The Buffalo Mentality: Facing Challenges and Choosing Your Hard | Cole Taylor | EP 83

Summary

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The Entrepreneur DNA – EP 83

The Buffalo Mentality: Facing Challenges and Choosing Your Hard

Host: Justin Colby
Guest: Cole Taylor
Release Date: August 25, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this inspiring episode, Justin Colby sits down with health, performance, and business coach Cole Taylor to unpack the “Buffalo Mentality”—a philosophy centered on facing life's challenges head-on rather than running from them. Cole shares how adversity fueled his transformation from "extremely fat to extremely fit," propelled him to build a business empire serving over 50,000 clients, and shaped his mission to help entrepreneurs optimize both their bodies and businesses. The conversation covers actionable mindset shifts, habit-building, data-driven fitness, the critical role of identity, and practical resources for listeners ready to upgrade their lives.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Choosing Your Hard: The Power of Perspective

[02:56–04:29]

• Cole and Justin discuss how pain is unavoidable in pursuit of big goals—whether in business, fitness, or life. The real choice is in the type of “hard” you face.
• "Being fat is hard. Being shredded is hard. Which one do you want to choose? When people start to recognize life's going to be hard either way, I just choose a different path." – Cole Taylor [03:42]
• The “Buffalo Mentality” analogy: Buffalo run into storms, minimizing their suffering, while cows run away and suffer longer. Embracing challenges rather than avoiding them accelerates growth.

2. Resilience through Adversity & Perspective

[06:53–07:25, 31:07–33:00]

• Cole shares his experience of coping with significant family loss, framing adversity as an opportunity for growth.
• He stresses that everyone has faced real pain; recalling how you got through can develop resilience and a sense of perspective on current problems.

3. From Overweight to Optimal: Cole’s Health Journey

[08:05–10:13]

• After college athletics, Cole gained 50 lbs before deciding to fully transform his body and health out of frustration with how he felt and performed.
• "I'm not just trying to lose weight. It's who I am. If I can become an athlete—athletes train, they don’t try to lose weight. And as a byproduct, I look better." – Cole Taylor [10:13]

4. The Three Pillars: Mindset, Meals, Movement

[09:41–11:32]

• Cole’s coaching centers on aligning these three pillars for sustainable health:
  • Mindset: Identity comes before action. Become the type of person who naturally does the right things.
  • Meals: Fuel your body for performance, not just aesthetics. Get granular—what works for your body may be unique.
  • Movement: Training is about feeling and performing well, not just burning calories.

5. Customization & Data-Driven Health

[11:32–13:09, 13:42–15:19, 18:17–19:47]

• Cole’s company takes a data-driven approach, using lab tests, DNA analysis, and continuous metrics (sleep, hormones, gut health) to customize recommendations.
• "Everything we do is data driven ... it becomes more human optimization than really even fitness." – Cole Taylor [14:08]
• Sustainable approaches beat quick fixes or fad diets—work with your body’s needs and find what you can stick with for life.

6. The Myth of Outworking a Bad Diet

[16:45–17:31]

• Cole and Justin debunk the belief you can simply “train off” poor nutrition.
• "Every single thing I put in my body is fuel... if I'm giving it high quality premium fuel to let it run like a race car, or am I going to give it junk fuel and I feel bad." – Cole Taylor [16:46]

7. Sustainability over Extremes

[19:47–22:07]

• Quick-fix approaches like extreme diets or challenges (e.g., 75 Hard) might deliver results but rarely create lasting change.
• Over-restricting or crash dieting damages metabolism and makes future progress harder.
• Shift the focus from tactics to belief and identity to ensure lasting transformation.

8. Coaching Entrepreneurs: The Four F’s Framework

[22:14–24:22]

• Cole encourages entrepreneurs to assess their lives in four core arenas: Faith, Family, Fitness, and Finance.
• Key questions for self-assessment:
  • Where am I now?
  • Where do I want to be?
  • Who must I become to get there?
  • What standards and habits does that person uphold?

9. Identity Change: The Missing Link

[20:33–21:00, 24:22–26:46]

• True change begins with embracing a new identity rather than just adopting new habits.
• "Belief modification leads to behavior modification. If I believe something different, then I behave in a certain way. Try to just change behaviors—eventually you will revert back." – Cole Taylor [20:46]
• Most people plateau because they focus on tactics, not on transforming the internal narrative.

10. The Importance of Giving, Faith, and Paying it Forward

[30:14–34:09]

• Cole attributes his resilience and success to his faith and a belief that life’s challenges are gifts, meant to be used for serving others.
• "The mindset I built my life on is my whole life is a gift that I’ve been given to now give to others." – Cole Taylor [33:00]
• He challenges listeners to use their own hardships and “zones of genius” to positively impact the world.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Being fat is hard. Being shredded is hard. Which one do you want to choose?" – Cole Taylor [03:42]
• "It's not how do I try to lose weight, it's how do I—let's step back and ask, who do I need to become first?" – Cole Taylor [10:08]
• "You can't outwork out a bad diet." – Justin Colby [16:45]
• "Everything we do is data driven... it becomes more human optimization than really even fitness." – Cole Taylor [14:08]
• "Belief modification leads to behavior modification." – Cole Taylor [20:46]
• "I can't fix what I won't face. If I don't get clear on where I am now—if I try to hide it, I can't heal." – Cole Taylor [23:04]
• "It’s the start that stops most people. Nobody ever actually gets to the starting line." – Cole Taylor [28:10]
• "The mindset I built my life on is my whole life is a gift that I’ve been given to now give to others." – Cole Taylor [33:00]

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Practical Resources & Takeaways

Cole’s Free Resource

[28:15–29:26]

• Cole offers an in-depth, free health optimization guide, including meal and workout templates, calculators, and testing recommendations—all typically worth thousands of dollars.
• Get the free guide: Cole360.com → Click "Coaching" → Download "Free Plan"
• "That’s the same program that I follow... it's the calculations and numbers that I use." – Cole Taylor [29:53]

Connect with Cole Taylor

• Instagram: @coledavidtaylor
• Website: Cole360.com

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Episode Segments & Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------------------------------|:------------:| | "Choosing Your Hard" & The Buffalo Mentality | 02:56–04:29 | | Building resilience through loss | 06:53–07:25 | | Cole's personal fitness journey | 08:05–10:13 | | Three Pillars: Mindset, Meals, Movement | 09:41–11:32 | | Data-Driven Health & Business Philosophy | 11:32–15:19 | | Diet culture, sustainability, and harm of extreme quick-fixes | 19:47–22:07 | | Four F’s & Entrepreneur Self-Reflection | 22:14–24:22 | | Identity change & sustaining long-term growth | 24:22–26:46 | | Getting started & accessing Cole’s free resource | 27:39–29:26 | | Serving from your zone of genius, belief, and faith | 30:14–34:09 |

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Final Thoughts

This episode is packed with tangible mindset strategies, the science behind sustainable health, and proven performance hacks honed by Cole’s personal and entrepreneurial experiences. The overarching message: life will present challenges, but the fastest way forward is to face the storm like a buffalo, leverage adversity as fuel, and become the person who achieves your vision—inside and out.

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Transcript

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[A]

In life, we go through tough stuff. Everybody does. We talked about this a little bit and, you know, whether we chose it or not, we are given opportunities as the way I look at it, sure. Things that we face. And with the pain that I've gone through in life, I believe I was getting an opportunity like everybody else is, to make a decision of what to do with that pain is, do I use this as fuel for me that's going to motivate me to accomplish more in spite of this, or is it going to be something that derails me and I couldn't do it because of this. So I think I was, I was given those opportunities with, you know, losing my mom, losing my dad, losing grandparents. And like so many people in a short period of time, that was, you know, devastating as a young kid. And I was given that opportunity like, what am I going to do with what I've been given?

[B]

What is up the entrepreneur DNA family this episode is going to be fire because I have a close friend here in the building today. He was extremely fat to extremely fit. And not only that, he took his mindset and his ability to grow and himself into business. And now he has built an empire with over 50,000 clients within his business empire. My boy, Cole Taylor is here.

[A]

Let's go.

[B]

Let's be here.

[A]

Let's go.

[B]

I'm fired up about this. First of all, you've had a travel day from hell, so let's start there. What kind of mental fortitude do you need to get through that day?

[A]

I mean, I think God gives me opportunities to practice the things I teach.

[B]

That's Right.

[A]

There's no man just sitting on a tarmac for an hour and a half.

[B]

No big deal.

[A]

Fun emulate.

[B]

And then did the AC at least.

[A]

Work for the first 10 minutes? It did not. So I started sweating. Finally they shut the plane off and restarted it.

[B]

There you go.

[A]

And then the Uber right here should have taken like 25, 30 minutes. It took an hour and a half. So yeah, we.

[B]

We made a deal with Miami.

[A]

You just make it happen.

[B]

That's right. Well, dude, I think let's even start there. Right. Like, I think there's a lot of people in life, whether is the we want to talk about your finish journey and people's fitness versus or even the business side. There's a lot of people that want things that they want and can achieve and should deserve and do deserve, but then they limit their ability to kind of weigh through the pain.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, even to the point of like traveling to get here for you, regardless if it was like direct and never had a delay, still a far travel. But you wanted to be on here, you made it happen.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Talk to that point about people. Right. In your own personal journey, but also to like people's willingness to get through some of the pain to get to where they want to go.

[A]

I don't think anything in life that we really want ever comes easy. And most people that you meet that have accomplished a ton of incredible things, it's because it's come on the back end of a lot of intense suffering, honestly.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like building an incredible business takes a lot of stress, takes a lot of work. Building a body that you're proud of takes a lot of stress, a lot of work.

[B]

No doubt.

[A]

But in my opinion, it's just as much stress to not have those things know. You heard the phrase choose your hard.

[B]

Like, that's right.

[A]

Being fat is hard. Being shredded is hard. Like, which. Which one do you want to choose? And so I think when people start to recognize that. That life's going to be hard either way, I just choose a different path. It gives you a powerful perspective versus, like, avoiding pain. One of my favorite analogies is the buffalo versus the, the cow. When a storm comes in, a buffalo actually runs towards the storm and runs right into it and shortens the time delay between when they hit the pain. It actually is a lot shorter too. And it's easier. Easier to go through. Cows run away and so they suffer for longer and then as the storm hits them, they're still suffering. Your. And so, you know, that perspective always is something that I Carry with me is like, if something. Yeah, let's chase the pain. It makes it easier because it's like ripping the band aid off. Like, I'd rather choose my pain than let it, you know, chase me down.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I can even sit here and think today in my own businesses and I run multiple businesses. But like, there's even moments right now, right as the. The economy was changing, I've had to make decisions that I've just like, I would rather rip this band aid off now and deal with it and fix it now.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Or Right. Like instead of the. Another analogy is like death by a million paper cuts. Right. I would rather just be done with it and then move on. And I love that. I've never heard the buffalo and the cow analogy, but same idea.

[A]

Right. I think most people that don't have what they want in life, it's because they avoid pain, they're not willing to choose it, and then they just live in this constant mediocrity, which to me is worse pain than a ripping the band aid off.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so I'd rather wake up and choose something painful that is moving me in the positive direction than avoid painful things that are going to keep me away from it.

[B]

Now, some things are uncontrollable, like delay in an hour in Miami.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And some of that is just Miami, and some of it is bad timing, accident, etc.

[A]

I think the cool part about is when you choose painful things. Like, for me, I'm training for an ultramarathon. I've got 100 miler in 90 days.

[B]

But haven't you done that before?

[A]

I've attempted it on not enough training and I made it 79 miles.

[B]

79.

[A]

79 miles, bro.

[B]

I don't care if you never attempted again. You get all my applaud and all of my admiration, because that is insane.

[A]

Yeah. But for me, I get asked all the time, would you just really like running? And I'm like, no, I hate running.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Why do you do that? I'm like, same people. Most people, cold plunge. It's because I can choose something painful that I know is going to make me better. And then when stuff like today happens, you're just like, whatever. My. My 25 mile run I had to do this weekend was a lot harder than me sitting on this tarmac, waiting on this plane. Like, it's.

[B]

It's also perspective 100. Right. And this is the perspective that I think a lot of people miss in business and even in health. Right. Is the idea of like, Is it really that bad? Now, today, great example. Right. We had a reschedule. Fine. But at the end of the day, is it really that bad? No, not really. Relative to what real problems are.

[A]

I'm not going to think about this past tomorrow, probably only to remember that I had a door.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so I think people need some perspective. And you and I both do a lot of personal coaching, and I think, you know, you really lay into this with a lot of your, you know, students and your community is like, put some perspective on what you actually think is going to be hard, because in reality, it's not relative to all the other things that could be hard.

[A]

And I think for me, what's given me a lot of that perspective, and I think a lot of people have been through stuff like this is when you lose family members and go through extremely tough situations that you have no control. Like, for me, I've lost every single family member except one from health complications. And so I look at scenarios in life like today, and I'm like, I've gone through significantly worse than that. And I think most people in life have, like, they've gone through divorce, they've gone through, you know, losing a job, their career, crashing stock market, whatever it is, they've gone through painful stuff, if you remember, like, hey, I've made it through that. Nothing else really compares to that.

[B]

That's right. So talk. Talk to us a little bit about your fitness journey. Right. And I think this is pivotal because you're on the other side of, like, going from really overweight to extremely fit. Yeah, but I also want to talk to the middle guy. The. The guy or girl who's like, maybe not extreme on both sides.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

But really is like, man to kind of get to where I want to go. Talk to that journey for yourself and what you think people need to really understand.

[C]

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[A]

Yeah, so the first piece, my journey was I played division one football. I finished playing, and then I did the typical post athlete thing where it's like, I hate working out. I'm done. I'm gonna keep shoving my face. And I gained like 50 pounds over two years.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which on a 511 frame, you know, 5 11, 22230 is really where I got to. I'm about 215 now, and it's significantly different body composition. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But I got to where I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, I feel my fat rolling over my sides, and people start to make comments. And so, I mean, I'm, you know, I was not obese by any means.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

But, you know, overweight for my size, according to the, you know, doctor index or whatever. Body fasting, which are still obese, according to that. But it's, you know, it looks a lot different now.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

But I got to the point where I'm just like, okay, I can't do this anymore. Not only I hated what I saw in the mirror, but I felt awful. You feel gross all the time. You feel tired. I'm sure in here, that aren't paying or listening to this, that aren't paying attention to their nutrition, they. They feel like that sometimes. Like, yeah, I just. I'm. I'm groggy. I feel.

[B]

Well, dude, I go to you as a friend, and we had dinner a month ago or wherever we were in Boston, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. And I'm like, hey, bro, I'm feeling a little soft right now. I just had a baby, and blah, blah, blah. Right. And so you're kind of saying, did I need some extreme makeover? Oh, my. No.

[A]

No.

[B]

But even for the middle ground, people who just don't feel like they're performing at top level, like, that's the people I want to talk to, because I think there's a lot of people watching this and listening. There's hundreds of thousands right now. Right.

[A]

100.

[B]

They need to realize what you realized. Right. Perform at your optimal level starts with first your mindset, in my opinion. Right.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

But also, like, the fitness component.

[A]

Yeah. So our health program talks about three big pillars. It's mindset, meals, and movement. First off, it starts with the mindset. And for me, it's not how do I try to lose weight, it's how do I. Let's step back and ask, who do I need to become first? It's not what do I need to do? Who do I need to be? And for us, it's if I can become an athlete, if I can believe that's who I am. Athletes train. They don't try to lose weight. If I'm an athlete, I'm training to perform better. And as a byproduct, I look better. And so we instill this mindset of, I'm not just trying to lose weight. I'm not trying to accomplish some physical goal. This is who I am.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So this is what I do. And as a byproduct of my meals are now shaped in a way to how do I fuel my body to perform? It's not I'm starving myself or doing this crash diet to try to get a fast result. It's how do I fuel myself to. To perform at optimal levels. Yeah, same thing with training. It's not like, how do I do three hours of cardio a day and kill myself? It's like, no, how do I train to feel really good? And that might be different for different people. Some people it's a little cardio. Some people it's strength training. Some people it's more mobility and yoga. Like, there's different ways to get there. But if I can get my body trained and fueled in a way that makes me feel and perform good like an athlete, I end up looking good as well. Because we talk about the mindset principle of your outer world reflects your inner world. I think it's the same thing with our health too. If I can get the internal, you know, metabolism, get my hormones optimized, I can get it fueled properly. It ends up looking really good too. And so most of the people that are in that middle ground, they're like, I'm not that bad. I'm like, man, you don't know how much you're missing. When everything's fully optimal, there's a significant brain performance. Increase your energy levels. Like, even for me, like, this is. May sound crazy to some people. One of our tests told me that sweet potatoes and broccoli don't sit well with my gut bacteria. And I was like, wait, those are great foods. And the doctor was like, they are healthy, good foods, but your body just doesn't process them well and it's not optimal for you. And so even just changing things like that significantly felt better mental performance wise. Less groggy, more energy, less bloat, probably.

[B]

Right, right. Where can people go to like, even test? There's a lot of companies. Who do you even suggest?

[A]

We. We have a couple that our doctor orders depending on. There's like a food sensitivity test that we add to our blood panels. There's. There's a couple different gut health tests. I think. You know, I don't have any affiliation with this company, but if you just want like a quick and easy one, Viome makes some pretty good ones. Dot com. We don't use those anymore because we have.

[B]

I know Biorehacks here in Miami is a pretty well known.

[A]

We order those for like, basically the way our Our membership works is like as people are paying monthly, they just get tests that costs and our doctor orders it for them. Yeah. So different ways to do it. You just basically you, you want to find something that will actually tell you interpretation, not just information. You get a chart that says here's what your data points are. But unless you have someone to guide you through it, it doesn't really help you.

[B]

There's no doubt.

[A]

I need to make sure. How do I actually apply this stuff?

[B]

Yeah. I mean I'm big on the health kick because my age. Right. So I'm 43. You're a young thundercat. I get it. But you know, so I went through the whole scanning of the body, the mri. Peak peak performance and so peak longevity. Sorry. But it's because I actually want to know what's going on inside.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I think there's a big disconnect with people who are like, oh, I want to look like Cole and be ribbed and shredded because. And I just saw you did a before and after photo and you're fudgeing jacked and you know, it's great.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But that's the superficial side of just running at a peak performance. Right.

[A]

Product. Yeah.

[B]

And for, for I think most people, they need to start taking side. Taking serious the inside. Right. Which starts with the mental, but also like what is going on inside your body? Like belly.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Health.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Hormones, gut, health. Like, you know, to me the worst possible scenario is you get shredded and look incredible but you still die young because you're not sure.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's not any better.

[B]

And they're out there. You're physically look amazing, but any died at 48 and you're like, yeah, how'd that happen? He didn't look inside. Yep. Right.

[A]

You got it both well.

[B]

And so you're really big and you've built an incredible empire. Right. And so let's talk a little bit about the business side of this is you've taken this three prong approach, which is the mental, which is the food and then the actual exercise. Right. And you've built a 50,000 person empire, which is really impressive. I applaud you. But talk into that. Like, why would people go seek out coal and you know what's delivered?

[A]

Yeah. The difference for us is two things is one is we make all of our decisions based off of data. So it's not just a typical fitness company. There's a ton of tons of friends that run incredible personal training and nutrition companies that get amazing results. But for us and for Me, with my background of losing so many family members from health complications, to me, it wasn't enough to just fix the external, which a lot of times, to their defense, when you fix the external, it helps a lot of internal stuff as well. You lose a lot of weight, you're going to get healthier.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

But for me, I didn't want to stop there, there. So everything we do is data driven. And so not only do we have a trainer, it's doctors and nutritionists as well. We're actually looking at that data and saying what does your body specifically need from your DNA, your gut health, your food sensitivities, your hormones? And so that's, that's one big piece for us is all that testing data. And we even use whoops to track people's sleeps and recovery. And so it becomes more human optimization than really even fitness. And like I said, fitness becomes a byproduct of that. That's one. And then second is because I would say 90 plus percent of our clients are entrepreneurs. The focus needs to be on performance, but also the focus needs to be on how do I make this fit my schedule. And I'm not a fitness guy, I'm a business guy that's trying to use fitness as a tool. Yeah, they need a program that structured that. And so we actually run ours more like a concierge service than anything of hey, if we're going to give you a meal plan, why don't we just send you the meal prep that fits that or at least send you groceries to your house. You never think about it or your supplements. Let's send those to you. Testing, we'll coordinate it all for you. So, you know, on top of hands on coaching, it becomes like, let's just do the logistics for you.

[B]

Done for long as you.

[A]

Yeah, you know, obviously I can't eat their food for them or me at their body, but as long as they can commit to a couple hours a week of movement and they eat what we send, they get incredible results. So it's, you know, time efficient. But then, you know, they also get way better results because it's data driven.

[B]

You brought up eating so far a lot in, in 10 minutes.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

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[A]

Talk.

[B]

Talk about that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So it was huge. Especially for me. Right. Just thinking about what I just went through. Right?

[A]

Yeah. Most people are convinced that if they work out hard enough, oh, I get to eat bad because of this, which is there's a little bit to that because you can earn some extra calories or whatever. But to me, like, eating good is not a tool to just look good. Like, every single thing I put in my body is fuel. And for me, like, I don't use fitness as a. I just want to look good. It's. I got to perform well for my family, for my business, the people I care about. Like, this is a. My body's a weapon. Or I could be an anchor if I treat it right, for sure. So for me, like, nutrition is 100 fuel. It's how much fuel am I giving my body to make it run? But if I'm giving it high quality premium fuel to let it run like a race car, or am I going to give it junk fuel and I fil bad. And so, like, I think when people start to see that perspective of this is the fuel that I'm putting in my body and I'll perform based off of this.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

It totally changes the perspectives. I'm not trying to starve myself to lose weight, although sometimes some people really need to do that if they're super well.

[B]

Yeah. So talk to that. Like, I know you don't know the listener and it is very subjective. Right. You would advise me differently than. But let's just talk a little bit about some concepts. Right. I have another good friend in the fitness space and similar kind of space mental fitness. But he is really bought in. And it's not whether you agree or disagree but like he is so eyeballs deep into the one day, one meal a day fast. Yeah. And I mean he is just running at a 200. He's like dude, it's the way for me. Sure. And I would argue. Right. What's your kind of belief system? And I know it's all subjective. Yeah. How do you look at dieting? Not dieting and like sure, fast. I'm just saying like.

[A]

Yeah. What's the overall methodology? To me I, I approach things probably from a much more broad perspective than most people that are all gung ho about a certain method. Like I look at two things. One is what does the individual actually need? That's why I'm so passionate about testing is like we, even with our DNA testing we'll find that some people respond better to higher carb diets than they do higher fat diets.

[B]

Which my friend just found that out.

[A]

Which is crazy because so many people do keto or carnivore to hate on those necessarily. But some people really like they're not.

[B]

It's not optimizing actual body struggle to process fat cereal.

[A]

And so if you get a high fat diet you're going to be suboptimal. So one for me it's always what does my body specifically need based off of testing. Like there's so many out there. There's blood type, diets, DNA can look at it our, you know, our hormones and gut health can tell us specific things. But customization should be like don't do a fad. Do exactly what you need based off of data. And then two is like what can I actually sustain? Like to me doing things like keto or carnivore. Unless you're cool with like only eating that forever. To me that's not a sustainable. I gotta find not only what does my body need but what can I stick to. And so if you're like, you know the one meal a day, most of the guys I know that do that, they feel incredible with that. But if you can't stick to it and you feel incredible two days and then you ruin it and you're on like that's actually not any better. You might as well find something you can stick with.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

And so I think customization based off of your specific bodies testing and then two is like find something you can actually stick with. And if it's like, even if it's optimal for you, I. I'd rather slightly suboptimal that you can actually stick to. And then, you know, versus it's perfect. But I fall off every week.

[B]

Well, this is a little of what I. You know. 75 hard. Yeah. Right. And we all love it. And. Etc. My only downside is you and I are in similar masterminds. We're a part of similar networks. We're speaking on similar stages. All this other stuff. Yeah. Every single person I've ever seen go on. Finishes it. Well, not maybe they don't. But even when they finish it, 75 days later they are like Zach. Right. And you go, yeah. I can appreciate the mental fortitude to get like I started something. I finished it. It was really hard. Good for me. I love that. Good for them. But then it's just not even sustainable.

[A]

No.

[B]

Right. Like I'm like you're. Most people aren't going to sustain that.

[A]

No.

[B]

For the rest of their lives. That's. I mean that's what you're talking about is like why would you create a diet that isn't sustainable?

[A]

Yeah. Find something you can actually stick with for the long term. Because it's not about like if you approach it as a quick fix, you'll get a quick result and you'll fall off. But that's why we focus so much on identity. And this is the same thing when you're growing a business too. Is not just what behaviors do I need to change, what beliefs do I need to change.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

The belief modification leads to behavior modification. If I believe something different, then I behave in a certain way. But if you try to just change behaviors, eventually you will revert back because that's what happens. Day 76 and 75 hard as I did different actions. But it actually become a different person.

[B]

So 76 is they drink a lot. They just. And that probably turns them into just a melon for the next four days.

[A]

What's actually worse about when you do those aggressive diets if you don't sustain it because you went so hard for so long between your metabolism and your stress levels, you're actually like. Because you'll lose muscle mass in that typically unless you do it right, which very few people do. If you lose muscle mass and you increase stress significantly, you actually crush your metabolism. And so when people gain the weight back, they're less muscle but more fat.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so they've actually dampened their metabolism. So next time when they try to lose weight, it's actually harder. And then they repeat the process. And so like Maybe you burned 2,500 calories a day naturally before then. The next time is 24 or 2300. Next time is 2200. And so when you start to see how the metabolism adapts, you're like, this is dangerous. I'd rather just do it slow and steady and my metabolism stays healthy and I don't destroy my hormones versus setting myself to fail. And that's why people get know if they've done this for years, they get, you know, late 40s and they've tried 50 diets. And it's like, why I'm eating a thousand calories a day and I'm still not losing weight.

[B]

All right, so let's talk to the entrepreneur right now that you can, you know, most entrepreneurs right now are kind of saying, okay, I can improve.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

How do you talk to that entrepreneur right now? What, what are the questions you're going to ask them to think about to improve? Right. I think we all should be improving. But sure, talk to the entrepreneur for us.

[A]

Yeah. To me, any area of life that I want to improve in, whether I call them four Fs, four pillars of life, faith, family, fitness, and finance, it's my internal man. Whether it's mindset, emotions, could be spirituality. For me, it's a relationship with God, could be family is, you know, relationship with significant other, could be a spouse, could be, you know, friendship, any kind of sort of relationship. Fitness is obviously my body, my health, and then finances. Like, if I'm ever setting goals in those areas, it's the same path, same questions every time. And I always encourage people, if they want to grow in an area you ask these questions is where am I now? Let's get clear off of what is my current situation, because I believe I can't fix what I won't face. If I don't get clear on where I am now, if I try to hide it, I can't heal. It's another.

[B]

So you look in the mirror and you lie to yourself, you can't heal.

[A]

Not that bad.

[B]

Of course.

[A]

You're never. You're not going to grow because you can't be honest. That's really happening. So one is, where am I now?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Two is where do I want to be? And actually getting clarity of legitimate, tangible goals. I read a study recently that was like, over 90% of people don't actually set goals and Then only like 5% of those actually write them down. And when you compare those two, like those 5% accomplish like 10x more than like it's wild numbers.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But if you get clarity of like data driven targets significantly increases your ability to accomplish things. So where am I now? Where do I want to be? But the thing we talked about next, which really is the magic is not what do I need to do, it's who do I need to become? So what identity do I need to embody for that to be reality? If I want to get my business to 20 million next year, instead of saying like, first off, what tactics do I need? It's like, no, who do I need to be for that to be reality? Because the business is a reflection of me if I don't show up. Well, doesn't matter what tactics our team takes because I'm driving this thing for me, it's always who do I need to be. Because if I change the beliefs or I change the identity, the activity becomes a byproduct of that. And so if I want to lose 20 pounds, it's not what's my diet, that's a secondary thing. It's who do I need to be? How do I become an athlete, how do I believe I'm a healthy person? So it's where am I now, where do I want to be? Then who must I become? Then from, from there, it's how do I actually just implement the standards, or.

[B]

What are the X's and O's, what.

[A]

Are the X's and O's after that? But most people forget that part three and then never actually, even if they reach their goal, like I finished 75 hard, never actually sustain it because they didn't become a different person.

[B]

I say it similar. So I have five laws of success, but the first one is a combination of what you just said. So decide what you want and then decide who you need to be to get it. So it's one sentence, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because it does no good to say I want a six pack if you're going to go eat donuts and drink Coca Cola every day, then don't make that decision of what you want, change it. No one's going to judge you. The thing I, you know, of coaching a lot of people.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The thing I see even just in business is people aren't authentic with themselves. They won't actually say what it is, right? They'll say, yeah, I want to make a million dollars and I'm going to become this really driven business person. But they know damn well they're not going to sacrifice Netflix and chill time. They're not going to sacrifice the weekends and drinking on the weekend so their Monday rolls out a little bit slower. They're not willing to sacrifice, although they say they are.

[C]

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[B]

How can someone break that? Like, what would you advise someone to just say, just wake up? Like, be honest with yourself?

[A]

Yeah. So, I mean, I think once you start to legitimately ask the questions of who am I and who do I want to be? To me, that gives me a different mental framework to look at things. I think people just forget the identity piece. Like, even if they talk about, oh, yeah, I want to be an athlete, it's like, no, no, like, sit down and actually ask yourself what that would look like for you, what standards would that require for me, what environment do I need to put myself in? Like, do I need to change where I live, who I'm around? Like, what, what, how do I dress? Like, what does this actually mean for me? And what is that going to change for my life? Most people don't go deep enough for that and won't commit to that process. And so they, they, again, they tried to rely on this discipline of habits to. To get them somewhere, and they just continue to neglect that internal piece. So anytime I talk to somebody that's like, man, I've set these goals, I really believe I want to be this person. I just can't motivate myself to do it. It's like, because you, you enough on this internal identity.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Do you have a committed to being a certain person? Because for me, the reality is I don't want to wake up and work out any day. Like, there's like 99.9% of the time I do not feel like waking up early and working out. But because I've committed to, I'm an athlete. This is already who I'm, who I am. There's standards that I have off of that. And so when the alarm goes off, I'm like, this is just who I am. Like, there's no negotiation anymore, and people aren't willing to take their Standards to that level. Yeah, they just want like to talk about it. Most people get enough feedback from others when they talk about their goals and who they want to be that fulfills that void enough to not really do anything.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's why I don't really tell people a lot of my goals unless it's an accountability. Like hey, I'm running 100 miler and I'm telling you all that I'm doing this. I'm going to bring you along the journey.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Most people, I just tell them like once it's done because I don't want to ruin the satisfaction of just telling people about it. I want to commit to the work and then get the reward when I've done it. Most people just want to talk about it and don't actually commit to the identity changes required.

[B]

I think as a coach also like. Well, first I want to ask you do you have anything that people could kind of like get from you to just get going? Right. Whatever these things are. I think that the, the hardest part for any of us and I just think back to college. So I use the analogy like I was an English major. The hardest part of the paper was getting started.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I would sit there day after day and procrastinate that. I had this 15 page paper.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Once I got that first paragraph out like I could run for three or four pages in no time. But that getting started. So do you have something that someone can. Where do they go to get that?

[A]

It's the start that stops most people.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Nobody ever actually gets into the starting line.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Yes. So we have a. Our health company's got an incredible resource that we put together. Basically summarizes all that we've learned over helping the 50,000 plus people we served of. You know, what's the best way to eat to fuel your body? How do I train to fuel my body? What's what supplements do most people need? And so basically puts all this stuff together including testing recommendations in a way that you can customize for yourself. So it's got calculators, it's got meal plan templates, it's got workouts in there, it's got testing recommendations. Really there's like this whole breakdown of what most coaches honestly charge a couple thousand dollars for.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So that someone has zero excuse to. To not get started. And so I'd love to give anybody listening this access to this. I'm sure we could put it the link in the show notes but if you're listening this, you can just go to my page, which is Cole360.com Cole360 and there's a section that if you click coaching, it pops down and says download a free plan, essentially. And so you can download it there. And again, like, it'll. It'll give you everything you need. And the only thing you would need on top of that is if you actually wanted to get testing from there. But everything in that resource will give you all that you need to lose the weight, gain the muscle, whatever you need to get started.

[B]

Well, that's a lot. That's a huge gift. Right. I thought you were gonna maybe give like an ebook. Yeah. Also, like, if they can't find that, just go follow you on Instagram and just DM you or go to Facebook. Just. Cool. Taylor.

[A]

Yeah. Cole David Taylor.

[B]

Cole David Taylor at Instagram.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

By the way, any of you entrepreneurs, just go grab that. I mean, that is ridiculously. I mean, literally, people charge three, four, five grand for what you're giving away.

[A]

Yeah. And we've. Honestly, that's a. A law that I've learned that I've really leveraged in businesses reciprocity. So business owners listening to this, like, I'll give you kind of the inside flip of that one. Like, that's going to be incredible value for you. And you guys are. You should get amazing results. Like, that's the same program that I follow.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's the calculations and numbers that I use. But what happens is people lose 20, 30 pounds over a couple months. They're like, dang, this is awesome. What else can I get from them? And then they'll come to us for testing and the more detailed stuff.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

And so business.

[B]

But you gave your best stuff away. I mean, Alex Ramosi says it all the time. Give it away for free. Because the reciprocity, it's that damn good. What am I going to get if I pay for it?

[A]

Totally.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I think. But you are that guy. I mean, you have always been a go giver. You're big in the church. That is who you are. And that's another component. Right. Whether people want to. I just think people need to believe in or have an idea of, like, this is for us. We were given this. Even the troubles, even the delayed flight. Like, yeah, this stuff is given to us and I. And that goes into the fitness side.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Right. You are in a position to make yourself better. But it also goes in a business.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Talk a little bit about your belief system and why that's been able to achieve Fat to extremely fit, 100 miler, but also essentially broke to building rather big empire with 50,000 clients. And yeah, speaking on stages. And literally, you're flying from here to Michigan to back to Florida. And people, like, literally want coal in their life. Like, talk about the mindset and the belief of all that.

[A]

Yeah. To me, it starts with, in life, we go through tough stuff. Everybody does. We talked about this a little bit. And, you know, whether we chose it or not, we are given opportunities. As the way I look at it.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

Things that we face. And with the pain that I've gone through in life, I believe I was getting an opportunity like everybody else is to make a decision of what to do with that pain. Is, do I use this as fuel for me that's going to motivate me to accomplish more in spite of this, or is it going to be something that derails me and I couldn't do it because of this. So I think I was given those opportunities with, you know, losing my mom, losing my dad, losing grandparents and like so many people in a short period of time, that was, you know, devastating as a young kid. And I was given that opportunity, like, what am I going to do with what I've been given? And like you said to me, I saw it as an opportunity of this happened not just to me, but happened for me. And I think the cool next step that comes from this and this. A lot of this has been through, you know, growth and incredible relationships and friends and mentors, but also relationship with God that's so deep that I've been able to experience and sift through some of this stuff. But I think the next level of instead of just saying it happened to me, it's happened for me. The next piece is actually happened through me is now I'm going to use this as a gift. All this pain, all this loss for me turned into thousands of people getting served in a certain way. That's right. So I think anybody listening to this, the mindset I built my life on is like, my whole life is a gift that I've been given to now give to others. And for me, that comes from God. Like, I've been given incredible gifts of a new family, adopted family. I've been given a life that I, you know, I can live. For me, I believe a life after death of something that I've couldn't have earned, that I've been received in a gift of salvation. Like, I've been given all these amazing things that I didn't deserve, even though I'VE gone through pain like that. Pain is actually a gift that's allowed to serve me too. And so I would challenge you, if you've gone through tough stuff, which we all have, is to recognize it didn't just happen to you, it happened for you. That's the first gift you can recognize. But if you allow it to do what it should, it actually happened through. You can use that same thing to serve people, make an impact at a different level.

[B]

Yeah. I think people. I don't want to call everyone selfish that don't serve, but the reality is everyone has some sort of zone of genius. And for them to hide that from the world is to some extent selfish, for lack of a better way of saying it. Right. And whether you need to be at your level, my level, and some others that have a platform, or if it's just like you're brilliant at the thing, let that come out right. In one way or another. Right. Whether it's at a job or social events or whatever. I think it is, is imperative as people and entrepreneurs. Right. Like, make sure your zone of genius is heard by others to that it's through you to deliver it. People need to hear it, see it, feel it, touch it. Right?

[A]

Yeah. The world needs what you have, and I believe you need to give that too. Like, I'm not my best if I'm not giving out of my gift. I'm the same that lights you on fire. And I don't think you can truly live a fulfilled, purposeful life if you're not letting that stuff come through you and you're giving as well. You know, there's always that phrase, like, it's better to give than receive. Yeah, that sounds like a cute platitude, but you feel so much better when you impact someone's life. Then someone gives you something. There's no but I'm using my gifts at my best. That's when I'm most alive, bro.

[B]

If you guys are listening to this man, follow him right now. I mean, this is. This is just a snippet of what I've been able to get out of him. He's dynamic. You're incredible. You are a server. You're huge in the business space. You are massive in the fitness space. You built an empire. I couldn't be more honored to have you on this episode, dude.

[A]

Thank you, bro. I appreciate it.

[B]

Yeah. Go get his free gift again. Go follow him. Cole David Taylor on Instagram, go to the website. What's the website, cole360.com Cole360 go to coaching. Scroll down, find it. That's totally free by the way. Or hit him up on Instagram and it will be in the show notes if you're watching this on YouTube so guys appreciate you. If this made an impact at all, just one single thing, make sure you share it with two friends. See you guys on the next episode.

[C]

At Capella University, learning the right skills could make a difference. That's why our business programs teach you relevant skills you can take from the courseroom to the workplace. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at Capella. Eduardo.