BONUS Episode: David Garza, an Ironman Triathlete and Father talks highs and lows, Alcoholism, and Mindset

In this Bonus Episode, Barton and David explore how discomfort, discipline, and honest self-assessment create growth in midlife, guided by 17-time Ironman.  From signing up for scary goals to choosing sobriety and leading as a dad, we focus on practical ways to expand your comfort zone and set real priorities.

• season focus on thriving men aged 40 to 60
• mindset shift that pain signals growth not danger
• choosing sports that match your wiring and joy
• fear of the unknown in racing and life
• presence over anxiety through pacing and body scans
• social media noise versus process discipline
• sobriety as a turning point and daily choice
• passing on lessons not fear to kids
• big rocks prioritisation for family and goals
• music and DJing as connection and recovery
• one daily act that scares you as a habit

Get 15% off Iron Neck 3.0 Pro with our link in the show notes. They offer a 30-day money back guarantee.

https://www.iron-neck.com/discount/AFFILIATE?rfsn=6753507.a081d5&utm_source=refersion&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=barton.bryan

Email me your story or triumph; my email’s in the show notes.

Become a Premium Member of Dadbods and Dumbbells by visiting:

https://dadbodsanddumbbells.supercast.com

To Learn more about GLP-1s and Set Up a TeleMed Call with Solutions RX, use this link:

https://solutionsrxaustin.com/solutionsrxaustin-dadbods-and-dumbells

To Learn more about Getting in Shape with Barton's company Team Bryan Wellness, check out http://teambryanwellness.com

----------

Follow Mitch: http://instagram.com/runwithmitch

Follow Bart: http://instagram.com/bartonguybryan

Follow the Podcast: http://instagram.com/dad_bods_and_dumbbells

Visit Mitch's website: http://Bigboysruntoo.com

Visit Barton's Training Website: http://teambryanwellness.com

Chapters

• 0:05 Season Focus: Men 40–60
• 0:46 Meet David Garza: 17x Ironman
• 1:43 Sponsor: Iron Neck 3.0 Pro
• 2:56 Mindset, Discipline, And Fitness
• 5:02 Valleys, Growth, And The Pain Cave
• 8:43 Mental Limits And Comfort Zones
• 13:32 Choosing Your Sport And Process
• 22:10 First Ironman: Fear Of Unknown
• 28:09 Presence Over Worry In Racing
• 37:16 Social Media, Comparison, And Focus
• 43:41 Sobriety, Rock Bottom, And Repair
• 50:12 Addiction, Priorities, And Parenting
• 56:45 Family First And The Big Rocks
• 1:01:54 DJ Life: Music As Connection
• 1:06:25 One Habit: Do What Scares You
• 1:08:52 Closing Reflections And Listener Stories

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:05

You're listening to the Mindset Forge podcast. Welcome back. I'm Barton Bryan, your host, and in season five, our focus is all about helping men in that 40 to 60 range really maximize this chapter of your life. Here are a couple things I'm going to assume about you as a listener. First of all, you don't believe in mediocrity and you want to find ways that you can continue to thrive, level up, and even maybe find some hacks, some habits, some disciplines that you haven't actually implemented yet that are going to help you get more out of life, be stronger, happier, healthier, and really achieve your wildest dreams in this chapter of life. And so that's what I'm all about today with this podcast, with this new direction. And I have brought a friend of mine, his name is David Garza. He is a 17-time Iron Man triathlete. Let me say that again, 17 times. Insane. He's actually going to France in the fall to do another triathlon. This guy is really just like an athlete's athlete, but he's got such a great story, not just as an athlete, as a dad, as somebody who's five and a half years sober. His life hasn't just been successes and gold medals and all that kind of thing. His life has been a struggle, a series of ups and downs, and he's come a long way because of that. And he's here to share his life, his story, his understanding of like how to do it well, so that we can really maximize not just our athletic performance, but the discipline to be a great dad, to be somebody who prioritizes the right things for your life so that you can then maximize the things that matter most and get rid of some of those things that don't matter. Before we kick off this episode, I want to shout out the sponsor of the Mindset Forge podcast, and that is Iron Neck. The Iron Neck is a revolutionary device used to really strengthen and rehabilitate the neck muscles. Now, if you've seen the Iron Neck, sometimes it can look a little bit awkward or barbaric, even like wow, I see these MMA fighters on YouTube or Instagram using this thing. It must be super hard or tough or whatever, but that's not the case at all. This is so gentle. You because you wear that little crown with a band, you're just using all the neck muscles in a very dynamic and free-flowing way, and you don't have to put a lot of pressure on the neck. You can really rehabilitate the movements of the neck without jeopardizing, re-injuring your neck. It's something that I currently use all the time. It's an awesome device, and they've just came out with their Iron Neck 3.0 Pro, which you can jump online and get at a discount. So check out the show notes. You get 15% off by using my link. And you know what they have? They've got a 30-day money back guarantee. So if you buy one, if you don't find it's the most amazing value for strengthening and rehabilitating your neck, you can get your money back. All right. Without further ado, my main man, David Garza. David Garza, how you doing, brother?

SPEAKER_02: 2:58

I'm doing very well. Thank you so much for having me today, sir. I'm excited to be out here.

SPEAKER_01: 3:02

Absolutely. Uh, both of us, a little older, a little grayer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 3:07

Boy, they're popping out. I think my kids give me that.

SPEAKER_01: 3:10

My kids give me that. Yeah. This interview really wanna go into like the mindset stuff, the obstacles, the things that you've learned just in your life, not just as an athlete, but as a human being, a dad, and how you can help, and we can help people listening to really to find little ways to really think differently, level up, just attack their fitness, attack their their kind of life's journey a little bit differently. Yeah. So let's start in the fitness realm. Uh like talk about some things that you just maybe discovered along the way that allowed you to really just like magnify your either work ethic or just your performance.

SPEAKER_02: 3:48

You know, the the great thing about what I get to do is it's it's hand in hand. So I get to do my personal accomplishments, whether it's multi-sport, doing Iron Man races, something I never thought I would be doing, um, and take all my experiences throughout the good and the bad of the of the races and the training and you know the hours that you put in for that, then I can actually take it to where it's in class. And especially on a spin bike, you know, when everybody gets tired and you have those little messages, those little golden nuggets you like to drop out there, um, I get to take a very personal note and apply it to hopefully somebody that's tired and exhausted, whether in life or just on the bike, and they get to be very open to whatever I'm trying to uh talk about that day, which which makes it great because so well, so let's go.

SPEAKER_01: 4:43

What what is like a let's say listeners on a bike right now, they're feeling or they're struggling, you know, being motivated, like getting the work done, getting that like what are the things that you like to tell people, or what are the ways that you kind of fire somebody up and kind of keep them on track?

SPEAKER_02: 4:57

Gosh, you know, the the one thing that literally just pops my mind right now is like you're like, how can we help people? And I one thing I want to tell everybody is that nothing lasts. Nothing lasts forever. So whether you're going through that tough time in your life, and and the way I describe it is it's it's a valley and you have these great big mountain peaks, and you know, maybe you're trying to get to the top of the mountain, which is a great journey and it's a great accomplishment, and a lot of people do that, but it takes effort to level up, to climb. And every level that you go up requires a certain amount of uh energy and challenge for you to overcome to go to the next one. And the great thing that I always tell people about in class is like, you know, there's a great, a great view on top of the mountain, and people will pay an enormous amount of money to go and climb a mountain and look at the very top. But what the people don't don't understand is that down in the valley, that's where the growth happens. Like that's where all life is happening, like in the thick of it, in the down part. And that's where I want a lot of people to understand that when you're down, that is the greatest time in your life for growth, for self-reflection, for what direction you need to go to or what direction you need to step away from. And some of those hard choices that you have to make are worth making it if they're gonna align you with what you're trying to do in your life. And I don't know what you're going through in your life, but I do know you're going through something. That's life. Life is struggle and life is challenges, and life is constantly changing, like all the time. So, how are you going to adapt to let's say you're on a bike in my class, how are you gonna adapt to this song? Are you gonna get stronger? You're gonna put a little bit more tension on that bike, you're gonna go a little bit harder, you're gonna push past that level that you thought was your perceived um stopping point. And and and when you get past that point, where are you now? Because you've now just leveled up, and now you get a whole new level of challenges and accomplishments and triumphs that will enhance you and and make you stronger for that next level that of life that you're gonna go through.

SPEAKER_01: 7:11

Yeah. And you know, fitness, especially in a class where like an instructor like you or myself is leading them, and and oftentimes there's a challenging moment, you know, a mile run, some sort of a like uh, you know, endurance challenge you're putting them through on the bike, they're you know, they're leveling up their resistance, their thighs are burning. It's just like, and it's so easy for people, you know, at any level to like feel like the pain they're experiencing in that moment is somehow like undurable, like or um like it's too much, or it's like if I if I go to this pain threshold, or if I go into this, I'll never like it's somehow like the end. Yes. And they don't understand that that's again, like you said, they can they go through it. Like it's just it's it's temporary, and so often the pain we feel is the worst pain we've ever felt, becomes like a marginal pain once we've done it a few times, we've adapted to it. But we're so we're so inclined to to uh escape discomfort, and I think that's one of the great things. My my trainer in high school, Gary Mann, rest in peace, brother. Um would say, fitness working out is a mental exercise done physically. And I had no idea really what that meant, but it just like never left me. And every time it was hurting, every time I was pushing myself, like and I just kept remembering that, like it's really up here, it's in our heads. So talk about that mental to physical like uh relationship that you have to develop, especially as an elite athlete.

SPEAKER_02: 8:43

Yeah, that that comes to mind. I really wish I could remember. I so I spent a lot of my time looking at like motivational, inspirational, you know, stories, uh, quotes, Pinterest, you know, take to all that stuff. Uh, and I remember hearing somebody say that when you start to feel discomfort or pain in your muscles, you still got at least 30% more to give. And I always talk about how uncomfortable life is. And life wants you to be mediocre, mundane. It is your best way for survival. That's that's the way we're all wired. We're all hardwired for that. The minute that we start to feel uncomfortable is when we're like, oh wait, I don't like that. I'm not gonna push that. It's innate in us. And to understand that life actually happens outside that comfort zone. And you've got to push past that a little bit. And you have to understand that that temporary pain is just there to let you know that, okay, you're being challenged. It's not okay, you need to stop. You know, unless, like, I mean, like if you break your leg, you might want to stop. But if you feel a little bit of uncomfortableness, that's exactly where you need to be because that is where you get to mentally train your physical body that you can do all these things. You just have to understand that that's not a stopping point. It's actually the starting point of where you want to be. And when you get to that point, having that understanding or their mental fortitude that, like, okay, this is gonna suck. And one of my favorite triathlones, Chris McCormick, is like, you gotta embrace that suck. Like when it happens, go and you'll get through it. Because, like I said before, that that pain is going to stop when you stop challenging yourself. When you get back to that bubble, it's back to business as normal. And now, where do you go from there? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 10:32

This, you know, um a friend of mine always talks about the pain cave, and that's kind of him and his friends, like and a lot of endurance athletes. I think they talk about that because it's like once you get to that place where it's like you're in the pain cave, like you're not you can't process anything else except for what you're going through, but you can't leave, you can't stop, right? So you have to just run through that pain cave. And I think that's something that if we're not experiencing on some level, on you know, you know, if not daily, at least weekly, like I think that's where we start to fall back into what you were just talking about, that comfortable, mediocre place. And I and you know, let's be clear. People can be amazing human beings and not work out. And but when you're working out and you're finding that place where you're uncomfortable, your thighs are on fire, your chest is burning from the push-ups, or you know, whatever you're doing, and you stick it out, and you don't you don't pull back and slow down. You say, Oh, here it is. Garza said, I've got 30% more. And I I believe that. I don't know if it's 30, I've heard even 30. When your body starts telling you, when you basically your brain starts taking the messages from your body and telling you you're in danger, you're you're you you're at 30% of what you can do. Yes. I mean, that's what Goggins would say. He'd say you're barely. But I mean, that's the thing. It's like, it's like we are, we just have this incredible survival brain that teaches us like danger, you know, the whole cold plunge concept. Like, you can think it's like a fad and all that kind of stuff, but it is a perfect example. You throw yourself in ice cold water, your body immediately sends a message like, get the fuck out of here. Like, this is bad, bad. And then you have to mentally, physically, like calm yourself down, slow your breathing down. And you know, here's the reality. Yes, if you stay long enough, you will have frostbite. You could die, but that's not for 20 minutes or more. Like, so let's all calm down and enjoy five minutes of like the mind, the body, like figuring out how to handle discomfort, how to handle something that's so that at first feels like I mean, the first time I jumped into ice water up to my neck, literally, no joke, I felt like I was being suffocated. Wow. Like my brain told my body, you can't breathe. You can't breathe. You can't breathe. Like it literally, I mean, I'm at it lasted a minute and I just busted out of the oh crap, you know, and it was like this uh just visceral. And I'm like, well, that's not true, that's not real. That was that was my brain overcome, like I wasn't able to kind of think myself through it, and so you know, you adapt to that. And so, but if I only did that once, that one experience, and I said, Oh guys, that's bad. That's bad. Right. That would have defined me, and I would have taken a step backwards instead of saying, Hey, you know what? What is that? I need to go find out what it's like to be in that water and to and to chill myself out, literally. Yeah, you know, and find and and so exercise, those types of things, all opportunities to kind of like challenge the mind, challenge the body uh to adapt. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 13:46

Yeah, that goes on to one of the things I always say, and and people laugh at me for it. I was like, pain doesn't hurt. Pain doesn't hurt. Pain pain is an acknowledgement that you are about to, or in it, get out of that comfort zone. That is where the the greatest aspects of life are. And I say that because you think about that that experience, pain helped you remember that that experience happened, right? It didn't, it didn't like if it would have just been another bath, I mean, I'm sure you've taken a lot of baths in your life and you don't remember them, but you remember this one ice bath and every single aspect of his experience, which has taught you that that pain is tolerable. Like you can do it. Like you you went through it and you're like, wait a minute, how did I decipher this? How did I dissect this pain to go through it? Because you will experience life in pain, uh, pain in life. You will experience it many times over. Uh matter of fact, and my Iron Man, I pay a lot of money to go throughout that. And I find out so much about myself and my what I say is that I find out so much about myself pushing my body to the limits than I will ever do laying on a couch talking to somebody who has a degree on the wall. I want to go through those experiences. I do, I love it. I feel like I can live while I challenge myself to accept the pain. I know that there will be pain. So, my challenge to me and to everybody else listening is how are you going to have pain show you this lesson and you grow from it? Like to me, that's always been the biggest thing.

SPEAKER_01: 15:33

And I think you know, there are plenty of such circumstances where if somebody, you know, s went to seek some sort of you know experience and you know actually got hurt or got or died and fell from you know, died in at Mount Everest or something like that. But within the context of like, you know, you're not gonna die from running, you're not gonna die from yeah, a burpee. A burpee or 20. Or 20, 25, 30. Go to David Garza's class, you're not gonna die from a spin class. But but the you know, so we obviously you know be safe, be thoughtful, but like, and I always think if you can figure out the thing that as a kid, you know, that you loved before it mattered that you loved it. Like, like to a sport, if you were just like, I love to run, or I love, I just love being in the water, that's probably like some information that you might want to lean into when it comes to like if you're looking for that thing, you know. I mean, hey, dance. Like, if you were a dancer, go back and lean into that. I mean, there's nothing there's nothing easy about you know, trying to really master the art of you know of dance or something like that. Like, because if we try to like, oh well, David's he's he's a bite guy, so I'm gonna be a bite guy. Like, and if that's not fun to you at all, like you're not gonna last that long. So you gotta you it's like the challenge of the the activity and like pushing yourself through. And I think there are times like I don't really love to run, but I'm gonna go run because I want to challenge myself. But if I'm gonna put all of my bat eggs into the like the running basket, I'm probably gonna be miserable because it's not my it's not my like place that I want to like thrive in. Like I'm more of a gym rat, more of a bodybuilder type. So I'm gonna thrive in that environment. So like I think that that's key too, is like you gotta kind of know yourself to know like what is the what's the type of sports or things that I'm gonna like thrive in and then go all into that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 17:27

Well, that's always absolutely you gotta find your own personal challenge because we're two athletes, but the athleticism between us is so far-fetched. Like, like you said, you were in the bodybuilding, like I seen you on stage, and I've saw those pictures. I'm like, I would never in my lifetime ever want to do that. Like, I get that. I at once thought I would never in my lifetime do an Iron Man, not because I didn't want to, because I was scared of it. Right. Yeah, that I mean, I was like, wow, that's kind of cool. I would do that. I honestly know, like I would I see that and I'm like, there I have no wanting of that. Yeah, and that for me is I explored that. And you're absolutely right. Like, you have to find what gets you up and motivated to be all like, dude, I'm gonna go find the best coffee place in Austin, whatever it is. The challenges of that, they're gonna be pretty astronomical. I'm gonna be the best runner in Austin, or be the best, you know, runner in my family, or whatever it is, or in you don't even have to do a competition with anybody. It's always gonna be within yourself. And so I always tell people that I'm like, look, you don't don't do what I'm doing. Like, I my lessons are my lessons, and my path is my path. Like, I can give you my stories and everything I've learned from it so that can you can help find your path because you're right, because the like I'd be like, hey, Brian, we're gonna go run 10 miles on Sunday. You look at me and be like, no, I'm not, because that's not who you are. And but if you challenge me, I'm gonna come. Yeah, but the challenge, and then I'll be like, okay, then next week, and next week you're gonna like do it twice the pain told me that that was it on that one time. I'm good to go. Going back to the gym, I'm good. But yeah, but yeah, everybody, you you really you you hit that nail, like you've got to find something that you're passionate about, that you're willing to do the work when the work gets hard, yeah, and not when the pain gets too unbearable, and you're like, okay, maybe I find something different.

SPEAKER_01: 19:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 19:25

Because that that's when it really needs a set in of like, why are you doing this?

SPEAKER_01: 19:31

What is your why for you doing that? And there's a joy to being a novice, like doing something like very novice. I'm a novice jogger, I'm a novice swimmer, like that's great. There's there's kind of a fun joy. You don't have any expectations on yourself, you're not really like pushing yourself to be elite or or level up. The moment you start to do that, you start getting into like an intermediate place where you're like, you're actually kind of creating workouts, you're programming like a certain amount of miles per week, and you're building those over the course of three months. Whatever you're doing, then all of a sudden it gets real. And it because you're you're setting expectations for yourself that you need to show up for. And um, that's I think that's that's that's where it shifts, that's where it changes, that's where um, you know, and the sport of bodybuilding, it's like it's not even about getting on stage, it's about it's all the work it takes. On stage part is just fun, like you know, you're like you look incredible, you're all tanned up, you jump on stage, or you know, people cheer for you, you flex and you walk off, and and boom. Like that's that's the fun part. The hard part is like the cardio and the diet, and the you know, just this, you know, all the obsession around preparing for that one moment at the very stage. So, you know, so it's just it's you you just gotta find the thing that you're willing to go all the way for with.

SPEAKER_02: 20:48

You know, that's a really good point because I think that a lot of people just see that what I call a life spot, your life spot on stage, but in all honesty and being true with yourself, I bet you loved the process of the journey of getting to that point, learning about yourself. Not gonna say like it didn't suck sometimes, but but you learn so much about yourself, and I think a lot of people really focus on the end goal as opposed to the process or the journey. Like that that's where more emphasis needs to be happening. Like, hey, today I get to go to class or I get to go and run, I get to see if I can do X, Y, and Z. I can try and nail this choreography for this dance or whatever it is, and you don't do it. Then you get to learn how to get to that point, and each part of that process of the journey leads to a bigger picture, right? And I I think a lot of people are missing that part.

SPEAKER_01: 21:53

Well, and and it's hard with social media. What do we post? Oh, yeah. Sometimes sometimes it's like, you know, I was posting like you know, me on the elliptic or the stairmaster because I hated the stairmaster. I'm like, all right, Stairmaster Chronicle time. It's time to, you know, but it it really is the it's you know, and it's the journey, not the destination. But I think you know, talk to me about Iron Man training, like, because I really think that one of the best things that we can do is just go sign up for something that you have no confidence you can actually succeed at, and then go figure out how you're gonna get there. Yeah, you know, like and some people like sign up for a marathon for triathlon, something like that. You like something that you know is gonna be really hard, and then put yourself to the test. That was the first thing I did was I looked on the you know website, like what NPC shows are available in the spring, found that one that was in Houston, signed up for it in uh you know in December, and then I was like, man, I got four months, let's go. Yeah, you know, I was like, I gotta, I gotta, I can't get my money back, I'm not backing out, let's go. And I think so. Talk about you know, your maybe go back to your first Iron Man and like signing up and the work you did up to that point and kind of that process.

SPEAKER_02: 23:06

Yeah, so I actually I can give you two stories and I'll make them short though. The very first Iron Man that I did was Iron Man Cozumel, and just like you said, I signed up. I had no idea what I was doing. I'd I've pretty much been self-taught throughout my entire journey. I've had some coaches help me out, but it's all been me. Uh and my first Iron Man, I had a training buddy who was going to go with me and do the race, which was awesome. So we could be in fear together. Um, and then it turns out he got called overseas and he couldn't go do the race. Um, so we wound up still training together and we put in hours and hours and hours of training only because we had no idea what we were doing. We didn't have that experience, right? We didn't, we were just like, well, maybe we put in something like this, something like that. And he had some sort of a direction. I kind of followed him a little bit, and we would put in together workouts of like, okay, well, let's go ride five hours on a bike and go run for an hour afterwards. That sounds like it might be a pretty decent workout to help out with that. So we we did all sorts of crazy things to get us ready for it. I get to uh Cozumel and I'm still scared out of my mind. I've never swam in an ocean. That's where the swim was at. Not only that, you had to swim into a current, and not only that, sometimes the current wouldn't even let you swim. Like, how am I gonna do this? Um, I luckily had a couple of friends that were doing the race as well. And you know, I kind of reached out, I was like, How are they, you know, what do I do? They're like, go to the practice swim, go, you know, give me, they gave me a little guidance, which still didn't settle a lot of the nerves. But uh I I just kept moving forward, and that seems to be a recurring theme throughout my career. Of that, I still scared out of my mind when the race started. We jumped in the ocean, all 2,400 of my closest friends to do this race. Um luckily we got to jump in beside the dolphin enclosure. So I'm looking underwater, looking at the dolphin. He's looking at me and he's like, What are you doing? I was like, shit, I know. I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. What are you doing? And so lo and behold, the gun goes off, and it was go. Like I had to swim. And so luckily I was able to finish the swim and do very well. And as I look back at it, I think the greatest part about it is that I truly had fun in the swim. I remember vividly certain aspects like watching the divers underneath me as I swam over them and seeing some, you know, fish on the ground and seeing the clearest water if you've ever been there. It's clear water. So you see everybody underneath you. Uh and it was actually the one of the best parts of my day was swimming and getting to dry land. Once I got to dry land, I was like as a piece of cake. I gotta ride a bike and then I gotta run a marathon at the end. Once again, different mindset, right? Um, but it was it was so scary. Um, I think the fear is all based on I didn't know. It was fear of the unknown. And that's why we trained so hard for our first time. We didn't know what was going on. So out of fear-based training, we put in more effort. We did more hours, we did more runs, you know, maybe two or three more 20-mile runs. When now in my career, I'm like, I may do one 18-mile run, you know. Of course, I'm getting older too, but I now have the experience of going through the fear of the unknown, going through the fear of the pain, and going through what I think would have been a hard time on that first day is not much of a I've gone through, you know, flats and yeah, all sorts of obstacles in my racing that have prevented me from getting to the finish line. But luckily, like I've been able to finish 17 of those things now. And I'm in this next stage of in September, I'm heading out to the Iron Man World Champs in France. Nice. I don't know how to go to a foreign country and do that race over there. Like they sent me some forms in like in French, and they were like this, and I have no idea what to do. And so I'm going through a whole nother fear base of I don't know what to do. I don't know how to get a place or where to go. And um it's kind of exciting again, actually, now that I look through it. So it's it's always been that the fear of the unknown. And once I got that in my mindset of like, okay, this isn't happening because it's not happened. You if you're worried about the future, you're worried about absolutely nothing because it hasn't happened yet. Why don't you take a step back, prepare as much as possible, do what you can here, and that'll help out throughout the day. Right. And you can't control the things that you don't even know. Oh my gosh. Yeah, so that's that's a great can't control for me and my I can't control the weather, I can't control having three flats, I can't control not feeling my fingers. I mean, it's it's it's it's amazing uh what I thought I couldn't go through. I've gone through and have done more, and I'm still shocking myself about what I can what I can do. Yesterday, me and my my dude, Troy, we did a local race, uh Lake Flugerville. And I love being in second place. I love being in there because I can see first place. I know where I need to go, I know the person I gotta catch. I know everything I need to do to get to that. I don't like being chased. I don't like being chased because I'm not sure what the other guy's got to do. Like I can see what the other person is. And man, sure as shit, that happened yesterday. I was, we do one lap around the lake and I see this one guy, and he blows past me in the run uh at the very beginning. And I'm like, okay, well, just hold my pace. I calm down, I don't freak out. Yeah, I do a body assessment, like, how are things going? I was like, I'm actually feeling pretty good, like in as can be considered, like nothing's hurting, nothing's you know, giving me challenges right now. I was like, okay, let's just hold on right here and see how that goes. Let's just be here in this moment. Let's just do this step, let's just bring this back in here. And slow and surely, after those small little little steps, I was able to close the gap. And um I, you know, I caught up to the guy about mile two, just over mile two. And then I ran like hell because it was after me uh because we had to switch on that. But it it always reminds me of how I just need to stop freaking out about what's gonna go down the road when it's not even happening to be more present in our time that we have that is given to us. at this moment so that we can actually live just like how you were talking about social media that's that's kind of been a it's been a thorn on my side because I see what's going on out there and I'm like okay a lot of that's not real so how do I decipher you know what's gonna be best for me what's gonna be best for my kids as we go throughout this social media type of uh era that we have now yeah well and and you know there's so much bullshit up there out there on the on social too and but also you're trying to you know if you're in fitness you're trying to get a message across or you're trying to like connect with people or and um you know it's just a it's a tough communication you know landscape very much so yeah so yeah I'm thinking about you know all the things first of all Nice France you know people are gonna speak English down there it's ridiculous I mean this is a Cote à jour you're talking about like the south of France like there's gonna be so many international everything everybody I had no idea where Nice was Nice was whatever right next to Italy I'm I I'm yeah they were like where are you going? I was like wherever the start line is that's all I'm really focused on right now.

SPEAKER_01: 31:12

Yeah and and this is the thing too like again going back to the whole like the way our brain like remembers pain like you talked about like in the water pain or pain you remember you I'm sure you can remidly remember how your fingertips were were completely numb. Right yes it's like our memory so we are we have a brain that memorizes or that really focuses on negatives or things that could kill us things that we consider are are dangerous right um and we often forget all the times that we adapted that we that we didn't worry about going to a new town whether it's I mean yes this is a different country they speak a different language there's going to be a few other obstacles but like it's so hard for us to remember like oh my God remember when I hitchhiked through Barcelona and like I mean I don't didn't speak Cantalong and like but we you know when you're younger those things like those things like were not that hard right like we got through them we're still alive we we had we're all we're constantly figuring it out we're constantly succeeding but we don't focus on that we don't even see it half the time you know as a dad you're you know you've got a 17 year old and a was a 14 year old 14 year old I mean you it's I mean talk about a perfect opportunity to see all the places that are like man these my kids are struggling I'm struggling all this kind of stuff but you know you're all still in it you know you you've like here you are you know doing what you have to do loving your kids getting them through this crazy thing called adolescence as best you can yeah um you know and just like taking stock in the fact that like you got this yeah right and that that's what we try I think I think that was a that's a good point is like you know we we we stay in the game like stay in the game just because it gets challenging doesn't mean you have to check out doesn't mean you have to like like leave you know uh that was a great point keep moving forward like keep moving forward just keep swimming just keep failing a wave comes keep swimming wave can another wave comes keeps one right over your head dunks you under keep swimming I I one of my so I'm gonna give a little parenting tip all right so I my parenting tip goes like this pass on the lesson not the fear pass on the lesson not the fear so pass on your experiences with what have you ever were challenged with but don't pass on your fears about that be straightforward of like okay we were scared in the dark okay well why were you scared in the dark what's on about that and and and and intellectually teach your kids how to overcome what was was very maybe challenging for you in your life and give them that tool so that when it comes to them they have the tool not the emotion associated with it right not the pain not the you know the hammer how many times you get hit with a hammer you don't stop using it because you always hit your thumb with it you still use it because you need the tool right so pass on the lesson and not fear throughout that's a really great one because I think sometimes we see our kid doing something that we're afraid they're gonna hurt themselves and we have an emotional response. Yeah we we yell we we get really worked up and the kid sometimes doesn't even understand like they're more scared of what you're saying versus your reaction they don't know what they were doing you know yes and it you know it's actually that's something something that we're doing since the I mean almost since they're born right because they start crawling over to like the stove and we're like no get away from there yeah and then they're like yeah and then they're afraid of that because because of the reaction and and I think we get we have to teach that these things are dangerous but as on some level especially as they get older you know you're you know I think I've heard this from a leadership standpoint until they're about nine or ten you're a cop don't do that do that you know you're you're telling them the rules you're copying them and then you become a coach you know and that's like really you know preteen teenagers and then after they're like 19 or 20 you're a consultant you're there you're their you know you don't you're not really coaching them they're out on their life they're doing their thing they may check in hey dad this is what happened to me what are your thoughts you know you're kind of a consultant you you you're there when you know when they need you but you know you're not you're not coaching them day in and day out right they're off in the world I like that I like that you know and I think that's uh that's that's kind of an interesting way to think about it because I think you know where we get into trouble I think as parents is if we don't transition when the kid needs us to be in a different in a different relationship with them for sure parents that are like still micromanaging their kid at like 14 15 yeah as they were like an eight yeah that that doesn't work yeah um talk about talk about I mean I think something about sports is safe the rules we know the rules even a triathlon is unsafe as it is to run run you know at a marathon after you've biked what 70 miles 70 miles biked 112 miles 112 miles and you swam two or three two point four miles 2.4 miles right so like but within that you know the distance you know what you have to do like you there's there's some certainties about the uh you know kind of the the environment that you're in right yeah and so you your job your objective is just go do it figure it out get through the pain and get to the finish line but in life oftentimes I think where people get you know tripped up is where where they like the the rules are kind of like they don't have they don't know where they're supposed what they're supposed to be doing they don't know what's best you know somebody might start working out and their knees are hurting they're like well maybe I should not work out and the doctor's like all right we'll take a break there and then they're like you know they do that a couple times like well I guess working out's not for me right yeah like you know I think that there's a there's a place where I think we we want to take the the the analogies of sports and of of like uh mindset and overcoming the you know this the pain the struggles all that kind of stuff and transition transfer them to life but sometimes it's not quite the same yeah like where do you feel like where are the biggest challenges in your life you know that that don't relate to sports that that really kind of you know tripped you up and made you really kind of have to do things differently and and and rethink your life and um you know what was that for you?

SPEAKER_02: 37:41

Man that's how long you got uh so long as you need brother I you know I I I think one that I immediately comes to mind which is something I I don't mind sharing about because I think that a lot of people are either a struggling with or struggling uh right now or struggling with with the thought of it um but I'm going on five and a half years sober my birthday's in March uh so I'm I always celebrate that and I know for me just like you know for me every everybody goes through sobriety in a different way um my DOC my drug of choice was alcohol and for me I used it as a way of coping or escaping and getting away from what I was trying to deal with and of course the addict's mindset is uh I'm doing a great job of it I'm doing exactly right nobody knows I'm I'm the perfect I'm in control and that's where we're you were talking about how sports like how it feels safe and the first thing that came to my mind was it's controlled it is a controlled environment whether it's working out and you can control that whether it's a gym doing lifts you know weights you control the weights that you work with right and so in that little aspect in that safe bubble you get to run around and do that. So that's why for me I always talk about expanding that comfort zone. You got to expand it you can still stay in there a little bit but but your your comfort's gotten a little bit stronger it's gotten more enhanced so that you can deal with these things that come at you. For me choosing to be sober led to a lot of other things leading up to it. The down the the lowest part was uh having my kids watch where there were some police officers in the driveway and the kids saw that and demolished me like demolished me and the next day is when I decided to quit the uh the entire just cold turkey um had some good people come up to me and they were like David you need to stop this and I was like you're absolutely right uh they said you need to go to rehab and I was like I'm down for that they said you need to leave tomorrow I'm like I'm not down for that I've got a lot of things to to to do and they're like no you're gonna go and drink I was like no you don't understand my mindset right now I was like you don't understand like I hear you I really respect how you were coming to me I need to do a couple of things before I go and do this like I understand and I understand what they were coming from too they were gonna say oh David's making an excuse and he's gonna go and do his thing and we're not gonna get him in that same spot again but it for me I knew it was something I needed to do. So I did that went to rehab drove myself through rehab um did the 30 days came out and I just never looked back wanted to really invest in myself more importantly my wanted to invest in my kids' relationship because I now I realize what the damage I did I did a lot of damage and to a lot of other people too and thinking that I was escaping and blinding myself throughout that it was just it was just the the drug covering that up and going through a lot of realization in the past few years and having some very very very candid conversations with my kids and people around me and I'm always happy to share my experience with with that and my decision to to stop and what I do now to help keep me on my sober path. I love sharing that because like I said once again a lot of people are either here or they're going through whatever stage of that that I've gone through. And I think that's why a lot of people are still working with me or love to be around me is because I've gone through a lot of stages in my life whether it was I don't know if I shared I was like I was almost 300 pounds back in college and you know smoking and drinking back then and sort of sober and you know I've gone through divorce and you know ending a long relationship and having kids and you know not knowing where to go and I I pretty much have gone through a lot of what life has gone given to me which is why I love sharing that with people because a lot of people feel that they're alone or this is only happening to them. And I'm like listen here boo boo you're let's talk let's see what we got. And so for me understanding where I've been helps me to where I want to go now that's a big statement for me because I have no idea where I want to go but I know I don't want to go backwards like you said. I want to try and keep moving forward whatever that looks like and for me that's what sports has really shown to me sports has saved my life it's enhanced my kids' life it's enhanced people around me like how could I not give a lot of credit to sports because of what it's given to me not because of competition. Everybody's in competition with something like the the mindset that when you challenge yourself and you overcome that challenge you go through the challenge. You don't go around it that's like when you said that earlier you go through the challenge. If you go around it what did you learn? You learned how to cheat the system and I guarantee you life is going to throw something at you again and be like all right listen here bitch this is about to do it now and if you don't then you're gonna go into this little vicious pattern that's uh that's not gonna be good.

SPEAKER_01: 43:38

So first of all thanks for sharing that yeah one of the things that I've noticed talking to a lot of athletes you you know you're not the only one who've had addictive challenges with you know substance abuse or other types of addictions how do you not replace the negative addiction with just another addiction so I mean obviously sports can be and and pursuit of of iron can be a really healthy uh obsession but how do you you know you have an addictive personality you know and on some level like how do you keep that like in check or balanced with you know being a great dad and and and all the other things that you you do in your life I think I'd have to put it in what is important to me and priorities.

SPEAKER_02: 44:25

So for me it always goes with my kids like my kids I will always put them first like if if I'm teaching a class or something happens or if I'm working out or if I'm out of or I'm doing something different if my kid calls me up I'm I am there like I I have no questions asked you need me I'm there um so for me it's I really purposely put them as a priority so everything that I do goes around them now I also can't lose myself and my kids because they're getting older they don't need me anymore especially my 17 year old he doesn't need me anymore he just needs my wallet and then the house and then and that's about to do an iron or to do an to do a travel once in a while with you yeah yeah that's yeah sure a battle buddy yeah battle buddy that's it uh and and you're right and it is I have a very addictive personality and you can get down that sinkhole of doing this this this and this all the time you know whether it's Iron Man whether it's uh social media whether it's you know uh whatever it is your life your career you know your family making money or something like that yeah it it it can always be that addictive that is where you have to find out what is the biggest priorities in your life or like the the story of the jar and the marbles have you heard that one I love it so as a professor and he has his jar he's a room full of students and he puts these big old marbles in this mason jar asks the kids is the jar full like yes you can't put anything else in there it's like all right so he puts smaller marbles in there fills up the spaces that the big marbles couldn't like okay it's full now they're like yeah it's full you can't put anything else in there it's like all right so he puts in little pebbles all right works down there asks them again is it full like nah you can't fit anything else in there pour sand in there sand fills up that gap everything it's it's stacked there's like nothing else you can go they're like yeah try and do that now professor you can't do that and then pours water in there the big marbles represent all the things that you put priority on all the other stuff is just stuff that you fill your space and your time with so if you fill your space and time with things that really doesn't matter then you're gonna lose sight of really the the great things in life that are around you whether it's family friends maybe it is a sport you know I don't know that person and maybe that is for you and that's awesome but don't forget there are other things that are gonna be very big priorities in life that you don't want to forget about as well that's such a great and like story you know with the professor I've I've heard too that like the other like I don't know if it's the same guy or somebody else took that and said now you put the sand in it first you can't even get the rocks in.

SPEAKER_01: 47:25

Right? So if you prioritize so if the rocks are like you said family friends relationships things that that that like are truly like life giving um and you prioritize the sand which might be social media might be you know your car you know the the peripheral stuff the stuff right if you put the sand in first focus on that you can't even get the big rocks in yeah you can't even get the marbles in miss out man right so you miss out yeah yeah and that's yeah and I think you know that was what I was kind of listening for was like you know the prioritization of your family right and like and I think so much of that is it's not about like one or the other like so if a sport if the sport that you do if you share that with your family you know you bring them along or you're like hey I want you guys there in Kona when I finish you know and then we're all gonna do a week long you know vacation on the beach like you know you find a way to kind of bring them into that yeah um you know that's what I tried to do with the bodybuilding show I had my my wife and son come and and be there at the at the performance and then we all went out and ate lots and lots of uh Italian food yeah I can imagine so and just and and hung out and it's just you know I mean even even though it's a selfish pursuit to to do something like that I mean it's very self-focused you know I you know finding ways to to share it with your kid to share it with your with your your loved ones is is can be a key piece to like keeping that you know that balance and you know with with priorities around family with you know still you've got to love sport gotta want if you if that fires you up that gives your life meaning and purpose too like hey go for it and that also can inspire so many others you know whether it's just like people that you know you're out there doing your 18th you know um Iron Man coming up the next year or whatever you know those things are just you know to know people that do that is oftentimes like you know energy giving to the people that would need those types of people in their lives.

SPEAKER_02: 49:26

Well it's also good to show your kids passion you know that's yeah you know I'm sure your your kid looks up to you and he's like oh my God look at these Superman up there right and later on in life you get to tell them like yeah this is why I did this and why I did that and once again you can pass on those amazing lessons of you know this is why I love sport. I always tell that to my kids my son he's big into triathlons or soccer triathlons now my daughter not so big into it right she's slowly she's big into cheer awesome she's so wicked strong and now she's slowly starting to get into weightlifting and starting to get into like nutrition and kind of like diving into that and I'm just feeding her whatever she wants to hear in an informational state and the only reason that she wants that is because she sees my passion with that. She wants to pursue that and my thing with my kids I'm like you can do whatever you want as long as you have fun doing it. It's like the minute you stop having fun find something else that makes you fun. The world is too massive to just focus on one small thing. And there's so many great things out there that you can do. It's and we don't even know about it. I mean we just know our specialty right you know weightlifting I know a multi sport and I'm like I know a lot about it but I don't know you know I know very little about weightlifting I know it's great for me and my stuff and how it can help me. But you know there's so many things that we can just pass on about each one of our own little niche in in life.

SPEAKER_01: 51:01

Yeah and I think as a parent too we like we it's cool that your kid likes a sport that you you like too but you know you never want to find out later that your kid only did it because they wanted like it was like a way to get dad to to care or something like that. You know that kind of that kind of like oh man I you know you just yeah yeah let's be honest there are a lot of those parents I guess there's a lot of those especially in Texas you can see it all over the 65 degrees and you're and you're and your kids sweating on the baseball field for four hours in a tournament and they're the dads over there like yelling at the umpire and I'm just like is this yeah does this boy love this sport that much does this matter right now will they remember this in a few years probably not so yeah well and I'm not a huge baseball guy but uh but I I'm always thought like hmm yeah is this kid focused or is it dad focused? Yeah you know or mom or whatever but uh all right so being a dad uh talk about just the kind of that that aha moment you know when you know obviously you your kids saw you you know saw the the the police come to your driveway like that hit you but like why do you think it was that moment that you decided you know it was time gosh I guess we circle back to the pain doesn't have to be physical pain that aches my heart like every time that memory comes up so that's where I use my pain like man I want to learn from that and move forward and and I don't I I don't want to forget it.

SPEAKER_02: 52:57

Like I wanna I want to remember it because at how much it hurt me to know I never want to go to that spot again with my kids. I never want to make them feel the way they did. I don't want to feel like that anymore. So some people say that that's not healthy for you David but I'm never gonna forget that and that aha moment to me was was clear enough that I can vividly you can see I can vividly remember it.

SPEAKER_01: 53:26

Well I if I can make an observation you're going through it instead of going around the pain instead of like not thinking about not letting that affect you you're letting it fuel you yes for sure. You know it's fueling you right now.

SPEAKER_02: 53:41

Yeah I I definitely use a lot of my my challenging times in my life to get through my races and if if you don't know these races can last anywhere between you know a very good day for me is around 11 hours and challenging day would be around 13 13 and a half hours and it's just me out there you know that that's why I go back to I've learned so much about myself throughout that like I don't I don't want to let go of the the challenging times of the pain that is that's hard to think about like I I don't want to disregard that there's a reason why I feel this way for it and there's something positive for me and hopefully my kids see that when it's tough that we go through it. We don't just ignore it sweep it under the rug forget that it happened oh don't tell anybody else about it so I I I share I I relive a lot and yeah it does that's that's where the pain has really helped me move forward.

SPEAKER_01: 54:45

I think that's an important lesson too as a as a parent thinking about I think about my childhood and my my parents tried their best but there was a lot of things that happened that just were never talked about afterwards you know either because maybe it was embarrassing or they they were worried about me being hurt by the like bringing it up because it because I it was a mistake on my part or it was a um you know my father had issues with alcohol too. And so there was there's a lot of that kind of like maybe protecting trying to protect people in the family or trying to keep the family from falling apart. There was just right things brought you know kind of swept under the the rug or whatever you know just to ignore you know and I just think I think man just so many missed opportunities to really like have connection and really have authentic like you know if if your p your son and daughter know what it is to be like a human being to suffer to overcome to to fight to you know to succeed to to to be triumphant in all those moments and and see the vulnerability of of you and and go that's what a man looks like that's what that's what a human being is supposed to feel and do and go through versus like my dad's perfect yeah right like he's you know and I and and specifically since I'm big and and and and strong and such like and very cautious like in I'm trying to think like how do I make sure my son doesn't just see me as like this you know like oh dad was was you know he was like the strongest guy because we always have this like like inflated version of our dads like they're just they like can do no wrong bigger than life. Yeah I always think about like this um you know imagine if you like got your butt kicked you know in front of your kid and just like it'd be so hard like a kid to be like what like I thought my dad was the strongest guy ever like I guess yeah but uh but yeah I mean I think that just the idea of you know I think that you know they they learn from what you do and not what you say you know and just seeing you go through you know that that moment and then come out and be who you are you know five and a half years later is I think a huge testimonial to to what who you are but also who they should aspire to be.

SPEAKER_02: 57:11

Yeah. Right. I do we talk about it quite a bit and they you know they are they do tell me they're like dad we're very proud of you and they're like Dad have you had a drink since then I was like no I mean not to say that I haven't been tempted I um you know I I DJ as well and I mean I got people they're like what do you want to drink and I was like you got a Topo Chico and they're like do you want anything else I was like ice um and you know and I I stand firm with with my choice because it's my I don't want to make anybody feel uncomfortable about my choice you know like is it okay to drink around you I was like it's your I don't care like you do you whatever you want to do like I'm I got me I got me over here um it's the same thing my buddy teasing me all the time about because I'm gluten free as well and he was like I'll have all the gluten that he's not gonna have and I was like okay right but once again I'm not I don't want to force who I am on anybody that's that's not fair but I get to be who I want to be because of my choices.

SPEAKER_01: 58:09

Yeah well and I think once you make a choice to do something it's I mean I think if we're still trying to make the choice it's hard. Yeah like I should be eating well I'm gonna really try to eat well and go out to dinner and then you see all these friends eating things that you really want that's a hard position to be in but once you've decided I don't eat that or you know when I was when I was doing my show and I was like very strict and everyone was like oh it must be horrible like watching people eat all this food I'm like no it's not it's easy like it's because it's not in my brain. Yeah like I'm not looking for that stuff it's uh it's not part of my plan and I think that's a that was a lesson I was like hmm like you know if I'm really struggling with something that I want to do and I'm not doing it maybe I'm not really you know maybe I haven't truly like decided yeah you know committed to it like commit like the commitment of it yeah you know it was cool like coming out of the show I didn't just like gorge a bunch of food and I mean I had I had some really great Italian I had a couple some pancakes that were great. But after that I kind of ate clean for the next couple months and just like my good habit right yeah I I was like I love my habits yeah you know what um so talk about DJing like that's a cool is that's is that a newer thing for you my goodness no uh so luckily like I've been teaching classes and the music goes hand in hand with that had a good friend of mine uh show me some stuff and I was like all right so been DJing probably for about maybe eight seven years now just doing a lot of private parties every now and then some local shows and my goodness one of the greatest things I got to do is I got to DJ for the uh Parks Festival Austin Parks fundraiser Austin Parks fundraiser and so what they did is they had ACL on both weekends

SPEAKER_02: 1:00:00

Right in the middle is when their fundraiser was. They were like, Hey David, you want to open up for Spoon? And I'm like, Yeah, yeah, I could do that. I can do that. So here I am on the same stage as Sophie Tucker. Oh my goodness. So it was um, it was a great experience. It's also led me to to have some really fun memories throughout that. But uh, but yeah, I get to um I get to live my dreams. I get to play music and either work out on the bike or make people happy with my music and get that going on.

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:28

Yeah. That's good. I had forgotten that like, you know, as a I spin instructor in a studio, like the music is such a big part of like the experience of the class. My boot camp clients will tell you that I'm it's not my forte. I I'm pretty much like 80s playlist, go. Oh, okay. Yeah, we had to work on that. Yeah, I might need to hire you for that. Yeah, there you go. Um, but yeah, no, that's really that's cool that you have that piece, you know, that you can kind of you know share with the world.

SPEAKER_02: 1:00:57

Very different from you know the fitness, and uh I it it's really it's um it's very intellectual on my part because when people hire me to DJ whatever they want, um, you know, I am very focused on making sure that they're very happy, they're very pleased. Whether it's uh you know a Latin wedding or you know, a country wedding, or you know, don't play this, don't play that, and make the experience. It's great. You know, I mean, like I'm getting older, so when I go into H E B and I got like some TLC bump and I'm like, I'm dancing all over the place. I'm like, this is great. It's like I love being that person that just enhances the music. Whether it's like a you know, the kids' party where the eighth graders are dancing to whatever TikTok song is popular now and they're just having fun. And you know, they go tell their mom and dad and they're like, oh my gosh, that was the greatest party ever. Mom and dad text me and they're like, What did you do? I was like, I you know, played their favorite stuff, man.

SPEAKER_01: 1:01:52

So get that good emotional connection to some good feelings. Well, and you know, trathlons are such an individual, like focused, you're kind of inside, you're you're really in your head and you're in your body, and you're just you're tuning out like the world, and you might have a playlist, you might have you know 11 hours of a playlist to to kind of fuel you, but that's that's very much a personal experience. Whereas you on stage as a DJ, you've got you know 100, 200, you DJ'd the uh Dancing with the Stars Austin fundraiser, which is always like the best fundraiser every December. Um, and you know, it's just you got hundreds of people on you know on the dance floor, just dancing, and you and it's like you're kind of almost orchestrating moments. It is talking about that kind of outward now, kind of an outward you know, representation or connection that you're trying to kind of bring people, bring them in, like suck them in, you know, just understanding how that music can do that. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02: 1:02:54

Well, when I saw you on the dance floor and you had your jacket like spinning up over the floor, yeah, and you were like, let's go. Uh I was just about to do a backflip. Yeah, you were just about it, and then they cut me off. I was like, yeah, okay, whatever. No, it's it is all about the feeling that people get when they hear a song, right? Like, let's say that fundraiser. People are not gonna want to hear the brand new, you know, like uh Corleroy, like like, you know, you know Tupac, I'm sorry, Drake. Uh I know I'm thinking of like if they want they want the stuff that they know about. Yeah, yeah, right. 80, 90s. No, but yeah, definitely. You know, like they want You gotta know your audience. Young MC, and you know, that everybody, and then they hear the song. And if you it is amazing to watch people light up and all of a sudden, and like I I I get a very small glimpse of what it is to be an artist that creates music when they're singing the songs that you play, yeah, I'm like, bro, this is good, this is really good, right? Uh, and everybody's having a good time. And you're like, dude, I'm doing that. Like, this is fun. Uh, this was great. So I I love, I just I love connecting people, I love connecting with music. Music is a love language of me. So if I can see somebody making, you know, some sort of connection to it, I'm like, God, this is the greatest thing ever. Yeah. Um, you know, the dancing with the stars, I love DJing that fundraiser because they everybody's have ready to have a good time, you know, the right mood, drop one song, and everybody's just all together. And it doesn't matter if you're male, female, black, white, like everybody's just out there having a good time. Yeah, it's such a universal language.

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:36

Well, everyone's there to celebrate and to donate, right? And so there's just this generous feeling in the air, too. Yes. But what you know, some of the things I love the most, and it just, you know, I think when you're younger, it's like everyone the people like a certain type of music, like maybe it's hip hop, it's a hip that might dominate the the playlist. But when you go from like, let's say young MC or an old like DJ Jazzy Def, the French Prince, to like you know, Bon Jovi living on a pr and it's like everyone's like you know, and everyone's got like that, and just screaming, and you're like, it was so good, yeah, yeah. That's the magic from from the standpoint of being in the audience or being in the in the dance circle, like in that in the energy of the like just feeling that and just under you understanding kind of like pop pop. We got you know what what's the next thing? How can I take it to my actual?

SPEAKER_02: 1:05:27

I'm not gonna lie, I'm freaking out too. I'm like, man, I hope I play the next song, it's gonna go just like the last one. Um it's like a little there's a lot of British energy that one because you drop one song, I've literally seen it on the floor just in the ocean. I'm like, okay, that didn't work. All right, I'll be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01: 1:05:42

We need to go to slow song right now.

SPEAKER_02: 1:05:44

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your find yourself a date. No, but it's fun, it really is. It's um, even though it's in the same, it's still got its own stressors, and I really want to make sure, just like me, I want to make sure everybody has a good time, whether it's in class or on the dance floor, um, or just at a coffee, just have a good time.

SPEAKER_01: 1:06:05

Dude, I want to wrap this up with a question on one habit that you feel like, you know, if someone doesn't yet have in their work in their life is just like, you know, something that we all should implement. You know, a simple thing, and you know, it could be anything, but a simple thing that works for you that someone might implement and just help them either start their day, end their day, you know, get them in the right mindset.

SPEAKER_02: 1:06:34

Man, always come back to oh, there's so many things. I'm gonna say this. Uh life is short. Do one thing every day that scares you. Do something, whether it's go to bed early, whether it's wake up a little bit earlier, whether it's maybe saying I love you, maybe saying uh sending a simple text, maybe it's something like that, whatever that is in your life, do something that's absolutely gonna scare you, because probably that's the thing you should have done in the first place the day before.

SPEAKER_01: 1:07:13

Wisdom. That's great. Yeah, I'll think about that. Yeah. And I like that it's not like necessarily something that's gonna help you with fitness, or it's really just a life concept.

SPEAKER_02: 1:07:25

Like just live your life, live it as you want to, and be okay with saying yes to things that you want to, and be okay with saying no to things that you don't want to do either.

SPEAKER_01: 1:07:38

I I we had a speaker come to our Camp Gladiator conference and he talked about every night he told his young son, three, four, five. I love you, three words, I believe in you, four words. I am proud of you, five words. And and he didn't even have to say those sentences, he would be like, Hey hey son, three, four, five son was like right back at you, dad. Nice, you know, and just like those little things, yeah. Uh those ideas that like to end a day with with something that you connect with your kid or connect with your wife or connect with your family in some way, um can be huge long term, just setting reminding and connecting and and not forgetting that like that's the most important thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 1:08:27

I always every every time one of my kids leaves my site or text or phone, uh, I always say I love you. Always. Because uh, I'm not sure if I'm gonna get to see them again. So I want to make sure they know that.

SPEAKER_01: 1:08:40

Yeah. Oh man, this is great, buddy. That was awesome. Thank you. Part two coming. Talking to David was really special for me. Obviously, we're reconnecting after a lot of years of not spending a lot of time together, but also just hearing him talk about his family, his kids, figuring out that alcohol wasn't going to work for him, and just the you know, rock bottom that he was able to hit, you know, with his kids seeing the cops show up at his front door, like how that really had made an impact on who he wants to be now. And I think sometimes we put athletes or people that we think you know live at some high level on a pedestal. We imagine that they haven't had the types of failures or the types of you know, shame, disappointment, heartache that maybe we've had or that somebody kind of internalizes about themselves. And I just want you to know that you know, not just David, but myself, everybody. Everyone has shit. Everyone has stuff that they're ashamed of, that they're embarrassed about, that they wish nobody would find out about, that they that they failed at, and they they knew they just chickened out or didn't show up well. We we all have those moments and we learn from them. You know, nothing kills us. Yeah, one thing will eventually kill us, but hopefully that's old age at like 99, right? But something that doesn't kill you makes you stronger. That's an old slogan, we've heard it all before. But think about it from the context of like you're probably somebody else's inspiration. You know, if you're working out, if you're living a good life, if you've married and have a great relationship with your kids, or or whatever you're doing, whether it's at work, in the gym, something about you is probably an inspiration to somebody else. Just like someone like David is an inspiration to myself and probably to you after you heard a story. It's so important for us to all share our vulnerabilities and you know, the things that we did that we're not proud of in the moment, but it also defines who we are. And so that's a big part of you know, this time in our lives is like we can't just live making everyone think we're just perfect at all the things that we do. Like everyone's got shit, everyone's working through stuff, everyone fails at some point. And I think the more we can embrace that, accept that about ourselves, and accept that in others, the more opportunity we have to learn and grow together. So, you know, shout out to David for really being vulnerable in that moment when he shared about his, you know, kids seeing him in that in that place and just what that did to define the rest of his life. And, you know, if you have a story like that that you want to share with me, you know, jump into the show notes. That my email's there. Please just email me. You know, I'd love to hear your story. Maybe a triumph that you came out of because of something that happened to you that uh was hard. You know, those are important stories to hear, and I would love to hear yours. Have a great one. And thanks again for listening to the Mindset Forge Podcast.