𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐔𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫?

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So I'm not asking you to do anything you're not
already doing.
But when you hear that voice ofresistance in your head that
says I can't do this, we can'tdo that, it's impossible.
This is hard, be like, hey,look just for two minutes, just
like, have fantasy.
I'm not arguing, I'm not sayingit's not impossible, but I'm
asking you for two minutes tosay, if it were possible, how
would I do it?
Right, and what it does is itgives your brain permission to

(00:28):
go find the answer.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
If it were possible, how would we do it?
Hey, uncommon Leaders, welcomeback.
This is the Uncommon LeaderPodcast.
I'm your host, john Gallagher.
Well, get ready to build yourinner armor.
Today I'm bringing the big gunsliterally to discuss building
an unshakable mindset in a worldthat's constantly distracting
us in many different ways.

(00:50):
Our guest today has gone fromMarine sniper to FBI special
agent, to pastor and nowexecutive coach, author and
international speaker, and thestakes that he's going to talk
about today are very important.
We're specifically going totalk about his newest book,
inner Armor, but we'll talk moreabout that.
He's a neuropsychology PhD, sohe's teaching from science as

(01:12):
well.
As we go through this, asought-after speaker, he is
going to bring the heat for youtoday.
I want to welcome AndrewWhitman to the Uncommon Leader
Podcast.
How are you doing, friend?

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Hi, mighty man of valor, john Gallagher, thanks
for having me coach.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Here we go, I'm going to jump you right in, no rest
going in.
I'm going to give you the firstquestion.
I always give first-time gueststhe last 170-plus episodes, and
that's to tell me the storyfrom your childhood that still
impacts who you are today, as aperson or as a leader.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, it really is.
It's the foundation ofeverything.
Really, all the decisions Istarted making I was the fat kid
in high school really startedin middle school and my mom and
dad were missionaries.
So I was brought up in a townin Australia called Wagga Wagga,
new South Wales, halfwaybetween Sydney and Melbourne.
And you know, the Australiansthey don't mind, you know, come
up with nicknames.
So my nickname was Beach Ballbecause I was 5'3 and 185 pounds

(02:04):
.
So it was pretty brutal.
But being a missionary's kidcan't fight back, so you're a
weak target.
So I'm living my life in fearand anxiety just constantly.
And the plan was me wouldgraduate high school.
Out of six kids I was the onesupposed to go in the ministry.
Bible college was up and Ithought, if I don't get this

(02:25):
under control, I don't want tolive the rest of my life like
this.
How am I going to lead anybody?
I can't even lead myself.
So I enlisted in the MarineCorps, so that that, and lost 50
pounds in bootcamp.
So I that whole thing about youknow.

(02:50):
I just didn't want you probably.
No, I'm not telling youanything.
You don't know, john, like eventoday, you know, decades later,
when I look in the mirror, Istill see the fat kid.
I still hear beach ball, Istill, you know, no matter how
fit you get, no matter how youknow you clamp, it's still kind
of lurks back there behind thecurtain.
So you're just have toconstantly put that under every
day.
It also, but it keeps me frostyman.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
Oh man, I think you know even that, that very last
part in terms of saying it, andthat's always with you.
I know that you've probablyheard me mindset that you had at
that point in time and amindset that doesn't go away.
It sticks with you, that youhave to overcome on a regular
basis.
Now you mentioned this innerarmor.

(03:33):
Let's jump right into that,leading us in when you use the
term or title inner armor.
What is inner armor?
I think you mentioned mentaltoughness, but tell me more
about how you define that.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
Yeah, it is, it's.
I used to use the I, you know,I, my, my company or my firm,
you know, is mental toughnesstraining center.
So for the long time, you know,for the last I don't know, you
know decade, I was mentaltoughness.
Mental toughness because I'mtraining SEALs and Marines and
Rangers.
I'm coming out of that I waswith a private military
contractor, with the statedepartment, so mental toughness.

(04:04):
But as I got going and I broughtthis to corporate, I began to
think a lot of people see, evenin those circles SEALs, marines,
rangers, athletes we've kind ofconfused physical toughness
with mental toughness.
So a lot of people think if Ijust do one more push up, or I'm
going the extra mile or I'mgoing to grit, that's physical
toughness.
Mental toughness is gettingcontrol of your mind and your

(04:26):
will and emotions right.
So this inner armor is how do Icontrol my mind, will and
emotions?
How do I?
And that's what resilience Icall perpetual resilience,
because also a lot of peoplehave this concept that
resilience is I bounce backafter something bad happened,
then I'll find out if I had itor not, you know, and it's like
no, I want this like perpetualall the time, like if it's
proactive resilience.

(04:46):
Right, I build this muscle.
Then when stuff happens, I'mnot even bouncing back, I'm
rebooting and get it, I'm better, I make the course correction
and I do better than I was whenI got knocked down.
But that that system is alreadyin place, that inner armor.
So it's not about.
I mean we're all going to takehits in life, we all know this.
I mean, stuff happens all thetime, so it's not the, it's not
the hit.
It's like how well can you takethe hit and keep going on

(05:09):
mission with your purpose?
What's your mission in life?
What's your purpose?
And that's a big piece ofresilience.
Because I have a 300 year plan.
Like my ultimate target willtake me 300.
People are like, well, don'tcount me out first off.
But but right, it's amulti-generational plan, it
would take me 300 years toaccomplish.
So the reason I have myperspective that far out,

(05:30):
because if, if I have a 300 yearplan, I know it's going to take
me 300 years to reach my I callit the Emerald city right, the
Emerald city.
Take me 300 years, like, if Ihave a bad day, who cares?
I'm still on the yellow brickroad and I know why I'm going
there, right?
So, like scarecrow was goingbecause he wanted a brain, lion
was going because he wanted Kurt, right, they're all going.
You know, dorothy wanted to gohome, but we also, and there's

(05:52):
like flying monkeys and badweather and poppy fields and all
these obstacles Right, but theyare, but nothing stopped them
and they would get knocked downand just keep going to the
Emerald city, right?
So that's what we want to do,and I don't.
If I have that perspective, myinner armor is that flying
monkeys aren't going to botherme, and you know bad storms and
you know bumps in the road oreven witches trying to kill me.

(06:14):
I don't, you know, it's likeyou know.
So that's what the inner armoris, right.
So it's, it's about changingour perspective, knowing where
we're going, what our purpose is, what our identity is, what my
mission in life is, and then youcan handle all these things
that come up.
They're just really.
All these things that come upreally boil down to a minor
inconvenience when I look atthem in light of my 300-year
plan.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
Love that and I think about that.
I've used the term.
I want to impact people for 10generations to come.
So I'm with you on the 300-yearplan.
I think that's something thatbecomes a powerful understanding
.
And look, let's go back to theBible, I mean Old Testament.
They live pretty close to 300anyway.
You never know what's going tohappen.
Methuselah Moses, we're onlyhalfway, at a minimum.
We're only halfway there.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
And we're getting better with medical science too.
Exactly right.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
I keep hearing all these things just last one more
year, and that's going to add 50years for us.
If we can just last one moreyear, and that's going to add 50
years for us.
If we can just last one moreyear, we'll see how it goes.
So I love the analogy of theWizard Oz and using that in the
Yellow Brick Road and knowingwhat each of them knew, what
they wanted.
So you know who are theindividuals that you wrote this
book for, who are the scarecrowsand the Dorothys and the

(07:19):
cowardly lions that you wrotethis book for, and why did you
write it now?
Why now was the right time.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
That's just a great question.
So right around, right beforeCOVID hit, the chaplain of the
Marine Corps called me and hesaid he'd been tasked by the
commandant to find a way to dealwith PTSD and the suicide rates
that are going on in the ranks.
They tried therapy, they trieddrugs.
Nothing is working.
The numbers are still going up.
What could you do?
And so you know, because I hadsix years in Marine Corps
infantry and I'm still pluggedinto.
You know, my platoon commanderwas a two star general at the

(07:51):
time.
My company commander is aretired lieutenant colonel but
he's involved in careertransition and helping wounded
warriors.
He's and he's plugged in withthat.
So we I just began to say, howcan we make this work?
So my flagship system ofgrounds, your leadership CEO,
it's all we dig into the scienceof it and it's a corporate

(08:11):
coaching and it's like 12 weeksand you're going to spend an
hour every day in there with meand the Marine Corps don't have
time for that.
So how do I put this thingtogether?
So Inner Armor was built to belike a workout of the day for
these guys, so that you just youknow here let me look on my
phone.
Here's, I call it the mentaltoughness minute or whatever,
right, and I'm doing thesedrills, these, doing these
resilience drills.

(08:32):
I'm building this resiliencemuscle, or this inner armor
muscle, whether it's.
You know, we talked about theeight cylinders of your life.
Right, we can get into that,but each day we're hitting
another cylinder.
Is it my mental health?
Is it my physical health?
Is it my emotional health?
Is it my social health?
Right, and so on.
So that's what this book was.
So we did that and went throughthe beta testing.
Everything was doing great, andthen the commandant's changed.

(08:53):
A new commandant came in.
He's like, you know, we don'tcare about that.
So that went out the window.
But then I started using it forlaw enforcement and
firefighters.
And I kind of say this in thepress release when they quoted
me saying this, because when Iwas a street cop and I started
in Spartanburg County, my PTSDlevels were way higher as a

(09:14):
street cop than we were in anyof my 11 deployments, whether it
was Desert Storm or Republic ofPanama, counterterrorism in
Honduras or the State Department, four tours in Afghanistan, and
they were like well.
Why I'm like well?
Because you never leave thecombat zone.
Really, I lock a guy upyesterday.
He's out on bail and I see himat the grocery store.
I'm pushing the baby in thestroller.
That's I mean.
I'm on red alert.
Afghanistan, I'm on a three, 36hour flight, right, so I can

(09:37):
decompress.
So this thing was written forthat and it also works for law
enforcement.
I thought now's the time.
I mean the chaos, john, thechaos on the planet right now.
I mean in everything economicchaos, political chaos,
leadership chaos, I meancultural chaos.
Just pick a country, it doesn'tmatter, we're in chaos.
And I thought let me put thisthing out and get it down to at

(10:01):
least this book.
So there's 23 chapters andthey're all like.
I say it's tactical becauseit's literally it's.
I'm going to have it stack twoor three minutes a day and work
on these things.
And if you just went throughone a week and, like, practice
it every week for that drillthen moved on to the next one
that you ran through this booktwo times in a year, you're
going to be your inner armor isgoing to be rock solid.

(10:21):
It's going to be habit.
It's going to be rock solid.
It's going to be habit.
It's going to be yourprogramming, it's going to be
your default mode, right?
So, and that was the goal,that's why we wrote it and it
was written for, I guess youknow, 18 to 38 year olds.
You know, in the Marine Corps.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
Well, as I've gone through it, I mean, and just
each one of those chapters, Iactually love that description
because I see them as frameworks.
You talked about those beingstructures or frameworks or
habits, and they build on eachother.
No doubt about it.
But before we get to some ofthose, because we'll talk about
those as solutions, but let'stalk about these flying monkeys
and these witches and the wizardthat kind of gets in the way
when you're working with theseguys, realizing, focused on
military and even the policeforce now, in terms of where you

(10:59):
are.
But let's just you can use theleadership in general and the
chaos that we're going through.
What are some of the barriers,these flying monkeys that these
folks are running into that keepthem from, in essence, getting
to where they want to go?

Speaker 1 (11:14):
I think, because of the way the human, I call it
biopsychology how does the body,mind and emotions all work
together or against each other?
And what we found out, you know, when we're looking at the
medical science and theneuroscience and brain imaging
and mapping and how hormonesactually are, mimic the neurons
in you know theneurotransmitters.
They mimic theneurotransmitters in your brain.

(11:34):
So when you filter someone, youperceive something.
The chemical that is called upin that, when you're perceiving
it is, it mimics the hormone,right.
So what I call it the hormonedump, right?
So if you ever been in a nearcar accident, right, where you
know the slam, the brakes, hornsare honked, but nothing's
happened.
But then afterwards then yourheart starts pounding right, and

(11:55):
you're like, oh my gosh,there's no logical reason
because everybody's safe.
That's the hormone dump.
And so that's what happens everytime there's a stressor,
whether it's combat, leadership,it doesn't matter.
Like I mean, when you'rerunning your business, I mean,
you know, my sons were running apharmaceutical manufacturing
firm, and like, every day you'recoming in, you're like, you
feel like you're Jack Sparrow,stop blowing holes in my ship.
You know what I mean.
Like I may, and that was worseto me than being in combat,

(12:17):
because in combat, at least Icould, you know I'm I have a way
to fight back.
I have rules of engagement.
There's things you could do,but in business you're just like
all right, we just lost thatcontract or the supplier, the
tariffs happened and now theshipping's backed up and you're
not getting the raw material soyou can get your product out.
These are massive stressors.
So how do I respond to thesethings?
These are the witches and theflying monkeys that are out

(12:38):
there today in the chaos.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
Hey, uncommon Leaders , hope you're enjoying the
episode.
So far.
I believe in doing businesswith people you like and trust,
and not just a company name.
That's why a strong personalbrand is essential, whether
you're an entrepreneur or aleader within a company.
Brand Builders Group, the folkswho have been helping me refine
my own personal brand areoffering a free consultation
call with one of their expertbrand strategists.
They'll help you identify youruniqueness, craft a compelling

(13:01):
story and develop a step-by-stepplan to elevate your impact.
So head on over tocoachjohngallaghercom slash bbg,
as in brand builders group, toschedule your free call and take
the first step toward buildinga personal brand that gets you
noticed for all the rightreasons.
That's coachjohngallaghercomslash bbg.
Now let's get back to theepisode.
Love that and again.

(13:21):
There are things that exist andwe're going to get a chance to
talk about movies here in alittle bit, but I just got a
chance to watch again myfavorite movie.
If I'm flipping around betweena few channels in the evening
and a few good men comes on, Igot to stop.
I'm done.
I'm done for the next hour and45 minutes until I hear Jack
Nicholson say we follow ordersor people die.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
I mean it's something that's always been there for me
, my favorite line is I wouldjust prefer you said thank you
and went about it.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
Yeah, right, otherwise, grab a weapon and
stand up.

Speaker 1 (13:52):
Grab a weapon right.
Who's going to do it?
You, kathy, you Weinberg, right.
Don't get me quoted movies,john, but it is a great mental
toughness game.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
We got one, I think scene right.
I mean, I, just I, that's.
All I need to see is that lastfew minutes, and I love when the
Instagram.
Now I've seen the recentInstagram.
I will time ourselves, but thethe baby memes or whatever that
are popping up in that scene andbabies doing it.
It's just, it's just driving menuts.
Okay, so you talked about someof those barriers that exist,
those things that are going on,but you've got these frameworks.

(14:20):
So there are a couple that havecaught my eye, mostly because
of the name of them, but helpingme specifically in terms of
area where I see weakness aswell.
But you said something aboutthe two-minute rule.
Tell me about the two-minuterule and what helps there.

Speaker 1 (14:32):
That's where we start everything.
I start every training withthat.
And I ask I'm just going to youknow we're going to do how I do
it right, because I have towalk you down the psychological
path Could you suspend yourdisbelief for two minutes, right
?
And then people look at me like, well, I don't even know what
that means.
And I'm like, well, have youever watched a movie that you
liked?
Yes, everybody says yeah, okay,congratulations.
You suspended your disbelieffor at least an hour and a half,

(14:53):
because you know those aren'treal.
Even the ones based on a truestory are Hollywood.
It up, right?
So you suspended your disbeliefin order to enjoy this show.
So I'm not asking you to doanything you're not already
doing.
It's normal.
You do this all the time.
But when you hear that voice ofresistance in your head that
says I can't do this, we can'tdo that, it's impossible, this
is hard.
Be like, hey, look just for twominutes.

(15:14):
Just like, have fantasy.
I'm not arguing, I'm not sayingit's not impossible, but I'm
asking you for two minutes.
Just say, if it were possible,how would I do it?
Right?
And what it does is it givesyour brain permission to go find
the answer.
If it were possible, how wouldwe do it?
I mean, I've done that inmeetings, where you just throw
that out on the table.
I mean something that was, youknow, 30 seconds ago, impossible

(15:35):
.
Now we have five differentoptions we could actually look
at, and maybe they're not allviable, but maybe we take a
piece of one and a piece of theother and we're like a chef and
we take a piece of everybody'syou know what they would be
possible and come up with a planof attack.
You know so I think that's agame changer if you could just
implement that and that's one ofthe one of that.
You know that two minute drillthat I talk about every day, not

(15:55):
the two minute rule, but todrill it.
So think about this here's,here's how, for all your
listeners, how could I do thisright now?
Think about one thing that justfrustrates you, like regularly.
Is it like the traffic inAtlanta while you're driving on
your commute?
You know what are DC.
Is it like the overload on theinbox, is it?
You know that.
You know, colleague, that youknow you don't like their

(16:16):
cologne, or they're always youknow well whoever's frustrated
and then ask yourself thinkabout this, this is my two
minute drill, like I'm while I'mbrushing my teeth.
This is habit stacking.
I habit brush my teeth.
Now I'm going to think aboutthat thing that was triggers me
and I'm saying, look, if it werepossible for me to handle this
with poise, how would I do it?
And then begin to answer thatquestion while I'm brushing my
teeth?
Well, I can take a deep breath.

(16:37):
You know I can't control thatFor me, for traffic, my answer
to that question was to make mycar and now I'm dating myself,
but it was cassettes back in theday.
It would be like a collegeclassroom where I'm putting in

(16:57):
cassettes on neuroscience orpsychology or leadership or
communication.
Pretty soon my commute in DCwhen I was a federal agent was,
you know, it was a nightmare.
But until I did that, and thenI it was like not long enough
because I would sit in theparking lot, I'd have to finish
a lecture.
You know what I mean.
So this is what this when youask that question and you give
yourself permission to answer it, all kinds of great things

(17:18):
happen for you.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
Wait, no, I think about that and as you touched on
a little bit.
I think about that and as youtouched on a little bit, as
maybe I transition a little bitfrom the book to you is that
many leaders also want tobelieve that once I get the
discipline and I do it once ortwice, that these limiting
beliefs will go away.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
Yeah, and they don't.
What did I just say aboutalways looking in the mirror?
What?

Speaker 2 (17:45):
is the specific habit you use to manage those
limiting beliefs that you have.

Speaker 1 (17:49):
So this is huge.
What I'm about to tell you is,literally, it's the game changer
of all humans and it doesn'tmatter what your belief system
is, I don't care what youbelieve, but you have to vet
your belief and then, once youdo and you know that it's real,
then you can anchor yourself init and I call it the identity
statement.
Right, who are you when youtake away?
Not your, because a lot ofpeople I say who are you?

(18:09):
They're like, and this is ahuge.
You know I'm david seal, likeoh, I'm a cop.
You know I'm street cop, I'mthe gangs.
You know I'm like no, that'snot your resume is not who you
are.
What you do is not who you are.
Our bio and in our industry,john, right, we have to have the
bio so it gives us credibility,so we can even get on the show,
right.
So you go oh, he's a MarineCorps vet.
He's a, you know, capitolPolice agent.
He was, you know right, phd intheology, all these things.

(18:31):
But that's not who I am.
You strip all those away.
Who am I when those are gone?
So this is the baseline programand so I came up with an
identity statement of thecharacteristics, the internals,
the values of who I wanted to beright now and who I aspired to
be right.
Where do I want to go?
So it's kind of half a faithstatement and do it in one

(18:54):
sentence.
It's got to be very short andpithy and quick so I can repeat
it, and it's got to be when Ihit my foot on the driveway and
stubbed my toe, what needs tocome out as my identity
statement?
When I hit my hand with ahammer, right, what comes out?
So my identity statement isthat I'm a man of excellence who
always keeps his word.
So once, that's who Andrew is,whether he's being a dad or a

(19:17):
husband or the CEO of my company, or the little league coach or
a PTA volunteer, right?
Or the usher at church,whatever I'm, whatever, I have
to give my best effort becauseI'm a man of excellence.
That's already pre-decided Iuse that word a lot in the book
pre-decide.
So now every decision in mylife is made.
I don't have to sit at thedrive-through looking at the
menu options, right?

(19:37):
Because how many times you dothat?
Oh, hang on, give me a minute,right, or you're stuck behind
the person doing that, right.
So I already know I'm a man ofexcellence.
So I cannot half-step, I can'tphone in the effort I'm not
going to, you know, show upunprepared, I can't do it.
It's not who I am.
And if I did, then I and thenI'd be like well, is that who?

(20:00):
Is that who you are?
Well, no, that's not who Andrewis.
Ever not kept your word?
Well, of course, man, we'rehumans.
There's only one guy that kepthis word the whole time on the
planet.
We killed him because he wasperfect, right?
So that so, but I aspire tothat that always keep my word.
So I'm getting very good at it.
But how to get good at it is notto give your word that much
Cause the more you give it, theharder it is to keep it.

(20:22):
And so, yeah, it's easy andfeels good at the time to say
yes to everybody.
But it's pre-decided that Ihave this triage right of who I
give my word to and what I'mgoing to do.
Because if I say I'm going todo something at a certain time,
I'm going to do it Like that'swhat it is, that's who Andrew is
.
There's no backdoor option,there's no highway option.

(20:42):
And I you know that one of myfavorite Psalm says that we
swear to our own hurt and changenot right.
And when you know like when Itook the oath at you know
Capitol police, I took the oathin the Marine Corps you swear to
your own hurt and you changenot even if it hurts you, right.
So when I keep my word, I can'tchange, even if it costs me
money.
Or, and then learn from thatcourse, correct?
Well, don't give your word nexttime I'm not telling the

(21:04):
neighbor, yeah, I'll help youmove, and then be complaining
the whole time I'm helping himmove.
Or don't do it and then duckthe neighbor for the next 10
days because I told him I wouldhelp him and then I didn't.
Are you following that, thatkind?

Speaker 2 (21:17):
of thing right there.
I love the idea of again thetwo-part statement as well, in
terms of stating that the man ofexcellence right off the bat.
That is like a commitment thatI'm making.
But even to your point, thataspirational statement of I
always keep my word, knowingthat it will be difficult, but I
always aspire to do that, andit gives you a filter in each
one of those opportunities thatcomes through.

(21:38):
I mean, there's so manydifferent paths you could take
right off of that.
With regards to people ask youto do things, you're like hey,
yeah, oh, yeah, I'll do that, noproblem.
And 48 hours later we find outthat we didn't get that thing
done because we really didn'thave the time.
Or, frankly, we recognize thatit wasn't that important to us.
Anything we say yes to, we sayno to something else.
Whatever those paths that youend up walking down are very

(22:01):
important.
So one more question on thebook, and then I'm going to dive
into you just a little bit.
Sure, I often talk about thebook test.
So someone's going to read yourbook, and it's been out for a
couple of months now.
Someone's going to read yourbook, though, and they're going
to go through.
You mentioned this.
If you go through it twice whenyou do those things, how much
change can happen?
But they put it on thebookshelf, like the bookshelf
that's behind me, and they seethat.

(22:21):
They only see the binding, andthey look at it.
You know, six, eight monthslater, what do you want them to
think, what do you want them tofeel when they see that book
after they've read it?

Speaker 1 (22:29):
I feel like I need to get back into that.
So this is the thing it's younever can, you can never get
your foot off the gas.
So the discipline is the it's ajourney, and discipline means
that that's.
You know that, you do it everyday and it'll slip.
As a human machine, we know itslips.
These things slip.
I mean even I do.
I wrote the book right.
I've been in the, you know, andif you don't stay on it every
day, things slip.

(22:51):
You know I'm like, oh man, youknow that's just slipped through
my fingers, you know, and youlet it go because you get busy
and things happen and your focusshifts to something else.
So I want to keep doing isbeing deliberate with my focus.
Like this thing, this book,really, I mean, if you go
through it twice a year, I'mgoing to tell you.
It's like I was telling one ofmy I have like there's like a
12-year-old that looks up to me.

(23:11):
What do you do?
I'm like man, when I was 12, Istarted reading one Proverbs
every day.
For whatever day the date was,there's 31 Proverbs.
They're like really, I'm like,yeah, I said I've probably read
it a hundred times.
I can almost probably tell I'venever stopped reading every day
.
I'm going to get in there andfind out that you know what
unjust weight you know unjustbusiness practices are scamming.
Somebody never works out goodLike you need to.

(23:32):
I would never do that, butpeople do.
They let it slip.
People that I knew would neverdo that.
I look at them and then 20years later they're like you
know what I'm talking about,john, where you see somebody,
they start out strong out thegate and then 20 years later
it's like it's almost like atire out of round right.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
Have you ever had that where your tires like out
of it's like a wobbling littleShake your teeth out.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
Absolutely Right.
But at 25 miles an hour it'snot that big of a deal.
But when you get on the highwayand you're driving to Chicago
from Florida and you're doing 80miles an hour on the interstate
, that thing is just, like yousaid, shaking your teeth.
I kind of see that in the humancondition.
That's what happens if youdon't stay on it.
That's why I love guys likeNick Saban and Tom Brady so much
, because you can win one timeCongratulations.

(24:19):
I was talking about this toanother guy just the other day.
When the quarterback, thinkabout this, when the quarterback
gets that big, you know, 100million, 150 million.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
Yeah, the second, the third contract, yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah, what happens to their performance as soon as
they get it Like this is notmade up, it's not anecdotal,
there's empirical data thatshows when they get the contract
.
And it's coaches too right.
That's why, like Nick Saban, Ilook at this guy and he's like
mad because we just won anational championship but we're
already behind three weeks onrecruiting for next year.
People are you're crazy, likelike that's how you have to be.

(24:49):
Like Tom Brady.
He's like I love Tom Bradybecause he's Forrest Gump Right.
He got picked last for kickball,he was like one ninety ninth in
the draft, publicly Right, buthe's a grinder.
He's not.
He's like me.
I'm not talented, I'm not smart, he just grinds Right and he
gets coaching and he's acoachable guy.
And you just and you stay at it.
No one's going to outwork youand you keep working, working
and you don't do what he didLike.

(25:10):
It's very rare how many of them.
There may be another guy thatdid it, like Joe Montana, or
there may be somebody in thefuture, I don't know.
But he 24, seven, with thenutrition and the sleep, rest
and the what's you know, honingmy skills and and if we want to

(25:31):
get to that level, you have todo those things, to you know, to
produce that success.
And I want long-term success.
I don't want to be a flash inthe pan.

Speaker 2 (25:37):
So you are a man of excellence and you aspire to
always keep your word.
And you mentioned, like Brady'sand Saban's, like they had some
rituals or whatever those words, disciplines, habits to be
successful.

Speaker 1 (25:49):
What are?

Speaker 2 (25:49):
those one or two Craig Rochelle calls them
cornerstone habits that you doon a daily basis, that ensure
that it sets you up for a day ofsuccess, or you know that has
to happen.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
I call them my non-negotiables, right?
So, if I set these things up asnon-negotiable, and so we
talked about the eight cylinders, right so I know.
So I just for your listeners ifthey haven't read the book.
The eight cylinders are yourspiritual health, your physical
health, your mental health, youremotional health, your social
health, harmonious relationships, financial health, cultural
health how are you affecting theculture?

(26:21):
And then your professionalhealth, right?
So, in, order and balance iswhat we should be going for,
because there's people that aregreat in one and then the rest
of their lives are like that,tire out of round, right?
So I try to.
You know, what I do is I havenon-negotiables for each of
these to stay in bounds.
Right so, stay balanced.
So every day I'm up when myfeet hit the ground, I'm already

(26:42):
saying the thing.
I say this thing.
I've been saying it since like1997, and it takes me two
minutes to go through it, andit's why you know you're doing
your morning routine, you'regoing to the bathroom, you're
you know shaving, you'rebrushing your teeth, you're
getting your hair done, and I'msaying these things out loud.

(27:04):
So my it's about my identity,it's about who's in charge of
the day, and I mean, listen,this is a faith-based show.
You don't mind we could talkabout it.
I say the Ephesians prayer andI say a heavenly nature prayer
and then I say a prayer.
I declare things over my body,what I want my body to do, right
.
So I put on my heavenly nature,I'm a participant of the divine

(27:25):
nature, and then I want aspirit of wisdom and revealed
knowledge, and you know the eyesof my understanding enlightened
.
And at the end of thatEphesians prayer, in chapter
three, he says and that we wouldbe filled with the fullness of
God.
Right, I mean, if you're filledwith the fullness of God, can
you get any better?
I mean, that's it.
So that's what I also pray formy kids and I pray for my wife.
And if somebody's mean to me inthe street, I'm like, all right

(27:46):
, let's just pray for them, youknow, but talk bad, let's pray
the Ephesians prayer for them.
I mean, like you know what I'msaying.
So that's one of those thingsthat non-negotiable.
And it only takes me like twominutes and then I get up.
It doesn't matter what time Ihave to get three, because I'm

(28:06):
going to spend an hour in theWord, in meditation, in what I
call private worship right.
That's what the Greek word forprayer is.
Is private worship right.
So I'm going to have my privateworship time.
It's non-negotiable.
It's my spiritual cylinder.
I've got to stay rooted andgrounded right, and I'm going to
be strengthened with might inmy inner man by his Spirit,
right, that's part of that.
Ephesians prayer, prayer.
So I'm gonna do that.
And then proverbs is part ofthe thing and I'm gonna read
something, whatever.
Whatever is on my mind to readthat day, it might be all right,

(28:28):
I gotta read.
You know, I haven't been topsalm 91 in a while, safety
right.
Or I'm gonna read something outof the epistles, or I love
camping out in the gospel ofjohn, you know, and seeing I
mean romans, you can't, I meanlike dude, I love him, I could
live in in Romans 8 and 12.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
All day long, absolutely.
John 15, romans 8, all day long.

Speaker 1 (28:47):
Right.
So we just keep remindingourselves of those things and
then I work out.
Now the workout is a physicalworkout.
I mean it's one hour ofstrength training and I still do
an MMA routine in between thesets, so it's a HIIT workout.
I get my heart rate up, I'mdoing my strength training, I'm
also doing my cardio and I'mkeeping my fighting skills up,

(29:09):
my physical skills, as my heart,one of my hard skills,
non-negotiable, I mean it's.
I mean, in fact, it's so hardfor me to take a rest day, like
some.
I mean I, I literally had tomake myself take a rest day the
other day as I was worn down.
I'm like what is going on?
I'm like it's been like 17 dayssince I took a day off from
working out, cause that's such ahabit, like you have to like
make yourself rest, you know,and I don't.

(29:29):
I mean I was like I did somecross training, which I would
count as rest day, but it's notreally, cause my cross training
is I throw a, a weighted youknow body armor vest on and go
for, you know, four mile hikewith, you know, with a weighted
ruck.
Right so and that's like that'smy rest day.
I'm like why didn't liftweights today?
And I get my kids are likeyou're like Texas.

Speaker 2 (29:47):
Everything is over, done yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
Yeah, so that's you know.
Then those are those you know.
And then every night, everynight, I hit the rack.
Let's go to bed Sorry, you gotto hit the rack at night, right,
and I'm reading an hourprofessional skills every night
for an hour.
Where would you be in fiveyears?

(30:09):
So, and I studied theneuroscience.
I did all that and I foundmyself.
I was on the internationalstage as the mental toughness
guy.
I mean.
I had in 2019, they, you know,I had this 350 Greek CEOs, the
CEO club, the Greece called meand brought me over there for a
week of training and Forbes isinterviewing me and literally in
the Greek, it says this guywrote the book on mental
toughness, I mean.

(30:30):
And then you're in Australiadoing the Today Extra show, when
I had the parenting book out,and all of a sudden you find
yourself Like it's not marketing, it's not like a shtick, it's
just that you dig this deep wellof professional skill knowledge
and it and mine, it wasneuroscience and psychology,
biopsychology, performancescience.

(30:51):
How does it all you know andand it does mix with theology?
Because theology is the studyof God and psychology is the
study of the soul.
So there's a lot of crossoverthere.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
So I love that.
I mean, first of all, thank youfor sharing that, and I think
there are many of those thingsthat people would say they try
and they don't have the time todo it, and it's so, so hard to
respond with grace to that andask them where they want to be
in the future, but to give themthe truth that they need to hear
, that they need to become thatdisciplined and I've had to

(31:22):
change many different waysinside of that.
You mentioned theneuropsychology side as well and
it's like again, you've gonefrom this kid who was overweight
, bullied in high school tosigning up for the Marines, you
know, to the special, what wecall special forces, or into the
police.
Yeah, Like, where did thedesire, where did the interest

(31:43):
for you know the neuropsychologyside of it come in and then you
made a decision to do that it'skind of always been my
obsession, but I really were, Ireally so the marine corps, I
got my physical cylinder undercontrol right.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
So I'm 18, I finally get my physical.
Then I I meet my smoking hotwife and she was 19 when we got
married and I was 21 and I'm acorporal and you know, I'm just
like you know, and the MarineCorps likes to keep you angry
all the time because you're awarrior, you know, and that's
what we're trying to do is justkeep you mad all the time.
So I would come home and Iwould talk to her in the same

(32:16):
tone of voice, I would talk tomy marines and my infantry right
.
she's like listen, I'm not oneof your marines and if you want
to stay with me, you better getthat squared away.
I got a cast iron frying panand I'll use it and you have to
sleep sometime.
And I she's five, three and 110soaking wet and I thought she
was serious.
You know I'm like, oh my gosh,I think she's serious.
So my target went, uh, suddenlybecame how do I have a great

(32:37):
relationship with my wife?
You know what I mean?
Like I don't want my targetisn't to be right here.
I want to be, you know, have agreat relationship.
So it kind of started me on thepath.
I kind of credited her for forbecause I was like I wanted to
be with her more than I wantedto be angry Does that matter?
Or I wanted to be lazy.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
I wanted to be with her more than you want to be
angry.

Speaker 1 (32:54):
Yes, yeah, so that, and that's when I do marriage.
I'm like, well, this be right,you're gonna be old and lonely
dude.
I mean, I don't care aboutbeing right, I want to be with
her, you know.
So she kind of really startedme on this path.
And then, as you begin to, youknow, these things started to
unfold.
And here I don't say like the,the wisdom trail, the, the

(33:16):
yellow brick road trail, therevelation, knowledge or
understanding.
It's progressive.
You can't a lot of people belike, just give me the one, two
minute tip to get inner armor.
I'm like you're asking for likea Zempic shot to be like
mentally, you know, armored up.
It's there's nothing like thatman.
There's just no you know, so.
So I I got that.
You know, I'm like I can't beangry all the time I want to.

(33:37):
So I started working on thatcylinder, right.
So harmonious relationships.
And then, you know, yourthoughts are kind of going crazy
.
I'm like, you know, there'stimes where I still have this
emotional outbreaks.
I don't like that.
They're, you know, makingemotional decisions.
I don't have a process how Ithink my thoughts.
So I thought, listen, I have aprocess for marksmanship, right,
there's a process to swing in agolf club, there's a process to
drive in the car.

(33:57):
I should have a process forthinking my thoughts.
So I came up with this you know, ordered process.
I have a four-step process tothink every thought, and that's
in the back of the book.
I gave it as an appendix, youknow, because it's kind of a
deeper, deeper teaching.
It's not really tacked but it'sgood.
So it's a critical thinking,thought process.
I think every thought throughthis process.
And so I could get my mentalyou know cylinder going.

(34:20):
And once I got that, see, I'mdoing these one at a time and
I'll tell you my spiritualcylinder got done when I was six
years old, right, and then 12,six, I got born again 12,.
I decided the word of God's myhighest authority, so that that
one's taken care of.
I know who I am in Christ andspiritual good right.
So once you get that done, thenI worked on physical.
When I got physical done I yeah, I went to social because I was

(34:41):
trying to do social withouthaving the underlying.
I'm trying to do tacticallyhave harmonious relationships.
Fighting my inner, you know,dialogue Does that make sense?
So, I'm going to get my mymental done.
After my mental, I thought, youknow, I'm, I'm, I'm getting
older.
These are taking a couple ofyears every time, you know, and
I wrote down how, each one, atwhat age I was one time and

(35:02):
there's literally like almostlike a four or five year span
where you become, where you havemastery of the cylinder and you
got to work on that cylinder,you get, you know, you're trying
to work on all of them at thesame time.
You're, you're, you're just not, you're just splitting your
focus Right.
So I want to build on eachother.
A lot of people just want to gostraight to financial If I get
my financial cylinder right.

(35:23):
But I'm telling you that's adisaster because if you don't
fix the other ones, thefinancial ain't going to help
you.
It just makes you more of whatyou already are.
So we got that and then I gotmy mental done.
I got the emotional done, whichwas very difficult.
The emotional one is very hardto master.
It just takes a lot of work.
I mean, you literally have tospeak to yourself out loud and
get your body on board with thisright, because your mind and

(35:46):
your emotions will never agree.
They just don't.
They're like the StateDepartment and the Department of
Defense, right.
They have different missions,right?
So they're not going to agree.
So you've got to get your bodyas a swing boat to get on board
or not, right?
So that's why I say you have todominate your flesh.
Well, we already know that thespirit is willing but the flesh
is weak.
That means it doesn't mean thatflesh is the easiest part to

(36:08):
dominate.
This is what cracks me up inChristianity.
Right, with the flesh, yourbody is the easiest one to
dominate.
And we got all these, you know,frat preachers and people were
out of shape and they're like,the last time you dominated your
body was when you learned howto get potty trained man, you
know what I mean.
Like.
So you gotta, like it dominatesyour body so that you could
renew your mind.
Right, your body's your problem,you know?

(36:28):
Oh, I'll just.
Could you pray that I loseweight?
No, no, stop eating twinkies,man, I love you.
Stop eating twinkies, right,you know.
So you just kind of get workthrough that process and that's
kind of the journey I took and Imy the final cylinder.
I left the final cylinder to belast was the financial, because
I mean the final cylinder.
I left the final cylinder to belast was the financial, because
if you're not, I mean thefinancial is really.

(36:48):
I'll say it like this.
I said it like this in the bookIf every dollar has a motion
and a weight to it, there's nostability in your life.

Speaker 2 (36:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (36:57):
Right.
So and what is the money about?
The money is about capacity.
If you don't have my, the moneyI have is about my capacity to
live my purpose and my missionand my identity on all levels.

Speaker 2 (37:08):
Right.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
Right.
So it took me a while, and whenI'm talking about the financial
cylinder, I'm not talking aboutmaking more money or saving
more money.
I literally and people thinkyou're nuts when I do, when I
tell them this but I invested inmy financial spiel.
I spent $50,000 on coachingfrom some of the best financial
dudes that tell me how does thefinancing system work?
Not investing, I don't careabout it.

(37:30):
What are the rules of banking?
How does that work?
On the interest and the charges, they taught me how to move the
money.
I raised my kids on $45,000 ayear.
You know what I mean when I'mstarting.
I mean I have three kids andthey're in high school and
they're like how do we do this?
I'm like well, a lot of it is.
I'm using the system to help usinstead of hurt us.

(37:52):
But again, who wants to?
Are you studying that?
Are you just complaining that?
The evil football guys?
You want to play football.
Learn the rules, you know.
You know they're not evil,that's just the game, right.
So that's kind of the processthat I went through.
Does that?
Does that answer your?

Speaker 2 (38:11):
question.
I love that again going backinto the book as well, even on
the thinking side.
But the you know, the messagethat I'm hearing is that, of
those eight cylinders thatyou're talking about, you use
the term balance, but if thoseeight cylinders are not firing
in unison in some way, shape orform, you're going to have
problems, much like you're goingto have with that tire.
You're going to have problemsand you're not going to have the

(38:33):
horsepower that you need.
I love the fact that even theeighth cylinder, if you will, of
finance can be the fuel to theother seven, the capacity that
you have to make those thingshappen.
But, lastly, what I heard isthat each one of those requires
a certain level of discipline,that you need to make a choice
of what you want inside thatspace and then carry out that

(38:55):
plan to make it happen, each oneof those.
That it doesn't happen throughserendipity, it doesn't happen
accidentally, it doesn't happenwithout purpose.
In fact, it only happens onpurpose.
Often, things that I talk aboutand understanding again, going
all the way back to the start,understanding from that
affirmative who I am and who do.
I aspire to be all part of thatand going through those things,

(39:17):
so I'd love that to bring itall together.
So you've you've written fourbooks Now.
This one just came out a coupleof months ago.

Speaker 1 (39:25):
Actually, john, I have seven, there's seven.
Oh, I see four on, yeah, so nowyou have seven, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (39:30):
So I have to ask you what the next one's going to be,
cause you probably got anotherone in there.
I got.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
I got like 10 in the tank, so I got the so three of
the one that's fiction.
The first one I wrote is kind ofa fictionalized version of my
bio.
It talks about me being the fatkid and all that, and it talks
about some of my missions.
And it's fictionalized butinspired by true events, right.
And then I have the three Icall the Mental Toughness of the
Resilience book.
I have the Ground ZeroLeadership, which is the
original flagship corporatecoaching manual, seven Secrets

(39:56):
of Resilience for Parents.
And then I have Inner Armor.
Then on the theology side I haveone called Covenant for Rookies
and that explains—that was mydissertation for my PhD.
It's about the nine-stepcovenant process that God
started with Abraham andfinished with Jesus.
So if you have any questions,why do we do bread and wine on
communion?
Why did Jesus have to die on across?

(40:17):
Why was the virgin birthimportant?
Why did God ask Isaac to besacrificed?
Why?
I always had one of thosequestions growing up.
No one could answer.
They just look at me like whatit just takes.
Faith, young man, don'tquestion.
I don't think that's how thatworks, but that's what that book
is.
Then the next one I wrote wascalled Righteousness, god's
Equity.
And so a lot of people theydon't know this, but my dad was

(40:39):
a Greek scholar, so he wasteaching me Greek when I was 13.
And that the Bible, the KoineGreek, was actually a business
language, kind of like English.
International English is abusiness language.
The only thing they could findthat stuff written on now is
invoices and contracts.
Right, so it's a bit so.
Righteousness is literally theword equity, but we've, and so

(41:00):
we don't even know whatrighteousness is.
We think it's like a behaviorthing, but it's equity.
So it talks about.
There's equity as in you haveequity in an asset in your house
, and there's also a whole areaof law, a court of equity, and
that's how God hands down hisjudgments.
And I take you through thescriptures, very simple, about
how judgments get handed down.
So when you're under the TenCommandments that's the law

(41:20):
Satan is the prosecutingattorney in a court of law and
you're always going to lose in acourt of law against the
prosecutor.
Jesus is your defense attorneyin the court of equity and you
always win because you just saywell, what Jesus did, that's
what Jesus did.
So that book explains that, andthen the one I just had.
It also just kind of came outthe same time as Inner Armor, it
was called Back to Basics Goodand Evil.

(41:41):
And I went all the way back tothe Garden of Eden, the first
time that good and evil show upin the Bible.
There's the Hebrew words have15 components of each, and we
explain what evil actually isand what good is.
And it blow your mind.
It's revolutionary how we callevil good and good evil, I mean.
And yeah, like here's the firstfifth.
I'll just give you some of theevil list.

(42:01):
The first one is like adversity.
That's literally the firstthing.
Think about this, before Adamand Eve ate the fruit salad.
They only knew good, they onlyknew beauty, they only knew
bounty, they only knew better.
As soon as they ate, that allthey had was adversity.
They had affliction or sickness.
They had worry, anxiety, andworry is, and fear is literally
on the evil list.
So you know you're like, well,I'm just worried about you.

(42:23):
You got to be careful.
You know you were literallywe're on the evil list.
And then you know we find inPsalms that it says that the
face of the Lord is againstthose who do evil.
So you could even be born again, gone to heaven, but doing evil
by calamity and affliction andsorrow and despondency and
anxiety, and that's why youcan't win in life, because
that's what you're doing.

(42:43):
God can't help you becauseyou're going around behind his
back, right?
So that's what that book is.
It kind of helps people.
So it's kind of a two-prong.
There's still that mentaltoughness, inner armor with all
of my writings, but that's whatwe got out there right now, man.

Speaker 2 (42:56):
No on that.
On that, evan, andrew, lovethat.
Thank you for sharing that aswell.
Maybe I went to the wrong pagein terms of seeing some of those
things, but either way you lookat it, folks, this guy is full
of energy, full of wisdom andthe ability to write and giving
you the structures andframeworks in those eight areas
of life.
Andrew, where is the best placefor folks to connect with you

(43:16):
and or learn more about you?
You write, but you also speak.
You're an executive coach.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
You got learn more about you.
You write, but you also speak.
You're an executive coach.
You've got a lot of thingsgoing on.
I do got a lot of things goingon.
So I have one page special justfor the podcast listeners.
My website isgetwarriortoughcom slash podcast
and you'll see all that.
It'll be way for you guys toplug in.
You guys that are listeners.
So it's getwarriortough like awarrior, right Inner armor
warrior.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
Getwarriortoughcom slash podcast Excellent.
Thank you very much, Andrew.
I got to finish you off withthe same question I always
finish folks.
I give you the last word andlet you know first of all, that
I appreciate you adding value tothe listeners of the Uncommon
Leader Podcast and sharing withus for just a few minutes.
But I'm going to give you thisbillboard.
You can put it anywhere youwant to.
What's the message you're goingto put on that billboard and

(44:03):
why do you put that messagethere, Ride?

Speaker 1 (44:05):
hard, shoot straight and never lie.
So that was.
My commanding officer gave thatspeech in 1989 when I got on
board with Weapons Company 36.
It was my company commander.
Desert Storm that's what hesaid.
A lot of these speeches arelong.
His was ride hard, shootstraight, never lie.
It took me years to unpack that, but so riding hard is being
excellent.
I'm going to give maximumeffort in everything I do.

(44:26):
Shoot straight is about skill.
I'm going to be skillful whenI'm trying to hit my target.
I'm going to acquire my target.
I'm going to be skillful inhitting my target and, of course
, never lie.
Don't lie to yourself.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
Andrew, thank you Once again.
I wish you the best goingforward.
I would love to stay connectedwith you.
And I hope the folks thatlisten in will make sure to get
out there and connect with youas well.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
You're a mighty man of valor, Coach John.
Thanks for having me on,brother.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
And that wraps up another episode of the Uncommon
Leader Podcast.
Thanks for tuning in today.
If you found value in thisepisode, I encourage you to
share it with your friends,colleagues or anyone else who
could benefit from the insightsand inspiration we've shared.
Also, if you have a moment, I'dgreatly appreciate it if you
could leave a rating and reviewon your favorite podcast
platform.
Your feedback not only helps usto improve, but it also helps

(45:15):
others discover the podcast andjoin our growing community of
uncommon leaders.
Until next time, go and growchampions.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

The Joe Rogan Experience

24/7 News: The Latest

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Stuff You Should Know

The Joe Rogan Experience

24/7 News: The Latest

All Episodes

Stuff You Should Know