Ep.35: Standards Over Sympathy

Ep. 35. Standards Over Sympathy

We start with a gym story that turns into a bigger talk about grace, accountability, and why we should stop telling people what they “should” do when they are in a hard season. Braxston and Nick dig into men’s mental health, discipline, and big challenges, then tease a 2026 Masogi that honestly scares them in the best way.
• a chemo battle changing how we think about courage and training
• grace without lowered expectations and respect for personal standards
• why men disappear when life gets heavy
• building a real tribe that calls and checks in
• the gym as a release for anxiety and depression but not the root fix
• asking better questions instead of rushing past people
• high performance insecurity and why we struggle to celebrate wins
• consistency as the real “secret” behind progress
• gym discipline versus gym escape and how to tell the difference
• redefining overtraining as unearned intensity
• a 2026 Masogi plan to bike across Indiana and raise money for charity
Please, if you have any any details of what we need on this ride, I think it's gonna be clothes in a backpack, some extra tires, a pump, and food and water.

Transcript

Standards, Risk, And Being Seen

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Know your standard because it doesn't mean that you have to go every day, it doesn't mean that you have to do those hard things. If you tell them, like, hey, this isn't for me, this is who I am, then the person has a choice to be what you might need or might not. But the the two things I think about with him is he's inspiring. Like when he was like, You're inspiring, like, don't dude, you're inspiring. And I think we underestimate seeing somebody go through hard things, do hard things. And we're like, and I'm not going through that hard thing, and I'm complaining about doing hard things, like, come on. So I think it puts things into perspective. And then some of you might be like, What whoa, this guy needs to not be doing anything. He needs to be like blah blah blah. We default to like this protective, like fearful, like, uh man. I look at him and I say, he understands it might not be good for him at certain points. He's also very clear on like, hey, I got it. These are things I can't do or I shouldn't do, these are things I'm trying to do. I want to grow. We all take risk.

Travel, Fatherhood, And Worship Night

SPEAKER_01 1:23

I'm Nicky Rankar with Braxton Cave. Uh yeah, I was gonna try to say something witty and I didn't have anything. I should be more prepared, I think. Uh but yeah, how you doing?

SPEAKER_03 1:36

Doing good, man. Just uh spent some time this week and uh focusing in and spending some time with my my group in Chicago, so that was really good. Uh obviously there's there's the good that comes of that on the business side, but being away from home and the kids takes a little bit of a toll. But my wife's been a rock star and handled that really well. So but it's I mean you you got to I I was really sad to miss out on night of worship at church. Um, but you got to fill in for me with cope. I heard he said some funny stuff to you.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Yeah, yeah. He I mean, yeah, he said some funny stuff, but he said some serious stuff too, where I was like, This kid's a good kid. I mean, you know that. Um, but that was yeah, that that was honestly a privilege to be able to be there and then because he you know he missed you.

SPEAKER_03 2:25

Natalie said, Did Nick tell you what cope said to him? I said, No, what is it?

SPEAKER_01 2:29

I let that be on her to decide. I didn't want to say anything.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

You know, I miss my dad, but you you remind me of my dad, except you need to shave your arms.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Yeah, he came, he came, he basically came over and he like snuggled up on me and like grabbed my hand and like started playing with my fingers, and he was like, Um, I came over here because I missed my dad. And you remind me of my dad. So, like, that's why I'm here. And I was like, that's fine. And then he just like stayed, and Asa was on the other side, which he was just playing. Um, but the fact that he said that and I was like, dang, like, this is what Braxton wants, is like this. So, and I was like, Well, that's awesome. Cause yeah, he was just like, You remember your dad? And then he was like grabbing the hairs on my arm. He's like, But you need to shave your arms.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

And then I laughed, and that's what he always like when I, you know, if I go a couple days without shaving my arms, it you know, it gets super prickly, and he's like, Dad, you need to shave. You feel like a shark.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Oh, he was just like grabbing it, like like Yeah, they're not used to that. No, no, so that was funny, but uh, yeah, and I've been I mean that was an awesome night. Honestly, I would love to do that every week. We had worship at uh the church, and yeah, you just for 90 minutes, and it was so cool. I don't normally sing, I'm not I'm I've not that I have a horrible voice, but I do. But I just don't, like I don't I f I'm more in my head, I think. And I just was like singing and Cope was singing, and him and I I was like, this is so cool, like I'm he sing like in Yeah, so just see being in that too, like I was just smiling ear to ear, like yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

No one can hear you when you sing anyway.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

No, but I it's it's I don't know why I just don't I don't normally feel like I would if I felt like oh I need to let and that's what happened. I was just like the whole entire time, yeah. Um which I enjoyed that because it felt really good. I just don't normally feel that, and I'm like, well maybe going to a place where you're like, hey, this is what we're doing is a little bit different.

A Gym Compliment Turns Serious

SPEAKER_01 4:35

But for me, the last couple weeks I've been training uh a lot more than what I'm used to in the last few years, which then kind of brings us to what we're gonna be talking about today, which is um well, I guess I'll start with something that occurred today when we before we came in here. I was at the gym, got done training, and um beat. I don't know if you've ever worked out and just been like, I feel like I can eat whatever I want and do whatever I want. And I feel like that was me for like over ten years, though I tried my best to not eat horrible. But we finished working out and a guy came over to us and was just like, Man, you guys are insane. Because I've had um some people I've been training with, which has pushed me and made me like, oh, I'm gonna do harder workouts. And then it's ultimately made me question why I'm trying to do these harder workouts. But he walked over and he's like, dude, the last few days watching you guys, we're all like, that's why they look how they look. Like, and he's like, It's super inspiring, it's really, really cool. And I'm like, No, it's not. He's like, Yeah, it is. And the guy that I was with was kind of looking at him, and and this guy that was speaking actually is going through chemo right now, he has cancer. And I found this out a couple weeks ago, and so every time we see each other, he's like, Hey, how you doing? I'm like, dude, I'm doing awesome, how about you? And he kind of like shrugs, and I'm like, Well, you're here, and like I'm I'm proud of you. And today he was like, you know, talking about what we were doing, and he's like, I just really don't like that everybody keeps telling me what I should be doing. I don't like that everybody keeps telling me, like, oh, just give yourself grace, like you don't need to be here, you don't need to be doing that, like you know, it's okay, it's okay. And he's like, I just don't, I don't like how that feels. And I'm like, Well, I don't believe you don't need to be here. I think grace is that you come here without the expectations of you're gonna do what you've done, but you know one day you will do better. But today, you know, you're here, and so we kind of talked through that. So when we sat down, I was like, Man, I was talking to you guys about that story, and kind of led to like the mental side that we don't talk about. Um, not just the mental side of like, ooh, that's a hard workout, I don't know if I want to do it, but there are things going on in everybody's life, and I think a lot of times when it comes to the gym, when we are going through hard things, we just disappear. And when I say disappear, it's it's the guy where you're like, Hey, have you seen so-and-so? No, I haven't. Now, it doesn't mean that they're going through something, but most likely there's something happening inside of their life that has either made them decide, like, that's not a place I should be right now, or maybe I don't have the time to be there. But yeah, so what hearing all that, what are your thoughts?

Grace Versus Accountability For Men

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Because obviously I talked about grace.

SPEAKER_03 7:29

Yeah. I mean, the the first thing that pops out to me is I think it's the the person's response you know, their their feedback to him is like the number one thing that's wrong with society right now. It's like the making someone feel better and not challenging and not there's no accountability. Like, I think that's why he is attracted to spending time with you because you're you're recognizing what he's going through, but you're still challenging him to continue doing the things that are ultimately going to serve him best, right? And if I guess there's a couple different ways to look at it, if he was going through a situation and was like, I don't want to do this, then there's obviously some different feedback, but he clearly wants to be in the gym and continue to get better. And it yeah, it looks different than what it used to prior to him having to go through chemo and in those the battles he's going through. But to have someone by his side saying, I hear you, I see you, but like let's continue to get better on this journey. And I think it it all leads back to you know, what does your tribe look like? Who are you surrounded with? And so many men, you know, I can't again, I can't speak for the female side other than what I know, you know, in spending the amount of time with my wife as I do, but men so often default to moments of struggle to I'm gonna go at this alone. And it's just not the way to go as far as you can possibly go. And I think in our society, men lack having a tribe, men lack having a true men. Yeah, a true tribe. Like, like you had mentioned earlier, you know, you you have this call it this second layer or this outer surface tribe of people who, when you're not at the gym, they're like, Oh, where's so-and-so? But they're not picking up the phone saying, Hey, yep, why are you not in the gym? Where are you at? You know what I mean? And so men struggle having other strong men around them to hold them accountable. Like there's a standard that we all need to live up to, and that standard's different depending on who you are and what your expectations are. But if you don't have that person, you gotta have at least one person who will pick up the phone and say, Hey man, what's going on?

SPEAKER_01 9:48

And they should know your standard because it doesn't mean that you have to go every day, it doesn't mean that you have to do those hard things. If you tell them, like, hey, this isn't for me, this is who I am, then the person has a choice to be what you might need or might not. Right. But the the two things I think about with him is he's inspiring. Like when he was like, You're inspiring, like, don't dude, you're inspiring. And I think we underestimate seeing somebody go through hard things, do hard things. And we're like, and I'm not going through that hard thing, and I'm complaining about doing hard things, like, come on. So I think it puts things into perspective. And then some of you might be like, Well, whoa, this guy needs to not be doing anything. He needs to be like, blah, blah, blah. We default to like this protective, like fearful, like, uh man. I look at him and I say, he understands that it might not be good for him at certain points. He's also very clear on like, hey, I got it, these are things I can't do or I shouldn't do, these are things I'm trying to do. I want to grow. We all take risk. So if you're somebody who's like, man, he shouldn't be, he he's taking a risk. I get that. But he's willing to take that risk. He's already going through things. And I think we are so easily easy to tell other people what they should and shouldn't do without asking them what they want. And I think we we base so many decisions off feeling. Well, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. But the truth is, like, it has nothing to do with feeling. It just has to do with you deciding. And he's deciding this is what I'm gonna do, and I'm gonna do it on a daily basis. If somebody does that, don't try to hold them back. Don't try to say no. Instead, try to be there for them where they are and what they're trying to do in the in a healthy way for them, not for you. I think we push off how we feel on other people. Where the truth is, it's like, I can't put myself in his shoes. I have no idea. And I told him, I was like, I don't know what I would do if I was you, and he said you'd be here too. And I was like, Well, I appreciate you saying that, but I honestly can't say, I would hope. But I see you and I'm like, you are. So what's my excuse?

SPEAKER_03 11:55

Yeah, I mean, I I think about you know, putting myself in in those shoes, and right, that's hard, that's hard to do. But at the same time, I know knowing myself as well as I do. If I didn't have that, if I didn't have the gym, I I don't know who I would be. Like to me, that's that puts me on the the downward slope really fast, and so continuing to have that routine and it's gonna look different, but having it and then having someone support you through it, I mean that's that's what it's all about.

Exercise, Anxiety, And The Real Cause

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Do you think so kind of like to take a step in a similar direction but different? Do you think that working out, and I would start with a group, but obviously you train alone, and I train alone quite a bit. Recently been working out with some people, and you know, we work out occasionally, like, but we both will train alone. Do you think or what how much do you believe that working out decreases depression, anxiety, kind of those feelings of like I think there's a release there?

SPEAKER_03 13:03

Yeah, absolutely. I think I think there's a release there, and I think that's why so many people do it every day. I think that it doesn't fix the root cause issue that is potentially causing what your anxiety or depression. So to me, it's like, yeah, it's uh it's not a bad thing, right? Doing having your daily release, and I've said it on here before, like I'm just not a great person when I don't work out, just because I that release and the getting that out, you know, and sweating every day is is a big deal for me. Um but there's there's an underlying, I'm not gonna call it an issue, but there's an underlying thing there that's causing you to be in that state. Like that shouldn't be your normal state. And so I think you can use the gym as a you know a band-aid, right, for whatever that is, and it temporarily gets you to the right, you know, mind space. But what's actually causing you to be that way? That would be my

Asking Better Questions In Real Life

SPEAKER_03 14:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

I mean, because I look and I'm wondering as you were talking, how many times do we think working out, when you get done with the workout, you're kind of more open. You'll talk about things you don't normally talk about or that you wouldn't normally, you're kind of just relaxed in a fatigued way. But how often do we actually ask? Because I'm thinking about this for myself of having that conversation with him today in the gym, that's a pretty deep, serious conversation where he didn't need to have that. And the only reason we had that conversation was because weeks ago he came over for some advice and was just like, Hey, how could I do a lift similar to this? Like, uh, you know, because I can't. And I was like, Well, why can't you? He's like, Well, I have a port. And I was like, Oh man, what's that for? And he was like, Well, I've you know, I'm just started chemo, and I was like, Oh man, like what happened? So I just kept asking him questions until I got the full story of what was going on, and I'm like, how often do we not ask all the questions? Like where we just ask one, he's like, Oh, well, I have a port. It's like, oh dude, okay, I understand that. Well, then here's what I'd probably just do. And this guy's going through this thing that he obviously is comfortable enough to have some form of communication about it. But I look and I'm like, sometimes I think as guys, we don't want to have those conversations. Not we don't want to have the conversations as like the person struggling, because we definitely don't, but we don't want to dive into the person struggling and have the conversation with them. Whereas I think females will probably do that a little bit more than we will. But what I've noticed is the more that I ask questions, the more I feel connected with the story and that I want to understand and be a part of it, and I'll check in and I'll follow. I mean, I ask him every single time I see him because I understand his story.

SPEAKER_03 16:03

Yeah, I think there's how many times have have you, I mean, because I'm guilty of this of you know, walking past someone and hey, how you doing? And you just keep you keep going, right? You don't you're not you're not really asking how they're doing. I think that's just a you know, call it a social norm these days. But I think you're more apt to do that in the gym setting, I think because ultimately you have some common ground. And I think that's something that m a lot of guys struggle with is I don't want to ask too much because maybe I'm gonna get into an uncomfortable conversation, or maybe I'm not equipped to have this conversation. But I think oftentimes, you know, God puts us in situations for a reason, and no, we're never you're never gonna be fully equipped to answer, and it's it's not about answering and solving people's problems. A lot of times, like you said, it's just asking questions, let them talk and then support them through it. Like you don't have to have the answers to everything.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Because I I look at that story and I'm like, we all are around a lot of people throughout the day and we know nothing about, and I bet you that there are there are probably a handful of people that I've crossed or pat today that have similar stories to him that I've not talked to. And who knows if they have somebody to talk to. So I look a lot, like you said, we are put in God puts us in different places, positions, opportunities. It's not his job to force us to step into it. And that's a part, that's something that I'm trying to lean more into, is why am I standing here right now? Why am I on a microphone talking? Like, is somebody actually gonna get something out of this? I hope. But truthfully, it's like I feel called to be able to speak in these ways because there's gotta be something that's gonna come of it, even if it's growth in me that will help me later on down the road. Like, I recently have been put in a lot of positions to have conversations that are challenging me to step out of the norm. Hey, what's going on? And when you hear, I think when we talk to people, you can hear when there's something. You uh you talk enough and you can see like they didn't really answer that question, or they didn't even like they didn't make eye contact. There was a something, and I guess guys were like, Oh, of course it's just a dude, like he's just whatever. Yeah, that's probably he's probably got something going on, but don't we all? It's like, yeah, we do, but it's nice to talk.

SPEAKER_03 18:43

Right.

High Performance And Quiet Insecurity

SPEAKER_03 18:44

So a question for you, I would say, you know, so many people look at you, your physique, the way you train, and they they're like, Well, Nick, Nick has this perfect life and Nick doesn't have any problems, but can you think of you know a mental battle off the top of your head that you face that people wouldn't expect?

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Oh man, I mean, uh probably a lot, all the time. I mean, I constantly so I think um I wouldn't say this is like a super deep one, but a struggle that I have is that I believe everybody is better than me. And I don't mean that in like a oh you're faster than me, or oh you lift more than me, but just like I'm not as good as I could be. That I walk into a room and I put everybody else on a pedestal, if that makes sense. Like I'm I'm thinking like your guys are everybody here smart, they're more successful, they're this, they're that, and I don't know who they are. I just do that, and it's almost like it challenges me and pushes me to try to prove I belong, but what it also does is it never allows me to accept that I'm actually better than I think. So I don't know how to I can joke around, I can, you know, when I'm playing in the backyard, playing football and throwing around, like I can talk trash and I can joke around, but there's not anything there. But once you once it's serious, like when I was competing at the games or even like in sports, I don't celebrate well. Because there's always something better I could have done. I don't, I I would hear people do something and they'd just be so excited and I'd be like, but that wasn't perfect. Or but there were mistakes. Or you know, you have a football game and you have a bad game but you win, it's hard for me to celebrate when I played poorly. Or you have a great game and you lose, and you're like, well, I can't be super, I can't be excited for myself because we lost. So I grew up in that team to where when I would do really well, I never I don't know how to celebrate myself as much as people would be like, oh, you're cocky or this. I'm like, no, I'm very confident. I am very confident in myself that I can pursue something and I know that I can do well, but I just feel like everybody else, if they put the same effort, could probably do better than me. So I need to push, I need to go. And I think that that's something that I still struggle with.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

I don't I don't know if that's a yeah, no, the that last part you said there resonates with me of like if if other people were doing the same things as me or working as hard as I do, they would be so much better than me. And that's that's something that stuck with me from from childhood. Like I was never the the most gifted, the most athletic, the strongest. I was always big. Um, but the only thing that ever separated me was that I just worked my butt off. And I remember coming across people who were like crazy athletic, super talented, super gifted, but they just they didn't care. And I'd sit there and be like, oh my gosh, if this person just cared a little Little bit, they would be incredible. Or like I wouldn't even I wouldn't be here because they would be well ahead of me.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

So I that's gotta be like a high performer thing. Because I when I was competing and I got to be like really good and known, um, and again saw all my flaws though. I was like, I'm not as good as you all think I am. And most people who I would come in contact with would be like, well, if I was, if I had the time that you have, or if I did this, I could be as good as you, or I used to be this good, or or if only this, then like and they would tell me all these reasons, and I'd stare at them and I'm like, but you're not. You're you're none of the things you're you're just you're talking about, you're you're shoulda all over your mouth, like you're shoulda being all over yourself. And or coulda, shoulda, coulda. So much of that. So what I would always tell people is, I'm not as good as you think. It's that the people that are trying really hard are are probably slightly better than me, but there's so little people trying really hard that I'm able to look really good at something that I'm putting so much blood, sweat, and tears into that if everybody else did, I would be average. And everybody isn't, and very few people ever are. And that's what makes being successful. It's not hard to be successful. It's hard to understand that what it takes to be successful is just what others aren't doing on a consistent basis. It's easy to work out for a year, and you're like, well, yeah is a long time. Okay, three months, one month, like what? What's your time frame? But like to do it for 20 and then be like, and there's no end in sight, like this is a part of me, and I eat well, and I focus on my sleep, and I focus on my recovery, and I focus on my relationships, and I focus on my mental game and all these things, and then you realize like I'm not that great, but no one else is focusing on all those things, too. However, I lack in other areas.

SPEAKER_03 23:53

Yeah, like you I mean, you said it, but let's not skip over it. I'm not better than you, I'm just more consistent than you. I mean, that's really what it boils down to.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

And that's true. Like when people look at us and you, what you've done on the football field, what you've done with your bot, your your transformation of your body, people will look, and there's a lot of words you can use for that. However, you are just like, all I did was keep moving down this path, and I never stopped. That's that that's the secret. So you're like, yeah, okay, I was larger and I was these things, and I found what a larger guy with my skills could get really good at if I put in the work, and I did that. I was a smaller guy, I found what it took in sports to be my size with my speed and my athleticism to do the things that I could do, and I didn't do them with the consistency I just allowed when I was in sports to just allow my athleticism to be my athleticism, and I used that as like, well, I'm I'm a really good athlete, and therefore I was an average one when it came down to like the end game, and then when I got to competing, I sold out like I went a hundred miles an hour and still had guys that were way better than me.

SPEAKER_03 25:18

Yeah, it's like I mean we could probably spend a whole episode just on that topic alone.

Discipline Or Escape In Training

SPEAKER_03 25:26

Um the one other question I would ask you is do you believe there's a a difference between like gym discipline and gym escape? Ooh. I think and I say that because I I I'm kind of going back to like the underlying issue statement, right? Because how often do does someone um have a hard meeting and they're like, I need to go for a walk? Or get in an argument with their wife and they're like, I'm out of here, I'm going for a drive. But it's like, is the drive or the gym or going for a walk solving that problem? Or are you is that the temporary escape?

SPEAKER_01 26:11

So when I'm I still talk about this, but when I was competing, I would always tell people, and this is true for football, um, and in it can be explained slightly different with sports or life, you have to give a certain, and I would say 50%. So half the time when you're training, you have to train outside of your ability. Like you have to push harder and farther than what you know you can just to find where your limit is. And then the other half of the time, and these the these numbers can vary, but it's just easier this way. The other half of the time, you have to train to where you believe your abilities are so that you can sustain it through a game or through a workout or through a day or a week. But what ultimately happens is your goal is that when you're training outside of your abilities, when all of a sudden you go back and you're like, okay, I'm gonna do this workout and I'm gonna try to do it where I am, you should finish that workout and go, wow, where I am is actually farther than I thought. And then you continue to push outside your abilities and then you continue to do these workouts, and what you start to do is you you push your where you believe you are to a farther point and you push where you believe you think you'll fail farther. And that to me is the idea of when you're constantly pushing yourself to be better, that's discipline. It's doing the hard things, it's doing the stuff that like you go in there. Discipline isn't going to the gym every day. Discipline is going to the gym every day and training in a way that improves you and that you don't want to. It's not walking in doing the same thing every day saying, woo, I'm consistent, I did it. That is consistent and that is awesome. However, if you're truly saying I am disciplined in what I'm doing, there is there is more to it than just walking in the door. When you're saying, oh, well, I'm coming in and it's just like a release, those are the days where you're like, I'm just going through the motions because this is good for me. I'm not pushing myself to try to beat any goals or anything, but I'm saying I'm not getting worse today. And I'm walking in as my release. So I think that discipline is where you walk in and it's hard. A release is when you walk in and you're you can essentially like walk through the motions, but you know when you walk out you're better.

SPEAKER_03 28:20

That's a that's a really good way to describe that. You know, I'm gonna go back to one of the when you were explaining that you talked about you know pushing yourself outside of the norm. You know, that's one a question that I get a lot from people, I'm sure you guys do as well, but you know, I am constantly trying to find out like where my breaking point is. And how many times and how many people go through life like I could never do that? You just you never know what you're actually capable of if you don't try it. Like I never should have ran a marathon at 265 pounds, right? That most people would be like, you're an idiot, or like you could never do that. Well, I did it, so like now what? What's the next thing I could do? What's the next challenge? So that's why people we talk about Masogi and all these things of like how can I physically and mentally challenge myself to find out what can be unlocked unlocked within me.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Well, and that's what's so cool though, is I think with how I've trained, I don't think there's a cap. I think that I think we can do stuff we aren't ready for and call it a like, oh, that's my breaking point. No, no, no, no, no. That's the point right now where you break. But you just proved where you can go, so how can you go farther? And that's the question I think that we don't ask. We we assume where we break, but we don't say, I'm going to find out. And then once I find out, I'm gonna go back to the drawing board and find out if I can go farther. Because most of us, what we basically say is, I want to, I want to do hard things, maybe. But I when I get ready to do the hard thing, we say, but that might be too hard. And we don't ever set out to say, is it? And if it is, do I want to go farther? And if I want to go farther, how do I go farther? And for how I've trained, like I've done things that have left me feeling like my body is going to shut down, and then six months later done harder things. And that's what leads me to my statement of I 100% believe this. When we talk about training, and somebody walks in the gym without working out and they work out for an hour and they're sore for a week, and they're like, oh, this is too much. Yep. Or somebody who can train for five hours a day, or somebody who like, you know, who bikes for 10 hours in a day, every single day, and they're like, I feel fine. People be like, well, that's overtraining. No. Overtraining to me is when you haven't trained hard enough to train that hard. And what that means is this you can't go from zero to a hundred. You go from zero to one and two and three and four and five. And eventually, if you choose to, you can get to a hundred. But that might be three years, it might be five years. And what I love about training and working out and all this stuff is that it's a com it's a high commitment to yourself over a long period of time. If you said to me, I want to run 100 miles, we could go out right now and we could run to see if we can do 100 miles. You might get 30. Cool. You'd be like, that's my breaking point. I'm like, no, that's just where you're at right now. Because I bet you in a week we could run 31. And then I bet you in another week we could run 32. And I bet you we could run 33. And then 34. And then you would go to 100 and you go, this is my breaking point. I'm like, you said that at 30. The question isn't where's our breaking point? Is where do you want to go? Because who knows? And that's what Masogis and that's what those things are. It's to say, can I break myself of who I am now to become greater? And most of us say it, but we won't do it.

SPEAKER_03 32:12

And this is a perfect lead-in to you for you to throw a little teaser out.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

You throw it out there because this is your this is you committing to this.

SPEAKER_03 32:20

I haven't I haven't said it out loud yet.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

That's why I said this is you committing. He has not committed to what's about to be said.

SPEAKER_03 32:26

Well, I wasn't gonna say the whole thing, I was just gonna throw a teaser out. Well, but you have to commit to tease.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

Well, hold on, before you start, I have I have something to say. Yeah. Just like what you were saying before. I truly believe your body adapts. So whatever you put it through and whatever you want to do, it's eventually gonna do it. Like if you want to climb Mount Everest tomorrow or next month and you train for it, I truly believe you can do it. It's whatever you want to put your body through.

SPEAKER_01 32:51

Yep. And you could just as easily fail. Yeah. And you learn through that, and then you can come back and do it again and then do it. That's what I mean. It's not all about getting to the end and being like, yeah. It might be getting to the middle and being like, whoa, I'm not ready. And that's okay. Because here's the thing, it might not be not ready physically. You may not have trained mentally. You may you may have walked in thinking, what if I fail? What if I fail? What if I fail? And the truth is, yeah, you might. But if you just think about the next step, and what if I don't? What if I make it to the top? What if I get the 100 miles? What if then could I do 101? Could I go and climb every month? There's a shirt buzz to go up there all the time, like it's nothing. Like the to go and look at what people can accomplish and what people can do, yet we tell somebody like that 40-minute workout's just too hard. I'm like, you haven't trained hard enough to train that hard. So, are you gonna lead in on this?

SPEAKER_03 33:54

Alright.

The 2026 Masogi Bike Challenge

SPEAKER_03 33:56

So, Nicholas and I have been having a lot of conversation around what our 2026 Masogi is gonna be. And for those that don't know, Masogi is like your year-defining event. Uh, when you look back, you say in 2026, I accomplished or attempted X. And so, constantly, like we talked about earlier, constantly looking for these opportunities to challenge ourselves and things that we've maybe never done or don't feel prepared for at the moment. And so Nick came up with the idea of riding bikes from the Michigan line to the Kentucky line. Louisville. So covering the entire state of Indiana on bikes. I have never ridden a bike like that. Obviously, I I have I had like a mountain bike growing up. Um, but have no skill in riding a bike, don't know the first thing about it. I don't own a bike, I don't own a helmet, I don't own the scuba suit or whatever the hell those things are called. I don't know what people wear. Um but Nick Nick threw this out there. We have another buddy who is all in on it, so they just selected a date, and we are I am currently doing research. He's a researcher.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

So basically he has not committed.

SPEAKER_03 35:22

I have not committed because I I told you guys this before on the last, literally on that last episode, that once I have a hard time fully committing and saying it out loud because once I do, I'm all in. And I want to make sure that I am all in.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

And we're going to do this in June, most likely over three days, maybe two, but I'm guessing three days. And uh yeah, we'll get some more details out, but I'm so excitedly scared. Um because I think so. I think when we talk about like Misogis, for me, I've struggled with like you know, big, hairy, audacious goals, like Misogis, all these things, because I've done a lot of really hard things. However, I look at it and I say, what is the thing that in 20 years I'll be like, I'm so glad I did that. And if you said to me, like, let's go run a marathon, I'd be like, meh. But to bike across the state, like the experiences that'll happen, the stories that'll happen, like the feelings that'll occur, like the the conversations I'll have, like, there's gonna be moments that like, as my kids will always say, like, it's a core memory. There are core memories that you know we have as kids and adults, and if we have, if all of our core memories as are as kids, then we should probably start doing some of those things that we were doing back then. Because I have a lot of core memories as an adult, and normally it comes through saying yes to something I would normally say no. And this is something I would have questioned and been like, I don't know, I'm probably not ready. Three months, like I haven't biked in for now, I've biked way more than you, and I'm would not call myself bad at biking. However, I'm like, to just be like, let's go and do this bike, like I do we need people with us, like I don't know, but I know that if I didn't do it, I would be mad.

SPEAKER_03 37:24

Yeah.

Charity Plan, Gear Advice, Closing

SPEAKER_03 37:25

And I already gave him a couple ideas for it, so I'm I'm basically committed because of that's what I told him.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

I was like, well, you've you we're gonna we want to donate to a charity. That was his idea, and he found a but he found a path that goes from Laporte, which is a you know little ways away from us, but goes from Laporte all the way down to Louisville on a bike path.

SPEAKER_03 37:50

I didn't even realize that these these bike routes existed, but it's literally it's U.S. bike route 35. Who knew?

SPEAKER_01 37:58

So I said you've basically we are going to donate to charity now, and we have a bike path. I'm like, so you're pretty much in. Like you're you're the one who's you're our leader.

SPEAKER_03 38:13

So if anyone has any suggestions for someone who weighs 238 pounds and is going on a bike for the first time, I don't know what kind of bike. A buddy of mine started throwing numbers at me. I'm like, I have no idea what any of this means. So I'll take all the help I can get so we can solidify this.

SPEAKER_01 38:34

So I'm excited. And what this actually has made me think is like, I need more of this in my life. I need more of making myself have that uncomfortable. And again, I haven't done anything yet. I haven't even got back on a bike yet. But it's just that feeling of there's gonna something's gonna happen during this that's gonna that's going to impact me.

SPEAKER_03 38:58

And that's what I hopefully it's not changing a flat tire.

SPEAKER_01 39:01

Oh, we'll have a flat tire. We will have a flat tire, but again, that will be a moment, right? It's those negative things that when you're done, you're like, dude, remember when that happened and we were sitting there and then there was like this thing, and like and that's the stories. Like I love most stories don't happen at remember when we crossed the river and we were in Louisville? Be like, no, remember before Kokomo when like that squirrel ran out and you fell off your bike?

unknown 39:29

No.

SPEAKER_01 39:30

Anyway, we are super excited to be talking about all this stuff, and like we are only trying to improve again, not like last time. I said subscribe, listen, share, follow. Like, um, we appreciate all of that. And yeah, got any last words? Like, I'm gonna do it. I'm 90% there. He was three percent when we first started. So that's a I he's getting closer. We just gotta get him to get a bike. So please, if you have any any details of what we need on this ride, I think it's gonna be clothes in a backpack, some extra tires, a pump, and food and water. All right. Thank you all for listening. Appreciate you. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 40:17

See y'all next time.