REAL AF with Andy Frisella - 934. #75HARD vs Lexi Johnson

Episode Date: September 8, 2025

In today’s episode, Andy & Lexi Johnson discuss how completing #75HARD transformed her life creating a ripple effect to those close to her, why treating it as a program instead of a challenge builds true discipline, and how coming from a hard place can actually give you an advantage to create belief, confidence, and perseverance.

What's sleeping on the floor? Now my jury box froze. Fuck a pole. Fuck a stole. Counted millions in a cold. Bad bitch, booted swow. Got her on bank row. Can't fold.

Just a no headshot case closed. What is up guys? It's Andy Purcell and this is the show for the realists. Say goodbye to the lies, the fakeness and delusions of modern society. And welcome to motherfucking reality. Guys, today, as promised, we have. 75 hard verses but before we get into that I want to kind of give you guys a rundown on how the show works all right normally on Mondays we have Q&AF that's

where you submit the questions and we give you the answers to submit your questions a couple different ways you can email them in to what's the email address ask Andy at Andy Ficella.com or you can go to YouTube click the link underneath the videos of Q&AF and right in to be on the show live with us. Okay. Other times we're going to have CTI. CTI stands for Cruz, the Internet. That's where we put topics on the screen.

We speculate on what's going on in the world. It's our social comedy politics current event show. Then we have real talk. Real talk is five to 20 minutes of me giving you some real talk. And then we have 75 hard verses, which is what we're going to get into in just a minute. If you're unfamiliar with 75 hard, just keep listening because you're going to find all, out all about it, all right? It is available for free at episode 208.

It is the world's most popular mental transformation program ever, and it's free. There's also a book at andyficella.com. You don't have to buy it, but it is very popular. It covers the entire Live Hard program, plus a ton of information on mental toughness, why it's important how to cultivate it and use it in your life. with all that being said we do have a fee for the show uh the fee for the show is very simple if it makes you think if it makes you laugh it gives you new perspective if it helps you learn some new shit do us a favor and uh don't be a hoe and share the show did you want to do that

part you did you want to do it there yeah all right cool DJ's still on a leave yes paternity leave I can't even say that with a straight face. But we do have 75 hard verses today with a very special guest. My great friend, Lexi Johnson, what is going on? I'm excited to be here. Yeah. You've a beautiful facility. Yeah.

Oh, yeah? Yeah. First time. Yeah. First time in the studio, though. Oh, really? I mean, like, since the new digs, I think the first time I ever saw it, you just had the logo. I think we're getting ready to redo it again, aren't we?

Aren't we like making it way bigger? yeah we're expanding so business is good good yeah so what's going on dude i'm excited to be here we're going to talk 75 hard i was talking to him on my way up to the podcast room and this is the i finished 75 hard the sixth time this year yeah yeah i started 2020 and when a friend approached me about it it was kind of funny because i was i was in decent shape i had a i had good habits and i was like I'm I don't need to do that and I took it and I started like kind of scheming I'm like I'll do a point system like you know I'll do some of the things and that was when I started to look at myself and I'm like if you're compromising on what your standards are and like hand

selecting what you think you should do out of this and if you're doing that you're going to pick the shit that you that you want to do the stuff that comes easy I like working out so I'm like yeah I'll do that I didn't want to follow a diet I didn't want to read a self-help book because in my mind I'm like self-development like you know losers need self-help like you only right you only get them you know if you're in the trenches and I'm like I'm doing all right and I didn't think I needed it and when I like had that come to Jesus moment I'm like all right we're in so I did it the first time in 2020 started it right before COVID hit and it was my life is completely different than it was five and a half

years ago well talk about that 75 hard yeah I just so at that point I'm trying to think in 2020 so I was a dental hygienist and right before that I was actually a substitute teacher. And I don't talk about that. What did you teach? Anything. I didn't even know that. No, I graduated with a degree.

Essentially, you needed to get another degree. It's health science. So like you need to go, unless you want to sell medical sales, and I wasn't about that. So I just wanted to be able to contribute to the house. Like, I just felt like a burden. So I will substitute taught for a little bit while I was trying to figure that out, went back to dental hygiene school. And I remember I would, I just had no fulfillment. Like I would come home from substitute teaching or.

dental hygiene school or my dental hygiene job and i would like wait for my husband to come home and just sit and i was like that it's not fair to him either like my fulfillment shouldn't be coming from someone else um so i dove in on 75 hard and we did it together and it complete like thank god we grew in the same direction at the same time and we like doubled down on all of our standards and it changed the game because when shit hit the fan with the pandemic and everyone else was spiraling i felt so in control and it was just like such a black and white parallel from the people that were you know had no standards and no routine no solid habits that they were just like there was no consistency in the world no consistency in their own life and i i was doing so well yeah we saw so many people i remember that you know

who during that time just let themselves completely go to shit i remember seeing people like four or five months later after they first started shutting everything down and dude they were up like 40, 50 pounds. I was like, what the fuck have you been doing? Yeah, you're working. Apparently nothing. Four steps from your kitchen in the pantry. Yeah. Yeah. So when you started, so let's talk about this. Okay. Now, 75 hard, as you know, is a mental toughness program. And a lot of people mistake it for a quote unquote transformation, physical transformation or fitness program. So, when you first started this what did you expect and did that change throughout the process

I kind of want to get like if you can remember your first now you do it you've done it six times yep but that first time what was that like yeah I had never touched a self-development book I went to goodwill because everybody gives away like bibles and self-help books so I I found a book there and that was my first really implementation of any sort of self development like personal development and I became obsessed with the reading portion like that was one of the things that I was dreading so much I loved that and I just I am such an ambitious person now but I don't think I would describe myself as that that way and I feel like those that you know describe it as that physical transformation it is such a recalibration of your habits and your standards and your priorities

and your time management and you just happen to see physical benefits as well. Like that's just a cherry on top. And at the end of it, you know, you do see that progress, but more than anything, and it's so consistent if you like look at the 75 hard hashtag and you read all the comments, almost always people are like, I wish that I could show physically. Like I wish that you could visually see how much transformation has happened under the surface because I feel like at that point, like I said, I had no fulfillment. I didn't really have a drive.

Like I knew that I was capable of more. but I didn't have any sort of direction and doing that and like proving to myself that I can do that amidst chaos in the world and like non-normal circumstances. It gave me the belief and the confidence in myself that like I could start my business. I started my business right after 75 hard like took so many the first time. Yeah. Yeah. So 2020 I think I finished 75 hard probably in like March or April and I started my business in May. And it was. scary as hell but like you can reflect on those 75 days of being also scared and also wanting to compromise and you're like you just you just keep moving forward I survived that I live to tell the

tail and I can do this yeah you can just figure it out along the way yeah dude I remember you know I think for a lot of people who go down the journey of 75 hard and live hard it is the first time is exceptionally special because a lot of the limitations that you think think you have become eliminated, right? Like, I don't have the time. No, you learn right away that you do have the time. In fact, you learn exactly how much time you've been wasting. Uh, and a lot of people will talk about how they feel like they have extra time because they're so productive and so on top of their shit. Other things like, for example, you know, most people never gone more than three or four days on a fucking diet without cheating. You know what I mean? Like if you, and that sounds

crazy like you're going to go 75 days without it and a lot of people will say you know oh you know that's that's not healthy that's extreme that's this dude what's not healthy is eating the shit that you're eating every three days and giving up on yourself on all your goals every three or four days throughout the course of your entire life and the confidence that comes from completing that program the first time. Not that it gets any easier the second time, but for some reason that first time, fuck, I just got a lot out of it, dude.

Yeah, it's, it is like an awakening. Like, it's Pandora's box, because once you do it, you have, if you do it with integrity and you do it the right way, and you can tell when you do and you don't, there's no going back. No. And those that push back on like, damn,

75 days of regimen, don't have the long-term vision of like, you could spend decades and decades at a higher quality of life. If you just dedicate the next 75 days to actually like opening your horizons to what you're capable of. Because once you do it with integrity, like I remember being scared on like day 75 and I'm like, what do I do tomorrow? I don't want to go back to where I was 75 days ago. That's how that is how people should feel. when they that's really how you could tell someone did it because dude there's two there's two groups of people right there's the people that they get to 75 days and they're like fuck dude i don't want to i want to keep going because i'm doing so well i feel so good i'm getting so

much so many positives out of this program and if you're doing it right that's how you're going to feel uh and then you have the second group and the second group is the they they do the same thing they've always done. They half-assed the program. They get to the end. They want to clap and cheer like they accomplish something. And then they celebrate with all of the shit that was controlling their lives before they ever started on the program. They celebrate by taking a day off or three days off. They eat, you know, a cake or they celebrate some have a party or they have, they go right back to alcohol you know these these things are the things that cost you everything that put you in a position to even feel like you needed to do this program and then you're going to go right back to

them on day 76 that doesn't make any sense why would you give yourself and reward yourself with the things that have been causing you the most pain after you just did all this work and people who have done the work they recognize that they recognize that very clearly Like fuck dude, I've been able to eliminate most of these things from my life and I feel so much better. I look better. I'm doing better and someone who's in that situation is not going to jump right back into this old shit. You're just not going to do it. And that's the differentiator between those that call it a challenge and those that treat it like a program because if you're treating it with a deadline in mind and you're like, all right, I just got to get through these 75 days and then we'll go back. That is the reason that you keep going back to where you were. That's the reason that that yo-yo style cycle continues and as a coach and a trainer there are those two distinct groups of the ones that do it with integrity and the ones that just want to say they did it yeah and i have i anytime someone comes to me and they're like i failed i'm gonna start tomorrow i'm like i have an immense amount of respect for you for saying that because you owned your shit you're going to start it again

tomorrow rather than the ones that are like well i mean like it was just a picture like yeah it was just right i read eight pages and i fell asleep and when you compromise on one standard, just the crack start to form everywhere. And like, it's not just your personal development. Then you start, like, it's in your relationships. It's in your professional life. If you consistently make those compromises with yourself, it's in every realm of your life. Right. It's just a matter of time before you find yourself back where you were. I mean, how many times do we see this with people, you know, in life, but especially in fitness, you see it a lot in business too. You know, they put in this exceptional amount of effort. They lose weight. They might lose

50, 60, 70, 80, 100 pounds. They look amazing. And then they think that they're just there, right? And then we see them six months later or a year later. And they are back to where they were or past where they were even worse off than when they started the first time. And I think that comes from people's misunderstanding of the fact that, you know, your body doesn't just acclimate to, uh, you know, this new shape and this new amount of calories

and these new amount of protein and training and change. And then you get to go back to your old habits and keep those. And I think that's very confusing for people. And I think a lot of people have trouble leaving their old life because they feel like, well, fuck, dude, if I'm eating healthy and I'm training and I'm not drinking, what am I going to do? Because they've built their identity so much in like the social culture that they feel like they're going to be completely bored or abandoned or they can't picture their life outside of that. And, you know, I think when people really break, and I know this, I don't think it. But when you, I just saw this yesterday. This guy posted how he's been sober for three years straight because of 75 hard.

and so awesome yeah dude and and your life is immensely improved and just because you can't see it outside of the alcohol and the food and the culture that you've built you have to trust that you're going to be in a better spot and I think that like fear of moving away from everybody else really hurt it it's like a tractor beam dude it like sucks people back in whenever they just get on the outside of it. And I think the one thing that's really good about live hard and 75 hard is that the time frame is long enough to where you actually get used to being away from the bad influences. Yeah. And I think a huge part is that abandonment piece where you only know and you only know the life that you've lived. And typically if you're contemplating starting

something like this, you're contemplating a life change, you need it. Like there's a reason for it. People say like, I can't say motivated. But if you're unhappy enough with where you are, like that is the motivation that's where you get but you're surrounded by people that are just feeding those horrible habits and like that's their life and you're worried about your friends judging you because you're not drinking or you have to get an outdoor workout or you have to manage your time better and you don't have the awareness that like within those 75 days and moving beyond it's it sucks to lose friends and to like have those hard conversations and realize that the people that you thought were in your corner weren't really in your corner but on the other side of it they're going to be

people that support you and that you know support that growth and are pouring back into you and building you up as you go and I think it's just that piece where it sucks that people have just shitty surroundings shitty environment shitty people around them where they're not supporting it but you have to have the the awareness that on the other side of it life is about to get so much better the people you're surrounding yourself with are going to level you up you're going to level up by their their environment and it's just one of those things where it's it's fear out of the unknown right yeah dude I also you know it's interesting too after doing this for you know running this program for six years which is it you know people say oh it's a fad well it keeps

getting bigger and it's six years old so that's usually last about a decade yeah yeah that sounds like a fad to me but um you know I think one of the most beneficial things that I've seen out of this time is the transformation in how people view certain character qualities that other people have. When I was growing up, I always struggle with my weight. I always had a hard time sticking to the diet. My training, I always like to train, but I didn't like to eat right. And I would look at people who were disciplined with their food and I would always like it was confusing to me I would be like how can this person go go to a baseball game with all of us who are drinking and then they go somehow find like healthy food to eat and they have a good time and they hang out like how is this

person have all this discipline I wish I was born with that amount of discipline and I think that's how most people see these things. They see these things like grit, determination, perseverance, discipline, confidence, especially, as something that people are born with that they just didn't get the lucky ticket to receive at birth. And I know for me, I viewed it that way for most of my life. And it wasn't until I figured out that these things are actually built skill sets and not born with traits that really opened my eyes to my own ability to become what it is I wanted to become. And I think over the next, the last six years, the most important thing that has happened

because of 75 hard and live hard is that it has squashed this mentality amongst a large group of people that all of these things are magical, that all of these things are born traits or God-given traits. when in reality, dude, the reason that I didn't have discipline to eat the food was because I didn't practice discipline, right? The reason I wasn't confident was because I never kept my word to myself. I never followed through on anything. And if you had a fucking friend who told you they were going to do something over and over

and over and over and over again, eventually their word means nothing. And whenever your word means nothing because you've lied to yourself for so long, your confidence is going to be gone. you're not going to have any and that's the situation that most people find themselves in and with that becomes you know comes low self-esteem low worth low belief uh and then eventually acceptance that you know what i just didn't get the best card in life and it's interesting how we grow up because no one ever fucking taught me that like no one ever said hey uh these are things you can develop not things that you just happen to be born with in fact i feel i feel

feel like most people believe these things are like truly traits that people are born with. And I think that's a thing that, you know, we've done a good job over the last six, seven years of really opening people's eyes to you because now it's a conversation, right? Like when we, when 75 hard first started, bro, nobody was talking about fucking discipline. Nobody. Now all of these talking heads, everybody out here is talking about you don't need motivation and you need discipline. Nobody was saying that shit.

Now everybody's talking about it. And it's the truth. And we don't have companies out here telling people like, hey, you know, you could take this product and it'll just help you lose 100 pounds without any effort. Like I think the overall compounding effect of this program has been very positive, whether people have finished it or not, in regards to at least their awareness of what it takes to become the person that they want to become. Yeah, it's got the conversation started. Yeah. Have you ever read Grit by Angela Duffington? Yeah. That was a 75 hard book. What you were talking about, my biggest takeaway from that book, she talks about naturals versus strivers. And she said, you know, everybody wants to believe in naturals. They want to see naturals. Like, you want to believe that Michael Jordan had that ability from birth and like that was just a lottery ticket. But when you see someone that you grew up with that had the same circumstances that, you know, came from the same environment you did and then they go on to do something better, it just reflects a lack in you. We don't like strivers. Yeah.

And because it just, it, you know, well, I like them. Yeah, like society doesn't like strivers because then it just shines back that lack in yourself. Yeah, you're not doing shit, bro. If you got the, you know, genetic lottery and you're just, Elon Musk was built, you know, to do that. And the, all, they did all of these different, you know, examples of like, these incredibly successful people actually came from nothing. And like, they just kept going. Well, dude, I think that's, that's way more true than the other lie. Oh, 100%.

Dude, most successful people, and I'm sorry to interrupt, but this is an important point to make. Most successful people come from shit, okay? They don't just make up these stories of these hardship situations once they've made it. And the narrative in society is anybody who's built success had to have had an easy path. They had to have had smooth sailing. They had an advantage, a circumstance, inheritance, parents, luck. all these things right but when we really talk about like the way it is it's not that way at all most of the people who have built tremendous shit come from situations that were so fucking hard

that most of them don't even talk about it because that's where they learn to fight that's where they learned to go to battle that's where they learned all their grit and their drive and their perseverance and they were lucky to have a hard upbringing because it taught those people those skill sets and it's interesting how the the social narrative is one way but then the reality is mostly another way I'm not talking about people who inherit their life I'm talking about people who build it and you know yeah I agree dude like people get pissed off and they say oh well fucking that guy had it easier bro the fact that you come from a challenge and you come from hardship is a massive advantage to becoming successful long term

if you appreciate it the proper way and if you're in the trenches and you have those aspirations wouldn't you want to see those stories and hear those stories of the people that went through hell and got there like to me that is that's belief like if they can do it I can do it rather than they were just born with it but you have to have the self-awareness to be able to look in the mirror and say like this is the hand I'm dealt with and you can either have that story and keep preaching your own limitations or you can say i have that too but i'm going to do it anyway and then you get to tell that story yeah and then you're the person yeah well let's talk more about like the first round and then we'll start moving into like what you're doing now and

how this is continued to you know sort of be something that you've gone back to for calibration over and over again um what were the physical results that you had the first time through do you remember I was so this was 20 20 I wanted so bad just to be super super skinny like the the years prior to that I was always an athlete and I like I was always muscular growing up and for whatever reason I was like freaked out that I weighed more than my friends because I was super muscular so I'm like I don't care I just want to be skinny I'll run like force myself to run I hated running and I got really skinny and then I was just depressed like had no fulfillment and kind of got soft so I went through that saw incredible transformation like I wasn't in a bad spot by any means but like I started tracking with an advisor in the first format like an in-house advisor they helped me out I was under eating protein like crazy so like by the end of it the muscle growth the definition like I had the body that I wanted so badly started it didn't weigh what you wanted though did it no and I that's why I like I have a largely female demographic and I'm like I weigh like

170 pounds. And if you would have told me in high school that I was going to weigh 170 pounds, I would have shit my pants. Like, no, no way. And it's just that I didn't grow up with anyone in magazines or anyone who I wanted to look like that was like open about their weight. I thought that I had to weigh 130. So the fact that I was stepping on the scale heavier than that, I'm like, okay, it doesn't matter what the mirror looks like. That number needs to validate me. And I lost a bunch of weight, got down to 130. And I remember stepping on the scale and thinking for so long I'm like, when that says 130, I'm going to feel so much better. Like, problems will disappear.

And my immediate thought was like, it would probably be better if it said 125. And that was just a realization. I'm like, this is, it's not going to stop. Right. Like, I have no energy. I am not, my quality of life is low because I'm just like starving myself. So throughout 75 hard and just honestly, the help of that was my real introduction to like macro tracking and learning all of that. I completely transformed like how I fuel.

my body, just my knowledge in that, which is such a game changer. Like, you wouldn't drive down the highway without your speedometer. You're not going to intuitively eat without measuring what you're doing. Like, you have no awareness. Especially in the beginning. Yeah. And the way that our food is manufactured. Like, you have brilliant scientists up against you that are wanting, like, manufacturing food to keep you coming back. So, like, the way that we eat, just, the odds are stacked against us. So if you're not taking an audit and you actually want to make a change, you have to measure that. um so my my progress was crazy i went kind of from soft just like i was chiseled um and i was able to maintain that you know i'm pretty well for the last six years um and just continue to build

build on those habits over time and just you know take what i gained each time and get better it's one of those things you said like the first time is such a transformative process it's like the first time you ever see the best movie like i wish i could watch shashank redemption again for the first time to like experience it again i wish that i could go back and just like have that transformative period and like bottled that because it was it was just like such a mental awakening of like holy shit i am capable of so much more yeah and just opened everything i i wouldn't have started my business if it weren't for 75 hard let's talk about that yeah so let's let's talk about you know so you were you were a dental hygienist yeah and the substitute teacher you decided to go through

this program you got done with the program and you found something else in yourself yeah so leading up i i always think it's important when we talk about my story that and you talking about you being overweight and like you dealing with food and like struggling with that i think about my dad so much and my dad is a huge part of like what gave me the confidence to believe that i could help someone or like just the the push that people out there needed help so my dad was overweight my whole life um he's a firefighter he was like it's crazy that he worked such a manual job and was so overweight but I remember just being like worried for him he had his first heart attack when he was like 36 I was in elementary school and I was just walked into that hospital room and

saw the toughest guy I know like connected to machines and a hospital gown and realizing that he was breakable and he you know kept the bad habits he had a second heart attack when I was in junior high third heart attack when I was in high school fourth heart attack when I was a freshman in college Jesus yeah I'm like maybe he is Superman he survived four heart attacks yeah fucking fried chicken every day or what yeah so we had the um these conversations and i remember him being like he fucking eating straight chrisco huh well after spoiler he lived tell the tale it's a happy ending but he would say like i would lay in bed and i'm gonna be like i'm gonna start tomorrow and then i would go through macdonald's driveway on the way to to work

and i would get macdonalds and like it's just like he was like i'll start again tomorrow and just never having that capability of actually stopping those actions. But I was in college and I'm like, if eventually the other shoe is going to drop, he's going to have the fifth heart attack. Like nobody survives five heart attacks. So I wrote a letter because I didn't have the confidence to come to him and say what I wanted to say. I didn't have the tools to be like, this is the plan that we're going to do and I will help you. I was just like a scared daughter. I didn't want to lose my dad. Well, it's weird. I mean, it's a hard thing to do. Yeah. You know, like that's a heart. I get it.

Yeah. So I wrote him this letter. I was on Thanksgiving break and I basically just said, I'm like, selfishly, I want you to walk me down the aisle one day. I want to see another world series and this feels like suicide by lifestyle. And I am like, if this is the lifestyle of someone that is, you know, okay with 50 years of life, but that's not, that's unacceptable to me. So I'm like, we need to make a change.

I totally get that, you know, eating healthier and exercising sounds unappealing. It would suck, especially just. pivoting from the life you live right now, but I'm like, it would suck exponentially worse to walk down the aisle without your dad and left the note on his nightstand. I went back to school and he called me and it was one of those things where we had never had that conversation of like I wanted to, you know, hit my head against the wall. Like, why don't you care enough to do this? Like you care about us so much, but like, why won't you take care of yourself? And eventually he said, like, I'm, I'm scared to try and fail and then embarrass myself. And like, you guys see that I was trying and

I didn't make it. So he lost 120 pounds. He gave me that letter back when he lost 100. And again, the mental, like the physical is so cool. And to be able to see him and like see him playing basketball with my nieces and nephews and stuff, that's awesome. But he got a promotion at work. His relationship with my mom is awesome. Like I have an active parent in my life. He is at every sporting event of his grandkids and he is like riding bikes with them. And like he is present in their lives. They don't remember him as that guy. It's funny. Like when you see pictures of him all blown up, my niece's nephews are like, who the hell is that? But I remember just like seeing that transformation happen and I got a front row seat. Like I got a better dad out of the deal. My mom got a better husband. And I am from a teeny tiny

town. Like everybody grows up to do what your parents did and you don't usually leave that small community. Like I love that small town. But it didn't seem possible that I could actually make a difference and in watching that and I'm like the firefighters got a better captain and I got a better dad and all these people are just better because he took care of himself so I'm like no no no they're better because you took care of yourself yeah so I was just like if I could help you know one mom or dad out there it's not it just doesn't stop with them like their kids are going to be better off their spouse is going to be a better off so I'm like I'm going to send it like all I was so scared posting on social media. I had like two or three thousand followers and I would post something and I would

delete it and I'm like that would be so embarrassing if anybody saw that I actually cared or I felt like I could help. And then eventually I just continued coming back to that and I'm like he's here and like I have such a better life because of that. And I know that there's kids out there that could have a better life because their parents took care of themselves. So I just like started posting Boulder like with more conviction because I'm like I am a recipient of this and I know that I can help somebody else. And it just rippled from there. Like we started getting some people.

So it, the pandemic shut the gym out, shut the gym down. Actually, a small business closed down for good in our community. Just the gym that I worked out at. So I got some Facebook marketplace dumbbells. I got to give you credit. During this time, Lexi was standing up for vocally for everything that was going on. Yeah. Respect.

Yeah. I was actually the only dental hygienist in my, the only staff person in my office that didn't get the vaccine and like it just yeah beside the point um so the pandemic shut my gym down I started working out from home and like everybody is in the shit storm like you're school and your kids from home you're working from home for the first time and it also opened the door because so many people that are in the trenches and they don't know what to do they're scared to go to the gym like you don't want to look like a fool in the gym and you go in there thinking that everyone else knows what they're doing and you are the only one that's such is life

Everybody else is in the gym with it group chat. And you're like, did you see the chick in the black tank top? Like, she doesn't know. In your head, that's what you're thinking. Like, going in there for the first time. And I'm like, it's okay to look stupid in your living room. It's all right to look dumb in your garage. Like, you don't have to know what you're doing.

Well, I look dumb 24 hours now. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, so I'm like, if... To make it a brand. So I started like full-length workouts. I press play and you're doing the workout with me the whole time. It's basically like a podcast and a workout because I'm, talking the entire time and no one was socializing with anyone outside of your four walls.

So more than anything, because I had seen such mental benefits from exercise and from 75 hard, I'm like, you need to feel like you have a friend in this. You need to feel like you need an outlet outside of all of the craziness that's happening. Like if you can carve out 30 minutes with me, I will, you know, take your mind off of all the uncertainty right now. And you don't have to think about a thing. I'll show you exactly what to do. I'll talk to you like we're in person, we're working out together and I did that like I looking back I'm like I don't know how that I had the balls to get in front of the camera because I was terrified put it out there and it's exposing like you were starting guys because you're gonna go

look and see what she's doing now she started this in her basement with like a fucking vinyl banner taped to the wall yeah okay so just want to be clear I had a it's not like she had some amazing facility and all these equipment and ever no Yeah, I always made fun. Like, I started calling it the dungeon because I'm like, if I make fun of the fact that it looks like a scene from Saw, it's going to hurt a lot less when someone on the internet inevitably does. So I just leaned into it. I had like a whiteboard leaned up against a paint can for a long time. And you just, it worked.

So, yeah, it just, I think more than anything, like the feeling of you having a friend in this has hit home. And like, I'm in their ear for 28 minutes a day. Their kids know my voice. they're listening to me. And we just continued building from there. Like I said, I had no following at all. I had no business experience, no marketing experience. So I'm just like learning as I go. And they're not edited, which I think in a world of AI and everything is polished. And a lot of people see there if you scroll two scrolls on Instagram or any social media platform, you're going to see some fitness content. And there is a huge difference between like perfectly curating a

20 second reel and being in front of the camera for 30 minutes and you're talking to that person, you're doing the workout yourself because like that's my workout. People always ask like if I'm doing something else. I'm like, it's exhausting. This is my workout. This is it. And I think just like the the authenticity of that hit home with people because I'm like I'm going to meet you where you're at. We're going to do this together and just in sharing my story and like the benefits of me being a recipient of someone changing their life because I haven't gone through a huge weight loss. Like I've been relatively fit my whole life. But I'm talking to men and women that they've got kids at home. They've got ones at home that I'm like, I can't imagine how much different my life

and how much like better that would be if I had a parent that was just leading the way the whole time. Like I have great parents. I have a great family. But if they were taking care of themselves from day one, it would be a complete game changer. I'm like, you have the opportunity right now to lead by example your kids don't have to unlearn it like you are right now just if you're and parents especially like have that kind of martyr mentality where they're like I will run myself into the ground for my kids but they don't include the fact of like taking care of themselves and that's that's the biggest component you're doing you're setting them up for a lifetime of you know good habits if you just start right now if you just lead by example make fitness and taking care of yourself a normal component

of your home rather than like what most of us grew up with honestly yeah and it just it's so cool to be able to see like i i love it i always share people will be doing the workouts i'll take a picture and they you see the screen and they've got like a baby monitor right beside them i'm like that kid is going to grow up and fitness is just normal they just know that their mom does that every morning like that's just part of the deal um and i just i think that's so cool just like the shift in society right now and i i hope that it continues well i mean you know that's how it happens it happens at one person at a time i mean i mean you're the perfect example of what we talk about on the show all the time, which is, you know,

personal excellence being the ultimate rebellion and then having it flow from you to others in a ripple effect that ends up making massive amounts of impact. And I want to prove that point as we go through and talk about, you know, how your business has grown. So you start doing these workouts in your basement. you have less than what would you say a couple thousand dollars yeah i think i had two to three thousand yeah and so so we're kind of where's it go from there so i did i was still a dental hygienist because uh dental offices stayed open through the pandemic so i had like an hour commute i would wake up

at four record a workout go to my dental hygiene job so i was essentially working two full-time jobs and then in between patients i'm like getting back to clients i'm sending assessments over my lunch break, I would go home and, you know, do the same thing, respond to emails, respond to messages, and just rinse and repeat. And I did that for about a year. And I quit my dental hygiene job. And leading up to that, I was, I remember thinking like, there's going to be so much, like, same with 75 hard. I was like, I'm going to have so much time on my, my plate now, because I was already doing it. And now if I take out my, you know, eight to five, I'll just, you know, I'll just be kicking back. And then if you're an ambitious person, you're going to fill that time.

And it just like, I had so many, you know, more ideas and I just continued capitalizing on that. But I remember putting in my two weeks notice and thinking that, you know, when I left that dental office, that I was going to feel so much better. And I woke up the day that I, my last day at the office. And I recorded my workout and I like had a panic attack. Oh, yeah. Because I was terrible. I'm like, if this doesn't work out, I'm going to come back with my tail between my legs and be like, hey, that thing I was really excited about. It didn't work.

And I was so scared, but I went for it. I record six workouts a week and have done that for five and a half years. It's like my digital diary that I just, I talk to them. We get the workout in. And to the point of like, they're all in my basement. My setup has improved leaps and bounds. But I always talk about like your intention matters so much more than your access. I know people that have access to every resource, every,

you know, million dollar facility, and because they feel like that's going to get the job done for them, they're not going to, like, they don't see anything. But I have proof of women that do these workouts or men that do these workouts with a baby monitor beside them in their unfinished basement or in their garage, and they're down 80 pounds, 100 pounds. And it's, it's a matter of, like, if you're committed to this and you make it a priority and you actually make this a lifestyle, like, it will change your life without fail. I have 100% guarantee and I have thousands of examples. Yeah. So thousands of examples. So now, let's fast forward to where you're at now. Now you're doing, I mean, multiple events a month. Big events, how often every couple months? I have one big event at least once a month. Yeah. Yeah. And then I have like smaller events around those. But yeah, we've done close to 60 events in the last four years.

Okay. And how many people usually come to these events? two to 300 somewhere bigger we've got a big one coming up um but yeah on 9-11 yeah yeah talk about that for just a second yeah so we have a huge event on 9-11 I mentioned my dad my brother are both firefighters so my dad's been a firefighter for over 30 years my brother's been a firefighter for like 12 years um and I grew up in the fitness or I'm in the fitness space so I felt like this was really cool cross-section um but there's a really really cool organization and they cover 12 different counties in Missouri and Kansas. It's called Safe. It's the surviving spouse and family endowment. And if a first responder dies in the line of duty, and that's police, EMS, fire, full or part-time,

like they cover them all. If they die in the line of duty, that organization is at the family's house within 48 hours with a check for $40,000. And they cover the funeral expenses. They have like Christmas benefits to help with kids in the gifts for years and years to come. So last year, We rented out Arrowhead. If you're unfamiliar, that's where the chiefs play. And we did the equivalent of 110-story climb in the lower bowl. And about 500 people came out. We raised $22,000.

We got an event this September 11th. My goal was $60,000 because Kansas City has actually been hit hard with line-of-duty desks. We've lost two police officers in the last like 40 days. And that's 80 grand that they have to pay out. and because they have that promise, the only way they can deliver is if they've got money in the bank. So 22,000 was awesome.

Like, I was really proud of that, but that's barely half of the endowment. Right. So just before we get back to the ripple effect here, what are the details of that event just because people are going to want to participate? It's September 11th. What time? September 11th at Arrowhead Stadium,

we have a form energy tailgate kicking off at 2.30. You're welcome to come. come hang out for that. We'll have opening remarks at 5 p.m. And then we'll head inside. And oops, um, average finisher is about an hour. So if you're coming out of town, you still have time to get home. We've got people coming from all over. But if you're not able to, you know, if you're not physically able to climb, you can spectate. We've got spectator tickets. Um, you can donate. You can buy a t-shirt. All of the proceeds go to safe. Um, where do they go to donate? I have a link. It's on LexiJ Wellness.com and under my events, it's stair climb.

throw that in the description on the bio okay so underneath the video here on youtube as well you'll be able to click this link and i don't make many ask guys you know as you guys know i turn down almost every i mean fucking every business opportunity uh advertising thing that comes my way because i don't like to ask and i don't want to make this a commercial thing but this is something that i would appreciate if you guys would give some support to even if it's small even if it's fucking five bucks um it matters and it's something that matters to Lexi, her family, but it's also very important to the core of first form and what we believe and care about here. And I would just appreciate if you guys

would either show up or, you know, if you can afford it, you know, give us a few bucks. Not us, but. No, I appreciate it so much. It's, it's huge. I coming from that first responder, of just firefighter family, it's not something that, you know, the husbands and wives of those first responders don't sign up for that line of work but they're affected greatly like my my dad was gone every third day sometimes the most yeah absolutely and if the you know if the worst happens they are the ones that are receiving that um endowment and it's the coolest thing for me yet last year was seeing like the civilians come out and be able to put a face to that because if you don't have a direct tie to it's kind of out of side out of mind you don't realize what a dangerous job these men and

women clock into every day. It's not your average desk job. And last like two weeks ago, a 26 year old police officer in Kansas City died in the line of duty. He was hit in a car chase putting speed strip or speed strips out. And he clocked into his normal job, did not get to go home. And if you don't have that direct tie, like you just kind of, you, you don't really think about it. Yeah, it's a headline. Yeah. So to have civilians come out, there's a lot of different and they're all really cool just the 9-11 events but to have civilians come out with the first responders like we have 50 U.S. marshals coming out we've got all of these guys that are putting their life on the line every day and then we've got women you know climbing with kids on their back and to be able to have like two of those worlds collide

and just the community aspect of like I'm a huge community person and to have all of those worlds collide and for them to be able to just shake their hand we went to 51 different fire stations about a month ago just to talk about the event, invite them out, and again, just thank them for their service. And that was the biggest thing is like, it's an underappreciated job. Absolutely. It's a hard job. And it, like, it affects you physically, mentally, emotionally. It affects your family. So if you're able to, you know, contribute to this in any way, I would appreciate it so much.

Just because it is, like, these are the ones running into the burning buildings that you think about as super hero. They're also the ones that are at your PTA meetings. They're the ones that you're running, like, they are average people that are signing up for an not average job. Yeah, because they fucking care about people. You know what I'm saying? Like, and we need to be doing what we can to support them back. I mean, that's the bottom line, you know.

I got lots to say about that, but we'll keep it. Same part two. Yeah. For sure, dude. You know, like quit spending our money to everybody else and pay our people the right way. Anyway, so getting back to the ripple effect, you started out, your dad lost 100. That was probably your first person that was like very, you were like, holy shit. Yeah.

My work is influencing people. Yeah. Now you have thousands of mainly women who you have helped transform who probably started off in a very negative place. no belief that they could do it. A lot of them have probably always had struggles like this. Let's talk a little bit about how this ripple effect has happened because it's right in line with what we talk about on the show all the time. As you know, we have to set the example ourselves if we want people to improve

and we want society to get better. I would be interested to hear some of the ripple effects. effects stories that and an experience that you've had starting from there to your dad to all of these amazing women and men that you help and then like maybe how it's some of their stories of how it has gone and fanned out in society yeah I have I mean I how much time do you have well I mean yeah I mean I think the important point is that you know people understand that it's on us. I want them to understand that,

that like, bro, what you do and how you live matters a lot. I've had, I have like chills getting ready to say it, but I had a woman reach out to me recently, and she sent me a photo of a letter that she had written. I want to say it was about a year ago, and it was a suicide note.

And she said, I was in the worst spot in my life. Like I had no hope. I thought that that was the best route. And she was like, I honestly don't know why I like kept another day because I was prepared. Like I had this written. She, it was dated and everything. And her friend at work was doing LexiJ Wellness.

And she started talking about it. And she was like, I mean, what the hell? Why not? I'll try it. Fine. And she started it. She's been, she has not missed a workout in close to a year. And she sent me a picture of her family.

She was like, I got a promotion. at work. Like I have a group of friends now that we go for walks. We always, you know, text our post workout photos. And she was like, this didn't just change my life. It saved my life. She's like, I wouldn't be here. And it's, it's incredible. Like the transformation, the physical, it's so cool. Like, yeah, you're down on the scale. You got to buy new jeans. But the fact that you get to show up as a better human for your kids, for your friends, for your spouse. Like, that is, it is life changing. And it's just to start. Like, I have people that are off all of the medications. Like, no longer on the high blood pressure,

than no longer on the anxiety of the medicine. It's hard to be anxious when you know you're doing everything you can. Yeah, yeah. For real. I mean, that's kind of what anxiety is all about, right? It's a fucking signal that comes from us on the inside that says, hey,

you're not doing what you should be doing, and you need to do that. And people think it's like an affliction. Chronic anxiety. Yeah, because you're suffering from chronic do nothingness. You know what I mean? Yeah.

You're paralyzed in your self. Yeah. No purpose, no discipline, no gratitude for where you are. Like, you're not living. So it's natural that you're going to feel that. And exercise is the most underutilized form of antidepressant and anti-anxiety. There's that that's not just me. Like there's so much research to back that also. Like if you were- Human talks about a lot. Yeah, if you're struggling mentally and you're sedentary, you're not giving yourself a fighting chance. Well, I think it's important for for people to understand that it doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter where you start, it doesn't matter who you are, when you get your shit together, other people do as well.

And we all have an obligation to hold that standard for the people around us if we truly care the way that we claim to care. You know, a lot of people are, you know, they're upset about the way things look in the world or they're frustrated with how their, uh, you know, life is turning out. And it's like, look, dude, um, it starts with you. And no one can do those things for you. And once you do it, your family's going to see it. And when your family sees it, maybe one of them is going to lose a hundred pounds. When someone sees that, maybe they're going to be affected in this ripple effect of belief and hope and understanding that what can be done, um,

I think it's transformative in culture. I think that's the answer to a lot of the problems that we have going on in the world. And you're living it every day. I mean, you're out there every single day now. I mean, I don't even know how many people you have in your program, and it's irrelevant. But I know I've seen you transform thousands of lives firsthand, all because you decided that you were going to sharpen yourself. and if we all took that responsibility upon ourselves

I think the world will look completely different and I commend you for for taking that responsibility because that shit's not easy it's not it's not when you care about people at scale it's it's a it's a burden that is very awkward to carry because you care about these motherfuckers but some of them don't care as much about themselves as you care about them or they don't see the potential in themselves that you understand they have and uh that could be very frustrating

it's exhausting sorry i know it's it's exhausting to get people to care about something they really should care about i know like logically everybody knows that like eating well and moving your body is going to benefit you but for whatever reason there's just like a disconnect there And it's like ramming my head into a wall every single day of trying to bribe and convince people to give a shit about something they really should. Yeah. But once they do, they're like, man, why didn't I start this a decade ago? Yeah. Yeah.

That's one of the biggest frustrations that I think people have. You know, once they are. And there's nothing we could do about it, right? Like you can't cry over spilled milk. You can learn the lessons of your mediocrity and your. uh your apathetic nature towards life but once you're awake and once you figure out what you're capable of one of the hardest things to deal with is all the time that you wasted and that's something that a lot of i i hear from a lot of people um dude let's talk about some of these

mental transformations not just losing a hundred pounds but like you know specifically like the confidence aspect. When you were talking about how you started posting and you were super scared, that's something that I have a hard time believing because I've seen you, I see you now. Yeah. So you've done 75 hard six times. And from personal experience for me, every time I've done it, I've escalated, past the point of where I was before.

It's like almost like a compounding result. I learn more. I get more out of it. I get better than I wasn't my best before. Let's talk about, you know, let's kind of talk about that for a minute. You know, so many people, especially the people who struggle with their weight,

they think that if they lose weight, they're going to feel better, which they do. But what really creates the better is the confidence that is earned through the action. I think if people understand, they think of confidence as like this figmented thing. But if you break down confidence, it is a really simple equation. Like confidence comes from evidence of what you provided. So I didn't have any confidence in posting or changing, lives because I didn't really have anything in the memory bank to rely on. But if you consistently

show up over 75 days or if you're in business and you just consistently show up, when you hit that hard spot and you have other hard things to reflect back on and say, well, I got through that. Like, I remember feeling it was going to break me then and I'm here to tell the tale. But if consistently, every time you bump up against the challenge or you have something that, you know, is an obstacle or it feels really hard and you just always back down, you always cave, you always give in. That is the memory bank. That's the memory file that you're providing yourself. So then the next time you come up against a challenge and the next time you do something hard, your brain only has evidence to pull from, all right, when we hit this spot, we give up, we quit. And then over 75 hard

and 75 days, if you always, and you have so many of those like mental, like just inner conversations with yourself where you're like I made it to day 40 like I could I did pretty good yeah like this is way I get it yeah yeah I got the the gist of it but if if you always have that that the only evidence you're providing yourself is that you quit when it gets hard then every single time you get to the hard point that's the only thing you've provided yourself so you have to you have to first do the thing you have to get past that point and then from there you're building blocks like that is you're, I always tell my girls, I'm like, this is going to be the last time that you feel this, this part. Because from here we're building. Right. But from all of everything else that

you provided yourself, like, you've only given yourself evidence that you quit when it gets hard. Yeah. That's the reason that you don't feel that belief in yourself. Yeah. You haven't given yourself anything to reflect on. And every time you show up when it gets hard and every time you push through, you're continually like feeling that that evidence costs. Yeah. You're making a deposit. Yeah. supposed to a withdrawal. Yeah, and people don't realize that, like, that is how confidence is built. If you were pulled out of a crowd and given a mic in front of 500 people, you would be peeing down your leg.

But the second time, you would feel a little bit better because you could do it again. You've done it. And it's just a matter of reps in anything, whether it's fitness or professional life or literally anything. Like, if you're doubting yourself, it's because you have a lack of confidence. People have confidence because they have built undeniable proof to themselves, not to anybody else. Like, I know that I can show up and change somebody's lives because I have.

have so much evidence in myself. But to start, like I was scared to put myself out there because I knew I didn't have that that resume to back it up. And I felt like everybody else knew that too. And you just have to continue pushing forward because that is the only way that you can actually build confidence. But when you break it down like that, it's not like this figment of your imagination or it's not just like fairy dust that somebody's built with that they just walk into a room differently. Yeah. You build that the evidence and the proof over time. And then you have that to reflect on and like it emboldens you you know what you're capable of yeah i think it's interesting how people and and dude this isn't like a judgment because i used to think this too

but i think it's interesting how when people um see someone who like walks in a room and gives that and like owns the room and has that confidence they're usually in really good shape they people usually associate their confidence with the shape they're in when in reality the confidence was developed and the shape is a byproduct of the decisions that they made, which created the confidence. And I think a lot of people really, really, really don't understand that their biggest, they're not aware that their biggest problem in life is that they try to alter and change every single detail to be comfortable for them. And we see this in 75 hard, right?

Like you said, the very first few minutes. I'm going to do this but not this I'm going to create this version of that and people are unaware that like bro the whole reason that you're fucking unhappy with where you are unhappy with who you are and haven't had any results in life is because you take every single thing that you don't like

every single situation that's even mildly uncomfortable and you rearrange it to try and be comfortable and this is the problem and it's weird how many people can't identify that from lack of awareness that when you try to make things that are supposed to be this way and you adjust them for you, this is what's creating this situation of no results, no confidence, no belief, nothing.

Because you've never, like you said, you've never done anything or seen anything through or finished anything that you didn't highly modify to make comfortable for you. And I think it's something that I wish more people were aware of that. I wish more people could see that the reason that your life looks the way that it looks is because every single time you don't like something, you try to curtail it or customize it or make it easier for you. And this idea of convenience and comfort and ease and all of these things fly in the face, of what it actually takes to be a successful productive fulfilled human being in life okay great

stories great lives lives that people write books about or that matter or even talk about after you're gone they don't come from convenience they don't come from comfort you're never going to be fulfilled or feel good sitting on the couch doing nothing with your life and so many people feel hopeless for one reason or another. They either feel that it's normal because society accepts it, which they do. They don't, not only do they accept it, they propagate it, right? They don't propagate true mental health. They want to put you on pills.

They want to have you in endless amounts of therapy for years, revisiting these dark places that fucking everybody has and making it their identity as opposed to like saying, hey, I need to fucking overcome this. I need to get past this. And this is a tremendous opportunity for me to grow and become stronger and become more resilient so that I can be a better human being. And, you know, I think we're going to see a big divide moving forward in society, especially with like the AI thing and everything, all the conveniences that are happening.

I think we're going to see a lot of people just completely give up and become like tubs of consuming goo on their couch, right? And then you're going to have people that go the other way and they're going to say, nah, I don't want to fucking be one of those people. I don't want to be a fat, lazy, sick, uneducated, sad, unfulfilled, depressed human being that's dependent on everything that the government provides me. I'm going to be the best that I possibly can because I want to be fulfilled and feel good and be confident for once in my life. And I feel like this separation we're already starting to see in society. We're seeing people either go totally self-destructive or like totally the other way, which is great. But I think at the end of the day,

I just think it's important for people to understand that you are in control. And when you could control the fucking basic controllables, your life will look completely different. You know we we have this tendency to like get frustrated or or say oh we weren't born with the ideal circumstances or we did it wasn't fair or this person has more that person has more of this instead of just acknowledging that we have the opportunity every single day to get better and doing the work to get better and um i think it's really cool when we have so many people you're one of them who are out here living that standard and then seeing the ripple effect happen in their household in their family in their neighborhood in their community um this is

the way the world changes and everybody thinks that like it's a law or a politician or or fucking whatever it's not it's us it's how we live yeah it does start with us and um yeah man i just i just i just i just i just fucking hope that people can fucking start to understand what it is they're responsible for because that responsibility can't be deferred to somebody else no and it's not unique to want to quit like that is not a unique feeling to you when you're in that moment and you're like this is so hard i am the only person experiencing this hardship Like no one has ever felt the struggle that I have right now. Like that's such a ego.

That's such a thing that we like recite to ourselves. But like that is not a unique feeling. Anyone that has ever done anything worthwhile has wanted to quit. Yeah. Like that is that is part of the deal. Well, everybody hangs their hat on who had the worst fucking upbringing or who has the worst circumstances. There's no fucking award for having it the hardest, bro.

Like there's no award for having the saddest story. There's no award for, you know, having the. the most difficult adversarial life. And then that being the reason that your life looks like shit. People only care about those stories if you overcome them. And I think for the last 10 years, especially on social media, we've had people figure out that they can create an identity and being a victim and get attention. Right.

It's not like they don't get anything from doing this. Every time they cry, every time they bitch, every time they complain, they get a slew of people in their DMs or in their comments saying oh dude you know you just need a break and you need to take some space for yourself no you've been taking a break

your whole fucking life dude that is why it looks like the way it does and typically the people that are pouring back in and feeding that is because if you're already in a bad spot and you take that break then it lets the gas off you and you're like well they're doing worse than I am like yeah let off

you don't you can you deserve a day off like lean into it you've had a hard go every single person that has done anything has that story also it is i don't know a single person that doesn't want to be a happy healthy fit and confident like no one would say i wish i had less confidence i wish i was less healthy i wish i was less fit but there is a huge division in the ones that say that they want that and the ones that are able and willing to deliver on those demands every day there there's a difference between being capable and being willing more often than not most people are capable of changing their life and seeing that best version of themselves far less are willing yeah and it's easy to tell

yourself a fucking story about why you shouldn't can't won't don't and that's the whole point of the program the whole point of the program is to calibrate your inner mental voice to direct you to do the correct things that are going to get you to where you actually want to go and not just talk you out of doing all the things that you know you're supposed to do you know you're supposed to do you we talk about you know in the program as you know in the book if you guys are unfamiliar we talk extensively about the bitch voice and the boss voice okay and for most people the bitch voice runs the show it runs your entire life it's the voice that tells you to hit snooze it's the voice that tells you to skip your workout and you'll pick it up tomorrow it's the voice like your

dad saying i'm going to start tomorrow i'm going to start after the wedding i'm going to start after summer. I'm going to start after the holidays. And when you keep telling yourself, I'm going to start every Monday, then from whatever day you tell yourself on that, you know, let's say, I made it Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I fucking quit. I'm going to start again on next Monday. You go the next four days eating like total shit because you're like, I'm starting Monday. And then the weight starts to compound up. It compound up and becomes a snowball in the opposite direction of where you want it to go and what we're talking about here is squashing that voice that creates these scenarios to the point where it's literally irrelevant like you don't even fucking hear it and if you

do hear it it's like it's it's a non factor in your decision making and the fundamental difference between my decision making now versus my decision making in 2019 when we first started doing this is fucking immensely different. I do not even think anymore about, man, I should like really skip this or I should, you know, I'll get back to it.

I can't remember the last time I said, I'm going to start again on Monday. When that was like my internal dialogue for fucking 20 years. Yeah, I always like, I primarily talk to women but I'm like, imagine you were dating a guy and he said he was going to pick you up tomorrow, take you on a date and he didn't show.

And he was like, well, I'll do it on Monday. day, we're going out. And then Monday comes, he doesn't show up. I'm like, if that happened repeatedly, he would be a flake. You wouldn't waste your time with him. Like, why do you keep treating your quote unquote priorities this way? And it's a reflection. Like, if it's important to you, you're going to make it a priority. And it comes back to like that habit and that confidence development. The way that your brain is wired is like the first time you're doing something challenging. I always say it's like you're walking through a forest with like a bushwhacker. Like it's heavy terrain. It's hard to get through. And then the, when you're,

When you come back and you track that same path, it gets a little easier because you've worn down. And then eventually, if you take enough laps, it starts to become routine. Like, it is smooth sailing. But you can't expect to do the hard thing the first time and pick it up. Like, you have to suck at something first. Let's, so, so if 75 hard works so well, how come you did it six times? Because it's a program. It's not a, you don't buy it.

Well, explain it. I know you know. A question, I'm asking you to explain it. Your happiness, healthy, or health and confidence is not a one-time payment. comes rented. So it's a recalibration, like you said, at a microscopic level. I always say it's a recalibration of your priorities, of your time management. And I have been able to maintain really great habits between 75 hard and between, you know, going through those. But I always come back to it. Like I've done it once a year since 2020, and I'll continue doing it once a year,

probably for the rest of my life, just because it is, I've seen it time and time again. And every time I've done it I've gained something more. I've taken what I learned the previous time and build from it. And I, 75 days later, I've never been like, damn, I wish I would have spent the last 75 days doing something else. Yeah. Like, without fail, I've never regretted it. One of the criticisms that that you see online of the program is people say, well, if it works so well, why do people have to go back to it? Well, I don't know. Why the fuck do you have to take a shower every day? Yeah. Why do you brush your teeth? Why do you practice playing guitar? Why is anything that you're good at take practice over and over and over again. Why do you work out every day? You know what I'm

saying? Like discipline is a fucking skill set. And when people say that, it shows their ignorance to how discipline and confidence and self-belief and fortitude and self-esteem and grit and perseverance and all of this shit works. None of it is permanent. That's the thing people have to understand. There is no permanent solution. The only permanent solution is to recognize when it starts to get rounded off and then sharpen it back up again and this is something that I think is really interesting because there's a lot of quote unquote fitness experts that like to talk shit on the program who don't even understand that it's not even a fucking fitness program bro and I think it shows a lack of respect for yourself and a lack of respect for the people that

you say are super important to you because you'll spend so much time doing shit that does not matter and you're dedicated to it and you're unwilling to carve out that time to genuinely change your own life and change the people that you care about so much but because you don't want to do the hard stuff like you want to compromise on the things you want to cherry pick the pieces of the program that you've already established all that does is reinforce the fucking shit that you has already been messing your life up yeah you suffer more by by avoiding the hard work right I do it yeah they they're it's it's ridiculous and and then the other thing is the other criticism that you get is like oh it's it's too extreme or the it's not a fucking

diet bro and it's open protocol it's oh you if you're a trainer you can plug your programming into the structure and by the way I think you'd be silly not to because they're gonna get ten times better results than they're gonna get without it okay if you're listening to this and you're stumbled upon it you're unfamiliar with 75 hard you have to do a 45 minute workout indoor and outdoor you have to follow a diet but it doesn't say you have to follow keto it doesn't say this is what your calories are it doesn't say you have to do strength training or pilates or you have to run for 45 minutes the open protocol aspect of it makes it tailored to the

person like you can select your the diet that works for you with the with the goal of physique change that is that is what it is it's you know people say oh well i'll fucking just eat normal that's a diet all right asshole yeah i and it's if you're working with someone that is helping you they are going to be aware enough to tailor that to yourself but i've had people that need like you said it's tailored to the your specific physique i've had people more often than not it's a fat loss goal but i also have had people in a surplus that are trying to put on muscle i mean like it it's just a matter of customizing your needs but that that criticism that it's too extreme or it's unsustainable for that it is ignorant what about all these things that we talk about

and then what we'll wrap this up but you know the things like grit fortitude your ability to persevere do hard things how has that changed for you since that first round in 2020 it's it's been so cool to see because I have so much confidence and I look back at when I was starting and when I was posting and I could see like I am a completely different person than when I did. And it's a matter of putting in countless and countless reps and having that review in your head of like, have I done this before? Have I had that hard time and have I seen it through before? And each and every time, it's just like you build that resilience. But if you've never done the hard thing and seen it through, then you just keep reflecting on all the times you've

quit and you're like, well, this is what I do. That's the habit I've built. Quitting is just as much of a habit as the perseverance is. And if you're continually replicating that action, that's what you're reinforcing, that's what your brain's going to default to. So over the past six years, I have built so much resilience. I've built so much belief in myself.

I mean, dude, you've gone from not really being that into fitness at the time to competing at high rocks, doing all kinds of hard events, building a business. I mean, these are massive things that you've done. Yeah, I owe so much to 75 hard into first form, honestly. I'm a first form athlete. If you're listening to this, you didn't know that.

I actually, I wanted to be a part of first form so bad. I like love the, love the products, but at the core, I remember following people that are in this building right now and feeling like for the first time, I was like, I would fit in there. Like I, those are the people that I would want to be around. I feel like I'm a black sheep with the people I'm around right now. And I remember just like craving that community and feeling like I would fit in. Like I wouldn't be the outsider.

And I wanted to be a part of first form so bad. Like I applied to be a legionaire. And I got rejected three times, guys. Like I wanted to be here. And I remember getting rejected that third time and having a conversation with my husband. And I just have to be better. And I in the past, like, it is because of 75 hard and because of that resilience and my draw to like the values that are in this building and in this culture that I haven't gone anywhere.

Like I wanted to be here so bad. I felt like this was home that this aligned so well with my beliefs and what my mission is and I wanted to be able to contribute to this mission. And it all happens for a reason. And I was able to, you know, become a first form legionaire and like grow within the brand and be able to, you know, kind of cross our missions together and to do this. and we're changing millions of people's lives. And I just, like, I have to, you know, give credit where it's due

because the first form products are incredible. Yeah, like, protein's great. I didn't have to, like, plug my nose for the first time drinking the protein. But that's not what made me want to be here so much. It's like you leading the charge and you painting the vision that normal people like me could actually make a difference. And that's why we're here. That's the only way differences are made.

That's the fucking common misunderstanding. in the world. People think you got to have an audience or you got to be famous or you got to be rich or you got to be special or this or that. When in reality, dude, the only way that change happens is when everybody understands they have a role in it. And I have a tremendous amount of respect. And I feel very honored to have watched you do this from all the way back then to what you're doing now and it's super exciting to think about where you're going with it because I might know where we're going yeah I mean I'm just trying to give you the flowers you know what I'm saying I appreciate it though but you know I kind of know the plan and I'm just

really proud of you dude because it takes a lot to do this it takes a lot to do what you do I don't know anybody that works harder than you and out of all the athletes that we've had and this might makes some people upset, but it's just the truth, you've earned it more than anybody by the amount of change that you've affected with the people that you come in contact with. And that's what our mission is here. Our mission is to change lives. Our mission is to help people discover their own true potential and have the courage and the help and the assistance to pursue it and then give them the tools to get where they want to go. And, you know, you've done that and you do that as good as anybody if not better than anybody that I've had come

in contact with the brand so it's probably a good thing that you got rejected three times because it put that fire in your ass to fucking go out and really fucking make some shit happen I'm so glad it happened that way because I have so much more perspective and appreciation for being in the position I'm in now because if you would have told Lexi six years ago that I got to be in this room speaking to you on this podcast she would have shit her pants first off But like, it would just, it wouldn't have been conceivable. And because I built that perseverance and I had the mindset of like, it wasn't a, oh, screw those guys.

Like, I'll go somewhere else. Like, I wanted to prove myself. Like, I wanted to prove that I could contribute, prove that I could bring value to this, that I belonged there. And it worked out so much better than like if I would have been accepted on day one and like been handed that just like a fitness journey, just like changing your. life like if you woke up tomorrow a hundred pounds down you would have no way to maintain it you would have no perspective of every time you wanted to quit and all of the hard shit you've been through

and every sacrifice you made and you would have no idea where to go from there but if you have the story and the journey of getting turned down and going through those obstacles like i am so grateful to have my name in a locker yeah to be a part of of something bigger than myself in this capacity and i have all those stories and it's the way that you want it to work out in your head of skipping all the hard stuff and getting it handed to you is not the way that when you actually do it, you're going to be so glad that you had that story and that you had that struggle. That is such a true statement. I was actually thinking about this literally last night. When I started in business, okay, and if you guys don't know the story,

you know, we started with $12,000 that we got painting the stripes of parking lots. me and Chris Client, Chris Klein, my business partner. We started supplement super stores, a retail sports nutrition store when we were 19 years old, 25 years ago. That $12,000, we built out the shells in our first store. We slept in the first store on and off for the first three years. We had to finance all the inventory on credit cards. And, dude, it took us eight months to have.

a day over $200 in sales. It took us five and a half years to open up our second store. And in the first 10 years that I was in business, I made $58,380 cumulatively. I could have made a lot more money working at McDonald's. I didn't make that every year. I made that over 10 years. And dude, at the time, I was so fucking angry and bitter and frustrated. that nobody fucking helped that I didn't have someone give me money that I didn't have someone fucking finance my shit that I was competing against people whose parents had put them into business and shit like that and um you know funded their amazing stores and just all kinds of shit and I was so fucking angry about it and I was sitting on my porch last night and you know

I have a nice house. I was sitting there and I was looking around. I'm looking around at this fucking amazing place that I'm at now, which is far beyond where I ever actually thought I was going to be. And I was like, fuck, dude, I'm so fucking glad no one helped. I am so glad that I had to do that. Because, dude, it taught me everything that's valuable about myself now. It taught me how to be resourceful.

It taught me how to depend on myself. It taught me how to understand that I got to put the whole motherfucking thing on my back and carry it down the fucking road. That's what you got to do. And then when I think about like all the lives that have been impacted over the years from my story and watching me do this because, dude, when I started this podcast, you know, first four and one and all that. You know what I'm saying?

Like everybody who's been watching for 10 years, 12 years, they fucking or whatever it is now, it's 10 years now. um they got to see it they got to see they got to see me go from fat dude to fucking in shape yeah it's your digital diary yeah and dude it's like when i think of like the reason i was able to do that and the reason we're able to do that is because we never had anybody really helping us and um now with all the lessons and not just the business lessons but like the the personal lessons I'm so fucking glad that that's the way it had to go you know what I mean yeah but you cannot identify that in the moment because it's so hard

and it's so frustrating and um if you're in that position whether it be with your fitness or whether it be with your business and you are bitter and frustrated because no one care listen no one does care I don't know what to tell you they don't fucking care they're so busy they care about their own shit that's going on you can't blame them for that that doesn't mean anything bad but you have to understand that one day you're going to be so thankful that you had to go through this because it's going to be the reason for the rest of all the good shit in your life you know what i'm saying and fitness is the perfect example of perfectly parallel you no one can take that from you it cannot be bought so when you arrive yeah you have all of

the evidence, like you talked about with confidence, that you can look back on, and then it goes everywhere. If you start taking care of yourself physically and mentally, your relationships will improve, your finances will improve, your professional life will improve, because you have so much respect and so much resilience built in that area, that it flows out to everything else. You see what you're capable of there. And it's, I argue, like, if you're on any endeavor as far as professional life like if you're not prioritizing your your physical and your mental health you're not operating a capacity that you could be because you're just leaving so much on the table oh everything so everything i used to be the person who thought oh no dude i'm good i'm good bro like i got this

figured out like and there was there was there was there was uh evidence of that like i was financially fucking successful i had built a business i built multiple businesses that were doing very well so I'm like well what the fuck do I need that for why do I but then like once I took care of that everything started to explode like to a level that I couldn't really even and sometimes keep my fucking hands on because it went so big and I don't think people really understand that the epicenter of their entire life is how they treat themselves dude and I don't mean how you treat yourself like self-love eat take a fucking bubble bath get a foot rub be pampered eat fucking Dorito like no I'm talking about how you treat yourself

great food enough water out in the world doing exercise resistance training putting good information in your brain associating with the right people when you control the things you're in control of most of your life is in control most of the things that matter yes there is chance yes there is things that happen yes there are unanticipated hardships that come that's called being a human being and it's interesting how people they they see the world in this way that everything is up to chance right like just because some things are when in reality most things that are going to affect your day-to-day life are absolutely in your control. And once you figure that out, dude, like, it's kind of hard to be fucked with by anything

because you realize that every single thing that you do could have been handled if you were handling what you can handle. You know what I mean? And I think that one of the biggest components that doesn't get talked about enough is that the inevitable stress that is out of your control that gets inserted into your life, the difference of the results of the resilience that you handle that and you respond to that is a direct relation to the amount of like intentional stress you put yourself under so I always think about like it's like an experiment you are controlling this stress like you're putting yourself in the environment you're pushing yourself you're stretching your capacity in a workout or you're doing the thing that you don't want to do

and then when the inevitable happens and like shit hits the fan at work or your kids are not sleeping or like you're just under fire or there's an accident or someone gets sick your resilience to that everyday stress is so much stronger. So it's no surprise that if you build this cushy little lifestyle and you avoid all of the hard shit that when you're stuck in traffic, that you spiral. Or when your boss says something to you that's like in a tone that you're not good with, that you go back into the bathroom and cry. Like you are so much more resilient to everyday stress if you just allow yourself that discomfort. Like choose temporary discomfort for an hour a day and see what the other 23 look like

rather than just being under fire and feeling like the world is picking on you 24 hours a day. So we're going to, we're going to wrap up here and I would like you to speak to people who maybe

maybe they've never heard of 75 hard. Maybe they've thought about it but didn't do it. Maybe they've had whatever reason to not go down this path. would like you to speak to them based on your experience. Yeah, I think if you're in a spot right now, imagine 75 days from right now, 75 days from tomorrow, you wake up and you are the best that you have ever been. And in that morning you're waking up, you are fitter than you've ever been, you're more

productive than you've ever been, your finances are stronger than you've ever been. And what you think about in your head is that you'll just wake up and that happened overnight. But between here and there, you're building all of the things. Like, logically, if you think you need to be healthier, you know what you need to do. If you need to be more successful, you know what you need to do. 75 hard puts the actions in place that you, it's the game plan. And you can follow that for the next 75 days and genuinely wake up 76 days from now. And you are the best that you have ever been.

And it is, if you do it with integrity, like I said earlier, there are two separate people. And I have a lot more respect for you. if you go and you fail and you try again and you continue getting back up then if you compromise 75 days and then you just want to make an Instagram post but it's interesting because people know yeah oh it's and it's so obvious um 75 hard completely changed my life genuinely it changed the trajectory of my life it changed the way i viewed myself it changed my relationship with my husband, it put me in rooms that I would have never even imagined. And it wasn't like 75 hard did that. It was the fact that I was willing to do 75 hard and I built that. Yeah, you did build

that and you unlocked all of these things that have allowed those things to happen. And, you know, like I said, I mean, what do you really think would happen? Like let's just say we were able to get 5% of the population of the United States to do 75 hard. Like, what do you think would actually happen to the culture? That would be incredible. Yeah. Like, from every aspect. Yeah.

It would make for a completely different fucking world. For real. Genuinely. Yeah. Well, listen. It's been nice having you on the show. You're kicking ass. Yeah.

Guys, again, please support. the Lexi J Wellness 9-11 stair climb it is on September 11th 2 p.m. to 630 or so at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and if you can't be there in person please make a donation big or small it's all appreciated yeah every dollar goes to safe yep it's something that we all care a lot about here and you guys should too and final you know final thoughts? I'm ready to start 75 hard again. Yeah. You already did it once this year. You killed it. Yeah. That was awesome. That was also the like hardest mentally that I like I was in bad spots in those 75 days and there were so many days I wanted to quit. And as I was doing it and when I was contemplating quitting, I was like,

I would spiral if I quit though. This is this is keeping my head afloat and it's keeping me on track because because of that resilience and that like intentional stress I'm putting myself under and I got done was 75 hard and I honestly just like kept it going yeah and that was that was probably my biggest physical transformation also I got a little an unintentional bulk over yeah yeah I think you know I would say like when I'm in between phases are not on the program I pretty much still do all I was going to say that's one of the things that people don't realize like I still drink a gallon i still that's why when people are like oh it's unsustainable no you dumbass it's a fucking repeatable program it's your diet's not sustainable either right like we have to understand

we are building skills skills get strong skills get weak just like our body just like we go in the gym we get in better shape we get muscle muscle we get strong we get lean we go out for a fucking month and fuck off and guess what you don't look the same it's not permanent and the same thing is with your mental discipline and fortitude and grit and confidence we have to continue to make investments in these things over and over and over again to make sure that they're sharp and that we're operating at our highest level and that's something that once you figure out it really is life changing and the awareness I think is is really the most important part because you know before that I would just feel bad for like long points of time I would be like man I just don't

feel right you don't realize how good it feels to feel good considering And be proud of your fucking self on a daily basis. Like, dude, when you wake up in the morning and you're on 75 hard and you crush the day before, if like my first thoughts naturally are sort of like doom and gloom when I wake up because I always have so much shit to handle right away. But like my first win of the day is always, well, I fucking won yesterday. That's my win of the day. And a bad day on 75 hard, your confidence is still higher. That's right.

That's right. Well, anyway, guys, look. Lexi thank you so much for coming on thank you for having me yeah this is awesome uh I would love to you know have you come on and talk some more about this sometime maybe we do an episode with you and will and we kind of all just talk about it sweaty as humans alive the sweaty as humans alive yeah yeah well dude you know I think people people need to hear that like these people like will and you who are out here doing these crazy things they didn't start that way you know they started like Will started like a fat little

turd you know what I'm saying and now everybody looks at him and they're like bro he's one of the best athletes in the world well yeah because he fucking for day after day after day for years at a time he worked at it and anyway it's just I'm babbling but

thank you for coming on the show thank you for having me it's been awesome all right guys that is the show 75 hard versus Lexi Johnson if you are interested in 75 hard you can get the entire program for free at episode 208 on the audio feed

is not on YouTube or you can go to my website andyfercella.com and buy the book on mental toughness. It is not required. It does include the entire 75 hard and live hard program plus a whole bunch of extra information

that you will enjoy. All right. So that's the show. We will see you next time. Don't forget. Don't be a hoe. Share the show. All right.

There you go. Went from sleeping on the floor Now my jury box froze Fuck a bull Fuck a stole Counted millions in the cold Bad bitch, booted swow Got her on bankro

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