March 10, 2025 • 12 mins
What happens when a successful CEO faces a physical and mental plateau? Chris Chandler, who runs multiple businesses including Backwoods Adventure Mods, found himself at this crossroads despite 17 years of entrepreneurial achievement. After tearing his meniscus coaching basketball and feeling pushed by his wife to take better care of himself, Chris embarked on a fitness journey that would transform far more than his physique.
The most surprising revelation from Chris's six-month transformation wasn't his improved appearance—though he acknowledges being in better shape now than during his athletic high school years. Instead, it was the profound mental clarity and emotional resilience he developed through consistent training. "Training has really changed my mental clarity," Chris explains. "It's gotten me to a spot where I'm a lot more confident in myself and what I'm trying to accomplish is really clear." This newfound mental strength allowed him to approach business challenges with fresh perspective, turning seemingly insurmountable problems into manageable obstacles.
Chris candidly shares that the first six weeks felt like pure work with little visible return—much like the early stages of building a business. The breakthrough came around the two-month mark when he began noticing not just physical changes but significant improvements in his thought processes. Perhaps most valuable was his transition from external motivation (pleasing his family) to internal drive, discovering that "doing it for me is why I'm doing it" ultimately made him "the best version for everybody else." This powerful shift from seeking validation to internal motivation offers a valuable lesson for anyone seeking lasting transformation in fitness, business, or life.
Ready to discover how physical training might transform your mental game? Listen now to hear Chris's full journey and learn why consistency ultimately matters more than motivation when creating lasting change in any area of life.
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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.
Today, I'm joined with ChrisChandler.
Chris is the CEO of BackdoorBackwoods Adventure Mods.
Backwoods Adventure ModsChandler Truck Accessories and
Roam Built Right Among othercompanies and other investments.
Yes, thanks for coming on thepodcast, chris.
Sure, glad to be here.
So you obviously have been ahigh performer for some time in
(00:49):
your business.
Yes, but Chris has been workingwith me for about the last six
months in the gym training andit's had a pretty awesome
transformation, both physically,absolutely between getting
leaner, putting on muscle, but Ithink mentally overall in life
you could probably speak betterthan I can.
(01:09):
Sure, your transformation hasbeen a little bit deeper than
that, sure, sure, yeah, well,initially, going back to, we own
multiple businesses.
It's my wife and I, morgan.
It's been a family business for47 years, so I'm the third
generation owner from our familyin it and I started that 17
years ago, really grew up inthat company.
(01:30):
So business-wise it's beengreat.
I've learned so many coolthings and got to experience so
many just cool, entertaining,scary fun, exhilarating all at
the same time, which we talkabout that a lot.
I know that when we're workingout.
But, um, and then you know,success changes over time,
(01:54):
things, life changes over timeand our business models change
over time too, which causes allthese other mentally anguishing
things to happen.
And um, um, I've really foundthe last six months that
training has really changed mymental clarity.
It's really gotten me to a spotwhere I'm a lot more confident
in myself and, um, what I'mtrying to accomplish is really
(02:15):
clear and, um, you know why I'mdoing it.
So it's really changed.
I mean, my family likes that Ilook better, but I would say,
for me, I feel better.
I feel better all the waythrough.
Yeah, so do you think so?
So, backing up six months ago,before you started, what were we
at then?
Like, what was making you, youknow, outside of?
(02:36):
Like I know morgan was pushingyou, yeah, quite a bit to like
go take, you know, better careof yourself physically, right,
but for you, what was it like?
What was the thing that?
Like, okay, maybe I didn't getthis a shot, maybe I didn't make
a change, yeah, um, I thinkreally like plateauing at work,
oh, and just letting, lettingproblems.
(02:56):
I always I like to deal withproblems internally a lot and so
not having an outlet to go helpsolve those problems, which
lifting, has become a hugeoutlet for me.
I really can channel anger andfrustration, but I also become a
lot more clear-headed when I doit.
I would say I grew up as anathlete, so I've always been
(03:19):
able to play sports and was goodat about everything Not great,
but played travel and was ongood teams, great experience and
then got into college and justkind of really quit.
Everything.
Started having a desk job.
When I graduated I went to workfor a company and really just
kind of didn't take care ofmyself as much Not that I wasn't
(03:41):
active, I think it was more mydiet and what I was consuming
and not really understanding it.
And so, you know, moving, movingtowards where I am now, it's it
was like I kind of stayed thatlifestyle for 20 years, yeah.
And then this last year,morgan's, like you know, hey,
you got to get it together,buddy.
This time I had a.
(04:03):
I had torn my Meniscus coachingbasketball and that was like a
real kind of heartbreaker for me.
It was like it's therealization of, hey, you're
getting older, it's, you knowyour body's going to start doing
things and you don't take careof it.
Not playing basketball, notplaying Coach, coaching
basketball, and I wasn't evenrunning up and down.
I wasn't even doing.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
I was squatting down in a timeout and talking to the
team and it was like somethingdumb, yeah, just silly, but that
kind of kicked it off.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
And then just her, really, you know, pushing me to
be better, being the bestversion of myself, and she just
turned 40.
So that was also a catalyst.
She was like, hey, we're goingto get in shape, it's time, you
know it's time to do this and Imean, I would say today I'm in
the best shape I've ever been inmy life, even throughout high
(04:51):
school high school I was anathlete.
I'm now I feel like I'm just somuch in better shape all the
way through.
Well, you've definitely beenworking hard, been working both
of you together, been workinghard and doing it together has
pushed you both right to um, toto hold yourself to the standard
that you know you want to holdyourself and to push each other.
(05:13):
I think that's something that alot of couples can't do.
It's really difficult to dobecause that's there's a level
of vulnerability when training.
You know, oftentimes,vulnerability when training.
You know oftentimes coachingboth men and women.
You know how you coach oneperson.
It's not necessarily how youcoach another person, Right?
(05:34):
And so y'all being able to, tosync up in that way, I think
that's pretty unique, right.
It's a good dynamic.
I think yeah, yeah, definitely.
I mean obviously it's why y'all?
suck all your adventures, um.
So tell me then, as youprogress through this, um,
what's been the thing that, like, has been the most impactful,
(05:57):
like why you were at it, notnecessarily now, but like when
you realized like, okay, this isworking, like this is I'm
starting to feel different.
Yeah, is working like this isI'm starting to feel different?
Yeah, um, I would say like Ithink that the first six weeks
were really hard as far as likeyou go in and you expect change
to happen immediately and then Idon't, it does it.
(06:18):
It's just it like progresses onyou and um, and really like
understanding the mental sidewith it, the diet, the
everything.
It's like it really started toturn, maybe a couple months in
for me, where it was like, hey,this is working.
I started losing weight, whichwas great, but I think also
started to see like I'm gettingstronger, but also like I'm
(06:42):
thinking clearer and I'm able tohandle my problems differently.
It's not as hard as I've, youknow, made it feel.
Yeah, and that's when it reallystarted to shift.
I was like gosh, this isactually so beneficial to like
thought process Right, reallyjust, and then like my kids
going, dad, looking good, likeyou know.
(07:02):
So it gets to that verbal, likepositive reinforcement, yeah,
and it helps you realize it.
But like, the first six weekswas kind of just felt like work,
just work, Just work, yeah.
So almost like you just havingto set aside any expectation for
your Right, for your winningRight.
So was that post six weeks whenyou realized things were
(07:22):
starting to work?
Was there anything specific towhat we did?
I know there was a lot in there, but like there's anything that
stands out in your mind as toyou know, you felt like that
really really helped you, likethat specific thing, I think.
I think, like the lifting side,like we're doing hard stuff, you
make us do really hard stuffand like and I I tell other
(07:43):
people, I'm like we don't justgo to the gym, it's like we're
going to move some weight, likethat's what we do and it's
you've made us do really hardthings that I would and I keep
telling Morgan this now it'slike I would never go do that on
my own, like I would.
Just I would never pick thatexercise, like really, what we
did yesterday, I would never gopick that.
It was a tough one, was a toughone.
(08:09):
Yeah, as a warrior I was likegosh, that was rough, but it was
like just that.
And then also like a moreself-understanding of that I can
become better over time and youknow, and it's you have to work
at it.
So, like it's like you know,it's like you start to see a
little bit of progress and youhave to keep kind of, you know,
doubling down on it and it getsmore and more and more where
where the hard stuff becomeseasy later, but then at the in
(08:31):
the moment, you're like gosh,this is a prof, like why am I
doing this right?
And then now it's like I wantto do that, I want to do it
every day.
I think that's, you know, I wewere talking about this
yesterday with you know, inregards to other things that we
do in life, like you know,there's plenty of times in
business that you question likewhy, why am I doing this?
You know, yeah, uh, because youdon't see the, the fruit, you
(08:54):
don't see the payoff, you don'tsee the.
You know, and the whole reasonyou start, um, you might have
other, you know, values, thingsthat you care about, but the
whole reason you start inbusiness is so that you can, you
know, do something, make animpact and provide for your
family and have that freedom,right?
Um, but when you find that,like you, the thing that you're
doing is not hitting everysingle one of those, it feels
(09:16):
like you're missing something.
Sure, and I think fitness is aperfect analogy, because you can
feel like you're doingsomething, you can feel your
muscles working, you can feelyour heart beating, yeah, and
then you get a step on the scale.
It's like nothing changed thatday.
Or you look in the mirror andyou're like I look the same,
right, and you're expecting, youknow the a full-blown
(09:36):
transformation just in thatsingle day or that single
workout.
Right, it just doesn't happenthat way, and that's.
I think it's a really hardthing for most of us to wrap our
head around.
Right, it's like the we talkedabout this consistency like you
have to continue to show up.
It's not overnight.
Business is definitely not thatway.
I mean, it's taken us 17 yearsto get to where we are now,
where I finally feel like, wow,we're doing stuff.
Yeah, even though we've we've,it looks like we've been doing
(09:59):
stuff for a long time to otherpeople, but, like, for us, it's
like it's a continual work inprogress and I feel like that's
what my life's been in the lastsix months.
It's like I'm progressing intothis.
You know what I'm really proudof now?
And it came from a lot ofthings I wasn't proud of or I
mean, it looked, looked like Iwas gosh, I had it all figured
(10:20):
out.
Or, you know, business isrocking, personal life's rocking
, all that stuff, and inside I'mI'm in turmoil all the time
with just little things and it'sjust simple things.
It's not like, but you don't, Idon't, you don't see that.
And I think, like you know, theconsistency of hey, keep showing
up, keep doing it, and it'sreally I started.
You know, figuring out doing itfor me is why I'm doing it, not
(10:41):
doing it to make Morgan happy,my kids happy, proud of me, it's
I wouldn't be proud of myselfdoing it, and then that's the
best I can be and then I'm thebest version for everybody else.
I think that's the epitome ofbeing internally motivated that
you've obviously come to realizeif, even if you didn't have at
the beginning, you have it now.
Yeah, and that's something thatyou know, no one can ever take
(11:03):
away from me.
You'll always own that becauseit's, it's within you.
Yeah, versus, like you know, ifit's a partner.
You know, know you could lose apartner right, you could.
If it's um, you know, an eventlike the event can come and then
be gone, and then you're alwayshaving to reset.
You're always going to findthat external motivator.
A lot of people come to me andthey say, well, I just need the
(11:24):
motivation to do it.
What you want.
Yeah, I might be motivatingtoday, might be that for the
next like two weeks, buteventually you're not going to
like me.
I'm going to make you do reallyhard things.
So it's not going to benecessarily motivating to you,
it's just going to still bewaking up and finding a reason
to come in and do it.
And if you have to find thatreason every morning, it's less
(11:46):
likely that you're going to comein and do it Right.
Thank you so much for listeningto today's episode.
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.
Today, I'm joined with ChrisChandler.
Chris is the CEO of BackdoorBackwoods Adventure Mods.
Backwoods Adventure ModsChandler Truck Accessories and
Roam Built Right Among othercompanies and other investments.
Yes, thanks for coming on thepodcast, chris.
Sure, glad to be here.
So you obviously have been ahigh performer for some time in
(00:49):
your business.
Yes, but Chris has been workingwith me for about the last six
months in the gym training andit's had a pretty awesome
transformation, both physically,absolutely between getting
leaner, putting on muscle, but Ithink mentally overall in life
you could probably speak betterthan I can.
(01:09):
Sure, your transformation hasbeen a little bit deeper than
that, sure, sure, yeah, well,initially, going back to, we own
multiple businesses.
It's my wife and I, morgan.
It's been a family business for47 years, so I'm the third
generation owner from our familyin it and I started that 17
years ago, really grew up inthat company.
(01:30):
So business-wise it's beengreat.
I've learned so many coolthings and got to experience so
many just cool, entertaining,scary fun, exhilarating all at
the same time, which we talkabout that a lot.
I know that when we're workingout.
But, um, and then you know,success changes over time,
(01:54):
things, life changes over timeand our business models change
over time too, which causes allthese other mentally anguishing
things to happen.
And um, um, I've really foundthe last six months that
training has really changed mymental clarity.
It's really gotten me to a spotwhere I'm a lot more confident
in myself and, um, what I'mtrying to accomplish is really
(02:15):
clear and, um, you know why I'mdoing it.
So it's really changed.
I mean, my family likes that Ilook better, but I would say,
for me, I feel better.
I feel better all the waythrough.
Yeah, so do you think so?
So, backing up six months ago,before you started, what were we
at then?
Like, what was making you, youknow, outside of?
(02:36):
Like I know morgan was pushingyou, yeah, quite a bit to like
go take, you know, better careof yourself physically, right,
but for you, what was it like?
What was the thing that?
Like, okay, maybe I didn't getthis a shot, maybe I didn't make
a change, yeah, um, I thinkreally like plateauing at work,
oh, and just letting, lettingproblems.
(02:56):
I always I like to deal withproblems internally a lot and so
not having an outlet to go helpsolve those problems, which
lifting, has become a hugeoutlet for me.
I really can channel anger andfrustration, but I also become a
lot more clear-headed when I doit.
I would say I grew up as anathlete, so I've always been
(03:19):
able to play sports and was goodat about everything Not great,
but played travel and was ongood teams, great experience and
then got into college and justkind of really quit.
Everything.
Started having a desk job.
When I graduated I went to workfor a company and really just
kind of didn't take care ofmyself as much Not that I wasn't
(03:41):
active, I think it was more mydiet and what I was consuming
and not really understanding it.
And so, you know, moving, movingtowards where I am now, it's it
was like I kind of stayed thatlifestyle for 20 years, yeah.
And then this last year,morgan's, like you know, hey,
you got to get it together,buddy.
This time I had a.
(04:03):
I had torn my Meniscus coachingbasketball and that was like a
real kind of heartbreaker for me.
It was like it's therealization of, hey, you're
getting older, it's, you knowyour body's going to start doing
things and you don't take careof it.
Not playing basketball, notplaying Coach, coaching
basketball, and I wasn't evenrunning up and down.
I wasn't even doing.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
I was squatting down in a timeout and talking to the
team and it was like somethingdumb, yeah, just silly, but that
kind of kicked it off.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
And then just her, really, you know, pushing me to
be better, being the bestversion of myself, and she just
turned 40.
So that was also a catalyst.
She was like, hey, we're goingto get in shape, it's time, you
know it's time to do this and Imean, I would say today I'm in
the best shape I've ever been inmy life, even throughout high
(04:51):
school high school I was anathlete.
I'm now I feel like I'm just somuch in better shape all the
way through.
Well, you've definitely beenworking hard, been working both
of you together, been workinghard and doing it together has
pushed you both right to um, toto hold yourself to the standard
that you know you want to holdyourself and to push each other.
(05:13):
I think that's something that alot of couples can't do.
It's really difficult to dobecause that's there's a level
of vulnerability when training.
You know, oftentimes,vulnerability when training.
You know oftentimes coachingboth men and women.
You know how you coach oneperson.
It's not necessarily how youcoach another person, Right?
(05:34):
And so y'all being able to, tosync up in that way, I think
that's pretty unique, right.
It's a good dynamic.
I think yeah, yeah, definitely.
I mean obviously it's why y'all?
suck all your adventures, um.
So tell me then, as youprogress through this, um,
what's been the thing that, like, has been the most impactful,
(05:57):
like why you were at it, notnecessarily now, but like when
you realized like, okay, this isworking, like this is I'm
starting to feel different.
Yeah, is working like this isI'm starting to feel different?
Yeah, um, I would say like Ithink that the first six weeks
were really hard as far as likeyou go in and you expect change
to happen immediately and then Idon't, it does it.
(06:18):
It's just it like progresses onyou and um, and really like
understanding the mental sidewith it, the diet, the
everything.
It's like it really started toturn, maybe a couple months in
for me, where it was like, hey,this is working.
I started losing weight, whichwas great, but I think also
started to see like I'm gettingstronger, but also like I'm
(06:42):
thinking clearer and I'm able tohandle my problems differently.
It's not as hard as I've, youknow, made it feel.
Yeah, and that's when it reallystarted to shift.
I was like gosh, this isactually so beneficial to like
thought process Right, reallyjust, and then like my kids
going, dad, looking good, likeyou know.
(07:02):
So it gets to that verbal, likepositive reinforcement, yeah,
and it helps you realize it.
But like, the first six weekswas kind of just felt like work,
just work, Just work, yeah.
So almost like you just havingto set aside any expectation for
your Right, for your winningRight.
So was that post six weeks whenyou realized things were
(07:22):
starting to work?
Was there anything specific towhat we did?
I know there was a lot in there, but like there's anything that
stands out in your mind as toyou know, you felt like that
really really helped you, likethat specific thing, I think.
I think, like the lifting side,like we're doing hard stuff, you
make us do really hard stuffand like and I I tell other
(07:43):
people, I'm like we don't justgo to the gym, it's like we're
going to move some weight, likethat's what we do and it's
you've made us do really hardthings that I would and I keep
telling Morgan this now it'slike I would never go do that on
my own, like I would.
Just I would never pick thatexercise, like really, what we
did yesterday, I would never gopick that.
It was a tough one, was a toughone.
(08:09):
Yeah, as a warrior I was likegosh, that was rough, but it was
like just that.
And then also like a moreself-understanding of that I can
become better over time and youknow, and it's you have to work
at it.
So, like it's like you know,it's like you start to see a
little bit of progress and youhave to keep kind of, you know,
doubling down on it and it getsmore and more and more where
where the hard stuff becomeseasy later, but then at the in
(08:31):
the moment, you're like gosh,this is a prof, like why am I
doing this right?
And then now it's like I wantto do that, I want to do it
every day.
I think that's, you know, I wewere talking about this
yesterday with you know, inregards to other things that we
do in life, like you know,there's plenty of times in
business that you question likewhy, why am I doing this?
You know, yeah, uh, because youdon't see the, the fruit, you
(08:54):
don't see the payoff, you don'tsee the.
You know, and the whole reasonyou start, um, you might have
other, you know, values, thingsthat you care about, but the
whole reason you start inbusiness is so that you can, you
know, do something, make animpact and provide for your
family and have that freedom,right?
Um, but when you find that,like you, the thing that you're
doing is not hitting everysingle one of those, it feels
(09:16):
like you're missing something.
Sure, and I think fitness is aperfect analogy, because you can
feel like you're doingsomething, you can feel your
muscles working, you can feelyour heart beating, yeah, and
then you get a step on the scale.
It's like nothing changed thatday.
Or you look in the mirror andyou're like I look the same,
right, and you're expecting, youknow the a full-blown
(09:36):
transformation just in thatsingle day or that single
workout.
Right, it just doesn't happenthat way, and that's.
I think it's a really hardthing for most of us to wrap our
head around.
Right, it's like the we talkedabout this consistency like you
have to continue to show up.
It's not overnight.
Business is definitely not thatway.
I mean, it's taken us 17 yearsto get to where we are now,
where I finally feel like, wow,we're doing stuff.
Yeah, even though we've we've,it looks like we've been doing
(09:59):
stuff for a long time to otherpeople, but, like, for us, it's
like it's a continual work inprogress and I feel like that's
what my life's been in the lastsix months.
It's like I'm progressing intothis.
You know what I'm really proudof now?
And it came from a lot ofthings I wasn't proud of or I
mean, it looked, looked like Iwas gosh, I had it all figured
(10:20):
out.
Or, you know, business isrocking, personal life's rocking
, all that stuff, and inside I'mI'm in turmoil all the time
with just little things and it'sjust simple things.
It's not like, but you don't, Idon't, you don't see that.
And I think, like you know, theconsistency of hey, keep showing
up, keep doing it, and it'sreally I started.
You know, figuring out doing itfor me is why I'm doing it, not
(10:41):
doing it to make Morgan happy,my kids happy, proud of me, it's
I wouldn't be proud of myselfdoing it, and then that's the
best I can be and then I'm thebest version for everybody else.
I think that's the epitome ofbeing internally motivated that
you've obviously come to realizeif, even if you didn't have at
the beginning, you have it now.
Yeah, and that's something thatyou know, no one can ever take
(11:03):
away from me.
You'll always own that becauseit's, it's within you.
Yeah, versus, like you know, ifit's a partner.
You know, know you could lose apartner right, you could.
If it's um, you know, an eventlike the event can come and then
be gone, and then you're alwayshaving to reset.
You're always going to findthat external motivator.
A lot of people come to me andthey say, well, I just need the
(11:24):
motivation to do it.
What you want.
Yeah, I might be motivatingtoday, might be that for the
next like two weeks, buteventually you're not going to
like me.
I'm going to make you do reallyhard things.
So it's not going to benecessarily motivating to you,
it's just going to still bewaking up and finding a reason
to come in and do it.
And if you have to find thatreason every morning, it's less
(11:46):
likely that you're going to comein and do it Right.
Thank you so much for listeningto today's episode.
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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The Herd with Colin Cowherd is a thought-provoking, opinionated, and topic-driven journey through the top sports stories of the day.