If you know what’s important, you have what you need to build the answer. In this episode I continue my conversation with Ryan Munsey as we discuss the importance of celebrating accomplishments and breaking down goals to the simplest actions in order to create a baseline of success. Ryan also shares why behavior patterns keep individuals from their goals and how setting clear intentions can set you apart as a high performer.
Ryan Munsey is the author of the hard-hitting book titled “F*ck Your Feelings” and the cohost of the Better Human Project Podcast. Ryan is a highly sought after thought leader who specializes in high performance and the development of both individuals and organizations.
An athlete and aspiring wilderness wizard, Ryan coaches, celebrities, Olympic athletes, professional athletes, special forces operators, leading entrepreneurs, and C-Level executives while speaking and hosting workshops around the world. His work has been featured in Forbes, Fortune Magazine, Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness.
Episode Transcript:
00:30
In this episode of Acta Non Verba, we hear part two of my interview with Ryan Muncy, author of Fuck Your Feelings. In part one, Ryan talked about the common challenges that he finds while coaching, how he came to embrace his current philosophies, and what was the impetus for his book.
01:00
You can find part one in the previous episode of Acta Non Verba. In part two, we will continue the discussion and talk about the need for identifying priorities that help you move the chains every day. Ryan also tells of how a tragedy early in his life had a tremendous impact on him and how he was able to find the gift in that adversity. Ryan also talks about some of his future projects on the horizon. Please enjoy part two of my interview with Ryan Muncie. Because you and I work with
01:27
similar groups, you have the high performers, the people that are driven. But sometimes there is that push, that dark side where that’s the person that can’t switch off, or that’s the person that can’t be present with their family when they’re off of the job or whatever it is. Because they get this success amnesia or this accomplishment amnesia where they work so hard for this thing, and they work and they grind and they push and they lead their team and they have all this momentum and they get it and they accomplish it. And they just check the box and they keep moving forward without the ability to be present, without the ability to celebrate that.
01:57
almost in this period that that will make them lose their edge. Almost as if that’s the thing that drives them when if they’re able to have that presence and they’re able to actually embrace that, I think they will find that there’s an additional dimension of what they’re doing. So it’s not just the destination, it’s the beauty of the journey and the appreciation of both once you get to those places. Is there something that you would recommend for people that are in those sort of positions? Yeah. So it’s hard, you know, to say a general kind of prescription or protocol, if you will.
02:26
But I think when I am working with or talking to an individual or a particular group around that specific obstacle or challenge, one of the things that we have to do as coaches is we always have to relate it back in terms of what they want and what their priorities are. Right. And so I think a lot of times coaches and writers, you know, whatever, we get so caught up in the thing we’re passionate about.
02:56
that we get into like the nerdy details and like the nitty gritty stuff and people’s eyes just glaze over and they’re like, you know, dude, I hear you. I hear you telling me like, I need to get more parasympathetic. I need to stop redlining, you know, whatever, use less caffeine, get better sleep. Cool. I hear you. And so to me, that’s a sign that I haven’t done my job. It’s my responsibility to get this person to understand how what I’m talking about.
03:25
benefits what they want. And so, again, depending on who it is and what their priorities are, I always try to relate it back to, if you do this, it will make you better at this, you’ll have more time for this, whatever it is. And so let’s just use a first responder or somebody in that vein that is always redlining and has a hard time turning it off. And it’s just, it’s as simple as talking about, okay,
03:54
First of all, what are the simple steps? Because again, a lot of these people aren’t… Again, they’re not nerds about this stuff like you and me. So for me, I’ve eaten pre-prepared meals that are cold. I don’t reheat them. I can be a robot with that. But there are a lot of people who just the idea of pre-preparing meals or food prep, they’re just like, nope, not made, not happening. So we have to give real world strategies and implementable…
04:22
tactics that they can actually follow. So making it just really, really simple so that again, it actually gets done. And then just saying, okay, well, look, if you can get an extra half an hour of sleep every night, right? Like I can’t tell you how many groups I’ve talked to in law enforcement or SWAT or whoever it is that, you know, they’re like, I just, I can’t get more than five hours of sleep a night. Like, okay, well, let’s get five and a half, right? That’s better. Right. And then, you know, after a few weeks, can we get six?
04:52
But I think a lot of times if we just say like, hey, you have to go from five to eight immediately. They’re just like, no, can’t do it. Not even going to try. And so we have to find those little baby steps, get them experiencing, get them to win, get them experiencing how great it can feel. I always talk about it as wearing contacts or corrective lenses. If you wear glasses or corrective lenses, the first time you go in to the eye doctor, you don’t realize how poor you’re seeing.
05:21
how poor your vision is until you get these corrective lenses. And then you put them in and you’re like, oh my God, it looks different. And so when people start eating a little bit healthier, when they start living life hydrated instead of dehydrated, or they’re sleeping more, or they’re sleeping better and they’re getting that quality sleep, they start to experience it. And so the buy-in increases, right? And that’s what we need. We need to buy in. And again, I think going back to relating it to what their goals are, we can say, well, look, if you…
05:51
sleep a little bit better or a little bit more and you eat a little bit better, you take a little bit better care of yourself, you’re not going to have pain. You won’t have to drink as much caffeine. You’ll be more mentally clear. You’ll come home and you won’t be as smoked or tired at the end of the day, which means you won’t be irritable with your family. You’ll have more time or more quality time with your family. And again, a lot of that is before I even start with those, let’s call them protocols or prescription.
06:19
there’s conversation with either the individual or the group about what it is that they want. And so, you know, if family is not an important thing, then I’m not going to weave that into my answer. But if I know family is important, then we build that into the answer. And so, again, I think it’s one of those scenarios where we have to, as coaches or communicators, leaders, whatever, we have to know what’s important to them. And so that requires asking questions, you know, finding out what those things are.
06:48
rather than assuming that it’s just a matter of me getting on stage and spouting off like what I know. It just becomes a checklist at that point and it’s superfluous and it’s where again, that’s where the coaching that’s a sign of a good coach because coaching people, teams, an individual, whatever it’s difficult because people are difficult and they change. You know, they’re sticky sometimes they’re they’re messy and the person that you speak to on a Monday may not be the same person on a Thursday and vice versa. So like you said, you’re done with the Monday and it’s like, okay, we’re
07:18
Here’s where we’re going. We talked to them Thursday, and like you said, and even then, the concept where you’re talking about eating and the diet and eating even cold food, it’s better to have a 75% plan that we know that they’ll do than a 100% plan that they will never do. And like you were saying, Tony said, made it go from five to eight hours of sleep. Subconsciously, they will hold back. They’re like, I’m never doing that. And so then all of a sudden, they create that block on their own, even though they understand and you understand that we have to do that.
07:46
That’s where I talk about this concept of microadversities where cold showers, exposure, you know, Tobattas, something that makes us embrace that because our society right now, so many people because they’re not physical. And again, you talk about this in the book so eloquently because they don’t really know what a true threat is. Somebody that makes a bad comment on their post on social media to them, their adrenals are just going and they’re mad and they’re pissed off because they’ve never…
08:14
truly been pushed, whether it be in a martial art capacity or a 20x steel fit type of event. And I think that that’s why we have to have these ideas because until we become familiar with it, until we can see adversity and say, this is just a part of life, it’s not going to go away. And once we can do that, then it’s like, okay, fuck your feelings, I’m going to move forward. Because in order for me to get there, my feelings don’t care about what my beliefs are or what the end result is, I have to go beyond those.
08:43
And I think that that’s something that’s often overlooked. And when these people that say that they’re motivated to get to the next level are. You call them microadversities. I call it stress inoculation. Yeah, yeah. But I love embracing that as often and as frequently as possible because, and this is like nails on the chalkboard to me, but when people say muscle memory, and of course this is in the book, but you know, muscles do not have the capacity for memory. Anything that we think of as muscle memory.
09:12
is neurological wiring. And this is, it has neurons that fire together, wire together. And the more you do something, the more that pattern, you know, whether it’s a punch, a kick, a golf swing, a free throw, riding a bike, whatever it is. And so I always give that rant to try to now when I say patterning or neurological wiring, you know, if you’re somebody who has always said muscle memory, that’s what I’m talking about, but it’s not muscle memory. But we develop that mental.
09:42
muscle memory, if you will, or that neurological patterning, the behavioral pattern, that’s the important part is that you develop this behavioral pattern to almost move towards adversity, or at the very least, to view it in a neutral or objective, not emotional, capacity. And so when we do that, whether it’s cold showers or, and in the book, I talk about this as like, there’s ways that you can do it daily.
10:11
ways that you can do it weekly, you can do it monthly, quarterly, annually. So with something like a 20X challenge, you’re not going to do that every day. You’re not going to do it every week. But maybe every year you do something on that level. The more we start to… You could call that getting outside your comfort zone, but I think that’s cliche. I think the more we expose ourselves intentionally to discomfort or adversity or stress, we build that muscle.
10:39
We develop that behavioral pattern so that it becomes easier and easier and easier. And then as you said, when we actually face real adversity, we know what to do. And we’re a lot more likely to handle it in a way that facilitates the most desirable outcome. Yeah, there’s so much in that. And even you were mentioning these things about these big events that we do. When I was in infantry school, for example, it’s four months, sleep is a dream, water, food, all those things.
11:09
And when you’re getting smoke, like you say, there’s a part of this that, you know, wants to say, fuck your feelings. But I learned to almost just turn off. It’s like, I’m not going to resist this at all. I have no opinion about this. I leave myself no other choice. And when there’s no other choice, the choice is simple. And now I just execute. And now there’s no resistance. There’s no, Oh, I don’t feel like doing this or this is cold or they’re being mean or they’re yelling these things at us. It’s like, you just go with it. And by doing that, like you said, that pattern and actually it’s a form of capitulation, but
11:38
That capitulation allows victory in the end. So it’s a tactical loss, but strategically you’re much further along. And I think that those microadversities and like you said, this fear inoculation or the stress inoculation, people always talk about post-traumatic stress disorder, but they don’t talk about the stress adaptation and what it does and why we have to have it and why, whether it be lifting weights or running or whatever, we have to change that load, that stimuli, that lack of adaptation or that necessary adaptation to get to that place.
12:07
And in the book, you bring those together really, really well. So I think that if you’re a person who’s an entrepreneur, you’re a person that’s a redliner, or you’re a person who just wants to be able to better communicate with somebody, these are all things that will behoove you. And if you’re willing to put that in there, that’s all those circles, all those silos, all those buckets, almost like the Icky guy where when it comes together, now that overlap is you and your existence. And now you can tell yourself, OK, what do I want to pour into? What do I need to pour?
12:36
And by doing that you’re able to not only step away and say fuck your feelings But you can be more objective much in the same way if we have a person we’ve all seen couples that are toxic horrible Relationships and that’s because we’re there are no emotions for us. We’re step out of it. But when we’re in it, it’s tougher for sure Yeah, absolutely It’s funny. Just since we’re talking about cold I had a Message shared with me yesterday by somebody that read the book
13:04
They live in Arizona and apparently the water in Arizona during the summer doesn’t get cold enough for an adequate cold shower. So this individual found some kind of a basket. I’d have to study the picture a little bit more clearly to see what it is exactly. But maybe it’s like a basket for like a hanging plant or something because it had some kind of a hanging apparatus and then it came down and then they had the basket. This basket was filled with ice cubes and it was hanging.
13:34
on the shower head so that the shower head came through, like the water came through the ice and created a cold shower. And it was like, hey dude, I love your book. Like I’m digging the cold showers. Like check out this setup. And so I had to reshare it on my story. And it reminded me so much of one of the other lessons in the book. And that is, of all people, this lesson came from John Carlton. And I say that because he’s a copywriter. But you know, understanding.
14:03
psychology, right? That’s a huge part of copywriting. And so this lesson that he shared was can’t equals won’t. And what he means by that is, you know, when we say I can’t, what we’re really saying is I won’t do what is necessary to fill in the blank. And so I took that and ran with it. It was a, if you haven’t read the book, this is news. If you’ve read the book, you’ve heard all this. But when I had the gym, that was a rule in the gym that you were not allowed to say.
14:33
can’t. And it was written, it was huge, it was on the blackboard, and it just, it never got erased. And if anybody in the gym said, I can’t, the entire facility had to stop and do 10 no-handed burpees. And of course, I learned that from SealFit. We did so many no-handed burpees. And so it’s not about the burpees. It’s about behavioral modification and making you from, it’s inserting that little moment before you say, I can’t. And so I loved
15:01
seeing that because I think so many people, first of all, I get so many messages about like, oh, cold showers, like that’s too far, you’re too crazy, I can’t do that. And so again, there’s that word, right? I can’t. But like, I can’t from like a mental block. But then also, like, here’s a person that wanted to do them. And the water wouldn’t get cold enough. And they found a way to do it. I just I love that I eat that stuff up because
15:28
That is the difference people ask me one of the most common questions I get on podcasts like this is You know, what’s the difference between high performers and you know non high performers or whatever you would call that category And I’m like, that’s it It’s finding a way right like this this dude I don’t even know what this contraption is or where it came from but it was like, you know what this shower is not cold enough I’m committed to doing this thing. Let me figure out a way to do it. I love that approach that mindset
15:57
That’s very much a Hannibal Crass in the Alps, right? It’s like, I will find a way or I’ll make one. And that’s the thing there’s for the people that want to wait. There’s always one for people that want excuse. They’re there as well. So we have to figure out. And I think also, and you talk about it. So many people think that they want all these things. There’s so many things, this huge laundry list, but because they do that, now they really don’t know what they want or they don’t know what’s truly a priority. So, you know, if everything’s a priority, then nothing’s a priority.
16:27
And so, finding two of those three things, like when you talk about moving the chains, even you’re like, this is the one thing today that if I can get this done, I move the line. I move the needle and now I’m pushing. And I think that that is so important because that specificity gives us that urgency, gives us that presence. And now instead of thinking, we’re overwhelmed, so I’m going to pick up my phone and get on social media or check emails unnecessarily. That gives us that desire, understanding what we need to get done. And again,
16:57
By using—and in this book, I keep talking about it, but at the end of the book, he has these exercises, these activities you can do. It comes together so well, but I think that’s something that people always forget about as well. They just think that they’re going to operate at this high level at 500% of what they’re capable of and be able to continually do that and not crash and burn or not get adrenal fatigue or burn themselves out. Even machine gun in the military, they would tell us to squeeze the weapon and you would
17:27
three to seven round bursts. Because if I just hold it down, I will literally melt the barrel. So it doesn’t help us, right? Even though you may be excited and you want the gun to go off, it’s like, yeah, but we have to understand that there, again, this long haul, kind of back what we were talking about earlier with entrepreneurship, or even new people that maybe they wanna lose a lot of weight, or they wanna run a marathon next month and they haven’t run before, it’s like, I mean, you can, but there’s probably a more enjoyable way to get there. So that-
17:54
brings it all the way back to that talk I did in Sweden that kind of went to all of this. And so the whole, I think I mentioned this earlier, that that talk was states and traits. And so this was the biohacker summit. So you’ve got individuals that are in constant pursuit of peak performance, right? And in a lot of the talks that I do, where it’s performance related, I always try to get people to think high performance as opposed to peak performance. And the reason for this is, well…
18:24
a peak by definition has a drop off on either side. And especially if you are in a profession that is unpredictable, law enforcement, military, you know, whatever, we can’t afford to have a call come in when you’re on the downside or the drop off of that peak. And so what we want is sustainable high performance, we want to take baseline, we want to elevate it. But we want to think like Mesa.
18:54
or that flat top that’s elevated as opposed to peak. And that was the concept of states and trades. And so that was built into that first talk. It’s in the book. And everything that you’re kind of alluding to there is what that’s all about, right? It’s, how do we make this sustainable? How do we make this something that isn’t flash in the pan? How do we make something that is consistent and scalable? And…
19:21
I think that’s something that really gets lost. We were talking about this before we hit record with social media. One of my mentors and friends now, Paul Reddick, always says, people celebrate or cheer a start, but they don’t… A new beginning, but not a follow through. So, imagine going on social media and you’re like, well, just made it to day 98 of eating clean. You might get a few likes, a couple of comments.
19:50
But if you get on there, you know, and you’re like, Hey, starting a new diet, going to do this, this, this, this, and it’s, you know, who’s with me, like, that gets a totally different response. And so, you know, part of that is just how people think part of that is now we’re training that and we’re reinforcing that negative kind of behavior. And we get caught up in, you know, celebration and admiration, validation, you know, all that external stuff that isn’t intrinsic and, you know, it’s not lasting.
20:19
now I’m so far down that rabbit hole. I don’t even remember where we started. So that’s why we’re doing a long content format here. That’s why we have all that. And that’s where the gold is, in my opinion. Yeah. So finish that. Yeah, you brought me back. So I get it. And that’s the… I won’t say the problem, but on social media, it lends itself to that type of thing. As you said earlier, like the team no sleep and hustle, hustle, grind, grind, and those things that aren’t necessarily…
20:50
scalable or sustainable. And I don’t think people understand either that if they would do what you’re talking about in the book, they wouldn’t have to be team no sleep. They wouldn’t have to be zero days off, hashtag blah, blah, blah. They could literally get more done and actually have some time off and not even feel guilty about it. They’re like, oh, I’ve been moving the change for the last three months. I’m good. And you hit the nail on the head. I mean, that’s, look, I love my work. I love what I do, but I don’t want to work all day every day.
21:16
I want to hang out with my wife. I want to go, you know, hang out with my friends, my family. Like I want to record podcasts and have great conversations like this. I want to go hunting. I want to go travel. I want to see the world and work is. And again, like, I mean, everybody has their own, you know, relationship with that and view on that and the point should be that it should serve your needs. Not you serving it. And.
21:43
Don’t lose sight of that, especially if you’re an entrepreneur. My guess is if you’re an entrepreneur, you became an entrepreneur to have more freedom of time and more freedom of finance. And how much of that do you need? How much money do you really need? Do you need the senior picture in front of a Lambo? I don’t. I’m not chasing that. And you hit the nail on the head. That’s obviously that was a little bit of a trigger. But yeah, I just don’t…
22:12
Dan John is one of my favorite strength coaches and he has a saying that is, uh, the goal should be to make sure that the goal stays the goal. And I think so many of us are guilty of losing sight of that. And again, social media is one of those things where we can get caught up in, you know, shiny objects and perception and, you know, seeking, you know, to other people think I’m whatever cares. And the military, they say the plan is not the mission. The mission is the mission.
22:41
So when we get caught up in, just like you said, when people try to overcomplicate things or even coaches, it’s fun. It’s this intellectual ability to do some gymnastics, but in the end, it comes down to those efficient things. And I always talk about it, you know, about the 80-20 principle and Hicks law and Parkinson’s law and Occam’s razor. So all those things come down to simplicity. How can you weigh the essentials? Can I do it easier in three steps? It’s more likely to be correct, Occam’s razor than seven steps, you know, all these kinds of things.
23:11
By having that simplicity and just letting it be permeated and baked into everything that you do, it’s almost easier to go that route. And that becomes your default as opposed to like you’re saying, it’s like, oh, well, if I did more of these things and got a side hustle and then did side hustle on my side hustle and then I went ahead and got a click funnel that side hustled into my side hustle. Or the entrepreneur math where they’re like, okay, I have a $500 product. If I get 5,000 people to buy it a month, then I can buy it. I can do it multiple times. It’s like, no, you’re losing sight of why are you doing this?
23:40
Do you actually have a product that’s going to help somebody? Would you buy this? Are you even morally invested in this thing? And if you’re not, then maybe you should stop and step back for a second and look and say, what would satisfy me? What would be fulfilling for me? That’s kind of the way I look at it. Well, you do too, obviously. Yeah. I mean, so many in, I guess, corporate world, but also in the entrepreneurial world get confused with being busy versus being productive. And that’s…
24:10
you know, essentialism is another favorite book of mine and that practice of, you know, separating the vital few from the trivial many, right? That’s really, that’s what Move the Chains is. It’s an exercising essentialism. And if I only get a couple of things done, what has to get done? And it forces you to identify, you know, as you said earlier, priorities or the essentials. And you just pair it down and it’s, you know, all those things, right? It’s 80-20 or, you know, Arkham’s Razor or whatever you want to, however you want to think about it.
24:40
And I would argue that, again, I have a pretty good sampling or cross-section over the years. The people who are successful or are high performers, whatever you want to call them, they’re the people that they do a little bit every day. Now some days they do a lot, but it’s the other days, right? We all have good days. And I think if we started to measure ourselves by our bad days or our average days, as opposed to our best days…
25:08
I think our view really starts to change. And so, I want to know how good are you at your worst? The chips are down or whatever. And the move to change thing is, I’m going to get that done every single day, regardless of how I feel. I can be tired. I can be… Everything could be… Absolutely everything could go wrong. I will still get those three things done. And my list is right here.
25:37
I had three things today written down as move the chains. It was Coach and Call, Train, and this podcast with you. And whatever else happens today, I know those three things move my mission and my business forward, and also my health and wellness goals. And so everything else that happens today… And look, if you’re not paying attention and you hear that that’s all I did today, that’s not. I did a lot of other things. But all those other things are extra.
26:07
And so again, the people I know who are successful and high performers are people that they touch their business every day or they touch this thing, they check in with whatever phrase or term you want to use. And again, there’ll be other days where they’re… Maybe it is a 16-hour day, maybe it is a 12-hour day. But every single day, they’re doing something. And with the people that I’ve worked with or been around who, for whatever reason, fail to…
26:36
make significant progress over a large amount of time. When we really look at how they spend their days, you see that these are people who are not moving the chains in a methodical way. And like you alluded to earlier, they’re, I would call it shiny object syndrome, right? They’re chasing this and it’s like, oh, this quick model or this thing or this thing and it’s this and it’s that. And they’ve lost sight of, it was Mark Devine would call it like that front site focus. And it’s just, okay, this is what we’re doing.
27:05
How do we get from here to here on this thing? You know, tunnel vision. I think that’s brilliant looking at, like you said, using your lowest days as sort of your litmus test to see what it is. Because like you said, that’s a huge indication of what your other really great days are. And like you said, the idea of the peak, we cannot perform the peak state all the time. As a matter of fact, if anybody’s ever pushed themselves physically to a peak, you know that on the downward slope is whenever you start feeling sick, when you start getting injured.
27:34
because your body subconsciously knows that that’s as far as it can go. And it’s like, listen, we gave you all we had and now we’re, uh, we’re going on strike guys. Sorry. We’re going to get you injured or we’re going to shut down or something like that. So it’s the body’s smart if we listen to it, right? It is. And nobody wants that. Right. I mean, we’re both kind of laughing, but I know I’ve been there and I’m sure you’ve been there. And we know this from experience. And I think we’re trying to help other people avoid those missteps. And we’re all human. I mean, sometimes you have to.
28:02
know, somebody says, you know, hey, this milk smells and you’re like, Oh, well, let me take a whiff. Like I need to know what that is. Right. But, and I think maybe people will experience that and be like, Oh, well, that’s what Marcus, that’s what Ryan was talking about. Like, okay, now I know, okay, let’s, let’s pull back to this level. And I know that I can sustain that, you know, for a long period of time. So people have asked me, they’re like, Oh, you wrote a book called the Gifts of Diversity. Do you not have adversity anymore? You said that this fuck your feelings is sort of the mantra that you tell yourself. When was the last time you had to tell yourself that?
28:32
Couple hours ago. Yeah, a couple hours ago. What time is it? No, I mean, look, there’s no way I could have written that book if that wasn’t a real thing that I had to go through and learn. I mentioned Paul earlier. Paul always says that, you know, every strength comes from what was once a deficit. So if you see somebody who is an amazing communicator, there’s probably a time where they weren’t the best communicator. And, you know, that goes for just about everything.
29:01
we could see as a strength. And so, you know, if I seem to have developed strategies to control or be in charge of my limbic system, it’s probably because there was a period of my life where my limbic system controlled me. And I just, I said, you know, look, how do we stop that? How do we get in control of this thing? Like, what is going on? Because I know that these things I’m doing to make myself happy right now.
29:28
are not the things that I need to be doing to make myself happy long term. And so I’m joking about a couple hours ago, but like, I mean, maybe I’m not. I don’t, I mean, it’s, I know I worked out a few hours ago and my workout was, you know, there was, there were some times in that where I’m just like, you know, actually today was one of those, you mentioned it earlier, where you just like, you just kind of turn it off and you go somewhere else and I did that today and it wasn’t even like the workout was just fine. But a lot of times I say it around my workouts.
29:58
It’s probably a daily thing at least once or twice a day. I think it’s a great way to empower yourself. You know, it’s, I mean, self-talk is big. And I think that by doing that, it really makes us take measure of what’s truly important. And like you said, it makes us be mission driven, laser focused, as opposed to, you know, amygdala driven and emotional in those contexts. Is there anything that you really are wanting to work on or really challenging yourself with now? You have an incredible business. You do your podcast is amazing.
30:26
You’re doing a lot of workshops and things like that. What is something that you’re working on now and where can our listeners learn more about you? I think the next stretch, and I mean that not in a time sense, but the stretch for me personally or from a creative standpoint will be either another business or another book. I’m not sure which of those is going to come first. Paul and I were trying to write a book together over the last, we spent the last year talking to…
30:53
agents and publishers and just decided a few months ago to go our own way. And so we’re trying to get some wind back in the sails of that project. That would be a real stretch to try to create again something that is that much of a resource and a timeless thing. I mean, that was very difficult to do once and to try to do it again and to do it with a co-author.
31:22
will be a challenge and I think it will be really fun. I can’t think of a better person to do that with. So we are doing that. I’ve got a new project with my hunting partner in Montana. His name is Mike Baum. That project is called Fuel to Pursuit. And he has been a fly fishing guide in Montana for like 30 years. And he’s been a back country hunter for, you know, basically that whole time as well. And he actually opened the door for me to be able to come out and get into that kind of hunting.
31:51
I grew up hunting whitetails on the East Coast. And I say it like that because now, once you go out there and you hunt Western style, like sitting, I was never one that, I couldn’t sit in a tree stand out here anyway, but to be, it’s a whole other world. But on that first trip, looking into how do you feed yourself in the back country when you have to live out of your backpack for a week, I was very frustrated by the lack of quality nutrition.
32:20
There’s a lot of skittles and Snickers bars being eaten out there and being… I think the food people, the dieticians were talking about bagels. So Mike is actually very much into optimal performance. And that’s actually how we came into contact with each other as well. And we have put together this new business Fuel the Pursuit that, as the name suggests, is going to provide a lot of what we would call those elite-level performance strategies.
32:49
for backcountry hunters and really anybody who enjoys the backcountry. So that’s an exciting project that we’ll probably start launching that with some serious momentum next spring. Fantastic. I’ll put all this in the show notes because that’s something powerful. I went on a safari in South Africa and like you said, it was very much the same way where, like you said, you’re in Oklahoma, you’re sitting in a tree stand, the tree, they can’t see you, they can’t smell you, bang, you know, you have a scope.
33:19
It’s not nearly the same as when they say, okay, there are impala over there. And now you have to stalk that thing and you are not the top of the food chain. And even if you get a shot on a kudu and it’s two hours before sundown, now you’re sprinting to go get it. And you have tribesmen with you because everything above you on the food chain smells that and they want it. And if you’re carrying that thing on your back, I mean, there’s, so it’s, it’s a whole other realm and you learn a lot about yourself about.
33:48
human nature about mother nature and how to respect those things. So it’s a, we are a, where we do our hunting out West is a grizzly country. And on the last time we found a few very fresh, very large grizzly tracks. And, uh, you know, exactly what you’re talking about. I mean, if you, even if you are successful, you know, what you harvest is coming out on your back multiple trips. Yep. And like you said, you know, when, when there’s a carcass on the ground,
34:17
Those apex predators are very aware of that. And you are also very aware that you do not want an encounter with them. Oh, there were hyenas. And when they would laugh, because the sun’s going down, you just hear that, and it just goes right through your spine. I bet it does. And there’s eyes everywhere, but you can’t tell what’s a carnivore and what’s not. And like you said, it’s a beautiful experience. So I think that this is a perfect endeavor for what you’re doing with what you’re doing.
34:46
in Montana out there. I want to just ask you one more thing. I want to be respectful of your time and thank you so much. For me, being injured, being paralyzed, dying on the table was a huge adversity, but once I learned my lessons from it, it became a gift. Is there something that you went through in your life? And I know we alluded to the 20X event with SealFit, but was there something in your life that you went through that initially seemed like it was impossible, it was insurmountable?
35:12
But yet once you went through it and you got stronger on the other side of it, you were able to look back on it and say, wow, if it hadn’t been for that, I wouldn’t be as strong. I wouldn’t have gotten this skill set or understood that the urgency or the preciousness of what you have now. Do you know Josh Nonses? Oh yeah. He’s, he’s amazing. Love that guy. He’s, he’s one of my good friends. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. I was going to say if you didn’t, I would love to get you guys connected, but, um, he has a obviously a similar story. He was like, like I was flatlined, but he was like dead,
35:42
He was flying for 15. Yeah, he was gone. Gone. Gone. Gone. Yeah. And that’s what that’s what our joke is. He was like, I was like, you were dead. He’s like, but you died twice. I was like, yeah, but at the time, like, you still like they were, you know, and, and then, and we won’t give it away. I mean, Josh Mons is amazing. And his book, the beauty of a darker soul. He’s working, you know, he’s working on his PhD, right? I was able to talk to him recently. To answer your question, when I read his book, it
36:11
shed light on a past experience for me that I didn’t realize had kind of informed or molded me and my life the way it had. When I was a kid, I had a best friend, as most kids do. He was a year older than me. And he was born in 1983. The night he was born, when he was born, there was something wrong with the soft spot in his head. I don’t know all the details, but…
36:41
1983, his parents had said that, you know, he was not supposed to have a blood transfusion. But that night, doctors gave him a blood transfusion without talking to the parents. It ended up being tainted blood and he had HIV AIDS. And when I was 10, and when he was 11, he passed away from AIDS. You know, when I was 10, I mean, you lose your best friend, right? I don’t think at 10 years old, you really understand.
37:11
you know what that is and all the stuff that’s around that. But as I read Josh’s book, I was actually finishing it on an airplane. And I just, it was somewhere in the part where he’s talking about like maybe survivor’s guilt or something like that. But I mean, I’m just on this plane and I just have tears coming down my face. Like it’s not even like, I mean, I’m just, it’s like a silent cry, but it is just gushing. And it was like just this huge release of like,
37:39
I didn’t realize that that was such a driver for me because I think a lot of guys that we know and even for us, that kind of memento mori is very front and center for us a lot. And I think that that was a bigger factor in my mindset around, like, hey, you only get one life. Let’s do as much.
38:08
as we can with it, let’s spend as much of our time as we can with the people we love doing the things that we love. And, you know, I know, I was actually going to say this a little bit earlier, but as we were starting to close, made that statement about, I forget exactly how you phrased it, but I know a lot of people can hear that. And for some people, it comes across as being like militant or too disciplined. And that it’s not even about discipline equals freedom. For me, it’s about what I just said, like, you know, I only get
38:36
one shot at this life. And I don’t know how long it’s going to last. I don’t know how much time I have. So for me, really trying to make it matter, make it count as much as I can, to be in control, not let my limbic system… I don’t want to leave my life to chance, right? Or to my limbic system. So yeah, it’s like answering two questions in one. But I think that had more of an impact on me than I realized for a while. And Josh’s book was something that really helped me.
39:05
shed some light on just how much it impacted me. Yeah, there’s Josh Montz. If you don’t know him, he’s incredible. His story is amazing. Go get the beauty of a darker soul. And like you say, sometimes it’s that little sliver that shines that light. And then because if we continue to unpack it, I’m sure that after that, you know, at 10 years old, it changed the way you decided to do things. It changed your physicality or your need to have physicality and the appreciation of those things. And
39:35
It’s very easy for us to hear what we’re saying right now and be motivated, as you would say in the book. And then within 72 hours, it’s like what’s happened. But when you have something that is so deep reaching, and when you have something that is so profound in your life, it’s undeniable. It’s the first thing you think of when you wake up, and it’s the last thing you think of before you go to sleep. And if you can live your life with that urgency and find something that you’re willing to die for and live with it, live for it.
40:04
That’s when you’re going to get the most out of it. And by harnessing all the incredible stuff that Ryan’s been talking about, all the work that he does, his workshops, you have some incredible online resources as well. And a lot of, uh, you both do coaching online as well that people can get more information on. But if you can put those things together and leverage it, it’s essentially like a buffet. You can take what you want from Ryan, take what works for you, take what you will do consistently, and then run like hell, man. That’s how you get there. I love it.
40:33
That’s great. Well, listen, I’ve been talking your ear off here. I could talk to you for hours and I can’t wait to come over there and get to return the favor. But thank you so much for your time. Thank you for putting us on your list to move the chain. That’s a big compliment. And I look forward to talking to you soon, my friend. Thank you. Marcus, thank you for having me on, man. It’s been a great conversation and I also look forward to doing it again. Thank you for listening to this episode of Acta Non Verba.
