Synergy

Life & Biz Lessons Wrapped in Boxing Gloves

• Daniel & Alicia

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When Daniel traded in happy hour for the heavy bag, he never imagined the ripple effect it would have on every aspect of his life. Our latest episode takes you ringside to witness the sweat, sacrifice, and sheer willpower that carried him through to his first amateur boxing match, and how his journey mirrors the struggles we all face when chasing ambitious dreams. Daniel's story is a testament to the transformative power of discipline and focus, and in sharing his narrative, he offers a masterclass in personal growth that extends far beyond the gym's mirrored walls.

Strap in as we unpack the mental mechanics that drive success in and out of the ring. Daniel's tactics—from setting laser-focused intentions to embracing the power of affirmations—aren't just for athletes; they're life lessons in perseverance and planning that ring true for anyone navigating life's tough rounds. And as we dissect the aftermath of achieving one's goals, we realize the fight never truly ends. The discipline and mindset that brought Daniel victory in the boxing ring continue to shape his life.  Join us for an episode that will challenge you to reassess your own path to personal victory.

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Alicia :

One, two, three, four. Welcome to Synergy, the podcast where we uncover the secrets to successful relationships, effective leadership and transformative parenting. I'm your host, Alicia.

Daniel :

And I'm Dan, and we'll deep dive into relationships, friendships and, most importantly, the relationship we have with ourselves. Together, we'll explore different strategies, techniques and approaches that can help you achieve synergy in every aspect of your life.

Alicia :

Stay curious, keep learning and embrace the power of synergy. Welcome back to another episode of Synergy In our new podcast room.

Daniel :

This feels good, I know it does, doesn't it?

Alicia :

It has all the good vibrations going.

Daniel :

We've been this week busy putting it all together, making it all look and feel nice. So it's exciting to change the space up and launch a new podcast.

Alicia :

Yeah Well, it's not a new podcast, it's just a new look. We're just upgrading.

Daniel :

Yeah.

Alicia :

New episode on we're going to talk. I'm going to interview Daniel because I have been talking to you about your boxing. If anyone hasn't been following along, daniel did a big boxing fight which he trained for how many weeks? About eight weeks, like an eight week bootcamp style training.

Daniel :

Yeah, eight week fight camp in the lead up to do my first amateur fight, which was three one minute rounds, which sounds really short, but I can tell you when you're in there and someone's coming at you. It's one of those things that feels quick but at the same point it's like exhausting in 60 seconds.

Alicia :

It's like that moment where you go okay, let's do a one minute plank, and then you're like oh, one minute's not that long.

Daniel :

And then you're doing a plank and it's- 10 seconds later you're like fuck, it's not 50 to go.

Alicia :

Yeah, so I'm going to be interviewing Daniel, asking him a few questions because we've been having some pretty good chats around this and how he would come home some nights and be like oh, the trainer said this and I applied this to life and business and I'm like that's epic, Like what was one of them?

Daniel :

Give me one of them. Okay, Explain this to Alicia. It was like I'd come home and just be so pumped because it's like in the business space where we learn from, it's like those light bulb moments, something says something, and sort of an order and sequence of memories happen where it just clicks for you and you're putting me on the spot here, but some of them are absolutely incredible.

Alicia :

Just one of them.

Daniel :

All right, one of them that comes to mind. One of them I remember was think speed, not power, and that wasn't the great one that correlates to business, but I guess the essence of what I'm trying to say here is it's the little one-liners from the coaches that give you this leap of development in your training and fighting that really improve your growth. And yeah, I can't think off the top of my head now what they actually were.

Alicia :

If they come to you. If they come to you, I'll talk about them.

Daniel :

There was about three or four that I was like after they said, like it just clicked and I was like, oh, I can't wait to like tell this because it's just related so much to business and there was so much about this boxing journey that brought so much up for me, learnt so much about myself and, yeah, we'll get into that in this episode.

Alicia :

So there's a few things to cover here, because let's go back to when you decided to do the fight. So, just to pre-frame, we had this on our vision board three years ago and it's been on there ever since. Right yeah, boxing gloves because you want to do a boxing fight and win.

Daniel :

Specifically, I wanted to do a boxing fight and I wanted to win. That was my intention.

Alicia :

Yeah.

Daniel :

And I had done a like a they call it an inter-club fight, which is just, you know, between clubs, and I did that and I lost that fight and it sort of ignited this fire of like I really want to do this and win. And yeah, that just sort of sent me on a bit of a journey with boxing and just there is so much that comes from the sport that you get to leverage into other areas of life.

Daniel :

Did you go into it thinking, oh, I just want to win, and then- I had no idea what the journey was going to uncover from just setting an intention of winning a boxing fight. I didn't even know why I wanted to do that. It wasn't really. It wasn't like an ego driven thing where I wanted to-.

Alicia :

You just wanted to prove to yourself that you could do it.

Daniel :

Yeah, I, just I wanted to win.

Alicia :

Yeah, yeah. I just I wanted to win, yeah. So okay, the first thing I think about is your, when you first started, and when you kind of started going on that journey and you were like I'm going to give up alcohol.

Daniel :

Yeah, so.

Alicia :

So let's like talk a little bit, because I know, oh, what was? We didn't release the podcast did we.

Daniel :

I'm just going to switch something up while we're talking.

Alicia :

Okay, you didn't release the podcast, did we? I'm just going to switch something up while we're talking. Okay, you didn't release the podcast, did we? Of the one where we talked about alcohol and how it plays an important part in your life and how you wanted to speak on it, but then you didn't feel qualified to speak on it because you hadn't gone down the path and the journey of actually being sober.

Daniel :

I really remember this, so we did a podcast.

Alicia :

So let's pre-frame authenticity is like one of our values as a, as a company and and individually.

Daniel :

Yeah, I can't speak on and do something that I haven't done myself, because one of my values of learning is credibility. So I'll I struggle to learn from people that don't have the evidence there to back up that they're doing what they've said. They're either teaching or doing. So I would be a fraud myself if I went on and did that. So there was a podcast we did and we were talking about alcohol. Now, at this point in time, I had a level of knowledge around human behavior and habits and addictions so I had, I guess, the skills to pull myself out of addiction and we were talking about it on a podcast. We finished that podcast and I said to Alicia we can't launch it and she's like why it was really good. I'm like I can't launch that. I'm like I cannot speak on how to navigate alcoholism or dependency on alcohol when, yes, I know what to do but I'm not doing it myself, like I was still stuck in there.

Daniel :

I was stuck on the having a drink at dinner. Going out to a social event and having a drink. I don't. I didn't know how to show up and not drink at a social event. That was never a part of my existence before this boxing camp.

Daniel :

And so we didn't launch the podcast. And I said to you the other day I said it's so humbling and empowering to actually release and launch a podcast talking about an alcohol journey and now, being on the other side of it and the lessons that I learned from it, I feel like it's authentic about. This boxing fight camp highlighted to me how alcohol dependency showed up for me.

Alicia :

So, and I want to say it's the dependent like you wouldn't look at you and go, oh, you're alcohol dependent. You wouldn't think that.

Daniel :

I think and again I learned this in this process I think the label and the stereotype yeah, 100% Is. There are so many other characteristics of alcohol dependency where the label and the stereotype don't fit. Those other characteristics yeah, and someone asked me recently is like how do you define that? You had a problem with alcohol. For me it was like having a desire to drink without consciously going why am I drinking? You know, it's like get home from a hard day work and stress is like I'm going to have. I'm going to crack that bottle of wine and pour it in the glass and start drinking, because I know after glass number two or three that workday is gone.

Alicia :

Yeah. And I'm feeling all the feels from drinking.

Daniel :

And going through that process. And you know, I think if anyone's seen the movie Flight with Denzel Washington, the stereotype of an alcoholic is someone laying on the floor with a bottle of scotch next to them, three quarters full, and they've, they've down the whole bottle. And you know that that, I guess, is not the truth. Of what alcohol?

Alicia :

dependency. It's one element of what alcohol dependency can look like.

Daniel :

I remember going to Adelaide and this this was such a vivid moment for me and it actually reminded me of the movie of flight is. I was driving to Adelaide with the girls and we we do the a stopover at Horsham halfway through to break up the trip and I remember opening the bar fridge and this is in the fight camp mid like middle of the fight camp had hadn't been drinking.

Alicia :

I think it was really disciplined.

Daniel :

Yeah, it was maybe two or three weeks in and I remember being at Horsham and I opened the fridge and I saw a bottle of like a pre-mixed can of Jim Beam and Jack Daniels and beers. And that was the moment I knew I had a problem with alcohol.

Alicia :

Really Tell me more about that.

Daniel :

Because I knew I looked at it like kid, like a kid with candy. Really it was like, and without even touching it I was like, wow, I'm really in an alcohol journey, right now. And that was the moment of like I've got to do something about this yeah, I remember you called me that night and you said yeah.

Alicia :

I just opened the fridge.

Daniel :

Knowing what I know about learning about addiction and all that sort of stuff, it was like having the assets of a coach to coach someone out of addiction. But being in the middle of an addiction yourself is a very confronting place to or confronting thing to feel, because you necessarily you've got all the skills to get yourself out of it, but you've also got a choice in that moment as to what you're going to do.

Alicia :

What about when you said to me what did you say? You go, I don't know. Oh, we were at a party and it was the first party that you'd been to that I can't remember whose party it was it wasn't Dave's, because there weren't many people drinking in that one but there was a party that we'd gone to together. And you said to me part the way through I'm finding it really hard to figure out who I am not out like, not drunk yeah and like who the sober Dan is again.

Daniel :

This was another. So much revealed in eight weeks. It's incredible. Yeah, for the most part of my going out life being in my late teens, 20s, early 30s, my identity for socializing was wrapped up in being a clown drinking the funny guy being the, I was the one that could drink the most out of all my friends. I became the pin-up person of like.

Alicia :

No one will out drink tinny it's like I had that badge of honor and I wore that fucking badge proud. I'll be honest yeah, and I and for many.

Daniel :

And the thing is like I enjoyed a drink. Yeah and oh, this was the other thing you said to me. So just on the identity thing, I think in this country we are so, you know, someone dies, we have a drink, someone gets married, we have a drink. Everything we do is accompanied with a drink. Yeah, um, to celebrate.

Daniel :

And for me I was like I don't know who I am without alcohol in a social setting. But what I realized is and it was only going out a couple times sober that I got to know me and someone, a friend that you know is quite conscious and regard very highly and her opinion matters a lot to me. She turned around and said I don't see any difference and what I realized was alcohol allowed me to show up as me, without the judgment of what other people thought. But sober, dan, showing up and being the fun, funny guy, doesn't need to feel the judgment of what other people think and I, I am fun and here all this time. For me, that was wrapped up in having a drink and being the funny guy.

Alicia :

I remember we also had enough. We had so many conversations around this because you were very open with me about it, which I appreciate. But we said to me, cause, cause, I was a big drinker back in the day as well and I said, and you were like, oh what, oh what, what changed? And I said I didn't like who I was when I was drunk and I didn't like the person I turned into with alcohol. And you're like, see, the really hard thing for me is I like the person.

Alicia :

I am when I'm drunk, which was such a like I was like, of course, like.

Daniel :

I'm like. I'm not a violent. I know we're talking about a boxing fight, but at heart I'm not a violent person. I I'm quite the opposite. Yes.

Alicia :

Very open and deep. It's the same with my dad. Yeah, it's the same thing where we go. Oh, but you're not a bad drunk, like bad drunk. Drunk, yeah, so oh, you're fine, Drink as much as you want type thing.

Daniel :

There's permission there.

Alicia :

Yeah, but when someone comes in and they're maybe drinking the same know, maybe they're a bit loud and they're a bit disruptive and it's like, oh, he needs to stop drinking, like he's got a problem.

Daniel :

He gets like this when he drinks. Yeah, he gets like this when he drinks, you know.

Alicia :

So it's like that negative connotation which makes it, which I felt made it easier for me to go. I don't want to do this anymore. Whereas, like you said, you like the person you are when you're drunk. It's.

Daniel :

The other thing that I wanted to mention about this journey was the mindset challenge, because, although there was a lot of self-discovery in the journey, I also did things from a mindset perspective, and I had a conversation with another friend only a couple of days ago and he shared part of his kickboxing journey and as we were talking, it was all landing for me. I was like, wow, that's really me too. And you know, I committed to doing cold showers, I committed to meditating, I committed to, you know, a series of, I guess, good habits, like training, frequently not missing training sessions. I committed to these things and what I learnt about myself is, prior to the cold shower thing, I fucking hated cold water, right. We went to a friend's house and I put my hand in their ice bath and I was like, fuck, that, that's fucking freezing, I'm not getting in there.

Daniel :

But now I'm like I'm better than cold, I'm stronger than cold showers. I'm stronger than my negative mindset when it shows up and I know how to counteract it. I'm stronger when it comes to discipline. I'm stronger when it comes to execution, and one crazy thing that I did that people might think is a bit insane is I remember Muhammad Ali's trainer hypnotized him into believing that he was the best in the world. Yeah, and having doing some training in hypnosis, obviously understanding the concept, I was like I just gotta hypnotize, hypnotize myself.

Daniel :

So I I went off and I recorded myself and I listened to this recording of me telling me yeah how good I am, how much I was going to show up that when I get tired, I find another gear and it's still. It's like it's on repeat now it's like what you tell yourself you believe.

Daniel :

I remember the music coming on in the walkout of the song and I could hear all my friends and family cheering along. But the dialogue in my head was you've got this. When you get tired, you find another gear. You're gonna win. This is your fight, you. These were the things going through my head as I was approaching the ring and it really made me think about what happens when you don't focus on your mindset, or you're not disciplined, or you don't execute or you don't have a goal, you know.

Daniel :

And these were just some amazing things that come of this.

Alicia :

Yeah, and I think as well, if we can look at like goals, because a lot of the time that like we're doing this in synergy elite at the moment was we're looking at like what is the bigger dream life, like what does that look like for you? And I think it could have been easy for you to go. I want to do a boxing fight.

Daniel :

Oh, that's not a clear goal, yeah.

Alicia :

Do you know what I mean? Like you said, you wanted to do a boxing fight and win. Yes, so if we go back to like you know why?

Daniel :

Because the previous one my intention was I want to do a boxing fight and I lost, see, and it really taught me a lesson about being specific and intentional with your goals. You know I want to do a fight and I want to win. That's the goal. Yeah, you know, yeah, and I think you know we were only talking the other day about, I said, post-fight so going through all this whole journey, learning about myself, you know, hypnotize myself, all these elements and then coming out of after the fight, and I always knew this the real training starts after the fight.

Alicia :

A hundred percent.

Daniel :

Because it's easy to do a fight camp when you're in fight camp. Yeah, it's hard to do a fight camp when you're in fight camp?

Daniel :

Yeah, it's hard to do a fight camp when you're not in fight camp. Yeah, you know. So I. I know that the real journey with alcohol starts after the fight. The real journey with discipline and execution is after the fight. You know, and the sustainability and you look, you know. I look at who I am now post-fight and I'm like I wouldn't be doing myself any favors or service if I went back to the person I was before acquiring these habits and behaviors that I've done for eight weeks. But I also know from learning about habits and behaviors that it's easy to fall. Eight weeks isn't sustainable enough to ingrain it for life.

Alicia :

Yeah.

Daniel :

You know, I know that I've got to keep showing up to training, keep disciplined.

Alicia :

And there is so many positive things.

Daniel :

You know and just keep working those muscles to achieve more goals.

Alicia :

There's two more things that I wanted to point out here, and it relates to my postpartum journey in motherhood, when, the first time I had well, when I had Nikita, so my first child I didn't plan post, and it was really like a big, big shock to me and I didn't plan any. You know, my life was hectic after that moment, like, if I'm completely honest, cause I had no plan of what that looked like afterwards. But and that's why I kept banging onto you about like what is it, what is your post fight routine? What's your post fight decision without?

Alicia :

because of the lesson that you learned because of the lesson that I learned, which I then applied to when I had Sierra whole nother journey like so much more beautiful, so much more amazing, because I grabbed the lessons from the first time and applied them to having an actual post plan rather than just going in well, oh yeah, it'll be all right, it's all good, Like I'll have rest or whatever Cause. Just reality is is you do fall into patterns. It's so easy to just fall into those patterns again.

Daniel :

You just made me thinking of like that solo, although you know childbirth for us. I felt very included in the journey with both the girls, which is amazing, but I feel for some women it may be a bit of an independent journey in terms of the mindset lead up.

Daniel :

Because when you think of a professional boxer, of going 10 rounds in a ring and a woman giving birth, for me there's a lot of correlations in that extended journey. That is intense. Do you know what I mean? And if you don't do the lead up pre-work mentally, if you don't have your affirmations, if you don't, you know, encourage your mindset and tell your body that it knows what to do, and all these things, then it's probably not going to be a good experience.

Alicia :

Yeah, but the common theme with the both of them is that I don't know how we go from boxing fight to giving birth. Well, the common theme is both you're proud of yourself. At the end of it You're like I can do fucking anything I put my mind to, and that's. That mindset piece is like same same.

Daniel :

Can I also say that there's probably some women that have given birth, that haven't had that pleasant experience, that are probably like fuck that.

Alicia :

I can probably say 95% of women have not had that experience and they're like fuck that. And that's what I mean with the mindset, with the like putting all the things in place Like it's so, like you're. We're not just talking about eight weeks of mindset prep, though that's what. I also want to say is like your mindset.

Daniel :

I've probably from. From a business perspective, I would say that I've been working actively on my mindset since 2015 and I would have to say probably mine 2014.

Daniel :

So like that's a whole bunch of decade, like it's a decade and a bit can I also say, even though that level of duration doesn't mean that I don't slip into a negative mindset or I haven't been in depressive states before, like I actually think. I can't remember who I said this to ages ago. I think it was Kerwin, a mentor. I said to him I feel like the more work you do on your mindset, you become stronger, but when you slip, you slip hard.

Alicia :

Well, maybe it's not about slipping hard, maybe it's about very noticeable difference in when you're slipping, you know, because it's like whoa, that is so different to where I was, or so the gap is so much bigger. Yeah, they're not little things, but I also think the more active you are with your mindset, the closer the gap like, the less the duration of time that you can get back to. That you know, and that's just my experience.

Daniel :

It makes me think about, like, what we're doing with Synergy. It's like there are so many different elements of life to make it a great experience and make it really to have an experience where you're walking through life. To have an experience where you're walking through life smiling and achieving and you're seeing your plans come to fruition. The people around you are thriving as a result of you looking after yourself, and it's just always been one of those things of ours that we desire to have such an impact on people in a positive way, to help them grow as we have grown.

Daniel :

And the beauty I love about the selfish beauty I love about this journey is it holds me accountable to continue continually to grow and have amazing experiences, just like I had last week. And jumping out of the ring and you know, hearing the winner in the red corner and holding my hand up is you know? Just, the winner in the red corner and holding my hand up is you know? Just, there's not much. No, there's one more thing sweeter than achieving goals.

Daniel :

For me it's supporting other people to achieve theirs. So, yeah, if you've got, if you don't know what your goals are and you want to create them, like, reach out to us. We're currently doing a month free in Synergy, where we get to set up all your plan goals, everything like that, and come on the journey.

Alicia :

And let's wrap this up. But I'm going to ask one more thing what are three things that you're proud of yourself in that journey?

Daniel :

I would say the biggest thing is finding who I am without alcohol, because I think that's finding my true self, is consistently showing up and doing the work and getting the results of doing the work. And the third thing I'm proud of the the situation that I'm in, with so so many great and grateful for so many great people around me.

Daniel :

So many people showed up that I wouldn't have picked, would have shown up to support me, the little conversations along the way in the lead up, little messages, all you know. Just so grateful for the support around me.

Alicia :

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I'm proud of you babe. Thanks babe, we'll see you next week.

Daniel :

Catch you later.

Alicia :

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Synergy. We encourage you to hit the subscribe button. Rate and comment.

Daniel :

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