This past weekend I was at a business conference. In a lot of ways, business and fitness run parallel. Both require hard work, consistent discipline, and while there's a lot of flashy stuff out there, there's also a lot of pretty proven paths to success.

Of course, when you get a bunch of fitness or business people in a room, in this case, fitness business people, you here a lot of talk about "what's working". There's always new ideas being thrown around. It's easy to get caught up in the hype and want to shake everything up or jump onto a new, shiny program.

Is that really what you need, though? Maybe yes, maybe not.

Should you change your path?

WHEN should you change your path?

What's the biggest secret to success that nobody seems to talk about?

I picked up some really great lessons and reminders about those questions this past weekend, and they were definitely not the ones that I expected.

One of the biggest keys to success in a fitness/health transformation, especially over the long term, isn't just the will to succeed. It's not just the vision. It's not even just the knowledge.

I've been fortunate to have been part of a lot of fitness transformations, and time and time again the successful have SUPPORT. As a matter of fact, a big box gym I used to work at used to say that 80% of people who didn't have a personal trainer, workout buddy, or supportive spouse would fail to reach their workout goals. Now, I don't know if that number is accurate, but it's not outside the realm of reason.

So, how do you get support? What if your spouse is always "sabotaging" you? What if your friends are always trying to pull you out to Margarita Night, even though they know you're on a diet? Getting the help you need can be way harder than most people feel it should be.

So with that in mind, in this podcast I go over the Five Step Process to help your support team stop sabotaging you and start lifting you up. You'll learn:

-The fundamental mindset difference that can totally change your conversation about support.

-How that conversation can go wrong and how to help smooth it out.

-The way you look at things might not be the same as the other person, and how to work with it.

-The way to build a support team without going out and trying to drag them along, kicking and screaming!

LUCK

How often do you hear someone say "So and So is lucky!" or "That was a lucky break for you!"? Now, there's definitely some examples of luck or good coincidence, but when it comes from people being "lucky" in fitness, business, and many other facets of life, I've found that there's usually something a lot more to it than a simple alignment of stars and planets, or whatever.

I was listening to a Real Estate Podcast (BiggerPockets) and one of the guests had an acronym for LUCK that I had never heard before. It really hit home and I think it sums it up. Here's my hot take on it.

"Good times, bad times You know I had my share..."

-Led Zeppelin, "Good Times, Bad Times"

It's funny. When I get the chance to talk to people who've had some success in their life and I ask them about the best (or at least most valuable experience) in their life they almost always point to something that you could consider the "worst" time of their life.

Maybe they hit rock bottom.

Maybe their world fell apart.

Which is terrible.

But it's also where they learned how to grow, build, and overcome. It turned into a valuable part of shaping them into who they are today.

It's no different for me. In today's podcast I go over some aspects of a period of time where I stood in my own way, allowed others to keep me down, and just plain didn't hold up my end of bargains... and four of the (many) lessons that I learned from that time that have shaped my life since:

-How my Fixed Mindset had resulted in a "ducking" behavior that eventually came to bite me.

-The error that I, and many people make, when it comes to their planning and execution.

-The discomfort that my boss put me through that changed my trajectory.

-The hard truth about success and that it's usually not the same as what the books say.

-My tip for getting out of that rut and moving in the direction you're searching for.

Give it a listen!

Let's be honest. The vast majority of people don't hit their goals, whether it's in fitness, business, or life in general. They end up settling for less.

Now, is it because they're not smart enough to get to their goals and dreams? Usually not.

Is it because their goals and dreams aren't rooted in reality? Sometimes, but generally not, as most people actually dream pretty small once you boil away the extra.

No, most people fail because the way to their dreams is HARD. And when it's hard, they give up.

Why do they give up?

Is it because they've hit a threshold of suffering that they just can't manage?

Again, maybe, but often times that isn't the case at all. They give up because the struggle and suffering that comes with chasing big dreams outmatches their EXPECTATION of what it would be.

So, what's the answer? Listen and find out!

Look, we're all busy. Between work, family, travel, hitting the gym, and every other activity that life throws at us, you can find yourself eating on the run a lot.

Sure, it'd be great if every meal was home-cooked, and you were able to prep everything... but that probably doesn't happen. So in this podcast I'm going to break down some tips on eating on the run AND how to make that actually a habit that sticks.

I'll go over:

-The THREE components of a habit, and how often there's something missing, which is why you don't always make the right choice.

-How to make things easier to eat right at home, and how it messes me up when I don't do it.

-My strategy for keeping night eating under control.

-What to do when you do get stuck at the drive-through, travel, or just end up going out to eat.

It IS possible to eat both great food and healthy food when you're busy. These strategies will help you do it.

Which one governs your life?

If you're like most people, that's Problem-Centered Thought (PCT). Dr. Jason Selk, author of "Exective Toughness", instead would have you focus on a Relentless Solution Focus (RSF).

At Relentless, and not just because of the name, we have made this a cornerstone of our Relentless Mindset program.

If you're looking to start turning the ship around, even if it's inch-by-inch, then you need to be focused on your RSF.

I had the great pleasure of recording a conversation with my friend Ben Stocks.

In Ben's words: "Ben went from broke personal trainer to creating and managing a successful gym business before selling that business and now works directly with entrepreneurs and business owners to get them more customers and clients."

Ben has successfully navigated both his own transformation through life struggles and also helping his former and current clients through theirs.

We talked Ben's secrets of success (simpler than you think), how to find your easiest avenues of success, and how to avoid where most go astray.

Reach him at benstocksmarketing@gmail.com

I was listening to a great podcast with Ed Mylett and Jasmine Star and they started talking about a mid-life crisis happening at 25.

That got me to thinking: At any point when you're about to make a change your life is divided into two parts: The part that was before, and the path afterward.

This means that, while it might not actually be the MIDDLE of your life (nobody knows that), you're always at a mid-life point. That means that any big change can be a Mid-Life Crisis, and that isn't necessarily bad! It can give some fire and intensity to your change, and in this podcast I get into why I think that's the most telling sign of an impending transformation.

I had the opportunity to catch up after a great weekend seminar with a truly interesting and inspiring young coach, gym owner, and entrepreneur: Hunter Grindle, the owner of Hybrid Fitness Gym in Thomaston, ME.

I've known Hunter for a few years and what he's been able to accomplish is extraordinary, although he probably wouldn't admit it. In addition to opening his gym at just 18 years old, the now-22 year-old basketball playing Hunter has embraced a demographic that you wouldn't expect: Moms and helping them become healthier, lose fat, and enjoy their life.

We talk about some insights he's found in the process and how those insights, whether they're applied to business, fitness, relationships, or most anything else, ring true. Hunter is an avid reader, so we hit on some of his favorite books and the lessons that he's picked up from them, as well. I've always enjoyed and had great conversations with Hunter, so it was great to catch one on audio to be recorded!

You have permission!

One of the things I've really been thinking about since my podcast with Sasha and Chris last week is that too many people think that they need to be "good" before they can do something.

I saw it in the gym last night.

You don't need to be good to do, you BECOME good by doing, and if you are doing, you ARE something. If you need permission, you have it.

Winning the War of Art

(A nod to Stephen Pressfield's great book, "The War of Art")

Guests in the house!

All my life I've been fortunate to have had extraordinary people enter my sphere, become my friends, and even if life takes us in different directions, stay that way.

I was lucky to sit down with two of those today and get the mic on.

Sasha and Chris happen to be former clients, always the rockstars of our Relentless Gym Family, and are currently on TOUR as a rock/punk/muse-catching duo.

I think a lot of people envision the life of the touring musician as a free-flowing, zero care existence. Well, probably that isn't the case if you want to STAY a touring musician.

We had a great conversation and what I found most striking was how many of the principles we talk about in this podcast for helping your life, fitness, and nutrition are exactly the same for Sasha and Chris in their music business.

We hit on:

-The importance of routine, even when you are in a lifestyle that is anything but routine.

-How mastery in something can improve everything else.

-How to pick yourself up and keep on when the world kicks you down.

-Their first official "Hate Letter" and how they handled it.

-How inspiration can happen when you least expect it and why most people miss it.

-And plenty of other success topics!

And you know for damn sure you want to know how they sound and how their Unstoppable Rock Tour is going, right?  Check them out online at www.whenparticlescollide.com

External Cues and Internal Motivation

When it comes to cuing a movement, more often than not people understand it better if you use external cues versus internal cues. An external cue references something outside of the body. This is because people are used to seeing with their eyes and interacting with things OUTSIDE their body without often thinking about the HOW of how they move their body.

When it comes to motivation, the opposite often works better. An external motivation would be another person or event forcing someone to do something. While this can often get the ball rolling, the motivation lasts only as long as the stimulus. Internal motivation, though, comes from a deeper source. It comes from within. So when things get tough and the external motivation flags, internally it's still burning strong.

Make the most of both techniques. Focus on external cues to most efficiently move forward, and internal motivation to be what keeps you doing it.

So many people spend their whole life looking for the next plan. When things aren't going well, it's always the first thing you do is look for a new road. They rev up their engine and plow right down the road... until they hit a roadblock.

Then it all blows up.

Where do they go then? Looking for the next road.

The truth is, they probably already know the road will get them where they want to go. They've researched it. They have the map. They probably know the basic way. They probably have the car that will get them there. That means the answer isn't to get a better road or a better car.

The first step is to clear out the roadblocks.

That's what we do at Relentless - We smooth out the roadblocks first. Once the path is clear, you can really get a strong sense of what you need to do as far as changing directions or upgrading your vehicle along the way, not the other way around.

7 Workout Tips for Busy People

Look, we're all busy.

Unless you happen to have the lifestyle that lets you go to the gym whenever you want, sleep, rest, and so on with pleny of leisure time, you know what it is like to have to cram a quick workout in before/after work or on the road.

At Relentless we are fortunate enough to work work with a lot of busy professionals who are balancing work, life, family, AND staying in great shape. Here's 7 of my favorite strategies to get more out of the workout time you DO have to get the results you want while still handling life like you need.

I go over:

-How to adjust your training to get twice as much done in the same amount of time.

-The hierarchy of training priorities so you can focus on the big rocks.

-How to select exercises for maximum efficiency. Get more done with less.

-A great "rule" I picked up that has helped me get through those days where I don't want to train at all because I can't do ALL of the things I want to do.

How To Reach the Stars, Not Just Reach For Them

Everybody wants to talk about reaching for the stars and maybe you'll hit the moon. The thing is, that doesn't give you anything to really grab on to.

Sure, if you dream big, you'll get farther than if you dream small.

However, you need to have a way to get there. That's what we're going to talk about today: How to go for the big stuff by actually doing the things that are going to get you there.

Part 3 of a 3-Part Series on Building Your High-Performance Body

To finish up our series, we've got the car built through training and our driver, the mindset, is on point. Now it's time to fuel it up with great, supportive nutrition.

Nutrition is one of those areas that is full of dogma, conflicting views, and can become very complicated very quickly if you let it. However, to simply build a good, functional nutrition plan to keep yourself healthy, strong, and operating at a high capacity doesn't have to be all that complicated.

I go over some simple guidelines and directions to not only give you what you need to be successful, but also to help make it as "automatic" as possible with good habit forming and behavioral change.