Jon Andersen: How I Turned Struggles into 7-Figure Success | DSH #1538

Summary

Digital Social Hour — DSH #1538

Guest: Jon Andersen
Host: Sean Kelly
Date: September 19, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode features a candid, wide-ranging conversation between host Sean Kelly and Jon Andersen, a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur, pro-strongman, wrestler, bodybuilder, addiction survivor, and performance coach. Jon shares how early struggles with learning disabilities, childhood obesity, and later addiction became the fuel for a relentless drive and diversified 7-figure entrepreneurial success. The discussion covers his unconventional path—building and selling businesses, overcoming personal demons, winning in sports and business, and empowering others through mindset coaching.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Formative Struggles: Learning Disabilities and Obesity

• Jon’s early years: Struggled with a learning disability, was placed in special classes, and faced bullying for being overweight.
  • “Because of that, I was kind of easy kill for, you know, for made fun of. And so what I did was I ran to food for comfort.” — Jon Andersen (04:01)
• Isolation from his peers created a drive to work twice as hard just to feel 'normal,' later translating to a powerful work ethic and problem-solving ability.

2. Building First Businesses — Lessons Before the Internet

• Jon’s first successful business was a painting company he started in college, later built up and sold to a corporate buyer burnt out from the 9-to-5 grind.
  • “When I knew that I could do it, I didn't want to have that company. I wasn't. Didn't want to be a painter by any means, but I knew that I could start the company, build it and sell it, and that's what I did.” (01:11)
• He also launched a meal prep business “two decades too soon,” underscoring the risk of being “too early” for the market. (02:15–02:50)

3. From Physical Struggle to Physical Confidence

• Weight lifting became Jon’s outlet and identity after seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan the Barbarian.
  • “Something inside me changed. It was like I got bit by the iron bug and I never looked back.” (09:06)
• Weight room success led to a newfound self-assurance and clear sense of purpose.

4. From Athletics to Serial Entrepreneurship

• Used proceeds from his business exit to fund his strongman journey; quickly gained sponsorships and entry into pro-strongman circuits.
  • “I had a Super bowl commercial, I had an agent. So I mean I was living the dream, dude.” (12:23)
• Simultaneously built a real estate flipping business, capitalizing on connections from his painting days.

5. Shifting Career Paths—Learning from Setbacks

• Back injury pushed Jon out of strongman, pivoted to professional wrestling (with a faked résumé, then learning on the job).
  • “He completely fraudulated a resume, said that I knew what I was doing...next thing you know, I get a deal in Japan. My like 7th ever wrestling match was a pay per view in Sapporo, Japan.” (14:13)
• After seven years wrestling, transitioned to pro bodybuilding—in his forties, defying doubters yet again.
  • “You're 42, you can't do that. I say, you might be right, but I'm gonna try anyway. I've been told I couldn't my whole life.” (14:55)

6. Cross-Disciplinary Skills: Mindset as the Common Denominator

• Emphasizes that discipline, resilience, and skill-building translate across all domains—business, body, mind, and relationships.
  • “If a man trained his brain like he trained his chest, he could have whatever he wants.” (16:29)
• His coaching now centers on this philosophy: action, mindset, and habits are more important than shortcuts.

7. The Dark Side — Addiction and Recovery

• Openly recounts his battles with binge eating and sugar addiction, which later led to painkiller addiction post-injury.
  • “It was like once a fat kid, always a fat kid. A sugar addict. You're always an addict. Whatever you're addicted to...Recovery is management.” (22:31)
• Details how prescribed opioids spiraled into dependency.
  • “It starts off, you get hurt...pretty soon the pain's gone. Now you're using it so you don't feel sick, and now you're hooked.” (26:39)
• Offers support to listeners struggling with addiction: “If you have a problem with this, I am an open book. Come on my social media, I'm happy to talk to you about it.” (27:16)

8. Judgment, Fear, and the Mindset of Change

• Many clients approach him knowing what they want, but paralyzed by fear of judgment.
  • “The biggest thing is, is they know what they want, but they're deathly afraid of what people are going to say.” (17:26)
• Jon encourages embracing failure and tuning out negative societal programming.
  • “Successful people understand that...failure is a part of success. The people that are caught in the matrix...don't understand that; that's why they're stuck.” (17:05)
  • “Arnold Schwarzenegger has a saying that I love. He says, break the rules, don't break the laws...but the rules of society, you don't have to follow those.” (19:19)

9. Shortcuts vs. Sustainable Change

• Discussed the perils of shortcut culture, notably weight loss drugs like Ozempic.
  • “If you don't change how you live, if you don't change how you think, you'll be right back there.” (31:51)
  • “What are you filling those time slots with?...Are you filling your time slots with trying to find shortcuts? Because we all know a shortcut…They backfire doesn't work long term.” (32:25–33:05)

10. The Power of Identity and Neuroplasticity

• Highlights habit-building, repetition (“24-hour loop”), and leveraging personal strengths—even traits once called disabilities (OCD, ADHD, dyslexia).
  • “You only really are going to call it a disability if you allowed to call it become a disability. My disability is an ocd. This is strength.” (34:15)
• “If most men trained their brain like it did their chest, they'd have whatever they want, you know?” (41:23)

11. Routine, Discipline, and Self-Optimization

• Jon maintains extreme discipline: 8:00 p.m. bedtime, up at 2:30–3:00 a.m., starts each day with gratitude and focused improvement.
  • “I go to bed at 8:00 clock period.” (36:04)
  • “If I'm not getting better, my business is not getting better.” (37:10)
• Men especially, he argues, need to invest in themselves first before expecting business or external success.

12. Comfort is the Enemy of Progress

• Our brains are programmed to seek comfort, but in today’s world that often leads to stagnation.
  • “Comfort in today's world keeps you in a job you don't want to be in...If I'm comfortable, I get...I start getting weird.” (46:00, 46:43)
• Encourages seeking discomfort as the path to growth: “Me being uncomfortable is what made me comfortable.” (46:26)

13. Defining Success and Creating a Life You Love

• After setbacks (losing everything in 2008), Jon redefined success not by money alone, but by freedom, impact, and growth:
  • “At that point, I made a decision in my life. I will never do something to earn a dollar. I love it. Probably one of the best changes my life ever.” (48:36)
• Money flows as a byproduct of energetic alignment and loving what you do; everyone must define success in their own terms.
  • “My definition of success is to be financially free, constantly creating changing lives, you know, and constantly creating the big part.” (49:53)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If a man trained his brain like he trained his chest, he could have whatever he wants.” — Jon Andersen (16:29)
• “Failure is a part of success. And successful people understand that. The people that are caught in the matrix...don't understand that, that's why they're stuck.” — Jon (17:05)
• “You're always an addict. Whatever you're addicted to, you're either someone's in the addict or not. You never really recover. You manage, so to speak. Recovery is management.” — Jon (22:31)
• “I was good at making money that I really didn't love, but...just a half a step above the guy that was going to a job he didn't really like. But now...I get goosebumps and...warmth of my chest when I do my job.” — Jon (48:36)
• “You can't make someone change. Someone has to want to change. And all I need is for someone to have the character enough to take that first step. Because I know they take that first step, that little bit of momentum, I can get them to see the light. And once they see the light, they never look back.” — Jon (45:17-45:35)

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Important Timestamps

• [01:11] — First business success: Painting company origins and exit
• [04:00] — Childhood struggles with obesity and learning disabilities
• [09:06] — Discovering weightlifting, growth in confidence
• [11:43] — Transition to pro strongman and entrepreneurship
• [13:03] — Pivoting from strongman to pro wrestling to bodybuilding (42 years old)
• [16:29] — Mindset parallel: Training your brain like your chest
• [17:26] — Central obstacle for young men: Fear of judgment
• [22:31] — Struggles with sugar addiction and substance abuse
• [26:39] — Inside painkiller addiction, warnings for listeners
• [31:51] — On weight loss drugs and the trap of shortcuts
• [36:04] — Discipline: 8 pm bedtime, early mornings
• [41:23] — Neuroplasticity, thought training, and identity
• [46:26] — On comfort being a danger to ambition
• [48:36] — Redefining success after failure
• [51:26] — Where to find Jon (Instagram: @thejonanderson)

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Closing Resources

Find Jon Andersen:
On Instagram: @thejonanderson
Jon is open to DMs, offers support on addiction, coaching, and mentorship.

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Concise Takeaway

Jon Andersen’s story is a testament to transformation—turning hardship into resilience, addiction into mastery, and doubt into relentless action. The episode is packed with raw advice on overcoming internal and external barriers, building mental and physical resilience, and living life on your terms. No matter your struggles, Jon insists, with mindset, discipline, and purposeful discomfort, a remarkable life is possible.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Then they gave me this painkiller through my iv. All my pain went away, all my nerves went away. And of course you're getting. Doctors are giving you painkiller, like pills. And so unfortunately, I had multiple painkiller addictions. It started off, you get hurt, you're using the stuff to deal with the pain you're feeling. Now you're using it so you don't feel sick. And then at that point, you just got to suffer to get out of it. Foreign.

[C]

Anderson here. One of the biggest guests I've had on the show, I think. Let's go, man. You ready?

[B]

Let's go. Let's rock.

[C]

You've done a lot of different jobs, too. You had business success before you got on the athlete side of things, right?

[B]

Yep.

[C]

What was that first company that crushed it?

[B]

So basically my first. The first company that actually had real success was the painting company. And I'd done it in college, just as kind of like as a college kid, just going door to door, you know. And so I knew that because I had a. You know, I had some experience with that. When I knew that I could do it, I didn't want to have that company. I wasn't. Didn't want to be a painter by any means, but I knew that I could start the company, build it and sell it, and that's what I did.

[C]

Dance? You sold it?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Wow. Well done.

[B]

Yeah, it was in my late 20s.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah. And this is at a time there's no Internet, so this is a very different time to build and sell a company.

[C]

Yeah. Who'd you sell it?

[B]

I sold it. Ash, funny enough, he was a corporate guy, kind of a corporate raider that was sick of it and wanted to buy a business.

[C]

That's interesting. I think blue collar is coming back, though.

[B]

Yeah, he was. He was really tired of all the shit in the white collar world.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

He wanted to call his own shots. That came down to. And that's all I've ever known. I've. I've never had a job. I've never had anybody call my shots. So, you know, when he saw the ability to get in the driver's seat and make his own decisions, that just seemed really appealing to him.

[C]

Yeah. So you never Worked for anyone?

[B]

No. Came around to college. My first ever business as we were talking before we got cracking was actually meal prep. I mean if two decades too soon, actually more than that now. But it was, it was great. It was one of those things to where before the Internet it was really, really tough to get off the ground. And I was solving a problem for me and people like me. There just wasn't enough of us around to support the success of the business. So, you know, as. I can't say that it, it got off the ground, but there was no future.

[C]

Sometimes when you're too early, people just think you're crazy.

[B]

100. That's exactly what it was. What do I need that for?

[C]

Yeah. And now there's multi billion dollar meal prep companies ship around the country.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Literally I've ordered tons of them. I mean it's convenient because like time is money, right?

[B]

100.

[C]

You spend three hours cooking or whatever.

[B]

Yeah. Yep.

[C]

It's a lot of money down the drain.

[B]

Yeah. So I went from there. I was like, okay, you know, I'm hungry. I'm right out of college. You know, I'm couch hopping. I got a little car that doesn't have a second gear. So I was like, I better, I better go start a business that I know I can actually make some money. And that was painting. And so I was like, okay, I know I don't want to do this, so I need to create an exit strategy. Five years, I'm out of here.

[C]

Smart. So you came in with a, with a plan. You weren't just going day by day?

[B]

No, I. I knew, I. Well, I mean nothing against people that own painting companies, but that's not what the future was going to be.

[C]

I hate painting. Painting sucks when you're tall too. You gotta get low and stuff. I'm not. I'm good on that. So your story though, you. You were really overweight growing up.

[B]

Yeah. I mean so basically I learned the whole thing spawns off a learning disability. I had a hard time learning. And because of that, you know, I was kind of easy kill for, you know, for made fun of. And so what I did was I ran to Food for comfort. And the more that the, you know, it was just this downward spiral. The more I got made fun of, the more I ran to food for comfort, the better at God. And it wasn't like I was, you know, like, you know, one of these kids that couldn't walk. I was just a fat kid with the, you know, I was fat enough to be picked on and the fact that I had a learning disability made that much easier. But it was my blessing, dude. At the time, I didn't know I was basically as. You know, one day, you don't even really realize until one day you find yourself in a meeting with your mom and your teacher, and they're telling you that you need to leave that classroom and go into a different one. And you don't really understand what they're saying until you get to that classroom and realize there's a lot of kids around here that don't get it. I guess I'm one of them. So anyway, so, you know, through that, I had to. I had to learn to do things my way because I wasn't able to, you know, keep up doing it the way they were teaching. So I became. I started to develop, you know, some skills and problem solving didn't really understand it had to work twice as hard because I was busting my butt to get back to normal classes. All I wanted to do was be par, you know, and so the blessing was that I was told that I couldn't. And I just. It became. It was on deaf ears after a while. And the fact I had to learn to work twice as hard as everybody else just to be even, and the fact that I had to. I created this problem solving skill set that allowed me to figure out how to get things done, not like everybody else, which translated perfectly into real life, because otherwise I would. If I was following the groove that everybody else did, I'd be sitting in a car, going to. In traffic, going to a job I don't want to go to. And I never again. Never had a job.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

They told me I had ADHD in, like, elementary school.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

By putting me on medication.

[B]

Yeah, well, see, in those days, they. They just said, oh, kids slow. We got to move them to the classroom where the slow kids are. Yeah, that was it. There was no diagnosis. The diagnosis was, he's slow.

[C]

Wow. So you just thought you were stupid.

[B]

I mean, you kind of take on that identity, you know, and that's why, for me, I worked. I really. I didn't like that. Yeah, down deep, of course, a lot of the kids, they just. They just kind of accept it down deep. It was, like, really troubling to me. That's why I was really working on. I was working extra hard, and I was. Again, it was. Again, I was creating this, you know, set of skills for problem solving to get me back to par. But again, I. At the point I wasn't seeing greatness, I just Wanted to get back to the normal classes, you know, that was.

[C]

Your level at the time.

[B]

Yeah, I just wanted to go. I just wanted to be. Not going to the classes where everybody else wasn't going.

[C]

Right.

[B]

You know it's funny when you're a kid, all you want to do is fit in. But then as you get an adult you're like, thank God I'm not fitting facts.

[C]

No straight facts, dude. I tried so hard to fit in when I was.

[B]

I know, I know.

[C]

It just wasn't meant to be.

[B]

Yeah. And so, so basically, you know, when it comes down to it, I, I was really struggling. But again I developed this stuff and nothing had come along that I'd attached it to that made a difference. And then it kind of happened. One day I'd seen off, you know, lined up fairly. It was almost like the universe did it for me. I saw Conan the Barbarian and Arnold Schwarzenegger. That was at a time when nope, he was like the only person that looked that way, you know. And just something inside me changed. I was like really affected me shortly after that, you know, played sports. My mom kept me in sports because you know, that was just part of what kept me.

[C]

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[B]

Go anywhere without it busy and so if you played football you had to have weightlifting as your PE class. That was the way was the rules back then. Yeah, well, I quickly realized I was better at lifting the weights than I was the sports. I was playing. I was lifting the weights to play and I'm good at something. Holy shit. And next thing you know, I mean I'm working twice as hard, I'm figuring out how to do these lifts and not really being taught. Like I remember the squat I kind of learned, nobody taught me. But I learned that if I rack the bar a little further down my back, it shortened the lever of my back which allowed me to squat more. I just discovered this on my own, you know like 15, which is now low bar squatting is like a advanced technique and I somehow discovered this When I was young, long and short of it is junior year, I'm 16. There's me and one other kid in the school who squatted four or five as a max.

[C]

Jeez.

[B]

Yeah. So the day before that happened, I'm walking down the hall and it's like a pinball. I'm getting bumped around. You know, after that, people are stepping out of my way. I was like, whoa. It was like it. That was like the. The turning point.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And then I've already. I've already figured out how to work twice as hard as everybody else. I'm in love with lifting weights. I'm totally moved by C R Schwarzenegger. And it just. The joke I make is I got bit by the iron bug and I never looked back.

[C]

That's about us. So it gave you that confidence.

[B]

It sounds like totally built my confidence. And at that point, I knew what I wanted. I knew what I wanted to be a big strong dude. Had no idea how I was going to make money doing it, but I didn't care because the first time I knew what I wanted. Wanted.

[C]

You found yourself.

[B]

Yeah. And so, you know, I get through. As, as high school went along, I really started to develop some confidence. I wasn't a fat kid anymore. And college comes along and obviously I was having. I didn't really have the test scores or anything. Like the sat, you know, go to the SAT and I get the score. My mom's like, oh, there must be something wrong. Oh, again, I do it again. Same, same score. I'm like, that's it.

[C]

Four hour test.

[B]

So anyway, so she basically, I wasn't getting into state schools, got him to meet the requirements, but some of the smaller private schools, they didn't really care if you're going to pay their massive tuition. So she put me into a small Catholic school. And at that I was really going to school because I just knew it was another. I told her I wanted to go five years because four years, the pace would have been too quick. And she even understood that. But I'm looking at, this is five years I get to keep lifting weights. I'm buying some time to figure out how I'm going to pull this off. And so I went to college, graduated college with a major in theology, minor in philosophy from University of Portland, and then had no intention to get a job when I came out of school. Not to mention, I have no idea, even if I did, I don't have no idea what job I would have gotten with that degree.

[C]

And so theology.

[B]

And so, so that's what I went into right out of the gate. Free enterprise. Started a business that was where meal prep hit, failed, then went into painting, did that, sold it. And then it was almost like again, the universe is kind of lined up for me. I'd sold this company, you know, for, you know, talking to. This is like late 90s.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, half a million bucks is a lot for, you know, and in my, you know, I'm still, I'm just a fat little boy in my mind.

[C]

Yeah. Especially, especially back then. Half a mil is probably over a million dollars.

[B]

I don't know.

[C]

I mean, it was, it was inflation.

[B]

Yeah. Oh God. Yeah. So anyway, at that point, you know, I've been training the whole time and I, I started that business because I knew that I wanted to continue to chase my dreams. And so I was big as a house and I had, I'd basically gone and competed and I turned pro all when this company sold. Boom. Next thing you know, I'm traveling the world's a pro strong man.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah. And so I'd have my first business success before I turned pro as a strawman. And because of the way I looked, I mean I was big and I was jacked, meaning like most strong over fat. I was, you know, I was petrified of being fat. So I was always looked good. So I ended up. This is kind of during the dot com boom now. So companies were just, they were just giving money away. So like I had sponsors, like at an energy drink, they never even got the product to market. They just gave me T shirts and four grand a month to wear the T shirts when you go to the gyms. Done. You know, and so. And then I had a Super bowl commercial, I had an agent. So I mean I was living the dream, dude.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. And so that's, that was a nice seven year period in my life. But during that period now I've got this, this, you know, this capital. So I actually started real estate company. So I'm flipping homes and I'm traveling a lot. So I'm gone a year up, but I'd come home. I had a lot of connections from the painting company. So, you know, there's, there's win number two. So I'm crushing with, with the real estate, you know, doing my thing. And pro strong man real estate dries up. Of course, you know, that's just the way that, you know, markets work.

[C]

Oh, wait, right.

[B]

Yep, yep. And then right about that time, I had a back surgery, you know, and be strong and beat me up pretty Good. So on the smaller side.

[C]

But was that from wrestling or.

[B]

That's when I went to wrestling. So straw man is, I never had a back surgery from strawman. And my agent said, look, he said, surgeon says that if, if you go back on a strawman circuit, you're going to be on this table getting another surgery really quickly. So if we want to keep doing, we're doing, we're gonna have to put you somewhere else. So where are we going? He goes pro wrestling. So basically he, he completely fraudulated a resume, said that I knew what I was doing. I, we, we sent me to a school and I learned how to do it because it's a dance, you know, and you got to learn how to do this stuff. It's all predetermined, but you got to learn how to not hurt the other person. I was, you know, big as a house, right. So if I didn't learn how to do this, I could have really hurt somebody anyway, you know, I did a handful. So I went from, you know, amphitheaters in, you know, Riga, Latvia, you know, a 1012,000 people screaming, you know, lifting Alice Stones to high school gyms at the very bottom tier of wrestling. So I needed to get some footage to send to Japan. Well, next thing you know, I, I get a deal in japan. My like 7th ever wrestling match was a pay per view in Sapporo, Japan.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

But again, all of this stuff that's going on, it's, it sounds like, you know, it sounds like, man, this is happening fast. And you know, people said you can't do this. But I've been hearing that my whole life. You know, people say, you know, like, when I, when I became a pro bodybuilder. Oh, you know, I, I wrestled for seven years after that was great part of my life. They released me, which so happens I was 42. I came home, I said, well, I think I'm gonna, I'm gonna do a Pro bodybuilder. You're 42, you can't do that. I say, you might be right, but I'm gonna try anyway. I've been told I couldn't my whole life. So all that just went on deaf ears. So then basically did my first contest, one second contest turn pro, third contest as a pro bodybuilder. I mean, this is. Most people that try never ever get a pro card. I got in two contests, which puts me in a really small school of people that have done that.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

But what I'm. See the, the beauty of what I'm saying is I've kind of was. I was able to kind of traverse all these things and do them fairly quickly, making the change from one to the next because it was all goes back to the beginning. My work ethic was twice as much. My problem solving skills were sky high.

[C]

I hope you guys are enjoying the show. Please don't forget to like and subscribe. It helps the show a lot with the algorithm. Thank you.

[B]

And I wasn't afraid of what people told me I couldn't. It's a simple formula, you know, and, you know, so then business wise, you know, my current company is, that's my second. You could probably argue that my real estate company was a seven figure two, but it was, you know, at that point it was, you know, it was like, you know, when you're constantly buying and selling, it's like at different points, it's like, it's never just a seven figure. Might be seven figure, different points. But that's where my current company, it's boom. There's no, you can't argue it.

[C]

Yeah. When I see people that have success in multiple industries, I'm really impressed with that.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Because there's a lot of skill involved in that.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Well, and that's the thing is like what I teach in my coaching is, look, these skill sets that we develop, they can go, they can go to your relationships, they can go to your business, they can go to your body, they can go to your mind. It's, it's everywhere. And if I was make the joke. If a man trained his brain like he trained his chest, he could have whatever he wants.

[C]

I love that. Everyone loves Chester.

[B]

Dude, is it the craziest thing? Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's crazy.

[C]

So.

[B]

But I mean, when it comes right down to it, you know, it's like the thing that I love now is, is now I'm teaching people how much power they have if they just get some of this out of the way. You got to stop worrying what people, other people say or you got to stop worrying about what the wrong people say. Because the right people, they're gonna congratulate you for failing. They're gonna pick you up, dust you off and say, great job. Do it again.

[C]

Absolutely.

[B]

This failure is a part of success. And successful people understand that. The people that are caught in the matrix, the ones that are driving to a job, they really don't want to go to, you know, the ones that were following the rules of society, these are the people that don't understand that that's why they're stuck.

[C]

What are the problems you're seeing in young men that approach you for coaching or consulting or advice?

[B]

I think the biggest thing is, is they know what they want, but they're deathly afraid of what people are going to say.

[C]

I dealt with that.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

When I was starting off, yeah. I was scared of the judgment 100%.

[B]

And again, going back to, you know, the, my as a, as a pathetic little bastard as I called myself was a blessing because I was, I had to deal with that so much. At some point you just don't care. You know, it's like just, we've all been in a situation where something's got you so wound up and you just, it's almost like it just kind of lets go. You can't do it anymore. It's like you don't have the ability to care about. You've cared so much. It's over. You know, it's almost like we've all had our heart broken. Right. Well, at some point that heartbreak goes away. Well, at some point you can only worry about what people think for so long before you realize, you know what? I don't care anymore.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So you get that out of the way. That's a huge one.

[C]

That's a big one.

[B]

Well, and the crazy thing is it goes even further. So people are, there's failure, right. But when it comes down to it, people are more afraid of what people are going to say because they failed than the failure itself. It's unbelievable because failure is a part of success. You can't have the, the success and failure. You can't split them. I, a lot of times when I have new people come on board, I'll explain. Look, we all know Michael Jordan. He had the most game winning shots as an NBA player. When he's playing, he, he might even still have that statistic, I don't know. But to get that, he had to achieve the most ever game losing shots. So Michael clearly understood he had to fail more than everybody else to succeed more. And people like, whoa, it clicks at that point. Yeah. And that's it. You, you gotta, you gotta push a button in people's minds to help them see that they've been programmed improperly.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a saying that I love. He says, and this was a major one for me to moved me right? Says, break the rules, don't break the laws, you go to jail. But the rules of society, you don't have to follow those. But we follow them because we're afraid of what people are going to say. You. You completely. You. You break the shackles at that point.

[C]

That's powerful.

[B]

Yeah. 100. And as soon as you stop following the rules, you start separating yourself so fast.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That's unbelievable.

[C]

That's why entrepreneurship is such a good. Like, self development.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

For people.

[B]

Oh, yeah. And, brother, I've had gyms and there's other. Other business we didn't even talk about. Because I'm not afraid to start something. You know, because I understand if it fails, I'm going to learn.

[C]

Right.

[B]

That learns. That learn is going to give me a lesson. That lesson will help me do better at starting again or doing something different.

[C]

Yeah. I like it. Because it forces you to take accountability. Forces you to look at the mirror. Like, if you fail in entrepreneurship, a.

[B]

Lot of that's on you, and you're gonna fail. Just accept it. It's like I always make the joke when we're doing something new. Guess what? We're supposed to suck. That's perfect.

[C]

I sucked at this at first.

[B]

I mean, we all suck that. I mean, you. You, first time you do something, you suck. Second time, suck a little less. Third time, a little. Pretty soon you don't suck. But when you just accept the fact that, hey, I'm gonna suck and it's okay. But most people are. They're afraid of the judgment because they're going to not do well at something. That's the way it's supposed to be.

[C]

Yeah. That was my mindset. That's why I put lifting. So, like, because I was a skinny kid.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And I got intimidated lifting in the gym. So I just kept pushing it back and back because I sucked at lifting.

[B]

And that's what, you know, that's what we do. You know, the things that. That intimidate us or, you know, the things that are difficult or that we're afraid we're going to be judged. We just find reasons to justify why we don't do them, but in actuality, why. It's the work we're avoiding. It's basically camouflaging our success because it's the. That that we don't want to do. That's where the real gain is.

[C]

That's where the growth is.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. What was it for you? What were you avoiding when you look back at it?

[B]

Oh, man. You know, I think when it came down to it, and, you know, it's funny enough I say it once. A fat kid, always a fat kid. I'm. It's like I'm A food addict. I'm a sugar addict. Like, I got three kids, right? And they would always. Three girls. They would always, like they're eating a candy or something. Oh, daddy, have a bite. You know, if I have a bite of yours, I mean, all the rest of yours, your sisters, your mom's, then I'm gonna go to 7:11. I eat all theirs.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And so. So it was like, I'm a foodie, a sugar. Whatever you want to call it. And it's so. It's like once a fat kid, always a fat kid. A sugar addict. You're always an addict. Whatever you're addicted to, you're either someone's in the addict or not. You never really recover. You manage, so to speak. Recovery is management. So what really kind of. I mean, I. I actively worked on it, but I. I really didn't get a grip on, like, dealing with my sugar addiction until later in life.

[C]

Really.

[B]

It haunted me. I mean, even when I was a success, early entrepreneurship, if things somehow were going wrong, right. Because my business is doing well, I. I could disappear for a few days and nothing would change. And something would mount up on me. Who knows what? Maybe it was personal. Maybe it was. I would literally, I can remember this. I would go to the grocery store and I would take, you know, it's like a big brown bag, and I would fill that thing up with the worst sugary treats you can think of. And the worst part was I'm walking through the store, I'm eating them as I'm going through. By the time I get up to pay, I got this full bag. I already feel sick. Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

That's wild.

[B]

Yeah. But I would buy it and I would go home and I would disappear. Sometimes for days, almost like a drug addict. I would be eating.

[C]

You love sugar.

[B]

Oh, yeah. It was in it. And that haunted me for a long time. I mean, I got that binge eating away. That was the first step, was to cut the binging.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But I. That right there, that addiction really, really plagued me. And it's. It's. Course, it's just food. You can make whatever argument you want, but an addictive behavior pattern that's not managed is detrimental to your life. Absolutely, man.

[C]

I used to go hard on Halloween as a kid. I get the pillowcase.

[B]

Oh, dude.

[C]

Dude. I get 10 to 15 pounds of candy.

[B]

We would change costumes. I would go. I would go three times.

[C]

That's hilarious.

[B]

Yeah. And I'd have to hide because I would have, like, you know, the amount of candy I would acquire. My Parents would never let me keep.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. I hid mine, too.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

We actually donated half of mine to the orthodontist for, like, some braces or whatever. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And so that's something that. Had I been a little bit more honest with myself about that, and I'd gotten a bigger grip on that early because realistically, what happened, it was not just the food, it was not the sugar. It was an addiction. Because. Because that addiction, I end up having some pretty massive painkiller addictions.

[C]

Damn.

[B]

Going through. Yeah. I mean, and when it comes to the surgery. Yeah. That's how it starts.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But then, you know, he starts because you get hurt. You know, when a doctor gives you something, it feels okay. You know, I remember. I can remember in competing in Eastern Europe, you know. You know, it's televised and. And, you know, you're. You do an event, you got 90 minutes, so you got to get back. And I remember I. I thought it was a squat. It was a car squat. I strained a groin.

[C]

Geez, why?

[B]

To go out and do a. Basically a truck pull after that.

[C]

Oh, my gosh. You can't pull out.

[B]

No, I mean, you could, but the thing is, you can't. Once you get there, it's like, if. If you're not going to deal with it, they'll find someone who will. So it could have. But it would have also. I wouldn't have been invited to contest.

[C]

Right.

[B]

You know, and so anyway, I remember being in the. In the. In the. What is it, like the ambulance. Right. The medic. And they gave me an iv. Right. And because that's the first thing I would do. Give, you know, hydrate you. You know, but then they gave me this painkiller through my iv and I remember it's just like, what was that? All my pain went away. All my nerves went away.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

And then a doctor gives it to you. So it kind of opens up the. Well, it's from a doctor, you know, and then, of course, you're getting. Doctors are giving you painkiller, like pills. That's in America. They're just dope, you know, doling that out like candy.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And so, unfortunately, I had multiple, you know, painkiller addictions. You know, I would go trip planner by Expedia.

[A]

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[B]

You're hammocking.

[A]

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[B]

Apply it. Start off, you get hurt, but then what happens is you're using the stuff to deal with the pain, but then pretty soon the pain's gone. Now you're using it to feel normal. And it goes from you're feeling. Now you're using it so you don't feel sick, and now you're hooked.

[C]

Damn. Yeah, that's how they get you.

[B]

Yeah. And then at that point, you just got to suffer to get out of it. And. And it. Because of discipline, I'm, like, really disciplined. I was able to get out of that, but I have so many buddies who weren't able to do it.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

As you get to the top drug, which is oxycontin, and it's crazy.

[C]

Were you on that one?

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. It's quick story to. To illustrate how powerful that is and for that matter, anybody. Listen, man, if you have a problem with this, I. I am an open book. I say, look, come on my social media. I'm happy to talk to you about it, because this is, you know, my. My purpose in life is to inspire people to be the best version of themselves. And. And getting rid of a drug addiction or managing addiction is going to be the first step in becoming the best version of yourself. So you got an addiction, you find my social media, come chat with me. But anyway, so I'm not going to mention any names, but you guys would all know this name if I mentioned him. We're in Japan. He runs out. You know, when you're really addicted, you. You got to make sure you got enough to get home. And he runs out a couple days early, and he's withdrawn hard, and he's on OxyContin. He lands in Florida, gets off the plane, doesn't get his bag, goes to a pharmacy. I want to say it was a cbs. Takes his hand in his shirt, goes to the pharmacist and says, give me a bottle of OxyContin. Right. They give it to him, pulls his hand out and says, I'm sorry, Call the police. Tell them I'll be across the street in the bathroom basically snorting these pills. So he's a good man.

[C]

Holy crap.

[B]

But he was that. He Was in that bad of shape that that's what he did. And of course the cops came and took him to jail and he went into jail and he detoxed. But I mean, that's the kind of. That's sweet. That's what you're up against.

[C]

That's insane.

[B]

Oh, yeah, Yeah. I mean, when. When I was on that stuff, my wife, you know, she had to really help me. She had to hide these things. And it caused a lot of problems between us. We had to step me down because you. You get a. You do if you're on a dose that's too much and you cold turkey, that drug, you can give you Caesar seizures.

[C]

That's what happened to me with Xanax.

[B]

Really?

[C]

Yeah. Had a seizure.

[B]

Did you really?

[C]

Yeah. Ambulance er.

[B]

How much were you taking?

[C]

Well, they up your dosage every month, so I just.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

And then I ran out and then I smoked some weed, got super high and just had a seizure. So now I can't even smoke weed because I get flashbacks to that.

[B]

But it's probably better, dude.

[C]

Yeah, probably.

[B]

Honestly, all this, all these challenges happen to us now. I want nothing to any of that stuff because looking back, it's so easy to realize, know how it could have wrecked my life if I didn't have, you know, my discipline, you know, and my problems.

[C]

I saw with my dad too. He had a seizure at one of my soccer games growing up. They had to cancel the whole game because he was on Xanax and then quit cold turkey. Yeah, that stuff's no joke. The antidepressants.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. That shit's no joke.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, it's, it's. It's pretty crazy when you, when you get hooked on that stuff because then all of a sudden your whole life is about the pill.

[C]

Oh, I couldn't do anything without it. Yeah, I would. It would be in my pocket. Like if I had the slightest anxiety, I would just pop one.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah, it was. It was so bad.

[B]

Yeah. And that's basically our. Becomes our coping mechanism when what we really need to do is develop the skill set to deal with what's going on in our lives.

[C]

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I couldn't even fly without it or anything. But now, no, no anxiety. Like barely any. It'll come up here and there. But now I could deal with it.

[B]

Yeah, well, you. And as the challenges that we go through allow us to develop the skills we need because life never gets easier. We just have to get better. You know what I mean?

[C]

People think it gets easier with Money. But no, it doesn't.

[B]

It's a different set of problems. That's all it is. I would make the joke. Look, being broke is a, Being rich is a. You know, they're both hard. Choose your heart. Which hard do you want? There's no easy. So. And that's again, it's like to help people understand that they have the choices to change their lives and then help them change their lives with mindset and habit creation and things like that. That's my purpose in life.

[C]

I love it. Do you get a lot of guys coming to you for weight loss advice too?

[B]

Oh, yeah. I mean, because my, it started off with my, my current company started off with weight loss because I, I'd helped so many people lose weight just, just out of the goodness of my heart. And it just, this company just turned itself into a business. I didn't even try. It was like the demand just shot up because I had helped so many people. And it's like, you know, this worked really well for me here. Let's try. You can try. And of course, as it developed, I really learned how to tweak it for the individual. Yeah, but when you have something that really works, people will find it.

[C]

You know, a lot of people are wanting to take shortcuts when it comes to losing weight. And take Ozempic. What are your thoughts on that?

[B]

Basically all they're doing is delaying the inevitable. If you don't change how you live, if you don't change how you think, you'll be right back there.

[C]

Yeah, there's some wicked side effects with that one too.

[B]

Oh, God. Well, I mean, basically it's, it's, what it's doing is it's allowing a person to not eat, so they're slowly becoming malnourished. Look at the side effects of malnourishment. I mean, suicide rate. Shoes through the roof.

[C]

You know, I know some people with a paralyzed face right now from Mozambic. It's, it's so wild. Like celebrities. Yeah, because a lot of celebrities push that one.

[B]

That's. I mean, when it comes down to it, if you want to make a change, you got to do the things in your daily life to make a change. Because you, you know, we live this loop, I call it, it's like a 24 hour loop. You got these 24 one hour time slots. What are you filling those time slots with? You're going to sleep for eight, you're going to, you know, you, all of these time slots get filled. Well, are you filling these time slots? With things that are helping you get better so your life will get better. Are you filling your time slots with trying to figure out how to take shortcuts? Because we all know a shortcut. It's it.

[C]

They backfire doesn't work long term.

[B]

Yeah. 100.

[C]

I'm sure when you were a bodybuilder, you saw a ton of guys trying to do that.

[B]

I mean, when it comes down to. We call them flash in the pan. Because, you know, guys that come in, they come in hot and fast, but they didn't do it right. Exactly. Yeah. Flash in the pan, hot and fast. But they're here, here. Boom. It's, you know, it's like a quick grease fire.

[C]

Yeah. And you see that in every industry.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

One business, basketball.

[B]

It doesn't matter 100% because if you don't have the, again, the lo. You know, your 24 hour loop. If you have the things in there and you're repeating this process. But I'm a repetitive machine. It's like my ocd, you know, if I was as a kid, they would have diagnosed me with that. It was. If I had known that they said, you know, because repeating things feels really good to me. Well, lifting weights, that's all we do is repeat.

[C]

Right.

[B]

You know, and so knowing that repeating things feels good to me. I know what my strengths are and I expose those strengths and the things that. Okay. That don't fit into that. Okay, I'm gonna have somebody do that for me or I'm gonna hire somebody to do it. So you learn who you are and you. It's. I mean, it can be really, really helpful.

[C]

Smart.

[B]

I mean, you, you only really are going to call it a disability if you allowed to call it become a disability. My, My disability is an ocd. This is strength. If I didn't have that, I wouldn't. That piece of paper would have. This poor bastard sits in traffic, goes to a job that he doesn't want to go to.

[C]

Yeah. Oh, that's facts. That's what I say about ADHD and autism too.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

When we were growing up, people shunned you for having those, but you can really lock in and use those to your advantage.

[B]

Oh, yeah. I mean, I don't know much about autism, but the little I do know, these dudes are tapping into, like, parts of their brain that the average person will never see.

[C]

A lot of the top CEOs have. Yeah, a lot of them. And ADHD and dyslexia and a bunch of shit.

[B]

Oh, dude. I still like. I Can be reading and like the word was will go to saw that bad? Oh yeah. Right in front of it. It. It'll happen twice.

[C]

Holy crap. I have it with numbers sometimes when it never words.

[B]

I get it with numbers too. Like you get the code, you know, that comes through.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I got to be really care.

[C]

Yeah. The six digit code to get in your bank account.

[B]

God damn it.

[C]

Yeah, I'm double checking that one every time.

[B]

Yeah, I learned how to copy and paste it. I'm like, okay, I'm good.

[C]

Oh, that's smart.

[B]

Yeah, I had to, I had. I mean I'm. I'm actually pretty good with numbers. Like that was one of the things that remembering is I had to really be good at remembering things.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But when I get tired, like if I'm, if I don't sleep well or maybe I'm just pushing myself too hard, that's when it really starts going. So that's why I realized that. And I'm good at recognizing I'm on or this is not the time to try to remember a number. You're going to remember this thing backwards.

[C]

Yeah. Sleep is so important, dude.

[B]

I am when it comes to sleep, I mean I have a set bedtime, a set wakeup time. I almost always wake up before my alarm because I'm so rigid about when I go to bed. I go to bed at 8:00 clock period.

[C]

8:00Pm PM. Holy crap. So when you get up this morning.

[B]

I was actually up at 2:30. My alarm, my alarm said to go off at 3.

[C]

That's when people go to sleep. My age.

[B]

Well, you know, what happened was I, I learned actually as a young entrepreneur in my painting company, I kind of realized that, you know, I need to get up early because I'm getting up and I'm running this business and once the day gets started, I'm trying to grow this thing. And you know, managing 25 people is like, you know, your babysitter, you're a banker. Every. You got everything, you know. So once the day got started and these, you know, my company needed me, my time was. A lot of time was gone. So I got up early, got my time out of the way so that once the company's time started, I was smart and that's where it started. Now granted, I learned how to manage that better so I could actually have that. My time in the afternoon also. But in the beginning I was. Especially when I was trying to grow it real fast. Yeah, it was, there was so much happening so quickly if I didn't get my Training. If I didn't get the things I needed for me early, it might not happen.

[C]

That's smart.

[B]

And if I'm not getting better, I, my business is not getting better. And that's the thing I tell people all the time, look, you're especially want to come and I've been a business owner my whole life. It's all I've done is start and grow businesses. My coaching, I really specialize in business owners because they run themselves ragged trying to be better at their businesses. But really what they're doing is they're, they're focusing too much on their business and not on themselves. You're building a business, but are you building yourself? Your business is only going to be as good as you are. And so when it comes down to it, helping someone understand, you know, mindset habits, the whole thing, sleep, you know, mental focus, I mean attention is probably one of the important things that we have these days.

[C]

Especially because everyone's attention.

[B]

Spanish shot 100. Because your attention, where's your attention going? Or your focus is another way to put it. If you can focus on something and only that, you will get so much done. But we live in a time where the distractions are everywhere, endless. And that's why for me, 3am no distractions.

[C]

No one's texting you at that time, calling you.

[B]

No, I mean I, I actually about 3:15, I'll text my three daughters, my mom, my wife every morning and then one of my friends and I'm just.

[C]

Sending them love and they're already awake or no hell, okay, no hell, I don't.

[B]

And I tell them I don't. This is not for a response. It don't feel like I'm doing this because I want you to respond. I start my day with gratitude, love it and with sending love because it's part of what, you know, when I get up that time is to get me into my best shape. So every day I'm ready to rock. Because if I know if I get myself primed up, I'm going to make better decisions, you know, and decisions change our lives. You know, it's kind of like, you know, you hear the terms, you know, scarcity and abundance. Yeah, people don't understand that. They, they just, they'll repeat it, but they don't really understand because you can take it like a losing and a winning mindset. People understand that better. If you're in a losing mindset, that's scarcity. The decisions you're going to make when you're in a losing mindset are very different than in a winning mindset. Right. We all know you, you lose, your confidence is low. God, can I do it again? You win. You're like, I can't wait to do it again. Well, our decisions are different. So when you're making decisions in a losing or a scarcity mindset, you're making decisions that are changing your life in a. Usually in a very not effective way. You know, you're not leveling up. Making decisions in a losing mindset most of the time versus if you're an abundant or a winning mindset, those decisions are going to move your head pretty quickly. Well, that morning time for me, I am making sure that I am in that winning mindset. Because when my decisions are on point, my life is propelling forward at warp speed. And that's part of what. That's part of what I teach. Love that.

[C]

That's some of the best advice I've heard, honestly, because I've made important decisions in both mindsets.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

And looking back at it now, whenever it's a scarcity mindset, it's terrible.

[B]

I've done that so many times. You know, it's especially. I mean, that's the thing too. We could go back and look at all. That doesn't help us.

[C]

Yeah, it doesn't.

[B]

So. So it's like, let that go and realize that the idea is not to do it again. Yeah, you're so correct. The decisions you make in that losing mindset, they're not helping you move forward 99% of the time just because you're.

[C]

Going for quick money, you're going for that quick thing.

[B]

Yeah. And a lot of times you don't have the confidence to. To make the decision, the hard decision, because hard decisions get us ahead. When you're in a winning mindset, it doesn't. It might be a hard decision, but you've got the confidence to just blow through it. You know, I explained a lot of my clients look right now. You look around and you see all the problems surrounding you, let's say. Yeah, okay. What if you looked around and you saw nothing but opportunity? Wouldn't it be easy to run to those opportunities? Of course it would be. They say, well, you see, the problem is just the speed bump in front of the opportunity, but you're in the mindset where you can't see past the problem. So as soon as I get them reprogrammed and they look around and they see opportunities, life has totally changed.

[C]

That's some great advice.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, we. We get to see, we really get to kind of determine what we see. Just most people have no idea how to maneuver our minds or our neuroplasticity so that it actually happens. Goes back to the. What I said in the beginning. If. If most men trained their brain like it did their chest, they'd have whatever they want, you know?

[C]

Yeah. Neuroplasticity, it's a. And we all need that. We all have our traumas, and we all have our preconceived notions, right?

[B]

Oh, yeah. 100.

[C]

And that won't get you to where you want to be most of the time.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, you think. You hear people say stuff like, you control your thoughts, you control your life, and it's really hard for people to understand that. But realistically, those thoughts are determining your state. You know, abundant or scarcity, winning or losing, you know, because, you know, it's. If you can control those thoughts and keep yourself in that winning mindset at abundant mindset, you're altering your decisions. Your decisions change your life.

[C]

Where do you coach people? Is online. Is it in person?

[B]

Yeah, pretty much. You know, I. When I had my gym, I did more in person stuff. But the problem is, is I really look for the character in the person. I don't. It's. It's. That's the biggest thing. So I know if I have the right character, I can do amazing things because I'm. We're teammates. We're partners. I can't do it alone. He can't do it alone. We have to do it together. And so the problem was with the local market was, you know, there's not as many of those people in a local space. And so. And then, funny enough, because it was kind of based out of the gym, people associated it with getting in shape. Getting in shape is a positive side effect of changing your mindset and your habits. You know, why. Why People have a hard time getting in shape and staying in shape because they're focused on getting in shape. Focus on your mindset and your habits. You'll get in shape and you'll. You'll keep it.

[C]

Yeah, that's so true.

[B]

So when it was based out of a gym, it was almost like. It was like. Almost like the wrong platform to start.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And so. And plus, I realized, you know, we. I mean, the gym was great. I actually have my wife. I said, look, you. You run this thing, you know, because this other business, my. My mentoring business was just. It was just kind of taken. It was just blowing up by itself. And so I had her kind of take over and. And manage the managers and things like that so I could focus on this one. And that's when I realized that going online gave me the ability to find the right people, find the right characters. The worldwide market, the number one. My number one mark is usa. Number two, uk. Number three, Canada.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Number four, Australia.

[C]

Same with me for the podcast. Yeah.

[B]

And so it's kind of like you, you have the ability this. This huge worldwide market to find the right people. So that is, if I have the right people. I love what I do, but somehow I get the wrong person in and their character is not what I thought that was. It's. It can be a. You know, it's a bitch. And I want to help everybody.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And sometimes I can tell when some's not the right character, I'll give them some free shit. Hey, go work with this. Come back. But I like to make. I mean, I, I love what I do and I. When I'm. Especially when I have the right people, it just. The love just keeps growing.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, that famous saying. Right. You could lead a horse to water.

[B]

But you can't make them 100 is so true. So true.

[C]

That one really changed me because I used to try to force people to change a lot when I was younger.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And I would get mad if they didn't. But now I don't care.

[B]

And brother, that's so true. That's one of the things that when we're kind of figuring out if someone's the right character, you know, are you comfortable getting uncomfortable? I just. I just need to know that you're going to be okay stepping away from what you normally do, because what you normally do has got you stuck.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And if you're not okay with stepping away from that, I need that first step. And if you tell me you can, but you won't do it, we're going to have a lot of problems.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And it's like you, just like you said, you can't make someone change. Someone has to want to change. And all I need is for someone to have the character enough to take that first step. Because I know they take that first step, that little bit of momentum, I can get them to see the light. And once they see the light, they never look back.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah. That stubbornness is a tricky one because it's like a protective mechanism, but it can also harm you.

[B]

100. And it goes back to the way that our brains were designed. You know, you go back far enough back in human history, you know, our literally all we wanted to do was live another day because it was. Our environment was so brutal. So our brains were programmed to scan our surroundings and pick out the problems. But because those problems are trying to eat us for lunch.

[C]

Right.

[B]

We don't live in that world anymore. But our brains haven't really. Our. Our environment is. Has evolved, you know, thousand fold. Our brains have barely evolved. And so our brains seek comfort because that's what kept us alive. Well, comfort in today's world keeps you in a job you don't want to be in. Facts keeps you sitting in traffic.

[C]

Yeah. Comfort today is honestly a bad thing.

[B]

100 if. And that's the thing. One of the things that I would say too is, you know, with. As I developed, I became very, very clear that me being uncomfortable is what made me comfortable. If I'm comfortable, I get. I start getting weird.

[C]

Yeah. I get anxiety.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 100 start itching. You know, my wife says, you know, you get yourself in trouble.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So, you know, always having something to chew on. Something that if. If I get that list, that little flutter in my stomach, you know, that's the thing that tells me I'm. I'm on the. I'm on the scent. Know. But the way our brains are wired, we have to really be intentional to understand that we're. We're programmed to seek comfort. And comfort is doing the exact opposite of what we want in our lives. I mean, assuming that you want something bigger and better.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean there. There are plenty of people who. They want that job. Listen, they got a job with. With great benefits in a retirement. And that's all they want. Good for you. If that's what you want. More power to you. Most people are looking for a little more.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And that guy that's looking for a little more, he's got to learn that comfort is not going to get him.

[C]

Such an interesting dynamic. Right?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Every entrepreneur I know that is. Is balling or whatever and makes a ton of money. They're never content.

[B]

No.

[C]

They want more and more.

[B]

100. And you're always. And that's another thing too. You got to be like taking risks. The average man doesn't like to take risks because it scares them.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Well, entrepreneur realizes that risk is how he got there. You know, you never stop taking risks.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

You know, when you fall in your face, I mean, you win some and you lose some, but the skill set that you have that allowed you to be successful, you don't lose that. You just lose the shit. You lose the physical things. You Lose the money, you lose the houses, the cars, whatever you lose. But you don't lose your skills.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And every time you become more successful, you're. Because your skills are getting better, which means you'll get back that much easier. And you just have to realize that's part of the equation.

[C]

Exactly. Yeah. I'd rather try and fail than be on my deathbed and not have tried at all.

[B]

I got my ass kicked in 2008 when the. When the real estate turned over. You know, thank God, because it allowed me to see things differently. At that point, I made a decision in my life. I will never do something to earn a dollar. I love it. Probably one of the best changes my life ever. I was good at making money at that. I really didn't love, but I was looking back, I was, you know, just a half a step above the guy that was going to a job he didn't really like. But now it's like I gonna. I get goosebumps in. In the, like, warmth of my chest when I do my job.

[C]

I love that.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. And I'd rather be there than make more money, but miserable.

[B]

And the crazy part is, if you really love what you do, you get so good. The money will come.

[C]

Oh, yeah. It flows.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Because the energy is aligned 100.

[B]

But you have to realize that you can't do it if you're always looking at the money. You're never going to get to that spot.

[C]

Facts. I was chasing money as my first priority. Probably my first, like, six, seven years.

[B]

I think we all did.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, that's how we're taught.

[B]

Yeah. It's how we learn better.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, and you hear, oh, you know, how many rich guys you know that are miserable, blah, blah, and you think, well, I'll get there and figure it out.

[C]

Let me find out real quick.

[B]

When it comes down to it, everybody has to define. That's. Even when I talk to my clients, you have to define your success. What does your definition of success look like? My definition of success is to be financially free, constantly creating changing lives, you know, and constantly creating the big part. And that's an entrepreneur. You know, I love to create business. I love to grow business and. And businesses that make a difference. That's that. And then obviously, I want to have amazing relationships with my kids, my wife, my friends. You know, I want. I want to have the freedom to do what I want. I mean, my wife and her, we're all over the place.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, we have a house in California. We got a Place in Mexico. We got a cabin in Tahoe. We're just. Now we're just living our lives. Living our lives. Changing lives. And that's part of my definition.

[C]

Same. It used to be just financial success for me, but as I've gotten older, it's more than that. It's physical health.

[B]

It's finances. Oh, yeah, 100%. 100%. Like we, we make the joke, you know, for one house too long, you're like, well, shit, you know, we being in one place too long, you know, we, we tend to want to move around.

[C]

That's how you get comfortable.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

That's why people get locked into 30 year mortgages.

[B]

Yeah. And it's. And it's like we, it's like. So when it comes down to it, we all have our definition of success. You got to get clear on what it is and then, you know to get there, you're gonna have to get uncomfortable.

[C]

Yep. Yeah. There's no way you could get there without no being uncomfortable.

[B]

Absolutely not. Yeah.

[C]

John, this has been awesome. Dude. Where can, where can people find you and everything?

[B]

Oh, I would say the best way to find me is my Instagram. I'm always gonna return messages there. We've got a lot of different platforms, but that's the one I spend the most time in. My Instagram. My name is spelled different, so it's J O N and Anderson is a N D E R S E N. And my handle is at the John Anderson. So go in there, send me a dm and happy the joke. I make you reach out to me. I'm going to help you somehow. So I give you something to go get better or you want to work with me.

[C]

I love it. Thanks for your time today, John.

[B]

Absolutely.

[C]

That was awesome.

[B]

Absolutely.

[C]

Check them out, guys. See you next time.