Barbell Shrugged - Feed Me Fuel Me  — Keeping Perspective w/ Ryan Moody  — 88

Episode Date: May 24, 2018

Ryan Moody  is known around the world for his explosive athleticism. He has broken multiple world records with both Guinness and the World Records Academy in various jumping feats. Ryan is also creator of THEXWOD, a program dedicated to furthering an individuals’ ability to build explosive power and speed. Before breaking those records, Ryan had lived in a state of near constant pain since his life altering bike accident at 8 years of age. He spent most of his young adult life searching for methods to help him overcome his pain, while vigilantly pursuing all of his dreams and goals. Ryan has overcome debilitating injuries, life-threatening and infectious disease, broken limbs, multiple concussions, double knee surgery, and even paresis (partial loss / impairment of voluntary movement). He was told by doctors on 3 separate occasions that he would; "never walk, run, or play sports again." Professionals have even referred to him as a "Scientific Anomaly!" In his pursuit of breaking multiple world records, Ryan developed a multitude of health and fitness programs on diverse platforms for all types of people. He travels the world speaking about “Strength Through Adversity”, “Prolonging Lifespan & Increasing Quality of Life”, and conducts training seminars that teach his health and fitness methodologies. In this episode, Ryan shares how he coaches a wide range of athletes including children, olympians, and crossfitters to prioritize explosiveness in the hips. He takes the conversation further north and talks about the importance of mindset, especially when it comes to a heavy lift, using Michael Jordan’s “sick game” as an example of simply turning the mind off and playing. Enjoy! - Jeff and Mycal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Show notes: http://www.shruggedcollective.com/fmfm_moody ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please support our partners! Thrive Market is a proud supporter of us here at Barbell Shrugged.  We very much appreciate all they do with us and we’d love for you to support them in return!  Thrive Market has a special offer for you. You get $60 of FREE Organic Groceries + Free Shipping and a 30 day trial, click the link below: thrivemarket.com/feedme   How it works:  Users will get $20 off their first 3 orders of $49 or more + free shipping.  No code is necessary because the discount will be applied at checkout. Many of you will be going to the store this week anyway, so why not give Thrive Market a try! ► Subscribe to Shrugged Collective's Channel Here http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedSubscribe 📲 🎧 Listen to the audio version on the Apple Podcast App or Stitcher for Android Here- http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedApple http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedStitcher Shrugged Collective is a network of fitness, health and performance shows that help people achieve their physical and mental health goals.  Usually in the gym, but outside as well. In 2012 they posted their first Barbell Shrugged podcast and have been putting out weekly free videos and podcasts ever since. Along the way we've created successful online coaching programs including The Shrugged Strength Challenge, The Muscle Gain Challenge, FLIGHT, Barbell Shredded, and Barbell Bikini. We're also dedicated to helping affiliate gym owners grow their businesses and better serve their members by providing owners tools and resources like the Barbell Business Podcast. Find Shrugged Collective and their flagship show Barbell Shrugged here: SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES ► http://bit.ly/ShruggedCollectiveiTunes WEBSITE ► https://www.ShruggedCollective.com INSTAGRAM ► https://instagram.com/shruggedcollective FACEBOOK ► https://facebook.com/barbellshruggedp... TWITTER ► http://twitter.com/barbellshrugged

Mike Bledsoe here, CEO of The Shrug Collective. Today, we bring to you a new show, Feed Me, Fuel Me, hosted by Jeff Thornton and Mike Landers. As we're expanding what we offer, traveling to great guests, and introducing you to the best content, we have partnered with amazing companies that we believe in. We talk and hang out with the founders and owners of these businesses. Not all products are created equal, even if it looks like it on the surface.

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This is episode number 88 of the Feed Me, Fuel Me podcast with our special guest, owner of The XWOD, Ryan Moody. Welcome to the Feed Me, Fuel Me podcast. My name is Jeff Thornton, alongside my co-host, Michael Anders. Each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message related to our three pillars of success. Manifestation, business, fitness, and nutrition. Our intent is to enrich, educate, and empower our audience to take action, control, and accountability for their decisions. Thank you for allowing us to join you on your journey. Now let's get started.

Hey, what's good, crew? Welcome to another episode of the Feed Me, Feel Me podcast. There's Jeff coming to you at the culmination of another successful explosive seminar with the founder, creator of the XWOD, Ryan Moody. What's good, brother? What is up, man? It's been a while. Long time. Four years? At least. Yeah.

Really? You guys have been that far back, huh? Yeah. I took Ryan's seminar. He was out here many moons ago at AJ's old facility, East CrossFit Mesa. We are now within the confines of what is going to be the Rush Club Human Performance Center. So shout out to AJ and all the progress that he's making moving forward with that transition.

Thanks for letting us use the space and take Ryan's time. But yeah, so I was under the impression when I took your seminar, I was like, this is just going to give me some more. You know, I look at seminars like yours. You know, what can I take from this? That's going to make me a better coach in terms of cueing and tactics and stuff like that. And what I got from it, to my surprise, was so much more about the mental side of the game and how you approach a PR and how you overcome, you know, your self-limiting beliefs,

obviously with regards to performance, but that also translates to life. And I think that your presentation and how you give that information has everything to do with the things that you've overcome in your life. And so real quick, before we dive into all of that, for everybody who doesn't know who you are and what the Explosive Seminar is and what XWOD is, give us the cliff notes of your journey and how you got to this point. Right on. So kind of an elevator pitch of all the above, right? So I'm primarily known in the community for one thing, and that's jumping on really high boxes for a living. I've broken multiple records within the confines of box jump related feats, right? I created the Explosive Training Seminar to help better individuals, whether those are

coaches or non coaches just members of the gym or just individuals who want to increase their ability to jump higher run faster lift heavier but another big aspect of that was the mental side of it like you were saying the mental game so i created a process years ago that i used in school to actually nothing athletic related to improve my g because I sucked at test-taking and so it was a way to calm myself down we call that the whiteboard mindset and so we've taught this seminar at 400 plus locations 30 countries six continents now okay so pretty awesome that's freaking cool man what gave you like the

the motivation to start that up especially during college yeah so yeah guess my professors weren't as much fans of it because I was never there. Kind of like an athlete, but I didn't have the same privileges as an athlete. Yeah. So you're not on scholarship. You still got to be here. Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Like, wait a second. I'm the one paying, though, for this, right? Come on. No, so it all started originally with breaking the first box jump world record, which was done at CrossFit 801 with Tyson and Miranda Oldroyd at the time. And I had moved from Idaho. I kind of helped bring CrossFit, if you will, originally to the Boise area. I was doing it, you know, just as a coach out of a YMCA.

You know, obviously not calling it CrossFit. That's why I say I kind of brought it to the area. Um, and just kind of developing that over time. And then I moved down to Utah after I graduated from Boise state to go to university of Utah to finish all my schooling. And it was like, I keep hearing about this CrossFit 801. This is the place to train. So I'm going to go. And so walked in there, eventually started helping to manage the gym. And they realized that I was jumping pretty high for box jumps. And Tyson was like, dude, is there like a world record for this? You should go for it.

And I was like, yeah, there is. I just, I don't know. I don't know. Long story short, he pushed me to do it. We got a full news crew there, live news. I had the gym just full of people. And CrossFit HQ was there filming. There's a little short segment called 56 Inches to Fame.

Heber actually filmed it. It was on his early days kind of trying to get into the HQ scene. And now he's done phenomenal stuff with all the different documentaries that have come out. And I ended up breaking the original Guinness record at that time for highest vertical leap onto a platform is what they call it. 55 inches. I broke it and hit 56 inches. And so it's called the little short is called 56 inches to fame. And it was because of Tyson and Miranda yet again that they said, look, you did all this type of training to get to that point to do what you just did.

Can you take that and share it with others? Can you make me jump higher? And I started thinking about it. I was like, how am I supposed to develop this thing? I'm jumping on a box. And then one day it hit me and I was like, well, I use my hips. Well, how much do we use our hips in CrossFit? Oh, okay. Just about everything. How much do we use our hips in the real world? Everything. If I can can make you more powerful more efficient with your hips, there's value for you in that Sure, and so I started piecing together. Well, this is how I'm training. This is how I program it now, how do I send that to the masses and started what I originally called the the vert cert at the time and

did the very first seminar at CrossFit Hillsboro in Hillsboro, Oregon, November 2011. And it literally grew by word of mouth alone. I was not pushing it. I was not paying for ads or marketing or otherwise. I would just get these messages from people that attended the seminar or people that heard about it, and they're like, hey, can we book you? And it went from one in the first year to, uh, by the second or third year, I did 110, um, within a year's time. And I was on 440 airplanes that year. I mean, it was

just nuts and it was also killing me. So I had to back off of that, but that's kind of how it all happened. It was very organic. I wasn't trying to pursue it. I wasn't even thinking that this, this is for someone else. This can help someone else. But now having worked with everyone from children to professional athletes, Olympians, CrossFitters, and adaptive athletes, it's much bigger than me jumping on a box. That's huge, man, because I know, Darius, you can probably relate with this. Back when I was playing football coming up through high school and all that, we used strength shoes. Have you seen those with those big platforms?

I actually still have them. Yeah. With the big platforms on the front just trying to increase our vertical jump. You know, those worked great. But from your standpoint, comparing strength shoes to what you're doing, where's the crossover? Because the strength shoes are good, but what you're doing is making people exceptional.

What's the difference? Is it the calves? Is it the hips? Where is it at? What's happening? I love this question. So thank you for posing this question because it's actually verbatim an example I use to people when they're like, dude, I just want to dunk. I just want to jump higher.

I get that. That's like the number one email. Bro, I'm 40. I want to dunk. What do I need to do? Do I go get some of those shoes? You know, and I say, I used to have the shoes that helped me a little bit when I was growing up. Great. But I want you to think of it like this. This is how I compare what I do and what I teach to those strength shoes, if you will. So if you think of

your body from your hips down to your toes as a whip. The hips are the grip of the whip. The toes are the crack of the whip. If I'm training using those strength shoes, which are great, but if I'm training using those strength shoes, I'm training that last 10% of the crack of the whip. Why not go to the hips or the origin of basically all movement? Make that more powerful because if I can make more power at the handle or the grip of the whip, I can make that crack of the whip even louder. Ah, that makes sense.

That makes perfect sense. I've never heard it broken down like that. Yeah, kinda cool, huh? That's really cool. Yeah, because I knew we were using those things all the damn time, like, we're gonna be sprinting four threes in no time. Never happened.

That's cool. Exactly. That's cool. That's awesome, dude. So where are you at now? So I just, well, I say just. It's been a year now. But I moved actually from Mesa to Dallas, be closer to family. And that's been fantastic because for the past 12 years, I have not lived within 1,000 miles of my family.

So that's partly school, partly dating, coaching, where I'm doing what I'm doing. And when I was, when I was teaching seminars all the time, cause I actually took a year and a half break from it. But when I was teaching seminars all the time, it became one of those things where it's like, I have a place that's basically just storing all my stuff. Cause I'm never home. And so it, I realized at that point, like I could really live anywhere and do what I do because someone's just going to call me, set it up, put me on a plane and then I go there and teach their members, you know, and a place to escape, lay your head and not be involved. You know what I mean? That's good, man. Good for you. Going back to the mental side of everything that you teach. One of the things that was so profound to me when I took your seminar a couple of years ago, and forgive me for forgetting the terminology used,

but the application is making the weight look small. Oh, yeah, yeah, I know which one you're talking about. And everybody makes fun of me in the gym, and I completely blame it on you, because I take this fucking journey from across the gym to my barbell to hit anything 90 plus. And, um, the basic, the premise is it's a, it's a visual trick where you visualize the bar from far away and obviously it looks smaller because it's at a distance and then you never

look at it again until you're between the plates and then you execute you do whatever you do and you execute the lift and it has been so powerful for me from a consistency standpoint that the numbers no longer get in my head you know what i mean so like i don't i don't fear what three three wheels looks right you know what i'm saying three wheels is still three wheels 315 but like it doesn't Inhibit my willingness to pull the bar right, you know what I'm saying? So using that that trick. Yeah, you know what I mean? When did you like how did you cultivate? That aspect of your performance performance? That's great. This is one of the things I always find so funny.

It's been how many years since you were there? I know we had talked a little bit after the seminar itself, but it's always feedback like that that I don't hear about for months to years later. I'm always like, oh, cool, man. It was a really good experience and you still use it. So that's awesome. No, so I appreciate that. That's awesome feedback. Um, so the, uh, the, the mindset technique that you're referring to, cause we, we do a few different ones that we

do in the seminar. Uh, the primary, the really big one being the whiteboard, clearing your mind, seeing your task and performing your task. But the one that you're talking about is the perspective change, right? Changing your perspective. And so the example that I like to use is the Josh Everett example from the 2009 CrossFit Games. I was competing on, on Miranda's team that year. And I remember watching Josh going up to these bars on that last row, all the way up to the 505 bar and this dude's just going bonkers and he looks like a bull waiting to be let out of the gate to just go to town and he's just waiting for Castro to go three two one lift and when he would get to those bars he would kick the bar off the log grab it stand up to extension stick his his tongue out, screaming. And he's like talking

trash to the bar. And you're sitting there like, what is this dude on? Where do I get some? And you're like, what the heck? But I learned something really unique from that experience, watching him at the fence is I was going, as he's getting amped up, everyone around them is getting amped up and they're like, Oh, you know, they want to step over the fence. Like, give me the bar. I want the bar. But one of the cool things was is he was not allowing an inanimate object to defeat him. We are intelligent creatures.

We are greater than this table here, right? There's more to us than there is to this table. So to let a box, a bar, plates, et cetera, defeat us mentally is the antithesis of who we are and what we are. We should be able to always overcome, overpower these inanimate things. And so what I, what I say is I use it in two ways. I talk about the bar and then I also talk about a box. And I sometimes use it for the running box jump variation. It's the third variation in the very first segment of seven segments that we do in the seminar. And I show everyone, I say, look, when I walk up to this box, right,

when I walk up to this box, and the box is however high, it's really intimidating. Then I take steps back. And when, as I step back, what happens to my perspective of that object? It's much smaller, right? It doesn't look so intimidating. So the last visual I have of the box is when I'm, I mean, obviously I keep it in my peripheral, you know, as an athlete, I'm not just like staring at the floor, hoping this works. But I, the last time I really see the box in its entirety, I've already jumped and it doesn't matter at that point. Cause I'm in the air. Yeah. Right. Right.

So at that point, you're already committed. There's no real getting out of that situation. Yeah. Right. And then the example I use with the bar, like what Ders is talking about is, is, uh, no, no matter what, when you stare at a bar, if there's 315, 505 on it, it's still that much weight. But when you look at it and you kind of stand side to side, you're standing right next to the bar and you look at it and you're like, dude,

that is a lot of freaking weight. But when you, again, change your perspective, look at the obstacle in a different light, it absolutely changes how you approach what you're taking on. So they're starting at the back of the gym or in the Walmart parking lot or whatever and staring down that bar. That bar looks like nothing at a distance. And so as he approaches it, he's not focusing on it because if you focus on it, all of a sudden it gets bigger and you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Right? As he approaches it, he's not focusing on it because if you focus on it, all of a sudden it gets bigger and you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. So instead he approaches it and keeping it in his peripheral, but he approaches it, he gets on the bar and he just does what he was meant to do, what we're all meant to do.

Just move. Move the bar. That's it. And so what we're doing is, one, changing perspective because we always have different types of obstacles. I don't like to use the word limitation because I believe limitation is actually opportunity. And so we see these obstacles and sometimes we go, we're talking about those floodgates, right? Earlier floodgates open and you're like, holy crap. But then when you go, how can I better negotiate this obstacle?

Then you go, wait a second, there's more to this because you've changed your perspective. Many individuals have never been taught to do that. And so that's kind of where those come from is it's a game changer for people. One of my favorite examples, I know I'm kind of rambling on this one. I'm super passionate about this aspect. I get paid actually really well to teach this to CEOs and presidents of some of the largest corporations in the world and that this is what they want to learn. They want to learn this. So one of my favorite examples to use of someone who was exceptionally and arguably still exceptionally well at this is Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan always seemed to have this sixth or seventh gear and the story that I like to use is the flu game. So if you recall, he had the flu in the playoffs, right? His trainer was like,

bro, don't do this. You're really sick. Don't do it. Even walking out of the court, he's like, you probably shouldn't do this. And Jordan plays anyways. What's so amazing is his ability to get into that sixth or seventh gear and totally turn the mind off and just move. The moment, if you watch video footage that's on YouTube, YouTube right the moment that the whistle blows and it's game time It's game time right anytime the whistle is blown for like a timeout or halftime or whatever You could see the guy was suffering right? It's just like slamming fluids down. I've even heard I don't know if this is true, but I've even heard at halftime They gave him an IV full of fluids to be able to get it back in the system faster But the dude had one of the greatest games ever and it's like man. This guy is super exceptional. Absolutely

I don't argue that right his major advantage there was his mental game, right, right? Physically, he knew what he was capable of even not feeling well But his mental game was on a such a higher level and he knows how to tap into Turning the mind off and just going mm-hmm not a lot of us do right so if I can share anything with people it's that and how do you develop that because like you said a lot of people don't learn how to tap into that that mental side where they come when they hit an obstacle it's just like this is it I can't overcome it how do you develop that meant like that mentality? Is it books? Is it people surroundings?

What oh, yeah, no, no, I mean like we could argue a Plethora of all the above yeah Because all those things can influence us in different ways and lead us down different paths or when we come across Obstacles give us different tools to take on those obstacles some of us Don't have that those same surroundings. And so when we get those obstacles, we do, we just shut down. We're like, holy crap. I don't know how to approach the following because of ABCD. I've never been shown this. The moment someone shows you, all of a sudden you go, well, this is not that hard. And so part of developing that is kind of who you surround

yourself with, what you're doing, what you're listening to, great podcast, books, listening to peers that have made it to levels where you want to go to. Not necessarily the ones still grinding, which can still be good, but the ones who have already had to go through a lot to get to where they're at and to get to where you want to go or ideally where you think you want to be. And so putting yourself in a situation where you're forced to adapt, right? So where you have to have obstacles. One of my favorite quotes is actually from James Fitzgerald, OPEX, right? He said, you got to get used to being uncomfortable. So get comfortable being uncomfortable. And I've always loved that. I was like, man, that's so great. And so even in the seminar, when I introduced the whiteboard piece

and say, this is what we're going to do. Then I say, now we're going to do something that a lot of you have not done before. And all of a sudden, when I explain what we're going to do, deer in the headlights, look, and they're like a whole crap. I have to do this now. I don't know if I'm capable of doing this. I give them something. I put them under pressure. I give for a lot of them, it's something new they haven't done before. And now I'm saying, look, this is your obstacle. Here's your tool. Go apply it. Watch what happens. What's so crazy is in those moments, we have people literally do that movement at a level they didn't think they could ever do right and they start crying because they've broken through a wall that they know they've had they just didn't know how to get through it the only way

for a lot of situations like this really how to answer that question is in order to hone that, in order to make yourself better, you've got to treat yourself like a diamond in the rough and continue to put yourself in situations where you have pressure because pressure is going to be able to push you to the point of what your ultimate goal is going to look like or what or who you want to be. And some people will go their entire lives and never know what that feels like. So if you come to my seminar, you will, I'm going to make you at least have that one instance. And it's so cool. Today we had individuals doing half the attendance at the seminar today, did a level of, I don't like giving away the movement. That's why I'm kind of,

yeah. Cause I want people to be like, I'm going to be prepared for this. Like, no, no, no, that's not how it goes. But they do it at a level higher than what they did at the very beginning in a different variation of the movement, but a variation of the movement that they should be doing even higher. Does that make sense? So a should always be higher than B, but all of a sudden on B they're doing even more and even greater. And then I remind them at the end, hey, what was A like compared to B right now? And they go, oh, my gosh. Yeah.

It's way higher than what I was doing. How is that possible? Well, you were put under pressure and you did what I asked you to do. You turned your mind off. And regardless if you made it or not, you attempted it. Right. And that's where we learn what we're really, what we're really made of, what we're really capable of. So again, for me, it comes down to I'm not growing if I'm not challenging myself. And that's where I find that. Where is the instance in your life that you consciously asked that question the first time? Do you know when that

happened? So that's a great question. I've actually honestly never had it worded that way. And I actually like that a lot. So thank you. Um, cause it kind of makes me, it kind of knocks me back a little bit like, okay, let me, let me actually think about this question. So a good portion of my life, I've been faced with obstacles of physical and mental adversity. Different occasions in my life, I've been told he's probably not going to walk right, or he's not going to be able to run, or he's not going to be able to play sports because of what has happened, what has transpired. And I always was of the mindset that I'm not going to be knocked down. And if you do knock me down, I'm getting right back up. And so I think instances of physical and mental adversity really started to drive me to that point.

But if I could give you an instance that was probably the, the kind of come to Jesus meeting, right? Your awakening. Yeah, it's my, yeah, exactly. My awakening. Um, it was, I was a missionary in Lisbon, Portugal, and this was in 2005. And during one of the, my days off, I was playing basketball with the locals. I went up and dunked, came horizontal the rim, fell nearly 10 feet on the back of my head, almost completely hurting two discs in my neck and one in my lumbar, putting so much pressure on my spinal cord that it stopped communication, essentially for mobility and movement, but it emitted throughout all my nerve endings pain 24-7.

And so I was basically laid in a bed, and it's a state that's been referred to as paresis, similar a bit to paralysis Obviously no severing of the spine of any sort Just an inability to actually function quote-unquote normally, right? or optimally and I was just in pain and I Just laid in this bed and we were in an attic that had kind of been Outfitted to be an apartment if you will okay and this was during the hot time of the year so that

attic would get over 120 degrees because we didn't have fans or AC we just had an open window and that mainly brought sunlight in and so it would get wicked hot so I'm like melting into this bed and going out of my mind and I'm just in constant pain I actually described the pain to my father as I would rather break another bone in my body so I had something new to focus on that wasn't so much of the same. And so I just went to a really dark place at that point. I started turning my back on everyone, everything, on God. I mean, you name it. And I started basically cursing the whole reason I was there.

And, you know, the mission president there was trying to help me out and doing everything in their power to get me better, paying for chiropractic visits, you know, therapy visits of all sorts. They had sent me to a neurologist. They had different doctors calling in or coming over to help out. We even thought it was psychosomatic at one point that it was all in my head. And, uh, I was on 3,600 milligrams of ibuprofen a day. And then the neurologist had me get taken these SOS pills. I don't, I don't know what it was. It was all in Portuguese, but apparently it was to knock me out when the pain got too bad and taking too much of that apparently is toxic. And, um, um, of which I had

done. And then, so I had to go through, you know, taking a ton of fluids to kind of offset all that, but it didn't do what it was supposed to do. It was supposed to knock me out and, um, it didn't even really suppress the pain. And so they're like, what is going on? Uh, finally I, I, you know, I was just depressed and in a dark place, like I said. And one morning I woke up and I changed my mindset and I said, you know what? I've been told before that I'm not going to walk, not going to run, not going to play sports. And I've been able to fight that and prove that to be wrong. And so I said, okay, I've done it before. I can do it again.

I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to do it this time because this is unlike anything I've ever butted my head against before. Or as my mom says, no matter what's ever happened to you in the past, anytime you've fallen, you've already, Oh, you've always gotten back up. The only time you didn't get back up was cause you couldn't. And that was in Portugal. And, uh, what ended up happening is I said, you know what, I'm just going to start believing that I can, I can move. And I, that, um, I can regain the ability to do the things that I was doing before, just be more mobile, right? And, you know, on the first day, believe it or not, nothing happened. And then the first week, nothing happened.

And so I'm like, I'm just going to keep trying, you know. And by the time I was getting closer to being sent home to really seek out some help that we had the technology here sort of thing to really help figure out exactly what needed to be done. What ended up happening was I started getting a bit more mobility back. The pain was never changing. The pain was very, very constant. But I started being able to do a little bit more, be up a bit more, move a bit more. And so it definitely helped. But at that point in time, it was already like, Hey,

you got to go back to this. We got to figure out what's going on. And went back to Dallas, went to a Zell Lipschitz research hospital in Dallas. And within a short amount of time, they're like, here's what's going on. And you know what I explained to you earlier. And now you're going to go through a lot of rehab because everything's out of whack and we've got to kind of reposition things. The only way to do that is to the musculature is just super upset and forcing everything all the wrong way. And so we have to kind of reset that. And it's going to it's not going to be easy. You know, no curvature in my neck whatsoever actually

more of a diagonal um you know linear diagonal line if you will um not even straight at that time it was so bad um and then i just went through all this rehab and therapy that i used to actually have nightmares about and i used to as a 20 year old man would cry to my mom and be like i don't want to go um of course made me me go anyways and got the work done. And eventually, when I was released, they said, look, you have got to do stuff to strengthen the musculature around your spines. Because of the state you were in, the likelihood of this happening again is very likely if you don't keep everything in place, if you will. And it wasn't long after that that I actually found CrossFit but the crazy thing was like I said this was in 2005 I was in this bed and I had two choices one I could fight

it two I could do what is super common in society day and drives me bonkers especially with the younger generations is how oppressed or how victimized can I be? And can I out-victimize the person next to me? And so I could allow that to make me the victim, or I could be like, you know what, screw this. This is not going to be my life. And by changing that mindset, I think that was everything for me. That was my awakening. Like, look, I didn't know what I could do, but look where I am now and how much further it's brought me. Had I chosen to allow myself to be the victim, be defeated in that bed, I would have never known that five years later I would break a world record. And then shortly after that, I would do more. I had no idea at that time I could do

what I could do. I had no idea. So I'd never been put in a situation to try it right So kind of kind of crazy roundabout way for all that to happen. That's so interesting man Wow And as you're going through that process, I mean We mentioned like books or resources. Yeah, what was it that? Kept driving that home for you to keep that that positive mentality was it that kept driving that home for you to keep that positive mentality? Was it religion, Tony Robbins tapes or something? It's hard to keep stoking that fire as you're going through those situations. Was there one book or something that just kept it?

You know, the easy answer would honestly be like, oh man, reading scriptures. It would have been a huge thing. But you got to remember, in that state that I was in, I had turned my back on those things. I was like, this is not going, this is not helping me. There's always been something in me ever since I was younger, and I don't know if it's an authority problem or what, but being told I can't do something. That's huge.

Yeah, it was massive. It was just that thing that always propelled me to be like, you tell me I can't, I'll prove to you that I will. Right. And so when someone says, no, Ryan, I'm sorry, you're going to be in this bed. Then I'm like, the hell I am. That's crazy, man. I'm not going to stay in this bed. Watch me. Right. bed watch me right and so whether whether individuals in my life who have

because I don't I don't want to take this and like put the blame on the doctors and be like they told me I couldn't and you know it's all their fault blah blah because there are instances where you've probably heard stories like this where they're like I want to say it was Stephen King where I think he was in like a really bad accident or otherwise and in the ambulance the guy in the ambulance was and I could Be totally misquoting this so then just kind of paraphrasing what I recall was like, sorry, man You're not gonna you know

You're not gonna make it and he fought in that situation and make sure he made it conscious Yeah, exactly. And I think in that scenario, I could be wrong, but the paramedic had done that on purpose To show that he actually does have the will to fight to survive etc and so I there's times for example where my dad has done that to me on purpose when I first discovered after a snowboarding accident and having surgery on both my knees that I used CrossFit and box jumps as my recovery that I could do what I could do I was was like, I called my dad and I remember being in the gym exactly where I was in the gym, call my dad and like, Hey, I think there's this

record for Guinness. Like maybe I should go out for it. And my dad goes, what are you jumping? And I told him and he's like, yeah, it's probably like 70 inches or something. You won't ever make it. And I was like, what? And I realized later, just knowing my dad and my dad, knowing me from, you know, raising me, et cetera, he knows that if he tells me, I don't know, man, that I'm going to be like, you know what? If I want it bad enough, I'm actually going to pursue it. And he knew that all along. But at the time I was like, dude, there's a challenge, man. Yeah, I can do this. I know I can do this, you know.

And so I was able to like a year or so later. But I think there's good in both of those things, you know? And so, um, I, I was able to, uh, like a year or so later, but, uh, I think there's, there's good in both of those things, you know, being told it is going to be this way and being told it's not going to be this way. And then you have to make the decision. That's one of my big things is we can only be influenced so far to the point that we choose a or B or C or whatever. Right. And so, um, in those scenarios, when someone says, no, it's going to be this way, I go, my automatic thing is I'm going to fight this. I'm not going to let this be this way. Cause I don't like feeling quote unquote limited.

This has got to be an opportunity. But that's, that was that moment in Portugal where I was like, limitation is not limitation. Limitation is opportunity. So I don't believe that limitation is a real thing. I believe limitation is opportunity wearing a different coat. Yeah. That's odd. It's like the circle we live in, because Durs and I had a conversation, you know, just driving over in prior conversations.

It's like being able to take control of a situation. Whatever happens to you is saying, putting yourself in the driver's seat and Then that gives you the power to overcome anything like Ryan Holiday's book the obstacle is the way Once people finally dial it in and have that mindset those triggers it's incredible what can happen to you because When you're not placing yourself in always like this is happening to me, but it's happening because of me That's when you can make me major changes in your entire life that's man i just applaud you on having that

mindset and just recognizing that strength and overcoming those situations man because a lot of people will look at you and your situation that where you are today building a massive company doing great things that you're doing but they might not recognize like man it must be great to be ryan moody he hasn't gone through anything. Like, what a lucky guy, you know? But the things you've overcome in your life and you continue to overcome are getting you to where you're going to go. And I applaud you for that, man. That's incredible. I appreciate that very much so.

And, you know, one of the things that I like to think of, besides the fact I don't like airports, I'm actually not a huge fan of people in general But I always think about the The example of being on an airplane Mm-hmm Amongst everyone on that airplane people come from all different walks of life Have all different points in their life But all of them potentially have something that can offer us in that moment. And I've sat next to people. I don't like talking to people on planes, but they want to talk to me. And you know, we start talking. I don't like to talk about what I do because then it changes the

atmosphere of the conversation. Yeah. And I'm like, like if they keep pushing, eventually they're going to get to those questions and I'm going to answer those. pushing eventually they're gonna get to those questions and I'm gonna answer those But I've sat next to people and I'm like this guy owns a billion-dollar company Well, first of all, where's his private jet? But number two, there's a lot I can learn from this guy And had he not said something to me. I may not have opened up that door And so the thing is at the end of the day we see people Especially in the media social media Fortunately, it's this double-edged sword, right?

But you see these people and you're like man, like you said it must be great to be so-and-so but we realistically have no idea one where that person's been what they went through and Really where they are right now and what they're going through because it all looks like one thing on the surface and it's this like the old school uh 50s tv shows with the perfect families right like dude that's not real that's not how it works right um and so i always think it's important that no matter who you run into no matter how they um approach a situation like I've had people go off on me. I'm like, bro, I don't even know you.

I don't even know why you're upset. Is we do not know what motivates others or what is motivating them in that moment. And it can have absolutely nothing to do with us. But I always think it's important to be open and aware to those around us because someone might say, dude, Ryan, you're freaking crushing it. On the flip side, I could be like, I'm going through deep depression or I'm going, you know, whatever. There's a list of things that could be going on. We never know. You see that with a lot of really famous individuals. You know, the example that I want to use is Chester from Lincoln Park, right? You know, he, you got like, this guy

has everything. He gets to see the world. He's got a family. He's a very, very financially stable environment. He's got millions upon fans. But on the backside of it, on the flip side of that card, man, the guy was going through a lot. And when he ended up taking his life, all of a sudden, some of the lyrics start to change in your own mind. You go, whoa, he was also sending a message. Holy crap. Right. And it just really changes things. So I like to remain open to you come at me with one, a few ways. I don't know what motivates you, but I'm going to stay open to that scenario until I can figure out what, where you need me or if you need me. Sure. Does that make sense?

No, it makes perfect sense. Yeah. It was just everybody has their own vehicle of expression, I guess you could say. Yours may have manifested in the way of breaking records via box jumps, but that was just the way you express yourself and overcome those obstacles and situations in your life. And all of us have it, but you just have to realize and get true to yourself. Like a lot of times you and I talk it's like find what motivates

you what gets you waking up in the morning not what these people are doing like pointing the finger focus on yourself first and then find that driver that's huge man yeah that's a that's a powerful message you're not just teaching your course your courses to me it sounds like you are teaching people explosion things like that but it's it's a deeper message it's about building that confidence overcoming that adversity not physically but psychologically first then it makes the physiological change in your body just by changing that mindset you know it's so it's so funny you know we were talking on the way over here uh often what goes unsaid creates a, a, a storm that doesn't exist in your own mind. And it, it,

what resonates with me as a, as a result of your, your seminar and everything that you practice and preach is that if you acknowledge the elephant in the room, right, it can then be defeated, you know, and that, that goes with how we deal with relationships and dealing with people, you know, um, it, there's all these assumptions that, uh, that we make and that we don't say anything, but we just act accordingly anyway. Uh, and then come to find when the shit hits the fan and, you know, people blow up over little things or whatever, you, you're, you're then forced in that moment to acknowledge all the other stuff

that you may have been ignoring or assuming otherwise, only to find that the story that you had been telling yourself was so far off base, so far away from the truth, that what is now a massive problem could have been solved a long time ago when it was nothing. Yeah. And I see that there's so much love about, about that. And I appreciate that you also

recognize that, um, within the seminar itself, we, we do push that, you know, we do preach that, uh, a while back I learned from a good friend of mine, Aaron Giannetti, owns Endeavor Fitness over in Ohio. I was really interested about he and his business partner, how they interacted with people and how they owned up to things so quickly. And I was like, man, who are these guys? They're amazing. And then we were out to dinner one time and, and they're like, I asked him flat out. I was like, how are you guys the way that you are? And they're like, well, there's probably many ways to answer that question, but we're big fans of a book. And I was

like, well, what's this book? And he's, and I, I think it's Dale Carnegie, but how to win and influence friends. There it is. There it is. And, uh, they're like, you should read that. And I was like, all right, cool. And it changed how I interact with people. And it helped me to address the elephant in the room for me on a lot of different things.

But the other piece was it helped me to own up to things that I did wrong. And so rather than be like, Hey, you know, this, this happened and there was just a lot in the way I, I approach things very differently. I go, you know what? I screwed up on that. I did not do my job. I apologize for that going forward. I'm gonna try to be better. And it's amazing how that changes, how other people interact with you or how they take bad news or it's, it's nuts. Um, but I,

I've really adopted that in my life. And then I try to, through the seminar to a degree, right? I try to influence others by projecting that, you know, to them. So does it not, is it not funny now that you have this consciousness when people come to you to, to break bad news and you're just so stoic, if you will, in the reception of said bad news. And they're, they're now more uncomfortable with like, cause they, they're the store, the story they had told themselves is when I, when I break this to him, he's going to react, you know, the, the following is going to unfold. And when it doesn't, it's like, Oh shit. Yeah. You know, and it's, I find this like little instance of humor in these situations now that I'm conscious of it that, um, yeah, you know, it's, I'm not,

I'm not happy about this news, but, um I Find it a little humorous your reaction to my reaction You know because it's almost like in those scenarios And I think this is this is what you're what you're really getting at is When they they realize that your reaction was not ABC that they went into it Right and then you're go and then all of a sudden they're going wait where did this z reaction come from from that i wasn't expecting and then they almost backstep because they're like did i do something wrong like why is this happening this way uh so yeah i agree with you like i i do find it a bit humorous you know one of the the examples if you will growing

up and still to this day and i talked to my mom about this all the time I love my mom She deals with this where she worries about everything all the time and I'm like mom you're wasting so much Much energy and worrying about things that you cannot control you could apply that to a workout in the garage right now And really gain some traction really great and get some progress and so I Try to remind her about that And then when bad news comes and she's like Ryan this you know, and I'm like, all right Well ABC and you know, this is kind of where my head's at. My mom's like are you not upset? Right. Yes, but at the same time like I've got to approach this in a way that allows me to

Separate what I can't control and what I can control. And so, yeah, it is interesting to see people react to you receiving bad news and how you process it because it's very different. It all comes down to choice. And, you know, going back to your airport airplane examples, you know, there's so much about just travel in general that we don't control. And, you know, my wife and I, my wife owns her universe, right? And we were flying out of Phoenix and we get to the ticket counter, check in and everything. And they're like, oh, I'm sorry, your flight's been delayed two hours. And she enters into dialogue with the ticket lady. She's like, well, can you tell me why the plane's delayed?

And I tap her on the shoulder. I'm like, did you bring your tools? Are you going to fix it? You know, we're here for the next two hours, no matter what. I mean, it might be a drunk pilot. It might be an engine part, you know, the wing fell off. Right. Right.

Right. We can't do anything about that. Let's go get something to eat and move on with our day. Exactly. You know, and that's, you know, a very low key example of, you know, that's you know a very low-key example of you know being just being conscious enough And you know she comes back to the moment. She's like I hate it when you're right, you know, but so often you know in different magnitudes if we just take a step back and

you know feel you you have every right to feel whatever you feel but Once the reaction is finite. It's imperative that you come full circle with the idea that, yes, I can feel what I need to feel in this moment, but I also have a choice as to how long I feel this way. And it's amazing to me how many people choose to feel like shit over moments that they don't have any control over and it ruins their entire fucking day. And you know, it's, it's a tough nut to crack with a lot of people, but once they embrace that concept, oh, you know, talking about the floodgates,

their bandwidth increases exponentially because now they're able to take these moments and their reaction time gets condensed and condensed and condensed and they're able to go back to being positive and productive, you know, with bigger chunks of their day, regardless of what occurs the side of their control. Mm-hmm, you know Yeah, no, I I love that. I always so I feel like this is a fairly cliche example

But I think in this scenario like that and you're talking about how it opens up How much more you're really aware of is you know, go to the matrix, right? Yeah more you're really aware of is, you know, go to the matrix, right? So we have individuals that are essentially, you know, in these pods going through the same things and living these very centralized lives of the same, the same, the same, that they're unable to open themselves up to what's actually out there on a whole nother platform on a whole nother level. And so it's, it's really interesting when you when someone has those breakthroughs and they go holy crap mm-hmm I see

things a lot differently you can approach life a lot differently well big like moment for me because I you know I've traveled a good a good portion of the world so far but one of the biggest eye-opening moments for me was I'd just gotten back from Africa. And when I was coming back from Africa, I think I was in Atlanta or something like that. And when I landed there, I had just come from spending some time

on the island of Zanzibar. And then I was also in Tanzania, the kind of mainland, and Dar es Salaam. And then I was in Nairobi, Kenya. And seeing how individuals live in very different extremes in all those environments um it you know you always it's very cliche to say uh you know i went here and then it just opened my eyes and realized how much we have etc it did that for me but it also did something else really unique. And that's when I landed in that airport and I got, I disembarked the plane and I started walking around with,

you know, all these Americans. And the first thing I hear is a guy going off on the phone, cursing about his plane is 20 minutes delayed. And I go in my head, I'm like, bro, you have no idea where I just came from and how lame what you just said really sounds. Where I just came from, most of the kids run around butt naked, play in mud, and they are happy as can be. And you're complaining about a 20-minute delay, and they don't even know what an iPhone is. And so I just realized, like, I always tell people, if you have the opportunity to travel, travel. Absolutely do it. Because it expands or expounds upon that broad view and allows you to see things on a whole other level.

And, yes, you gain that other appreciation. But I think at the same time, one thing that it's done for me is it's created kind of a stoic patience with a lot of things. And so it's really changed just how I approach things. And I know not everyone can travel. If you're going to come to the seminar, I'm going to give you a dose of that in a way. And then try to change your philosophy to a degree on how you approach things in life. You're absolutely right, man. Because I don't know who quoted it, but it's exactly what you're saying when it comes to travel

there travels the only thing you can well one of the only things you spend your money on and become richer and that's the experiences that you gain from that you know whether it's you know being in Afghanistan traveling to Tanzania you come back with such a better perception of where you actually come from and you come back to the states where we're born you say man we have it easy this is easy for us we're lucky to be here so much opportunity to do what we have to do and once you finally you get that inside perspective you're like you can't complain about anything because it's truly said a lot of people have it way worse than us in this place you know you know that's why, like, going back to what I was saying earlier

with where society is at right now, and I'm not going to even sit here and blame it on this, that, the other, politics, whatever, because at the end of the day, we're the ones driving our vehicle. We are the captains of our ship, right? Yeah, sure. And so I'm sitting here going, why has it gotten to a point where it is the cool thing to be the most victimized individual

in the room yeah right why is it that way what didn't it used to be a way where it's like hey whatever you have going on let me help you through that because there's light at the end of the tunnel brother oh yeah and i want you to be there, because you're going to be a lot happier. You're going to progress a lot more. One of the things that my grandmother used to say, especially if I got in like a mood like that, my grandmother, my mom's mother, Grandma Christian, she lived with us from 1988 until about 2016 or 15. My grandfather passed away in 88, and so she moved in with us and and my family took care of her and She helped raise my sister and I a lot like I would say probably

75% of our growing up because my both my parents had to work to make everything work Yeah, and one of the things she used to say, especially I got in these like pissy, you know Teenage attitude kind of moods and whatever it is, she'd be like, are you being constructive right now? Are you being destructive right now? Why don't you go do something with yourself that's constructive and then get back to me? And cause she knew the moment that I got out of my pity party about, well, these are my circumstances and this is what I can't do. And realize that there's so much more out there and there is so much I'm capable of.

And that being proactive and constructive creates that serotonin that brings happiness that I was going to be a much better state. Right. Rather than being like, oh my gosh, my poor grandson, like what's wrong. Talk to me. There are scenarios for that. Right. But in this situation, it's like be constructive. And it just, it boggles my mind that the attention on individuals is focused so much more on, all right, Michael, how oppressed are you brother? What level are we talking right now? Because that'll depend on like, if we can hang out, which drives me nuts. Yeah. Like what is wrong? But anyways, that's not man. The, the, the, the misery loves company, uh, thing cliche, uh, going on in society right now is really, really sad. And it's funny because, you know, there's a visceral reaction that some people have when you confront them about that.

And, you know, you kind of just ask a very simple question. Is it that big a deal? Right. Are you, do you really not have that much control? You know? Um, and you know, like amongst my coaches and anybody who deals with me on a personal level, they know this about me, you know, like amongst my coaches and anybody who deals with me on a personal level, they know this about me, you know, I don't come to me with a problem if you don't have a proposed solution. Like if we're going to address this thing, I need you to be in a proactive mindset, right? We need to be solution oriented and start figuring things out. But you know, for, for me and everywhere I'm going and everybody that I associate with, you know, we're, we're all moving in this upward trajectory, you know, and that momentum, I, I can't tolerate, I can't tolerate that to be slowed down. So like

be very careful with your words and it doesn't have to be the right answer right it just has to be an answer right that just lets me know that you're making moves to get out of the state that you're in right you know and when you ask people those very simple questions it's like that's not what i came here for right right it kind of is yeah you know but instead of wallowing in it, we're going to deal with it. I think I love that too, because I submit to that same kind of way of thinking and way of approaching life is you're allowed to come to me with whatever is wrong, whatever issues are going on, whatever needs to be fixed. But if you're coming to me, like you said, and you don't have solutions, you're just complaining to me. Right.

That doesn't help any of us move forward. Right. Progress moves in one direction, right? It moves forward. Um, and by us sitting here stagnant, listening to you complain, nothing's been done, you know? And it, that's the, that's the other thing I remind people is You know, we actually from time to time because the seminar is built on the same skeleton

Mm-hmm what I interject in those moments changes from seminar to seminar. I asked for some some inspiration and kind of intervention To to direct me based on who needs to hear what. Yeah. Right. Yeah, exactly. Absolutely. And so, uh, one of the things that I'll remind people is think about situations where you got some bad news, right? Let's, let's give a, an easy dramatic one, high school scenarios over you know gossip whatever you find out that your best friend is talking trash about you behind your back but at the same time is being cool with you up front our first reaction majority of the time is going to be an emotional i want to do this this another effort that blah blah blah will he right? I'm going to confront him. When in reality, after that said confrontation happens, if it gets to that point, 24 hours passes and all of a sudden you're like, well, maybe I should approach that differently.

Right? So I always tell people your first reaction typically is going to be an emotional reaction to whatever's coming your way. Good news, bad news, whatever. But before you act or you react, but before you act on anything, give yourself 24 hours on it because I guarantee you how you approach the situation. And it might just be in the verbiage you use. the choices you make within that is going to change because you're going from emotional to logical, right? If you act on your emotions alone, I can't think of, or I can't think of many occasions where I acted out of emotion and almost instantly regretted the way I went about it as soon as those adrenaline levels drop. So I think that's always something huge.

And I think that speaks to what you're saying, Ders, which is you ask them, is it right? They're getting some bad news from, and they're used to this. Hey, I'm here to cuddle with you and make life better. And here's the little closet you can go scream and cry in for a while, right? Which apparently is becoming a thing on college campuses.

I didn't know this. They just installed one at the University of Utah. And I was like, guys, you can go and scream and cry. And I think it's located outside of the library or something. But anyways, it's like you're getting that bad news. And you're automatically emotionally reacting to you because you're not giving them what they think that they need. But if they took one moment to sit back and look at things a little bit change your perspective, right? And have a more logical approach you're allowed to be emotional like you said you are allowed to have feelings

You are allowed to feel a certain way, right? That doesn't entitle you To this that or the other Feel that way others can understand you feel that way, but at the end of the day, act like a logical human being. Sure. Don't react. Yeah. I love that, man. So here's a question for you in the here and now, how do you deal with expectations and failure? Going back on, going back to everything that we just talked about to kind of feel like this is the the application of all of that when you've put in a certain amount of work and everything tells you that this outcome

is eminent you proceed accordingly and you come up short how what are those moments like for you now that's's awesome. So two parts. Early on, man, I would react to those, right? I would have these great, fantastic opportunities come my way. Companies wanting to back me for this and help grow this. And we go through everything. And then I lose it. It doesn't happen.

And I'm like, you've got to be kidding me. This was coming to fruition. Everything I've been working for and then it's dropped like a puck on the ice. Are you kidding me? That's it. But now I've changed my perspective again on these scenarios. So the way I look at things now when when that happens is a little bit different I always love and this is more of a comical kind of kind of thing but I always love uh when people

are like hey just set your bar low right I always so I always kind of internally that internal dialogue I always joke with myself about that but then then I'm like, nah, that's not how I do it. But, uh, and so what I do is, uh, is I'll give myself these challenges or I'll set the expectations for this thing with the understanding that this may be the target right now. This may be, maybe what I think is everything I want, but that is going to transform before I reach that point. Does that make sense? So there's no straight line to that goal. It's a lot of curves. And as the rascal flat say, you got to learn to swerve with the curves in the road. If you can do that and understand that they're going to be tangents, that it's going to be put on the back burner that things are gonna fall through but at the end of the day it's going to morph most likely into not

where you wanted to be per se but where you really needed to be my dad and I actually this the other night had this great conversation my dad after my grandfather passed away he was able to buy part of a franchise and we were living in Charles or excuse me, in Irmo, South Carolina at the time. Unfortunately, some things happened. Some people were put in the wrong seats on the bus. The company was being very successful. Unfortunately, there was someone within that, that laundered a lot of money and we lost everything and we had to move and it was a really bad scenario and so so much of me in talking with my father about this is I admitted something to him elephant in the room

that I have I've always wanted to say to him but I've never been able to and he's watching some navy seal thing on tv and I'm like hey I want to talk about something and I said I don't think I've ever admitted this out loud but part of what I I do right now and me trying to be successful as this entrepreneur, if you will, is because I feel like your dream was also taken away. And you had that and you were growing that and that failure is not because of you. He believes that part of that is because he put the wrong person in the wrong seat on the bus. I get that. But at the same time, he was not the one laundering the money. This is the company was going to be successful. Uh, and it was successful up to that point. Um, and he said, well, don't do

it for me. And I'm like, no, I get that. I get that. But I also want, I, part of me just wants to do it because I want you to also have that, that, um, fulfillment as you see me trying to do this. Right. And he brought up something really interesting and this kind of ties back to everything. So I'm going to bring it full circle, but he, he was like, when it comes to what you're trying to do, how many times has that morphed? Right. And you got to a certain point and you thought this was, this is it. You were successful at this. And then it morphed into something else. Or you, you were trying to get to a point and then it crashed and burned and you saw it as a failure or otherwise. And, um, I said, that's happened a lot at both successes and failures. And he said, but all those things have shaped you, right? And it's brought into

where you are today. And you've learned a lot from those scenarios, right? Right? I've definitely learned a lot from those scenarios. And he said, that's because you're passionate about what you do. And your passion is leading you to your actual calling in this life. So back to the question. Yeah, sometimes failures suck. But I look at it as as this is probably something that I didn't actually need because it's going to open the door for something else, which is the actual part of the pathway or getting out of the labyrinth, right, that I need to go down. Because what I think my calling is now may not be my real calling. And I may, because this didn't work,

I'm going to find that and see that I actually have quote unquote, a higher purpose in this life of which is always something greater than myself. Right. So when I have those failures, yeah, I'm going to react a little bit at first and be like, man, this sucks.

But then I go, you know what? There's going to, for every one door shut, there's how many more that are open. I just haven't crossed the pathways with that door yet. Right. And so that's kind of how I look at it, right? There's, there's a greater thing out there for me. This one didn't work and that is okay because at the end of the day, things aren't going to go according to plan. The worst thing we can do is continue to tell us and continue to believe the stories in our head.

Right. Instead, wipe those away and go, I'm open to opportunities that come. The more open you are, the more likely that matrix, you're going to see things and see things that you wouldn't have seen if you were focused on this other tangent. Does that make sense? Yeah, it makes perfect sense. So again, like a long way to get to that. But anyways, yeah. Awesome, yeah. Awesome. Where, where you sit today based off of what you were just saying,

if somebody were day one, ran across you, your Instagram, anything that you're doing, how do you view yourself as the person that you want to portray as like a teacher, a mentor? Where do you see yourself right now as your purpose? Ooh, dude, that's, that's heavy. Um, it's a heavy show. Yeah. Holy crap. Um, all right. So I kinda, I kinda see that question, that question actually in, in two parts. So I see potentially how they see me and how I want to be seen. Right. So the, the first part and how they see me oftentimes I think they go this is a fitness guy. It looks like in his profile He's done some things and he's got a following. Okay, maybe there's something I can learn from him What I find out later from people is I'll get messages from people after they've been following me for a little bit and they were like, dude

I just thought you were just like some guy that did some explosive training or you just did cross you're just a crossfitter You know, whatever and he's they'll be like, holy crap, man When you posted this and you talked about the importance behind the that phrasing that wording like man that actually sat with me And I'm gonna apply that my life. So I just want to say thank you. I'm like boom That is my purpose. That I feel is my calling. And so my dad was telling me, he's like, I think you, you think you know what your calling is now, but I think it's greater than what you understand it to be right now. I was like, I can totally submit to that and agree to that. Um, but when I wake up in the morning, when my head pops off the pillow,

the first thing that I'm going, I'm thinking about is how can I affect someone's life in a positive way that creates a catalyst for a better, happier life in some way, shape or form. So every post I put into in, in even comical ones, even, uh, training ones, it is meant with purpose. It is meant to hopefully inspire, motivate, or potentially lead someone to a change in their life that makes or brings them a greater amount of happiness, um, uh, in their life. And so that's, that's also how I want to be seen, but I don't think because of how social media works, et cetera, that it, that it works that way necessarily at first. I think the first impression is always going to be very superficial.

Um, and sometimes people are like, ah, he's just another, he's just another fitness guy. Like I don't need to, I have already fallen like a hundred fitness guys, whatever. But I always, I always want people to know that I'm, I'm always here to offer more. One of the greatest lessons I ever learned about being a real influence on someone came from Louie Simmons. So Louie is my personal coach. I see him as a mentor. He's a brilliant savant. And just for those that might be listening that don't know who I'm talking about, West Side Barbell, right?

Louie Simmons, strongest gym on earth. Is that documentary out yet? It is so close. I know they've done several showings of it, and they're like packed theaters. Yeah. But the trailer alone is just so intense. And I was listening to, oh my gosh, I feel horrible that I'm forgetting his name right now, Mr. 3010. He's in the documentary.

He's squatted 1205. Anyways, he's a member at Westside. And he was talking about his experience with it. And he's like, this is the most legit way of projecting what it feels like to be in Westside, to train at Westside, to be a Westsider. And he's like, I think that they nailed it. So when that releases, like, I'm so stoked because I was part part of the funding for that. Like I was take all my money, just a huge believer in that. So hopefully soon, I know that they had just, um, not that long ago, they rounded up who's going to do the narration for it. And that they're in the process of doing

all the, all, you know, the fulfilling stuff, all that kind of nagging crap. Um, but that it's coming. I, I ordered multiple copies of it. Like it's not, I was definitely want to be part of it, but, uh, yeah. So hopefully soon, um, sorry to cut you off. No, no, you're totally good. You're totally good. Anything West side. I always, I always love to talk about. Um, and I'm very grateful that I I've was ever given the opportunity to step through those doors once, you know, and thankfully now multiple times. But if it was only once, I'd definitely be happy with that. Right on.

But honestly, I kind of lost track. So a lesson learned from Louis. Yeah, his mentorship. Yes. Oh, yeah, from Louis. Not a lot of people know this. And sometimes I talk about this seminar. I'm like, do it.

Just try this. If you email Westside barbell the person that responds to you is Louie you're actually talking to Louie and Now he's not the one typing it out. That's usually Tom who kind of manages everything and so Louie dictates it and then Tom types it out and I Remember sending the first email. I was like, hey, this is what I'm trying to do.

This is what I'm trying to accomplish. I've broken these records, but I think you can take me higher. I'll do whatever it takes. If I have to move to Ohio for a period of time, which I did, I will do so. I just want to train under Louie. And Louie comes back and he's like, when can you come out? And I was like, um, I can come out in the spring for like a test run, like for, for a couple of weeks that it, uh, how much does it cost? You know, what, what time in the spring are you going

to be here? Like, it was all like really basic stuff. And then I was talking to Tom and I was like, who was I talking to? And he's like, Oh, you're talking to Louie. Louie replies to these emails. All of a sudden the power of every email of everything that was said changed dramatically. And I was like, he cares that much that he wants to be the one that's replying to people so that they know like the person that's answering your questions really is him. So I always tell people like go email Westside Barbell because that'll give you your opportunity to talk to Louie. It might take a while, right? Because he gets a lot of emails, but it's definitely a cool thing. And so that's what I do is I know one day that potentially could get very overwhelming and I wouldn't be able to handle it to that degree.

But I leave myself open to people. I say, if people message me on Instagram, for example, I go through those messages and I reply to people. Um, there's people that years ago found me through social media and message me, blah, blah, blah. And, um, I'm still in contact with them that to this day, or I've met them in person or I've done seminars with them or whatever. Um, but if I, if, if you need to reach out to me, right, obviously appropriate things, but if you need to reach out to me, um, in whatever way, shape or form, I will respond to you. Be patient with me. But at the same time, my whole thing is maybe this person really does need me in this moment. Here's my opportunity to be a positive influence for life.

Cause I have, again, no idea what motivates them. I have no idea where they're coming from or what they really need in life. And this could be a game changer for, for them. Right. And so if you're choosing me to be that potentially, okay, I'm going to listen. Let's go. You know, what do you, what can I do to make things better? So that's, that's always my thing. I want to be that as much as I can because you don't spread yourself so thin But I would like to be that to some degree for individuals That's why I like working with kids a lot because they're highly multiple highly influential. Yeah, so I love that, bro Thanks. I love that. So before we let you get out of here today, man I want to ask you two questions. Okay above and beyond everything. We've already asked you okay And you can answer any level mental physical spiritual mental, physical, spiritual, all three.

The first of which is, what do you do each and every day to feed yourself, stoke your fire, get that motivation going? And the follow-on to that is, what do you do each and every day to fuel yourself and create that carryover of momentum into the next day and the following week week and so you're saying it can be any of those any of those facets yeah um man i feel like i can answer this question like a hundred

different ways but uh um i think one of the big things is always opening myself up to more or something new, something I haven't been exposed to before. So I read. I actually typically read five books at a time because my ADD can only handle so much of one. So I change it up. But I believe that a lot of, um, where my life has gone has been guided, um, but you know, by a higher power. Um, I'm not saying that I'm a prophet in any way, shape or form. I'm saying that there, there is a divine intervention through influence, um, that I believe is there. Um, but, and so I would say that those are two things like daily looking for, for challenges, opening myself up to more and listening to that still small voice. Um, and then to keep going, I can argue that those things are definitely there as well. Um, but I, I think to keep going

is thinking mentally, thinking about the kind of future that I'd like to have and the future I'd like to have for my posterity. There you go. So I think it comes down to family on that. I love that, man. And before you get out of here, where can everybody follow you personally, your business, everything you have going,

social media, websites? So I'll give you that. I also want to plug one small thing that I'm doing here soon. Plug it all, brother. Plug it all. So when it comes to social media, you can me at the explosive coat at the explosive coach th Ex so there's not two E's is what I'm saying at the explosive coach on Instagram explosive coach on Twitter

Facebook.com slash the ex-wad Facebook facebook.com slash Ryan Moody YouTube.com slash Ryan Moody. I'm actually starting to do my vlogs again. I'm trying to build all that back up And doing tip videos on training all that fun stuff But one of the one of the big ones Oh, if you need to reach me like if you need to send me an email or whatever You can go to the x-wad comm or just Ryan at the x-wad comm if you have questions about seminars how to host That's all on there. You can just ask me straight up But one of the things I'm working on in social media that I would love for people to host, that's all on there. You can just ask me straight up. But one of the

things I'm working on in social media that I would love for people to follow, it's called at Expedition Change. And so here this coming summer, something that's been ramping up since 2012, one of those things I thought I would never do, but all of a sudden these doors are opening and I'm meeting people that are the influencers to make these things happen is, um, I've created this, this company or brand, if you will, called Expedition Change. And the purpose behind this is each year we're going to be doing some sort of expedition, doing something that's not been done before in a way. And, um, we're using that item as a way to spotlight and put the limelight on and create greater awareness for the sex trafficking of children. And we're, we're supporting, um, Operation Underground Railroad

Rescue and their efforts. They, since they've been established, they've rescued over a thousand kids, um, from those situations and jailed the individuals that have been involved with it. Um, and so our big thing is we're going I'm going back to Africa I'm going back to Tanzania again, and I'm gonna be climbing Kilimanjaro on top of Kilimanjaro I'm going to be setting and breaking multiple box-trump hold records at nearly 20,000 feet Which the big thing there is one has not been done There's not a whole lot of science about functioning the body functioning at an explosive format at nearly 20,000 feet or above. Um, and so the idea is to do that, see what's potentially possible for a human being. Um, but using that as the catalyst to go, Hey,

here's something cool, but look what it's actually for. This is where I really want to direct the awareness. So we're about to have the website just went live. Donation links and all that should be live this week. And so that's definitely coming by the time this probably goes out. It'll probably be live or otherwise. But I would love for people to help out there. The biggest thing right there for us doing this is the funding piece. It is expensive for us to do this.

We're doing this with a camera crew. We have a whole nine yards. I did some filming with Glenn Beck at The Blaze on his sister's studio, which is called MRA or Mercury, and in the preliminaries for this. And so it's something very passionate about, but in order to make this happen so that we can build the funding necessary, not only to make it possible for us to do this but to draw the awareness to it um we we are in the process of raising uh funds for that and if there's sponsors that would like to be a part of that we do have sponsorship packages for all that but right now it's going to cost about five grand a person we're trying to

raise about 25 000 anything that we do not use in that initial piece goes directly to OUR. We're not paying ourselves. Awesome. And so 100% of the funding really is going to that. And then we are going to continue to fund that as the social media around it and awareness of it grows. We're going to continue to fund that for another year. And then all that funding goes directly to OUR and eventually is going to lead up to our next one, which is looking like we might be doing some stuff in Machu Picchu. And the goal there is we're actually hoping to work with individuals who were trafficked at one point in their lives and or dealing with different afflictions or otherwise. And we want to create scholarship spots and we're working on a means of

kind of providing how people submit to that um right now but we're going to bring them along and allow them to be a part of that and kind of do that together so that's the big thing that i just want yeah it's called kill the traffic kill the traffic and what was the website on that again oh sorry expeditionchange.com awesome brother, brother. Yeah. Fantastic, dude. Thank you guys very much. That's awesome. For all of you out there in Feed Me, Fuel Me land, make sure you support all that Ryan is accomplishing. Stop the traffic. Yeah, yeah.

Kill the traffic. Expedition Change. Yeah. Support all of that. When it goes live, it'll be in the show notes. And, you know, support that cause. It's an important one. And, dude, thanks for making the time.

Yeah, dude, seriously. Thank you guys, man. I mean, I'm only here for, you know, a blink of an eye. So I really appreciate you guys taking the time out of your day to make this happen. For sure. It's awesome. For sure. And until next time, guys, feed me, fuel me.

Right on. And that'll do it for this episode with our special guest, Ryan Moody. If you want to check out everything that Ryan has going and follow him on his journey, please check out the full show notes on the shrug collective.com. Also, be sure to connect with us on social media, including Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter at feed me, fuel me. We would love to hear from each and every one of you. If you found this episode inspiring in any way, please leave a rating and a comment in

iTunes so we can continue on this journey together. Be sure to share it with your friends and family on social media, including Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, or any other social platforms that you use. We really appreciate you spending your time with us today and allowing us to join you on your journey. We would love to hear your feedback on this episode, as well as guests and topics for future episodes. To end this episode, we would love to leave you with a quote by C.S. Lewis. Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny thank you again for joining us and we will catch you on the next episode way to make it to the end of the show as always go

to shrug collect over to itunes give us a five-star review positive comment and hit thrive market.com feed me to get that great deal on awesome groceries see you next time