What Body Building Taught Us About Life

This one’s not about protein or posing.

It’s about pain.
Discipline.
Delayed gratification.
And the real cost of greatness in the gym and in business.

After 8 months of prep, hunger, and hell... Mike & Rachael just stepped off stage at their first bodybuilding show.

But the biggest transformation,
Didn’t happen under the lights.

It happened in the early mornings.
In the late-night cravings.
In the moments where most people would quit.

Inside this episode, they break down 5 ruthless life lessons from bodybuilding that translate directly to building a 7-figure business:

• Why most people fail to follow the damn plan
• The real power of hiring a coach (and why most coaches don’t cut it)
• What delayed gratification actually feels like (and why most avoid it)
• Why growth always shows up wearing pain
• The brutal truth about timelines: success takes longer than you want
• Bonus: why you need a hobby before burnout finds you

If you’ve been stuck… drifting… or just losing steam in your business, this is the wake-up call you didn’t know you needed.

Press play, take notes, and remember:
The reps you don’t want to do are the ones that change you.

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Transcript

Mike Novak:

[0:33] So today we're talking about what bodybuilding has taught us about life.

Mike Novak:

[0:37] Very interesting and relevant timing for us. We just came off of our first Flybler show.

Rachael Novak:

[0:43] We sure did.

Mike Novak:

[0:44] We competed June 28th at the Oregon Open.

Rachael Novak:

[0:48] Salem, Oregon.

Mike Novak:

[0:49] Yep.

Rachael Novak:

[0:50] It was quite the event. It was an interesting experience. Super fun. For both of our first show,

the results were great. like we really did really well how.

Mike Novak:

[1:04] Different was the show than what you.

Rachael Novak:

[1:05] Expected honestly like from the you know a handful of bodybuilding shows that i've been to it

was it was about what i expected i would say just in regards to the organization the timing that kind

of thing but i do feel like the promoter of the show the purpose of person who ran it and organized it

i feel like they did a phenomenal job it was pretty well right yeah he really ran a really tight ship. He

had people in every corner passing the baton from one area to another, keeping the athletes

organized. So that allowed us to kind of relax in the times that we could backstage and in the

athlete area.

Mike Novak:

[1:41] The expatire was very good.

Rachael Novak:

[1:43] Yeah. They were all very, very good. So yeah, I think the experience of the bodybuilding show

was awesome. One thing that I didn't think about though, until we really got like the week before,

like as we were like gearing up and we headed down there on Wednesday before the show on

Saturday down to Oregon and went in our Airbnb there. And I didn't really think about how the

actual time that you get to showcase all of your hard work is so brief.

Mike Novak:

[2:12] It has like two minutes. Not even. Yeah.

Rachael Novak:

[2:15] Like I literally got 25 seconds to do my little routine. And then it was just side by side

comparison posing for the rest of them. And so that was an interesting dynamic because it, I think

that, which we'll get into here in a second, right? The path to get there and the progress we made

and what we learned and the things that we employed during the entire prep and still are in prep for

our second show now. I was really grateful for the perspective of not putting all of my weight and

the value that I was taking from this experience in just the show. Like, I really got value and found

all these lessons through the actual prep and the progress.

Mike Novak:

[2:59] I'm going to talk a lot about that today.

Rachael Novak:

[3:00] Exactly.

Mike Novak:

[3:00] For me, I was surprised how competitive the guy side was. Like, the female side, you

clobbered all the women. Like, it wasn't going close.

Rachael Novak:

[3:07] It was just one gal who did well.

Mike Novak:

[3:09] But on the guy side, it was like, man, these lineups were huge. Like, there were eight-guy

lineups on the novice, on the men's open heavyweights, on the 40-plus at seven. Like, it was like,

wow, these are big groups of guys and, like, a lot of really good high-caliber athletes. I was

surprised by that.

Rachael Novak:

[3:25] Well, the fact that you took first in 40-plus, the fact that you took third overall in your class was

a huge win for that lineup.

Mike Novak:

[3:33] Yeah, it was fun. I think I texted you, like, within minutes getting out the stage, I said, that was

so much fun.

Rachael Novak:

[3:38] Yeah.

Mike Novak:

[3:39] Like, that was just a blast. Like, it's, to me, like, you know, people let the anxiety getting up in

front of, like, hundreds of people. I mean, there's, like, close to a thousand people on that show.

And they get, like, really nervous about getting on stage. But for me, I just thought about it like, hey,

I love, like, going to the gym and, like, going to the posing room with just a buddy and, like, seeing

who's bigger and can pose better. And this is just that on a bigger scale. And so, like, just kind of

brought down, you know, kind of any expectations on it. Yes, exactly. And it's made it fun. like

exactly there's just a bunch of gym bros we're all in our um you know posing trunks and we're just

gonna go have fun and that's exactly what happened yeah we had a blast and the guy that won the

overall chris mazzaro i mean he is he was a force yeah he's probably gonna earn his pro card in

two weeks yeah well and you know i think going into it with one like we each have some stage

experience like we've talked on stages obviously they haven't been like half naked in a in a

bodybuilding.

Rachael Novak:

[4:34] You know, posing suit or a bikini, but having the stage experience was super helpful. And then

really stepping into it and thinking of it less like a presentation and more like a performance, right?

I'm going up there and I'm like, I'm performing this routine or I'm performing. And so I, as I'm

backstage, you know, the whole time as I was gearing up for that week, I was feeling very excited.

And a lot of people might equate that feeling that I was experiencing physiologically as

nervousness, right? That butterflies a little bit, a little bit of adrenaline spike, a little bit of

anticipation. And I was framing it as excitement that entire week. And so by the time I got to show

day, that excitement, was bubbling up into like this real adrenaline and goosebumps and almost

like I was almost like giggly like excited on stage and so I used that as fuel to be on stage and tried

to exude the fact that I was so excited and happy to be

Rachael Novak:

[5:31] there and I think that that came through in my performance on stage.

Mike Novak:

[5:34] Yeah it definitely did so we've got another show coming up on the 19th of July and then we're

shutting it down to improve for the rest of the year and get back to some semblance of balance and

we haven't traveled hardly at all because we've just been like laser focused on this but today you

know what we learned through this um through this whole experience was that there was a lot of

lessons learned that had nothing to do with bodybuilding and that's what we wanted to really

unpack for you guys today like most people that listen us we're not gonna ever go get on the stage

and go compete bodybuilding but there's a lot to be learned that we experienced that we want to

share with you guys and see if you can use some of these like little pieces of wisdom that we found

along the way and plug them into other areas of your life. So we got five lessons that we learned.

And then I might have a bonus for you at the end, but this taught us a lot about ourselves, right?

Like we, I started prep November 25th. I remember because it was right before Thanksgiving and I

messaged my coach. I didn't want to be that guy, but it's Thanksgiving. I was like, am I eating

Thanksgiving dinner? And he didn't respond. I was like, well, I guess that's a no. And so I didn't eat

Thanksgiving dinner. I had rice and Turkey.

Rachael Novak:

[6:37] I don't know if you remember that or not of course i remember that um no sauces no stuffing

no rolls no nothing so um that was the start of it so it took seven months to get there we're on just

about eight months in now um and then you started i think more like february right yeah the end of

february so it's a long process like this isn't something that just takes you know like six to eight

weeks it's a very very drawn out.

Mike Novak:

[7:00] Journey to get there.

Rachael Novak:

[7:01] Because it takes that.

Mike Novak:

[7:02] Long to get that lean.

Rachael Novak:

[7:03] Well and you know to your point about the lessons that we learned in bodybuilding. Like, I

think that anyone listening to this can actually put themselves in the environment to experience it

because it wasn't the show that taught us a lot of these things.

Mike Novak:

[7:18] It was the process.

Rachael Novak:

[7:19] Right? It was going to the gym. It was the early mornings. It was the late nights. It was the two

or three a days. It was, you know, we'll get into the food, the, you know, the discipline that we had

to exude and that we had to embody every single day, even when we did not feel like it.

Mike Novak:

[7:36] Yeah well let's jump right into it um the first one the big lesson learned and this is something

that we knew going into this this is why we applied it and we've applied this one for years and

business business and we've also applied a non-body blend for like four years too but hire a really

great coach like we both have fantastic coaches and it made a huge difference do you want to

speak to that on like what kind of experience we had versus maybe what some other people might

get.

Rachael Novak:

[8:00] Absolutely. I mean, you know, when it comes to, having a coach, just like in business, you

want that coach to have a track record and you want them to care about your outcome and about

your health just as much as you do. And so, you know, in business, a lot of times people will hire a

coach because either they're sold on it or because they were assigned that coach when they

signed up with that, you know, coaching company and they don't really interview the coach to see if

it's a good personality fit, if what their style is works with you, if they really do care about you as

much as you're going to care about the process.

Rachael Novak:

[8:38] And with my coach, at least, like, number one, he has hundreds and hundreds of clients.

There's multiple people that he's brought pro, not that that's my goal, but he's got a track record of

being able to get people very lean. He's got a track record of caring for people. And so having

worked with him for a couple of years prior to going into this prep, I already knew that whatever

level of discipline and seriousness I applied to the process, he would easily match if not like beat

me on. So he was just as invested in communication back to me as I was getting to him, right? And

there were seasons in like off-season, right, improvement or bulking season, where I was only

checking in once a week. And he like would then respond, you know, in a couple of hours, whereas

we ramped up into prep, and I'm checking in twice a week. And now every day through between

the two shows and he's back to me in 15 minutes sometimes calling me immediately right so he's

having that great coach and somebody and he's also somebody who like I have to fully trust

because there will be times that I feel like I'm being lazy if I don't go train hard or if I don't go do this

or and he's the one who's like.

Rachael Novak:

[9:47] I need you to move as little as possible today, or I need you to give everything you've got to

this today. So he's directing and I just am executing the plan, which same kind of thing in business.

A lot of people will hire a coach in business and then try to do things a little bit differently and not do

the things and execute the things and implore and implement the things that their coach tells them

to do.

Mike Novak:

[10:10] Yeah. So the big thing I'm hearing here is experience. Like you need someone that's got the

experience. Like we can just kind of sum it up with that. And then responsiveness and

communication, it sounds like, is another really big one as well, right? So those are like two really

big things I think carry over into the business domain and that we definitely, you know, we'd share

that with coaching clients as well. Would you say that as well?

Rachael Novak:

[10:29] A hundred percent. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, I think it's, it's important to, which we both

experienced to have a coach that meets, matches your style, right? Because your coach is a very

different style than my coach, but it works great with you and mine works great with me.

Mike Novak:

[10:46] Yeah. And then the ability to follow the plan, right? Like if no matter what, no matter what you

want to do, what you feel like doing, you do what the coach says to do.

Rachael Novak:

[10:54] Right.

Mike Novak:

[10:54] And same thing in business. A lot of times we'll tell people like, hey, go do this.

Rachael Novak:

[10:57] Right.

Mike Novak:

[10:57] And they want to do it. If you don't go follow the plan, don't expect the results. Exactly. Kind

of sum it up. Right.

Rachael Novak:

[11:02] Well, I mean, similarly to when you're working with clients, right? If you tell the seller, hey,

these are the suggestions that I think that we should do to the house and they only do two of the 10

of them. You're not going to, you can't guarantee their results anymore. Right. Whereas if they did

all the things like, well, like your results are going to be a hell of a lot closer now because you've

actually taken my suggestions.

Mike Novak:

[11:21] Right. So really our first and our second lessons here are really deeply connected because

it's hiring a great coach and then it's following the plan. How did you find your coach? Like, how

would you, obviously you vetted him,

Mike Novak:

[11:33] you looked for the experience, but how did, like.

Rachael Novak:

[11:35] How would.

Mike Novak:

[11:35] You tell other people to find somebody like that for any part of their life.

Rachael Novak:

[11:39] Well if it's yeah for for any part of your life like i think it's really really important to interview

and really you know i didn't know when i first started working with my coach that i even wanted to

compete in bodybuilding in fact it was the opposite i didn't want to compete in bodybuilding and i

named that like no it would be way too much it would be it would take me way too far out of my

lane you know for real estate and all that and so i just said like my goal is composition my goal is to

live a lifestyle this way and And I don't want to have to think about what to do. I just want to

execute, right? Because a lot of times founders, team owners, team leaders, real estate agents,

entrepreneurs, we get so caught up in the what to do that we don't actually just do. And so hiring

that great coach, trusting that person, interviewing them and asking them, okay, what is your track

record? What do you do in this situation? If I'm not being accountable to you, how do you respond?

And I did. I interviewed, I think, four or five different coaches before I ended up hiring my coach.

Mike Novak:

[12:36] And you had one that didn't work out, I think.

Rachael Novak:

[12:38] I did, yeah. Yeah, I worked with her for two and a half months, and I just, I didn't like the style

of communication that she had, and that was okay. It wasn't a personal thing. It was a business

thing. But I think really, really important to really interview multiple personalities, and then... You

have to execute like you can't expect your coach to want it more than you do. Right. Just like we

can't want it more than a client. We can't want it more than any of our clients. Right. And in the

coaching space, we can't if we're mentoring somebody, we we can want it more than them. But if

they don't do the work, then they're not going to get the results.

Mike Novak:

[13:09] How important is it that the coach, whether it's for body or for business or anything else, has

done what you want to do? How important is that? And keep in mind, in bodybuilding, there's levels

to this. You look at Hani Rambad, he's never competed in the Olympia, yet he's got 27 Olympia

titles. Can you speak to that for a moment?

Rachael Novak:

[13:29] Yeah. I mean, I think, I think again, like it, it comes back to like, maybe they've done it or at

least they've shown that they can train people to it.

Mike Novak:

[13:39] Yeah. Like the Bill Belichick effect.

Rachael Novak:

[13:41] Right? Exactly.

Mike Novak:

[13:41] Bill Belichick's never been Tom Brady, but he's got a track record of the stacking Superbowl

titles.

Rachael Novak:

[13:45] Exactly. So it's like, like, and if it's something that you want to take seriously, right, whether

this is business or in bodybuilding, if it's something that you want to take seriously, then why are

you winging it? And like giving somebody a chance who hasn't proven that they can do what you're

trying to do like that. That doesn't make sense financially. Right. To be investing in that.

Mike Novak:

[14:05] In the business domain, I always get really concerned if someone hasn't done what I want to

do. Like less so on the body side. You can have really good coaches that understand the science of

things at a deep, deep level. But maybe they weren't like a top competitive athlete. You know what I

mean?

Rachael Novak:

[14:18] I do. Yeah.

Mike Novak:

[14:19] Okay. So number one was higher grade coach. Number two was follow the freaking plan no

matter what you want to do.

Rachael Novak:

[14:25] Do you want to go deeper on that a minute? Because I think that this was a big pivot for you,

especially as somebody who, you know, loved to kind of change up foods or change up workout

plans. This is the first time that I watched you completely go all in and trust this coach and do

exactly what he said to do.

Mike Novak:

[14:44] Well, you just said the word trust. I didn't trust the other two coaches. I had things come up

where I didn't like the calls they made, and it made me second guess whether the right person

would be driving the bus for me. So when I found the right person,

Mike Novak:

[14:56] just get in line and follow direction. So to me, it's just all about trust. So the third one, and we

kind of hinted to this a little bit, it's going to take a lot longer than you think to get to where you want

to go. And in bodybuilding, like I said, this took seven months. It's a hell of a long time. Business,

it's even longer.

Rachael Novak:

[15:12] Yes, it is.

Mike Novak:

[15:13] I mean, like, I don't think we broke through in business. Like I became an entrepreneur and

an operator when I was 18 years old. I didn't really break through till I was 35. The 17 years of

getting kicked in the nuts It's day after day, learning from your mistakes, trying to just be a little bit

better and grinding it out. It's really easy to forget that.

Rachael Novak:

[15:34] It totally is.

Mike Novak:

[15:35] And it's really easy for people to look at us and say, hey, you know, I want what they've got

and I'm just going to go do it in like a year or two.

Rachael Novak:

[15:41] Yeah.

Mike Novak:

[15:42] Right?

Rachael Novak:

[15:42] Yep.

Mike Novak:

[15:42] They don't see the lessons that were learned and the trials that were endured to get there

over this like multi-decade amount of time.

Rachael Novak:

[15:52] Exactly. Well, so in business, you know, knowing that it's going to take longer than you think,

you can approach it as, you know, the business is going to expose who you are, right? And that's

very similar to bodybuilding. Bodybuilding, going through a prep or going through a big challenge, if

you're trying to lose body fat, if you're trying to build muscle, if you're trying to change your body

composition in any way, it's a mirror that stands in front of you. And you have to face yourself every

single day. Am I living in integrity? And am I doing the things that I don't feel like doing, but I know

that need to be done? And same is true in business. Like the fruit that you produce in business will

be... The fruit of however you act when nobody else is looking, right? So in bodybuilding, if you're

sneaky snacking in the pantry at night, or if you're, you know, eating, if you're not measuring your

food accurately, and you're going way over on your grams or your ounces of meat or whatever, like,

that's going to reflect on your body, right? It's a physical, literal representation of the lack of integrity

that you're showing with yourself. In business, you can fudge a little bit more, probably. But same is

kind of true. If you're not doing the things that you need to do, if you're not living in integrity with the

time blocks that you have at work, then your fruit is going to be evident of that.

Mike Novak:

[17:14] Right. You know, you know, Paul Barnett, anabolic bodybuilding, who's now a professional

bodybuilder. He always tells people it takes 10 years to get your pro card from when you take it

seriously. And when you say take it seriously, I mean, like competing, following structured diet and

training at the level that a pro would actually train. Right. And in business, I think it's at least 10

years. Absolutely.

Rachael Novak:

[17:32] Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Mike Novak:

[17:33] So my grandmother had some saying she would say it was something like every lesson that

I learned overnight took me 10 years to implement or something like that.

Rachael Novak:

[17:41] Oh, sure.

Mike Novak:

[17:41] You know, like basically like it took her a long, long time to reach a mastery level of just like

even the most basic things, you know?

Rachael Novak:

[17:47] Yeah. I mean, it's kind of the concept of like every overnight success started 10 years ago,

you know, like there is no overnight success.

Mike Novak:

[17:54] That might even be more accurate to what she had said. Yeah, it's really true. So how do

you deal with this? Well, the way you deal with it is being less outcome-focused. Like, you start to

fall in love with the journey, right? So, in business, you love the process. And in bodybuilding, you

love the grind and just getting after it and training and things like that. You're outcome-driven. And I

think of Chuck when I think of this a lot, because Chuck was always so outcome-driven when he

came to our team. Like, he wanted us to get—he's very goal-driven, right?

Rachael Novak:

[18:21] Yeah.

Mike Novak:

[18:21] It's typical for very driven people, you know? But they suffer along the way, and they're

miserable, right? So finding a way to love the journey in both business and body becomes the key

to actually doing it for a very, very long period of time.

Rachael Novak:

[18:36] Absolutely. It's interesting. I just got off of my weekly CEO mastermind, the wartime CEO

mastermind call. And part of the discussion today was about strategic rest and how so many

people in business, like you're saying, are so outcome focused that they just go, go, go, grind,

grind, grind, and expect the outcome to come sooner because they're working more. Whereas

there are so many things that you can control. The outcome, if you're attached to only the outcome,

you're going to burn out. You're only going to be running at 50%. Your performance is going to

suffer. The other domains of your life are going to suffer. Whereas if you fall in love with the process

and you fall in love with the fact that I enjoy the work that I do, I enjoy coming in and having

conversations with people, I enjoy nurturing people through the pipeline, I enjoy consulting people

through the home selling and buying process. I enjoy working with other real estate agents and

other agents, coaching them up into different systems and processes. And the outcome is a

byproduct, right? The fruit that we produce is a byproduct of loving the journey. Similarly in

bodybuilding, we fell in love with the lifestyle. We fell in love with the discipline and the structure

and the framework and the way that we eat and the way that it makes us feel. Like I've never had

such clear skin as the last five months of my entire life because I've eaten nothing but super whole

clean food. So my skin is just flawless. So if you fall in love with the process, then any outcome that

comes from it is a big cherry on your cake. Right.

Mike Novak:

[20:04] Yeah. So compartmentalize things, set small victories along the way and fall in love with the

process. And then it doesn't really matter how long it takes.

Rachael Novak:

[20:13] Yeah. Well, that's exactly right.

Mike Novak:

[20:14] Like remove that pressure from yourself.

Rachael Novak:

[20:15] Yes, exactly. Like obviously if you're, if you're getting started or if you're, you know, a goal

driven individual, it is really, really helpful to set yourself kind of deadlines, right because even for

us like okay we have like our deadlines were the bodybuilding show dates like okay that is the day

that we are going to peak like that's the day that we are working toward but the outcome of the

show is irrelevant to the work that we've put in and to who we've become in this process right so

there there were things in throughout this process that we had to learn even in our marriage right

we had to work on communication when we're both calorie restricted and low carb and impatient

and quick to risk, you know, quick to react to things. We had to really slow down and say, this is

what you said. Is that what you meant? Right. Or this is what I heard. Is that what you meant? And

really how like slow down communication enough to say like, we're still good. Like this doesn't

affect us. And that just like, it doesn't, doesn't affect me, but are we on the same page still on those

things?

Mike Novak:

[21:20] Yeah, absolutely. Number four, um, Growth lies in the trial, not in the outcome. Kind of like

we just talked about a little bit, you know, like the point where you are suffering and struggling,

that's actually the moment where the massive growth and the transformation is happening. You just

don't have the benefit of hindsight yet, right? Like you're in so much pain, you can't see it. But when

you look back, you realize that was the moment that that transformation occurred. It's crazy.

Rachael Novak:

[21:47] It's so well said.

Mike Novak:

[21:48] It is absolutely, this was like, I didn't, I've, again, I've been doing this a long time and I just

saw this in this prep. I was like, man, this is like where all of the growth happens. I shared this on

Savage the other day and all the guys were like, oh my God. Yeah. Like this is exactly right. Like,

no, we hadn't thought about that, but it doesn't actually happen when you get to the finish line. It

doesn't happen when you come to the outcome. It happens along the way when you claw your way

through and you fight, you get up again, you just keep fucking going until you get to where you

want to go. Right. And that's where that transformation happens. It's so it's such a powerful thing to

understand.

Rachael Novak:

[22:25] Well, and the same that is. Similarly true in each domain, right? In business, when things are

good, and when I like to call it peacetime versus wartime, right? Like when we're in peacetime in

business, when things are easy, and buyers are plentiful, and there's plenty of business to go

around, and deals are just closing flawlessly, like there's very little interruption, very little issues,

very little uncertainty in the market that we have to deal with, it feels very easy. You're not

necessarily learning. You're not necessarily growing. You're enjoying the fruit of the harvest. And

we had this conversation about the harvest and planting season the other day. Whereas in

wartime, you have to dig deep some days. You are constantly putting out fires. You are constantly

problem solving. You are constantly fighting against some sort of suffering in some domain.

Similarly, in body building, high carb days are fantastic. You feel top of the world. I feel awesome.

I'm full of energy and carbs on low carb days you're like man this sucks this sucks really bad but it's

the mindset to continue to keep going to live in integrity to stick to the plan to continue putting one

foot in front of the other doing whatever it takes to get through managing that plan that is where you

become a different person that all of a sudden you wake up the next morning like, You've just

proven to yourself a whole different level of confidence that you didn't even know existed yet.

Mike Novak:

[23:46] This is like the biggest mindset shift that you can experience. And my coach, Coach AJ,

broke this down for me. And he always does a really good job of working on the mindset

component of this because that's a huge part of bodybuilding.

Rachael Novak:

[23:56] Right?

Mike Novak:

[23:57] And he said, like, Mike, everyone's going to get really, really hungry at some point. And that

moment that you get really hungry, you've got two options. You can either be, like, really whiny

about it and you can feel sorry for yourself or you can be really, really glad the process is working.

Because if you're hungry, you know that things are working. You're burning fat, right? And so pivot

your mindset from feeling sorry for yourself to being starving and thinking about Big Macs to being

like, this is great. The plan is working. This is exactly where we want to be. You know, that's such a

big mindset shift.

Rachael Novak:

[24:27] Exactly right. Yeah. One of the things that I came to is probably eight or nine weeks out from

the first show was when I really started to experience some big hunger, like big hunger pangs,

rough afternoons, rough evenings. Overnight was pretty rough sometimes if I didn't have carbs at

dinner, right? You wake up, I mean, you wake up sometimes noon, midnight or one o'clock in the

morning, and your stomach is absolutely screaming at you because you are so hungry. There were

a couple of nights like that. Overall, not as many as I was mentally prepared for, but enough that

was challenging in the moment. And it was that exact mindset of thinking, okay, hunger is very real,

but the fact is I'm not going to die. This isn't going to kill me. Like, this is a necessary part of the

process to burn the fat on my body so that I can show my hard work and show the muscle

Rachael Novak:

[25:21] that I've been building for the last several years.

Mike Novak:

[25:23] All right, number five, delayed gratification. So, how would you explain this to people if they

don't understand what this means? Like, I think most people get it, but just to make sure we're

talking about the same thing.

Rachael Novak:

[25:32] Yeah, I think a lot of people understand the concept of it. I don't know if a lot of people

actually... Can handle the feeling of delayed gratification. That makes sense. Delayed gratification

is being able to stick to the plan and do what needs to be done as opposed to giving in to what

feels good in the moment.

Mike Novak:

[25:56] I was just going to say, you can just nail it there with the feeling part of it because feelings

and emotions are what triggers people to give in to delayed gratification.

Rachael Novak:

[26:05] And take action a lot of times yeah yeah i think you know when when you have an ultimate

goal and this is this is true in any domain but in the body domain specifically in bodybuilding, there

are a lot of days that huge bowl of cereal or a heaping spoonful of thin mint peanut butter sounds

absolutely much better than my four ounces of chicken and spinach that i need to eat like a

hundred percent but my goal is to show up my absolute very best at this show at with this deadline

right i've chosen i've chosen to put myself through this right so back to where you were talking

about the mindset of not complaining you can choose to kind of be a little bitch and complain about

the the hard times and when you're hungry or you can say the plan is working so same exact thing

in here. When you're presented with this emotion of like, oh, I had a rough day and a lot of people

turn to food, or I'm really hungry, or I'm really, these are all reasons that normal people will give

themselves to go off plan and they'll justify it somehow because it feels good in the moment.

Whereas if you're really committed, then living in integrity with yourself is sticking to the plan even

when it doesn't feel good. in that moment.

Mike Novak:

[27:32] In business i see real estate agents drop off on this with the consistency of their schedule

they stop like making the phone calls and they go they have like one good day and then one bad

day and they don't they don't really have consistency right and consistency is really key when it

comes to achieving big things exactly whether it's bodybuilding or business exactly i just can't you

do the same thing for like years yeah.

Rachael Novak:

[27:54] I just i literally just posted this on on my facebook i think this morning that was you know the

the highest performers right some of the most successful people live pretty low-key, like, boring

lives. Like, the same thing, the same routines, getting up around the same time, going to bed

around the same time, doing the same, having the same meals, wearing similar clothes, like, all

pretty dang boring. But what you do is you do these things where you are consistently finding

success through these activities and you just do it enough to where it just goes on autopilot and

that is what consistency is right people think that you need to like do these 21 day challenges or do

these like six month it's like if you find something and then you actually become learn to appreciate

and and love the process then, live that way, live that consistently, work that way, right? That's the

same in your business as well.

Mike Novak:

[28:53] Right. I think consistency is really hard for most people.

Rachael Novak:

[28:55] It totally is.

Mike Novak:

[28:56] The last one is a bonus. Get a fricking hobby, people.

Mike Novak:

[29:01] This has been a big one for us. I think we have not had hobbies. I haven't had hobbies since

I was 21 years old. I'm 40 now. So 19 years of just basically working, you know, and I've gone to

the gym.

Rachael Novak:

[29:12] But I haven't been like.

Mike Novak:

[29:12] An obsessed hobbyist to it like i.

Rachael Novak:

[29:15] Am you.

Mike Novak:

[29:15] Know what i mean but i think it makes you a more balanced person.

Rachael Novak:

[29:18] Work is not a.

Mike Novak:

[29:19] Hobby like i think we all lie to ourselves and tell ourselves that like hey we love this so we're

gonna do it 24 7 but it's really not the best dynamic you know.

Rachael Novak:

[29:25] It's not well i mean to our point earlier right when you're when it's the only thing that you do

like that's gonna lead to burnout really quickly right if you're just i mean there's there's seasons

where you have to dig in there are seasons that you need to really dig in dive in stay in that yeah

focus stay in the grind stay in that pit, work your way through it. Those seasons certainly happen.

But if you're on the other side where now you've built the habits and now you're doing the things

and you're consistent with the activities, it's very, very, very important for your quality of life and for

your own sanity and to avoid burnout and avoid that potential complete crash and burn in business

to have something else that you can go do, that you enjoy, that fills you with life, that you can

integrate into your schedule and presents itself to be something that makes you a better person at

work, especially.

Mike Novak:

[30:18] Yeah, no doubt about that.

Rachael Novak:

[30:20] I love that one.

Mike Novak:

[30:21] Awesome. Great. So there's five lessons learned that you can apply to any domain, and plus

one little bonus in there to go get a hobby. So been awesome chatting this one up today. I think it's

really, really good. I think there's a lot of lessons you can take from this if you really listen to this

and think through it.

Rachael Novak:

[30:38] Yeah, if you have any questions on it too, like we're open books. So we'll, we'll share our, our

playbook on business and we'll share our playbook on body building if you want it.

Mike Novak:

[30:46] We'll see you next week.

Rachael Novak:

[30:47] See you then.