May 7, 2025 • 10 mins
Commitment is the cornerstone of transformation—whether you're naturally driven or need structured support. Ariel and Lucas dive deep into how even those without intrinsic motivation can achieve remarkable change through simple time-bound commitments, like walking 10,000 steps daily for 90 consecutive days.
The conversation explores a fascinating warehouse analogy for personal growth: you enter a vast space where your ultimate goal beckons from a distance, but your journey consists of opening countless doors, one after another. Each door represents a mini-goal or action, visible only when you're standing right in front of it. This perfectly captures why success is simultaneously everything and nothing—meaningful in the moment but quickly replaced by the next challenge, echoing the Zen wisdom: "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."
Age emerges as a critical factor in our ability to transform. The hosts contrast the dramatic life changes that naturally occur between ages 14-24 with the increasing resistance to change after 30, when most people have crystallized their identities. This creates a poignant paradox: older adults who value their remaining time most highly often find it hardest to implement meaningful change. For fitness professionals, this presents unique challenges—Lucas even admits he rarely takes clients over 60 because the physical and mental barriers to change become so formidable. This conversation offers valuable perspective on how we can harness time while it remains on our side, rather than waiting until transformation becomes exponentially more difficult. Subscribe to Lifestyle Strength for more insights on navigating health and wellness at every life stage!
Support Ariel by booking a massage:
https://www.competitorsedgemassage.com/
Support Lucas by booking training:
https://www.hydefitnessconsulting.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Lifestyle Strength, your guide to
mastering health and well-beingin the real world.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm Ariel, a massage therapist with over a decade of
experience in holistic health,and I'm here with Lucas, a
seasoned fitness coach, who'stransformed the lives of
hundreds in Northwest Arkansas.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
We're here to share real stories and expert insights
about embracing a healthylifestyle while balancing the
everyday hustle.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Join us as we explore practical ways to achieve
wellness and thrive amidstlife's challenges.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Let's dive in.
I think, for somebody who mightbe just a little bit more of
like a lamb personality or bepersonality where they're not
really goal-driven, they can'tfigure out, like they don't have
the motivation to go go to amud ride or go to a lifting
event like, or or even theconfidence necessarily to do
that.
Um, you still have to findcommitment somewhere.
(00:49):
So it might just be somethingas simple as like, can I'll, can
I'll walk?
Can I just prove to myself thatI can walk 10,000 steps a day
for 90 days in a row?
No breaks, right, absolutely no, no reason not to.
For 90 days in a row, no breaks, absolutely no reason not to.
Figuring it out just foryourself.
(01:11):
That could be something simpler,which, again, this kind of goes
back to that time-based goal.
So that might you know, I mean,that is something that I
initially do with all my clients, like, everybody has to work
with me for three months.
So, yeah, it's kind of why it'sthere.
It's like we have an end pointthat we're aiming to reach for,
but it's not real.
It's not a real end point, it'sjust something we're setting,
(01:32):
yeah, for for you to like, havesome of that pressure.
Yeah, well, for the person tohave some of that pressure.
That's like what we did.
I mean, it was it was 90 daysand at the end of it I was like,
oh, this is permanent, yeah.
I'm changed my life Like this,changed my life completely, like
and like.
But I mean I definitely thepersonality side.
It's like you can't teachhunger, like we talked about
(01:54):
that in our, in our business alot.
Like some people are justhungry all the time.
They're just hungry.
They're hungry for willing togive up everything to get to
their goals.
Those people are definitelyself-motivated.
You don't have to teach themanything, but it's like how does
you know?
That's not the entire world,though.
How do you get everyone to be ahealthier group of people?
And you know that's whatAmerica needs?
(02:15):
You can't get everyone to dare.
You can't.
That's the problem.
No, you can't.
But how do you?
I mean we can motivate one byone, and that's you know.
I hope that.
I hope that you know.
Morgan talked about justsomething that she posted the
other day that made such a hugeimpact on her is that she was
able to help people.
You know like she had peoplereach out to her and talk about
(02:36):
it, how I was, like that that'sa proud moment, that's like such
a like you know I was.
I was just just be proud ofyourself for that.
So yeah, you know, so soawesome that you know you can
help someone else, even if it'sone person, it's like the best
feeling in the world.
That's, um, uh, you know, I Inever always heard the golden
rule growing up.
(02:56):
And then I remember one day, uh, my wife and I we live in a
tiny little 800 square foothouse first house we lived in
there and rented and like oneday I was sitting on my computer
and it just like it hit me,like we were still wearing masks
.
I was like, wow.
I was like treat other peoplethe way you want to be treated.
That literally means that likeif everybody helped out their
(03:18):
neighbor, it would be spider web, it would extend to the whole
world and everybody would getsome support.
It wouldn't solve everyone'sproblems, but it would be like,
hey, I have a hand here if youneed it.
And it never hit me the sameway that it did that day.
I saw it from a broad scale,rather than just when people
(03:41):
tell you you get in a fight withyour brother.
You treat them the way you wantto be treated.
Yeah, you know, in regards topeople, I think we don't.
People fight change, especiallythe older they get, and that's a
theme that I've seen over andover in fitness is that it
(04:03):
doesn't get easier, right?
It never get easier, right, itnever gets easier.
Right, Does not matter ifyou're busy this week.
It's not going to be easy,because you're going to be older
next week and you're busy thisweek is way less important than
you getting a week older.
Yeah, I get that.
I wish I would have started whenI was 20.
(04:24):
You know, to go back on time itcan't, so I'm starting now.
Yes, and it's, we're here, andit's crazy how fast really it's
happened, because it's like youknow, time moves faster as we
get older.
Like a year blips by.
So the fact that you had thistransformation in what?
90 days, six months, it's likethere's a brush, there's nothing
(04:46):
.
I feel like there's a lot moreto go, though.
Well, there always is, therealways is.
There's not an end point, right.
You know, I, I tell people whenwe, when people are very goal
driven and they set veryspecific goals and then they hit
those goals.
You know, and I've talked aboutit on here before, I compare it
to, I compare it to being inthis massive warehouse.
(05:06):
On one end, you've committed tobecoming a better version in
one form or aspect in your life,and so you decided to open the
door to the warehouse and sothere's all this open space and
in front of you you can seesomewhere far down there around
(05:28):
a door there's like there's yourgoal way down there, yeah, but
right in front of you is like alittle mini, mini goal or an
action or something and you'regonna open that door and then
you're just gonna open it up andthen there's gonna be another
door right and then you have toopen that door up and there's
gonna be another door.
You're not gonna be able to seeanything else.
That's going, it's just thatdoor that's right in front of
you, right.
And you got to be willing justto keep walking through those
doors and one day you're goingto walk out of the warehouse and
(05:50):
be like, oh, I got there, yeah,and then the next warehouse,
that's right, that's right.
Otherwise you just like youjust kind of float in space.
Yeah, I remember one of my mainsales guys for our business.
He was just hired on and thiswas, gosh, 14, 15 years ago and
he was wanting to celebrate thishuge deal that he got and I was
(06:12):
like, so pumped, everybody's soexcited oh, my gosh, we got it.
It's been working on so longand then we got done with the
celebration.
I said, what are we doingtomorrow?
And he's like what I was, like,yeah, it starts over tomorrow.
We start over every day.
We end the day, we starttomorrow fresh.
We're gonna do it again.
(06:34):
So it's almost like those goalsare you refresh it all?
Yeah, it just refreshes.
It's weird because they're both.
It both means everything to youand it's entirely meaningless
at the same time.
Right, because as soon as youaccomplish it, it's like, okay,
what do I get?
(06:54):
A trophy, like a ribbon?
Like, yeah, maybe More likelynothing, you know.
Yeah, maybe your ribbon mightbe a paycheck.
If it's a really awesome goal,right, and that can feel really
good because that can open up alot of things for you in your
life.
But outside of that, it's justwell, it's not gonna last
forever.
The feeling is gonna go away.
Yeah, so, like it's like ifsuccess is the expectation every
(07:18):
time, then it just becomes aneveryday object.
You have to get over and besuccessful every day.
So, yeah, I'm working towardssuccess and I, once I hit it,
it's the expectation.
It's not, like, you know, goingback to do I need the trophy or
do I need to do it againtomorrow.
Right, I'm gonna do it againtomorrow, right?
There's a saying um, beforeenlightenment, chop would carry
(07:39):
water, and after enlightenment,chop would carry water.
Yeah, and it's like what?
Yep, because you still gotta.
Still gotta drink water everyday, that's right.
Still gotta have fire and makefood, that's right.
Keep your family warm.
That's how humans have livedfor.
You know, we're at such a weirdtime now where things are in
abundance and so surviving isnot that hard.
(08:02):
Surviving is relatively easyright On the day to day.
So that makes us just want tocome foot off the gas and kind
of relax, just get comfortable,yeah, yeah, and, and there's
nothing wrong with enjoyingcomfort every now and then, sure
, but, but it's really easy toget comfy and just to kind of
(08:24):
get here.
Yeah, but then, like times onour side, that's the biggest
thing that I've come to realizedoing all this.
And then it's seeing people,you know, coach people in their
teens.
I coach people with seven overthe age of 70.
Yeah, and it's very interestingthe different perspectives of
time that people have and whatthey're willing to, what they're
(08:48):
willing to do or they'rewilling to put their energy
right, and, uh, it's, it's funnybecause the the younger people.
People on the younger side havean easier time changing,
naturally, because either theirbody's still changing or like
they're discovering who they are.
So it's like, even if they havehard habits, that they're on a
(09:12):
break.
It's like life has, like forceschange to happen.
Yeah, inevitably Right, becausejust think about you know the
difference between when you were, you know, 14 and the
difference between you were 18and the difference between when
you were 18 and the differencebetween you were 24.
Like, those are big shifts inlife.
Yet 14 to 24 is only a 10 yeargap versus the difference
(09:34):
between when you were 24 and 34.
Yeah, it's not.
That's where you've pretty muchdecided who you are.
Yeah, and then every decadeafter that, it's really hard to
change, right, and so it'sreally funny because the older
people, people in their 60s andtheir 70s they value their time
(09:56):
so much that have the hardesttime to change.
Yeah, it's very difficult tochange, both physically and also
mentally.
Right, it's really hard tochange Right.
Like I almost don't even takeclients anymore that are over 60
.
Because it's just hard.
It's a waste of both of ourtimes.
Yeah, thank you so much forlistening to today's episode.
(10:16):
We want to invite you back nextweek as we continue the
conversation, and be sure tofollow us on social media to get
all of our content and clipsand anything you might've missed
.
Again, thanks for listening andwe'll see you next week.
Welcome to Lifestyle Strength, your guide to
mastering health and well-beingin the real world.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm Ariel, a massage therapist with over a decade of
experience in holistic health,and I'm here with Lucas, a
seasoned fitness coach, who'stransformed the lives of
hundreds in Northwest Arkansas.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
We're here to share real stories and expert insights
about embracing a healthylifestyle while balancing the
everyday hustle.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Join us as we explore practical ways to achieve
wellness and thrive amidstlife's challenges.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Let's dive in.
I think, for somebody who mightbe just a little bit more of
like a lamb personality or bepersonality where they're not
really goal-driven, they can'tfigure out, like they don't have
the motivation to go go to amud ride or go to a lifting
event like, or or even theconfidence necessarily to do
that.
Um, you still have to findcommitment somewhere.
(00:49):
So it might just be somethingas simple as like, can I'll, can
I'll walk?
Can I just prove to myself thatI can walk 10,000 steps a day
for 90 days in a row?
No breaks, right, absolutely no, no reason not to.
For 90 days in a row, no breaks, absolutely no reason not to.
Figuring it out just foryourself.
(01:11):
That could be something simpler,which, again, this kind of goes
back to that time-based goal.
So that might you know, I mean,that is something that I
initially do with all my clients, like, everybody has to work
with me for three months.
So, yeah, it's kind of why it'sthere.
It's like we have an end pointthat we're aiming to reach for,
but it's not real.
It's not a real end point, it'sjust something we're setting,
(01:32):
yeah, for for you to like, havesome of that pressure.
Yeah, well, for the person tohave some of that pressure.
That's like what we did.
I mean, it was it was 90 daysand at the end of it I was like,
oh, this is permanent, yeah.
I'm changed my life Like this,changed my life completely, like
and like.
But I mean I definitely thepersonality side.
It's like you can't teachhunger, like we talked about
(01:54):
that in our, in our business alot.
Like some people are justhungry all the time.
They're just hungry.
They're hungry for willing togive up everything to get to
their goals.
Those people are definitelyself-motivated.
You don't have to teach themanything, but it's like how does
you know?
That's not the entire world,though.
How do you get everyone to be ahealthier group of people?
And you know that's whatAmerica needs?
(02:15):
You can't get everyone to dare.
You can't.
That's the problem.
No, you can't.
But how do you?
I mean we can motivate one byone, and that's you know.
I hope that.
I hope that you know.
Morgan talked about justsomething that she posted the
other day that made such a hugeimpact on her is that she was
able to help people.
You know like she had peoplereach out to her and talk about
(02:36):
it, how I was, like that that'sa proud moment, that's like such
a like you know I was.
I was just just be proud ofyourself for that.
So yeah, you know, so soawesome that you know you can
help someone else, even if it'sone person, it's like the best
feeling in the world.
That's, um, uh, you know, I Inever always heard the golden
rule growing up.
(02:56):
And then I remember one day, uh, my wife and I we live in a
tiny little 800 square foothouse first house we lived in
there and rented and like oneday I was sitting on my computer
and it just like it hit me,like we were still wearing masks
.
I was like, wow.
I was like treat other peoplethe way you want to be treated.
That literally means that likeif everybody helped out their
(03:18):
neighbor, it would be spider web, it would extend to the whole
world and everybody would getsome support.
It wouldn't solve everyone'sproblems, but it would be like,
hey, I have a hand here if youneed it.
And it never hit me the sameway that it did that day.
I saw it from a broad scale,rather than just when people
(03:41):
tell you you get in a fight withyour brother.
You treat them the way you wantto be treated.
Yeah, you know, in regards topeople, I think we don't.
People fight change, especiallythe older they get, and that's a
theme that I've seen over andover in fitness is that it
(04:03):
doesn't get easier, right?
It never get easier, right, itnever gets easier.
Right, Does not matter ifyou're busy this week.
It's not going to be easy,because you're going to be older
next week and you're busy thisweek is way less important than
you getting a week older.
Yeah, I get that.
I wish I would have started whenI was 20.
(04:24):
You know, to go back on time itcan't, so I'm starting now.
Yes, and it's, we're here, andit's crazy how fast really it's
happened, because it's like youknow, time moves faster as we
get older.
Like a year blips by.
So the fact that you had thistransformation in what?
90 days, six months, it's likethere's a brush, there's nothing
(04:46):
.
I feel like there's a lot moreto go, though.
Well, there always is, therealways is.
There's not an end point, right.
You know, I, I tell people whenwe, when people are very goal
driven and they set veryspecific goals and then they hit
those goals.
You know, and I've talked aboutit on here before, I compare it
to, I compare it to being inthis massive warehouse.
(05:06):
On one end, you've committed tobecoming a better version in
one form or aspect in your life,and so you decided to open the
door to the warehouse and sothere's all this open space and
in front of you you can seesomewhere far down there around
(05:28):
a door there's like there's yourgoal way down there, yeah, but
right in front of you is like alittle mini, mini goal or an
action or something and you'regonna open that door and then
you're just gonna open it up andthen there's gonna be another
door right and then you have toopen that door up and there's
gonna be another door.
You're not gonna be able to seeanything else.
That's going, it's just thatdoor that's right in front of
you, right.
And you got to be willing justto keep walking through those
doors and one day you're goingto walk out of the warehouse and
(05:50):
be like, oh, I got there, yeah,and then the next warehouse,
that's right, that's right.
Otherwise you just like youjust kind of float in space.
Yeah, I remember one of my mainsales guys for our business.
He was just hired on and thiswas, gosh, 14, 15 years ago and
he was wanting to celebrate thishuge deal that he got and I was
(06:12):
like, so pumped, everybody's soexcited oh, my gosh, we got it.
It's been working on so longand then we got done with the
celebration.
I said, what are we doingtomorrow?
And he's like what I was, like,yeah, it starts over tomorrow.
We start over every day.
We end the day, we starttomorrow fresh.
We're gonna do it again.
(06:34):
So it's almost like those goalsare you refresh it all?
Yeah, it just refreshes.
It's weird because they're both.
It both means everything to youand it's entirely meaningless
at the same time.
Right, because as soon as youaccomplish it, it's like, okay,
what do I get?
(06:54):
A trophy, like a ribbon?
Like, yeah, maybe More likelynothing, you know.
Yeah, maybe your ribbon mightbe a paycheck.
If it's a really awesome goal,right, and that can feel really
good because that can open up alot of things for you in your
life.
But outside of that, it's justwell, it's not gonna last
forever.
The feeling is gonna go away.
Yeah, so, like it's like ifsuccess is the expectation every
(07:18):
time, then it just becomes aneveryday object.
You have to get over and besuccessful every day.
So, yeah, I'm working towardssuccess and I, once I hit it,
it's the expectation.
It's not, like, you know, goingback to do I need the trophy or
do I need to do it againtomorrow.
Right, I'm gonna do it againtomorrow, right?
There's a saying um, beforeenlightenment, chop would carry
(07:39):
water, and after enlightenment,chop would carry water.
Yeah, and it's like what?
Yep, because you still gotta.
Still gotta drink water everyday, that's right.
Still gotta have fire and makefood, that's right.
Keep your family warm.
That's how humans have livedfor.
You know, we're at such a weirdtime now where things are in
abundance and so surviving isnot that hard.
(08:02):
Surviving is relatively easyright On the day to day.
So that makes us just want tocome foot off the gas and kind
of relax, just get comfortable,yeah, yeah, and, and there's
nothing wrong with enjoyingcomfort every now and then, sure
, but, but it's really easy toget comfy and just to kind of
(08:24):
get here.
Yeah, but then, like times onour side, that's the biggest
thing that I've come to realizedoing all this.
And then it's seeing people,you know, coach people in their
teens.
I coach people with seven overthe age of 70.
Yeah, and it's very interestingthe different perspectives of
time that people have and whatthey're willing to, what they're
(08:48):
willing to do or they'rewilling to put their energy
right, and, uh, it's, it's funnybecause the the younger people.
People on the younger side havean easier time changing,
naturally, because either theirbody's still changing or like
they're discovering who they are.
So it's like, even if they havehard habits, that they're on a
(09:12):
break.
It's like life has, like forceschange to happen.
Yeah, inevitably Right, becausejust think about you know the
difference between when you were, you know, 14 and the
difference between you were 18and the difference between when
you were 18 and the differencebetween you were 24.
Like, those are big shifts inlife.
Yet 14 to 24 is only a 10 yeargap versus the difference
(09:34):
between when you were 24 and 34.
Yeah, it's not.
That's where you've pretty muchdecided who you are.
Yeah, and then every decadeafter that, it's really hard to
change, right, and so it'sreally funny because the older
people, people in their 60s andtheir 70s they value their time
(09:56):
so much that have the hardesttime to change.
Yeah, it's very difficult tochange, both physically and also
mentally.
Right, it's really hard tochange Right.
Like I almost don't even takeclients anymore that are over 60
.
Because it's just hard.
It's a waste of both of ourtimes.
Yeah, thank you so much forlistening to today's episode.
(10:16):
We want to invite you back nextweek as we continue the
conversation, and be sure tofollow us on social media to get
all of our content and clipsand anything you might've missed
.
Again, thanks for listening andwe'll see you next week.
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