The Meat Mafia Podcast

Full Audio
===

[00:00:00]

doing

things in your day to day life that create and enforce friction

will teach you how to

run towards friction

the way that I'm trying to live my life

is if I'm at the gym and I'm like

the last thing I want to do is 25 pull ups

I'm going to just go run towards the bar and do 25 pull ups

if I don't want a cold plunge

I'm going to do that

if I don't want to help you on the investor deck

I'm going to just try to do whatever I can to help you with the investor deck

and I'm not anywhere near perfect at it or even good

but I've just noticed that

the more that I've done that

it just causes this amazing chain reaction in these other buckets of your life too

Oh, Labor Day, the holiday where you work twice as hard. You have to, this is the, this is separation season. I love holidays. It's the best. We're getting in the fun part. Second half of 2024 fall, officially September. The good start to the year. I feel like you and I are both just [00:01:00] feeling this sense of really understanding where we're at in terms of the timescale and just.

wanting to make everything happen, but not feeling rushed and it just feels so good. Well, you literally can't make everything happen. You basically have to pick your two to three things and then go, go all in on those things. Otherwise you're just going to spread yourself way too thin and just be a master of nothing.

Yeah. Which is, I think Just early, early founders problems that like most people run into. It's like they just try to do everything we've run into it. A lot of friends that we know have run into it, but the beauty is just being able to course correct and figure out how to fly the plane a little bit smoother every single time we, we, uh, you know, wake up and start getting after it and have more conversations and better communication.

It's like, you just start seeing everything come together. Yeah. I think you're forced in the beginning. I think you should spread yourself too thin. because it actually lets you like lay out all the pieces of the puzzle fields. And then you should see what [00:02:00] those few things are and get hit with signs of it.

And then just like push it, those things as hard as possible. There's um, I love, that's like, I think one of my favorite things that you say on a regular basis is Early on you should you should actually spread yourself too thin. Yeah, especially I think the nature of how we went about doing things It was like we just had a big mission big goals We still do but it's like I think Really seeing where the opportunity is and just putting as much volume and effort into a few things that we think could be big Yeah, there's that Jordan Peterson quote, you know, it's what I'm talking about It's like figuring out where your extremes are.

Yeah. That's what he says to men in their twenties is that you should basically push yourself past your limits in your twenties and then hone in on like that, that correct limit for you. I love that. Yeah. I feel like you've been on, uh, I love doing these podcasts. There's taking a step back like you and me solo.

I just feel like there's so much. Creative juice between the both of us that we want to get out there. And so many different things we want to talk [00:03:00] about in this arena of like us, just being able to sit down for an hour, hit record time out of the day, just like debrief on things that we're thinking about would be so valuable for us.

And hopefully people listening can appreciate kind of where we're at and like just kind of getting some insights into different things that are happening in our lives and also just different perspectives that we have on businesses, health, faith, all the different things that we like talking about.

Yeah. Um, one of the things that I wanted to go deeper with you on today is I feel like you've gotten really sharp recently on just the concept of time in general. Mm-Hmm. and just feeling intimately close with the idea of pa the passing of time. Yeah. And I'm curious where that comes from and why you've really gravitated towards that recently.

Yeah. It's a good question. It's a loaded question, but it's actually pretty simple. I think we talked about it. On last week's episode, but turning 30 for me, I know for the both of us, it's a really weird [00:04:00] paradox where I think you should look at it as you are entering a new decade and like this new generation where a lot of changes are going to be happening, especially in your thirties in terms of.

Going from solo, single to ideally starting a family, being married, you know, allowing these businesses to blossom, impact a lot of people where it's like you're entering this new large decade of your life where a lot of amazing changes happen in your thirties and then also the paradox of you have a lot of time and I think oscillating between those two things is really impactful and I think we, we talked about, uh, the carrot and the stick level of motivation, how there's two ways that you can be motivated.

And I think they each have their place. And I think that in the beginning of our journey, I think the carrot was incredibly motivating and it still is incredibly motivating. Basically painting this picture of what you want the next six months to a year to three years to five plus years to look like. I think that's incredible.[00:05:00]

Meditating, preying on that vision, being able to see it, visualize it, taste it. Ultimately experience that version of yourself before you come into that version of yourself. And then I also think right now, I think the stick is also really motivating to, you know, Jordan Peterson's future authoring exercise, where he makes you make a list, on the left side of a chart of all the decisions you're doing wrong and telling yourself where that's going to lead in 10 years.

And on the right hand of the side of the chart, make a list of all the right things you're doing or the things that you could be doing, and then depict what that's going to lead to in 10 years. And so I think in some ways. Turning when I, when I turned 30 in June, I kind of, I had this feeling of, there are so many amazing things that we've done that I'm, we'll always be proud of.

And then individually, there were a lot of things that I'm very proud of. And there were also a lot of things that I wasn't proud of. And I had this feeling internally that I was real, I was, I almost felt like I was living on borrowed time, where if I kept doing the things that I was doing, [00:06:00] um, like at a certain point, you're going to have to pay the piper.

And so, it was almost like a switch kind of went off, um, July 31st to August 1st. Where I was like, I feel like there's so much September 1st, August 31st to September 1st or, um, yeah, August 1st to August 1st to today, basically like the day before the month started with trips challenge, it was kind of like that was my Snapping moment, I would say, where I'm like, I don't want to leave this month or the rest of the year feeling like there's a lot more of me that's locked up inside because of the choices that I'm continuing to make.

So it's kind of that, like, it was really the frailty of time or the lack of time. Has been incredibly motivating to me where it's like, I do think there's a really long term time horizon and everything is going to work, work out the way that's supposed to in an act of faith, which I think is beautiful.

And then coupling that with showing up every day and every [00:07:00] week, actually doing the right things that you're supposed to be doing to help that outcome come into fruition. And for anyone who's listening, the last month for you has looked like waking up early, dedicating yourself to the gym. Dedicating yourself to a list of, and we can put this in the show notes, just a list of things that are non negotiables and committing to those day in and day out.

And what I think is a unique reflection is seeing how quickly things can change.

You posted a tweet, I think it was today of your before and after from beginning of month, end of month, 31 days separated those two people, but in your own words, totally different person. How does it feel leading into a new month?

Do you think that you're going to. Continue to carry that momentum. Yeah. I hate, I I'm at the point where I almost feel weird talking about it because I still feel like I'm such a tadpole in this journey, but maybe talking about it will give like added skin in the game and added accountability, but. I just feel like there's so much good [00:08:00] upward thrust and velocity and acceleration happening.

I'm really, uh, my, my big motivation is like HPLT, the event that we talked about last week that we're doing with Brian Mazza, it's going to happen November 14th through the 16th. And I remember where we were last year being incredibly excited, incredibly transformative weekend. And then at the same time, this like insecurity I felt towards the event, because when you show up, it's like 30.

unbelievably fit dudes that are all successful. A lot of them have families and have really dedicated themselves to the gym. And at that point last November, I felt like I wasn't necessarily maybe In terms of like the show, some of the businesses, et cetera, I was checking some of those boxes, but in regards to fitness, nutrition, sleep hygiene, just these very basic things that are such big levers.

Like I didn't think I was checking those boxes. So my big motivation right now is to get to that weekend, like feeling like I couldn't have done [00:09:00] any more to prepare. Not that there's that much weight and significance around it, but I just like. creating these like arbitrary goals or almost like mini races to really work towards too.

Dude, I think it's so huge. Like having, um, having something that's two or three months out to constantly be working towards gives you that artificial finish line that you can then just reset in a few months. But if you don't continually do that, you're kind of oscillating in this no man's land of training for, you know, You know, life, whatever, but that's not directed enough.

It's not targeted enough. There's not enough pressure from a time perspective to make you really take those leaps that you want to make.

Yeah. Yeah. For me, it's always been, I think that we look at the word disgust as if it's a bad thing, but I think particularly for men.

getting disgusted with yourself is actually a step in the right direction.

I think there has to be this like visceral feeling within that ultimately compels you to change. That was really big for me in [00:10:00] 2017 when I saw a picture of myself on July 4th after like just binge drinking my senior year of college, being sick on all this medication, weighing 210 pounds, which for me is a lot of weight to be carrying.

And just seeing all the like the inflammation in my face and realizing Oh dude, you're actually a coward because you look up to David Goggins and Jocko Willink, but you don't actually do what they're telling you to do. You're really just like a theorist. You don't actually, you don't apply those things to your life. And I had a very similar feeling in July, dude, where.

It's, it's kind of embarrassing to admit. And that's also why I think people should take everything they hear on podcasts with a grain of salt because you sometimes don't know behind the scenes. But I remember just looking at myself in the mirror. I weighed myself on the scale one morning in July. I was like 204 pounds.

I was not eating great. I wasn't sleeping great. I was like barely going to the gym, like skate. Like maybe I would go to the gym four times a week, but I wasn't doing what I should be doing. And then I was also drinking. [00:11:00] four to five bottles a day of this health health tonic in quotes called feel free, which is a Kratom concentrate in cava drink.

That's marketed as this wellness beverage. And so when you drink it, the recommended serving size is half a bottle. So when you drink it, you feel euphoric. You feel like you can do everything. You feel free.

The problem is that Kratom Kratom is labeled as a health product, it activates the opioid receptor in your brain.

But like a lot of other things, we've kind of bastardized it. And we've created these concentrates of creatine that are way powerful than the actual leaf in Asia is supposed to be. And so these bottles, you just feel so good where eventually you're like, Oh, half a bottle feels good. Let me try a full bottle.

Then a bottle half too. You know, I was drinking like four to five bottles of that stuff a day, essentially living off of borrowed time and borrowed energy. And I just had this moment where I just, I looked at myself, dark circles under my eyes, like losing my six pack, not super motivated to get up in the morning.

And it really reminded me of that [00:12:00] 2017 feeling. And I was just like, it was just that, um, that snap of like, I'm going to go from feeling. Really Low like probably one of the lowest I felt in the last couple of years to being like, I'm not going to leave this year without feeling incredibly proud and in the best shape of my life.

And that's just what's fueled me.

Was it more of a physical disgust or emotional? The physical probably manifests in the emotional because I think all of us know deep down that Like God has created us to have so much potential to the point where it scares us. It's like what pastor Scott says, how he's created you for his plans are so much bigger than your own.

I think that's really how he creates us to be as children. And a lot of times listening to the wrong people, making the wrong choices, it just kind of manifests. But the beautiful thing is it's all of this stuff is eventually your, it's ultimately your choice. Like if you want to be an incredible shape.

You can get new, [00:13:00] incredible shape. If you want to build a great business, you can build a great business. The question is just, do you want it as bad as you actually want it? Or do you like saying you want this thing?

Like, are you actually living in a delusional fantasy or are you actually like, do your actions reinforce what you're saying?

You know? Yeah. That's why it's like even me talking about it. You know, I'm a month into this thing. Like I feel like a novice in a lot of ways, almost like an imposter. And so I do think that saying things out loud is, is a great form of accountability. But at the same time, I just want to continue to show, show through my work.

And the reason why I'm verbalizing this with you is I'm sure that there are people that are listening to this that feel like there's so much more of themselves that are locked up with it inside of them. And you can literally, while you're listening to this podcast, make the decision to transform. Yeah.

I think We should put this conversation in a box after we leave this room and, and almost pretend like it didn't happen for your own sake, because I think there's something powerful that happens when you're in the transformation mode where you just, [00:14:00] you shouldn't even talk about it. Definitely. You know, it's that feeling that you just want to.

Grind and carve out that true image in your head of who you want to be and get to that point and not even have spoken a word about it. Yes. So I respect you for opening up and talking about it. Cause I know where your heart is and you just want to just grind through it. Um, but I do think there's a ton of value for people and just understanding that, you know, one at the beginning of the month, you're talking about the fact that you're feeling like a less than version of yourself and, you know, You know, that's just like a terrible feeling in itself.

So being open and vulnerable about that is important for people to hear. Um, even like, you know, you have businesses and you have a podcast and you know, there's a lot of great things in your life, but you still have that feeling. Uh, and I also think that too, you've shown that in a very short period of time, everything that you wanted to change was right there.

Definitely right here, right here. Yeah. And look, it's, it's been a month and the, I think part of the purpose [00:15:00] of talking about this is like. You know, just a, a small fraction of that is, you know, I was 204 or 203 when I went on the scale July 31st and then yesterday it was 189, right? So it's like 14, 15 pounds, whatever that is.

And it's like, that's enough to realize that literally within a second or a day or a week or a month you can transform.

And that word transform is something I've thought a lot about because I think we hear a lot in society. And you're like, Oh, that would be really cool. But I don't know if transformation is actually possible.

I think we actually think about transformation as marginal or percentage driven improvements of I'm operating at 58%. I'm going to go from 76. That would be really good. But I'm talking about the type of transformation where when you don't see someone for four months or six months and they see you again and they're like, dude, who are you?

What, like, what happened? Are you taking who's coaching you? What's give me the whole playbook in that, in that power is within all of us too. Yeah. Yeah. I see this [00:16:00] version of you and a few months, like maybe heading into the holidays where you're actually tapping into what you saw yourself being when you started this whole process of becoming an entrepreneur, which I think is just the ultimate self development tool.

And I think through the process, you realize how weak you are, but also how strong you are when you get your. Footing under you and you really see the truth and the line of truth that you need to follow. Um, just consistency. It's a truth. Yeah. Like if you're not consistent, you're never going to make it to places that you want to go to in business or, or, you know, in fitness.

So yeah, I think just this version of you that you've tapped into in the first month is just this baby, as you said, tab tadpole that can compound September, October, November. Into something that's going to be like a totally different version of bright. Definitely. Yeah, even like the the side by side picture [00:17:00] of July August 1st to yesterday You know, it's like the man on the right is very different than the man on the left my goal for September 31st is for the guy on the right to be able to kick The guy on the left's ass and I think that's a I don't know I think it's just a good mental model for a lot of people to have yeah

How do you How do you approach the rest of the year in terms of just setting, setting expectations for yourself and goals?

Is it month to month, like literally just get, get me to the end of this month and then I'm going to reassess. Or is it like, I have a large goal for December that I'm trying to hit for everything. I do have a large goal for December. And I'm wondering if I should say it on the pike. Don't say it. Don't say it.

I have a huge goal in December. You don't even know about it. It's a physical challenge. And so that's obviously really motivating, but I almost, I'm almost starting to think like day to day, to be honest with you, where I'm like, Hey, I woke up it, you know, I set my alarm for [00:18:00] 4, 4, 4 a. m. And I snooze twice. So I actually got out of bed at 4 15.

Maybe I can. What can I do to put myself in a position where when the alarm goes off at four tomorrow? I pop out of bed, snooze it, and then I'm up and shower and go to the gym or like, Hey, I kind, I was doing good deep work, but then I got sidetracked. I was scrolling on my phone for like 25 minutes. You know, those are 25 minutes.

I can't get back. What can I do tomorrow? I'm almost thinking about these things day to day. And then even like moment to moment. And that's one of the really cool things is that throughout the course of 24 hours, you have so many moments that pop up that can reinforce the person. that you want to become or they can kind of tear away from that too.

Like dude, even just small wins in August of like, Hey, I really wanted to eat this, but instead I stuck to this like meal prep service that I got for myself or, Hey dude, I really wanted to just sleep in and not go to the gym cause I only got four hours. But, um, I ended up just like getting up showering. I started off really slow, but by the time I finished, it was a great like hour, 45 minute workout [00:19:00] and they seem like small things, but small things can actually be really big things in the grand scheme of things.

Those are the 1 percent wins that it takes a certain level of personal accountability to work through those because there's such microscopic little changes. But even the 25 minutes that you could get back this morning. I'm sure you. Probably think back at those 25 minutes and it's like, what, what were you doing in that time period?

I literally did the same thing this morning, so I'm thinking the same thing. It's like I had 25 minutes there in the morning and sure you can give yourself some grace, but also what was that 25 minutes originally planned to be? And why did I want to set my alarm to begin with to wake up at four? Um, and I think coaching yourself through that is really challenging.

Are you, are you, Coaching yourself through that, just leaving it in your brain and kind of like mentally walking yourself through that. Are you keeping some sort of log, like writing this stuff down? Well, I, um, there's, there's two ways to answer that question is like, number [00:20:00] one, I've been keeping a really small journal in the morning and at night, which is part of trips 80 Y challenge, which we'll link to in the show notes.

So you just write one word in the morning that kind of defines the way that you feel. And one word at the end of the day that defines the way that you feel. And then normally that one word will. extend to like a few different sentences. I'll typically turn into like two to three different sentences. And the reason why I think that's powerful is that I think those, we were talking about this with your routine, the first 15 seconds of the day.

holds so much power. And I think the biggest thing you learn by waking up early is like not letting that tiredness or the way that you feel define how the rest of your day is going to go. Like for some reason, I don't know why this morning I just felt friction when I was at the gym where I was like, I don't even know what I'm going to do.

And I was like, let me just start off slow on the rowing machine. And it ended up turning into like a great like 45 minutes session, you know? And it's like, you just [00:21:00] like find that one thing that clicks, but you just have to start and the gears start churning and they start to go faster. So that, that journaling has been big.

So that's a little bit more of a self coaching thing. And then the second piece is working with uh, executive coach Chris Lieto, who's been on the podcast, working with him has been amazing. And I think a lot of what he's doing is to He kind of cracked me open in the beginning and showed me all these things that I was exposed to at a subconscious level that are affecting the way that I'm acting.

But then now he's starting to, and I've only been doing this for two months, so I have a long way to go, but there's a lot of self coaching in that as well. So if like certain thoughts or emotions or feelings pop up instead of just letting those emotions run rampant, I'm starting to backtrack of like, Hey, why, why did this thing upset you?

Or, Why are you acting emotionally in this situation? Um, and so I'm seeing snippets of that throughout the day, but I think hiring a coach and the good ones are probably going to be more expensive, right? Cause they're not going to give up all this knowledge for [00:22:00] free. Like having that skin in the game and it wasn't the most comfortable thing financially to be like, Hey, I'm going to pay this amount of money for this guy.

But it was just this, this, I really liked that his teaching is rooted in Christianity, which is amazing. And then, um, he's where he's, Got a really good blueprint of the way that he lived. He's lived his life. High level pro athlete, great dad started supplement businesses, stole, sold supplement businesses.

There were just a lot of boxes that were checked, but more importantly, it was just this gut feeling of like, I really think that. This guy has this skill set that can help me level up to the next level. And then, okay, worst case I do it for three months. It was 4, 500 down the drain. I'll still learn something for that.

And I can confidently say within the 60 days that I've worked with him, you know, he's probably worth like 10 times that price because he's so good at what he does. How vulnerable did he get you early on? Oh dude, so vulnerable. Just like, but that's, that's the beauty of coaching is that you're, you're, you kind of hold the key.

To [00:23:00] unlock where you want to go in the matter is it's up to you to decide, like, do I want to turn it and twist it and like, go all the way and share these things that maybe I've never told anyone or one person before. Maybe they just sit with me and God, or am I going to be really vulnerable and do the work that he assigns afterwards to unlock all the fruits of that coaching?

One of the things that you shared with me early on, whether you're coaching with him was, just addressing all the skeletons in the closet and really just violently and viciously going after the things that make you really uncomfortable. How has that process been for you? I'm sure it's not easy, but have you found that It was just a lot of mental friction and not real.

Like, I think we, when we have things that were kind of allowing to steer our lives subconsciously, we think that there's a lot more power there than there actually is. Um, and I'm wondering if that was the case for you, where you kind of diagnosed this stuff, [00:24:00] saw how it was impacting your life and you've kind of disarmed them, um, with just showing, like bringing them into the light and just putting, giving them the attention that they need.

Um, Because I know even for myself, like there's definitely things that it's like, you know, when I've, when I put things into the light, whether it's like really being honest about how things are going with certain things. Um, or you know, whatever it is, it gives it so much life. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think to start to answer your question, I think what I've learned is we're all really married to the image of what, how we think others perceive us to like the first time I met Chris, I met him at our coach Natasha's house and we just hit it off and had this great like 30 minute conversation that ultimately led to coaching.

So in that. small snippet. We didn't really know each other, but I was like, I love the fact, you know, I think I was subconsciously attached to the fact of being like, Oh, this guy's, you know, he builds brands in the health and wellness space. He has a marketing agency. He has a supplement company with [00:25:00] his best friend.

He does this awesome podcast that gets X amount of downloads a month. But if I share these like skeletons in my closet, is he going to just think that I'm like fucked up just like everyone else? Is he going to think less of me to win a reality? It's like by you sharing those skeletons, It makes you vulnerable.

It makes you relatable. And it also makes you really powerful too, because you're no longer like locking those things into that little black box and letting them grow to be bigger and bigger. And by me being vulnerable, he's gotten vulnerable with me and shared some really personal things too, which makes him much more relatable as well.

But at the end of the day, if you just get, if you're just stuck to that image of how you want other people that perceive you. There's no growth in that and it doesn't mean you need to broadcast these things to the world or put it on a billboard But I think there's a lot of power to admitting the things that are bothering you because other people are probably Struggling with them too.

So you get to help them and then selfishly. It's also freeing for yourself, too [00:26:00] Do you see these topics of spiritual warfare? What sense I just see shame as this You Tool that the devil uses to keep you right where you are in terms of who you could possibly be as bread under. And so the way I look at it, and I think it's probably the, the way to look at change and with the least amount of friction and most amount of upside is that we're looking, I'm looking at you as a physical body, having a spiritual experience, and there's just parts of your spirit that get buried by emotions.

And I think the devil is. keenly aware of wanting to keep you holding on to some shame and guilt. And this is not you, you, this is everyone. And so I'm curious, do you see it that way? Well, I think the devil like intimately knows what those sins are. And so the longer you just kind of lock [00:27:00] those things in a box, they just continue to grow and wait.

And you define yourself for these past sins. And you know, I noticed that there were certain sins. Um, post baptism, but definitely pre baptism that I was holding onto, and it's a really stupid construct because if you believe in Christ, you basically, we've all been given this gift that we really don't deserve, and he loves you in spite of those sins, and that's not an excuse to be a not great person, but at the same time, like, We are fundamentally sinners.

Like we're born with original sins. So just continuing to harp on those things that you did in the past, um, particularly before you found Christ or even after you found Christ is really stupid because we're just going to continue to make mistakes. But it's about, can you learn from those mistakes and can you, Continue to show up and iterate and become a better version of yourself.

Right. It's like Paul's like the ultimate Testament to that. That's why he's so relatable to people. Guy literally was killing Christians and he wrote two thirds of the new Testament. Like if [00:28:00] transformation through him is possible, like it's possible for anyone. Totally. Yeah. You hit the nail on the head with just, you know, we all have these, we've all fallen short of the glory of God.

But the eternal gift of life is God's free gift to us that we have access to legitimately at any moment in time is for believers and nonbelievers that if you're dealing with any sort of shame, guilt, doubt, anything like that. There's life that can just be given to you just by putting that stuff on the table.

And like, I think that's, that's like an every, every person, every denomination can, can share in that. Um, you know, but I, you know, I think that looking at it through the Christian lens, which is our belief is that, you know, you can go much deeper with, with Christ in that relationship. Yeah. And I think doing.

Things in your day to day life that create and enforce friction will [00:29:00] teach you how to run towards friction with some of these fears and these sins are these things that we don't tell anyone either. Right? It's like, The way that I'm trying to live my life is if I'm at the gym and I'm like, the last thing I want to do is like 25 pull ups or something like that and break it up.

I'm going to just go run towards the bar and do 25 pull ups. If I don't want a cold plunge, I'm going to do that. If I don't want to help you on the investor deck, I'm going to just try to do whatever I can to help you with the investor deck. And I'm not anywhere near perfect at it or even good, but I've just noticed that the more that I've done that, it just kind of causes this amazing chain reaction in these other buckets of your life too.

It's all, it's all connected. So I'm just like, God can hear you screaming for that extra 1%. When you do those actions. It's like, it's like there's a whole fleet of people cheering you on. Like, yep. Like, yeah, here he goes. He's gone for more. Yes.

Is there anything that you've learned about being a godly man through Chris?

It's a really good question.[00:30:00]

I think, I don't know if this is necessarily being a godly man. Maybe it is. But I think just the way that he. continue. I'm just amazed at the way that he continually shows up for me. And I feel like the more like he wants to make as big of an investment as me as I'm willing to make it myself through the coaching process as well.

And I love the fact that there have been multiple sessions where he's just like kicked it off in prayer and just had these like beautiful, heartfelt, Words of encouragement for me and it's just like this really awesome, like olderly brother connection. I almost feel to him too. And I just, I don't know. I admire him for being willing to go deep and vulnerable and admit his own flaws.

And I just see this like incredible theme of just self improvement and just wanting to show up to be the [00:31:00] best man that he can be for his, for his family, for his athletes. It's um, it's definitely admiring for sure. Do you get a sense that he shows up like that for everyone? I think that he does. If you're willing to show that level of commitment to yourself.

And I think if you don't, I also think he's really good at being honest and accountable with you too. Like a good example of that is every week. He makes you do pretty in depth assignments, which, and that's really where a lot of the gold is, are these journaling sessions and these reflections that he gives you in the form of prompts.

And so he wants those sent to you at least at least two hours in advance. And so I was noticing that the first couple sessions, I was really curious. I was, um, really towing that two hour line, but I would tell him that I was going to send it much earlier in advance. And so he wouldn't just let that go.

He's like, dude, it's, it's not a big deal either way, but I'm just telling you. Your word is saying one thing and then your action is showing me another thing. So like, what's the [00:32:00] benefit of you doing this? And if you're doing this to me. How many other people in your life are you doing this to? So there was like some really good honest reflection of like, your word has a lot more power.

Your commitment has a lot more weight than you realize. And so I think just being a really good, honest and accountable friend is just, you need more of those people in your life. A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. There's something about having someone just speak the truth. Um, we've both been there at moments for each other with that, but it's just, When you can speak to God's honest truth into somebody's life and they just hear it the way it's supposed to be heard, it can change someone's entire life.

Definitely. Um, have there been, have there been any visions that you've had for yourself that you mentioned there's a big fitness goal for you in December, but any visions on like the potential that you really have as a person, like things that you want to get more out of, go deeper on [00:33:00] with him? I would say it's more of, um, I have just this vision of being there in like December of 2024 in really checking, like, just really thriving in the big buckets of my life that are important to me.

So feeling like I'm closer to God than I've ever been. Um, feeling like. we're pushing each other as equals as business partners, like the best that we've ever been being extremely accountable, feeling like I'm the best boyfriend that I've ever been, the best son, the best shape of my life. Just, and I think that all of these things are possible too because it's a really simple bucket.

Um, but just this feeling of like what does that life actually look like? look like and feel and um, it feels like it's really close, which is exciting. It doesn't feel far off or distant in the future because I know that it's just these simple things done well day in and day out. They just bear massive fruit over time.

It's just like [00:34:00] this stuff is, it's so simple and it's just, it's not easy. And I think we all instinctively know the things that we should be doing. That's why you hear of these like crazy. Weight loss stories or these entrepreneurs that just decided to, they just like had this snap one day and they went from like a flagellant company to a multimillion dollar company.

Like I think we all, if we sit down and journal, we really know those crucial things that we're putting off that we need to be doing. And if you just run towards that list, the transformation that you have is going to be amazing. It just typically if it works and it's potent, it probably sucks to do, which is why it's so hard.

A hundred percent. What is the best version of you? Come December look like hmm. I think that version of me in December is like being a really fierce Servant of Christ and not just checking the boxes, but feeling like as I'm going throughout my day I'm in constant communication with him [00:35:00] and praying to him and leaning on him and making decisions around the aspect of like Is this decision furthering the kingdom or is this really like selfish or egotistical?

I also really want to get comfortable at praying in public because I love to speak. I love to public speak, but there's just something about praying where it's like, it's almost like a cat gets my tongue, which is really counterintuitive. But I think there's a lot of people that probably feel that. And I have this vision of just being like, Delivering really heartfelt prayers to people that need that, whether that's at church, whether that's during our personal lives.

Um, and then just like outside of that, some of your Instagram posts, just being automatic at all these other things, just like loving the feeling of waking up at 4am, having all my meals dialed in, knowing the critical deep work tasks that I didn't need to bang through, just building great relationships, being like intensely passionate in those conversations.

And just like, Just enjoying these, like, simple things and just being uniquely [00:36:00] myself, too. I think that's the power that God gives us, is the power to step into our true authority as, you know, who Brett Ender is supposed to be. And, as you were talking with the, just the idea of you praying over people, like, I see your words being a well of life for other people.

Just, people look up to you so naturally. And they respect you instinctually. Yeah. It's just people, people respect the way that you operate. Um, and I know the way you interpret that can be different based on how you're viewing yourself. But like right now, I think that like, you've been treating yourself in such a way where like, I think you're generally genuinely proud of the product that's, that's on the table, but there's so much more growth to come.

So I'm excited as your friend and business partner to see you step into that role of prayer, first praying. Daily with God and just having that communication, but then also praying for other people. I'm curious with the constant prayer. There's, I think there's [00:37:00] a little bit of a, maybe a misconception around prayer in general, that, and this is one that I had such like prayers, just like praying to a genie or like, you know, a magic eight ball where it's like, can I have, it's like Santa Claus, you know?

Yes. Um, I'm curious kind of how you've deconstructed that over time to what it is now to you, which is. Just you speaking to God throughout the day. Yeah. Well, I think part of where the fear comes from is you, you hear some of these amazing people pray in public that might have a deep relationship with the Lord for two decades.

Yeah. And it sounds like he sounds like J. Yeah. You just hear this eloquence and like certain terminology and vernacular. And you're like, I think you get this imposter syndrome and you feel like you need to work that vernacular into it. Yeah. And then some of the best. Most powerful prayers I've heard are people that also from some people that are really early in their spiritual journey that are having this very just like simple but [00:38:00] profound conversation with God and speaking those words into existence too.

I don't think it's that dissimilar from when you're starting a podcast and you try and make yourself sound a lot more intelligent than you really are, especially with the guests. Yeah. And it's like, dude, and if you just talk, really openly and honestly in your correct terminology and explain things like you're saying them to a five year old.

There's a lot of power in that too. And then I also think just like really praying out loud even to yourself, there's just a, there's a big difference. It just, I don't know, it just, I feel like it just crystallizes my connection to God more. What do you think? Yeah. I mean, praying out loud was something that I dude, I think the first time I prayed out loud with a group of people around was in Natasha's small group.

Scott just called me out and I. Remember how terrible it sounded. Cause I was one nervous to didn't know what to say. Three was caught off guard. Yeah. So it was like, it's like the trifecta for saying nothing of value, but the, [00:39:00] um, the discomfort was what led to just, just one showing up to those small groups, like ready to pray, but then to understanding what prayer actually is, which is you just expressing what's on your heart.

In the moment to God. And if you don't have anything on your heart in that moment, wait for it to come. And I think that's been a lesson for me in life, which is now, if there's time to speak, if someone's expecting you to speak and you don't have anything to say, you don't need to fill the space. Yeah. Um, you can, you can keep it short and sweet.

Yeah. Um, which. I think it's powerful. It's like, God's not looking for you to, to give the Gettysburg address every time he talks to you. Sometimes he's just looking for like a, Hey, what's up? You know, like, Oh, I need you. I need you. Yeah. Um, dude, I mean, think about how powerful it is just to pray to God that you need them and [00:40:00] how few words you need to say in order to, for him to hear the dependency that you're placing your relationship on with him.

Um, Versus some long thing that makes no sense. And it's just kind of like word vomit. See, I think I need to deliver the Gettysburg address every time. That's the problem, but it's good. Cause yeah, I don't know. There's just, it's just iterations. Like I draw a lot of inspiration from our friends here in Austin who are just honestly, like spiritual warriors, people who have seen some crazy stuff.

And you know, one of those people is Cole. And I, one of the things I admire most about him. And I think it, you know, I don't, I don't know how comfortable he would be with me sharing this, but like, I think it's a brilliant strength, but I think he also stumbles with it sometimes where it's like, he's really, um, brief and I think it's a superpower and I think it's legitimately how God wants us to be.

But I also think there's lost moments where it's like, he could [00:41:00] maybe Teach or extend more to like give more of that insight. But, um, that might be an overshare process, but you know, I, yeah, I think just, um, yeah, God wants none of our words to be empty. Yeah. He wants them to be fully packed. Yeah. It's also just at a certain point you have to bite the bullet and do it.

Otherwise you're just going to keep thinking about it. Yeah, you're saying thinking about praying in public, like I think a lot of people that struggle praying in public or like, I wish I was good at it or like, or like, they're like, Hey, does anyone want to pray? Close this out or open us up. And you're sitting there being like, I should do this, but you let fear overcome you.

And that's the worst feeling. It's a, it's a feeling. It's a good reminder for anything is I don't want to do anything where I'm like, I let fear overcome me in that moment. You're making me feel well. This morning. So we're part of that group on Thursdays. There's a, it's a men's group. Um, there's a component to it that is a challenge for each week.

My challenge this week was to pray over somebody in public. [00:42:00] And this morning I was getting coffee and someone, it was like the most teed up print, like opportunity to talk to them. And she had a sweatshirt that said like something on, what did it say? It was like, what a gift we have in Jesus. Hmm. And I was like, perfect.

Like I don't need to go up to some random person who I don't know whether or not if they're a believer or not and ask them if I can pray for them. Um, I totally just dropped the rock. So I was, I was dealing with some of that, that, uh, feeling, which I think is such a good feeling actually is like knowing you should have done something and knowing that you're going to act on it because the way you felt in the moment of like dropping the rock.

Yeah. It makes you pick it up in the future. Yeah. And you still have three, we have three days, two, three days. Yeah. So maybe I'll pick up an extra one and do two. You're loaded on time. Yeah. Yeah. Um, anything else you want to cap this conversation off with? No. We touched on a lot. Just, [00:43:00] just feel really driven right now.

And, um, I'm excited to recap this and let over the next, Like in December towards the end of the year and just see, like, do my words bear weight? Do the actions show up? And then ultimately, like, just what, like what does that feeling of being all in what kind of fruit does that ultimately bear? Because I feel like we're, we're, we're right at that cusp.

And I just hope that, um, if there's anyone that listening that does feel like they're struggling with some of the similar things that I was struggling with this summer or even beyond that, or earlier than that, like literally, And in a breath, you can change every fundamental aspect of who you are. And it might be small.

It might be going to the gym for the first time. It might be taking a 20 minute walk. It might be eating, you know, chicken breasts and broccoli instead of McDonald's. But like that one decision, that little ember can literally burn into an inferno. And um, I don't know, we just have so much potential, dude, and I just hope that we all unlock it.

And I think that's really the secret [00:44:00] to, uh, to success. Fixing everything that's going on is more people tapping into that feeling.

Dude, it's so, it's what you're saying. The words you're saying just have so much power and they sit so heavily with me. Like I have this vision in my head of just, just the word trailblazer and trailblazing to me is what Jesus did to a T.

And I, I believe that right now there's a lot of people looking for paths to walk on. And I just fundamentally believe that. The courage it takes to walk a different path takes, it takes an immense amount of courage to take those steps, but the people that end up finding the path to walk on just purely through one person's courage to take that step is immense and it's massive.

And even if it's just one extra person walking that path, it can have a huge impact. Yes. Um, that's literally what Barnabas did to Saul. You know, as you said, [00:45:00] like he turned into Paul and wrote two thirds of the New Testament, Barnabas laid down a path for him to come and join the disciples and become a leader in the church, the new church.

So I just, I think trailblazing is something that is just sitting on my heart where it's like, we need more people who are willing to take risks, to be courageous, to stand up, to let their voice be heard. Cause there's not a whole lot of people out there who are, Not just talking, but truly acting behind it and making those changes happen.

Yeah. I don't know if there's a better place to should we pick a topic for for next week? I feel like you have something I don't I don't We could leave it on that, but let's pray on it this week. Let's do it. We'll pray on it and we'll come back with a good topic for this week. I appreciate you, man. I appreciate you, um, asking those really good questions and just being a great friend and leading by example and just very grateful for the whole experience.

Dude. So I [00:46:00] appreciate you so much, man. Let's keep it going brick by brick. Love you, bro. Love you, dude.