No Panicking, No Whining: The Cold-Plunge, Kettlebell, & Carnivore Savage Chill System

Today, I sit down with Cam Cordin to unpack how a physically intense life—juujitsu, relentless training, and years of pushing through injuries—collides with chronic pain, nerve issues, and the reality of “managed decline.” Mr. Cordin breaks down the turning point that forces him to choose between repeating the same patterns or building a new life system with measurable progress, accountability, and consistency.

I walk with Mr. Cordin through the mindset framework behind his book, Savage Chill—where “savage” means choosing discomfort on purpose, and “chill” means rules that keep you steady under pressure. We talk about the two rules he drills into daily life—no panicking and no whining—and how that philosophy carries into everything from self-talk to stress tolerance. From there, we get practical: morning routines, checklists, contingency plans, and why decision fatigue quietly destroys people who rely on motivation instead of structure.

Mr. Cordin also shares the wellness stack he builds around consistency: supplementation, hydration discipline before caffeine, and the way he ties environment and clutter to mental bandwidth. We discuss cold exposure as a training tool for composure and self-control, and why he pairs cold plunges with kettlebell work to keep momentum high and remove friction from the workout decision.

We wrap by digging into his nutrition approach—including carnivore—along with his observations on mental clarity, sensory changes, and learning to “test and ditch” what doesn’t work. We emphasize building a system you can actually follow, reduce the noise, and keep iterating until you find what produces real progress. 

Disclaimer: This episode is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not provide certified medical, mental health, nutritional, or fitness advice. We also are not encouraging creating a death-contract. The guest shares personal experiences and opinions; results vary and nothing discussed should be taken as a guarantee. Do not use this episode to diagnose, treat, or self-manage any condition. Always consult a licensed professional before starting or changing any supplement, diet (including restrictive diets), exercise routine, or cold-exposure practice. Cold-water immersion can be dangerous and may cause rapid breathing, fainting, hypothermia, blood pressure spikes, or heart rhythm problems—especially for people with underlying conditions—and we do not recommend DIY or modified equipment for water immersion. This episode includes discussion of suicidal thoughts; if you are in the U.S., call or text 988. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 (or your local emergency number).

https://savagechillstyle.com/

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*Couple O' Nukes LLC and Mr. Whiskey are not licensed medical entities, nor do they take responsibility for any advice or information put forth by guests. Take all advice at your own risk.

Transcript

 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode, A couple of nukes. As always, I'm your host, Mr. Whiskey, and I'm currently traveling on the road, not in my normal studio, so I apologize if this sound or visual quality is not as good. But we're gonna get into today's episode regardless, and going on approaching 300 episodes here, not too too long from now in a couple weeks.

And so I have interviewed a lot of people and it has become increasingly more difficult to really get my attention and shock me. But today's guest was able to do that. I looked through his bio online and I was like, this is something different. You know, I've come across a lot of stories and this is a unique one.

Unique in the sense that it's the first time I've heard of it, but I think there are a lot of people going through the same thing he went through who just aren't talking about it or sharing about it. And so that's why I think this conversation is gonna be really important. You know, a lot of people feel like they're alone.

And as today's guest breaches, a lot of social media has put forward that isolation by showing a lot of highlights of life by not showing the struggles. And so, so many people are playing this comparison game that is just destroying their mental health and physical health. So we're gonna get into that today with Mr.

Cam Corden. Great to have you here. And could you please tell us a little bit about yourself? Well, I'm 49  I've had three divorces. I'm currently remarried again. And I'll start with how I got to this point shortly, but, basically, I can start back like 20.

And I was in my, probably early twenties that I was really attached to work and training. I was always really into sports. But I got hooked into I was obsessive about work, obsessive about training juujitsu. And I had relationships that like, I, I was there like I wasn't abusive or anything like that.

I was, you know, at home paying the bills, but I wasn't mentally there. Hmm. Every chance I could get, I, I vanished, you know, I was training or working, I never really. I had time to connect and maybe you can make a point that I chose poorly as well, most likely. And over the years, like I would beat myself up I would beat my body up like really, really, really badly.

And it started probably a 37. One day I woke up, I, I was training and I was like, wow, you know, I'm aching like really badly, more than normal. I kept going and never really gave much to it. But by the time like 42 hit, I was going through my second divorce. I was married 16 years to her had a son in like literally.

I was going to move out of the country. And it was strange is all of a sudden my hands were dead. Like literally, I woke up one day, I couldn't even feel them. And my joints, shoulders, neck back and someone, it felt like someone took like a crowbar to. And I was like, what is happening? I still ignored it.

And I went on like probably maybe midlife crisis at 42. And I rebounded and, and found another girl 16 years younger and continued on my path. Like it was fun for a while. Then I was back to training hard wherever I was, and the hands in, like everything was worse. And I said, you know what? I have to go see a doctor.

'cause like, I, I, I, I mean they were burning all the way up to my elbows. And I was in a foreign country and they strapped up electrodes to my hands to read the nerve impulse and the look this woman gave me, it was, it was, it was a look of horror 'cause there was no impulse at all. And this was roughly like right before COVID.

So I sought out a doctor, a really good doctor in the US and they did the surgery. And the guy told me afterwards, he's like, you should get most of the feeling back. And I was like, oh my God, what have I done to myself? Meanwhile, the rest of my body was still falling. And I went right back to my old routine training, nonstop, creating problems with my relationship.

And we're back in the us My son moved in with me. And everything seemed, eh, it wasn't great. You know, it like, based on everything, like it was functioning, but Right. It wasn't good. It was a Saturday night my ex-wife and I, we agreed we're gonna get a divorce. And, and I thought to myself, I walked outside.

It was a beautiful Saturday night in Florida. I walked outside and I thought like, wow, is this it? I was 44 at the time, and I said, is this my life? Now? My son's gonna graduate high school. Two and a half years. I'm on my third marriage. It's ending. So what do I have going for myself?

I'm 44, I feel like 70. What am I gonna do? And. I saw that like the, the moon, the moon on the deck reflecting, and I saw some kettlebells I hadn't used for a while. And I looked at it and I said,  by the time my son finishes high school, if I don't feel like I did when I was 20, I'm gonna take that kettlebell and walk into the pool with it.

And at that moment I felt like instant relief because there was an end game. It wasn't like I'm just gonna quit. But I had a mission and along the way, I tried everything to heal my body, but I, ironically, it was my mind that was my body healed, but my mind healed as well. It was a hard journey.

I tried crazy stuff. I was finished with doctors, and I did forget to say this, but I did go to doctors with the pains and everything, and it didn't help. They never really truly help. They just wanted to do a slow managed decline with pain medication. And I said, no way. I'm not gonna do that.

'Cause my life was always physically active. I wore this like a badge of honor. So I went on the path. I tried everything you could think of and made some really great discoveries and basically created a system around this that has great results and a lot of people have had it have really, really experienced tremendous effects.

And basically it's a pretty simple system, but we'll go into it. It's pretty intense as well right now. A couple things. So, were you, US born and raised? Yes. And so you headed out of country for treatment or you happened to be out of country at the time? I, I went outta country for a woman.

Okay. Yeah. Okay. I, I don't blame you there. You know, that's a whole episode on its own. I don't, I don't blame you there, but yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's true. I mean, I've changed states before for a woman, but out of country is a, a whole bigger journey. And then you talked a lot about training, training, training is just, just maintaining your physical health or was this fighting, was this gym routines?

What was this training you were doing? It was a juujitsu. Okay. You know, for the, the past 25 years. And then before that I was always, as a youth, you know, all American swimmer. And after that I was really into the weightlifting. I was always kind of a, a freak of nature with strength, and I was in the wrong sport.

But you know, I, I tore my body up with that too. Everything takes a toll. I mean, the right eventually the receipt comes due for the damage you do for your body. It's just a matter of time. Yeah. I was looking at some of the Mr. Olympia champions in the past and what they look like now and their health struggles and it's so sad to me to see that the peak they reached and now the consequences of that.

You look at Mr. Olympia guys, David Goggins, a lot of these hardcore athletes, and it's like. You know, that's a personal trade off if you want to have that peak. And then you knowing that the consequences. But would you say that was the root cause? Or how did you determine, did any doctor try, because I know on the show we've talked a lot about they do a lot of symptom management, not a lot of root cause destruction, root cause analysis.

So did anyone try to get to the root of your pain or was it always just, here are the symptoms, let's deal with it? I mean, like the nerve damage was, you know, a trapped nerve. But I waited too long and it was also like I did let, like broken bones, like just, I kept going and that's probably, I wasn't smart in hindsight, but I didn't wanna miss, you know, I, I really enjoyed it, but it, it came with a cost.

I don't regret anything. But would I have been smarter if I could go back in time? Probably. I get it. And serving in the military, you know, having done that, there's a lot of people who will just tough it out and go through it 'cause they don't wanna deal with medical or, you know, maybe losing their job temporarily or whatever it may be.

If not for, we've seen a lot of athletes push for back to back competitions and stuff like that. And then I assume you were actively competing in juujitsu, correct? No, I, I, I just enjoyed it. You just enjoyed it? But yeah. No, I just didn't have time with work. Okay. To, yeah. But that would probably be even worse if I was competing.

'cause then it would probably be more damage. Right. But, and the other factor too is you don't know when your body breaks down, if it's from the damage you do or if there's a genetic component as well. And I did fail to bring this up like my father has a genetic nerve disease and I've watched him decline piece by piece over the years with his function.

And that was also another, like, deciding factor. Like, I did not wanna live my life in like a, a managed decline. So I set out for like, you know, go all in or nothing. Right. And then I know from reading your bio online and you mentioned it earlier in episode, you talked about a 911 day death contract.

And that was basically what you mentioned earlier, making a decision. You were either gonna change or. You know, and you're now 770 plus days past that deadline. So I'd love to get into the process of, from when you made that agreement with yourself to now, what changed and how did you do that change?

Well, there, I mean, there's a, there's so much and like if I could go back in time, I teach it in a different order. Obviously just be right because it makes, but like, I can go through the steps. What changed is eventually I did get divorced, but it wasn't that night. It was two years later.

The first thing. I changed was, I started really experimenting with a lot of stuff. The first probably one that I noticed that was really effective is niacin. And niacin is one of those vitamins. If you ask a doctor about it, the flushing one, they'll discourage it.

They'll say It's not good for you. It causes liver damage. It really, it helps with the nerves. It helps open up your vessels it causes your blood vessels to increase. And it, you know, you turn bright red and it's phenomenal. It's a vitamin that acts both as a vitamin and a drug. And it helped me with my nerves, but it also helped me just mentally as well. 'cause I was, in a bad spot, everything was kind of like falling down on me, right.

And it was very enjoyable and it really helped, you know, oxygenate the joints and everything else. So that was probably like maybe one of the first things that worked really well and I told it to a lot of friends. That had issues that I trained with or just knew, I said, you should try niacin.

And they loved it. A lot of people hate the flush, but I can say I enjoy it. It's one of those things, if, you know it's coming, it's like 30 minutes, but 30 minutes to an hour. But it's, it's rather enjoyable if you just accept what is happening to you, you know? But also couple people really dislike it.

Right. And for those who aren't familiar at all with what the flush is, could you kind of explain what that is? It's like your skin turns bright red. You feel like a, a burning, a burning feeling in your face.

It's really just an amazing vitamin that really doesn't get talked about. It actually gets discouraged by doctors it's super cheap. You can find it on Amazon, like 500 milligram capsules for like nothing and like a huge bottle for $12.

So it's kind of a hidden gem, I think no one talks about. So it's worthwhile. And that was one part of your process and then was that was, oh that was one part. The, the other part that really helps, and I think it applies to so many people. It sounds silly is massive water consumption. Is that most people I've worked with, they don't drink a lot of water.

A hundred percent. Yeah. And like I always go through people's routine and I say, well, what, what's the first thing you do when you wake up? And they say, I go get, make coffee. And I know from my, my routine that I'm having 90 ounces of water before having coffee. You know, from the moment I get out of bed, you know, I, I have 30 ounces, then I do a little bit morning work, workout another 30 ounces, then I go down to my office, you know, to plan the day, another 30 ounces.

Then it's coffee. And I think that people under underestimate the power of water. And if you don't have enough water. It's gonna cause anxiety, shallow breathing, and then you throw coffee on top of it first. It's like throwing gasoline on a fire already. It's just a, it's just terrible.

So that's really important. And the next thing I would say, and it's really kind of a strange one to say, is clutter. Clutter is if you have clutter, like physical clutter in your house, if you walk into your house and it looks like an episode from orders, there is no way you can ever accomplish anything.

I think that a clean space is one of the big, like you have to have. You can't because if you don't have it, you have those piles of, someday I'll do this. Right? Clothes everywhere. It's like you're walking in and it's instant anxiety and like you have to eliminate that. I didn't eliminate that till my divorce was going on and I saw it and it was a big, you know, like aha moment.

But once you eliminate clutter, it, you also eliminate a lot of decisions. So I preach like, if you walk into it, you should start room by room. If you haven't used it in six months, get rid of it because most likely you're not gonna use it ever again. Of course, there's always that time like, oh, if I had that, I threw it away.

It would, it, this would've been great. But how often does that happen? Mm, it gives you such peace of mind. So I think like when you have like, like Fry, I had the death contract, you need a peace of mind because you have a clear vision. Everything else is just an obstacle. So it's really important to, you know, if you have that goal and there's a deadline attached to it, you have to make sure everything functions smoothly.

And clutter is a sure way to derail the process. And I do talk a lot about digital clutter. People have a million notifications. They can't find apps on their phone. And if, like, I look at my phone here, I literally have one screen. I put everything in folders, know where they are, I turn off notifications.

And I think if you don't hear the notifications, again, it's less noise. And you can focus on your task at hand. Just any distraction from what you're trying to achieve is gonna derail you. You can think and people push back at it and say, well, I need to know these notifications, why Anything that's truly important, you know about it.

And you can have a notification on it. But if it's some group chat that, you know, people just said meme memes all day. Yeah. It's like, shut it off, eliminate it. You have to go through, you know, just get rid of it. So that's my, I know it sounds kind of silly, but like you have to have a good environment if you're trying to achieve something.

Otherwise, it's just, you're adding, and that's the other thing I really hammer home is subtraction is a problem solving method is you don't need more. You have to, and people reject this. It's hard when people hear that is people always want to say, well, I, what should I do? I'm gonna add this to my daily life.

It's like, add it where, you know, right. It's like, it's like, oh, your house is on fire and you want to add stuff to it. You have to remove. And anytime you have, like we all are systems, and this is one thing I talk in my book about is you have to have a system, but we'll go to that later is when you add something, your system is less robust and, and then it becomes more fragile. And I can give you this example. I'm sure everyone's experienced this. You go to a new new location, you're at a new hotel. You go in and you see the shower and like, I like the one shower, like the one turn. You know, you can, you can figure out what the temperature is.

Some showers have two and you're like, okay. And then you say, I have to sit there and mess with the knobs a little bit longer. And then there's the, the third option where you have the, the three, three ones and you have to figure out which which shower head to go. And you're like, oh my God. And automatically you're feeling anxiety.

The second day you're like, oh, I don't want to take a shower. This thing is such a nightmare. So, so when you add, you do cause more anxiety 'cause it's another decision in your life. So the that like environment you have to clear that out. I mean, I can go a long time on environment.

The other thing about environment is after you get rid of clutter is if you truly are trying to change, you have to kill out. Kill off old identities. Mm. And you have to be aware of those old identities. And to do that, you also have to get rid of all the items that that old identity has, if that makes sense.

It does. And relationships as well. There are certain people you need to cut outta your life when you're trying to move and change into a certain direction if they're not in alignment with it. And I agree about the organization and the environment and I really appreciate the comment on the digital clutter because we are constantly being bombarded by advertisements, by messages, by posts, by notifications.

Like you mentioned. We all know that one group chat or in particular that one friend who never seems to work, it seems to always be on their phone sending you stuff. And it's hard to ignore that. It just clutters up your space and your mind. And I think a great example is like you could be have stuff put aside and then you get a notification, you're like, I'll look at it later.

But then it just keeps nagging at you to, to look at it. And I think it's a huge distraction. And I think, you know, we're looking at get more cars, get a bigger house, get more rooms, get more stuff, get more furniture. So it's always this more and more. More. Yeah. And we've seen some push for the more minimalism life.

And I think it is extremely beneficial. That's why I think that is super important, the digital clutter than the real room. And I think when you have cter, the more it builds up, I also feel like it produces and breathes a spirit of laziness. You know, like it slowly you just become lazier and lazier because being lazy becomes more efficient.

You know, when you have a routine you have to be disciplined to follow it. But when you don't make your bed, when you are just throwing stuff on the ground looking for stuff, and I'll tell you, I hate having to look for clothes through all piles of laundry. When I have it all organized, it makes life easier.

And that efficiency, like you said, is directly related to anxiety, to depression, and to your productivity. So I think it's super important. And then I know from your bio, and you mentioned your book, which we'll get into as well, you talk about cold exposure. Yes. Carnivore diet and kettlebells being kind of three main pillars of what you did on top of.

Setting up that environment for yourself. So can you tell us a little bit about that? Well, the first time, actually, if we could jump back, I, I would like to, 'cause one of the big things in my book, and it's kind of like, 'cause I, I labeled it savage Chill.

And the savage part is being willing to do the things that are uncomfortable on purpose. Right. And the chill part is the rules, no panicking, no whining. Mm-hmm. And if you have savage without chill, you just have aggression. And if you have chill without savage, you just have laziness. Mm-hmm. So this is like the, the foundation the two rules, and I can tell you it's a great story, is it was 2008.

I was living in Lake Tahoe at the time, and I, my son was maybe four, you know, I don't know remember the exact date, but we would go out on hikes every day and it was snowing and the snow was, you know, up to his knees and we would go on really long hikes. I really, you know, pushed him for walking and Right.

The snow was coming down and all of a sudden, like we're, we're 45 minutes away and it's starting to come up to, you know, it's well past like almost to his hip. And I was like, okay. And he's struggling and now it's finally up to, he's stepping in places and it's going up to his waist. He's crying and he is like, I want to go home.

And I, and I thought, oh my God, this is bad. And right away I thought like, I can't panic. You know, if I panic, he'll panic. Mm-hmm. So I told him, I, I, I, I, I, I, I told him, I said, Baron, I said, what? I, I said, there's two rules in life. I said, no panicking and no whining. And, and like, and he's like, okay. He, he takes another step.

He starts, he starts he, you know, he starts panicking a little. I said, what's rule one? He's like, no, panicking. I said, what's rule two? He is like, no whining. So we did it and made it back through, you know, to the back, to the house safely. But it was a really profound moment that I, you know, it seems like a simple rules.

But it's one of those two simple rules that it can take a lifetime to master. And even then, you're never truly going to master it. You're gonna catch it faster, right? And I think if you're self-aware to those rules, and when panic hits, what do you do? You know, and you have to call it panic in your head.

But if you are thinking catastrophe all the time, like worst case scenarios, it's never going to improve the situation. And so drawing that into the cold plunge is when you go into a cold plunge and I built mine out of a deep freezer, and you can build it for maybe a thousand bucks if you buy a brand new deep freezer.

Nice. And even less if you buy a used one and you go into the cold. I mean, that is, that is working on rule one right off the bat because it's cold, it's 30 degrees and you're gonna hit it and you are panicking. The first time you go into it is, it's terrifying. And it teaches you, it rewires your nervous system to not panic.

It works on it. And I can't even, there's so much a cold plunge does. I mean, it, it's amazing what it does for your body, but I think what it does for your mind is, is unbelievable. I mean, it's, it fixes people's life tremendously. The longer you go in, you really have to control your mind because the human body is extremely resilient, but you really connect with the human body.

And it's like a, it's the greatest form of meditation you can have. Especially for when life comes at you for real. Now all these people that go meditate and they sit in a quiet room, you know, that's great, but it doesn't prepare you for something like when life hits you. I mean, because life hits you when you least expect it.

You have to stay calm. And that really teaches you that. And you know, when you have, we put, like, I put a deadline on myself, it really reemphasizes that like the no panicking, the no whining. And like you start understanding. Like the voice is inside your head that, you know, you know, when things are bad, you can recognize it.

Like, you know, this always happens to me, like, I'm just that guy. It's unlucky. You, you know, you start recognizing it intentionally and it becomes a skill to survive and into it and do it when you don't want to. And the kettlebell aspect is once my body started really healing and I was doing these long cold plunges, you, you wanna move, you know, you get out, you know, you don't wanna sit there.

I can tell you a story, it's kind of fun, is I, I was in it and like, as soon as I started getting it, I started a minute, then two minutes, right, then three minutes, and I was like, this is great. I was feeling great, you know, like, immediate my body felt was starting to feel better. And one day, I think it was like a week, maybe I, I hit eight minutes and I was like, wow, this is, this is great.

I got out, I was feeling good, I wasn't cold, and all of a sudden I'm like, I'm gonna go lie out on the pool deck and I'm lying down, there's a little sun left and out of nowhere I feel like this cold, like deep, deep cold running through my veins and I'm like, what is going on? And I had no idea what the after drop was.

The after drop is when your vessels open up in your limbs, it starts putting the cold water through, running through the rest of your body. And I'm sitting there and I'm like, wow. Or actually lying, so I'm gonna die. And it, and next thing I know, I fell asleep. I woke up. I, I felt reborn. But, and it was another thing you know, it was a great experience that I talk about in the book too, is people fear death.

Like it's the biggest fear a lot of people have, myself included. But once you have experiences like that, it was a pretty peaceful experience in like enlightening. And then you start realizing like, if you fear it, if you fear death or you fear, you know, fear losing, you're playing not to lose versus you're playing to win.

And once you get that mindset right, you have to play to win. Playing to lose just doesn't work. You're gonna lose someone that's playing to win. You'll meet. And that's, you have to have that mindset. And I think if you push past discomfort to, you know, each time pushing harder and harder, and not comparing yourself to others, but to yourself, you're improving each time, you're getting tougher and you're, you have setbacks, it's fine.

But I think you have to have that mindset again, with a goal is playing to win. Because, you know, like for me, I committed to the contract and I was honoring it, and I'm gonna play to win. So anyway, I got off a little tangent on the cold plunge, but then right after the, but like right after I started doing the longer cold plunges, I just saw the kettlebells and I said, I have to do these.

This is the way to warm up because it really makes you sweat. So I started doing that and like I started feeling really great after it. And it is, it is such a great system in that I found that it was just like an obvious fine that you would wanna do it in that order. You know, cold doesn't work out and I found is one, it it makes you wanna work out, because I'm gonna be honest.

I'm sure everyone's gonna be honest. It's like working out is not that fun. If you're doing it right, like I, I don't ever really ever remember being like, can't wait to go out there and kill myself today working out. But this makes you, like, you have the choice. You can warm up really slow and painfully, or you can start with the kettlebell and you wanna do the workout, you're ready for the workout. So it it takes away the need for motivation.

'cause you, you can either go in and you go, you know, go inside and warm, warm up really slowly. Or to say, you know, I'm gonna work out, get my body moving. So it is one of those things that, it's a lot about the whole book is you, you like motivation. You can't live on motivation. You have to have it designed into the program so you succeed.

Because if you rely on motivation, motivational speakers to get you going, it's not gonna work. Yeah. So, that's, that, that's my point. Like the kettlebell is like a great tool. I look at it as you can do it all in your house. You go to the gym, you have to wait you have to wait for equipment. A lot of a, most of the stuff at the gym is ridiculous.

It's not really give you functional strength. I won't go, I won't go into I could go into a long rant about exercise equipment, just like the gym mentality. But if you do it in this order, you don't have to, you know, go to the gym, spend 15, 20 minutes going, then driving back. It's, you're going right in the cold plunge.

You're getting out, drying off, and you're grabbing the kettlebell and the workout is maybe 15 to 20 minutes and you're doing it at a high speed little rest because you wanna keep moving, you know? 'cause you could feel the cold catching you when you get out.

Mm-hmm. So you wanna keep moving. So it's like, there is no motivation to work out hard. It just comes to you naturally. Right. And you're like in an, in like an animal instinctual way, you're ready to attack it. So. To me, it's the most sustainable system like I've ever been in. And like I've been doing lots of, like to me, this is the greatest and everyone that tries it absolutely loves it just because it is, you don't need motivation.

If you, and I think. I don't know if you agree, but like, if you rely on motivation, you're gonna just, you're kind of doomed a little in the long run. I always put forward, you know, motivation is garbage, you know, it's about being driven and being disciplined, and that's what a lot of the great athletes will tell you, you know, motivation fades, you know, motivation, like you said, listening to a motivational speaker, it can motivate you for a day, two days, maybe even a week.

But it fades. You know what happens when, there are plenty times where I go for a run or I wake up and I go to the gym and I don't want to, you know, it's my body's sore or I'm tired, or the weather sucks. You know, that's a huge one for running. I run for an hour straight every other day or every two days.

And it's been nasty weather. It's been cold. See, I'd rather want run and, and most people love the cold. I, I'd rather run when it's 90 than run when it's 30. You know, I, that's just me personally. Yeah. But, you know, there, there are plenty of times where I don't want to run where I'm running and I'm like, you know what, let's just turn back.

We, we, we don't need to run an hour. We, we already ran 20 minutes. That's more than most people ran this week. But it's about, keeping that discipline and drive, focusing on, like you said, having an end goal, having results. Or, one of the things that David Goggins talks about is setting goals that are too easy to meet, that are too short, and then you, that now you're outta goals.

You know, you gotta set. Different stacks of goals and to have long-term ones to reach as well. And I think that's so important. Yeah. I always say motivation fades. It could be good if you want to add it on top of your drive and discipline on those days you're feeling a little more down, like you've got a go-to song or someone you listen to, but it shouldn't be what gets you where you're going.

It should be maybe something to help you get through what you're already committed to doing. Yeah. And, and back to like, like the, the, like my workout and cold plunge, you know, it's very simple, you know? Yeah. Everything in, in my system is simple because simple always beats complex, simple works. And, you know, we do live in a age of, we're all fooled by complexity.

People see something and they just gravitate towards complexity. You know, oh, this is great. You could use AI as an instance. It's still in its infancy, but like, it's a complex, complex black box and it does produce a lot of bad answers, but people are mesmerized by the complexity behind it.

They start believing the answers, even though deep down they know they're wrong. So I talk a lot about systems. I do have a background in system dynamics and the human body, you know, is one big system. Why doctors fail us because they don't look at it like that. But if you have a system, and like I'm very anal about this, is I have everything.

And why I I stay on this track is like I have a morning routine. Like I know exactly like step by step. I wake up, there's a 30 ounce bottle of water next to me. I'm drinking it while in bed. I get up, I use the bathroom brush my teeth shave, I come back, I'm hitting pushups, leg raises, then I start doing other things other exercises.

Then I'm dragging another third. You know, I have it all planned out step by step, right? And then I have contingency plans. If I wake up late, I'm gonna do, if I can't get the whole routine in, what do I do? You, you know? And so like, if you have everything planned out with contingency plans for like every segment in your day with, you know, and I also use checklists, so I know it sounds kind of ridiculous, but like at night I have a checklist.

I'm gonna fill up the water. I'm bringing it upstairs. I'm gonna make sure everything is prepped for the morning. Right. And I rely on it is because you take away another decision. You have to have another memory. When it's written down and it's systematized, you have more willpower for the big items because we only have so much willpower.

And every time you, you have to make a decision, it's willpower. And we are flooded with decisions all day long if you open up the phone and anything else. So it's like, you don't want your willpower drained. 'cause we only have a finite amount. We want it on the big task. It's like, are you doing like, mindless tasks?

First thing up upon rising? If you are, is it helping your productivity or hurting it? Could you do it at night when your brain dead? Versus, you know, like you, you have to plan the whole day out in the systematic way. And most people don't do that. And most people like for a gym routine, for, they, they wanna, they, they see someone on online and they're like, I'm buying his routine for $80.

Well, that routine was designed for him. It's not designed for you. So I understand, like, I, I don't like the run I can run, but I, I don't like it personally. So your system would not be compatible with my system. But I help people create their system with all the contingency plans on it, right? So you know what to do.

And it, and it sounds like not very like people wanna always, when they, when I work with them, they're like, let's get to the good stuff. And it's like, you gotta, you gotta systematize it. You gotta adjust the system. You have to be compatible with the system, right? So the system takes everything away. So if you're hurt, like I have working out wise, if my, if, if I'm hurt, I'm gonna do this.

If I'm not hurt, I'm gonna do this. So there's like lots of e like, even though it's memorized in my head, I spent the time to put it on paper, right? Just to, you know, to do it. And it's like, people underestimate how powerful it is from everything. When you don't have to make decisions, you're leaving the house for a prolonged period of time.

How much water am I gonna bring? You know, most people just run out the door, you know, and, and it's probably not the best the thing, best idea. 'cause then all of a sudden they're like, oh my God, I don't have water. They start stre. I, I wish I for forget, you know, I should have brought this. It's like, where's your checklist?

I mean, like, if it's good enough for doctors to use pilots to use the military to use, why aren't you doing it for basic stuff, right? It's all these small things that unintentionally set you up for failure or success. And I think a great example we've all maybe can relate to or have heard about is you're driving home and you're like, I should get gas now.

I'll just get it in the morning. You know, like that's one way to set yourself up for failure if you're not disciplined enough to wake up earlier and make that time. Or like you said, filling your water the night before so you don't fall behind in your routine. Waking up. And you're like, ah, I'm not gonna fill up my water.

I gotta get going, or whatever it is. And I think one example too, I, I like to go to, you know, a lot of the fictional film industry reflects a lot of real life pretty accurately, and, and one of those is the Rocky four movie, you know, where he's just out in the woods in the barn training, doing pull-ups and pushups and training for his fight.

Meanwhile, they've got the competitors doing, you know, these electronic testing. They're seeing how much punching force he has. And we've seen other shows do that where you've got one person who's using all this technology and gear and all these statistics, and then you've got one person just training the old fashioned way.

And you look at like. People years before the gym was invented, were getting in shape using these natural bodybuilding means. And we've gotten so far from that. Like you said, there's so much gym influencers online, so many different people. Like I was watching, you know, hundreds of YouTube videos the other day on working out.

And guess what? Everyone's telling you something different. Everyone has the best bicep per workout, the best tricep workout. Right. And you said something so important, which is about tailoring it to your physique. Every one of us is unique. Our bodies respond differently to things. Yes, they're general and that's the problem.

Everyone wants a one size fits all. They want to just buy a cookie cutter copy, paste routine that they can just do because it makes it easier. It takes away the hard work of having to create checklists, of having to create systems. And so I think that's one of the unfortunate parts. And I do think it's so important to tailor it to your physi based off your height, your weight, your medical conditions.

Like you said, the body is a big system full of other systems working together and, and one of the episodes I had, we talked about that, how. You know, so many doctors wanna isolate parts and not look at how they work in the system or what parts of the system are affecting it. And then going into, you know, stuff to help our fitness routine.

You have your book Savage Chill, which is about, you know, not just fitness, but mental health and lifestyle as well. Who would you say, as we wrap this episode up, would benefit the most from it? I think anyone that wants consistency in their life would benefit I, 'cause I think there's like lots of important points.

Like even if you took one important, like even just water, it's, it's a pretty, it will improve your life. I mean, I have a whole, a whole thing on killing identities subtraction, like in going over the four different domains of subtraction, I think it's going to help you regardless, whatever, whichever section you pick.

Digital discipline, clutter your mind is a battlefield. You know, I think it's like, it's a, it is kind of a whole like a, a life like a life type system. And it's like working out and getting strong is part, you know, is one of the big benefits and like right. The diet is good, but like the diet i, I naturally gravitated towards.

That is for the longest time seven, I think maybe since 2007, I've been just eating one meal a day and it was mostly meat based. But then when I met my wife, she, you know, said, I just eat meat. And I was like, you know what? that sounds great. And I think the big misconception and like, she, like it always scared me.

Why I always ate fruit was if you, if you don't eat fruit or fiber, you won't use the bathroom, which it's totally not true. That was my biggest concern. Mm-hmm. And I noticed right away that it definitely lifted my like mental clarity, just eating meat. And one of the craziest things is your sense of smell really increases.

I, I, I don't know why you're more predatorial. I, I know I probably shouldn't use that word in today's world, but I understand what you mean. Yeah. And like, because when, when we got married, you know, also like she brought into it is like no scented detergent, all natural, no scented, dishwashing you know, or fabric softener in the dryer, right?

And all of a sudden I'm out doing the cold plunge. I live in a town home, so people are walking down the corridor while I'm out there and they walk past and five minutes later I can still smell the fabric softener. And I'm just thinking like, oh my God. And like the effects it has on your hormonal system is just unbelievable.

You walk into places. And they have the plugins everywhere and you're like, oh, this is, you know, like you start realizing we're there's chemicals everywhere and they're definitely, definitely disrupting the intricate system. It's just how much they are. I don't know. But when you eliminate it all, all of a sudden you have this like, you're alive like a, like, like an animal ready to, you know, I mean, people walk past and you, you smell it.

It's just like you're ready to go. You have I would say it probably increases testosterone tremendously. 'Cause I'm now 49 and I feel stronger than I've ever been. My body feels better. Is it all carnivore? No, I mean, it, it's the whole system. And I can tell you, we go to Costco, we just went there and we, we get a pallet of this grass fed butter, literally 36 pounds, and it lasts like a month. So, I mean, like, we're not scared of butter and you're not gonna get fat, but it's the sugars, the processed food it's causing like hidden inflammations.

And if you do the carnivore, the, the right way, and, and like, like burgers are a big part of it. I love liver. I, I eat that raw. But there's a, there's a, there's a method to my raw eating of liver. You, it comes in frozen blocks. I get mine at Wild Fork if you, I'm sure you know, and it's literally a pound is $2, you know?

So, and the other misconception about carnivore, it's expensive. It's not $2 for a pound of, liver is, is a pretty good deal. And it's so nutrient packed it's crazy. I let it, I let it on the counter for like 10, 15 minutes. I chop it up in the blocks, you know, after it's still frozen. Melt butter, salt it, dip it in.

It is delicious. It has a sweet flavor and it's unbelievable. Then I have burgers with it. It's phenomenal. And then I, you know, the other staples, like as you go through carnivore, there's like, like, like you sometimes like super lots of fat and if you need a lot of fat, like when I got on it, like I was probably like too lean.

I was like sickly lean. So I was eating like lots. I was doing a lot of smoked brisket. Everything else in I think I, I got, I did get a gain a little weight, but I felt healthier like I had before and after photos. It was unbelievable. Then all of a sudden, like, I can't eat brisket anymore. Like it, it's just like too, too heavy for me.

I was doing the, doing the short ribs a lot, and I can't eat short ribs anymore. So now it's just back to burgers pecan and steaks and liver. So it, you have to just listen to your body on this. And I think like with all these things, you get in touch with your body. You're in the, the ice plunge, you are getting in touch with your body and how you navigate through it and like you find your way, how you deal with discomfort.

You know it, you're listening to your body, so you're more understanding of what you need and everyone on carnivore does it differently. Yeah. But you just have to find your own path with everything. Some things might be good for you, they might not be good for me and.

It's just about listening to the data, making the necessary adjustments to what makes you feel good. There is no one size fits all for anything in life, and anyone tells you that there, it's just a lie. But I think it's the structure, how you plant it, and that's like one of the, I can't emphasize enough, the, the importance of systems, right?

And, you know, and like killing off the old identities. So you have like a clear mission. It's just, I think it's a great book. I have I have an online school for it. It's it's great. I, I mean, I put a lot of work into it and I really wanna help people. And ironically, I will say, this is, originally I designed this.

I thought it would be for guys like my age, and I found that. They're stuck in their ways. They don't wanna change. They're, they're already programmed. And the younger guys are eating it up. They love it because they know, it's like, they're like, yeah, let's do it. Let's get in that cold. I want to go longer.

And I have to tell people, no, no. Take it easy. And on the other side, it's also kind of crazy in today's world is I have a, I I've seen a lot of women in the program and they're tough, much tougher than men. In, in, in general. They mentally and mentally way tougher and. They don't complain. Like you see, you have men or they're complaining.

So it's kind of crazy world we live in, but women really gravitate towards this it, you know, and younger, younger guys love it, but the guys my age are pretty like, I what saying? Yeah. Yeah. They, they're, they're, they're, I, I, I hate to say lost cause, but very close to it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. A lot of people from the younger generations are getting very health conscious with what they eat, with the way they work out, and a lot of people are trying to push past and filter it through all the noise we have on the internet.

And so. I appreciate what you're doing and we're gonna have your website and description below for people to check out your online school and to check out your book. I think for anyone listening, again, it doesn't hurt to try something new. You know, if you've been in the same routine and not seeing results, you know, this is something to look into research further on your own, and obviously they could always contact you for more.

And again, your book has a lot of information in it along with the online school, but a ton. It is, got a ton of information. And I just want to leave with that, is no matter your situation, there's always something there.

There is always a solution and I think it's really important you have to persist. You have to accept setbacks along the way, but there is always a situation. You have to test and ditch what doesn't work. And if something works, keep doing it. Try to do it better and, make it more effective.

But there's always a solution. And I think that if you don't give up, you will eventually find your way. I agree. A hundred percent. And no panicking and no whining. Whining. Yes, exactly. All right. Well, Mr. Cordon, thank you so much for what you've shared today and for what you're doing. I'm glad that you've been able to turn your life around and are now giving that gift back to other people to do the same.

So thank you for your work and for your time today. Thank you.