for friendships. Yeah. There was actually a guy I dated. I was like in my twenties, but at one point, like I broke up with him and I was like, look.

[00:05:26] I expect more of my friends, let alone the person I'm dating. Like this isn't working for me.

[00:05:31] Steph: Well, I've been seeing a lot too on Instagram recently where it's like, are you the one that always initiates the plans or sends the first text and notice that, like notice those things. Like I also have friends who I know and, and some of it's, you know, history, but like I feel like I'm always the one that's initiating plans and I'm like, or making the effort to travel and to do this and, and you know, even some friends with kids and it's like, I understand like you have other stuff in your life, but like.

[00:05:56] I shouldn't always have to come to you. Yeah. Like, you can also [00:06:00] come to me and, you know, that I feel like Yeah. Makes it more balanced. And, and also like, are they somebody, if you're gonna say, Hey, I need to talk, like, are they gonna be like, yeah, I'm gonna call you right now. Right. And I know Jen, you're, you're one of those friends, but like, that's important too.

[00:06:15] Jenn Trepeck: And think through. Again, as we think about the next decade of our lives, who we spend our time with, do we need to find new community? Is it an investing club? Is it a new hobby or an interest? It's part of why I love group fitness. That's how we met, by the way. Yeah. Yeah. Like finding groups and communities based on things that are important to us or that influence us that are part of where we wanna be in 10 years.

[00:06:40] Like who you spend your time with is number one of the three decisions. Yeah. Okay. Number two. What you spend your time learning. Ooh, so this is the information that we choose to consume. And learning [00:07:00] also is a piece of growth. So it's not, it also reinforces our current beliefs if we let it, right? So this, going back to the environments thing, think of this as our mental environment.

[00:07:11] What we read, what we watch, what we listen to. This shapes our brain. It also then creates new opportunities going back to this thing of like, well, where do we wanna be in 10 years? It also goes back to number one of who are we surrounding ourselves with? What are the things that we're learning? And a lot of people attribute this to Malcolm Gladwell.

[00:07:33] He was not the first person to talk about this, but the 10,000 hour rule of this idea of like if we spend 10,000 hours on something, we achieve world class expertise. That's a bit of an oversimplification for sure, because. There's quality, not just quantity when it comes to practice and learning, but I think it's maybe an idea of saying, okay, where do I wanna be 10 years from now?

[00:07:57] What kind of work do we wanna be doing? [00:08:00] What do we wanna be an expert at? What skills do we wanna have mastered? Then what things do we wanna do for fun in 10 years, and what might we need to learn more now to move in that direction?

[00:08:12] Steph: Yeah,

[00:08:12] Jenn Trepeck: so number two. What you spend your time learning.

[00:08:15] Steph: Yeah, I mean, I think last year I started a new job and the first year is kind of like finding your footing, what's going on?

[00:08:23] And so now going into my full year two, I'm like, okay, I learned so much in year one. Here's all the things I wanna do to take that learning and really move it to the next level. And I think professionally this translates a little bit easier to me because I've always been told, if you're not learning, you're bored.

[00:08:40] Yep. And then that's the next time for your next job. So I kind of always use that as a parameter. And then in just like personal lives too, it's like, of course you can get all these little bite size on social media, like learn this, or you wanna learn how to. Cook something or whatever. And I will say to your listeners, I'm ashamed to admit this, what during my age, [00:09:00] but like this year I will say that I learned how to sew on a button.

[00:09:03] I love that. And it was more out of necessity. I was at a work conference. It was this jacket and it had big gold buttons, so it wasn't something that, like you couldn't go without a button. And I had a sewing kit in the room and I YouTubed it, and it probably took me way longer than it would've somebody else.

[00:09:19] But I remember calling my mom and I was like, I just want you to know I learned how to sew. I love that so much. That's amazing. Are you gonna sew something this year? No, my mom's coming. Okay. Yeah, my mom's coming in a couple weeks and I'm like, so I have a blazer. I need you to sew this button not to, um, I wouldn't trust my skills, but I do know if I needed it to survive, we could probably get, we would be Okay.

[00:09:40] Jenn Trepeck: Awesome. All right. So number one was who we spend our time with. Number two is what we spend our time learning. And number three. Is what you spend your time building. Oh, so this puts all of these things into action, right? To me, this is like the action step from the [00:10:00] learning. I also put this in the context of like experiences.

[00:10:04] So if we go back to the environments concept, this is places we choose to go, our physical environment, experiences we choose to have, which is memory and emotions. And so you know, what are you building? Are you building health? Are you building a business? Are you building a family? Are you building all of those things?

[00:10:28] Are you building memories? Are you building something or, I don't know, just existing.

[00:10:36] Steph: I think that kind of goes to the one before. It's like, are you stagnant or are you moving forward? You know, I'm not looking to build a business or build a family at this moment. Build a career time, but yeah, build a career.

[00:10:48] Build a life that, like I look back to your point about memories that I'm proud of and I can look back on hopefully 2026 if, you know, when we talk again in 27 and say, wow, like I built a great [00:11:00] year and these are the things that really stood out in the ways that I grew personally. 'cause I think you can always learn how to evolve and grow personally.

[00:11:08] Jenn Trepeck: For sure. So we have who we spend our time with, what we spend our time learning, and what we spend our time building. And fundamentally, this comes down to are these decisions happening consciously or habitually? So if you are making habitual decisions, are they moving you in your desired direction? If yes, fantastic.

[00:11:35] If not. Then we might need to make some decisions more consciously until that new decision becomes habitual, because it would be fantastic for all of the habitual decisions to move us in our desired direction. In all of these places, like in the Tony Robbins world, he talks about this as the idea of like conditions versus decisions.

[00:11:57] Steph: Hmm.

[00:11:58] Jenn Trepeck: Others will say, well, it's a function of [00:12:00] what you focus on. I pose it as these questions so that we can at least just get intentional and aware. So three decisions that will determine not just your 2026, but the next decade of your life. Yeah. Who you spend your time with, what you spend your time learning, and what you build.

[00:12:19] What do you think? I love it. Awesome. Well, as always, Steph friends, I'm your host, Jen Tre. Connect with me on Instagram or all social media. I am at Gen Trek, J-E-N-N-T-R-E-P-E-C-K. Website is a salad with a side of fries.com. Pick your platform, send a message. I love it. Hearing from you, your takeaways, your ideas, your questions.

[00:12:40] This is also the easiest way to learn more about working with me as your health coach. Steph, thank you again for joining me this week.

[00:12:47] Steph: Thank you for having me, and happy New Year to you and all of your listeners.

[00:12:51] Jenn Trepeck: Thank you. Happy New Year. Big things for us in 2026. I can feel it.

[00:12:56] Steph: Big things. Three questions.

[00:12:58] Jenn Trepeck: I know all the [00:13:00] things. We're off to a great

[00:13:00] Steph: start.

[00:13:01] Jenn Trepeck: We are, and of course, if you are not already. Let your start be the Happy Healthy Hub. You'll go to a salad with the side of fries.com/membership. This shows your support for this podcast, this community, and above all, it supports your health. On top of the 24 7, ask Me Anything.

[00:13:18] The Community Chat, discounts and curated content. You'll get this week's recipe for the Healthy Breakfast Casserole. Well friends, that's it for today's episode of Salad with a side of Fries. Congratulations for making yourself and your health a priority. Thanks so much for joining us. Be sure to click subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast platform.

[00:13:39] Share us with a friend and we'll be back next week. Always remember you deserve it and you are worth it. Happy, healthy.