The Outworker
The relationship with oneself is the most important to develop, but the easiest to neglect. These conversations will hopefully allow you to develop that relationship.
The Outworker
#034 - Tim Doyle - I Did A Retreat With Danny Miranda
In this solo episode, I share my transformative experience at Danny Miranda's men's retreat in Austin, Texas. From discovering why I unconsciously started a podcast, to exploring meditation and breathwork, to uncovering core insights about my truest self – this retreat impacted me in ways I could have never imagined. I reveal how a simple New Year's resolution of dedicating workouts to others led me to this profound journey of self-discovery, and ultimately, finding my voice.
Timestamps:
00:00 Free Flow vs. Script
02:13 Workout Dedication Challenge
04:52 Messaging Danny & Deciding To Do The Retreat
08:34 When The Retreat Actually Started
11:57 Leading With Curiosity
15:07 Power Of Food
16:31 Meditation, Breath Work, & Writing
19:03 Stepping Into Your Truth
25:00 Letter From 100 Year Old Self
28:52 Reason For Being
31:55 My Voice
40:11 Wires Untangled & My Future Work
41:50 Disconnecting From Your Phone
42:43 Do A Retreat
44:30 Put Yourself Out There
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What’s up outworkers. In this solo episode, I share my transformative experience at Danny Miranda's men's retreat in Austin, Texas. From discovering why I unconsciously started a podcast, to exploring meditation and breathwork, to uncovering core insights about my truest self – this retreat impacted me in ways I could have never imagined. I reveal how a simple New Year's resolution of dedicating workouts to others led me to this profound journey of self-discovery, and ultimately, finding my voice.
Tim Doyle (00:03.278)
for this episode, I contemplated if I wanted to write out a full script. So I knew exactly what I wanted to say or if I just wanted to let things free flow and see what came to mind in the moment while I'm speaking. And I've thought a lot about everything so far and I've reflected a lot. So I already have a lot of thoughts I want to discuss.
But I feel like before the retreat, I would have said that let me write everything out. Let me write out a script. Let me have everything that I want to say word for word. But after this retreat and everything that I've learned, all the insights I've garnered, it only feels right to see what comes to me in the moment.
and let that energy flow. And I think that's also how you have that transfer of energy.
That's when your realist words are spoken. When it's just in the moment, you have more power and energy and passion behind those words rather than just simply reading premeditated words that you had already written out beforehand.
So for this men's retreat with Danny Miranda, I think we actually have to go all the way back to the start of the year. For me, that's really when the retreat started. And the reason why that is is because I made the New Year's resolution to myself this year that I was going to dedicate each workout to someone.
Tim Doyle (02:06.04)
thought that would be a fun challenge, fun resolution that would actually...
hold myself to throughout the year. It was a fun way of connecting and reconnecting with people. Fun way of also keeping track of how many workouts that I'm doing this year. And as the year goes on, it obviously gets increasingly more challenging or you're reaching out to different people that you really haven't talked to in a long time. So I think it's a good challenge that
all people should do, whether it's with working out or some type of activity that they do on a frequent basis. And for me, I used social media as well, where it wasn't necessarily people that I knew in my everyday life throughout the course of my life, but also using social media for people that I've had conversations with.
or just messaged back and forth a little or people that I just admire and love the work and saying, Hey, this is something that I doing and I want to gift you one of these workouts. And one of those people was Danny Miranda. And if you don't know who Danny Miranda is, he had a really, really great podcast. He still does. He doesn't do it as frequently anymore. He does.
more life coaching and these retreat at retreats now rather than solely focusing on his podcast. But he had one of my favorite podcasts interviewed a lot of incredible people. And he's definitely an inspiration for me for wanting to start a podcast just his researching process, the way he truly cared about his guests.
Tim Doyle (04:09.598)
asking great questions, seeing those guests reactions. I was like, that looks awesome. And something that I definitely want to do as well. And something that was really calling to me. And that's a topic that we'll also get to later on in this conversation. So I messaged Danny saying this was I think, in October, saying, Hey,
Want to dedicate my workout to you forget what the exact number was but I was like workout number XYZ is going to you today. And he was like great really appreciate that that's that's awesome and he said I also updated some stuff about the retreat give it a another look. I had seen that he was marketing this retreat think a couple months back but.
kind of just didn't move forward with it kind of just lost sight of it. But when he reintroduced it to me and it became top of mind, I was like, you know what, I should do this. It was in Austin, Texas, where I'm recording this right now. And I was always like, you know what, I would love to go to Austin and explore.
Austin, Texas was always one of these places, honestly, for a long time now that I always wanted to come to and explore the city, the people, and see if, who knows, maybe this would be a place that I would potentially want to move to.
Tim Doyle (05:50.134)
I like I had a fear of coming because...
I really didn't know anyone. I'm saying this before I even knew about the retreat and just in general of coming to Austin, especially for an extended stay, whether it be a couple of weeks or whatever would be just not knowing anyone being a completely new environment. I knew that getting out of your comfort zone is crucial, but there was that fear and that's what was holding me back. But this retreat now,
In my mind, I'm like, okay, this is the perfect thing for me to do to start this trip and build some momentum. Thought I'd be able to meet some great people and then it would allow for me to have a great rest of the trip here as well, rather than just coming to Austin and right from the start being like, okay, like, let me go to the gym, let me work out and just.
get into my normal routine. was was great having this big event right at the start to kick things off. And so the retreat was from October 17, Thursday to October 20. That's Sunday.
But the retreat really for me started in two different places.
Tim Doyle (07:25.462)
So the first place that it started was.
couple weeks prior to the retreat starting, I had on Nick Sweeney to my podcast. And Nick is a breath work performance coach, mind body coach does incredible work, very important work in my eyes. And I told him I said, I'm actually, I'm coming to Austin in a couple weeks because he lives in Austin.
And I said, I found you because of this guy, Danny Miranda, who posted a video of yours on his story. Nick had gone through a very similar healing process with physical injuries where it was a lot of breath work, mental work, similar to what I had done with my back injury. And before I could even ask him of saying, Hey, I would love to meet you in person. He just goes,
Yeah, I'm doing that retreat. And in my mind, I'm like, synergy, the stars are aligning for the kid. I was like, that is so sick because there definitely was still that little bit of fear. I'm like, who's going to be at this thing, but just knowing that, okay, there's going to be a face there that I know. And a person that would love to have a lot of conversations with that was just a really cool feeling.
So I already knew things were heading in the right direction a couple of weeks before actually going on the retreat. And then the second place that the retreat felt like it really, really started was there was an intro call that Monday before the retreat started on Thursday where
Tim Doyle (09:19.992)
Just getting to know the other faces who were, would be there, did a five minute meditation session actually, which I'll get more into as well because meditation was a big part of this retreat. And honestly, the energy that was just on that call was incredible and I could feel it. Like it felt like the retreat had already started in those days leading up to me actually coming to Austin.
I could definitely feel just a different vibe to me, which was an incredible feeling. And I consciously knew I'm like, it was because of that intro call. So I was very excited to come to Austin for this retreat. And the other cool thing about it was I knew it was going to be a lot of personal development type stuff. I knew it was probably going to be some meditation as well, but the specific agenda
was not given to us beforehand. It was pretty much the reason why I was doing it was because I've seen the work of this guy, Danny Miranda, really like him and I trust him. There was that trust that had been built from what I've seen him done in the past. And I was like, all right, let's do this. And I think it was great because one of the questions that was asked of us on that intro call was,
What are you looking to get out of this?
And my response was, I'm just curious. I have a curiosity for this. I don't have a goal. And I think that's such an important mindset to have for any work that we undertake or any project or honestly just life in general, just having a curiosity rather than an ambition or a goal for what you're trying to get out of. Because I think when
Tim Doyle (11:18.114)
you have a set goal or you have a set ambition for what you are trying to achieve, especially within something like this, like this retreat.
you consciously and subconsciously get into the framework of, okay, whatever comes my way, I am going to try to force it in the direction of achieving that goal. But for me, it was more so of just, let's see what happens. Let's see what I get out of this. And just having that open mindedness and that free flowing mindset.
for.
achieving whatever would come my way from this. And I think that mindset really, really benefited me throughout the retreat.
And I think because of that mindset, I achieved so much more than I would have if I had a set goal going into it, which was a really, really cool feeling.
Tim Doyle (12:31.34)
I would say that there was one goal. It wasn't anything specific.
But I know I had said before going into the retreat.
I was like, I feel like I just have a bunch of wires tangled in my head right now that need to be untangled.
like a lot of good wires, like nothing bad, nothing damaging, like actually like really, really good stuff that was going on in my life that is going on in my life. And I was like, I need to untangle all of these wires so that I can start being much more intentional with my actions and my thoughts in my way of living.
And that happened very, very quickly.
Tim Doyle (13:27.222)
So that alone, I mean, this was a life-changing experience.
Tim Doyle (13:34.072)
So like I said, retreat started October 17th, that Thursday night. Did a meditation session, did some intro.
prompts within a talking group had a great dinner. The entire retreat was
with a private chef who she made some incredible food, some of the best food I've ever had.
And what I found through food actually, and this is really interesting because anybody who knows me knows that I'm incredibly regimented with my food. mean, food is fuel for me. I eat the same things every single day. But what I found through that experience is that
From the chef standpoint, food is creative expression. Food is nourishment. But food is also that transfer of energy as well. And that's something that I've become so keen on is people's energy and how you transfer energy. And I could see the passion that this chef had for her craft and this energy for her craft.
Tim Doyle (15:01.506)
And that was transferred through us with the food. wasn't just tasting good, but it was nourishment, which made the entire retreat that much more special.
Tim Doyle (15:17.464)
So like I said, with the retreat, it was a lot of meditation, a lot of breath work. And I'd really never done breath work.
In this sense, like really, really intentional breath work. But I mean, it is a game changer. I've done it every single day since the retreat ended. And it doesn't take long. There's this guided breath work session that we did that I've continued to do. That's eight minutes. And I do it in the middle of the day almost as like a reset.
and it truly, truly works.
Tim Doyle (16:05.75)
And what would happen was after the breath work and meditation, there would be written prompts. So the way that I like to see it is that, right? The breath work and the meditation is getting your mind in a good state of mind, in a clear state of mind. That's then allowing you to be more present and be more thoughtful.
with these written prompts about your life.
And so, like I said, I had really never done breath work before, but meditation had become a crucial part of my life. I didn't do it as frequently now, but it was a crucial part of my life with recovering, but more so healing from my back injury and that entire process. Meditation or what I like to call it as
talking with my brain or having solo therapy sessions that played a crucial part. So it was cool being put back into that environment where those meditations were playing an active role.
So getting into some of the written prompts wanted to share some thoughts and insights on those. So there were three big prompts that we did and that I have some notes on. So the first one is asking yourself the question, how can I step deeper into my truth?
Tim Doyle (17:56.354)
And I've got a page full of notes here. I'm not going to read it all off, but just a few that I think are interesting.
Tim Doyle (18:08.181)
one of them.
continuing to strip that thin translucent layer on the surface.
And I think that's something that.
is a lifelong process, a lifelong journey where
Tim Doyle (18:31.916)
you want to get to the point where that thin layer just isn't there and you always your truest, most authentic self where you don't have that shield or that mask up. And that's something that I've talked with other people.
Tim Doyle (18:57.356)
And that's something that I've talked with other people about on my podcast, just fully embodying who you are 100 % of the time, where it doesn't even feel like you are consciously trying to embody yourself, but just that's your natural state of being. And you're naturally in your truth.
Tim Doyle (19:23.914)
another one, stop diluting myself and playing and talking small to make those around me more comfortable. Because I feel like there'd be times in my life where
I'd be more.
Tim Doyle (19:49.066)
at ease or more aware of trying to make others around me more comfortable if it meant that I wasn't being true to myself.
Tim Doyle (20:06.028)
I'd rather have everyone around me be at ease and me be at this ease because I didn't want to put others in an uncomfortable position or an uneasy position.
Tim Doyle (20:27.576)
Couple more here.
being at speaking of ease, being at ease with the unknown that my truthful brain. I think that's a really interesting one because you have to embrace the unknown, whatever it is you're doing in life. And I think when
You're not having this conscious mindset of fully embracing who you are and embracing your truth.
it becomes much easier just to accept the unknown because you're not thinking about it. And I think a good example of this is just like going through school when you're in third grade, not just talking about truth, but just in general, when you're in third grade, you're not having the mindset of how am going to finish third grade? How am I going even get to fourth grade? How am I going to get to senior year of high school?
Tim Doyle (21:31.606)
you just kind of have the mindset of time is going to pass and I'm going to go down this path. And that's something that I've truly tried to embody definitely really recently and something that I'm still working on fully embracing my truth, but also embracing the unknown and just accepting that, Hey, this is my truth and I'm just going to go down this path.
and I'm going to get there.
Tim Doyle (22:06.092)
And then the last one on this list I have for how can I step deeper into my truth, allowing for my truth to meet me where I am rather than always needing to push forward.
Tim Doyle (22:21.9)
I think we always feel like we need to be the ones in control. We need to be the ones in the driver's seat. We need to be constantly seeking this truth out, who we truly are. We constantly need to be exploring and on the move.
Tim Doyle (22:44.49)
and the other mindset that I'm trying to embody now is, well, if it's my truth,
Tim Doyle (22:53.152)
wouldn't the opposite also make sense? Isn't my truth trying to find me as much as I'm trying to find my truth. In fact, you could even make the case. My truth is trying to find me is trying to pin me down is trying me to is trying to have me see it. It's trying to have me allow it into my life. It's trying to have it guide me through life more than I am trying to find my truth.
And I think that's a really powerful mindset to have where you don't constantly need to be.
making moves. Be where you be where you are. Be where your feet are. Take actions where you are in the present moment and allow that truth to find you as much as you were trying to find that truth.
Tim Doyle (23:54.412)
And this leads me to the next writing prompt that we had. And like I said, with all these writing prompts.
the pre.
And like I said, with all these writing prompts, we would do meditation or breath work.
beforehand.
and
Tim Doyle (24:24.406)
One of the prompts that Danny Miranda had us do was.
write a letter to your
Tim Doyle (24:41.536)
And one of the writing prompts that Danny Miranda had us do was imagining ourselves as our 100 year old self, embodying that person and writing a letter to us today.
Tim Doyle (25:02.491)
and
An interesting thing that I'll note.
is that I feel like this is something that we all do as kids in school. When we have writing prompts, we look at other people and seeing how much they're writing. Who's finished first, who's taken the longest. And I could see that within this prompt. This exercise, I was like, wow, there's people writing like really long letters to themselves. And I feel like I've always been a less is more.
approach, especially with my writing. I think that's more impactful. Being concise, I think, can be really helpful and beneficial. And so I really didn't go into specifics because Danny had guided us with saying, talk about your accomplishments, your life, family, etc. And I really didn't go into specifics of that. I kept it more
vague, but I think it was from my standpoint and knowing who I am as a person, I thought it was more impactful for me. So I'll read that letter and it's not too long. Like I said,
Tim Doyle (26:26.264)
Timmy, you were on the path all along. You've always been on the path. You just had to have the courage to walk down it. When you started to walk, you started embodying your power. Everything you wanted you have everything you wanted to accomplish you have done everything you've wanted to be. You've always been go for your walk.
There's no need to run. Just keep walking, moving. Everything will illuminate everything will illuminate along the path as you continue to take each step. Love you buddy. So
And so as you can see there, no specifics about accomplishments. I do talk about you've accomplished everything you wanted, but no specifics about that.
but just having that.
Tim Doyle (27:37.174)
sense of...
Tim Doyle (27:41.087)
everything's going to be good, more than good. Everything's going to be special. And just allowing myself to
still live in that present moment and not talking about specifics because
to an extent that hundred year old guy, he's still going to be talking where he's still going to have the mindset of who I am today and using what I want to accomplish today as that framework. But as a 25 year old today, who knows five years from now, those goals could be completely different from what I'm thinking now, those accomplishments that I want to do now. So I wanted to allow for that.
variation in there or allow for that letter to stand the test of time throughout my entire life that I can look back on.
and see how it's always held true.
Tim Doyle (28:47.682)
And the last prompt or the last exercise that we did that I want to share about and was the most impactful and made the entire retreat so special for me. And honestly life changing now.
Tim Doyle (29:08.283)
and the name of this exercise is called the reason for being.
And like I said, with all of these
started out with breath work and meditation. Then Danny Miranda for this specific exercise guided us by saying, visualize yourself as a kid back in the house you grew up in, going through all the different rooms, seeing where your mother is, seeing where your father is, being in your own specific bedroom.
Tim Doyle (29:49.954)
And then the written prompt was, and I'm going to read this because I want to get all the specifics.
because there were five prompts. I'm going to talk about the three first prompts within the exercise.
Tim Doyle (30:11.242)
So the first prompt was...
Tim Doyle (30:18.796)
Describe the top positive traits of your parents. Just one word. What are the top positive traits of your parents?
Prompt two was, what are the negative traits of your parents? And then we write all those out. And then after we have all the answers of those.
He explains the deeper meaning behind that. And he says, our answers to those, what that represents is the traits you unconsciously model and adopted from your parents, both the positive and the negative.
I'm like, yeah, that that's definitely true. I felt like I embody all the positive traits of my parents. And then there were a few on there of negatives that I embodied the two biggest ones, overthinker and anxious. I am a massive overthinker. I overanalyze the crap out of stuff. And it is definitely
something that I struggle with and something that I'm trying to get a handle on.
Tim Doyle (31:36.056)
And then the third prompt within this reason for being exercise, which was the most profound and impactful thing for me throughout this entire retreat. And I visibly showed it and everyone knew that it was the most impactful for me. So this third promise says,
the yearning.
what I needed the most as a child but didn't get.
And what I wrote, and just to repeat it word for word, because I want to say exactly what in the moment I had written down, I said, I needed a voice.
I needed to speak. I needed to have an opinion. I feel like I really only found my voice three years ago. Quietness was always my answer rather than speaking.
Tim Doyle (32:39.586)
and what this represents. Because like I said, we write this down. And then Danny would tell us, okay, this is what that deeper significance means.
Tim Doyle (32:53.506)
The emotional void you had as a child that you look to fill as an adult. It's your underlying motive for everything you look for in your life. Career, relationships, etc. It's the unmet need that you subconsciously look to fulfill.
Tim Doyle (33:15.382)
And as he's reading that out, my mind just exploded.
Tim Doyle (33:25.366)
like eyes just wide open. And I'm like, my gosh. That's why I started a podcast. I didn't know it was staring me right in my eyes, but I couldn't see it. And I was just like, boom. That's why I started a podcast. My voice for my entire life, or for the majority of my life. Like I said, quietness was always my answer.
I think that was both consciously and subconsciously where
I would consciously be aware of, okay, I'm not going to use my voice in certain environments. But then also in other environments where I was just very shy, very introverted and was scared to use my voice.
Tim Doyle (34:17.791)
And that's what I try to do as an adult now. And that's why what I try to give to other people, their voice. It's so funny because something that I always talk about, especially with my mom, is how random people just open up to me out of the blue about very deep things about themselves and about their life.
And that was, I understood that that was part of my reasoning for wanting to start a podcast. It was like, I'm having these really interesting conversations or I'm giving people the space or they feel like they're comfortable around me to have the space to talk about these types of things. And I'm like, that type of skill or that type of energy would, I think would definitely help me as a podcast host. I never understood why people would open up to me.
Until now.
I was giving people a voice because I didn't have one, because I didn't use my voice. I wanted people to feel the power of having their voice and how incredible that could be because I didn't do that for most of my life.
Tim Doyle (35:39.904)
And this also goes back to my back injury as well because with TMS.
Tim Doyle (35:49.266)
One of the psychological things that they say about the type of people who deal with TMS are very intense people. And I am a very intense person, especially internally. Whether it's with working out, work in general, I'm just a very intense person. And a key component to
my healing process and my therapy process, but that was writing and speaking out that writing. And then that led me to making motivational videos on Instagram, where it just be me talking to my camera. And it was a very healing cathartic process.
because I needed to use my voice. That's how I got my intensity out. I finally was like, I need to release this intensity. I had this bottle of intensity for such a large amount of my life that speaking and using my voice was that release of intensity. And that's why I started a podcast as well, I guess.
And I never like truly knew that deeper reasoning behind it. I would always ask myself questions like, does making this podcast feel so good? Why do having these conversations feel so good? It's because I'm filling that void now that I had as a kid with not using my voice.
Tim Doyle (37:36.428)
So this entire experience with this exercise just completely.
blew the doors off of me, where I was like, whoa, having this type of conscious.
Knowledge of why you do something so much on a deep deep level is an incredible feeling and it will allow me to be so much more intentional with this podcast and the work behind it and understanding the motivation behind it and Just recently I had an intro call with a guest that I'm gonna have on and He's had a fair bit
of media coverage in the past.
Tim Doyle (38:26.27)
And he asked me, you know, what we wanted to talk about or what I wanted to talk about with him, the intentions behind the podcast. And I could tell he just like totally relaxed after.
And he said, he goes, that sounds awesome. This means the world to me. And I had such a greater appreciation for those words that he said in that entire moment, such a little moment, but so much energy in that moment.
because I had the conscious understanding of I'm giving this guy a voice.
I'm giving this guy the space to use his voice the way that he wants to.
Tim Doyle (39:17.964)
And that's so cool because podcasting has become one of those things that, everyone's got a podcast. Everyone's doing this. And it's like, yes, that is true to a certain extent, but like it's such a deeper reasoning behind it for me. I knew that going in, but now just consciously and intentionally knowing it as well. Mike, yes, there's external
results that I want to create with this thing. But the only reason why I want to create those external results is so that allows this internal fulfillment and this reason for being to flourish that much more.
Tim Doyle (40:02.526)
And I can't thank Danny Miranda and that entire experience enough.
because I wouldn't ever had that moment.
Tim Doyle (40:16.962)
And like I said, those wires started to untangle after that.
Tim Doyle (40:31.756)
And I know because of this retreat, I'm going to get into.
such special work with other stuff.
Tim Doyle (40:42.134)
more specific to
things with my own healing journey with my back and dealing with chronic pain. I don't know all the specifics of that yet. I know the outline for what that work will look like and the intentions behind that work. And I know I have such confidence. I know that that type of work will be so special, so purposeful. But most importantly, I know that that work
can change lives and a ton of lives. And it can change the way people view themselves and the relationship with themselves. And like I said, that's what this show is all about. The relationship with oneself is the most important to develop, but the easiest to neglect. And I know I can give people the tools, especially the ones who are dealing with chronic pain.
I know I can give them the tools to develop that relationship.
Tim Doyle (41:58.168)
So I could not recommend not just doing a retreat with Danny Miranda, but just retreats in general. A massive part of the retreat as well was that no phones. It's incredible.
how much time can slow down if you don't have your phone. It's incredible how much time you actually have in a day if you don't have a phone and how much you can accomplish and how good you can feel. Because that next...
because that first day, day and a half after the retreat where I had my phone again,
my head just felt like it was going to combust. But I definitely have become.
more intentional with using my phone because that's definitely a thing that I still struggle with a lot and just people in general just constant consumption.
Tim Doyle (43:19.512)
But yeah, retreats highly recommend either doing it with Daniel Miranda. Or just like I said, a retreat in general. I think it also becomes a great way to explore new parts of the country. Search up retreats that you want to do or search up
in a city you would want to explore, look up a retreat that is going on there and use that as the pillar to start off your trip because
And I know a lot of people who did this retreat with me feel the same way. The retreat was from Thursday to Sunday, but the effects of the retreat.
carry it over after the retreat ended and it will continue to carry over for weeks on end, months on end, years on end, your entire life.
And I knew that if I were to fly back home, it would almost be like a shock to my system. So I was so grateful that I was able to stay in Austin, Texas for a couple of weeks after, continue to connect with people who were local to Austin who did the retreat, but also now
Tim Doyle (44:52.694)
connecting with so many other incredible people. And this is such an incredible city with such incredible energy and people. And a place I think that I'm probably going to call home in the not too distant future.
Tim Doyle (45:14.432)
So I think the moral of the story from everything I've learned here
dedicate your workouts to someone. Send messages to people. You never know what can happen. The energy that can be created, the magic that can be created. If I didn't send that workout message to Danny.
I probably wouldn't have come on the retreat. It wouldn't have been top of mind and I wouldn't have had that push to actually do it.
So just start talking with people, start sending messages to people, whether you know them or not, start dedicating workouts, start telling people you love the work that they do. You never know what can happen. with that, I'll, so with that, I will see you in the next episode. Keep out working.
