Win Today
Win Today is a performance enhancing podcast filled with actionable insights and inspiration to come out on top in life. Through captivating interviews and solo episodes, a powerful tool is created and given to listeners to be able to push through any situation in life.
Hosted by Ryan Cass, he delivers messages that align to his purpose of helping people establish a foundation for sustained success, break trends of adversity, and chart desirable courses for life. Win Today!
Win Today
#183 | The Inner Workings of Insane Courage & Lifestyle Design: Best Of 2024 Guest Mash-Up
Uncover the power of courage and choice in our latest podcast episode featuring inspiring stories from Garrett Gravesen, Eric Hinman, and Marcus Kaulius. Garrett shares the concept of "10 seconds of insane courage," a mantra that has propelled him to overcome self-doubt and embrace life-changing opportunities. His journey, along with insights from Ironman Eric Hinman and author Marcus Kaulius, illustrates how boldness and mindset shifts can open doors and lead to unexpected victories. Through their experiences, you'll learn how embracing courage can transform you from an underdog to a trailblazer.
Eric Hinman brings his expertise in lifestyle design, emphasizing the need to surround oneself with enriching people and experiences. Meanwhile, Marcus Kaulius, author of "Play a Bigger Game," delves into the power of choice, highlighting how maintaining a positive outlook amid adversity can lead to incredible personal growth. Their stories are complemented by a compelling tale of ambition and resilience, where sheer determination and courage lead to career breakthroughs despite the odds. These narratives remind us that courage, coupled with intentional decision-making, can pave the way to success.
This episode provides inspiration and actionable strategies for anyone looking to enrich their personal and professional life through the power of choice and courage.
Thank you for tuning in! If you feel led, please subscribe & share the show to others who you believe would benefit from it.
Keep in touch below!
- Join The Unshakeable Discipline Community!
- LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/ryanacass/
- Instagram | @ryanacass
And I was crushed. But then I realized this whole idea of I need to take my own advice, of these 10 seconds of insane courage and I said, whatever the next name on the list is, I'm going to go full Goodwill hunting on these people. One of my favorite movies of all time, where Matt Damon's in the bar and speaks to that Harvard kid with his famous dialogue, and I say I'm going to do that. I say I'm going to do that, like I'm going to do that, and I call and the lady picks up and I promise you, ryan, this is what I said. I said if you give me the next 60 seconds on this phone call, I promise it'll be a call you'll never forget for the rest of your life. And she starts laughing, right, and I don't even let her talk.
Speaker 1:I said I found Hong Kong one day on the other side of the globe. I did not go to Harvard, princeton, yale, dartmouth, brown, Columbia, mit or Stanford. I went to the University of Georgia. And it's okay if you've never heard of it, because I've already got you on the phone right now. Never heard of it because I've already got you on the phone right now, and that's what matters most. I go. I am looking for one cup of coffee and a conversation in person to tell you the rest of my story.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Wednesday podcast, a weekly resource thoughtfully crafted to equip people with tools to build and refine discipline, accomplish your goals, fortify your mindset and be of service to somebody in this world. My name is Ryan Cass and I'm your host, and every week, you will learn from either myself or a renowned expert in their field, where we will educate and inspire you and give away pieces of our winning playbooks for you to incorporate into your life. If you love the show, please hit the subscribe button, share with somebody who you believe will benefit from it and leave a rating interview so we can continue to grow and inspire more people in this world. We believe that everybody in this world is meant to do something great with their lives and we're here to play a role in that. Thank you for tuning in and let's win today.
Speaker 2:Gotta love a good mashup, folks, as customary. One thing that we're doing is still taking the best of 2024, as we're fresh into the new year. This is a mashup with three highly impactful guests from 2024. The reason why we create these powerful conversations is that so you can learn and so that you can grab at least one tool that you can add into your arsenal views with Garrett Graveson, eric Hinman and Marcus Collius, in that order respectively from episodes 174, 143, and 156. These are three things that really stood out that I believe are extremely relevant, especially at the beginning of the year. Quickly covering what you're going to hear from each of them. So Garrett Graveson, who you heard in the intro, what you're going to hear from each of them. So Garrett Graveson, who you heard in the intro, is actually somebody who has been to all 197 countries, is the author of an amazing book 10 Seconds of Insane Courage. He is going to show you how to get in the door and even if you believe you're an underdog, by taking 10 seconds of insane courage, and what that actually looks like and how simple it actually is. This is something that I often remind myself when thinking about how the heck am I going to do X, y, z? Just ask and take action. It doesn't matter about your credentials. Take the action, just ask. Have 10 seconds of insane courage.
Speaker 2:The next guest is Eric Hinman. Eric is well known in the wellness space and is an Ironman competitor, crossfit Games competitor and now High Rocks. He talks about the concept of perfect days and lifestyle design and building a VIP list, and that's something that I've been really focused on in 2025 is taking inventory of who are the people that I really want to be around the most and who are the people that I feel, when I'm with them, that I just want more time with them because it's so enriching, and really being even more intentional about sharpening up the circle. I believe this is something that's really important to take inventory on. And, last but not least, is my friend and brother, marcus Collius.
Speaker 2:Marcus and I worked together for a few months in 2024, he is amazing with the mind and getting people to understand the power that they possess within themselves. He is the author of Play a Bigger Game and also that's his mastermind community Play a Bigger Game. By the way, I have 23 copies If you would like one, I will be happy to give you one and we talk about the power of choice and integrity and also how to reframe things that you may deem as negative or not very useful. He is somebody that the quote worst of the worst could happen, and he'll still be smiling, and I believe that's something to keep in mind as we go through this year. We will face challenges, we will face obstacles, we will face unforeseen circumstances and having the right frame of mind is absolutely essential, and that's what you can gain from this conversation with Marcus. So if you want to hear the full episodes for each of them, in order Garrett Graveson 174,. Eric Hinman 143,. Marcus Collius 156.
Speaker 2:These are amazing people that I highly recommend you follow in 2025. That will help create an incredible year for you. Thanks so much. If you're loving the show, please share it with somebody. Please leave a rating and review so we can keep growing in this new year. Let's go. What I found interesting. When I first came across your story, I was like, okay, 197 countries. Your story I was like okay, 197 countries. This guy must have started when he was 10 years old and you mentioned that you didn't get a passport till later. You took the trip with your father. He was a huge inspiration. But the genesis for visiting every country in the world visiting every country in the world Start. Talk through that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so again, let's go back to the first country in the world. So I come from the small town of Ackworth, georgia, and here's an interesting thing If you ever find a globe, you can try this on your own. If you take a globe and you put your finger on Georgia and you spin it halfway around, on the other side of the world is Hong Kong. Okay, so when I was an undergrad at the University of Georgia, I was about to graduate and there was a scholarship for first-time travelers. I've never traveled, I don't have a passport, I'm going to apply, see if I get it. And I got it, and there were only two rules for the scholarship. One, you could go anywhere you wanted, but two, you had to get a job. When you got there, well, I put my finger on Atlanta, spun it around. Hong Kong was where I was going to go and that's where I decided to go for the scholarship.
Speaker 1:Now, I wasn't that smart and I wasn't that bright. My only idea was to have a backpack and the bold plan of buying a fortune magazine of the 100 best companies to work for. Two problems with that One is the same 100 best companies in America are not the same ones in Hong Kong. And number two it's very hard to get a job out of the blue, cold calling the 100 best companies to work for. That was my plan.
Speaker 1:I landed in Hong Kong and I had to figure it out. No going back, burn the boats strategy that you hear in all the leadership books. I was already there, one after another, after another, after another. No, no, not interested, they don't want me. I was crushed, but then I realized this whole idea of I need to take my own advice, of these 10 seconds of insane courage, and I said, whatever the next name on the list is, I'm going to go full goodwill hunting on these people. One of my favorite movies of all time, where Matt Damon's in the bar and speaks to that Harvard kid, you know, with his famous dialogue. And I say I'm going to do that, like I'm going to do that. And I call and the lady picks up and I promise you, Ryan. I said, if you give me the next 60 seconds on this phone call, I promise it'll be a call you'll never forget for the rest of your life. And she starts laughing, right, and I don't even let her talk. I said I found Hong Kong one day, on the other side of the globe. I did not go to Harvard, princeton, yale, dartmouth, brown, columbia, mit or Stanford. I went to the University of Georgia and it's okay if you've never heard of it, because I've already got you on the phone right now and that's what matters most. Already got you on the phone right now and that's what matters most. I go. I am looking for one cup of coffee and a conversation in person to tell you the rest of my story. And I think she said what's your name again and she was like, just because of how bold you were in your approach, I'll give you that cup of coffee.
Speaker 1:Turns out they had 10 MBA students take the job at Merrill Lynch that summer and one decided to go work for McKinsey like a top consulting firm, so they had one position available. They did not hire non-Ivy League kids but during the interview I went and met with a guy and he said that he had not gone to an Ivy League school as well and he loved betting on underdogs those with grit and persistence and resilience underdogs those with grit and persistence and resilience. And turns out this guy went undergrad. The head of equity research for Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong had gone undergrad to the University of South Carolina.
Speaker 1:Okay, because I was bold enough to have that call and crazy enough to get that interview. I got in there and we talked 30 minutes 30 minutes about finance and the rest about SEC football and he loved it and I loved it and, by the good grace of God, I got that job and I wanted to work so hard for that boss. I was the underdog. I knew I was going to outwork everybody. I knew I wasn't as smart as everybody, but I was going to do my absolute best to make him look good and he was the best boss I ever had. He cared about me as a person. He cared about me personally and professionally and every day, with my little paycheck from Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, I went to the street market and bought a brand new $1 tie to try to look professional and wore it to work the next day.
Speaker 1:And every single day he commented on my tie and noticed who I was as a human being and at the end of that summer and at the end of that summer he said I want you to always remember one lesson Always bet on the underdog, those with grit and persistence, that are bold and never stop being that underdog and never stop looking for those underdogs in life. Here's the best part. That was 23 years ago. 23 years ago. I still remember the story.
Speaker 1:I still remember that boss and earlier this year I got asked to speak over in Asia I do keynote speaking for companies around the world and I said you know what? I'm going to go back, I'm going to find my boss. I'm going to thank him for changing my life. He had no idea that I knew corporate keynote speaking. He had no idea I'd been to all the countries. He had no idea I'd written a book and, more importantly, he had no idea he was in my book as the inspiration that bet on me and bet on the underdog. And I gave him a copy of the book and I wrote him a message in there that said 23 years ago you changed my life and the power of anyone listening to this is every single one of us can do that for somebody or something. Right? I don't know about you, but my story is one of an underdog.
Speaker 1:Maybe, ryan, your story is an underdog. I think everyone at some point has felt like an underdog and someone along the way has helped us get to where we are today. No one's gotten here alone and we all now have the power to look out for that one person, or take that one call, or respond to that one email. Or, if you get that one random LinkedIn message, that goes in that crazy extra inbox where you don't even check it, respond to it next time. Pick up that phone call, look at that resume that may look a little bit non-traditional and give the underdog a chance, because it's changed my life, and I tell every corporate audience that you have the ability to change someone else's life. When you bet on the underdog, it's with grit and persistence and resilience, and it may just change your life as well.
Speaker 2:Golly man. And look what it started. With One phone call and 10 seconds of insane courage, you did what only 1% of any applicants would do, what I tell a lot of college students. Here's my quick story how I got into the corporate world. I ended up in a top rotation program at the Boeing company that. They pick about 30 students every year and they're all from the Cornell's, the UGA's, the big schools in the big conferences. And here I am the Citadel.
Speaker 2:Maybe, if you're lucky, people in the Southeast know what the Citadel is. It's a small military college and I knew that I wanted to be in this program, reached out to everybody that I could. On LinkedIn that was in the program because we didn't have anyone local in Charleston doing it. It was all in Seattle and St Louis, southern California, like all right. Well, just because no one's here doesn't mean that I can't meet someone else. And LinkedIn you can find everybody in the world. That's how I discovered you.
Speaker 2:I reached out to a guy, garrett, that I still, to this day, nine and a half years later, have never met in person, art Guerrero. And hey, art, I'm a junior. I'm a senior at the Citadel. I see that you're in this rotation program. I would love to know what I can do to become competitive for this program. And I don't know what Art did.
Speaker 2:But I got a phone call to go to Seattle for one night. And I end up in Seattle, washington, for one night to interview and there's all these people from all the big schools and the Ivies. And I get there and one of the hiring managers Mike Lawson, never forget him said are you the LinkedIn guy, love it? I said I sure am. And to this day maybe that helped a little bit, but I do believe that it helped get in the door, because no way was somebody from some tiny military college supposed to be in the room with all of the people from these big name schools. And it goes back to again you will never know the answer to an unasked question and you will never know the outcome to a quest that is never started. So true.
Speaker 2:So, true, you know, and sometimes it's literally as simple as the LinkedIn message or the making the phone call. I saw you. I've reached out to a lot of potential guests on LinkedIn. Some reach out or some respond, some don't. But we keep going and sometimes no just means not right now and it just means not right now, or you know what? It's another opportunity. It's another opportunity. Oh man, now you were out in Hong Kong and then, from what I understand, doing some homework on you, you realized that the investment banking career wasn't the life that you wanted to live, because you also had witnessed that there were people that were missing anniversaries and their children's birthdays, and you knew that you never wanted that to be you. And since you were already from small town Georgia all the way across in Hong Kong, I believe that's what then started the pursuit to some of these additional countries. Is that accurate? Yeah, and so my immediate boss was amazing.
Speaker 1:But like the partner at the firm, you know, mrs Wife's anniversary, four-year-old daughter's birthday same summer I'm there. And so my immediate boss was amazing. But like the partner at the firm, you know, mrs Wife's anniversary, four-year-old daughter's birthday same summer I'm there, and you can kind of see as you move up not always, but at least there I felt like I had. Maybe I could give parts of myself and my personality other than you know, give it to something other than just a spreadsheet and numbers and finance right. And so I'd made a little bit of money.
Speaker 1:That summer I was already on the other side of the world, called mom and dad and said, hey, instead of coming home, I do something equally as insane I'm going to actually go and spend time and do the complete antithesis of big banking and do the complete antithesis of big banking bright lights in Hong Kong. I'm going to go volunteer in Africa because I love giving back, I love doing charity. It's more of who I am as a human. But I didn't know. I didn't know how it was going to work or what I could do, and so I ended up picking Kenya and I didn't know how I was going to help.
Speaker 1:But the story was I go and volunteer at this orphanage 80 kids, no moms, no dads, no nothing. They can't even pronounce my name. This 10-year-old little boy comes up to me, looks me straight in the eye. He can't say Garrett, can't pronounce Graveson. I'm like oh great. He's like why don't you call me Gigi, my initials? So Gigi stuck that summer with all the kids. This little boy's name was Martin and as I was leaving that day he looked at me and grabbed the bottom of my shirt and he goes.
Speaker 1:Gigi, Gigi, everyone says they'll be back. Will you really come back and see us? No-transcript models? They need programs and assistance and they just need a little help, right? They're great, great kids.
Speaker 1:And so I came back from that experience in Africa, in Nairobi, kenya, back to the University of Georgia, back where I had left, and they said you had this crazy experience in Hong Kong matched with this thing in Kenya. We would love for you to be the graduation speaker and I said that's great. What the heck does that mean? They said it's you a microphone and 30,000 people and you get six minutes to share your story. I said, oh, boy. And so I wrote two speeches one that was six minutes, one that was clearly not six minutes, one that was approved by the university, one that was clearly not approved by the university, one of welcome congrats, good luck in life, and one of sharing the story about this little guy named Martin in Africa and how I want to start a charity for children just like him, across the United States to help with the quality of life of children with HIV and AIDS. I was going to call it Hero for Children how we all can be heroes for someone or something in life.
Speaker 1:And again, in that moment. What do you choose Courage or comfort? Courage or comfort. And I put the six-minute speech back in my pocket, pulled out the non-six-minute speech and started speaking my truth. And was I nervous or scared? Absolutely, there were 30,000 truth.
Speaker 1:And was I nervous or scared? Or to absolutely there were 30,000 people. And, like time stopped, a heart pounded and a stadium full of eyes stared back at me. I just started sharing and sharing about my journey and these kids and how we can all do something for someone else. It's bigger than all of us and I didn't know what was going to happen or how it was going to work and I laughed and I cried and so did the audience, in real time and, before you know it, 30,000 people stood up for a standing ovation and the speech lasted 18 minutes and no one complained. No one complained. And that speech that became a charity called Hero for Children, launched a movement with everyone getting involved, and we partnered with the CDC and Big Brothers, big Sisters, to create the very first mentoring program in America for children with HIV and AIDS. And last year we just celebrated our 20-year anniversary of that organization 20-year anniversary of that organization by having the 10 seconds of insane courage to give that speech at that moment in front of those people.
Speaker 2:I'm going to bring up the opening quote again because when I heard you say this on Creatures of Habit, I immediately wrote it down the ultimate measure of happiness are perfect days. You talk about living perfect days in lifestyle design. So someone thinking about this right now may think all right, what is lifestyle design? But, more so, how can I design my ideal life? What type of internal inventory should I be going through to create this ultimate sense of happiness and keep this stack in perfect days?
Speaker 3:For sure. I mean, everyone's perfect day is going to be different. Everyone has different glass balls they can't drop, so my perfect day is going to be vastly different than someone else's. But I mean, what allowed me to get to that point was making two lists making a list of all of the people, conversations, environments and activities where I was wishing I was somewhere else. I was wishing I was with someone else. I was wishing I was doing something else.
Speaker 3:So, for example, I was a member of a bunch of boards during that time period and I was specifically on those boards because I wanted it as this accolade on LinkedIn, you know, I wanted to look important. So, but during these board meetings, like I wasn't adding much value, I wasn't getting much value. I was doodling, I was, you know, thinking about other things, about other things. And then, you know, fast forward to the triathlons and these Wednesday night triathlon clubs I was going to, and my training sessions with super positive people, and then the conversations I would have with with them after it, or the conversations I would have with people after hitting a CrossFit workout. That's when I was just completely in the moment. I felt like I was getting value and giving value. They were in environments where I felt like I was surrounded by other like-minded people.
Speaker 3:So I started making that list of I am completely present, I am in flow state.
Speaker 3:These are the environments I want to be in, these are the activities I want to be doing, these are the types of people I want to be around, these are the types of conversations I want to be having and I mean it wasn't overnight that I was able to change from one to the other, but slowly I was able to weed out a lot of the, you know, energy draining activities where I didn't feel like I was in alignment, and I was able to start building my life around all of these presence-based activities, people, conversations and environments where I felt like I was in alignment with how I wanted to live my life.
Speaker 3:And I mean the ultimate move was when I moved here to Colorado in 2017. And you know that really switched up my environment, which also switched up the types of people I was around. It switched up, you know, my access to activities that I enjoyed and it just made it easier. So I always tell people that the easiest way to switch up your life is to switch up where you are. I always tell people that the easiest way to switch up your life is to switch up where you are.
Speaker 2:Discipline is a key component of this podcast and a key thing that we preach. We view discipline as the fuel to help you create the life that you ultimately desire, and discipline being the fuel that gets your habits and systems in check so that you can actually accomplish your goals. If you're looking to level up in 2025, I am happy to be a part of that and encourage you to join the Unshakable Discipline Mastermind Group. This has been my baby for a couple years and we're finally launching it here in 2025. The group consists of a self-paced course that teaches you how to form core habits and mindset that will allow you to accomplish your goals. A daily accountability channel to keep you on track, motivated and in alignment with our members, and weekly mastermind sessions where you're going to learn from either myself or a suite of renowned guests many who have been on the podcast that are going to share pieces of their winning playbooks directly with you. I've learned that being a part of groups over the years has helped propel me to so many new levels in life. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, then go together, and it's my wish that the Unshakable Crew is a choice that makes sense for you in 2025. We are growing up to 100 members this year and have limited time founding member pricing for 12 more folks before we permanently increase pricing to $97 a month. You can get in now for $67 a month, locked in for life, and be a part of the adventure that we're creating with our members. If you're somebody that craves discipline, seeks it or wants it this year, and you're really committed to making lasting changes in your life and being around others that are committed to winning and serving the world and sharing what they learn with others so that we make this world a better place, then join the Unshakeable crew. Go to unshakabledisciplinecom and you can sign up. It is also in the show notes Unshakeable shake, as in milkshake, unshakabledisciplinecom, and we're excited to have you in 2025. Let's go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, your environment has a, is a plays a key factor and, as you mentioned, the type of person you want to. You started focusing more on the type people you want to be around. Fitness continues to come up. I read one of your blogs from 2023 and you introduced this concept of making a vip list and something you started doing in your 30s. So so I'm curious what's the criteria of your VIP list? Is it simply someone who is hyper-focused on wellness, fitness and boom they have a chance of being in the circle? Or are there other things that you're really looking for on that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it's people that aren't in my environment. So it's going to be people that are in, let's say, la or New York, or you know my, my past life in Syracuse. You know people I'm not interacting with on a regular basis that I want to interact with on a regular basis, but I'm very much in the moment and I'm very much a product of my environment and very much like in my environment. In reality, I'm not great at maintaining relationships outside of my current bubble. So I made that list because these are people that you know I, over the years, had amazing conversations with. I learned from them, they learned from me, we grew from each other and ultimately, the sum was way greater than the parts, and it ranges from entrepreneurs to athletes, to someone who's just super passionate about something where I had a great conversation with them. So that's what that list is. It's just people that I don't want to lose track of, because the sum is just so much greater than the parts lose track of, because the sum is just so much greater than the parts.
Speaker 2:I love that I have a binder that I made when I started setting goals in 2011. I call it my success book, and so every set of goals from 2011 to now 2024 is in there, and then also every quarter, I have an appreciation section where, as I meet people throughout my life, I'm like damn, looking back, I am not a product of myself. None of us are. So who do I have to thank and who is ultimately responsible? Who do I want to keep around? And you made me think about that list, and now I get to go update that here soon. I haven't touched it in 2024 yet.
Speaker 2:And another thing on lifestyle design we constantly evolve. Now it would surprise me to hear you say that you envision something for your life beyond being a champion for fitness and wellness and continuing to work with small brands and build them up and host people. But you also you still host or conduct quarterly audits. In another blog you mentioned that there's six key questions you ask yourself, but talk through your quarterly audit, the importance of that and how that plays into this lifestyle design and where you're going.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, I think reflection is super important. Just, many of us are inundated with our day-to-day, myself included. I have tons of obligations, I have the things I enjoy doing each day and I allow very little time for just downtime to kind of work on me instead of just the day-to-day grind. I do try to do like an hour of mountain biking, 90 minutes of mountain biking every day, where I call that my moving meditation. That just kind of resets my nervous system and resets my social battery.
Speaker 3:But it's not really a long enough time to dedicate effort to, you know, real reflection. So I feel like on a quarterly basis, just taking a step back and, you know, asking yourself am I thriving? Am I, you know, still in the environment that I want to be in? Am I interacting with the people I want to be interacting with? Am I progressing? Are all things that are super important to reflect upon on a regular basis.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, again, just taking time and scheduling it into your calendar, just like you would schedule in your workouts and schedule in your meetings, like schedule in this reflection time, so you can make sure that you're still in alignment, because you know we all live various chapters of life, because you know, we all live various chapters of life and I think it's very rare for any of us to live one chapter. I think most of us, you know, we live out multiple chapters because we change over time. We want different things over time, our passions and purpose change over time. So I think it's important again to just be like am I living the chapter I want to live, or is it time to, you know, end this chapter and start writing a new chapter?
Speaker 2:Have you ever had since your transformation, eric, and since really committing to this, have you ever had a, an audit or reflection when you're going through this exercise that's made you realize something that you didn't in the present moment? Like you're, you're sitting asking yourself these questions and as you're looking at it present moment, you're sitting asking yourself these questions and as you're looking at it on paper, you're thinking, holy smokes, I had no clue that was in me. Or holy smokes, we need to make a change here.
Speaker 3:Oh, definitely, yeah. I mean, especially towards the end of my Ironman years, there was a good one-year period where my ego was still attached to Ironman, where being in this small city that was my identity and I felt like I had to continue doing it because I was known as this high-level Ironman triathlete. People were rooting for me and I love that, but ultimately I was starting to skip races. I didn't really enjoy the training anymore. I was just super burned out. I was, you know, going through the motions 25 hours a week training and I had made so many sacrifices during that time period. So I mean, that was a really hard period to to be like I don't really want to do Ironman any anymore. I really want to start living my life in other ways.
Speaker 3:And I tried going right into CrossFit at the same level and I just kept getting hurt and you know that was affecting my ability to train, which was affecting my energy levels and my mood.
Speaker 3:And finally I got to this place where, you know, I'm like I just want to feel good day in and day out and that kind of led to the perfect days chapter where I realized like I just want to live good day in and day out and that kind of led to the perfect days chapter, where I realized like I just want to live perfect days and exercise is a huge component of that and I can inspire others to do that. And you know that is my new passion and purpose that I am going to live with Um. But those two years from 2014 to 2016, where I was leaving the sport trying to get right into CrossFit you know, still having this identity as a high level athlete and just constantly battling with what is my passion now, what is my purpose now, if I'm not this elite triathlete anymore and you know I'm not going to be this elite CrossFit athlete in a one year period, you know who am I.
Speaker 4:So the people who go the right way are the ones who go. Yeah, this is a challenging time, but it is what it is. Let's find out a solution. But 99 out of a hundred people go. Ah, this is too difficult of a time, this isn't right. This shouldn't be happening. No, I can't accept this. So this idea of acceptance everybody, it doesn't mean you have to agree with it. So this also absolutely pertains to the baggage that you're carrying with your life. Most people can't move on from it because they don't accept it. So, no matter what has happened to you, you need to accept it Again, you don't have to agree with it. You don't have to go. Oh yeah, it's so great that my parents divorced. Oh yeah, it's so great that this trauma happened to me. But if you can say, yeah, it happened to me. And now, what am I going to do about it?
Speaker 4:You are going to free yourself, to grow, to become the person you're supposed to become. So just accepting it going this is where we're at.
Speaker 2:This is the reality of the situation. Now what, amen brother? We're talking through things that are in your book. You're a newly minted author. Play a bigger game. Let's cover one of the seven principles that are in the book. What's the one that you know? If, if, if folks only read this one principle, and, and, and I want you to read all seven folks, but if they, if they just skipped a one, which one would you want them to?
Speaker 4:see.
Speaker 4:Oh man, that's. That's really tough. That is like having seven children and being like you get to save one. Which one? I think I'm going to reach for choice. I'm such a big believer in choice, and choice changed my life. So the principle around choice is this If you can learn to recognize that absolutely everything that's happening in your life is your choice, that can change your world dramatically. Now, of course, you're right away.
Speaker 4:The skeptics are like what are you talking about? I didn't choose to have that car accident. I didn't choose to have this trauma. I didn't choose this or that. Okay, if I'm right. What if? Just answer me that question. What if I'm right?
Speaker 4:And what if it was a choice? How could you peel it back to a choice? What would that look like? So much of what we have going on in our lives? It's like, well, okay, my health is failing. I guess 10 years ago I could have started eating healthier and exercising. Okay, there's one choice. That's awesome. And of course, my next question will be well, what would you like to do for the next 10 years If that was a choice that you could have made? What if it's not too late? What if you made that choice today. Now what if you looked into every single aspect of your life and said how can it be true? Here, what you're going to find is choice after choice after choice that can change everything today and that really excites me, and my life has been putting this into practice. I am just a product of these principles and how I live in this. Whenever I face anything I go. What choice led me here? What choice can get me out of this?
Speaker 2:no-transcript. Up every day. You wake up every day that someone listening wakes up. You have a choice to make on how you're going to show up. I believe it's easy to wake up. Let's say it's raining outside or you had a flat tire, the dog threw up, the kids are screaming. You have a choice in those moments. Okay, this non-ideal event is occurring right now, but you can still choose. You know what. I'm going to choose to come to this conversation with Marcus and be joyful. And I'm going to choose to come to this conversation with Marcus and and be joyful. And I'm going to choose to go to the office today and and smile and be happy. And that's the the conversation I usually have with myself in the mornings. That even if something again going back to the what we said good seasons, seasons there's days that things aren't going so hot but I still tell myself all right, ryan, you have a choice right now, before you even go into the office how you're going to show up for people. Talk through that a little bit more man.
Speaker 4:Oh, please, I love this, ryan. That is the mindset right there. Everybody rewind it back three minutes. Go over this again. You have the choice every day on how you show up to this world.
Speaker 4:Now, part of what work I do every single day on myself and the people that I spend my time with, the people who I work with, the people at Performance Coach, the people in my mastermind I work on this factor every day and one of the thoughts I want to put in people's heads is what if you showed up every day as your best self? How much bigger of an impact would you make on all the lives all around you? Who would you be saving? Who would you be changing just by showing up as your best self? Now I want to tell you the next level of thinking here, which really excites me, because this is the stuff I was learning as I was growing up and I was growing into this. I was like, yeah, I want to show up as my best self. But, ryan, you and I have already talked about oh man, but there's so many things that are going to fight me every day from showing up as my best self. What if I could put in a whole bunch of habits that made it so it wasn't even a choice anymore. Let me pre-make the choice, so that I'm going to have an amazing day and, on the flip side, what habits can I take out of my life that made it more likely that I was going to have crappy stuff? If you apply that principle, your world, it's inevitable. It's inevitable what's going to happen.
Speaker 4:Success leaves clues. One plus one equals two. Every single time. If you do this consistently, you will get this result. So I'm going to give you some really quick ones, so really quick, actionable items. Try them immediately.
Speaker 4:Every night, before I go to bed, my next morning is already laid out. I know everything that's going to happen in the morning, so there's no choice. When I wake up, my clothes for my cardio session are already picked out, because you know what. When you wake up, what should I put on? Today? That becomes such a bigger decision than it needs to be Should I wear this or this? And all of a sudden, you're 15, 20 minutes in. But guess what happened in those 15 to 20 minutes? You also checked your phone. Ah, crap. Okay, give me a minute, I'm going to. Just I got two emails. Ah, no, oh, social media oh no, what An hour went by. Two emails Ah no, oh. Social media oh no, what An hour went by. Now I can't even do my cardio. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. My clothes are already there, my water bottles are already ready.
Speaker 4:I am on my treadmill within six minutes of waking up and I've just made a couple of choices and I've ordered some things. It's going to take that down to four minutes. That it's going to take that down to four minutes. That's how serious I am about getting on that treadmill. On that treadmill, I am in cardio mode. I'm getting blood flowing, I'm getting clarity happening, I'm in prayer, I'm in gratitude for all the amazing things all around me.
Speaker 4:And, one of the most important things, I have not let my phone. I am not letting my phone dictate the kind of day I'm going to have. There is no good news on your phone in the morning. So why are we checking it first thing, before we're prepared, before you've put on your armor, you've already let some weapons stab you. Don't do that.
Speaker 4:Make a commitment to say this is how long it is before I'll check my emails, before I'll check social media, before I do any of that stuff. You have to make that commitment and you have to stay. You have to say this is a non-negotiable, and you do that every day. You won't believe how quickly you transform. Now, because I've got my cardio in, because I've had my time in gratitude, my time in prayer, I am so focused and ready for what comes at me. So now, when I check my phone, I'm ready. I will be dictating the day. I have not the phone. What a difference. Look at that. That was less than 30 minutes, less than 30 minutes into the day, and I am prepared to have a way better day than what I could have had. Look at that.
Speaker 2:Winning today started yesterday. Yes, and for people that are listening right now, if you want to win tomorrow, it starts tonight, this morning, right now, right in this instant. The last thing I do every day two things. Before I leave the office, I always print my calendar for the next day and then I write down what are the three things that I'm going to do tomorrow. So when I get in the office tomorrow, I'm not scratching my head, because here's the thing.
Speaker 2:Here's the principle that I have for life, personal and professional eliminate guesswork. How do you eliminate guesswork? Write down what you want, build a plan. Lay out your clothes the night before, just like you said. I come downstairs every day. The first thing I see is that goal board. There's never a what am I? What is 2024 success? Look like it's right there and it's the most simple thing. And everything you said, Marcus. Yes, it requires a choice, but it is simple. It requires no calculations, nothing. We have choice. One more principle, One more principle. Pick one more. Pick one more, Because I want people to actually get the book and dissect all seven of them themselves, but if we get a little sneak peek, of one more principle.
Speaker 4:I love it. You know what I'm going to choose one that ties into choice and it ties into everything that we've been talking about. It's integrity. Integrity is a word I love talking about it. It's a it's almost an old-fashioned word now because people don't use it enough.
Speaker 4:Integrity has so many meanings, but the one I want to focus on is are you being the person that you want? Are you being the person that you're supposed to be? Are you being your authentic you and I mean all the way authentic. And part of what integrity means is there are some conditions, there are some rules that you need to start reapplying to your life. We've allowed our integrity to slide in ways that we had no idea we were doing it. So I'll tell you one of the first ones every single day, where people break their integrity and it changes the course of their day, and it's usually about three seconds into waking up, they hit the snooze button.
Speaker 4:The snooze button is the first chance to prove that you're a person of integrity. By hitting that snooze button, you've broken the first agreement that you made for the day. You said you were going to wake up at this time and you didn't. You said button, you've broken the first agreement that you made for the day. You said you were going to wake up at this time and you didn't. You said, ah, you know what. All agreements are negotiable. Here's what happens the rest of the day. You're subconscious all day. When you say hey, I said I was going to eat healthy today, your subconscious goes yeah, yeah, yeah, but remember everything's up for negotiation. Remember the snooze button this morning. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but remember everything's up for negotiation.
Speaker 4:Remember the snooze button this morning? It's not a big deal. Oh, we're going to go to the gym. There's so much going on. Do we have to go to the gym? You've already slid.
Speaker 4:Now, I'm not saying this to guilt you. Please, people hear this. As a man who loves so much. I love you so much. I don't care if I don't know you. I have so much love and so much mercy for this human condition.
Speaker 4:This is not coming from a place of. This is why I think you're a bad person. Furthest thing from it. This is actually the reason I love you. I love you because you are facing the same decisions everyone else is making and, unfortunately, by these issues that we just let slide every single day, and it has molded us into the people we don't want to be.
Speaker 4:So all I'm trying to do is draw your attention to it. To go what if tomorrow, you said here's what time I'm going to wake up? And then you wake up. What's so beautiful about that? You now have this the rest of the day to look at. To go hey, remember that contract I made this morning. I did it. I said I'd wake up. Then my yes means yes, my no means no.
Speaker 4:I am a person of integrity. There's my proof and all day you can look at that. And by the way, just in case that wasn't enough information for you, on the snooze button. The snooze button is actually called the dream killer for a reason. It ruins your sleep so bad. It disrupts your REM cycles. It disrupts your sleep cycles, it screws you up. So do not think you're doing yourself a favor. You're not. It feels good only in the idea. Like I have control over this, I'll take 10 more minutes of sleep. Take the control the night before. Set the alarm for when you want to set it. For Now, be in control of your integrity. That is going to make for a special day.
Speaker 2:And that's powerful. And if we go back to the scoreboard we talked about, there's an easy way to put a win on the scoreboard within not even a minute, not even one minute. You can start racking up that scoreboard and then you put on the clothes that you laid out the night before Now we're up two to zero. You make the bed Now we're up three to zero. You do your workout we're up four to zero. It's like there's so many little things we can do every day that then let's say something doesn't go our way that day, or maybe even a couple of things. I highly doubt that. Let's just say you build in 10 to 15 small wins and you go for your walk. Man, if the score is like the bad things have to go against a 10-0, 10 to zero man, I highly doubt that you're going to lose many days.
Speaker 2:Oh, man Will you guys listen to the brilliance of what.
Speaker 4:Brian is talking about. This is how successful people talk and think, but most of us overlook it wasn't that big of a deal. I just did this. It is a big deal. Put it on the scoreboard because you are 10 and 0, 15 and 0 before you even started your day. And, yeah, one bad thing, who cares? It's 15 to 1. I'm killing this day, so look at that here's.
Speaker 2:Here's a real live example. Folks that Marcus and I have just been racking up wins in this conversation, we're. I think the score might be 100 to zero and your internet went out. Here you are. You're back again.
Speaker 4:Dude, we're up 100 to one. Doesn't even phase us, doesn't even phase it. I love it, brother. Dude, that idea of keeping that scoreboard, that is life-changing stuff, thank you.
_pp.JPG)