EP2, Designing Your Unstoppable Blueprint

In this episode of 'Unstoppable By Design,' hosts Matt and Anna Terry dive into the concept of creating an unstoppable blueprint for personal development. They explore the importance of intentional choices and how building systems, habits, and environments contribute to becoming 'unstoppable.' The discussion differentiates between 'builders' and 'drifters,' emphasizing the mindset and techniques needed to shift from the latter to the former. The episode also addresses the role of core beliefs, the power of routines, and offers practical techniques like the 'and' and 'yet' strategies to help listeners reframe setbacks as learning opportunities. Finally, they discuss vision crafting, setting non-negotiable pillars, and managing decision fatigue as essential components of this blueprint for continuous improvement.

00:15 Introduction to Unstoppable By Design

00:39 Defining 'Unstoppable by Design'

01:46 Builders vs. Drifters: Mindset Matters

04:39 Shifting Core Beliefs

12:13 Vision Crafting and Strategy

15:54 Building Systems and Habits

17:05 Overcoming Decision Fatigue

20:43 Reflecting and Adapting

25:43 Final Thoughts and Challenge

Transcript

Matt: Let's Goooo! Welcome to Unstoppable By Design, where we talk all things fitness, mindset, and what it means to truly be unstoppable inside and outside the gym. I'm Matt Terry, and today I am joined by my wife, fellow owner, Anna Terry. Anna, how are you? 

Anna: Let's Goooo. I'm Pumped. 

Matt: Today we're diving into designing your own Unstoppable blueprint.

Anna: All right, so for those of you who don't know, this podcast was named by Mr. Matt Terry himself. So Matt, what does the name Unstoppable by Design mean to you? 

Matt: So, the words in the name of our podcast by Design means we create systems, habits, and thoughts that move us forward, not by accident, but on purpose.

So being unstoppable isn't a personality trait, it's a set of intentional choices. I think too often we wait for ‘motivation’ to strike. So, if we're thinking about taking that name and designing our own unstoppable blueprint or creating one, I think it means you build habits and environments that carry you forward.

Whether you feel pumped up or not. Everyone's blueprint will look a little different, but it's the mindset behind it that sets everything into motion. 

Anna: I feel that. When we think about this, right, do you feel like there's some people out there who naturally and organically create their own blueprint versus other people who maybe don't know how to do it on their own and might need a little extra attention and coaching?

Matt: I do. I think that, the mindset comes from two different areas. I think that maybe somebody called the builder is somebody that's more intentional and somebody called the drifter just thinks about staying in their comfort zone. Has a lack of intentional action toward personal goals.

I think builders strive for progress and see opportunities for positive change. While drifters may be more like content with the status quo. 

Anna: I want you to take a moment, and listeners as well, think about recent conversations last 30 days or so. Hearing how Matt just described the difference between what he views as a builder and a drifter.

Have you experienced a person like that or a conversation where someone shows those tendencies? How do you feel around it? Matt, do you have any examples of a recent conversation with a builder and how you felt?

Matt: I would say having a conversation with somebody that's a builder is empowering. It's motivating because this person has goals, they know where they want to go, and they've taken the time to map out what that will look like. I think that they ask themselves like, what can I shape to get there?

What things can I do? What things can I check off to get there? 

Anna: And then how about having a conversation with the opposite, a drifter. 

Matt: I think drifters as will probably be no surprise, are probably a little bit more fun. But I think that they're not quite sure what the next step is for them, and maybe they're still taking their time to figure it out. Now, I don't mean drifter in like a negative connotation like a bad person or something like that, but they're just not motivated towards a goal, so they're just hanging out. 

Anna: Yeah. And there's really, like you said, there's no, it's not a bad thing.

There's no wrong or right answer to your mindset. It's just what do you want out of life? And maybe you wanna be a drifter. Maybe you wanna be a builder. We live from the saying unstoppable. So, we're talking primarily about builders and how to become one so you can become unstoppable. And it sounds like in essence when we're talking about a builder mindset, it's more actively and intentionally shaping your life to strive for that continuous improvement.

The drifter, like you said, might hang out more in their comfort zones, potentially missing out on some opportunities for growth and fulfillment. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Anna: We talk a lot about growth mindset here, which is one of our core values at Juggernaut. When you think about starting off your blueprint. What would you recommend for somebody who maybe is more on the drifter side, likes to stay in their comfort zone? What small shifts can we make towards that unstoppable builder mindset?

Matt: I think one of the big shifts that they can start thinking about is looking at things, and I said it earlier, but in ways of what can I shape? Like looking at whatever circumstance or situation you're facing and thinking, okay, what do I like? What do I not like? What do I want to be better?

What's gonna help me move towards a direction I want to go in? Just having that sort of idea of what you wanna shape. And then, making some shifts, making some small shifts that could start to change some of your core beliefs over time. Core belief, if you don't know, is a deeply held fundamental idea about oneself, others, and the world.

They shape how we think, how we feel, and how we behave. They're the underlying assumptions that guide our understanding of life experiences and influence our interactions. They act as like a lens through which we interpret situations. So, if you ever think of like you that age old saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” right?

Different people see things different ways in different perspectives. But it could lead, to different thoughts, feelings, and actions, even in similar circumstances based off perception. These core values or these core beliefs they develop from life experiences particularly during childhood, and they're influenced by relationships with caregivers.

They could be negative core beliefs. Those things can contribute to something like insecurity, self-doubt, low moods. While if you have a positive core belief, it could have a fostering a sense of confidence and wellbeing. 

Anna: I definitely think like developing kind of those core statements that align with your core beliefs is key, especially as you're starting the journey of trying to become a builder.

I know for myself, one of the very first statements that somebody taught me as I began this journey was pause. And instead of asking yourself, why did this happen to me? Ask why did this happen for me? That saying was probably one of the first ones that started changing my mindset. Because I heard it when I was pretty young and I almost relentlessly asked myself, why is this happening to me when anything bad happened? And as soon as somebody taught me that, I immediately started shifting to a builder.

Because once you start thinking that way, why is this happening for me? Because then you realize you can learn from it and then you know what it's like to fail forward. And I think with failing forward, you start to take what some people might believe as a mistake or an error, and you now internalize that as this is just data.

Like I'm gonna take this situation and I'm gonna learn and I'm gonna grow from it 'cause it's happening for me. And when it's happening for you, you become stronger. Do you have any other sayings that like maybe folk could ask themselves? 

Matt: Yeah, I think if people start to think out loud about things like, what do I believe about myself when I fail? Or, ask yourself if you see hard things as problems or opportunities? Or ask yourself am I the kind of person that follows through?

Like, when you say you're gonna do something, are you the type of person that does it? 

Anna: I think that applies to like, do you do it for yourself and do you follow through for others as well? Don't forget that you're a part of this. 

Matt: Yeah.

Anna: Let’s talk about some techniques, right? So I, I think coming up with sayings is a really good technique because they're easily repeat, they're repeatable, you chose them, and they align with your core belief. There's some other techniques. One of them that I personally am really passionate about is instead of saying, I love you, but, use and. When you say but it almost negates everything that's before it.

Whether you're talking to a friend, a employee, whoever yourself, don't negate whatever you said, right? I love you, but your room is dirty go clean it. What if you said that to your kid? How are they gonna perceive it? Maybe my mom's not gonna love me unless I have a clean room. This might be extreme, however, the amount of parenting books that I've read says over time it could really sink in as something that they need to now almost be like a perfectionist in order to gain love.

Whereas if you say, I love you and your room is a mess, can you go clean that for me? You're allowing them to not be perfect. You're still expressing love. It's totally different tones. This is an extreme example, but I think we all have received a statement of that way, and that one small shift of words, especially when you speak to yourself, can also be very empowering.

Matt: Yeah, I think it's important to talk about the techniques. I think a lot of people can relate to that one, but techniques that will help people shift their core beliefs, especially if they're starting off mostly negative. So if we have these like perceptions of our body, perceptions of our athleticisms that are negative, we need to start having these techniques or these tools in our toolbox to kind of combat against that.

I think another one outside of the and technique is the yet technique. So I think with this if you're not very good at a movement, just add yet at the end of it. For example, I cannot walk on my hands- yet. Meaning that I'm still a work in progress. I'm still working towards that goal. Maybe you really struggle with barbell snatches, be like, I can't barbell snatch more than wooden plates- yet.

It's coming. So it's using these tools, these techniques to help shift those core beliefs that may be negative into more of a positive one, that one that's gonna help you build confidence and support you. 

Anna: Yeah. They're critical and I like those easy little and yet statements because they're really easy for you to also apply to somebody else.

Their one word. I don't know about you, but I've been on the floor. I think Mike's the one who gets me the most is where I'd be like, oh, I can't do this. And you hear him from across the room being like, yet. Yeah. So, you can totally apply it to others very easily. And they don't even know what you're doing.

But there's a science behind it. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Anna: And there's a science behind it. 

Matt: And there's a science behind it. Somebody was really good at this. Held me accountable. That was David, remember David? 

Anna: Oh really? You, he did. I remember you. Yeah. Reading some of the conversations you guys would have. Yeah. He was really good about holding us accountable.

That's just some of it too, right? Is like you really just, you need that person in your life who cares about you enough to not let you speak poorly to yourself. Roxanne, oh my gosh. Now we're just dropping everybody, right? Your name dropping. Roxanne is somebody for me where if I like speak down to herself, she'll or down to me, she'll come right up and be like, don't talk to my friend like that.

Matt: Yeah. Holding each other accountable. Great. 

Anna: Yeah. It course strikes me right away. So having people who, you know, want to go on this same journey around you is going to make you that much more successful. But, all right, so we spend a lot of time talking about what our core beliefs are, how we can take those and build systems and some habits around it.

And all around building our unstoppable blueprint, we're talking about shifting some of our core beliefs that might be holding us back. Now we need to start talking about our vision and our strategy. So, I've heard you talk a little bit before about vision crafting. We both, we've read, some books vivid a vision, things like that.

Tell me a little bit about vision crafting. 

Matt: Yeah. So I think, starting to hone in on your vision, coming up with a strategy, like you said, it's called vision crafting. It's the emotional why, the fire think about it this way. In five years, what headline would you want about your health, your career, or your relationships?

Think about it, like pause, pause the podcast. Think about it for about 10 seconds or however long it takes you to come up with. But what do you want that headline to say? What's your overall goal and what is your vision? Try to write it down. Think about trying to write it down in 50 words or less.

Be concise. Be concise with what that headline should look like. And now that we have it, let's assume you've paused the podcast. Now that we have the vision, we need to make a strategy on how to get there. And that's gonna be our structure, right? That's going take the shape or the form of routines, actions, check-ins, whatever it is.

You want to define success by your own terms, not somebody else's. So be like, hey, my goal is to run a mile, but “XYZ” said I have to do it this way. 

Anna: And by this time 

Matt: Maybe that doesn't fit your life for your schedule or your abilities. 

Anna: Maybe just running a mile is an amazing accomplishment regardless of the time.

Matt: Yeah. Comparison is the thief of joy. That age-old statement. It's perfectly true. But take your vision and your end goal and then define what halfway looks like, and then define what halfway to halfway looks. So for example, if I said that I wanted to get my mile run down to six minutes and I'm starting at a 10-minute mile. My halfway mark to get down to that six is gonna be an eight-minute mile, and halfway to halfway is to get a nine-minute mile.

Now I could start to make my vision and my path there actionable with smaller pieces. Now that we have our structure or how we want to get there, the halfway and halfway to halfway, we need to start adding stuff like accountability structures, like what Anna was talking about with Roxanne.

Anna: You with David? 

Matt: Yeah. We gotta have support systems designed to help you stay accountable to your steps. They could be consistent workout buddies, right? They could be being part of an online community or group or maybe here at the gym, like with Juggernaut Fitness being part of our community here walking in the door, seeing a coach, having a coach or a mentor.

These are all really great accountability structures. 

Anna: And they're really what's going to get you results, physically, mentally, spiritually, all of it. Speaking for myself, coming to this gym, we've been here for 12 years now. I never ever stayed committed to a gym that long or any sort of fitness routine 'cause I didn't have accountability.

But when you have people who are expecting you to show up, you have a coach who calls you when you're not there, like honestly, something of this nature. Even if it's a online, like a structured online program, an online coach or coming in to a gym with coaches who actually care you're gonna move the needle.

You're gonna get where you wanna get to. No doubt. So we got a vision. 

Matt: That's it. And we got some structures. Right now it's starting to take shape a little bit. 

Anna: We have a little intentionality behind us succeeding. So, I love a good system. This stuff gets me all excited. I like my processes.

I like clear and concise paths. I truly think that they are far more superior from just relying on willpower alone. Motivation comes and goes, but discipline that equals freedom and discipline often comes from having good systems in place. Unstoppable people do this. Because it helps remove decision fatigue.

That is, I don't even know if people really know, like decision fatigue is a thing. Take a minute and think about all the clients we've had, or even just our friends when they come home after a long day at work, don't wanna make dinner. They literally cannot even think what to get for dinner.

So, what do they do? They go to old reliable McDonald's, 

Matt: The McD's Steakhouse, 

Anna: The Mc or somewhere else. They order takeout food. Even if you order takeout food, a healthy version of it, we still don't really know what's in it. Restaurants typically use a lot of like butter and oils that we wouldn't use at home, so we're getting extra calories for getting things that may not make us feel as well oiled as we should.

But a lot of that comes from decision fatigue throughout the day. So, let's talk about some things that we can do to navigate decision fatigue. What have you done before? 

Matt: I think a good thing that'll help alleviate some of the things that we see or commonly hear about it could be like, hey, I don't have time to get ready in the morning before and then hit the gym and then go to my day.

A common area or thing that could help people with this is getting your clothes ready the night before. So, putting things out, it's your first day of school, right? Getting your outfit prepped, your shoes by the door. Just make everything so easy for yourself when you wake up.

And same thing with food. A lot of people when they wake up, they don't have breakfast in the morning. They don't eat until like noontime the next day. And they're not doing a certain diet, like that's just how they function day to day. 'cause they say that they don't have enough time in the morning to make breakfast.

I think a way to solve that is to just prep your meal the day before. For a long time I would make scrambled eggs the night before. Then the morning when I woke up, I'd put it in the microwave, warm up the eggs, and I would eat the eggs and be done in 15 minutes. It saves a whole bunch of time.

Anna: Yeah. And it's an easy thing to do. You just have to be intentional about it when you're scrambling last minute, 'cause you hit snooze five times, you don't have time to cook eggs in the morning. You're thankful that you planned ahead the night before and took care of that. And it's really it might take, a good week to build that routine and it might feel funky while you're doing it, but once you get there.

You're gonna be so thankful that you did. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Anna: Another way of getting there too is habit stacking. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Anna: Sometimes we do challenges like that here, but really habit stacking is like, what's one thing that you already do every single day? 

Matt: Brush your teeth

Anna: Boom. Brush your teeth. So that's already a habit.

What's one thing that we could add on top of that makes sense, that would benefit you for tomorrow, to not have as much decision fatigue. 

Matt: Yeah. Whatever that is for you. Maybe it's as you brush your teeth, you pack your food, goes hand in hand. You can't do one without the other, and that way, you know it gets done.

Anna: You could also do the same thing with your clothes. I think that's actually what I do. While I brush my teeth, I pick out my gym clothes for the next day. That all works for me

Matt: Yeah, 

Anna: It's really finding like things in your day that are already a natural habit you don't have to think twice about, and what can you stack on it to now add to that habit?

And that way you already always know when I grab my toothbrush, I'm also doing this 

Matt: Right. 

Anna: And it's usually much more digestible. 

Matt: Yeah, those are a couple of tools that definitely help. Another one we've heard, somebody's ah, I can't eat the same meal every day in a row.

Or like I, for me, I have the same breakfast every morning, but some people it's I am tired of that. I need variety variety is the spice of life. 

Anna: Yeah. 

Matt: What do I do? And if you wanna remove decision fatigue while keeping variety, a good solution to that could be keeping a standard set rotation of breakfasts that you cook one right after another.

So that way, okay, on Tuesdays I have. Some crazy egg thing, but on Wednesdays I have, 

Anna: It's a overnight oats. Lemme help you. 

Matt: Yeah. I struggle, I can't even think of variety 'cause it's just eggs, but eggs and oatmeal. But yeah that's another tool that can help you with that decision fatigue and start to put systems in place along with your vision and your structures.

Anna: Yeah, so we've offered a lot of tools. I think one of the last things that we would offer for advice when building your own blueprint is to think ahead and prepare. Earlier we talked about using failures as data. I think we all have had boatloads of failures in our life, especially around implementing a health and wellness routine of any sort.

So, take a few minutes and let's think back to those things. What have we done in the past that hasn't worked? What have we done in the past that has worked? Start collecting that data and prepare for potential setbacks that could happen. We're going to once again, use this as data and we're gonna learn from it because our blueprints evolve, and that is part of the process.

So as long as we can take those failures and not let it turn into drama or negative self talk, we can do a lot of great things and we're gonna start doing that now, right? So if this is a good space for you to pause the podcast again and write down some of those learning opportunities, do it.

Matt: Setbacks are part of the process. Failure's expected in some way or form. You just can't let the failure feed those negative core beliefs. You've gotta reframe it so that way it contributes to some positive core beliefs. 

Anna: Yeah, pivot. Be adaptable. Maybe you won't make it to the gym today, which was plan A, but what's plan B?

You know what will work based on your lifestyle and previous failures. Learn from it, use that data. Maybe plan B is an at-home workout. Maybe plan B is a walk. But what is it? 

Matt: Yeah. 

Anna: Only you will know. So what's next? 

Matt: Yeah, so now we've talked about core beliefs, we've talked about structures, we've talked about systems.

Having a vision, figuring out where we're gonna go. So now our blueprint's actually starting to take shape. Now it's time to actually build that blueprint. So a common thing that we talk about here is thinking about three non-negotiables. Like just what are three pillars in your blueprint that are gonna help you achieve your goals?

For example, if we keep that running, example from earlier, say, I'm trying to get down to a six minute mile. What are three things that I need to do every day with me on my journey that are gonna help me in some way? That could be movement itself, right? We'll say working out or running X amount of days, whatever it is.

Let's say the second pillars may be recovery. You take 20 minutes or however, for stretching and mobilizing something that's really gonna benefit you and your body to feel better. And then that third pillar, let's say something with mindset, let's say journaling for five minutes a day, about how the day went or how the workouts went, something you felt, something you've noticed.

Something you're wanting to do or hoping to see, whatever it is, just take that moment for journaling and those are your three non-negotiables that you've gotta go. They're gonna be the pillars of your blueprint. 

Anna: And I would honestly really recommend that everybody has at least one pillar be mindset.

Matt: Yeah. 

Anna: Because that's where the real growth is. That's where the real challenges can be. And I think doing it through journaling is really powerful. Especially when it's from a space of reflection doing it afterwards. There's a lot of power to doing it before too. I think while we're shifting, doing it afterwards to say what went well, always start with what went well.

Give yourself that bright spot. And especially when you do it before bed, you now have that in your brain as you're falling asleep and you marinate on it all night or noodle on it. As Liz says, 

Matt: Noodle.

Anna: You noodle on it all night. But, it's really important to reflect on what we have done. I think all of us have been through scenarios where we've made mass change and we don't notice it ourselves because it's so incremental.

Until somebody points it out, and it's likely because we're not reflecting daily on it. And if we're reflecting daily on how we feel like we did 10 minutes of 30 seconds of sprinting, 30 seconds of walking on day one. And on a scale of one to 10, I felt like a two. I thought I was gonna die. But here we are two weeks later and I'm reflecting and saying, I did that same workout, but I feel like a seven.

Like I could do it again. Do you acknowledge that? If you don't reflect on it, like you're just doing it, you're just moving through. This is about being intentional. It's about being a builder. It's about being unstoppable, taking those moments to reflect on it daily. You're gonna get there. 

Matt: Yeah, the big idea today is that you don't find your path, you build it. Whatever you make your blueprint around for a goal being unstoppable is the result of tiny, consistent choices layered over time. The blueprint's yours, but you've gotta pick up the pen. 

Anna: Put it to paper, baby.

Matt: All right, that's it for today. To wrap everything up, I want to issue a challenge post one non-negotiable pillar. In your blueprint to social media and use the hashtag #UnstoppableBlueprint. We're planning to answer some questions from listeners in an upcoming podcast, so send any questions to info@juggernaut-fitness.com with the subject Unstoppable by Design.

Thank you for joining us in this episode. Remember to follow the podcast if you haven't already, enable notifications so you can stay up to date on all of our episodes, which come out weekly on Tuesdays, and of course drop our review if you found that the information shared today could help you in some way.

And then look forward to seeing you guys on episode three for a short, quick mini episode on community culture. Until next time, be well. Be unstoppable.