The Meat Mafia Podcast

Part 1
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[00:00:00] Should we hit it? Let's do it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

When you talk about coaching people to double and triple your income, I couldn't think of a better proof of concept than you yourself.

It is a very peculiar thing that i'm doing that you have three jobs It's not a really sustainable way to stay triple employed.

Here are five steps I took to go from 80k to 390k in a single year.

I spent a year interviewing 200 interviews, probably 20 iterations of my own resume.

It's definitely helping these people learn how to tell a story with confidence of what they're capable of.

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Do you find with clients, them not making the money that they want to make is a limiting belief?

Yeah. 99 percent of the time.

I think what has been so proliferated for our generation at is, "Corporate will make you depressed and sad and you need to run a business rooted in your purpose if you want to be happy in life".

And I was hardcore bought in on that for several years, and it took that aha moment to be like, "Oh, I can still have those passions, but I can also still have...

Delaney, my brother, what's happening? Excited to be here, guys. This is [00:01:00] fun. It's gonna be great. So you shaved the mustache? I did, man. I was just saying, Harry's got the stache game now, and can't be two guys walking around with staches all the time, you know?

So that's like Austin in a nutshell. I feel like everyone's like barefoot and has a stache. I did it before it was cool, and now that it's cool, I'm like, okay. You guys started the trend for sure. Exactly. Is that how you connected? Both of you guys? Over the staches? I think that's what it was. At Squatch, both shoeless made eye contact, and like, I don't know who he is, but We're bros.

Well, I remember we had like a period of just like sauna sessions where we had great combos. And I don't think we actually properly introduced ourselves, but we just have great combos. Like you're working on no talks. Yep. And we just kept talking. I was like, who's this guy? Like he's the man, he's gonna, he's gonna be one of my boys.

And so we eventually, I think broke the chasm and actually introduced ourselves. Exactly. Yeah. It's been good. It's been great. Like getting to know you, understanding what you're all about and uh, just like seeing the progress. I think we must've met. Two years ago, something like that. Yeah. Yeah. Two years [00:02:00] ago and just seeing like what you've been working on, like going from no tax to all this stuff you're doing now with the coaching and helping people kind of optimize and get, uh, those high paying jobs, which I'm sure we'll talk about, but it's just been cool seeing you go through this progression and sharing.

What seems like is just like this amazing system that you've built for yourself with other people. Like, I don't know, there's some people who enter the coaching world and I feel like they're. You know just coaching because they don't know what else to do But you've like found this like beautiful calling what you're really capable of actually being able to provide for other people So I'm pumped to dive into this one.

I think it's me a great combo. Let's do it So you you were particularly excited about having Delaney on what was it about Delaney that got you really pumped for? First time on the show. Well, I mean, I think I said a little bit but like you're one of these people that I appreciate Just like in the Austin world there, I feel like there's a lot of people that stand out, but you stand out to me because you You protect your time better than anyone.

Oh, you're very good at like staying your routine I [00:03:00] think with our show we obviously talk a lot about nutrition, but We kind of dive into like why people should focus on nutrition to begin with which is you know Nutrition is the backbone of a great life and if you're treating your body correctly Then you can go on to do great things and I think this podcast will be a great example of like Those great things that you can go on to do So I was pumped just for that like there's so many things I want to pull out of this conversation for myself personally like selfishly knowing that you've kind of gone from, I think this is probably an old sauna conversation, but you know, when you first got down to Austin, maybe not being fully dialed in to really dialing yourself in.

So maybe some context, just like backstory of how you, you know, when you first got to Austin, what were you up to? And then how have you gotten to where you are today? Yeah, for sure. Appreciate that. So health and human optimization and cognitive optimization has been really important to me for about like five or so years now.

So even coming to Austin, it was a priority for me. It's crazy how you can focus so heavily on one thing and it still takes you like five years to figure it out, [00:04:00] honestly. Um, but yeah, like, backstory wise, like, big part you're in college and in high school and there's a lot of, like, family stuff there, too.

And just always had a ton of anxiety, really low energy levels, just, like, things were really painful for a really long time. So, really in that, like, deep pain of, like, just operating on a daily basis was really challenging for me. It had me searching for answers. So everything from spirituality to health and fitness, like really just looking for answers wherever I could find them.

And, you know, started with finding the Ben Greenfields, the Tim Ferriss's, um, and whatever it is just about my psyche or personality, like systems and structure is just what helped rein me in and over like stop partying so much. Yeah. work on my sleep. And it was like, you get those little hints of things are getting a little bit better.

And again, over like a five, almost 10 year period of time at this point, but just for me, it's just been constant iteration of those things. [00:05:00] Um, and yeah, I got to Austin 2021. So it's been about three years now at that point. I was working in the corporate world and I'm sure we'll talk more about that as well.

But that was just to pay the bills. I was really passionate about health and wellness and had made a lot of strides in my life. So I was, my side hustle at the time was human optimization coaching and it was going decently well. Um, but I think for me, what was challenging and I still was not at a place where it was perfected for myself.

And I don't think there really ever is perfect. But. I was finding myself so burnt out based on the way I was running my business that I was getting so out of integrity with the things that mattered most to me. And that was around the time when I met you guys, I was building and working on a mobile application, um, you know, was kind of churning the projects I was working on for a little while there.

And what I think is really interesting is like now that our new business model is working really, really well, and I'm sure we'll get into what it really is, but we're helping people scale their personal [00:06:00] income, learning how to use AI and. outsourcing to land more interviews, more opportunities, and then automate those jobs so you can really like grow your income.

Um, but it is really fascinating when I reflect, because I've, I've invested a lot in my own like blood panels, things like that, working with ways to well, and like literally how much my hormones have changed and all that stuff. Like, I don't know that I would be where I'm at on the business side of things right now if I hadn't invested literally, you know, tens of thousands of dollars into my health over the last 10 years or so.

Wow. So it sounds like there were some lifestyle habits and systems that you implemented in your mid 20s that kind of helped you clear past that darkness that you were in in your early 20s. Can you touch on what some of those things were that really helped move the needle for you? Yeah, for sure. I think some of the earliest tools, journaling was one of the first ones that really helped me cultivate some self awareness.

And are we talking broadly or like? Yeah. Just health focus. Either, either one. Okay. Yeah, we'll do a little bit of both. That's the first one that pops into my head because I was like, I think without self awareness, it's really hard to make any changes. So for [00:07:00] me, I had bought a journal and told myself I was gonna do one thing out of my comfort zone every week for the year and just like write it down and that was kind of random and not really gonna solve the core of my problems.

But the fact that every week I was sitting down and like writing things and reflecting and checking in is is a Feedback loop that is really important to me still today, and I think All that's happened over the last five or ten years as a result of that being one of them. Yeah Yeah, I just I think when I when I think of health mentors not that I even necessarily know personally but Ben Greenfield is someone that I resonated with from an early age on this journey and just Looking holistically at sleep probably the biggest thing was cutting out alcohol and like not getting blackout drunk till 4 in the morning Yeah, doing hard drugs like it's amazing.

Yeah, that's 80 20, you know cut that out but just you know working out more and taking that more seriously and finding more passion and excitement from like physical activity and I Know [00:08:00] you guys resonate with the concept of just like the awesome dopamine you get from a good workout and friends being on the trail Getting out into nature and for someone who's like so Addicted to those kind of dopamine hits from the party lifestyle or whatever those can be a really great I found them to be a really great replacement and they're now addictions that I have but they're healthy.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing What you what can happen when you steer that that level of like focus? I mean, I guess you're not really focused but when you are putting so much energy towards Partying staying out late and you actually like reclaim that and start putting into the things that give you similar levels of dopamine hits But they actually feed you and give you that energy It's huge exactly and you mentioned journaling like that's something that Brett and I have both tapped into At different periods of our life that have been a huge needle mover just in the sense of raising awareness around The foods we're eating and how they're interacting with our body but also just like So some level of just like relational awareness like okay So you woke up at 8 o'clock and you went for a walk and you got in the Sun and then the rest of your day Was [00:09:00] just absolutely perfect.

Okay. So how do you actually tie that back to creating that into a sticky habit? I think journaling is one of those early habits that if people are actually looking to catalyze change It can be that thing that makes it really stick because you are going through the process of being like, okay, like pen to paper, I'm going to put this thought together and like, try to connect some dots of that.

Yeah. And I think it is so valid because you can be intuitively making changes, but if you don't have that feedback loop where you're checking in or documenting it on a daily basis, it's so much easier to see. Trends in the data or just how you feel? Definitely, definitely. Delaney. How old were you when you felt like you started to make progress when you were implementing a lot of these practices?

24. 25. 24. 25. Yeah. I would say I like 24 was the year it all started. Yeah. And kicked off, but it was at least a year till I felt significantly, like I had made a dent, you know, a lot of like cyclical, trying, failing, trying, failing. But a year later I was like, okay. We're on the right path. Yeah. Part of why I was asking that is I was telling you before we hit record that we, uh, we had a [00:10:00] podcast with Solbrah earlier today.

And one of the most powerful points of the podcast is he was talking about his own journey kind of like prior to him becoming Solbrah. And in Australia, he kind of hit his mid twenties and realized like he was doing the consulting thing for a little bit. Corporate didn't work out. He was working like a job as a nightclub bouncer and realizing that, He kind of flashed forward 10 years into the future and realized if I continue on the same trajectory, I don't really like the version of myself that I see in 10 years.

And it was almost like the scariness around him pissing his potential away was kind of what was the catalyst for him to get his stuff together and start creating content online. And I think that's a really powerful thing, especially as you, even as you hit your mid 20s, people start to view you less for like the potential that you have in your early 20s.

And they kind of start to see you as like a fuck up a little bit for lack of a better term. And I think that's actually. It's a good thing, like, that scariness should motivate you a little bit. I'm just curious, like, if those thoughts were things that were going through your head that maybe could have been a catalyst for you to help clean yourself up too.

Yeah, for sure. And for [00:11:00] me, there's like a very, very specific moment that was like night and day decision in my brain, like, this is not okay anymore. So my father, great intentions, but hardcore alcoholic and like definitely a big influence in my life. And. Having that childhood and then being in that party state and like doing it and I could carefree fun way Mm hmm.

There's a very specific night about a year after college where? Black out drunk to like 4 or 5 in the morning cocaine Woke up and it was just like crazy surreal feeling Very spiritual experience where it's like a voice outside of myself was like There's no soul in your body right now And if you don't make a serious change something really bad is gonna happen to you And it was just this, like, meshing of awareness that the path I'm on is horrible, like, gonna really ruin my life if I don't make a change.

And it's not just carefree. And I had no answers. I wasn't religious or spiritual at the time, but I went to church that day because I was like, I don't know what the fuck to do, [00:12:00] but it's not what I, it's not what I did yesterday. So we'll try something different. Um, so I think just having that more challenging childhood has made me, like, question and have more awareness and really think through the, implications of my decisions, but also I think once I did carve out all the things that were numbing me, I was looking for purpose and I was looking for something to excite me and light me up.

And, you know, I started several businesses right around that time that all completely failed because I had no skills, but from that place of more space in my life, cause I wasn't giving my energy to all these things that didn't serve me. It was like, okay, what will give me purpose? And it is a lot of those things.

And spending more time journaling and reflecting on where do I want my life to go? What do I want when I'm 50, 60, 70? The answer to those questions definitely has driven me to work on the things I'm working on now. I'm sure climbing out of the numbness probably felt amazing too. And even though those businesses didn't work out, it probably felt like you were alive for the first time in so long [00:13:00] too, right?

Cause you get that dopamine hit of like, there is progress. I can turn myself into someone that matters too. Yeah, absolutely. And I think so grateful for it. That being like the first edge of these people speaking online and podcasts and content on YouTube that Did motivate and inspire me and make me believe that I could have a different life.

Mm hmm, and it was just that like iterative Action and like leaning into failure and being excited about failing at things. Yeah, definitely How did you go about creating the space to like move some of those numbing agents out of your life? Because I think for a lot of people, if you don't give yourself enough, like room and distance away from some of that stuff, like you never really give yourself a chance to create some change.

And it sounds like you were able to actually like redirect your life pretty significantly from that moment where you're like, Oh man, like I have no soul in my body right now. Yeah, man. And, um, it was really tough and there was like so many. Like, make a little progress, two steps back. Mm hmm. [00:14:00] Um, Like, that super low point, I was living with two fraternity brothers, and we were like, the hub for all our post college friends in the party scene.

So, it was in Austin? This was in Chicago. Okay. Yeah. Um, 2018. And, you know, creating space. I started committing to going to a great non denominational church on Sunday. So it was like those type of commitments. And I was like, I'm fucking going to church. So I can't get blackout drunk and do drugs tonight.

Yeah. Um, inevitably I still would. And I would, but I would go to church and it would be horrible. So I'd be like, okay, enough pain here. The next time, hopefully I do a little bit better. Um, but it was just continue to find things that would hold me accountable to not just going down into that, like, cause those are really deeply rooted brain patterns.

Um, And that was my entire friend circle. So, but slowly I would go out with them and I would only have two drinks. I'd say, you can have two drinks a night. I was like, okay, go out and eventually be sober. And eventually I was like, okay, thank God our lease is up. I'm going to live by myself and I'm going to commit to just putting myself in a ton of new environments.[00:15:00]

Um, so it was definitely hard. And I think one thing that makes it tough for people is that identity and sense of community. And it can be really lonely and tough when you're like, hoping to make a change, but you don't have another network or another support system that's doing something different than that.

Yeah. It's tough because in a lot of ways, you probably still love those friends and like want to spend time with them, but everything that they're doing is dragging you in a direction that you feel is actually like pulling that spirit out of you and not giving you the things that you necessarily need and want to be working on.

So I think like for me, I I've noticed in my life, those moments where I created massive change. There was also A massive environmental change where it was like me, like living alone is one example where when you're living alone, it's like can be a very hard experience for a lot of people in the initial days because you are maybe a little bit more isolated.

But it also gives you that, sorry, gives you that space to explore and like figure out what you wanna be doing. Yeah, no, I totally agree. And [00:16:00] it's challenging, but sometimes you really need that discomfort to push you over the edge, honestly. Yeah. And it sounds like there was also this degree of. like continuing to bake in these, I don't know, maybe difficult things that would build confidence in yourself.

And they were non negotiables of like, every Sunday I'm going to church without fail. I'm not missing. I'm going to go to the gym. I'm going to journal. You're going to do these things that really build confidence. Um, which I think is so important too, because those difficult things that are baked in your schedule every day, they finally build confidence for someone that was just continuing to run away from those things.

So I know that very, very closely. And I'm sure that was a very formative process for you. Yeah, absolutely. And I think it was. figuring out how to hack into those same brain systems that make you love like the peak experiences of drugs and alcohol, but finding it in doing uncomfortable things. Yeah. And it's like, okay, I'm going to go to this networking event.

I'm going to go take a jujitsu class. I'm going to go talk to that girl that I think is cute. And you can then just get addicted to that discomfort feeling, but then how good you feel when you lean into it [00:17:00] and get on the other side. And yeah, it. The structure has definitely helped me and now, you know, it's definitely a huge part of my life.

Do you still go to church? I don't as much now. I still love it. It's just a tough thing that I, I feel like I have a spiritual practice on the weekend mornings where I'll like go to a coffee shop and just be super creative. And that's what I'm like, almost like planning my week in my life. And I just wish, I shouldn't have an excuse for it.

I would love to go more. But I think I get so many of the things that I got from church in community and in my own spiritual practices. So it hasn't felt like this deep yearning thing I need to be doing. Because if it was, if it was a non negotiable, I would for sure be doing it. Um, but I do love it and it'll always have a special place for me, for sure.

Yeah, I was just curious because, you know, Austin is such a spiritual city. And it seems like there's almost this like Christian renaissance that's happening too where even like this gym squash where we're, we're recording right now. I feel like half the people are kind of more in like the plant medicine [00:18:00] universe, not God type field of being.

And then there's also kind of like this Christian renaissance that's popping up too. And I would be curious what your thoughts are on that. Yeah. I feel like I just ride it down the middle. Like I've been, I did Aubrey Marcus's mastermind a couple of years back and I was super deep in that. Of things, like tested the waters, found the edges of reality and I was like, okay, I understand what's going on here.

I don't think this, this is me all in. Um, and I've had parts of my life where I love the church Christian side of things as well. So I think at least for me, what's worked is just like being really open minded and exploring and getting a sense for what these things are in. Making my own version of it that works for me.

Yeah What was it about church that made you act the second time because I feel like the first time It's like maybe it was like a little bit of like If I don't do this, like something bad is going to happen. But the second time is when you're actually like maybe starting to make it a little bit more of a habit.

Yeah. You know, I really, really love the non denominational church I found in Chicago. And I would say like Red Rocks is [00:19:00] very similar. Yeah. The sense of community and just something about how good you feel being at church, it's really hard to describe because I can't say I've ever extremely resonated with the stories of the Bible.

And for whatever reason, it never landed with me. Not that I disliked it, but it wasn't about that. For me, it was the people and the experience and literally just the way it made me feel. Um, yeah, that just kept bringing me back. There's something about, like, everyone's intention when they go to the gym is the same.

And when people go to the office, their intentions are the same. But for it to be, like, a spiritual practice where you're going for all the same reasons, trying to, like, improve yourself in a way that's not you working on your body, but you actually just, like, praising a higher power, I think there's something to that, that Like, I missed in my early 20s, I'm like, man, if there's one thing I could whisper in my, like, 20 year old ears, it would be just, like, find a church that you like going to, and, like, develop that spiritual practice, because I was without that spiritual guidance for a while, and I think there's [00:20:00] something that most early, most people in their early 20s, they think that they can get through everything on their own, which I think as guys, we naturally, like, feel that inclination, but when you're around a really good group of people that push you spiritually, like, there's really to be.

I love that. Yeah. Yeah, especially probably for someone in your situation where I'm guessing you were probably like craving like older male mentorship. I think men in their 20s are craving it regardless, but based on some of your experiences, I could imagine you were probably really seeking that. And you meet these older dudes in church that just have a plethora of life experience and you're like, that's what it's about.

And you just attach to those guys and there's so much you can learn. Yeah. That's super true. And I had joined a men's group there and it was the most uncomfortable thing I've probably ever done in my life. Yeah. Really? I hate it. Like I knew it was good for me, but I hated every moment of it. Yeah. Um, cause I just, my body was in like fight or flight of like, Oh, being vulnerable about men around men.

Um, but it was exactly what I needed. Yeah. And even if I didn't like. They were pretty modern, [00:21:00] like for me, things like meditation and I would love to talk about that. And those circles at the least at the time, like six, seven years ago, it was very much like, we're going to talk about the Bible right now.

And I totally get that. So the point of a Bible study men's group, but, um, even though I didn't necessarily, fully resonate with the ideologies, just like men who are grounded in being good human beings was good enough. And I was like, let's do it. I'm here for it. Yeah. So you get to Austin, you really get into the optimization coaching.

Would you say that part of the thought process behind going to Austin was to kind of like fully separate from Chicago from that old version of yourself or, you know, what, what was the decision there? Yeah. So I actually had a chapter between those two. So after I lived alone in Chicago, I was very clear, like, there's not much for me here in Chicago.

Like, my favorite thing is getting to go run in the park, but like, that's not, that's stimulating, but Chicago is just about drinking and partying for the most part, at least my version of it. Um, so I actually moved back home and I bought a sprinter van and converted a sprinter van and [00:22:00] spent two years just, I was still working, earning income remotely, uh, but that was really like self exploratory.

Two years of my life did the Abi Marcus thing, met a lot of spiritual entrepreneurs, really people who were just like, Um, trying to be good humans into health and wellness, running dope businesses and through that community, uh, I kept finding those people either spending a lot of time in Austin or living in Austin.

Mm. So at the end of that journey for me, I knew it was time to come to Austin because I was working on my business. And again, it was like craving community, community is probably my number one driver when I first got here. It was like, I just want to be around awesome people, people like you guys doing really cool things really clear on their purpose in life.

And yeah. I think when I, when I got here, I had enough self identity knowing that I was on that path. Like I wasn't falling back into those other patterns, but I knew I wanted to be around people that thought the same as me. Yeah. What were the highlights on the, uh, on the van trip? I'm sure you have plenty, but It was [00:23:00] crazy because six months in is when COVID happened and it was just wild.

Like, there weren't as many like specific moments that were mind blowing, but Just the overall experience. So I'd go to these mastermind events with these really high level entrepreneurs for a weekend. You get, I get to know them, but then I had the freedom to say, Hey, can I come just like crash on your couch for three weeks?

I'll cook you food and we can like jam on business. So that was like a very, very accelerated growth two years for me because I got to spend time around really high level people and, um, really cool traveling, like up and down the West coast, spending time in Sedona. Um, But yeah, it was a very special time.

I don't know that I need to do it again any time soon, but uh, it was really cool. Well, there's um, I feel like there's something to this like rite of passage and just like having that adventurous, uh, phase of your life where you're just able to like fully explore all the different freedoms. It sounds like that van trip was that for you where you get to go like move across the U.

S. at like a moment's notice and just [00:24:00] like if someone picks up the phone and says, yeah, you can come stay at my place for three weeks, you could just make that happen, which for most people. And potentially people listening to the show who are like in a desk job, like that's not the reality But it sounds like for you you were able to make that happen What was what was kind of like the the actual like moment where you went from thinking about it to action like on that?

Man, that was that's a cool story, too So I had gone to still the season of like saying yes to uncomfortable things So I went to a music festival as like a camping one In Michigan, I'm forgetting what it's called Electric Forest. Um, and driving back from that, while we were there, I met a girl named Delaney, who lived in a van.

And she was really cool, spent a lot of the weekend with her and her friends. And that was like the spark for me. I was like, I could probably do that. Like, there's no reason I couldn't. I could go remote with my job. Um, and, uh, And driving home, I was driving this other girl back to Chicago and she was like a badass entrepreneur chick.

Yeah. We were both 23, 24 at the time, uh, she was really confident. [00:25:00] And I was just talking about how cool the concept sounded, how much I wish I could do that. And she like literally made me stop the car and we were coming down on some psychedelics and stuff. So maybe I was a little more receptive, but it really, really shocked me.

She was just like, then just fucking do it. And the way she said it was so much confidence. Um, It just kind of broke my brain and I was like, fuck, I'm going to do it. Like, I'll go home. I don't know how I'm going to do it. Um, YouTube University, I'll figure it out. But, yeah. And then it was just like, okay. My mind is set.

We're going to figure it out. Did you just YouTube build a van after that? Yeah, totally. It was crazy. I'm so not handy too. It was torture. Like, I was living back in my parents. I was building a van. No clue how to do any of it. Um, but the why was strong enough, so we got through it. Unreal. Do you think that all men in their 20s should do some type of a solo rite of passage?

I would say, yeah, honestly, um, you know, it could look so different. It could be that it could even be just like a two week trip somewhere. Cool. That you've always wanted to go, but like that trip, but also even just other solo trips I've taken, I have definitely been really formative. And [00:26:00] just that, like, my perspective is that you're so shaped by your surroundings as you're growing up.

So just getting to take some space away from. How other people wanted you to be and whatnot like you really get that space to Decide who you want to be and how you want to act and how you want to show up in the world Yeah I think that ability to like Solidify your life's mission prior to meeting the right partner for you is so important and we don't really we're not really taught that right We don't really know When we're men, you kind of just get spit out into the world at 18.

You're like, I guess going to college is kind of the closest thing to a rite of passage and then you just graduate and you're just kind of shit out into the world and that's it. Yeah. So you have to college is right a rite of passage. We're fine. It's tough. Yeah, but I mean that for most people like past 20 years It's like you just go to college and then you're spit out into the real world and for most guys I think that's actually a serious challenge because you're not tested in any meaningful way.

In terms of figuring out what it is that you want to commit your life to yeah And if you if we were conditioned to treat college a bit differently It might it could be positive like if I could go back and like take advantage of the [00:27:00] resources I went to a good school, but I didn't all Like just being the most conformed frat boy ever it's like trading all your identity for just like the same thing as everyone else and like man It's crazy.

Yeah, I wouldn't do, I wouldn't go back and do anything differently, but I feel like if all three of us were in school knowing what we know now, we would all have 4. 0s. We'd all just be like hammering office hours, like the resources that they have at schools, like especially Babson where we went to school.

There were so many amazing entrepreneurs that end up to going to be teachers. I'm like, I didn't build relationships with any of these people. Like how much could that have helped us with what we're doing now? If I just took that stuff a little bit more seriously. 100%. But hindsight is 20 20 though. What are you gonna do?

We're here now. Yeah. So. I love the humility that you shared around the optimization coaching experience in Austin, because it's like, here you are, you're trying to teach men and women how to optimize themselves, you know, really achieve their fullest potential. But then there's also the need to building a business, right?

So you're like, my human optimization doesn't matter. It's almost like you're sacrificing yourself for the mission, which is to help more people build your business. And then you're kind of sitting there [00:28:00] being the unhealthiest version of yourself. That's actually something that I've experienced the last year with our business, where The healthiest version of myself was year one of Mafia, where we were just creating and writing content on Twitter and posting podcasts because it was so simple.

And then as we formed these three separate businesses, you kind of feel like you are sacrificing your body for the mission in a way. And I kind of had this moment of epiphany a few months ago of like, dude, you gotta really take yourself seriously and practice what you preach. So I'd love to just learn a little bit more about that experience and what kind of things did you do to get yourself out of there?

Yeah, that there's so many directions to take that I think. First, just the awar like the awareness and the warning signs going off. It took a while to really register the pattern of like, Okay, this is new and uncomfortable and different. Like, I don't really like how I'm feeling. And, um, I think at least for me it was checking in like, What matters most to me?

And, going through six months of doing pretty decent in the business, but feeling that way, I was like, what matters more to me is like genuinely how I feel so that I have life and energy to give to the other parts of my [00:29:00] life. Like, this is fine. Maybe it's sustainable, but could I add a romantic relationship on top of this?

No way. And do I feel that good on a daily basis? No. And is that really going to change soon? Probably not. So I think the clarity of prioritization of my values was really important. And I'm sure most people out there are going to try a lot of things to figure out what sticks. And for me, Eventually I got to a place of like, okay, what are my other options?

I could keep hammering at this. I could probably be really successful at this, but not with the puzzle pieces and resources I have right now, the way I want it to look. So that could have been a path I could have just decided to figure out my resource combination, maybe go get some funding to bring in some more people or whatever.

Um, but my aha moment was ultimately what I'm doing now, which is what if I just try to stack some remote income roles where I can like scale my time and buy my time back? So. I can actually always fill my cup and like have way more space in my life for those things. I feel like I had another part to that, but I don't remember what it was.

It'll come back to you in like 30 [00:30:00] seconds, right? 100%. So you decide to kind of put the optimization coaching business aside. Yeah. You start learning about this ability to stack these different remote jobs. Who, is that just something you found out on YouTube or a podcast you were listening to? Because it's such an interesting idea.

Yeah. And I remember what the other part was now. 30 seconds. That's all we needed. With the Health stuff. I also think it was it's just a commitment and like a non negotiable So for me, I truly see the world through a lens of them filling My cup comes for obviously there's a few things that come first like a crazy family emergency or whatever But generally I have a belief that if my cup is full because I'm taking care of my body I'll have the most energy to give to everything sustainably.

So Coming from that place and just engineering my life so that that is a way I can approach business in life because like You My responsibilities have grown a lot. Like having three full time jobs, having a business, having a girlfriend, having a dog is a lot. So it is just, and if I were operating unconsciously, it could come from a place, like I could [00:31:00] derail how I'm taking care of my body, but because I'm so clear that it's a non negotiable, like I'll say no to a cool event that I could go to so I can be recovered.

So I make better food choices tomorrow. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. There's um, there's like an incredible amount of discipline that I think people Like, you almost have to go through the suck in order to develop it over time and it's that ability to say no when, and like the awareness, awareness and discipline at the same time.

Like you were aware enough to be like, hold on, I need to actually like. Maybe not go all in on this this business idea that I have that I really like It's just my my deck right now is just not Stacked in the way to like make this actually work in a way that I see it working so the awareness and like honestly like I commend you for taking a step back because it's like most people and like I think I would, uh, categorize myself in this camp.

I would've been like, uh, you know what, I'll just like suck it up and like go after it more and harder. And that, like, I just feel like for a lot of people it can end up shooting them in the foot. Yeah. Um, and it's, [00:32:00] it's almost like you can't really teach that level of awareness and intuition. You almost need to go through constant iterations of like hitting your, hitting your head against the wall.

100%. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. Is there, is there anyone in Austin or? Like a, a group in Austin that has helped you develop a better coaching style or kind of continue to evolve into the coaching that you're trying to build right now? I would say from a high level coaching perspective, there are some guys. So when I first got to Austin, actually part of what drew me here was this organization that was just forming called Empowered Brotherhood.

I don't know if you guys are loosely familiar. Uh, loosely familiar. Loosely familiar. Yeah, yeah. So. Uh, it was kind of a cool meshing of It's on it, right? Uh, it was it on it? Yeah, it's going around. But Essentially, there's these three pretty, like, famous life coach, men's coaches. And for me, like, I'm not really into, like, sports and whatnot, like, these are three dudes that I really looked up to for my entire journey, because they're talking about masculinity and, like, trauma healing and [00:33:00] whatnot, and they're, like, really strong, powerful, really successful dudes.

Um, and I had, like, Mentored under one of them. I helped one with some business stuff. So it's kind of cool. They all came together locally in Austin and decided they were going to start a men's movement. Here's workouts Men's coaching and I got involved with that. They asked me to come on and be part of their team and One of the coolest experiences of the first two years of me being in Austin so I still figure myself out and work and do a lot of healing and stuff and I Getting to be around three dudes are all like 40.

They've been going through the shit forever and now they've like created some amazing, really successful businesses, but getting to be around them and seeing how they operate, not just in a business sense, but like being around their families and whatnot. So like really grateful. I've seen some really high level coaches and then pulling from each of them in terms of more just how to like ask good questions and how to be supportive and how to inspire.

Um, but I would say like the actual meat of what I'm doing, um, That [00:34:00] probably comes more from my actual experience, but taking the coaching frameworks I've learned and then plugging my stuff into it, basically. Yeah, who are those three guys? Yeah, I should probably mention. Stefano Sifondos, Preston Smiles, and Garen Jones.

Okay, awesome. All three of those guys, and I'm sure you probably just learned different things from each of them and implemented them, which is super helpful, especially the experience of being in your mid twenties and learning from someone that's 40 that has that life experience and they're in a stage of life that you really want to be in is so important to like, I feel like there's all these executive coaches that are out there that have never really been executives, which is interesting that they're executive coaches.

So I think that's like an important framework to, to seek someone out as like, make sure that they're in a position that you want to be in. Yeah. 10 15 years down the road, but yeah, I'm fascinated about the way that you personally spend your time because you you laid it out And for someone that maybe missed that The fact that you have three full time jobs, coaching business, girlfriend, dog.

Those are like Herculean things that you, that you, that you jam into your life, which is so cool. And jamming in isn't the right word. You're doing all of them [00:35:00] extremely gracefully, at least from our perspective. Dude, how do you think about structuring your time and your week? Like, what are things, like, I selfishly want to know, like, how can I be getting some of that secret sauce with the three businesses that we do and the fact that I'm in a long distance relationship?

Like, Bro, I need to say no to more things from you. So what? Yeah. Yeah, man. It's, it's a wild ride and it's always learning. Um, I think literally carving out time to plan. My time is probably the biggest meta answer I could give you. Um, and each aspect of my life is different, but for working three jobs, it's the hardest part about it.

Isn't actually the work it's managing calendars and times and is doable because the name of that game at least is deliver the results, but build systems to deliver the results. So it's not all. Reliant on my time. So that's really big From the jobs perspective. It's sitting down and just mapping out when do I have things and like what what are the big deliverables?

I have and how do I carve out the time to make sure those get hit and get done. So Again, meta answer [00:36:00] is across all the areas of my life whether it's job stuff whether it's business stuff Whether it's relationship like what needs to happen this week Or what's coming up. Yeah. And how do I like make sure I have the time and space so that that gets executed.

And there will be things that I wish I could put on that list that just are not going to make the list. Yes. And that leads to getting to come from a place of, I'm deciding where my time goes rather than reactionary. So before, if anyone would ask for my time or want to do something, I'd probably just say, yeah.

And then be like, I totally sabotaged myself and I shouldn't have done that. Yeah. But now I'm at a place where, because my time and my life is so full. Like, never do I actually end up being reactive because I've actually thought through like where my time needs to be allocated. And I think similarly, one of the things that has slowed me down the most over the last few years is saying yes to too much when I thought I could.

But then just like my daily weekly energy like after this podcast. It's gonna be like 5 5 30 I could go see friends and it would be fine, [00:37:00] but I don't feel like 20 or 30 percent less good tomorrow Yeah, so it's been more like really leaning into that alone time quiet time doing nothing time that keeps me my battery really full Do you have a filtering mechanism for something?

You'll say yes to versus no to I Think because I've spent so much time getting clear on what I want my life to look like, not just in the short term, but five, 10, 30 years from now. And I've journaled on that like hours and hours. Most things are just an intuitive yes or no. What, even if it's like an invite to go hang out with some people, like deep unconsciously, I'm like, are those, are those the people I want to be around?

Are they aligned with the life I want to create? So I'm a hard no to probably 98 percent of things. But when that 2 percent of things come across, I'm like, I'm a yes to that. And I know I am. I don't need to think about it. What is the What is the actual nuts and bolts of you planning your weeks and months and years look like?

Like, do you have a standard practice weekly where you're sitting down on a Sunday, blocking off an hour? Like, what does that actually look like? [00:38:00] Yeah, I would say right now, not so much. I would say the last two to three years, I've spent a lot of time thinking about it. So my answers don't change too often.

Yeah. But yeah, even at a certain point in time, like every, let's say once a week on a Saturday or or it could even be daily. I'd always pick a different timeline. So. it could be what I want my life to look like six months from now. The next time I do it, it might be 20 years from now. Then the next time a year and a half from now.

And again, the concepts are usually pretty similar, but because I'm picking a different time horizon, my answers are slightly different. And then over time it meshes, but yeah, it's nothing crazy. It could be five or 10 minutes, but genuinely, I love to start. A two to three hour work block with a journaling session like that, because the inspiration and excitement that that can build up inside is so powerful.

So you're just like writing out your dream life, you get filled with all this dopamine. Right. I like that. So it's like this ever changing timeline of the future version of yourself that you want to be, because obviously your goal six months from now versus two years from now will be different, but there definitely will be some similarities.

[00:39:00] Yeah. And then like, then that might provide a really great perspective on how I might, Want to actually rethink my six months from now goals because there's always trade offs to everything, you know