#59 - From Jail, to NAVY Seal, Back to Jail, to French Foreign Legionnaire w/Taylor Cavanaugh

What happens when you lose everything that once defined you?
Former Navy SEAL Taylor Cavanaugh shares his raw, powerful journey from military elite to rock bottom — addiction, homelessness, and nearly ending his own life — before finding redemption in the most unexpected place: the French Foreign Legion.

With nothing but a backpack and a broken spirit, Taylor rebuilt his life from scratch, shedding titles, ego, and identity to rediscover purpose. Today, he's a coach, father, and man of faith helping others face their own battles.

This episode is more than a war story — it’s about what happens after the uniform comes off.
Redemption is real. Purpose is possible. And your identity is more than your past.

To follow Taylor on instagram: CLICK HERE!!!

To check out what Taylor's got going on and to follow along visit: CLICK HERE!!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Early Connection
• 15:16 Navy SEAL Training and Selection
• 35:16 Sniper School and Military Life
• 1:07:35 Trouble, Legal Issues, and Rock Bottom
• 1:31:59 The French Foreign Legion Experience
• 2:00:13 Finding Faith and Rebuilding Identity
• 2:16:30 Fasting, Health, and Personal Transformation
• 2:33:05 Fatherhood and Building a New Life

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

I'm going, like I just go wherever it takes us?

Speaker 2: 0:12

I would love to. I'll be asking you questions too, man perfect.

Speaker 1: 0:15

Yeah, and then I would honestly, like I've watched, I've been following you for a while I'd like to dig into your new father yeah, dude, that's so and I haven't seen. I mean I'm sure I don't know if you have talked about it really, but I like that's the type of stuff. Like I want the real side of dudes, and so don't. I'd love that. Crazy stories, fun stories, all that cool shit, like that's just what our audience likes. But like I, I'm real, we're really real here.

Speaker 2: 0:37

Like your format to your platform. It hits hard, just the way it. Thank you, dude. The way it's structured, the the camera quality also, just with the conversational dynamic, it's, it's like super honest, well, thank you, yeah it hits, like when I see it on my feed.

Speaker 1: 0:53

It hits real clean, thank you, man I, because you were just on. Uh, what's his name? He's a recon marine um chad.

Speaker 2: 1:00

He's got a beautiful, beautiful setup bro chad chad's doing doing work man and he's really god's just kind of guiding. That that's incredible. He's, he's uh, he's got a beautiful, beautiful setup. Bro Chad's doing work man and he's really God's just kind of guiding. That that's incredible.

Speaker 2: 1:09

He's a good dude, yeah, yeah, it was cool talking to him too because he got honest about stuff that I didn't really think about. I'm thinking you know I looked up Chad dude, yeah, yeah, and so he was telling me stuff like, bro, the hate he gets from even guys in the community, which was weird.

Speaker 1: 1:22

I'm like you nobody hates successful veterans more than veterans he goes, he goes, yeah, he goes.

Speaker 2: 1:29

You know I was on sean ryan talking he goes. You know how many guys were like that program doesn't exist, like him training with dev grew and said they're like liar, he's like bro. You really think I'd get on sean ryan and talk and he goes the c? One of the cos of dev grew at the time, yeah, actually chimed in and fought forms like actually that dude was there. You know that was a thing and you guys are full shit and so he didn't have to do that, he was. But it was weird hearing it from the raw angle from him. I was like dude. I thought guys like that were kind of untouchable. On the hate side, it doesn't matter, man, it just gets ripped on.

Speaker 1: 2:01

Well, that's why I had the white wife. The wife and I just sat down and we talked homeschooling. We just finished, like this big, we did a 10-day fast, like our first one ever, and so you know our audience wanted to hear about it and I told her I go, just be prepared. Yeah, it's coming, it's the internet. It hasn't come yet, but it's the internet.

Speaker 2: 2:25

And, like you know, could post a picture of a rose and people like roses smell like shit. Daisies are my. You're like what the it shows you the sickness man it really does. We don't operate like that because we come, we've kind of come, we've, we've all had our low points, but generally I would say, guys like you and I operate in the positive. That's why I'm successful and do things.

Speaker 2: 2:40

It's not always perfect, but there's a whole set, a whole group of people, a very large portion of people, that really are in a cloud. They can't, they're not self-aware enough to even recognize why they do it. They've never done any of the work to really, or maybe have hit low enough to really figure out how to fix it. So they've never done this internal self audit. You know this self audit where you go, man, I really should. Oh, it's me. The world's a mirror, not a window, like. If I'm seeing negativity everywhere. Maybe I'm the common denominator. It's that that needs to get flipped, and so it's. It's unfortunate. And you try to reach out people, but some people are untouchable man that's a good way.

Speaker 1: 3:23

I like how you put that, like if, if everything you're seeing is negative yeah, not everything's a scam.

Speaker 2: 3:30

Not everybody's full of shit. Not everybody like I'll be telling a story. People like liar cap. I'm like. I'm like, bro, if you think that's cap, I'm not even telling you half the shit, dude, you know it's like. If you think that's that's shocking, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm like good, like there's people actually out here living life and doing stuff and Enjoying it. Enjoying it, and if you haven't, well then that's probably why you're seeing it that way. I go. Not everyone's full of shit, man.

Speaker 1: 3:54

We just had this conversation the other night. Like I dealt with a lot of just anger and hate for so long, you know, like I don't even think I'm feeling fully healed from my brother passing. Like I lost my service dog 30 days before he died, wow. So I buried all of that and I'll tell you what has completely changed my life recently is and she's been praying about it for years, and that is for me to just get on my knees and pray.

Speaker 2: 4:20

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:20

And it has changed my life. Yeah, and we walk and I'm like, how fuck did I fight it for so long? I don't know if it was, and I don't know how religious you are, if even if you are, but it it's. It's like this huge sigh of relief every night and it doesn't matter what I'm praying about, how I'm praying about it. It's more of a conversation between me and God. But it's just this, like this relief, and she's like God, you're so dumb. She's like I prayed for you for years. She's like this is all I've been asking you to do and how it's just changed. And now it's like you know, you get pissed off in traffic. Now I'm like, eh, like you know, and I start I'm starting to really catch what's on.

Speaker 1: 5:08

I'm not perfect by any means, you know. I, I have my flaws and but, man, I'm telling you like, for me, and what that is helped me is that is just having a conversation with God is completely changed my life in so many different ways, and I and I fought it for years. And it's so frustrating thinking like if I were just listening to her, listen to my parents, my dad, like every cause, I'm a pastor's kid and so and I fell away in the military and you know how it is, and so, yeah, it's been wild though man, it's, it's been, it's, it's, it's fun and I'm enjoying it of where I'm like, if this is all I, have significantly and quickly.

Speaker 2: 5:42

Yeah, why not chase it? People will get there when they realize they were linked. I'm super tapped in with faith and the conversation with God. It guides my life, bro, I wouldn't be here without it. And when it normally almost always, I would say almost 100% those people that are throwing that shade have zero connection with a higher source, a higher power God. Any of that connection with a higher source, a higher power God, any of that?

Speaker 2: 6:09

Because when you recognize that there is an orchestration happening, like on a very massive scale, energetically, things are happening. There's no such thing as chance. Your thoughts are real things, energies, it's, it's all. We're all one piece of one. Not to get too woo woo guru, but we're, we're all connected in some way and these energies are real. And when you start to recognize these universal laws and principles of one not to get too woo-woo guru, but we're all connected in some way and these energies are real. And when you start to recognize these universal laws and principles and applying them to your life, in the sense that there's no such thing as closed doors, open doors, closed doors. There's a ledger man, it's black and it's red. And when you stop stacking karmic debt on yourself by throwing shade, doing weird shit, being weird, fate, fate. All that's coming back to you when you get out of that.

Speaker 2: 6:48

I saw some, some uh, I was reading something that said 85 percent of the world is caught in the guilt shame loop. At the bottom on the map of consciousness, guilt and shame being at the bottom, they're circling. They just circle guilt shame, whether food, vices, cheating, lying, whatever it is, they're stacking karma and they can't get out of it. They might reach higher levels it touch it a little bit, but they'll fall back down. God and that connection when you really tap into, I'm gonna hold myself to a higher standard, to the standard of not my own, not my own judgment of what's moral, but actually the word of what is that's.

Speaker 2: 7:26

That's the standard. We're not the standard for ourselves. And when people start start doing that, then your own morality can't lead you in the right place. They say you know, trust your gut, be very cautious of your gut and your just emotions. Yeah, trust your gut instincts, I understand, but when you're starting to operate on your own morality and your, your vision might be skewed, especially when you don't have some type of true north to what is good and right and how you should act.

Speaker 2: 7:52

It's it's significant when you open up that dialogue and you recognize that it's always with you always with you anywhere, anytime, anywhere, anytime in that and and you're tapping into that god frequency man, and it's a warm fuzzy, for real, it's there. And chad said something on that. He said dude, god's real, it's like gravity man, that connecting force it's, it's universal and it's very, very powerful. All you got to do is reach all you got to do is reach man and there's something significant about like you getting on your knee. There's something significant about like letting down that guard and that, like what you resist persists.

Speaker 1: 8:28

Did you have a problem with it? Did you fight it when you started to, or did you jump right in?

Speaker 2: 8:34

Well, I always. Since I was a child, I wasn't raised religious. My parents, you know, tried different. I was exposed to many different things. I would say they were probably Catholic, but they didn't raise me catholic for your god conscience I was very god conscious and I always I wasn't told it, but I always felt like a real connectivity and even in real bad times I was never like, oh, there's no god. I was always kind of like well, man fuck this one up.

Speaker 2: 9:01

I need you now, I'm gonna try to get out of this one and honestly I I was always very, very cautious or very cognizant of not praying for things. Trust me, I've prayed to get out of stuff, for sure, but I've never been like oh I want you know this new shiny thing.

Speaker 2: 9:15

But I was always like, just please give me a little bit of strength to get through this I'm not sure type thing or you know suicidal states and times I've been in and god, I get the chills when I think about it, man, because that the voice was as clear as, like, you and me talking, yeah, yeah, it was very, very powerful Some of my lowest points, and it was like and the, and I tell people like, well, how did that voice come? What did it say? And I said verbatim it was like you pussy, it's verbatim. It was like like you're being a think of your mom, you're saying things like god wouldn't speak to you. Like that I said wrong.

Speaker 2: 9:49

I said god will speak to you in any way to get the message clear to you. That's how I needed to be spoken to at the time to snap me out of it. Right, it was sack up, man. You have a mother, a sister. What kind of damage are you going to leave for them when you're in this, if, if you go down that road, and that's that's not an honorable road man like sack up, and that's kind of what pushed my trajectory in the foreign legion was a just that hard right and and I'm glad it came to me when it did damn dude, we haven't even started yet yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 2: 10:18

Yeah, that's good though. Yeah, let me turn this on real quick. I like that dude. Yeah, that's, this is. I already love it. Dude.

Speaker 1: 10:30

That loaf of bread is about as gangster as I've ever seen it's pretty dope you guys got well, dude, that was a hell of a, I guess, an intro, but so welcome to the show man. I guess that'll give the guy appreciate it. Listen, I guess we dove right into it, but um, and we'll continue it. But something that I do different here on the episode, as this platform starts to grow and I wish bigger platforms would do the same and hopefully it maybe it catches on but I give law enforcement and veteran businesses, small businesses, an opportunity to send us things Cool and I just promote them and I give them to guests for free cool, so all they have to do if they're like this guy uh god, fearing lifting club, he's out of socal cool cop.

Speaker 1: 11:08

He's an active duty cop. He's trying to get law enforcement veterans together through gym and lifting and scripture and things like that. So are you? Where are you out of? We're in san diego okay I'll get in between san diego, and la are you in tobacola yeah, oh, okay, we were, we lived off pachanga. We were right there for years. No way, yeah, yeah literally dude.

Speaker 2: 11:25

I live in canyon lake right now, but we were off just pachanga, like right near there yeah, if you hop the wall of pachanga, we were right there and off of geronimo right there, yeah, so before we fled yeah, but um, yeah, I'll get you connected with this guy.

Speaker 1: 11:36

Probably we got you um, so c state coffee recon marine. He got out, started his coffee business he's a local guy here, buddy of mine. I mean packaging's legit, it is, it's pretty awesome. And then the war machine he was actually, uh, he's a combat marine got out, became an active duty or a law enforcement officer, got shot in the line of duty. Damn so he gets cigar. He does a war machine or a platoon cigar.

Speaker 2: 11:58

So very cool.

Speaker 1: 11:58

Make sure to send you home with some cars, cigars, and then, as always, we try to give every guest um a fresh loaf in that way. Um, this is our nutella loaf. It's got nutella chocolate dough. I'll do my toffee. Oh, dude, yeah, I don't know if you, if we had madison cothran on the show and he dug into it the middle of it, we're like tearing it apart. So it was pretty hilarious. But, um, yeah, man, it's just my little way of getting back and I got a bunch of swag for you, so make sure you send you home with a bunch of shirts and gear and stuff like that. But, man, I'm excited for this because we have talked for a while. I have followed your journey.

Speaker 2: 12:34

We connected a long time ago, man, long time ago, like I was kind of near the beginning, man, just kind of getting out of the Legion back, and we connected on email and probably the website and yeah, and I thought it's weird, it's cool to be here If I had a full circle.

Speaker 1: 12:45

Yeah, and it was like you're like dude, I'm rolling through, I'm like, oh man, like we, we gotta, we gotta make this happen and I you have one of the wildest stories that I've just put together through the internet. You know, been on and it's. You're a fascinating person to me, which not a lot of.

Speaker 1: 13:04

She was a little less fascinating at times, but I'm sure it's come come out the other side so it's all good you know and so, um, that was one of my big things, like I love giving people an opportunity to tell story and just who you are and what you're about. It's kind of what we do different. I it's. You know, everybody kind of has their little niche. I give this platform. You could be a businessman, you could be a baker. We I mean I had a law enforcement officer's wife on and he got tj. You know tj. So, yeah, yeah, so she's. I asked when they were here. I was like man, would you like to tell your story of what it's like to be a wife? That's a great perspective of a law enforcement officer. They got shot in the line of duty man dude.

Speaker 2: 13:40

Yeah, tj and I've been working out for a while. He's awesome, he's like man.

Speaker 1: 13:43

You got to get him on and I'm like he's coming on next week.

Speaker 2: 13:45

He's like I'm missing chances of that, the chances of that are crazy bro yeah, he was like.

Speaker 1: 13:49

I was like man. If you know anybody you think I should have on the show, any name drop show. I'm like dude. He's coming on like saturday he was here monday or tuesday. Yeah, he's like oh, I'm missing him again. But yeah, he's dude.

Speaker 2: 14:00

Hell of a story like, yeah, he's got that, that tenacity man, that grit to kind of get back after it well, dude, I guess let's jump into it.

Speaker 1: 14:08

Who the hell are you and where are you?

Speaker 2: 14:09

from dude taylor cavanaugh. I'm from san diego, california. I was raised down there, kind of like right in the middle of san diego okay and I just a kid playing outside sports.

Speaker 2: 14:21

Really a good socal upbringing family had their dynamics. My dad's a prior marine and shit. How was that? I grew up like what brought us here was I was on tustin. It was like an old chinook base. It's like condos now, but we were.

Speaker 2: 14:35

We were there in the late 80s, early 90s, like beginning of early 90s. He was six in and out. He wasn't a career guy but that's what kept us in socal. We had some my grandmother and stuff there and so I grew up there playing sports and he had his. His struggles with you know drugs and alcohol and stuff, but was always you know they're around kind of, but it was tumultuous, but what you know it's it showed me a lot and he's he's tapped in right. He's always kind of been like real clear about his shortcomings and still to this day, you know, we're connected and he's like he's got a good perspective on and seeing my journey has really been cool for him because he's like, wow, there's been a lot of healing going on on both sides, which is cool. My mom's a rock star. She was the kind of the rock of the family teacher are they still together?

Speaker 2: 15:21

okay, no, no, no, it was. I was a one night. I was a one night hookup, baby pretty much man and they stayed married for 16 years. It was tumultuous, but that was how it went down, okay. And I have a little sister, though also, and, uh, she's great lives up some bishop and rock climbs, but it was good. Man, sports were pushed. My dad had been a very high level bodybuilder before played football and my mom was an aerobics instructor. She actually started the Semper fit thing, dude For sure, yeah, dude.

Speaker 2: 15:50

Back being in orange County, bro, she cause you. She was like, oh, they tapped her into do Semper fit for the overweight Marines and stuff. So it was um, it was, I remember when, that was it I remember when that was a big thing.

Speaker 2: 16:03

It was a known thing in my family that you go to the gym and you are outside and playing sports and I knew I wanted to be a SEAL from a very young age, really yeah, from like seven, and I remember seeing some guys training in the bay and that was just it. And I think a lot of guys watching who are in the military, they have that seed planted early. It's like you know, some kids are like playing war. I was. I knew it was what I wanted to do, you know, and not like in a Rambo way, I just knew the guy behind the gun walked through the jungle what the fuck that's a thing, dude, you can actually just get paid to do that shit. But you know, alcohol parties, playing sports girls, you know like it was like okay, I'm going to go to college. That was kind of a.

Speaker 2: 16:42

My grandfather was an Annapolis graduate and was a captain in the Navy and did a lot of stuff in the military for 30 years, and so my mom was like you got to be an officer going to college. Like what do you mean? So it was just kind of assumed, but I had zero self-awareness or any type of like maturity at all. I got kicked out of high school, lost some lacrosse, scholarships, marijuana and fighting and stuff, and got kicked out of colleges. And you know I was. I was about five universities deep and some junior colleges scattered throughout, but I was dealing drugs, doing drugs, just kind of got my shit together for a while and kind of like graduated.

Speaker 2: 17:21

But during this time, by my early 20s, I had misdemeanors stacked to the sky, like I was on probation and and had had to go to jail after college to get off probation, to even talk to the military. And I was and I showed up and I'm like, hey, I'm gonna be a marine officer, right, because I knew I wanted to be a seal, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to fail and like end up on a boat. I'm like I just want a gun. And they were like bro, fucking dude, you're on probation, you have like pending court cases, you have tattoos all over bro. They were like, absolutely not, I couldn't even listen. The marines I would have. The marines are taking you, you and I would have gone.

Speaker 2: 17:54

I would have gone to the marines. That's like where. I was like all right, I'm gonna go in the marine court. And but they said I fucking couldn't even enlist with the uh, with my tattoos. What year was this? 2009, okay, eight eight, 2008, ish, okay. And I was like, all right, I'll go to the army, went there, they said no for criminal background. And so now I was starting to look at the legion living on my mom's couch, stacks and stacking boxes at home depot type thing going holy shit, dude, I'm a loser bro. I was like living on my mom's couch riding a bike, dude. I went. I was like bmoc, I thought you know, and now I'm he. I was like, wow, this, I gotta get the fuck out of here fast and so I started that process, talked to the navy.

Speaker 2: 18:32

They said, all right, we, if you can pass the seal selection shit, then you can actually do this thing. And I said all right and got in front of the right people and really trained a ton, lost a lot of weight and I needed to work on my running. I fucking hate running.

Speaker 2: 18:47

It's for the enemy so I'm just not a big fan of it. It's not a big guy sport, you know it's not, bro, we're not built for that, dude. No, and that was, that was my whole journey kind of in the military and ended up kind of working out as far as getting into this. Oh shit, that was. That was the early years to actually get buffered in. Sorry, dude. No, you're good, I don't want to lose track of you. No, you're good, brother, I can talk to you here after five hours if I don't. Oh, dude, I'm the same way. Dude, we got gift to gab. Dude, we got gift to gab. Well, there's nothing wrong with it. No, it works for this stuff, man.

Speaker 2: 19:16

I wasn't sure, if you Like an hour, an hour and a half, I'll be good for an hour and a half. Whatever you want to do, An hour and a half would be ideal for me All right, cool.

Speaker 1: 19:28

So now that you're trying to get your life back on track, everybody's turned you down, except for the Navy's, giving you a little bit of hope. That kind of kicked you in the gear.

Speaker 2: 19:37

Dude, it was such like, oh, thank God, I just need to give me a chance. Yeah, just God, I just need to give me a chance. Yeah, just, and I really started to recognize, okay, decisions matter, like things. That I was looking back, dude, I was like man, I don't know what I was thinking, like I had no, no, I was like, oh, you go in the military, who cares if you got arrested? Like, but it just was not the case. Yeah, so I get in and I get a contract. Took me about nine, nine, 10 months actually, of doing physical screening tests every week. Really, you can.

Speaker 2: 20:04

I was training up in pendleton with some active duty seals really pushing the pace and I was like, well, and this is for anybody, if you get told no, fucking keep asking people. Do you get told, yes, so that's kind of what I did and I just they were like, dude, you, it's still a big question of it being if you can get into a seal contract. You know, getting secret cleaner, they're going to be concerned about it. I mean, I couldn't even be a corpsman or nothing because I had drug charge. I had like turd wrangler or SEAL was like my two options. Dude, it was serious bro, I had very very few options bro.

Speaker 2: 20:36

I was going like Undez in the Navy, dude if I did so I was working, that's scary no-transcript.

Speaker 2: 21:11

So I was in the pool at the Naval Amphibious Base like every day, man stacking boxes at night and it worked and I got a letter of recommendation from him and some other guys and so I got a contract and shipped out in 2010, february, and went all the way through. Man Went all the way through the pipeline Lucky enough, had some background check stuff. You know the secret clearance. They're like where were you for this chunk of time? There was a lot of strategic answering. You know, not lying, not lying, but strategic answering. Strategic, yes, but it was a beautiful kind of process. Looking back, man, as you know, going through selection pipelines, the people you meet you just can't recreate that magic of suffering and I'm glad I did it because it's a cool experience.

Speaker 1: 21:58

So going from I don't want to say you're a punk ass kid, but straight doing all the training and going to the seals, I mean, obviously you, you got lucky because you're not saying no to anything, so you're getting in with the right guys, you're training with the right guys, getting with this lieutenant colonel or you know. So you have time to mentally prepare yourself. But when you get your contract and you actually get your school date and you show up at yeah seal train buds right.

Speaker 1: 22:25

Technically, that's first. Yeah, what's going through your mind at this point?

Speaker 2: 22:29

I was like bro, I can't fail. I was, I was convinced I I had really painted myself in a corner. I was like I can't go on a boat. It just was not what I wanted to explain that for people that listening.

Speaker 1: 22:40

So either you I mean that's what they call swick right is all the navy seal drop, navy SEAL dropouts.

Speaker 2: 22:44

Well, if you're lucky dude, if you're lucky you can go SWCC dude, because SWCC's still a challenging pipeline, oh for sure. And that's not even possible if, because there's a few slots, they're like, yeah, you're full, Like you go on. There was a guy, he was a safety from Notre Dame. He failed it. Right, there's guys, there's bad stories, where you're like chipping paint and you have this high level athletes and stuff and I'm like, for sure, I was worried about injuries, I was worried about failing, I was, I was. I don't like heights, the obstacle. Everything was really hard for me, except the swimming. I'm pretty good in the water, so, uh, that was all a pretty simple. But man, the running and stuff, every I went to a dark place before every conditioning run, dude, man, I had. I had some, some, some, some help from guys. You know I had, looking back up, I would help some guys on the swim.

Speaker 2: 23:29

They would help me on the run, literally push me, man, to fail to pass some of these runs, dude, because I needed it, man, and uh, but we made it happen. You know, we made it happen, captain, and and it was powerful showing up there because people like, oh, if you didn't think about quitting, you're lying. No, I never thought about quitting. I did think I don't know if I could keep fucking doing this thing, but I didn't think about quitting, I just knew it was not an option see that's.

Speaker 1: 23:53

I feel that is this weird mindset that certain dudes have where I've watched, you know, gone the courses or gone to training where you can see immediately who's already going to quit before you even start, like like doing a pool phase somewhere, and you see these guys all and then, before it even starts, some of them are already gone and you're like, yeah, you haven't even jumped yet. Like, yeah, why are we quitting before this? Like it's not even like in my mind, like I'm gonna quit, I'm like I might not make it. Yeah, I might, I might literally cramp and yeah, I can't physically finish, but like quitting in these court, like I don't. I never understood that. I didn't see that a lot I thought a lot.

Speaker 2: 24:33

It's it's you take it now into business and stuff too. It's like it's harder to quit you. It's like I'm not gonna get. I'm gonna hold on to this thing and make it work yeah you know that. I'm sure you bring that into your businesses and stuff and it's like actually learning to when to let things go. I don't really understand that. Like a pit bull on a tire dude, like I'll just hold on. And this was my dream.

Speaker 1: 24:52

I was here, you're doing it.

Speaker 2: 24:54

Yeah, and it's like dude, you got to have to drag me out of here. Some really serious stories about bro, like I didn't even want to go to the place of me, like what would I do? Like what psychological state would I be in? I was already convinced I was going to leave the united states, go to the foreign legion if I had to right I was gonna.

Speaker 2: 25:12

Oh yeah, dude, I wasn't not gonna do some horrible shit, and so I was. I I was like, well, I do not want that, right, I want to be here and do this. But so it helped me definitely to dig deep, for sure, bro. But I don't understand that. That line of logic is is is the quitting piece You're going to, you have to paint yourself into a corner or something where you just it's not even, it's not an option. The plan B is making sure plan A works. You know, that's the plan B, dude. That's there's. That's the only way we're going to this. We're gonna keep going back in a circle here, yeah during buds.

Speaker 1: 25:50

What was the worst day or worst training cycle that you had?

Speaker 2: 25:55

I know, exactly what day was the worst it was. It was, uh, I had a pair of boots issued to me baits budss boots that were once half size too small and I wasn't using sock liners like some. Some instructor had said you're not allowed to use sock liners so I was like, oh, I'm not going to use them. I had gotten sand in my boots in like the first week and they were a little too tight around like the top. I got like hobbit feet, you know, they're like wide, and I got rubbed so bad and bleeding so bad on the tops of my feet from the sand that I got like MRSA on my feet and my feet and I ran like that for a couple of weeks and it got to the point it was like Friday of like the second week of first phase. So this was like six weeks into buds, you know indoctrination and first phase and stuff and I couldn't get my fucking shoes in, like I couldn't. My feet were so swollen I could not get them in my boots and I'm like, dude, what the fuck am I going to do? I can't even muscle through this anymore.

Speaker 2: 26:51

And I had a buddy, one of my best friends, who's still operating tip of the spear right now. His team lead is a savage. And he goes dude, you have got to go to medical. And I'm like I fucking can, fucking can't, dude, there's no way, I can't, I can't get dropped. I was not gonna go. And he's like, and he looked at me and he goes cap, you fucking have to. It's like it's you can't do buds barefoot, you know. And I was like all right, so I went and, um, you know, they're looking at they're all. It's like the guy's quitting and making up stuff. And they're like oh, look, let's see all the whoa. And I saw the instructor go oh, dude, you gotta go to the doctor. And I was like oh my god, is it that bad? And so I hobble over there and this is I swear to god, it was divine intervention, dude. This doctor looked at me and he goes you're not gonna fucking make this dude, he's like you're gonna have to get rolled back immediately.

Speaker 2: 27:36

I said it was friday I said please give me the the rest of the day, let me figure this out, give me something to do just for the weekend and I'll come back on monday, he's like. I was like, please don't roll me, just give me the weekend. And he said, fine, he goes. Soak your feet in this stuff. You can take the the rest of the like.

Speaker 2: 27:55

Because I couldn't even wear shoes. It wasn't even an option to go back or I would have, he's like, go back to the you know cleaner checking with the instructors. So I did, man, and I soaked my feet that weekend and it was like a miracle dude. They like healed almost completely. I went to a navy surplus like store and I bought some shitty old pair of baits that were like big and I and I still have those boots to my day, but I never went back to the medical dude but, it was, uh, that was the worst day when I realized that I I it wasn't even a question of will anymore Like I can't even get my fucking feet in my shoes, like what am I going to do?

Speaker 2: 28:30

I can't hide anymore, type thing. That was scary man, yeah, yeah, but that was. That was definitely the worst day, and everything else after that was pretty smooth.

Speaker 1: 28:47

I had. You know, when you go through. I've never been through anything like you guys have been through, but you know everybody remembers something from those schools, like you know, jump school. I like ask guys like you know when they're, if you ever hit hard they're like oh my, you know, they always just they marines do it.

Speaker 2: 28:59

They'll make you guys suffer, bro. Yeah, the marines you're like, there's a lot of bad days, bro. Let's think about any selection pipeline, any dude. There's no such thing as a selection pipeline where you're not absolutely suffering. It's. It's terrible, dude, it's terrible, it's, it's great. In retrospect you're proud you did it. But they suck, dude, yeah.

Speaker 1: 29:18

And so anybody, that's any military guy in any capacity, knows suffering on a massive scale for sure, and I think a lot of us carry that over to where you know you do something and everybody's bitching around.

Speaker 2: 29:28

You're like well, it's not. The meter's been moved. Raining, you know, it can be worse. Meters been moved bro if it ain't raining we ain't training, bro, we're going out for sure.

Speaker 1: 29:38

You know, especially with my job, we were amphibious. You know, I was an am tracker, so we were just always wet and never dry, never dry. So I got, I got my ass to. One day, because I was so sick of being wet, I'd put we were in flight suits and all the time, so I would wear board shorts under my flight suit. So as soon as we were done and I'm back on the beach especially when I was an instructor, you know you're just doing laps with students, yeah, so I just be in there in board shorts and just cruising around, and and I got snatched up one day. Oh, they caught me. Oh man, they were not happy about that, but I'm like, I thought about it. You know, like you guys are all soaking wet in a flight suit for the rest of the day, like wear some silkies or some shit, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 30:20

Okay, so back to Bud's man. I mean, I could probably talk how many guys started in your class.

Speaker 2: 30:24

We flew out with 400 and we ended up finishing with like 13 originals or something. What, yeah? So we ended up graduating 50, but a bunch of those were roll-ins from other classes and stuff, but we had 13 or 15 originals Out of 400?. We classed up with 284. We classed up with 285. Okay, then we started first phase with 184. We classed up with 285. Okay, then we started first phase with 185. So after like three weeks it was like a and then we went through Hell.

Speaker 2: 30:48

Week it was like 40. And then a bunch of those guys got trimmed away from injuries and stuff and we finished 13 or 15, I think, damn, yeah, yeah, dude.

Speaker 1: 30:59

Yeah, not many.

Speaker 2: 31:01

Odds are not in your favor. No, they're not in your favor. No, they're not in your favor, and it's mostly stress injuries, really a lot of stress injuries just some weird stuff. You know, guys stress injuries, stress, fractures in the legs okay, okay stress, fractures in the legs or shoulders or something weird happens and that's what I was really concerned about, but I was lucky that didn't happen to me. But also chafing and dudes got skin grafts and weird stuff.

Speaker 1: 31:23

You know just small failing something that people don't think about, like when you're in the sand and you're wet and just non-stop I mean your knees that's the stuff that gets guys is is there's like triathletes and guys that dude, I'm not.

Speaker 2: 31:36

I'm an okay athlete at a lot of stuff, but I'm not great at like running or definitely cardio stuff, dude, I just suffer.

Speaker 2: 31:43

There was olympians and guys who were doing triathlons, like massive, huge triathlons, and they'd quit and stuff. I go, bro, they're like, how's that guy quit? He's a stud on the track. You know, when we were in the sun, back in bud's prep, you know they were smoke, checking everybody and talking shit and it's like, yeah, because they're not gritty, dude, they're not grimy, they don't have, they don't. When it's wet and sandy and you have sand in your eyes and you're, you're got swamp ass for days, dude, and it's not everybody's slow and sludging, it's about like just keeping going and it's not fun anymore, man how much of it is just mental.

Speaker 2: 32:17

I would say people go, it's 90, I'd say probably 50. 50, like you got to have some backup. But I'd say probably 50-50. Yeah, like you got to have some backup. But I'd say 50% mindset and 50%. You know? I was always like what, if I just keep going, yeah, how will it work?

Speaker 1: 32:30

out Like what if I?

Speaker 2: 32:31

just keep putting like I don't think I can keep running. But and I was like, well, I can't keep running this pace, well, I'll just kind of slow down, but not stop. And, dude, I had guys like Eddie Gallagher, my instructors, marcus Capone, dude, those were my first base instructors, bro. Oh my God, bro, no mercy, great SEALs, solid motherfuckers. I got a lot of respect, you know, but tough right, and they were coming back from big employments and they were like, dude, we're going to be up. I ended up being at Team 7 with him, you know, and so I see why being at team seven with with him, you know, and so I see why the community's so small. They're vetting you, dude, and I was wet and sandy on almost every run. They're like cavanaugh, you're goon squad and I'd be in the goon squad, but I'm like whatever dude, like I'm just gonna stay until they tell me to leave, gonna end eventually. Yeah, I'll just stay, dude, and if they say you're done, you're done, okay, but they're gonna have to drag me out of here did.

Speaker 1: 33:22

Was there any days like guys were just lining up to ring the bell to get, oh yeah, surf torture oh really, bro, was the, is the?

Speaker 2: 33:30

because they do it at night, you don't know the timetables, okay, they, you don't know how long they're gonna, it can go on for hours, and so they just they would turn up the heat. I'm sure you've seen in courses and things like instructors will turn the heat up and things will start to get a little and then they turn it down. Right, they dial it back down and whether it's done deliberately you've been an instructor, you know, so you've seen it from that side, where you know you got to turn up the heat and make some things suffer and then you kind of wind it back so you can actually teach and get some instruction done. So that was the case. Guys would be going down, seizure in from hypothermia and and and just disappear into the darkness. I did see one guy, though dude this is hilarious. There was this, I forget his name, but funny dude and tough, tough little like fat little dude, just like country fed, but we call them still marshmallows.

Speaker 2: 34:17

So the dudes that could just run like crazy times and they just like look like nothing impressive like a fade or a million echo type dude, and he goes oh and they go. Hey, we have donuts and coffee sprinkles in the ambulance. It's hot coffee if, uh, but we're waiting for a quitter. So the first quitter gets to, uh, you know, partake, and it's night, we're freezing dude, and I see him get up and he runs and I'm like, oh, I'm like no way is this guy quitting dude, I never would have thought that.

Speaker 2: 34:47

And he runs over and we see him talking to him and he turns around, he goes they're fucking lying, no sprinkles. And he runs back in. I'm like that guy's gonna be good dude oh, no shit like that's hilarious, like don't believe them, they're lying not worth it.

Speaker 1: 35:04

don't do it and he runs back into the set. Good for him. Yeah, it was funny he made it through.

Speaker 2: 35:07

I take it, oh yeah, and he ended up being a great seal. I think he's tip of the spear now, bro, I actually admired guys with that type of mindset. Yeah, because I was suffering through it. I respect a guy. Also, I didn't really want to bring attention to myself like in any way. There was guys who were just confident with that shit and would just what.

Speaker 2: 35:30

There was another story we were doing around the world. You're bringing up some stories I never really thought about in a long time. We were doing around the world and this guy, this kid, had coordinated somebody to bring him out jackets from I don't know where in the middle of the night, like swim him out and all his crew had fucking jackets on and they were like, they were rowing and the fucking yeah, and he coordinated this and one of the instructors goes hey, what the fuck you guys doing? You know, like rides up on a jet ski in the middle of the night, like, and he goes, this same kid, he looks and he goes oh, instructor so and so said we could have jackets. We won that last event back there. And he's like because the communication's not good, and he's like well, apparently.

Speaker 1: 36:11

Roger that, roger that Holy shit, it worked.

Speaker 2: 36:15

He's like, yes, exactly, and they had jackets on the whole night. Dude, toasty bro. And I'm like this motherfucker dude, just just edgy man and smart and just just a thinking shooter, right and confident, and I had a lot of respect for guys like that man because I was just, I was just getting through it, bro, by the skin of my teeth was there a dude at buds?

Speaker 1: 36:35

because I feel, you know, I got some buddies that are sf dudes and seals. I got a couple good friends that are still in and there's always one dude they hated, oh yeah.

Speaker 2: 36:46

Do you remember the guy that? Oh yeah, we, I there was a couple one guy. He was hated by everybody and, like we would do in seal training, which a lot of people don't know, they do pure evals every and maybe a lot of units do this, but they do pure evals every cell and every phase. And if units do this, but they do pure evals, every cell and every phase, and if you're at the bottom five, you're also obviously the instructors are going to see and they would drop some guys if they were like really at the bottom for a long time, like obviously there's a reason. This motherfucker, he wasn't a bad operator or physically or whatever. He just was abrasive human being, all right, and just told, said things he probably shouldn't and was just my buddy calls him the world's most unreasonable man and I was like dude, this guy that's not a time and I he would.

Speaker 2: 37:31

He would rub me the wrong way, but there was something about him I found to be very honest and I'm like, I don't know, man, dude, I ended up being in a platoon with that guy in the same platoon for years, for like seven years.

Speaker 2: 37:42

So I ended up getting really close with him, which was just looking back but there were some incompetent motherfuckers too oh yeah, that ended up getting kicked out of the teams just for like but, but like just not doing dumb shit, but actually incompetency, and you know it got there and there's guys like that. Any every pipeline, they're gonna slip through the cracks. You got your bottom 10 guys, and so that was definitely a piece every course has a guy that you just yeah and you're like well, how the fuck are you still here?

Speaker 2: 38:06

They're just tough in the right ways, you know, and just. But you gotta be tough or smart, what do they say? You gotta be one, at least you know. Dumb and tough, yeah. Dumb. And stupid to quit yeah. It doesn't realize that he shouldn't be able to do those things.

Speaker 1: 38:26

You know, know, everyone's watching. Yeah, yeah, we, we had a couple of those guys man. So after buds, I mean, what's, what's next for you? Do you so when the seals every I feel like that non-seals in the civilian world, everybody thinks that you're just everybody's an operator. Yeah, they start dividing you off and obviously your positions or roles. I mean, you got your medics, you're gonna have your com guys, you have everything. What was what was next for you in the pipe after you graduated?

Speaker 2: 38:48

yeah. So my I, we think at this time they were sending us to language school. So everybody grouped up, which was sick, dude, because we were in civilian clothes off base. Oh you living out in town. We had a really good like wave. They ended up shutting it down a couple classes after me and they moved everybody back to the base, but we were getting bah living in town and not really at a team but just doing language school for like six hours a day. I was doing arabic and um, just going to the bars hanging out, dude, and it was great doing the typical seal shit just tanning gym tan laundry, bro, you know, but it was.

Speaker 2: 39:24

That was a really cool experience because it was right before everybody was gonna do you know, go to their separate teams.

Speaker 2: 39:30

The medics went, you know, back east to do their nine month thing and for me, I volunteered for com school, dude, of all things they. Because they, they said, all right, everybody can take, and this ended up setting my career up great because of this one decision. I was so happy to be in a team, dude, I was like already in san diego, I'm home, I'm like where am I gonna go anyway? But I was so I just wanted to be there, dude. So we, our team was coming back from afghanistan, a long deployment, so they had some gaps in schools and guys were gone and and uh, one of the program managers there asked if he want com school. And everyone's like, no, I'll take, uh, vacation. I was like I'll go, man, I was like I'll go.

Speaker 2: 40:06

That one decision set me up on a wave. That was great because, hey, I learned radios. It wasn't a super sexy first job, you know, but learned some stuff and I was out there doing some stuff. But then I came back and they go, hey, we needed comms guy to go to jtac. But it was like but you got to leave january 1st. All the older guys were like, just coming back from Afghanistan, they're not trying to leave January 1st, I'm like I'll go. So I went, dude and I and I, up in Fallon Nevada working up there with the with the fixed wing and pass. That did really well. And they came back and they're like, hey, we need a comms JTAC, go to sniper school. So I went bump bump, bump, bump, we went. We went to some sick trips up in boise because a lot of our jtac trips are up here, which I ended up getting in trouble and this is where I served time right down to ada. I drove past the jail, bro ada. County dude was my jail.

Speaker 2: 41:03

At the time I was like it was a trip, bro, because I I looked back and I went, man full circle, coming here talking to you, I got my baby fiance driving back in the sick tahoe and it's like life's good man, and it took a long way to get back here. It's like, and my fiance said something she goes. It's nice to be able to come back here and create like good memories here. Yeah, because I was coming to court here forever, like fighting for my life, bro, Fuck Idaho yeah well, I really liked Boise a lot, but that was kind of the flow for me.

Speaker 2: 41:32

So I hit a really good clip and we did some small operations. But that was just the workup and I got a lot of good responsibility and early promotes and was in a really good clip for a long time leading up to our first appointment.

Speaker 1: 41:44

Let's talk about sniper school real quick.

Speaker 2: 41:45

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 41:46

What's that like?

Speaker 2: 41:47

as a seal.

Speaker 1: 41:48

I mean, you're in it now, how long are you in? I mean, obviously you're not designated to, or you are in a team yeah, that's team seven at this point, team seven, and now you're just getting your deers knocking out training.

Speaker 2: 41:58

Yeah, how? Eight or nine months by the time I went to sniper school. Is that quick, really fast. Usually you have to do a. Usually you go through a first deployment, you're there for a couple of years. And so older guys usually get it. Were you catching flack for that? Oh yeah, okay, oh yeah. We I had to put gloves on a few times with guys, you know, but it was what it was. It was a shoot off at our ranges and would that consist of iron sites?

Speaker 2: 42:38

it's you're qualifying just to try to get a seat at school yes, okay, yep, and so they're just racking, stacking it, okay, and it's iron sites on an m4 marine 200. You know it ranged at 200. So probably the same exact test. I'm pretty sure it's standardized and it was good. Dude and sniper. School was fucking awesome Really. It was awesome, bro, really Stressful as shit. Okay, very stressful, unbelievable school.

Speaker 2: 43:05

Really it was like it's exactly what I pictured like a school being Full. It's exactly what I pictured like a school being Full autonomy. Like drive up there by yourself in your car, in your rental car, and check in, and they're like okay, here's your weapons. We're shooting the .300 Win Mag and a SCAR-heavy sniper variant and then the .50. So that was kind of our three weapons that we had up there and dude, the stocking, the, this, the, that it's at Atterbury Indiana.

Speaker 1: 43:36

Okay.

Speaker 2: 43:37

So it was cool because there's, it was on like a, I think, like a national guard base technically, but they had this small compound Like in the middle that was like the old seal compound and, bro, it was mayhem. It was mayhem because we'd be out partying all night. Dudes would come back, not for live fire things but for, like you know, just blank range Dudes would be like falling. Some of them failed out. Some of the older guys failed out, you know, because they just, you know, were going a little hard in the paint. But as a new guy I was having to DD down to the strip club until 4 am and run and put my ghillie suit on and like run out. So it was. It was hectic, dude, hectic, uh, for two and a half months of that and sure, but I passed, came close on some tests and some tests, but what was tough about toughest part of sniper.

Speaker 2: 44:24

It's really a spotter school right, because if you don't have a good guy calling wind, you're're fucked. I don't care how good of a shot you are, you can't call your own shots that far out, and so you really need somebody that can see trace. If they can't see trace, yeah, splash and actually guide you right, then you're screwed. Luckily my guy was another guy. He was a talented shot. I would say I'm like a b plus shot, but some, you know, some guys are just talented on the, on the, on the trigger. He was very talented and he was very like. He was kind of a simple guy, but I think that really helped him because he was so honest with like where he would pull his shots. He'd shoot and be like two minutes 10 30 like he would.

Speaker 1: 45:10

10 o'clock, two minutes and it would be like dead.

Speaker 2: 45:14

He would. Just he knew how to call his shots of like where he actually pulled the trigger or hell, and so he was really easy to simple to call, wind on. He wouldn't question me and, and so we did really well actually as a as a unit and he was pretty damn good.

Speaker 2: 45:26

He had some sporadic, you know, bad calls, but for the most most part he was just really good at like focusing in, and so I was really grateful to be kind of synced up with that yeah yeah, he was not good for the extracurricular stuff, though like he could not handle that stress of like not getting his sleep and this and that I'm like I, so I was taking extra dd duty and and I was partaking too when I wasn't dd, and so I was like you know, know I'm, I had a couple of rough nights, you know, up there, but we made it happen, dude.

Speaker 1: 45:54

That's what I feel A huge amount of people don't understand when it comes to military training schools, especially when you're not attached to your unit, you're in these small towns.

Speaker 2: 46:05

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 46:05

It's fucking wild.

Speaker 2: 46:07

Dude, dude, it's wild, it is wild, it's wild and things happen right. And that's like me, that's why I got in some trouble. You know, you play with fire long enough and, dude, we all joke about it. You know, because there are some hilarious stories, right, dude. I mean, let's be quite honest, there's some of the best, funniest stories. Most hilarious things I've ever seen were on trips like that and also. But, dude, we're playing with like our careers, like when you think about it like you don't think about it you don't think about it at all, caught.

Speaker 2: 46:35

But you get caught and you're like whoa, oh, now, now the hammer. Yeah, now we're really, because it's the military, you get double hammered, let alone if you get arrested or something like you're getting it from every angle in the civilians it's all fun until it's not. But man, man, it was fun, it was a good time, but also stalking and things that I was. It was. I love it Right, was that?

Speaker 1: 46:56

tough Because I mean, I've seen shows and documentaries. I got buddies who are snipers and they say some of the hardest part of that course is the stalking course. Were they out there with the sticks?

Speaker 2: 47:05

Oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 47:05

Walking people on what Okay, walk me. Okay, walk me through. What it's like when you take that shot. And then I don't know how your guys was set up, but normally you see, in the past you got all the instructors and you have a designated target. Yeah, you take your shot. Yeah, and then you have to. Just you're chilling until they try to walk an instructor onto you to see if you're within a certain range of them.

Speaker 2: 47:26

It's exactly right, okay. So they'll have their, they'll be spotting, they'll be looking and they'll be scanning and they kind of maybe know where they heard the shot from. And they're looking at anything glare, if you didn't camo upright, or you know. If they're looking for anything, anything that's unnatural, and they just walk you in and if they're like sniper at your feet, I mean. So you're just waiting so are you.

Speaker 1: 47:46

I mean when you took your shot. They walk a guy.

Speaker 2: 47:48

You're hearing them on the radio because this dude's walking, he's right there, they see you, right, these guys know, they know you're there, yeah, they know you're there, but and so they're trying to be cool, you know, and not not blow your cover by you know doing anything weird, but they're honest man and they just would cruise, but they're not there to play favorites or or none of that shit.

Speaker 1: 48:05

And are you? Is it kind of nerve-wracking during that moment when they're walking you?

Speaker 2: 48:09

oh, dude, because I I knew that as a new guy I could not fail that school and show back up. So there was that added pressure of of, dude, oh, you gave a new guy a sniper slot and then he failed, bro, I would. I get the. That's how I get the chills, even thinking about it now, of how terrible that would have been. So there was that added pressure of just like man, just kind of do the right shit and just keep your head down and just make these shots and do the dude I almost dude, I almost died, I swear to god.

Speaker 2: 48:41

On a stock where dude I, it was a three, 3d stock. I never told this story. It was a three-dimensional stock and it was a live fire shot. Okay, and I had I used to bring like a little fanny pack of water, like almost none, cause it was, it was hot, it was summertime in Atterbury, indiana, smoke check, hot. But I don't. I always like to travel as light as possible. I'm heavy enough, dude, so I like to be light and'm like I'll be good, right, but it was a 3d stock and I was an idiot and didn't listen to the brief in the beginning of like what bearing to take on the way out, and so I kind of I was like I'll remember it, but I fucking didn't remember and I was like you know, you're in the woods, you think you know you can kind of have a gauge and I'm like, yeah, it's, it's like that way.

Speaker 2: 49:30

I kind of knew it wasn't like completely wrong, but I was like, oh, go this way. But, bro, I started walking and I'm like really, really dying at this point and I've taken a lot longer than I thought I should have be and I'm like, well, and you have a time limit, and so that the brief was this if something happens and you're in a bad situation, shoot up into the sky with your blanks. Shoot up into the sky. Well, I'm with my weapon and I tumble down this ravine, bro, because I'm like delirious and I'm in a full ghillie suit and I'm completely seasoned up.

Speaker 2: 50:05

Dude, my legs are getting worse and I'm like. I was like, dude, I can't even move and I'm laying down in this thing and I had this moment where I could not move and I'm like frozen. I'm like, and I look at my gun and I'm like shoot into the sky. And I thought about like what that would do be shooting into the sky, like I need help and I'm like I'll just die. I was like, and so I just laid there, I just a bitch. Are you going out like this, dude? I was like I'll die. So I laid there, bro, for probably 30 minutes till I could actually move and I crawled my way in it. It took me, I was way late, but I show up out into this, I show up to this like road and I go and I hear one of my older girls. He goes, holy shit, he's right there and there and the bus, everybody's already loaded up waiting for me, dude and I'm like, and they're like what?

Speaker 2: 50:51

happened. I must have been ghost white and he looks at me. He's like you, dumb, and he looked at my face and he went whoa and he saw it and dude.

Speaker 2: 50:58

I ended up passing dude but they were like what the fuck? And they're like you know it's like a small stock field. I almost like died dude, but that was one. That was a funny like looking back. Looking back, how ridiculous, how quickly you can catch up. You know you're out in the woods hunting and doing shit. The wilderness will sneak up on you, dude, in simple ways, and in the jungle and places I've been dude, it's if you're not paying attention.

Speaker 1: 51:22

I don't care how prepared, prepared Gucci you dude like you better know where the fuck you're going. Dude, dude, we got. I got caught with a buddy of mine one time. We were elk hunting early season and we're miles from camp like, yeah, just ridgeline miles. He's. His nickname is mountain goat paul, like they call him a mountain goat this fucking dude.

Speaker 1: 51:44

Just yeah, yeah, yeah, here I am like 280, I'm much bigger than uh. So the whole day in my camp bag I'm just, yeah, just pound dude. It's like midday, I'm like you know what your camp bags you start getting. You're just sucking bag, you know? I look him like yo, I'm out of water and he's like what. And I'm like I'm out of water, dude, I fucked up, like I. I didn't think we're gonna be out here all day like. He's like, oh God, if it wasn't for this dude, he had, you know, the plastic sandbags, you know, not the canvas ones, but the shitty ones. Yeah, him and his brother. Like years prior, just from hike, they had buried water through these mountains because his brother hunt the hell out of them.

Speaker 2: 52:27

So he pulls up his map and he's like there's water like two miles from here.

Speaker 1: 52:30

I'm like dude, that's our only option. So we hike like two miles down. Wow, he walks. We're in the middle of this forest and he walks to this pine tree. He's like I think this is it. It starts digging and sure as shit pulls this sack out of the ground with water bottles and I'm just pouring, filling my yeah, damn dude. My yeah, damn dude there's. I don't even know how I would have made it back.

Speaker 2: 52:54

We were so far from camp and I was such a fat just turd.

Speaker 1: 52:55

Then I'm like, yeah, there's no way I was getting back, dude, I filled my whole camel bag, I stuffed my pockets of water. I was like, no, we're good. I was like my bad, dude. But I felt it caught up quick and I've never. I mean, you asked me and the wife of kids like we're prepared everywhere, but that day it was just early september. It's, like you know, first week of september. It's still hot as shit. I was just chugging water and before I knew it, dude, I was gone that's why it's it's not forgiven.

Speaker 2: 53:18

Mother nature's not forgiven. We would do when we I was in the legion, we went to the jungle for a little bit and, bro, I had a whole whole new respect for water down there, because you can't carry enough. So we're doing like water purification tablets in the, in the rivers, and we're with these nepali guys though, guys from nepal bro dude, they were they, these guys.

Speaker 2: 53:39

These were guys who couldn't make gurkha right, so so, so so recognize these guys grew up in the mountains and people that don't know. Gurkha selection is like one of the hardest in the world and it's like they take like 200 guys a year from all of nepal. So imagine all these guys screening and they they check your teeth. You got to be the right height, there's like all these different things. So a bunch of those guys who don't make it, who are still studs, go to the foreign legion. So foreign legion is like 10 nepalite.

Speaker 2: 54:05

A lot of people don't know it's like a fucking huge chunk okay and um savages and I was at the mountain regiment but we got sent to the south american jungle and I'm walking and I'm dying, bro on like another, like fam mission. It's like training. What are we really hopping? Yet it was like intro to the amazon jungle and I'm like dude, I'm soaked, right, so you never dry off. I was soaked and it wasn't raining either. I was just wet, some sweat and I'm winchester on water, completely winchester, and I was like I'm new guy in the foreign legion I'm not, I'm not gonna say shit I'll just die again, dude, I guess.

Speaker 2: 54:40

Well, this is what's happening. But it was getting extreme to where, like, I was going like fantasizing about water, and I look over one of the one of the dudes and he's smoking a cigarette completely dry. We've been walking all day, he's bone dry, and I was like, I was like kiss, kiss, post the booze, a vec de low, which is. I'm asking him in French, like you have water, and he goes. We and I go to persevere pa, and he goes. I asked him do you sweat a lot? And he goes no, not a lot. He's smoking a cigarette completely dry, all water stacked and I'm like just a little sip, dude, save me, bro, save me. This dude smoking a cigarette in the middle of the jungle. Isn't it wild how different we're built from guys Humbling.

Speaker 2: 55:25

It's actually dude. It was kind of disheartening dude because they'd be charging in the mountains, in the jungle, bro, and I'm like dying carrying a chainsaw, like they'd load me up a little bit for that american love, you know. But, dude, I was be hurting, dude, but still, from that point on, I was very, very careful about water, dude. Serious, to this day, dude, I have a whole. I won't go hiking and shit without, like normal, you know, a decent supply.

Speaker 1: 55:48

Yeah I was deployed with a guy. We actually have been trying to track this dude down. His name was eckenrode. He joined the marine corps just because he wanted to do obstacle courses. Had no idea what the marine corps is about. He saw commercials like that look cool. Yeah, literally. Why did you join?

Speaker 1: 56:04

this dude would drink a 30 pack a night yeah I mean he'd come out in formation and he'd have just his cammy bottoms on or tops on and jeans and like one sneaker, like a go fast from boot camp, and a combat boot on, like he was all he was a fuck. That was. That was this guy he got. He was on my team in Iraq and we would, we'd go in houses, he'd take over a house or something like that, and we were all searching we're searching for weapons and all that and flipping the little mats and all that shit. He'd be in the kitchen, going through everything and finally I went to go there. I'm like vaccaro, what the fuck you're looking for? He's like I want some, I need some coke, I need, I need cola, I need he every.

Speaker 1: 56:39

He would fill his camel pack with rc. You know that rc cola shit that they had over there, like the orange slice, oh hands, the old school pops that you would find. He would fill his camel pack with that shit. That's all he drank. I never seen and I would be like everyone you got to drink water, bro, you're gonna, you're gonna be heat cas, like yeah, yeah, he's like I'm good, I'm good, never, ever, drank water in one day. We were on this patrol and it was one of those patrols like we're just supposed to go out, like a couple clicks and you're dick dragger.

Speaker 1: 57:06

12 hours later, you know, and you're just up and up and down stairs all day, you know in and out of house, in and out of house and we take over this house and he's he just sits down and he's like, do you have any water? And I'm like, yeah, water, get him water, he needs it. And he takes like two sips. Just all right, I'm good. But every house we would go into and we found this um, he's iraqi's had a freezer and they had frozen two liter cola. Oh, he thought it was cola.

Speaker 2: 57:32

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 57:33

He cuts the top off this was like it was K bar and just just stabs in this chunk of coal. It was like a. It was like a like a broth or something.

Speaker 1: 57:42

Yeah, it was dark, like it was this junk in his mouth and he's like and he spits it out, dude. And he spits it out, dude, his whole. He was trying to scrape I don't know if it was like a lard or fat or something, but it covered the whole inside of his mouth. He spits it out. He said it was the most god awful thing he ever ate. But yeah, that dude. He operated on Coke and the orange slice or whatever that was. That's all he would drink. I seen him drink take two sips of water a deployment it was, he was not built for it?

Speaker 2: 58:10

yeah, we had.

Speaker 2: 58:11

We had a country-ass motherfucker that would just drink monsters or whatever, and they there was a piss test at at the team and the medic goes he pisses in this cup, dude, I've it. Looked like that low. That it was just. It looked like this rug, dude. It looked like this rug, just jack daniels, yeah. And and the medic goes oh my god, he goes, dude, you got to get to the medical. He's like I'm fine. He's like dude, you're not fine. It was like pissing monster, you need an iv now. Yeah dude.

Speaker 1: 58:41

Some of those guys will operate like that and I'm not one like water is my best friend. I drink, I've been a water person my whole life. But I you meet those dudes and it's like I mean, you know how we'd wake up in a house, you know your alarm goes off like okay, cool, and you'd hear dudes just like popping, like it's, yeah, it cans, and I'm like oh my god, yeah, rip, it's dude man, you're bringing that out of the archive, that's right.

Speaker 2: 59:02

Oh, bro, that brings in it. They have this drink in um yemen. That might they called it power horn oh god dude and it was illegal in like a lot of countries and that I looked at within the cans. It was called power horn and I had this his my buddy jones. He was in uh, he's from virginia stud, but he'd go, hey, hey, go to the bazaar and get us some power horns. He's just dip and all that he'd be chewing.

Speaker 1: 59:24

There was like two packets worth of nicotine in these things oh my god, yeah, zero regulations on him, it's just pure meth nicotine mixed with caffeine, bro, and it was like damn dude I was like there was dudes that were do you remember? Okay, do you remember the jack 3d days? I mean, oh yeah, there was dudes mixed jack 3d in their rippets and drinking that shit before controlling he's like, and those dudes are no longer with us. You know, I would like to know the kidney and those dudes are no longer with us.

Speaker 1: 59:51

You know, I would like to know the kidney stones those dudes are passing.

Speaker 2: 59:53

Oh, that's the thing, bro. It's like I started seeing homies have some issues, bro. There was dudes having issues with, you know, skin cancers and things Dude. Later, like you know, stuff started to creep up and I know that stuff thought helping for sure bro, what we? Put ourselves through dude and also the internal stress, bro. Like I know, it's kind of a running joke when they say, like I know my fiance does, she's like man, I got some anxiety.

Speaker 2: 1:00:16

I'm like you've had five espressos and have not eaten today, like you're you're no wonder yeah yeah, you gotta you, you, no wonder you have some anxiety. You've eaten a fish stick and had and had five espressos.

Speaker 1: 1:00:29

You've had a carrot, yeah, yeah, yeah. Three iced coffees today. They're grande, it's like no wonder. Yeah, you need to chill.

Speaker 2: 1:00:36

I feel like I'm like, yeah, you probably feel like an asteroid's about to hit the earth and I was like no shit. Well, dudes and that's a lot of stuff, what I'll tell dudes, I'm like, bro, your homeostasis, that that osmotic state in your body, it matters, bro. That internal stress, that physiological stress, bro, it starts to affect here. So balance out your electrolytes. A lot of dudes are like man, I'm tired. But I'm like, dude, you're sodium deficient, you're. You're completely not balanced. I'm not saying you got to be some perfect model of hydration, but, bro, when you try a little bit, it goes.

Speaker 1: 1:01:08

It goes a long way your body's giving you signs like you feel like shit, because your body's telling you yeah, dude it's like dude, you want to have better energy.

Speaker 2: 1:01:14

Just, it's small adjustments. It's like you don't got to be crazy, but man, drink some clean electrolytes or some celtic or pink himalayan salt and fucking drink two liters. You'll be good. Good to go, yeah, but it's so hard for guys, well, they won't do it. Small changes because it's a small adjustment. Right, it's like adjustments, bro, as probably you've seen and in your own personal life it's you have to deliberately do it and then kind of stick to it until it becomes your new normal, absolutely you got to break those, those habits.

Speaker 1: 1:01:41

That's why we we just finished a 10-day fast man I'm doing a fast when I get home.

Speaker 2: 1:01:45

I do a three-day when I feel like I'm kind of getting a little heavy. I'm'm getting a little heavy right now, dude, I'm a. I do a two day only water. I even cut out coffee, which I hate, dude but and then a bone broth, bone broth on the third day and just normal water, my dumb ass.

Speaker 1: 1:02:00

I had to do a colonoscopy and I told her I'm like, well, if I'm going to do I, what did you do? Just water.

Speaker 2: 1:02:08

It's full 10. Isn't it amazing what the body can do?

Speaker 1: 1:02:11

Yeah, and especially somebody like you. Hear the joke like oh, he's a big back. I call myself a fat back dude.

Speaker 1: 1:02:19

Yeah, I mean look at the house I live in. You know I got a bakery, I have a bakery, you know, and so, but I didn't do my fast for weight loss at all. Like that wasn't my goal, even though I'm starting this fitness journey and getting back into it. But it was to flush my body and I started doing all this research and everything and it was like what the fuck? Like why the health benefits, especially for dudes, hgh production, dude, your human hgh grows your, your stem cells, start rebuilding your gut line. It's like giving your body an oil change yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:02:50

Yeah, that's a really good way to describe it. And so, yeah, and that's what kind of triggered me. Cause, like I said earlier, like I lost my brother to cancer, and then this doctor and I see it and he's like man, this it was on an episode on a podcast and this guy's like, okay, if cells dead, dying damaged mitochondria, like flushes your gut, why the 10 days? Cause that's when you hit autophagy, which is where your body starts healing and flushing. So when you're, when you're putting your body through that much stress and I'm not an expert, this is my first 10 day fast your body you're, you're starving yourselves, you're, you have these damaged mitochondria in you that are kind of being fed, so they're stuck to your stomach lining. But when you starve yourself and you stress your body, it sheds everything. Yeah, start shedding at least. And so when you hit that, I believe it's autophagy stage.

Speaker 2: 1:03:44

Yeah, good word saying that wrong.

Speaker 1: 1:03:46

I'm saying that, right, I'm an idiot, I'm marine, bro, don't sounds right easy. Social media I'm not an expert.

Speaker 2: 1:03:52

No, send it, It'll go viral.

Speaker 1: 1:03:53

Dude this guy, this fucking retorn. My chat GPT told me otherwise. Yeah, yeah, okay, well, so I started digging into it. I'm like okay. And then this guy goes if you can do two 10-day fasts a year, you decrease the chances of cancer by 70 percent. Wow, that's substantial, that's my thought. Substantial, right. So my mind I'm like okay, and I'm sure we have the same thought process. I'm like so if I suffer for 20 days a year yeah, I'm not eating I can decrease the chances of cancer by 70. That's a no, pretty incredible for me, that's a no-brainer. And then then I started like, okay, what's a 21?

Speaker 2: 1:04:31

like what if I? Do 40 days.

Speaker 1: 1:04:34

You know it's like yeah, does that you know that's how my mind works. But I started doing all the research and from what we found was where the tip that the leg led you accomplish 90 of your 10 day fast, at least from what I've researched in the first 10 days. After that's when you really get spiritual yeah that's when you really get connected with yourself the and then you. That's when you really start breaking habits yeah your taste buds reset all that.

Speaker 1: 1:05:00

That's the 21 day, but as far as the autophagy, I believe you're hitting it like at that six, seven day mark, and then that's when your body starts flushing wow, that's interesting.

Speaker 2: 1:05:07

You know, I might. I'm gonna do, I'm gonna do one of those dude. I'm doing it twice a year we should do one together.

Speaker 1: 1:05:12

Then I'm down, you're in. I had you want to talk about changing other people's lives, bro. We should actually plan on doing one together. I had so many people and I was just doing like a daily update. I probably no exaggeration, I mean it might not seem like a lot for people, but I had at least 30 people that jumped on immediately wow, that's powerful. And I told them don't, even you don't got to do 10 days. You could fast two days, 24 hours, 17, whatever it is. But the way that my mind and I'm I'm wired is if I'm going to try this, I want the full experience, I want to suffer through everything. So I'd be like, okay, you did this work, or was it worth it and what's?

Speaker 2: 1:05:48

crazy and what it felt like, and so you could have firsthand knowledge.

Speaker 1: 1:05:52

Yeah, knowledge is power, right, and so what's crazy about all of it is three days after my fast, I woke up with some of the most excruciating pain I've ever felt in my life really you could ask my wife. She'd been with me for 17 years. I've never not walked in anywhere. I've never my what's your pain tolerance. You can chop me on that it's like five I'm good.

Speaker 1: 1:06:12

Yeah, dude, they come out with a wheelchair and they're like you want to sound like I was pale? Really, I thought I had like a ruptured spleen. Didn't know what was going on. She rushed me to hospital. I'm throwing up a bunch excruciating pain, like something I've never felt. I'm literally in this hospital bed. Wow, put me in a coma, put me in a fucking cope. They hit me with two, two doses of morphine. They're giving me dilaudid nothing's. Even. They're like are you good? I'm like no, I'm dying. Like something's wrong with me.

Speaker 1: 1:06:38

Get a full body scan, passing a kidney stone, wow. So then I have to go see this urologist. Afterward, after you pass it, you piss in a little screen and then you gotta take it in from the. Yeah, and it's this little little Indian woman and she's talking to me and I'm like listen, I just finished a 10 day fast. Do you think this caused it? And she goes yes, but no, she goes.

Speaker 1: 1:06:58

It didn't cause the kidney stone, but your fast flushed this kidney stone out of you. And I'm like really, and she's like, in our culture, she goes. This is why it's huge where we fast constantly, because when you put your body under that stress, you're flushing your body and I'm like that was the whole reason I wanted to do this. So some people be like, yeah, like that. But for me and I was like, okay, if I flushed a kidney stone, yeah, that, in my mind, was a success, is proof that I am flushing out of my body. That was about day three, three day. So I stopped on a wednesday and saturday, I believe it was, when I passed that kidney stone and it was 24 or not 20, it was.

Speaker 2: 1:07:38

Oh, so it was three days after I finished, so you're so three days after you finished the 10 days. Then you're just like eating normal I never.

Speaker 1: 1:07:45

I never felt it go because you hear people hear it in their back. I, right here, right in my guts, morning I woke up so I fired it quick, got me and so. But the eating part is people like dude, you crush a steak afterward. I'm like god I wish. But I didn't even have those cravings like you, just kind of got back on your broth, we got miso soup back into it.

Speaker 1: 1:08:03

I'll be honest with you and some people I told a couple my buddies they they looked at me like I was. They were, they couldn't believe what I was saying and they were like dude, what's it like eating for the first time after 10 days? And I was like, I'll be honest with you, if I wasn't my kid wasn't filming me doing it, I would have 100% cried, going from a dude like a lunchbox. I love my food. Yeah, like a lunchbox when I sip that miso soup for the first time. You got me excited about it.

Speaker 2: 1:08:34

It was euphoric, I was going to do three days of Dunham, but now I'm like I'm I, now I got new information, now I can push the pace. That's that's good to know, cause I was like, well, I didn't really know about the benefits to see how much of our day revolves around food. That's the biggest thing, which is like you're like, why, like what? It's like all these things. It's like you sit down, you want to graze, you raising, grazing and you're like, when you don't have that, it's like okay, what do I do with my fucking hands?

Speaker 1: 1:09:03

I'd catch myself in the kitchen, standing in and staring at the fridge, both doors open. I'm fasting. What am I doing? Yeah, doing, yeah, just walk by the. I'd go in the kitchen, I'd go to fill my water bottle and I'm looking, I'm looking for, because you're, yeah, in the graze mode.

Speaker 2: 1:09:18

How much weight did you drop?

Speaker 1: 1:09:19

23 pounds I'm holding. So I started at 256, yeah, dropped to 233 or 232 and I'm holding right at like 240 right now when you got off.

Speaker 2: 1:09:29

I know I'm kind of asking a lot of questions. It's very interesting to me. When you got off, so you're 253 at the start of the fast you're eating normal whatever, and then you go 10 days just water, just water, just water, no coffee, no nothing, just water. And then you're 230, something 233, and then when you started eating again, you're just balancing about 230.

Speaker 1: 1:09:50

Still, I'm sitting right at 240 so you put on about seven, seven eight pounds of water, water weight water and I was super dehydrated. That's one thing I learned. I needed to drink more than coming off the fast. I'm going to schedule an iv drip just with potassium coming off the path coming off.

Speaker 2: 1:10:05

Just that's a good idea to go to go. Oh, that's a good idea. You eat a little bit, then go to get an iv drip.

Speaker 1: 1:10:09

I'm gonna do it the day after that's getting an idea that you eat a little bit, then go get an IV drip.

Speaker 2: 1:10:11

I'm going to do it the day after. Just get an IV drip. That's doing a gangster like correct.

Speaker 1: 1:10:13

You know, because I got my blood done immediately afterward and I was low on a lot of things, which now I know I need to increase potassium magnesium. All that while I'm fasting. Well, while I'm fasting, we found a really good like powder electrolyte that I needed. I While you're fasting, are you doing electrolytes too? Just electrolytes. But it's not a pill or anything, it's just a powder electrolyte.

Speaker 2: 1:10:34

Because you got to think you're flushing all of it, so you're going to take a powder electrolyte with your water and Sea salt and sea salt and magnesium.

Speaker 1: 1:10:42

The magnesium and everything is in that electrolyte. Okay.

Speaker 2: 1:10:45

So it's like a clean powder or something. Yeah, I'm curious.

Speaker 1: 1:10:48

Okay, yeah, I'm curious. Powder, it's okay, all right, good, it's just an electrolyte magnesium, potassium I think something else in there but yeah, then, salt, that's it. I didn't drink or do anything else after that and so, but it was life-changing for me and I was. It was enough for me to be like, okay, I could do this twice a year damn, that's, that's cool.

Speaker 2: 1:11:02

That's kind of a cool thing because it it resets your daily flow of like that, hovering around and eating and this and meals.

Speaker 1: 1:11:10

You probably get a lot of work done too I talked to my buddies and then they were like they're like, I don't have any bad habits it.

Speaker 2: 1:11:17

That's. That's a person who's got some bad habits. You can't. There's a.

Speaker 1: 1:11:24

There's nobody in the order, yeah and so, but I told them I was like dude, like even just going to the bathroom, because once you're cleansed for that long you're not passing anything because you're just drinking water, so you're just pissing. I would sit on the toilet for hours and just scroll yeah, broke that, yeah Grazing. I mean just just the nonsense. The one thing that I wish I would have done differently, but I as well. I want to cut out everything because I feel that was the only. I need, that. I need my breaks from just yeah, electronics. So next time I don't know if I'm going to be able to film, like beforehand or whatever, but I need to.

Speaker 2: 1:12:04

I'm going to clear that off somebody else film and post yeah, I'm going to get all off social.

Speaker 1: 1:12:07

I'm going to I'm just going to go ghost for those that's powerful, just so I can be completely that's cool, man.

Speaker 2: 1:12:12

Yeah, I really. You just dropped some real knowledge on me. Yeah, dude call, can scared be scared, bro? You know. And there's also for guys, which I know a lot of them, listen, we're like, for women it's less of a thing. They're like I want to get, as the guys are like no, I don't want to get skinny, you know, it's like I don't want to get too small. You know, I don't want to lose these gains, I don't want to.

Speaker 1: 1:12:28

Day 10, I stepped out. I'm like 230.

Speaker 2: 1:12:30

I'm like all right, I'm good.

Speaker 1: 1:12:32

I'm good, this is enough.

Speaker 2: 1:12:33

I wasn't doing it for the weight loss, but it's enough. Yeah, dude, you're starting to get sucked up quick. Yeah, because I need to get a little lighter though, because my fiancee, she's like you're snoring hard now. Apnea, you know, and I notice it when I get to like the 230, I'm like 230 mark. When I'm like 230 that sleep apnea starts to kick on. 215 is usually about a good hover for me for you.

Speaker 2: 1:12:57

Yeah, if I'm like cut and like 220 is like I'm starting to get it, but you know, I get to 230. It's like, yeah, I'm stronger, but I'm like I just don't feel as good. Yeah, I just feel heavy.

Speaker 1: 1:13:08

yeah, I'd like to hover the 235, 240 mark is where I want to be, like no, but I mean my normal walk around is like 265. So I'm carrying weight. And then she's like yeah, you're starting to snore. She notices, when I get heavy, my snoring gets really bad.

Speaker 2: 1:13:21

Yeah, yeah, she just was commenting on it. My fiance was commenting on it. She's like you were snoring badly bit of sleep.

Speaker 1: 1:13:31

I'm like oh damn dude, I notice it big time, you know, dude. So let's talk french foreign legion. Yeah, let's back up. Actually, navy seals. Yeah, you went through everything. When did you?

Speaker 2: 1:13:39

you got in some trouble, right yeah, I got, I got arrested in the seal teams. You know a little fight, a little bar fight, but you know it was an aggravated assault was counted, as you know. Yeah, so that was substantial fighting. That for a couple years went to iraq on bail. So I have a coming back. I have a felony jury trial. I'm fucking facing six years in prison. That was my plea deal. Six years plus three parole was the absolute minimum plea they were going to give me. And I was like and it was just from one punch, dude, and that's why people you mess this dude up like broke his orbital eye socket.

Speaker 2: 1:14:10

He had to get surgery. He's fine. You know, things were all fine. He got sued. I was getting sued for a lot of money, so there was just a lot of stuff going on. Civil, military, just all compiling got it worked out really. John cox in boise best criminal defense attorney on this, bro, I love that dude, john cox, you're listening. I owe that guy my life man, he really came through for me on the civil side on everything and he he played for the um atlanta falcons. Okay, he went to boise. You know he's from california, but you know so he's. But he's just a solid cat and um, it's fought through that. Then I'm on probation, very formal it was. We got it down to a misdemeanor. I had to serve a little time, yada, yada, yada.

Speaker 2: 1:14:51

Now I'm on really formal probation where I'm not supposed to drink, not supposed to own a weapon, not supposed to leave san diego without permission and it was. They were loose with me at first, so I got this active navy seal. All right, I got demoted, but I'm like, now I'm back in it. Okay, they busted you down oh yeah, I got busted down, dude I. I was like an e6 really fast and then I like got out of the military.

Speaker 2: 1:15:14

He's like an e4 yeah, dude, like when they said, you know they, there's this, there's there's an officer, he sets up but he goes. I was on this like trajectory up, you know, and then right down he goes. You know, there's the seaman to admiral program, where the kid, you start enlisted and you go officer and there's like a there's a program in the military guard that he goes. He goes, cavanaugh, you're starting the Admiral to Seaman program. He goes. You're the only guy running it. And I was like damn dude.

Speaker 2: 1:15:39

But yeah, I got busted down and it was all good, I deserved it, it was what it was. But I got in trouble again, kind of at a concert, not a fight, not a fight, but just fucking around a golf cart. And it turned into a uh, hectic thing. What's fucking around with a golf? I was driving in a county golf cart around the parking lot. County golf cart like it was a, it was a jimmy buffett concert. It was like a just a shitty county golf cart. You know, like those shitty.

Speaker 2: 1:16:03

And I got up and I'm like I was gonna drive, go get my uber and I'm just gonna drive the thing to the edge of the parking lot and fucking leave it at the edge. But stupid, but I thought harmless. But when the cops pull you over in the parking lot and I and I had this moment where I go oh fuck, I'm on probation, I'm drunk, I have no shirt on, I all blasted in tattoos and I go, well, and he goes hey, what's going on, man? I go, you know what, and I, you know, I beat feet. Dude, I grabbed my watt and they tackled me. I get up, I you know, and I'm continuing on. They sick, let the dog on me. So I'm fighting off a german shepherd, and then I, and then I'm getting tased as I'm breaking away, I'm ripping tasers out and like 100 people are watching this go down and it's just chaos. And so it was.

Speaker 2: 1:16:47

It just snowballed into like now I have, uh, all these different charges and I'm there like hey, dude, and I said, dude, I just realized when I got put in the back of the car, I'm fucked, I am totally fucked. I just violated my probation on another violent charge, which it wasn't violent stuff, but then it all got dropped, which is it was nothing, but all the all the stuff got dropped on that one, but I still had violations, and so I had federal marshals in a van trying to extradite me back to idaho, dude, and I have lawyers on phones saying it was an illegal extradition. I'm flying back up here illegally to turn myself into the jail and it was, and I'm getting sued for half a million dollars. You're right on top of it all this shit, dude. So I'm just hemorrhaging cash. I have lawyers and three, two lawyer, three lawyers in two states, just stressed bro to max, and I'm getting kicked out of the seal teams on top of it, right. So this is all happening at once and so I'm like, well, well, okay, you know, and I'm I'm just trying to like walk through quicksand and I, dude, I had moments where I've curled up in the fetal position and everybody's been at those moments where you're just like you can't even move. The world's crushing you so much.

Speaker 2: 1:17:57

I was there, I was definitely there, but fought through it, you know, kept going and kept going and managed to get off all of it, shed it all. I beat all the cases, did all the stuff. I served a little more time up here and then it was off, done Actually, you know, it was all cleared. I was even off probation because I volunteered to commute my sentence. So now I'm good, working the civilian world, taking Adderall's annex, smoking weed, just just like, but being successful. We were doing super. I was doing residential real estate development and it was like actually going well, yeah, but I had a lot of debt from the court cases.

Speaker 2: 1:18:34

I wasn't emotionally stable. I really wasn't. I was drinking every day now to kind of take the edge off from the Adderall all day and fucking buzzing at a million. I just wasn't a good, my best self. I was starting to get those speed wobbles. Then I went into the marijuana industry. We started like a distribution company and now I've I stacked on an opiate habit at night, right, so I'm sniffing fentanyl at night, doing emails like not like fucking off and just doing nothing. I'm pitching decks for millions of dollars. I'm working for a vc capitalist, I'm building the facility out in palm Springs and I'm just every direction Right, really, but managing. And so people just leave me alone. They're like fuck, dude, the dude's still crushing it, but I was getting speed wobbles.

Speaker 2: 1:19:23

I was starting to miss meetings, starting to miss calls. I was starting to get very fucking abrasive and violent with, like, my then girlfriend. It just was like you, you can't bend reality and, dude, you're stacking karmic debt and that's not God's plan for you. And I was at this time to kind of bring it back to that faith piece was. I don't even remember having a conversation with God during that time.

Speaker 2: 1:19:45

Right, I was like completely, and that's the thing about addiction is it's so self-serving and selfish, because you're like I want to feel like this, I want this, I, I, I, me, me, me, stacked with the ego, stacked with all the other shit and uh stress, and just I didn't have time for it. You know, I may have thought like, but I just don't. I didn't even remember being on that frequency at all and it all came crashing down, man, and I lost everything, quite literally, like, and then I'm homeless in my truck months later realizing that I have $6 in my bank account. Everything's gone, job, everybody's, everything's gone Right. And I. That's when I had that moment of like fuck, dude, I'm homeless in my truck and I got nowhere to go. That was like a powerful moment for me where I went. Oh, this is how it happens. It just sneaks up on you one day and I'm sitting in there, I had been smoking DMT in my fucking car and like I'm in the jungle in Hawaii on the near where the volcanoes are erupting and stuff. It's like kind of powerful place, completely cut off from comms or anything, and by design, and I just would go to these walks through the jungle, bro.

Speaker 2: 1:20:55

I'd gone like straight native. I got like no shoes on, like no shirt, just walking through looking over cliffs like I'll jump off that. I was like it's not high enough and and I sat down on this log dude just all up in my pity party but hurting like really like man. I don't know what I want to do. I was tired of trying dude. I just was always trying so hard to. Maybe it's some insecurity as a kid or like I need to show. I don't know where it comes from, but I just felt, always felt like I needed to prove myself in some way or whatever. And and I and now it was all gone right I was like felt really pathetic, you know, and and not proud of myself. And that's when that voice, authentic voice of God, kind of spoke to me and was like sack up dude.

Speaker 1: 1:21:39

Really.

Speaker 2: 1:21:39

Sack up, man Like is this how?

Speaker 2: 1:21:43

you're going to fucking hang up the cleats, bro, negative. So that was like all right. And I kind of stood up, man, and I was like all right man, I'm like goosebumps man. Because I was like all right. You were contemplating at that moment oh, I had a sawed-off shotgun in my truck that I had acquired somewhere in Hawaii.

Speaker 2: 1:21:58

I don't know where the fuck I got it, but I had a sawed-off shotgun in my truck and for three days I was like trying to figure out logistically how to do this in the right way to like make it less impactful. And dude it was. It wasn't like oh man, it was like pretty pragmatic, like I'm fucking done, dude, I just don't want to do this anymore. And that's when I just decided I was like I ain't fucking doing that dude. I was like if I'm gonna die, I'm gonna do with my boots on at least. I was like maybe the foreign legion send me somewhere. I'm not like on a death wish, but whatever happens happens, but I'm going to let fate have that. I'm not going to be my own fate.

Speaker 1: 1:22:38

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:22:38

And I did dude and I tossed my truck into somebody's garage out there and fucking took some fast cash loans out Cause I had no money. I was like maxed out on credit and everything. Dude. I think the the thousand dollars I got from like 500 bucks from two different companies cost me like $4 million or something you know later down the road. It cost me so much but I paid it.

Speaker 2: 1:23:01

when I got out of the, out of the Legion, I looked at the interest rate and I was like oh God, you forgot about these, but I did it, you know, and and it worked, and I bought a one-way ticket to France, man, and I went to the Foreign Legion gate and knocked on the door.

Speaker 1: 1:23:13

Okay, that was my next question. How does one go about just joining the French Foreign Legion?

Speaker 2: 1:23:20

There's no application, there's no calling ahead. Dude, there's one way to do it and it's been the same way for 200 years and you go with a bag and your passport and you go to two spots. There's a couple satellite spots around, but really there's two pre-selection locations one on the east side of paris and one at the headquarter regiment down in obon, france. And you go and you literally knock on the door, bro, like the wizard of oz, and the motherfucker opens the slot and is like all right, and here's your passport. You give it to them and then they tell you to get on the fucking pull-up bar. That's the first piece. Really yeah, immediately, dude, no questions. And if you're lucky, if you pass everything, you won't see that passport again for three years. I didn't see my passport for three years. Really yeah, they took my. I got a fake name.

Speaker 2: 1:24:13

They gave me a fake european uh for a passport with a fake name trent clayson was my name trent, trent clayson, bro, and, and uh, it was powerful man, because they take your initials and they use your same initials, but and they know you're not french, so they give you, you know united states, but a european social security number and however, they do it. But that's the process, dude, and really then you start a pre-selection process in civilian clothes, where you do, where you're kind of waiting in this like process of everybody from all over the earth is here.

Speaker 1: 1:24:40

You got kids from africa south america certain times like is there a slot where you have to show up, bro, or is it just 24?

Speaker 2: 1:24:46

7, 24, 7, 365 days a year. You go knock on that door at christ morning. They're going to open the door.

Speaker 1: 1:24:52

Really.

Speaker 2: 1:24:52

Yeah, dude, it's wild. I've never heard of that. Yeah, dude, you go knock. It says Legion and Trangera Foreign Legion and it looks like an old.

Speaker 2: 1:24:59

The one I went to is Fort Nogent. It was raining, bro, and it was the Hunter's Full Moon. I remember it sat down and I had my DD two 14. I brought my DD two 14 to let them know who I was and you know, back up my passport and stuff and and they asked me, dude, like during the preselection plays, they're like what the fuck is you doing here? You know, like, why isn't it? Why is the former Navy seal? They don't want issues with the United States government or different things.

Speaker 2: 1:25:24

And they disqualifiers right, the only one out of 15 guys will make it through pre-selection and selection, okay, and actually go to boot camp. Only one out of 15, one out of 10, one out of 15. But they ask you the why are you there? You know they do interpol background checks. They'll do your own country's background checks if you have any sexual crimes, any real issues with drug trafficking from interpol. Those are no go terrorism, shit. Like they're going to pretty much say no-go, but everything else they know no, tattoo regs, nothing. You got dudes coming out of Russia like faces blasted out of some gulag dude. Really, yeah, show up. There's no regs and that was part of it. That's part of the reason why I went, so I ended up finishing my stuff there. But it's cool, man, because you see guys Green Beret, full fucking thing with faces blasted dude. It's wild.

Speaker 1: 1:26:18

Okay, what is the?

Speaker 2: 1:26:20

French Foreign Legion? Yeah, it's a good question. It's a branch of the French military. So it's a formal branch of the French military that was started by an old king in the 1800s to get foreigners out of his bars and back onto the battlefield who had been fighting in a previous war and were there With the carrot of French citizenship. So it's modeled after the Roman legions. The Romans would go and conquer and they're like all right, if you fight for Rome for 17 years, you'll be a Roman citizen, but we're going to kick you in the nuts for it. And that's exactly what it is, and you don't have the political pressure of French coming back in body bags.

Speaker 2: 1:26:56

So there's been times in the foreign region when there's been 30,000, 40,000 people, you know, at times with Germany it's also like a petri dish of the geopolitical situation, like you'll have guys flooding in because of different things going on in their countries Germany and now, like there used to be a lot of Ukrainians, like 10% Ukrainians, a lot of the guys I worked with when Ukraine kicked off, all those guys flooded back to Ukraine right, because they're fighting right, and so you'll have, like these influxes. It's interesting, really interesting, but it's a formal. It's like the redheaded stepchild of the itality, like this discipline very strict, okay, very strict haircuts. Very strict on, like entering into a room you can be fully blasted, yes and but, but do not have your fucking hair fucked but uniform and hair is not got to be on point on point dude and I understand standards.

Speaker 2: 1:27:45

I understand the stand. I understand why because you have all these like guys who don't even speak the same fucking language. You got to to learn French. You got to learn French. All the military orders are in a language you don't speak, so you're learning through pain very fast. From some, my French has a Russian accent because I like learning from priesthood block guys. Yeah, it's funny. But you have a lot of 150 nations represented. So you got like in my graduating class I had mongolia, thailand, chad, south africa, columbia, venezuela. Yeah, tons of guys from brazil, nepal, one american, me.

Speaker 1: 1:28:21

Right, there's not you the how many? I mean how many americans are joining the french foreign legion handful out of.

Speaker 2: 1:28:26

There's 7 000 guys in the foreign legion. Now that, oh, it's probably about 15 americans maybe. And you were the only like navy. Now that, oh, it's probably about 15 Americans, maybe.

Speaker 1: 1:28:34

And you were the only like Navy seal that's ever done it.

Speaker 2: 1:28:36

There's never been a seal. Do it Apparently, as per. Could there have been? Yes, but at least that's what the Legion headquarters had told me. They never had a documented seal there and that's that's at least what I was told. So no shit, I had no idea there was a Marine Dude. There was a recon guy there who was at MARSOC. He was one of the first classes Crazy story.

Speaker 2: 1:29:01

I love him. I won't shout his name because he's all super low-vis, but, dude, he sold a gun while he was, you a rate, I think it was a raider at the time, or marsau, whatever it was called, and he sold a gun to a guy for me. He was doing a bill of sale and whatever. And the guy's paperwork hadn't come back yet. And the guy in there, but they're already there doing he's like, all right, send me the paperwork and then we'll just kind of complete the deal. The guy went, committed a crime with it. So he's like working at the amphib base and I'm just giving you example, the types of guys that are there, right, and the stories are fascinating of why they show up there, but he's, you know, working. They come knock on the gate of the base. They're like hey, your gun was in, you sold it illegally.

Speaker 2: 1:29:43

Da da da, the judge threw the book at him. He got five years in the feds. Five years in the feds on selling that gun to that dude. And so he did five years in the feds on selling that gun to that dude. And so he did five years in the feds, comes out all blasted tats and loses his you know his uh was out of the military. Does his full five years, does his three years of parole and the last. And he had met a Legionnaire while he was doing security at a bar or something you know, and he goes damn, what's that?

Speaker 2: 1:30:05

Like he found out about it. He goes okay, I'll go back and serve. And the day he was done with his parole he said he took his keys to his apartment, locked the door, threw the keys in, shut it and beat feet and he was over there for nine years. Man, he was after like a chief or something equivalent by the time he was getting out. He's contracting now but head all blasted leisure hats. You'll see some of his pictures. I see him floating around online. People have taken pictures of him, but he doesn't really post stuff. But yeah, interesting stories, man, damn dude. Yeah, but I had no, he was the only other soft guy that at least I knew of that was there. So it was just you two for american wide and we were split up at different regiments. The regiments are there's like a and what's interesting, it is like the marine corps also in that it's like a one-stop shop. Okay, they have their own cavalry, their own medical like. They have their own, you know, infantry units, engineering units, all that stuff is in-house what are the okay.

Speaker 1: 1:30:59

So, once, once you're in, what's the? What is the fault? The? The sole purpose of mission set or elision. Yeah, what's your mission?

Speaker 2: 1:31:07

set a lot of security. So I'll give you. We did internal missions in france which like patrolling with a fucking rifle, like near the eiffel tower. I did the riviera, we got super lucky. So we're like patrolling in nice, france, for anti-terrorism what's your? Uniform.

Speaker 1: 1:31:21

It's woodland camis, okay, with the green beret, okay, and we're working using hk416s so when you're patrolling, is the french foreign legion held like at a higher standard? I mean, are people seeing you like do those are?

Speaker 2: 1:31:35

yeah, those are legionnaires or the france loves their legionnaires.

Speaker 2: 1:31:39

Okay, fucking kind of a cool story okay you got all these like meat eaters walking around like blast. They're like what the? They love it because you're there fighting for france and it's. We think we think of it differently here because we're so geographically isolated. These people, especially the older cats, bro, they had people patrolling through their country in like war, like we don't know what that's like here, and so they have a whole different like respect for their military. You wouldn't think the french do, but they do. Like the french are very like thankful, thankful and will make you coffee and stuff. But that was the interior mission. We would do that every once in a while. But the exterior missions are all over. They're all over Africa, all over South, they're in South America. So France has territory in South America. They do all the anti-illegal gold mining and also protection. Did you do any of that? Oh yeah, what's that like.

Speaker 2: 1:32:31

We did four months of deep jungle operations down in. Let's dive into this, Bro. It was heavy.

Speaker 1: 1:32:34

Anything. Jungle is fascinating to me because Dude jungle is my spot, Okay awesome. Because, if people don't have experience in the jungle, it's one of the worst environments on the planet.

Speaker 2: 1:32:46

to me personally, Bro, it is unforgiving, yeah, unforgiving dude, and personally it is. It is unforgiving, yeah, unforgiving dude, and also dangerous because it will catch up on you, up to you, so quickly. Different than the mountains, different, and I was at a mountain regiment working in the alps, but so I have a very in the foreign legion, so I have like a very stark contrast of both those environments.

Speaker 2: 1:33:08

the jungle was powerful, not to mention all the insects and things you're dealing with everything there's water you really have to have your systems down of of how you're setting your stuff up at night. Your boots, you're hanging everything up, like you, you, it's like the ground's lava. Like you don't set stuff on the ground, it's gonna get completely swarmed by stuff. So there was a lot of that really cool moments. But we did, dude, we would hit gold mines every fucking day on a patrol, like like every. Like I thought it would be like, oh, maybe we do an op and, dude, we'd go on a 14 day op. You know, you know, seven in seven out hit one to two every day on the way in.

Speaker 1: 1:33:46

What are you looking for? What? What's I mean are these are illegal gold mines? Obviously, is it environmental that they're stopping, or is it just these are like gold, illegal gold mines that they're?

Speaker 2: 1:33:54

just, they're just. They're illegal gold mines. They come up over the border, you know, with border in brazil, and they just. You know they're natives and they just. But they do huge mercury pits and they fuck it all up. But also france was protecting their gold mining operations down there. So we would do some of that too with the legal gold mining. Are these guys combatant or they just like just?

Speaker 2: 1:34:15

like you never got shot at down there, but you'd come across weapons and you'd come across um, and guys have been shot down there and they shoot at each other all the time, right, and? And there's bandit groups that try to steal the gold from these guys coming out. Dude, there's this one, legal, this one legal, mine, okay, they were pulling 750 000 euro a week out of this place, which is a million dollars, with six guys and some and some uh, I mean gold laying on the ground. Dude, flakes, crazy. And so we would go, and we were but one of those guys had gotten shot in the throat. This is how they would get the gold out.

Speaker 2: 1:34:53

One guy it was like a, a gauntlet because this was deep in the jungle and he would get. One guy would get on the motorcycle. You got to get it out somehow. You can't. You know. He would get on a motorcycle, put the backpack, all the raw gold and all this shit. He would sit on the back with a fucking gun and go ring this, fucking go through. Just Just pit it to win it. Just pit it. That was how they did it every week, oh my god so it was stuff like that.

Speaker 2: 1:35:16

Sure, there's more formal operations, but so when we would come across these gold mines, we would break all their diesel engines and pull the hoses out. They're like hey, navy SEAL goes in that fucking mercury pit and fucking go, dude, I glow in the dark now, dude. I swear to god, bro, I'm really dude. I gotta do some fasting bro I gotta because they would have me swimming in these pits, bro.

Speaker 2: 1:35:37

That were just because they're like oh, you can see, swim right. All right, the fuck, are you going to the pits for pull the tubes out, pull the diesel?

Speaker 1: 1:35:43

engines out. Oh my god.

Speaker 2: 1:35:45

So I got a lot of extra love on that, because not a lot of legionnaires can swim well, but we would break it up with sledgehammers, because we're carrying sledges and fucking quickies and all the shit with us through the jungle. It was heavy, dude, it was like packing heavy and uh. And then we did burn all their shit, dude. They'd have karaoke bars and whorehouses and everything they did. They'd have grandmas cooking and full cities, dude, full cities. You stumble across them. Yeah, the officers would have. And here's the thing about the Foreign Legion Nobody tells you shit. There's no like mission brief. It is like the Marine Corps. They go shut the fuck up, get in line, get in line, walk, and when we come across some shit, you know what to do. That was it. So they're like like shut up and just go, man, and so they're not a lot of questions. Right, the french is very top down too. Okay, they come from the front.

Speaker 1: 1:36:39

So this is an interesting dynamic that people don't think about. The officers are french right only only the.

Speaker 2: 1:36:42

There's like a handful of foreigners but they're like vetted very young and go up to the process.

Speaker 2: 1:36:47

You got to be pretty stellar and be in a long time makes sense and be an nco all the way through to the top right got it so. But they're french and they come from their their academy, saint seer, saint sorrow, however you pronounce it. It's like their west point, okay, and it's like a coveted spot to go to the foreign legion right, it's like a feather in their cap, it's like kind of edgy and, you know, sexy and they do it's, it's good for their career. And so they come in there with a lot of pomp and circumstance and very top down, very formal. You, you respect, give them all the respect and don't give them any disrespect and and they'll crush you if they sense a little bit, yeah, like punishment, wise dude, they'll make your life fucking miserable, bro, oh man, I mean I had to stack rocks for three days one time in the snow, raining snow in december in the near the alps and there's no rocks, and I was told I had to because I didn't march right one day and the colonel saw me.

Speaker 2: 1:37:41

The american march concept merd was. He marches like shit with the tattoos. I stick out like a sore thumb dude and I get called in, bro, and I was in the push-up position for like two hours, sweating, just getting fucking screamed at I don't know what the fuck they're saying, because I'm still pretty new and they go. You know, now you're gonna stack a pyramid as tall as you six feet tall and as wide as you Six foot base six foot tall.

Speaker 2: 1:38:06

There's no rocks and they're like I don't give a shit, find them, find them. And so I don't care how long it takes, bro, 16 hours a day, three, and I still didn't find them. I had to have people steal rocks and bring them to me in a car Because I really I had some Ukrainian guys I go dude, you guys got to help me and so I guys, I go dude, you guys gotta help me. And it was literally. And so I um, and that's how long, but in the freezing rain and but the legion's an interesting spot and when, once they're punishing you, they leave you alone. Right, it's like you know how in the marines, you get kind of reprimanded. That emi, it's like all right, he's paying his, he's paying his toll. You know, like they kind of decompress you. But it was, that's just a example. And they love to run, dude, those motherfuckers are some of the best cardio monsters. The french military in general is all about like light is right they don't eat much, dude, they don't eat breakfast.

Speaker 2: 1:38:54

They don't eat hardly any protein. I was dying, bro, you know. And the marines, the military guys out there, they're like, oh, you know, you eat breakfast and eggs and shit. You know, you're at the, you know d-fac or whatever they're. Nope bro, I was like all right, when we eat breakfast. They're like we don't eat breakfast, dead serious. And they're like here's your piece of bread and your fucking black coffee. Charlie, mike, bro, we're doing a 13 mile run just every day, bro, in the snow. I'll be like. I was like god, I was like I earned this.

Speaker 2: 1:39:22

I thought about it many a day and I go, I go, it was all the things I hate cold running, no food and losing muscle mass, by the thing, and I go and and a lot of scrubbing toilets, a lot of cleaning. There are like dude room inspections for five years really, every fucking morning. Really strict dude lockers folded like full-on boot camp for five years, bro, it's really, it starts to ease up when you get a little rank, you get corporal, and that you go through some, it starts to ease up. You don't clean anymore and stuff like that. But, dude, I, I clean toilets. That you do. You can eat food off the back of the toilet. It's so fucking clean, you know, like so clean, bro. You know, hey, navy seal, come clean this fucking toilet, man. I got a lot of that, but it was uh, I said this before. It's a great term, though, but it there's no better way to say it was a baptism in humility. I needed it, dude. I needed it so bad. Not that I ever thought that I was some ego monster, but I didn't. I couldn't even see the holes in my own game. I thought I was like humble, but the minute you think you are, you're not like, you're not really humbled until you stop thinking about it at all.

Speaker 2: 1:40:25

I really had to take that time and use it for not only just faith and realizing that where I was at, I earned and I had a lot of karmic debt to burn off. Not that I was pushing grandmas in the street, yeah, but that's where guys lie to themselves. I go, dude, you don't got to be doing bad shit to be stacking karmic debt. You could just be not as good a father as you could be. For sure you could be not as healthy as you, not just kind of being as present as you could be or or reaching into that, pushing that professional pace and taking that risk and to improve the life of your family. All these different pieces, dude that. That's karmic debt too, and I had to really burn a lot of that off. And it was exactly what I needed a lot of quiet time and time to think and it was useful yeah, yeah, you don't realize it until you get into that, that routine, that headspace, and you're like okay, now I can start processing my life and exactly I, I need to be here.

Speaker 1: 1:41:20

And then you know, yeah, and that's what you say, like when you're like look at a guy, you're like man, like I get it. Yeah, I get your sense of humor.

Speaker 2: 1:41:27

Yeah, it was it was I hurt, dude, because uh, it was such like a, probably like that fasting. They're like there's this like this shedding and this re, and it takes a lot longer than you think. I thought, oh man, I'll be good. But I realized I was still kind of fucking up every now and again. You know the first year and I had a couple bad weekends and stuff like that.

Speaker 1: 1:41:47

But I was kind of like lost man, like I think some guys like you know I, I feel like you and i're probably very similar, but we're just wired yeah, we're wired where it's like right and wrong.

Speaker 2: 1:41:59

We're like we take that, yeah, to seek that, whatever the seeking, it's like filling the void, and I heard something great the other day. It's like the thing about seeking, you know, that that immediate pleasure, that gratification, that's not, that's, that's pleasure driven, not purpose driven. The thing about that is it's it's satisfying but it's not fulfilling, so it has you have to keep doing it. You're not fulfilled. Therefore, you know there's this endless void. And when I really started to just unwind and understand, like, okay, and it took a couple years, like, let me, when was times I felt better? Okay, when I had better habits and I just started waking up earlier and just started kind of building my life in a more simple way. Also, my life was stripped down to a sea bag again after being in a high, and I was, I had, I was saving money, even making no money, like I was finding ways to really simplify my life and be like all right, I'm having good days every day.

Speaker 2: 1:42:55

I was no longer a navy seal. Nobody gave a fuck there, right, it was like I was trent clayson. I was completely a new name. I wasn't even myself, right, it was a complete. It was so unique in that I was like, okay, well, I'm just, this is who I am. Let me build my life and my own clarity, and then happiness is mine.

Speaker 2: 1:43:14

It's an internal job. There's no, because I realized while I was there that being a legionnaire, the only legionnaire, seal or whatever, that that didn't make me happy. Like nobody gives a shit. Right in the end of the day, they care about your family, cares about who you are. Like no, I realized that, like I was trying to prove thing to nobody, I was trying to prove these titles and no one. That gives nobody, nobody cares bro.

Speaker 2: 1:43:37

And and that's the thing that, guys, I think it's it's useful to remember in that the badge, the, the uniform, that this it's not you man, it can be taken away from you. So it's very dangerous to just rest your, your worth on that. And so I just started to build my self-worth on my daily habits, like on like just trying to be a good dude and hold myself to a higher standard and challenge myself and my own you know proclivities and hold my, you know, cut out the porn and cut out like things that were just I realized were holding me back. You know that I just was like, oh, it's not a big deal, everyone does, yeah, but I know I can do better. Right, I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I'm saying I was holding myself to a higher standard every day, or trying to, and that really, and focusing on my self-development, and I was like, whatever happens, happens and that's when I go. Oh man, I've had good days every day for like two years, which is powerful, yeah, when you start to find a true identity.

Speaker 1: 1:44:30

Yeah, I feel that's where and I catch some flack for this cause, I'm kind of open about it on on social is that I feel in the veteran community, law enforcement, whatever it is, we get so consumed by the identity of the uniform, of the badge, and that's who we become. And then when we transition out, and that's who we become, yeah, and then when we transition out, that's all we know, and I feel a huge part of the the veteran community or law enforcement community, and it goes for athletes, businessmen, that are, yeah, that's all you've done, it's all you've done, it's all you know. And then they have, like, you hear about it and it's like it's such a hard time transitioning, it's in it, I feel it's because that's all we know yeah it's all we've ever been taught, and so our mindset is that it's.

Speaker 1: 1:45:14

It's oh, back in fallujah, back in here, back in the core, back in ranger battalion, whatever it is, but it's been 20 years and it's like okay, dude, like what is it now?

Speaker 1: 1:45:24

and I and it's you look at it and you start asking these questions and it's like, well, 20, I don't believe in the 22 vet, a day thing, those numbers. But it's like, okay, let's say those are true numbers, why, why aren't they changing? So what do we need to start doing for the mindset of these guys? And I feel like you went through that process of like I'm not a seal anymore yeah this life I'm living, it isn't anymore.

Speaker 1: 1:45:46

And you start to build that new identity and I'm sure right now you're even in a new chapter of it because your father yep, you're starting a new family. I mean that's, that's a new identity. But a lot of guys don't process that, they don't realize that they they're starting new chapters, but they're still stuck in this mindset of I'm a marine and it's like dude, wear that badge. Yeah, wear the fucking. It's like dude, wear that badge. Yeah, where are the fucking hat, fly the flag. Dude, that's, that's a great chapter of your life.

Speaker 1: 1:46:10

But like, let's close it. Yeah, open a new one, let's start finding out who we really are. What are you into? What? What makes you truly happy If you're, you're, you're running around, you're, you've been through four wives the last couple years and all these relationships like, okay, what's making you truly happy? I feel that's where the, the mindset of the veteran now is what we really need to start focusing on, because it took me a long time. It's like, dude, I don't want to just be bam the marine anymore. Like, yeah, I want to be the greatest father I could be for my daughters. I want to be the best father I could be for my daughters. I want to be the best husband I could be for my wife, which hasn't always been.

Speaker 2: 1:46:49

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:46:50

Be the first to admit that shit. But it's like now in this chapter. It's like dude, like I'm happy, I'm not worrying about other people's shit, life is great. I see the wealth that we have with a roof over my head healthy kids, happy wife Like I'm not focused on that past shit anymore. Yeah, and it's like man. It's like so to hear you say, like dude, I'm not, you know, you could have gone over like I'm a navy seal. This is who I am. Yeah, but you, you gotta find that new, that new identity. But identities change. They're constantly changing. At least I feel it's my opinion.

Speaker 1: 1:47:21

I feel a lot of guys we really get stuck in who we used to be. It's like that varsity letterman jacket guy that's down at the bar talking about I got to hit a home run, grand slam, my senior year in high school. I'm going to throw a football over those mountains, yeah, exactly. But it's like, okay, cool dude, that's badass. But now what? And it's like constantly, and I feel like that was a big thing. I've watched you since you've jumped on it. It's always been. You know, like I said in the beginning, it's always been fascinated by you. Like man, this guy is just constantly. And then now I see you know the chapter you're in now and it's pretty cool to watch.

Speaker 2: 1:47:53

Bro. I feel so grateful, man, because people need to shed old clothes Absolutely. And there's a great kind of analogy to this. It's like, dude, you wake up in the morning, you're in your pajamas, dude, you go to the gym. Oh, okay, you're just gonna put your gym clothes on over that. Okay, now you're gonna go, fucking come back and go to work. You don't take a shower, just put your fucking work clothes on over that. And then you come back and you fucking put your home clothes back on and then your pajamas back on.

Speaker 2: 1:48:17

Dude, you're looking like the michelin man, you, dude. That doesn't make any sense. Nobody does that. So you gotta shed old stuff. You know, it's not that you forgot that. You did that, you know. But you put it down.

Speaker 2: 1:48:29

Close the chapter, right, you can't move forward in the book unless you put the other chapter down. And don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened right and it built you and it brought you to this wisdom and I think, a lot of an excellent life, a high quality life, is commitment to excellence. Right, a high quality life is paired with commitment to excellence. What does that look like? Challenging yourself, like you like you were talking about fasting challenging yourself in new business ventures and and this is kind of like an edgy topic to top talk about but I think a lot of PTSD and I'm not saying there isn't a lot of issues, a lot of real issues, but I think a lot of it PTSD gets wrapped into lack of purpose and it gets PTSD. They always got PTSD. No, a lot of post-traumatic stress is dude, you lost the tribe, you lost the echo chamber, you lost the purpose right, and where you're at, fuck yeah, that hurts man, that's stressful. And so a lot of people it's not like, oh man, you're hearing shells coming in. It's like no, people are, are lost, and only yeah, and it's like dude, that's, that's normal. Also, there's a self-assertion piece you don't deny like fuck, that was a cool time in my life. Fuck, yeah, it was. Are you kind of sad that moments that you know that maybe, yeah, but that, but that's fine, that's good, it's okay to feel like that. And then it's okay.

Speaker 2: 1:49:48

Now people are looking at yeah, what's next? People looking at the horizon, but look at your feet, man, handle what's right at your feet. Man, are you, are you, are you in as best shape as you can possibly be? I know I'm never. So it's like, yeah, okay, start focusing there, get your fucking mojo back. So I like back, so I like to tell guys I'm like, dude, they're dragging ass. Man, I'm not feeling.

Speaker 2: 1:50:06

Well, grab your nuts, make a call, go, dude, I'm I'm sacking back up, I'm putting the cleats back on, do it then. Then guess what, bro, you're that, that fucking old head that can teach dudes what's up, because you've already done it. Man, a lot of people never did it. You did it. Now, you know, you got the shirt. Now let's move on, bro. You get the. You get to actually push yourself here.

Speaker 2: 1:50:28

Bro, be scared about that new business venture. I'm sure you've done many things. You're like fuck, dude, I don't know. You're putting money up and, dude, you need.

Speaker 2: 1:50:35

People need to start pushing the pace on their life, whether it be their diet, trying new shit. Stay interested, stay engaged, bro, stay, stay pushing the pace on yourself. Bro, put the rucksack back on and go for a fucking run. Dude, like, bring it back in the right again. Yeah, bring it back in the right, healthy ways, but shed the identity, because the identity of you is not the badge, it's not the uniform, it's you, man and all anybody that matters gives a shit is what are you doing now, right, how are you feeling? How are you living your life, bro, and holding yourself to that account that your frequency, your energy, it's your responsibility, it's not anybody else's. Don't put it in substances, don't put it in places or things. It's yours. What energy are you bringing into the house, man, just because you're not saying anything but you're sitting there in a fucking poopy pants?

Speaker 2: 1:51:35

Everybody feels that, especially as men. I always say fish stink from the head men. We could poison everybody in the house by a bad, even a bad, vibe. Everybody feels it. Dude, I know my fiance, I get, get intense, you know. I'm like you know, kind of thinking about something, a little stress. She's like what's wrong? Like like a dark cloud in the room, and I don't even mean it, you know. But I always got to check myself and I go. Now I don't want.

Speaker 2: 1:51:47

I grew up in a tense environment, very chaotic, like just tense. I remember a lot of fear growing up. I never want my daughter to feel that Right. That's like. My new thing is like. I want her to have that stability, that love, that, and I'm really fortunate to be with somebody who's helps facilitate that in an amazing way. She's very peaceful and like understanding and has done all her own healing on her side. So it's like um, and has her wisdom that is used really good energy for me, just uh.

Speaker 2: 1:52:19

So it rise up and that's what I would say, man, it's like the only solution to somebody's. This was mine. This is how I speak to myself is the only solution to me. Feeling better was doing better. Fucking it was that better. I wanted my life to be better. Start doing better. You don't need to know what. Start developing who. And then, when I develop that who, oh man, the path illuminates as we walk it. It starts to become clear. The worst. Start just yeah, alignment, god. It starts to become clear. Or start just yeah, alignment, god's divine design, that divine design for you. Tap into that right and I say I tell people I push the morning process really hard, like take quiet time in the morning, don't look at your fucking phone. Be deliberate, intentional. Intentionality is the root of a really good day, which in turn, is a really good life. Be intentional about what you're doing, right. I always everybody falls into it. Doom scrolling right. You're just kind of sitting there, kind of fucking around. What happens?

Speaker 2: 1:53:14

it's like you just start to not feel good yes, and it it's like we don't even mean we're doing it, but we do that with all these pieces in our life and if somebody doesn't have a good daily blueprint, they're eating whatever, they're waking up. Whenever they're kind of showing up, they think they're being intentional, but you're just showing up to work on time. Everything else is not intentional. All the other important shit. It's like, dude, anybody can show up to work on time, because if you don't, you're gonna get fired. So, but can you get up and work on yourself? Can you do? Can you work on your relationship? Can you be more present? Can you? Can you? Man, what do you really want to do? Well, like, are you? Are you doing the things that are going to facilitate the lifestyle you want? Well then, by definition, you're out of alignment. Well, what do you got to do? Where are you going to fill that gap with? Financially or whatever, whatever that might be? Do you need to move? Like, get clear of what you want, and that's what I had to do in the foreign legion. It gave me the time to do this massive self-audit where I was like how do I want to live, what I want to do?

Speaker 2: 1:54:09

I was looking into ukraine from mercenary shit. When that kicked off in africa and I had this moment, I'm like 40, almost in a barracks going. Where does this end? Do I just keep going down this road to where I catch a bullet? And it's not fear of death, dude, I don't give a shit about dying. I definitely didn't then. Now I'm, you know, I have a daughter, I have responsibilities, but it was. I had no fear of dying, yeah and uh, I heard you know, you gotta love the peanut gallery. I did. Oh, you didn't go to ukraine because you were. Oh, yeah, when you're fighting, I'm like bro, you obviously have. No, I fucking did, dude, that's not what I was worried about. It. I'll catch a show. I don't give a fuck that I was.

Speaker 2: 1:54:45

Do I want to live a lifestyle where I can't go to the fucking beach when I want or make money how I want and have some autonomy? That's what I cared about, and I wanted to have a family, dude, and I had this vision of this beautiful life that I wanted to live of. And now I do, and it's fucking exactly by my design and it's by God's's, by god's grace, with you got to meet them, 51 of the way, I like to say, or 49, however you want to look at it like you have to do all the work to where it's like, okay, man, all right, you're at the right spot, you're not going to be given something that you're going to squander again and it's like this is the last chance. I had no more fuck-ups. I used all those lives and and now I'm I see my beautiful fiance and my healthy baby girl and I'm like in the house, you know, living in a house on the golf course in a fucking gated community. The trucks are paid off and shit's good. Man, I'm helping people and I'm really feeling purpose.

Speaker 2: 1:55:38

Yeah, it's stressful. There's a lot of stress, man, business is up and down and things go and there's always things that are stressful. But, dude, I'm here for it, for it, and I'm like right and correct and I can manage those things better because I'm in a clear space and I'm I trust in God's path. Man and and like, fully like have to that faith pieces. I had a. I talked to a client today, a young kid who's had an amazing transformation. He said something interesting he goes, man, he goes. I really appreciate you saying something. He, he goes, man, he goes. I really appreciate you saying something. He goes.

Speaker 1: 1:56:06

You taught me how to use faith correctly and I went and I went.

Speaker 2: 1:56:08

What an interesting way to thought. But he goes, he goes. I would be stressed about stuff and he goes and I realized that I was not using my not trusting in the process enough, you know, and being like, all right, well, I'm arrived, correct as I possibly can be. Well, let me step across that gap and trust that you know that the job will work out and this and that, like using it as attack, as faith, as a strategy, man, because it's it's a tool, you have to use faith in the right way of like.

Speaker 2: 1:56:36

When it gets hard, that's when you have to use it Right, because anybody's like man, god's great, you're on the beach with the, you know, your, your, your beer or whatever. Yeah, god's great, you know. But well, when it gets, when it's raining, man, and it's like stressful, that's when you need to use it. It's like that, that execution of faith in the right times, dude, it's like it needs to be used in the hard times, not the good times. Don't be just praying, for you know, when shit's good, man, be grateful when shit's bad, because something's coming. You know that's hard to do, but that's the right way you ain't wrong, man, yeah, you ain't wrong.

Speaker 1: 1:57:07

That's, and it's crazy of how just changing the slightest little things or just rethinking and learning how to just process things. Yeah, really, and looking at it from a different angle, you know, and it's like it took me a long time to to realize what I truly had. Yeah, and I still need to be corrected on because you know how it is, man. You see these dudes, you're like what the that dude's such a piece of shit. He's got this that he's got everything's brand new multi-million dollar home. Like what the fuck am I doing wrong? Yeah, and then it's like bro, like come home yeah talk, my wife talking.

Speaker 1: 1:57:44

I'm like we got a roof over our head yeah I got healthy kids. We got money in the bank, yeah, like I have a relationship yeah, that I have with my family that that dude doesn't, and you don't know what's going on behind the doors there.

Speaker 2: 1:57:57

No right that's.

Speaker 1: 1:57:58

That's the piece and that's where it's focus on yourself. You focus on your gratitude and what you truly have. Yeah, it's like okay, cool, I'm good. Yeah, I'm good, you know, and I've never been like the. I've never been a jealous type, but I'll definitely have looked people like fuck, am I doing wrong? Yeah, that guy is an idiot, yeah, yeah yeah, what the fuck?

Speaker 1: 1:58:16

yeah, that was this dude worth millions you know, yeah, you know you beat this and it's like, okay, I I might not have what he has, maybe I don't want what he has. That.

Speaker 1: 1:58:26

And that's the thing. I'm happy I come. I'm excited to come home. I love being on the road and traveling with my family. That, to me, is wealth. I guarantee you he might have more money in the bank account, but I guarantee you a true wealth of happiness and joy. Cool, like I'll. I'll trade that all day and having millions in the bank account. Your kids hate you, your wife. You don't have a relationship with your wife. You're coming home by yourself because everyone's in bed not waiting for you having dinner. Like to me, those are the things that matter. Like my kids are excited when I walk in the door, my wife standing there ready to greet. Like that's. Those are the things that make, as a man at least me. Like that's what makes me feel good. That's not not man.

Speaker 1: 1:59:04

I got a brand new chevy 2500 in the driveway. I couldn't tell you what my kids are doing, but yeah, look, I got it. All you know, I got everything on social media looks like, got my shit together, but I can't even have came to sit down with my daughter and have a conversation what's going on in her life? Because she's that teen. Yeah, fuck, no, yeah, I'll, I'll sacrifice everything for what I have right now and it's like that's why I mean we live in this. We have, you see, my house and a giant home, but, dude, beautiful man.

Speaker 2: 1:59:30

I walked, you know I the first thing I thought was like damn, this place is nice. That's the first thing I saw her, it's all her I did?

Speaker 1: 1:59:34

I walked in, I was like man, it's nice in here, man, yeah, just so you know.

Speaker 2: 1:59:38

But it's also perspective, dude, because there's someone praying for the life you have. Absolutely, I get the chills when I think about that, dude it's like there's someone who who just would give anything to live the life you have.

Speaker 2: 1:59:48

And I go, dude, we're playing musical chairs with happiness because my, my fiance said something funny she goes, you know, she goes. The women sometimes. They'll be like she has beautiful blonde, straight hair and she'll always be trying to curl. She's like, oh, that girl's got great. Because I'm like, why do you always want what? Like she's trying to straighten her hair, you're trying. It's like we're playing star belly sneetches, dude, like you know, grateful for what you have take a step back.

Speaker 2: 2:00:09

We're all trying to yeah, and it's, it's getting clear of what success looks like. Because I had a, a good buddy former marine also we should have you get him on the podcast, austin hancock dude, he's a you know real estate guy. He's all tatted up and stuff, but he was a great dude. Great dude, solid message and really cool pathway. And he says, dude, you know, he built the real estate business out in oklahoma and he had the business and the, the brick and mortar and this and that he builds custom, was building customs homes, and he goes I don't want this.

Speaker 2: 2:00:41

I was like told this is what he goes. I want freedom of movement. Why do I want a brick and mortar building? I'm stuck here now and he's like I got all these employees and so you like, get clear what success looks like to you like success. I still, luckily, I have this. I've been blessed with this memory very burned in my head in that French foreign legion barracks room, fucking late 30s, like eating at the, just sitting there on my little rack, picturing what I pictured happiness to be. And now I'm there and I'm like very, very aware of that you have to, and if you're not, you're always chasing.

Speaker 2: 2:01:16

I'm not chasing. I'm very aware, dude, I'm like, dude, I'm yeah, I'm gonna just push success. I'm gonna stay ambitious, and I think that there's a part to that. We want to grow. Yeah, what you're saying I think is important. You're like, yeah, dude, I see that and it's a part to that. We want to grow. Yeah, what you're saying I think is important. You're like, yeah, dude, I see that, and it's using that like that motivation in the right, healthy way. It's like, all right, we'll go watch this. I'm going to build this beautiful life and this right you could build it all.

Speaker 1: 2:01:49

And this is people rooted in a healthy mindset.

Speaker 2: 2:01:50

It's dude your, your faith, family, fitness and finance can all be a hundred percent. You don't have to give up a point and that's the pieces. Don't sacrifice one for the other. Keep them all good, keep them all stacked. Bro, and it's like success across the board is the only thing I want. If anything's going to have to suffer for the other to grow, I don't want it. I want them all to grow evenly, even want them all stacked.

Speaker 2: 2:02:12

I had a client. He was up in prison. He was maddie, what's up, dude, solid cat. He was in prison, did a lot of stuff, he's. He's building out facilities now in multiple states. He's licensed, very successful and uh, but he went through a lot of hard times with heroin and stuff. He said, dude, those pillars, or he goes. Those pillars are in the ground right and if one's in the hole, you know and you got a gap, he goes. It's gravitational pull, it pull everything in, he goes.

Speaker 2: 2:02:33

If your fitness and health is way out of whack, your, your family and your finances, you're, you're all going, everything's. They need to be evened out. And so that's how I try to keep a good balance of just staying tenacious in all those levels, like staying tenaciously present with my family and like when I'm, you know I could, I. You know how it is. You could work a hundred percent of the time and never be ahead. So put the phone down. It doesn't matter, you're not going to get caught up anyway. So don't answer what you got to answer and put it down and set some parameters for yourself. Make sure you're hitting your fitness and pushing yourself on your goals. Okay, what are we doing in the professional world? That's pushing the pace. What did I get those wins? Get that, get that godly win, get that faith win right, get that fitness win. It's all we can do is kind of hit those, those micro wins in the day, man, and put your head on the bill and be proud of what you did, and that's that's.

Speaker 2: 2:03:27

That's what your identity is Like. Your identity. There's a like there. It'd be like a football player being wrapped up with oh, I played for the chargers in 1970. And that's him. Some of those guys hold that, but, but they got to shed it. Military is the same way. Dude, put it down Now. Your purpose is. What's my purpose?

Speaker 1: 2:03:48

Being a badass motherfucker your purpose isn't being a disgruntled veteran or a veteran at the VA the rest of your life, yeah.

Speaker 2: 2:03:55

I go. Your purpose is to be successful in all areas, bro. You don't need a title man, it's just be a savage bro. Be a good dude, Not just a good dude, right, Because that's used loosely.

Speaker 1: 2:04:13

It be. Be a good dude, be a not not just a good dude, right, because that's used loosely is like be it, be a excellent motherfucker in all areas and you're gonna live a great, you're gonna live a high quality life.

Speaker 2: 2:04:17

Yeah, be good, be kind, work hard, take care of your family, be impressive man, happy like man I don't work on, I gotta work on, bro. We'll have impressive habits. Man, you don't got the money yet. You can have the best habits in the world. Show how disciplined you can get and watch all the rest fall into place. Man, it will.

Speaker 1: 2:04:32

So you do coaching, yeah, and you help a lot of guys and get them back on track. Where do you see a struggle in the men's mindset of these guys you're coming to? Is there like a common thing that you see? Is it self-doubt awareness?

Speaker 2: 2:04:49

Like what is it? Self-doubt aware in it. Like what is it? It's momentum. Okay, I would say momentum is the first thing that I try to work on is like that mojo, getting that mojo lip back up it's dudes are like walking through quicksand just because they can't take the initiative and make the call and really start pushing the pace. So I, I build it slowly. We start with the wake-ups, right. We start with the supplements-ups, right. We start with the supplements and the food. We start with the fitness. I start to get momentum and get the you you know, as well as anybody, a great structured day that's disciplined. And you hit the wickets, bro. You start feeling better do you?

Speaker 1: 2:05:21

do you relate a lot of that to a structured day? Because I feel for me getting up at four o'clock in the morning is like fuck bro well, I don't think everybody needs to get up at that time, right?

Speaker 2: 2:05:33

so I'm not the, I'm not the shovel square peg into a round hole guy. Yeah, I work a lot of people and I I understand that's. I get up early because it gives me an edge. I like it. Okay, right, and so not that's not for everybody, but here's, here's the whole point whatever time you're getting up, be intentional and mindful when you wake up. Okay, that is massive. I think that everybody could does benefit when they get up and they don't just immediately go into their phone. Okay, that's that's where I start.

Speaker 2: 2:06:02

I would say just don't look at your phone and you'll see massive difference in how you frame your day. Start with a little prayer, some some coffee. Just fucking sit, man. I don't think you got a kumbaya or have a two hour red dot cold plunge, you know. Stand on your head morning. Yeah, I don't. I actually think I don't like that because it has. It's not replicatable. It's not. You can't replicate it all the time. I like to be able to have a nice simple morning process. That's 15 minutes, 20 minutes, but you can do it in airbnb, a hotel on vacation, and just take with you. Be mindful, be grateful. Start your day with some gratitude, so you're starting off simple too.

Speaker 1: 2:06:33

Yeah, I mean like because you hear these guys like get up run 10 miles. No, do all this crazy shit. And it's like for a guy like me in in our lifestyle.

Speaker 2: 2:06:41

I'm like dude no, there's like 75 hard and all these things. They go go talk to a homeless guy and make him a meal. I'm like, bro, I don't got time for that shit. I appreciate the sentiment, just try to get me on track. Go strike a conversation with three new people. I'm like, bro, I don't need to do that. And.

Speaker 2: 2:06:55

But I'm always like simplification is the highest form of sophistication. Yes, so my whole thing is massively simple. I, I cause. That's what I do, that's what I need.

Speaker 2: 2:07:09

Also, I'm not the every 15 minutes you need to wake up and do this. That's not how I structure it. I do blocks, like at some time in the day. This needs to kind of get done, like you need to hit your physical win, you need to kind of be mindful about your food, and you need to. The more deliberate you are about it, the better results you're going to get. Right, it's like I always say get up early, because if you're not, if you're waking up at whatever time, you have disciplines that you don't even realize though right, and it's proof, and all the things you're doing. You have a structured capacity that a lot of guys just don't have, who maybe weren't in the military, who didn't have all these pieces in place, so they need a little bit of more structure, like, hey, man, get up at this time and do this and you're gonna fucking start feeling a little bit better. It's the deliberate move, right, deliberate action moves the meter going. All right, all right, I run this shit. The things don't happen to me, I happen to it.

Speaker 1: 2:07:56

You know that type of movement how long are you when you're coaching these guys? I don't know if you do women, I'm just using guys in general awesome how long until those habits start to change and they start to reset those habits when the needle starts moving in the right direction. How long are you? Hey, we need to not break this until we get to this point.

Speaker 2: 2:08:17

I would say I would. From what I've seen, unless somebody's perfect right, if they do it perfectly, I would say 21 days. Really, generally, a habit can get created in about 21 days. Pretty solid but perfect is rarely achieved right and and so people have gaps and stuff. So, but usually, dude, if you guys are moving it for about three months, three to six months and actually doing it and making things non-negotiable, bro, then they call it what I call it crossing the bridge, where it's like them not doing this stuff is harder. It's like me not getting up early would be harder than me doing it, just because it's so rooted in my flow, like I like to.

Speaker 2: 2:08:55

I like the peaceful time and I think as men it's useful as and women too is to have a little time to just think for sure and tap into that, that frequency and just fucking no pressure.

Speaker 2: 2:09:06

And that's why I like getting up a little earlier, because you're ahead of the game, people aren't blowing up your phone and you can actually just kind of just think, man, and be grateful for the present moment. I like that frictionless time because it's quiet. I find a lot of power in it, but then you know it's not extended, I don't spend hours doing it And'll, I'll do my stuff and get into my emails and start working and just kind of get cranking. But I think it's the deliberate movement helps, the momentum and if guys really root them deep I mean I've been working with guys for like a year and a half that are ceos and stuff and had the speed, wobbles and dude. Now they're like rooted bro, you know abs, blasted, just tracking their food and doing stuff. It just becomes now it's normal, right, you do anything. With enough repetition it becomes easy, easier.

Speaker 1: 2:09:54

Damn, that's awesome. Yeah, that's good, that's awesome to hear, because I mean there's, I always hear these guys and I've gone to some of these speaking conventions and you need, and then I'll hear these guys talking. They're like I bought 3 million in cars by the time I was 21. And then they, these guys just talking, and you hear them all their success. And then I've asked a lot of these guys cause I'll wait till afterward and I'm like, okay, like cool man you're, you're doing business with Michael Jordan, you help build Uber, you know and I asked like how did you have a relationship with your children and your wife during that time? Nobody's been like, oh well, you just got to find that special. And it's like where.

Speaker 1: 2:10:33

I'm at in my life. I'm not sacrificing what I have with my wife and kids to be at that guy's level, which I feel most majority would. But hearing you say, like you got to keep it, even across the board, where you're not sacrificing, ok, I'm going to be at the office for the next three weeks till all night, all day, not seeing my wife and kids. You have to have that balance across the board, from fit, fitness to mental, to work, to spiritual, like they all have to be. Even because I asked these, you know, you see some dude he's bragging about made 37 million by the time I was 30 years old. It's like okay, well, cool. But like what did I? Don't want to lose everything I have. How do I get to that level without?

Speaker 1: 2:11:09

And nobody's been able to like, give me a straight up answer. And it's like, okay, cool, so success? Obviously you can't measure success, success is so different to everybody. And but it's like cool If I can find a way to balance every, all these major aspects in my life, or these pillars in my life. Cool If I could try to balance them all. And that's what I've always thought Like cause you can't give every one to everything, cause, then then you don't want to either, Cause you're not going to be happy, I feel. At least, if you're, if you're chasing one, you're, you're leaving the rest of them empty or you're not nourishing them how they should be. So you have to find that balance. But I feel maybe that's where a lot of people struggle is finding that balance, because they get obsessed or fixated on one of those pillars and then that's all they want to focus on.

Speaker 2: 2:11:55

Well, you know yourself better, right? Possibly, yeah, right, just because you've asked yourself those types of questions, and so you have a clearer answer of what success looks like. I don't. People have asked me if I want to scale bigger. Dude, we did almost three quarters of a million dollars last year, me alone, right? And people ask me if I want to scale because I go no. They're like hey, dude, we can get you up to this, we can get you up to a million a month. I go, no, I don't care, you don't need 10 cars. I don't.

Speaker 2: 2:12:33

And I'm not saying I just want my family to have stability. You know, I want to be able to put my daughter in school where she wants to fucking go right at some point. I want my, my wife, soon to be wife. I don't want her to have to be stressed out financial freedom, freedom. I just want some financial freedom. And I go. And I'm not in a rush. And this is the faith piece, right, it's here's where I tap into faith with this. I go. I don't want to rush God's process, I'm not in a rush to get scaled. They're like don't you want to AI and scale? I go, they go go. You're doing all your own sales. I do ever all sales myself.

Speaker 1: 2:13:12

no, I've never outsourced every single person that's come through my funnel I talk to personally. They're like how are you doing? I go well, I fucking just work.

Speaker 2: 2:13:15

They're like don't you want to ai and scale? No, I don't, because I don't want anybody talking to somebody. That's not me, ever. It's just how I do everything one-on-one. I don't't do group I might at some point but I do. Every client is one-on-one with me. Every I do nine hours of zooms a day, eight Right, and I and I structure it to the point where I'm up super early, structure the middle of my time for my family and stuff and at night I don't touch it, right, and so it, the balance is good, I feel happy, I go. Why would I change something where I'm very, very happy in where I'm at and what I'm doing and I feel like I'm I'm having the impact I want in the right ways and I trust God's process. If it scales and grows and I have to change something cool, then I'm there. But I'm not going to rush this shit. And and because I'm so grateful for where I'm at now, what am I rushing towards?

Speaker 1: 2:14:02

Man, I commend you for that because I feel the world we live in now, with social and then keeping up with the Joneses and having to be that person to be relevant, 99% of people would take that path of you want it, we could scale, we could 10 X, you done. No, where do I sign? Yeah, but what's that going to cost you?

Speaker 2: 2:14:23

Dude, I've been offered that. They're like well, I guess that. No, I said brand deals, whatever I go. No, I, I've say no, it was actually warren buffett or something. I said he goes, you gotta learn the power. No, change your life. I tell people no, all the fucking time. Nope, I can't make it, can't go, can't not gonna sign. That don't care, it's, it's uh.

Speaker 2: 2:14:41

Because I know my purpose, I know what I'm focused on and so I'm gonna stay zoned in and I and I and I see the stability and the peace I have in my house now, peace and I fucking love it because I never had it and so I'm so grateful for it that I, if it's gonna, yeah, I got to travel for work and do stuff, but if it, if it's so. I saw somebody say something. They said or it was hermosy, which I, who I like, really like but he said if it costs you your peace of mind, it's too expensive and I and I go, I love that man. Yeah, I could stack on a bunch of, take on a bunch of debt and scale or whatever, but it, I don't want the stress if life is good, why are you like I fucking don't want it, I don't want the overhead. I've had a lot of running a business and the overhead bro. I don't want super heavy overhead. It's like I want to be able to make lateral moves or pivot if I need to, and do it in a smart way and not put my family in jeopardy, because I've experienced that growing up and we had financial issues and I've experienced I don't want that ever.

Speaker 2: 2:15:52

And so I'm going to just be nice and systematic. I'm going to enjoy the process and do my new little fast, my 10-day fast, and enjoy that. And we keep our stuff simple and like I, I like being at the house with my chick and my baby and it's like fuck, dude. It's like whoa, what am I reaching towards? It's all here, sure, you know I'll. Well, you know, at some point we'll buy the house and you know, but I'm even that I'm gonna. It's all here, sure, you know I'll, we'll, you know, at some point we'll buy the house and you know, but I'm even that I'm going to. It's going to be done in the right ways at the right time. And and uh, I'm just here for it, dude, yeah.

Speaker 1: 2:16:15

Well, now that you started a family, man like how exciting is that Dude it was.

Speaker 2: 2:16:20

It was something I never planned. You know, it wasn't something I was like.

Speaker 1: 2:16:23

I gotta have family.

Speaker 2: 2:16:24

I was like well, someday I really. And then it happened, man and I and meeting her. It was this sinner real. If I told you the story you really wouldn't believe it, but it was. It was just happened all at the right time. I was getting out of the legion, I was coming back, we met and it was like this really interesting way and and then it just it was right, man how'd you guys meet.

Speaker 2: 2:16:45

It was right, this is gonna sound strange, but it was right. Man, how'd you guys meet? It was right, this is going to sound strange, but it was on Instagram, but she had no pictures. And I was in France and there was no pictures. I saw like just a, just a small little head, but I thought but there was no post and it was all private, and so I didn't know.

Speaker 2: 2:17:00

And then one time I woke up from a dream, like a, like middle of the night in France, like two in the morning, and I went over to my phone and I picked it up and it was her picture. But it was like just on, like my stories, like think people had looked at the stories, but it had the little story thing on it which didn't you know. I was like, oh, that's it. And I just woke up, went right to it, clicked on it and it was a picture of her grandmother, who has dementia, and it was just her, like stroking her grandma's hair, that's it. No, she had no pictures, nothing, and it would just blew me away, dude. I was like, what was that? I was like, and so I've never sent a chick, a dm on thing by by, definite by like my own philosophy, my honor. I just will never, I'd never have and I'm like I'll never dm anybody on this opposite. So I haven't.

Speaker 2: 2:17:47

But I sent her a dm. I said I don't know who you are, I don't know what, why I'm even texting this, but that was one of like the most powerful videos I've ever seen. And she was like I've been watching some of your stuff. She's like I like prayed that I wanted to meet. She had just like got out of bad relationships. She's like all by herself. She's like I just prayed and you popped up on my thing and I started kind of watching your stuff and I had no idea who you were.

Speaker 2: 2:18:06

And she's like I was kind of hoping you would text me and I went, wow, and we just we started talking from that point and we never stopped and I got back and I said, well, where do you live? And she goes well, I live in Temecula with my pit bull and my condo and it's like 20 minutes from my mom's house. So weird bro. So weird bro of like all the earth and and it and it was, and I never had social media or nothing. It was like pretty new for me. So it was. I went back home and I saw my mom and I saw her the next day and we just was it that was it, man, and you know I asked her to marry me.

Speaker 2: 2:18:36

You know, handful of months later, and then the baby pregnant. Now she's here, beautiful little aspen and, uh, just healthy man. It's like it's been an amazing trip, dude. I'm super grateful because once I got right, all the rest of the stuff got right, but it wasn't. I could not have been at a border, and I think that that's where a lot of people go wrong, and where I went wrong a lot of times in my life was I was trying to figure out putting the cart before the horse. I, my life will be right once this over here is right, but my life's never going to be right unless I'm. My life will be right once this over here is right, but my life's never going to be right unless I'm right. Yeah, and once I got that, everything clicked in. Man, it was the right time, dude. You know, pushing 40, bro, it's about time. You know I had a good run.

Speaker 1: 2:19:18

I had a good run. I look back. I mean we've been together a long time, but I look back, I'm like god dang, I had a good run. You know, you push the pace, bro, and I'm like God dang I had a good run.

Speaker 2: 2:19:25

You know you push the pace, bro, and I'm so grateful because I'm it's, I'm like, right for it at the right time. I just like the baby starting to laugh now and she's starting to like it's just like dude.

Speaker 2: 2:19:36

I like I'm like the Grinch in that part with his heart grows like three sizes dude, and it's like boom, boom, boom, like she laughs a little crooked laugh, and I'm just like how is it possible? I love this little and it like bro and it just changes my heart, dude. But and it also makes me just look at her and go, I'm never gonna let this girl down, you know, or I never want to, right, I never I always want her to look at me and go.

Speaker 1: 2:19:59

I don't know about a lot of things.

Speaker 2: 2:20:00

My dad's a fucking rock star like it's just there, and that's that's something I want to.

Speaker 1: 2:20:07

That's my goal, man, you know it's pretty incredible, you know, and I'm a girl dad, so I'm team girl dad. I think girl dads are the greatest dads. Not knocking any boys. I don't know if you're gonna have more, but no, those were just.

Speaker 1: 2:20:20

My cards were dealt and you know, god's got a sense of humor yeah you know, because you know, and we we told the story on when the wife and I were on the podcast. You know I was that typical marine 280 pounds, six pack like wheelie in bikes down the high down the Pacific Coast Highway. You know, I was just that asshole, you know. And so when we found out we were having our second one, all my boys were like yo, you're having a son, you're gonna have a little bam like dude, you're fucking, so it's you. You're gonna have a little bam like yeah, dude, you're fucking, so he's gonna be a boy.

Speaker 1: 2:20:50

And then we find out it's a girl and I was like fuck like you weren't even trying, you know, I think I'd just gotten off a cycle, I thought I was sterile, like you know, I was having a kid as a lasting on my mind and and then we find out and I was. I was not excited about it through, you know, at first, and then it I was like, all right, cool, another girl, I just gotta accept fate. And when that little shit was born, man, yeah, you know, because we, she, had a c-section and so I got to spend that, yeah, first. Yeah, that I got the first contact yeah, yeah yeah and dude it.

Speaker 1: 2:21:26

That was it, man. Yeah, and I. I have been hooked on being a girl dad ever since and then to watch as a father to be able to raise such a fragile, sensitive, loving little thing, especially, yeah, us. Yeah, I hate using the word alpha dudes, I think it's just this is aggressive type. Yeah, type a man, we're a type a personality, and there's one thing on this planet that'll bring you to your knees, and that is your little girl oh dude in jesus, when you, when that time comes.

Speaker 1: 2:21:55

But, bro, it is the most incredible thing. And then, once you start building that bond with a daughter, yeah, it's unbreakable. I'm sure your fiancee is gonna hate it if it's, if it goes. Hopefully it's planned.

Speaker 2: 2:22:09

Yeah, when you have a daddy's girl and she already knows she's like, oh, she's gonna be.

Speaker 1: 2:22:13

So she's already like you know she's, she loves it and she it's fantastic they own you, man, they own you and they learn you and and you get to watch them. It is the most incredible thing and I you know, you say you have. You know you're like. Now I'm ready. We had the conversation. I got snipped last year, the year before, whenever, a couple years ago, and I went to her like a year like so, like last year, I was like man, maybe I'll reverse it, I didn't say that, but I was like you know what I feel like at this stage of my life. I'm ready to be like that dad because I had kids early 20s. Dude, I was chasing everything like I.

Speaker 1: 2:22:49

I was not a good that, that dad, that I wish I was now, like if I brought you. Now I'm 40, yeah, so if, like if I were to bring him. You look young bro.

Speaker 2: 2:22:57

Thank you, I don't feel it dude damn, so I'll take that compliment I'll be 40 this year.

Speaker 1: 2:23:03

yeah, well, dude, it's like so now I feel like dude. This stage of my life, my god, I'd crush the dad game, can't. Well, dude, it's like so now I feel like dude. At this stage in my life, my God, I'd crush the dad game, can't rewind it. You know, and she's like, you mean to fucking tell me, after now you're ready to have kids and I'm like it's 25, 26,. Man, I was, I was, you know that, just that life. And but you know what I? I wouldn't change it Anything.

Speaker 2: 2:23:28

I wouldn't change anything in the world for these little girls bro I had a good time when I was leaving France and I know just timing and butterfly effects and stuff. It was like one of those moments, like it was like time for you to go, it's time to go, and I dude and I left and then she's here and it's like the butterfly effect of that decision was so powerful. And I look at her and beautiful blue eyes and I'm like I had a client say something. He's a wealth management guy, but he said something amazing he does, he's got a daughter, you know. And he said you know what he does since she was younger.

Speaker 2: 2:23:56

Well, once you, you know, came, you know, seven, eight, nine, she goes. They go on monthly dates, absolutely, and I love that idea. And he goes because she's always gonna measure a man to you right in the capacity, like how do you treat your wife, how do you, how do you communicate, like, how do you treat her? And I go, wow, that's something I'm definitely gonna do is set a very important tone of like how she's supposed to be treated it's not even that.

Speaker 1: 2:24:19

It is that. It's a huge role also on top of it, how you treat their mother yeah, absolutely so we're very affectionate. I'm always. I'm groping all day, I'm grabbing ass, I'm kissing I don't care, it's just my wife, yeah, yeah, and it's not.

Speaker 1: 2:24:35

And it's to the point now where our kids are. So you, they come home and they're like damn, I'm like, yeah, they don't ever touch, like I never see their parents. It's where our, our kids notice when other couples aren't affectionate and they think it's weird. So for us, we sit back. I'm like cool, like I hope that's a standard that my daughters look for one day. Yeah, when they decide to get married and start a family that they're loved, because they see the love that our yeah I agree parents had and I think that's missed a lot because I I'm a big advocate on dating your daughters.

Speaker 1: 2:25:06

I've put videos on dude oh, you want to date your daughter and you get these dudes like bro, like it's like dude, you're a fucking retard.

Speaker 2: 2:25:13

Tell me you don't have kids.

Speaker 1: 2:25:14

Yeah, yeah, you're like, you're a fucking idiot.

Speaker 2: 2:25:16

This is why you're making this comment.

Speaker 1: 2:25:17

All right, yeah, window lickers it's, and it's not even just the date right going on that date, it's every day like I open the door for her, I'm opening the door. If my, if there's any daughter close to her, I'm opening doors. Yeah, we walk in anywhere. She kind of gets irritated with it because, oh hey, man, like no, like I, I don't ever. I feel like an asshole. If a woman opens a door in front of me like I, I get up. I, if there's a woman that's pushing a stroller, I show my daughters. I try to do everything that I can and I'm not perfect at it but to show my daughters how a true man, yeah, supposed to treat a woman or any woman in general. And I'm not I'm not saying I'm this, yeah, cross t's, dot di, I'm perfect, but I want to at least set whatever roles in boundaries, in standards for my daughters at this age, starting now, yeah, when now as old as yours is. So it's, it's not something you're teaching them, that's just life and that's how it?

Speaker 1: 2:26:11

is. Those are their expect expectations standards are set negotiables I tell them like, if you, if you go to the boy, he's not going to open a door for you the first night, and no way. Why like red flags?

Speaker 2: 2:26:21

yeah, it's you know and that's, and ideally you know, you see, a value. Chivalry is actually a knight thing. It was from medieval times. It was like how knights treated women and I think it's a warrior thing. Chivalry is a powerful thing and it's a protective thing and I think it's. You know, it's interesting and I see this sway like conservative values, things like that. They're coming back, man, it's like. It's like cool to be conservative again and all these things are kind of morphing. And I think it's interesting how platforms like you have and there's like this push to like bring it back to center.

Speaker 1: 2:26:52

Cause it went way the other way for a while.

Speaker 2: 2:26:55

It's bringing back these values and their values of strength man, their values of strength of of good roles, of healthy relationships and how things are supposed to be, and it's like balanced people are. People are better when there's like a structural, universal, natural balance with things. And part of that is, you know, and that's for men too, it's like we need to have emotional control right. It's like the anger shit like that that we guys, like us, struggle with. It's like what I struggle with. It's like having emotional control, being able to maintain frame, being able to be that rock. You know it's like we're not always perfect, but every day get a little better, you know, get a little bit better control a little bit better clarity, because they're seeing all that too Right.

Speaker 1: 2:27:37

I see everything and it's like why?

Speaker 2: 2:27:38

why am I?

Speaker 1: 2:27:38

acting like this. Yeah, that goes back to like the phone thing. There's days where I'll I'll lose it, a snap on something stupid and I start reflecting. I'm like what the fuck caused me to like it was such a minute thing and why am I so irritated over it?

Speaker 1: 2:27:52

yeah and I was like, oh, I just watched some dude stab another dude and this little guy punched an old lady and I saw something I'm like it's just, it's just hate. Yeah, that's all we're fed now. So that's where it's like I have to reflect, be like okay, like why do I have this feeling? Nothing in my life that is that has impacted me under this roof has happened. Like there's nothing. Why, why am I acting like this? It's like okay, I need to detox.

Speaker 2: 2:28:19

I I need to get off this shit. Yeah, it's lack of intentionality and that's what it is. It's what I've rooted it. When I do that and I'm like kind of reactive, I realized I haven't really been intentional with what I've been doing. Dude, I have like something to admit of on easter right also, a little flare of not perfection of me, where I had to check myself.

Speaker 2: 2:28:39

The baby's crying we're at, we're up in court lane. We're at the face of like we're not in our good situation. I'm like I lost my belt and I'm kind of we're not running late good situation. I'm like I lost my belt and I'm kind of we're not running late, but I wanted to get going and the baby's crying and I kind of like putting her down in the thing and she's like we know she's going to have to take a nap soon, like, and I was kind of taking it out, like we shouldn't go to church or whatever, like I was just kind of and I'm like walking in the's, just stay, like whatever, and she's like you need to relax, like you're just mad because you're fucking can't find your belt and the baby's crying and I wanted to lash out. I wanted to defend my position. Stand that ground.

Speaker 1: 2:29:15

I'll burn, I'll burn the house to the ground.

Speaker 2: 2:29:17

You know like I'm dying, I'll die on this hill, and I realized that I sat with it and this was a small fraction of what I saw progress in myself. But I'm like I get in the car. You know, I'm just, I was like I'm just not gonna say anything, let me just process that. I'm like, well, she's right, I do need to show the fucking time and I go and I go.

Speaker 2: 2:29:34

She's not wrong there, but I don't like how she said it. You know, I start like justifying, like I, you know, tell me what I should do. You know, like, how do you have such attitude toward me? Yeah, you know, and I'm, but and here's the interesting part about God and Jesus and all this part, you know and I, we go to this new church never been. I just told her to look up a church. It's called the cause.

Speaker 2: 2:29:54

Best preacher I've ever seen in my life Really Best fucking guy on stage I've ever spoke straight to you. Huh, and he was. His wife was sitting there and this kid sits next to me, standing right here, dude, and I'm holding there and he looks at me and he goes are you taylor cavanaugh? And I went. Yeah, he goes, what are you doing here? And I go. I'm going to church here like I'm. We're up in court lane. He goes. He goes, dude, I was in prison for three years and I started watching your shit and I got out and I really got. I just decided to change my life. He goes. Now I'm married and I'm here with my kid.

Speaker 2: 2:30:33

We moved up here from Boise and I was like thanks, dude. Dude, it was like a powerful moment and my fiance was sitting there he goes, that was really. He was. Name was Gary, gary, what up, dude? And and he was just like hey, dude, I'm really glad you're here, he goes. I just, I really appreciate your message and honesty and, you know, and I was like thanks, man, you know, and that wasn't even that, was just powerful reminder, like hey, dude, chill the fuck out, like zoom out.

Speaker 2: 2:31:02

And then the preacher was up on stage talking about he had just an amazing sermon and really got into, you know, the resistance we feel, you. You know like, like the resistance you feel to christ and the resistance we feel with things. And we were, it's just the message was getting wrapped up in our own bullshit, right, and feeding ourself these, these lies, and getting caught up and not not remembering the, the small gratitudes. Yeah, you know, I'm sitting there my beautiful baby's crying, you know, and I'm in a beautiful house, in court lane, and I'm fucking mad because I can't find my belt. It's like ridiculous, you know, and it's like understanding that a lot of it's chemical, right, it's chemical reactions, fight or flight.

Speaker 2: 2:31:34

It's understanding all these physiological processes and not allowing them to cloud, you know, do a cloud over our brain and I just I'm grateful, man, for christ and god and all these things, man, that have really come together, man, and sitting here with you full circle, talking about this stuff, after literally driving by the jail I was at on the way here, wild huh. Yeah, I remember looking at the freeway, like looking out through the window of seeing this freeway, and being like I've been in that jail multiple times, you know, for periods of time, and so uh it's, and thinking about the guys in there, you know, and then what journey are they going to be on? Some will be, you know, and it just was. It was powerful dude coming to sit here and wrap all this story up for you.

Speaker 2: 2:32:13

What a surreal feeling to look at a place that was probably a pretty low point in your life yeah now you're driving by it with a beautiful fiance, a beautiful baby girl yeah, and it was a long path and I could have never have seen it unless I just focused on the day-to-day and went and shed everything, quite literally, to get it all back times 10. You know, I had to shed it all away and that's what I think. If you're a struggling man or you're in this position, what can you get rid of? Quite literally, people placing in things what's not serving you? Shit don't, I'm not saying forever.

Speaker 2: 2:32:52

Start today. Just start shedding stuff right. Start with a friend list. Start with a friend list. Start cleaning your phone out. Just clean your drawers out, clean your closet out. Seriously, small things. Simplify your life. Get rid of your most of your wardrobe, get rid of clean up your bills. What do you? What subscriptions are you paying on? You don't need all these small things. Just simplify down to what you're eating, man and, and then then you could start removing a lot of variables and you start really recognizing what's serving you, what's not yeah, damn man, I'm glad you came by I'm glad, dude, you know I was, I was in the.

Speaker 2: 2:33:26

We're staying at the renegade hotel beautiful hotel, by the way, bro, bad-ass dog friendly. We're at the pit bull in and, dude, they set the dog bed out and it's like a nice hotel too. It's swanky, super nice, but very well priced, super nice. I was like, man, this is super, style it. But anyway's why I told her she's, I'm like, why I was like I just got good vibes on bam dude, like I'd seen his stuff, we connected and it was just all synergetically. I saw your stuff and it always just really was honest and just authentic and just came across to me well and I I just knew we were gonna be able to click simple just a conversation you know and it's, I feel, one of the best.

Speaker 2: 2:34:02

this is probably the best podcast I've ever done. Man, man, really, yeah, about 1,000%, 1,000% of just like. I talked about a lot of stuff I've never had. Most stuff we were talking about was completely new and just got me thinking in different ways.

Speaker 1: 2:34:14

Damn that means so you have no idea what that means. I mean, even if you're blowing smoke, I don't give a fuck, I'll take it.

Speaker 2: 2:34:19

No, I'm not Dude. If I was, if I was gonna need to blow smoke, I was just not saying anything.

Speaker 1: 2:34:25

You've been on some big heavy hitters, bro. You just have a good flow, man. Thank you. We don't know what we're doing and that's probably the best that's probably the best.

Speaker 2: 2:34:33

It's because it's uh, but there's some people just natural at at being able to guide energy and thanks, dude, I'm not gonna lie too, though you have an inquisitive mind. Well, because cause I, that helps I watch.

Speaker 1: 2:34:46

Thank you, dude, and I, I, I watch people's podcasts and then, like you, would say something like but what about this? Yeah, like, what? Well, he's got a daughter? Like nobody fucking asked him. Like, what's it like being a dad?

Speaker 1: 2:34:57

Now, you know, at least that's just how I work and some people might like, some people might like it up, but I feel just for us and what works is just having a conversation. I genuinely love it because I get to know people on such like a different level, like I would have loved to. I'm gonna fly you back out here. I want to get into, like your military stories, but I do. Yeah, I think this conversation is great because I don't know, fuck all about you, except for what you just put out on social. I mean, we've never hung out before. I don't think I don't. I mean I'm sure we probably have mutual friends, but, um, yeah, man, I I just I was telling her I'm like there's not very many people that like I.

Speaker 1: 2:35:32

I get excited over everybody. I don't want to downplay anybody, but there's. There's only been a couple, like in the very beginning, where I was nervous too. But like I see episodes and I'm like, fuck, this guy's been on some legit platforms. So coming in here I'm like and I earlier I was kind of irritated because normally our daughter runs all this. You see, this is her, this is her realm. And then the wife is this her first episode she's ever filmed? Like, yeah, so if it's crushing it over there.

Speaker 1: 2:35:55

If it's fucked up, it's her fault. Yeah, no, no, no, yeah, she's, yeah. And uh, yeah, she's over here scrolling, not paying attention, but, um, I don't know where I was going with this, but it's just like it's cool because we're just dude, this is it. It's just my daughter and I well, now my wife for this episode I was nervous a little bit. I'm like this guy's all over, he's on some big platforms. We're all just bros, dude, we're all just grunts. Man, that's how I treat everybody.

Speaker 2: 2:36:20

That's how it should be we're all just like doing the damn thing, and I think anybody that ever gets past that. You lose the sauce, lose track. You lose the sauce, dude, you lose what actually kind of gets you there. It's like, don't forget what got you there and keep doing it. Don't ever lose that grounding man. It's, it's work for it. Dude, I want to get, I want to go hunting with you sometime, dude all right, dude, I would love that, bro, because I want to start getting into hunting and stuff.

Speaker 2: 2:36:43

I really am. I've done some up in bakersfield. We do some like boar hunting with knives and the dogs. We've done that a couple times and that was cool, but I've never really hunted okay, ever right it's just not my thing. But I grew up in san diego man, we weren't hunting, nothing, so but I want to get into it, you know, because we'll probably be moving into idaho and I want to get into that world.

Speaker 1: 2:37:01

You let me know yeah man, we'll get it lined up. I got one last question for you, for this generation and the young kids that are joining the military or thinking about it or just lost. What is a word of advice that you would just for these young men that are out there? Is there any thing that would just word of advice for anybody listening? Man, you've been through it all. You have a hell of a story. You've gone from rock bottom to top of the mountains and back again. What is something that you think this generation should hear, pay heed to?

Speaker 2: 2:37:34

some of these tales of caution, man Right, you don't need to go to jail, you don't need to lose everything and to learn a lesson. Smart motherfuckers, wise ones, ones, not like you or I, right, learn from other people's mistakes. You don't need to make them yourself, don't. Let's not keep doing the same things, right? And also, you'll never you'll never regret being more disciplined and more focused on your goals. I look back at times in college that I would have could have really enjoyed it a lot more, even learning, you know, and I was too hung over or fucking just know just stuff. I look back and I, I, I could have had a better, better experiences, just being a little bit more disciplined and more purpose driven and focused. Not saying you got to be a monk, but dial it back. Get more purpose like is this helping me or hurting me? Make those, if you make that, that smart decision more often than not, and you'll get more and more clear on that wisdom over time, but you'll never regret that yeah, no, I love that man thanks dude.

Speaker 1: 2:38:35

Yeah, I appreciate you forever, I know you got a mac, but I appreciate you, man. This was cool yeah, I seriously like I've been talking about this for a while and just was like man, dude, I'm looking forward to let my fiance try some bread.

Speaker 2: 2:38:47

Man, she's gonna be so stoked. I already told her about like they're making some sourdough. I had no idea. It was like gucci sour bread.

Speaker 1: 2:38:51

I was fucking gucci sour bread, yes yeah, it's gucci sourdough, for sure I had no idea, man.

Speaker 2: 2:38:56

I was like man, this is some gucci shit man what we do.

Speaker 1: 2:38:58

When we started this, it was kind of just like for us I was telling you earlier, because I'd, yeah, we're up guts and shit. And then we got into it and then everybody was trying. I was like, bro, what the hell? Then then we just started playing around with it and people were buying it. And we have a guy that that we went to a party and we brought a couple loaves and he's got all these restaurants and he, he tries and he's like how do I get this is my restaurant yeah that's so cool, man.

Speaker 1: 2:39:20

What like when you know it's right? And then we have this little boutique across the border in Oregon, right there in Ontario, and they were like, hey, we want to do sourdough Saturdays. Can you guys provide this? That's so cool. Then it just started rolling and we're like so we just ordered the oven. It should hopefully be here this week coming up and yeah, we're scaling this dude Like I mean, this is really cool, man, it's just something different and you chasing the these big goals and wanting to be these ceos. But it's like, bro, I get to bake bread with my kids, we get to enjoy as a family and it's fun and what they learn through the process too, because they see the entrepreneurial process.

Speaker 2: 2:39:53

That's one piece that I was didn't grow up with zero, I had no, no, that 100. I the values there. It's like show your kids the entrepreneurial process, because that's where powers lies. It's like that's where power lies they're learning how to do.

Speaker 1: 2:40:07

We'll drop them off at a farmer's market. Yeah, like it's all you guys, you guys want to make money. You got to run it like mommy yeah we'll drop them off and they'll call us out. Oh, we sold 180 loaves. We're out, we're like what?

Speaker 2: 2:40:18

yeah, yeah yeah, they probably sell more than you or I could.

Speaker 1: 2:40:22

Yeah cute little kids. I mean, who says no to them're like yeah, I got no but life experience in the field, man in the field service, yep the product development. They're learning how to. Okay, we got to break down the cost of this. What are we selling it for now? Now we're scaling this, so we're actually doing sourdough parties. That's cool. So people are doing like home house warming parties sourdough soirees, bro.

Speaker 2: 2:40:44

It's a good one thing, dude. Why not? Why not?

Speaker 1: 2:40:46

Yeah, I get to learn. We sat him down. We're like listen, this is none of our dream jobs, but you guys are going to learn, yeah, and so when you, when you go off, if you want to go to college, cool. If you were like, hey, uh, this is ripping, we need to go, we'll give you a hundred thousand for 90 percent. But yeah, dude, thank you yeah, I appreciate your time, man. This is great.

Speaker 2: 2:41:13

Um, so I was looking forward to this man said, and it hit just how I thought I'm glad it lined up, dude. I'm so glad everybody and I knew that too, because we got down here the drive was super smooth, good, like the beautiful. We got into the hotel. They're like your room's ready, we parking a lot right, just everything was like baby went to sleep, she went to bed, the dog went to sleep.

Speaker 2: 2:41:31

I was like man this is smooth man, this is gonna be a good one, yeah, so I appreciate y'all's time thanks, dude.

Speaker 1: 2:41:37

I appreciate it again. I would love to have you back out.

Speaker 2: 2:41:40

I'll be out here we'll be back and forth here. I'll be up in boise. We're looking at houses, maybe here or there, like we're looking all over awesome dude.

Speaker 1: 2:41:46

Well, we'll be in touch and so until then.

Speaker 2: 2:41:48

Thank you, dude I appreciate you, bro, appreciate you man that's awesome yeah, likewise cool that was awesome sick dude that was sign the wall before you did. I love that bro.