The Ryan Hanley Show - He Was Told He'd Be Dead by 40. Then He Lost 200 Pounds. | Raheel Siddiqui

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

Spartan philosophy, built in the black-ops lab of business: https://linktr.ee/ryan_hanleyAt 27 years old, Raheel Siddiqui weighed 405 pounds. His doctor looked him dead in the eye and said he wouldn&#...39;t make it to 40. Most people would have folded. Raheel went to war.What followed wasn't a diet plan. It was a complete identity overhaul.He lost 200 pounds. His father died in his arms during the journey. He blew out two discs in his spine. He fought through years of IVF to have a son. And through every single wall that came at him, he kept going.This conversation goes deep into the mindset that separates people who talk about change from people who actually change. Raheel breaks down his Wallbreaker Method, explains why your family deserves the best version of you (not the comfortable version), and delivers one of the most raw, honest conversations we've ever had on this show.If you're carrying extra weight, extra excuses, or extra BS in your life, this is the episode that ends that.CONNECT WITH RAHEEL:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raheelthespeaker/Website: https://www.raheelthespeaker.com/Connect with Ryan Hanley: https://linktr.ee/ryan_hanleyThis show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm 27 years old. I'm 405 pounds. My father at that time, he was a pharmacist. One Saturday morning, he looked at me and was like, whoa, you know, like, man, you're, you're gaining a lot of weight. I'm getting very concerned. Let's go to the doctor. I want to get some blood work done because I'm looking like a walking time bomb. A few days later, went to the doctor's office to get my results. This is the craziest part.
Starting point is 00:00:19 Doctor walks in, has a folder in his hand, looks at my dad and I, looks down at the folder, flips the pages of results over, closes the folder, throws the folder on the side of the counter, looks dead at my father and I and says, it doesn't matter what these results are. Your son's going to be dead by the time he's 40. We're just wasting our time. What you're about to watch is a conversation with Rahil Sadiki. This is one of my favorite conversations
Starting point is 00:00:44 I've ever had on this show in the more than five years and almost 400 episodes that we've done. I do this show very selfishly. I get to meet incredible people. And I've met hundreds and hundreds of incredible. incredible people that I've shared with you through the different episodes. But every once in a while, you come across someone like Rahil who has just an insane story that he was able to come out of with a positive, energetic, optimistic mentality,
Starting point is 00:01:18 just filled with love and kindness, but also energy and power. And it's just, he's infectious. and I got chills about seven times throughout this conversation. I think you're absolutely going to love it. This man was 405 pounds and was told that he maybe had 10 more years to live, tops, and that it wasn't even worth looking at his blood work because he was going to die. And he changed his life, dropped 200 pounds, and is an absolute monster out there preaching positivity and love and energy and aggression
Starting point is 00:01:56 and his wallbreaker method, it just hits so hard. These are the conversations that just make me want to come back and do this show over and over and over again. I love sharing guests like Rahil Sadiki with you. So with no further ado, please. Listen to this episode, follow Rahil.
Starting point is 00:02:21 I have links to his Instagram, to his website, whether you're watching on YouTube or listening on the podcast, Just scroll down into the description. Connect with him, follow him, share his journey. It's only going to help spread more positivity in this world. I love you guys for listening to this.
Starting point is 00:02:37 Let's get on to Rahil Sidiki. Real, dude, there are not many people in the world who lose 200 pounds and come back at it with energy and the enthusiasm. So willing to dive into their story and be so honest and candid. Take us on that pact how we got there. Yeah, man, Rahil Sadiki, born in Long Island, New York. So you see the Knicks on here, go Nix. And I currently live in the D.C. area. And like you said, man, I recently lost 200 plus pounds.
Starting point is 00:03:16 And it's been a ride. It's been a journey. And I like to call myself the wallbreaker because I truly feel like I've been through so many walls in my life that I've had to break and to kind of kick things off here. So, man, where do I begin? So I was pretty much born overweight my entire life. you know, since birth, so childhood, elementary school, middle school, high school, college, post-college. And I was bullied a lot, okay? I mean, I took an absolute beating. I took the beating of my life, like beating so bad that I was so ashamed to kind of show up to a lot of areas,
Starting point is 00:03:46 a lot of events because of the shame, the bullying, the fear, and just, you know, that feeling of being worthless, man, being useless. And that's kind of like when you're broken down so badly to that level, that's kind of where my mindset was at the time. So January, 2010 fast forward. I'm 27 years old. I'm 405 pounds. And my father at that time, he was a health care professional. He was a pharmacist. And, you know, one Saturday morning, he looked at me and was like, whoa, you know, like, man, you're, you know, you're gaining a lot of weight. I'm getting very concerned. Let's go to the doctor. I want to take you to the doctor. And, you know, I want to get some blood work done because I want to see if you're okay. You know, obviously, because I'm, I'm looking
Starting point is 00:04:23 like a walking time bomb at this point. So I said, okay, sure. I got my blood work done a few days later, went to the doctor's office to get my results. And, I mean, this is probably like the craziest parts. True story, too, by the way, man, seriously. It's kind of crazy when I say it. But either way, fast forward, go to the doctor's office. Doctor walks in, has a folder in his hand, looks at my dad and I, looks down at the folder, flips the pages of results over, closes the folder, throws the folder on the side of the counter,
Starting point is 00:04:53 looks dead at my father and I and says, it doesn't matter what these results are. Your son's going to be dead by the time he's 40 anyway. we're just wasting our time. And that was it. So in that moment, man, like, I'm like, okay, well. 27 when you hear that, for 27. 27.
Starting point is 00:05:09 So, yeah, exactly. So in my mind, first thing, like I tell everybody is, I'm not giving you a five-star review on Yelp, bro. I'll tell you that right now, Doc. Talk about bedside manner, man. I mean, that was brutal. And then my father and the doctor go off to talk for maybe a minute or two, and that was it.
Starting point is 00:05:27 We left. Fastest doctors, visit. it ever and the craziest part to this story is I never knew my results never knew my sugar my cholesterol my hemoglobin nothing he just looked at me dead in the face was like dude this guy's like useless it doesn't matter what I can tell him he's not going to do anything with his life we're just wasting our time and that was it and he never told me anything else after that so the turning point is when we leave so my father and I leave the doctor's office we're going home about halfway home my dad looks at me I look at him and he's like hey listen I need you
Starting point is 00:05:59 need you to pull the car over. I said, why? What's going on? Dad? He's like, listen, just pull the car over, pull the car over. I need you to pull the car over. And then he had a soft-spoken voice, Ryan, but he really raised his voice. Like, pull the car over right now. So I said, okay, okay. So we're on the highway. I pull the car over on the shoulder lane. And I said, hey, what's going on? He's like, listen, you know, I need you to take this seriously. This isn't a game. And I said, you know, what do you mean? He was like, look, I'm running out of time. I'm not going to be there to see you get married. I'm not going to be there to see you have kids, but you, you still have time. You have to take control of your health. You have to take control of your life. And we are not going home until
Starting point is 00:06:37 you promise me. Promise me you were going to do this. This isn't a game. Promise me. So, you know, I'm a dad now. So I tell people this all the time. It's like, you know, most times when, you know, you yell at your son or vice versa, you know, when you're a son, a parent's yelling at you. It's kind of in one near and out the other. I was like that pretty much my whole life. But that was the first time in my life where I saw my dad really have like tears in his eyes like watering and I'm like dad okay stop and you know I think a part of the reason why he was battling a lot of health issues at that time he had like rotator cuff surgery cataract surgery but mainly a liver issue and it was really bothering him and it was waiting on him a lot so for whatever reason in that moment he was like
Starting point is 00:07:14 this is the moment man I got to talk to my youngest son and try to get through to him so I said okay dad please don't cry I promise I promise you I will try my best we drove off and I get home And I'm just looking in the mirror like, what the hell just happened, dude? Like, I'm 27 years old. I'm 405 pounds. And now the doctor tells me the next minute, I only have 13 years to live. I have my dad telling me he's not going to be there to see me get married or see me have kids. And, you know, what happened?
Starting point is 00:07:45 And where do we go from here? You know, honestly, it's just kind of like, whoa, what's going on? So the journey began. So that January 2010, I tried and I failed a lot. And I think this is the one part that I really want the audience to understand. It's, you know, walls are truly always going to come up in front of you. I tried and I failed a lot. I joined the local gym.
Starting point is 00:08:09 I was like, okay, this is cool. I went three days a week. Then that dwindled down to two days a week. And then I just stopped showing up because I quit. I went to the local college. I try to run laps. I went to the local field. I try to work out.
Starting point is 00:08:20 I quit. I quit. I kept quitting. but I always had like that voice on my head that I made a promise to my dad so fast forward May 2010 one of my really good friends he was like hey man
Starting point is 00:08:30 a lot of us are joining this state of the art brand new gym why don't you join bro it'll be fun you know I think you'll get a kick out of it we're all going to be there together and you know people my friends that know me man even though I was 405 pounds and I was 27 years old I was pretty athletic man
Starting point is 00:08:45 I played high school ball I still be busting ass in basketball I was still good in flag football because you know I can honestly say now now that I'm 43, it's, I also feel like youth had a lot to do with that. I was still young. Even though it was heavy, I was still young. So the athleticism that I had was a lot of it was still there, but the weight obviously came a lot faster, a lot more aggressively, you know, towards the mid to late 20s, join the gym, okay, what else do I have to lose at this point? Everything else I
Starting point is 00:09:09 tried, I failed on my own anyway, so what else do I have to lose? So join the gym, and then first day I walk in, go figure, what do I see? I see a sign that says team weight loss class. That's exactly the name of the class. So I'm like, okay, it's kind of like that light ball. Like, law. And I was like, okay, man, this is pretty cool. Like, it's destiny, right? And it was a class for people just like me that people wanted to need it to lose weight, start their journeys, kind of, you know, recalibrate.
Starting point is 00:09:36 Just get going, man, get that first step. So I joined the class Monday, Wednesday, Friday, one hour a day, three days a week. Really quick. Backstory. First day of class. I remember there was 20-some people. And everyone's like, welcome class. The trainer said, welcome everybody.
Starting point is 00:09:52 And I remember she said, okay, everybody, first step, first day, you have to announce your name and announce your way to the whole entire class. And I'm like, oh, man. I'm like, please don't make me do this. And she was like, Rahil. I was like, please. I'm like, in tears. Like, please don't make me do this. And she was like, Rahil, I promise you, I know what you're feeling.
Starting point is 00:10:12 I know what you're going through. Everyone has to do it. But when you get to the other side of this journey, as much as you hate telling, as much as you hate this part now, when you get to the other side of this journey, you're going to love telling this point. part of the journey. I already see it in you. And I don't know why, man. I don't know what she saw in that moment, but she swore that she saw something inside of that 4005 pound guy that was stuck inside, just like my dad did. So I said, okay, my name is Rahil Sadiki, went on the scale, 405 pounds, it was quiet, it was like, oh my God, I was embarrassed, I was crushed, I was humiliated, got in the car, drove home, cried, got in bed cried, wanted to quit. I was like,
Starting point is 00:10:48 I'm done, no more, but I got back up. And there was that little voice in my head that said, man, but you made a promise to your dad. Like, get up, man. Just get up. Get up. So I got up and I faced those demons and I went back, man. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. So I went, did class.
Starting point is 00:11:05 They had weekly weigh-ins. End of the first week. I went to do my weekly weigh-in. I lost about, I think, like, about four or five pounds at that time. Pretty solid. So I was like, okay, this is pretty cool. Like, I was like, what if I just come every single day, including the class the very next week?
Starting point is 00:11:20 And this is where, honestly, really the switch really started to flip. I was like, let me just come every single day, including the team weight loss class. What kind of results would I get? I went every single day. Week two way in comes in, just like biggest loser, like literally like the way in like the show. And it was a different trainer teaching at that time. He looked at me. I looked at him. And I was like, dude, you're scared me. What's going on? He's like, dude, you lost like 17 pounds this week. And dude, honestly, Ryan, for the first time in my life, I just looked and I'm just kind of like in awe, speechless because for the first time in my life, I didn't quit. I didn't run away from that wall.
Starting point is 00:11:54 I actually committed. I stuck to something. I made a promise to my father. And even though it was a lot of weight, but just the fact that I made that such a gigantic win, the win for me was even that more gigantic. And then the lion just came out of the cage. And I became an absolute monster. From May 2010 to May 2011, I lost my first 150 pounds. And I was rolling. I felt. felt like I was unstoppable. I felt like I was on top of the world. Like nobody can touch me. Nobody can see me. I was a level above everybody else. I was a well-oiled machine. But as they say in life, you know, you take one step forward, two steps backwards. So May 2010 I was rolling to May 2011, sorry, I was rolling. Two months later, July 2011, we go to a family wedding in Connecticut.
Starting point is 00:12:41 And I was telling you about my dad's health issues, liver issues, the night of the reception in Connecticut in the hotel bed. My father's liver blows out and he dies right in my hands. Just like that, right in my hands. So I'm like, wow, okay, well, this isn't fun. And here's, you want to talk about walls. So that happens in Connecticut. We have to go do the funeral in Baltimore, where I originally lived when I moved from New York. The very next day, we go do the funeral. There's about 500 people, big show out. I bend over to pick up his casket. I stand up, and what do I hear? I hear a pop in my back. What is it? I blow out my L3, L4, herniated disc. I have severe sciatica shooting down my leg down to my toes. I can't tell a goddamn person because
Starting point is 00:13:26 I'm burying my best friend saying goodbye to him for the very last time. And I didn't tell a soul that day. I was in excruciating pain. So in my mind, I'm like, wow, life really isn't fair. Like, why are you doing this to me, man? Like, I finally got over the home. I kept a promise to my dad. Now my dad is gone. And the very next day, now you're going to add this much. monster injury to me. So what happens after that? So the fire that I had in me, it was burned out. I was like, you know, where do we go from here? So, and I will say respectfully, it wasn't totally burned out. I still had a very little spark. And what I mean by that is I was still training. I was still putting in the work, but not nearly as much as I was at that time, right? The injury
Starting point is 00:14:07 was really taking a toll on me instead of going seven days a week or six days a week. It was maybe like two, three days a week, very lethargic. And I had the sciatica. I was. I was. I wasn't trying to fix it. Just an absolute mess. Fast forward to 2016. I meet my wife. We get married November 2016. So I'm like, okay, I'm married.
Starting point is 00:14:27 Let's just put everything off to the back burner. It's been five years. Like, whatever, who cares? I'm happily married. Let's just go enjoy life. One year later, I take a selfie of myself, just completely out of shape. I gained more than half of the weight back that I lost. So I'm like, what did I do to myself?
Starting point is 00:14:44 So then that's another issue. my wife and I are trying to have kids. We try for two years. What's going on? We don't know. We go see an infertility specialist. She looks right at me. Tilt her chair looks right at me.
Starting point is 00:14:56 She's like, Rahil, I can't 100% confirm this. But I believe the reason why you guys are having infertility issues is because your sperm motility count is abnormally low. And I believe a big reason is because your weight loss story, your journey, trajectory, whatever has really kind of messed up your sperm motility. the only solution or chance that you guys of having children is in vitro fertilization IVF. So in my mind, I'm like another wall. So forget a wall for me.
Starting point is 00:15:23 Now I'm the wall that my wife has to go break because it's not her fault. This is my fault. I felt like at that time. So on we go. So two years of, and if people don't know about IVF, any of the female audiences or even male audiences, it's an absolute beast, okay? It's a beast.
Starting point is 00:15:38 It's brutal, man. Like, you know, injections. My wife's taking shots all over her body, bruises, throwing up. taking pills financially just to wear the tear then I remember one day in bed looking at her like dude like I don't know how much more you can take out there like I felt like she was a fighter in the ring was taking a beating and she took her two fingers up in the sky put them right in her stomach she's like I'm having this baby nothing is going to stop me quitting is not an option so don't talk to me about quitting ever again and I'm like okay you know like I got it let's do it so then she stuck with it
Starting point is 00:16:10 and then fast forward November 2019 she did it she broke that wall down my beautiful son was born rain rahil sadiki r a y n pretty cool spelling right so he's the love of our life and uh she did it broke that wall down he is our only child um we did try a few more times after that couldn't conceive but he's never going to be a glass half empty he's a glass all the way full so we are more than happy and thrilled that he's here and um two months later november 2019 is when he was born january 20 20 paternity leave is over i go to my work garage i bend over to time I shoot. I stand up. What do I hear? Another pop. Now I blow out my L4 L5 L5S1, sorry. So L3L4, now my L5S1 herniated disc. Screaming and pain, two blown discs. I'm in so much pain. I'm in
Starting point is 00:16:57 my work garage in Arlington, Virginia, Ryan. I couldn't even drive home. I had to lie down and recline my seat and drive home because if anybody who knows about sciatica, it literally just shoots all the way down. If you sit the wrong way, you can't even sit on the toilet, on a seat anywhere. You have to kind of angle like your buttocks tissue. So I'm like, what's going on? And I remember crying to my wife. And she was like, listen, man, like, I've been telling you for a long time to get this problem fixed. I told you when you had your first disc blown.
Starting point is 00:17:27 You didn't want to address it. You kept running away from that wall. You're not trying to go through it. But you're a dad now. And I can't have my husband and a newborn dad in a freaking wheelchair because that's where I was heading, man. I couldn't even walk, you know. But I think the one piece to this was what really got me. She was like, you know, I know.
Starting point is 00:17:44 know you. I love everything about you, like your drive, your fire, your energy, and you don't ever get that without your training. That comes from your training. You love to train. I know how hard you love to train. And I know the best version of you comes from when you are training, when you're at your healthiest, at your apex peak. And more than anything, she was like, even though your dad's gone, you made a promise to him. And that promise never left. And I think you forgot that, man. So let's get this fixed. I said, okay. So saw a back special. My wife said that to me. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:16 She was like, that's a good partner. Yeah. That's a real good partner, man. Yeah. So she had to kind of remind me about that, right? She was like, but even though your father's gone, your promise isn't gone, your promise is still there. Like you made a promise to him, man.
Starting point is 00:18:28 Like, let's knock this wall down. So got, found a back specialist, got back surgery done. Surgery was a success. But even rehab was annoying. Like, I couldn't walk up the stairs, down the stairs. Just natural back surgery, right? Like, my wife had to change my bandages, had to put my arm over her. the rehab process for back, you know, spine surgery like that, it's a lot of walking, honestly.
Starting point is 00:18:49 You just got to keep your body flowing and moving because you don't want any blood clots. So you want to just keep the body, keep the mobility going. So six weeks of that, I went to go see my doctor, does a full checkup. And even during rehab, I wanted to quit too, okay? So I'm being dead honest with you. It was painful as hell. I was like, dude, I want to quit. I don't want this anymore.
Starting point is 00:19:09 Like, I want to quit. And she was like, no chance, man. Like, get up. Get up. Like, you got this full. let's go. I mean, let's go. Like in my ear, like made a promise. You made a promise. So either way, got past that. And I'll never forget what my doctor said when he did my checkup. Check my back. My bandages got taken off. And he was like, Rahil, I want to let you know.
Starting point is 00:19:29 100% full clearance, pain free. Three words, let it out. That's what he told me. Let it out. And boy, did I ever. And ever since then, I became an absolute monster. So I ripped off all that weight that I gained. I ripped off an additional sum. I'm now down 200 pounds. I am in the greatest shape of my life. I did get married. I did have my son. I feel like any wall in your life is meant to be broken and more than anything. I feel like I have now learned what I try to teach everyone out there. It's, you know, it doesn't matter where you are in your life. If you feel like you were at rock bottom, I want you to change your mindset to understand this is the most beautiful part of your life. Because when you're at rock bottom end the most beautiful piece to this there's nowhere to go but up so no matter what you're
Starting point is 00:20:17 going through in your life you're just being tested it's gonna suck it's gonna hurt it's okay to cry to struggle to suffer to like goggins would say my guy to grow you must suffer everything i went through i wouldn't change it for the world even losing my dad i wouldn't change it for the world i felt like that's part of my story part of my journey i felt like in my heart he probably had to let himself go for me to become the animal that I became now. And that lion is out of the cage. Every morning I get up and I train two hours a day, every single day. I don't care what the weather is.
Starting point is 00:20:49 We just had like two feet of snow here in D.C. two weeks ago. Still got in my car, still clean the snow and ice off. I still made it to the gym. I still get my cardio. I still get my weights in. My son is six years old. I make him run laps around the basement from school. Do his homework and laps.
Starting point is 00:21:04 Don't talk to me until that's done. Then you can talk to me after school because I'm trying to teach him You know, to be the best version of yourself, you want to be the best version of yourself. That starts by your health, your mental health, your physical health. So I want to make sure I'm the best version of myself. And I want to teach everyone out there, man, like if a guy from Long Island, New York, who literally was facing death, who experienced death, who experienced multiple back injuries, who experienced in vitro fertilization issues, everything I've ever been through. And I'm still standing. I mean, I'm still here.
Starting point is 00:21:37 And I'm ready to go. And if you don't hear it in my voice, man, I don't know what else to tell you, man, but I promise you right now, I'm ready to go. There's nothing that can stop me. There's no wall big enough that I'm not going to go run through. Every wall in your life is meant to be broken. How did I do? Wow, there's so much there that I want to dig into.
Starting point is 00:22:00 For since the start of this show, I've said to this audience, you know, your health is a competitive advantage in business. Like, because we talk a lot of business stuff. And I think a lot of times when I get, I get pushed back from guys. You know, so I was, I was overweight in middle school. I did grow. I grew about six inches between my freshman and sophomore year of high school and lost a lot of it.
Starting point is 00:22:25 But I got that, you know, getting terrorized as a young kid. And I remember I tell my kids like fifth grade, we would walk from the school to the playground. And there was these three kids that would run. circles around me because I was overweight. I wasn't fast. I was overweight and I couldn't run. I couldn't move. They knew that. They knew I couldn't catch him. Right. So they would literally do this thing where they would circle me while I was walking out to the playground just terrorizing the shit out of me. I was from the poorest town in our school district. You know, I dressed like a poor kid. I was overweight and they just terrorized me. And finally, I don't know that this is a
Starting point is 00:23:03 positive story, although I consider it to be one. I finally got one of the kids. came close enough and I threw a punch at him. I missed him. Hit his throat. Not on purpose. I was just so terrified and scared and didn't know what else to do and had never thrown a punch before. And he falls to the ground and he never bothered me again.
Starting point is 00:23:24 And that was a defining moment in my own life because what it said was even though, even though I'm not skinny and fast like these little fuckers over here, you know what I mean? And like, there's still, there's still the ability to have agency. And like, what I heard in your story was, and while you struggle with it, which is okay, that's your journey, right? Your journey is this struggle, you know. But like, you took agency for your life. You said, I'm responsible for my life.
Starting point is 00:23:52 And I think so many people, it's not that they're unwilling to do it. It's almost like they're waiting for permission. So my question for you is, like, how I'm sitting here and maybe I am caring. an extra 30, 40, 50 pounds and I'm unhappy and I wish my wife found me sexy, but she doesn't because I'm out of shape and I let myself go and that pulls into other parts of my life. And I'm lazy at work and I'm lazy with my kids because I'm feeling negative about myself, right? How does someone give themselves permission to be, I love this phrase that you have.
Starting point is 00:24:28 You let the lion out. I love that. Like, how does somebody give themselves permission to let that lion out to start to get after? Well, that's a great question. So let me ask you this. Here's one question that I love asking everybody, and I get this question asked a lot, and maybe my perspective is different, but I think a guy like you might, I might love this part. So when people ask this question, what's the most important part of your life?
Starting point is 00:24:50 What do you, what's the general answer people, most people would give? Geez, I don't know. I'd say probably my relationship, my kids is the most important. So family, right? Your family is the most important part of your life. Perfect, right? And I love that you said that. So here's what I'm going with this.
Starting point is 00:25:07 So this is what I would love to tell that person out there. And I've learned this too. It's to me, when that question came to me, when somebody asked me, hey, Rahil, what's the most important part of your life? You know what my answer was, Ryan? I said the most important part of my life was my training and my family. So they're right here, neck and neck. Shaq and Kobe.
Starting point is 00:25:29 You're not winning three without Shaq and Kobe, right? Three rings side by side. And what I mean by that is, I don't. want to hear somebody tell me that your family is the most important part of your life if you aren't the best version of you for them when i get up in the morning and i train two hours a day every single day when i leave that gym sweaty as hell drenched just an absolute monster now now my wife gets the best husband my son gets the best father i'm mentally razor sharp physically i'm just an absolute savage beast in my own mind, in my own opinion. And now, now, because I've taken care
Starting point is 00:26:11 of myself, I've dedicated that time to myself, my mental health, my physical health, my spiritual health. I am the best version of myself. When I leave that gym every single day, now I am the best version for my family. Every time my wife and I go out, the respect that I get now, man, versus what, how you talked about those kids getting bullied, that was like me. I would walk into a room, hey, dude, buffet line. Oh, hey, man. man, leave the rest for everybody else. You clearly don't need to eat. We're at a pizza hut.
Starting point is 00:26:40 We ordered three pizzas. Hey man, but that's for you. What about the rest of the group? Or hey man, you're just so fat. Are you ever going to lose the weight? The respect that I got, because I didn't respect myself. I wasn't respecting myself. I wasn't accountable.
Starting point is 00:26:55 At the end of the day, as much as I hated those bullies, it was on me. They didn't put that food in my mouth. They didn't make those bad decisions. They didn't have the self-pity. They didn't have the self-awareness. It was all on me. But now I know that when I go out, I love to dress up.
Starting point is 00:27:10 I'm from New York City, okay, fashion kingdom, right? I love to dress up. I love to look fresh. I love to look fly for my wife. I love to look attractive. You know, I think she still thinks I'm hot as she tells me I do when I'm ready to go. And then my son, man, my son, the fact that, like, he looks at me, Ryan, he doesn't look at me as daddy. He looks at me as like the incredible Hulk.
Starting point is 00:27:32 And, like, he looks at me like a big brother, right? He's the only child, but from school, homework laughs like we talked about. But now when it's time to throw football, when it's time to run around, when it's time to play, I'm right there with him. But guess who's not breathing heavy? Guess who's not tired? Guess who doesn't want to just get off of the couch and just, oh, man, what about tomorrow? No, rain.
Starting point is 00:27:52 What about the next day? No, daddy, I'm ready to go right now. I mean, he'll tell you most of the times I'm up before he is. And he's six, okay? I'm 43. I'm 37 years older than he is. But he knows what his. father is. What is his father? His father is the lion that is out of the cage. So to answer your
Starting point is 00:28:10 question directly, be the best version of yourself. It's never too late. Don't tell me your family is the most important part of your life. If you don't make yourself the most important part of you, be the most important version of you first. That's what your family needs, but that's what they deserve. That's my answer. I love that. I couldn't agree with you more. It's, in my darkest moments, which there are plenty and continue to be like all human beings, you know, I have two things that I say to myself. The first is not falling apart can be the win.
Starting point is 00:28:51 Like people get, I think, hung up on like, well, I'm not moving forward. Well, it's like this really messed up thing just happened to you. You don't always need, always moving forward isn't always the win. sometimes just not falling apart is the victory. So just step one, don't fall apart. And then once you get past that phase, that real nasty phase of whatever's got their hooks in you, right?
Starting point is 00:29:14 And out of your point, this is my belief. We can't be the best version of ourselves if we're working only for ourselves. So we need to be working for something big. Some it's God. Some it's, you know, whatever. I think for most of us, particularly men, right, it's our family. It's our need to provide to be the first one out the door.
Starting point is 00:29:39 You know, I say, you know, I say to my kids all the time, if someone comes and knocks on my door at 2 a.m., I may not win, but they're going to regret that decision. Because they're going to get a 45-year-old Irish Catholic fierce mother-pickers is going to come flying out of there like a bat out of hell. And like I said, I don't know I'll win or not, but they're not going to be a good day for them. Right. But you're ready, man.
Starting point is 00:30:03 ready. That's the difference, man. You're ready and you're built for it, man. That's the difference, right? You have that mindset. Now you're freaking hungover or you're not going to sleep or like or you're, or you're in credit, you're out of shape. Whatever. Like, now that guy comes and knocks on the door. These are the dudes that send their wives to check the door at 2 a. Exactly. And that's not being the best version for your family. To your point, like I, I just, it's like if you hate yourself. Right. In this moment, do it for your family. Exactly. Do it, you know, because they need you, like, they need you alive, one, right? To your point, like you're going to make it past 40.
Starting point is 00:30:38 They need you alive, number one. Number two, they need you to defend them. Right. Number three, they need you to present an example for what it means to be a person. And like, you can hate yourself every day, but if you're doing it for them, you're still going to do the work, you're still going to show up, you're still going to get up. And then what I think happens, and this is, this is what I'm interested in from you is like, you know, you even said, like you didn't, you didn't, you didn't.
Starting point is 00:31:02 You didn't love your, you know, 4005 pounds. You didn't, you knew that version wasn't the best. Right? Like, but you started doing the work. And at some point, it, it's like, you don't, it's like act as if. I don't know, you know Jordan Peterson. You know Jordan Peterson? Yeah, I've heard of him.
Starting point is 00:31:17 I've heard of him. Huge Jordan Peterson fan. His book, 12 Rules for Life literally changed my life in 2017. Because I was, I wasn't on a good path. I had put on 25, 30 pounds. I was not my good self. You know what I mean? And he's got this philosophy that he,
Starting point is 00:31:32 talks about where if you want something, but you don't believe it yet in your head, step number one is just act as if. You don't have to believe it. Just what would that? You know what I mean? You want to be a great basketball player? Don't be you, the basketball player. What would Kobe Bryant do?
Starting point is 00:31:48 Or what would Jordan do? Or what would your favorite player do? You know what I mean? Like, and then you almost like earn the belief. So my question for you is like, you know, dude, I've never experienced 4005. pounds. You know what I don't know what it's like to live that life. But I, but I can imagine at 405, you're not loving yourself. What at what point during that journey did you, that switch, flipped for you and you started to go from, I'm just kind of doing this to keep this promise to my
Starting point is 00:32:20 dad to like, I'm, I'm behind this. Like, this is who I am. Like, I believe this. I'm with this. Like, what did that, where did that happen for you? Where did that turn over? Yeah, no, I appreciate. That's a great question. So a couple of things to that. I think. think my first rule that I love to tell people is always this, right? First step, I truly am the biggest believer in don't worry about results. Just don't worry about results. But focus on the work. I feel like if you have the attitude and the mindset to just show up and put in the work every single day, at some point, the results will come.
Starting point is 00:32:53 We live in a society today, man, where even right now, my Instagram right now, too, I'll get, I'll have some before and afters. And this might sound crazy. I'll tell my wife this too. I actually sometimes don't like showing my before and after pictures, man. And here's why. Because they'll see the after pictures now, Ryan. They'll be like, well, real, man. Like, yeah, you look great.
Starting point is 00:33:11 Congrats. I want to look like this right now. Right? How do I be like this right now? They want the instant gratification. So then they'll be like, give me some tips. I'll give them some tips. And then they'll be like, you know, and then they'll get back to me whenever.
Starting point is 00:33:24 And I'll be like, well, how long did you try X, X, Z? And they're like, well, I tried it for two weeks. I tried it for four weeks. I tried it for six weeks. And then I quit. And I'm like, dude, I've been doing this for 15, 16 years. I'm like, you know, you can't worry about results. Don't worry about whatever he'll did.
Starting point is 00:33:42 Don't worry about what XYZ did. Just focus on the work. I'm like, people are so goddamn hung up on diet and exercise plans. Forget all that. I can go on Chad GPT right now, Ryan, and give everybody a freaking diet and exercise plan. Here's a fun fact. They work, okay? They all work.
Starting point is 00:33:58 Chad, GPT, I guarantee you they'll give me diet and exercise. plans that will work. The problem is, are you going to stick to it? Are you going to commit to it? Second part to that question, and I think you're going to love this part. During my journey, I was about 30 to 40 pounds down, but man, I was really, I was reeling, okay? It's hard to ask a guy 405 pounds, like a car in the shed who hasn't been started in about 10 years to go on a treadmill, go to a gym, lift weights, and really start ramping up every single day. The body, the mind, really starts taking it and pounding. I walked into a, on one day, exhausted, mentally physically exhausted. The quarter mentality did start to creep up a little
Starting point is 00:34:37 bit. I saw this guy come in, super jacked out of his mind. I'm just staring at him, kind of like weirdly, and then he's looking at me. I'm looking at him. Like, he thought I wanted to like fight him or something. And I was like, hey, man, like, do you have to ask you a question? He's like, yeah, what's up, man? And I was like, hey, I was like, you know, I was like, I'm on kind of a journey right now. And then he actually says, like, I've been noticing you in here every day, man, keep up the work. I said, thank you. I was like, but my question to you is, you know, how do you? I look like a guy like you, you know, I just want to be like nice and big and, you know, jacked and kind of like this physique because he had like a like a like a hurricane
Starting point is 00:35:08 type of physique. And then he was like, well, let me ask you this. He's like, where are you at right now in your journey? And then I said, I was like, well, I'm down about, you know, 40 pounds. And I was like, I'm trying to get to. And I think I even said I'm at like 364, but I need to lose like another hundred plus pounds. And he's like, hold on. Stop right there. I was like, excuse me? He's like, no, you don't. I was like, oh, I'm sorry. I don't follow. He's like, that's your problem right there. He was like, listen, when it comes to this journey or any journey in life, he was like, pretend like you're building a house.
Starting point is 00:35:37 It's brick by brick. If I hand a construction worker a blueprint to build my house on a Sunday night, do you think Monday morning my house is going to be ready? No, it's not. So he was like, what did you say where you're at? I said, I think, 364. He said, starting tomorrow, the only goal that I want you to set for yourself is get to 359.
Starting point is 00:35:58 I don't care what you got to do I don't care how long it takes That is your only goal Get to 359 And once you get to 3.59 Then your only goal is to get to 349 and then 339 And then 329 and then 329
Starting point is 00:36:12 He was like just go brick By brick by brick by brick And he's like I promise you Then you'll know You'll see it, you'll feel it You'll know And I'm telling you right now Ryan Even as I'm talking to you right now
Starting point is 00:36:24 That fire that I had Burning at that time it was like, whoa. I mean, he put a lot of gas on it. I needed to hear that because the long story short is I was setting these exponentially large goals. I already lost 30 or 40. And I kept saying I got to lose another 100 something. And that was a defeating mentality.
Starting point is 00:36:43 So for the audience out there, look, if you're saying you want to go make a million dollars, that's fine. But why don't you go make just $100 first or go make $1,000 first? Stop putting pressure to go make a million dollars. Or, you know, go, go. own a yacht or go own your own business start small if you want to build a house you can't build it in one night that is just like the human body that is the mind the human mind small steps small steps brick by brick focus on the work and the results will come yeah it's funny we we you know i uh there's this concept of detached from the outcome right very common in sales sales circles sales
Starting point is 00:37:25 commentary, sales keynotes, you hear people say detach from the outcome, detach from the outcome. And what's funny is, it's very rarely is that concept applied outside of something like business and particularly sales, where I can think back to what you just said, like, where I didn't necessarily, I actually just got rid of my whoop. And this is not anything against whoop. I think it's a fantastic if you're, this is the fitness tracker. Okay. Yeah, yeah, sorry.
Starting point is 00:37:53 An aura ring is another version of it. This is the one. Whoops, the one that goes on your wrist. And I've been wearing it for like six months. And what I found is I became way more like captured by what was going on in the app than like what I was doing in the gym. Like I was like tracking each set and da-da-da-da. And I'm like, and then by I get to the end and I'd be like, I'm not even sweating because I'm spending so much time doing all this crap to like track. And finally I just said, I know what to do.
Starting point is 00:38:23 Like you said, if I show up, I eat reasonably well, I get good sleep. There are a few supplements and shit that I take, you know, for being 45. And, you know, I told my doctor, like, I ain't going quietly into the night. So we're going to fight this thing as long as we can. And aging, that is. And, like, that's it. Like, just do those things. And I literally took, I literally was driving and I was so frustrated that I had gotten.
Starting point is 00:38:47 I was so hung up on what the app was telling me, the results that I wasn't doing the freaking work. Exactly. And it's like hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm like, why do you care what the app says? How do you feel? Like do you, are you happy? You're naked in front of mirror. Are you happy? Right. Like, are you about yourself? Like, is your, is your brain foggy? Can you think? And if those things are all there, you're doing the right stuff. You're on a path. You know the market. 100%. And I think sometimes, dude, you know, to what you're saying is we get the result becomes another way to avoid doing the work. 100% without a doubt.
Starting point is 00:39:27 You see the yacht. You see the Bentley. You see the mansion. You see the bank accounts on social media, XYZ. But how do you get there? Again, it's my wall breaker method, man. You want to get from point A to point B.
Starting point is 00:39:41 Everybody wants point B. But here's the wall. You got to go break it, bro. You got to go break it. You're not going to ever get from point A to point B without breaking the wall. People don't want to break the wall. That is the problem today.
Starting point is 00:39:54 And that's why I tell people you have to focus on the work. I mean, without the work, you will never get to where you want to go. You're never going to be able to break that wall. I mean, it truly just comes down to your mindset focus of don't worry about the results. If you truly find that plan, stick to that plan and focus on the work every single day. The results, I'm the biggest believer, man. They will come. It took Michael Jordan seven years to win his first ring, okay?
Starting point is 00:40:21 seven years of taking the beating of his life to win his first ring. He could have easily been like, oh, I don't want to no more. I got my money. I got my Haynes. I got my McDonald's. I got my Gatorade. No, he wanted to be the goat, okay? He knew that I'm going through the Knicks and the Pacers and the Pistons and I'm being compared to bird
Starting point is 00:40:41 and magic, XYZ, whatever the case is. But seven years. And that's why I tell people this time too, it's painful because I'm a Knicks fan. But, you know, if you look at that picture. The iconic picture of Jordan just holding that trophy, and he's crying his eyes out. That iconic picture, I think you know what I'm talking about. And his dad is right next to him.
Starting point is 00:41:02 He's crying and crying and crying. In my 20s, when I looked at that picture, I'm like, yeah, okay, cool, he won the championship. Now as a man, as a father, as a leader, as somebody who's been through the journey on my own, I'm like, man, he cried because he put in all of the work. He didn't know when the results were going to come. seven years of the beating of his life to take that wall, take that shoulder and ram through that wall. And what was waiting for him was that iconic trophy,
Starting point is 00:41:29 crying, letting it all out. Tiger Woods went 14 years from Masters No. 4 to Masters No. 5. 14 years, okay? He went through hell. Everything he's been through, his personal life, the back injuries, the spine injuries, X, Y, Z. Everything he went through came back and won his fifth freaking Masters within 14 years.
Starting point is 00:41:50 years. So the bottom line is, dude, it doesn't matter how long it's going to take. If you are doing the right things and you're putting the work in, it will happen. I just gave you two of the greatest probably athletes of ever of our generation, if I'm not mistaken, right? I mean, I don't know if I can give you two better examples than that. You know what I mean? Well, one of the things that I love about Jordan's story is that before we won the first championship, they lost to the Pistons twice in a row. And after the first Piston series, Jordan realized that he wasn't strong. He had to get stronger. He was getting tossed around. Lambert was beating the crap out of him. So he goes, uh, he goes at 94,
Starting point is 00:42:28 right? He gets with Tim Grover and he starts becoming a badass. Well, what, you know, what you, would you, you hear in the last dance,
Starting point is 00:42:36 but most people don't know, is that he goes with Tim Grover and he gets, he turns into an absolute monster. A hundred percent. And he's losing his to the pistons again. So now, think about what's going on in your head.
Starting point is 00:42:47 I just went to war with myself. to become the baddest version I could be. I was not strong enough. Now I am, and I still lost. And he comes back again. And that's when he wins the championship. So it's like, it was like even though he did all of it. And this is what I love about your story, right?
Starting point is 00:43:03 Like God tested you again, right? He said, oh, you got a little comfortable? You thought you were good? You thought you had this shit figured out? Nope. Here, we're going to put this on you again and see if you're really here. And now you got it, right? But like, this is, this path is not like,
Starting point is 00:43:19 it's a hard lesson to learn and we all have to learn it. I think you hit a certain age. It's just experience. But man, like, I give you an example, dude. So, you know, I had this company built it up. It was my baby. I sold it to the wrong people. I watched them murder it in front of my eyes.
Starting point is 00:43:39 I'm sorry. And eventually, when I had my first exit trigger, I was out, right? And I just, this was going to be the next 10, 20 years of my life. Everything about this was everything I wanted it to be. And when that happened, it was the first time in my career. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Like, this was my identity. Like I was the CEO and founder of this company.
Starting point is 00:44:03 Like, this is who I was. It was all my philosophies, all my beliefs, you know, just battle tested, put into place. And it was working. And I was like, and then all of a sudden it was like, who are you now? Are you like, you're going to be consulting guy? You're going to be a speaker guy, podcast guide. you'd find another job like what a and dude i went all the way back into bad habits not working out uh i hadn't smoked pot in 25 years i started smoking pot for some reason because i convinced myself
Starting point is 00:44:30 that i had to land the ship at the end of the night and and i thought i had mentally beat all this stuff like i thought this was long gone and it was like as soon as i allowed that crack to open up it all just came rushing back in so i guess my question for you is is like what are you doing on a daily basis? Because that version of you, that 405 pound version, it's still out there. It's out there. It's circling you every day, right?
Starting point is 00:44:57 Just like all my demons circle me, just like everyone who's listening to this, they're demon circle them all day long every day. How do you keep them at bay when they're barking? You know, I get the good days. Of course. When you're having a bad day, how do you keep them at bay when they start barking at you?
Starting point is 00:45:11 Yeah, no, I mean, that's a great question. So you hit it on the head, even like going back to your Jordan example of, He worked out, built his body up, and he still lost to Detroit. And it's kind of like in your mind like, man, what just happened? So relaying it to my story, I lost my dad who died in my hands. And if that wasn't bad enough to salt on the wound, the very next day, at the day of his funeral, I blow my back out, man.
Starting point is 00:45:33 So you're talking about back to back, like two days, literally 24 hours apart, back to back. So you talk about walls and even your story, man. I'm a kudos to you. You're an absolute beast yourself and everything you've been through. Those are nothing but walls that came up in front. of you. That's that's the beauty that I try to tell people. So you mentioned the, you know, it's out there. You're 100% right. It is out there. Those walls are coming, man. And, you know, the thing is, it's, it really comes down to the fact of just the belief of, you know,
Starting point is 00:46:02 the belief and the trust of everything you've been through, everything you've experienced and the version of what you are now. Now you understand the mindset and this is exactly where I'm going to go with this. It's at some point in your life, you have to take that mind. of, you know, for so long I felt like I was the hunted and now I'm the hunter, right? You guys all were chasing me. You guys were all coming after me. You guys all wanted me. And guess what? I'm here. And now this time, you guys looked at me. I turned around. And now you guys, you guys better run from me, you know. And kind of like the Incredible Hulk, right? I mean, there's a scene in the first Incredible Hulk. What happened? Sergeant Ross, I don't know if you're a
Starting point is 00:46:46 comic book guy or not, but Sergeant Ross, they wanted what was in Dr. Banner. They wanted the Incredible Hulk. All Bruce Banner wanted to do was be on his own. Live his dream life with the love of his life, Dr. Betty Ross. He didn't want any trouble. He wanted peace. He knew if his anger, temper, blood pressure went up, the Hulk will come out. He wanted to be left alone. So that iconic scene, and it's funny because that's what I feel like that's exactly the point that I'm trying to make. The soldiers are coming after him. The bad guys were coming after him. Sergeant Ross was coming after him. They corner Dr. Banner. They threw gas tanks at him. He saw through the window. The love of his life, Betty, got tackled. And then all of a sudden,
Starting point is 00:47:27 you see the smoke, but then you see the hand come out, and it goes from white to green, right? And then you just see the shattered glass coming out. And then you see the hole coming out. And everyone's like, oh my God, what just happened? When Michael Jordan won his first championship, he everyone thought that he oh you know he was becoming the hunted no he wasn't now he's the hunter he got what he wanted now all y'all better turn around and run run MFers run two three i took a two year break hakeem you did your thing you beat my nix i forgive you i met him so he's a nicest guy ever came back and won three more that was the mentality that he had so for everyone listening to your question stop being the hunted be you be you
Starting point is 00:48:13 the hunter. I don't care who's coming after you. Make, make yourself so indestructible like a fucking force of nature that they better run from you. Okay? You are there, like what Kobe said, I'll never forget this quote. You run with me or you run from me. And that's exactly my mindset. You run with me or you run from me, man. Under five pounds of staring me at the face, 105 pounds is scared of me. I'll tell you that right now. Rahil 2010, he don't want that smoke. And that's for anybody out there. Ryan, whatever year you went through, so sorry for all your bad business.
Starting point is 00:48:48 He don't want that smoke. You're not going to let him get that smoke. Because why? Because he's running from you, right? You're the hunter now. That's the mentality I try to tell people. Stop being scared. Don't be scared.
Starting point is 00:49:01 You're not the hunted anymore. Be the hunter. The second you have that incredible Hulk mentality, nobody is going to mess with you. And if anything else, they're going to respect you because they're going to be like, dude, we don't want no smoke. We respect everything.
Starting point is 00:49:13 you've been through, what you've gone through, what you have achieved now, we want a piece of that. Talk to us. Help us. Help us be a wall breaker. How's that answer? It's boxing day for me. I'm so glad it's boxing down.
Starting point is 00:49:32 I'm so vibrating over here. So I get my next question, dude, is, um, so guys listen to this and gal, gal, guy, gal. It doesn't matter. Although I do think guys tend to deal with this more. Not for ladies, I know you got your shit to deal with too, but this particular problem I think does inflict men more than women. And what I found is, so in 2017, what changed my path was in 2017,
Starting point is 00:50:03 I was emceeing an event that I put on. And the closing keynote, I passed out before the closing keynote. Oh, man. I was in out of shape. I haven't been taken care of. of myself. I hadn't been sleeping, been drinking too much, wasn't working all this stuff. And I was supposed to go out. My body couldn't keep up. And I passed out before I went on stage
Starting point is 00:50:23 to introduce the last speaker. I promised myself that would never happen again. Okay. So I go on this journey. I take on an anti-inflammatory diet. I go turn into a lunatic about research and shit. I go full, till working out. I drop 25 pounds. And I'm like, you know, this is this is the new version of me. Dude, there's a lot of shit that you get from the people in your life when you're making these moves. And I know there's a lot of guys that they're listening to you going, I want to beat a hunter. Let's go.
Starting point is 00:50:59 When you decide to be that version of yourself, now you're drinking buddies. You're not, you can't go out drinking with them as much as you used to or ever, right? When they want to pound 17 beers in a golf round, you're going to play it straight because that you know that that ain't good for you right so now of the sudden they're going why you you know what are you talking about your researching peptides why are you you know eating salads and shit like let's go get a burgh you know how they start putting your shit on right so how does that guy who's trying to change his life who who maybe feels alone maybe feels like the people don't understand what he's trying to do how does he work through to become that hunter yeah no that's a
Starting point is 00:51:39 great question i got a very simple answer to that man if you're friends don't understand or support whatever journey you're on. It's very simple. You got two options. One, you don't hang out with them and you stay on your journey or two, find new friends. Because if you're a real friend, if you're my real brother and you're a guy who I've loved me and I love you since whenever, middle school, high school, college, professionalhood, etc. You will truly support me. You will truly appreciate me and you'll be there for my journey all the way through.
Starting point is 00:52:10 You'll understand that certain situations, certain elements in my life, I can't go to, I can't be around because I'm on a journey. I'm focused. I'm in my lane. So, for example, one piece of this story from 2010 and 2011, how I lost my first 150 pounds, Ryan, I didn't go out at all. I sacrificed one full year, okay? I didn't go out on weekends with my friends. I didn't go out to any dinners. I didn't go out to any restaurants.
Starting point is 00:52:37 You know, financially, my dad even supported me. as much as he could for whatever I needed. Like, you know, healthy foods, groceries, because that stuff is more expensive, especially at that time. I mean, it always is. But whatever I needed, my father was all in on my journey. He was so proud, so happy.
Starting point is 00:52:51 He was like, whatever you need me to do, I got you. But my boys, who I was always hanging out with, who still would love to hang out, even if it's not even like anything bad, even like, even if it's like, not even like alcohol related, or even clubbing or partying, just like dinner in a movie. Nah, man, I can't do it. I can't, guys.
Starting point is 00:53:08 I can't. I can't go to have pizza with you. I can't go to the movies with you because I got to go to gym class in the morning I'm leaving the gym class at night I got to go in the morning I'm on a journey I'm trying to be a better person I'm trying to be a better man
Starting point is 00:53:20 and if you guys really care about me you'll understand and they did and now there were some and you know you know man to man you're going to get like oh man stop being a B or stop being this or stop being that those people man you know all right man do you
Starting point is 00:53:34 you know I mean if that's what you think that's on you I really don't give a shit what you think about me I am laser hyper focused, I got to do what I got to do. So I think the best way I can kind of really summarize my answer is you have to understand and ask yourself as a man, because we talked about this being strictly on the men's side of the house. It's what's important to you, man? Like what is important to you? Is it important to go hang out with your boys and spend time with them?
Starting point is 00:54:02 In this scenario where you were on a journey, specifically on a journey and you know you need to reach certain goals, certain dreams. You're trying to get to the other side of the wall, right? Is it important for you to kind of, oh, throw them a bone and be like, oh, you know what, it's only one day, it's only two days, it's only a weekend trip, it's only a golf outing, it's only a AC trip, Vegas trip, whatever. Or, you know, do you understand, like, what you're trying to accomplish? I mean, I'm trying to win a championship.
Starting point is 00:54:32 I'm trying to be heavyweight champion of the world. Heavyweight champion of the world, okay? I don't want to just go in the ring. And, you know, I think it's funny. I think of Rocky a lot too. Rocky won. All he cared about was going the distance, right? And he did.
Starting point is 00:54:48 He went the distance. But Rocky, too, it went from going the distance to, well, I already did that. What's next? I want to win. Adrian got out of that coma and she said, there's something I want you to do for me. And he's like, what's that? She's like, win. And the second she said that, the second she said,
Starting point is 00:55:06 that all he saw was winning. So that's the bottom line is what's important to you. What's important to me, I want to win. And if you're not going to want, if you don't want to win with me, then get the fuck out. I'm sorry if I can't curse or not, but I try not to, but I'm just being honest with you. Get out. Get out. Because I'm here to win.
Starting point is 00:55:27 I want to win. I want to be heavyweight champion of the world. I don't want to just win one championship. I want to be like Kobe and Jordan five and six and Korean. and Kareem and whoever else. I don't, Derek Jeter, five rings. I want to be the greatest. I want to be the best.
Starting point is 00:55:42 I want to be number one. I just told you, my family is not the most important part of my life. If I can't give that to them, I have to be the most important version of me. How? I got to be a winner. I need to go win, win at all costs. Break that wall down and go fucking win. That's how you determine what is the most important to you, how you decide who you hang out with,
Starting point is 00:56:05 how you live your life, how you go about your business. Wow. Fuck. You like me as a guest. I'm assuming you still like me as a guest. No, I'm, uh, you're giving me chills like seven times. I appreciate it. I can picture that scene, Rocky 2, whatever.
Starting point is 00:56:27 The other one I love is Rocky 5 when he's like, you know, it's not, it's not about how hard you can get hit. It's about how hard you can hit. about how hard you can get him. Be moving forward. Rocky 6. My children over and over and over again. Because I tell them all the time, like, like, like, like right now, because where they're at in sports, you know, there's 10 and 12.
Starting point is 00:56:50 The kids are all different sizes. There's kids that look like adults at 12 years old. And I tell them, dude, it's not about now. This is not when winning is done. Winning is not done at 12. Like become, go, go set the, become who you're going to be at 18, at 20, at 25 right now. This is where you set the, that guy right there,
Starting point is 00:57:12 he's not learning any hard lessons. He's twice your size. He's a foot taller than you. Of course he's better than you at basketball at 12. Go free to become the guy. Like, like keep, like, that's, that's a big part of where my just don't fall apart came from. What I take from that is like, it's the getting back up. That's the winner.
Starting point is 00:57:32 Yeah, 100%. He tries me nuts. When I see little kids. kids on a field because I coach and stuff. And today, these kids will like fall and get like a boo-boo. Like I have no better way to describe it than a boo-boo. And now it's, oh, and the parent comes out and the mom comes running out. I would have lost my mind on my mother if she had run out of the stands because I was on
Starting point is 00:57:55 the ground hurt. 100%. These kids are screaming for mommy. And I'm like, I look at my kids. I'm like, look, I know that shit hurt. I know it. You got two choices. It can hurt on the bench or it can hurt on the field.
Starting point is 00:58:08 Where do you want it to hurt? It's going to hurt either way. 100%. I feel like we just would so much rather, so many of us today, men in particular have been indoctrinated to be, let me just be hurt on the bench and then I can play the victim card and then I don't have to win because I'm going to get all the attention I want being the victim on the bench with the boo-boo.
Starting point is 00:58:31 But no one's going to expect me to win so I don't have to. actually do that. And that's why I think there's so much mental health issues, so many people dealing with all this confidence shit, like men aren't getting married. Dude, I read some stat that some the majority of men under the age of 24, 25 have not had sex in a year. Yeah. The majority. I believe it. What? Yeah. That's crazy. I know. I'm telling you. I don't know if you remember 24, 24, 25. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, man, I'm telling you. I know, it's crazy, yeah. It's crazy in what we're living.
Starting point is 00:59:11 So, all right, I want to wrap this up. I'm going to change direction, wholeheartedly. Go for it. We can land this ship in a nice way, although I'm sure you'll get me jacked up. I got you. Dude, I can't wait to hang and lead loud. Oh, yeah. We're going to line it up, no doubt, no doubt.
Starting point is 00:59:25 Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So speaking, right? Talk to me about, so you have all, dude, this incredible energy. incredible story. Now you're bringing it to the stage. Talk to me a little bit about like why speaking as a medium for conveying this message and what you're trying to get the audience to do.
Starting point is 00:59:47 And I'll just level set this last piece. There are a lot of people that listen to this show who book speakers. And I want more people to hear this story. And we talked about after the show on my help you get on some stages because I do a lot. I love what you're doing. Thank you so much. But talk to me a little bit about why speaking what it is and kind of.
Starting point is 01:00:05 how this is becoming a medium for you to deliver this message. Yeah, no, thank you so much for that. I appreciate it. And thank you for everything, man. I'm so glad to, you know, meet you first off. And I can't wait for next month also. I wanted to throw that out there really quick. But why speaking?
Starting point is 01:00:17 It's honest. It's because, you know, the guy that I was January 2010, 405 pounds, he needed the guy, he needed a guy someone to look up to. He didn't have that guy. The guy that I am now, that's the guy that, that guy needed. So anybody out there, if you're struggling, if you're suffering, if you're crying, if you're bleeding, if you're taking your shoulder and you're ramming it against that wall,
Starting point is 01:00:45 and you're ramming it against that wall, and you're ramming it against that wall, and it's not breaking, and you want to quit, and you want to fold, and you feel like, oh, my God, it's never going to happen. I promise you, it can happen, it will happen. Talk to me. I promise you, you're looking at a guy who felt the exact. exact same way that you are feeling right now. It truly just comes down to, you know, what is going back to the last question, what is important to you? If it's important to you, whatever goal,
Starting point is 01:01:17 whatever dream, whatever achievement, whatever greatness that you're trying to achieve, it's on the other side of that wall. It truly is. It just comes down. It stems from the fact of, you know, what are you willing to do? What are you willing to sacrifice? What type of work are you willing to put in because if you run away from that wall, you have no idea what you're missing out on. You're cheating not only yourself. You're cheating. Could be cheating your colleagues. You could be cheating professionals in your network, your friends, but most importantly, especially your family, right? You're cheating them because they're not getting the best version of you. The most important people that deserve the best version of you are you first
Starting point is 01:02:00 and foremost and your family right next to you. You have to believe that you can do it, man. I was 405 pounds. I was 27 years old. My doctor told me I was going to be dead by the time I was 40. To have my father pull me to the side of the road and make me promise him to take control of my health and my life because he was running out of time. I mean, that promise still lives inside of me. And yes, he died in my hands, not even 18 months later. He died. But as my wife reminded me, my promise never died and it never will. So going back to kind of wrap up the question, it's, you can be a wall breaker. I promise you. Is it hard? Is it tough? Is it probably the toughest thing you're going to have to do in your life? Yes, it probably is. I'll even double down and say it
Starting point is 01:02:52 probably will be the toughest thing you are going to have to do. Whatever that wall is, financials, relationship, weight loss, business, whatever it is. But when you get to that other side, it is the most magical feeling ever. You can be Jordan holding that trophy. You can be Tiger Woods coming back 14 years later, winning that fifth masters. You can be Kobe, Bryant, rest in peace, my guy, winning three championships. And it wasn't enough. All he heard was Kobe can't win without Shack. Kobe can't win without Shaq. It aid him. It bid his soul. But that was
Starting point is 01:03:27 the wall he had to go break. Finally, when he won that fourth championship, just him holding his wife and his kids and crying and letting it all out. It's like it was all worth it. All the beatings and all the court cases and everything he went through. And then he went on to win his fifth championship. So
Starting point is 01:03:43 it's worth it. It's just right now, you don't see it now and to kind of put a cap on it, wherever your rock bottom is, it is the best time of your life. I promise you it is the most beautiful time because like I always say, Rock Bottom is the most beautiful place to be
Starting point is 01:03:59 because there's nowhere to go, but up. Friend, where can people follow along with your journey? Where's the best place for them to go? Yeah, sure, no man. Thank you so much. So my Instagram handle at Rahel the Speaker, you can follow me there. And my newly launched website is kicking off any day now,
Starting point is 01:04:18 Rahel Speaks.com. So so fired up, you can find all my information on there. please book me to speak. I would love to come out to your organization. This is a drive, a passion, a fire of mine. I really want to help people. I really want them to understand that walls in your life are truly meant to be broken. And I really hope you give me the opportunity. And so grateful. I'm so blessed and so thankful and so grateful that my brother, Ryan Hanley, gave me the opportunity to come speak on his show. And I'm so proud of you and all of your accomplishments and your achievements and your achievements and nothing but the best wishes for you, your family. And it's an honor to meet you and be with you. And I can't wait to do this in person with you also next month. I appreciate the hell out of you, my friend. Thank you. We're out of here. Peace.

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