Insight with Chris Van Vliet - What The F**k Are You Waiting For? Stop Making Excuses And Start Living TODAY!

Episode Date: September 24, 2021

What is standing in the way of you starting that thing you've always wanted to do? What's the excuse you've been telling yourself? If you want it bad enough, you'll find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse. I'm sure you've heard this Chinese Proverb before: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", but the problem is most people never take that first step. What's holding you back from that fitness regimen you keep procrastinating or from starting that business, that podcast or that YouTube channel? What the f**k are you waiting for? I hope this episode inspires you to take that first step and let me know what you thought of this episode and what you want to hear on the next solo adventure! If you enjoyed this, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are gathered. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blurley. Here we go. Welcome back to another audio adventure on Insight. I'm Chris Van Fleet. So good to have you back with us for another solo adventure. You know, as much as I love having conversations with people who are the best of the best at what they do, our incredible guests, and taking pieces of their life story and applying them to our own.

I just love being able to hang out with you one on one. And we haven't come up with a schedule for how often we're going to do these. But I like the idea of slipping these in maybe once a month, every three-ish weeks, perhaps. But you let me know. This is your show, too. Send me a tweet or a DM either on Twitter or Instagram and let me know what you think. Do you like these episodes? Do you want more of them?

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journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I'm sure you've heard this Chinese proverb before, but the problem is a lot of people never take that first step. They look at that long journey in front of them and they start coming up with excuses as to why they could never possibly complete a thousand mile journey. So they don't even bother to start. Does this sound familiar to you? You know, of course we're not literally talking about taking a thousand mile journey, but maybe this is your fitness journey, or your journey into fighting a new job because you hate the one that you're at right now,

or maybe it's the steps towards a relationship that you so badly want. Perhaps it's that podcast or YouTube channel or business that you've always wanted to start. Let me ask you this, my friend, what are you waiting for? Like, seriously, what is standing in the way between you starting right now?

Not next week, not next month, not tomorrow, today. What's stopping you from taking that first step? You know, instead of just dreaming about it or talking about it, why aren't you doing it? What's the excuse that you're telling yourself? Because if you want it bad enough, you'll find a way. And if not, you'll find an excuse. And let's be honest, anything that's holding you back from actually doing that thing is an excuse. It's as simple as that. and I'm sure you've heard me say it before, but if somebody else is doing the thing that you want to be doing,

that just means that you can do it as well. There's a path carved out for you to do it. So a little story time for you here. For years, I'd been toying with the idea of starting boxing lessons because I grew up playing every sport imaginable. I started playing baseball at four years old, hockey at six, which kind of feels mandatory when you grow up in Canada. I was on the volleyball team,

basketball team, cross-country team, and track and field team in elementary school, the 100 meter and 200 meter. They were my best events until I was like 12. And then I stayed the same speed and everyone else just got faster than me. In high school, I was on the wrestling team. So I did all these different sports.

And a lot of them at a pretty high level. But I was always intrigued by boxing. But, you know, aside from throwing the odd, you know, terrible shot at a punching bag in the court in the gym, I never really did it. And over the last year or so, I really started thinking about starting this up. But then those excuses started creeping in.

Ah, come on, Chris. You're too old to start now. How much you think this is going to cost to start boxing lessons? Geez, you're going to be awful for the first year or two. What are you doing here? That's just some of the self-talk that was going on. You know, it's like I had already given up on the idea before I had even started. But then I asked myself, what am I waiting for?

Do I really want to do this? And if I do really want to do this, why am I not doing this? So the next day, the craziest thing happened. I was working out. I was at the gym. And in between sets, I noticed a guy working out next to me with a shirt on that said boxing coach. Yeah, I couldn't believe it. What are the odds?

So I thought about it. I'm like, wow, this is crazy. I did another set, and then I walked over to him, pulled out my headphones, he pulled out his, and we started having a conversation. And yeah, as his shirt advertised, he was indeed a boxing coach. And get this, we lived in the same building.

This was a sign, right? So we exchanged contact information, and if you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I now train. I now train boxing at least once a week. I'll admit it. I'm not very good at it, but I'm a heck of a lot better than I was before this serendipitous meeting at the gym. And by the way, you can check out my coach on Instagram.

His name is Salman. He's awesome. He's at salman. Dot boxing if you want to check him out. But think about this. How easy would it have been for me to just ignore that and to keep telling myself that I'm too old to start? Or what's the point? Or why can't you just do another workout that costs less?

Why not stand in front of the TV and watch a YouTube video about boxing? I could have had all of these excuses. But I was blown away when I read a study out of Cornell University that asked people at the end of their life what their single biggest regret was. And this is crazy. It wasn't something that they did, but rather something that they didn't do. 76% of people said that it was not living their ideal self. That was their biggest regret.

not living their ideal self. You believe that? Three quarters of people on their deathbed, look back at their life and think about the things they didn't do and the chances they didn't take. Let me ask you this. Do you want to be part of the 24%? Are you okay falling into that 76% of people

who aren't living their ideal self, who aren't taking those chances, who aren't doing those things that they want to do. do. What the fuck are you waiting for? Excuse my language, but you saw it in the title of this podcast. I don't curse very often, but I think it makes sense here. What the fuck are you waiting for? Seriously, what's the answer to that question? I know there's something in your life right now that you want to be doing, but you're not doing. What's standing in the way? What is it? And by the way, if you think you're too old, Stan Lee, for example, didn't create Fantastic Four

until he was just shy of 39 years old. Julia Child wrote her first cookbook at 50. Colonel Sanders, how good is KFC, right? Colonel Sanders didn't become a professional chef until he was 40. He didn't franchise KFC until he was 62. He was broke at 65 and he became the icon that he is now after selling the company at 75. Day one or one day.

you decide. It's completely up to you. Is today, day one, are you just going to say, yeah, I'll get to that one day? So there you go, my friends. Share this with somebody who you know needs to hear this message and shoot me a tweet, shoot me a DM on Instagram or Twitter, and let me know what you thought about this episode. Many more to come. And I want to hear from you what you want to hear on the next one of these solo adventures. I love the interviews with people, but I also love being able to connect with you one-on-one right now, whether you're driving to work, whether you're at work, driving home from work, walking the dog, working out whatever you're doing right now. Thanks for deciding to hang out with us. See you on the next one.

Until then, be great, be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock. But there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video.

They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. Ever heard of then? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.