This episode of "Grace in the Grind" features an insightful conversation with Calvin "Go Hard" Richard, a fitness coach, leadership mentor, and the founder of Lionheart. Calvin shares his personal journey of overcoming challenges, discovering his purpose, and how he helps men find their inner strength and compassion.

Calvin Richard

Calvin “Go Hard” Richard (re’shard) *Calvin is a Christ-follower, husband, and father of 3 amazing kids. *Community Leader, Peak Performance Coach & Mindset Mentor, Pastor *Founder and CEO of LIONHEART Peak Performance Coaching for Kingdom Businessmen and Leaders *Founder and CEO of Verus Fit Transformation Lab Team Personal Training Studio. *Over 2 decades of experience in ministry, Kingdom leadership, sports medicine, strength & conditioning, and fitness coaching. *He enjoys traveling and loves team competition including participating in Tough Mudders, other OCR races, basketball, football, and strength training. *He's a Hope Dealer, Excuse Killer, Intrumural Legend and 3rd Funniest guy at his church.

[Timestamps]

(00:00) - Introduction and Birth of Lionheart

(02:02) - The Impact of Mentorship and Tragedy

(05:31) - Discovering Calvin's calling and purpose

(06:22) - Discovering Your Natural Gifts

(13:02) - From Weakness to Strength

(17:00) - Transform Ego into Servant Leadership

(17:56) - Leading with a Crazy Style

(18:40) - The Power of Community

(20:37) - The Pit Of Despair and Climbing out Together

(21:34) - The Rabbit, Lone Wolf, and Lion Metaphor

(23:28) - The impact of mentorship

(24:39) - Addressing suicide and mental health

(30:55) - Staying sharp and accountable as a coach

(32:35) - Current Projects and How to Contact Coach Calvin

(34:39) - Final Thoughts and Farewell

[Key Takeaways]

• You discover your true calling and purpose through self-reflection and the guidance of others.
• There is transformative power in vulnerability and servant leadership when helping others overcome their struggles.
• The critical role of mentorship, community, and accountability in personal growth and development is rarely discussed.
• Strategies for addressing mental health challenges, including suicidal ideation, among men need to be the center of attention.

[Relevant Links]

• "The Obstacle Is the Way" by Ryan Holiday -https://amzn.to/3B68SPS (affiliate)
• "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl -https://amzn.to/3TpuRHF (affiliate)

[Call to Action]

If you found this episode inspiring and insightful, be sure to subscribe to "Grace in the Grind" to stay up to date with the latest episodes. Don't forget to rate and review the podcast to help us reach more listeners.

[Connect With Us]

Calvin Richard

Calvin's Facebook group

@calvingohardrichard on Instagram

@CoachCalvinR on Twitter

Calvin on YouTube

Jim Burgoon

• Host Website: www.leadwithjim.com

https://grace-in-the-grind.captivate.fm/episode/lionheart

Copyright 2024 Jim Burgoon

Welcome to Greece in the grind, the podcast where we dive deep into the

journeys of heart centered and purpose driven leaders and entrepreneurs.

We'll pull back the curtain to explore the stories behind success, how people

have navigated the toughest challenges, overcome their obstacles and found

their way through the grind to build something truly impactful, whether you're

a Christian leader looking for guidance or an entrepreneur seeking inspiration.

We're here to equip and encourage you.

So let's get started, and find the grace within the grind.

This is Grace in the Grind, and now your host, Jim Burgoon.

You know, I've always been curious where the whole lion cultivator, you know,

the, the brand that you're building, where did that really come from?

So, I knew for a long time that I've, I'm called to work with men.

And so men in leadership, especially, so these guys are CEOs, they are

ministry leaders, you know, business execs or CEOs or whatnot, and so.

The Lionheart came for, let me, let me back up.

I start off with a more than Conqueror's men's challenge.

I started that off.

I was like, man, you know what?

We do these things in my studio, my fitness studio, where we do this little

black dress and things for ladies or co ed stuff, but nothing specifically for men.

And so for me, it was a thing where let's, let's just do a six week challenge called

more than Conqueror's men's challenge.

And I had about 24, 25 guys do that.

Went back in 2018 and about four or five of them were online, some local.

And so.

It was amazing.

It was this thing where guys needed a place for men to

be men that they felt heard.

They felt safe and it felt like they're like edified.

It felt like they were, you know, in his position itself.

So that was in 2018.

Did that in six week one and did another one in 2019.

And then fast forward 2020, when all hell broke loose in the world.

And here we are, you know, with a COVID stuff going on.

And so when I started my business, my fitness studio, which was 15

years ago, I knew how to coach.

I didn't know how to.

Run a business.

Like most of us were practitioners.

We knew how to do the thing, turn the, you know, turn the screw, do

the thing where practitioners, but really don't know how to become CEOs.

And so one of my clients, he took me in his wing, very successful

business owner in this area.

And I coached him and his wife over the years.

And he wasn't just a, so he became my mentor.

It wasn't just a client.

He was a friend.

And, but he also took me on his wing to show me business.

So And in 2017, he actually had a Parkinson's diagnosis.

So, you know how a disease like that can affect your identity.

And he was doing his absolute best to work through it and doing all

the things and diet and exercise and all the things through that.

But it still was getting to him.

And in 2020, here he is what people have worked from him in like for decades.

And how do you pay for these individuals?

How do you support them?

How do you still keep payroll going on?

And so a man of faith, a man of plenty of prestige man who, who, who

was instrumental in his community.

He took his own life.

No one saw it coming.

And, you know, and I didn't understand the whole term until recently that whole

terms, that term of tears of a clown.

So it wasn't as much of a clown, but you never saw John

without a smile on his face.

The man was just endearing and loving and caring and so supportive, and you just

would never think that he was dealing with those dark thoughts so much on the end.

So the stress of all the things with COVID, on top of all the things

that were going on in his own life, you know, he took his own life.

And that one for me was the, was the kick in the heart, you know,

frankly, the kick in the nads to do what God is calling me to do.

And, you know, I, I kinda, I knew I was supposed to be doing it,

but I was kind of sitting on it.

So the whole thing, my wife and I came together and we're just talking

about concepts and ideas and stuff.

And Lionheart came together because most men love to be the lion.

We love to be the king of the jungle, you know, king of the domain and,

and roar and do all these things.

But the heart side is the compassionate side.

It's the vulnerable side.

It's that I'm not well side, or I'm not doing well.

And, and most guys need permission to be invited into an environment.

To be themselves, to be okay with not being okay and let's work together

to help bring guys out of it.

So that was the whole basis of the name itself.

And if you look at like the logo itself, the lion is specifically

shaped like a heart for a reason.

And so it's that part of it.

Let's, we're all supposed to be the king of our domain.

The things that God has called us to do whatever it may be, you know, if it's on a

home front itself, if it's in a workplace environment, it's in our community,

we're called the lead in a way that's, that's, That is part of our domain.

Do we all always know how to do it?

And in a way that's that's well rounded.

You know, it's not a force thing.

It's about more of a flow.

And that's the part where we bring the compassionate side of the heart.

Awesome.

So there was a whole lot you said there.

And I want to unpack some of this with you because just writing some notes

down some key trigger words there.

So not all of my listeners are going to be Christians, but primarily they will be.

But we throw this word around.

The first thing you open up with is I'm called, what does that look like?

What does that mean?

Because we, it's such a buzzword that I'm called, I'm called, I'm called,

but we, nobody really ever defines it.

Nobody ever talks about what does that mean?

How do you actually know that you're called?

So, so unpack that a little bit.

What was that process?

Absolutely.

So.

One of the things I do, I specifically coach men in this program itself.

And so I use biblical principles, but they're principles, whether you

believe in, in, in God or Christ itself, the principles still work.

I don't care what your background is what you believe about gravity.

It don't matter what you believe about it.

It's going to gravity going to work for you or against you in some kind of way.

And so I believe in the principles behind that.

So I think we, the way I take I take my clients through it and really

any of the individual who's trying to find out what their purpose is.

So your calling itself is, what is your purpose for life?

And so a lot of that is determining what are you gifted at?

And so in the Bible talks about your gift will make room for you.

It'll bring you before great men.

And so all of us know that there's certain things that we just do naturally.

Sometimes we, it may be so innate and so easy for us to do, but we don't

realize how hard it is for others to do.

Like I'm a coach.

I'm a mentor.

I'm a leader.

I'm a teacher.

I cannot live life without doing this.

Right.

You know, before we got started, I had a conversation with the young lady in

helping bring out and nurture that gift.

And so the calling is gonna be wrapped around what you do well

or what you've gone through.

Sometimes it takes tragedy to show what that is.

Mm-Hmm.

. And so I usually take folks through a, a, a simple thing first.

You know, we all know about what lights you up, what are,

what are you excited about?

That's, that's good.

That's a good thing to kind of get started with it.

But then after that, what are you skilled in?

What do you, what have you like trained in with things that you

put in some time and effort doesn't mean that you went to school for it.

But what have you put in some time to get good at a specific, a specific skill?

Number three is what do you hate?

What do you despise?

What would you like to eradicate from the world?

Okay.

So when you take that and say, okay, what comes easy to me

and is difficult to others.

Okay.

And so from that point, if I had a magical wine, if I can eradicate

something from the world, what is it that, what does that look like?

And then from there you can start building on those skills and see, okay, what

really makes sense, whether it's in a specific business or work environment or

something that you create for yourself.

So quickly for me, I enjoy people.

I'm, I'm extroverted as they come.

I enjoy coaching, teaching.

Like I said, I can't not do this.

I hate weakness.

I hate excuses.

I despise victim mentalities.

I call myself an excuse killer, but I'm also a hope dealer, you know?

So I, I take the excuses dude, you're going to be a victim or

you could be a victim or what are you going to do with that?

So I hate weak bodies, weak, spiritual walk.

We're weak finances.

I hate weakness.

I hate to say just people whining.

It's Oh, I just want to like, you know, slap them.

Don't do that.

It's not helping you.

So for me, it's like eliminating weakness.

And so when I look at my natural gift, if I had put my gift into

one thing, I am an encourager.

I encourage with God's word.

I encourage with life.

I encourage and strength.

I like people to take on challenges that they believe are hard and get

them on the other side of that so they could see how amazing they are.

Right.

So those are some simple, simple things that are kind of, we can look

at what does that calling look like?

We all have something we're supposed to do and we can easily

get distracted or dissuade by doing something that's lesser than.

That's, that's true.

I like how you did that, a hope dealer and a weakness killer excuse killer.

And it really makes sense because when you think about how, how your life is lined

up between the fitness and the coaching, I mean, that's really what it comes down to.

Was that one quote weakness is just pain leaving the body?

Yeah, that's, that's, that's a big quote in the space.

And so I get it, I love it.

So then, then it, so thinking about somebody who is like listening

right now, who is okay, I see it.

What I love, what I hate, how I'm wired, you know, those things.

How could they, what is one thing that they could do that would help them

recognize, Oh, this is what I'm good at.

You know what I'm saying?

Like you were, you were mentioning being so good at something

that you, it's an eight, right?

Right.

So how can somebody who is sitting there listening right now go, Oh, this is it.

Would they need, how can they find it in themselves or would

they need a coach or both?

So obviously hiring a good, a good coach would accelerate that, that effort.

If they have systems in place, they will really bring those things out.

You know, like you and I do with, with work with our clients and whatnot.

But there's a way I even have folks do it.

Just ask people, ask your friends, family, people who really know you.

You, you, you've probably seen some posts like this, but if I

were to do a TEDx talk, what do you think I'm going to talk about?

You know, just a simple social media posts and see what people say, you know,

Oh, they're going to talk about this.

You can talk about that.

You're going to talk about this, you know, so I typically would get, you

know, fitness fate, overcoming obstacles.

You know, these are things that people would talk to, you know,

we'll put up in my, my deal.

You can also say if you had three words to describe me as an

individual, what would they be?

So you can hear from the people who, who, you know, Who see, you know you, that

you've been out and, and they trust you.

That's one way.

But if you don't feel like you wanna put it all out there, you can just

ask people that are close to you, what does that, what does that look like?

Now you take that and say, okay, what books am I drawn to?

What things am I drawn to?

What lights me up?

Here's another thing to put in.

What makes you cry?

You know, what is it that makes you cry?

I'm, I'm an overly passionate person.

And so watching movies and things like that, I cry more

than everybody in my family.

They just know that whenever the moment comes, dad is going to be crying.

It's just what it is.

I don't care.

I'm just letting it out there.

I love that.

I love that about you.

I, I can't say that I cry at any movies, but I love that, that you do.

Yeah.

That's sensitive.

That's because you're talking about the lion, the leader of compassion.

Then there you go.

You got that empathy that I want to, I want to conquer the hill, do the tough

mutter, do the, do the hard thing.

And at the same time, and I want to whine and cry.

I mean, The greatest showman i'm crying i'm crying in the greatest show like

this is me man They don't get me.

They don't understand me.

I i'm saying i'm really that dude It's no and I can't help it.

I'll tell you the first movie that I ever in facing the giants the death

crawl scene Oh, dude, that was amazing.

Oh my goodness in the movies.

I have I was balling like ugly cry tears, probably snotting.

I don't care.

It was just like, it was me, I guess it was just the competitiveness, the

hardness of it, being a coach and seeing a coach just dig into this guy's life

and getting him to do what he didn't think what he thought was impossible.

That, that, that to me all day, you're going to get me underdogs.

People who have one limb, you know, I love anybody who overcomes the obstacles.

That's as part of who I am.

Cause I did it myself.

Yeah.

I love it.

So, so I want to piggyback on that statement actually, it was

kind of where I wanted to lead this conversation a little bit.

So you're at like the pinnacle hope dealer, excuse killer, you know, like

all this stuff, kill weakness, all that.

How did you get to that point?

Because you don't start there, like you didn't get born and suddenly

you're like the giant among giants.

So, so help us understand like, what was your process of

getting to where you are today?

I truly follow and believe in the process or the, the, there's a book

by Ryan holiday that's called the obstacle is the way the obstacle

that's in the way is the way itself.

And so for instance, if we think about many tests, trials, and tragedies,

when we may have endured, it's exactly what we needed to become who we are.

You know, we may not like, we may not like it in a time.

So for me, I was the four seven.

82 pound freshmen in high school, literally the smallest kid in

school from elementary all the way through high school towards the end.

I finally, when I graduated, I finally was a taller than a few people, but

for me being the little guy, I had to, I didn't realize it until later

on that I created a persona to protect myself from bullying so I can talk.

Trash, you know, this is my pre pre Jesus days.

I didn't come to Christ till I was like 24 So I had I had a mouthpiece

on me and I talked about you your mom and your teeth Yeah, yeah, your ass

your knuckles and whatever else I can because I made myself bigger I didn't

understand that life and death is in the power of a tongue at the time But

I knew I could make myself bigger.

So I talk louder because I was smaller.

I talk louder I cuss louder, but also I had a work ethic I wanted to

beat you at every single thing we do.

And if it's basketball, tennis, if it's football, if it's racing,

jumping ramps, jumping off of things, classroom, I want to beat you.

So I had this work ethic because especially in sports, I had to work harder

in order to compete with the bigger guys.

And so I realized I wasn't going to be a rebound leader.

I'm not going to be the shot block leader, but I can get, nobody can

get lower to the ground than me.

And so I'm going to lead and I've led every team I've ever played on in

steals and I'm gonna play some defense.

So I, I played on my strengths with that.

And so being a little guy, like I said, that, that was part of that

persona that I realized even with the bullying thing, I didn't get bullied

because I could fight, but I'm going to find a way to equalize it as well.

And so they like Calvin crazy.

I, I'm not going to mess with crowd because you're going to come upside

my head with a hammer because he may have done that before, who knows.

And so for me, it was that part where even Being able to stand alone, being

able to kind of, You know, like I said, I went to a Catholic high school.

We wore uniforms and because I couldn't fit into adult clothes, my pants

were darker than everybody else's.

They had two pockets.

They had a pocket on each side of their shirt.

My little chest wasn't big enough and I had to have kids clothes

and I have one little pocket.

And so, you know, it was just I had to be different.

But it was a part of saying that That was necessary for me to be the person,

the larger than life persona and personality because I was making up for

the deficit and my work ethic was there.

So that was kind of the thing that really was spurred through there.

And I grew a foot through high school, didn't start working

out until I got to college.

But here I get to college.

I grew two more inches, gained 50 pounds and I'm moving big people

around like this is pretty awesome.

So that's me having the deficit.

push me into going into the strength side of things.

And I teach people this through this day.

So the obstacle of me being a little guy was the way for me to grow through

it, to be able to help other people in the power of other people in my life.

I got it.

So you say you grew two inches.

Does that mean you're like four, nine?

No, no, man.

I grew two more inches.

I grew a foot through high school.

Okay.

I grew a foot through high school for nine.

I'm a towering four nine.

I mean, five, nine these days.

It got me towering nine, five, nine these days.

So I grew a foot through high school and I grew two inches.

I was a late bloomer.

So the one of the reasons I was, I was so little, I had a growth hormone deficiency.

So I take injections to get caught up and so on and so forth, but yeah, put

through high school, two more inches in college and then 50 more pounds.

And yeah, that's awesome.

And you know, you know, so you know, the question was going to be like

when you gapped from four, seven, two, I grew two more inches, you

know, the question is going to be, am I four, are you four or nine now?

So I got it.

All right.

So now So that's awesome.

That's actually awesome.

So then that leads into a thought do you think that, or, or where was

the point where the, the, maybe the ego driven pride to be the best, do

the best moved over into the servant heart that is now lying hearts today.

Yeah.

So part of that is, I mean, that guy is still in there and I've got to tame him.

You know, he's still in there and he's beneficial at certain times.

Like I could turn it on in competition and things of that sort.

But all of it was still a part of, I don't want to do this by myself.

I want to bring folks along with me.

So it's kind of like you and I, we do obstacle course

races and things like that.

Spartan is great.

And I've done Spartan.

I enjoy tough mutter more because it is the sense of camaraderie Spartan.

Even if you do with people, it's you against the course, you throw the spear,

you climb the rope, you do the thing, but it's so it's you against the course.

Tough butter.

I'm pulling people over the wall along with me.

I'm bringing in folks along with this.

So I'm leading and I do it in a crazy way.

I got two weeks now.

Now I'll have a Orange Mohawk and I, I have crazy contacts and, and I turn into

the Gena, I turn into the lion, I turn into go hard, which is my alter ego.

So I get to be that guy to bring folks along the way who.

Some of them, many of them don't believe they can do it.

And I just brainwashed him in faith to believe that they can do it because

I know who's on the other side of it.

And we've, and this will be my 12th one.

We only had one person didn't finish and he was actually

one of the fittest guys there.

He had cramps.

They couldn't finish, but everyone finishes.

We don't go fast.

We go at a pace that we all do it together.

And it's kind of like the pride of lions.

We could travel together.

There's strength in numbers.

And so that's a part of it where I'm, I'm leading from the front, but

also I know how to edify and lift up somebody else who's the leader.

You know, I'm a pastor on staff, but I'm not the head pastor at our church.

I'm there to edify and grow everyone else.

So that's the gift of encouragement to help build other folks up along the way.

That's awesome.

And, you know, I love my races, but I've done tough motor one time.

And the only problem I had was that motor horn at the end, that giant.

A frame looking thing.

I do not like that.

Yeah, I I get, I'd get shocked all day long from that electrical fence.

Then I would climb in that motor horn just an FYI.

So when I do a motor with you, just, just know that is my worst.

Freaking obstacles.

That last one.

That's right.

Well, guess what?

If, if, if you don't get it by yourself, I'll be right there to grab your

arm and help pull you up, brother.

That's it.

So I probably need a parachute too, but that's just side notes, you know?

So, so then that becomes like this, this really incredible so the go hard,

you serving, bringing people along.

I love that.

That thought because, you know, we are stronger together, you know, and I

think that's, that's a beautiful thing.

And it's, so let's, let's, let's think about this for a second because There's

so many times where men are so individual, individualistic and independent that we

don't want to be with another person.

We don't want to be vulnerable.

We don't want to be, you know, connected.

We don't, and our idea of connecting is, Oh, I know a guy

and then I'll serve you here.

Let me do this thing.

And we think they've done everything for somebody.

So how do you overcome that with, with some of your groups?

Because you want to get this pride of lions, which is obviously a very

interconnected community that's giving and vulnerable and stuff like that.

How do you move men from this place of hyper independence and

closed offness to that community?

Yeah, I look at it two different ways.

One is when guys either prevent them, but most of the time when I, when I

was still working guys, they're in what I call the pit of despair in this pit

of despair is anxiety, overwhelmed, depression, suicidal ideology.

Sometimes you know, not enough.

This unfulfillment is in this pit of despair.

And so you can stay there by yourself in solitude or depression.

Yeah.

We can get out of there.

We can move out of this.

Some guys are deeper in it.

Some guys are just at the surface.

Some guys are right in the middle itself.

And so what most programs, those systems out there is to throw a

rope and help pull somebody out.

I personally want to get down in that pit with you and we climb out together.

I'm going to be right there locking arms with you because I've been there.

I know you because I am you.

I've been there with all these things myself and I've had a, you know,

enough track record of work with other guys who've been there as well.

So that's number one, getting you out of the pit of despair.

And the same way I look at, I look at there's three types of men.

There's the rabbit, there's a lone wolf, and there's the lion.

The rabbit looks good on a surface.

You know, it looks good on the surface, a lot of flashiness, a lot of, you

know, a lot of talk, but not actually making moves on certain things.

And when a battle comes, the rabbit runs.

Or you're the rabbit.

The lone wolf is what Most of the guys that I, that I work

with have, have dealt with.

The lone wolf is I I the hustle and grind.

You know, they, they subscribe to hustle and grind philosophy.

You know, I worked till I die.

I, I've been there.

I work till I die or I, I rest when I die.

I hustle 24 7.

You know, sleep is the cousin of death.

I'll sleep when I die.

Oh, this was, I've been there.

White knuckling through life.

I'm going to do it and pull myself up by my own bootstraps.

You know, no one, no one understands me.

Of course, Satan comes in.

He's always the one that wants to separate.

You make you think your flaws and your, your, your, your

shortcomings are who you are.

And so that build into that negative identity itself,

instead of who God says I am.

And so part of that is, is speaking and saying you're okay,

even though you're not perfect.

because we don't want to be perfect.

It's not about perfectionism.

So that lone wolf thinks I have to, I have to do it all by myself.

And we don't realize that there are mentors and people have done it.

That would love to help you.

Succeed at what you do.

There's a misconnection there.

Well, I'd say, Oh, he's not going to give me his secrets.

Most folks have done it.

They realize they're so good at what they do.

And they're so specialized at what they do.

You're not a threat to them.

You know, younger me in entrepreneurship.

Like I said, I've been, I have had my fitness studio for 15 years, a new,

new program will come on the market.

I'm like, Oh my gosh, what are you going to do?

You know?

Oh, CrossFit came in.

I'll, I'll, I'll put my program against everybody, real defensive.

And now I'm just like, guess what?

There's enough fluffy people for all of us to eat.

It's okay.

It's okay.

I'm not threatened by anybody because nobody does it like we do it.

Nobody does it in our map and in a way that we do it.

So that's the lone wolf.

But then the lion knows he's king of the domain, but he knows there's strength in

numbers, there's strength in the pride.

You know, it's the same way.

You got to look at King David had his mighty men.

You know, he, he could do it himself in a lot of different ways.

He's a bad, he's a bad man, but he did it with community.

Jesus Christ could have done it by himself.

But he invited disciples in the 12 to come along with them.

There's so many scenarios where we see that we're just greater together.

We're greater at doing these things.

And also, it's not just about having to help, but there, these men alongside you,

all these women alongside you, they're growing in their greatness as well.

You're helping them grow right alongside them in their specific calling and

purpose because they're in your presence.

So all we're doing is to get together.

So there's something about having Power in community power in collaborative

coaching power in iron sharpening iron.

That's good stuff, man.

That's real good stuff.

So coming into, as we start landing some planes here, it's been an

incredible conversation and I really appreciate you and hanging out with

me and having the conversation.

Love it, bro.

So.

You had mentioned, and this is something near and dear to my heart,

you had mentioned earlier that one of the things that really drove

you into a lot of this stuff was that your mentor friend's suicide.

How, now, being somebody, you know, we've known each other a long time,

my wife, you know, her story, and as the listeners get more accustomed to

the story, and my wife and I do some podcast episodes together, we'll unpack

a lot of that, but my wife has been in and out of the hospital for suicide.

She's on like 10th or 11th time.

And I can't even begin to tell you the amount of program

she's been in and out of.

How did that change you with your, with, with him dying like that?

And how are you doing things differently to help those, maybe the lone wolves

in your groups that are trying to come into the lions fight against that?

Because suicide among men is pretty high.

Yes.

Yes.

It's, it's much more much more likely that suicide is going to be done by men.

And so from the conversation, the guys that work with, and it's funny, they're

broad range sometimes, you know, some guys like, I just want to be a better husband.

I want to be a better father.

I want to make more money.

So the other end of the spectrum where I've been chewing on the

barrel of my gun for the last 48 hours, it's, it's hard work.

It's, it's, you know, it's hard work.

And so sometimes you're like, I don't want to make the wrong, say the wrong thing.

I'm scared if I do the wrong thing and you know, they could

be, be gone from here, you know?

So a lot of it's there.

And but also I.

I'm not so far away from that.

I've been the guy where driving down the street and the headlights of the

oncoming 18 Wheeler seemed appealing.

So I'm not speaking from this guy who's got it all down, Pat

and got it all figured out.

And you know, you and I being at the forefront, a lot of different

places, you know, that we could be.

it can be easy to put on a facade if it's not truly who you are.

I'm an entertainer, I'm funny and this and that.

But that whole term that I didn't understand of being of tears of a cloud.

You know, there's certain sometimes folks are entertainers in some form of fashion.

They put on this, you know, this entertainment in their gift.

But when they're off the stage and not in the environment, they're struggling.

they're struggling with anxiety and depression and suicidal

ideologies along the way.

And so for me, it's one of those things where if I could, especially

I watched a special the folks that jump off the Golden Gate Bridge and

the ones who survived every single one of them said immediately when they

released, they felt regret immediately.

It's it's almost an ear.

The enemy is in their ear.

Just kind of, you know, nobody's gonna get it.

Nobody's understand you.

You know, he's isolating isolated from the people itself.

So knowing that whole isolation format, we found out even in

2020 how bad isolation is.

Yes.

'cause we're separated from folks.

We're separated from doing things we normally do.

If you think about, if you go to prison and you, you do something really

bad, the worst thing they could do is put you in solitary confinement.

There's a psychology behind that.

You know, if you read the book, man, searching for meaning from Victor

Frankel, it talks about this hope.

It talks about having hope for something better and what the enemy

loves to come and do is kill hope, you know, kill hope for me, put

you in a state of hopelessness.

So for me, it's part of that giving guys that, that vitamin of hope and

getting them, getting them the charge and understand that they're fearfully

wanted for me, who, who's, am I?

So first of I can go back to my identity, everything comes down to the identity.

Who's am I, first and foremost.

If I know what, who I am, if, if I'm a child of God, for those who are

believers, if I'm a child of God, I know what he says about me because I

know what his word says about me, right?

So I'm gonna fall back on it.

I'm, I'm more, more than I conquer.

I'm fearful and fearful, fearfully and wonderfully made.

I'm, you know, you know, I'm, I'm ahead not to tell.

So I can, I can start telling myself who he says I am, because sometimes

I may doubt who I think I am.

So, so like how often do you here's one question for you then how often

do you run into these people who are like coming out of that lone

wolf that are struggling with this?

Like, how often is that more often than not, more often than not, more men

are struggling with the unfulfillment is one of the biggest thing.

Unfulfillment if I had to put one word to it, and that comes from either lack

of purpose or knowing the purpose, but not moving towards it because maybe

they're stuck in golden handcuffs.

They're working a job or have a business that's doing well enough and everyone

around him is high fiving and you're doing a great job, but you're feeling empty

because you know you're not doing the next thing that God is calling you to do.

You're not doing that thing that's going to light up your life and

it's going to be more impactful.

But you're kind of stuck in this, you know, this is what I've done.

This is how we've always done it.

And so I'm going to stick with that.

And so it's a part of it where getting.

guys to, okay, step out of, step out of that.

You know, we hear, Oh, it's the comfort zone.

You're just being in the comfort zone and most situation is not comfortable.

It's right.

It's about being in a familiar zone.

So it's not comfortable because it's not comfortable staying where you are.

So let's get you moving out of there.

But it's hard to be able to break away from so many different individuals,

especially guys who are providers and they can't take the risks that

necessary to move into that next thing.

So more more guys than not are either long rule for they just look on the surface.

There might be on social media being a rabbit, but they're

not truly being a lion.

I like the fact that you use that.

I've never heard that term golden handcuffs.

I never heard that term.

I like that term a lot.

And I think that that's so, so, so like an imagery that like, wow, because you're

in handcuffs, you're in change, you're in bondage, even if you are making the

money, even if you are doing the things that everybody says you're successful.

You're still in bondage because it's let lack of fulfillment.

And it goes into trying to find what you, what fulfills you, which really

ties together all of our conversation from calling to what you're doing now

and all that is, is finding what you're, what fulfills you and things like that.

So then I guess my last.

And then an opportunity to see what you're up to is how do you stay sharp?

How do you, as you know, obviously fitness guy, you're working out with

your crew, you're doing those things, but like on the other end, as a coach,

like, how do you get yourself to stay.

On the cutting edge.

Yeah.

So for my studio, it's team personal training.

It's, you know, folks are together as coach led is part of that.

And kind of that old saying is that I'm not only the hair club

president, I'm also a client.

So I, I'm coached by my coaches in his training.

So I'm held accountable and I'll tell them when I'm falling short on

certain things and where I, where I'm eating too many biscuits or something

else, assuming sweets or things, cause that's usually me as sugar.

So being accountable is even here is one thing I've got brothers and I've

got people, mentors and coaches as well.

Over the last 10, 12 years, I've had at least from one to

four coaches at the same time.

So I do have, have coaching and leadership myself.

I think it's, Every coach should have a good coach.

That's, that's part of itself.

But it, it's reading, it's staying abreast of the things that, that I'm,

you know, for me it's, it's materials that's wrapped around faith is wrapped

around personal development self ac, ac, ac, ac, I can't even say a word.

Whew.

Self ac ization.

It's one of it, you know what I mean?

Getting better at being yourself.

That's the word.

Self-mastery.

So that's the word that's, yep.

I can't get a word out there right now, but that's all right.

But it, it's, it's, it's staying in my lane.

And, you know, doing my best.

Cause I love shiny objects and new things and things like that.

So I gotta always make sure I'm staying focused on the things that I'm doing.

So it's going to conferences.

It's going, it's, it's doing the programs and whatnot.

It's, it's, you know, locking in with, with brothers like

you that help keep me in line.

Nice.

And so then what is what are you up to that Recently, maybe you, you

mentioned you're going to a mutter.

So what's, what's going on in your world?

What's, what's, what's something you've got going on?

People can join now before you, before you answer, I will tell you in the

show notes, I'm going to add all of your social media links and stuff,

but you can share any, any thoughts of people to go somewhere to find you.

Absolutely.

So a few things that's ongoing.

Yes.

I'm Calvin go hard or short on Instagram.

I have a a Facebook group that's for Lionheart for four guys only

that are inside there right now.

I've been doing, do trainings, do different conversations and

whatnot to, to, to help guys out.

That's a total free group and Facebook.

So if you look up, look for Lionheart on, on Facebook, you'll find that there too.

But but yeah, I do coaching.

I do, do, do group coaching as well as one on one coaching for like

Christian CEOs, ministry leaders, guys like that, who are in, in leadership

whether it's, you know, so we, I look at five, five foundational things.

It's physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and financial.

If any one of those things are off, it's going to affect the rest of them.

We're called to be great.

And I help guys either move from mediocre to mastery or good to great.

That's usually where the guys that I work with.

So if you're looking for a coach, you're looking for a mentor that's there.

I also do a program called More Than Conquerors Men's Challenge.

It's a six week program.

I got one coming up very soon.

In that one, it's a six week program.

Fitness is more of the foundation, but we do all the life and all the

things that stack on top of it.

Nice.

And as I mentioned to the listeners all of that will be in the show notes.

Make sure you grab those links jump in.

I've known Calvin for a number of years and the man gets results.

And I would say one of the three words that you, the, for you, that I

would say is definitely encourager.

And because you are, and, and for you guys listening, encouragement

doesn't always mean make you feel good.

Encouraging means to rip apart the things holding you back from growing.

And so I definitely would say that is definitely one of your words.

So I appreciate you.

I appreciate the conversation.

Appreciate hanging out.

Um, and as always guys for who are listening, go check them out and

go support them, go, go share his posts, things like that, and then

grab your show notes and take it and.

You know, follow it, follow it down the rabbit hole.

And Calvin, thank you so much for hanging out and being like literally one

of the first interviewee interviewees for the launch of this podcast.

And I appreciate you, my friend.

Appreciate you too, as well, brother.

Let's keep doing amazing things.

Love you, man.

Love you too, bud.

Thanks.

This has been Grace in the Grind.

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