How To Develop A Fitness Strategy That Works For You With Angelo Poli - REPLAY

Life happens, and not always the way we expect it to. Every single day we face change, stress and uncertainty. What if you could learn to thrive no matter what life throws your way? Resilience expert Adam Barkel and his inspiring guest explore breakthrough strategies to fully embrace change and build the resilience required to become change Proof.

Our theme this month is Self Mastery and Wellness. To that end, enjoy the replay of my conversation with Angelo Poli Angelo Poli is an internationally recognized expert in the field of body transformations. Poli pioneered the evaluation based approach to weight management that has been hailed as a foolproof diet plan. He is the author of MetPro the Science to Transform which outlines his philosophy and workout system. Poly is also a serial entrepreneur. He is the founder of MetPro, the world's first algorithm based weight loss engine which is fueled by data that you feed into it each and every day. In addition, Poli is the founder of Whole Body Fitness, which provides weight loss, health and fitness training programs for all ages and fitness levels. By using a combination of the latest nutrition, conditioning sciences and evaluation based methods, Poli and his team are able to create complete short and long term fitness strategies that maximize people's weight loss process. Police clientele are from all over the world ranging from scope of NFL MVPs like Aaron Rodgers and other elite athletes, celebrities, physique models and entrepreneurs. He has been featured for his specialty in neuromuscular reeducation, posture and alignment and weight loss sciences in major media outlets such as Men's Health, Sports Illustrated, the Wall Street Journal, and as a regular columnist for the Huffington Post. Poli has spoken at conferences such as TEDx and continues to be a wellness consultant for multiple universities and hospitals around the country. The things that we discussed were, among others, why people do what they do and the beliefs that we have that affect the lives that we have, why you should start taking care of your future now, how progress is the greatest human motivator and the importance of having actionable steps that work for you. Again, enjoy this replay of my conversation with Angelo Poli. Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I'm your host Adam Markell and I'm sitting in the seat. I'm super energized this morning. You know, yesterday I was sitting down and was doing a show and I just could feel my energy being really tied closely to my sleep. In fact, they started off talking about how I felt like there was a, you know, I was still sort of in that subconscious space, that dream state, you know, clear, but still nonetheless in that little fog that little haze, man, as I'm looking at on a very clear day and a lot of blue, blue water, that's how I feel today. I feel clear. There's just nothing but a lot of great energy and that's perfect for the guests that I've got. So I'm going to jump right in because we're going to have a lot to talk about. This guy's got just a ton of insight and energy and good, just good stuff, man. So I don't even want to suspend a few seconds without getting this guy on. So. Today's guest is Angelo Poli, transformation specialist and founder of metpro. You can see that in just a moment if you're, if you're watching on YouTube, you'll see the sign behind his head. MetPro, the advanced methodology that analyzes an individual's specific response to diet and activity and adjusts based on their personal needs and goals. Through MetPro's tactful and personalized approach to health, Angelo and his highly respected team have the ability to strategically redirect each of their clients toward achieving their greatest results. With a high profile client list that includes Olympic athletes, NFL MVPs, physique models. I haven't said that term in a while. That's really good. Physique models and business leaders, it's no wonder that Angelo has become one of the most celebrated and desired body transformation experts in the world. Welcome to the show, Angelo.

Adam, thank you so much for having me. This is gonna be great.

Man. That is a mouthful of an introduction.

And yeah, I'm sorry about that.

Oh, no, here's my question for you though. What's not written in that intro that you would love for people to know about you?

My wife would be happy to answer that question. She'd raise her hand and she would say, he puts his pants on one leg at a time. Let me tell you, he's just as ornery as everyone else I have. You know, we were recently, you know, business up for life insurance came up and I had to ask my wife the question, you know, do you want me to re up? Do you want me to get this policy, that policy, you know, what do you want to do when I die? And she goes, I don't even like talking about that.

We're going there, we're going there.

And I said, you know what? I have lived a full life. I've had so much fun and I've gotten to do so many of the things that I'm passionate about. It has just been a huge blessing for Me, I'm grateful every day. I get to do what I get to do.

Yeah, that's cool. And I appreciate a left turn on. You didn't. I dipped your toe in the water, man. You took a left turn. Little, big. Little pinky toe in the water there. So just riff on what you just said. So I'm a little bit older than you. I'm just looking at your hairline versus mine.

Although we're gonna. Yeah, I know where this is going.

But, man, life insurance, that's. That's a. That's a tough topic, you know, I would say. So here's. Here's a confession for you. Growing up in. In. In a household where my dad was a civil servant, worked for the city of New York. We grew up in a small little apartment. My mom was a travel agent. This probably has nothing to do with what I'm about to say other than it just sort of sets the stage. But my dad didn't believe in insurance. You know, like, we all have certain beliefs, and I think you and I, this is interesting. We're going to get into. I believe today some talk about habits. We're going to talk about why people do what they do and why they, you know, in their world, they look the way they look, their money is the way their money is their business, the way their business, their relationship, or the way because of. Of what they believe deep down inside, that's what creates the habits that ultimately lead to these outcomes in our lives. And so it's interesting because early, early on, those beliefs are formed. And for me, one of the beliefs that was kind of embedded in me early on was listening my dad say, nobody's going to profit from my. And my dad, by the way, still alive, knock on wood. Just talked to him yesterday, and he still is ornery, almost as ornery as ever, and very definite in his opinions. I've always really loved that about him. And so many of the things that he was opinionated about were really, really good. Like how you treat people and love people and not discriminate. All these things were just things that I got to hear. But along with that good stuff, I got to hear some pretty negative things about money, about business, about, you know, prosperity of sorts, and about insurance in particular.

Wow.

If a guy would show up the door, you know, back then, my day and age, he would show up at your door to sell you stuff. Today, you know, you get arrested for that. Right. But the door cam will have, you know, like, whatever. But. So some guy would show up to talk about Insurance. My dad like slammed the door in his, you know, because nobody's gonna profit, I don't want my kids, nobody's going to get anything out from a policy when I die kind of stuff. And so I grew up with that belief, man. And wow. So it was a big deal for me that when I became a lawyer and Randy and I started having kids, we have four kids, it's like, am I going to continue that belief system like that? That should be the approach or not. So, yeah, I got a whole big policy of insurance my 20s, you know, and then interestingly enough, let one of those policies lapse because those beliefs are so strong, you know, that it was just sort of not really me. So let's talk about that for just one more second. Right?

Yeah.

So life insurance, what does it mean to you? What have you, what's been your belief around life insurance?

Oh, for me, it's actually just more of a peace of mind. It's one less thing that I have to have in the back of my mind to worry about. So I want to make sure that the people that I love, that I'm responsible for are taken care of. So for me, it's. The benefit today is I get it off my plate mentally, emotionally, can just move forward with whatever it is that I have to deal with in the day.

Yeah, exactly. So it's, so it's really just a funny thing. I never imagined I'd dig that old, that old relic of a memory up or belief, you know, but, but, but taking care of those that you love, making sure that they're, that they're gonna be okay, you know, there's, there's an element of that and then there's also an element. I had this discussion with my father in law. Now he's passed and I miss him every day. I love, love, love, love my, my papa Lou. And he didn't take care of himself, so he had life insurance. He had like, he was always that guy, just like the one you just described you. He was that guy, take care of his wife, take care of his kids. He didn't take care of himself. And that was a debate that I would have with him from times I thought, dad, you think you're being unselfish, but isn't it entirely the opposite? Like, aren't you being super selfish that you eat too much, your belly's too big, you know, you're shortening your life because you're putting everybody ahead of yourself? What? Yeah, we're legging into your business.

Yeah. Now that's what I was just gonna say, this is kind of my area that I deal with day in and day out. It's really interesting. I would say that our, you know, we work with exceptionally diverse clientele, but I would say a executive in his or her 50s is a real common scenario for us where they have gotten to a point where they've led a very high velocity life, often a high stress life, high responsibility life. And because of that, what happens? Our personal health bank account gets drained. Right. Because we prioritize other people, other needs above ourself. In the moment we never intend to do that, big picture. But in the moment it's what happens. And those little things add up. And then finally now we're in 40s, 50s, some people even younger than that. But we reach a point where, you know, we're at the doctor and he's saying, look, if you don't make some significant changes, you're not going to have the life you think you're going to have. You're not going to, you're not going to be around for the grandkids or to see great grandkids. And that realization often hits people we find at that stage of life. And boy, it's true the old adage, you know, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Because I work with both sides. We get people after they've had a major episode, maybe they're coming back from a heart attack or stroke or something like that. And it's not that you can't still turn it around. That's what we work with people all the time. But, oh, it's so much better if you can grab hold of it, make it a priority in your life before you get there.

Yeah. You know, this is a weird theme here, but you know life insurance is the same way, right? If you start paying, if you start. And I, by the way, I don't own a life insurance company. Brought to you by Adams Insurance. It's awesome. I think there's actually a Markel insurance company out there. It is not me. Just so we're clear, my wife, when she first met me, brought me home to her folks. They thought I was the Markow Paper Company. Like, we love this guy. Then they found out I wasn't related. But you know, anything, you start early is always better. It's like the compounding effect. And that's, and that's so important when you save money and you put it in simple interest, whatever, it's 2%, 4%, 8%. Money doubles every eight years, approximately at 8%. The compounding effect is so important. And when it comes to your health, when it comes to what you eat, you, whether you exercise and how you take care of yourself. Right. I'm preaching to the choir here. That's a big part of it. Right.

Well, let me give you. Let me kind of dive into a little bit of the nuances there. I can tell you what the secret formula is. I mean, raise your hand if you want to have better health, better fitness, lose a few pounds, get in shape. You know, everybody wants that. Now, what's preventing us from getting there? I'll tell you what the missing ingredient is. Now, a lot of people would say they don't want to do the work. I've dieted over 20,000 people in my career. I've coached and trained so many, everything from executives to athletes and everything in between. I can tell you that, by and large, that has not been my experience. Now, don't get me wrong, Adam. There are those people out there that are, you know, they just don't want to put in the work. There are those. But by and large, people are willing to put effort into something. Here's what's missing. They have to see results. They need to see progress. The greatest human motivator is progress. And 95% of the time, what's holding someone back from seeing that progress is not the end effort, though. That is, you know, always an interwoven theme. 95% of the time, it's an efficient strategy because people say, well, I want to eat better. I want to exercise. And they go about their day as if it's a. Those choices are a decision. They are not decisions. They are skills. You don't wake up one day and say, I want to be an accountant and start being an accountant that day. You don't wake up one day and say, I want to be a lawyer, and you're a lawyer that day. You don't wake up and decide you want to be healthy. So all of a sudden, you know the tools and the tricks of the trade, because there's a right way and a wrong way. And I'll tell you what the difference is. It has to do with our lifestyle and speed. I give people a lot of strategies, like, well, I've read about you. I know some of the athletes or celebrities you work with, so I know some of your approach. But I know that I need to eat these types of foods. I need to do some food prepping or I need to exercise. And I'll tell my clients, I know that, you know that what I'm here to do is to help you get good at it. Now here's my definition of good. Now it's my turn. Now my definition of good is you being able to execute on those things quickly, because quickly and not quickly, make the difference between sustainable and make the difference between progress and not seeing progress. So here's how we execute on those things quickly. They're not cumbersome in your lifestyle. And that's really the science and the principle behind metpro. And what we do in helping people transform is execution to get all comes back to progress. People want to see progress.

So you're. If I'm hearing you right, I think I am. You're condensing. So, you know, when we look at it in a sort of a chart, that's time and outcome are the axes. Let's say that over time, small changes, and this is our pivot philosophy, which is not in conflict with what you're saying, it's just another way to look at this. But our belief is that small changes, consistently executed, produce a result over time. The problem with that, as I think you've stated, is that at some point you, you enter into the valley of death. You end up in this desert place where you're not seeing results. And because you're not seeing results, the tendency to stop, quit, get distracted or go back, you know, to a different belief system. Because part of why we change often is that we say, look, I want to be different. I want something in my life to be different. And so you're adopting a different identity. I mean, that's that whole fake till you make it stuff. But you won't actually make it if you don't find progress soon enough because you're out in the desert, you've got no water, you've got no food, you got nothing to sustain you other than probably, you know, your mindset, frankly, but you're condensing it, you're making it quicker is what you're saying.

And we need to be able to write it down. We need to be able to bullet and we need to be able to explain it. If it's too vague, if the action steps and the directions between where you are today and where you want to get and call it out. I want to lose 25 pounds, I want a better mile time. I want to deadlift my body weight. I want to be the next super outcome, Outcome, outcome. Right, call it out. And now we can map out. And I'll tell you there are five areas, because I'm always trying to leave listeners and people that I get to talk with with some sort of action step. So there are five areas that anyone can take home and with a little bit of knowledge, start executing on tomorrow. And here's a big secret. They're the exact five areas that all of our professional coaches work with their clients on. But I gotta. You reminded me of something. I gotta tell you my pivot story before I get into the five areas.

And your five areas are. Process. Right, process. And that's the difference here. I wanna. I want people to really take. Take note of this because there's a difference between an outcome and a process, meaning a system that produces an outcome. Yeah. So if you're focused on the outcome, you know, I want this or I want that better. Better health or a skinnier body or whatever it might be. Right, right. Those outcomes are fine, but they lead you and they lead you into that desert. We go. Now what do I do? Because I'm out of water and I'm out of food and I'm ready to quit. I'm ready to turn back. But a process or a system is what sustains you when, let's say, the progress is either in small increments, small doses, or it might even be that you're not seeing progress at all for some, you know, some reasonable amount of time. I mean, it's just, you know. Right. I mean, I don't know that there's any way that you can change that part of it.

That's. That's the, you know, that's what people experience. They hit. And we have a term in our industry for that, a plateau that applies to. People think plateau, weight loss. That applies to any area of human performance or transformation. And so there are specific action steps, science priority, hierarchies, process of elimination. There are processes to break through those plateaus.

Tell your pivot story.

I was starting years ago. I had a window cleaning company years ago, so I would have been 18. And so I washed windows on all the mom and pop stores in the area that I lived. And it was a great little company. One day, I'm washing the windows on a local gym, and this lady comes out and she's in her early 60s, and she says to me, you know, I really want to learn how to lift some weights and get in better shape. You look like you know how to lift weights. Have you ever give lessons? Have you ever taught anyone? And so I said, well, I'll tell you what, I'm done working on this street. In about an hour, I'll meet You anyhow, my first client, fitness client. So this was a whole new. And this was back in the day, you're washing windows, I'm washing the windows. Right.

And the woman says, you look like a guy who can teach. Right.

Well, back in the. I did back in the day, I look like a guy then, now I look like a guy you need. So now I look like, you know, you look like you could be a rogaine commercial guy. But back in the day I was moving along. The lady came out to me and she said, well, we'll meet back here. This was before personal training was really hot and heavy. A thing that was more personal training was related to like the bodybuilding industry. This wasn't. Everyone on the block has a personal trainer in a fitness program. Dating myself a little bit here, but that's the reality. So I met with her and it was a fairytale story. She quit smoking, she lost 60 pounds, she married her high school sweetheart. It was just like, it was just one of those, you know, I mean just her, her self confidence and everything went up, she felt healthier. It motivated me. So sold the window cleaning company, decided I'm going to get into health transformations fitness. She brings her friend to me. Sorry, it was, it was her daughter in law. We're going back a few years and she said, can you help my daughter in law? She has a little more weight to lose, but she's half my age, she's in great shape, she's going to do wonderful. So I did the same, same exercise with her. I put here, here's the same little meal plan. You know, we're going to cut the sugars, we're going to do this, we're going to do that. Everything exactly the same. Take a guess how much her friend lost.

I have no idea. None.

Five pounds. Yeah, you got it, you got it. Five pounds. Basically nothing. So that was my pivot moment because I realized that it is outrageous how unfair the metabolism is that you can have two people doing the exact same thing with two completely different outcomes.

Yeah, that is. I'm positive in this moment that there are people listening to this right now who are going, yeah, I've been thinking that forever. That's just freaking unfair. Right? Makes no sense. That's it.

That's it. So when I realized that, I had to know why now? There's no magic bullet, there's no quick fixes. They. You mean you. There's no one size fits all. If you do this, it works for everyone. But there is an intelligent evaluation process that Helps get us on the right track so we can not waste time with strategies that are going to be unaffective for you. We want to pick the strategies that are going to work for you because there is so much information out there. And if I had to boil down what my professionals do for a living, here's what we do. We help people to take all the information they've heard out here. We oh, you should do cyclical fasting. No. You should do ketogenic diet. No. You should count calories. No. You should watch your carbohydrates. No. You should do cardio. No, you need to build muscle. No, you need what? All of that. Boil it down. Put it through the filter of your genetic predisposition. Put it through the filter of your goals, your nutrition and training history and how your body is currently responding. Output the actual best of strategies. What is the most relevant information for you? People ask me all the time, what's right, what's wrong? And I'm going to give you the actual answer. You want to know which program is right and whether it's better to count calories or manage your carbohydrates. I can tell you the truth right now. 20,000 people I've dieted. I've been doing this decades.

It depends.

I have seen every program work. Yeah, I seen every single program work. I was alive through the gender, the. Not the gender, the decades.

Right?

With this, the sweatpants and everybody jogs and everybody does jazzercise and step aerobics. I was alive.

Thank God for Jane Fonda, man.

The second, third CrossFit that ever opened was two doors down from me. And I was around for everything in between. And guess what? I have seen everything. Every one of the iterations and generations produce outstanding jaw dropping physiques. And I have seen every strategy and diet through the decades produce subpar results for people.

Right.

It's all about finding what you need and having a system for identifying. And quickly, by the way, is this working or not? And if it's not, here's our next steps.

What's the biggest. Angela, what's the biggest reason that. That you would say a person doesn't succeed in achieving their outcome, Meaning you have a process. As we said, there's process and there's outcomes. So somebody has an outcome, they come to you. And maybe it's unfair to. Sorry, you know, they come to you, but just in your experience, whether they come to you or not, that a person does not. Does not succeed.

I have the answer.

Yep. Is it. Is it a lack of the. Is it a lack of a process? And even if they have a process. So I wanted two parts to this question. Even if they do have a process, they're abiding by a process. Why will they sometimes just not succeed?

They have the wrong strategy for them. And so for your part, B expectations. And I'll give you a classic example. So body types, genetic predisposition. So you got two guys, they're in their 40s. They went to high school together. Now, today, both of these guys, their buddies, they both weigh 250 pounds. They both go on decide, hey, you know what, we got to be around for our kids. You know, I don't want to have to take out the next life insurance policy.

We're back to life insurance policy.

We're back to that again. So they both decide, we're going to go on a diet, we're going to lose weight. They go on the exact same diet. Guy A loses 50 pounds. Guy B, exact same thing, loses 20 pounds. So in his mind, guy B is going, this didn't work for me. Or I'm a failure, or I just. My body isn't responsive. Now here's what nobody's talking about. Let's rewind back to high school. In high school, the guy who lost 50 pounds, he weighed 165 when he graduated. The guy who lost 20 pounds weighed 220 when he graduated. You cannot expect two totally different body types, two totally different genetics, bone structure, circumstances. And so that creates so much different metabolism. Different metabolism, so much frustration for. Well, why does one person while another. We have to look into all that. So we have a process. This is actually step three in our process. We identify right out of the gate, are you a strategic or a metabolic? And I'll give you a clue. Everyone falls into both of these categories at some time. But where are we generally living? And here's what they mean. Strategic means when you eat clean, when you exercise regularly, your body generally responds. And by the way, that's the majority of people. The challenge is that in our busy lifestyle, in our go, go, go routine, you know, we got family, we got kids, we have work responsibilities, we got bills, we got deadlines. How do we fit in? Clean eating and regular exercise. How do we make it stick and make it stick in a way that isn't overly cumulative?

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. All right, so do you. So I want to cover a couple of things here. So is there a quick yes or no answer to that? Or not even a yes or no, but is there Is There a short answer to the question you just posed.

There's a short evaluation. So we have to find out what your needs are. So. Because everybody's needs are different. First of all, people call me up and they say, okay, I've heard all this stuff about MetPro and your coaches and what they help people do and what do I eat? Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We first need to know something. Yeah, are you married? How many kids do you have? How often do you.

Evaluation, assessment, all that kind of thing. So let's, I want to get into one particular area of this, which is that, let's just assume they go through all that. They, they say, yes, you're, you're the guys that are going to support me or whoever it is, because there's a lot of people out in the space and our folks know I'm not, I'm not promoting anybody, not promoting Metro, not promoting anyone. It's really something deeper that I want to inquire into. So regardless of the system that you, that you buy into or that you know, invest your time in, there are, there's a substantial number of people that still will not get an outcome. And it's, there's a, there's a reason for that that I want to see if we can dig into because it started with the beginning of our conversation about beliefs. And ultimately if you, if, if I don't believe that life insurance is actually a good thing, or if I believe that it's a bad thing, or if I believe that somehow people will benefit out of my death, that, that's a weird message that I'm sending out to the universe that you'll all be better when I'm gone because of my six million dollar life insurance policy and all my screw ups in life and everywhere I cheated or I deprived you or I was cheap or whatever it is, it's all going to be cleaned up when I die because there's that money, right? You know, and so if that's a part of your belief system, you know, you may never get life insurance or you'll let it lapse. I mean, so much life insurance, we're not going to get into that. There's a lot of money made on people letting their policies lapse and then they have to, you know, get them new and pay more money and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Right. So lots of people get on the diet wagon or on the health wagon or the stress reduction wagon or any of these things and they fall off the wagon. Fall off the wagon. Fall off the wagon. I want to understand from your perspective, is there a way to eradicate that self sabotage. And if you do work on that, great. I mean, if that's part of your process, terrific. I want to hear. Because I think that's where at the root of it, people can change when they understand why they stay the same.

Yeah. Yep. So there. That is. There's two answers to that. The first one is, no, you're never going to fully eradicate. We have to eat to live. We have busy lives. It's always going to be a battle. And it's a battle worth winning. It's a battle worth winning, and it's not a you. And it's never over. You've never won it. It's never, oh, okay, I conquered this. Now I can move on to something else that is a constant. But here is what you're. I believe you're getting at the difference between values versus goals. The difference between character versus willpower. So I'll give you the short. The short illustration. I love goals. That's action step one. And why a good goal setting session is actually about figuring out what you're not going to work on right now. But that's for another time. Goals are great as long as they are stepping stones to adopting actual values. So here's the classic illustration that I think everyone will be able to understand. I'm getting married in three months. I want to be in the best shape of my life. That's a goal. That's not yet a value. And what happens when we hit that goal? We get in the best shape of our life. And then after the wedding. Okay, maybe not so much.

That's a great example. That's a killer example. Angelo.

Thank you. Thank you. So if somebody then adopts that lifestyle and places a greater value on living that lifestyle, it's going to transcend any wedding date because they've adopted into their character. I'm going to borrow the example of a psychologist, and I feel terrible because I can't even credit his name. I don't recall his name, but it was an example that I heard on willpower and character, and it was excellent. He used the example of. And I might get a little wrong, but you walk by a plate of cookies fresh out of the oven, willpower is you decide, I'm not going to eat those cookies. I'm on a meal plan. I'm going to avoid that. But it's pain that you have to endure every time you wince a little bit. Now, there are decisions that you make in life. It's like a muscle. It fatigues that using that willpower over and over. But there are other decisions that are almost identical that no pain. No pain whatsoever. You sit down at a coffee table at a restaurant, and the guy who left right before you put a $20 tip down for the waiter or waitress, you know for a fact that waiter or waitress did not see them put the $20 tip down. Adam, would you take that $20 bill?

Are you asking me for.

I'm asking you. Yeah.

Never in a million years.

No, of course not now. But here's the thing. Does it take any effort to make that decision? Do you have to wince and go, oh, no, that's not my money? No, you don't.

It's a value system for sure.

That's your character. It's in your character. You're holding yourself to that standard. So you adopt that as your value, as your character. So now it's not painful. So now we can take that and apply those two principles to. People ask me all the time, how do I know when I'm at the place where this is sustainable and they're looking for what weight am I? What exercise routine, how athletic do I have to be before I've reached that point? And to your point, with everything we've talked about, it's a mindset. It's not where you get your body to or where your health is at today. It's whether or not you have adopted the lifestyle that's gotten you there as your value system. Part of your character. If you have that, there is no backsliding. It's only forward progress.

This is so cool. So Pivot. The book Pivot, that's. This podcast is sort of based out of or based upon. There's a section in there about identity and about how part of the process of reinvention, the process, not the outcome of reinvention, but the process of moving out of one career into another or reinventing your body or any other thing that you want to. You want to change in your life has to do with adopting a new identity. And we use this analogy of getting into the phone booth, the pivot phone booth, similar to the way Clark Kent would walk into the phone. He come out of the phone booth as Superman. He adopted a new identity. And so I am. Statements are one of those things we use a lot. We think about. I think about this a lot. I am. What am I filling in the blank after I am. I am a believer in life insurance. Or I am not a believer in life insurance. Whatever. Because that's what I think what you're saying is that that's your value, that's your character. The person who walks past the $20 bill is saying, I am not a thief.

Right?

Right. I am someone who respects someone else's money and I leave it alone. Right. And so the other analogy of let's say the cookies, you walking past the cookies because your wedding is in three months, well, you go, I am going to be fit for my wedding. Now, what's cool about that, and I love that example, is that the wedding comes and goes, and sure enough, you achieved your goal. You've got your outcome, you look killer. The pictures are great. You go on the honeymoon and everything goes to pot on the honeymoon. And fast forward three months later, and you're back to the weight you were before you started that whole trek because you haven't changed your identity.

Yeah, that's it.

And I think that's really the. The root that we're both talking about here. Is that how you think about yourself, how you define that yourself in an like. And as an example, in that I am statement. Because some of. Some of us, we were told we were fat, or we were told we have a big body, we got no big bones, we're dead, we're this for that. You know what I mean? It's like, then you adopt that as part of your identity. So if you think that you're thick, you're whatever, I mean, I've heard so many terms about that. Or I have a slow method.

You identify with that.

It's like, well, that's who you are and that is your thing. Right. So how do. Then when you're into something like what you're suggesting, a new process to achieve a new outcome, ultimately your beliefs. This is my question rather than a statement. Do you believe that ultimately your beliefs win out over the best process, the best system, the best products? Do your beliefs always win out? What do you think?

I really want to say, yes, I know where you're going, and so I am going to say yes. But I do have to put an asterisk and tell you that I talk with believers every day, people that still are lacking some practical application. So I'm also a believer in having a balance and having kind of that you want both?

Oh, yeah. Belief without process isn't going to work either. That's like saying, I am rich. I am rich.

I am.

I am rich. Every day you walk around, I am rich. But meanwhile, you're getting kicked out of your apartment.

You have to be a not Just not just a believer, but a doer as well. And that's. And so one. You know, I really like disruptive behaviors. Disruptive behaviors. So things that you can do that are small, simple, but highly disruptive in a good way. So sometimes people say, okay, you know, I'm not about to go and, you know, go on this whole fitness journey, but give me just one thing to start tomorrow that will make an impact. And I tell people, I want you to prepare an afternoon snack and take it with you and eat it. Just one thing. Like, what do I eat? It's like something healthy. I don't care. Something healthy, but stick to it. It's your routine every day. And here's the catch. You have to prepare it in the morning when you first wake up. That's easy. I can do that. Great, simple action. Yet it is completely disruptive to your entire day in a good way. So here's how. If you can commit to doing that one thing, you're committing to so much more. What happens is, if you're committing to preparing an afternoon snack in the morning, that means you're in your kitchen in the morning preparing food, even though it's only three minutes, you're going to get breakfast. So we check that box. You're going to get breakfast because you're already there. Might as well. If you have breakfast, then your blood sugar stable, you're less likely to eat the donuts and the, you know, the super sugary caffeinated beverage on your way to work because your blood sugar stable, you got something in your body and you're going to make it to lunch. Most people don't miss lunch. Lunch is a pretty standard deal. So now you're going to eat a lunch, but you're more than likely going to eat a better choice than you may have because you already had breakfast. But you also remember I promised Angelo that I was going to have that afternoon snack, which I have right here in my brown paper bag. So I'm going to order reasonably because in the afternoon I'm going to have this snack. And so now you have that snack and now you're at meal three by three in the afternoon. So what happens is no blood sugar dips at night. So it's easier to order better at night and then less cravings after night because people say, oh no, Angela, you don't understand my problems. I don't have any problems during the day. In fact, I hardly eat during the day. It's at night, at about 8:30 or 9, I just get the munchies I'm like, no, no, your problems back during the day, starting with breakfast, you set yourself up for a hormonal, a biological response that's going to take place at night. If we can even that all out. So small disruptive behaviors. And it applies to mindset and as well.

Yeah, it's the domino effect you're talking about. I mean, it's the idea. I don't know if you've ever seen this demonstration. It's kind of cool that you can start. So the premise is that every domino has the capacity to knock over another domino slightly bigger than itself. So I've seen this demonstrated with a domino that's like three eighths of an inch high, and then it knocks over another domino that's about twice its size, and then it knocks over another dominoes about twice its size, and it keeps going and going. And of course, they never get past a few dominoes because by the 28th domino, we're talking about a domino that would knock over the Empire State Building. But to see a domino that's three eighths of an inch high, four or five dominoes later knock over one that's 100 pounds, you go, are you kidding me? But that's really what you're talking about. And that's.

Oh, I love that. I love that analogy.

And what's great is that it's physics. That's not mindset per se. That's just the physics of it. That's like the compounding effect. That's why to get out of your own way and do what you're suggesting, which is what's so brilliant, I think, Angelo, is that those small disruptive behaviors or actions that you take, they produce a domino effect. So kind of you can get those results more quickly. And as you said, we're all like little children. I don't care how old, how mature, what you look like. We're all little kids at heart. If we don't see something good happening right pretty quickly, then we get really distracted. And that's not even so much how we're built. It's just the way we've been programmed now, I think, in so many ways. So in fairness to us, seeing results sooner is actually really helpful to the process. You agree?

Absolutely.

Way cool. I want to talk about resilience for a moment because. So, for example, a lot of our keynote speaking in organizations, to corporations, and even to a lot of my former colleagues, other lawyers, for example, is about resilience. And we're in many ways a lot of what we're talking about here, good health or good diet, meaning the food you eat and the exercise, all these things, they're about building in our brand, they're about building resilience. And ultimately we want to build resilience because it helps us to go the distance. You can't win a race you don't finish, right. You can't succeed at something like if you were going to succeed at the highest level, like an Olympic athlete, because you work with Olympians, former Olympians, NFL players. We do too. We train a number of those people in the very different genre, which is in the public speaking area. But ultimately, if you want to become great at something there, there is a, an element of being able to have to stick around long enough to figure shit out, to figure out what works. You're going to figure out what doesn't work pretty quickly, but you got to figure out what works. And that staying power, to not only be around to figure it out, but also to produce the best results to, to be at the highest level of performance is about for us, this word, resilience. So I want to know what your definition of resilience is and I want to also understand one ritual, for example, that you engage in to create greater resilience in your own personal life. So first of all, how do you define resilience?

And of course I'm looking through everything through the lens of my craft. I think that that term resilience kind of transcends and it's bigger than that. But for the sake of our conversation, bringing it down to my craft, that's the ability to identify process of elimination, identify what my steps are. Once I am convinced that yes, this is my best next action, nutrition, exercise, lifestyle, et cetera, I am willing to see it through and not waver because it's easy to go. Well, I can, I'm excited about that. That's new. And guess what? You're going to do it. A couple pounds are going to come off, you're going to do it, you're going to see some results, but you're not going to continue to. It's not a linear pace, it's an over time. It's an endurance race. It's not a sprint for most people. And so that resilience factor is reinforced by understanding the science behind it and what your body is going through. And when you understand that, you're willing to stay in it mentally for the long haul.

Right. You can be patient because you understand it's not an aberration, there's nothing wrong with you. Because you are not seeing immediately what it is you're looking to see in the end.

Always gradual, but it does come.

It's like the 1% change, man. I mean, we diagram for pivot conversations with folks, we usually graph what a straight line looks like. And ultimately the straight line represents stagnation, ultimately death. I mean, we know what a flat line looks like on one of those monitors, right? But when you make a change in the direction, like you said, that small disruptive change, the trajectory is forever different. That straight line will never be a straight line. And even though we know there's no straight lines in the universe anyway, nothing's linear. Everything's sort of going to be these, if you look closely at it, these micro pivots up and down and up and down. You know, good day, bad day, markets up, markets down. You know, every market or every situation look at, it's going to be like that. And yet how do we ourselves continue to move forward in belief with faith, with good energy, with love in our hearts when we get despondent or when we get depressed, let's say that it's not happening fast enough. And so you're helping people with process, you're helping them with really great strategy. That's, as I've heard you, that's not a one size fits all. In fact, it's the opposite. It's a custom fit to a person based on their. The assessment that you do with them. And then ultimately, I think what's been interesting for me about our conversation is that there's this level of they're having to also adopt a new belief. They've got to go into that pivot phone booth, if you will, as a person who might believe, you know what? I've not succeeded in this area before because whatever that because is, and say I'm going to adopt a new set of values. I'm going to come out with a new character, with a new identity. And that might mean, you know what, I'm thin, I'm healthy, I have all the energy in the world that I could ever want. You know, whatever those things are that are not just statements in air. They're not just, you know, sort of airy fairy things, declarations that don't mean anything unless you don't have a process to support them. But that new belief system with a process like the one that you're helping people with produces more a higher level of success.

That is right. And people produce that higher level of success. A relationship in your life. When I was so I, you know, we'll have to do part B. We could do a whole second podcast. But, you know, I went through so part of how I arrived at where I am, I walked with a cane for 10 years. I basically missed my 20s because of a single serious injury. But I decided I didn't want to leave the health and nutrition, health and wellness field. So I tried to be resilient and I moved forward. But one of the things that I learned during that time, as I stepped back, I'm no longer handing people dumbbells, I'm no longer exercising with them. I'm being more of the broad stroke strategist now. I got gigs in my early 20s where I would go into a medium to large health club and I would help the owners develop an effective private training program where I would match up clients with trainers and I would help with designing an overall strategy and then the trainers would take that client and spend the day by day time with them. Here's what I learned. You can have the exact same strategy, the exact same diet and the exact same workout and get two different outcomes based on the personality supporting you.

Hmm. Oh, that's interesting. Okay.

When you have somebody who really jives with you, understands what makes you tick, and can motivate you to want to be better, it is magical. And I promise you, no two people are motivated the exact same way. We can in broad strokes. So in broad strokes, we put, we, at MetPro, we use three broad categories. And this isn't, you know, everyone qualifies for each of these categories at different stages in their life. But there are some people who thrive with a very strong support system. They thrive with encouragement and someone really walking hand by hand in hand with them, taking an interest in them. Other people thrive when they have the knowledge. They want to know the why, the how. If you just explain it to me, I'm going to thrive and I'm going to do really well with this. If I understand it, then the third type thrive when they're invited to a challenge. They have inside them what it takes, but they have to be measuring themselves against something else to really be at their best. And so having a, in this case, a coach or a mentor that is used to working with different psychological types will identify where are the buttons and the levers to help you get that mindset to where it needs to be to execute the process that's going to get you the results that's going to fuel that mindset. Now you have, instead of a spiral downwards, you have a spiral upwards of progress.

Wow. You know, so your resilience, I mean, I'm really happy that you shared that story for that you walked around with a cane, because that's not an easy thing, especially in your 20s or at any age, to just not be. Do you. Have you adopted either a set of rituals or one in particular that helped to create greater resilience for you over time? What does that look like for you?

I know this may sound odd, but for me, having a strong priority hierarchy in my life, and that's, you know, again, I'm looking at it through a lens, but that's bigger than just nutrition, fitness, health. That's just the way I live life. Having a strong priority hierarchy is my ritual. I wake up in the mornings and I really think about what are the most important things that I need to accomplish today? What are the most important things I need to accomplish this week and this month? Because I have learned that I cannot accomplish everything. So I need to accomplish the right things.

Yeah, the big rocks or the. That's key, Angela. I mean, I'm not a great manager. I've never been a great time manager. Let's say time management's never been my strength, but priority management, that has been for sure. I know where to put my energy and my attention and that kind of thing. And what I'm hearing you say, and I think this is really going to help a lot of people, too, is that to the extent that you can have that, that structure as part of how you go through a day and how you plan for a week, a month, a year out, that the biggest and most important critical things, the critical inches, forget who it was it might have been. I remember the author that used to talk about what's the critical inch? In fact, when I was a lawyer still, I had these signs all over my law office that said, what's the critical inch? What's the critical inch? Constantly refocusing on. Like you said, what's the big priority here? Not how do I clean my, you know, is cleaning my desk, is cleaning out my emails. Is that the critical inch? Is that the most important priority in my life right now? You know, I know it'll suck up a lot of time and I might feel better about the lack of clutter, you know, and maybe decluttering is a priority. That could very well be. But. But asking that question is super powerful. So you know what? We are, we are at, at the natural sort of ending point here for this discussion. But as you said earlier, I would love to have you back. We're just scratching the surface.

And Adam, this has been a blast. Thank you.

So appreciate. Yeah. Well, wonderful conversation. And what you just. I think what we've seen here too, I feel is a great demonstration of that last point you made, which is that when you're. When you're with the right person, if that's a coach or a mentor or whoever it is that you're inviting into your world to support you, if the. If the energy between two. If you say, you know, what's that? The.

Chemistry.

That's the word, right? Charisma. But it's the chemistry. Right. If that's good, there's. It makes that process so much easier. Yeah. Finding that right. Right. Chemistry. So thank you so much for being on the show and for everybody out there. I'd love to get your comments. As always, we thrive on your feedback. So please leave a comment. The full show notes will also have information About Angelo, about MetPro links that you can click. Find out more about their work, their company, and how they're supporting people in the same. So check that out. And of course, I'll leave you. Leave you with the waking ritual. The one thing that I do consistently and have done so for 10 plus years now, which is to plant seeds at the beginning of the day. I'm always looking for a little extra distinction about this process because it is so super simple and simple, yet not simplistic is how I put it, which is that we wake up. And that's no, you know, it's no joke. It's no guarantee. I didn't get a guarantee when I went to bed last night that I'd wake up today. Angelo, how about you? Did you get a guarantee in writing last night?

Nope.

Nope. Lawyer in me says they didn't get it in writing. There's no guarantee. But nonetheless, you did wake up. And that's. That's a blessing not only for you and for your family and everybody in your world, but now it's a blessing. Blessing for all the people that we've gotten to introduce you to. So I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful that we got to interact today. And I suggest that in that moment when we're waking up and we realize we've been given this extra gift, this unexpected, even gift, this miracle, if you will, and we can be grateful right then and there to start the day with some gratitude for any.

Gratitude.

Yeah. Yeah. So it's a beast. Gratitude is a beast.

Beast.

It never fails to produce the result. Never. It's just remarkable how dependable, reliable that one small concept is in life. And then these words which, you know, what is your I am statement for today? And what's the I am statement you want to begin the day with? Because I do believe that our beliefs are the foundation for any new behavior. Not the behavior in. As a one off behavior, but we talk about creating a new series of behaviors, new habits, new way of being. The beliefs will either facilitate that, grease the wheel of that, or they'll get in the way of it. So what do you want to believe about yourself? When I wake up, I say I love my life. And regardless of whether it's going to be a cloudy day or a sunny day, figuratively, literally, whatever I believe I love my life. That's exactly what I create every day. And so my question to all of you is, what do you want to believe about yourself today? Put that into an I am statement. Wake up, be grateful and state that. Say that out loud. It's been a blessing. Thanks, Angelo. Appreciate your time.

Thanks for having me, Adam.

Super awesome. All right, you guys, ciao for now, everybody, and we'll see you soon.

Thanks for listening, everyone. We hope you now have even more tools and greater insights to build resilience and become change proof. Help us inspire others by sharing this episode and leaving your comments over@adammarkelle.com podcast. For more Resilience tips and strategies, including support for building change proof teams, visit AdamMarkel.com BecomeChangeproof.