May 26, 2025 • 46 mins
What does it actually mean to get after it?
In this episode, Ally Rossell joins me to break down the real meaning behind the phrase — beyond the t-shirts, the hashtags, and the highlight reels. This isn’t about motivational fluff. It’s about discipline, daily reps, mental battles, and doing the hard thing when no one’s watching.
We talk about the difference between grinding blindly vs. reflecting intentionally, how to win the war against your inner voice, and why “getting after it” will look different in every season of your life.
Ally shares her journey from struggling to run four miles to completing a full marathon with confidence. We unpack how small, boring reps lead to massive breakthroughs — and why excellence in one area of life bleeds into all the others.
This episode is a mission statement. A reminder. And a challenge.
Because getting after it isn’t a feeling. It’s a choice.
If you’re ready to stop coasting and start showing up with intent, this one’s for you.
Challenge from the episode:
Pick one area of your life where you’ve been passive. Take small steps toward it this week. At the end of the week, reflect. Then adjust. Then keep going.
Let’s build momentum — together.
Until next time, Keep Getting After It.
–––––––––––––––––-
Website: Keepgettingafterit.com
Follow on X: @bcrossell
Subscribe on YouTube: @gettingafteritpodcast
Follow on Instagram: @bcrossell
Follow on TikTok: gettingafterit_podcast
I hope today’s episode sparked something within you to pursue your dreams and unlock your true potential. If you found value in it, consider sharing it with someone who might need that same push.
This podcast is built for you—the dreamers and the doers. My goal is to provide a space where you can find inspiration, learn from others, and feel empowered to chase what matters most to you.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ally (00:00):
I'm happy to be here regardless.
Brett (00:01):
What do you mean?
You don't know what to expect.
You know what getting after itis.
Ally (00:08):
That's true.
Brett (00:11):
It's important.
I'm a witness to it, it is true.
You have been a part of mywhole journey, so this will be a
good one.
Ally (00:18):
I'm excited.
Brett (00:18):
Because I think getting after it is something that
people need to understand,myself included.
What does it mean that peopleneed to understand, myself
included?
What does it mean?
um, I was thinking about thisbased off of our last
conversation about getting afterit and like defining what it is
and that kind of thing, and Iwould say today's episode is a
bit of like more of a missionstatement, like I like that kind
(00:39):
of an understanding of where wecome from.
The whole point of this is weare going to peel back the
layers and get to the core ofwhat this whole thing is about,
what getting after it means andall that kind of thing, because
it's helped me in every area ofmy life, in every arena.
You can say and it's somethingI know can have that same effect
(00:59):
for everyone else, everyoneelse.
It's just a commitment and it'shard as can be.
But as I was thinking aboutthis, I've thought about my own
(01:20):
experience and my own journeyand there's times in my life
where I've just focused ongetting the work done and like
grinded it out, sat there, likepush through whatever challenges
come my way.
But then there's also timeswhere I've done work but then
have gone back and reflected andsaw where I could improve my
situation.
That kind of thing.
And for me that's what gettingafter it is is.
It's, yes, grinding, but yougrind and then you reflect on
(01:41):
what you did, because otherwiseit's just like you're going to
be moving, you're going to belike Sisyphus.
Ally (01:49):
No.
Brett (01:49):
You don't know who Sisyphus is.
Ally (01:50):
Dang it Sorry.
Brett (01:51):
No, this is a great story .
So Sisyphus he was.
This is all Greek mythologykind of stuff.
Ally (01:58):
My worst subject.
Brett (01:59):
Super interesting, but Sisyphus got in trouble with the
gods and I think he might'veslept with the god or something
like that.
I can't really remember I don'tdo it.
But he's this little slipperyguy and for his curse you
probably know this but for thecurse the gods placed upon him a
curse where every single day,he had to push a boulder up a
hill.
And so, right when he would getto the top of the hill and the
(02:22):
next day would start and hewould go back to the bottom and
he would have to push it upevery single day.
Ally (02:26):
And so that's like Is that Cam Haines' nickname or
something?
Brett (02:29):
Sisyphus.
It should be, it should be.
Ally (02:31):
He has a push-up boulder.
Brett (02:32):
It's pretty close to syphilis though.
Ally (02:34):
Which.
Brett (02:35):
You don't know what that is.
I'm uneducated.
I'm uneducated.
Ally (02:41):
This is why I'm here.
Hopefully there's uneducatedpeople as well that are asking
the same questions.
I think I know that one though.
Brett (02:48):
It's a disease you don't want.
Ally (02:49):
Okay, that's what I thought.
Brett (02:51):
Yeah, wow, sisyphus, I'm now getting all jumbled with
these names.
He might've had it Anyways.
So, yeah, I mean getting afterit.
Like I said, it's a mindset,it's a code, and it's the work
that moves the needle when noone's watching.
And for me, it bleeds intoevery part of my life, from
family to faith to fitness,podcasting, writing, my business
(03:15):
work, like everything, andwe'll talk about a lot of that
today, but we'll dive in.
Ally (03:20):
I like it.
Brett (03:22):
The first thing, the first thing I think everyone
needs to understand aboutgetting after it is it is a
choice.
It is not going to come to youand it's not something that
you're born with getting after.
You're not born with thegetting after it gene
Unfortunately I wish I was.
But, more importantly, it's nota feeling like you don't get to
choose the days that you get.
You want to get after it, likelike today's a great example.
(03:44):
I sucked it up on my run today.
I went outside, it was kickingmy trash, but I knew what my
goal was and I knew I needed topush through.
Push through the pain I knew itwould end and ultimately do the
work.
But for you, what does it mean,like I, to choose being
(04:04):
disciplined every day, to chooseto get after something every
day?
What does that look like foryou?
Ally (04:13):
I think it kind of varies day to day in terms of what I
have going on, because we'vetalked about this recently.
You had a big conference thisweek and you were getting after
it in terms of you were pushingyourself, you're pushing your
limits.
You had long, long days and yougot home late and and I think
getting after it is doing whatneeds to be done that day.
(04:33):
A lot of times for us it'srunning, or it could be like
studying for me, or it could bepodcasting or work for you, but
I don't think getting after itlooks the same, in my opinion,
right now, every day with thesame exact thing yes, in order
to be consistent with yourrunning, if you want to be a
good runner, and stuff like that, but with you working like a
(04:55):
12-hour day and having things todo and prep for the next day or
whatever, if you didn't get arun in, I don't think that's you
not getting after it.
You may not have, like, reachedyour mileage goal that week or
something, for an example, but,but you did.
But.
But I think getting after isdoing like the most pressing
thing, like the thing that ismost valued that day.
(05:18):
A lot of times it's multiplethings, but for me personally I
think usually it is running andthen it is anything with
aviation I need to get done andof course, family and faith.
Yeah, those are the four thingslike probably the most
important in my life that I makesure that I somehow involve.
Like something gets done onthose four categories every day,
(05:39):
yeah, but I know it kind of canrotate on importance level day
by day.
Brett (05:46):
Yeah, that's an important thing to note.
Actually is like with what yousaid the different buckets that
you spend your time on, thethings that are important to you
, the most.
There will be days that somedemand more attention than
others.
Like you said, business thisweek was a huge week for me
because I was talking to clients, I was taking them out to
dinner, we had this conference,and the time to be able to work
(06:08):
out was cut in half, I would say, but I still made the effort to
do it and so, like, yes, Ididn't get the 10 miles I would
want to on a Tuesday, but Istill had five, you know, and
it's like I still was able toget after that goal in some
degree, but my attention wasneeded elsewhere at the time.
Ally (06:26):
Right, I can't believe.
I can't remember if it wasSally or where I.
What's her last name?
All of a sudden.
Brett (06:33):
Sally McRae.
Ally (06:33):
McRae yeah, I was like we just call her Sally, as if she's
my good friend.
Brett (06:36):
She is our good friend, Sally.
If you ever want to come on thepodcast, there's always an open
invite to have you.
Ally (06:40):
Sally's, our good friend that we talk about but your book
was great.
She's awesome and I think itwas her, but it might've been
someone else that talks about,like your hundred percent every
day can look different.
Your hundred percent one day is, yeah, all 10 miles.
You're a hundred percentdifferent day After a 12 hour
work day.
You had to do all thesedifferent things.
Your hundred percent could befive miles, but even though you
(07:01):
gave it your all, you still wentafter it and you did what you
could.
Brett (07:09):
I think the important thing here is like there's a
choice being made right, like Icould have easily said I had a
12-hour day, I don't need to runright, but it's like I know
that's important to me.
I know how I feel afterwardsand I want to still make that
effort because I know I'll befeel better at the end, um, and
I'll be more proud of myself andum.
That's just something.
It's like you don't get to waituntil motivation.
That's not how it works.
Ally (07:26):
Unfortunately.
Brett (07:27):
Yeah, I wish it was.
Sometimes you don't wait to getmotivated If you did, you
wouldn't get much done Like youhave to show up when it's cold
outside and you have to stilllace up your shoes and run, or
you're done in the long day andthis is more for me but like I
sit and open up my journal andwrite a few things down.
Sometimes it's nonsense, butit's there.
Even with like faith, it's likefinishing a whole day.
(07:50):
It's like, all right, still gotto read a little bit.
I'll call you and be fallingasleep, but we still read
anyways.
It's a choice and you get thechoice every single day, and if
you have the opportunity tochoose doing something difficult
, I would say to do it, becausethere's so many others out there
who don't, and that's what'ssad is.
(08:11):
David Goggins talks about thisand our good friend Dave our
good friend Dave.
Yeah, all our good friends.
But it's interesting becausethe way he talks about it is
like he loves what he's.
He's a little bit of a crazyman, but he says that he loves
doing what he does becausethere's so many people who can
(08:32):
but don't, and he's obviouslydriven by different things.
But still like, if you have theopportunity to push yourself,
take it, because life is short.
Five years could go by.
You might not be in the samephysical state that you are now,
like you and I are talkingabout.
Like okay, well, how can westart a business?
(08:53):
We're in a good situation rightnow.
We don't have a home like weboth have jobs.
Ally (08:57):
We don't have a home.
Great time to start a business.
Brett (09:00):
I mean, we're going to build, but you know some things
we don't have those expensiveright, Right those expenses and
so it's a scary time in terms ofwe both feel like something is
on the horizon.
Ally (09:10):
Right.
Brett (09:10):
But we just have to keep pushing forward in it Right.
It's scary, but I just gotwater on my iPad, that's good.
Ally (09:18):
You're a big spiller.
Brett (09:19):
I'm a big spiller and it's unfortunate, but um, the
last thing I would say on thispart is just like, remember what
jaco says like disciplineequals freedom.
It's um, that mantra has stayedwith me for way longer than it
should.
Like I don't know, it's justbeen with me forever and like
since college don't let it leaveno, it's.
I mean, it really is.
(09:40):
There's a lot of truth to that,because I do believe that being
disciplined does equal freedomfreedom from your mind Because,
like, if you get things donethat you said you're going to,
you're not going to be thinkingabout it all day, being like man
.
I wish I did that, I wish Iwould have pushed a little
harder.
Discipline and health Like, ifyou learn to say no to all your
cravings and try and avoid junkfood as much as you can, you
(10:02):
exercise a little bit, you'regoing to feel a lot better than
the adverse.
It just kind of weighs.
You might feel in the momentthat being disciplined is not
letting you be free.
But try both of the lifestylesand come back and tell me,
because I think you will seethat being disciplined helps you
(10:24):
be financially free, mentallyfree, physically free from
ailments, whatever it is.
But it's so important just topush yourself and be disciplined
.
But the truth in everything isyou don't need to feel like it,
you just need to decide that youwill do it.
So that's number one.
Number two with getting afterit, I think you focus on the
daily reps instead of thedramatic results, because that's
(10:48):
how the dramatic results comeis from the daily repetitions,
and I kind of want to ask youabout this your first marathon
experience Because you neverlooked at yourself as a runner,
right?
Ally (11:01):
To this day, but onward To this day.
Brett (11:03):
No, you are.
How dare you, um, but likeyou've ran team tim before, and
talk to me about going from thatto deciding to run a marathon
and what that was like, whatdeciding to run a marathon was
like, and then how you trainedfor it, and kind of go into that
(11:25):
I'll say well, let's see thehalf marathon we had for team
tim in 2023 january 2023 incalifornia.
Ally (11:40):
That was eye-opening.
I usually start running like twomonths before our annual cancer
race the half marathon and Ican do well enough in terms of I
usually get to mile 10 and thenI'll walk and then my average
pace is like 11 minutes.
That's how it typically workedout.
It was about the week beforethe race and I could even run
(12:03):
like four miles nonstop and itwas so humbling.
And I remember I was so nervousyou and I would just start
dating and you were a goodrunner and I was so scared to
ask you for help.
I was like this is sohumiliating, like I don't want
to tell him, like what my pacesare.
I don't want to tell him andlike what do you think would
happen?
Brett (12:21):
I don't want to tell him why.
What did you think would happen?
Ally (12:23):
I don't think anything was going to happen.
But obviously you say you ranso fast because you want to
impress me.
I didn't want to show you howslow I was.
I was trying to impress you too.
Brett (12:30):
Well, I'm a guy.
Ally (12:32):
I'm a girl.
You are a girl, that meansnothing.
We try to impress each other.
We got to be physically fit,appealing and appealing You're
ridiculous, but anyways, thatwas like the week before.
I was like, wow, this is badand I want to do a half marathon
every year for my dad.
How am I supposed to just showup the week before and call it
(12:54):
good, like this is not goodenough for me.
So we do that race.
It was bad, one of my well, notmy slowest, but it was still
not great.
My well, not my slowest, but itwas still not great.
And I think that race was kindof the eye-opener where I was
like, why do I wait until rightbefore if I don't stop running?
this would be so much easier Iknow I'm doing a half marathon
(13:16):
every year.
If I literally just did alittle bit every day, I'll be
fine by the time the next timeit comes around why do you think
you didn't?
Up until this point.
Yeah, running's hard, it'suncomfortable, it's not fun.
I've always kind of been like aone to two miler like every few
days type of thing.
But one to two miles everycouple days doesn't really stay
(13:37):
up that well for a half marathon.
You got to go a little furtherthan that, yeah.
Brett (13:46):
It's just.
I think it just boils down touncomfort.
Yeah I mean it's hard, like yousaid, you called it out and so
what flipped one.
Ally (13:52):
I feel like kind of embarrassed really I think it
was an embarrassing thing whereI was like this is literally my
race, like we put this on forour family and I can't even run
a half marathon, and I I waslike how am I?
The whole idea behind runningfor team Tim is the idea we can
do hard things.
Brett (14:08):
Yeah.
Ally (14:08):
And like, if I show up and do day of 13 miles, like, okay,
that was a hard thing, but I'mdoing the same hard thing over
and over, I'm not evenprogressing.
Really like the idea of doingthe hard thing and just getting
the mileage in, like yeah, andjust getting the mileage in,
(14:29):
like yeah, that's, you did itgreat.
But the reason it gets hard isbecause you want to do better
every time, like that's the hard.
I wanted to progress, to try andget better every time, not just
get the miles, miles done.
So definitely helped that youwere getting into running.
All of a sudden you're startingto like it.
So we were talking about itmore and I was like you know,
I'm gonna try and just like,keep going, try for the year and
see how it comes around.
You know, and as I startedrunning, more it becomes easier
(14:51):
you enjoy it a little bit more.
I wouldn't say I enjoy it.
I don't know if I can ever saythose words, but a lot more than
I used to, because it's kind oflike a love hate.
Where you're like I, I like whatit does for me.
Brett (15:04):
I hate doing it yeah, no, I feel the same way.
Ally (15:06):
I just wanted to hear your answer and so then I was
running more consistently andespecially in the beginning I
saw a lot of progress reallyfast, because my baseline was
bad, it was low it's like.
Like my baseline was so lowthat you run for two weeks
straight, you already progresseda lot you know, and so I was
seeing progression.
My mom and I already progresseda lot, you know, and so I was
seeing progression.
My mom and I went on a cruisefor a month Sounds crazy, it was
(15:28):
.
I don't know why we did that,but anyways I was in Antarctica
and bad for you and I yeah andyeah, we were only dating for a
month and I was gone for a month, so that was great, but there
was nothing to do on that cruisesuch an old person cruise and
it was incredible like thesights we saw.
(15:48):
But the longest time like timespan that we had at sea, I think
was like five or six days,that's before porting what was
ours longest on our cruise, twodays at sea yeah, that felt like
an eternity yeah, and so it wasso long.
It's because I was like weatherat a port or something, so we
skipped it and kept going, or Idon't really know, but it was so
long, and so my mom and I wouldget up, we'd go to the gym,
yeah, and then we'd go to thepool, we'd go do lunch and then
(16:11):
we'd like go back to the gym andthen we'd do it again like we'd
watch a movie, play games.
It was not very eventful, lovemy mom, I'm.
So I think it was really goodfor us, like it was really fun.
It could have gone either way,like just with one person on a
cruise, for that long I mean 30days is a long time it's a long
time, but we're doing like oneor two workouts a day just
because we had nothing to do gottwo days baby got two days and
(16:33):
I started to notice progress.
I'm like okay, maybe there'ssomething here, yeah, maybe I
can run like and walk me throughthose workouts.
Brett (16:41):
Were they like super intense or were they kind of
just like?
You know, I'm just going toshow up and do what I can today.
Ally (16:49):
Depends on the day I was.
So this is actually funny nowthinking about it my goal on the
cruise ended up being to getsix miles under an hour.
So I could not.
That was so difficult for me.
So I could not.
I was like that was sodifficult for me and in the
(17:10):
beginning I was getting I woulddo probably five miles in like
57 minutes or something is whatit was like something on, or 55
minutes, something like that.
I was like I got to shave fiveminutes to get six under an hour
.
So that became my goal and so Iwas like running a lot, um,
trying to hit that.
So I'd probably try, like everyother day or something, to try
and hit it.
So I was like pushing hard,like my heart rate crazy,
probably sky, like my heartrate's already naturally pretty
(17:31):
high and I remember times I waslike my heart's gonna stop, like
I'm convinced, because I waslike pushing so hard because, I
wanted that so bad.
Some days I just go and doelliptical or I lift a little
bit and stuff like that.
But I did end up getting sixunder an hour by before.
Brett (17:47):
I remember that you, you text me you were so pumped, big
deal.
I was very proud of you.
Ally (17:53):
But because I was able to do that, I think I was like okay
, maybe I can do it.
Maybe, I can.
And this was a month after ourteam Tim in January, so I was
like dang.
A month after our team tim injanuary.
So I was like dang, I couldn'teven run four miles before that
race and I'm doing six under anhour, like, maybe, like, if I
keep, if I don't stop, like Iactually can get better.
It's the reps right, and sothat's when I decided, okay, I'm
(18:14):
just not gonna stop, like onceI got back from the cruise.
And then you and I were like,hey, let's get married.
I'm like, okay, sweet, nowwe're running forever.
And so now, you're runningforever.
And so I think we did.
Let's think we did the StGeorge half marathon in 2023.
Brett (18:29):
And we did the Utah Valley one first.
Oh yeah, we did Utah Valley.
That was my first marathon.
Ally (18:33):
Yes, my goal at Utah Valley was the half marathon
under two hours, which was likea huge deal for me because I
came from my January halfmarathon in like 2.30, something
like that.
I was optimistic because theUtah Valley was downhill.
I was like, okay, well, maybeI'll get a little extra speed
this way, and I did.
(18:54):
I think my time was like anhour and 58 or something like
that.
That's awesome.
I was like right in front ofthe pacer.
I was stressed.
So then I was excited because Igot a PR and I hit my goal,
yeah.
So like, okay, maybe there'ssomething to this, I'll keep
going.
So we keep running every day.
Then you and I did St Georgeand I was like I just want to PR
, I want to beat my last pace.
I think St George, I got likean hour and I'd need to double
(19:19):
check.
I think it was like 50 orsomething maybe, maybe.
It was like every time right andsince I started running, I have
PR'd every race, and and so I'mnervous because we have
Minnesota coming up for a fullmarathon.
Brett (19:33):
Both of us got issues with our legs, so it should be
fun, right.
Ally (19:36):
So since January, committing to run in 2023, every
race we've done, I've PR'd andI think that kind of gives me a
little taste to keep goingforward.
Yeah.
But I know if I'm not puttingin the consistent reps, I'm not
going to PR and I'm going to besad.
Brett (19:53):
So I think it's finally just registered for me that if I
don't stop, oh, maybe I'llactually get better and it's
been working so yeah, that'shuge, it is huge.
Ally (20:03):
And then it was neat for me because the year a year later
from the 2023 half marathon waswhen we did my full marathon.
Brett (20:13):
Yeah.
Ally (20:13):
And my time was three hours and 57 minutes.
It was like an average pace of906 or four, I don't know what
it was Some average pace of lownines, and that was almost a
minute and a half faster than myhalf marathon the year before.
Brett (20:28):
With double the distance, with double the distance,
that's awesome.
Ally (20:30):
And so I think it just started feeling so good that
just so much self-confidencecame from one putting in like
doing multiple races and seeingprogress, but also just in my
day-to-day runs, being able tosee like, okay, I, I can run
four days out of the week andnot crumble.
(20:52):
Yeah, so it's been.
It's been a confidence builderfor me for sure, and I think
that's what keeps me running um,it's huge for that yeah, but
it's been.
It's been a lot more enjoyablenow.
But I will say I have startedto plateau because I was like,
oh, now you got to like aregular average runner and and
then now it's like I'm stuckhere.
So like the faster you startgoing, the less time you shave
(21:17):
off every race and so it'sstarting to get more difficult.
Brett (21:21):
But Well, I think this quote kind of fits a lot into
this from Jim Rohn.
He says success is nothing morethan a few simple disciplines
practiced every day.
That's really what it is.
It's like the reason you sawsuccess in your running is
because you showed up on almosta daily basis to run and you're
(21:44):
like you know what?
Whatever, I'm stuck in thisforever.
We do a race every year for mydad.
My husband's a runner.
Ally (21:49):
We're doing this.
Fine, I'll start runningregularly, it's just that
consistency.
Brett (21:58):
That's really what it is.
It's like the reps.
The consistent reps are whatwill bring those dramatic
results over time.
Ally (22:01):
You have to trust the process.
The hard thing is if you miss aweek or two weeks, you notice
it's like obvious how dramaticyou feel after not running for a
week or two, versus runningevery day yeah and now that I
noticed that I'm like I wouldrather run every day and feel
decent enough most days than notrun for two weeks and try and
come back.
Brett (22:19):
Yeah, and then also like the mental game.
Ally (22:21):
Right, that's probably the hardest part.
Brett (22:23):
That's what we're talking about next.
That's the third part.
Okay, getting after it is themental battle.
I need the help Because that issomething that I think we all
struggle with, myself included.
This is the hardest thing thatI have to deal with, with
anything I do, but it's thatvoice in your head, um, that
will make or break you.
You can give the power tochoose to listen to it or not,
(22:43):
and I, um, I wrote down a fewthoughts that I have on a
regular basis when my head tellsme.
The voice in my head, the badone says you're falling off,
you're not good enough.
What's the voice in my head,the bad one, says you're falling
off, you're not good enough.
What's the point?
Those are probably the threebiggest things I think about.
Ally (22:59):
Dang, that's sad.
Brett (23:01):
You're falling off or you're not good enough.
Like what's the point?
Like I even thought about thattoday with, like BPN's last man
Sam.
Like I wonder if I just wasn'tgood enough to be chosen because
like it's a raffle kind ofthing, you know.
I mean that's the problem.
Like I have those thoughts, butthe thing is, is that voice
doesn't get to lead right?
That's where the general comesin and slaps him around, says,
hey, let's get to work.
(23:22):
Um, to me, getting after itmeans recognizing the voice
that's in your head,acknowledging it and then doing
the work anyway, because that'shonestly one of the hardest
things to do.
But you have to show up.
And do you know who Confuciusis?
Ally (23:37):
We've talked about him once.
Brett (23:39):
He's like a Chinese stoic .
Ally (23:41):
Okay, but he has this quote where he says I'm going to
get it wrong.
Brett (23:49):
It's like a short quote too.
That's stupid.
Here it is he who conquershimself is the mightiest warrior
.
Ally (23:55):
That's cool.
Brett (23:57):
But the more that you act against that voice, the quieter
it becomes.
It's not about turning it offcompletely, because then I think
that's when you become arrogant, but it's about proving it
wrong.
That's what's important.
You got to tell it.
Hey, no, you might want to becomfortable, you might want to
stay in bed, but we're not doingthat today, and it's hard.
(24:17):
It's a hard thing to do toovercome the mental battles, and
that's like things like fear,that's uncertainty, it's like I
said, not thinking that you'regood enough or not feeling that
you have the capability to dothat thing, you're not qualified
Like, like it's all thesethings in your head that no
one's told you, but you justmake up these stories instead,
(24:39):
and that's a dangerous place tobe.
I'm there, I think, morefrequently than I would like to
be, if I'm honest.
But that voice also drives meforward because I know if it's
speaking there's something Ihave to do, and it's usually not
.
Listening to that voice likenot giving up.
(25:00):
It's tough.
Ally (25:03):
Can I give you a little spin on that?
Brett (25:06):
Please do.
Ally (25:07):
I don't know if this applies.
I work very differently thanyou believe.
Brett (25:15):
I what do you mean like jobs professionally?
Ally (25:19):
no, but yes, that too I I mean.
When I'm running, usually I'mtelling myself like I'm tired,
I'm I want to, I'm bored.
Yeah, you know, it's like thosekind of things.
One and every two months it'llbe like I hate myself, like I
suck.
This is the worst, like Iwouldn't say my normal negative
talk is so harsh on me like theexamples you just gave.
(25:41):
I would say it's more like myquote-unquote negative talk is
more like I'm too soft on myselfsometimes.
Brett (25:53):
Really, what do you mean?
Ally (25:56):
So, like you, you're like hard on yourself and mean and
stuff like that, and you have tofight and like ignore it and
move on past it.
I would say I'm almost theother way, where I give myself
too much grace, where I'm like Igot tired, it's okay, like,
well, everyone's different, Iknow, but that's what I'm like I
got tired, it's okay.
Well, everyone's different, Iknow, but that's what I'm saying
(26:17):
, giving you a different spin onit, where I wouldn't say that
the thoughts I fight aren'tself-hate and self like putting
myself down and stuff.
Brett (26:29):
You fight the siren.
Call of comfort.
Ally (26:31):
Wow, that was beautifully stated, thank you, yeah,
bringing, that was beautifullystated.
Thank you, bringing.
Brett (26:35):
Greek mythology back into it, but it was okay, so that
makes sense to me.
I would assume everyone has adifferent way to talk to
themselves.
Mine, I guess, is aggressive.
But when that voice is like,hey, you've already ran eight
miles you don't have to goanother four Right.
What do you do?
Ally (26:53):
I'm like hey, you've already ran eight miles.
Brett (26:54):
You don't have to go another four, right?
What do you do?
I'm like you're right, I'm justkidding You're right, all right
, I'm tired.
Ally (27:01):
Usually I just try and think of something else.
We know I'm a big daydreamer.
Brett (27:04):
Yeah.
Ally (27:05):
Like usually getting through my runs, I have to set a
scene.
I'm watching a movie in my head, like I'm very immersed in my
daydream, yeah, and so if Istart thinking like, oh, I'm
tired on this, I like create anew plot, I'm like, all right,
next movie, I'm obviously bored.
Moving on interesting and so Itry to just think of different
(27:26):
things, like today's run soboring I did on a treadmill, and
it's facing a mirror and and soI'm staring at myself for two
hours.
Brett (27:33):
Yeah, that's impressive.
I only will do eight miles onthis treadmill.
I cannot look at myself formore than an hour.
Ally (27:40):
It's humbling.
You're like, oh, look at thosecheeks like jiggle, like over
and over, and I was likestarting to get tired.
And so like I was thinkingabout our marathon coming up
next month quite a bit and I'mimagining Duluth and the trees
and I'm thinking about that race, and then I got tired so I'm
like you know what?
I'm switching.
I'm thinking of our 50K.
(28:01):
Now my whole mindset is in adifferent area of just being
able to endure rather than goingfor speed.
So I did have to slow it downfor a minute to be able to
regroup.
My knee has been bothering me.
I think a minute to be able tolike regroup my knee has been
bothering me.
(28:21):
I think speed hurts it.
So I've been kind of dabblingwith that, seeing what feels
better to get more miles in.
So then I put myself I was likeyou had already finished in my
daydream.
I was like competing againstdrew and I didn't see him at the
very end and I'm trying tocatch up.
So like I'm like creating thesestories to like get my mind
away from comfort.
Don't get me wrong.
Every so often I had the samenegative guy yelling at me and
it makes me want to quit,because I quit running because
(28:42):
of how mean it can get.
But I think the day to daytemptation is that the comfort.
Brett (28:48):
Yeah, and I will say it is important to listen to your
body, Like you said.
Do you have any issues?
I don't think it's smart to belike I'm really feeling pretty
bad today but I'm still going togo run, Like I think it is
important to listen to thatsometimes.
But to your point, it's likewhen you're doing the thing,
that's when the siren comes andis like hey, just come, rest up
a little bit.
Why don't you take a seat, yourknee hurts.
Ally (29:09):
See how yeah.
Brett (29:10):
So it's when you're doing the thing, right?
Okay, I just want to make thatclear.
Ally (29:14):
If we're not giving advice , to push through pain if you're
injured, yeah, no, and I I meanI took about a week and a half
off just doing like ellipticalbike and stuff like that.
So I'm starting to make my wayback.
I think it's feeling strongerthan it has in the last week or
so.
So I think we're on our way up,but I do realize that speed
isn't really quite there yet.
(29:34):
So moving back slowly.
Brett (29:37):
It's fair.
Ally (29:37):
Hopefully the right way.
Brett (29:38):
Yeah, it's important.
I mean those reps, it's like wetalked about that'll bring the
brilliant result.
So I love that.
But beat the mental game, andthat's why I talk about doing
hard things.
That's why I talk about wakingup early and going to the gym,
because that helps you beat themental game.
Ally (29:55):
And it bleeds into all areas of life, as you always say
, which is what we're going totalk about.
Oh, wow, wow.
You would think I read this.
I swear I didn't.
You're great at segues, Thankyou.
Brett (30:03):
Get after it in every arena.
Ally (30:04):
Wow.
Brett (30:08):
So ode to the man didn't have anything to do with this
section, but I just love that.
Um.
So pretty much what this meansis that the way that you do one
thing is the way you doeverything, and if you're going
to go all in and running, ifyou're going to go all in and
business like that is how youshould be doing all parts of
your life.
So for me, I broke it down withlike faith, like reading
(30:29):
scriptures when you're tired andpraying when you don't feel
like it.
That's important Family, havinghard conversations instead of
avoiding them, and work showingup prepared even when others
aren't Like.
I had to prep a lot for thisweek at Accelerate and it was a
lot of work, but I'm glad that Idid, because I was able to have
better conversations with thepeople who I spoke with.
(30:50):
And so it's not just aboutfitness.
This is like a mindset to adaptspoke with, and so it's not
just about fitness.
This is like a mindset to adapt.
It's like okay, the reason Italk about fitness first is
because I think that's theeasiest example you can do.
That's like what you weretalking about on the boat.
It's like, oh man, there arereal results here.
Like maybe I can do this andsee something come from it and
that's why I talk about fitnesstoo is because the discipline
(31:12):
that follows from it.
Being fit requires immensediscipline.
Being healthy does, and thatshould teach you that if you're
able to do those things, ifyou're able to go to the gym and
be consistent there and starteating better, then why can't
you do that at work?
Why can't you do that with yourfamily?
Why can't you do that?
If you want to learn somethingnew or start a business, go all
(31:34):
in on the things that you do.
It's the Ron Swanson quote younever half-ass two things, you
full-ass one thing.
Ally (31:44):
Is that really his quote?
Brett (31:45):
It's a great quote.
That's funny, yeah, but itreally is just important you
don't compartmentalizeexcellence.
The reason you are an excellentperson is because everything
you do is excellent and itrequires drive.
And when I was in my youngmen's group in my church, the
(32:07):
leaders of my church would say,like the leaders of my quorum,
they would say you've got to bea stallion.
I'd be like what does that meana stallion?
And they would always say it'ssay you got to be a stallion.
I'm like what does that mean astallion?
And they would always say it'sthe five again the stallion.
You got to be like megan thestallion yeah, no, um, we would
all probably be in jail oh um,she got shot in the foot I know
(32:28):
might be a ditty thing could bea ditty thing stay tuned megan,
we're disappointed.
Um, anyways, so they would talkabout the stallion, say, okay,
a stallion has five pillars,like their faith, their family,
they are able to talk to people.
Ally (32:43):
Um, I can't remember the other two right, they're making
that up yeah, they just made upthe stallion so this is like
their own, like pillar,basically yeah, but they would
always say, like it was.
Brett (32:53):
Basically, they broke down everything that we would do
as kids or teenagers into fivedifferent things.
So it was like, uh,professionalism, faith, family I
can't remember the other onesum, but like the only way you
became a stallion is if you weredoing well in all those areas I
think education was another um,I can't remember the last one.
(33:14):
Lance Foster and Kelly Shepardare going to kill me, but I
think that there's a lot to that, because the only reason that
people are great is becausethey're great at all things that
they do.
Maybe not great, but they tryin all things that they do.
That's more applicable here, Ithink, because you won't be
great at everything you do.
Go listen to the first episodeof this podcast.
(33:35):
It was not good, but I'vepoured a lot of work into it and
it's gotten a little bit betterover time.
Same with being in my career.
I started creating a companywith my brother and I was a
little baby at the time.
Going back now, I feel like wecould have done way better.
He says the same thing, but, um,that's all part of the process
is learning these lessons, butthe only way you'll learn them
(33:58):
is if you try your best at it,like that's what's important is
you got to do the hard thing,got to push and and see what you
can do, and I don't know.
I mean, I think that's justsuch an important thing for
everyone to consider is like arethere areas of your life that
you're neglecting or you'reputting.
You're putting more time andeffort into one area that's not
(34:19):
getting you as far as you wouldlike.
Like for me, if I pouredeverything I had into fitness,
my job would probably fail.
My relationship with you wouldprobably suffer, um and so there
has to be I don't want to saybalance, but you have to be
disciplined enough to do thethings and still make time for
the others if that makes sense.
Ally (34:41):
I kind of like how you didn't say balance, because I
think some things are seasonal.
Brett (34:46):
Yeah.
Ally (34:46):
Like a week before your race or like leading up to a
race.
If you have to prioritizecertain things differently, then
you have to prioritize thingsdifferently.
And same with job.
This last week we had a bigconference, so I wasn't
expecting to get an hour callevery night when you get home,
got to get to bed and you got anearly morning.
So I think things just kind ofkeep wobbling around.
(35:07):
As long as you're giving themall care it's like plants Not
all of them need water every dayyou just kind of give them what
they need and it's a goodanalogy a little bit of sun or
whatever, and you just make surethey're all growing.
Brett (35:20):
but they may need different things at different
times do you do anything in yourlife where you're like almost
like a reflective practice,where you do like a debrief on
each area, like how am, am Idoing?
In my faith?
You know what I'm saying.
Ally (35:35):
Yeah, I obviously don't journal the way you do, which I
should.
We talk about all the time, Iknow.
Brett (35:42):
No, everyone's different.
Ally (35:43):
But I would say I don't have like designated times I'd
say at church.
I'm reflected on my week, likespiritually, what I can be doing
spiritually the next week andstuff.
And I'm reflecting on my weeklike spiritually, what I can be
doing spiritually the next weekand stuff, and so that's kind of
like a trigger point of when tolike reflect on how I'm doing
spiritually and then at work,like it's obvious, if you're not
doing great when you're flying,if you're like, oh, I feel
(36:04):
behind, so you, I mean I get a,I crash the jet.
I know, so I get to think aboutthat or whatever.
I feel like when I'm in thescene, am I thinking about it?
I'm like while I'm writing I'mlike, okay, how am I feeling?
You're kind of like a littleinternal check and a physical
check.
Like how are things checkingout?
I wouldn't say that I like Isit down and just debrief all
(36:27):
aspects at the same time.
It's more like when I'm in it.
How are we doing?
How are we going to refine it?
Brett (36:33):
Yeah, I like that.
I do a lot of that too.
It's like in the moment, kindof thing.
Ally (36:37):
Yeah, I mean, I would say before bed is like my closest
thing to debriefing all of them.
When I'm trying to sleep, youknow, I think about how my day
went.
I think about my future Quickstory about Allie.
Brett (36:48):
Oh gosh this.
I had a crazy dream last nightand I don't remember it at all.
Ally (36:56):
Oh yeah, this is a really weird thing actually.
Brett (36:58):
And then as soon as we get in bed, and she puts her
head on the pillow she remembersit like it just happened.
Ally (37:05):
That is very odd.
I listened to a ChrisWilliamson podcast with a memory
guy.
Brett (37:09):
Yeah.
Ally (37:10):
And he was saying how, when you put yourself in a place
that something happened, thememory comes back.
Yeah, like how, when you putyourself in a place that
something happened, the memorycame back, comes back, yeah, and
like so.
A lot of people affiliate likeoh, I was drinking diet coke
when I was reading these studyquestions.
Okay, so when I drink diet cokeit might help you remember
those yeah, the setting rightright, and so I'm thinking
(37:30):
that's what it's got to be,because I'll wake up.
I'm like that was crazy and then, boom, it's gone.
Don't remember it all day long,don't remember what happened.
I put my like.
Once my head hits the pillow,it's like oh my gosh, that was
crazy.
Brett (37:41):
I'll tell you now, you know, and then I'm like half
asleep and I'm like, wow, yeah,that's crazy it's insane.
Ally (37:47):
Yeah, it is pretty cool, so weird.
Brett (37:48):
But I do think it's important to like reflect time
to time um on the things thatyou're doing and yeah, how do
you know if you're progressingand how you can progress?
yeah, you can only progresswhat's being tracked right.
So the last one this is themost important part of getting
after it is what does gettingafter it look like for you as a
(38:13):
principal?
But I'm curious, I want to askyou that question what does it
look like for you?
Because I think it's differentthan me, I think it's different
than your brother, like it's apersonal thing getting after it
to me.
Ally (38:33):
I think I need to think about it for a minute.
It's hard to really Brettwhat's the right word for when
(38:56):
you're trying to get data,Trying to get data.
Brett (39:01):
Yeah, like it's hard to like quantify, quantify okay is
that what that means?
Like um yeah okay, yeah, dataanalysis okay, that's what I
mean.
Ally (39:10):
It's hard to quantify, like how much you're getting
after every day.
And if I did it right that day,I would say.
But I think a rule of thumb forme is did I do what I could?
Yeah, like, did I one?
You got your checklist for theday?
Did I get things, everything Iwant to get done?
Did it get done?
(39:30):
And did it get done well enoughthat I can say I'm proud, yeah,
and sometimes it's no.
Sometimes like, oh, I didn't getmy run in, or like I kind of
sucked at it, I quit because Ilistened to my comfort voice, or
sometimes I didn't study aslong as I should have, or
whatever it is.
But it's very obvious to myselfwhen I didn't do that in terms
(39:52):
of I'm like, oh, I obviouslywant to study for four hours,
all I got to.
But but it's like trying toidentify did I work as hard as I
needed, even though study forfour hours, I only got two?
But it's like trying toidentify did I work as hard as I
needed, even though it was twohours?
So, all that to say, I think ifI can go to bed at night and be
proud of the effort I put in, Iwould call that a success.
Brett (40:13):
I love that.
I think that's great Because itwill look different for
everyone, like for me.
I think of the quote fromMarcus Aurelius where he says be
strict with yourself but betolerant with others.
And so when I'm thinking aboutgetting after it for myself,
it's a code.
(40:33):
I've talked about codes beforeand why they're important and
basically it's just certainprinciples that I live my life
by.
Like I wrote a few down.
I train when it's hard, I tellthe truth when it's
uncomfortable, I keep promises,especially to myself, I take
care of those around me, likethings like that, and I always
(40:54):
want to make sure I'm doing whatI can to keep going forward,
because getting after it helpsyou build momentum and that
needs to keep going.
And ultimately it's just a codethat helps me achieve goals.
That's really what it is For me.
(41:14):
Getting after it is principlesI live by that help me build the
life that I want, and that's alot from setting goals and
achieving them, or setting goalsand failing at them and
learning from that.
But there are principles thathave never led me astray and the
more I incorporate them into mylife, like when I train hard,
even when I'm tired, and I stillmake that effort.
(41:35):
I know I can push throughdifficult things and I know
whatever comes my way, I canprobably figure out a way to get
through it.
And it's not an easy lifestyle.
But I think if you want to begreat at anything, it's not
going to be easy because there'sother people competing for it
and they might want it worsethan you, which is another thing
(41:57):
I think about when I'm running.
Someone else wants it better,but that's really it, and it
will look different for everyonebecause you might have not the
same athletic body as others oryou might be overweight.
That's what I'm trying to say.
So getting after it might lookvery different for you than it
(42:19):
might for someone else.
Or you might be in thebeginning of your career when
someone else is a veteran andhas been doing it for 20 years.
You can't compare yourself tothat person, and so you have to
figure out what in your life youcan get after to get to that
level and break it downconstantly, reflect, choose it.
This is full circle here.
So you choose to be disciplinedand you choose to get after it.
(42:41):
You do the reps.
You don't focus on the bigresults, you focus on the daily
repetitions.
You win the mind game and youpush through, even when it's
difficult and you don't want tolisten to it anymore.
You write your code down andyou just keep getting after it,
because it's going to lookunique for you I like that quote
that says to choose the harderright than the easier wrong yeah
(43:04):
and I think that's a good ruleof thumb of how to progress like
are you doing the uncomfortablegood so that you can become a
better person?
Ally (43:14):
are you letting yourself just kind of wither away and go
through life?
Yeah are you?
Are you actively attacking lifeor is are you like a victim to
how life is treating you?
Brett (43:24):
I like that.
Yeah, I think that's difficult,though, choosing like, but what
I?
What I do recognize, though, is, when I choose the harder right
than the easier wrong, it's notas bad as I thought it was,
yeah, and so that's like why Isay winning the mental game and
beating that voice in your headis because oftentimes it's a
(43:45):
liar, true.
Ally (43:47):
It's so annoying.
Brett (43:47):
And it doesn't tell you what actually is the truth.
And if you listen to a liar,you're going to have a pretty
crappy life.
So get liars out of there,including yourself, and that's
why one of my principles is Iwill not lie, especially to
myself, like I'll always tellthe truth.
And if I can take one more step, I'll ask myself can you?
(44:08):
and if I can, I will I like thatso that's pretty much it
because, like I said, it'spersonal and you shouldn't treat
it as something that's likejust a mantra, like getting
after it, like in the beginning.
(44:29):
I think it looks cool on at-shirt.
I think it's a cool thing tosay to someone oh yeah, I'm
getting after it, but it willlook different for everyone.
The point is push yourself,challenge yourself, see what you
can do.
This is life is short, we don'thave a lot of time, but I have
a challenge and I think it's apretty easy one, but I want I
(44:56):
think it's an easy challenge toget started.
Then it's going to get hardokay, because once you identify
this, you're in.
You're in trouble, okay.
But finding out one area inyour life that you've been a
little, a little more passivethan you would like, and figure
it out, find it and this weekjust take more steps toward it,
whatever, take small actions,get it done and at the end of
(45:20):
the week, reflect, look at theresults, because you have to do
the work, but then you also haveto think about what that work
did and adjust your behaviors.
Ally (45:29):
I like it, I'll do it.
Brett (45:31):
I love it.
Everyone else should do it too,but I appreciate everyone for
listening to this episode and Ihope it shed a little bit more
light on what getting after itmeans and what it could mean for
you, because it has changed mylife and I know it can do the
same If you take theseprinciples, you apply them to
your life and you figure outwhat you want to get after and
(45:52):
go full throttle into that thing.
Because life is short.
We don't have a lot of time, somake the most of it now.
Thanks, for coming on lover anduntil next episode, everyone
keep getting after it.
That's right, baby.
I'm happy to be here regardless.
Brett (00:01):
What do you mean?
You don't know what to expect.
You know what getting after itis.
Ally (00:08):
That's true.
Brett (00:11):
It's important.
I'm a witness to it, it is true.
You have been a part of mywhole journey, so this will be a
good one.
Ally (00:18):
I'm excited.
Brett (00:18):
Because I think getting after it is something that
people need to understand,myself included.
What does it mean that peopleneed to understand, myself
included?
What does it mean?
um, I was thinking about thisbased off of our last
conversation about getting afterit and like defining what it is
and that kind of thing, and Iwould say today's episode is a
bit of like more of a missionstatement, like I like that kind
(00:39):
of an understanding of where wecome from.
The whole point of this is weare going to peel back the
layers and get to the core ofwhat this whole thing is about,
what getting after it means andall that kind of thing, because
it's helped me in every area ofmy life, in every arena.
You can say and it's somethingI know can have that same effect
(00:59):
for everyone else, everyoneelse.
It's just a commitment and it'shard as can be.
But as I was thinking aboutthis, I've thought about my own
(01:20):
experience and my own journeyand there's times in my life
where I've just focused ongetting the work done and like
grinded it out, sat there, likepush through whatever challenges
come my way.
But then there's also timeswhere I've done work but then
have gone back and reflected andsaw where I could improve my
situation.
That kind of thing.
And for me that's what gettingafter it is is.
It's, yes, grinding, but yougrind and then you reflect on
(01:41):
what you did, because otherwiseit's just like you're going to
be moving, you're going to belike Sisyphus.
Ally (01:49):
No.
Brett (01:49):
You don't know who Sisyphus is.
Ally (01:50):
Dang it Sorry.
Brett (01:51):
No, this is a great story .
So Sisyphus he was.
This is all Greek mythologykind of stuff.
Ally (01:58):
My worst subject.
Brett (01:59):
Super interesting, but Sisyphus got in trouble with the
gods and I think he might'veslept with the god or something
like that.
I can't really remember I don'tdo it.
But he's this little slipperyguy and for his curse you
probably know this but for thecurse the gods placed upon him a
curse where every single day,he had to push a boulder up a
hill.
And so, right when he would getto the top of the hill and the
(02:22):
next day would start and hewould go back to the bottom and
he would have to push it upevery single day.
Ally (02:26):
And so that's like Is that Cam Haines' nickname or
something?
Brett (02:29):
Sisyphus.
It should be, it should be.
Ally (02:31):
He has a push-up boulder.
Brett (02:32):
It's pretty close to syphilis though.
Ally (02:34):
Which.
Brett (02:35):
You don't know what that is.
I'm uneducated.
I'm uneducated.
Ally (02:41):
This is why I'm here.
Hopefully there's uneducatedpeople as well that are asking
the same questions.
I think I know that one though.
Brett (02:48):
It's a disease you don't want.
Ally (02:49):
Okay, that's what I thought.
Brett (02:51):
Yeah, wow, sisyphus, I'm now getting all jumbled with
these names.
He might've had it Anyways.
So, yeah, I mean getting afterit.
Like I said, it's a mindset,it's a code, and it's the work
that moves the needle when noone's watching.
And for me, it bleeds intoevery part of my life, from
family to faith to fitness,podcasting, writing, my business
(03:15):
work, like everything, andwe'll talk about a lot of that
today, but we'll dive in.
Ally (03:20):
I like it.
Brett (03:22):
The first thing, the first thing I think everyone
needs to understand aboutgetting after it is it is a
choice.
It is not going to come to youand it's not something that
you're born with getting after.
You're not born with thegetting after it gene
Unfortunately I wish I was.
But, more importantly, it's nota feeling like you don't get to
choose the days that you get.
You want to get after it, likelike today's a great example.
(03:44):
I sucked it up on my run today.
I went outside, it was kickingmy trash, but I knew what my
goal was and I knew I needed topush through.
Push through the pain I knew itwould end and ultimately do the
work.
But for you, what does it mean,like I, to choose being
(04:04):
disciplined every day, to chooseto get after something every
day?
What does that look like foryou?
Ally (04:13):
I think it kind of varies day to day in terms of what I
have going on, because we'vetalked about this recently.
You had a big conference thisweek and you were getting after
it in terms of you were pushingyourself, you're pushing your
limits.
You had long, long days and yougot home late and and I think
getting after it is doing whatneeds to be done that day.
(04:33):
A lot of times for us it'srunning, or it could be like
studying for me, or it could bepodcasting or work for you, but
I don't think getting after itlooks the same, in my opinion,
right now, every day with thesame exact thing yes, in order
to be consistent with yourrunning, if you want to be a
good runner, and stuff like that, but with you working like a
(04:55):
12-hour day and having things todo and prep for the next day or
whatever, if you didn't get arun in, I don't think that's you
not getting after it.
You may not have, like, reachedyour mileage goal that week or
something, for an example, but,but you did.
But.
But I think getting after isdoing like the most pressing
thing, like the thing that ismost valued that day.
(05:18):
A lot of times it's multiplethings, but for me personally I
think usually it is running andthen it is anything with
aviation I need to get done andof course, family and faith.
Yeah, those are the four thingslike probably the most
important in my life that I makesure that I somehow involve.
Like something gets done onthose four categories every day,
(05:39):
yeah, but I know it kind of canrotate on importance level day
by day.
Brett (05:46):
Yeah, that's an important thing to note.
Actually is like with what yousaid the different buckets that
you spend your time on, thethings that are important to you
, the most.
There will be days that somedemand more attention than
others.
Like you said, business thisweek was a huge week for me
because I was talking to clients, I was taking them out to
dinner, we had this conference,and the time to be able to work
(06:08):
out was cut in half, I would say, but I still made the effort to
do it and so, like, yes, Ididn't get the 10 miles I would
want to on a Tuesday, but Istill had five, you know, and
it's like I still was able toget after that goal in some
degree, but my attention wasneeded elsewhere at the time.
Ally (06:26):
Right, I can't believe.
I can't remember if it wasSally or where I.
What's her last name?
All of a sudden.
Brett (06:33):
Sally McRae.
Ally (06:33):
McRae yeah, I was like we just call her Sally, as if she's
my good friend.
Brett (06:36):
She is our good friend, Sally.
If you ever want to come on thepodcast, there's always an open
invite to have you.
Ally (06:40):
Sally's, our good friend that we talk about but your book
was great.
She's awesome and I think itwas her, but it might've been
someone else that talks about,like your hundred percent every
day can look different.
Your hundred percent one day is, yeah, all 10 miles.
You're a hundred percentdifferent day After a 12 hour
work day.
You had to do all thesedifferent things.
Your hundred percent could befive miles, but even though you
(07:01):
gave it your all, you still wentafter it and you did what you
could.
Brett (07:09):
I think the important thing here is like there's a
choice being made right, like Icould have easily said I had a
12-hour day, I don't need to runright, but it's like I know
that's important to me.
I know how I feel afterwardsand I want to still make that
effort because I know I'll befeel better at the end, um, and
I'll be more proud of myself andum.
That's just something.
It's like you don't get to waituntil motivation.
That's not how it works.
Ally (07:26):
Unfortunately.
Brett (07:27):
Yeah, I wish it was.
Sometimes you don't wait to getmotivated If you did, you
wouldn't get much done Like youhave to show up when it's cold
outside and you have to stilllace up your shoes and run, or
you're done in the long day andthis is more for me but like I
sit and open up my journal andwrite a few things down.
Sometimes it's nonsense, butit's there.
Even with like faith, it's likefinishing a whole day.
(07:50):
It's like, all right, still gotto read a little bit.
I'll call you and be fallingasleep, but we still read
anyways.
It's a choice and you get thechoice every single day, and if
you have the opportunity tochoose doing something difficult
, I would say to do it, becausethere's so many others out there
who don't, and that's what'ssad is.
(08:11):
David Goggins talks about thisand our good friend Dave our
good friend Dave.
Yeah, all our good friends.
But it's interesting becausethe way he talks about it is
like he loves what he's.
He's a little bit of a crazyman, but he says that he loves
doing what he does becausethere's so many people who can
(08:32):
but don't, and he's obviouslydriven by different things.
But still like, if you have theopportunity to push yourself,
take it, because life is short.
Five years could go by.
You might not be in the samephysical state that you are now,
like you and I are talkingabout.
Like okay, well, how can westart a business?
(08:53):
We're in a good situation rightnow.
We don't have a home like weboth have jobs.
Ally (08:57):
We don't have a home.
Great time to start a business.
Brett (09:00):
I mean, we're going to build, but you know some things
we don't have those expensiveright, Right those expenses and
so it's a scary time in terms ofwe both feel like something is
on the horizon.
Ally (09:10):
Right.
Brett (09:10):
But we just have to keep pushing forward in it Right.
It's scary, but I just gotwater on my iPad, that's good.
Ally (09:18):
You're a big spiller.
Brett (09:19):
I'm a big spiller and it's unfortunate, but um, the
last thing I would say on thispart is just like, remember what
jaco says like disciplineequals freedom.
It's um, that mantra has stayedwith me for way longer than it
should.
Like I don't know, it's justbeen with me forever and like
since college don't let it leaveno, it's.
I mean, it really is.
(09:40):
There's a lot of truth to that,because I do believe that being
disciplined does equal freedomfreedom from your mind Because,
like, if you get things donethat you said you're going to,
you're not going to be thinkingabout it all day, being like man
.
I wish I did that, I wish Iwould have pushed a little
harder.
Discipline and health Like, ifyou learn to say no to all your
cravings and try and avoid junkfood as much as you can, you
(10:02):
exercise a little bit, you'regoing to feel a lot better than
the adverse.
It just kind of weighs.
You might feel in the momentthat being disciplined is not
letting you be free.
But try both of the lifestylesand come back and tell me,
because I think you will seethat being disciplined helps you
(10:24):
be financially free, mentallyfree, physically free from
ailments, whatever it is.
But it's so important just topush yourself and be disciplined
.
But the truth in everything isyou don't need to feel like it,
you just need to decide that youwill do it.
So that's number one.
Number two with getting afterit, I think you focus on the
daily reps instead of thedramatic results, because that's
(10:48):
how the dramatic results comeis from the daily repetitions,
and I kind of want to ask youabout this your first marathon
experience Because you neverlooked at yourself as a runner,
right?
Ally (11:01):
To this day, but onward To this day.
Brett (11:03):
No, you are.
How dare you, um, but likeyou've ran team tim before, and
talk to me about going from thatto deciding to run a marathon
and what that was like, whatdeciding to run a marathon was
like, and then how you trainedfor it, and kind of go into that
(11:25):
I'll say well, let's see thehalf marathon we had for team
tim in 2023 january 2023 incalifornia.
Ally (11:40):
That was eye-opening.
I usually start running like twomonths before our annual cancer
race the half marathon and Ican do well enough in terms of I
usually get to mile 10 and thenI'll walk and then my average
pace is like 11 minutes.
That's how it typically workedout.
It was about the week beforethe race and I could even run
(12:03):
like four miles nonstop and itwas so humbling.
And I remember I was so nervousyou and I would just start
dating and you were a goodrunner and I was so scared to
ask you for help.
I was like this is sohumiliating, like I don't want
to tell him, like what my pacesare.
I don't want to tell him andlike what do you think would
happen?
Brett (12:21):
I don't want to tell him why.
What did you think would happen?
Ally (12:23):
I don't think anything was going to happen.
But obviously you say you ranso fast because you want to
impress me.
I didn't want to show you howslow I was.
I was trying to impress you too.
Brett (12:30):
Well, I'm a guy.
Ally (12:32):
I'm a girl.
You are a girl, that meansnothing.
We try to impress each other.
We got to be physically fit,appealing and appealing You're
ridiculous, but anyways, thatwas like the week before.
I was like, wow, this is badand I want to do a half marathon
every year for my dad.
How am I supposed to just showup the week before and call it
(12:54):
good, like this is not goodenough for me.
So we do that race.
It was bad, one of my well, notmy slowest, but it was still
not great.
My well, not my slowest, but itwas still not great.
And I think that race was kindof the eye-opener where I was
like, why do I wait until rightbefore if I don't stop running?
this would be so much easier Iknow I'm doing a half marathon
(13:16):
every year.
If I literally just did alittle bit every day, I'll be
fine by the time the next timeit comes around why do you think
you didn't?
Up until this point.
Yeah, running's hard, it'suncomfortable, it's not fun.
I've always kind of been like aone to two miler like every few
days type of thing.
But one to two miles everycouple days doesn't really stay
(13:37):
up that well for a half marathon.
You got to go a little furtherthan that, yeah.
Brett (13:46):
It's just.
I think it just boils down touncomfort.
Yeah I mean it's hard, like yousaid, you called it out and so
what flipped one.
Ally (13:52):
I feel like kind of embarrassed really I think it
was an embarrassing thing whereI was like this is literally my
race, like we put this on forour family and I can't even run
a half marathon, and I I waslike how am I?
The whole idea behind runningfor team Tim is the idea we can
do hard things.
Brett (14:08):
Yeah.
Ally (14:08):
And like, if I show up and do day of 13 miles, like, okay,
that was a hard thing, but I'mdoing the same hard thing over
and over, I'm not evenprogressing.
Really like the idea of doingthe hard thing and just getting
the mileage in, like yeah, andjust getting the mileage in,
(14:29):
like yeah, that's, you did itgreat.
But the reason it gets hard isbecause you want to do better
every time, like that's the hard.
I wanted to progress, to try andget better every time, not just
get the miles, miles done.
So definitely helped that youwere getting into running.
All of a sudden you're startingto like it.
So we were talking about itmore and I was like you know,
I'm gonna try and just like,keep going, try for the year and
see how it comes around.
You know, and as I startedrunning, more it becomes easier
(14:51):
you enjoy it a little bit more.
I wouldn't say I enjoy it.
I don't know if I can ever saythose words, but a lot more than
I used to, because it's kind oflike a love hate.
Where you're like I, I like whatit does for me.
Brett (15:04):
I hate doing it yeah, no, I feel the same way.
Ally (15:06):
I just wanted to hear your answer and so then I was
running more consistently andespecially in the beginning I
saw a lot of progress reallyfast, because my baseline was
bad, it was low it's like.
Like my baseline was so lowthat you run for two weeks
straight, you already progresseda lot you know, and so I was
seeing progression.
My mom and I already progresseda lot, you know, and so I was
seeing progression.
My mom and I went on a cruisefor a month Sounds crazy, it was
(15:28):
.
I don't know why we did that,but anyways I was in Antarctica
and bad for you and I yeah andyeah, we were only dating for a
month and I was gone for a month, so that was great, but there
was nothing to do on that cruisesuch an old person cruise and
it was incredible like thesights we saw.
(15:48):
But the longest time like timespan that we had at sea, I think
was like five or six days,that's before porting what was
ours longest on our cruise, twodays at sea yeah, that felt like
an eternity yeah, and so it wasso long.
It's because I was like weatherat a port or something, so we
skipped it and kept going, or Idon't really know, but it was so
long, and so my mom and I wouldget up, we'd go to the gym,
yeah, and then we'd go to thepool, we'd go do lunch and then
(16:11):
we'd like go back to the gym andthen we'd do it again like we'd
watch a movie, play games.
It was not very eventful, lovemy mom, I'm.
So I think it was really goodfor us, like it was really fun.
It could have gone either way,like just with one person on a
cruise, for that long I mean 30days is a long time it's a long
time, but we're doing like oneor two workouts a day just
because we had nothing to do gottwo days baby got two days and
(16:33):
I started to notice progress.
I'm like okay, maybe there'ssomething here, yeah, maybe I
can run like and walk me throughthose workouts.
Brett (16:41):
Were they like super intense or were they kind of
just like?
You know, I'm just going toshow up and do what I can today.
Ally (16:49):
Depends on the day I was.
So this is actually funny nowthinking about it my goal on the
cruise ended up being to getsix miles under an hour.
So I could not.
That was so difficult for me.
So I could not.
I was like that was sodifficult for me and in the
(17:10):
beginning I was getting I woulddo probably five miles in like
57 minutes or something is whatit was like something on, or 55
minutes, something like that.
I was like I got to shave fiveminutes to get six under an hour
.
So that became my goal and so Iwas like running a lot, um,
trying to hit that.
So I'd probably try, like everyother day or something, to try
and hit it.
So I was like pushing hard,like my heart rate crazy,
probably sky, like my heartrate's already naturally pretty
(17:31):
high and I remember times I waslike my heart's gonna stop, like
I'm convinced, because I waslike pushing so hard because, I
wanted that so bad.
Some days I just go and doelliptical or I lift a little
bit and stuff like that.
But I did end up getting sixunder an hour by before.
Brett (17:47):
I remember that you, you text me you were so pumped, big
deal.
I was very proud of you.
Ally (17:53):
But because I was able to do that, I think I was like okay
, maybe I can do it.
Maybe, I can.
And this was a month after ourteam Tim in January, so I was
like dang.
A month after our team tim injanuary.
So I was like dang, I couldn'teven run four miles before that
race and I'm doing six under anhour, like, maybe, like, if I
keep, if I don't stop, like Iactually can get better.
It's the reps right, and sothat's when I decided, okay, I'm
(18:14):
just not gonna stop, like onceI got back from the cruise.
And then you and I were like,hey, let's get married.
I'm like, okay, sweet, nowwe're running forever.
And so now, you're runningforever.
And so I think we did.
Let's think we did the StGeorge half marathon in 2023.
Brett (18:29):
And we did the Utah Valley one first.
Oh yeah, we did Utah Valley.
That was my first marathon.
Ally (18:33):
Yes, my goal at Utah Valley was the half marathon
under two hours, which was likea huge deal for me because I
came from my January halfmarathon in like 2.30, something
like that.
I was optimistic because theUtah Valley was downhill.
I was like, okay, well, maybeI'll get a little extra speed
this way, and I did.
(18:54):
I think my time was like anhour and 58 or something like
that.
That's awesome.
I was like right in front ofthe pacer.
I was stressed.
So then I was excited because Igot a PR and I hit my goal,
yeah.
So like, okay, maybe there'ssomething to this, I'll keep
going.
So we keep running every day.
Then you and I did St Georgeand I was like I just want to PR
, I want to beat my last pace.
I think St George, I got likean hour and I'd need to double
(19:19):
check.
I think it was like 50 orsomething maybe, maybe.
It was like every time right andsince I started running, I have
PR'd every race, and and so I'mnervous because we have
Minnesota coming up for a fullmarathon.
Brett (19:33):
Both of us got issues with our legs, so it should be
fun, right.
Ally (19:36):
So since January, committing to run in 2023, every
race we've done, I've PR'd andI think that kind of gives me a
little taste to keep goingforward.
Yeah.
But I know if I'm not puttingin the consistent reps, I'm not
going to PR and I'm going to besad.
Brett (19:53):
So I think it's finally just registered for me that if I
don't stop, oh, maybe I'llactually get better and it's
been working so yeah, that'shuge, it is huge.
Ally (20:03):
And then it was neat for me because the year a year later
from the 2023 half marathon waswhen we did my full marathon.
Brett (20:13):
Yeah.
Ally (20:13):
And my time was three hours and 57 minutes.
It was like an average pace of906 or four, I don't know what
it was Some average pace of lownines, and that was almost a
minute and a half faster than myhalf marathon the year before.
Brett (20:28):
With double the distance, with double the distance,
that's awesome.
Ally (20:30):
And so I think it just started feeling so good that
just so much self-confidencecame from one putting in like
doing multiple races and seeingprogress, but also just in my
day-to-day runs, being able tosee like, okay, I, I can run
four days out of the week andnot crumble.
(20:52):
Yeah, so it's been.
It's been a confidence builderfor me for sure, and I think
that's what keeps me running um,it's huge for that yeah, but
it's been.
It's been a lot more enjoyablenow.
But I will say I have startedto plateau because I was like,
oh, now you got to like aregular average runner and and
then now it's like I'm stuckhere.
So like the faster you startgoing, the less time you shave
(21:17):
off every race and so it'sstarting to get more difficult.
Brett (21:21):
But Well, I think this quote kind of fits a lot into
this from Jim Rohn.
He says success is nothing morethan a few simple disciplines
practiced every day.
That's really what it is.
It's like the reason you sawsuccess in your running is
because you showed up on almosta daily basis to run and you're
(21:44):
like you know what?
Whatever, I'm stuck in thisforever.
We do a race every year for mydad.
My husband's a runner.
Ally (21:49):
We're doing this.
Fine, I'll start runningregularly, it's just that
consistency.
Brett (21:58):
That's really what it is.
It's like the reps.
The consistent reps are whatwill bring those dramatic
results over time.
Ally (22:01):
You have to trust the process.
The hard thing is if you miss aweek or two weeks, you notice
it's like obvious how dramaticyou feel after not running for a
week or two, versus runningevery day yeah and now that I
noticed that I'm like I wouldrather run every day and feel
decent enough most days than notrun for two weeks and try and
come back.
Brett (22:19):
Yeah, and then also like the mental game.
Ally (22:21):
Right, that's probably the hardest part.
Brett (22:23):
That's what we're talking about next.
That's the third part.
Okay, getting after it is themental battle.
I need the help Because that issomething that I think we all
struggle with, myself included.
This is the hardest thing thatI have to deal with, with
anything I do, but it's thatvoice in your head, um, that
will make or break you.
You can give the power tochoose to listen to it or not,
(22:43):
and I, um, I wrote down a fewthoughts that I have on a
regular basis when my head tellsme.
The voice in my head, the badone says you're falling off,
you're not good enough.
What's the voice in my head,the bad one, says you're falling
off, you're not good enough.
What's the point?
Those are probably the threebiggest things I think about.
Ally (22:59):
Dang, that's sad.
Brett (23:01):
You're falling off or you're not good enough.
Like what's the point?
Like I even thought about thattoday with, like BPN's last man
Sam.
Like I wonder if I just wasn'tgood enough to be chosen because
like it's a raffle kind ofthing, you know.
I mean that's the problem.
Like I have those thoughts, butthe thing is, is that voice
doesn't get to lead right?
That's where the general comesin and slaps him around, says,
hey, let's get to work.
(23:22):
Um, to me, getting after itmeans recognizing the voice
that's in your head,acknowledging it and then doing
the work anyway, because that'shonestly one of the hardest
things to do.
But you have to show up.
And do you know who Confuciusis?
Ally (23:37):
We've talked about him once.
Brett (23:39):
He's like a Chinese stoic .
Ally (23:41):
Okay, but he has this quote where he says I'm going to
get it wrong.
Brett (23:49):
It's like a short quote too.
That's stupid.
Here it is he who conquershimself is the mightiest warrior
.
Ally (23:55):
That's cool.
Brett (23:57):
But the more that you act against that voice, the quieter
it becomes.
It's not about turning it offcompletely, because then I think
that's when you become arrogant, but it's about proving it
wrong.
That's what's important.
You got to tell it.
Hey, no, you might want to becomfortable, you might want to
stay in bed, but we're not doingthat today, and it's hard.
(24:17):
It's a hard thing to do toovercome the mental battles, and
that's like things like fear,that's uncertainty, it's like I
said, not thinking that you'regood enough or not feeling that
you have the capability to dothat thing, you're not qualified
Like, like it's all thesethings in your head that no
one's told you, but you justmake up these stories instead,
(24:39):
and that's a dangerous place tobe.
I'm there, I think, morefrequently than I would like to
be, if I'm honest.
But that voice also drives meforward because I know if it's
speaking there's something Ihave to do, and it's usually not
.
Listening to that voice likenot giving up.
(25:00):
It's tough.
Ally (25:03):
Can I give you a little spin on that?
Brett (25:06):
Please do.
Ally (25:07):
I don't know if this applies.
I work very differently thanyou believe.
Brett (25:15):
I what do you mean like jobs professionally?
Ally (25:19):
no, but yes, that too I I mean.
When I'm running, usually I'mtelling myself like I'm tired,
I'm I want to, I'm bored.
Yeah, you know, it's like thosekind of things.
One and every two months it'llbe like I hate myself, like I
suck.
This is the worst, like Iwouldn't say my normal negative
talk is so harsh on me like theexamples you just gave.
(25:41):
I would say it's more like myquote-unquote negative talk is
more like I'm too soft on myselfsometimes.
Brett (25:53):
Really, what do you mean?
Ally (25:56):
So, like you, you're like hard on yourself and mean and
stuff like that, and you have tofight and like ignore it and
move on past it.
I would say I'm almost theother way, where I give myself
too much grace, where I'm like Igot tired, it's okay, like,
well, everyone's different, Iknow, but that's what I'm like I
got tired, it's okay.
Well, everyone's different, Iknow, but that's what I'm saying
(26:17):
, giving you a different spin onit, where I wouldn't say that
the thoughts I fight aren'tself-hate and self like putting
myself down and stuff.
Brett (26:29):
You fight the siren.
Call of comfort.
Ally (26:31):
Wow, that was beautifully stated, thank you, yeah,
bringing, that was beautifullystated.
Thank you, bringing.
Brett (26:35):
Greek mythology back into it, but it was okay, so that
makes sense to me.
I would assume everyone has adifferent way to talk to
themselves.
Mine, I guess, is aggressive.
But when that voice is like,hey, you've already ran eight
miles you don't have to goanother four Right.
What do you do?
Ally (26:53):
I'm like hey, you've already ran eight miles.
Brett (26:54):
You don't have to go another four, right?
What do you do?
I'm like you're right, I'm justkidding You're right, all right
, I'm tired.
Ally (27:01):
Usually I just try and think of something else.
We know I'm a big daydreamer.
Brett (27:04):
Yeah.
Ally (27:05):
Like usually getting through my runs, I have to set a
scene.
I'm watching a movie in my head, like I'm very immersed in my
daydream, yeah, and so if Istart thinking like, oh, I'm
tired on this, I like create anew plot, I'm like, all right,
next movie, I'm obviously bored.
Moving on interesting and so Itry to just think of different
(27:26):
things, like today's run soboring I did on a treadmill, and
it's facing a mirror and and soI'm staring at myself for two
hours.
Brett (27:33):
Yeah, that's impressive.
I only will do eight miles onthis treadmill.
I cannot look at myself formore than an hour.
Ally (27:40):
It's humbling.
You're like, oh, look at thosecheeks like jiggle, like over
and over, and I was likestarting to get tired.
And so like I was thinkingabout our marathon coming up
next month quite a bit and I'mimagining Duluth and the trees
and I'm thinking about that race, and then I got tired so I'm
like you know what?
I'm switching.
I'm thinking of our 50K.
(28:01):
Now my whole mindset is in adifferent area of just being
able to endure rather than goingfor speed.
So I did have to slow it downfor a minute to be able to
regroup.
My knee has been bothering me.
I think a minute to be able tolike regroup my knee has been
bothering me.
(28:21):
I think speed hurts it.
So I've been kind of dabblingwith that, seeing what feels
better to get more miles in.
So then I put myself I was likeyou had already finished in my
daydream.
I was like competing againstdrew and I didn't see him at the
very end and I'm trying tocatch up.
So like I'm like creating thesestories to like get my mind
away from comfort.
Don't get me wrong.
Every so often I had the samenegative guy yelling at me and
it makes me want to quit,because I quit running because
(28:42):
of how mean it can get.
But I think the day to daytemptation is that the comfort.
Brett (28:48):
Yeah, and I will say it is important to listen to your
body, Like you said.
Do you have any issues?
I don't think it's smart to belike I'm really feeling pretty
bad today but I'm still going togo run, Like I think it is
important to listen to thatsometimes.
But to your point, it's likewhen you're doing the thing,
that's when the siren comes andis like hey, just come, rest up
a little bit.
Why don't you take a seat, yourknee hurts.
Ally (29:09):
See how yeah.
Brett (29:10):
So it's when you're doing the thing, right?
Okay, I just want to make thatclear.
Ally (29:14):
If we're not giving advice , to push through pain if you're
injured, yeah, no, and I I meanI took about a week and a half
off just doing like ellipticalbike and stuff like that.
So I'm starting to make my wayback.
I think it's feeling strongerthan it has in the last week or
so.
So I think we're on our way up,but I do realize that speed
isn't really quite there yet.
(29:34):
So moving back slowly.
Brett (29:37):
It's fair.
Ally (29:37):
Hopefully the right way.
Brett (29:38):
Yeah, it's important.
I mean those reps, it's like wetalked about that'll bring the
brilliant result.
So I love that.
But beat the mental game, andthat's why I talk about doing
hard things.
That's why I talk about wakingup early and going to the gym,
because that helps you beat themental game.
Ally (29:55):
And it bleeds into all areas of life, as you always say
, which is what we're going totalk about.
Oh, wow, wow.
You would think I read this.
I swear I didn't.
You're great at segues, Thankyou.
Brett (30:03):
Get after it in every arena.
Ally (30:04):
Wow.
Brett (30:08):
So ode to the man didn't have anything to do with this
section, but I just love that.
Um.
So pretty much what this meansis that the way that you do one
thing is the way you doeverything, and if you're going
to go all in and running, ifyou're going to go all in and
business like that is how youshould be doing all parts of
your life.
So for me, I broke it down withlike faith, like reading
(30:29):
scriptures when you're tired andpraying when you don't feel
like it.
That's important Family, havinghard conversations instead of
avoiding them, and work showingup prepared even when others
aren't Like.
I had to prep a lot for thisweek at Accelerate and it was a
lot of work, but I'm glad that Idid, because I was able to have
better conversations with thepeople who I spoke with.
(30:50):
And so it's not just aboutfitness.
This is like a mindset to adaptspoke with, and so it's not
just about fitness.
This is like a mindset to adapt.
It's like okay, the reason Italk about fitness first is
because I think that's theeasiest example you can do.
That's like what you weretalking about on the boat.
It's like, oh man, there arereal results here.
Like maybe I can do this andsee something come from it and
that's why I talk about fitnesstoo is because the discipline
(31:12):
that follows from it.
Being fit requires immensediscipline.
Being healthy does, and thatshould teach you that if you're
able to do those things, ifyou're able to go to the gym and
be consistent there and starteating better, then why can't
you do that at work?
Why can't you do that with yourfamily?
Why can't you do that?
If you want to learn somethingnew or start a business, go all
(31:34):
in on the things that you do.
It's the Ron Swanson quote younever half-ass two things, you
full-ass one thing.
Ally (31:44):
Is that really his quote?
Brett (31:45):
It's a great quote.
That's funny, yeah, but itreally is just important you
don't compartmentalizeexcellence.
The reason you are an excellentperson is because everything
you do is excellent and itrequires drive.
And when I was in my youngmen's group in my church, the
(32:07):
leaders of my church would say,like the leaders of my quorum,
they would say you've got to bea stallion.
I'd be like what does that meana stallion?
And they would always say it'ssay you got to be a stallion.
I'm like what does that mean astallion?
And they would always say it'sthe five again the stallion.
You got to be like megan thestallion yeah, no, um, we would
all probably be in jail oh um,she got shot in the foot I know
(32:28):
might be a ditty thing could bea ditty thing stay tuned megan,
we're disappointed.
Um, anyways, so they would talkabout the stallion, say, okay,
a stallion has five pillars,like their faith, their family,
they are able to talk to people.
Ally (32:43):
Um, I can't remember the other two right, they're making
that up yeah, they just made upthe stallion so this is like
their own, like pillar,basically yeah, but they would
always say, like it was.
Brett (32:53):
Basically, they broke down everything that we would do
as kids or teenagers into fivedifferent things.
So it was like, uh,professionalism, faith, family I
can't remember the other onesum, but like the only way you
became a stallion is if you weredoing well in all those areas I
think education was another um,I can't remember the last one.
(33:14):
Lance Foster and Kelly Shepardare going to kill me, but I
think that there's a lot to that, because the only reason that
people are great is becausethey're great at all things that
they do.
Maybe not great, but they tryin all things that they do.
That's more applicable here, Ithink, because you won't be
great at everything you do.
Go listen to the first episodeof this podcast.
(33:35):
It was not good, but I'vepoured a lot of work into it and
it's gotten a little bit betterover time.
Same with being in my career.
I started creating a companywith my brother and I was a
little baby at the time.
Going back now, I feel like wecould have done way better.
He says the same thing, but, um,that's all part of the process
is learning these lessons, butthe only way you'll learn them
(33:58):
is if you try your best at it,like that's what's important is
you got to do the hard thing,got to push and and see what you
can do, and I don't know.
I mean, I think that's justsuch an important thing for
everyone to consider is like arethere areas of your life that
you're neglecting or you'reputting.
You're putting more time andeffort into one area that's not
(34:19):
getting you as far as you wouldlike.
Like for me, if I pouredeverything I had into fitness,
my job would probably fail.
My relationship with you wouldprobably suffer, um and so there
has to be I don't want to saybalance, but you have to be
disciplined enough to do thethings and still make time for
the others if that makes sense.
Ally (34:41):
I kind of like how you didn't say balance, because I
think some things are seasonal.
Brett (34:46):
Yeah.
Ally (34:46):
Like a week before your race or like leading up to a
race.
If you have to prioritizecertain things differently, then
you have to prioritize thingsdifferently.
And same with job.
This last week we had a bigconference, so I wasn't
expecting to get an hour callevery night when you get home,
got to get to bed and you got anearly morning.
So I think things just kind ofkeep wobbling around.
(35:07):
As long as you're giving themall care it's like plants Not
all of them need water every dayyou just kind of give them what
they need and it's a goodanalogy a little bit of sun or
whatever, and you just make surethey're all growing.
Brett (35:20):
but they may need different things at different
times do you do anything in yourlife where you're like almost
like a reflective practice,where you do like a debrief on
each area, like how am, am Idoing?
In my faith?
You know what I'm saying.
Ally (35:35):
Yeah, I obviously don't journal the way you do, which I
should.
We talk about all the time, Iknow.
Brett (35:42):
No, everyone's different.
Ally (35:43):
But I would say I don't have like designated times I'd
say at church.
I'm reflected on my week, likespiritually, what I can be doing
spiritually the next week andstuff.
And I'm reflecting on my weeklike spiritually, what I can be
doing spiritually the next weekand stuff, and so that's kind of
like a trigger point of when tolike reflect on how I'm doing
spiritually and then at work,like it's obvious, if you're not
doing great when you're flying,if you're like, oh, I feel
(36:04):
behind, so you, I mean I get a,I crash the jet.
I know, so I get to think aboutthat or whatever.
I feel like when I'm in thescene, am I thinking about it?
I'm like while I'm writing I'mlike, okay, how am I feeling?
You're kind of like a littleinternal check and a physical
check.
Like how are things checkingout?
I wouldn't say that I like Isit down and just debrief all
(36:27):
aspects at the same time.
It's more like when I'm in it.
How are we doing?
How are we going to refine it?
Brett (36:33):
Yeah, I like that.
I do a lot of that too.
It's like in the moment, kindof thing.
Ally (36:37):
Yeah, I mean, I would say before bed is like my closest
thing to debriefing all of them.
When I'm trying to sleep, youknow, I think about how my day
went.
I think about my future Quickstory about Allie.
Brett (36:48):
Oh gosh this.
I had a crazy dream last nightand I don't remember it at all.
Ally (36:56):
Oh yeah, this is a really weird thing actually.
Brett (36:58):
And then as soon as we get in bed, and she puts her
head on the pillow she remembersit like it just happened.
Ally (37:05):
That is very odd.
I listened to a ChrisWilliamson podcast with a memory
guy.
Brett (37:09):
Yeah.
Ally (37:10):
And he was saying how, when you put yourself in a place
that something happened, thememory comes back.
Yeah, like how, when you putyourself in a place that
something happened, the memorycame back, comes back, yeah, and
like so.
A lot of people affiliate likeoh, I was drinking diet coke
when I was reading these studyquestions.
Okay, so when I drink diet cokeit might help you remember
those yeah, the setting rightright, and so I'm thinking
(37:30):
that's what it's got to be,because I'll wake up.
I'm like that was crazy and then, boom, it's gone.
Don't remember it all day long,don't remember what happened.
I put my like.
Once my head hits the pillow,it's like oh my gosh, that was
crazy.
Brett (37:41):
I'll tell you now, you know, and then I'm like half
asleep and I'm like, wow, yeah,that's crazy it's insane.
Ally (37:47):
Yeah, it is pretty cool, so weird.
Brett (37:48):
But I do think it's important to like reflect time
to time um on the things thatyou're doing and yeah, how do
you know if you're progressingand how you can progress?
yeah, you can only progresswhat's being tracked right.
So the last one this is themost important part of getting
after it is what does gettingafter it look like for you as a
(38:13):
principal?
But I'm curious, I want to askyou that question what does it
look like for you?
Because I think it's differentthan me, I think it's different
than your brother, like it's apersonal thing getting after it
to me.
Ally (38:33):
I think I need to think about it for a minute.
It's hard to really Brettwhat's the right word for when
(38:56):
you're trying to get data,Trying to get data.
Brett (39:01):
Yeah, like it's hard to like quantify, quantify okay is
that what that means?
Like um yeah okay, yeah, dataanalysis okay, that's what I
mean.
Ally (39:10):
It's hard to quantify, like how much you're getting
after every day.
And if I did it right that day,I would say.
But I think a rule of thumb forme is did I do what I could?
Yeah, like, did I one?
You got your checklist for theday?
Did I get things, everything Iwant to get done?
Did it get done?
(39:30):
And did it get done well enoughthat I can say I'm proud, yeah,
and sometimes it's no.
Sometimes like, oh, I didn't getmy run in, or like I kind of
sucked at it, I quit because Ilistened to my comfort voice, or
sometimes I didn't study aslong as I should have, or
whatever it is.
But it's very obvious to myselfwhen I didn't do that in terms
(39:52):
of I'm like, oh, I obviouslywant to study for four hours,
all I got to.
But but it's like trying toidentify did I work as hard as I
needed, even though study forfour hours, I only got two?
But it's like trying toidentify did I work as hard as I
needed, even though it was twohours?
So, all that to say, I think ifI can go to bed at night and be
proud of the effort I put in, Iwould call that a success.
Brett (40:13):
I love that.
I think that's great Because itwill look different for
everyone, like for me.
I think of the quote fromMarcus Aurelius where he says be
strict with yourself but betolerant with others.
And so when I'm thinking aboutgetting after it for myself,
it's a code.
(40:33):
I've talked about codes beforeand why they're important and
basically it's just certainprinciples that I live my life
by.
Like I wrote a few down.
I train when it's hard, I tellthe truth when it's
uncomfortable, I keep promises,especially to myself, I take
care of those around me, likethings like that, and I always
(40:54):
want to make sure I'm doing whatI can to keep going forward,
because getting after it helpsyou build momentum and that
needs to keep going.
And ultimately it's just a codethat helps me achieve goals.
That's really what it is For me.
(41:14):
Getting after it is principlesI live by that help me build the
life that I want, and that's alot from setting goals and
achieving them, or setting goalsand failing at them and
learning from that.
But there are principles thathave never led me astray and the
more I incorporate them into mylife, like when I train hard,
even when I'm tired, and I stillmake that effort.
(41:35):
I know I can push throughdifficult things and I know
whatever comes my way, I canprobably figure out a way to get
through it.
And it's not an easy lifestyle.
But I think if you want to begreat at anything, it's not
going to be easy because there'sother people competing for it
and they might want it worsethan you, which is another thing
(41:57):
I think about when I'm running.
Someone else wants it better,but that's really it, and it
will look different for everyonebecause you might have not the
same athletic body as others oryou might be overweight.
That's what I'm trying to say.
So getting after it might lookvery different for you than it
(42:19):
might for someone else.
Or you might be in thebeginning of your career when
someone else is a veteran andhas been doing it for 20 years.
You can't compare yourself tothat person, and so you have to
figure out what in your life youcan get after to get to that
level and break it downconstantly, reflect, choose it.
This is full circle here.
So you choose to be disciplinedand you choose to get after it.
(42:41):
You do the reps.
You don't focus on the bigresults, you focus on the daily
repetitions.
You win the mind game and youpush through, even when it's
difficult and you don't want tolisten to it anymore.
You write your code down andyou just keep getting after it,
because it's going to lookunique for you I like that quote
that says to choose the harderright than the easier wrong yeah
(43:04):
and I think that's a good ruleof thumb of how to progress like
are you doing the uncomfortablegood so that you can become a
better person?
Ally (43:14):
are you letting yourself just kind of wither away and go
through life?
Yeah are you?
Are you actively attacking lifeor is are you like a victim to
how life is treating you?
Brett (43:24):
I like that.
Yeah, I think that's difficult,though, choosing like, but what
I?
What I do recognize, though, is, when I choose the harder right
than the easier wrong, it's notas bad as I thought it was,
yeah, and so that's like why Isay winning the mental game and
beating that voice in your headis because oftentimes it's a
(43:45):
liar, true.
Ally (43:47):
It's so annoying.
Brett (43:47):
And it doesn't tell you what actually is the truth.
And if you listen to a liar,you're going to have a pretty
crappy life.
So get liars out of there,including yourself, and that's
why one of my principles is Iwill not lie, especially to
myself, like I'll always tellthe truth.
And if I can take one more step, I'll ask myself can you?
(44:08):
and if I can, I will I like thatso that's pretty much it
because, like I said, it'spersonal and you shouldn't treat
it as something that's likejust a mantra, like getting
after it, like in the beginning.
(44:29):
I think it looks cool on at-shirt.
I think it's a cool thing tosay to someone oh yeah, I'm
getting after it, but it willlook different for everyone.
The point is push yourself,challenge yourself, see what you
can do.
This is life is short, we don'thave a lot of time, but I have
a challenge and I think it's apretty easy one, but I want I
(44:56):
think it's an easy challenge toget started.
Then it's going to get hardokay, because once you identify
this, you're in.
You're in trouble, okay.
But finding out one area inyour life that you've been a
little, a little more passivethan you would like, and figure
it out, find it and this weekjust take more steps toward it,
whatever, take small actions,get it done and at the end of
(45:20):
the week, reflect, look at theresults, because you have to do
the work, but then you also haveto think about what that work
did and adjust your behaviors.
Ally (45:29):
I like it, I'll do it.
Brett (45:31):
I love it.
Everyone else should do it too,but I appreciate everyone for
listening to this episode and Ihope it shed a little bit more
light on what getting after itmeans and what it could mean for
you, because it has changed mylife and I know it can do the
same If you take theseprinciples, you apply them to
your life and you figure outwhat you want to get after and
(45:52):
go full throttle into that thing.
Because life is short.
We don't have a lot of time, somake the most of it now.
Thanks, for coming on lover anduntil next episode, everyone
keep getting after it.
That's right, baby.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.