Episode Transcript
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Matt Johnson (00:00):
Matty.
Lachlan Stuart (00:01):
I am very amped
to have you on 6pm.
I know you're a wanted man.
You have been extremely busy inthe last day and pretty much
the last couple of years.
We got to connect in Austin.
When I was there.
You were my tour guide.
We went on a very scenic routefor a marathon which was pretty
gnarly.
Matt Johnson (00:19):
Yeah, that was
probably your longest marathon
you ever ran, but it was a hellof a tour.
Lachlan Stuart (00:25):
Dude, wasn't it?
I think had you not been there,I would have just ran that
river loop and not seen half ofthe cool stuff we got to see.
But it obviously meant a lot tome that you came out.
We connected via socials andthen you were just like I'm
going to come run 30 kilometers,which is I can't even remember
how many miles that is now.
Matt Johnson (00:45):
I ran 20 because I
remember I had that Achilles
issue.
Yeah, and then I had to go toPT.
Lachlan Stuart (00:50):
And you were
weighing up dog and PT and or
avoiding PT and then justripping the rest.
But obviously recovery is moreimportant.
We got to man.
I got to learn so much moreabout you on that run.
That was extremely inspiring,obviously for people who are
just finding out about Matty now, especially the Australian
audience, matty is, I guess, inthe true sense of the word,
(01:12):
someone who has been on hisknees, really struggling to have
the desire to keep going, tofinding it within himself, to, I
guess, grab life by the ballsessentially and prove that he is
capable of more.
Where you're sitting at now isincredibly inspiring, but it
wasn't always that way.
Now, even just a couple ofyears ago, you'd gone through a
(01:33):
bit of a rock bottom, but couldyou give my audience a bit of a
rundown on who you are and whereyou're at in your life
currently?
Matt Johnson (01:41):
Yeah.
So I think the quick rundown isI was born in a small town,
midwest United States,population maybe 1,000 people
and we grew up super poor.
It was just my mom and I,single mom, and I think my
traumas that led me to ultrarunning.
My mom got married when I waseight and we just were in a very
(02:02):
mentally and physically abusiverelationship with her
ex-husband and my mom.
Accidentally, you know, she wastaking pills to kind of avoid
life and you know, in that verybad, you know mentality that she
was in and ended up ODing.
I found her on the floor when Iwas 16, you know, and just so
(02:22):
much trauma that led me, I think, to try to exit that situation.
So I joined the military, 16,you know, and just so much
trauma that led me, I think, totry to exit that situation.
So I joined the military and,you know, spent 10 years in the
military, got married myselfsuper young and you know, as I
think we got, you know we weretogether at 18 and 21, 22, and,
you know, got married and justgrew apart.
(02:43):
You know nothing, nothingreally wrong with that, but you
know, grew apart.
You know I would say that'swhen I, you know, really hit my
hit, my low, and you know got toa point in 2020, this was in
2023 where you know I wanted totake my own life and you know I
remember having a battle withmyself in that process and you
(03:03):
know we can dive back into this,trying to do the quick rundown
here.
But, you know, I decided in thatmoment that I wanted to leave
and just try again.
And I moved to Austin, texas,in 2023, got down here and, you
know, had no idea what I wasgoing to do.
You know, didn't have theInstagram following I had.
Okay, I had, you know, kind of,I think.
(03:25):
You know I was at like 30K, Ithink 30,000, on Instagram and
so, yeah, I definitely had thefollowing and, you know, just
wasn't sure.
You know, I didn't know did Iwant to be an online coach, like
what did I want to do?
And, sure enough, you know, bythe grace of God, and I'm here
now.
I don't know what the hell I am.
I'm a jack of all trades, Ithink.
But yeah, that's just the quickversion rundown of where I am.
Lachlan Stuart (03:47):
I think what
drew me to you even before we
obviously met in person you tookme to the 7-Eleven, which we'll
dive into later on was you arejust genuinely happy being you.
I don't feel like you try tofit into specifically the
running culture or any specificculture.
You just do all the stuff thatyou want to do.
I think there's a huge lessonin that and it's easier said
(04:10):
than done.
A lot of people say just beyourself and you know, the more
you can allow people to see whoyou are, you know, the better
quality of life you'll live.
Matt Johnson (04:19):
Yeah.
Lachlan Stuart (04:19):
But that's
fucking hard man Like, because
you can get torn to shreds andI'm sure you probably have one
side of your audience whoabsolutely loves you and then
there's another side who justdespises you.
Matt Johnson (04:30):
Yeah, but the
great thing is is they're both
following along.
Yeah, I think people have aneasier time being them in real
life, but then they try to geton social media and be someone
else, and you know, that's thatthat's the real problem, I feel
like, you know, in our normallife we can, you know, we have
more.
I guess, you know, you seepeople kind of you see people
(04:53):
that are more fake on socialmedia, and that's that's.
That's the problem is that, youknow.
Then it sets up a conversationlike this, right To where you're
like, oh my gosh, like you're.
You know you're an anomalybecause you're actually you, you
know, but it's created thatperception right, because
there's so many people out therethat are just fake and I feel
like you know that's that's thecool thing about.
(05:14):
I feel like that's why I haveso much growth is because I
people.
You know, the more that peoplemeet me and the more that
questions are asked of like yo,like what's he like, and
everyone's like he's likeexactly what he's like on the
gram, you know, I mean, he'sjust crazy, you know.
So, yeah, I mean, but you know,I feel like you know every time
(05:35):
that someone, but that is theanswer, just what you said, you
know, just be you.
That truly is the answerno-transcript.
Lachlan Stuart (06:14):
Very cool.
Matt Johnson (06:16):
It's kind of a
there's a thing you know you
have to kind of have the thing.
Lachlan Stuart (06:20):
Dude, I have to
agree, because social media has
been a tool that I've used forfucking 10 years and I've got
what 25,000 followers orsomething like that, but
probably 20% of that came frommy wife's success a decade ago
and everything like that.
So it's just like it is a game,and it's probably something
(06:41):
that I haven't, I guess, fullydove into and been like all
right, this is something I'mgoing to excel in.
It's more so like this is atool that you know goes with my
arsenal.
So I wouldn't compare myself toyou in regards to like oh fuck,
matty's got hundreds ofthousands of followers, whereas
I've only got X amount.
Why is that?
Because you, you know we spokea lot about it while we're
(07:01):
running around things, thatyou're always testing stuff as
well and you're gaining ideasand you're seeing what works,
but you're obviously aligning itwith who you are as a person,
the message you want to share,and it's almost like a game.
Yeah, and half the stuff youwere saying to me I was like man
, I haven't done that, I'venever thought about it like that
and it's got me curious to wantto do it more.
(07:21):
But I think there's stillreservations with me because I
have other things in my lifethat I'm focusing on, but I do
love the idea of what it can be.
Matt Johnson (07:31):
Yeah, yeah, no, I
agree, I agree a hundred percent
.
I think that you know, I thinkyou can mold it into whatever
you want it to be.
But I think that, like you know, you have to have a special
something in order to.
You know you have to be a goodstoryteller.
You know, like we talked aboutthat right Telling stories Like
you got to be a good storyteller.
But you know, the cool thing isis that you know, I try to live
(07:54):
my life like I don't.
The cool, I mean here's thething If Instagram crashes
tomorrow, I have something I cango back to right, like I can go
back to, you know, I go back tothe military.
I go into a trade.
Like you know, I was a combatmedic for a while.
I was a truck driver.
Like I, I know how to like doreal things.
So I pride myself in like beingable to.
You know, as well as like Ibuilt my business, I built my
coaching business.
I've built, you know, enoughfriendships with networks of you
(08:22):
know being able to build up to.
If Instagram crashes tomorrow,I know that I can go do
something else because I'velearned so much from it For sure
.
Lachlan Stuart (08:30):
I think, as you
said, like the storytelling,
what that always comes back tome is like it's the life that
you want to live allows you totell the stories.
A lot of people are trying totell stories when they live a
boring life, and that's true.
Tell stories when they live aboring life, and that's true.
So many people that I speak toare just blown away by.
I live a very unique lifestylewith my wife.
We travel a lot, similar to you, but as a result of that,
(08:54):
there's a lot of risk involved.
There's moments where we'relike man, I would just rather
take the safe option and do thenine to five and know that I'm
getting a paycheck.
But because we take the risk,we get the reward in the fact of
it's not always money, but it'slike wicked adventures and
experiences which then becomeinteresting stories to the
average person, and that paysoff in the long run.
(09:16):
In regards to being able to tellcool stories, because people
are just glued to their phones,wanting to watch cool shit that
they wish they were doing.
And, to your point, ifInstagram goes down or if my
business melts, I'm still goingto do the cool shit anyway
because I enjoy it.
There's something to that that,for those who watch you, or for
(09:36):
those who watch me, if you getinspired by it, the thing is
like what aren't you doing thatyou would love to be doing, and
how can you just take that onestep to do it so you can start
creating?
Matt Johnson (09:46):
Yeah, that's a
good thing, as me, you know,
2021, 2020, late 2020 and 2021,I was doing the same shit I'm
doing now, training-wise.
I wasn't really racing becauseI didn't understand it yet, but
I was still doing probably whatpeople would think is freakish
shit.
Know like where I'm like?
just going out and running, youknow, 30 kilometers on
(10:07):
absolutely no water, no carbs,no nothing, because I don't know
and I'm just like, I'm justtrying to figure it out, you
know and like, and I'm likedoing these like spartan events
and I was doing these decaevents and like yeah I was just
doing crazy shit and then I justfigured out that, you know, I
started recording it, I startedtaking pictures of it and I
started posting it and it waslike slowly, slowly, slowly, and
(10:29):
then I started to learn how totell stories around it and be
funny and like bring thefunniness into this serious
running culture, you know, whilealso at the same time being
like a savage motherfucker.
You know, like like being thatperson to.
You know, that's the mold thatI that I went into is like I am
this.
You know, I want to be in thesame conversations as you know
(10:51):
David Goggins and Cam Haines,and you know these tough dudes.
But I want also, at the sametime, to be like, yeah, like
Matt'll go do that and thenhe'll go smoke a cig and have a
beer, you know, and it's likepeople don't do that shit, or
he'll smoke a cig while he doesit.
You know, like, just like justoff the wall, shit.
And you know, because that'show I was raised in the military
, like it was just, you know,and I mean, yeah, I mean I, I
(11:13):
say the sick thing, because Idid that this morning on my, on
my I don't know if you saw thatreel or not.
Lachlan Stuart (11:17):
I did say yeah,
yeah but like people.
Matt Johnson (11:19):
Then people think
I'm like a, like a chain smoker,
and i'm'm like no, I'm like.
Anytime that you ever see mesmoke a cigarette is like the
one time that I'm actually doingit.
So if it's on the gram then I'mdoing it, but it's only been
like three or four times.
I posted it but people thinkI'll rip like packs of debt.
Lachlan Stuart (11:35):
Just absolute
chain smoker.
But even like before thatconversation, well, this
conversation was a possibility.
Take us back to the marriagebreakdown.
You said well, not even abreakdown, you just grew apart.
Obviously, you were young atthat point.
You still are young, but tohave the maturity to understand
that you're growing apart, a lotof people would just, I guess,
(11:56):
grind the marriage out andbecome resentful, become
miserable, but you and yourex-wife were just able to part
ways.
Can you run us through how youknew it was at the end?
Matt Johnson (12:08):
What toll it took
on you as well.
Yeah, to be honest, it was alot of.
I was wanting to travel a lotand I was wanting to go train
and I wanted to train with otherpeople.
I was coming to Austin.
I'd been to Austin once everycouple of months to train for a
(12:28):
week and I loved that lifestyle.
While she wanted to stay backhome and didn't really want to
do that, she still trained onher own.
I love the assets because Ireally haven't broke it down
that much.
I always just skip over it.
But, to be completely honestwith you, I got this, this taste
of like, this whole differentlifestyle and and having people
having eyes on me and havingpeople think, you know that I
(12:51):
was cool as shit.
Right, like I'm just a smalltown, small town kid who has no
idea about anything.
Right, and people think I'mcool, people think I'm, you know
, and I was chasing thatdopamine.
You know I was chasing thatdopamine of like me going and
training with other people andlike just demolishing them and
these are like elite athletesand I'm destroying them.
And people are like, dude,you're incredible, like you're
(13:12):
great, you know, and I'm like,yeah, like I am right, you know,
like just building it up andand and I think and I'm going to
be honest with you Like I thinkthat is what really kind of,
you know, I think it was more onme that made us grow apart,
because I was getting a taste ofthat.
And then I was coming home andI wasn't being a good husband
and I wasn't being a good manbecause I was so consumed in
(13:34):
this false reality of Instagramright off the bat, and that was
at like 15,000, 10,000 followers.
That was way before 10,000followers, like that was way
before you know.
So I think you know, and and andand that's kind of what started
, you know, pulling us apart,and she was kind of, you know,
going her way with training andI was wanting to go this way and
and you know, we got to a pointwhere, like we were just like
(13:54):
you just said that you know,like we were miserable, like we
were living a miserable life andI'm going to be honest here,
like I would have never, why Ihit that low, the lowest point
of my life, like I can see it inmy brain right now, like I'm
watching it happen was because Iwould.
I would have never made thatdecision.
As a man, I would have lived inthat she, she made the decision
(14:16):
.
She's the one that met me andwas like we need to separate,
because, as a man like I, wouldhave just rather been miserable
than to break apart.
I think to like to feel like Ifailed, even though I'm going to
like, even though, like I said,I, I mean I'm going to lie over
it, even though it was probablymostly, it was mostly my fault,
you know.
And.
But here's the thing when I saythat, you know, people grow and
(14:37):
people change, you know, asthey're younger, I didn't like,
like I look back at that personand I'm like that, like I'm
disgusted at who that was, likeit's not even me.
And you know, she said, hey,like I want to separate, and she
and she separated Like therewas no thought, there was no
second thought about it.
Like she's like, hey, we're,it's over, I'm, I'm leaving.
Lachlan Stuart (14:56):
When you say
disgusted like, what do you mean
by that?
Matt Johnson (15:00):
Just because you
know, like I look back at that
person and I'm like that's notlike, like that's a boy, you
know, like, like, like that'sjust someone who didn't know,
like I could have done so manythings different.
But also, you know, I believe inGod's plan as well, and where I
am today is where I need to be,and I would never have
experienced any of this withouthaving that.
That you know that divorcehappened.
(15:22):
So, while, at the same time,I'm grateful that it did happen,
like I look back at that personand I'm like you know, man, I,
I, I just I would have done somany things differently or
treated her a different way inthis situation, or understood
more what she was saying.
So I think that the the lessonhere is that you know, we're
always growing and you know, Ithink that there also is a
(15:43):
lesson there and to not getmarried young.
Um, you know, if you are ayoung person listening to this,
uh, you know, you, I don't feellike I had my shit together
until I was 28, and I'm 30 nowand I still don't feel like I
have my shit together.
Lachlan Stuart (15:56):
I'm 35 and I'm
confused.
Matt Johnson (15:58):
Yeah, so if you're
, if you're, if you're 22 years
old and you're thinking that youmet the love of your life, just
you, you can, you can love thatperson without a marriage.
That is, you know, gonnainvolve a lot of things, um, but
yeah, I mean that that led me,you know, to the lowest point
where, like I felt like I was afailure as a man, like I felt
(16:18):
like, as a man, like I wassupposed to provide and I was
supposed to be that person.
And then when I was told likehey, it's over, it's done, you
didn't do your job, Then, likethat was when I hit my lowest
point.
You know, I remember sittingupstairs alone in my bedroom and
I had a shotgun on my lap and Iwas just sobbing, like I was
sitting up against my bed, likeI can literally picture that
moment and I was just sobbingand sobbing and just thinking
(16:39):
that like there was no way outof it, like there was no way
that it would ever be better.
You know, like, like, like thiswas the end of the world in my
brain at that moment and I don'tknow something, something
pulled me out of it and and Ihad this idea that I had just
got back from Austin.
At the time, like she met mewhen I got back from Austin and
was like, hey, like it ain't,this is over.
(17:01):
And I had a friend, he wasstaying in an Airbnb down there
and I knew that he had anextended stay and I just had an
idea.
I'm like I'm like I'm justgoing to drive back to Austin.
I was like I'm just going tojump in the car, I'm gonna drive
back to Austin and like I'mgoing to figure this out with a,
(17:23):
and I left for Austin.
I never came back.
I like my goal.
I had $3,000.
I put that three grand into anAirbnb that I could afford for
like 13 days and I was like mygoal was to go back.
But then, like once we hit likeday 10, I realized, like it was,
I just wasn't, I wasn't goingto go back.
And at that point I was like,okay, like I have no money, I
(17:46):
have an Airbnb but no money.
I'm like now I need to figureout.
I need to figure it out.
And you know that's when Istarted posting on Instagram and
I was like, hey, I'm going totake online coaching clients,
you know, if you want me tocoach you, because at that point
, you know, I had done theLeadville 100.
I had ran a 40-mile race, I hadwon a trail race, I had done
some things and signed five, six, seven athletes and made I
(18:10):
don't know two, three grand andI was like, okay, I got two
grand, that's going to comemonthly.
I'm like let's figure it out.
Lachlan Stuart (18:19):
It's such a
relatable story in that you
became Obviously let's useInstagram, but for everyone else
listening, it might be yourcareer where you become so
obsessed or focused on thestatus and the growth in that
position.
As men as well, we want to bethe protector, we want to be the
provider, and our career isgenerally how we do that.
(18:40):
And as we get more followers orwe get the next promotion, it's
like that pat on the back.
We're doing the right thing,yet everything else is
fracturing in our life.
Our relationships are fallingapart, our health's falling, our
hobbies are disappearing and wejust become one dimensional.
And when that gets taken awayfrom us, it's generally why we
hit that rock bottom point,because it's like everything we
thought was us is fucking goneAt the same time was exiting
(19:04):
them, like I had already madethe choice to exit the military.
Matt Johnson (19:07):
So at that point,
military's gone.
Divorce, nothing like I had nojob, I had no plan.
Like like like I, I had, thatwas it.
And it all happened at once.
And that was, I think, whatreally sparked that, that rock
bottom moment, just because,like you said, right, I'm like,
well, now I'm fucked, now I havenothing, it's done.
(19:29):
And yeah, but man, taking thatleap of faith and just trusting
in the process and just takingthat one step forward, I feel
like I can just be the posterchild of like, holy fuck, it can
really happen.
Lachlan Stuart (19:46):
I agree Because
you also like.
The cool thing that you touchedon as well was you'd done a
couple of.
You know the Leadville, whichis mental and it's on my bucket
list, but you'd done things andanyone listening who's gone
through shit, you've done thingsas well.
You've done shit things.
You've done brilliant thingsand when you can, I guess, allow
(20:06):
yourself to you know there's agreat quote when emotions are
high, intellect's low.
And obviously when you'refeeling like the world's caving
in on you, the emotions arefucking just like a volcano
erupting.
But if you can sit it out andwait it out long enough, logic
is going to kick back in andyou're going to recognize that
there is a roadmap out.
It may start with one step, itmay start with the video, it may
(20:27):
start with applying for a newjob, moving towns, whatever it
is.
Matt Johnson (20:32):
But that's when
People get so caught up.
I actually just had thisconversation with literally my
best girlfriend in the entireworld.
She's getting ready to movefrom Austin to and we were and
she actually just moved from lato austin a year ago and now
she's gonna go back.
But like we have jobopportunities.
(20:52):
But we had this conversationwhere it was like I feel like
people get so caught up in thelike I am stuck, mindset.
You know, it's like I like,like talking about someone who
owns a business, right whereyou're like I'm stuck here, like
or you know, not, not, notsomeone that owns a business,
someone that is workingsomewhere else, right, they're
like I'm stuck here, I have mypaycheck, I have my bills, I
(21:13):
need to pay my bills, I need tostay here, and they're stuck in
a job that they hate and thenthey begin to hate their life.
And I feel like what peopledon't realize enough is you're
not chained.
And here's the thing If youhate your job in finance, then
it's okay to go find acompletely different job.
It's okay to go flip burgers.
(21:34):
It's okay to go work in ahospital.
It's okay to go work as aconstruction worker.
If you're not fulfilled, you arenot locked down and you don't
need to suffer.
You are a human being fulfilled.
You are not locked down and youdon't need to suffer.
You are a human being.
Oh, and it's like, and I feellike we just we think we have
(21:54):
these chains on us, like to ourincome, to our job, to what we
do, that we think that we arethen stuck there forever and
it's just.
It's not true.
You can exit at any time.
Is it hard?
Yes, are you going to takerisks?
Yes, but like you will not justone day wake up and be like man
.
I love my job again.
If you are suffering in yourlife, you will not just and you
(22:15):
keep doing the same thing overand, over and over again.
You will not wake up one dayand be like man.
I'm back to loving life, baby.
You need to make changes andyou are not stuck, and I feel
like that that's a big thingthat people miss.
Lachlan Stuart (22:29):
Do you feel you
learned that, like some of those
skills, through the military?
Matt Johnson (22:34):
I feel like I
learned the trait of you know,
pack up and go and then plantand then pack up and go and
plant and pack up and go andplant Right, like because you
know we were.
You know I never, never got theopportunity or never got the
chance to deploy, but we were aforward readiness unit, which
means we always had to be ready.
(22:54):
We didn't get a.
Usually in the military you geta couple months to pre-mob,
which isa pre -mobilization,where you go and train before
you deploy overseas.
We didn't get that.
We had to be ready within 10days.
So, like, if we got the callfor a deployment, we had to be
boots on the ground overseas in10 days.
So we were always training onhow to quickly maneuver a
(23:18):
situation and be ready and Ifeel like that is kind of what
you know over the years ofconstantly training for that.
I feel like that is kind of whathas helped me understand that
you're not always stuck, youknow, but also I think it's it's
also, you know, has somenegatives in my life as well, to
where, like you know, I'venever stayed in a home for like
(23:42):
over a year and a half because,like, I feel like I need to get,
I need to move, and you knowlike I'm very like I need to get
, I need to move, and you knowlike I'm very like I need to go.
I need to always go and do thenext thing.
I can't keep in the sameroutine for too long, you know.
So, yeah, but yeah, definitely,definitely stems everything in
my life.
Now that I'm getting older, Ican, I can see where the
(24:02):
military did that.
I can see where I grabbed itfrom my 10 years in the service
for sure, which is cool now,because back then I was like 18
to 22, I was like hell, yeah,blow shit up, let's go.
And then, 22 to 26, I was likeyo, fuck this, I hate this shit,
(24:22):
get me out of here.
So now it's cool to be able tolook back and just appreciate
all of it.
Lachlan Stuart (24:28):
Yeah, for sure,
and it's been a wild ride for
you.
So, coming out of the say pickup, move, sit down, pack up,
continue doing that.
That obviously led you toAustin.
After you decided you weren'tgoing to keep the marriage alive
, you're there with $3,000.
You spend that on the Airbnb.
Have decided you weren't goingto keep the marriage alive.
You're there with $3,000.
You spend that on the Airbnb.
You get a couple of clients,which is madness, but also
(24:52):
freaking cool with how quicklyyou made that happen.
Rather than going I'm screwed,you went to problem solving mode
.
What next?
Because, once again, I thinklast time I checked your
followers, you're 360K followerson Instagram alone.
You're doing some crazy stuff.
You're impacting literallymillions of people around the
world.
You're working with Jelly Roll.
(25:13):
You're having fun doing it.
How do you go from a guy who'sjust packed up his life, gone
through a divorce, was sittingin an attic with a shotgun to
now where you're at?
Matt Johnson (25:24):
now.
I don't think the answer tothat is as complicated as people
think it's going to be.
The true answer to that issurrounding yourself with the
correct people, and there was somuch that happened in that
moment of when I ran out of themoney and I only had two weeks
(25:45):
in Airbnb and then I went to.
I was in five Airbnbs for 61days, so like it was like
jumping to all these differentAirbnbs before I could get into
a house.
But like, if you want the shortanswer of how did I get from
there to there is building acommunity where I'm at, and by
building a community, I mean Isaid yes and did everything in
(26:07):
Austin.
Everything, like I went toevery run club, I went to every
meetup, I went to every fitnessevent, I went to soccer like
these, like pickup soccer events.
I did everything for probably ayear and that led me to meeting
this person, to meeting thisperson, to meeting this person,
to meeting this person wholearned about my story and
(26:28):
wanted to do a photo shoot towrite an article, who wrote the
article and the article blew upand it allowed me to get more
followers.
And then I got more followersand from that came Jelly Rolls
Chef, which is Ian, who hit meup and was like hey, I'm an
ultra runner, I want you tocoach me.
So I started coaching him andthen that turned into.
(26:52):
Two years later he's like hey,we want to launch a run club.
Jelly wants you to help lead it, jelly wants you to help train
him.
All of that came from theselittle tiny events of me, of me
putting myself out there and notmoving to a different city and
being like okay, that's it, I'mlocking down, I'm staying at
home, I'm going to work onmyself.
No, like, I put in the extrahours to.
Like you know, I was grindingon the computer trying to get
clients, I was going places, Iwas going to different gyms, I
(27:12):
was meeting people and it wasthe connection.
It was the human connection,not the Instagram connection.
It was the human connectionthat allowed me to get to where
I am today.
Lachlan Stuart (27:22):
I think it still
shows up like the fact that you
came out and ran with me aswell during that day as well,
literally the day before.
You're like yeah, yeah, I'llcome for sure.
Which was gnarly.
And I feel a lot of peopledon't do that because of social
anxiety or they're worried aboutjudgment, or they just feel
like they don't have time.
But, as you said, it's like youjust put in the extra work to
(27:43):
make it a reality.
Matt Johnson (27:44):
I want to give you
some flowers on that too,
because it just shows you.
I think that you had tagged me.
I had seen later you had taggedme in like four or five stories
leading up to that.
And I had seen it a couple oftimes you know what I mean Like
I had seen it, but then I hadjust moved on and I'd moved on
and I'd moved on, you know, justscrolling through messages and
(28:07):
and, and then I saw it again andI was like, oh, I was like this
dude's doing what you know.
So, like I think you know, Iwant to give you your flowers
there on like, consistency oflike, if you're doing something,
you need to keep putting it outthere because the right people
will see it.
But you know, coming back to meas well, right, like I'm like,
oh, I see this dope dude who isdoing this cool stuff from
(28:29):
Australia, connected to peoplethat I know, connected to brands
that I know, and I'm like, yeah, I'm going to for sure go out
there.
And then you think of thebutterfly effect that turned
into who knows who's going tolisten to this and be affected
by it.
That would have never happenedif I would have never made the
decision to go out there.
So, like that is the you knowthis podcast.
Like I'm not saying that, yeah,I'm saying this podcast would
(28:51):
have never happened and peoplewouldn't be able to listen to it
if I would have never, you know, seen it If you would have
never tagged me in it multipletimes.
There's so much at play hereand you know, if you say no,
you're never going to know.
And I feel like that is thebiggest thing is yeah, I
understand that life is busy andthere's times for yeses and
(29:12):
there's times for no, but if yousay no, you will never know.
That's it.
Bam.
Lachlan Stuart (29:20):
That's it, but
it's all.
Yeah, it's the.
If you're in a period of growthor you know you need to grow,
that's where you need to besaying yes to the opportunities.
If you're in a place whereyou're looking for a little bit
of routine or you're content,it's like that's where you can
you have the opportunity to sayBecause now I'm like, I'm in my
routine, you know, like, like Iknow the goals that I have.
Matt Johnson (29:43):
I don't, you know
I already have a community built
.
So it's like you know you needto take that Everything is in
seasons or in, you know,relating it to books, it's in
chapters, right, like you needto take that season, take that
chapter, to have that yes manmentality, so that way you can
build the community and thenguess what, you don't need to do
it later, you know, then lateryou can rest.
And that is that is true,because if you only say yes once
(30:06):
or twice, then next thing youknow it's two years down the
road and you're still saying yesonce or twice.
But if you just say yes athousand times in a row and just
get it out of the way, you willbuild a community and you will
have time to relax later 100%,but the thing is as well.
Lachlan Stuart (30:23):
Off the back of
that, you haven't stopped
writing different chapters.
I'm glad I got through inFebruary or March whenever I was
there.
If you've closed the doors now.
But for you to also be doingcoaching people at an elite
level, building obviously abrand on socials, and then
finding time to still do hardshit things, that which in the
(30:44):
social I guess realm you couldfail.
You chose to run across Texas,which I really enjoyed, but it
also puts you out there to failin front of a lot of people.
Why do you still choose to dothose things?
How do you deal with the socialweight?
Because there's hundreds ofthousands of people and, as we
(31:06):
said earlier, there's probablyhalf those people who are
cheering you on and the otherhalf people are watching and
hoping you're going to fail.
So how do you deal with thatand what still drives you to do
that stuff?
Matt Johnson (31:16):
Because I truly
got to a point where I don't
give a fuck what people think,and that is the truth.
I do that for me.
I don't do that for fuckingsocial media gain.
I don't, and I don't give afuck what anybody says.
I don't go race for socialmedia gain.
(31:38):
I don't go run across Texas forsocial media gain.
I ran across Texas because Iknew that that was what was
going to get the most eyes on me, in order to raise money for
veterans.
And, like you know, thisactually isn't even out there
yet.
Just today, I'm going to do theTahoe 200 in a month, literally
a month from today.
Lachlan Stuart (31:56):
Is that 200K or
miles?
Matt Johnson (31:58):
200 miles around
Lake Tahoe 320 kilometers.
Yeah, but I've never done a 200.
But I'm not doing it for, soI'm not even taking.
Like like drew, my one of mybest friends, is going to come
out and crew me.
He's going to bring his cameraand take some pictures, but like
I'm not fucking filming YouTube, I'm not fucking.
You know, like like what Irecord is going to be what I
don't.
(32:18):
I do that for me because I need,I need in my, in my head.
I lived my entire life with myback against the wall.
I grew up in a double widetrailer.
In my life, where my back isn'tagainst the wall, I am doing
(32:55):
very good, but that's not mynorm.
My norm is putting my backagainst the wall and I have to
put my back against the wall inorder to continuously grow as a
man.
And that's why I keep doingwhat I'm doing, because I don't
want to get complacent with like, oh, life is good, life is
great.
I was raised in the struggleand I have to go struggle in
order to like, continue, youknow, just continue growing
mentally and physically andspiritually as a man, because
(33:17):
when I go out there and I dothese events, I live a hundred
lifetimes.
I do, and it's just and that'swhy I do it, because it's just a
reminder of like I already grewup in the struggle.
This shit ain't fucking hard.
Like does it suck?
Hell yeah, but like I, I'vedone real life hard bro.
Like 200 miles, 800 miles, youknow 300, 400, 500, 1300
(33:40):
kilometers across texas.
It's not fucking hard, man.
It sucks but it's not hard hard.
Hard is watching your mom noteat because you don't have
enough food.
So you're the one sitting thereeating while she's in tears
because there's no fucking food.
That's fucking hard.
This shit isn't hard.
This shit is just a suffer festbecause I'm fucked up mentally
(34:00):
and I need to fuck it all.
You know what I mean.
Fuck, man.
But that's it.
My back's not against the walland God has blessed me and I'm
doing very well for myself.
But that's not my norm.
I still need some of my normand I will continuously suffer,
because that's what I love to doand I love to remind myself
(34:21):
where I came from and going outthere and getting into those
deep, dark moments.
It reminds me of shit that Ihave went through and I don't
want to forget that because itbuilt me to who I am today.
Lachlan Stuart (34:32):
There's a beauty
in it as well, because it
doesn't allow you to thinkyou're better than you are when
times are going well I heardthis quote a couple of weeks ago
and then, when times are goingcrap, you're not as bad as you
think you are as well.
So it's sort of like creatingthat balance point.
And it's very easy when lifegets good, because we're
designed to chase comfort.
(34:54):
That's what we're doing.
We're always like more moneywill solve this problem, better
relationships or more sex willsolve that, more followers will
solve that, and we're constantlydoing that.
But what we fail to recognizeis every solution creates a new
fucking problem.
Matt Johnson (35:08):
Yes, I just had
this conversation today with a
very, very wealthy friend and wewere talking about just this
right here and it was like, man,when I make my first $1,000 a
month, life's going to be great,and then you get it.
And then it's like when I makemy first five grand a month,
life's going to be even better,and then get it.
Then it's 10K, 20k, 30k, 50k.
(35:28):
You keep just chasing.
It's not going to get better.
What you need to do is what youlove.
That's the only thing that'sgoing to make you whole.
It's just doing what you needto do to feel like a human being
.
It's not about the money, it'snot about the fucking, it's not
(35:51):
about having more and more andmore of things.
It's about just doing whatmakes you feel whole and, in my
opinion, having a relationshiplike having a good relationship
with God because I promise I ama picture perfect part of that
as well where I got back into myfaith and started going back to
church and my life freaking,changed man and yes, I say, fuck
(36:15):
a lot, but it's okay.
It's okay, cussing Christian.
Lachlan Stuart (36:19):
Can you, I guess
, expand on that a little bit
more?
Because religion obviously I'velived in the States, lived here
here, and religion is far moreprominent in the States and
people you know, a lot of myfriends over in the States have
a relationship with God.
Here it's just like not a thing.
So you spoke about the timewhere you didn't have the
relationship with God and thenyou, obviously you now do what
(36:42):
changed and what do you feel thebenefits were for you, Like, if
that makes sense changed andwhat do you feel the benefits
were for you?
Matt Johnson (36:49):
Like, if that
makes sense, no-transcript.
If you're not sure, wouldn'tyou rather spend your life
guessing on the right side thanguessing on the wrong side?
Right, like, I mean, wouldn'tyou rather believe that there
might just be a chance of aheaven after all, rather than be
(37:10):
completely wrong and you don'tget to see it whatsoever?
You know, like if there was achance of you making a million
dollars, I'm pretty sure thatyou would do everything you
could if there was a slightchance that you could get it,
rather than being like I ain'tgoing to get it, so I ain't even
going to try.
Lachlan Stuart (37:28):
That's my
biggest thing that I like to say
Makes sense, right, that forsure.
Matt Johnson (37:35):
That's the dumbed
down version, but for me
personally, what I have seen inmy life and this is me I always
say I don't preach to people,I'm not here to tell you I don't
give a shit what you believe.
I think you should and I hopethat you do, but I'll love you
either way.
But for me, what changed waswhen I first started going.
(37:56):
I started going back to churchwhen I met Amanda, my girlfriend
now, who is the most incrediblehuman being in the world, and
we started dating right Went ona couple of dates, you know,
like staying over at her house,and she's like hey, like you
want to go to church with me andI'm like I'll go where the fuck
you want me to go.
You know what I'm saying.
You tell me, honey, I'm there,you know.
(38:17):
But it allowed me to go back tochurch and it allowed me to.
You know, what I think happenedis, you know, allowed me to
understand that.
You know, god has a plan foryour life and it kind of shifted
my perspective and, like it'salways been about me, me, me, me
, me, like this is what I wantat all times to you know,
shifting my prayers and myperspective to you know what is
(38:40):
the path that you want to put meon.
And that right there is whenkind of my idea of content
changed, where I didn't, I kindof stopped chasing the following
clout and really startedchasing like how many people can
I help, how many people can I,can I use this platform to
assist people?
And it also, I feel like, gaveme a better heart in loving
people and helping people and Ifeel like the more that I have
(39:02):
loved and helped people, themore that has came back to me
and there's just yeah, I meanthat you know, yeah, it's that
right there.
It's just, it's just you know,when you, when you fully commit
yourself to like what's theworst thing that can happen, you
know, when you're like, allright, like you're, like, I'm
going to do the prayer.
Like Jesus, you're my Lord andSavior, thank you for everything
(39:23):
you've done for me, amen.
And then you go about your lifebelieving what is the worst
thing that could happen.
It doesn't work.
You live the same life Like Idon't know.
Lachlan Stuart (39:43):
Yeah well, I
think for me, listening to what
you're saying, it just gives youthat perspective as well.
Right To look on the optimisticside of life.
But also there's obviously aset of whether it's testaments
or rules or standards that youguys have that you want to live
up to, right which?
Matt Johnson (39:52):
I feel like
everyone dives way too deep into
because you want to know whatit is.
It's be a good fucking person.
Lachlan Stuart (39:58):
Yeah, simple.
Matt Johnson (39:59):
Don't, don't steal
, don't rob, don't kill, don't
rape, don't like.
You know what I mean.
Like, like, like, when you,when you.
I feel like the problem is isthat people look too much into
Christianity and too much intoto the Bible that they just do
in faith, like, like, like, like.
If you just truly pour yourheart out to God and you just
(40:20):
live your life being a goodperson and practicing the
principles of Christianity, yourlife's only going to get better
.
And like, just try it, just tryto be a good person, and then
it will lead you in the rightdirection.
And I feel like everyone getsso caught up in, like, you know,
oh, the Bible says that weshould, you know, stone women.
And it's like, yeah, but Idon't know, I believe my own, I
(40:47):
have so much faith in God that,like, I don't know, I just I
live by my own rules.
Lachlan Stuart (40:55):
I'm not a
preacher, I'm just a dude, it's
fair, though by my own, wilson,please, I'm not a preacher.
Matt Johnson (40:57):
I'm just a dude.
Lachlan Stuart (40:58):
It's fair,
though.
So, for the season of lifeyou're in, what does a good life
look like for you now?
And I guess being a good man aswell, because that's something
that majority of my audience aremales I think it's like 83% of
listeners are blokes For you.
In this season of your lifewhere you're building a business
, you're in a great relationship, what does that look like for
(41:19):
you?
Matt Johnson (41:20):
I'm telling you I
just said it Be a good person
and help others.
The more that I have went outof my way to help others, the
more even if you don't want tobelieve in God and you want to
believe in karma the more goodthat I have done, the more good
that has came to me.
And I feel like you know, ifyou are just a pissy fucking
(41:45):
dude like, if you are just in abad mood, 24 7, walk down the
street and hand a stranger afive dollar bill, walk down the
street and buy somebody afucking coffee, like, like, like
, like.
You can't walk away from thatangry we, we, as humans.
I feel like, if you are a goodhuman and you, you we are
designed to give, we weredesigned to help each other, but
(42:06):
people get so caught up in likeme, me, me, me, me.
You know, like, if you'rehaving a bad day, I promise you
walk down the street, lookaround, see someone that's
having a bad day just like you,and go buy them a fucking coffee
and then walk away and watchhow your entire day changes.
That's it.
Right.
There for me is just what can Ido today to help somebody else?
Lachlan Stuart (42:26):
What can I do
Makes me feel good thinking
about it.
Matt Johnson (42:29):
Yeah, yeah.
But that's the thing is, I'mlike what can I do today to take
time away from myself to helpsomebody else, to be there for
somebody else, to answerquestions for somebody else?
Just because to me I mean andmaybe it's just me, maybe it's
just us, you know maybe I meanyeah, everyone's probably not
like that, but I feel like themore, the more that you do to
(42:51):
give to others, just the happierit's going to make you.
And you know that's that I mean, if I'm having a bad day and I,
you know, I'm pissed off atlife and I, you know, have shit
going wrong, like I drive downthe road and look on the side of
the road and you have someonesitting there in a wheelchair
that has a you know sign up thatsays need food Right, like it
can be fucking worse.
Lachlan Stuart (43:16):
For the rest of
the year.
What are you focused on doing?
What's Matty crashing?
You obviously said the200-miler, which is going to be
gnarly to watch.
So that's from a physicalstandpoint.
Matt Johnson (43:28):
But holidays
career, what do you got going on
?
So I was supposed to do theLeadville 100.
So that's now off the table.
Sorry, the dogs are just goingbananas.
They're excited.
Lachlan Stuart (43:41):
Knock it off.
Matt Johnson (43:42):
Yeah.
So Leadbow 100's off the tablebecause there's some stuff going
on with Jelly that it's goingto come out later.
But I might need to kind of beavailable Prioritize.
Yeah, so I might need to beavailable come July.
Yeah, you know, I don't know.
I don't know.
I'm in this season now of lifewhere you know, I got home and I
(44:05):
told Amanda, I said I said youknow this, this season, right
now is a I don't know, but I'lllet you know because I just I
don't want to plan anything.
You know, like like that's whyI was like oh, I saw this 200
miler and I was like hell, yeah,I was like I'm going to go rip
that because I'm available, butlike I don't know if I'm going
to be available in July.
So if I don't, if I can't I'vealready been to Leadville once
If I can't go to Leadville and Ican't compete at the level that
(44:26):
I want to compete, anotherTexas run that I'm eyeballing,
which is the Texas 1000.
So that's north to south.
Lachlan Stuart (44:43):
Shit.
Matt Johnson (44:44):
So I think that's
what.
Lachlan Stuart (44:46):
Yeah, 1600, give
or take 1600 kilometers.
Matt Johnson (44:50):
So I'm looking at
that in October, which is going
to be one year post Badass,across Texas.
But yeah, I mean, or I told mymanager this, I was talking to
her yesterday on the phone I go,or I go to this 200.
I break myself off and I'm likegood, I told her the audience
probably loved this.
I was like maybe I'll just gothere, I'll bust my nut for the
(45:11):
year and then I'll be done.
You know what?
Lachlan Stuart (45:13):
I mean.
Matt Johnson (45:20):
I'm like maybe,
like maybe I'll just go there
and I'll get my load off andthen I'll just be like you know
what?
I'm satisfied.
Lachlan Stuart (45:23):
I was like I'm
good, now Wash your hands and
you're done.
Matt Johnson (45:26):
I haven't done
anything since the run across
Texas in October.
It's been seven months, so Ineed to just do something again.
And then I think that you askedme when I'm out there at the
Tahoe 200, you asked me maybeyou should call me at mile 100
and be like yo, what's next?
I'm like not a damn thing, baby.
(45:47):
Yeah, I don't know, we'll see.
There's plenty on the horizon,this 200, possibly helping Jelly
in July, and then maybe thatwill allow me to train August,
september for this Texas run inOctober, or maybe I just don't
do it at all.
But those are the things.
Tahoe 200, possible Texas runyes.
Lachlan Stuart (46:07):
There's
something really refreshing and
I want to let you go becauseit's late there but something
really refreshing about hearingyou say that.
One thing that is always on mymind is I have to always be
doing rather than being, and Ifeel, like when you just said,
like you're in this season whereit's just like let's just see
what happens, yeah, and thatscares the shit out of me, but I
know it's also something that Ineed to allow myself to do,
(46:28):
where it's just like.
You have standards as a man,like for me, financially, from a
health perspective but I'd loveto be able to maintain those
standards and if I want to dothis off a whim, then go do that
off a whim rather than beinglike I feel like a friend and I
were talking about this theother day and I think this is
important to talk about my neckhurts.
Matt Johnson (46:46):
Sorry, I'm falling
apart over here.
30 years old, I feel like thisis Done.
I was like, as a man, personalopinion as a man, you should
always be four months out fromanything.
I think you should be 120 daysaway from being ready for
anything, so be in good enoughshape that you can pick
something four months away andtrain for it and go and demolish
(47:08):
it, whether that's a marathon,whether that's a 100K, whether
that's a 100 miler.
You should always be fourmonths away from anything.
Because I find that there'ssome, there's some peace in that
, because it still still makesyou, if you keep that in your
mind, like, or change it tothree months or change it to two
months.
If you keep that in your mind,you always know that you need to
(47:30):
train to be ready.
And I read something the otherday and it was talking about
like the Spartans back in theday, that that they didn't wake
up at three o'clock in themorning and put their face in
ice water and go for a 10-milerun and then get in the sauna
and then ground themselves andeat rum.
(47:53):
They didn't do that right.
They woke up and they did whatthey needed to do to always be
prepared to do something,whether that was waking up and
sprinting, whether that waswaking up and rolling around
with other guys, whether thatwas practicing their sword work.
They spent their days makingsure that they were always ready
(48:15):
for battle, and I feel likethat's something that we miss
now in culture as men is that wejust go about our lives and
we're like oh, you know, I'm inthis period of you know, I don't
know what I want to do.
That doesn't mean sit aroundand drink coffee and eat ho-hos
all day, like you know.
That still means that youshould always be prepared for
what is coming, and I feel likeif you live your life that way,
(48:38):
it fulfills you more as a man,because you always know that if
you want to do, or if you havethe capability to do around your
schedule, you can.
Lachlan Stuart (48:47):
I love it.
Matt Johnson, everyone, matty,where can people find you if
they want to creep around Austin?
No, I'm kidding Socials.
Matt Johnson (48:55):
Yeah, we're on
Instagram, tiktokok, youtube,
all that fun stuff you can atthis point.
You can google matt johnsonrunner and you will find
everything.
It's crazy, that's awesome.
Yeah, it's really cool.
So my, I found that out for mygrandmother.
Um, that was, yeah, that wasthe best part.
Lachlan Stuart (49:11):
She's like
grandma's googling you.
That's amazing yourself.
Matt Johnson (49:14):
I was like that's
incredible, yeah, you know.
But yeah, if you, you know youguys, if you don't, you know the
.
I won't spit off the instagram.
That's matt johnson, with twounderscores, pretty much on
everything.
But if you lose sight of that,if you just google matt johnson
runner, it'll, it'll, it'll popup somewhere.
So probably take some foul shitfrom back in the day.
Lachlan Stuart (49:32):
Is there one
final message you'd love to
leave the listeners with?
Otherwise we'll, we'll, let yougo.
Matt Johnson (49:37):
Yeah, it's just
your lowest lows or your highest
highs never define who you are.
It's everything that you do inthe middle and as long as you,
it doesn't matter what happensin your life, as long as you
continue to.
It doesn't matter how manytimes you get knocked down, as
long as you just continue totake one step forward.
(49:58):
I want to be the testament thatit will get better and you can
get to where you're going, evenif you don't know where you want
that to be.
That's all I got.
Lachlan Stuart (50:09):
It's been a
pleasure and truly for me.
You've impacted my life, eventhough we've known each other
for a very short period of time.
Being able to spend three hourswith you and just pick your
brain and hear about all theadversity that you face and just
how you have such an optimisticview on life left me.
When I left out of Austin.
I couldn't stop telling theboys how valuable it was.
(50:30):
They're like well, you drove toAustin, which was 15 hours out
of our way, when we could haveran in Amarillo, and there was
one person running with you andI was like, trust me, boys, I
could have paid Matty for histime with how valuable it was.
So you're doing incrediblethings, mate.
Honestly, you're such avaluable person to have on this
planet and I'm very grateful forthe friendship we've created.
Matt Johnson (50:51):
No, I appreciate
that, bro, and I hope that the
listeners can take somethingaway from this and apply it to
their life and change their own.
I feel like there's definitelya reason why you drove 15 hours
out of your way, and it's coolthat it led to this podcast, so
hopefully someone can takesomething away and apply it to
(51:12):
their life and continue to grow.