Join hosts Jamie & Jennifer Speiser as they sit down with Keith Waldrop, retired Marine Raider and CEO of Asymmetric Solutions, to talk mental toughness, leadership, and the mindset that drives elite performance.

Keith shares hard-earned lessons on building resilience, overcoming fear, and applying combat-tested discipline to fitness, business, and life.

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 Intro – Meet Jamie & Jennifer Speiser

00:38 Guest Intro – From Marine Raider to CEO

03:45 How Special Ops Shapes Discipline & Resilience

08:13 Facing Fear & Building Mental Fortitude

13:17 Knowing Yourself & Finding Your Purpose

17:00 Habits vs Motivation – How to Build Consistency

19:58 What Toughness Really Means

23:12 Balancing Intensity & Recovery

26:30 Strength Through Self-Control & Service

32:10 Mindset Over Victim Mentality

35:00 Small Wins & Stacking Success

40:10 Non-Negotiables for Resilience & Leadership

45:00 The Power of Your “Why”

46:20 Inside Asymmetric Solutions

49:38 Closing Thoughts – Discipline, Purpose & Legacy

Learn more about Asymmetric Solutions:

https://asymmetricsolutionsusa.com/

About Precision Life:

We integrate training, nutrition, functional medicine, and regenerative aesthetics for results that look natural and last.

Find out more about Precision Life at https://precisionlife.io/

Follow us at : 

Jamie: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamie.speiser.5

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejamiespeiser/

Jennifer: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.hollow.9

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejenniferspeiser/

Precision: 

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Hey. Hello and welcome to

another episode of Younger By the Minute.

2

I'm one of your host, Jamie Speiser.

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And I'm always here with my lovely wife,

Jennifer Spieser.

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And today we are honored to sit down

with Keith Waldrop, a retired

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Marine Raider from U.S.

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Special Operations and now the CEO

of Asymmetric Solution Solutions.

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Sorry,

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which is a Missouri based training company

that prepares military, law enforcement

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and even civilians to perform

under the most extreme conditions.

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Keith's journey

from the battlefield to the boardroom

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is a powerful story of discipline,

adaptability and leadership.

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He brings decades of experience

in building mental toughness,

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physical resilience and lifestyle systems

that don't just apply to combat.

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They apply to all of us

that want to perform at our highest level

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every single day.

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And today, we're going to dive

into a little bit more of what it means

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to live with precision in your body,

your mind, and the way you approach life.

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Welcome to the show.

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Thanks for having me.

Hey, it's a pleasure.

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I'm really excited.

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You know, my my dad, Vietnam K-9 unit.

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I have a big passion

and respect for military first responders.

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So I'm truly honored

to have you sitting next to me.

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So I appreciate you having.

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Keith, I guess

the first thing I'd like to know is, like,

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just tell me a little bit

about your background

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and special operations

and how you feel that shaped your way

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in a way that you think when it comes to

fitness and resilience in day to day life,

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you want me to start from like beginning

prior to make it into special operations.

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You may start.

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You can start wherever you want.

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But yeah, so I was

I guess I'll start in the beginning.

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I was born and raised here in southern

Missouri.

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Small town called Caledonia, Missouri.

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Graduating class 28.

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Green and yellow, small bells.

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It's a very patriotic, you know, area.

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All I ever wanted to be was,

you know, a commando.

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That's what I originally

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was going to be a try to be a Green Beret,

you know, a Ranger Green Beret route.

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9/11 happened, and the Marine

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Corps could get me out

faster than the Army would.

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So ended up

jumping the Marine Corps route instead.

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Force recon,

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you know what to do.

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Keep an eye on stuff

and to try to force recon.

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Made it into Force Recon

and then eventually became a Raider

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and then finish up at times

Raider. Got it.

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So there's a quick summarization of kind

of where I'm from and how I got in there.

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As far as how it shaping, you know, it's

it's from high school until I joined.

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You know, I was the kid

watching VHS tapes of Seal training and,

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you know, Ranger training and marine

boot camp and, you know, every Hollywood

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movie that existed that had to do

with those, those types of guys.

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Which is all I had to watch.

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So I really focused on even as a kid,

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mimicking the things I would do.

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You know,

I grew up alone in the country, so.

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Right. Baling. Hey, work in the farms.

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Being physically fit

was kind of a necessity to even, you know,

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survive in that 100% where, you know,

my family was a construction family.

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So if I wasn't bucking hay and working

cattle,

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you know,

I was around to shovel in a ditch.

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Or machinery and then,

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you know, just carry that that mindset of,

you know, be strong and

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don't quit and work

long hours and, into military

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and then,

you know, special operations, the,

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you know, the dedication and commitment

and type of personalities

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that you come across, you meet,

they're just further motivate you to

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refine yourself even more, right,

and become the same.

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So yeah, I can relate to that.

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You know, my mom's,

sort of family from North Dakota.

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My, my uncle still runs a family

farm out there.

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And we lived actually lived up there

for four years.

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But, you know, kind of hockey was kind of

like shadow shaped me.

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Hockey, boxing and jujitsu. Yeah.

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So you really learn that discipline

and resilience and,

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you know, kind of like me and you were

talking a minute ago was like,

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the boys get excited when they when they

join, when they start like a new program,

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whether it's a fitness program,

nutrition program, whatever it might be.

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But it's like they forget

that life is still going to happen.

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And until you get into that mindset

and that start building those habits,

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they're likely going to probably fail

within the first 30 days.

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So coming from like your background

with that, you know, there's

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probably a big transition for you

when you went from Spec Ops to CEO.

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So how did that carry over for you?

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So it's the same mindset

kind of what you were saying to me,

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you know, you don't ever really fail

unless you quit. Correct?

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I mean, there is no failure

without quitting and there's no losing.

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It's learning, you know?

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So I love that

every loss becomes, a learning lesson.

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You know, you never truly fail

unless you give up, you know?

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And if you keep trying forever

and ever and ever, you know,

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if you die, then you never really failed

you just right.

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You just die. Try it. Right. So,

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you know, that

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mindset, that mindset

is the foundation of special operations is

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you can throughout the selection process,

that's what they're trying to push you to

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as a breaking point,

to see if you're willing to quit

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because the only thing

or try to keep you from making it is,

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aside from academic failure.

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So you do have to have a certain amount

of brainpower, right?

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Get in there, obviously.

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And if you're. Critical thinking, right.

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You don't make it.

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Don't meet the criteria to show that one

plus one. Yeah.

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Because you could

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you could think and be strong that then,

you know you can lose it for that.

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But right

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when it comes to the strength adaptation

in the mental mindset, it's all about,

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they will break every single person's

selection at some point.

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And I've told a million people that,

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you know, when they ask,

what's the hardest thing about selection?

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You know, the water is the most selection.

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The water is the great equalizer

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because it doesn't it doesn't matter

how big you are, how strong or how faster.

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And what you're doing is

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you have how long you been a swimmer

in the water will overtake you. Yep.

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You will.

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You will eventually succumb

to the power of water and you will drown.

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And there's a completely different

feeling associated with,

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extreme fatigue and,

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and physical exhaustion

from carrying a ruck or lifting weights

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or, you know, to just pain

and just hunkering down and pushing

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through the pain and just more and more,

you hit that exhaustion go

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when you're under water, and

then your oxygen has to be taken from you.

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There is no finding more oxygen.

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No. It's gone. Yeah.

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So at that moment in time,

throughout the process,

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there's guys that mentally break

because they lose.

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They lose sight of the fact that you're

in a controlled environment where you may

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pass out, you may potentially die

if things go wrong and they don't

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get you a quick enough, they get

get you quick enough.

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However, there's a high probability

you're going to be okay.

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So you're willing to roll the dice

on potentially dying.

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And that's the mental mindset that they're

looking for in those communities.

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You know, there's no matter how bad it got

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when you truly thought

you were going to die, you didn't quit.

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Right.

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And if you can find those poor people,

the people,

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then they make it in those communities,

that mindset, once you've experienced that

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and done that and truly tested

your ability as a person,

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I think it changed

you forever at that point.

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If somebody hasn't been pushed to that

limit and they never truly know what their

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mental capacity is.

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So being able to experience that

and then carried over into

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to your question,

long answer to your question,

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to the CEO side, is one,

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is it going to cost for arms,

legs, eyes, ears or life?

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The answer's no.

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It's not that bad. Right?

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And keep pushing through all of it. Right.

It ain't gonna matter to me.

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Good point.

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If I may, may I interject? Go ahead.

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The one thing that just kept coming

back to me from a place that I can relate

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to, it, is when we're, as an injector

in dealing with people's

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anatomy or as a medical provider

and dealing with people's physiology.

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You might think that you know the path,

but then when it's not the right path,

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you have to retract, reposition,

reintroduce whatever you're trying to do.

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And it's the same thing like you brought,

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you know, we're all onions and we're

all able to peel these layers back.

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And in order to realize

that you have the mental fitness

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or the mental capability to keep going,

no matter what it is, you have to break,

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you have.

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Because then then when you get to

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that point again,

you're not afraid to break again.

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So it's that that breaking down

of everything to then keep going,

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whether it's

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with what your experience was or yours

or your dad's or my dad's or myself.

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Like, that's just it.

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And I think a lot of people,

until they've been put into something

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where they have to fully immerse

and fully commit,

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and then they're afraid because they don't

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know what's going to happen

when they break. Right.

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And that was going to bring up the fact

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you brought up water doesn't care

what size you are.

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You know, neither is fear.

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No, fear doesn't matter if you're

a big muscle guy or a little guy.

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You know, the funny thing

is to like going through selection.

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You always hear

how it's the smaller guys, the 185 guys

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that will would have gone to Smurf crew

sometimes.

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You know, they're the ones are in there

outperforming these guys that are,

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you know, six foot two and jacked.

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So, you know, when fear kicks in is

when people will shut down.

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And that can be, you know,

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all the way down to someone's weight

loss journey to feel or fear of feeling

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the fear of what other people will say

because he didn't complete it.

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The fear of what?

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Just what other people think in general.

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And I can I can speak on precision.

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The company change.

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When I learned how to address fear,

and when I stopped using fear,

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which motivated me to make poor decisions,

reacting the wrong way,

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say the wrong things,

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any one of those things could have cost me

my company at any point in time.

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But now I use fear as a motivator

because now I'm like back in

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like now I find solutions.

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Now I focus on the solution,

not the problem.

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So I think, you know, overcoming

that fear.

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And I can only imagine,

like what you guys did.

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But I think that was probably

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I would have to assume a big reason

why you're successful.

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What you do now, I would agree, I think

one of my favorite one, the quote guy.

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Yeah, one of my favorite quotes is,

you know man in the Arena by Roosevelt.

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Yeah.

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And that is basically addressing

the themes that you're talking about.

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It's if somebody

could adapt to the mindset of

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the willingness to try and fail

and fail again.

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Again, you know what I said in there?

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I'll never lay with those, Tim.

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It's also known as a victory or defeat.

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Right.

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There should be no fear and and failure

because again, like we said,

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the beginning of this conversation,

there's no failure without quitting.

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You're going to fail.

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And with every failure,

you're going to learn.

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And then you can come back.

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And as long as you keep trying

and get it going again, whether it's

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whether it's financially impactful,

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negatively, nope,

physically impactful, negatively,

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or whatever the case may be,

knowing that you can recover from that

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and then learn

from the lessons of the previous failure

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is how you ultimately succeed.

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That's what I was going to bring.

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Surrendering, I think.

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And like, how do you survive the water?

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Do you have to surrender?

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You just accept the fact that,

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I mean, you mentally tell you there's no

there is no beating the water now.

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You just have to let it let it.

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You have literally sent the fact that I am

going to fight this as long as I can,

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and no matter what I have to do, I'm

going to go out fighting.

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And then and that mentality,

then I just apply,

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you know, that's an extreme case

where you compared to the water

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because it's loss of life potentially.

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But when you apply that

to you, everything in life

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the same, the same principles apply.

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I'm not going to I'm not going to give up

until until I'm bankrupt.

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I'm not going to give up

until I run out of oxygen.

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I'm not going to give up until.

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And so I literally don't

have a penny left in my bank.

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And I have no idea.

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There's just no giving up.

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Something is going to prevent me

from pushing forward.

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That's out of my control.

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And I think that's a really big thing

missing in society right now.

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People are so quick

to get a divorce versus

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working on their marriage, doing doing it.

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They just think, if I just move on

to the next thing, I can still behave

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and act in the same way that caused

my divorce to go to hell, right?

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If I don't like my job,

then I'll just switch jobs.

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But you don't realize

that you have to apply yourself

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at that job the next one,

no matter what you do.

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Like you just can't go through life.

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Partner is half ass in it and thinking

things are going to get better for you.

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And so.

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But we live in a society

now where everybody deserves, yeah,

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whether they've worked for it

or sacrificed for it. Not unfortunately.

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So to your point again, and, the

the jobs of the divorces or whatever, it's

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instead of

being looked at as a hardship or, problem

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to overcome that you can learn from

and then overall change and fix.

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It's why take the time to work on this

when I can just shift gears

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and get this for free,

if I could this easier.

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I'm totally here because the options

do exist in today's society.

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And the flip it on that. You know,

I think some people don't.

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You know, we are so ingrained

to want to fight for so long

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that we're being stubborn

and not realizing that that,

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you know, keeping the wrong employee

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for too long, you know, staying

in the wrong relationship for too long.

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God knows I did that.

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You know you do. Do stuff like that.

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Trying to for.

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Yeah, trying to force something and not

realizing that it's okay to shift gears.

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Yeah.

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You know, and there's a difference in

failing and and shifting and redirecting.

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Correct.

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So like you said, in a relationship

standpoint,

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I use

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as an example

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because you said

you stay in a relationship too

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long has probably because

the type of person you are is

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somebody doesn't want to lose,

doesn't want to fail,

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and a relationship

ending is a failure in some capacity.

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Yeah, it could be looked at that way

when the reality is

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if it's negatively

impacting your life and then

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you know it's an anchor to you

or it's, or it's,

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something that's slowing your progression

or making you a worse off person.

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That's not a failure

to get away from that.

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No, it's a win to get to win that because

you've been able to identify that reality

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and remove yourself from the negativity

in that cancer's environment.

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So I think that's also easily confused was

it was again, mindset would be

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because not everything is a failure

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just because in the relationship's

a perfect example.

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Yeah. There is times

when you start to walk away. It is.

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Yeah. It's not a failure.

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It's just the smart thing to do it.

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You know, and I I'm hearing

you and I have never experienced

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what you've experienced

and so but do you feel like when you're,

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when you're going through training

or when you were in some of the, you know,

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the biggest situations on the battlefield

or whatever

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when you have nothing else to turn to you,

don't

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you think that that's

when you learn the most about yourself?

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And so in order to be able to discern

whether or not you should stay

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or you should go,

whether it's a relationship

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or a business move,

you have to know yourself.

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You have to have that relationship

with yourself.

306

And I think back on us

and when we went and did ayahuasca,

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that was the scariest thing

that I've ever done

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besides bodybuilding, where I really had

to commit and just pull everything back.

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And you, you rip everything away from you.

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That's a comfort measure.

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And people have a hard time.

Like when it comes to nutrition.

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It's because it's a comfort

that food is masking some sort of thing

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that they don't want to deal with foods,

you know, an emotional thing.

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And so I think the first thing is like

really having a relationship with yourself

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before you start something.

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Is this really what you want

and are you willing to commit all in?

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Yeah.

318

And if you don't really want something

you're not going to commit.

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No. Right.

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You have to

you have to know what you really want

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to know, what you're

willing to put into it, to do it.

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That's why you got to do ayahuasca.

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Yeah. Each one of those.

Because it's, it's done on.

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And our community, that's a big thing now.

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Yes. It's resetting.

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It's been I've never done it.

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But I've looked into it heavily

and I've thought about it.

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Changed my life.

Everybody I talk to, every half of it.

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I've started with a one dance.

I changed allotments, had.

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Psilocybin, and I was happy.

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And we'd be happy to talk to you more

about it if you wanted to hear about it.

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Yeah. It's just.

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Yeah, it's kind of scary on the same front

because everybody says it changes you.

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It doesn't really don't know what the

you know, you are on a negative impact.

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You know, I you know, my biggest fear

was like going in and seeing faces

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and I'd feel like it all being relived

right there.

337

But the reality was, is like I knew

my body was going through things

338

and I know that I was going through stuff,

but I never saw the faces.

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I never saw the things

that were actually caused, the issues

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that I have, the anger, the fear,

the resentment and all that stuff.

341

It was it literally

just it changed everything about me.

342

But yeah, I highly recommend it

to anybody with that.

343

But it's also,

you know, I'm a big component.

344

You know, I work with the power of Hope,

EDC down and Steelville.

345

I've created a debt program to help.

346

Help guys or girls that are,

stuck in the debt program of the military.

347

We can fast

track them through a little bit faster.

348

But, you know, again, we're

349

always coming back to even with ayahuasca,

we're back to the mental state.

350

You know, everybody wants to focus

on the physical side of it, which is good.

351

But the physical is is what override

the mental, override the mental.

352

You know, the mental is

what gets you through right now.

353

Going back to my bodybuilding

and even playing hockey,

354

I used to play this game all the time,

like that eight week cod diet.

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I did eight egg

whites in the morning and evening.

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I ate cod meals and that's all I ate

for eight weeks That’s amazing.

357

Yeah, it was phenomenal.

358

We're not doing 45 minutes of cardio

now, 45 minutes of cardio in the evening.

359

I'm training for 90 minutes.

360

She's telling me I need to go

find an extended stay to live in

361

because this isn't working.

362

But I was just telling myself, like,

if this was the only thing

363

on earth left to eat, like the world

went to crap and this is it.

364

It wouldn't matter if I wanted McDonald's

or Cheetos or ding dong.

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It didn't exist.

So you created that in your head.

366

And so I created a yeah, yeah,

an auto fortress within my head

367

to keep myself from caving.

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And it's the same thing,

369

you know, with working out, there's levels

to your to your ability to perform,

370

you know, that's all

I sometimes don't even count reps

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like my reps count

when start when the pain starts.

372

So it could be 20 reps in.

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And it's like now that's where the pain

I'm like, all right, you got 20 more

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because I'm trying to build

a stronger fortress from my brain.

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Which then serves me like you had said,

serves me in business, serves me

376

in my relationship with her, family,

friends in all areas, everything.

377

You know. So everything.

378

So at precision, we believe fitness

is about precision and consistency.

379

We're not a quick fix

and I don't think any of them are.

380

But for you, from your perspective,

what separates short term motivation

381

from building a sustainable lifestyle?

382

Habit and repetition.

383

Yeah, I mean, so I mean short term short

term goals are never I mean

384

short term actions that are not

385

planned out to be long term

goals will never, ever become anything.

386

For the most part.

387

I mean, nothing,

nothing is going to be become a routine

388

for you or consistent unless you do it

long enough for it to become natural.

389

Right. And a habit. So,

390

the difference, you know, is exactly

that is doing it

391

long enough to create the habit

and then feeling the the benefits

392

of your work and efforts

and then realizing that

393

the benefits of it far outweigh

not doing it in the long term.

394

Right.

I mean, I would think that would be no.

395

And I think the one thing

I'd probably add to

396

that is you got to have accountability.

397

And I think that that comes around

with who you surround yourself with

398

and do you have a team

and obviously from your operating days,

399

your team and accountability

was everything because you had to depend

400

on the guy to to the left and to the right

to make sure everybody came home safe.

401

And you surround yourself with people

that are better than you.

402

Yeah, that's a good point.

403

So on a point where your team is one,

you don't want to let anybody down

404

in your team.

405

You don't want to let down your partner.

406

You don't want education all the time.

407

Anybody, to support you and your team

and in the event I come from your team,

408

is everything.

409

Because you letting them down

410

potentially can result in a loss of life

or a life altering,

411

you know, maiming or or injury

that could affect not only them

412

but their family back home

in the long run.

413

So the constant betterment of self

never ends

414

when you're in that environment,

because the people you're around

415

never stop

constantly trying to better themselves.

416

So when you're in that cycle

of everybody's bettering themselves,

417

if you're not, you quickly

start to deviate away from the circle

418

and you become a liability to the team.

419

And nobody wants to become

a liability to the team,

420

especially when your focus is are aligned.

421

So, I mean, it's that's probably one

the hardest things to transition out of

422

when I got out is living that world for,

you know, almost 15 years

423

and then getting out here and no longer

being for for a short period of time.

424

You know,

now that I'm that asymmetrical, I'm

425

in the single personalities

and around that. But there was,

426

you know, a nine month process

where I tried to be a, a regular guy.

427

But I'm going to try to,

428

you know, give my wife and kids

a normal life and not be gone eight, nine

429

months of the year, every year,

and that type of stuff.

430

And, that was the biggest thing

that not only me, but

431

even the guys that worked for the company

now in any other company like ours and,

432

try to seek out

433

is surrounding yourselves

with like minded individuals,

434

like we got in that same

environment is really hard to find.

435

Yeah. Out here.

436

So yeah, I could relate,

because I've always made sure

437

that I trained with people

that were stronger than me after

438

when I played hockey, I'd always play

and and got with guys are older than me.

439

I always did that because that's

the only way I could ever get better.

440

The next question I would have is,

you know, there's some misconceptions

441

and you'll you'll probably appreciate

what there's what people that think

442

they're that being fit or being tough,

you know,

443

how would you kind of speak on that?

444

Because, you know, I think

445

people have the perception of,

if I do this, then I'm this.

446

And so it's like if I by train

like however, then I'm automatically

447

going to be tough or I'm out of

out of automatically going to be strong.

448

Yeah.

449

But you know, I think

you probably have some insight on that.

450

Yeah.

451

There’s a saying,

you know, guys our community joke about,

452

you know, tattoos and a bad attitude

don't make you a bad ass.

453

You know, which is a common misconception

out here.

454

You know, in the biker world,

I ride bikes. Yeah.

455

I'm been on a Harley guy my whole life.

456

My whole family has Harleys and a lot.

And I'm.

457

Anyways, it's really big in that community

because of the perception that, oh,

458

he's a biker.

459

He's got to be tough when the reality is.

460

I mean, there's some tough ass bikers

out there. Yeah.

461

There are., yeah, but there's also smoke

and 20 years fat out of shape.

462

You know, it looks like a tough dude.

463

But the minute you go to them, trade blows

with him, he lasts about five seconds.

464

And you, that tangle

that dude up really fast, right?

465

So, you know, a bad attitude, man.

466

You know, tattoos don't make it tough.

467

So the mentality on the flip side of that,

there's lots of guys who are not

468

physically fit wear super, super tough

because their mindset is MINDSET.

469

What it is.

470

You know,

471

you can be a gym rat ripped up, look like

something off the cover of Men's Fitness,

472

and you don't be an

be a complete bitch for lack of better.

473

I'm sorry. Yeah, No, you’re okay..

474

You know, I'm again, you know, all show.

475

No go. You know,

you know, mindset. It's like.

476

And a lot of times that's the reality.

477

And depending on what it is

they're using for nutrition

478

and cardiovascular training you know,

preaching to the choir on this front.

479

But again,

480

I think there's a statistic out there

right now.

481

You can look it up there

like in modern, modern times, 20, 25,

482

it's like less than 20% of the male

population has ever been

483

punched in the face,

have been a physical altar occasion.

484

United States of America,

less than 20%. Yeah.

485

So when you look at it

486

from a gambling standpoint,

the realities of you encountering

487

somebody who really knows

how to handle themselves,

488

even though they're talking a big game

and they're

489

they got big muscles and tattoos

and red Harley,

490

the chances of them actually don't

have to do much are pretty fucking slim.

491

Yeah, the odds are in your favor.

492

They're just a big mouth.

And to punch them in the face.

493

Nobody likes to get punched in the face.

494

It's like Mike Tyson said.

495

Yeah, my, my my dad's saying was always

big mouths turn into soft asses.

496

What if Mike Tyson's like,

everybody's got a plan until,

497

yeah, that's what you always say.

498

Everyones got plans

until they get punched in the face.

499

and then your Boston thing was always

softer than a sneaker full of shit.

500

So, yeah.

501

Yeah, yeah.

502

It's, So, yeah, I mean, the

503

there's a big difference

between being in shape and being tough.

504

You know, there's lots of in-shape

fit people that that are tough.

505

There's lots of in shape

506

that people are not tough

and there's lots of not fit in shape.

507

People are tough ....

508

The toughness is mental Mental. 100%.

509

mental you know Tank Abbott. Yeah.

510

Yeah I mean look at, you

you look at that guy.

511

You think that's son of a bitch

make it last longer than 30 seconds., you

512

know, I mean, he's a beast, but like,

you think he gas out in 30 seconds.

513

There's that.

514

That guy's got to tank that never ends

yeah,

515

he He's like a diesel with out a doubt

and just runs and runs around.

516

Yes. And,

517

you know, to just get off top of my head,

518

I think he's a great example of that

where, you know, it's a good one.

519

You know, he's

not fit by any stretch of the imagination.

520

When you look at him

from a fitness standpoint.

521

But he is a tough guy, never quit.

522

he went the distance.

523

Yeah multiple times.

He goes the distance. Yeah.

524

So, you

know, we're living in a world right now.

525

You know, I'm

I'm even guilty of it to an extent.

526

You know, it's,

527

you know, getting up at 4 a.m.,

doing a cold plunge, doing this,

528

doing that, blah, blah, blah. Right.

529

So how do you how do you balance intensity

with a recovery?

530

And then also how do you not burn out.

531

And I I'll get to the burn out because

I have my own belief system on that.

532

But so when you don't burn out

and you stay at peak

533

performance, like what does your routine

kind of look like for that?

534

Yeah. So I mean, staying at peak

performance is very difficult.

535

It's just like a business,

you know, a maintenance phase,

536

a performing at your peak

can't be sustained forever.

537

Right.

538

There's a there's a peak

539

and then there's a maintenance

and there's either

540

a decline that goes back up to a peak

or a new established peak.

541

So I mean, I've everybody burns out

542

at some point and, you know, the, the

543

balancing it, I don't balance it.

544

Well, sure.

545

I have so many injuries and,

546

and things that have happened

547

because, because, you know,

when the doc says you got to rest,

548

you got to recharge on the way

things are going get better.

549

And then you're like, all right.

550

He's like, well, how long you

no rest for the next 3 to 5 weeks.

551

And, you know, five days into

I can't do this anymore.

552

You're not wired that way.

553

And yeah, you know, and you can't

you feel lazy.

554

Feel like a piece of shit. so,

555

you know, to keep from from just giving up

556

and stopping, you know, it's it's

kind of like your example earlier,

557

you, you establish the,

if all the food didn’t exist.

558

Right. And all I had was this,

I know I could make it, and that's.

559

I'm going to pretend like it didn't exist.

560

Yeah, I've done the same thing.

561

You know, one, I talk to myself a lot.

562

I explain it to my wife.

563

She’s like its weird

you talk to yourself all the time.

564

I'm like, yeah,

as long as they don't answer, we’re good.

565

It's all right.

566

There's no don't answer.

We know we're okay.

567

I do answer.

568

You know, I'm the guy.

569

I'm the guy that's in the gym by myself,

my headphones and and like,

570

you know,

I get to, you know, rep eight or whatever.

571

And I had a 12 rep goal

and I'm like, don't be a bitch.

572

Don't be like, kept talking to myself.

573

Don't be pussy,

you know? Yeah. Now get out.

574

You know, you could do

12. Don't be a bitch.

575

And same thing running.

576

If I’m out and I’m training for an event

or if I’m running and it's like,

577

plan on doing 8 miles, 10 miles.,

whatever the case may be,

578

you know, and you get to that mile

three like, this sucks.

579

And I drank too much last night.

580

And the same thing you told yourself,

don't be a bitch.

581

And and I use the comparative, view of,

582

wrap it back around your McDonald's

comment about not having food available.

583

And I think I do this just

because of the environment I came from.

584

But I think of the guys in Vietnam like,

and the punji pits and the, the P.O.W.

585

camps that were stuck in these holes,

586

and they were starved and they were

they were mistreated.

587

They were they were tortured for years

and years and years

588

and just kept fighting and kept going

and never gave up better.

589

And I think if those guys can do that,

590

why am I second guessing anything

Anything?

591

Anything.

Why am I bitching out on a five mile run?

592

Why am I bitching out on 2 more laps?

Wow. That’s powerful.

593

you know, why am I doing it?

594

Like ,you know, better yourself

to better your country.

595

Better yourself to better your family.

Better yourself to better everything.

596

You know,

I love that That’s really powerful.

597

Anything.

598

Anything that you do

to increase your abilities

599

as a citizen of the United States

or as a member of your family.

600

Betters this country, betters your family.

601

Yeah, you’re more capable

the more you learn.

602

I don’t mean to cut you off but,

like that's what you do,

603

though, like you were when you were doing

your cardio is like,

604

okay, you'd almost put yourself yourself

in these mock situations.

605

And now when I'm lifting to try to get

606

because I've been kind of checked out

when I'm going through the motions.

607

But now it's like, okay,

if I want to say that I can be the best,

608

you know, provider

or the best leader than I can do

609

these reps like it's

you can equate it to everything.

610

To that though.

611

Do you ever allow yourself

to have a moment where you do feel weak?

612

I like to say no.

613

Yeah.

614

You know, you know, and you know, my,

615

you know, my wife is, you know,

maybe vulnerable would be better Yeah.

616

Vulnerable. Not [weak], vulnerable. Yeah,

617

I don't know.

618

I know you should be vulnerable

to a certain degree, but I, I don't know,

619

I also I also don't agree

with a lot of the modern day

620

mindsets of men should be vulnerable

and cry and all this bullshit

621

that people talk about,

you should, to a certain degree,

622

but at the same and the same front.

623

Like, and I use this let me,

let me try to put this in the example

624

as a special operations guy

with, with a bunch of deployments

625

and having the title that I had

in the person that I was,

626

I have a moral obligation

to maintain a certain presence

627

and ability for the rest of my life,

because I am the example

628

for the future generations

potentially want to be who I was.

629

You know,

no kid wants to look at a greater Delta

630

Force guy, a seal on YouTube, crying,

631

talking about suck

632

starting a pistol and doing drugs

and being fucked up

633

for the rest of his life

because of what he did overseas.

634

Right. Wants to be that? Nope.

Nobody wants to be that.

635

That guy might have those problems

636

with some of the guys in our communities

do end up with those problems,

637

but there's ways to deal

with that internally

638

and to be vulnerable in the right

In a controlled group.

639

In a controlled group,

in a controlled environment. So

640

I don't allow myself

641

to be vulnerable

to very many people at all.

642

Maybe,

643

you know, to my wife and kids, on occasion

every now

644

and then throughout our, our time.

645

However, I don't do that

because of the environment

646

I come from in the fact that I very much

believe in what I just told you in that

647

for every kid that sees a weakened state

of somebody from our world,

648

it sets back

649

the vision they had and what we were right

and what they produced

650

could become right.

651

And then look what it does in military

and it destroys military.

652

So again,

I say that all the time, you know, I get

653

I get super aggravated

with guys from our community

654

that get on these YouTube channels

and all this stuff,

655

and they put out some of the problems

that do exist in our own right,

656

but should never been

657

put out in the first place

because of what I just told you,

658

we have to have future fighters

in the USA from here.

659

We have to have future soft guys.

660

We have to have future admin guys.

661

But in our realm,

you know, movies are made about

662

the guys who are in our community.

you know. Right. Yeah.

663

There's this perception

664

then whether it's real or it's inflated

or not, that perception is what brings

665

those battalions,

those personalities into that environment.

666

And create

some of the best fighters in the world.

667

And how many men or how many boys

have been pushed away from becoming

668

what they potentially could have become

because of them, because of that?

669

Because either they seen it and said,

I don't want that to be me.

670

If I become that or their father or mother

said, do you really want this to be you?

671

Do you guys want to do this?

And they're projecting.

672

They're telling them, don't be this. So,

673

and again,

long answer your simple question.

674

Do I think it's important

to be vulnerable?

675

Occasionally.

676

But I also believe that as a man,

677

especially a leader that is looking to be

678

a man amongst men, that you have

to minimize your vulnerabilities.

679

I actually love that

because you're talking about self control,

680

even in the moment

that you want to not have it. Right.

681

So so you're you're doing it in a way

that's responsible

682

and, you know,

maybe everybody isn't wired the same.

683

But you're right.

684

Like to to have an obligation

like think about an ER doc.

685

If you know,

686

he has days where he probably goes home

and he's lost too many patients that day,

687

but would that it him talking about that

will deter somebody else from doing it.

688

And think about all the lives

that were saved.

689

I just had goosebumps talking about that.

Like that's a very good way to put that.

690

That's actually going to affect me.

691

Because sometimes when I get in my head,

692

it's like, okay,

you got to get out of this. Yeah, yeah.

693

And you, me and you struggled about that

a little bit at the beginning

694

because I have spent 15 years

in the nightclub working security.

695

So I was brawling every Thursday,

Friday, Saturday night.

696

Yeah.

697

And so that came out and I was like,

she wasn't used to

698

someone who was so protective,

but also so just *snaps.

699

You know, I had no impulse control.

700

Like I'd jump in just like that.

701

And she's like, you need to chill out.

702

But I'm just like, no, I can't

because that I know the outcome.

703

If I do, you know, that means.

704

And like, you're bringing up,

why do I train?

705

Why do I do the things I do? It's

because I need to protect her.

706

Right?

707

You know, that's my first

708

and foremost responsibility is protect her

from anything and everything.

709

And I can't let my guard down

for nothing or no one.

710

So totally relate to that.

It's the price, you.

711

It's the price you pay to be

who you are. That's again. That's,

712

there's a price to be

713

paid for every level

you set yourself up to.

714

And that that price is a sacrifice

for you as an individual.

715

It has to be.

716

So it's again, in our world, it's

717

the I don't want to talk.

718

I don't want to get on this.

719

Yeah.

720

I'm not a for I'm

not a big proponent of PTSD

721

because I don't really believe I do.

722

99.9% of cases it are bullshit.

723

John Mack of the strike, I don't believe

at all, I do believe in memories.

724

And memories are gonna be there forever,

you know?

725

You hurt

somebody. You're going to remember.

726

You get hurt, you're going to remember.

You kill somebody, you gotta remember.

727

Your friends get killed.

728

You're gonna remember

if you were there when you did.

729

Those memories are never going to go away,

right?

730

That's a reality.

731

Because you remember those things

made your brain functions properly.

732

That's why you remember them.

733

So when you hear this bullshit of the

I can't get it on my head.

734

That's why I can't control myself and

my emotions and all this, all this crap.

735

You guys are like, I just can't like that

memory is never going to go away.

736

That's the price

you pay for doing what you did,

737

and that's what

you have to keep under control.

738

It's not that there's something

wrong with you because you remember it.

739

You never you like. I used the example.

740

I got a big scar on my knee from a bad

bicycle wreck when I was eight years old.

741

Gravel road, you know, and I'm like,

I remember that wreck vividly.

742

I remember rolling, I remember everything.

743

Does that mean I have PTSD from that?

744

and bad moods.

745

No, it just means

it was a traumatic experience.

746

And I remember forever.

747

And when I do think about it

748

is because something happened

in the environment around me

749

to make me reference back to that,

because the brain is functioning properly.

750

This is hey,

751

remember this happened a long time ago

and you don't want this to happen again.

752

Survival

Its survival is exactly what it is.

753

So that's the price you pay

when you do things.

754

That separates

you from the rest of the population

755

and make you a bigger, faster,

stronger, smarter man to know man.

756

And you have to, like I said, control.

757

The outputs, they're a byproduct of those

inputs that were put into you.

758

They're making you who you are.

759

Another thing, you going on quotes.

760

I think that's where that quote of life

is happening for me, not to me.

761

You know,

I can look back like I can look negatively

762

back on those 15 years of working

and look what it did to me.

763

It made me have social

anxiety, made me this, made me that.

764

But it's also the same time I am who I am.

765

Yeah, it makes me. I can protect her.

766

It has served me

well throughout my life, you know?

767

So I learned how to rewire

and re-look at things and look at it like

768

there's positives

that have come out of this.

769

Even in the worst of the times,

you still focus on that.

770

That first example,

where you said a victim mindset. Yeah.

771

The alternate is the opposite, right.

772

It's a positive growth mindset. Yeah.

773

And you know, everything

that happened to me

774

in my life up to this very moment

put me right here.

775

Yeah.

776

That's absolutely that's

you know, even as, you know,

777

as mad as my dad, at my dad

as I was as a kid growing up.

778

He's exactly why

I failure is not an option for me.

779

Yeah.

Because my whole life, for a long time,

780

I was proveing like, I will show you.

781

Yeah. Like, I was like,

that's a great mentality to have.

782

Yeah.

783

Even though it's it's a byproduct of

like said, be mad of your dad right here

784

it served you well.

785

but you know,

he was like he served the role

786

that the way I look at it

now, like everything he served the role

787

he was supposed to serve to make me

who I am as a father.

788

Correct? Yeah.

789

And whether I agree with it or not,

it has served me well.

790

Yeah. And that's how y'all kind of

have to kind of look at it.

791

Kind of switching gears just a little bit,

but not too much.

792

But, you know, as a listener,

is someone listening in wanted to start

793

living with more precision today in their

workouts, nutrition or mental game.

794

What was the first shift

you would tell them to make?

795

Start with the easy stuff.

796

You know there's a, you know, Adam

McRaven has a speech called Make Your Bed.

797

Yeah, I love that one.

798

And it pulls down to the reason

why the speech is all around.

799

Making your bed is because making your bed

is one of the simplest things

800

you can do in the morning

when you wake up.

801

It's a very simple task.

802

And if you can't be relied upon

to make your bed,

803

what else can you rely on yourself for?

804

Can others rely on you? For?

805

So if you're shifting gears

and trying to make yourself more precise

806

and more disciplined as an

807

individual going, I mean, starting with,

you know, setting realistic goals

808

and incrementally accomplishing them

809

step by step versus trying to do too

much all at once, would be my

810

opinion.

811

So something as simple

812

as instead of getting up at various times

every single morning, decide

813

this day forward, I'm

going to get up at 550 in the morning.

814

Every single morning.

815

That's going to be my wake up

every single ...I

816

don’t care if its Saturday, I don’t care

817

if its Sunday, I'm getting up at 5:15 I’m

going to maximize my day.

818

And if you can just accomplish that

and make that your routine, then

819

once you're 515 is set in place,

now it's at 515.

820

Once I get up, I'm

going to read ten pages of a book

821

or I'm going to do X,

or I'm going to do Y.

822

I just incrementally build upon

bettering yourself

823

and make yourself more precise

824

and creating those,

like we talked about being habits,

825

because once you've done it

long enough, just becomes a habit.

826

Eventually, your alarm won't even be going

off, you’ll be waking up at 5:14, 13.,

827

as you probably know, yes,

I do, yes, it's reality

828

it's like, when you open your eyes

You look at the clock,

829

it's like, wow, I didn't go off

and I'm up 60s before it goes off

830

because the you just you've programed

yourself, it's become habit. So,

831

to answer your

question, that would be my recommendations

832

to to not overwhelm yourself

because like you said,

833

you know,

everybody has a different mentality.

834

Some people can handle an overwhelming

amount of tasks all at once

835

and push through it and make it work,

but that's not the norm.

836

So take small, incremental steps.

837

Set your wake up times,

set your what you're going to do

838

in your first ten minutes.

Set your nutrition and the breakfast.

839

And then once breakfast

nutrition is established,

840

maybe transition it

to what's my lunch nutrition or what's

841

my fasting times or whatever the case may

be, and just keep building on it.

842

And then if you have a setback, pause,

readdress the setback, get that in line.

843

And then once that's that's a habit

and build upon it as well.

844

That'd be mine.

845

Yeah.

846

I think they call that in this generation,

stacking wins.

847

Yeah.

848

That stack and some

849

we are just it's compounding

you know just compounding wins.

850

Yeah.

851

And it helps with the mental state

because you know even though like we said

852

in the beginning, failure

isn't truly a failure until you quit.

853

Failures are setbacks

854

and could feel like losses

and mentally can take a toll on you

855

if you have too many of them

back to back to back to back.

856

And and if you set small wins in a small

win is much better than 100%.

857

He said something that I wrote down

we you program yourself.

858

This is all about programing your self.

859

So you program the thought

that you're going to have the action

860

like you find the action that you want,

861

the result that you want,

and then you're going to program yourself

862

and you can choose to like

have that moment of vulnerability.

863

Even if you think to yourself

like that really sucked,

864

but then how long are you going

to hold on to that?

865

So everything is about programing yourself

866

to the way that you want to be,

and that's what's going to shape you.

867

And then the little wins.

868

Release dopamine into Jamie,

I know you, you believe that.

869

You know, burnout

can be a dopamine deficiency

870

from looking at phones and all that.

871

So it's like, how can you switch and swap

out little things to then stack the wins?

872

Yeah, yeah.

873

I mean, the thing with burnout

and I didn't really address that,

874

was my philosophy on burnout

is, you know, in working out

875

means you're not taking care of yourself

in other ways.

876

You're not hydrating properly,

you're not doing nutrition right.

877

You're not optimizing your sleep.

878

There's there's things

you could be doing that cause that.

879

But then also,

I think I hear burnout a lot.

880

You know,

some employees will talk about burnout.

881

I'm feeling burnout. I'm like,

no, you're bored.

882

Yeah.

883

Like, because if there's five new clients

that walk through that door,

884

would you be excited that they came in?

885

Or would you be like,

nah, I'm sorry I'm burnt out.

886

I can't take five new clients. Yeah.

887

You know, you're you're bored,

you're getting loose and you're bored.

888

You're right.

889

And thats, also, You put it that way

because that's exactly what it is.

890

And I never realized that reality

until I became, a freefall parachuter.

891

You're like, oh, wait.

892

And the freefalling parachute.

893

So even even parachuting,

once you've done it

894

so many times, it gets to a point

where you're just like, okay, here we go.

895

Like,

896

I'll never forget the first jump

while I was still in the teams,

897

because you have to jump

you continuously to keep your jump going

898

and you get hazards due

pay and all that stuff.

899

And I remember a group of us

sitting there waiting at the flight line,

900

to jump, and we were bitching

and it was a Hollywood jump.

901

And like, we were loaded with combat gear

902

and everything was a slick jump

just to go get our pay.

903

And we were bitching about

904

being out there, having to wait to go

freefall parachuting for the day

905

because we were just

906

going over it overdoing it.

907

And that's parachuting like one of

the most extreme things people could do.

908

And it was like, I'll never forget, like,

909

and we were talking

910

during that conversation, we all sat there

and chuckle each other because, like,

911

we're seriously bitching

about having to jump out of an airplane

912

and get paid to do it. Like,

what the fuck is wrong?

913

And most people are paying a lot of money

for this adrenaline rush.

914

What the fuck is wrong with us, man?

915

And and like, I click it, it's like there

really is nothing out there that exists

916

that if you do it over and over

and over and over, over

917

and never take a break from it,

never give yourself some sort of rest

918

and refit time period

that you won't eventually get....tired.

919

And I do say that to people to like,

no matter how much you might

920

love your job,

if you do it long enough without a break,

921

without a vacation, or changing gears

or trying to create more interesting.

922

Yeah, you're going to get burned out.

923

Yeah.

924

You know, but that's you can pace it

if you can keep being innovative,

925

which is what your company needs

926

and your employees need in order

to stay relevant in the game.

927

That's why

even though I'm big into physical fitness,

928

I still drink alcohol and have cheat days.

929

And like, not drink alcohol.

930

You kidding me? And salt? Fuck.

I don’t care about sodium.

931

Like I love salt.

932

Yeah, I like those are small things

933

that can make a big difference

in my overall fitness and capabilities.

934

But it's like if I take those out,

I'm miserable. Yeah.

935

So it yes.

936

Everything gets used to things.

It gets stagnant.

937

It gets complacent.

938

Relationships, your exercise,

your skincare routine.

939

You have to change it up.

940

Yeah. Oh,

I could go down a rabbit hole of salt.

941

And the misconception of salt with people.

He loves salt.

942

I was well, I mean,

I mean, even know like, you know, there a

943

there was a product

that was made, keto for us actually,

944

I was working with a special op

guys, over, he was over

945

in Iraq at the time,

and I didn't believe it, but I called him.

946

He said, yeah, we got it over here,

947

but it was just all your sodium

bicarbonate, sodium, magnesium.

948

But in drives, drive

those guys into a into a fast.

949

Whether you had carbs,

200g of carbs a day before or not,

950

but he just put them in

and you know, operators,

951

you're not you're not carrying around

952

a cooler full of chicken

and rice and potatoes.

953

You know,

954

it's like you got a canned couple

canteens of water with salt in it, and

955

you got to stay cognitively functional.

956

And that's where salt plays in.

957

But coming down to that, you know,

the interesting how this is going into it.

958

So what are your non-negotiables

when it comes to health and resilience

959

in your life.

960

Non-negotiables.

961

Yeah.

962

I won't break away from a fitness

routine ever.

963

And that's one like there's nothing no

matter the injury, no matter what's hurt.

964

Like there's nothing

that's going to keep me from working out,

965

maintaining physical capability

in some capacity.

966

So that's a non-negotiable.

I mean, I blown my knees out.

967

I broke both my feet.

968

I’ve wrecked my hands. I’ve broke

my wrists, have blown out my spine.

969

I've done a million injuries.

970

I've never stopped working out.

971

Ever. Like. Yeah, just because.

972

Call it fear.

973

Like the fear of being weak.

974

Yeah. Is real.

975

That's 100% real.

976

The injuries.

977

You're already in a vulnerable,

weakened state

978

and allow yourself to go beyond

that was just something

979

I was never willing to do,

no matter what the doctor said.

980

And be honest with you.

981

And, you know, I’m in my 40s now,

and as a when I was younger,

982

and I still do it today.

983

I mean I’ve got injuries now but yeah, but

but a lot of the pushing through

984

it made me heal faster actually

985

sometimes and have more functionality

and then and recovery like, you know,

986

I blew my knee and it's a 6 to 9 months

because I completely MCL, ACL,

987

meniscus everything

to folded in half sniper school.

988

Then I took pieces of my hamstring

and replaced my own ligament.

989

So. Yeah.

990

That’s a fun one. Yeah, it was horrible.

991

Yeah, it was a horrible.

992

So, but anyways, they told me,

you know, 6 to 9 months recovery.

993

Yeah.

994

And, and within three months,

I was back to running a 3 mile PFT

995

in 85, you know, with my knee

because of my very no footwear.

996

Because if I'd, if I'd have taken 6 to

9 months, I got kicked out of teams. Yep.

997

And I had an agree with my team commander.

998

Like I said, as if you give me 90 days,

let me stay on the team.

999

I'll pass a PFT in 90 days,

give me an 90 days.

00:42:17,333 --> 00:42:18,291

And he gave me 90 days.

00:42:18,291 --> 00:42:22,500

And at the 90 day mark, I ran PFT for the

very first & last PFT and passed it.

00:42:22,916 --> 00:42:24,958

But that was again

back to the non-negotiable.

00:42:24,958 --> 00:42:26,791

Like, I'm

not I'm never going to stop doing that.

00:42:26,791 --> 00:42:30,583

And and I use like Arnold and Sylvester

Stallone and they every talked about

00:42:30,583 --> 00:42:33,791

all those guys were on steroids

and ACH, I'm like, I don't give a shit.

00:42:34,041 --> 00:42:35,125

Look at that dude.

00:42:35,125 --> 00:42:36,791

That was like 81 years old, man.

00:42:36,791 --> 00:42:39,083

And I don't care

if that shaves ten years off my life.

00:42:39,083 --> 00:42:40,875

If I look like that when I die.

00:42:40,875 --> 00:42:42,625

Pump me up, Scotty. Like,

whatever you got to do.

00:42:42,625 --> 00:42:44,125

You know, I've always been like that with,

00:42:44,125 --> 00:42:45,458

you know, people will say, I'm like, hey,

00:42:45,458 --> 00:42:48,416

someone gave you a Lamborghini

or a Taurus.

00:42:48,416 --> 00:42:49,583

Would you take Lamborghini?

00:42:49,583 --> 00:42:52,166

They make Its horsepower.

00:42:52,166 --> 00:42:54,291

Well, yeah, he's still got to do

the work. Still have to train.

00:42:54,291 --> 00:42:57,541

So like, if he said, like, steroids aren't

going to magically make someone in shape

00:42:57,541 --> 00:42:59,833

but they're doing it.

You have to do the work. Yes.

00:42:59,833 --> 00:43:02,125

So they'll make you heavier,

actually. Right.

00:43:02,125 --> 00:43:04,583

So that's

that's one of the big non-negotiables.

00:43:04,583 --> 00:43:07,916

You know, anything that's, you know,

I got kids and all that stuff.

00:43:07,916 --> 00:43:10,083

So, I mean, there's a lot of family things

that, you know,

00:43:10,083 --> 00:43:13,291

I haven't been the best about prioritizing

family over work and things like that.

00:43:13,708 --> 00:43:15,791

It’s a hard balance. It's really hard.

00:43:15,791 --> 00:43:17,541

But I also think that's one sacrifice

you make as a man

00:43:17,541 --> 00:43:21,000

in order to ensure that your family's

has a good life coming up.

00:43:21,291 --> 00:43:23,041

That's why being a grandfather,

you know, we're so,

00:43:23,041 --> 00:43:24,125

so much better be two grandfathers

00:43:24,125 --> 00:43:26,000

because you made all the sacrifices

with your kids.

00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:27,000

Yeah, and missed all the time.

00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:28,666

And now you're in a position

because of the hard work

00:43:28,666 --> 00:43:30,500

you did to have more time

with your grandkids.

00:43:30,500 --> 00:43:31,791

That's the reality of it.

00:43:31,791 --> 00:43:34,708

I don't think I've ever met a hard working

dad that didn't say,

00:43:34,708 --> 00:43:36,458

I regret

all the times I missed with my kids.

00:43:36,458 --> 00:43:38,000

Of course

you regret it to a certain degree,

00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,166

but if you look at it from again

instead of the poor me,

00:43:41,166 --> 00:43:42,708

I missed out on my kids.

00:43:42,708 --> 00:43:45,708

I was doing what a man supposed to do

mindset now is very, very different.

00:43:46,125 --> 00:43:48,625

Yeah, I was put in the gym

when I was 13. I was a bodybuilding gym

00:43:49,625 --> 00:43:52,875

of all things, which is how I got into

bodybuilding and training and doing that.

00:43:52,875 --> 00:43:57,416

But male, my biggest thing, I'm 52, was

I always want to look like the 52 year

00:43:57,416 --> 00:43:58,708

old guys in the gym like,

00:43:58,708 --> 00:44:01,333

and that guy wanted to look big

and strong, and

00:44:01,333 --> 00:44:04,291

I did not want to look like the other guy

that was over there, hunched over a cane

00:44:04,291 --> 00:44:05,625

and doing stuff lite so.

00:44:05,625 --> 00:44:08,041

But then also, you know, coming back,

00:44:08,041 --> 00:44:11,083

you know, I'm 12 years older than her,

I still have a duty to protect her.

00:44:11,125 --> 00:44:14,541

So it's my responsibility

to have to take care of myself.

00:44:14,791 --> 00:44:16,166

That's my non-negotiable.

00:44:16,166 --> 00:44:19,083

I don't there is no option for

I have to do it.

00:44:19,083 --> 00:44:21,333

So I work on it all. All aspects of that.

00:44:23,500 --> 00:44:23,666

Yeah.

00:44:23,666 --> 00:44:25,375

Just one

more thing from a mindset standpoint.

00:44:25,375 --> 00:44:29,125

So I talked about gym, but for mindset

I will never blindly follow.

00:44:29,250 --> 00:44:30,750

That's a non-negotiable. I like that.

00:44:30,750 --> 00:44:32,500

I will never blindly follow anybody.

00:44:32,500 --> 00:44:35,708

I will always question and analyze

any situation, I’m entering decision

00:44:35,708 --> 00:44:36,250

I had to make.

00:44:36,250 --> 00:44:37,625

And I'll make my own decision

00:44:37,625 --> 00:44:39,958

regardless of what my peers,

the people around you're going to do.

00:44:39,958 --> 00:44:41,125

I've taught my kids the same thing.

00:44:41,125 --> 00:44:42,625

Just just

00:44:42,625 --> 00:44:45,000

being a followers, being sheep. Yeah.

00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:48,500

And and there's a place in this world

for following, you know, you have to be

00:44:48,500 --> 00:44:51,500

a good follower to a certain degree

to eventually become a good leader,

00:44:51,500 --> 00:44:54,083

because that's just something

you have to experience.

00:44:54,083 --> 00:44:57,250

However, I will never, ever not question

00:44:58,458 --> 00:44:59,500

anything.

00:44:59,500 --> 00:45:02,333

Anybody who's giving me guidance, advice

or trying to push me

00:45:02,333 --> 00:45:04,833

in a certain direction

when we're not questioned blindly follow

00:45:04,833 --> 00:45:05,875

that is a friend.

00:45:05,875 --> 00:45:07,500

So to your point, a mental mindset.

00:45:07,500 --> 00:45:10,750

And that's a non-negotiable that nobody's

ever going to get me to just do anything.

00:45:10,875 --> 00:45:11,541

I like that.

00:45:11,541 --> 00:45:15,125

And also from somebody whose parents

had her really young, I learned

00:45:15,125 --> 00:45:18,125

I have my work ethic

because I watch them work.

00:45:18,291 --> 00:45:21,625

I don't have this thought of like, oh,

my parents weren't there for me

00:45:21,625 --> 00:45:24,750

because they were working like,

I actually now believe I can achieve

00:45:24,750 --> 00:45:28,708

anything I want to achieve because I saw

my mom do it work and my dad worked a lot.

00:45:28,708 --> 00:45:31,250

You know, I, I,

I don't think it's a bad thing.

00:45:31,250 --> 00:45:32,750

And you brought up something

pretty important

00:45:32,750 --> 00:45:34,208

when you talk your hamstring out and your

00:45:34,208 --> 00:45:38,083

your goal was to stay on the team,

you had a really powerful ‘Why’.

00:45:38,333 --> 00:45:38,625

Yeah.

00:45:38,625 --> 00:45:41,458

Because that ‘why’ was either

I make it or I'm out.

00:45:41,458 --> 00:45:41,916

Yeah.

00:45:41,916 --> 00:45:45,125

And I think that's one thing people forget

too, is when they set these goals,

00:45:45,958 --> 00:45:48,958

they don't focus in on a ‘Why’

At least someone that's not

00:45:49,166 --> 00:45:50,250

going to move the needle.

00:45:50,250 --> 00:45:50,458

You know,

00:45:50,458 --> 00:45:54,208

like in my world, people, I say, well,

I want to look better and feel better.

00:45:54,291 --> 00:45:56,375

Of course you do. Who doesn't?

00:45:56,375 --> 00:45:58,250

You want to make more money?

Of course you do.

00:45:58,250 --> 00:46:01,291

But what are you willing to do

and give up in order to get it?

00:46:01,708 --> 00:46:03,583

And that has to come with a powerful why.

00:46:03,583 --> 00:46:05,208

The why is everything

if you don't know why

00:46:05,208 --> 00:46:07,708

anything in life that you have,

there's no purpose, there's no drive.

00:46:07,708 --> 00:46:10,958

Right.

Why is the ‘why’ is everything right?

00:46:11,458 --> 00:46:13,875

Well, as we wrap

this up, I'd love to have an opportunity.

00:46:13,875 --> 00:46:16,291

Can you tell us a little bit about what

Asymmetric is?

00:46:16,291 --> 00:46:19,625

Who you serve, what you do, and,

what it's all about?

00:46:20,208 --> 00:46:21,916

Yesah, so, Asymmetric Solutions is a

00:46:21,916 --> 00:46:24,625

it's a defense,

full spectrum defense contracting company.

00:46:24,625 --> 00:46:27,625

So that means we do contracts

with the United States government,

00:46:28,166 --> 00:46:30,416

and federal entities

training law enforcement

00:46:30,416 --> 00:46:33,416

and military personnel, across the board,

00:46:33,625 --> 00:46:36,625

primary, our primary customer base

and special operations personnel,

00:46:36,833 --> 00:46:40,208

from active duty units that come out

to our private training locations

00:46:40,208 --> 00:46:43,250

where our cadre is comprised

of also prior,

00:46:43,250 --> 00:46:46,916

retired or long serving members

of the special operations communities.

00:46:46,916 --> 00:46:51,083

All of them combined

and they do high risk/focused

00:46:51,083 --> 00:46:54,083

specialty types

training with an organization.

00:46:54,500 --> 00:46:56,333

You know that's the military side.

00:46:56,333 --> 00:46:58,375

Also it's our primary, clientele.

00:46:58,375 --> 00:47:00,208

And we have a place

here in Farmington, one in,

00:47:01,250 --> 00:47:03,833

New Mexico and one in Perry, Florida.

00:47:03,833 --> 00:47:07,583

And then in addition to that, we also have

a law enforcement training sector,

00:47:08,875 --> 00:47:11,291

and follows directly in line, same cadre,

same teaching.

00:47:11,291 --> 00:47:14,291

That's a, you know, a bunch of retired

cops and fairly so they get the workforce

00:47:14,791 --> 00:47:16,375

and they do the same thing

to come out to our location

00:47:16,375 --> 00:47:19,416

to train, to learn specialty skill sets,

refine current skill sets they have,

00:47:20,041 --> 00:47:23,083

and from the experienced cadre

that we have and also

00:47:23,083 --> 00:47:26,083

to get off of

00:47:26,166 --> 00:47:28,541

their routine, kind of circling back

what we talked about,

00:47:28,541 --> 00:47:30,250

like if you go on the same range

every single day,

00:47:30,250 --> 00:47:32,750

every single day, and guys,

you complacent guys get bored with it.

00:47:32,750 --> 00:47:34,416

So they'll come out to a new location.

00:47:34,416 --> 00:47:37,916

They see a new potential way

of doing things, have a new location,

00:47:37,916 --> 00:47:40,916

a new range, a new shootouts,

a new whatever to hope to experience.

00:47:41,125 --> 00:47:42,625

So guys come out there

and they do a lot of stuff with us.

00:47:43,666 --> 00:47:45,083

And we have a civilian training sector.

00:47:45,083 --> 00:47:47,541

The focus is on self-defense,

family defense, property defense.

00:47:47,541 --> 00:47:50,541

And, you know, we're not teaching

a whole lot of offensive stuff.

00:47:50,916 --> 00:47:53,166

And that stuff outside

from hand to hand. Right.

00:47:53,166 --> 00:47:55,958

But everything is focused on

from a defensive standpoint,

00:47:55,958 --> 00:47:59,791

because from a civilian perspective,

the chances of you getting into a gun

00:47:59,791 --> 00:48:02,000

fight are pretty, pretty slim.

Well, let’s hope we don't.

00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:04,041

So if you never do, you know, you know,

I mean, that's that's,

00:48:04,041 --> 00:48:08,166

you know, the country's ending

00:48:08,166 --> 00:48:09,833

you know,

the family getting mugged in downtown

00:48:09,833 --> 00:48:11,875

Saint Louis and protect yourself,

you know, and that does happen.

00:48:11,875 --> 00:48:14,333

But, the percentages of it

being yours are small.

00:48:14,333 --> 00:48:17,500

So we teach that stuff just primarily to,

00:48:18,250 --> 00:48:21,416

one give back to the community,

knowing that, back to better yourself,

00:48:21,416 --> 00:48:24,541

better your country, the more you know,

Second amendment, law abiding citizens

00:48:24,541 --> 00:48:26,416

we have that know

how to handle themselves,

00:48:26,416 --> 00:48:27,500

their gun, protect themselves, and aren’t

00:48:27,500 --> 00:48:29,666

afraid, the better off

we are as a society.

00:48:29,666 --> 00:48:31,708

And the safer

the people around them are in the event

00:48:31,708 --> 00:48:33,416

that they actually have to

get themselves an engagement.

00:48:34,916 --> 00:48:37,625

So that's what we do on the, on the,

on the civilian side, you know,

00:48:37,625 --> 00:48:41,208

and on that piece of it, everybody gets

background checks and all that stuff.

00:48:41,208 --> 00:48:45,541

So and they're learning what's unique

about the company on the civilian side

00:48:45,541 --> 00:48:48,625

is the cadre that teaches they actually do

special operations personnel

00:48:48,625 --> 00:48:50,833

and law enforcement in the same cadre

that teaches the civilians.

00:48:50,833 --> 00:48:52,625

We don’t have segregated cadre. Got it.

00:48:52,625 --> 00:48:55,333

They just teach civilians

because they’re just civilians.

00:48:55,333 --> 00:48:59,416

So, like, these guys are the gunfighters

that are teaching the current gunfighters,

00:48:59,916 --> 00:49:02,583

again, teaching you, how

to protect yourself and your family.

00:49:02,583 --> 00:49:03,583

Cause there's a big difference in knowing

00:49:03,583 --> 00:49:05,333

how to shoot a gun,

knowing how to fight a gun.

00:49:05,333 --> 00:49:08,541

Yep. There's a even bigger difference

in understanding the realities of

00:49:08,541 --> 00:49:11,708

when you should utilize weapon

system versus not utilize a weapon system.

00:49:11,958 --> 00:49:15,208

And the de-escalation of force,

an escalation of force

00:49:15,208 --> 00:49:19,041

is necessary in the various situations

you put yourself in, and force on force.

00:49:19,458 --> 00:49:20,041

Yeah.

00:49:20,041 --> 00:49:22,500

And the last piece of the company is

we have a research and development

00:49:22,500 --> 00:49:25,583

arm of the company that does, you know,

research, development, weapons testing

00:49:25,583 --> 00:49:28,583

and stuff like that

for not only the government but also,

00:49:28,791 --> 00:49:31,833

private companies and entities and, and

weapons manufacturers and stuff out there.