EP106 - WORK ETHIC - ANTHONY ASTBURY | WHOLE MAN ACADEMY

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Okay, so this is the Whole Man Academy podcast, episode 106. If you're watching on YouTube, please hit like. Please subscribe and share with your friends. And also if you're listening on anywhere, feel free to subscribe. Like do whatever you can to help the whole manic happy movement grow and grow. So it is just me today we like to do a, what we call it a solo pod every couple of weeks just to cover a few different topics. Topics, a few thoughts, a few updates for the guys that are listening around the world. So let's jump into it. The first thing is we've got some great guests coming up and I got asked a question of like, how do I find guests? I mean, some people approach me, which is always nice. Then you have a look at them, you know, see what they're about and see if they're the kind of guy I think that, you know, the chaps listening to this around the world will want to hear from. Funny enough, actually, when we spoke to Simon Mundy last week, you know, he sometimes has it where he will say no to someone. So I've only had that once and then kind of a little one where you just looked and you like. It's just not the right vibe for the whole Man Academy. But I always say if you think of someone that you think would be good for the podcast, a guy that's living his own version of an epic life, feel free to message me, suggest it and I'll sniff about, do some background checks on them and maybe invite them on the podcast. So guests coming up in next couple of weeks. Next week I'm interviewing as who is on the Monday. Yeah, it's Salah Khalifa who is a three time, I think it's three time Mai Thai world champion. He originally contacted me or I think he commented on something when we interviewed Greg Wootton again, a former world champion Muay Thai fighter based out in America at the moment and we kind of got chatting on social media. I had a look at his Instagram. He looked like a good guy Interested in fitness, food, fatherhood, you know, being a respectful man, being a warrior. So he'll be coming up next week and we've got Marcus Murray, who is entrepreneur based out in the usa. His team contacted me and said, would he be a good one for the pod tick? Yes, he is. So he'll be on in a couple of weeks. David Vo, which is. He's a former super fit firefighter. I've probably fucked up his pronunciation of his surname, but I usually get David right. But he's now much more interested in human performance, the body, how we can optimize ourselves with longevity. So I had a good chat with him yesterday. He'll be on the podcast in a couple of weeks, so. So some really interesting guys. Also Ross Anderson, who's really got an awesome story, a guy all about motivation. He will be. I'm interviewing him a couple of weeks time and again. He was someone I kind of saw through, I think was LinkedIn and just thought, this guy looks good. I think we'll jump on the old pod together. So I reached out, had a chat and kind of went from there. So, yeah, some great podcasts coming up. But again, if you've got something you think would be good, feel free to tag them and me on Instagram or send me the details, whatever it is. Now, before we jump into the meat of the sandwich, which is going to be about our event that we went to with David Gandhi the other night, which was great. I put on our Instagram, on our Tinstagram, some opportunities to ask any questions today about the podcast about men's health, about the whole mountain academy, anything you want, basically, or stuff that we've written about in the E letter. So I was like, sometimes you get no messages, sometimes you get a couple. But I got four questions today, so I'm going to jump into those quickly. One of them was about, do I have cold showers every day? So the answer to this, in short, is no. But nearly every day I'd probably miss, where are we now? We're in June, so I probably missed about three or four days in the whole year. Twice when I was staying away, once when I just forgot, and once when I felt really shite and I just thought, I just can't do it. But for the rest of time, yes, I do have a cold shower every day. You know, we've written about it before. I won't go on about the health benefits, but there are health benefits and I think also psychological benefits, because that is one of the first things in the morning where you're like, no, no. Your body and your mind says, no, no, I'm not going to do it. But you have to break through that and give yourself that first win of the day. And one of the chaps that we're working with at the moment, helping with his health, fitness, etc, etc, I know he started doing the cold showers and he was right on LinkedIn how he hates having them. But man, you feel refreshed after you've had them. So if you do have cold showers, let me know. But in answer, I have cold showers. I reckon nine out of 10 days or even more than that. Next one is the Vibram five finger shoes. Why are they called five finger gloves? For your shoes? I've just learned that, but we bought those about four or five weeks ago and they are the shoes that fit around each of your toes have a little separate, little snuggly compartment for each of your toes to help your feet stay cool. They've got a very, very thin heel on them as well, which means that you're more connected to the ground. We talk about grounding how important that is. So, yeah, five weeks in, really enjoy them. I found the response from people when you go out is quite funny because you had some kids going up being like, what are you wearing? But isn't that interesting? Because I kind of just try and give two or three points of why I'm wearing them, what the benefits are. And wouldn't that be cool if kids started wearing them from a young age instead of wearing stuff with big rubber soles or, you know, not being connected to the ground and letting their feet actually work to understand what they're standing on, stepping on. So yeah, a couple of weeks in enjoying them, I'll be talking about a bit more. And just a reminder, I also have the Vibram, the five finger socks as well. So you don't just put your feet in themselves, your feet get sweaty even though you can wash them. But I bought several pairs of socks, so that's another thing. I know several people have asked me about that. So just to clarify that one, number three, this is a great question, was who? I mean, when we talk about the podcast and I always say about guests, who's the one guest you'd like to have on now? It's a guy who has agreed to come on the podcast later in the year who blows my tiny mind with his knowledge of how the world really works. And I love listening to people that challenge your thinking and kind of, you know, sometimes I have to listen to content Again from him, because I'm like, what did you say? I don't understand it. I'm not sure. So he will be coming on later in the year. I've mentioned before on podcasts or sorry, in the e letter, but I don't really care about having famous people on. I want people to be able to speak their truth, be totally authentic. And you'll probably find that people with a very big profile often won't be able to say what they really think because they'll have the people that sponsor them or their brands or their employers or etc. You know, kind of filtering what they can and can't say. Which is a bit sad really, isn't it? Imagine if all the time you're like, well, I want to say this, but I can't. And that's what we're seeing a lot of. I spoke very briefly at an event down in East Sussex, the Warrior Day, with the legendary Rick Cooper a couple of months ago. One of the guys in the. In the group said he really feels like he can't be himself these days because you're so frightened of saying the wrong thing. I don't know if that resonates with you, but I know the same with me. You've got this kind of cancel culture of if you're not toeing the line with whatever, everybody's supporting the latest thing, then you're doing the wrong thing. But be brave, be bold, don't be afraid to speak your truth. But it's an interesting one. Maybe we'll cover that a bit more on the podcast. So I've got the one guest that I want coming on in a couple of months time and I'm pretty excited about it. But I'm sure there's other guys around you can think of who you know, there's that thing, if you could have one person sit down with him for one hour, who would it be? The other interesting thing there is if they were not if they're alive or dead, because they'd be shit if you're talking to them, if they're dead. But is there someone that's not around anymore that you'd love to sit down and talk to? I always think being a Liverpool fan, being football fan, someone like Bill Shankly for me, which is the legendary Liverpool manager from the kind of, you know, was it 60s, 70s, I think, would it be an interesting one to talk about mindset back then when you didn't have all these different people sharing their own views on mindset? So last one of Those four was someone said you say you haven't watched any tv. That is correct. I do not watch anything on your normal terrestrial channels and I haven't for God. Wow. I mean like maybe a year I kind of lose track. But I do nothing on BBC, nothing on itv, nothing on Sky. I don't watch any of that. The only normal TV I've watched in the last year and a half has been at one football game and I watched one film the other night, which actually quite good. But I feel my life is enriched for not watching it because it's a load of crap. I prefer to spend my time researching good stuff, learning about the world, how to optimize myself, spending time with family, etc. Etc. And some scrolling on Instagram. But let's talk about the event that we went to with a couple of guys who follow the whole Man Academy last Monday. So it's up in Stratford, Stratford and David Gandy, global ambassador style icon, a very nice chap as well, he's very normal when you just get chatting to him, despite his kind of large profile. But he was speaking at an event at Caffeine and Machine up near Stratford and that is kind of a petrol heads dream because it's a, it's a great place to go to meet up to see other cool cars. And he was talking. They have an event called I love you man which just brings people in on a nice comfy sofa, a bit like a Homer Man Academy events to talk about their life and kind of drop some golden nuggets in. So I reckon There was about 100 people there, you know, give or take. There's some lovely cars, some great, great noises when cars were racing up and down. And you know what it looked like for us? We rolled up just before 7 o', clock, had a quick, or grabbed a quick beer myself and Barry, who's a great, great friend up, lives up in the Cotswolds with me and Stuart as well, who's someone I've become good friends with the last, last probably year or so since moved up here. And then Ed Draper, also a mate from Sky Sports who's been on a couple of podcasts. He joined us with his lovely partner as well. And yeah, we grabbed a beer, chatted to DG for a little while before he went. So he went on stage, it was just, you know, when I sat down, was interviewed and we heard from it for about an hour and he spoke interestingly about being introvert at school, which some people might find funny seeing as he kind of reached the level of, you know, stardom and front covers and attention that he'll get from people now that he's, you know, he's in his 40s, I think he's one year younger than me or something like that. But it was just really interesting to hear him talk about that, talk about his rise from being a normal, let's call it a normal catalog model and taking that kind of, you know, he doesn't see it as a risk because he didn't want to do that anymore. He saw more for him. But, you know, ultimately it was a risk of kind of cutting your ties with the. The man that was the catalog model and going into the, we call it the supermodel phase. And as he said, it didn't happen necessarily overnight. You know, it take hard work, you know, lots of time. And also for his body, this is the important thing. He's still got a really strong work ethic. And he was saying after one of the questions that we had in the crowd, you know, for him, he'll often be working. Then he'd go to the gym at 9 o' clock at night, 9 till 10, come home, have dinner and carry on working. So he could quite happily sit back. Now, I'm sure he's got a few pennies in the bank and let the money roll in. But he's decided to launch his David Gandhi well wear range, which, you know, again, is a risk, but again, it's swinging the bat, isn't it? And we've written about this on the E Letter. So much of your life, I think should have some level of risk, some excitement. And you know, there's that old saying which I think I heard from Peter Sage, but I'm sure he got it from someone else, which is a ship in a harbor is a safe ship, but that's not what ships are made for. They're meant to be getting out on the sea, sailing along. And I remember hearing that when I worked in the city and it kind of resonated with me because, you know, before I left the city, I was moonwalking back away from the kind of the precipice of leaving and then kind of getting closer, going backs and forwards. And then sometimes you just need to list some things that you go, yeah, that, that hits home. So that was the big thing about David. He had a real strong work ethic and still does. Just because he's got his million followers and his brands and his companies, etc. He still works hard. And if you think even that night he drove up From London. He did the talk, he hung around. There's probably about 30 people queuing to talk to him and get a photo or just chat. And then us homies rolled in lastminute.com and had a chat with him about stuff about fuel prices, about cars, about living in the Cotswolds where he used to live, close to me. And it was just a great opportunity again for loads of guys. I mean, there was obviously women there as well, but loads of guys to get together to hear from another man and talk and laugh and be inspired and be motivated. So again, if you have any opportunities like that, go and find them, sniff them out somewhere around, you know, if your area and if not, make them happen. The other cool thing about that was seeing David Gandhi. He said, you know, we must do the second podcast again at some point, so hopefully we'll, we'll sort that out in the next kind of month or two. And the previous one, I think had something like 30,000 views at the moment or 30,000 downloads. So the next one will be more refined. Better questions for me, seeing as I would hope to sound a better interviewer now. So watch out for that now. Also, let's just go on to quickly. You know, I wrote on LinkedIn the other day, and if you're on LinkedIn, feel free to connect with me on there. Anthony Astbury. But I wrote on LinkedIn the other day, which is probably a platform I had underused for quite a while. I've been on it for ages and I don't know if you are as well, but I just kind of couldn't be asked to put stuff on there. I preferred Instagram, but then recently maybe I kind of looked around was like, you know what, A lot of the guys that we're trying to reach with the whole man Cavie message of it's good for guys to get together to talk. And of course, you know, the personal development side of helping a guy live his own version of an epic life. There's a shitload of men on there around the world who could be, you know, perfect for us to kind of target to hopefully help them. And also maybe they can help other people by learning from the content that we put out with the podcast with you letter, with all the other stuff. So resources to remember. Firstly, there's just social media, but also, if you haven't already, and I know I say every week, but our E letter, which goes out twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, is great. It's read by hundreds of men. And the point is if you go onto our website, there's a cracking free, let's call it a download, which is a brainstorming thing for guys that may be slightly bored and unfulfilled with life in their 30s and 40s to work through that little brainstorming process and see what comes up for you. Because I've had some great results back from guys who are like, hey, I worked through it, it's pretty powerful. And I'm like, I know. So that's the letter. Now, plenty of you have worked through the Energy Protocol course. Again, if you go onto our link tree or it will be in the show notes, but we've seen some great results from guys. I think we had over 100 guys, you know, get involved in the, in the course. And it's kind of a six week or six part course, helping you with your energy. And we always say, unless you're fully energized, you won't be able to do all the cool shit you want to do in life and also show up as a great partner, as a colleague, as a dad, you know, everything else, as a son, all those different things. If you're kind of lacking energy, maybe you're not going to be able to be in optimal state. So check out the Energy Protocol course if you haven't already and if you're not sure. Any questions, just send me a message. The next one is the mentorship. Now we've got a few guys in the mentorship program. What does that look like? Usually between 3, 6 and 12 months working with me once or twice a month, we sit down for an hour on Zoom, or if you're close by locally, kind of face to face. And we work through what you want to get out of life. You know, what's working, what isn't working. We make sure you're accountable as well. You're focused, you've got clarity in what you want and you've got those action steps of what you should be taking. And interestingly, one of the guys that's on our mentorship thing, I always think when it's when things go wrong, you need people most. You know, when things are going really well and either you're making loads of money or you're performing well, etcetera, it's kind of quite easy to just keep doing the same thing. But it's when you have that dip or that challenging moment, you think, fuck, like, I'm a bit lost or a bit confused or lacking a bit of motivation. Guess what? It's good to talk to someone and Just kind of clarify and get clarity on where you're going and what you're bloody doing. So we had a guidance on the mentorship thing. And, you know, he messaged me that weekend or just before and said, I've had a bit of a wobble. You know, I've had a bit of one of those moments. And I was literally, the first thing was, let's get on the phone or get on Zoom as soon as possible and sort this shit out. So you are clear and focused and moving forward instead of kind of, you know, swimming through treacle with procrastination and frustration. That kind of rhymes. But. So that's one of the important things about the mentorship program. Again, the details are on our website, if you're interested in that or you know, a guy that is. And the last one of resources, of course, is the Escape and Reset retreat, which is three days at my house. Really diving deep on what you want out of life, creating your morning routine, pure action plan, action steps going forward, and you go off fully focused on what you want to do with your life. That's one of those things to me. I know, I tried to. And we have created resources for men, you know, free and paid that. I think that when I worked in the City, I would have happily waived my credit card out and got involved with because I knew it would have helped me. And those are the things, when we've talked to guys that would help them. You know, you can start off with the mentorship or just the E letter, but the kind of the top of the tree is the Escape and Reset venture. And the important thing about that is getting out of your environment. Even for me, when I went on my Tony Robbins events, you know, if I'd have sat on them at Zoom at home, you're still just in the same four walls, the same environment, the same washing to be hung up and all that Al bollocks. But getting out, when I went to London, then I went to Tenerife and I went to Miami, which is super cool with a couple of mates. Wow. Just getting out of my environment for a few days really, really did me a lot of good. So that's another option for you. Again, details are always on the website and if not, you can always email me and find out. Last thing to tie up London stock company. Thank you to the guys there, they have sent me. And if you didn know already, yes, they do socks. They do multiple ranges of socks and not just the kind of the stylish, snazzy socks, but they also do underwear. So they kindly sent me a nice pack of their lovely underwear, kind of the trunk version which I will be parading around the village very soon and maybe even sharing some photos which aren't too wanky and cheesy. But yeah, so check out the the London sock company, those guys with their new range underwear. They've got some cool stuff happening there. And I spoke to to Ryan the co founder a couple of days ago. I really like Ryan. He's kind of very switched on and he's helped me a bit with the whole man academy for a couple of years now, which I appreciate. So yeah, check those guys out. And last of all, I hope you are doing well. If you have any questions at all, you know where I am. Let me know how you're enjoying the podcast and I will speak to you next week. Enjoy.

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