How To Build Discipline & Mental Toughness

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Kind of going back to human operating system, we're wired to
take the path of least resistance.
And there are times where that'snot necessarily a bad thing or
or detrimental. If you can just keep that truth
top of mind and just be vigilantof yourself and identify like

(00:20):
those times where I am taking the easy route.
Am I being lazy here? Am I being soft?
Am I taking the path of least resistance?
Or am I choosing growth and development or something called
the AMCC, the grit center of thebrain.
It strengthens and develops the more we choose to do these
seemingly difficult or undesirable tasks.

(00:44):
It's literally like which one you feed, right?
If you avoid those things, then that portion of the brain
doesn't develop. If you choose those things, that
portion develop. And we're live, Brian.
How are you, brother? Doing well, Robert.
Good to see you man. Like what?
You're looking lean, man. You're looking super lean.
Like dying down for something right now.
I'm not I, I just like to walk around in shape.
You look lean too man. I saw you sit down with veins

(01:05):
popping out. I have been doing a lot more
running lately. I did like a 50 mile March for
veterans last weekend so I've been like getting a lot of steps
in and trying to maintain a leaner physique year round as
well. I got you.
That's probably what it is. For me it's we're getting less
than a month out from hunting season so my aerobic work is
ramping up. Yeah, I was, I've been really

(01:28):
these trail runs because I prefer trail runs over, you
know, the pavement and I'm like,man, this is like the perfect
combination for getting ready for hunting season.
I got my trail runs working on agility.
I got the lifting. I'm dialing with my nutrition.
It's like I'll be ready to rock come hunting season.
That's. Right, man, you got anything
planned? I don't know.
I normally do a elk hunt in Colorado every year.
I got a big one last year, but then we just had another baby.

(01:50):
So depending on how much flexibility I have with getting
out of state and go on an extended hunting trip, that'll
kind of dictate where and when Igo.
Well, Congrats on the additionalchild man.
That's awesome. Appreciate it man.
What about you getting a big hunts Lunda?
Yeah, I can't wait, man. So I've got, I'm going to Oregon
twice this year, actually never been, but I got a buddy that I

(02:12):
hunt with who grew up in Oregon and he and his family know one
unit really well. So I actually have an archery
tag in that unit. And then he got super lucky and
drew a rifle tag in one of Oregon's best units.
It's like a once in a lifetime unit, usually takes 2530 points

(02:34):
to draw. And so we're going to go back in
late October, early November andsee if we can't get him just a
monster with a rifle. So.
We're going for elk or for. Those are those are both elk.
Nice. Yeah, the elk is a holding on
the beast, man. Like I've, I've gone two or
three years now and last year I got a big boy and it was like,

(02:57):
I'm gonna kick my butt, man. I mean, like, I, I can't imagine
people that don't lift on a regular basis backpacking that
out of there. It's like, what are they going
to do? They can't do this.
Man, I went for my first one in 2019 and I completely
underestimated the physicality that it would require.
And I was in Montana and in somereally steep country and at that

(03:21):
point when it came to the gym stuff, I was the guy that said
anything over 8 reps was cardio and, and that mindset cost me
dearly. And so I have changed the way
I've trained ever since then and, you know, trained for the
mountains and it, it, you're right.
I mean, if if you don't live there, you don't work in that

(03:42):
and and do that kind of thing, you certainly have to train in a
very particular way to be ready for those demands.
It definitely makes, I mean, people call hunting a sport and
it is. But like, I, I, I grew up in
Arkansas, man. So like, hunting for Arkansans
is a matter of like, sticking a deer stand out like the weekend
before opening day, you know, clearing the brush with some

(04:03):
limb loppers, walking out there after breakfast, bacon and eggs
and coffee, sitting on there for12 hours.
And then that's it. And then when you get something,
you drive a side by side up to it.
You throw it in the back of the side by side and you go back to
camp. I mean, it's like not a sport
necessarily. And man, I'm from Virginia and
it was the exact same thing growing up.
And and that's why I underestimated, you know, that

(04:24):
first trip out to Montana. It's also why I've fallen in
love with it. It's not to say that the way we
hunt at home isn't fun, but it'snot a physical and mental
challenge the way hunting out West is.
And and that's what really drawsme to that as an activity and a
hobby. 100% man are you like back Backcountry in it like

(04:48):
going out there packing in setting up a tan like how you
doing it? Yeah, we normally do some kind
of a mix it'll depend on like the the particular unit.
So for the archery hunt, it's not as steep a terrain that
particular unit. And my buddy's family always has
kind of a campsite. So we'll have like a big base
camp kind of set up. And you know, we may have a a

(05:10):
little bit bigger set up there at base camp.
And then, you know, we'll have like stuff to spike out and, and
camp deep if we need to go deep to, to find the animals.
For the second one, for his rifle hunt, we, we are expecting
to be full Backcountry, live outof a backpack, you know, all
that kind of stuff. Like, you know, on those you're,

(05:34):
you know, like your, your housing and your water are, are
the big differences, right? And so that's the one where like
you've got to find water and filter water and you know, do
all that. And for the archery hunt, you
know, we'll have giant 5 gallon tanks of water in the back of
the truck and you know, that kind of thing.
So. Just so many different ways to
do it, man. They've all kind of got their
own pros and cons. Like when I, I went to

(05:54):
Washington for Muley's one year and I was back country doing it
with my brother-in-law and we went way up there and there was
no water. We, we packed in some water, but
like we didn't pack in there enough.
It was hotter than we'd anticipated.
So that we were dehydrated. We were going through it and
we're just like we drained our water on the first day.
We're like, OK, we, we got a week left.

(06:14):
What are we going to do? And we were scouting around.
We found this like scum covered green, like water puddle that
the coyote was taking a shit in.And we're like, all right, this
is this is what we're hunkering down.
So like little water bottles with the filtration system in
there, we were just sucking downthat green sludge all week.
Wow man, that's that's where you're like, I hope the claims

(06:36):
on these things are legit. Yeah, but it was cool, man.
Like it was. I mean, we were underneath the
stars every night when I went toColorado last year.
Like we stayed at like a VRBO, so we had to like walk in quite
a ways and walk out to get to the truck or the trailhead and
get back there. But it was nice because we had a
full size kitchen, laundry and agym.
So I was still working out everyday, which was nice.

(06:57):
But I like the Backcountry whereyou just like out there in the
elements the whole time. I love that man.
You just you unplug. I mean, cell phones don't work.
You've got it like I have a little Garmin in reach that, you
know, I can send texts to my wife, you know, proof of life
check. We're OK.
You're not checking e-mail. You're not worried about social
media, like all the stuff that kind of piles up in the

(07:18):
background on a daily basis. Like it, it's such a reset.
And you know, I love getting that break from it or or detox,
whatever you want to call it. And then you come back and you
have this whole new appreciationfor running water and air
conditioning or heat and refrigeration, like all the
things that that people, myself included, take for granted on a

(07:42):
daily basis. And man, I, I, my buddy and I
were talking about it two years ago that we feel like everybody
should spend at least one or twoweeks a year in the wilderness.
And, and just the the connectionto nature of the appreciation
for what we have, it's powerful.100%, man.
I've got it on my list to go to Alaska sometime and do this

(08:04):
because I feel like when you're taking a plane in like puddle
jumper plane and you get like sofar off the grid and the planes
not coming back for three weeks,it's like, all right.
We literally have nothing but our own two hands to make this
work. Yeah, I love that feeling, man.
If you're if you're looking for a buddy for Alaska, let me know.
Yeah, no, 100%, man. I mean, when I, when I think of
my list of people, you are certainly in that list of who

(08:27):
I'd be willing to go to Alaska with.
So we'll make that happen. I.
Got a question for you when you go on those hunts for for the
guy for whom keto bricks are infinitely available, how many
of those are you eating a day? I typically eats one or two a
day. Like if I'm going in and I'm
staying out there, I'll just have a big pack full of keto
bricks and then a variety of either like carnivore bars,

(08:51):
carnivore snacks or like the manbar meat sticks.
Like those are my go to. I like some canned tuna,
something like that. But I'm pretty much just living
off of that while I'm out there.And then if I get something on
the ground, I'm obviously eatingback straps.
But yeah, man, those, I mean, honestly, from like a a
Backcountry hunting standpoint, like keto is a cheat code in my
mind because you're able to eat once or twice, you're able to

(09:12):
have much more sustained energy.You're able to like be more
mentally alert and conscious of your environment.
Like people that are stomping every two or three hours going
up a mountain to like eat a, youknow, snack bar or some
rehydrated carbohydrate rice meal.
It's like, man, that's just hindering your hunt right there.
And. It couldn't be more correct.
I, I mean, I agree with that. And there's so many reasons that

(09:35):
keto is a cheat code. I mean, oxygen utilization,
especially if you're at altitude, you know, you touched
on a lot of the key ones just when you talk about like filling
out your backpack. I mean, even people that don't
hunt backpackers are super fanatical about every oz that
they have to carry, right? And so when you just do the

(09:56):
math, you know, gram for gram, agram of carbs has four calories,
a gram of fat has 9 calories. So it's 2.25 the, the amount of
calories, gram for gram. So you're, you're literally, you
know, if you pack 10 lbs of potatoes or 10 lbs of keto
bricks, 1 the bricks take up less space and two, you don't

(10:18):
have to cook them. And three, it's 2.25 times the,
the energy. And you know, if you, the other
thing that I think is really cool about being keto,
specifically being fat adapted is let's say you're a 200 LB
dude and you're 10% body fat. You've got 20 lbs of fat on your
frame that if you have metabolicflexibility, if you're fat

(10:40):
adapted, that is fuel that is readily available.
And to your point, you don't have to stop and eat.
Your body can tap into that energy and you're carrying 20
lbs of that. And if you do the math, it's 20
times, you know, 454g that converts it into grams times 9
calories. I mean, it's something like 880

(11:01):
thousand calories that are available to you.
Compare that to like, OK, I, I carb loaded last night for a
marathon. I topped off my glycogen stores
and at most I've got 2000 calories, right?
And you run out of that and you bulk, right?
And so with with being fat adapted or or running on keto,
you're truly you have limitless energy.

(11:22):
Yeah. And if you look at the guys that
are going out in the Backcountryfor weeks on end, like they're
typically losing, you know, 1015lbs while they're out there.
So their bodies, like, forcing them to become fat adapted to
some extent. But if they're doing that real
time as they're out there, they're going to have that
zombie stage where they just feel terrible.
And it's like if you're spendingall this money, all these
resources, all this time to go out and do an expensive hunt,

(11:44):
like you don't want to be feeling terrible throughout the
first half of it, you know? No.
Absolutely not. So 100% man, are you writing any
more books right now? It's funny you.
Asked that I just had a conversation with a publisher
yesterday probably a little early to let the cat out of the
bag, but I've, I've got another one that I'm working on and you

(12:05):
know, the first one was self published and I had a great
experience doing it that way. I'm curious what the process
would be like and what opportunities would be out there
working with a publisher. So I'm I'm going through that
process now to figure out what the best path forward is going
to be. But the the second book is

(12:27):
outlined and depending on self publish or work with a
publisher, it'll probably be outin six months to year and a
half. Nice.
Man when when did fuck your feelings come out man?
It's weird to say this but it was 2018.
It's been 7 years. That's.
Wild dude. What's that journey been like?

(12:48):
So from the time you published it, like how did it do what you
expected it to do? Like what's feedback been thus
far? Yeah, I I'm really fortunate.
It's done very well. And you know, I think, I think
you and I are kind of cut from the same cloth.
We hold ourselves to a really high standard and when we
achieve things we don't like if we have AI want to say a a

(13:09):
downside. But yeah, I think recognizing
our achievements or celebrating them may be something that
people have to remind us to do. And as I'm talking to
publishers, I'm realizing that the numbers from the first book
are well above average, especially for a self published
book. I mean, my goal from the

(13:30):
beginning was I wanted it to sell 100,000 copies and it has
most books don't get near that. So, you know, that's it's really
cool to say. And you know, like I said, I'm
really fortunate to to be in a position where I've had that
kind of success. I mean, you know, people like
you and a lot of our friends help promote it and, you know,
everybody out there that bought it and read it and talked about

(13:51):
it. But yeah, it's, it's been a
really cool process. Because I think, I think, I
mean, I know ever since it came out, I've had the opportunity
to, you know, speak and, you know, do workshops and, and work
with just amazing people all around the world, you know, from

(14:12):
all walks of life, first responders, military, police,
fire, a lot of corporate people,athletes.
And, you know, I wrote it because I really enjoyed
marrying sort of the theory of high performance with the
application and, and what peoplein the real world are doing that
we would call high performers, the Olympic athletes, special

(14:34):
forces operators, business people.
And it has, it's allowed me to embed myself even deeper into
those demographics and spend more time with those people.
And I mean, you know, when you get to spend time around high
performers and, and people that are committed to growth and
excellence and, you know, holding themselves to a

(14:56):
standard. And I mean, I know you know this
because you do it with your company.
I see it, you guys talk about itin all your emails.
And it's one of the reasons thatpeople love the Keto Bricks as
as a as a product, but also as abrand.
And so, yeah, the the second book will be sort of a building
on that. I don't want to give too much
away yet, but more of a framework for how to put that

(15:22):
together into a process to win that space between your ears.
So the first book more like strategy, second book more
tactic kind of deal, yeah. I'd say first one is more like
user's manual for human operating system, trying to help
people understand like, hey, this is how you're wired.
This is what's going on. You know, with your psychology,
your Physiology, your biology. This one will be more of a

(15:46):
here's exactly how you take thatand the tactics to both the
macro and the micro, you know, setting up whether it's, you
know, a year or an event or a specific at bat in a baseball
game. I feel like society is primed
for that type of content. I had several people recommend I

(16:08):
read The Comfort Crisis. Have you read that one?
Yeah. Is that 1 Jonathan hate?
No. I just finished it on audible.
He's got. Another one that's similar to
that. I think it's like the coddling
of the American mind or, or something.
Yeah. And that one recommended to me.
Let's see here. This one is shoot my audible

(16:29):
just moved it comfort crisis, Michael Easter.
And it's interesting because it's like I listened to it
before I read it. I simply recommend it to me.
And then one of the guys that was reading it that recommended
it, he's like, honestly, I don'treally recommend it because you
already know and are doing all this stuff.
And I'm like, yeah, but I'll just go ahead and listen it.

(16:50):
Listen to it from perspective standpoint and I'm listening to
it. It's all good.
But again, it's all the same stuff that you and I are doing
on a daily basis anyways. But I feel like society at large
is like recognizing there's a hole and they're trying to find
content or application or tools to fill it.
And that type of content is hot right now.

(17:11):
So I got no doubt that your nextbook will be coming at the well
at the perfectly planned time, for sure.
Yeah. I'm I'm looking forward to it.
It'll be a fun process. Yeah, it's I feel like I don't
know, man. Like I talk about this, you talk
about this and it's weird because we live in the there of
social media, the Internet, people have, you know,
information at their fingertips at all times.

(17:32):
And it's like we all know that we're living in a soft time.
And if we don't create some self-imposed hardship in some
form or another, we just become softer.
And I'm always I always like talking to people that tease
that out. Like how do we, you know, throw
things in? You're doing stuff at the cold
plunge that worse than just low hanging fruits that you do on a
regular basis that are non negotiables for you.

(17:54):
That's a great question, man. I, I would just, I think the way
you phrased it is so well wordedand I think it's, it's really
if, if you can just keep that truth top of mind and just be
vigilant of yourself speaking toa listener, not you, Robert, but

(18:17):
it works for, for you and I and identify like those times where
I am taking the easy route or, or am I being lazy here?
Am I, am I being soft? And I think there's, there's a
couple of things that really have to be discussed.
And and so again, kind of going back to human operating system,
we're wired to take the path of least resistance.

(18:38):
And there are times where that'snot necessarily a bad thing or
or detrimental, but I'll give you another example.
So Mark Cuban had a really awesome lesson that he shared
one time where he invested in TV.
It's been a few years now, but somebody challenged him.

(18:59):
They're like, why this is a dying thing.
He said, no, it's not going anywhere because it's literally
the path of waste resistance. And you can stress test this.
Go sit on the couch and stare atthe wall versus sit on the couch
and turn on the TV. It's way easier to turn on the
TV and get lost in what's ever on TV as and it's much harder to

(19:20):
just sit on the couch and not pick up your phone, not pick up
a book, not turn on the TV. Can you just sit there and be
And that's really challenging. And so that's, I mean, that in
and of itself is as an opportunity to, you know, if you
want to say be less soft and, and the way you phrase that is
like a personal preference in language, right?
And I think people like you and I resonate with, you know, we

(19:43):
were, we were coached hard as wewere when we were young guys,
right? And so we resonate hard with
resonate well with somebody that, you know, posing questions
like that, like, you know, are you being soft?
Do you want to be more of an asset?
Do you want to be less of a liability?
Like stop being a fill in the blank right?
Whereas, you know, other people may respond better to language

(20:04):
of saying like, you know, am I taking the path of least
resistance or am I choosing growth and development?
But just having that awareness. I mean, park in the back of the
grocery store parking lot or I think I'm sure you've been to
enough fitness Expos. You've seen the the memes from
the Arnold where there's a line to get on the escalator and

(20:25):
nobody's taking the stairs, right?
Or, you know, when you're going through the airport, take the
stairs instead of the escalator.And just look at the number of
people. It's like 9899% of people are on
the escalator. And you know, just those little
things, they seem stupid and meaningless, but they're just
opportunities to not take the path of least resistance and to

(20:49):
actually. So this is cool from a
scientific standpoint. There's something called the
amcc, the the anterior mid cingulate cortex.
It's a portion of the brain thatis actually now being called the
grit center of the brain. And interestingly, it
strengthens and develops the more we choose to do these

(21:11):
seemingly difficult or, or undesirable tasks.
And so it's literally like whichone you feed, right?
If you avoid those things, then that portion of the brain
doesn't develop. If you choose those things, that
portion develops and it becomes easier and you you lower the
barrier to choosing the uncomfortable things.

(21:36):
I think for people like you and I, that kind of like just
becomes the default that we gravitate to, which I think is
good. And there's times where like,
like, I'll come home from, you know, being up at 3 and doing
all my stuff throughout the day and just want to like, chill and
relax with my family for a second.
But then like my wife, she's juggling two kids.
I'm like, man, what can I do to be a better husband?

(21:57):
Let me go do the dishes, do the laundry, Like, let me do that
stuff. That's kind of like my version
of that in like my setting. But I feel like for people like
you and I, we need to have a whole conversation around how do
you justify relaxing and what does that look like in a healthy
manner? Because given the option, I'm
just like, screw it, let's freaking suffer, you know?

(22:20):
And. I mean, you're touching on a
couple of things that are just absolutely critical and like
kind of gave me goosebumps because as you were talking
through like your scenario and you're saying like I'm laying
down and my wife's juggling two kids that they like questions.
Like I ask myself questions and you do too, obviously, because
you you just gave one, right? And, and the question I'd say is

(22:40):
like, is this the husband that Iwant to be?
Or how do you, how can I be a better husband?
Is this how I want to show up for, for my wife?
And I love these questions because when you answer that
question with your values, the, the action that you need to take

(23:01):
could not be more clear, right? And, and a lot of people go
through life and like, I don't know what to do.
Well, when you ask questions like this, it becomes very
obvious what the right choice is.
And then you, you know, fuck your feelings.
Align your choices with your, with your values and your goals,
you know, and, and like you just, that was a perfect

(23:21):
example. And OK, well, I might be tired,
but so is my wife and she's got two kids and doing all this
stuff like let me go unload the dishwasher or water the plants
or whatever. The things are right.
And yeah, because if you don't do it, then she has to.
And now, you know, I'm I'm a Dick because I didn't do it.
And like, that's not the kind ofhusband I want to be.
And obviously you're not either.And so I think those those I

(23:44):
just want to touch on the importance of those questions.
But you're right. And and I was actually going to
ask you the same question. My wife and I joke, we we say
that we don't do nothing. Well, you know, like we could
book a vacation to a, you know, all inclusive resort and, you
know, an hour into laying on thebeach, we're looking at each

(24:05):
other like, all right, we're going to go surfing, we're going
to go paddle boarding. Like, what are we going to do?
Like I have to be doing something, you know, and he's
the same way. And, and it's, it's a struggle.
You know, we, we're really fortunate.
We, we bought a new house earlier this year and it, it had
a pool and, you know, so now we get to, we got a saltwater pool
and like, we force ourselves on the weekend through the summer

(24:28):
to, you know, spend couple hourson a Saturday or a Sunday, just
like we call it vacation mode, you know, and can we just forget
for a minute that we're at home?You know, when you're at home,
there's always shit around the house that has to be done.
And so you can, you, can you trick yourself into thinking
like, Hey, I'm at some resort. I'm just going to lay on this
float in the pool and enjoy the sun and be outside and, you

(24:50):
know, not think about all the things that have to be done.
You know, it's I, I think if, ifwe, this is where I think
fitness really helps too, because you know, you can't
train seven days a week. You know that the, the, in the
gem time, you're actually breaking down muscle tissue.
You're, you're stressing the system and only with proper

(25:12):
recovery do we super compensate and return above baseline and
actually grow and build back to the point where we can better
handle that stressor the next time our body sees it, right?
That's literally the progress with the building portion of
bodybuilding, right? And if we know that, then, you
know, we, we have to also understand that that is true of

(25:33):
life and you know, all the stressors and managing our
energy and time. And, you know, this is, this is
what I work on with the CEOs andexecutives that I coach and work
with. It's a very common problem and
when we can learn how to manage our energy, you know, our our

(25:55):
bandwidth, our capacity, the same way that we know how to
manage like our cell phones, battery life.
Now, now we're getting somewhere, right?
And so you know, it's looking for those little moments.
Same way you would find a a timeto plug in your phone so it
makes it through the day. Can you do that for yourself?
Can you use breath work or can you go for a walk?

(26:16):
Any of those parasympathetic wedges that help break up the
day, recharge your battery. You know you can't pour from an
empty cup, can't give what you don't have.
So, you know, the more people rely on you, the more you have a
responsibility to take care of yourself so that you can show up
for them. Yeah, no, I totally agree, man.
It's, I mean, like this interesting chapter right now

(26:38):
'cause I mean, we've the business has been around for
eight years and I feel like up to this point I've just been
redlining. Like sleep has definitely taken
the back seat and you before we had kids, it was my wife and I
girlfriend before we got married.
And it's like we just, we just went man.
They would just go, go, go. And that was just all she wrote

(27:01):
And I, I could justify it because it was just like she was
her own self-sufficient independent person.
I'm my own. Having kids created this new
dynamic because it's like they rely on US 100% and I don't want
to miss out on memories and moments with them, especially
when they're so young. And it's like, like they don't
care about any of this stuff. Like they, they care about
playing in the sandbox for 30 minutes after I get home, you

(27:21):
know, like they, they're not bothered by the things that
weigh heavily on me. So lately I've been trying to
figure out how to, you know, be present within that.
I'm pretty good about that. Like I come home late, but when
I come home, like I don't typically work.
I just am present with him and like he'll, I mean, I'll read
him books and he'll want to likewatch a show or something.

(27:41):
So we'll do that. And before, like, I don't even
own ATV, man. Like I've never owned ATVI.
Don't watch shows. I don't watch movies.
But with him, like that's like an opportunity where he stays
still long enough to actually snuggle with me on the couch and
sit like watch something like anold John Wayne movie or
something. And I've enjoyed those moments.
And that's like the closest I'vecome to been able to just relax

(28:02):
for a moment. But normally I'm redlining it.
But I feel like with the business and just where I'm at
in life right now, by going non-stop, kind of using your
example of like training seven days a week, it's like there are
champions where that becomes, you know, necessary.
But then like in order to get tothe next level, you have to
fully recharge to allow creativity room to come in.

(28:26):
And if you're going seven days aweek, there's no room for
creativity that allows you to get to the next level.
So like, I feel like I'm at a place where I've got to embrace
stepping away from the day-to-day grind, which is hard
for me because I feel guilty if I'm not right there with my crew
doing what they're doing. But that allows me the the
opportunity to have the creativethoughts that allow us to all

(28:47):
rise to the next level. So like, I'm on the precipice of
them, but I haven't quite nailedit yet.
That's a huge challenge man. I mean, for every founder that
I've ever known or worked with who you know, you your founder
or Co founder and now you find yourself in CEO role and in
order to continue to do your highest value activities, you

(29:12):
have to let go of a lot of the implementation activities.
And you know that that's a challenge for everybody in your
position and, and going through the transition that you are.
And, you know, like you said, you have to, to keep in mind
that nobody else is looking at the horizon for the business,

(29:32):
those, those strategic high level decisions and guidance.
If that doesn't come from you, it's not coming from anybody.
So, you know, somebody's got to be at the, the helm captaining
the ship. And, you know, again, you're
already aware of this. Like you need the time and space
to have the, you know, the strategic thinking, you know,

(29:54):
time and, and that opportunity. And it's, it's definitely easier
said than done. But you know, this goes back to
what I said a minute ago about managing time.
You know it's it's being in charge of your calendar and
schedule and and letting your values dictate your calendar
rather than your calendar dictate your values.

(30:15):
Yeah, because you vote with yourtime.
Like if you take inventory of where your time goes, like I
say, you know, I want to be the best father and husband I can
be. And that's one of the primary
goals and objectives of my life.But then if I look at how my
time's spent throughout the day,like, they get very little of
it. And that's, that's humbling.
And I know I need to fix that, but yeah, I, I got to get on

(30:38):
that, man. Yeah, I got to get on.
I have no. Doubt that you will.
Yeah, it's, it's hard to though 'cause like I love working on
the things that I'm working on, you know, like if you're
passionate about the work that you're doing, like so I have a
very hard time relating with people that work a nine to five.
They hit the time clock at the end of the day, you know, they
can be 100% there with their family.
They oftentimes aren't because they're chilling watching

(31:00):
Netflix or something. But it's like when you're super
ingrained in every minute detailof the thing you're building.
Like it never stopped. Like, I come home and I may not
be on my computer working, but Imean, I'm thinking about
spreadsheets, accounting, invoices, do potential business
investments, like while I'm playing in the sandbox or
shooting a boat with my little kid.
You know, I'm right there with you, man.

(31:21):
It, it never turns off and it's,you know, thinking about whether
it's, it's a book or it's a project, you know, with a
Consulting Group or an upcoming talk or, you know, yeah,
potential business ideas or whatever it is.
I mean, it's, it's always there.And when a lot of times for me,
when those ideas pop in, I mean,I, I'm an, I'm an Apple guy, so
I love notes the, the notes app on my phone.

(31:44):
And, you know, I can just, you know, if I'm driving, I'll voice
dictate it or I'll type it in ifI'm not driving.
And then, you know, that note is, you know, it automatically
syncs on my laptop and it's always with me.
And then I can go in later when I have time and expand on it or
like I literally have a note called add this to the book.
And so as those ideas come in, add them to the.

(32:06):
Note next time I. Sit down to write.
It's like, OK, here's that prompt to stick this in.
And now we we expand on it. And it's that also ties into
that conversation a minute ago about, you know, turning it off
and resting. Like a lot of times when you do
actually turn it off and rest, that those thoughts then flood

(32:28):
your mind. And so for me, that's where the
note idea really helps because Ican write it down and then let
it go, continue to rest and recover.
And then when it's work time again, I have it there to pick
it back up. Yeah, I do think whether it's
you. Know physical pen and paper
journaling or having a notes app.
Like if there's a font that comes to my mind, I have to get

(32:48):
it out because I don't have, I mean, I got freaking World War 3
going on in my brain at all times.
Like it's not safe up there unless I document it somewhere,
you know? Yeah.
Man, there there's a question that like I'd, I'd love to get
you on my podcast and there's a question I really want to ask
you, but I'm not, I'll save it for, for my podcast.
But just from a, a, an overall like a general perspective, what

(33:11):
is the, the eight years of, you know, building keto bricks
taught you about people and business?
Man, one of the things that most.
It's funny you ask this because I've had several like high
profile clients, like coaching clients lately I've had, I've
been in contact with several, you know, successful CE OS

(33:32):
entrepreneurs that are bringing in way more top line revenue
than I've ever touched. And I'll look at them and I'll
hear their stories, I'll hear what their frustration and pain
points are. And not to take anything away
from them, I mean, they're, they're so totally successful in
that regard for sure. But it's like they're not at

(33:53):
peace. They're not necessarily happy,
they're not settled. So like when I see that on
photos, OK, obviously simply having more money isn't the
solution. So that's really forced me to
look inwardly at my whole situation and operation.
And I've, I'm busier than I've ever been.
I've got my my multiple irons inthe fire right now, but I've got

(34:14):
this deep sense of peace as of late that's just kind of
flourished because, you know, we've never had like this hockey
stick viral moment. We're still always kind of, you
know, scrambling, moving money around, trying to make things
work and be efficient. So I haven't got it figured out
in that regard. But when I like step back and
look at what we've built, the journey that's unfolded over the

(34:37):
years, it's like, man, I don't have to look over my shoulder at
night. Everything we've built has been
built on integrity, hard work, honesty.
And it's like at the end of the day, I've got the best crew I've
ever had. I've got a roof over my hands.
I got meat in the freezer. I got an awesome wife and two
beautiful sons and my health. Like I'm winning at life.

(35:00):
Like when I, when I look at whatactually matters, like I'm at
peace in that regard. And I'm not, I'm not satisfied,
but I've found this sense of contentment and peace.
I mean, if I was, if I was to die tomorrow, man, like if I was
to drop dead right now and I'm sitting there on my deathbed,
like I would be able to look at my life.
Any other things that I would want to do, you know, more of?

(35:22):
But I can, I can die with a smile on my face.
And I feel like the business growing that has certainly been
my battlefront. That's given me purpose and
hardship, all self-imposed. And then I take extreme
ownership towards it all. But I'm really proud of what
we've built. I'm proud of where we're going
and I'm excited to keep it in house, keep doing it the right

(35:45):
way. And if it doesn't have a viral
moment, I'm cool with that. Like I'm playing the long game.
I'm doing it right. I want to build a legacy brand
and I want to always do so with the intent of helping others and
just adding more value than I'm taking.
And I can honestly say that I'vedone that thus far, Yeah.
I mean. From the outside, it's been
amazing to watch. And you know, I love the the
transparency that you and and the brand puts out as you're

(36:11):
talking through that. And you're talking about kind of
the top line revenue. And and you know, when you say
profit, I know just from being in the supplement space and food
space that I'm sure you've had people suggest decreasing the
quality of ingredients to bufferprofit margins.

(36:33):
And I know that's something thatyou that's a non negotiable no
compromise there. And again, that's one of the
reasons that I and others love the brand and the product.
If as you as you do that like business accounting and you
know. The cost of ingredients.

(36:56):
Is a non negotiable. How do you then?
What does? The rest of that thought?
Process look like to try to like.
There's a business side of it, right?
So you you want to improve margins so that you don't have
to constantly chase revenue to grow, right?
So like, how do you then attempt?

(37:17):
To figure that out. It's tough.
Man, I mean, it's, it's funny. You're asking these questions
because I was just looking at spreadsheets and accounting
books yesterday and it's like, you know, when I built Keto
brick, it was never even intended to be a product for my
personal consumption to the scratch and itch that I had.
And then there was enough demandfrom others to do the same
thing. So it's OK, I know how to do

(37:39):
this. Let me do it to the best of my
ability and, and bring that to the world and actually create
something with my own two hands.And I'm proud of that.
But there's I mean, there's not much much profit margin in the
bricks specifically. I mean, the cost of ingredients
we use is sky high. The cost of shipping increases
every six months from the carriers.
I mean, like my margins get thinner and thinner every time I

(38:00):
bring some on some employee on and they get up to speed.
You know, I want to, you know, pay them a livable wage and take
care of them. And I wind up taking a cut off
his often times in my pay. But it's like I'm not really
building keto brick to become wealthy.
I'm building it to create value and with that being the

(38:21):
foundational parameters, it's like, OK, we're never
sacrificing quality of ingredients.
We're always going to do right by the customer.
So like I look at it as an opportunity to just add more
than I take. And then from a, a sheer
profitability standpoint, like there's certainly things that I,
I want to dial in. I want to get better at
marketing. I want to get better at, you
know, sourcing more food volume.Like if we grow, we can have

(38:43):
greater economies of scale and Ican get a larger volume discount
on some of the ingredients we get, things like that.
But a lot of it's too is like, what else can I build that has
better margins, like the apparel, the online course, you
know, like the contents. We're hosting A bodybuilding
competition this year. We're not going to make any
money on that this year. We're probably going to take a
pretty good loss. But the quality's there.

(39:05):
And if the quality's there, maybe it will grow into
something that is more profitable.
But yeah, it's just playing the long game with it and knowing
that, look, I'm proud of what I'm building if it, even if it's
not going to be buying me a yacht anytime soon, you know, I
know I can't. Imagine you on a yacht, maybe a
fishing boat chasing some sailfish or something.

(39:26):
But I wouldn't mind having a good.
Tractor in a side by side, you know, like that would that would
check a lot of my personal desire boxes.
But yeah, man, at the end of theday, like I'm I just want to
create cool experiences for people.
Like I don't need. I mean, I got I got a super
small humble house. Like it's nothing fancy.
I would like to have the means to build a house on land that's

(39:47):
larger so that I could host morepeople and then raise all my own
food to be able to feed my friend, my family, friends and
employees. Like everything that I want
personally I want so that I can give it away, if that makes
sense. Makes total sense.
That's awesome, man. Would you stay in Arkansas?
Yeah, Northwest. Arkansas's.
Home, man, I mean, I can see like I love other and I've

(40:09):
traveled so much like I love Montana.
I love all kinds of, you know, parts and pockets of the world.
I, I could see myself, you know,spending a lot of time
elsewhere. I, I do a lot of traveling for
competitions and conferences. I would love to get a travel
trailer and then just like take my family with me to all these
events and we're going to probably homeschool for the

(40:29):
first several years of their lives anyway.
So like being able to expose them to, you know, new places,
new people, new experiences. I think that would be totally
worth it talking about. Traveling to a bunch of
conferences, Is there one conference that you look forward
to the most every year? They're all kind of different,
man, like. A lot of them that were early on

(40:50):
in the keto community were like so small and they've grown like
Cack Your Health, which was KetoCon.
Like it's grown significantly. And there's a great opportunity
there to meet a lot of people and network and interact.
And I love it for that. And there's like super small
conferences that are much more intimate, which I also
appreciate. We actually started doing
retreats this year that I've been hosting like on a quarterly

(41:12):
basis, more or less. And we're just like capping it
at 15 people. I'm booking on a big Airbnb,
everybody's staying there. We're eating good food and just
like getting to know each other on a deeper level.
So not nearly, as you know, grand from a number standpoint,
but like super intimate. And I feel like the
relationships is what it all boils down to.
And I've enjoyed those for sure.That's that's always been my.

(41:35):
Favorite part of the conference?I could skip the Expo and just
go straight to the, you know, building relationships with cool
people. So I, I can imagine that that's
pretty rewarding. Yeah.
My favorite part of the. Conference is man is like you
get your, you know, inner circleof people that you know, we're
going to be there. It's like linking up with them
after the conference is over to like grab dinner and chat by the

(41:55):
fireside for three hours. Like that's my favorite part of
the conferences anyway. Yeah, mine too.
It's like, that's why I say. Just skip the Expo for we'll
start that at 4:00 instead of eight or 9:00, and that way we
can go to bed at a decent hour 'cause I'm old and I need sleep.
How do you know? 41. 41 shoot man, you're.
Still in your prime, You're rocking a dude.
What does your day-to-day look like with everything you got

(42:17):
going now? Are you writing?
Actively writing the book is part of like a daily, you know,
structured habit. I don't force it daily.
I've got a a friend and started off as a business coach and
mentor and he always uses the phrase you can't force the
birth, you can't force a baby. Like it just comes out when it's
ready. And so I know that I'm going to

(42:39):
get it done. So I don't feel like I have to
say write for an hour a day or write 1000 words a day that that
ends up becoming counterproductive for me.
What I'll do is I'll block off chunks of time two or three
times a week. And OK, so maybe it's Tuesday
morning or maybe it's Monday, Wednesday, Thursday morning, and

(43:03):
I'll have two to three hours on those mornings and just crank
out what I can. Generally, I'm up at 536
o'clock. I've got kind of a short morning
routine. It's not one of those like 30
bullet point things of stuff that I have to do.

(43:23):
But you know, it's my sleep withmy phone on airplane mode.
And it doesn't come off of airplane mode until I do.
I do red light in the morning, take a shower or do some
journaling, gratitude practice, that kind of stuff.
Then I'll turn my phone on, get some breakfast, have coffee, and

(43:46):
I'm kind of, I'm at the computeror maybe an hour after I'm awake
and just doing stuff on the computer.
I wear so many different hats that, you know, some days I've
got a lot of coaching calls. Some days it's podcasting,
sometimes it's writing, sometimes it's working on a, a
keynote. Sometimes I've got one of my

(44:06):
consulting gigs is with Mellon. So a lot of times I'm helping
them with, you know, marketing and doing some meetings with
their team. Yeah, it just, it varies.
I'll get a workout in there fouror five days a week, depending
on the time of year. And that that pretty much takes
me till 5 or 6 each day. And then, you know, in the

(44:29):
summer I'm on the mower in the evening and enjoying that.
That's the moment. Doesn't stop this time.
Of year man. It's like I spend freaking 6
hours a week mowing. It's like I know it's been.
I saw I travelled in July and everybody was like, how are you
so tan? I'm like, well, four to five
hours a week on a mower. I'll do that for you, but that's

(44:50):
been. Cool.
I mean, ever since we. Moved to to get to take care of
the land and be outside and do that has been awesome and I'm
actually looking forward to being able to hunt whitetails
here on my own property this year for the first time ever.
How much night are you on? We have 20.
One Acres. Nice, nice.
That's that's. It's in Vermont, in Virginia.
Virginia. Yeah, Virginia.

(45:10):
That's cool, man. That's super exciting.
Like having like I'm on five acres here and it's like enough
to keep me busy. Like we're going to get some
more chickens. We had chickens, then I got a
dog and I don't have chickens. So I'm about to get more
chickens. He's trained.
We'll get some like pigs, some sheep, maybe a cow, I don't
know. But like, something like having
a, a plot of dirt that you can call your own and like, fashion

(45:30):
as you want. I mean, I feel like there's so
much to be said for that that's unspoken because so many people
just live in a neighborhood setting where they've got
perfectly manicured lawns or like some HOA requirements.
And it's like, man, when you getyour own plot of dirt and you're
out there keeping it up in addition to everything else you
got going on, like you just, youhave this deep appreciation for
things. And if you're able to hunt on

(45:52):
it, all the better. Yeah.
I I mean. I was having this conversation
with somebody the other day. I mean, the, the disconnect that
I don't think this exists with, with your audience, but general
population is so disconnected from, you know, their, the
source of their food, right? And I mean, so many people think
food just comes from a grocery store.
And so you know, when, when you've got your own land and

(46:14):
you're, you're working it. And I mean, kind of ties in
with, with being in the wilderness.
I mean, you, you have an appreciation for what it takes
and, and what is required to, you know, have things and keep
them nice. And, you know, there's just a
connection to the natural world that I think for people like us,
that once we experience that, it's really hard to, to go away

(46:37):
from it and, and to not want to keep that.
And yeah, like I said, I'm beyond excited to to be able to
hunt on my own land and, you know, harvest deer that's going
to, you know, go in our freezer and feed our friends and family
for a year. And we've got some nice bucks
here this year too. I've got trail cameras out and
there's about four or five of them that I'm targeting.

(46:59):
So it'll be fun. I'll begin my one of my
employees has got 60 acres and he lives just down the road from
my house. So I'm going to he gave me
permission to hunt his land. So I got AI bought a Longbow
like just to, you know, traditional Longbow and I'm
going to try and kill one with aLongbow this year.
I was shooting the compound the other day and it's like, man, I

(47:20):
love the technology that is now there in archery, which is super
cool and super impressive, but it's like I had my old recurve
and I shot that the other day and then I was playing pool with
my dad a couple weekends back. I'm like, this is what I need.
This is pure instinct. There's no aiming, there's no
like calibration, there's no thought.
It's just feel and flow. And it's like, man, everything I

(47:42):
do throughout the day is so meticulous and detailed and like
just being able to sling an arrow through instinct of
shooting, like that's therapy for me.
So I'm gonna try and hunt with the traditional Longbow this
year. I'll bet, man.
That's a brings up a good question.
So with all the routine and and regimented nature of of your

(48:03):
life, I'm sure there are times where you you feel like you just
want to explode or, you know, burn it all down or, you know,
break free of that. Like how do you do you
experience that? And if so, how do you deal with
it? I don't ever feel.
Like I want to burn it all. Down necessarily but I feel it's
weird man. Like whenever I allow myself to

(48:25):
try and relax 1st I have a hard time relaxing.
But when I'm in an environment where I can't work it's almost
like my body shuts down and I'm just like obnoxiously tired
because it's like I'm wired at all the times.
If I can't work it's like my body just shuts down.
So I'm super sleepy and groggy and it's always short lived.

(48:46):
It's like my body recognizes that these don't come very
often. So when it does, it's just try
and recharges efficiently as possible.
But I don't necessarily like that.
I feel like if I relaxed more frequently, I wouldn't feel so
exhausted when I do relax. So I think that would be
something I need to work on. But how I keep it all in the
air. I mean, like I've really leaned

(49:06):
on my my crew. Like I like I said, I've got the
best crew that I've ever had right now and I've got people
that are go getters. They understand the mission, the
values, the the goal and I can lean on them for a lot of things
and just delegate and outsource.And that's been, that's been a
huge man because if I didn't have them right now with all the
stuff that I've got going on, I would probably be dead.

(49:27):
How big is your team now? So there's. 8 on on staff like
here. Then I've got a few agencies
that I work with as well remotely, but 8IN in person.
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, it's it's.
It's good man, I'm blessed. Any new flavors that you can
hit? We do have a new flavor.

(49:49):
Where we're going to be launching since we get into the
the hunting season, that means we get into the seasonal season.
So we got some seasonal favorites that we'll be rolling
out next year or not next year, but next month.
This will go live next month, sothey'll be coming out soon.
And then we've got 1 brand new flavour because we've been doing
a lot of tallow flavours lately too.

(50:09):
Have you? Have you liked the tallow
flavours? Yeah, that's actually the
question. I want to ask you on my podcast,
so maybe, maybe I'll ask you now, but I, I absolutely love
those. I, I, I've been the fan from the
beginning and I like the original.
I, I do actually prefer the tallow to the cacao butter one.

(50:32):
The the the consistency like thesoftness, I guess you would say,
but too cacao. Butter always is like.
It's maybe it's too rich for me,I don't know.
But like even like prior to bricks, if I was just eating
cacao butter like way back in the day, just as a stand alone
food, I can only eat so much of it before it starts to taste

(50:58):
just just too rich, right? It's kind of like dark
chocolate, you know? People typically don't gravitate
to 100% dark chocolate because it is so rich.
They'll get like the watered down diluted milk chocolate.
And so that that's the weird thing is like I.
Could just I can house 100% darkchocolate all day, but I don't
know Yeah, I I like my. Dark chocolate and the cacao
butter, like both tallow and cacao butter have all kinds of

(51:21):
unique attributes. I mean, they're both very high
in stearic acid. The tallow is definitely tricky
during the summertime because itmelts so much easier.
So we've kind of redesigned someof our packaging that's much
thicker and seals better to hedge against any leaking
concerns. But yeah, man, the tallow and
the cacao butter situation has been an interesting one.
But we've gotten great feedback on it, so we're just going to

(51:43):
keep rocking both. Well, that's actually what I was
going to. Ask you and, and I'll, we'll
still, we'll talk about it when you're on my podcast as well.
But I, I just, I, I saw that whole thing unfold.
You know, you, you were upfront about it in the emails as
somebody who was buying dark chocolate all the time, I saw
the availability go down. I saw the prices go up.
So just from a business perspective, like I really

(52:06):
admire your ability to, you know, handle that like the
pivot, the shift, you find an alternative ingredient and it
ends up maybe not just being an alternative, but something that
adds value to the brand. It diversifies your product
offering And, you know, it ends up being a net positive where,

(52:27):
you know, maybe in the beginningyou're just looking to not go
backwards. And so I, I just felt like that
was such a cool thing. At what point did you realize we
might have something here? Well, first of all, I.
Appreciate it man, that. Was a scary time for me because
like my cacao butter pricing literally more than 6X and I

(52:47):
didn't even know if I was going to have availability despite the
cost increase. That's why I went to Brazil for
10 days trying to like find it and source it and like rub
shoulders with local, you know, farmers and ranchers down there.
But it's like if we had stuck toCacao better exclusively at the
pricing that it's getting quotedthen and now, like I would have
been out of business. Like there's no way.

(53:07):
And I was just honest with all of my customers.
You know, that's the one thing Ifeel like I've really just been
able to appreciate is how awesome a customer base is.
And I think it's largely becausethey trust me.
And I've been so just transparent since day one.
So like when I tell them, hey, look, this is the reality
situation. I can't make the bricks unless I
increase the prices because I'vegot to source these ingredients

(53:29):
and this is what they're costingnow.
Like people don't think that I'mtrying to, you know, rack up
more profit and pull the wool over their eyes.
Like it just is what it is. And, you know, they were 100.
I mean, anytime you have a product and you tell people,
hey, we're going to have to increase prices, like it's scary
because you don't know how they're going to respond.
And I was like losing sleep and crunching numbers and looking at
spreadsheets. But like, we got zero negative

(53:50):
feedback. Everybody was super supportive.
They're like, hey, we trust you,do what you got to do.
We're getting the bricks becausethe quality and because your
honesty. So like, we'll be here.
And that gave me some peace. And then we rolled out the
tallow and that, you know, went over really well.
That's still more expensive thanwhat I was previously paying for
a cacao butter, but we can at least stay in business with that
as well. And yeah, everybody's been

(54:12):
loving the tallow. Some people prefer the cacao,
some people prefer the tallow. They're both high in stearic
acid. We've had to like learn a lot
from production standpoint because how we make the bricks,
it just behaves very differently.
Like how they solidify, how theybang out of the molds, the
temperatures that we have to mixand pour at, like lots of
variables. But you know, everyday we learn
something new and we get it dialed in all the more.

(54:33):
That's awesome. I can't.
Wait to to see some of the new flavours I've got.
So I'm, I'm actually carnivore right now.
I'm two, yeah. It's about two months being back
on it and I've got somewhere in the neighborhood of 36 or so of

(54:54):
the carnivore bricks, either theeither the cake pop or the
primal fudge flavour. So I'll be living on those on my
hunts for the fall. So I'm I'm I'll report back how
they do in a backpack. But you know, even if well
during the during the fall season.
Then you shouldn't have any issues with the melting unless

(55:14):
you just like even in light or something.
Even if I have to just drink, I'm straight.
Out of there, I don't care. It's just that's what it is,
right? But man, the the primal fudge is
like witchcraft. I don't know how you guys get it
to taste like that, but it's amazing.
Yeah, that's one of my favorites.
It goes. Down easy it's pretty rich like
I mean you gotta like it's pretty rich, but I I do like it

(55:36):
and the macros are freaking on point man.
I mean, you know that low carb relative to fat and protein.
I mean, I eat 1:00 every single day, so I believe in it.
Yep, those things are so. Easy to eat a whole one, just
couple of bites and they're gone.
Another one. I'm curious if you've tried
this. Something else I'll be doing
for. I do it for travel on carnivore,

(55:56):
but also specifically for the hunts.
We get rib eyes sliced really thin, like quarter inch and
dehydrate them 10 hours at 1:50 and it's literally just a rib
eye dehydrated. It is so good.
It's better than any jerky. It's more cost effective than a
lot of the, you know, products that are out there.

(56:18):
And man, that's it's just a so basically like an 8 oz
dehydrated rib eye. So one of my good.
Friends. He's got a brand Keto Explorer.
He's got a lot of not dehydrators, but the freeze
dryers and he'll hook me up witha bunch of freeze dried meats
before I go on hunts and I'll have that alongside the bricks
and whatnot. But that's super sleek because I

(56:39):
mean, it's incredibly lightweight.
You can rehydrate, reconstitute it with water if you want, But I
mean, I just eat it dry and it retains all that nutritional
profile. So yeah, I mean that, I mean,
you're, we're eating the same thing.
We're out in the woods for sure.Yeah, yeah.
We'll have to do a trip togetherjust to share snack bags.
We need to man, We need. To I got my family farm down

(57:01):
South Arkansas, so it's kind of like the whole deer stand
situation. But man, I'd love to have you
come out there. We can tear it up, grill some
steaks, slay some deer and just make some memories, man, sounds
like fun. I'm in.
Let's do it. Let's do it.
I've. Never haunted much in the
northeast but you got some big deer up around there as well.

(57:21):
Not big body every. Once in a while there's there's
some with with some, you know, nice antler growth, but I think
there's there's a lot of pressure around here.
So I don't think deer really geta chance to to get old, at least
not like on my property. There's some places around here
where it happens. This is wild.
I can. Actually hunt deer.

(57:42):
Six months of the year in this county that I live in because.
Virginia has something. Called the Nova Northern
Virginia extended season. And so basically our season,
normal season statewide is like October to the end of December,

(58:02):
1st week of January, but the month of September gets tacked
on in a couple of counties and then from January to April gets
tacked on at the end. Those are antlerless only.
But we have so many deer in the northern part of the state where
the population is also really high for people.

(58:24):
They're trying to thin the herd.But I'll give the state credit,
they're at least allowing the hunters the opportunity to do it
rather than like the California approach where they ban hunting
and then bring in helicopters with automatic weapons and do
coal hunts, right? And then burn the carcasses and
waste the meat. Yeah.

(58:44):
But I digress. Yeah.
So I mean, we can. There there's tons of
opportunity to to harvest some doughs and put some some meat in
your freezer up here yeah 100% man I.
Mean, like I said, I got 3 chestfreezers and everything that I
eat is either food that I've raised, food that I've
harvested, or food that I know the local rancher and shook his
hand before I bought it from him.

(59:05):
So it's a I'm a big believer in knowing where your food comes
from. So I'm all about it, man.
Every. Animal that I harvest I'll take
the the heart and the liver and I have that ground into the
burger as well so the fact that you guys have that kind of built
into the a lot of the bricks as well I love that I mean just
being able to get those micro doses of the organ meats it's

(59:28):
just so cool yeah 100% man nature's.
Multivitamin. Let me ask you this kind of as a
deep question to to round us outhere with you being the hard
charger that you are having highstandards for yourself and those
around you who. Or what?
What, what standard do you try and hold yourself to?

(59:49):
I guess, like, what's your relationship with, you know,
like a higher self, a higher power?
Like who do you try to please? Is it all internal?
Like what? What what does that look like
for you? Yeah, I.
Think it's a great question. I, I will say it's mostly

(01:00:12):
intrinsic, internal and the reason that I skew that way is.
I think anytime. We give the power to something
external, whether it's a father figure, a mother figure, any
loved one. I mean, you're, you're

(01:00:32):
essentially saying you know my. Valuation of myself.
My validation rests in in your perception or judgement.
And I think that's a dangerous place to be.
I know that if I hold myself to my standards and my values and

(01:00:54):
again, bring that back to internal like I'm, I'm not
seeking external validation fromanyone else, certainly not
another human. Now, I guess the the caveat or
disclaimer there is I have people that I respect in my life
that I love and I certainly wantall of them to respect me.

(01:01:18):
And I believe that as long as myactions are aligned with my
values and the way that I conduct myself.
Will. Be such that they would respect
me, right? Basically because I respect
myself and I carry myself that way and, and, and live that way.

(01:01:39):
And I think if there is a higherpower or or there is an ultimate
judgement day, I I think that entity would probably have a
similar take as the way that, you know, the people I respect
and want to earn their respect would would see me as well.

(01:02:02):
Yeah. I agree with that I feel like.
You know, I've, I feel like I'vebeen on this like spiritual
journey for a few years and I feel like that has brought me
closer to a sense of peace. But the standard and the desires
that I have in the I how I hold myself accountable has largely
just remained internal. And one of my big frustrations

(01:02:25):
with people that seek external validation is that they often
times disempower themselves to to do the things that they know
they should do. And it's kind of tricky because
people can take that the wrong way.
But it's like, you know? Higher.
Power, whatever the case may be like, I would assume that they
would want you to put your best foot forward.

(01:02:48):
The best way to do that is to have accountability of your
actions. And yeah, I feel like that
should never be outsourced necessarily.
I couldn't agree more. I know exactly.
What you're getting AT, and I think one of the ways that that
was, I'll say trained out of me,my mom, she my mom went to
Catholic school all the way until she was in high school, I

(01:03:11):
believe. But man, as I get older, my mom
has all these like mom isms, allthese sayings that, that she
said thousands of times to me growing up.
And one of them was, you know, God helps those who help
themselves. And I think like.
The statement that that you're referring to is one that I've
heard and a lot of other people have heard.

(01:03:31):
And it's, it can be construed asan excuse to not be accountable
for, for your own actions and, you know, be responsible for for
where you are in life. And like, I certainly don't want
to at least personally, I don't want to relinquish that power
or, or be helpless. And I think a lot of that just

(01:03:53):
stems from like the way I was raised.
And again, like, I just think about that like, you know, you
know, good things are going to happen if if you're, you know,
doing what you're supposed to do.
And and I, I just, you know, yeah, no, I.
Totally agree, ma'am. We need to be doing this
conversation sitting around a campfire, ma'am.
No, so I agree. I agree.
Sitting over a campfire and, youknow, cleaning blood off a knife

(01:04:17):
and eating some fresh meat, I got a totally.
Random tangent question but I'm curious to get your thoughts on
are you team replaceable blade, knife or fixed blade that you're
sharpening with a stone? I carry both.
I do. I do.
I do. So for white 2, I, I have an

(01:04:40):
outdoor edge replaceable blade that is just amazing, man.
It's, you know, it's a $40 knifeand I buy 10 replacement blades
for, you know, 20 bucks and those things last me 3-4 years
before I have to buy more blades.
I know a lot of guys will say they can get through like 1 deer

(01:05:02):
per blade. I've used the same blade on
three deer, 4 deer. So I'm also really lucky that I
guess the, the, you know, I haveto like the deer processor was a
mile from where we used to live.It's still a 10 minute drive.
So all I'm doing with the deer is field dressing and you know
taking the deer to processor in the Backcountry.

(01:05:26):
If it's an elk outdoor edge would be my replaceable blade.
I don't like the the Super lightweight I've I've messed
around with like some of the 1.7oz replaceable blade Backcountry
knives that's just way too flimsy to break down the whole

(01:05:47):
elk. I like a good sturdy fixed
blade, especially if you're getting up, you know, you got to
break the sternum and and get upin there a little bit more just
makes skinning a lot better and faster.
So I like having both. Yeah, no, I'm.
Saying when I get the outdoor edge and then I get multiple
fixed blades that I have in my pack if needed, but having that

(01:06:10):
replacement blade is handy, man.Like having that surgical edge
at the moment's notice is that thing.
That thing is a. Scalpel.
I've seen a couple of guys have some mishaps with that, but it
is. It is nice I.
Think you're off a time or two? It is nice, man, when you're
like. You know, you're, you're, you're
almost done and your back starting that low back is

(01:06:31):
thumping, you know, and you know, you can swap out the
blade, get a fresh one. And yeah, that's nice. 100%,
man. Well, listen.
I know you got a hard time to get things going on today, but
let's keep in touch. Love to go hunting with you,
train with you. Keep me posted on your organ
hunt and I'll let you know if I kill anything with the freaking
Longbow this year. Please do, man.
And yeah, we'll, we'll make a. Trip happen and we'll be in

(01:06:52):
touch. 100% man appreciate. You brother, you got it.
Thanks, Robert.

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