Ep. 23 | Addiction, Alignment & Rebuilding From the Ashes | Navy SEAL & Legionnaire Taylor Cavanaugh

In this episode, Jordan Ryan OHara talks with Taylor Cavanaugh about his journey from military service to personal alignment and coaching. Taylor discusses how parenthood changed his perspective on responsibility and mindset. He shares insights from his experiences in BUDS and the French Foreign Legion, addressing alignment, stress management, and overcoming addiction. The conversation highlights behavior's impact on well-being, Taylor's transition to a balanced life, and his coaching career focused on visualization and goal manifestation. The episode also includes sponsor mentions.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Chat it up.
Yeah.
I don't think you can be fulfilled withoutavoiding responsibility.
I think Jordan Peterson talks about somethinglike this.
Like, you know, you try to go through your lifeand try to, oh, I don't want kids.
I don't wanna fuck you know, this.
And it's like, why?
What's it all for then?
Just so you can self-actualize and and forever?

(00:23):
Or what's the what's the end goal here?
Right.
Well, it's funny.
You kinda had a, you know, you had this mindsetshift before you had a family.
You know?
So what changed for you, I guess, you know, nowhaving a kid?
Well, I'll tell you what.
Some people have asked me, like, man, did youhave some big perspective shift or but Right.

(00:45):
Not really.
Yeah.
Not really.
I I didn't because I really I I felt like I wason a pretty good track before and as far as,
like, striving.
Right.
Like, ambitious, like, it didn't didn't, like,level my ambition up a bit.
Like, I felt like I was pretty in important.
So that if anything, it just made me a littlebit more strategic.

(01:10):
Right?
I just, you know, think through I got you know,now you're involving more people in your
decision-making process.
And so if
anything, it just made me more strategic inthat sense.
But, you know, it's also just really cool.
There's it slows some things down.
It makes me more present at moments.
You know, she's sitting on my lap and justkinda sleeping.
It's like, yeah.
It's pretty cool.

(01:31):
Moments are cool.
That's that's awesome.
Let me introduce you to the show.
So, welcome back to the Mind Body Mushroom, thepodcast where we deep dive into holistic
health, personal growth, and the mindset shiftsthat fuel high performance.
I'm your host, Jordan Ryan.
And as always, this episode is brought to youby Wind and Sea Coffee, the world's

(01:51):
best-tasting adaptogenic coffee.
Today, we are honored to host an absolutelegend.
Taylor Kavanaugh is a man who has both reachedthe highest peaks of success and plumbed to the
deepest depths of despair.
Taylor's journey is unparalleled.
He is the first American to have served as botha U.S.
Navy SEAL and a French Foreign Legionnaire.
However, his path was marred by personal andlegal challenges, including incarceration,

(02:14):
addiction, and homelessness.
In a quest for personal redemption and purpose,he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion,
embarking on a new identity and the legion'srigorous demands.
Taylor's experiences have been featured onshows such as Soft White Underbelly and Mic
Drop Podcast, where he shares profound insightson leadership, adaptability, and the philosophy

(02:35):
of having no plan B.
He now dedicates his life to guiding otherstoward personal realignment, emphasizing the
deliberate training of both mind and body toachieve inner peace and clarity.
Taylor, thank you for giving us this time.
Welcome to the show.
I didn't mention in the intro, you're also agood friend of mine, and I'm just honored to
have you here.
You're like, big leagues and, you know, playingon the JV team today.

(02:57):
But it's greatly appreciated, bro.
You have such an amazing story.
I just want to share it with my audience.
Like, they deserve to hear it.
So thanks, bro.
You're playing big leagues too, dude.
I've tasted your coffee, man.
It's fire.
Thanks, bro.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Yeah, dude.
I'm so glad you are.
Are you actually in Windansea?
Are you are you living there?

(03:18):
I'm, like, North PB area, like, kind of likethe Bird Rock, North PB area.
So but but our, like, main kinda hub is rightthere at Windansea.
We're out of Valley Farm Markets and the BlueWhale, which is, like, right there in, okay.
Like, Downtown La Jolla.
So I'm I'm there often, and that's kind of,like, our, like, our pseudo home base.
But, yeah.

(03:40):
Yeah.
That's my favorite place in the world, bro.
One of them Oh, no.
Dangers.
Wow.
You're because in the
sand window.
Right?
Well, just to kinda since we're on a mushroomvibe here, I'm like, man.
Let's go.
So in high school in high school, that wasWindansea was my mushroom beach.
Oh, no.
We would do mushrooms.
Oh, yeah.
So we, Dorel, I had

(04:02):
some of the
most amazing trips there because there'ssomething special about the energy there.
We would have half days in high school.
Sure.
And mom from Poway in our list of trucks and goout, like, near the summer, and and we would
eat mushrooms and go walk.
I would walk from Windansea to La Jolla Shores,almost.
La Jolla Tidepools.

(04:22):
Oh my god.
I would walk from Windansea to La JollaTidepools in fact.
You know, just and just having, you know, deepinsights and stuff.
And then I'll go sit in and Windansea still.
And because a lot of people don't know aboutit, which is kinda nice.
But, you know, you it's, you gotta be kindalocal to be kind of aware of it, and I love
just posting up in the coves.

(04:43):
I just got really good energy there.
It reminds me of Hawaii or Laguna or something.
I just like the vibe, dude.
So that's why, like, Windansea's got a specialplace in my heart, bro.
Oh, man.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
Do you know, you probably know Andy Warhol,the, like, artist.
You know?
So Andy Warhol, I guess, like, in the '70s, Idon't really know his, like, connection to,

(05:04):
like, Southern California, but I guess when hewas in Southern California, specifically at
Windansea, there's, like, some quote where he'stalking about how it's, like, one of the most,
like, iconic beaches for, like, the, you know,California, like, surf, you know, beach
aesthetic.
There's it's like that is, like, the epicenterfrom which all other, you know, aspects of that

(05:26):
culture has kinda, you know, come from.
You know, obviously, Hawaii too.
But like you said, Hawaii is sort of it has,like, a Hawaii vibe there.
You know?
There is a it's a Yeah.
It's a special beach, the shape, the size, thebreak, dude, that I mean, it's a heavy you
know, like, some of those shore breaks.
My mom actually saved somebody.

(05:46):
My mom's a really good swimmer.
I mean, I was young.
She saved some, like, tourists who were caughtin a rip, but on a short like, it was, like,
shore break.
It was just kind of authentic.
They're like, you know, my mom swims out there.
So I've had cool moments at that spot becausethe energy's gonna be there.
Like, you got a good shore break.
You got a good regular break.
You also have,
you know,

(06:07):
the hut, and then you have some area withspace, and then, obviously, the homes in the
back.
Right.
I've had some low moments in my life, dude,where even in the SEAL teams when I, you know,
some things were going on, dude, I would godrive to Winn and Sea and just sit there, you
know, even in the winter and just fucking siton the beach, bro.

(06:29):
It's like my spot to, like, retreat to.
That's so funny, dude.
I wanna talk about some of those low moments,but maybe let's back up a little bit and yeah.
You know, I I don't wanna, like, be on the samepath.
You know?
Like, you've you've covered your story, but Ithink there's really some important context

(06:50):
there for people to know.
Yeah.
Because the story is fucking incredible, dude.
So do you wanna just kinda rewind us back to,you know, maybe, you joining the military just
so we can start?
Yeah.
I'll give you a 30,000-foot overview just so,yeah.
Yeah.
Cool.
People have got kind of a frame.
You know, getting out of college, I had stackeda lot of bad habits.

(07:10):
I I had course-corrected a little and gottenright, but still had a lot of misdemeanors.
And I was on probation, and I needed somethings.
And so I couldn't get in the military, so I hadto go to jail to commute my probation.
And then I come out of jail and with no realguarantees, I just kinda rolled the dice with
that piece to try to commute my sentence.

(07:31):
And Marines turned me down for tattoos.
Army turned me down for criminal background orjust checkered past.
And then the Navy took would allow me to do it,but I would only if really I could pass the
SEAL screener.
Right?
So it took me about nine months, a lot ofwaivers, letters of recommendation.

(07:52):
I was stacking boxes at Home Depot, just, youknow, living at my mom's house, riding a
fucking bike.
You know, that whole thing.
But so bound and determined, right, to get toBUD/S.
I bought a Jeep for, like, $500, dude, from myaunt that was just, you know, purple and was
driving down to the amphibious base trainingwith guys, but got my SEAL contract shipped

(08:15):
out.
So it's about 2010 for people to get February2010 to give people a frame of reference.
Yeah.
And then went into the pipeline, man.
Like, you know how pipelines are.
It's like once you kinda get in there, it'slike, you know, you're just head down going
through it as you've experienced.
And, you know, met some great people, feltreally in my purpose.

(08:40):
Was
Right.
People that haven't experienced it, youprobably have, Jordan.
It's like, there's very few moments in lifewhere you know you're exactly where you need to
be.
Dude, 100%.
That's so crazy because I remember, you know, Iwas gonna say the same thing.
I was a finance major in college.
I got out of it, and I was like, fuck.
I really don't want a job.
Like, I will do basically anything to not haveto, you know, go sit at a desk.

(09:05):
And so same deal.
I initially looked at the SWCC program,eventually went to the SEAL pipeline.
And, you know, the days that you're intraining, you're there in phase, you know,
you're like, I have no idea how I'm gonna getthrough today.
You're sitting there at breakfast and just,like, the enormity of what you're about to go
through.
And then, you know, 7, 8 p.m., you're therewashing down the boats, and you're like, I

(09:28):
somehow I'm still here.
You know?
And just that, like, little bit of, you know, asense of accomplishment, like, was, like,
nothing I had ever felt before in my life, andit was a 100%, like, in alignment with purpose.
Sorry to take you off.
But yeah.
No.
No.
This is no.
We're at an open dialogue because yeah.

(09:50):
That I couldn't agree more, man.
It's alignment is what we're all after, to bequite honest.
Alignment is what we're all after, but throughall these mediums and modes and this.
Because what is alignment?
It's clarity.
It's inner peace.
That's what alignment is.
Yeah.
As you well know, you're washing down thoseboats.
You're cold.

(10:10):
You're tired, but you're looking around.
You're like, I'm here.
Right?
There is just this is where I'm at.
It's presence in its ultimate form.
And that's simple.
Right?
Life gets more complicated as we know.
But if you look back on those moments, and it'slike, wow.
Life was simple and very pure in its state.

(10:30):
And so, yeah, man, that was a cool process anddid well, and we I ended up going through 284
SQT and BUD/S and then went SEAL Team 7, man.
And during this time, I was pretty locked on,very focused, had a couple, like, almost type
shit.

(10:50):
You know?
And as far as just acting incorrect on theweekend, you know, drinking too much or
whatever, but, like, one but, like, one time.
Right?
And, like, a big ass period of time justbecause I was really focused.
But getting into the SEAL teams, same thing.
Very focused, doing my thing.
And then as time kinda went on, now gettingpromotions and doing well and things start to

(11:18):
get loose.
And you don't recognize them getting loosebecause I'm like, hey, man.
I'm getting early promotes.
I've got all the quals.
I'm I'm doing well, and, I'm performing on thefield.
Right.
But, like, in the NFL or anywhere else, what dothey always talk about?
Off-the-field fucking issues.
It's like very rarely
life in your personal life are starting to golike this.

(11:38):
You know?
Yeah.
And you can't bend reality that long.
And it's only if you're playing with fire,you're gonna get fucking burned.
That's just you know, I was pushing it couldhave been a bunch of different things I got,
you know, issues more, but it really was acouple, ARIs, alcohol-related incidents,
really, you know, a couple years apart.
But that brought a lot of heat on myself.
Had to go to jail in the teams, fight back mysecurity clearance, get it back, go get it, and

(12:03):
just Navy JAG was not feeling it.
They were all, fuck this guy, dude.
And right right on him.
Right?
I'm not hating on him for it.
You know?
It's just like, I'm no victim in this scenario.
And so I got GED tested, failed for steroids,and that was it.
Right?
Zero tolerance.
And so I got a general discharge well out ofafter seven years.

(12:23):
So that was about a seven-year period in themilitary.
And that was it, though.
But and then walking out, I was a civilian.
So that's kinda, like, where that store thatchapter ended.
So, I remember, you know, when you became acivilian, it seemed like you were actually
getting some success, like, in your career.
Yeah.

(12:44):
What what was that transition?
Because you hear a lot of people strugglingwith that initial transition.
And there sounds like there's definitely somestruggle to come, but, you know, at least in
that initial phase, it seems like, you know,you were you were finding success.
Yeah.
I'm I'm good at leveraging connections.
Like, I can Yeah.
I can build connections and maintainconnections, and I saw that it wasn't, like, a

(13:08):
mystery that I was gonna be getting kicked outof the team.
So I had about six months where I'm trying tofigure out this, when I got done licking my
wounds and got my you know, there was a lot ofuncertainty because I had to go back to jail.
I had federal marshals here in a van.
I was doing a bunch of other shit too duringthis time where I was selling coke to make the
money to do the attorneys, and now I'm like,dude, taking drug.

(13:31):
Dude, just looking back, I don't know what thefuck I was thinking.
Right?
My mind I I was really pushy because anythingcould've happened, dude.
And I'm away at prison for years.
Right?
I was already on a violation, right?
Or an out-of-state, you know, violation on aviolent crime, and now I'm stacking, dude, it's
just insanity.

(13:52):
So but kinda figured some stuff out, figuredout that, you know, what that path wasn't the
right path and hammered some things, but I hadleveraged a contact to go into private
residential development at a company, a verylarge private developer, just through some
contacts and stuff and just asking people whatI needed from them.

(14:14):
Like, hey.
Can I talk to this guy?
Can I sit down with this guy?
And we ended up getting a job building housesdown at Chula Vista on a very large
development.
It's called The Sky.
It was like a $750 million development down atChula Vista near the amphitheater.
And cool, man.
Right?
Learning a lot.

(14:35):
Just running teams.
Like, I didn't know anything aboutconstruction, but, you know, where we come
from, you learn how to be self-sufficient andfind information and also how to run teams and
how to be, you know, hey, guys.
This is and that's really what that whole jobwas, so I was good at it.
Right.
Went into a lateral move to start in thecannabis industry, which was with, we started

(14:58):
this business called SILO, Storage InformationLogistics Operations.
We built a facility.
We're getting licenses and stuff fordistribution out in Palm Springs.
Now I'm the CEO of that company.
So now I'm pitching decks and the venturecapitalist who was funding a lot of these
things.
Now I'm now I'm his right-hand man in a lot ofdifferent projects.
So it was just building, but also the habits.

(15:21):
Right?
And so right when I had got out of the militaryto back up, you know, a couple of years was,
you know, taking Adderall, Xanax, smoking weed.
And I'm not saying that that's the worst thing,but, you know, alcohol every day.
Right?
It was just not during the day, not during mytime, right, of working.
So that's the lie piece.

(15:42):
I was still going to the gym.
Fast saw the truck.
I lived in PB, so I had, like, you know, it wasnice, man.
And I thought I had had some good stuff, butreally, and you might have run into moments
like this, Jordan.
It's just my emotional discipline was terrible.
Like, violent people in my life was veryexplosive, couldn't tell me shit.

(16:06):
Right?
And I still had my moral compass was off.
Like, I haven't really fixed the part of, like,what you you you can't just do what the fuck
you want, right, and expect things to work outright.
You're stacking karmic debt, and it was just Iwas doing a lot of things I didn't learn I
couldn't really see as wrong at the time.
You know, I might have maybe thought they were,like, but I just blew right past it and

(16:29):
negotiated with myself.
And so that was what was happening during thosetwo years.
And at some point, I stepped on fentanylhabits, so I'm snorting fentanyl at night while
I'm sending emails all night.
Right?
I wasn't just, like, off fucking around.
That and that's just why I couldn't lie.
I'm like I'm like, dude, I'd stay up till 2, 3in the morning pitching decks, building decks,

(16:50):
writing emails, doing all this shit, then go tosleep for three hours and take it all up and
fucking go all day and then do that same shitat night.
It was just for a year.
Right?
And so I—you fucking—you know, speed wobbleslike a motherfucker, dude, and everybody can
see it.
It was good until it wasn't.
Right?
It was—I was crushing it, and so nobody couldreally tell me anything until it all came

(17:12):
crashing down, and that's what happened.
Right.
So would you say that there's, like, a—a youknow, how would you define the difference
between maybe, success and alignment like wewere kinda talking about?
Because on one hand,
are these your question.
You're fucking crushing it.
You're CEO of this company.
You're putting in the work.
You're staying up all night.
Like, sometimes, dude, I—I beat myself up that,like, I'm like, am I working hard enough?

(17:36):
Do I—should I be pulling more hours?
Should I be, you know, doing this thing?
You know?
But so go ahead.
Elaborate.
Wow.
That's a I don't think I've ever had anybodyask a question like that.
That's a really good question.
I've been playing with this idea of successversus significance.
Yeah.
And it just kind of aligns with that in that,you know, success and alignment.

(18:02):
Alignment, pretty much by definition, issustainable.
Right.
Alignment is also not way out of balance.
People always say that life shouldn't bebalanced.
Right.
You're right.
I get it.
You know, you gotta work hard.
There's no such thing as balance.
Okay.
Okay.
But at some point, it kind of matters.
Right?
Yeah.
I mean, and everybody can agree with that.
So also karmic debt.

(18:25):
Yeah.
You talk a lot about that.
You can be successful, but it's how we'redefining what success is.
So if if we're talking monetarily, if it justnumbers on a screen, that's success.
Okay.
Then, yeah, you can be success and andcompletely out of alignment.
But if you're talking about success Mhmm.

(18:46):
Which I'm starting to define it as lifeexcellence.
Right.
Like, a whole life of your relationships aregood, people respect you, you respect your
fucking self, your finance your your physicallycapable, your business is success is positive
and and doing well.
That's what I call success now.

(19:08):
Right.
So if it's just monetary, I don't consider thatbecause you can be a fucking drug dealer
successful, but it's all gonna go away at somepoint.
Right?
I mean, it's just, you know, the nature of thebeast.
Like, what are we really defining as success?
And Mhmm.
What is peace of mind worth?
Totally.
Holy shit, dude.

(19:29):
If you're doing the wrong shit, and this iswhat I experienced doing drugs and stuff, dude.
I am just I knew I was doing wrong, and so mypiece of you know, you're worried about what's
happening below you and this guy owes youmoney, and now it's fucking getting violent and
shit.
You know, it's like, that's not success to me,bro.
Right.
I don't care what anybody tells me.
Like, peace of mind is success also.

(19:50):
And so alignment means your moral decisions aregood.
You respect yourself.
Right?
It's alignment in all areas.
And that is how I would define success andalignment is, to have true success, you have to
be aligned.
That makes a lot of sense, dude.

(20:10):
So here's a question.
How come in BUD/S, it's so easy to find thatpiece of alignment and, you know, like, a lot
of you're just kinda signed up on a dottedline.
You know?
You have this idea of what being a Navy SEAL isgonna be like in a movie, in a book, and
whatever the fuck.
And then you get there, and you're on thegrinder, and you're doing it.
You know?
And there is a little bit of separationbetween, you know, reality and the fiction of

(20:35):
it.
Yeah.
But, yet, you're there and, like, through nonecessary effort of your own, you're in
alignment.
I mean, I guess it is your effort, but, like,you just show up and do what you're told, and
you're in a fucking alignment.
You know?
Yeah.
Where where does that decouple from?
I mean, dude, you're you're on the teams.
You know, you you SQT.
You're doing all of these things.

(20:56):
How do you start where does the alignment kindago off the rails?
Yeah.
We we cause our own disalignment ormisalignment.
Right?
That's my it's my submission that we make lifemore complicated than it needs to be.
I would have stayed perfectly aligned in theteams if I just didn't stay disciplined and

(21:18):
locked up.
I would have lived a great life.
I probably would have stayed and then becomeMaster Chief.
Right?
I had totally no want to get out, really.
Oh, yeah.
Not for the most part.
I really liked what I do.
I liked what I was doing, but it's desire,succumbing to desires.
Immediate gratification, pleasure seeking.

(21:39):
Right?
And then losing some kind of purpose.
So I think when we're back in BUD/S, and this,you know, it's very simple.
You're in purpose.
Your purpose is to be a SEAL.
So it's very one, it's very major focus.
When you hit that pinnacle, now you're seeingwhat's next.
Right?
If you don't set that next goal, like, go toDEVGRU or whatever that next piece might be or

(22:04):
GB or whatever.
Well, now what's the only option?
It's to topple down.
Right?
Now it's like now your attention gets spread.
Now it's the chicks.
Now it's the truck.
Now it's the apartment.
Now it's the fucking whatever.
You know?
Mhmm.
And so it starts to get spread out.
And so you're not unless unless those thingsyou're spread on are very, very concise and

(22:30):
focused like family and this, life gets morecomplicated.
I think as life gets more complicated, itbecomes increasingly more difficult to stay
aligned.
So that's why you have to be reallylaser-focused on what your purpose is, or it's
very easy to get pulled off track.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Wow.
So let's get back to the story.

(22:50):
So, you are working, you're CEO of thiscannabis company.
You're up all night, you know, cracking Fennylines, getting shit done, putting together
PowerPoints.
You know?
So go ahead and take it from there.
Yeah.
Then, dude, I went, you know, face down, titsup, you know, smashed my face on a thing.
It wasn't the first time that it happened.

(23:10):
Right?
You know, just completely just and people foundout.
Right?
It was like, now it was kinda like, oh, and itwas just an it was just, hey, man.
You need to take a fucking break.
That's another thing.
It's you need to take a fucking couple of playsoff.
Right?
Personal, like slashing
into your professional life now, your personalproblems.

(23:33):
And that's right?
Yeah.
And my ex at the time was the attorney for myVC guy.
Right.
So Well, I I had brought in.
Right?
I had created that environment.
So Right.
It was Right.
Complex to say the least.
And so same old guy.
Yeah.
And also the relationship, like, just it waschaotic, and it needed to be, though, because,

(23:56):
right, no growth happened in comfort, and itwasn't correct anymore.
Right?
It was not wasn't healthy.
And so there was life pushing me on a differentpath.
And so I went to Hawaii, man.
They're like, hey.
Take some plays off.
I went out there.
The VC guy had some business out there.
He's like, go out there and just fucking chillfor a little bit, and then we'll kinda get set
up on some stuff out there.

(24:17):
They got in Hawaii, and that's where I went,bro.
And but it was pretty much me getting maroonedfor the most part.
You know?
And, and so I got I got marooned.
You know?
And then but I don't but I marooned myself.
Right?
I it wasn't like I didn't I did, though.
You know?
You go out there, then emails are cut off, thenthis then I'm out.
Right?
Now I'm out in the cold.

(24:38):
Now I'm out of money.
Right?
Now I'm out of money.
I'm off fentanyl, though.
Right?
I went through that because I knew changing mylocation, though, I wouldn't have a dealer.
I wouldn't have my contacts here in fucking awhile.
There's no, like, this really was a good placeto just kinda punch out, and that was hell,
dude.
Right?
I didn't really understand.

(24:59):
I never really believed I was addicted.
Wow.
Because I had never come off.
Right?
So, like, I never missed a day.
And so I was like, it felt great.
Right?
Oh, great.
Yeah.
That's right.
And so when I came off, I went, oh, shit.
This shit's real.
Like, I didn't sleep for five days.
My joints started to swell up.

(25:20):
I fucking could not.
I felt like I wanted to crawl out of my skin.
I took myself to the urgent care, which iscrazy for me, dude.
Like, and I was like, hey, dude.
I need you to hit me some Benadryl or give mesomething to sleep, Greg, because I was maxed
out.
So that was it, dude.
But I got off that.
I'm still drinking and doing Adderall andstuff.
But and so but I'm going to the gym.

(25:42):
I'm just coming out of the fog, man.
But in a really shitty emotional state, like,job's gone, girl's gone.
Like, like, I had nothing.
No.
Then all that kinda winds up to me living in mytruck.
You know?
Shit runs out.
I still wasn't living right.
I could and boom.

(26:04):
Right?
Then I have no money, no parked in the jungle.
Like, fuck.
Like, right near where the volcano's erupting,right next to that, like, way deep in the
jungle on the east side of the Big Island, andI just go, man, this is how it happened.
That type of feeling.
And I just sat there for a few days, dude,really suicidal, man.

(26:26):
You know, shotgun next to me, just really poopoo pants, woe is me, right, that type of
fucking thing.
Not sad, though.
Not, like, crying or anything like that.
I was just tired.
I was just sick of it, dude.
I was just sick of the ups and the downs.
I'm like, what the fuck is that, dude?
And I had that moment of clarity or or whateveranybody wants to call it, but that was like,

(26:48):
dude, grab your nuts, reset.
You had a mom, a sister, or people that careabout you.
You ain't gonna do this shit.
So that's that's when I decided to go on theForeign Legion just to give it, like, one last
good push.
Yeah.
Yeah, dude.
That's you know, I hear so many, you know,stories of and including friends of mine, you

(27:08):
know, committed suicide, veterans, yeah, thatwould do it.
And it's I think it's what's really hard forpeople to kinda wrap their head around is,
like, how does somebody who is the epitome ofmental toughness, the epitome of, you know, no
no quit, you know, everything that you wouldaspire to be, you know, on a on a mental and

(27:31):
then yet they're, like, broken down, when theyleave the the military or at just at various
points.
You know, can you talk about, like, where isthat disconnect so that people can understand?
Yeah.
It's a good question too.
Yes.
I think that there's, like, a nature part thatthose guys have or that we have that's, like,

(27:55):
you know, okay.
But then that self-worth is built off thispurpose, this shared purpose, this shared group
identity.
Right?
That's the self-worth where it's built from.
So when that's taken away, if your self-worthis built off of something external, stand the
fuck by.
Right?
Stand the fuck by because it can get pulledaway.

(28:15):
We see it with guys with badges.
The badge, the uniform, the whatever.
Yeah.
Is not you.
It's not you.
Right?
So if you're holding your identity there, it'sfucking stand the fuck by, dude.
Because everybody's gotta put it away.
It's some people put away in the right ways andsomebody put it away in the wrong ways, but
everybody experiences this, like, gap of, like,purposelessness or whatever it is.

(28:39):
And that's that's what I think happens, andthat's what I still haven't solved yet.
And I was trying to solve with the ForeignLegion.
Right.
Right.
I need another label to fix my shit.
I I felt the same way when I got injured.
It was, you know, that was sort of like, youknow, my I got medically separated for this
injury, and so much of my identity was tiedinto my my job, you know, my my reputation, the

(29:06):
people around me.
And then when one by one, those things startfalling away, there is, like, this huge sort
of, like, gap of purpose and, like, well, ifI'm not if I'm no longer that and I'm and now
everyone thinks that I'm a fucking broke dick,you know?
What am I?
You know?
What is my worth?

(29:27):
So so then you look start looking towards theForeign Legion.
And, yeah, what was that like?
I I think for a lot of people, they're not evenfamiliar with what the Foreign Legion is.
So maybe kinda
Yeah.
Jordan, just going back on what you said, it'slike people ask, what do they always ask, guys?
What do you do?
Right.
Right.
First question.
What do you do?
Right.

(29:48):
Dude, you know what I ask people now?
Who are you?
Yeah.
Right.
Who are you?
Right?
And who the fuck are you?
Right?
And that'll give you a better understanding ofyou.
And so that's I had to ask myself who I was.
And I went to the Foreign Legion, and peoplethat don't know, it's a foreign it's a foreign
fighter unit and branch, really a small branchin the French military that's just comprised of

(30:11):
foreigners.
So about 200 years old, started by an old kingto funnel foreigners back onto the battlefield
with the carrot of French citizenship.
It's modeled after the Roman legions.
So anybody that's familiar with how the Romanshow the legions, very similar.
You have to learn French.
There's no way to sign up other than show upwith a bag and knock on the door.

(30:33):
So it's unique in that capacity.
There's no application online.
No call in.
Nothing.
So you show up.
You give them your passport.
Tell you about a pull-up bar.
There's, like, two small bases to really dothis.
They have some small satellite ones on theoutskirts of France, but, really, it's just two
preselection centers that are gonna be doingit.

(30:53):
From that point on, man, I didn't see thatpassport for, like, three years.
You know, two years and some change.
They give you a fake name, and this is if youmake it.
But the preselection's like IQ test, medical,psychological evaluations, some physical tests,
then you'll go through a whole another echelonof that a little deeper in the selection center
at the headquarters where everybody getsconsolidated.

(31:13):
And then they'll offer you a contract.
And so that whole process is about a month.
Mhmm.
You start in civilian clothes.
You start in and it's about one out of 15 guyswho come to the door will actually get a
contract offered.
And so that's the process, dude.
And then, you know, it's a five-year deal, andyou they you you go to boot camp, and it's it's
a highly trained infantry unit.

(31:34):
Right?
So it's not special forces.
You know?
It's it's a highly trained infantry unit, andthat is what we all get taught the catchall
language of French.
So we all just speak shitty French to eachother.
Awesome.
Yeah.
So But that process, man, was powerful.

(31:56):
Yeah.
Right.
Process of self-actualization because I gotthere broken, dude.
Right.
I'll show you a picture of me when I got maybeI'll show you some picture of me when I got the
Foreign Legion boot camp.
I was so fucked up, man.
Yeah.
I was haggard, bro.
Me after this because I'll I'll put it in the,there's a few, like, places, media spots where
I
can drop.

(32:16):
I got I was haggard, bro, and I just was, like,beat up, but I built myself back up.
Right?
It took me some years.
You know, you're you're in food deprivation,sleep deprivation.
You're in psychological fucking just gettingshit on.
You know, going back to the bottom, dude.
Yeah.
Right.
Clean this fucking toilet.
Like you're working in kitchens.
You're fucking yeah.

(32:37):
You're you're you're low man on the totem pole,and you're a fucking foreigner.
Low man on the totem pole.
So you're way down there, but we got to do somecool shit.
You know, I got they deployed us to my unit tothe Amazon Jungle down to French Guiana.
So we did deep jungle operations down there.
We did some stuff with NATO a couple yearslater when Ukraine kicked off on the on the

(32:59):
Russian border in Estonia.
We did some internal domestic missions,patrolling interior of France for a couple
months on the Riviera.
Cool.
Right?
Yeah.
That's freaking cool shit.
But hard.
Right?
You're I mean, you're walking with kit fuckingthirteen hours a day.
Right?
It's like shit.
You know, with an HK and full kit, and the thelegion's strict.

(33:22):
Real strict.
It's like the Marine Corps as far as Mhmm.
Formality, saluting officers, permission toenter every room, that type of shit.
Ocean.
You know, walking in lines everywhere, singing,walking, fucking it's full tilt formal
military.
You're getting checked bases you know, IDs onthe way out, searched on the way back in, drug

(33:43):
tested back in.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so it's it's Yeah.
If you're down in,
fucked up, they send you these little jails.
Was it down in Nice in, on the Riviera?
Yeah.
Like, where where where where where where wherewhere where where where where where where where
where where where where where where where wherewhere where where where where where where where
where where where where where where where wherewhere where where where where where where where
where where where where where where where wherewhere where where where where where where where
where where where where where where where wherewhere where where where where where where where
where where where all the way to the co thewhole that whole area of the coast.

(34:09):
That's sick.
That's awesome.
No.
No.
It seems like there's a recurring theme kind ofin your story and into the stuff that you've
done after, which we'll get into, in a littlebit.
But it seems like for you, alignment comes backto kind of stripping away all of these

(34:33):
superfluous aspects of your life.
I mean, like, BUDS is about as austere as itgets, and the Legion is somehow even more
austere than that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know?
And that's where it seems like you kind of, youknow, find that peace and alignment.
Would you agree with that?

(34:54):
Yeah.
I really started to understand the importanceof simplicity more and more.
I really started to toy with that idea and alsoin the simplicity of my thoughts.
Right?
And what the things I consumed, like, my my
Mhmm.
Slightly mental diet.
Right?
Cutting out just mindless scrolling or porn orthis or that.

(35:17):
Right?
It's like Mhmm.
Not saying you gotta be a monk.
Right?
But I'm saying it's just being more in controlover the things I consumed and then starting to
be more disciplined about my day.
And this is when I was sitting I was in theForeign Legion.
I'm in this barracks room.
It's called Barracks Room, and I still wasn'thappy, man.
And I was still having some rough weekends.

(35:40):
I was still kinda living kind of how I did,just in a different place, alright?
And I just kept going, dude, am I just gonna dothis forever?
You know?
Am I just gonna kinda just keep doing this andgo down the mercenary road and keep living
this, like, life of feast and famine?
And I didn't see myself doing that.

(36:02):
I wanted to make money.
I wanted some more autonomy.
Right?
I wanted to be able to go to the beach.
My fucking shit like that people take forgranted.
Right.
I wanted and I wanted, you know, I wanted tolive a life.
And so I said, okay.
Well, I don't know how to do that or what thisis gonna look like, but I just know I just want
to feel better now.

(36:22):
That's literally where it started.
And so I was like, well, I've always feltbetter when I get up early and do these things.
And so I started getting up earlier thaneverybody and started just structuring my day
better, tracking my food, learning more aboutnutrition, but then doing it all the time.
Right?
That was the other piece.
Not like some days and then off days, and I wasalways obviously fit and did stuff.

(36:45):
That was part of the lie I could tell myself.
It's like, I'm better than most.
I was like, I knew I wasn't as good as I couldbe.
So I was like, well, let me see how tight I canget, and then I started to feel better.
Started to build a little more self-worth.
Started to then I started to hold myself to ahigher moral standard.
Right?
I just started, like, being very cognizant of,like, dude, I don't need to go talk to that

(37:06):
girl.
I don't need to go out and do this.
I started to save money.
As simple as that sounds like, I was making$1,500 a month, you know, in the Foreign
Legion, bro.
Like, making, like, nothing, but still savingmore somehow than I did when I was making six
figures.
Right?
Right.
Right.
You know?
Why though?
Because I realized, dude, I was like, bro, Iwore the same five shirts for probably four

(37:29):
years.
Right?
Same pair of shoes.
Like, I just simplified.
I just didn't give a fuck.
I stopped.
Also, I was in another country, so I didn'thave the pressure to be something and, you
know, whatever.
And I've realized that all that really matteredwas was I proud of myself underneath
everything, and that really helped.
And so it was all these things they started tostack on each other.

(37:51):
Gotcha.
You know, just focus on my tattoos and workingout and training and just staying focused on
things that were only, like, in alignment, whatyou're talking about, with the vision I have
for myself.
Gotcha.
Like, man, I'm picturing myself in shape withmoney, disciplined.
Well, then I better do those things.

(38:12):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Or else it's not gonna happen.
Right.
Right.
So I guess where I'm kinda going with thisquestioning is it seems simple when you're like
when everything is literally taken away andyou're living this, like, monk-like life.
Yeah.
I think the challenge comes, and you have youknow, what I want you to talk about is how do

(38:37):
you start adding these levels of complexity?
Like, you know, yeah.
I would like to have some money.
I do wanna have a nice house and a beautifulfamily and live in San Diego, which requires a
lot of you can't just be, you know, a $1,500 amonth, five shirts kind of deal.
You know?
So there's a little bit of a disconnection, buthow do you pair those two things?

(38:59):
Because that's what everyone wants, dude.
You know what I mean?
I think people kinda get it.
They're like, if I had everything taken awayand I was, like, in prison, like, fucking Wes
Watson kind of message, you know, where he'slike, you know, you build these habits because
you're literally in this fucked-up cruciblewhere you have to do this to survive, you know?
But then when you're out here, dude, you haveall of these freedoms and all these

(39:21):
distractions and choices, and you kinda wantsome of them for your life.
So how do you keep from fucking it up again?
Yeah.
That's a massively important piece, and I spokeat a prison in Ohio here last week.
And we touched on this exact topic.
Really?
I was like, dude, you have to do the reps, therepetitions when it's simple.

(39:47):
So that when it gets more complex and it's notgetting easier, when the kids come, the bills
come, the this comes, the that comes
Shit.
So you have to have such a rooted daily system.
And I don't mean, like, be a robot.
Right?
But you have to have these, like, rooted dailydisciplines that are nonnegotiable for you that
you just do.

(40:08):
Like, holding yourself to a standard of wakingup early, physical activity, mindful eating,
cutting back all biases.
As far as, like, losing your wits.
Right?
I don't mean be a monk.
I just mean, you know, being fucking usingthings as crutches or escapism.
Right?
That you we don't wanna we wanna build a lifewe don't need to escape from.

(40:30):
And so Right.
Because the complexities are coming.
So what then then when the also rooting themoral rooting the morality deep.
Like, do you really want to do you really buyinto the fact that if you do something and
nobody really knows about it, that it's reallya bad thing?
Because if you don't, you're fucked.
Right.

(40:50):
Where's the pure moral compass?
What what sets that for you?
Is it, like, is it religion?
I know I've see heard you talk about, like,kinda universal laws.
You know?
Yeah.
For you, like, where what guides that sense ofmorality?
What guides my that sense of morality simplysaid is your internal adviser.

(41:12):
Right?
The I think the voice of God is what it'scalled or what what people called it ancient
times.
The conscience.
Right.
Conscience.
Conscience congruency.
Conscience congruency.
People can call it whatever they want.
I don't like people getting caught up onsemantics because people are like, oh, I don't
believe in God.
I'm like, well, dude, you know what the fuckI'm talking about.
You're right.
And so it's like, right, you know, I don't likecoming at people with a foundation of

(41:35):
authority, rule of authority, because if theydeny the authority, then they don't.
But I'm like, look.
When something says don't do that and you do itanyway, guess what?
Right?
You might get away with it, but you didn'treally get away with it because you stack some
karmic debt on you somewhere.
Right?
Also, so there's that piece.
And that restraint, whether it be, you know,cheating or your diet or whatever, all those

(42:02):
things matter, man, because there's no wayaround the fact, and everybody tries to get
around this fact, that the only way to live areally great, excellent life is superior moral
conduct.
There's no way around it.
Yeah.
There's no way around it.
If you're doing messed up stuff, I promise yousome messed up stuff's coming.

(42:25):
Everybody understands that.
They all do.
Like and I'm not saying every and this goesback to the other piece about success.
Yes.
There are people that have money that arepieces of trash, but who knows how long that's
gonna last and who knows how it is for thembehind closed doors.
Right?
So let's get rid of that, like, thought.
Right?
It's not about just money.
It's like you wanna be there with money andsuccess and moral clarity.

(42:47):
That's success.
So so that's what I say.
Start building.
If you can get that piece, that moral clarityand the daily habits locked, then it's simple.
Nothing changes.
That's the core.
Right?
That's the core.
Like, everything else hovers around that.
Right?
And so everything else has to.

(43:08):
It has to so when the whatever comes and youget more money and now the distractions come
and now this and that, or you can fuck some guyover in a business deal or whatever.
It's like I saw something you posted the otherday.
It was something about, like, your land youryour renter or something being a piece of shit.
You know?
And I'm like Oh, yeah.
I had a squatter, man.
The truth.
That person does not live a good life.

(43:29):
For sure.
They don't.
A hundred percent.
They don't.
A hundred percent.
Those are a piece of shit.
Right?
And so they're it's like they're they're notbeing forthcoming, honest.
Like, we have to be these things if we want tolive in any type of, like, peace and and and
live in a society while.
You you mentioned that guy because I I rememberthinking at the time I mean, obviously, I was

(43:50):
fucking pissed.
I'm like, dude, I'm like, dude, I'm I canbarely afford this house.
Like, you are a solution to the problem, andnow you are a massive problem.
You know?
And I'm just like, how can you like, you know,I'm not fucking BlackRock.
I'm not some, like, corporate, you know,landlord.
Like, I'm just a dude who's trying to you know,you came to me saying that you were going

(44:10):
through a divorce.
You have a kid with autism, like, you know, asad story, and I'm like, you're trying to help
you out.
And then you just, like, royally fuck me, youknow, and continuously do it day after day.
You know?
So I was obviously super pissed about it, but Imean, I remember thinking this at the same
time.
I'm like, I'm looking at this dude's life, andI'm like, I actually just feel bad for you,

(44:33):
man.
You know?
And then he, while he was there, he, you know,allegedly developed some sort of, like,
autoimmune thing.
Or he was dealing with it for a little bit,but, like, it had gotten, like, worse just at
the time.
You know?
And I'm like, dude, your finances are fucked.
Your home life is fucked.
Your relationship's fucked.

(44:54):
You're you know, your health is now fucked.
Everything in your life is falling apart.
And it's because you do shit like this.
Because you have no sense of other people, andyou just don't fucking care.
And it comes back.
Yeah.
You know?
Oh, bro.
It's at a cellular level.
Being a piece of shit gets people at a cellularlevel.

(45:18):
And I gotta and, Jordan, this is a it's anhonest question.
Like Yeah.
I don't I don't know.
How old are you, Jordan?
Thirty-four.
Right?
Mid-thirties.
Look young as fuck.
Dude, I'm 39.
I'm not saying I'm some spring chicken.
But I'll tell you what.
I look at guys I went to high school with whomaybe weren't the best dudes.
They look Right.
Bro.

(45:38):
Really?
I like it.
Right.
And my fiancee was talking about it.
She goes, girls, she went to she grew up in,like, Newport and places that some girls
weren't the, like, the nicest human beings.
Looking at them now, and they're, bro, yoursoul members.
If you got a shitty soul, it's gonna it it itmanifests.

(45:59):
Yeah.
It manifests, and it starts to bleed into yourphenotype.
Because being young, like, as you see peoplethat have that young, bright, vibrant, clear
energy, they fucking look like it.
They look like it, and it's like, dude, thatstuff matters.
And health and this and that, dude, what do youthink stress and having low self-worth and

(46:21):
knowing and going against your conscience alot?
Because that guy knows his conscience isn'ttelling him to fuck you.
I know I know there's there's no way becausethat's not how the authentic voice of God
works.
It's negotiations and negotiations are wherethe devil comes in.
The negotiations are where that you're gettingpulled out of alignment.
And so that's where people I go, dude, ifyou're trying to negotiate with yourself,

(46:44):
you're about to make an ugly choice.
Right?
If you're trying to convince yourself orjustify something, if you're in justification
mode, you're not making a beautiful choicebecause you don't have to you don't have to
justify beautiful choices.
Do you have to justify going and walking downon Windansea Beach on a on a morning with a
coffee?
Right.
No.
Right.

(47:05):
It's it's like an it's you just do it becauseyou know it's smart, it's a positive thing.
Just feel right.
We justify we justify, you know, going down toHong Club Hong Kong and Tijuana or some shit.
Right?
It's like we justify those things.
Right.
Right.
Or at point or in his
case, he's saying he's justifying, like, yeah.
Hey.

(47:25):
I know it's wrong that I'm screwing this guy,but, like, hey.
At least he has a house.
I'm about to lose my house.
You know, I'm dealing with this and my job, butI'm about to lose this and blah blah blah.
And so, yeah, you are a negotiator.
So, yeah, I'm screwing him over, but, like, woeis me.
My situation is so much worse, you know, andyou're justifying it.
You are negotiating with it.
I never thought about it like that.

(47:45):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a total justification.
Justification is how you know you're about tomake a bad decision.
You don't need to justify things that aresimple and clear and honest.
You just don't.
Because your mind doesn't even go through thatprocess.
It doesn't need to.
Right.
Right.
So let's go back to your kind of, we're in theForeign Legion, and now let's talk about your

(48:10):
transition out.
You know, that's kind of an interesting pieceof the story as well.
Yeah, man.
And so I was just I was on the back, you know,the back of the contract.
It was about four years.
And I had a small injury in my calf, so I hadbeen in the hospital with, they were just
looking at it.
It was fine, but they just wanted to see whatthe heck was going on with it.

(48:31):
And so, man, that's when I was like, you knowwhat?
I didn't have any social media.
Nothing.
Wasn't online.
You know, in the SEAL teams, it wasn't a thing.
And I just got offline for went off grid for along time because I knew, bro, I didn't have
anything to say yet.
But I knew heads up what I did.
I wanted to write a good story, but there wasno redemption arc.

(48:52):
You have to be redeemed.
You gotta build I still wasn't right.
Yeah.
I still wasn't right, so I didn't really wannashare anything, man.
And so I spent a long time on internalreflection and getting honest.
And then over some years, dude, I felt greatevery day.
You know, I felt good about myself and what Iwas doing, even in a very tough environment.
That's when I was like, man, I could teachpeople how to do this.

(49:14):
I was suicidal.
And now after years in a very awestruckenvironment, I built myself back up.
Right.
So I just put the camera down and startedpracticing and then sent my story.
Right?
Uploaded my story and just stream ofconsciousness, put it on YouTube, and wanted to
share that.
Not preach, but just share information of, man,this is where I was and here's where I'm at,

(49:38):
and these are the things that helped me.
Take it easy.
For a second.
Because I
just wanna I wanna give a shout-out to RyanWilliams, Industry Threadworks guy, you're
wearing his shirt.
His shirt right now, bro.
Yeah, bro.
So, you know, Ryan and you were hugeinspirations in even me starting this podcast.

(50:02):
And Nick.
I was having lunch with Ryan, sometime it'smaybe, like, six months ago.
And I was talking with him, and I don'tremember exactly what got us on this subject.
But I was I was talking about how, like, it'sreally hard to make content because you're
constantly, like, oh, that sucks or, or, like,no.
What am I gonna say?
You're overthinking it.

(50:23):
And he was like, do you you know, sometimesyou, like he's like, you gotta be a little
dumber.
Like, you gotta dumb yourself down and justfucking put out the phone and just start
recording.
And he was like, like, take the pen, Taylor.
Yeah.
I
mean, no shade.
No shade.
But yes.
No.
Yes.
He's like, he's he's doesn't give a fuck.

(50:43):
He does not give a fuck what he's not attachedto the outcome of this video.
He just puts it down and starts going.
You know?
And in the art of doing that is, you know andI'm I'm consuming your content, and I'm like,
damn, dude.
What what's my fucking excuse?
So that's kind of, you know anyway, sorry tothrow you off, but, like,

(51:05):
No.
This is an important topic because Yeah.
You said something very well.
Like, the the the attached outcome.
It's hard not to.
Right?
We want the success.
We want it to happen right now.
But there was a year I was talking to, like, 30people.
A lot of people don't know that.
I was talking to, like, my mom and aunt and,like, some legionnaires getting shit.
They're like, oh, what are you?

(51:26):
A vlogger now?
But I was just practicing.
I was just talking on and I just you know, Ihad no following, dude.
Zero.
And so I didn't care because I was just like, Iwant to get this out of my body and share some
of these things.
And, like, you on a dude, you gotta remember.
You're in a beautiful location.
Walk and talk, man.
Right?
Walk and talk.
Be by the ocean, man.

(51:47):
Just made me think about this.
Right?
Just sharing things that are opening up.
All it is is just a video diary, bro, thatyou're sharing with people.
Right?
Because the brand building, the brand buildingis really just people understanding who you
are, then they wanna support what you do.
I'm sorry.
Right?
Because then your product's good too, so it'sshit up.
So it's like just brand here's I heardsomething great the other day.

(52:12):
It was somebody said, brand personal brandmatter.
Like, think about if Nike like, branding.
If they built a building, kind of understandwhat that might look like.
Yeah.
You can get it'd be sleek.
It'd be kinda dark.
It'd be kinda cool.
Yeah.
You know, if Yeah.
Or or, you know, and you go, alright.

(52:33):
Who's the CEO of fucking Tesla?
Right?
Everybody knows.
Personal brand.
Right?
Who's the CEO of fucking American Airlines?
Right.
Right.
Oh, you know?
Just like, hey.
If if Hilton built a shoe, what would it looklike?
Yeah.
Right.
Fucking knows.
Right?
It's like there's no so branding that is soimportant because it, like, gives the style to

(52:56):
it.
So then to do that, the people under have tounderstand your style, how you get down.
Yeah.
And that was, like, that's kind of just where Ijust understood.
I just wanted to share what I had in my way,not trying to fucking be anything for anybody
other than what I thought was valuable tomyself.
What I would wanna hear.
Honesty and authenticity and then just lettingit go and not getting too attached to that

(53:22):
outcome.
Right?
And just being like, this is just is what it isand just being in it for the long haul.
That was the other piece.
I was like, dude, I'm starting this, but I'mnot stopping until I die.
I assure you.
I was like, I'm gonna do two uploads of fuckingYouTube.
I don't care.
A full long form every fucking Monday andThursday, and I've done that since then.
And I've changed countries.

(53:43):
I've fucking had kids.
Yeah.
I've never missed an upload.
Right?
3:30 and I do that, and I but I'll do that tillthe day I fucking die.
Mark my words.
Until or until I get pulled off this thing.
Right?
I will not stop.
And so I've just made that commitment tomyself.
But that battle rhythm, not consistency, waswhat I started to kinda learn back then, and I

(54:04):
just sent it, and I was just not gonna bedeterred.
And so when the Foreign Legion came at me alittle hard, write some of the story, and
they're like, hey.
Pull your shit down.
We're putting you in jail.
I was like, no.
Fucking no.
They're like, well, we're gonna, you know, putyou on food discipline in the in jail for
fucking four months, dude.

(54:25):
Four months.
It was breaking big rocks into small rocks.
That's what happened.
And I was like, no.
Because I was getting emails.
Guys were like, hey.
I was gonna kill myself.
I didn't.
I really appreciate you putting out the video.
I knew I was on to something, and I wasn'tgonna stop the momentum because of some fucking
rule.
Also, I'm a foreigner.
I'm not a French citizen.
I don't have legal protections there.

(54:46):
I don't know what the documents are saying thatthey're fucking making me wanna sign.
Fuck that.
I had a lawyer, and the lawyer was like, getthe fuck out of here.
Right?
She's like, dude.
Like, if you're not gonna do it, my lawyer waslike, dude, you're not a French citizen.
It doesn't fucking matter.
Right?
And I was at four and a half years almost orfour years doesn't change.
I was done anyway.
I was moving trucks around the base just totill my contract ended.

(55:08):
So it was just time.
And so when I made that shift, I was fuckingscared, man.
Right, Jordan?
Right.
I was scared because I had another transition.
But right.
I got a second transition.
Not many guys give the a double take.
And so I was like, I don't care what the fuckhappens.
I'm sticking to my wake ups.

(55:30):
I'm sticking to the thing.
I haven't been perfect.
Right?
I'm not some perfect piece in glass.
I'll admit that.
There's no doubt about it.
But I'll tell you what.
Fucking stayed locked on that piece and thatblueprint and then stayed doing what I knew was
my purpose.
Right?
That or what I see as my purpose or understandas my purpose, which is get as much value in my

(55:52):
clients as possible, do what I say I'm gonnafucking do.
Right.
Right.
Fucking do.
Right?
And that's that's that's all I can do.
Let me ask you a piece about branding.
This is kind of an interesting component, butit's something that, you know, when you talk
about, like, while you were in the FrenchForeign Legion and you're like, I was just, you
know, now I had some time to focus on mytattoos and sort of going back to personal

(56:18):
brand, how do you see the role of, like,crafting the image that you, you know, put out
to the world?
How important is that to you?
Oh, bro.
Presentation matters.
Yeah.
You know, I knew, but also, you have to beauthentic about what this is that
self-awareness piece.

(56:39):
Just like the conscience, you're also beingdirected, man, how to present yourself.
Everybody knows how they wanna look.
They do.
Right.
Not everybody wants to look like fucking me.
I totally understand that.
But they are being directed to their bestvision of themselves in some capacity.
Yeah.
Right?
Not everybody wants to look like us withtattoos on neck and shit.

(57:00):
That's fine.
But that's not for everybody, and I understand.
But if they're not executing their divinevision of themselves, they're losing out on
something because now they can't presentthemselves in an authentic way.
Right.
My teeth, my gold teeth, my tattoos, all this,it was part of a very long vision I had for

(57:21):
years since a young child.
Wow.
How I wanted to look.
How I wanted to look.
And so when I had the focus and the time, I gotserious about presenting myself well internally
and externally.
That's when a lot of things aligned, and theygot plugged in and all came together.
And then I could really communicate my messagein an authentic way because I was presented in

(57:43):
an authentic way.
I felt correct in my own skin.
So many pieces of that are important.
And people who aren't personal branding orpersonal brands, but they are not how they
look, how they feel are they're not anauthentic brand.
Right.
Right.
Self-actualized enough.
Right.
They need to do more work.

(58:04):
Right.
Right.
Physically, how do you feel?
Like, I mean, you work out every day.
You know, you've gone through BUDS, seven yearsin the SEAL teams, five years in the Legion.
Yeah.
You know?
And I've never heard you talk about yoga.
So how do you, how do you stay, you know,feeling good and not just, like, tightening up

(58:26):
so much that your joints hurt and shit?
Yeah.
That's a really good question.
I, fuck, man.
You know, I've had some little injuries, butI've been pretty fortunate.
I must be pretty hardy or something, but Istretch out a little bit.
Yeah.
But I do a lot of full range of motion stuff,controlled movements.
Like, I'll, mhmm.
Like, when I squat, not all the time when I'mgoing heavier, but, like, on the Smith machine

(58:49):
and stuff, dude, I'll go full range.
Mhmm.
Right?
I'll go full range.
I'll do full range on leg extensions, fullrange.
I'll do some sprints, some sled pushes just tokeep that resistance intact.
And then I'll stretch a little bit.
But for the most part, I think it's, I try tostay movement-minded.

(59:10):
I try to be very mindful of my caloric intakebecause I'm, yeah, larger.
It's like a battle for me to stay smaller.
Right?
It's like my body has the opposite
issue, dude.
My body wants to put on weight, dude.
Facts.
Like, I'm 220, dude, and I eat, like, 1,800calories, maybe 2,000 in a day.
Yeah.
And so because my body wants to go 240, like,quick.

(59:31):
You know?
And not all good weight, mind you.
I wish it was all good weight.
But and so it's that's how I but that's alsoimportant for me to stay engaged in the
disciplines and my focus because it's you know,you get out of your head by getting into your
body, and I think people would do well to focusmore on their physical disciplines, and it
really improves that mental clarity.

(59:52):
Yeah.
Now let's just talk about kind of what you'redoing now and maybe transition into, you know,
just your career currently and what you'redoing for your clients and, you know, your own
personal brand.
Everything I do is one-on-one right now.
So fitness, mindset, lifestyle coaching.

(01:00:13):
Right?
In that catchall term.
But it's really habit building.
So anybody that feels like they've lost somemomentum, they need some fresh energy into the
system, or they just want some outsideperspective.
Some guys I work with are already high level.
Some even better fitness than me, but they justwant some outside perspective on mindset or
maybe setting some next professional goals orjust be able to speak very plainly about issues

(01:00:40):
that are going on and then pairing it with thephysical disciplines.
Right?
Yeah.
Adjusting schedule.
And if everybody can benefit from some outsideaccountability and a tighter schedule, more
efficient schedule, more efficient way ofeating.
Right?
Or at least get some new information ifsomething's stagnating.
And so that's, you know, from businessexecutives to veterans to high school kids to

(01:01:02):
70-year-old grandmas, man.
I got them all on my roster, and everybody justkinda tailor it.
I do—I tailor everything on the Zooms becausenot everybody—it's not one size fits all.
I can't shove a square peg in a round hole.
Right?
Not everyone's gonna get a three-thirty in one.
But people can get up a little earlier, andpeople can be more mindful about what they do,
how they act, how they think, what they ingestpsychologically and physically.

(01:01:27):
You know, all those pieces just that raising ofconsciousness of, like, why am I thinking this
way?
Why am I reactive to this?
What's holding me back?
And so those are the things that I work on withpeople.
And right now, I'm still doing one-on-ones.
I might get the group at some point, but Ireally like the personal touch that I get with

(01:01:48):
clients.
And, yeah, man.
So that's it.
We got an elite program and a
So it's just kinda what you want.
The elite's just more a little bit moreintensive on Zooms and just things like that.
So, yeah, man, we're keeping it popping, bro,but that's the flow.
And it's crazy, like, how, you know, you'vesort of manifested your family.

(01:02:10):
Now I mean, that may be a weird way of puttingit, but it's it's
pretty crazy.
100%.
Man, I used to visualize because visualizationis a big part of it.
Like, morning process of visualization is a bigpart of what I teach people and what I do.
Man, I think, you know, for a lot of years, Iwould picture, like, my beautiful wife, my
blonde wife walking into a Hawaiian hotel withmy kids and shit, you know, gray slicked-back

(01:02:33):
hair.
And it's coming.
Right?
It's coming, dude.
You know, I got engaged.
Wow.
You know, have a wonderful fiancée.
And now the baby.
It's just I feel very fortunate.
I feel very blessed, very grateful.
And so for me, I like to say gratitude is anaction.
It's not a feeling.
People are like, oh, I'm grateful for theirkids, but then they continue to just do things

(01:02:57):
that aren't benefiting them.
I go, dude, show your gratitude.
Now are you grateful for this life?
Are you grateful having legs and stuff, dude?
You know, are you grateful?
Then fucking move around, man.
Are you grateful for being your family?
Well, then go into that investment.
Dive into that fear.
Right?
Push the pace a little bit for yourself andyour family.
There's a lot of places where if we'regrateful, show it.

(01:03:20):
Right?
A lot of times that's stepping into a littlefear.
It has to be it has to be uncomfortable.
If you really wanna show you're grateful, yougotta step into a little discomfort.
Right.
Wow.
That's crazy.
Yeah.
That visualization piece is huge.
I mean, they it's have you seen the, the BlueAngels documentary on Amazon Prime?

(01:03:40):
I've seen it.
I haven't watched it, though.
Bro, you should check it out.
It's sick.
It's, like, goosebumps sick.
It's super cool, especially coming, like, youknow, not from the Navy aviation community.
You know, it's kind of like a differentdifferent side of my world.
But, anyway, so they do chair flying before allof their flights.

(01:04:03):
They're in, like, a boardroom, and they'resitting there and they have, like, the map
where they're about to fly on their desk, andthey're pretty much eyes closed.
And, like, the person who's, you know, like,the squadron leader or whatever is calling
things out.
And they're, like, you know, pretending thatthey're in the cockpit of their airplane and
going through the movements in their head.

(01:04:24):
They're visualizing their entire flight inBUD/S, dude, and BUD/S prep.
Basically, the second you get out of boot camp,visualization is starting to they're starting
to pound it into your head.
So there's a there.
There's, like, actually, it's not just, like,some, you know, kind of a woo-woo thing.

(01:04:44):
Maybe it helps.
Maybe it's placebo.
Like, no.
It seems that there is, yeah, at the most elitelevel, people are doing this, and it is
translating into the results.
So that's crazy that it happened in your lifetoo.
Yeah, man.
It's massively important, and I can't stress itenough, dude.

(01:05:05):
So anybody listening, man, start visualizingwhat you want.
It's a game changer.
I love that, man.
Well, it sounds like you got a baby in thebackground a little bit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I won't take up too much more of your time,brother.
This has been amazing.
You've been so generous.
It's been an honor to have you on here to shareyour story and to just, like, talk with you

(01:05:30):
like a human, man.
So,
Yeah.
I appreciate you, bro.
Send me that coffee and the coffee drip andstuff, dude.
You're the man, dude.
We'll link up when I'm down, you know,definitely in the summer or something or down
there sooner by the beach.
100%, dude.
I'd love to.
Let's hit up Ryan, and we'll go grab a beersomewhere.

(01:05:50):
Super game, dude.
I love it, man.
Keep pressing forward, bro.
Everybody else watching, you have a great day.
Stay pressing.
Thank you.
very much.
It's been Mind Body Mushroom brought to you byWind and Sea Coffee.
Check us out online, and I'll shoot you a bagto say thank you as well, Ryan.
To you.
Appreciate it, brother.
You're the man, brother.
I appreciate you, bro.
I'll talk to
you later.
Later.