Transcript:
Steve, thanks for being here. No worries, man. Appreciate it.
Anthony named this the Bod Pod for now, so I was like— “All right, we can roll with that.”
I like it.
I was like, bu— do— do you know, like, there is a, a device called the Bod Pod?
No.
So it’s a, uh, body composition measuring device.
Okay.
Like, it’s usually in only, like, clinical settings. It’s literally, like, you sit in this pod, it looks like a spaceship.
Really?
And it’s air displacement for measuring, like, body fat and stuff like that.
I was like, “They might not like that, but it’s a different use.”
I have a client that’s— I have a client that does, uh, like, trademark law and stuff like that.
He’s like, “No, it’s different use. You’ll be fine.”
That’ll be fun.
Yeah.
Yeah. That’s cool.
Cool name.
Cool.
So the goal of what we’re trying to do with these podcasts, if you will, is sit down with people and give them some insight to what’s happening here at the gym, some insight to, like, the people and the stories that we’re having, and then all the topics, right? The conversations that we have with clients on all the things health and fitness.
Sure.
So let’s start with this. Um, who e— who are you? You know, what’s your, your, your life story? You know, just your background, family work, all that.
ESPN version? Or, or normal version?
Whatever you want.
Um, okay.
So my name’s Steve Box. Um, and, well, I, you know, start from reverse engineer. I’m here, um, it’s 2000— 2025 and I came to PHP the beginning of this year. Um, made the transition after seeing my wife coming to PHP for about 4 years. That’s a whole thing I wanna dig into today.
Yeah.
And yeah, there’s, there’s some deeper stuff there, for sure.
Yeah.
Um, and, uh, I am a, uh, company owner with my lovely wife. Um, she’s co-owner. We own Box Construction, we’re a remodeling and building company, and, um, actually now we are a design build company.
So, um—
Oh, okay.
Yeah, we do everything from design conceptions all the way to finish.
So are you doing, like, like, full builds now?
Yeah, we can do full builds. We do, uh, we— we do focus a lot on, uh, bathroom, kitchen remodels, full house remodels, kind of, um, flow, um—
Cool.
For clients that want to, to better their use of their space. So it’s pretty good.
Um, Melissa did, um, some phenomenal stuff putting the design piece together and—
Nice.
You know, I hold the license and, and help with the production department. So it’s pretty neat.
Cool.
Um, you know, a little bit further beyond that, um, I was in the Marine Corps for—
How many years?
15 years.
Okay.
15 years.
Thank you for your service.
Thank you, man.
Um, and, uh, from 2000 to 2015. And, um, really, the Marine Corps, um, was there and it was good times, um, real good times. I did a lot of in-between stuff as well, um, as y— as you’re aware with prior conversations. But, um, um, did some stuff with life consulting as well—
Mm-hmm.
Um, with coaching as well. Um, and, uh, had the ownership of the company for a bit with Melissa.
And then prior to that, it was just, uh, growing up, um, growing up with a lot of, like, uh, different kind of missing elements in my life—
Mm.
Which come out as I’m older.
Yeah.
So yeah, that’s kind of an ESPN quick version. There’s a lot of snippets b— in between though.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay. So how long have you had your business? When did you start it?
Uh, 2017 is when we incorporated, so—
Okay.
Oh, 8 year or yeah, about 8 years.
Cool.
And what— what did you do in the military?
So I was a machine gunner—
Okay.
Um, by trade, and then an 0369, which is a E6, and, um, bunch of diff— and I was an 0913, which is, uh, a combat instructor.
Okay.
Um, something I love doing is instructing and coaching and teaching. So, yeah.
Yeah.
Okay. So married how many years?
Married? Oh, gosh. Melissa, if you’re watching this. That’s me. Uh, want to say this year was 24.
Okay.
’98.
Nice.
No, ’98 I met her. 2001, in October, we got married, so yeah.
Okay.
And how many kids?
We have 3.
Okay.
So—
A 22-year-old, a 19, and a 6.
Okay.
So— and that’s— and that’s part of this that, like, I think a lot of times people forget from, from both sides, from people looking at, say, uh, us in the field, and then also, like, people we work with. It’s like, you have a real life, like, you’re married, business owner, kids, like, you know, uh—
I bring that up because I think a lot of times when people hear these stories of like, “Oh, this person, you know, lost this much weight or they, they, they accomplished this big fitness goal,” in a lot of those situations they think like the world stopped for them to do that. And it’s like—
Mm-hmm.
No, the world, like, life doesn’t stop, right? Like, you have to figure out how to fit these in— these things in to a real life, right?
And, like, that’s one of the things that I take a lot of pride in, in, in us, in, like, honestly, the way that our business systems and how it’s molded over the years is, like, hearing what do people struggle with all the time?
Mm-hmm.
And I would say in most cases it’s this ecosystem of your life and how do I fit fitness in and achieve the things I want without giving up these other things, like, I can’t quit my job. Like, tho— those are, those are factors that are not going to change, right? Not realistically.
Right.
Mindset, yeah.
Yeah. Mindset. Yeah.
So, uh, I would love to hear, right? And we’ve, we’ve had this conversation a couple years ago now, but I would love to hear your thought process, right? Like, your wife had been here for a couple years.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
And how did that conversation first come up of, like, whether it was her or you, of like, “Hey, you should co— you should come talk to these guys and, and just see what’s going on and, and see if it, it would be good for you”?
Oh gosh. Okay. Um, we have to go deep quick.
It’s good.
Um, so I—
So you mentioned mindset a second ago. Mindset is a big thing— um, that I’ve taught, I’ve dealt with.
Mm-hmm.
And, um, um, I think the biggest thing for mindset before we go into the Melissa thing is, is understanding where you stand in your life and how that is taken. Um, I mean, some people it’s hard to understand where you’re at, right?
Mm-hmm.
So even making the change to, like, “I need to better myself with health and whatnot,” like, it’s okay to not even be there yet. Some people are, like, quick on it and they’re, like, “Snap,” like, “Uh, I understand what I needed—”
Yeah.
“I understand where I was.”
So going back into that, so in the Marine Corps, um, nothing against the Marine Corps, they have specific standards—
Mm-hmm.
Right? Height, weight standards, and my whole time in the Marine Corps, like I’d even get down, um, I would do such unhealthy things to make weight.
Mm.
Um, I would drop 20, 40 pounds in a week, 2 weeks, sauna suits, running—
Yeah.
Not eating, water. Like you’re cutting weight for, for, uh, a fight.
Cutting weight for a fight—
Yeah.
But cutting weight to stay in a non, you know, not— and, and, and not being a black eye in the Marine Corps.
Yeah.
Like, you know?
So that stuck with me a whole lot l— uh, you know, a lot of my life.
And then prior to the Marine Corps, I was always a little bit heavier set too, bigger guy, um, and I’m still a bigger guy, but mindset, my mindset from my younger years through the Marine Corps up to getting out of the Marine Corps was that I’m a fat dude. An— and honestly, um, and I’m, you know, the, the shame always felt—
Mm-hmm.
Like, shameful and everything like that.
So, um, as soon as I got out of the Marine Corps is when I had my own life, right? So, um, and then, like, I didn’t have tel— somebody tell me, “Okay, hey, you gotta go do this.”
“Okay, well, I gotta do this be— otherwise I’m gonna lose my opportunity or job or rank or whatever.”
Yeah.
Moving forward though, um, then I went to be a life coach. Well, I can’t be a hypocrite and, and teach about, you know, mental awareness and just different kind of concepts that we used to teach on—
Yeah.
Um, when I was doing the Rise Up King stuff, um, without doing it.
Yeah.
So that forced me to do it. And that’s—
That’s a hard thing too, because it’s one thing to want a goal for yourself, but it’s a completely different thing to be more or less having to fight for something and work hard for something that isn’t necessarily a goal of yours, it’s a requirement for this other thing that you have to do, right? And, like, that kind of, for lack of a better term, like, unhealthy relationship with everything that’s involved, right? Whether it’s working out, whether it’s eating or, you know, anything that in that process.
Yeah.
Like, that, that takes a while.
And I, I, a lot of people I think would—
It’s fascinating to hear that, especially in, in, from, like, the military side, right? It’s like—
And we can have a whole conversation about, uh, the military’s, uh, standards, which have gotten better, I will say—
Yeah.
About, like, you know, what people should be able to do and that kind of stuff.
Mm-hmm.
But, like, I mean, that’s something that’s been for a long time, it’s like, wait, like, you’re, you’re fit to do the job—
Mm-hmm.
Right? But this, this number, right?
And we see the same thing in the medical world too, where it’s like from diagnosing disease and stuff like that, it’s like, oh, if you hit this number, bad, but if you’re, like, just a little bit off of this number, you’re actually great. It’s like, no, it doesn’t quite work like that, you know?
Yeah, it’s like when they, when— uh, it’s almost like—
I guess the, the issue that I saw then was, like, they determine who you are and how you operate based off of how your body appearance is.
Yeah.
And body appearance is not everything.
Yeah.
In my opinion at least, right? So it could be different for you. I think, um, for the longest time, I thought a 6 pack and an 8 pack was the one that made you strength and the one that, you know, made you look good and do all this other stuff.
Mm-hmm.
And, uh, I don’t know, I, I think—
Uh, I don’t know. I mean—
So going backwards a little bit, like, um, you know, going, getting to the Melissa era part, um, I worked out, and then I sort of was tired of it, um, and I got really, um, fat and happy, really, really fat and happy. I, I got up to 310 pounds.
Okay.
Um, and that was right before I had joined here. And it was just, I drank, I did everything I wasn’t supposed to do. I didn’t care. I ate unhealthy different times of the day, did not work out—
Yeah.
Because nobody made me work out.
Yeah.
Um, and Melissa was like, “Hey, I’m gonna do this.”
Uh, “I needed, I needed to take ownership of myself and, and do this for myself.”
And she did it.
And I went to a couple of Spartan races and, like, watched her do it.
Yeah.
And I was like, “Oh gosh, I see some people out there that, that, like, are still doing it and their mindset is there for a reason.” And it sort of made me shift.
So watching her do it with her friends and watching, um, other people do it that definitely had some physical challenges, we could say that—
Mm-hmm.
Um, didn’t stop them.
So it was more like, “Okay, I could do this.” Like, “I could do this.”
Um, then Melissa said, “Okay, well, I told you about a year or 2 years ago to contact Anthony or Eric.” But it was more of a prideful thing, and more of a shameful thing. I’m like, “Okay, well I’m gonna walk in here and I’m gonna be judged.”
Yep.
I’m gonna have shame around that.
Yep.
I’m gonna have, um, guilt and—
Anyway, I took the step. So I took the step, um, and told you from the get-go for very first day, like, “I’m a, I’m a book. If you have questions, I’m here to tell you truth, honesty, how I feel, how I, how I grew up, you know, where I’m at.”
Yeah.
And Anthony as well.
Um, and it’s been, it’s been awesome. I’ve had a lot of cool things happen since I started here, so yeah.
I mean, I remember thinking, like, when Melissa was like, “Okay, Cesar,” I talked to my—
“Oh.”
Like, okay, there’s— what, what, like, what changed, right? And I didn’t even— and I, I didn’t know you at all at that time.
Mm-hmm.
You know, and it’s interesting, like—
So that process, again, like it makes sense of like— right? That, say, unhealthy relationship of what you wanted or didn’t want, right? Like, makes perfect sense that you completely decided to, like, let go, like—
Because your association with, say, being fit—
Mm-hmm.
Right? Was, “I have to do this for something else.”
Right?
And that is so cool that you had the opportunity, that your wife got to play that role for y— whether she realizes—
Mm-hmm.
It or not. You know what I mean?
She inspired me big time.
Dude, that’s so cool.
She inspired the hell out of me.
Yeah.
She’s, she’s, she’s a— excuse my French— she’s a kick-ass lady and—
Yeah.
She’s down to earth, and yeah, she inspired me, and just even watching everybody else too is, is very inspiring.
Yeah.
Watch— everybody watching, you know, doing the Spartans here and everything like that as well is—
Yeah.
Pretty neat.
And that says a lot about you as well, because if you talk about, say, the general lines of males.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Like, you definitely had to be in a, a, a humble place to step into the door. Or honestly, even just— it’s not like, “Oh, she was right. I was wrong. I should have listened to her.” It, it’s not even that. It’s just, like, coming, stepping in the door at that place, it takes a lot, right? For men.
Especially, like you were, like, alpha, right? If you talk about Marines and owning a business in construction, like, very much like men of men, right?
Yeah.
If I could say something on that.
Yeah.
Um, so I feel that for a long time I had to prove myself because of my size.
Mm.
So, um, uh, masculinity was, uh, well, um— it, it was not in a good way, right? So like, I should act and feel and do all this stuff because of my size. And, and I’ve learned over the last few years of, you know, personal growth stuff that—
Yeah.
That it’s complete opposite. You have to have a balance between the 2.
And truthfully, um, that, I could see how that’s some of the biggest struggles with men, and even women, but m— mainly men is just the underlining issue of whatever that is. But just realizing, “Okay, well, hey, um, I, I’m, I got this kind of thing going on and, um, I’m not sure how to talk about it.”
Yeah.
But like, you know, just getting out there and, you know, hopefully somebody listens to this and—
Yeah.
Finds some value in some of it. I don’t know.
Yeah.
Especially, like our process, right? I, I just had this conversation with someone today about, like, why our, our initial piece of what we call a discovery session is set up the way it is. It is intentional that we do not work out that day, because I don’t want people to even before they even come—
Mm-hmm.
In the door thinking, “Oh, I have to, I have to live up to some standard.” That who knows who, who decided what that is, right?
Like, I— there’s a number of things in life, I think you see this in, in faith circles as well, in the church like, “I have to be to this point before I can do this.”
Right?
Like, I’ve had people tell me like, “Oh, I need to, you know, go run for a couple days before I come to the gym.”
It’s like, no, right?
And the, and the church says the same thing. It’s like, you don’t clean yourself up before going to church.
Yeah.
Like that— you, you go there a mess like—
Come dirty.
Because you’re— look—
Yeah.
Like you’re coming to get help, like you’re coming to find a solution from there, right? And, and in a lot of cases there’s, it’s finding these things that can help us overcome whatever it is, you know?
Oh yeah.
Um, so do you remember the, do you remember the first time we sat down?
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Um, what was your like, say, leading up to that day, right? We, you know, we’d connected, we’d set up a time. What did you expect, you know, when we first sat down? What were the things that were, like, in your mind, like, “Ah, I don’t know about this”?
I was ready to, uh, I was ready and made the commitment before I even made the commitment.
Mm.
Right? And I think you knew that. I think my wife knew that. And that was just mind shift change at home.
Coming into here that day, though, um, I’m like now. I’m not nervous now, right?
Mm-hmm.
Right?
I’m naturally, I’m not nervous. I can talk to anybody, right? I was nervous not to talk to you or anybody else on the team. I was nervous of, like, again, going back to what I said a little bit ago of, like, feeling, okay, well, I have 15 years Marine Corps experience.
Mm-hmm.
I did some coaching, I did all this and, like, I’m supposed to look this way.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
That’s how I was, in a sense, coming into this and—
Yeah.
But it was complete opposite, so I felt very, um, I was worried and, uh, had the jitters and had kind of, um, a little, little bit of anxiety. I don’t even know what that feels like, but, uh—
Yeah.
Maybe for 5 minutes and then I felt insanely comfortable after I, you know—
Yeah.
Just sitting down with you.
Yeah.
Yeah. And that’s one of the cool things, that honestly this wasn’t by design. I think it’s just something that we found has been an advantage of ours, um, the fact that when you’re here there’s 2 things.
1, you see so many different types of people that it’s, it’s very difficult to try and compare yourself, right? And, and that’s one of the things that unfortunately a lot of people just, we, we naturally do, right, like, especially if you’re a competitive person by nature or something similar. Like, your nature is to say, like, “Oh, where am I compared to this person,” right?
Mm-hmm.
It’s very difficult to do that in here, right? Like, sure, if you wanna continue compare yourself to the 70-year-old lady with the hip replacement or the, you know, the, the 10-year-old kid playing baseball, it’s like, yeah, great go for it.
But the other side is, e— even take that piece out, you’re not even doing the same things as someone else, right? Like, you’re, it’s, it’s interesting how we have this combination, I feel, of the group camaraderie of being around other people that are working on themselves—
Mm-hmm.
But at the same time you’re doing different things, so again, like, that competition piece goes out. Right?
You can still have some of the, like, general conversation and camaraderie piece with the people that are in the building without worrying, like, “Am I, am I good enough?”
Right?
Mm-hmm.
It’s like, dude, we are all running our own race here, you know? And that, that’s the part that I enjoy the most is just seeing so many different pipes— types of people.
Mm-hmm.
And I know that everyone plays a role in giving hope to someone else here—
Yeah.
No matter what stage they’re in. You know?
And I think that’s an important thing, like, again, for your story is, there is a general, um, expectation, like you said, because of your size or because of— military background—
Yeah.
That you have to be this way. And it’s like, and you have to f— fill that for someone else. It’s like, no, like, that doesn’t do anyone good, to be honest, you know?
There’s a lot of people that are being held back by that fear and that’s one of the things that we just try and break down for people. It’s like, “Look, we’re here to help you. Like, and you’re in your own world here. Don’t worry about anybody else. They’re all running their own race.”
Yep.
Running in your own race. Man, I used to teach on that. I just—
Mm-hmm.
Like, reminisce a little bit on that, and, um, l— a lot of us will run in high gear and get burnt out.
Mm-hmm.
And then you start drifting and, um, when you, when you slow down, you slow down and, um, we used to do this, uh, during one of our courses, um, for confidential reasons I won’t go over everything—
Mm-hmm.
Of it, uh, but there was, it, it was, it’s basically hard to be hard and there was no finish line. Nobody knew this. There was no finish line, though.
But we led up to the very final day of teaching everybody that low gear is the way to be, um, fruitful and not to be in high gear and be burnt out. So last, last obstacle, last event that we did, um, they’re there for hours doing their, their, their pieces and there’s no finish line.
And what we’re looking for is that they’re still moving forward with the energy and the fight—
Mm-hmm.
That we lose in life.
Mm-hmm.
So that’s probably the biggest thing, um, I’m in— I’m in a slow gear. I’m gonna accept that I’m gonna have 2 days of eating my crap the last couple days of Christmas.
Mm-hmm.
I’m gonna accept that I’m gonna kick butt. Um, and I’m gonna accept that, um, it’s— it’s— it’s a— it’s a slo— low gear, but it’s also a slow pace, I should say.
Mm-hmm.
And that mindset of, like, when I have the conversation, I— I call it seasons. Like, I remind people, oft— oftentimes, the first day, before we’ve even started, I’m like, “Okay, I know you’re really excited right now and you’re motivated,” and like, like, you’re in it, like great.
We’re gonna seize that momentum that you have mentally right now, but just so you know, sooner than later, you’re gonna get sick, work is gonna get busier, right? And I— I— it’s— it’s alway— we’re always busy, right? But it’s going to get busier. Like, something’s going to happen to— to— to get in your way.
Oh, yeah.
Right? Like, the world is not going to just part the waters for you to work on your fitness.
Mm-hmm.
And I— I tell them, like, be ready for that. That’s going to happen sooner or later. And if you know that it’s going to happen, you’ll respond to it much better.
Mm-hmm.
And know that in different seasons, like, just treading water, like, sometimes that’s a win.
Yeah.
Like, I mean, we’re— we’re just getting through—
That’s true.
Like Thanksgiving and— and Christmas, like, you know what? Like, the average person probably gains double digit pounds over this time period. So if you don’t gain any weight, you’re actually way ahead, right?
Like, we are— we all are going to go through seasons, and your ability to ride through and get to those—
Mm-hmm.
P— I mean, and I’m sure you’ve seen that in business too. It’s like, if you can just hang on through that, you’re in construction, right? Like, as the economy goes— like, uh, it’s, uh, you gotta be hang on through the tough ones and then—
Ride the wave when you—
Yeah, like, when it’s there, like grab on—
Yeah.
And just hang on for dear life.
Yeah.
So, okay, so you already had a fitness background in a— in a number of ways—
Mm-hmm.
Right before you came here.
So I’m curious, what were the things, like, in our process and when you started, like, the workouts and the whole system, what were the pieces that surprised you the most? And was it what you expected?
Can I name call?
Yeah. Um, so—
Please do.
So, uh, when I first came into here, I heard from people that Anthony was the hardest one here.
Yeah.
So I wanted that, right off the bat.
Yeah.
Because of my mindset and the background and the masculine thing, the— all the stuff that we’re talking about.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Come to find out, Anthony is a beast. At the same time, he has the biggest heart.
Yep.
And he’s the— a teddy bear—
Yeah.
Like me. Like, so it’s like, man, big ass people that can do things have a huge heart and— and just full life.
So, you know, Anthony is my personal trainer, and I cannot say enough about him.
Yeah.
He’s— he’s awesome.
I love— um, I like competing with him a little bit too.
Yes.
So that’s just the nature of me personally. Um, I like he holds me accountibil— uh, he— he holds me accountable. Um, he worked— he works with me on injuries too.
Yeah.
Like, uh, not too long ago, I just got done with broken ribs.
Yeah.
I don’t know if you heard about that.
Yeah.
But, uh—
I actually wanna hear the full story, but yeah.
Yeah. Um, so I’ve— I’ve injured myself quite a few times.
Yeah.
Um, but yeah.
Okay, so i— i— it’s funny that you say that, right? And I— and I remember that conversation where I actually wasn’t supposed to give Anthony a new client at that time, right? But the deeper and deeper we got, I was like, nope, between what you had told me and also what you want, I’m like, Anthony is the guy, right?
Mm-hmm.
And I was like, we’ll make it happen.
And what you said, I actually have to se— have the same conversation with, uh, like new team members that come on, right?
Like, Anthony is naturally be— if n— if nothing else because of his size, um, he— he’s an intimidating person.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
And he’s— he’s less, like, uh, emotionally visual, right?
Yeah.
Um, but I tell people, uh, especially like our— our staff and new staff, like, “Hey, Anthony’s, uh, he’s going to be hard on you, but it’s because he cares. He wants to get the most out of you for your sake.”
Mm-hmm.
“And he in— he’s in the business of pushing people to get more than what they even think they can get.”
Yeah.
And, like, he cares a lot more than people think. You don’t know it until you’ve actually worked with him and had those conversations.
Yep.
And he is a master at meeting people where they’re at, right? And I’m sure you’ve seen that. I’m sure there have been days where you come in and you’re like, “Oh, I— I’m pumped and I’m ready to get after it.” Okay, he will meet you there.
Oh, yeah.
And there’s days where you come in and you’re like, whether it’s hurt or just not in it for the day, it’s like, “Okay, how do we— how do we do something productive today?”
Yeah, he shows up both ways, yeah, for sure.
Um, so that’s interesting. So you still, even with the place that you were at, right? You still wanted that type of, uh—
Challenge?
The competitive, yeah, the challenge, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And the— I could go pretty deep in that one ’cause I’m still working with— with kind of therapies and all that.
Mm-hmm.
Just un— um, not necessarily in a bad way, but just understand from a personal growth of, like— why the way I tick, you know?
So like most people would do complete opposite of that and want the easiest, right? So, you know, there’s a reason, you know, unknown right now, is why I choose the harder path most of the time.
Yeah.
Yeah.
With everything.
So when you came in, were you, you— it sounds like you were already doing some, like, say personal growth work.
Mm-hmm.
Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
Sure. Um, so personal growth for me, um, started 2020. Was it 2020 or 2021 with COVID? I forget. Around that timeframe. I think it was 2020.
Um, and I had a lot of, kind of growth—
Mm-hmm.
Like from, you know, stepping stones. I call them stepping stones in life, right?
Um, and, um, I think from a personal growth, it always started with my Lord, my savior—
Mm-hmm.
And how that was like the missing piece. It was, he was, he was always there. Um, but it was like the missing piece, like—
And I, and I started making it to where, okay, Christ is first. Christ is first and then everything else beyond Christ, um, it works out.
Mm-hmm.
So that was like my big aha moment, um, getting back into the church, getting back into the men’s groups.
That kind of personal growth was, um, different than other stuff I’ve been through, right?
Mm-hmm.
I’ve been through a lot of different kind of concepts. I’ve been, you know, with Rise Up Kings, I was doing Rise Up Kings. I was on staff with them.
Mm-hmm.
Um, I went through, um, living, uh, I’m sorry, um, Justin and Allie, which is a, a, they— they have a podcast and they do kind of, um, personal growth. And I went through a couple different seasons, um, where I was doing their, um, Living Fully Alive, which they have different courses.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and I partake or partook in those.
Um, and even watching Melissa go through all this, she’s, she’s, uh, um, she’s in the Mastermind coaching courses and she’s actually an, uh, a coach, but she, she’s doing it for herself, so, uh, it really intrigues me still.
Yeah.
So I’m always trying to like— I’m the kind of guy that you climb the mountain, you get to the top of the mountain and you’re like, “Oh crap, there’s another mountain.”
Yeah.
And there’s like never a kind of a peak. Um, I’ll never, even at my top performance or whatever, personal growth, fitness, whatever it is, I’ll always look for the next step.
Yeah.
But yeah, I mean, personal growth has been my thing for the last 5 years or so.
Yeah.
Um, heavily. Um, and, um, I’m already looking into some courses next year, so—
Yeah.
It should be fun.
It’s cool, ’cause a lot of times we don’t— like you said, like you get to the top of the mountain and you realize like there’s another, there’s levels to everything. And the number of times, like I’ve personally been there, like from a business side and a personal side, I’m like, “Oh, there’s more. There’s more.”
And it— it— it is cliche to say like, “Oh, you need to, like, enjoy the process.”
Mm-hmm.
But like the process is honestly where all of the fun and the satisfaction and the joy is.
Mm-hmm.
Like we— we— we are conditioned to believe that it’s when you reach this thing, but in most cases—
Yeah.
Like, and— and I’ve seen this personally. I’ve—
I was actually listening to a podcast talking to, um, oh gosh, he was one of the, the kickers. Super Wo— Super Bowl winning kicker.
Mm-hmm.
And he talked about, you know, he won the Super Bowl and, right, something he’d been working on for his life for decades, and he wins, and that was like such an empty feeling for him, because he actually got to the peak and he’s like, “Wait, this is it?” Like this— you know?
And I think—
A scary place to be.
Yeah, it is. Yeah, real scary.
Like, wait, this is what I’ve been working for, and that’s, and that’s it?
And— and you realize like, no, like the good stuff is what you learn about yourself in the process as far as like fighting for it and seeing what you’re capable of. And of course all the stories that get to come along in between.
Yeah.
Yeah.
For sure.
So, um, you’ve been here for how long now?
About a year.
About a year. Okay.
What do you feel like—
Actually, let’s start here. What did you come for the first time?
Change.
Okay.
Um, and we talked about a number of different changes.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
So it— still kind of along that, like, personal growth, like, I just want to keep growing.
Mm-hmm.
What are the biggest changes that you’ve seen in yourself?
Acceptance of, uh, how I look, who I am.
Mm-hmm.
Um, but realizing, like, there is so much more to give.
Like, giving you an example, some of the challenges that you guys do and then some of the coaches come in and they’re like, “There’s no way I’ll believe you to do that.” I’m like, “I’ll do it again right now.”
Yeah.
It just— my— I don’t know. I just— I mean, big guy and—
Yeah.
Being able to produce still and that’s— that’s— that meant more for me, like, hearing from the coaches and stuff like that, like— like, “Damn, you’re a beast,” or, like, that— that’s more than just, like, actually being a beast.
Yeah.
You know?
So— yeah, um, probably be my number one.
I love seeing— I’ve seen the process of it, meaning during your workouts, and then I’ve also seen, right, some of the pictures and feedback from doing the Spartan races.
I love seeing the different gears, right? Like, when we’re sitting talking, I see a different gear when I see you doing the workouts. Like— and again, some of it’s the competitive piece, but just, like, the— the speed and pace and, uh, I would say drive that you’re going with, like— I think every man should have that.
Oh, yeah.
And I’ve— I’ve long stood the— the position that men need some sort of competitive outlet, especially as we get older, right?
Mm-hmm.
You have that in your younger years—
Mm-hmm.
Just naturally from a lot of things.
And you can get some of that from business, but, like, the physical nature of movement, whether it’s playing a sport or working out, plus the competitive juices, whether it’s, you know, hormones or neurotransmitters, that puts men in a different place, mentally and physically, that bleeds into all of these areas of life.
Yeah, I— honestly, the— one thing that comes to mind as you’re saying this is, uh, for a long time I ran from, um, it was like a fear, but I would run from challenges.
Mm.
So now, part of what I’ve learned about myself is that in order to not be, um, afraid of something or be fearful, you have to do what you fear— uh, uh, what you fear, right?
So, well, to take the first step for my very first Spartan was a smaller one, but, um, I had every excuse in the world, right? I mean—
Yeah.
But I had the fear that other people would judge me for not performing well.
Yeah.
Well, now, like, Melissa and I just finished our— our Beast, what, a month ago, did really good, um, and now in 30 days as of today, we’re doing our Trifactic weekend.
Yeah.
So 3 races, 2 days, tw— what, 24, 26 miles in 2 days, over 60 obstacles.
Yeah.
But I’m not afraid of it. I ran after it because it’s a challenge.
Yeah.
So I feel that the challenge as us as men, like, we should have that switch and understand—
And it doesn’t come to all men.
Yeah.
It doesn’t. It just doesn’t.
Yeah.
But if you— if you sit down and you be still and you actually just think a little bit of what that looks like of, okay, I need a certain— turn the switch on.
I’m afraid to get in an ice bath. A lot of people are afraid of getting in an ice bath.
Yeah.
It sucks.
Yeah.
A lot of people are afraid of boxing.
It sucks.
Yeah.
Jump in the ring or jump in the ice bath, do it for 2, 5 minutes because you’ll be surprised, if you do the hard things first, then things come easier, right?
Mm-hmm.
So, anyway.
Yeah. Tangent.
And the—
Well, and there’s so many things like that in life, right?
Yeah.
And if you can put your— if you can put yourself in a position to do hard things, right? Whether that’s learning something new or taking something that you already know how to do and taking it to a next level, you start knocking down all of these walls in your life.
Mm-hmm.
Like, mine this year, this is so funny, I’ve never— uh, I’ve never played a musical instrument. I’ve never been musically inclined person. My kids have been taking, uh, piano lessons for a couple years. And my wife offered, she’s like, “Hey,” like, “she’s already here, do you wanna learn how to play?” I’m like—
And for months and months and months, I’m like, “No, no.” And I— and I would say part of it was, like, being the lowest on the to— like, being a complete beginner.
And I finally gave in and I was like, “Okay, I’ll try it.” I’m like, “I love it. I love it.” And I c— I can play, uh, I can play Jingle Bells now.
Yeah.
Like— and my kids, you know, they’re— they’re so much better. But I thought about that piece too, I was like, you know what, though? That’s—
Like, I need to model that also as a dad.
Mm-hmm.
Like, don’t just do the things that you know you’re the best at. Like, you need to show, like, yeah, get uncomfortable.
Right.
Yeah.
You know? There’s so much good that comes from that of just overcoming this human nature to pull back from those things.
Y— yeah.
Um, I— I say there’s a n— there’s a— there’s a saying that I say, um, “I believe evil lies in the comfort of the enemy.”
Mm.
So—
Say it again.
I believe evil lies in the comfort of the enemy.
So I think that evil— um, lies in the comfort. People, people tend to stick in that comfort area.
Yeah.
And there’s a lot of evil and stuff that happens in there, you know, self-doubt, you know, all that stuff.
Yeah.
It doesn’t have to be the Devil itself, but I mean—
Yeah.
It could be a lot of other things.
But the illusion that safety is where good things happen, right?
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Have you, uh, have you heard of C.S. Lewis’s book, um, Screwtape Letters?
Mm-mm.
It’s— I definitely know the author, though.
Yeah.
Okay. So I haven’t read the whole thing. I’ve read excerpts from it. Um, but it’s so fascinating what he talks about. It’s like the book is about basically these conversations between, um, like Satan’s demons—
Mm-hmm.
And their plots and plans, like a business of keeping humans away from God.
Mm-hmm.
It’s so fascinating. I’ll send you some of the excerpts ’cause it— it— like, a lot— a lot of them that I’ve read are talking about that.
Mm-hmm.
Distraction, staying comfortable, like, away from these things that are good for you with the illusion that they are good.
Yeah.
You know?
So, uh, you injured your ribs, right? You’d been here for several months and, and you had all the momentum in the world at that point, from, from everything that I’d seen. You injure your ribs. Okay. How did it happen? And take me through that, that moment.
Yeah. Um, so I’ve injured a few, a few times, but, um, overdoing it myself. Um, gosh. This was— it wasn’t that long ago. It was probably 3 months ago.
Mm-hmm.
Maybe, maybe 4 months ago. Um, we were running another Spartan, and leading up to there, I felt really good.
Mm-hmm.
Um, day of the Spartan, no issues. I felt comfortable. I was there to compete, um, compete with myself, let’s just say.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, uh, not the competitive— that’s, that’s, that’s crazy. But not unachievable, though.
Um, but, you know, getting through—
So my son and I were running together. So, um, I, I felt like I was pulling him along, right? Like, “Hey, let’s go. Come on.”
Yeah.
You’re a young, young guy. Um, and I was like, “Let’s go.”
And, um, while I was going up, I think this was the Stairway to Heaven?
Yeah.
Uh, Stairway to Sparta, one of those 2.
And you’re basically going up. You jump up on the bar and you pull yourself up, then you have to hoist yourself up and over on a, um, inverted kind of angle.
Yeah.
So I happened to have a photographer take photos the exact same time that I was up there and broke it.
Ugh.
So, um, I remember jumping up and hoisting myself over, and then I’m still a big guy, but, like, basically hitting—
Yeah.
That top rib.
And I literally felt, like, the— you know, you hear branches cracking.
Yeah.
I— I felt the branch crack.
And, and I get— I was like, “Well, I’m still gonna con— con— continue.”
Yeah.
Um, I was in a lot of pain, for sure.
How much further did you have to go?
I, I finished. It was, it was— I think we still had 2 miles, um—
Okay.
Maybe a little over that, with other obstacles that I still finished.
Um, but I was still pushing my son along, like, um, I was like, “Let’s go. Come on.” Like, and then finally, like, ’cause my endorphins kicked in, kind of, um—
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Was like, “All right. Well, I think something’s really wrong.”
Um, I didn’t actually get seen. So I finished the race, um, in a good time. I forget the exact timeframe, but it fin— we finished really good.
Um, it— actually, I think it was an hour and a half with the, um— I think that was the same one that Anthony r— ran as well. If I’m not mistaken, hour and a half was, um, the Super.
Um, but yeah, so we— I finished. Nathan finished. I was sore, and I didn’t do anything. I was just like, “All right, whatever. Maybe something happened. Maybe it’s a bruised rib or something like that.”
Um—
The whole, uh, “No, no, no. It’s fine. It’s fine.”
Exactly. “It’ll be— it’ll be fine.”
I even went to the medical first aid place there, and I was like, “All right. I need the best person here because apparently there’s something wrong with my ribs, and I think I’ve jacked it up.”
“Well, there’s no— there’s no bruising that’s showing,” so he sort of, like, talked me out of, like, maybe an injury.
Yeah.
Well, coming back into like PHP, I was like, “Okay, I jacked my ribs up. Didn’t know what was going on.”
Um, fast forward about 2 weeks, week and a half into it, I was like, “You know what? This sort of sucks. I need to go to the ER.”
So movements, couldn’t move—
Yeah.
Couldn’t do anything.
Went to the ER, they confirmed, um, I had 3 fractured ribs and bruised ribs i— from an internal standpoint.
Mm-hmm.
I was like, “Oh, that sucks.”
So, um, let you guys know right away. I was like, “Hey, I need a little bit of light duty.” Asked for a month off. I think I took two and a half weeks off and then started back again.
Yeah.
Um, but, uh, oddly enough, there’s nothing I could do—
Yeah.
Other than be patient and, and, and keep slow and, and, um, not irritate it any more.
But ultimately what healed it was, when I got correcti— or correctional massages here.
Oh, nice.
Um, and, like, working everything out from my back and everything that’s sort of connected and it w— w— within 2 weeks, it was gone. Like, it was completely gone.
Like, I felt like, like, you know, I was telling Thumbs, I was like, telling Thumbs, I was like, “You have, like, God’s magical thumbs.” Call ’em, uh, I call ’em ninja thumbs.
Yeah.
But I was like, “Man, you, you have some magical thumbs.” And like, and it’s gone. That’s the story too.
Yeah.
And that’s the true story and—
Did he tell you the story? About his thumbs?
Yeah.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
That’s awesome. This is so cool. I, I, I mean, after the fact.
Yeah.
Right?
And I was like, “Well, I can attest to it.”
Yeah.
Yeah, so that injury, um, sucked, but it’s gone now.
So when, when I first heard that, that you’d hurt your ribs, I was like, “Oh, no.” Because one of the things I remember talking about was how, um, your, for lack of a better term, like all or nothing piece, right?
Yeah.
When you’re on, you’re on, and when you’re off, you’re out type thing.
And my first concern is like, “Okay, I wonder where he’s at.” Like, is this gonna throw you off where you’re like, “Ah, screw it,” right?
Mm-hmm.
And right, again, because I, I don’t see you every day and not every time when you come in.
The fact that I saw you stick with it and it’s like, yep. I was— like, to my per— perception, you were like, shh, right, going, everything was going exactly the way you want it.
And yep, life happened and you took it and said, “Okay, well, what can I do about it?” And you just rolled with it.
So I wanna give you props for that.
Thanks.
Because that was one of the things that you, you had said, right, when we’d first met. It was like, “Yeah, like, when I’m on, I’m on. But when I’m off, like, I’m out.”
And I’m willing to admit it too.
Yeah.
Now.
I always have been like that though.
Yeah.
And, and those are the things, like, that’s what I like digging into in our discovery sessions the most, is like understanding who you are at a deep level. And especially when people know themselves well, like, I know this is what is get— getting in the way for me.
Like, sometimes I’ll be like, “Okay, when this happens in 3 months, in 6 months, in a year, I’m going to show you. Like, look, look at my notes. You told me to help you through this—”
Mm-hmm.
“— and not let you, you know, get away with this thing that you do to yourself.”
Yeah.
And it’s, it, it is one of those things. Like, it, it’s hard to do for us too, ’cause you could also do the compassionate thing. It’s like, “Oh, no. You’re okay. Yeah, it’s good. Just, you know, relax.”
Like, like, an, an active way through that is the best way to get through it quickly.
You know what sucks during the injuries? ’Cause I’m a little injured still right now with my elbow, and I don’t know what’s going on.
Mm-hmm.
But at the same timeframe, I hurt my ribs right away. Um, but, um, you know what’s gnarly is that y— you know when you injure yourself, I, I, Melissa says the same thing when she gets injured or has an injury as well. Like, if it’s a small or a larger injury, it’s, it’s, it’s like it sucks because it throws you off of your progression.
Like, right now, like, we have 30 days to our next race. And like, one small injury, you’re like, “Oh, gosh.” And then it like—
But what do you do? You just, you gotta push to the next step—
Yeah.
And you gotta go through the motions, and you gotta listen to your body. You gotta, you know, pick it up at some point again.
Yeah.
Right? I mean, um, the some point went for like 3 or 4 years of me not working out for a long time.
Yeah.
That was my some point, what, you know, up until a year ago. So I’m still new to this, but I’m, I’m committed for sure.
Yeah.
And I think, yeah—
Yeah.
Everybody sees that.
And that’s the piece. Even if it’s an unsaid thing, that’s the piece that’s so valuable, just having someone walking alongside you with this.
Like, uh, I don’t know if you knew. Um, I tore my meniscus earlier this year.
You did tell me.
Yeah.
And I mean, that was the, it was the worst injury I’ve had in a long time.
Mm-hmm.
And there’s so many good things that I have had come from that now. I mean, there, there’s a whole podcast we could do on that.
But one of them in particular that, again, I’m, I’m, I’m impressed with the way you got through that is the mental struggle that you go through of like, “Oh, see? Every time I, you know, I, I get things going, like this, you know, this thing gets in my way.”
And like, the mental struggle, like, “When is this going to be?” ’Cause you don’t know—
Mm-hmm.
When it’s going to be better or when you’re going to get to that place, right?
But to have, um, faith that like, “Okay, I’m doing what I can do, and when I get to this point, I can compete or whatever it is,” like, and just being able to live with that—
Yeah.
Is such a hard thing.
You know, I’ve— un— unintentionally, I have, I had the advantage of like, “Well, you have to live this because obviously everybody in the gym’s gonna see you, like, you have to live it yourself.”
Mm-hmm.
You know? Of like, yeah, we get injured too.
And I was like, I probably should’ve documented it better. I like, I had days where I’m like, “Man, I don’t know.” Like, “Do I need to get surgery?” Like, or, “Am I good?” Like, “Am I gonna be able to go snowboarding and skiing with my kids?” Like—
Mm-hmm.
I don’t know. You know?
And I think it’s, it’s something that needs to be talked about more, is that mental struggle that happens when— it doesn’t even matter whether it’s an injury, right? When it’s, life is throwing this thing in your way and it’s like, and so what? What are you gonna do? Right?
Like— taking the time to actually think about it—
Yeah.
As well, yeah. Even this, right?
Yeah.
So, uh, one thing I, I do wanna also give you kudos to, uh, it’s very common in, uh, I would say, uh, amongst men in particular, um, but also in, in the, uh, business owner space, um, to sometimes not get some of the, the kudos.
Um, you know, you’re, you’re in that place of, like, you’re s— you’re serving everyone else.
Yeah.
Um, which it should be that way, right?
But, uh, I sat down with one of your employees just 2 weeks ago and she gave you kudos, whether she’s given it to you personally or not, she gave you kudos on like how much she’s seen you change in the workplace from, uh, I would say more of a mental place, but also even just like the, say, physical energy place.
Mm-hmm.
So like—
She’s awesome.
I wanna let you know that people see that and it improves their lives, right?
Um, and Melissa came up to me, uh, within a, a month or 2 of like, “We did it. Thank you.” Like—
I’m like, “We did nothing.” Like, you know, we’re just facilitating, right? Like, we’re just helping you, you know, uh, do what you already can. You know?
And I w— I want you to know that, that whether you get those firsthand or not, the people that are around you, they can see and feel the differences in how when you’re taking care of yourself, it bleeds into these other areas in such a good way and then it creates this next level of effect on and on and on, right?
Yeah. When you’re a better boss, she’s a better em— employee and then she becomes a better mom and then she becomes a better spouse. Like, it’s so cool to see that. Like, it, it—
I will tell you, it, it blessed me to hear that.
Thank you.
Right? And I wasn’t looking for that. Um, it just came up and I was like, “That’s so cool. That’s so cool.”
Right? Thank you.
Yeah. And I wouldn’t have ever, um—
She came to me and she’s like, “Hey, I, my daughter has an injury.”
Mm-hmm.
Not her.
Yeah.
My daughter has an injury.
I’m like, “Well, there’s only one place that I would recommend to anybody, like, from an injury, um, p— um— you know, working with whatever you got going on—”
Yeah.
“— right? Is, is you guys.”
And she’s like, “Oh, okay.”
And then small world, like she’s, she’s like, “Okay, I want the challenge as well myself.” I’m like, “Good, good for you. Like, take ownership, you know, and, and rock and roll and never look back.”
Yeah.
And, and, um, you said something, thank you very much for that.
Yeah.
I mean that. I, I felt emotions just for a second as well ’cause like I don’t hear that often.
Mm-hmm.
And, you know, and, um, either I hear it from other people sometimes. Right. But, um, you know, sometimes I, you do need to hear that. And I think that, that hit home a little bit.
Yeah.
A lot actually, ’cause uh, I feel that, um, as people, we should be setting our lives up—
You know, so another thing that I used to teach and do on, right? So like if you took a, uh, a 30,000-foot level of where you’re at in your life, where you stand right now and you actually just viewed where you’re at, are you happy with where you’re at?
Right?
What happens if you passed away tonight? Where do your kids know you at? With your wife, whoever that special per— person is—
Mm-hmm.
You know, what happens?
Well, um, it’s our job to—
Look at Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk, millions of people affected.
Mm-hmm.
Millions of people affected.
And also even at his, um, uh, oh gosh, his, uh— help me out. Um—
Like memorial?
Yeah. Thank you.
Yeah. His memorial.
Like gosh, can you imagine?
Like this thing about this question is like if— if you do your legacy correctly, if you set the legacy up for your kids and— and then this generation or, you know, future generations, what does that look like?
How many people are gonna show up to your grave?
Mm-hmm.
Or how many people are gonna show up to your memorial?
Mm-hmm.
That’s powerful.
And sometimes you don’t even need others say, “Hey, are you gonna come to my grave?”
Mm-hmm.
Because your actions will speak louder than your words.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that’s cool. Thank you.
It’s, it is one of those things that we should reflect on those things a little more often.
Mm-hmm.
Because there’s a lot of things that we say we should do, that we wanna do, that we— we know would improve the rest of our lives. But sometimes we don’t take action unless it’s put into a different frame.
Mm-hmm.
And— and that—
Yeah.
That can be that frame of like, okay, you know, we don’t know how many days we have left, which is alive. We don’t know how many days we have left of being able to move and do the things that we wanna— right?
Like there’s so many levels of that. And yeah, like sometimes you can miss the boat, right?
Yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
So, for sure.
Um, so last thing I wanna ask you. If you were, if you were speaking to yourself, right? Or someone like you, right? Before you came in here, right? What would you say to make that change sooner, right? Hmm. Or would you?
Love yourself. It’s never too late. Love yourself enough to—
Mm-hmm.
Accept where you’re at. It’s never too late.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Cool. Thank you for being here, man.
Thank you—
No worries, man. Appreciate you.
For being here for the last year and change.
No worries.
Thank you for sharing your wife with us. And, um, uh, and personally like thank you for the blessing to be able to play a role in everything that you guys have going on in your life through the mode of fitness.
Thanks man. Appreciate you.
Thank you.
Appreciate you.
Thank you.
Cool.
Good?
Solid.