REAL AF with Andy Frisella - 660. Inputs & Outputs Ft. James “The Iron Cowboy” Lawrence & Sal Frisella

Episode Date: March 2, 2024

In today's episode, Andy & DJ are joined in the studio by James "The Iron Cowboy" Lawrence, known for doing 50 Ironmans in 50 States and 100 consecutive Ironmans. They discuss the importance of setting the right example for future generations, how inputs determine the outputs in your success, and the best way to fix the leadership crisis in America.

What is up guys, it's Andy Frisella and this is the show for the realest, say goodbye to the lies, the fakeness, and delusions of modern society. Welcome to motherfucking reality. Guys, today we have a special treat for you a special saturday treat um i'm sitting here with my good friend mr james lawrence what's happening brother hey man it's kind of kind of surreal i hear that sound all the time and then just be sitting here watching you like pound that out man it was magical thank you come on thank you for that moment i loved it come on you're a big reason why we're here. You know, if you guys don't know James, James has been on the show before.

He's been instrumental in changing hundreds of thousands, millions of lives with the example that he sets. He's otherwise known as the Iron Cowboy. He's done some incredible feats in life. He's a tremendous human being uh some of the things you might know him for is uh he did 50 ironmans in 50 states in 50 consecutive days uh he also ran 101 full-length ironman races in 101 uh consecutive days i mean he's raised an amazing family he's an amazing dude i mean mean, what else have you done, man?

Waiting for you to cure some stuff? Walking on water? Yeah. Walking on the moon? Oh, yeah. We got another guy over here. We happen to have my brother, Sal. You guys ask for Sal.

Fuck, man. It's every day. Yeah, every day. It's probably the biggest DM I get. They said replace DJ with Sal. I didn't know this was going to be Christmas and I get to do Andy, Sal, and DJ all in one go. It's like, this is amazing. Listen, you could cut that audio clip and turn it into some weird stuff, James.

In the day and age of A&I. Yeah, there we go. They said they need somebody to make fun of DJ, so here we go. I'm in. Let's see how it works. Guy's still got his Christmas lights up. Too easy of a target. So what's been going on

man what do you what you got going on yeah my life's been interesting since the the hundred and just pushed in a million directions been doing speaking um really happy and thrilled to announce that i'm i'm back to racing back to competitive back to feeling myself yeah doing some world championships later this year in fact in a in a couple weeks, I'm headed to South Africa. Where at? Cape Town. That's awesome, dude. Race called Cape Epic. And it's the largest mountain bike stage race in the world. And team race, eight days long.

Have you done this one before? I did it in 2000. Yeah. That's what I thought. Yeah. And I was kind of new to mountain biking. Yeah. And so I'm super pumped to go back.

Same partner, guy that we coach in South Africa named Mario. And we're going to attack it this year. Yeah. It's going to be a lot of fun. Do you fly your bike over, I'm super pumped to go back. Same partner, a guy that we coached in South Africa named Mario. And we're going to tack it this year. It's going to be a lot of fun. You fly your bike over, I'm assuming? Yeah, for sure. Yeah. You don't want to tackle an all-mountain wicked terrain on a rental. That's something you want to go on your steed, something you're really familiar with, something you've done a lot of training on.

How do you train for that? Well, it's super tough in the winter of Utah because we know, because we got to do a lot of it inside. But we train a lot with power. And so, you know, you just try to get your numbers way up and get as powerful as you can. Did you see that video I sent you last night? You're talking about power generation? Yeah, watts that you're producing. So just like on the core bike.

Or a Peloton or anything else. Peloton, yeah. So we have power meters on our bikes and it tells us exactly how much power generating to the to the drivetrain and but yeah you sent me that video last night so true cyclists go power per kilo that's that's like the that's the dick measuring contest yeah pounds per kilogram it was just like cars power to weight pretty much yeah yeah it's right because the the video he sent me was lance armstrong and it was back in his heyday and the the interviewer said how many what was what it's called an ftp functional

threshold power and what was the what was your 30 minute power during this time frame and this number will make sense to some people not to most but it was 500 watts for 30 minutes and at what he weighed at the time, that is insane. The average general guy walking around, you couldn't do it for 10 seconds. No. This is five minutes straight? 30.

Wait, 30 minutes straight, 500 watts. 500 watts output. That's a professional cycler. That's Lance Armstrong in his heyday. It's insane. Like that number, like when you go, so I was just messing around in a Peloton, just trying to hit it just to see what trying to hold 500 would be to james point

if you can hold it for 40 50 60 seconds like you got a pretty good like you're getting in especially if you're in the saddle like sitting down that little guy to be able to put that down for 30 minutes like it's unbelievable actually like it's it's a number that it's unworldly yeah and so you think about these guys like these little guys that are running the Tour de France, like they're machines. They're not like- And what people don't realize is the bigger you are, the more watts you can push. Yeah.

So like you could probably get on a bike and push some heavy numbers for a short period of time. Right. But those guys are 140 pounds, 135 pounds pushing that. So that's your pounds per kilogram formula that you're talking about. Once you get above like four point something, like you're in another class. And he was running seven, right? Oh, it's- I know that's your pounds per kilogram formula that you're talking about once you get above like four point something like you're in another class and he was running seven right oh i know that's stupid for some of the audience he was not even on it on the chart of where where i think it shows you though the feats that you know these elite athletes that have to

train you know they're not professional sports and you know baseball football you know hockey the things we watch on tv but when you really start finding down like looking at the humans the ability and the level that these guys can get to and that they train for and the amount of power that they can generate based off of training, it's insanity. It really is something special to watch. Yeah, they're on a whole nother level. What, when you like, I mean, James, you know as much about mental toughness as anybody on the planet, in my opinion.

You know, like you've done some of the most incredible human feats that have been done by a human being ever. You know, when we talk about when an average person thinks about doing one of these events, like they're going to go run a marathon or they're going to go from zero to doing something that they're going to prove to themselves. What do you think the first thing is that these people have to get in their mind to get right, to go on that journey? Yeah, I think the biggest mistake people do is they try to go from zero to an Ironman or zero to a marathon. And yeah, most people can do it in a survival state. But the biggest thing they got to do is they got to start small and build those foundational blocks and get that experience and you know it's interesting because people see my headline and they're like oh man i i can't do what that guy did but you see the 50 you see the 100 or whatever it is we ran across greece we biked across the country whatever

um then i realized my journey started with a four mile fun run that i struggled through and then my wife called me pathetic and signed me up for a marathon and said, figure it out. And I was like, dude, Brian's stupid. Like I don't understand why people do this. What's that Sonny? Thanks Sonny. Yeah. Thanks Sonny. Well, and now every time it's something, she's like, man, why are we still doing this stuff? And I'm like, Hey, it's your fault. We started this whole thing, but, and then we found triathlon and we started getting together,

but it was those foundational blocks. And, and I did, I did really fast intense racing um short distance before i ever started to lengthen it out and if you look at every single world champion today both in the half ironman and full ironman distance they started with foundational short distance power explosive and speed and then started to lengthen out and so really for anybody that's getting going and wants to tackle something big, like let's start working on the fundamentals and the foundation. So like any sport or any business, like you got to really bring it back to the basics to start. Yeah. And that's, I mean, I think that's a commonality across life in general. I mean,

at here at HQ or first form, you know, one of the biggest things is, you know, setting people up for success in their fitness journey. You know, I want to lose a hundred pounds it's a great goal but because you know they have to learn the foundations 21 days 28 days of building these small habits that they can stack on top of each other in order to get there and you know and I always tell people like hey you didn't put on a hundred pounds in 30 days you're not gonna lose a hundred pounds in 30 days and so you have to put one foot in front of the other and start stacking these wins and stacking these behavior changes these habits to create the change that you want to see. And then you got to cross time.

You got to give yourself some time in that saddle, if you will, to be able to get to where you want to go. Well, and the concept that people really need to like figure out or imprint in themselves is invisible progress. Yeah. Because there's a lot of stuff that's happening behind as you're showing up, as you're doing the work. And then all of a sudden one day you get that tipping point to where like all that progress like loads on. And then you go, okay, that's why I was showing up. Yeah, and it's parallel life or business or anything. A hundred percent.

You know, there's a lot of times you go through times in your business where you're working real hard. You don't think that things are happening. And then all of a sudden things start going real fast. And it's not that they weren't happening. You just couldn't see them happening. Well, it's like your story. Nobody saw that foundational work and then boom. Oh, first form came out of nowhere. Yeah. No, it's not that they weren't happening. You just couldn't see them happening. Well, it's like your story. Nobody saw that foundational work and then boom, oh, first form came out of nowhere.

Yeah. No, it did not. And people like me, oh, you did 100 Ironmans. Well, that started with a pathetic four-mile fun run, right? Right. It's just that work, that invisible progress that nobody's seeing. What is the timeframe from run one to 101 Ironmans? So 2004 to 2021.

21. So 17 years. 17 years. Wild. Yeah, so 17 years of foundational sacrifice to get to that moment. And one of the biggest concepts I talk about is you can't go from zero to 100. You can't go from zero to where this company's at now. Like, there's so many steps in between.

But I think that's the part that a lot of people back down from, right? to where this company's at now. Like, there's so many steps in between. But I think that's the part that a lot of people back down from, right? Because when you look at, when they compare themselves in business, if you have somebody who's 17 years in business in front of you and you're comparing your journey, your startup to their 17 years. Which is what everybody does. It is, and it's deflating as hell. You're like, well, look, they got this or they got that. Or, you know, how come we can't do that?

It's like, because I got 17 years in front of you, you know you know and and you know we think about that in the fitness journey life all the time is you the comparison is a thief of joy and so when you're constantly comparing your journey to somebody else's or you know your business to somebody else's or you know whatever whatever it may be you know you have to realize that it takes time it's investment it's time in the saddle it's time under tension and realizing you have to learn and adapt and make the changes to get to where that person is. And that's the journey, right? That's what most people don't like because the work's uncomfortable and it's not fun

all the time. Compare yourself to their end result. Compare yourself to their inputs. No shit. To their actions. Yeah. Compare your work to your work. Right.

Yeah. Like if you're the end result, that's going to get you every time. How many, like, I'm curious to what both sal and james what you guys think on this but like you know you said the comparison is a thief of joy in your opinion because i have my own opinion when when do you think it's right to compare i mean i think in general it's okay to be consciously aware um but when you're looking at you know your journey everybody has a different starting place right so to look at the measurement of success i think you have to understand where is baseline where is zero and where have you made the progress to and if you

started at let's say zero and somebody else started at 50 and our goal is to get to 100 but you made it to 70 or you know i made it made it 75 and you made it to a hundred. I made 75 basis point move. You made 50. So who's better the guy that got to a hundred or the guy that got 75. And so when I think about it, it's like, you know, we all compare ourselves specifically now on social. It's like, Oh, everybody else has this. And this is what happens. Everybody robs each other of their own joy. It's like, how far have you come? You know, how much weight have you lost? How many, uh races have you done yeah you might not have done 101 ironmans but you did one you know what i mean most and a year ago i was 300 pounds yeah or most people did zero you know i stopped people immediately when they come up to me like oh i i didn't do it i didn't do what you

did but i i did i did a 70.3 and i'm like dude don't say that just i did a 70.3 and pound your chest and shake my hand. And I'm going to tell you that was amazing. And it's interesting that you're right. I'm with that too. That is, that is. Yeah. I just want to see people win.

Yeah. We're in this day of social media where everyone's the coach and everybody's the expert and everybody's the mentor. And it's literally paralyzing society from starting because of fear of this judgment. Yeah. We don't want to look stupid starting like we're a beginner. Right. And it takes maturity and humility

to not compare yourself, be okay where you're at. In fact, I had this really cool experience where I got to fly in an F-16 jet. No shit. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, it was incredible. That's badass.

Dude, I will send you the video. It is so frigging cool. We hit seven Gs on takeoff. We went from zero to 20,000 feet in 15 seconds. And on takeoff, the video is hilarious because I'm like, you can't see my face, but I'm like, eyeballs are massive. I'm freaking out. I'm milliseconds away from blacking out. And the pilot's like having a Sunday dinner conversation with the tower.

James, you with me? Yeah. No, for sure. And I'm just like freaking out. The suit, it's plugged into the jet. It's compressing. It's sending all the blood to my brain. And we finally level out and we're upside down and we flip over.

And I just thought to myself, man, I am so glad it's not this dude's first day on the job. He's a freaking expert and he's surrounded himself with this amazing team. And then later I thought about it and I'm like, dude, every journey has a humble beginning. Yeah. And he didn't like, he spent thousands of hours in the simulator and all this, and then working with the tower and the team

and the guys on the ground and all that, and I'm like, I wish people had more courage to just, like, start and be humble and be okay with, like, sucking when you first start something, because you're going to be terrible. In fact, in my stage presentation, I put up this hilarious picture of me in the pool.

It's my first triathlon. I'm gripping to the side of the edge of the pool. I'm gasping for air. I'm wearing a nose plug. I'm about to get out of the water to jump on a borrowed bike. And I'm like, I'm so grateful I had the courage to start because nobody looks at that person in that moment

and says, that's the guy. Yeah. Yeah, because I wasn't the guy yet, but I was okay. No, they were laughing. They were laughing at me like they're going to do with the nose plug on. Right. But I was so glad that I had that a little bit of humility in me to like, to be made fun of in that moment because it completely changed my life. Like that was the starting point of like a trajectory that I would have never predicted. Bro. Isn't that the starting point of anything great though? Right. But but but social media is paralyzing people yeah taking that step now it definitely is fear of judgment and it's so sad to watch this new generation be like frozen in their footsteps because they're they're missing

out on the whole point of life which which which is the experiences and the journey and the growth that you that you have through that and so for me like i've got five kids and i'm i'm so grateful that we gave them a front row seat to like embarrassment humiliation and growth yeah because i have five unbelievable children now that are like fearless mentally tough and i i stack them up and i'm not being a braggadocious dad but like my kids are better than yours i look and i like do a straight up comparison against their peers and i'm like okay i'm not worried about my kids anymore dj he's giving them i know you're talking about me

he wasn't talking to me i get over there you know what i'm saying get a little that midwest up that ass no but my i mean that's a great way to look and that's why for me this is you know i'm so fortunate that i was able to play baseball and you know and the reason being is because like when you look at the sport of baseball you have to fail seven out of 10 times to be the greats. Like the guys who hit 300, they go to the hall of fame. And so you become so comfortable with failure. Like I'm so used to walking up into a stadium. It's got 10, 15, 20,000 people. And you know, if you're at home, they're cheering for you. If you're on the way, they're yelling at you and they're screaming at you and you fail. And if, you know, if there wasn't a progression of the fail, like if you're at home they're cheering for you if you're on the way they're yelling at you and they're screaming at you and you fail and if you know if there wasn't a progression of the

fail like when you're in little league you strike out you get comfortable with and you get high school you strike out you come to get to college you're like all right this is kind of normal you know and then you start working your way through it you're like well this is this is how life is yeah if you went up there on day one dude and struck out and everybody's cheering you'd be like what the fuck is this but that's what happens in social right yeah they got 5 000 of their friends are looking at them they fail they're mortified and me i'm sitting here thinking like oh shit i don't know any different yeah i think i think social media or this generation has normalized or tries to normalize perfection and to me i will

cheer i will shout it from the rooftops that like the greatest gift is failure yeah you don't win through success you don't learn through i mean you went through success you don't learn through success we know what you meant you learn through those missteps those those stumbling blocks those like okay i i'm gonna intentionally take this opportunity to learn grow and become better i mean how many missteps did you guys take building this empire all of them all of them yeah every every single every single one every single spot that says don't step on that we fucking stepped on it yeah and probably sometimes three times that dang it that's it that's what that's what this generation needs to learn and understand is like it's okay to fail and just build up that thick skin and just not care what anybody thinks about those missteps

because that's that's because that's the gift. Yeah, and I think the word that you use there is grow. You know, like what does it take to grow? And failure is part of that process, you know, because you learn. If you're failing correctly, right, and you continue to put yourself in a position, you know, to your point, it's not about perfection. It's about progress. Like what do we learn from the mistake and how do we get better? Next time, how do we get a little bit better you're not going to go you know from progress to perfection

either it's it's as you continue to get a little better than the bar of perfection gets a little higher you know you start perfecting the skill and so you know one of the things i try to instill in my children is the confidence to be able to go like when they're you know whether it's a gymnastics or it's baseball or it's whatever, it's like, hey, go. Lay it on the line. Go. Just go. Go out there and learn.

You're going to be all right. Dude, I'll be on the phone with him. He'll be at baseball. Obviously, we're talking about work. And all I hear was, you better run that out. You better run. Run. I'm a believer.

You're going to work hard. My kids, they will not be lazy. My kids are going to be touch're touch the line type kids and I promise you that's gonna happen and you know it's fucking awesome yeah I love it and I treat everybody's kids the same I just jump in I'm like yeah run kill kill kill yeah for real though like you know I tell you know we had uh we have a great group of parents that Enzo plays baseball with, and then we make them play soccer. I've learned that what you expose your kids to is extremely important. The ecosystem. Yeah, just the entire – because who are they interacting with and what type of qualities they have.

And that's why it's very important, like the kids' schools in today's environment. What are you leaning your kid into? Because these formative years, these are where you teach them those principles about you know touching a line and running hard and you know finishing what you started and making sure you're a good teammate like these things are all learned now and so i'd draw the line hard man and i don't give you know it's like i am here i'm like this is what it is you know make them have fun right well i wish i mean is that what the world needs well yeah we're saying the same thing go Go ahead. Yeah, I wish more parents did that. Like, played a more active role in their kids' life.

Because those kids are products of their environment. And man, they're sponges. And as parents, you may not think your kids are watching you. And like, they are watching every single move. And I just like, I have a problem with the parents that are like, do as they say, not as I do. Yeah. That's never going to work. That is never going to work. That is never going to work.

Like the greatest gift I could give to my kids was, was both Sonny and I like being open when we hit rock bottom and lost everything being open. When they knocked on our door and took away our home being open. When I had to stay up all night long and change the wood on the, the fireplace because we couldn't turn the heat on. Like we got, they got to experience that all with us and then they got to see us show up every single day not make excuses and overcome it and that

front row seat for my kids has done like the biggest thing in molding who they are today and i've got some damn resilient children like it's bro you got an amazing family yeah they've all been here yeah oh yeah 100 done good buddy thanks man yeah they're they're proud i tell you right now the proudest moment of my life like despite everything and i've done the finish lines i've crossed and the mountains i've climbed like that moment when your daughter walks up to you on wedding day and just says thank you daddy you know just like waterfalls oh i can't wait for you to have those experiences with your kids i'm sure your dogs will get married too yeah

i think we should stay on this for a second though because one of the things that i don't have the perspective on that we talk a lot about is the next generation of kids and i'm sitting in front of three fathers who are all concerned about what is going on in the world and what's happening in society what's it what's it make you guys feel like when you see what's happening in society what's it what's it make you guys feel like when you see what's happening in society and then you think about enzo when he's 30 and you think about you know uh what's going to be in the world and how things are going to look i mean what what do you guys think about that yeah it's it's super scary until you know he's got some unknowns coming up because he's still in that phase where they're super young.

And it's like, okay, I hope I'm doing enough. And I hope they're sinking in and they're getting it. And I'm kind of that phase in my life now. My kids are 15 to 21 where they're leaving the house. They're going into the real world. And my wife and I just kind of had that moment where we were sitting on the couch. We were like, we did a good job, man. Yeah.

And we got our, like we were like we did a good job man yeah and we got our like we did we sacrificed a ton we were very active in the process and now we're to the point where we're comparing our kids to their peers and other family members that have kids because early in the process we were like man sunny's got son comes from six sisters and we're like man this we've got very different approaches to this and i kept saying to sunny i was like sunny's my wife i kept saying it's gonna be interesting to see how all these kids like there's like 40 grand because like how they all turn out and man it is very apparent today so yeah so what you're saying is don't compare in the beginning but once you laid it all out there we can measure up that's right don't do it early giver of good job. The giver of joy. That's right. Don't do it early, but do it later, especially when you're on the good side of it. That's right.

That's when it's right to compare. Yeah, that's right. All right. Full circle. I got it. Full circle. Dude, I'm scared of shit, I'll be honest. For me, it's weird, man, because I didn't have the best examples or fatherhood or, like, what exactly should I be instilling, right?

And thank God I do have a few good examples now, right? But, like, I'm still scared of shit because you just don't know. Are you saying I'm your dad? Yeah. Oh, thanks. Yeah. No, but it's like, I mean, because you don't really know. Like, you're just praying that you're making the best decision in that moment.

And you're praying that it fucking works out, you know? And it's like, you know, I've always looked at things, you know, in the aspect of like, okay, I don't know what to do. I know what not to do. And let's just do that. Like, let's just not do this and we'll be all right, you know? And I've always had that approach. But it's like, man, like, when I think, like, fuck, what's Ryan going to do in 30 years, bro? It's like, man, I just pray I'm giving her everything I got right now.

And that's why we got to win the revolution, bro. She don't fucking dye her hair blue in, you know, 20 years and fuck some shit up. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's all I can fucking hope for, man. I don't know. But that's the hard part, too, is, like, when you're a parent, like, you're new, too. You're new to doing it. You don't know the instruction manual.

You don't know it. And a lot of things that we learned, it's, like, every generation every generation is like okay i don't want to do what my parents did with me and sometimes it's for the good and sometimes it's for the bad so it's like where's that line of what i'm going to do what i'm not going to do because you were just like i know what i don't want right but now how do i figure out what i do want and then we're all just like it's this big big experiment well i think it's like that that story you've ever heard that story about the alcoholic the alcoholic parent that had the man that had two sons okay and one son never drank a drop of alcohol and when they asked him why he never drank a drop of alcohol he said because i watched my dad the other son became a drunk and they said why did you become a drunk he said because i watched my dad so at some point we

have a choice to take our circumstances and make the the better result out of them whether you had a good parent and say hey my parents were good i want to model that or hey you know i didn't have shit but i'm gonna make sure that doesn't happen here right i mean that's a scary thing too man it's like you can do everything you you possibly. You can put your kids in the best school. You can, you know, surround them with all the right things. And there is still a chance that they will be a fuck up. Yeah. Like it's still a big chance.

Yeah. And so it's just that risk. And you're like, I mean, dude, you know, I pray my, I just, I pray every single day, man, that, that, you know, my, my little one's just. I don't think there is a chance, bro. I think, I think you do. I think you like James, you know, you've got the oldest kids here. I mean, yeah, there's a chance, i think i think you do i think you like james you know you've got the oldest kids here i mean yeah there's a chance but like really like you put your hands on you're you're working every day you're setting the example you're setting the standard the chances are much higher that yeah it's going to turn out well for sure you know we're five for five baby

yeah yeah yeah so far still a couple years left in there yeah dude i just think it's Dude, I just think it's an important thing to think about because, you know, right now there's a lot of people who are, you know, I don't know. We're going to either see the continue downfall of culture and society or we're going to see it come back real hard. And it seems like parents are understanding that there is like a failed generation in between you know i think we're i think we're going somebody fucked up yeah yeah somebody's yeah we're we're in that phase right now where we're like oh this needs to course correct immediately or we're going to be in a really bad spot yeah i mean do you guys see that

with like other parents and stuff of course that's why we moved you know what i mean so like in my brain you know i don't want to say I'm not worried at all because that's pretentious and just not true. But I like anything else in life. And this is how I think. You're doing all you can. Not only am I doing all I can. It's not that I haven't failed it much.

It's that I understand when I put my best foot forward, usually win or at least succeed. And in that case, like there's no negotiation. I don't negotiate with my kids. But meaning I'm doing the best and everything that I physically possibly can to push that succeed. And in that case, like there's no negotiation. I don't negotiate with my kids, but meaning I'm doing the best and everything that I physically possibly can to push that cart in the right direction. And under those pretense, I say, okay, I'm going to raise the best children that I can. How do I do that? Well, I understand it starts with the example that we set and the rules that we tolerate and the example that we're putting forth every day and the community in which we raise them. And so all those decisions, I try to make sure that I don't even,

it's not even a compromise. Even the baseball team, like it's not a compromise. It's not an activity for them. It's a purposeful decision. I'm like, no, he's playing there. And I think under at least my experience, when you control the variables that you can control and you put your best foot forward, the odds are you can do well.

It doesn't mean that it's going to happen every time, but the odds are you can do well. And I understand to that it's going to happen every time, but the odds are you can do well. And I understand to DJ's point, like there still can be these outliers, you know, that happen. And I'm trying to minimize those to every degree. But I think from a society standpoint, I think there's an extremely positive to it. Competition is going to be lower.

Yeah, that's right. Opportunity for success can be much higher, you know. Well, and to teach him how to work hard. To DJ's point where he was mentioning he's terrified, and I'm to that point now where my kids are going into the real world, and I'm doing a direct comparison to what's out there, and I'm like, oh, my kids are fine. Yeah, they're fine. I'm looking at the competition, and my kids are going to handle it. Your kids are bringing their parents to the job interview.

Yeah, exactly, man. Did you guys hear that stat? I saw that. One out of five Gen Z first jobbers is taking their parents to their job interview. That's so crazy. That's insane, dude. That's so crazy. Maybe it's smart, though, right?

Like, maybe we should start doing that because we get to see the example set. We're like, all right, we got mom and dad and we got the kid here. Mom's got a pack of Marlboros in her sleeve. Yeah. They ain't going to make it. You know what I mean? You stay in the lobby all right you you know what i mean so like maybe there's an advantage there this is what was

shocking to me is my my daughter was a supervisor at a local pool for the lifeguards and and she came home one day just frustrated because these kids weren't showing up for their shifts and i was like oh that's too bad they lost their jobs and she's like no we have a uh no call no show three times before you get fired. And I was just like, how, how did that become the norm standard, the standard that you're allowed to know? Like you, I remember back, I remember back in the day you think about not showing up and your boss is like, no, sorry.

I, I know your intention and you're fired. Oh yeah. And now it's like, you're no call, no show three times before you lose your job. I was just like, I do not understand what's happening. Well, that comes from people not wanting to do their jobs themselves and not wanting to go through the hassle of trying to find another employee because they're all trash. That's what they've dealt with. Well, that's the problem.

That's why they are having that lenience because there's nobody stepping up to take that spot and then they fail as a business because there's nobody to do it, which is why it's so remarkable about you guys. I mean mean you know top down dude people think people think people think there's like an employee tree you have to like there's a whole lot that goes into that man it's not like you just go out and pick these people you got to work with them yeah just like just like we got to assume they don't know anything right we got to teach them we got to show them we got to work with them we got to set an example you know anything, right? We got to teach them. We got to show them. We got to work with them. We got to set an example. You know, these are things that other business owners just don't do.

They want to plug and play. And unfortunately, plug and play is not working right now because the talent pool isn't really. Yeah, that's what I talked to this group about the other day before. You know, there are no bad employees, only bad leaders, right? And when you think of it that way, the responsibility is on leadership. And, yeah, it might be difficult to train those employees to get them to the standard that you want to, but that doesn't mean that it's impossible. And, you know, when you start taking on that challenge in a similar manner and saying,

okay, well, if I know that the difference between winning and losing is our ability to be able to cultivate these youth into becoming career-driven professionals. That becomes the game. It's not selling supplements. It becomes how do we cultivate culture? How to develop people? Yeah. Through development of, you know, making professionals because if everybody else is struggling to do that and we went at that, that means that we'll have a better culture and a better team, you know, and it doesn't mean that we're absolved from it forever and you know we ebb and flow too right good times bad times but when you start looking and just kind of refocusing the game and say well wait a minute maybe the game is down here and the easy thing to do is to point the finger and say well it's the workforce

because the hard thing to do is go look at the mirror and say well yeah yeah maybe it's us you know what i mean and we've had we've had to have that conversation you know sit, sit everybody down and say, Hey guys, you ever think maybe it's us? Like we're failing. What do you think about that? Yeah. Cause the term that I heard that like really hit me was like, we're in a talent crisis. Right. And, and to me, that means we're in a leadership crisis. I do. That's right. Because that means the leadership is failing because like, they don't know what they don't know. And they're just products of their environment. And so if we've got a talent crisis, I think, products of their environment and so if we've got a talent crisis i think well no we've we've got a leadership crisis that's right and that will fix the problem again it's from the top down which is what we see here well people

want to belong people want to win people want to to know that their life matters people want to know all these things right you have to put them in a position to do them that's your job and i think that's where i mean even we struggle with it because it's not like you can't just set the place and hope that it scales itself. Right. And I think that's where a lot of people struggle. Well, I have, you know, one store that does well, so I should open the second store and it's just going to automatically do well. No. You know what I mean? Like you have to go back into the process and you have to you have to constantly be in that. You know, if the process is one through 10, you have to constantly be in the one, two, three phase, constantly, you know, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three teaching and showing and

setting the example for what success looks like. Because, you know, that piece of, of the journey is for us is the win, you know, mastering the one, two, three. I'll tell you what, I'd like to be one of these 20 year olds right now. Yeah. I would love to be one of these 20 year olds right now yeah i would love to be one of these 20 year olds man because they're you you would if you are a driven hungry motivated there's no competition discipline individual at 20 years old right now you are going to kill everybody else that's why i'm so excited about my kids who are coming to the real world because i'm like yeah pick your spot yeah what do you want to do because you're so resilient and you you've learned and had a front row seat like go be the top at any game you want to go be at the top, and you'll do it because of the principles that they have.

And, frankly, the competition is just like so fun. Well, does she want to move to St. Louis? I mean, I was just in Utah, so I can see why maybe she doesn't want to. Yeah, well, St. Louis is super pretty. We're always hiring. Yeah. And it's not Park City. I can tell you that.

Yeah, man. Don't park here. Yeah. You live in Park City. This is a do not park city. don't park here because you live in park city this is a do not park you will not have your car city uh hey it is what it is you gotta have a little street smarts if you live in st louis that's right yeah competitive advantage on the streets that's right yeah so i got a confession gotta have it when you came and asked us for money and you said you were going to do 101 Ironman triathlons, and we got to be real honest here because Ironman banned you from using Ironman, which is totally-

We can use it. Which is totally honky. Like, that was like, boo on Ironman. Did he say honky? He did say honky. Honky. That's racist. I got excited.

You did? That's your favorite word, isn't it? I don't get it. DJ's eyes lit up, dude. I thought to myself, there's no way this dude's going to do it. There's no way this guy's going to do it. And I remember you sitting in my office looking at it. And it's not that I didn't support you.

I thought to myself, man, that's literally impossible. Having watched the documentary, having known you haven't done all things and we you're putting up a lot of money to do it right and i'm sitting here looking at him i'm like so we came up with a deal hey i'll pay you half up front and half when you finish it was i'll tell you this i i laughed i chuckled a little bit on the inside when i went to get the second half of the the check and you're like i didn't think we're going to have to write that check yeah i was like i got him yeah yeah yeah no but I mean, when I say this, it's as honorable as a confession I could ever make. Yeah, thank you.

You know, we went out and I only ran the marathon with you for the 100. And I remember, do you remember seeing me? You probably blacked out at that point in time. No, I remember you being out there. Yeah, I remember seeing you. And it was like such an overwhelming sense of pride. And you were broken. I mean, you were damn near delirious

i mean i'm looking at this guy and i'm thinking this guy is you want to talk about putting it together like he pounded your chest and you're looking at me and you got a big hug you were moving you know and and and when you cross that finish line it's one of the coolest moments that i've had in my life and i didn't do i mean i didn't do anything i was just experiencing it watching it and it cost us a few hundred grand you know what i mean like it was not like like oh here we are it's like you write the check and the guys are winning you got to pay it but it was like one of those things it was such a cool moment but i have to say like you know sitting in that and i don't want you to be confused it was doubt i was more looking at you like man this dude's nuts right i'll make a confession too i knew you're gonna do it yeah

i fucking knew it. I knew you were going to do it. I wouldn't have committed 100 grand or whatever it was, a couple hundred grand or whatever the fuck. I don't remember what it was. I thought, I'm like, bro, this guy can do 50 fucking Ironmans in 50 states in 50 days. There's fucking nothing this guy can't do.

I still believe that. That's true. And for me, it was kind of a surreal moment because I had a couple big goals in that project. One, make it a kind of a surreal moment because, um, I had, I had a couple big goals in that project. One, make it past 50, reset your own history, prove everybody wrong, make it to 75. Cause I was like, dude, I want, I want to prove to everybody that like do 75 hard, but do with an Ironman.

Yeah. And then I was like, I don't get to see Sal and the crew until day 100. And so when you showed up on day 100 and i'm like this is the day i made it because sal's right here and sal's not showing up on any other day but day 100 that was our whole thing he can't text me come i said no i'll come on 100 100 and i was like damn sal's here and i'm here and that's why i was like kind of my chest i gave a big hug and i'm like holy shit we made it it was cool man because he kept texting me you're gonna come no i will be that 100 it was like you know my brain it's like 100 100 or die that's where i'm at you know and there he was man running on that trail behind your house overlooking

by the way the trail is beautiful yeah do you go out on it still every day do you really yeah i figured you'd never want to see it again you know i that that that comment has been made a lot but for me um i choose to look at the the really great moments and the memories that had there. And I even look at the suffering as that was part of the journey that, that molded the memories that I have and the struggle that existed there and, and turned me into who I am. And so I, I have a lot of pride on that trail because it was blood, sweat and tears and it brought people from around the world together.

And in fact, when I got into trouble early, like day five, starting to get stress get stress fractures, like can't walk, waiting for the step, my leg's going to break. And it was just incredibly almost embarrassing or humiliating for me to have to like slow down and walk. Because part of my thing was like, I'm going to do a hundred and I'm going to show a level of athleticism that's never been seen. It was a little bit arrogant.

Yeah. And then when I- You got to have it. I mean, you have to have that. Yeah, you have to walk into something like that with a little bit of swagger, because if you, if you don't, you're done anyways. And so when I had to slow down and, and, and was starting to get criticism for walking and my, I mean, my legs were really literally going to break.

And then we started to hear people say, I'm so grateful that you're hurt and going slow because I wouldn't have been able to join you otherwise and and we had a lot of life-changing moments out there where people got to participate with us because we were throttled back and and it became like my my pain and my suffering became this greatest gift for people to come and have this experience with us and do we we raised over a million dollars for sex trafficking freedom and and that wouldn't have happened had it just been like this athletic showcase of whatever but it was like the humility and slowing down and then the community coming in

and just be getting to be part of something so big together and obviously it doesn't happen without you guys and your generosity so now now now we now you shot a documentary on this full documentary yes and tell us about that i'm super pumped about it it actually drops on uh march 21st we're doing a private showing um at the sundance ski resort in utah and then it's going to hit all the streaming platforms. And I gave the producer, we turned over thousands of hours of footage. It was an incredible editing job. And I said, look, you've got four jobs. You got to leave people with a sense of family

because we're family first. This has got to be about community and everybody coming together for one cause. People have to get the sense of hope dealing with the things that they're dealing with. And you can't make me look like an idiot. They nailed the first three. Hey, batting 750.

Exactly, man. Those are pro stats, baby, right there. But I think what you said is extremely important, and not to take away from the documentary momentum, but that perspective that you have about being grateful for the opportunity is extremely important and not to take away from the documentary momentum, but that perspective that you have about being grateful for the opportunity is extremely important, you know, because a lot of times, you know, there's a choice standards point on the, the, the child who goes one way versus the other. It's how we see things and how we look back on them and how we see the

perspective of life. Like where there's good, there's bad. And where there's bad, there's good, but you got it. You find what you're looking for and that piece, you you know to somebody who's seen you go through the struggle yeah it might not be you're going to do a hundred you know Ironman's but that struggle that you're going through is the same struggle if somebody starting day one of you know losing ten pounds right the the struggle the mental struggle the physical struggle like where do I start what do I do and that perspective that you have to be able to, you know, extract from that, that, that incredible feat that you went on is just simply showing up

and competing every day. You know, like, Hey, if I show up one more day, what happens if I stand on my, if I stand, you know, committed to myself for one more day, what am I capable of? And that's a piece about success in life, whether it's physical, whether it's finance, whether it's personal. It's like, you know, stacking those wins and showing up to compete day after day after day after day is how you make. That's how you make life. That's how you make the big the big movements make. Andy asked the question about comparison. And I hate it when people compare, you know, their journey to mine or I couldn't do that or I just did this. And I'm I'm huge on people just

recognizing that everybody's heart is different. And you just have to be okay with meeting yourself where you're at and just getting that momentum going and just being okay with your at and stop comparing yourself against other people. Because truly we have no idea. And you talk about perspective. I love this topic, but we have no idea what you talk about perspective i love this topic but we have no idea what somebody's background was and where they came from and how they got to where they're gone and and what were the experiences they had that shaped that perspective and and what gave them their belief system and so man i just try to have so much compassion for people that are either struggling or have lost their way and just trying to get them back on the path of like just

just meet yourself where you're at and get back on track and going and start creating you know the powerless so small wins every single day that is such a big man you found we gotta start man when we're in that position i saw a video last night that really like touched me um it was a video a guy on instagram sent me of a woman in his uh he has a Facebook group where he trains people. And I guess she, you know, I mean, she was, she was overweight, uh, but she made like a four minute video where she was talking about like how powerless she felt, how, how hopeless she felt. And that she was posting the video because she actually had committed to doing 75 hard and wanted people to know that she had committed um and was basically talking about you know how

she knows she's gonna really struggle through the events that she has to go to and she can't enjoy herself and just hearing that like it's bit i actually commented to the guy i said bro you know it's good to see these videos because one it creates perspective for the people who have been living a disciplined lifestyle for so long that they have forgotten what it's like to feel that level of powerlessness and hopelessness and um i think it's always good to really remember what it's like to be in that position. Because, dude, like when you're in that position, you don't even have control over what you put in your mouth or what you don't put in your mouth. You know what I mean? Physical objects like food or alcohol or anything have complete control over you.

Addiction is scary, man. Dude, and it's something that we really, everybody, like everybody out there, cause we have a very, uh, I would say, you know, go get our audience, right? Everybody here is ambitious. Everybody here wants to win. Everybody here wants to create. But I think it's very important for everybody to remember that, like, once you get it together, it's your job to also pull other people along with you and help them understand, you know know that they do have hope and they do have the capacity for change and it's really not that hard you just feel like it's that hard because you haven't been able to overcome it in so long and so um you know perspective for us you know guys who have done

things in their life or people who have done things, I think is super important, man, because a lot of people, you know, what's common sense to maybe you at this point in your life or me at this point in my life, or you may not be common sense for the average person that has never been able to say no to French fries. As silly as that sounds, I was that person. I know what that's that's like dude i know what it's like to say hey i am going on a diet i am gonna i'm fixing this shit this is the last day i'm done with it and then like two days later be like i can't take it anymore you know like i know what that's like and um i think one of the most important perspective switches for me when I was in that position was to think of it as a mental test and not a, not such a physical test, you know, get your brain wrapped

around, Hey, if other people can do this, I can do this. You know what I mean? I think that's where comparison is good. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I'm, that's what I'm, that's what I'm getting to. So when we talk about comparison and we talk about not comparing yourself, there are times where it is really good. And, you know, for example, like if you are a high level competitor, it is necessary for you to compare yourself against other high level competitors to keep sharp and to progress. But when you're just getting started, the way that you use comparison to your advantage is by remembering that like all these people that have done all these things that you admire created these companies done these amazing ridiculous human history making difficult physical challenges like you have

these things people did these like people like human beings just like you they you cut them open they bleed red man you know they're not different than you. And the only thing that makes them different is that they were willing to your point to be humble enough in the beginning to say, Hey, look, I'm going to do this and I'm going to suck at it in the beginning, but I'm going to keep going. I'm going to keep showing up. And, um, I think if we, I think if we, as a culture would recognize that, like, we need to really do a good job, you know, we talk a lot about America and society on, on this podcast, but it is our obligation that once we get ourselves out of that difficult spot for us to pull other people and show them that they can as well. And I think that's something that we need to really, really, really remember.

You know what I mean? It's not just about us. It's about them too. Yeah, and when you're at that point, and I think just a quick change in perspective is not comparing but shifting it to modeling. And you find someone who models it, just like the four-minute mile, impossible to do.

Until they did it. Until he does it, and then two weeks later another guy guy does it and now high school kids do it every single year and so it's impossible until somebody does it so i think we need to stop comparing and we need to like leadership like you talked about uh sal and then modeling finding someone that's done it and go okay i'm at the beginning of my journey i'm not going to compare myself to them i'm going to model myself after them and then start to create those small wins. And that creates that momentum. And to me, that's just a different feeling of comparison versus modeling.

And now that's going to create that momentum. Well, and I think that piece, you know, like when you look at, you know, finding great role models, you know, in society, like finding people you look up to and admire and have a humility to be able to reach out to them and say, hey, man, can I get some help? Like, I'm in a spot. Will you help me out? And then the second side of that is everybody else, some people have different gifts. For you to build a $10 million business, I don't know if it scares you or it doesn't scare you. You might think to yourself, how the hell would you start that? And for me to go out and run an Ironman scares the hell out of me. But for me to build a $10 million business in my brain, I think, well, that's pretty easy. You know what I mean? For you to go run an Ironman, you're out of me. But for me to build a $10 million business in my brain, I think, well, that's pretty easy. You know what I mean? For you to run an Ironman,

you're like, yeah, I'm going to do it right now. So there are skill sets associated too. And so being able to understand and be self-aware of, hey, what am I capable of? And what's going to happen? And what can I be realistic with? And then attack. Being able to have that humility to show up and compete for yourself every day. Yeah. And in terms of modeling, like, you know, we've all heard a thousand times, like you are the five people to surround yourself with. And, you know, you get those individuals, you know, that are like, I don't really know five people. Like I'm stuck in this kind of community or environment. And I'm like,

that is one of the gifts of social media. Like my five guys that are in my circle, they don't even know that I'm in their circle because I'm like modeling them on social media. Like you're in my circle and Ed's in my circle and like these guys bro you're in my circle too i'm telling you that right now i appreciate it but like there's guys out there that like okay i don't i need to find my five guys dude find the five guys you want to be like it's on social media and then just start modeling them and that until they really become part of your you know that's the real fake it till you make it that's what fake it till you make it actually fucking means.

100%. What it means is fake behaving like them until you become them. You know, it doesn't mean rent a Lambo and fucking take a picture in front of it. No, no, no. It's exactly that. And, you know, fake it till you make it has kind of got this like bad stigma nowadays. But fake it till you make it means like start acting like that person. Exactly.

Starts to become a habit. No, not acting like the result, acting like that person exactly starts to become a habit no not acting like the result acting like the work yes do do the habits the characteristics the traits the execution part of it like you can't tell me if you don't if you start to do the activities that andy's doing you're modeling like we just talked about that behavior and now all of a sudden oh i'm starting to become that person. More like that. But it's not faking it.

It's actually putting in the work and doing those action steps. But you've just created the pathway for me. I got to just model that. I don't think people understand. I think when people think about themselves, they think about themselves like they look at their life right now and they say, this is my life. Right. And I want a different life. But they don't stop to understand that what you're looking at now is the result of decisions

that were made by a different you that existed in the past. And if you want a different outcome, the current you has to make decisions now, today, even though the result isn't what you want, especially because the result isn't what you want, that you have currently, you need to make decisions today that produce a different outcome later. And so what, if you really think about it, dude, like if you really dig into it, you're not even the same person that's created the life that you have in front of you that you're dissatisfied with. You're not even that person anymore. You're already somebody else right now. Even though the result of your life says differently, you have made a

decision to make the change now, which means you actually are somebody else right now. You're just dealing with the mess this other guy created. And if we could think about it like that, there's less shame, there's less guilt, there's less embarrassment, there's less, you know, worry about looking stupid because we're like yeah well that guy was an idiot i'm not an idiot anymore i learned my lesson you know i'm gonna make some better decisions and i think when i think about things when i'm dissatisfied that's one of the things that's like one of the little mental hacks that i use to i guess make myself feel better about it you know but maybe that'll help you guys too

you know i think the result of what we have now, we have to acknowledge that that was that guy. That was not me right now. You want to know the greatest compliment I've ever received? Good and bad. Yeah, good and bad, right? Even the good shit you got right now, that ain't from what you did right now. That's right.

Correct. Keeps you in check on the other end too. Correct. Greatest compliment I ever receive is you've changed. You've changed. That's the point. And like, good. I hope I'm not the same guy

was when i was 20 or 30 or 40 like i'm i'm creeping up on 50 and i'm like thank you yeah but they didn't they didn't mean it as a compliment but i'm like dude i'm a rock i'm on a rocket ship and if you're not on board like that's fine we'll part ways like our time together is over but like it's so important and i'm gonna tell people the secret to life right now. It's one, forgive yourself for your past. Like learn from those lessons, but like stop carrying that bag of rocks. That's hard. Bring the lessons with you, but like learn from those and then stop catastrophizing and worrying about the future.

Have your dream and reverse engineer to the path. But then like the hardest thing, and it's totally cliche, but it's right now. It's this moment. Because if you take care of today, tomorrow takes care of itself. You know the vision. You know the dream.

You know where you're going to get to. But what's holding people back is those two things, catastrophizing about the future and living in the past, not forgiving yourself for the turd that you were. What would you say to someone who-

Can you spell catastrophizing, please? Yeah. C-A-T-A-S-T-R-O-F-I-Z-I-N-G. Yes. C-A-T-A-S-T-R-O-F-I-Z-I-N-G. Yes. A-N-G. N's in a G, such as a C. That's right, that's right. In my brain, I'm like,

that's a long-ass word, J-T-A-S-T-R-O-F-I-Z-I-N-G. So I do get a lot of messages from people that talk about the forgiveness of self, and they very much so struggle with that. So talk about that for a second. What do you think on that? Man, it takes a ton of work. Um, just like that, you know, mindfulness is obviously a cliche word too. It's so funny. I saw a clip on Instagram the other day. They were like, mindfulness,

dude, the phones have ruined mindfulness. Like back in the day, just sitting on a bus, mindfulness, taking a shit, mindfulness, like doing all these things. It's not mindfulness, but now we've got to like set time aside to do mindfulness. But really that's what it takes down to. You've got to have that practice of like disconnecting, sitting down, really dissecting what's happening. Have open, real conversations with your spouse, with your parents, with your kids, with family. Have a trusted circle that you can do a deep dive into stuff. And then like reset those negative experiences with positive ones.

And that that's the beauty of the brain is you can totally reset your brain, which changes your perspective through different experiences. And so if you're, if you're stuck in the past all the time, it's because you're not progressing. You're not showing up. You're not trying to learn, adapt, evolve and change. And so like you want to get over your past, start creating a new future for yourself because that's the biggest thing we're seeing with people if you're if you're talking with old with friends and whatnot and all you guys talk about is the past and old memories they're not your friends yeah and they're

holding you back from progression and you're not getting to the root to get yourself over whatever trauma it is because we all have trauma and it's all unique to ourselves but you have to take that effort just like physical effort in in in, in transformations, in business, whatever it takes effort and mindset and getting over your past takes effort. It's not about shoving it down. It's about facing it, overcoming it and creating a new future, changing the perspective in which you see and approach your life. That's, that's the only way to do it.

And it's, it's work and sometimes it sucks and you're going to're gonna have those moments of love tears and fear and and imposter syndrome and all these things but you have to unload that bag of rocks in order to you have to actually become someone else 100 you have to shed those people and again i just i said it moments ago like the greatest compliment i get is you've changed i'm like thank you i'm doing i'm doing the work would you say that also goes to because okay so holding past, you're saying that that's one part of it. What about the people who refuse to even admit that they are responsible for that past? Is that also a part of that as well? Oh, 100%.

It's a lack of maturity, lack of accountability. Just being honest with yourself. Those people are kind of off the table off the ring like until you're willing to accept the reality of how the world works which is this it is inputs and it is outputs yeah it is math it is one input equals one output if i put this in i'm going to get this out if i put good in i'm going to get good out if i put bad in i'm going to get bad out this is the put bad in, I'm going to get bad out. This is the reality of life. And for someone to make any progress at all to not,

the first step is to always take accountability. And if they can't do that, dude, they're going to be stuck there forever. They can never change. You can't drag them through it. Well, to your point, like you, I just really learned because we do a lot of coaching, like you can't make somebody can't make somebody change and they have to show up with, with humility, with accountability and then a willingness to work and shed. They've got, that's where they got that. Now they're the clay.

Now they can be mold. Yes. Now, now you're like, okay, now let's start to rebuild and have experiences to change what it is. And so, yeah, DJ, to your point, like you can't, you can't work with someone who's not willing and in a, in a space where, where they're wanting to change. In fact, I, I come across people and they're at rock bottom. And the first thing I say to them is congratulations. Like this is the start of the next part, because most people don't really change until they've had like a significant event in their lives to where they're either stripped of everything everything was taken away

a traumatic accident a major illness or something and then they're like okay something needs to change but it takes i hate to see it but it takes that moment for someone to have that realization to like start to reclay themselves into something new something different yeah i had a one of my one of my best friends you know growing up and then through college, he became a crack addict of all things, right? Like here we are, like regular people that we would think, college athletes, and somehow this dude gets wrapped up in crack, you know, and you're thinking, no way. Like, no way.

And it was a long process, three, four years. And, you know, I would call anybody and ask for help. And I would drag this guy out of the inner city. I mean, I was anywhere I could find him. I'd go get him, drag him, fight him, you know, tie him down, the whole deal. And I saw a therapist one time, and she's like, hey, listen, like, you're not, here's the truth, and you're going to have to face this. He's either going to, you know, overdose or get to a point where he wants to change. Like he has to change or he's going to die.

But you going in and getting him, you're not getting him out of that. He's going to have to do it. And I'm so hardheaded. I'm like, nah, that ain't going to happen. You know, but after another 18 months of battling it, he went through the process. You know, he hit bottom. You know, he went through the, you know, woke up in the hospital, went through the whole deal. You know, and there he was. And he had to make that decision he made decision change and i think he's

12 or 13 years sober now you know and has gone through it but built a great business for himself yeah stud of a human love this dude but it's crazy like to that point like you had to james you have to get not people think rock bottom like oh they gotta be doing bad no you gotta be on the brink of death no so now what you think rock bottom yeah yeah so gotta be doing bad no you gotta be on the brink of death no so now what you think rock bottom yeah yeah so to your point like one of my best friends in high school like graduate high school we both won the state championship in wrestling we both went undefeated in our way we stand at the same point at the same time massive future ahead of us what are we gonna do wrestle what's that you're gonna wrestle we're gonna wrestle we're both undefeated yeah 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00, we got him working out, we had him reading books and he was massive progress. And six months go by

and we send him back home, gets off the plane straight to his dealer and hasn't come out of it yet. And so we're like, you just can't, they have to get to the point where they are wanting to make that change. And I'm literally waiting for that phone call to where he's either dead or in prison or he's turned his life around. And I hope it's the latter because there was just nothing we could do because he has to be the one to want and make that change. Yeah. And we actually, you know, consequently, we get this a lot in our business, in the diet business. You can want better for somebody else, but until they want to make that change and they kind of hit, you know, that moment, they won't make a change. And, you know, people say all the time, I want my spouse to do

it, or I want my mom to do it, or I need my kids to do it. And having hundreds of thousands of reps at this point, you have to want it. That's what I've learned. And for me, and for a lot of people, it's a picture, right? Or they have a moment where they're in a suit and a tie, they're with their significant other, and they see it, and they see their wedding photo, and they look look at their photo now and they look back and they're thinking, holy hell, that's me. And then they have this internal moment where they make the change. But that, you know, that drastic kind of situation that you have to go through mentally to see is what it takes to require to take the action to go make that change. And, you know, at least in the diet business, I think a lot in in life too, right? Like you have to kind of hit these walls and get to these points of where I don't want it anymore. Well, people ask me all the time, like, how do

you, with what you've accomplished, what motivates you to keep showing up, keep striving for new goals, keep trying to raise the ceiling. And I'm like, I just feel I have a responsibility to set an example for those that aren't in that place yet, because we may not know it or recognize it, but as leaders, like people are watching us and like strangers, we don't even know. And I, I feel a responsibility. I have to keep showing up in my life and execute at a super high level because those people are watching and it's someday it's going to, it's going to click for them. and without my effort directly with them you saved a person right and and they they gain that

confidence that momentum and they finally they go okay that that's what i want i'm at rock bottom and that's what i want and so i just like you guys you want to be this the north star for people and and that that excellence in your life doesn't go unnoticed and and someday those those individuals are going to do it they're going to make the change and guess what they're going to turn to you you're going to be their mentor their coach and you're going to be able to help them through that but you you can't be that person if you're wishy-washy you're not consistent you're not showing up you're not trying to be that that like standard of excellence that people are striving for so that that's what motivates me every single day. Like who who's watching. Cause on day 80 of the conquer 100,

um, I was broken, like broken, like spiritually, mentally, physically. And when I first started this journey in 2012, the world record for the most Ironmans in a year was 20. And I'd done 80 consecutive. I had 20 more to go. And trust me, the last thing I wanted to do was 20 more 140.6 mile days. And I look back at it and I'm like, cause I made the decision to keep going. And I just knew, okay, today I just have to show up and do what I can. And the lives that we changed just over those last 20 days is staggering because we hadn't hit our, our fundraising goal yet. And from that moment to the end, it was a $750,000 bump. And so you, you always, I always ask myself what would have happened if I quit on day 80 and it would have still been a world record and it still would have been a new standard in endurance. But what, what opportunity did I lose

to impact somebody? Because I, because I chose not to quit on that day i i've changed my legacy for sure right and that's what we need to strive and that's where our mindset needs to go like what's what's my legacy and we'll never reach it right it's this constant moving benchmark right you know you hear people talking about like i'm going to chase down the ultimate version of who i am that's that's not possible because it's possible to chase it it's not possible to achieve it correct yes because as we evolve as people the the potential expands yes the version of that person changes so it's like to me it's the most fun thing on the planet is to try to chase down this ver the the baddest version of me because it's an endless

pursuit and i'm like who am i going to be in 20 years trying to chase this son of a bitch down? You know what I mean? And that just fires me up. Well, you're going to have bad knees, I can tell you that. No, I'm not. I'll tell you right now, I'll be the first person to do 140.6 miles at 800. New year's first ones.

I'll be bionic at that point. At how old? At 100, I'm going to do an Ironman. At 100 years old. I believe that yeah i have zero doubts about that i'll be there on day you know i'll be there for the run get perfect last mile i won't be there i'm shooting for 80 all right i'm here to have a fucking good time i ain't here for a long time all right the uh dude i'm really glad to hear you say that because i first of all i agree with you on the pursuit of one's own potential being the literal definition of a successful life because by pursuing your potential

even understanding that you'll never reach it so much good happens from that that is residual because you're continuing to evolve over and over and over and over again. And when people see that, they start to understand themselves differently. And I think that's what separates. If I guess what I'm trying to say here is that, you know, you said what gets you up when you're sore, when you're tired, when you've had, you've already proven everything you've, you've done all the things, bro. Like what, you know, I'm sure you'll come up with something crazy again and do it again. I know you will. And probably a lot more things.

That's the truth. I think you're just getting started. But if the whole world understood what you just said, how different would the world look? Meaning, if everybody got up every day and understood that their life was literally crafting other people's lives. That is a switch in perspective that will keep you in check. If you're having trouble, you know, getting it going or understanding what the point is of this, or like the woman we spoke of earlier who's very powerless, you know, try switching the perspective a little bit. Try making it not about you. It's not about you. It's about everybody around you. And it's not just because we're leaders in this room. Everybody's a leader. That's what we're failing to realize

as a culture and a society. The average guy who's got a blue collar job, who's going to work, bro, you're still a leader, man. People are watching you. They're observing you. And the example you set, look at Cam Haynes. Cam Haynes is a regular guy who's changed the, I mean, he's very not regular, but in general terms, he's a normal guy and he's decided to live his life at a very high potential, which in turn inspires millions of people to do the same. And just by a simple guy who, you know, works construction and builds things and loves to

bow hunt, calls himself a bow hunter, that's his identity. This guy, because of the standard that he holds, he inspires millions of people. And if he can do that, then why can't you do that? Why can't you, the he can do that then why can't you do that 100 why can't you the listener do that why can't you live at a higher standard and show the people around you even if the people are just your spouse or your kids or your neighbor or in your neighborhood you know like these are the things that actually matter it's not who's in political office it's not it's not what's going on in the news. It's what example are we setting out here in society? Because we all complain about society, but we fail to

acknowledge that we are society. And the example that we set does matter. And if everybody took what you said and really listened to it and really thought about it, you ask a man who's done, I mean, dude, you know, like we said, 50 Ironmans in 50 consecutive days in 50 states, 101 straight Ironmans. I mean, dude, you've ran across Greece. You've biked across the country. You've done all this really, I mean, bro, one of those things is legendary, much less all of them. And you ask him, what's he still doing this for? Why is he still going? And he says, because I want you to see it because I want you to be better. If we all had that attitude,

what would the world look like? And dude, it's one of my favorite things about you, bro. Real talk. Like you, you totally understand what it means to be a man. That is being a man. People say, what's the difference between a man and a boy being a man is understanding that how you live your life is going to dictate how other people turn out regardless if you have kids or not or whatever your circle or sphere of influence might be that is what a man is and right now when people say oh we're lacking men they're correct but not for the reason that you think not because we need more beards or more tattoos or more talking shit we don't need more of that we need more real examples that's what being a man is all about and that's what's going to get this fucker turned around for

the for the better and i i just want to acknowledge that bro like i think that's to me that was the most impactful thing you said all day awesome Awesome. Yeah, I appreciate that, honestly. And I truly believe that if there was a mindset shift in the world and everybody tried to attack life with this relentless pursuit of excellence and the measure of success was how many people you could bring to the top of the mountain with you. Dude. I think that would change the world. My goal now is to see how many people I can impact, give hope,

and start to win the conversations they're having with themselves to get out of their own damn way. And, dude, I've just learned that the pursuit of excellence, it's lonely, and you don't want to be standing on top by yourself. You want to bring as many people with you as possible, and that's what I see happening here at First Form and the culture you guys create. It's not like, what can I get? It's how many people can I help well brother that's my product it all happened that's why we love doing things with you real talk because you do the same thing in your life

every day like you're out of all the people I've met which is thousands of them dude not only are you like a relentless aggressive competitive guy who can pull out that, you know, that fuck you that you got to have to win, right? Dog in him. Yeah, dude, this dude. This dude has the biggest dog in him. Real talk. And then also be the guy who's encouraging people to come with and be humble.

It's just a really incredible combination of personality, bro. And I know we I'm speaking for all of us here we all fucking love it that means a ton yeah yeah certainly not common we wish it was more than norm yeah so it's it's always nice to have you around thank you man yeah so you're you've also got this other thing that you're working on you got a book coming out yeah talk about the book yeah this has been an exciting project for us only because again, it's what we just talked about.

It's, it's trying to get the, the greatest amount of people to the mountaintop and get out of their own way and winning the conversations. And the reason that the title of the book is going to be called iron hope. And, and I, I've got the worst gift ever,

Andy, I have this, this gift to suffer. And, and I thought to myself, man, this is the worst gift ever, Andy. I have this gift to suffer. And I thought to myself, man, this is the worst gift ever. Like, why didn't I have this, like, incredible baseball talent like Sal? Or why didn't I have this, like, business savviness like you do? Or why couldn't I play? Good looks like DJ.

Well, I did. Good looks like DJ. Like, why couldn't I be this musician or this artist? And I was, like, given this gift to be able to suffer and and over the 20 years that we've been doing this thousands of stories have come into our team and through email and messaging that like your ability to suffer has given us hope on our journey where we didn't ask for the suffering whether it's addiction or illness or trauma or

whatever it is. And that was just like incredibly humbling for me. And so that's why we named it iron hope. And the purpose of the book is to, to give people that hope that the regular everyday person, the hope to deal with and overcome the adversity and struggles that we're dealing with, because it's, it's crippling today. And it's, it to me, I mean, it's, it's been a lifelong journey to put this book together. The lessons that we've learned and, and, and just the things that I think we could impart on people to, to give them that hope, to start winning those conversations, to create that momentum. Because I truly, man, myself, my wife, our kids, it's a team effort. And we just

want to see as many people win and, and, and have success. I believe I have found pure joy in my life and it's, it's through family. It's through community. It's through struggle. It's through doing hard things. It's about reaching finish lines and mountaintops together. And, and I just want to give that gift to people so i'm really excited about the team we put together the book that we've written um it's going to come out january of 2025 um and it's gonna it's gonna be awesome that's awesome yeah so let me ask you this so people see things like the amazing feats that you've done and they hear you speak you You've been speaking, I mean, for 10 years you've been a professional speaker. You're one of the best, too.

One of the best. Do you guys ever need a good speaker to come speak to your organization in any capacity? I would highly recommend James. He spoke in our organization. He's amazing. Not good. No, he's great. Great.

Great, great. Maybe a better speaker than an than a iron man runner or athlete right you're pretty damn good at it i'm pretty damn good yeah i mean i heard when the first time i heard i was like damn james is good yeah yeah it's it's crazy it's been it's been the greatest gift for me i've now spoken to 56 countries around the world yeah um and just been unbelievable to speak from NFL teams to accountants in Sri Lanka. But what's, what's amazing is that's, that's what fills my bucket is I'm, I can move a room and for me to watch a room move like that. And every person in there have an experience because I'm not, I'm not talking to how to improve your bottom line at your company.

I'm talking to the individual and I'm talking to your mind and your heart. And we change the way somebody feels and thinks. It changes every aspect of their lives in terms of home and relationship and then business. So, in fact, it does increase business's bottom dollar because we're talking to the way somebody thinks and feels. Is that your pitch? Is God going to make you money? I hope so. I hope it works. Hey, listen. I was getting that. Yeah that your pitch? Is God going to make you money? I hope so. I hope it works.

Hey, listen. I was getting that. Yeah, me too. I need you, bro. I need the tech guys to pull that clip out specifically. Yeah, we got it. I'm going to tell you. So, dude, listen.

So people see you do all these amazing things, and they assume that you're a superhuman guy, and you have struggles, and you have things that you've been through. And let's talk about some of have things that you've been through and let's talk about some of the things that you've had to overcome yeah i i think it's so important to realize that like you said flesh and blood yeah cut me i still bleed yeah um i put i put my pants on one leg at a time like everybody else in fact i woke up today and i'm like dude i'm not

good enough to be on andy's podcast like just that, you're like one of the main reasons I have the podcast. Without me meeting you, 75 hard wouldn't even be a thing. It's so humbling when you say that. It's real truth. It blows my mind. But I'm like everybody else. And that's the real struggle. That's the thing that people struggle with most is that imposter syndrome.

And again, it's just straight up the conversations that we're having with ourselves and after the after the 100 ironmans um in 100 days i was broken mentally yeah and and it like just from concussions and ptsd and it took two years of really hard work and and resetting those neurological pathways because it's real and and i some days i woke up with incredible anxiety, incredible depression that they did these tests on me where they were testing my eye movements and they were in the millions and they were supposed to be in the thousands. And they, they questioned how I was functioning. And when they did my brain scans, they were like, we don't know how you get on stage and, and, and do what you're doing. And it was just at that point, sheer will, um, to be able

to do it because I'm like, I have to keep going. I have to keep showing up. I'm not, I'm never going to quit on myself. And through a lot of work and struggle and teamwork and love for my wife and family, um, we did a recent brain scan at the end of last year and they said a hundred percent clear, no signs of PTSD. No one would know you had a concussion um so you literally fixed your brain fix my i broke my brain and then i fixed it and that's that's a message that i want to get people to know and understand like even these guys that you look up to and all like we we struggle oh yeah i've heard you talk about listen you and i talked about this exact issue 100 because i've had lots of uh actual physical trauma in my life. You know, I got stabbed in the head.

My head was swollen for a year and a half. I played football. I played all kinds of contact sports. I've fucking been under chronic stress 24 hours a day for the last 25 years. So, yeah, we've been through some shit. I mean, I went to the World Championships last year for the swim-run race.

It's called Otillo. It's in Sweden. And for the first time in my career, I didn't make the cutoff and I left that race and I was so embarrassed. I was humiliated and, and I was just like, and it's because I was, I was literally broken. And when you, when you establish yourself in society as like the toughest dude, and you're incredibly mentally tough and you're, you're unbreakable and then you miss it you miss a race cut off and you're in last place and that was a moment for me where i'm like that's

not okay yeah and something's going on something's going on and i was so grateful for the team that i had the support that i had literally fixed my brain yeah and i'm so fired up this year like yeah dude i could tell bro we said at the beginning, like, I'm going to South Africa. I've got a couple world championships on the schedule this year. Like, I'm almost 50. You haven't seen the best of me yet. Dude, I believe that a million percent. And I'm so fired up.

Like, just my perspective, like we've talked about today, like, it's so wide open, the possibility. I'm going to PR in most modalities that I do this year. So when we talk about overcoming hardship and we look at society, you know, you and I spoken a lot through, through, by the way, I could tell you're different. I could feel it. I could feel it in your presence this time versus the last time I saw you in real life. I know, I, and I know what that's like.

I know what it's like to fucking step up and have to do your talks and do your job and, and pretend like everything's cool when it ain't cool. I know exactly what that's like. I just went through a very difficult, uh, physical situation with my health as well. Um, which I'll tell you about off the show. Uh, but it fixed a lot of my, a lot of what was going on with me um and it was physical it's physical oh fuck i just say it here so i had uh i had a bleeding ulcer in my stomach for the last four years and then i had two bleeding polyps in my colon for the last four years without so i had a little blood in the toilet when i would go poop and uh and i thought it was from lifting because i would always get like little hemorrhoid

issues from lifting weights well turns out i've had this blood issue this blood in my gut and in my intestines for the last four years which is causing my intestines and my gut to flare up which means i can't absorb any of my food but what it also means is that because my blood is i actually caused me to be anemic which was causing massive anxiety so i'm in fight or flight all the time because i'm bleeding and i can't see it right i can only see it in the toilet i'm like oh that's no big deal i know that sounds crazy to you guys but like that stuff doesn't phase me out like i'm just like yeah whatever i got a fucking broken finger i don't give a shit you you get it so but uh dude i went got it fixed. And within three days, my brain was

fucking right. Like it was crazy. All it was, was I just didn't have much oxygen and that signal was going to my brain. It fixed a lot of stuff, which is why I'm excited about this year for me physically too, because I can now absorb food. But the point is, you know, we go through these times where we know we're not right. And it's not because we can't push through or we're we're weak or we're uh not tough enough like bro you're running across fucking grease bro you're pretty tough you know what i'm saying at at some point we do have to stop and say hey uh there is a real problem here but you know what would you say to because like right now in society, I struggle to talk about these things because I feel like our culture is so geared towards manufacturing problems that aren't real versus addressing problems that are. Meaning,

I feel like a lot of people have built their identity in being a victim and saying, I got all this stuff wrong with me. I can't do this. And for attention and likes and shares on the internet. And it's almost hard to like differentiate, differentiate real, real situations from non real situations now. And I think that keeps a lot of people from addressing situations that could be real, right?

Like, I don't feel good. I'm not feeling right. I'm, I'm fucked up, but I don't want to be a pussy because i don't feel good i'm not feeling right i'm i'm fucked up but i don't want to be a pussy because i don't want to be like one of these guys on the internet that's just crying about all this shit all the time so like what do you think like what's your take on that yeah i mean we just have to everybody has to have their own unique experiences and then you've just got to know and understand your body and how it's reacting and and be honest with yourself like okay is this an injury or is this just an ache or a pain yeah and is this a moment where i push through and i grow or do i need that recovery right because as guys we're like push go

grind all the time right and but we do need to respect that like recovery and downtime like people don't understand because they see my really intense moments but at my home I got a hyperbaric chamber at my house I've got a red light therapy bed I've got a PT and massage that comes in every single week like LeBron James spends a million dollars a year on his physical health so that he can perform and so really those individuals that are just sitting at home like questioning should I shouldn't I they're not getting the knowledge and experience they need to in order to make those, those decisions. Right. And it's, it's, it's again, humility. Like you're saying, okay, I can either grind this out,

but what type of long-term damage are you doing by not, by not checking that out? Yeah. And like, dude, I, I, I cracked like on day, day 59 of the hundred, I crashed and I broke my back. Yeah. And like, dude, I, I, I cracked like on day, day 59 of the hundred, I crashed and I broke my back. Yeah. And I cracked my L5 vertebrae and had to do 41 Ironmans with a broken back. And so a lot of people will be like, Whoa, that's, that's like dangerous to like put your body in that position.

But I really know my body because I've had a lot of experience in doing this stuff. My wife knows me and like all these things like we know by showing up and having experiences like where our limits are am i injured or am i is it smart yeah it's through and all these things and so frankly for those people that are just like not engaging and experiencing in life like that's what you have to do to be able to get to know oneself yeah and surround yourself with people too that like know you can understand you because like my wife was the first one to say hey something's wrong yeah with your brain yeah i know you we've been married 23 years like we need to address this and then for me as a man to be humble enough to say okay what does that look like yeah you know

and so again it's just like knowing yourself and then surrounding yourself with unbelievable people that also recognize that and and will put their hand out and help you i think also to add dude i think you know you have to push yourself to a certain point to under to actually create uh awareness of what is wrong you know a lot of people oh i've stuck to my diet five days i deserve three days off my diet because i got to recover bro that's not what we're talking about we're talking about the other end of the spectrum we're talking about pushing yourself to the point of literal destruction and then having to step back and say all right this isn't good what do i gotta do now how hard was that for you to to address mentally yes super hard to to get to that point where because you because when you're because like bro you're that you've done all this shit, right? In your brain,

you're like, fuck, I can do anything. Well, dude, I'm telling you, you've been able to ignore so many red flags and have popped up before. The brain is so powerful. Like somebody asked me on day 98, how many I could do. And I was like 200. Yeah. Like that's where my mind was. And I was in that state of grind and push. And I was just in that really protective state. And then like day one or two and three, I was like broken. And so again, recognize like how powerful the mind is, but what we need to do also too,

is like, we need to, you know, we've talked about in the past, like showing up and doing hard things intentionally. That was kind of the line that created the 100. And I, and I went and did this race, this, this race, this jungle race in Fiji, back country. It was a Mark Burnett production. Bear Grylls was the host. 67 countries from around the world, teams of four. And it was actually called the world's toughest race.

I remember that. Yeah, it was on Amazon Prime. And they kept trying to convince me and they wanted me to say on camera, this was the hardest thing that I've ever done. And we came into every camp and everything. We were smiling. We were laughing. Like the other teams were so, so miserable and suffering and they just couldn't understand why we were so happy coming into every camp. And they, they, they just badly wanted us to say it was the hardest thing we've ever done.

And we basically laughed the whole time because we were like, no, you've done 50 days of impossible this is eight days like yeah and and that's the point even believable is he right and so that's the point here is you you have to show up and do hard things to move that bar through experience to know what's good what's wrong and and what's easy and what's hurting you and what's not, but you have to change where that, that bench, that benchmark line is. So do things really hard all the time so that when general society says, this is hard, you're like, no,

this is easy. And I know because I've had experiences and I can navigate it differently. And that's really like you, you got to the point where you're pushing yourself and you're like, okay, this is, this is serious. Yeah.

And it takes a humble person. Yeah. Okay. When I looked in the blood and there was a gallon of blood or looked in the toilet there was a gallon of blood in there and it was black and red blood and i'm puking have a feet i'm like yeah i'm yeah this is no longer me yeah this is yeah right toughness yeah for sure and it takes a ton of maturity and humility to be able to do that yeah and to go okay it scared the out of me dude i'm like i'm gonna die tomorrow i better go right now yeah that's what it takes me dude it takes me that far to like take action like that

yeah and we hope that most people don't go that far but well i think but i do think people err on the other side of it i think we live in a culture now where people think they're doing something when they're not really doing anything yeah you know and so i just want to clarify when you hear james talk about these things and we talk about You know when to back off and when to push bro If you look in the mirror and you're fucking a hundred pounds overweight and your bank account is empty and you're living in the basement Your mom's house and a push bro. This is push time. This ain't fucking you need a rest You've been resting your whole life. All right right so i just want to clarify that statement of uh and the reality too is when somebody starts on a journey where they're in that

point where they're 300 pounds and broken everything everything's going to hurt and be uncomfortable when you start back doing something because your body's so used to being in that comfortable sheltered state and but then as soon as they start they feel that discomfort and they're like whoa i'm hurting myself i gotta back off and you push through those ones right exactly those are the times when you push through and so yeah again it it's through experience to know when to push yeah and when not but people like this happens all the time with new runners they run they feel knee pain and they're like ah i can't run i have bad knees and i'm like no your knees are hurting because your quads are tight and they're pulling up and it's bringing the second, the kneecap in because you just started a new activity that's foreign to you. And the

reason you have bad knees is because you don't run. And so there, so there's, you got to start to like understand the difference of when to show up, when to push whatnot. And it's, it's a valuable lesson that everybody needs to learn. But again, just like success and everything, you have to show up in life, have these experiences in order to know where that push and not push line is. And it's the only way to do anything in life is it's through experiences. Brother, I have, as always, greatly enjoyed our conversation. I know you've got a plane that you're getting ready to catch you so if you could leave everybody with one piece of advice or a couple pieces of advice or just some words of encouragement with everything going on in the world and all the disruption and all the frustration and you know it's difficult times for a lot of people

you know what would you say yeah i would say number one show up every single day with honesty and integrity i think i think the world's lacking that right now. And I, and, and I, I truly believe that it's a gift to first show up with that honesty and integrity, but then not care or internalize what other people think about you and the way you're operating. And if you just continue to show up and chip away at the task, at the dream, at the whatever it is, you'll win. Because the only way to guarantee that you'll fail is to stop showing up. And I'll just share just real quick that race in Fiji, the Fijian team was given a spot just because they were the host country.

No training, terrible coaching, terrible equipment. Mark Burnett walked up to them. No chance you guys finish. They beat every single team that quit and and i was standing on survivor island when the fijian team crossed the finish line with huge smiles on their faces now they were dead last but they beat every single team that quit because they understood movement and time and if if I just keep moving, time's going to keep ticking and eventually I'll get there. And they were gritty out of necessity because they grew up in that, in that life and they developed that skillset. And so really my message is meet yourself where you're

at. Give yourself some grace. Everybody's heart is different. Just just start learn as you go be gracious in your mistakes and just keep chipping away and eventually you'll get there surrounded by amazing people bro i love it man i um let's hit the dates on when your your documentary and your book come out one more time for everybody documentary release march 27th of 2024 and then super pumped for the release of our new book iron hope january 2025 and uh where can people follow you at where are you most active on socials yeah most active on instagram iron cowboy james all right guys listen if you're not following following James and you're not part of his ecosystem, you need to be okay. This man's changing the world.

He's setting an example for what it means to be tough, to be mentally tough, to be physically tough. And also, and most importantly, uh, be an amazing human being, bro. And I am very, very, very grateful for our friendship. I'm very grateful for you and everything that you're doing and knowing you and, and, and being your friend is a great honor to me and a great honor to everybody here that's real shit i appreciate that so i'm very very very thankful that even though it's very rare that people like you exist because uh

you know when things get hard like you said i'm in your circle in certain ways you're in my circle and when things get hard I think of you I think of things that you have been through I think of things that you have went through and you know 75 hard wouldn't exist without your influence and our friendship and it's changed millions of lives and so dude I just want to say thank you genuinely from my heart for being who the fuck you are man I. I, I, I thank you tremendously. And I just want to share something really quick. I was in the gym working out this morning and your dad came up to me and he said, man,

I remember the first time you spoke here at headquarters. And he goes, I woke up the next day and I went and ran. I was going to, I wanted to run three miles. And he goes, I ran 10 miles. And for three years straight, I ran almost every single day. And he goes, he goes, when I wanted to quit, he goes, I always 10 miles. And for three years straight, I ran almost every single day. And he goes, he goes, when I wanted to quit, he goes, I always had a run partner. And he looks over and down to his left and he goes, it was you and Chad, right? And every time I wanted to quit, you, both of you were right there yelling at me, telling me to take that next step. And it's,

it's those stories, those moments of why guys like you guys like me choose to with relentless pursuit show up every single day because like dude what an honor to to have that impact on your dad and to have him show up started with me he talks people don't understand my dad's almost 80 years old yeah so when he's saying he's out running six miles a day and running 10 miles that's a huge deal this is only a two years ago yeah so he's 79 years old so i mean he was 77 years old doing this it was so cool for me to hear that so i i appreciate your your comments it's an honor to be on the show so yeah all right guys don't be a hoe Share the show.