Special: P90X creator Tony Horton on Living Large

Hey, my friends, it's Brendan. I'm excited to bring this special edition of the Charged Life to you. I had the pleasure of sitting down with the main man, the legend, the creator of P90X, Tony Horton. We had an amazing discussion, just chatting about life, chatting about his new online course, which I'll tell you about how you can get for free in a second. Just an amazing conversation. I did P90X years and years and years ago and the basic philosophy of high intensity training really just like swept the world once Tony started talking about it. And I really imagined that we'd be in a very different place in our understanding of the basic physiological sciences of getting stronger, of getting lean, if it wasn't for Tony and his huge impact with P90X. I know, though a lot of people don't know about his overall bigger picture and how he's also very apt at teaching people how to live large and take charge and get more intense and committed in all areas of their life. Not just on the workout, not just in the gym, not just on the yoga mat. But he's got an insane ability to motivate you to chase your dreams and I know you'll find that to be true in this interview. I'd also like to let you know that Tony will be speaking at my next High Performance Academy. That's March 9th through 12th in San Diego, California. In case you haven't heard, High Performance Academy is a four day live training session where I share my latest insights, mindset, tools, habits on how you can reach high performance. It's not my perspective, it's not my ideas. It is absolutely proven tactics and techniques to increase your performance in almost every area of your life, from your mind to your body to your productivity, to your people skills. It is, as of today, the only existing scientifically backed and founded high performance training in the world. And I know that when you go there, you will get incredible effects and benefits. So I thought I'd incentivize you just to come. Now, if you happen to sign up for a ticket, a single ticket to come to High Performance Academy live In the next 48 hours, I'll go ahead and give you this recording that you'll hear of me and Tony, the full version on video. But more importantly, I'll also give you a free copy of his $150 online course called Living Large with Tony Horton. That's only if you buy a single ticket or at least one ticket in the next 72 hours@hpa.brendon.com that's hpa.brendon.comthat link is also in the show description with this audio, wherever you listen to your podcast, find that show description, click that link and if you sign up in the next 72 hours, I'll go ahead and get you Tony's course for free. And you'll of course get to see him at High Performance Academy will be there with over 1000 high performers from over 30 countries around the world March 9th through 12th in the glorious, sunny, beautiful San Diego, California. With that, here is Tony Horton on how to live an extraordinary quality of life. My exclusive interview with him for you. Please enjoy. Hey everybody, it's Brendon Burchard, co founder of growth.com and I am thrilled to to be here with my main man, the one, the only, the legendary Tony Horton.

That's a heck of a title. I thank you my brother. It's great to be here with you. It's very exciting for me.

I'm so thrilled. Now if y' all are just joining us right now, this is an opportunity to learn from the legend about how he's built an extraordinarily high performing life. How he's changed millions of people's lives around the world. As you know, Tony has built sold over a billion dollars. Over a billion, A billion dollars in P90X, P90X 2 and 3. And he's become so well known internationally, everywhere about health and fitness. But tonight we have the opportunity to learn his secrets for living a high performing life. I had recently, we had a great, great, great time at my house. Yeah, we did shooting some video, me learning a little about like how does he do it, how does he succeed in all these different areas of his life. Especially because a lot of people can look at him, fine looking young man as he is.

Well, thank you.

I'm a little feeling a little inadequate sitting next to him with his biceps. But come on, you know it, you know it. But you got this guy who's 58 years old, is that right?

58. Yeah, that's right.

58 years old and a half, crushing it for decades. And just like yourself, you got lots of dreams, lots of goals, lots of desires and I bet you're working so hard. Sometimes people don't know how hard you work and they see success and they don't know you've been through a lot of stuff. I have a lot of struggle. You didn't come out of the box with P90X and all of a sudden become a millionaire overnight.

No, sir.

Your journey to mastering your life, like everybody Watching, it's tough out there sometimes you got to fight through it. So we're going to talk about fears, we'll talk about distractions, we'll talk about finding your purpose, and we'll learn from the man just how he's done it all. So thanks for joining us, man.

It's great. You know, it's been a hell of a journey, and I still wake up every day. I sort of pinch myself and realize this is actually happening. But it's taken a long time. It wasn't an overnight success by any means. There was a lot of trials and tribulations, a lot of mistakes that were made, but there was always this little voice in my head that said, there's more. You can be better. And so I searched out. I searched out experts like you. I read all my personal development books. I mean, if you look at my library, it's personal development books. And I went to my Tony Robbins seminars and read my Larry Carlson books and Deepak Chopra and Andrew Weil and all of it because I didn't learn what I needed to learn in high school and in college, you know, that was all, you know, reading, writing and arithmetic, which was fine. It didn't really apply to my life and where I wanted to go in my life.

And school wasn't easy for you either?

No, I was a C minus student. I had a speech impediment, and that was awesome. You know, it's like, wow, let's find another reason why to beat me up at the bus stop, you know, And I was an army brat. We moved, you know, six times before fifth grade. So it was. It was just really hard for me. And there was alcoholism in the family and all that kind of stuff. And. And I know a lot of you at home, you know, you probably hear that and go, that's me. That's me. I've had those same kind of issues. And I meet so many people, right, that are sort of right there. They're at the door, they're knocking, but they don't know how to take the next step, you know. And so for me, it's been a struggle. The beginning was not easy for me, but I think that's the reason why I cherish it so much more. Because it's been a long journey. The pendulum has swung so far in the other direction, and I've been able to sort of stay there and maintain it. And obviously, you know, I'm a health and wellness guy. I'm P90X the brand new 22 minute hardcore. These programs I Mean, I live, eat and breathe these programs, and for me, the foundation of my joy and my happiness and my success comes from exercise and eating right and taking supplements and whatever it takes.

Yeah. But also the emotional, mental mastery part of it, because that's what I was surprised, you know, meeting you. I'd done P90X not incredibly well. I was that guy, a hot, sloppy mess at home trying to do it, being like, five more.

Oh, my God, he's a beast.

And what's beautiful as I got to know you, and I think this is really important in health and fitness, I know you all struggle with this at home is that no matter whether you're trying to get your health right or your relationship right or your work right, your real mastery, I think, and everyone else's things we have to figure out is how do we stay motivated, how do we deal with the fears, how do we deal with all the distraction that we all have right now? And most importantly, how do you stay the course? Because not only you're just 58 and you're in great health, you're like a happy guy. You went through emotional turmoil. You had a lot of doubts. You were an insecure kid, you know, worried about getting beat up. And then you said, well, and getting.

Beat up, that wasn't fun either. Yeah.

Yeah, but so walk us through real quick. A lot of people I know want to know that sort of that Genesis story. A little bit of, okay, right before P90X. It wasn't overnight. It was. What was that struggle for you to figure out what your purpose was? What was the thing that you really wanted to do? How did you find that?

You know, I think my story is like a lot of other people's stories, but, you know, unless you hear it from me first, you kind of think, well, it just sort of, sort of happened. You know, he's been. You know, he was the high school football star. You know, he dated all the great girls in school. No, none of the above. I mean, I really was. I was a hot mess. I mean, I really. And I think partly because we moved around so much because my father was in the military and there were job promotions and that kind of thing. So it was a new school system, new friends, new neighborhood, new office, all this stuff all the way up through fifth grade. And I had this speech thing, and I inherited that speech thing from my father and grandfather. They both had it, too. It was sort of genetically passed down, and it wasn't so much stuttering as it was having a tough time finding the next word. So people are just sort of waiting for me, like, okay, man, come on.

And they don't think you're smart because you can't get.

And I ended up going to all these special, you know, classes to help me. They thought I was a struggling kid. I was held back, almost held back in third grade summer school every year. I mean, God, it was brutal. And I saw all these other kids in school, just great athletes and great students. And for me, it was just so difficult.

It's a slog of fight.

It really, really was. So I had these two voices and I think a lot of people struggle with that. Where there's this one voice that says, there is more, you can have more. Life doesn't have to be this complicated and this difficult. But when you're young, you know, you don't really know where the solutions are. And you're not getting them at home and you're not getting them at school and you're not certainly getting as an athlete because, you know, I just played tennis and I was bad at it and I golfed and I was bad at it. I didn't realize that there were training things you had to do too. I just figured if you played more tennis, you'd get better. But and same thing with football and.

You'Re good at something. If you tried the first time, it's like, oh, well, maybe I'm just not good at this. So you bounced around everything else.

Exactly right. If I wasn't, if I wasn't good at something initially, I just quit. I was the biggest critter in the world. And so I said no to so many opportunities because I figured if I didn't show up and if I didn't go, then I wouldn't have to go through the trials and tribulations of coming in last place or being so exhausted that people would make fun of me or when it came to school activities or just class or whatnot, I would never raise my hand. I would never ask a question. And that's all I do now. I mean, I ask. That's my favorite thing. Man, I'm so open minded now. And I don't mind being somebody who's curious and asking those kinds of questions. And I think that's the reason why a lot of people are looking in, because maybe they were in that same kind of place where they feel like they're sitting on their hands. They just kind of want to get by. And you and I have talked about the difference between survival and thriving and sort of the jump that's required to get from one to the other. And I was pure survival, man. Like, pay the bills, show up to work, have a few beers, watch the game, you know, If I had a great view of the convalescent home, which is where I thought I'd end up eventually, you know what I mean?

So you literally did from your apartment.

Oh, I mean, yeah. Like, there's a convalescent next to the right, across the street, down the stairs, across the alley. Get me in the wheelchair. Ready to go.

So how do you, you know, how do you go from that guy, you know, Couple beers, not driven, stuck on the couch sometimes, and then one day you're like, you know what? I'm gonna get my act together. Cause I know this for myself, too. You don't wake up every day completely driven to go and crush it. But, you know, you need to for your family. You don't wake up every day knowing exactly what you're supposed to do. But your job requires you to keep getting better. You don't know every single day how to run the business, but you better show up and crush it. So what's that breakthrough? What's the thing that happens for somebody that gives them that greater drive to go from that guy in that apartment. How do you go from that guy in the apartment to Tony Horton? Millions worldwide. I don't know if you guys saw it, but he led a workout in Nashville for 30,000 people that filled the streets in Nashville. 30,000 people. He led. I think it was the largest workout in history.

At the same time. Yeah, I think it was the Guinness Book world record. Yeah.

And so how do you. You got the guy in front of 30,000 people now. How's. Where's the. I'm the apartment guy. Drinking beers, Depressed, don't like myself. What's the shift? What was the break of the.

You know, I think it was really a series of events over the course of time. You know, a lot of people say there's a tipping point. I think it was several tipp points for me, you know, and for me initially was creating a dramatic move in my life. You know, I mean, I was struggling all the way from elementary school through college. I had a few moments in college. I used to, you know, do these stand up routines and these live shows. You know, I used to do this sort of crazy mime routine because I did mime because I had a speech thing, right? So I might as well, you know, get in the box and play, you know, Beatles music or something. And that was sort of my little breakout moment. I was not athletic, I wasn't eating well, I was a student. Eating hot dogs and burgers and pizza and playing some basketball once in a while. But, you know, I started exercising. And for me, that was the foundation. And if you speak and talk and I know there's a lot of you out there, to the people who are really struggling in their life, the tipping point, or the beginning was beginning to move physically and how that affects your mental and emotional state. Because it's not just exercising for the purpose of looking better in the future so you can impress your friends or lift more weight or flex. Whoa. What happened there? I'm sorry, but I mean, I mean, I kid, but for me it was moving physically, aerobically, anaerobically, weight training, Pilates, yoga, really mixing it up, which ended up being the foundation of P90X.

But you were doing it to feel good. You were doing it.

No, initially I was doing it to meet girls because I was really insecure and I thought if I looked bigger and stronger and better, that would attract women. Oh, by the way, you need a personality as well, you know what I mean? And that came in later. But what was happening unbeknownst to me was I just had more confidence, I had more energy, I had more enthusiasm. I was saying no less and yes, more. And it was coming from the physiological shift inside of my brain. Norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, all these chemicals that were being dumped in my brain to just sort of change my outlook. And it came through the physical, but it was affecting my mental and emotional. I was a better student, I had more confidence. I didn't need to sleep till 10 o' clock in the morning anymore.

Do you feel like the discipline sometimes of just doing something regularly? Your brain goes, you know what, you're doing something, you tell me. One of your secrets to life is consistency. And I think just sometimes if you just have one routine that you're doing every day, it's like a small win. Like I did that it could be so simple. I went to the gym or oh, you know what? I checked my email when I said I was going to, or I didn't check my email and I did this other thing. But it's like those small little consistency and accountability. Accountability.

People are winging it. And if you wing it, it won't work. It really, really won't.

What do you mean by that?

Well, I mean, we're sort of making a plan. Who are you going to surround yourself with? How are you going to plan out your day? How Are you going to prioritize? These are all things that are sort of important. And I think a lot of people are just, you know, they get a job, they go to work and they can't figure out why they're incredibly unhappy, why they have terrible sleep patterns, why they have no sex drive, why, you know, they look at themselves and they think, I have. I don't want to participate in anything physical because it's so embarrassing for me. And for me. I mean, I didn't. I was a skinny, skinny kid. I'm an ectomorph. If you look at different body types, I have skinny parents. I'm a skinny guy. So for me to build muscle is hard.

I think I'm called scrawny.

Is that what I. No, you and I are scrawny brothers. But you're not. I know what's underneath there. It's pure power, okay? Pure power, ladies and gentlemen. I wouldn't mess with that. No way. Arm wrestle. I'm a loser. But the truth of the matter is, I mean, to be really specific about it was when I started to change my physical activity and I started to improve the quality of my food because it's all about chemicals, you know what I mean? It affects the organs, it affects the bones, it affects the joints, it affects how sharp your brain is, it affects your enthusiasm, your willingness to sort of open up new doors. And that's what the food and fitness did. But that wasn't enough, you know, and that's the reason why, you know, we're here to talk today, like, what are the other aspects of that? Like, okay, if that's my tipping point, if that's the foundation I've created, what are the other things that I needed to do so that I didn't have to live in that two bedroom apartment with a view of the convalescent home anymore? I mean, I was training Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty and Billy Idol and I had all these celebrity clients and.

As a personal trainer.

As a personal trainer, and that was great. But I was still broke and I still had a broken down car and, you know, I mean, I had, I still had credit card debt, you know, because I didn't know how to deal with finances. I didn't have a relationship, you know, I didn't, I wasn't, I wasn't with somebody.

I truly kind of had like that LA thing.

I had that LA thing.

You were working with celebrities, personal, training them, and yet you weren't, like you weren't finding your thing yet. I'm curious, when you're when you're dealing with so many people, you're training these amazing rock stars at the time, or now you've trained literally tens of millions of people to work out. A lot of you watching this, we know that I should work out, I should eat better, I should do this routine. And you can give them all the routines and you've given them so many of those things to do. What's the mind shift that happens for people? The mental part of it or the emotional part of it that gets them to finally do it? Because sometimes, you know you're supposed to, but you don't. So how do you motivate people to do something that they know they should do for themselves, but they don't?

Well, if you look at any one of my programs, p90x10 minute trainer, whatever it is, it's done for you. Your only job is to show up. And even with that, even when I tell you exactly what to do on what day and what sequence and for how long and how many reps and how many sets and how many days a week, and I give you a diet program, you know, and obviously it's two. It's a couple things. It's commitment and faith. You have to look at me and believe that I actually know what I'm talking about. And so when I broke into the business, like, who the hell is this Tony Orton got? He wants to want people to work out six days a week and eat right. Forget it. In the infomercial world, not a shot. So my thing was, you were saying.

You'Re gonna do something that's hard, hard.

So most people who are clicking through go, you know, that's baloney. That doesn't work. I don't believe in that. And they look at me and go, wow, they're really. They're doing push ups and lunges and squats and pull ups. And there's a diet program. And so there was a finite group of people initially who saw that and went, okay, that's real. But guess what? Now I don't have to go to the gym. Now I don't have to put a, you know, pack my gym bag, get in traffic and then, you know, get on somebody else's nasty DNA after they're done with a piece of equipment. And I get to do this in the confines of my own home, right, and buy boxer shorts. And what I did, which no one had done before, was I gave people modifications. If you can't do it this way, here's an alternative way. Here's another alternative. Way. What? Oh, and by the way, if that's too much, hit the pause button, take a break. I'm alright.

I love that. You know, there's a lot of people who watch right now who small business owner, have a team, they have something and this is a relevant question for them, right? How do you get people to do something? They know they should do it, but they're not motivated. It's like you gave a plan, you made it pretty specific, but you also said, hey, here's, here's some other things you can do and you kind of let them go at it. I think when I think of the.

Way I'm talking about, 80% of life is showing up. I mean, Woody Allen apparently said that. And the other 20% is paying attention once you're there. And so if you're not knocking it out of the park and you're feeling like a dragon, awesome. You're here, we're doing this thing together.

You're struggling through, you're struggling through.

I mean, that's the reason why the original programs were 3 months, 90 days. You know, it's an up and down journey. If you're a perfectionist, forget it. What I tell people is show up, see what happens. Have extraordinarily low expectations, right?

But show up, but show up, but show up.

Because what happens is when your expectations are low, you blow your mind by, you know, you're so amazed by the experience and how much more you're able to do. And so your confidence grows tenfold. If you're trying to compare yourself with others, with your past, when, or your expectations for the future, think of the anxiety and angst that comes with that. That's why so many people feel stuck.

And stifled because they're comparing themselves to everybody else. They're comparing themselves to many other things because doubt, fear. Did you ever have that when. So you put out P90X like right before, did you have a lot of fear about is it going to do well? Is it not going to do well?

Did you have high expectations? I had no expectations whatsoever because I couldn't compare it to anything else. And initially it didn't do well at all because, you know, a lot of people in the industry said that's not going to work. You need a little, you know, twisty chair that three times a week for three minutes a week. You know what I mean? And so there was nothing.

You need a device. You need a device. Yeah, yeah.

But then there were a lot of people at home who picked up the phone and made that call. And committed to the program. And you know, the stories. I mean, if, you know, if you've ever seen YouTube or gone on Facebook or Instagram or anything and you've seen all these stories and I mean, I meet them at the airport, I meet them in the grocery store. I meet them everywhere. 50 pounds is not even. Is commonplace. It's 80, 90, 242 pounds. Doing an extreme fitness program because of the modifications, because of the sequences, because of the variety, and we're going to talk about variety, I think here very shortly. And because of the fun, because we all know that fitness isn't necessarily very fun. I'm not a fan of it. I mean, it's hard. There's angst and anxiety and pain and that pain so much. But there's this discomfort and people aren't coordinated or they don't have the range of motion or they're not. They don't have any history of it. So. And this comes from a kid who had coaches. I was on the football team. I was more of a tackling dummy really, than a player because I rarely got in the game. I really was like, Monday through Thursday, run Horton over and then go around and, you know, score. And so my coaches just weren't, just didn't have, didn't know nuance because what they cared about back in the 70s was getting their name in the paper in the win loss column. And a lot of us look at our lives like winning and losing. Nah, it's not. It's about making this process more fun, Showing up on a regular basis, seeing if you can eat right pretty well and above and beyond the aesthetic and things that are based in ego, guess what else is going to happen? You're going to have more energy, you're going to feel better, and then you're going to be able to open up more doors because of the mental and emotional shift that has happened. And now you get to go live your purpose. All right? And when you're overweight, you're overwhelmed. It's really, really hard to be able to go after life when you're just. When you can't get up a set of stairs. It's just a different philosophy, a different way to live.

And mentally, too, when you just. You're mad at yourself, you're comparing yourself to everybody else. So you stop, you don't show up. And I think one of the reasons we related as friends, if you've studied my work before, you know, I'm always talking about this concept of honor, the struggle. It's okay. That it's going to be a struggle. It's okay. That it's a fight.

Yeah, I love that.

It's okay that you're upset, that that's part of the process. You've trained more elite military people than I think anybody else. Fitness. And they say that statement, the Green Berets embrace the suck. You have to say it does sometimes suck because you're at this level. And by the way, this level for a lot of people is good. They're comfortable. They got a job, maybe a kid, maybe they got some family, and they're a genuinely good person who's trying, but they know there's this level. And the only way to go from here to there is at first to show up, but then to honor it. Like, no. Like, yeah, this is a grind sometimes, and, man, this is hard. Or I don't know how to do it. And you keep going, and you keep going. So I'm curious, so P90X as an example, just for a metaphor for life, you're, you know, you got a guy who's at day 60, been fighting through, been showing up and finally says, I'm quitting. Because a lot of people watching this, if you were honest, sometimes you quit on your dream. It's not about working out. It's a metaphor. It's like you quit on your dream. You quit on that relationship that maybe had another chance in it. You quit on that career. You quit that day when really you should have stuck it through a little bit more. So how do you talk to the person who's about to quit? What do you put in their head?

Well, you know, that is the $64,000 question, because there's so many people, they go into it with the greatest intentions, and maybe they get through the whatever it is, whether it's P90X or a new career or a relationship or maybe, you know, sort of setting a path when it comes to seeing more of the world or whatever. And, you know, it's always fear, man. I mean, you know, it's like you could cause fear. It's always fear.

Always fear.

It's always fear. It's always afraid of the unknown, of the other side of the door, of comparisons to the past and others. There's all this, you know, a mind chatter that goes on about it. And, you know, if you're physically ahead of the game, ahead of most people, and you're eating pretty well, for me, that's what works. But maybe that's not necessarily the path for everyone else, but it's all Related. The physical, the mental, emotional, in the sense of getting beyond this plateau, you know, where, like you say, you know, I'm surviving, I'm doing great, much better than I thought I was. You know, maybe I've dealt with my alcohol issue, or maybe I'm out of that bad relationship now, but I can't tell you how many people that I know in my life, and that's the reason why I'm such a huge fan of you, because I see what you've done, how you've transformed so many lives. Like you've come up with this formula where people can move past these walls. And I've been able to do that as well. And partly what we're here to talk about.

Oh, you inspired me, because I think we'll talk about some of your three laws of life and how those actually help people get over that, how you.

Get to the next level. And to answer your question more simply, I would have to say that for me, the puzzle, the conundrum, for me, the hardest part. And I had to do that with Tom Petty. I mean, when I first was working with Tom, I mean, here's a guy, he's a rocker, right? Never lifted a weight in his life, doesn't know the first thing about punching a bag or doesn't know aerobic from anaerobic from resistance from proprioceptive. Any of it. And I have to start from scratch with this guy.

His goal is more endurance on the show.

Exactly. On the road, getting on stage, doing these big shows and going to the next city. And so for me, it's coming up with the language to explain it. So people go, oh, I never heard it quite that way before. Oh, that's, you know, to see those lights go off above people's head. So, you know, it's things like adding variety to your fitness, adding variety to your techniques when it comes to building your business. When, you know, adding variety to, you know, just the people that you're with in your life, discarding the people in your life that you know are dragging you down, but they've been in your family forever, and you went to high school with them. But you have to make a decision, all right? And a lot of it just feels.

An obligation to stay.

It comes down from pen and paper, right? Like, you put a line down the center of the paper and you go, the things that are helping me, the things that aren't. And so you're going to look at this list of the things that aren't helping you. And you go, I'm still Doing these things and doing these things are causing me to be stuck physically, mentally, emotionally, relationship wise, work wise, career wise, purpose wise, travel wise.

That's the first thing I got, you know, out of your video series was variety. Not just variety like for the spice of life, but just look, where are you stuck? Because that thing, you need to shake it up. And you know, at a metaphor level of working out, you're always, you know, you're like, okay, look, your biceps are the size they are. You need to confuse them. You know, muscle confusion, that's your thing.

Billy Idle used to call me, I'm name dropping now.

Good one to drop though, because he's still rocking.

I show up at the house, right, mate? All right, muscle Confucius, what you got for me today? You know, we're hitting the bag. We're hitting our bag with a blindfold on. What? You know, I mean, because it has to stay fresh, it has to stay interesting. And most people fail because they sort like when it comes physically, we're in the metaphor now, but physically it's boredom, injuries and plateaus, right? It's like the same old, you know, everybody knows that Einstein quote, you know, repeating the same things over and over again, you know, it's insanity. And so. But people like being comfortable. I'm working hard, but I want to work hard in areas that I'm familiar.

With because they know it.

But guess what? If you want to continue to expand your world and become more successful and really kind of break the barrier, then you're going to have to, you know, if you're a bodybuilder, I'm going to make you do Pilates. If you're a cardio girl, guess what, it's time to do some push ups. And so that makes you very uncomfortable for a period of time. But that's where the tremendous growth comes from. Because there's no more plateaus, no more injuries, because the variety prevents your body from doing same things over and over and over again. And then, you know, I mean, I'm an, I'm a whatever. I was 145 pound weakling as a kid and all I did was play sports poorly. And then I started to train, you know, and now I can climb ropes upside down and go around the pegboard a bunch of times and do 45 pull ups in a minute.

Real pull ups.

Yeah. And I did 60 dips on a parallel bars in a minute. I mean, it's. These are fun little things for me, you know, and these are things that I couldn't even Come close to doing in my 20s, 30s, and maybe even early 40s.

But you shook it up.

I shook it up. And the purpose is here. Like, a lot of people who are kind of looking in, going, all right, there's that fitness guy, and he's, you know, he's done really well. But there was a struggle, and there were these basic laws or lessons or whatever you want to call them that I needed in my life to kind of push through these places of being comfortable.

I think that's the most important thing. When you're watching this and you hear a concept, it's so easy to go, yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. I already got that. But no, this is actually. This is a strategy. It's a tactic. Take a look at your life, and.

Wherever you are, good.

Like, where are you good right now? Things are pretty solid. Look at that and go, how do I shake it up a little bit? Because if I can shake it up, I'm gonna get a little more growth out of it. And it's when people just let everything be comfortable because, you know, we have that desire for homeostasis, but we have that desire mostly to know that we're going to be good. So where's the part? Have you gotten too comfortable in your relationship and now your relationship suffering? Because it's not that, you know, you're just sitting there hoping something to change. You can't do that. You have to say, okay, is this relationship giving as much zest, vitality, love, intimacy as I want. And if it's not, let me change my tactics, let me change my strategies. If you're at a million dollars in your business right now and you're thinking to go to 10 doing the same things without shifting up, it's not going to happen. Same thing. If you're going trying to go from a $50,000 career to a 75,000, you have to change what you're doing. And so I love your training, where you really talk about, okay, let's use variety. I don't know if you use this word, but it's like, as a weapon to change.

Weaponize it.

You know, it really is. It's just like. Because it's such a simple concept, but people hope that variety comes into life. You know, I always say there's always.

Yeah, we wish, hope, and pray it's gonna show up all on its own. Yeah. But, you know, you have to be really super proactive. Like, you know, for me, when we talk about variety and fitness, it's obvious that works. I mean. I mean, because it forces you to work on your weaknesses. But people don't like working on their weaknesses because it shows flaws. But yay, that's what the lesson is. So we obviously would want to do it in our, you know, when it comes to, for example, diet wise, some people want to be vegan, some people want to eat raw, some are Paleo. Guess what? I do it all. I just eat really healthy versions of it all. Because I was a vegan vegetarian for a while and then I stopped and I recognized that it was time to make a shift. So now I enjoy all kinds of different kinds of food and I feel like I'm at my best because I have more variety when it comes to food. Same thing with people in your life. You know, I can't tell you how many people after high school or college hang out with the same 15 people forever. Forever.

All right?

And then they all die off and then you're by yourself. And I have 20 year old friends, 30 year old friends, black friends, Muslim friends, you know, Italian friends. I just try to expand my world. And then I also, when it comes to variety, I realize, well, who do I need to sort of spend less time with? Because they're not helping me. Hey, for me, stretch, grow, be different. Stretch, grow and learn. Stretch, grow and learn. And so the different kinds of people, the more variety. And it's kind of too bad. It's happening a lot, I think in our country these days. We're all kind of hanging out with our kind, you know what I mean?

Or our phone.

Our phone is, yeah, this little rectangle in our hand. But then, you know, the more you do, especially when it comes to personal development. Right. I mean, people are fans of yours, but they don't, you know, I think they would grow more if they spent time with you and me and maybe a plethora of different people because they're getting different perspectives. That's how I ended up here because, you know, I had the attention span of a gnat, you know what I mean? And so I needed all that different kinds of input from different kinds of people because quite often there'd be these brilliant folks that wrote these great books and I'd go to their seminar and go, that doesn't really resonate with me, you know, one on one. But it doesn't mean that I didn't take something from them.

One idea can shift.

One idea made a big shift. And then I'd go to somebody else and somebody else. So, you know, I would say if you're watching the two of Us right now. And you think about variety. You know, you might want to make that list. Like, where do you feel like you're sort of stagnant? Where do you feel like you're not really making any movement forward? You know, write down the categories of your life where you feel like, boy, that's been the same forever. And what, maybe, what categories of your life that relate to your purpose, to your work, to your relationship. Like, when it comes to my wife, you know, we had our one year anniversary very recently, and you know, my job, I look at her and I'll say, what's my job? And she'll say, to make my life awesome.

I've seen this in my house. He goes, he's great. We were shooting some videos. And he literally says to Sean across the way, hey, what's my job? She says, to make my life awesome. And I was like, that's awesome.

And it really, really is. And what happens is that it creates a sense of support. Like, she knows I've got her back and as a result, she wants mine. And in all the struggles and all the relationships I had before, it was because I wanted my thing and you wanted our thing, and it wasn't the same thing. And why aren't you helping me? And we're treating each other like, you know, I don't know what, like somebody's parent, you know what I mean? And we don't have that. It's very equal, it's very supportive. And that, for me, required a lot of growth. Right? Because, you know, they say the relationship, do you want to be right? You want to be right or do you want to be happy? And a lot of times I just have to learn that it's not about trying to win the argument, it's just, it's about surprising her with, you know, a bunch of emails and flowers. Variety on that kind of. And it requires work, it requires effort. But. But once you fall into that pattern, then things get easier. And then how do you keep pushing the envelope? How do you keep surprising yourself and surprising the people around you? By adding more and more and more. I did a bicep, tricep routine yesterday that I just created on the spot. I was like, I gotta do something different. You're damn right.

Yeah.

Like, ouch. But it was, it was just kind of always staying curious, I think is really a critical piece of variety. Just always searching and looking and surrounding yourself with people who are really living large.

I love it. Live in large. Live in large. I have a question about intensity, because my outside Perspective. Getting to know you as a friend is like, this guy's just. He's intense. We'll talk about balance, But I mean, P90X is intense. So how do you. I think this is important for people to develop some kind of strategy for intensity in their life. Where you say, okay, what's my dream? And a lot of people dabble around their dream. They dance around it, they kind of play with it. They do it on a Sunday night as part of their dream and they never come back to it for weeks and weeks and weeks and the dream dies in the daylight. It just doesn't really happen. You kind of hit things pretty intensely.

You go for it.

Where does that come from, that drive to say, I'm gonna go with this full tilt, like with real passion, real power, real commitment? Does that come from something? Did that come from a parent? Did that come from just a decision in your life where you were just so despicably unhappy with yourself and you said, no more? Where does that intensity to go for it come from?

You know, somewhere along the line I realized that variety itself provides a certain amount of intensity because you're adding new things in. So obviously there's a learning curve and so. So there's intensity that comes with that. But I think for me, intensity really means how far can you push the envelope in various aspects of your life so that you accelerate the learning curve? Because if you're in sort of this, I'm going to do it this way, and I've got my variety and that's good. And I feel like there's a certain amount of. But it forces you to get outside of your comfort zone and it's a very short ride. I'm 58 years old and that happened in a nanosecond. And I figured if I'm. You know. But the other thing too, with intensity is understanding when and when not. It can't be a constant. You can't burn the candle at both ends, you know, I mean, that's the reason why, if you look at P90X, there's a 24 step chest and back, and there's yoga in there and there's meditation in there and there's Pilates in there. You know, it's letting that pendulum swing both directions. But the pendulum can't just sit here in the middle and hang out in mellow land. It's got to, in my opinion. And this doesn't necessarily apply to everybody, but if you really want to get the best results and the bigger experiences and have the most amazing relationships Then there has to be a certain amount of intense behavior. Now, not everybody's like that. I mean, a lot of people aren't genetically wired for it. So I would say if that is who you are and you're looking at like, intensity, oh my God. I mean, that's the reason why a lot of people don't exercise at all, because it's just so intimidating. They're afraid of pain, they're afraid of injury, they're afraid of. And these are legitimate, you know.

But intensity doesn't also have to be that, you know, masculine, type a power driven stuff. Intensity can be an intensity of intention in the moment. Intensity can be a focus or like, I'm gonna work intensely for the next two hours on this project and everything else goes away. You know, intensity can be a full absorption and a full sort of connection to the moment. Presence is intensity. I mean, when you're surround somebody who's really present, even if they're not bouncing off the roads, you're just like, ooh, they're really grounded and they're just holding their space. They're not jumping up and down like a clown like I do. They're just like, they're solid and like, whoa. It's attractive, it's powerful, but it's not loud, it's not brash. There's an intensity that we can bring to things. I ask people all the time, I say, when's the last time you really intensely kissed the person who you love? Not like a peck, goodbye, have a good day, honey. But I mean, just like with rapture, kiss that person, you know, they were going there home, getting sexy. Because intensity is not to be feared. It's gonna be like that. Intensity can actually be the thing that connects you again.

Intensity can give you the opportunity to really focus on something, be present in something, and put all your effort into something. Because, you know, now these days, everybody thinks it's sort of cool to multitask. And some people can pull that off. And I think the vast majority of people who feel like they can multitask aren't really moving forward.

No, they continue to prove that in.

Study efforts, study after. You're exactly right. So intensity, as much as it is about exercise, it really does mean that you have to sort of filter out all the chaff, you know, and really say to myself, right now, right here, I planned it yesterday. Now here I am, here's my schedule in front of me. Where do I need to really hunker down and get busy on these things to. To move my life Forward, a singular, fully committed something.

Whatever it is, it's like, I'm gonna work on this now. Removing distraction. You talk a lot about in your new course, about getting rid of distraction, about prioritizing, about getting intense into something again. Because if you're gonna shake up your life, get a little intense about it, get excited about it. Cause we fear that I don't wanna get my hopes up and I don't wanna give my all. Cause I might fail. But sometimes it's giving your all to something again. Your marriage, your love, your fitness, your passion, your dream. And all of a sudden you're, oh, my God, I'm alive again. That spark can change everything.

And the beautiful thing about variety, intensity, together is that there are going to be more failures. Because before you were playing it safe and you're in your little comfort zone, everything's going fine, you're having your life. And it's not really what you'd like it to be, but it's not horrible. So you kind of sit in this kind of no man's land. But when you believe and have faith in what we're talking about and you're willing to commit more and add more variety in all aspects of your life and add more intensity, you're going to fall down more. But here's the beautiful thing. Failure is just another word for awesome, in my opinion. It really is. Because failure is the moment where you grow, right? I mean, you could fall down or whatever, or fail in your mind. You didn't really fail. I mean, you know, there's a lot of times where I would do an event and I go, God, I could have been better. And in the old days, I would say, oh, I screw that up, or I, I, I failed, right? But then, you know what I mean? I make a little note of where I thought I could have done better. And it's just another step forward, another step forward. That's the great thing. You know what I mean? So low expectations. Enjoy the journey, show up. These are the simple, the simple keys to life that I didn't know about that a lot of people don't know about. And so that's it.

Like if little mental gateways to success that you just, if you don't walk through that little, that clear, obvious thing enough, you just struggle. You just struggle. Talk about. I think this is really interesting to a lot of people. And we got some questions before this webcast together, which is how do you, as a successful guy, prioritize stuff, you know, because you get opportunities all the time. You Know, the neighbor wants you to go do this thing in the neighborhood. You've got this opportunity with the kids over here, or this new business thing, or Shauna comes with a great new idea. How does a successful person like yourself prioritize that stuff? I mean, there's so many goods, but you can't do everything because you have to have some kind of intense focus to master something. How do you prioritize?

Well, you know, I mean, I think anybody looking in here, you know, you have a mental list of the things that you want, the things that you need, the things that you have to do, all right? And you have your daily. You gotta go to work and you gotta do the dishes and you gotta make your bed and you gotta pay your bills. And those are all the things that we naturally have to do to survive, right? Then you have the thrive list. That's the hard list. That's the hard list. And so prioritizing for me is setting a time frame for the simple. Like, I gotta go do my nine to five. It's obvious, right? I gotta go to work. But when I come home, do I blow off the workout? Do I sit and watch the tube? Do I come home and eat a pint of ice cream, you know what I mean? And let an hour, an hour and a half go by? Or do I, you know, do I look at my list of the things that I really want? You know, I mean, I love the expression that is.

Do you have a list of things you really want? Oh, yeah, I want your house. Is there a goal sheet somewhere?

Oh, yeah.

Your journal. How do you do it?

For me, I have three by five cards next to my bed, in the bathroom, in my office, down in the kitchen. I don't have one in the bathroom, but I should.

What do you put on?

I believe in my shower. I don't have one in the shower, but I'll. Like in the fog, right on the wind. If you get an idea, I try.

To get it backwards.

When I get out, write it down, you know what I mean? And I collect my little list. And so whatever it is, you know, whatever, it's an email or a phone call or a meeting, a really tough discussion to have or a project, whether I'm deciding whether to, you know, pursue it or, you know, change the language in the contract, you know, I have all these things and then, you know, I do all my other stuff and thank God I'm in a position in my life now where I have good people around me that, you know, can do a lot of the things that I used to have to do when I was struggling. So now I'm lucky enough to be able to really prioritize. You build a team.

And I think that's.

I build a team like you have a team. We're both successful because of the team. And you know, for some people, your team is your wife and your kids, you know, I mean, your co workers. So, you know, when it comes to this particular aspect of my life, I have that list. And it's not easy for me. I mean, I'm not saying this is easy, but I go, oh my God, I have to call so and so and talk about X, Y and Z. And this is not going to be easy conversation. And, and so I make another little list of notes of what I want to ask and be very specific about what I want to ask.

Is this a daily thing? You write down your notes, Is it pretty consistent?

Or write them?

You gotta write them.

It's like it'll be five days in a row and then I have to kind of deal with that for five days. And then another list pops up and another list pops up.

And so how do you take that drive of achieving all that stuff on that list and then chill out? How does Tony Horton chill?

You know, you and I have talked.

We're pretty good at it.

I'm a fan of the chilling.

We're so good at it.

You know what I mean? Look, there's a difference between yin and yang. I mean, I don't know if you're familiar with yin and yang. A lot of people call it yin and yang, but it's just having balance, you know, I mean, if you're gonna have intensity and variety and consistency in your life and you're gonna do all these things and try to achieve your goals and go after your purpose and hang out with these, you know, kick ass people in your life and you know, there's a lot going on there. And so if you're trying to, you know, keep your cortisol levels at a certain level and you don't want to, you know, you don't want to burn out, burn out and end up, you know, it's hydration, it's proper sleep, it's stress management, it's meditation, it's yoga, it's laughter, it's reading a good book, you know, these are the things that I like to do. And then some days I don't set the alarm, I'm going to do all this other stuff and I go, okay, this Saturday, man, I'm going to Go to yo clock at 4pm and not the early morning class because I'm not going to set the alarm. Of course I wake up at 6:30 like this. I got things to do. Where's that list? You know what I mean?

Did you ever burn out in your career? Did you ever feel like, oh, I.

Have periods of it. I have periods. Especially when there's a lot of travel. I mean I travel so much sometimes, I mean five cities in seven days, like pop pop, pop pop. You've had that experience and just going east coast, west coast, Europe, you know, Asia, it can burn you out. And as a kid who never had those sorts of, that kind of lifestyle. But it's the exercise, it's the discipline, it's the diet, it's the nutrition, it's the supplementation that allows you to really be able to do more and achieve more.

I think that's what's important. When you just said that and it rattles off the list. It's kind of one of those lists. You go, oh yeah, exercise, nutrition, everything else, you know, great mindset. Everything but what I've recognized about him. And one of the reasons I think you're such a great teacher is it's aligning all those things because a lot of people, you know, I think that's what makes a real successful person is when they, they kind of know all their priorities, they know it's important to them and they start aligning them a little bit so that in their life they're experiencing real progress because all the things are hitting. You don't have to master everything in your life, but get a few more little tactics in play, simple little things into play and they start aligning and you start getting this progress and this energy and this joy or this charge or this happiness or satisfaction, fulfillment, whatever it is for you, it moves. And I think people don't say it anymore. They did where I grew up. I'm sure they did some of your time as well. It's like somehow become a well rounded person, right? Isn't as much of a. They don't talk about that anymore. But there's something about you that's really well rounded. You got an amazing lady, you got a great career, you're known worldwide, you do your workouts, you eat the good stuff, but you live life too.

Why is that? I followed the rules. I had no rules, I had no lessons, I had no laws. I was all over the place, I was winging it. I was barely surviving. I didn't know where to go. I didn't know what to do. And then. So when you find something that works, do it again and again and again and again. And then when it stops working, recognize that and make a shift. And I've been doing that, you know, for the last 10, 15 years. And so the ultimate. The purpose here is. The purpose is finding our purpose. But also, you know, it's about joy and happiness and. And great friends and not being stressed out about money and keeping the naysayers and the wannabes out of your life. And just, you know, that's really the ultimate. That's the reason why I'm here with you, that's the reason why I want to talk with you guys is because if a C minor student with a speech impediment, who is, you know, anxious and freaked out and depressed all the time can get there, anybody can get there. And it's the things that we're talking about that get you there. And here's the crazy thing. Like, I talk to people like this and it sounds too simple. Like they feel like success and happiness and joy and great relationships and purpose and, you know, a tremendous work. Life is like this brutal, like my parents would always say. And this comes from, you know, having parents and depression. Growing up in World War II. Life is hard. Life is a struggle. It's not supposed to be easy. And I'm going, really?

Could it be more easy?

Could it be more easy?

Because a lot of people, they're burning themselves down. It's not life. It's how their mind is approaching it. It's their perspective. It's how they're feeling and appreciating life. And I agree with you on that.

And, you know, speaking about the well rounded part, a lot of us aren't even close to that. Their life is in a shambles in every single category. If you could at least get your act together in one. And for me, because I was not a bookworm, I was not a great student, for me, it was just lifting weights and running and doing that. You know what I mean?

Because that was a win there.

It was a win there. There were two things that I could control, right? I could control my hands and my gob and. Right. So I figured out, like, your hands and your what? Gob.

Gob.

It's an English word for mouth.

Got it.

Okay. Yeah. You know, like gobsmacked.

Oh, right, right, right. Got it. Gobsmacked.

And so I can control what I put in my mouth, and I know how that changes me physically, mentally and emotionally. Right. And if I move I know how that can affect me physically, mentally, emotionally. So that was my tipping point. That was my lesson from my life. And that just gave me the energy and enthusiasm to attack other categories so that I could meet my gal and make tremendous amounts of money I never thought I would make. And really, 17 years into this industry, I got a brand new program out. Now I've got another one in development. And a lot of people in my industry, like any industry, they come and they go. And it's because of this, these things, laws about life. The variety is important because it opens up your world. The intensity creates more focus. The help me. The variety, consistency, intensity, intensity, all of it is part of it starts adding it up. Yeah.

And then the way you think about planning and purpose. And we shot a video and a course together, and he was talking about how he found his purpose. And I think a lot of people don't realize that that's sometimes a meandering road through a lot of wins and losses. And what do I love and what do I don't, you know, what don't I enjoy? And it doesn't always reveal itself to you until you have somebody talk about it and you go, that's so true. I don't know if you guys are. As you're watching this tonight, it's like, you know, that's so true, what he's saying right now. It opens a new door for you. That's why I'm always for, you know, telling everyone, get lots of education, get lots of perspective, go to the seminars, buy the courses, read the books. Because this gets your mind out of your daily life. Because sometimes your daily life is wake. Get the kids ready, maybe get the shower, get that cup of coffee, get on the road. You drive, you work, you give, you serve. You serve those obligations. You come home, you try to get some food together for everybody because everyone's going around the house and it's nuts. And then you go to bed and you're done, you're out, you're exhausted, you.

Wake up and you go, oh, repeat, repeat, repeat.

If that keeps going, the only thing that changes that in my mind is a dive into personal development. Because the dive into personal development gets your brain off of yours and go, well, what are other people doing? What new tactic, One new win? What's one new thing I can put into play? That he says? And that changes. And one of the things I wanted to ask you about that I think people can put into play very quickly. If you had to sort of come up with two things that you tell yourself on a consistent basis. It's like your self talk, right? It's that part of you that just knows if you tell yourself this, you'll be successful. What statements do you say to yourself? Maybe they're not affirmations per se, but, like, these are just thoughts in your mind.

Are you talking about progression right now? Is that where you going? Is that where you're going? You know? Well, I think progression and balance really are sort of critical for me. They really, really are.

So when you say progression, what do you say to yourself? What does that mean to people if they don't know what progression means?

Well, you know, if you're curious about personal development, and I agree with you 1000% that the only way that I was able to kind of move forward in life is to, you know, just delve into personal development books and seminars and. Cassettes. Cassettes. That's when I started with cassettes.

No one knows what I'm dogmatizing.

No, no, they don't even. You google it. DVDs.

Yes, DVDs.

Plastic thing you put in the machine. But that's how I started out. And there was so much rapid growth in my life, and it was really, really important. But, you know, you're getting all this different information for different kinds of people, and you're trying to fit it into your life, you know, and so. But progress was everything. And I think a lot of people kind of dive in and. And they sort of attach themselves to a certain philosophy or technique or method, and they're not tracking their progress. Right. They're really not. They're doing it right. I mean, I can't tell you how many people will go to the same seminar or do the same program, and one comes out blazing, right? There's obvious growth. There's financial growth. They meet their partner, they quit their job. Their hobby becomes their career and their purpose. And the other person got the same information, but nothing's happening. It's because they didn't recognize when it wasn't working. And, you know, so they would just keep repeating, backing their head against the wall, as opposed to making that shift.

Or recognize what does work and say, I should do more of that.

More of that.

Right. When you say progression, get rid of.

The chaff and get it into the goal measure.

You're saying track and measure as a form of accountability. To know that I'm growing.

Yeah.

And I'm getting better.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I think so.

You tell yourself that. That's like your self talking.

I need to track this Stuff and I. Now I can recognize it instantly. You know, I used to meander about something for weeks and even months. And these things would linger, you know, because I think, well, it still has potential. When I. When months ago, I should have just given up, you know, it's just. It's important to.

I love that because I hope you all write this down.

Write that one down, find out.

I love this word. What in your life is just lingering there? Oh, that's such a great. Like, it was just linger, you know, Linger. Linger. Because a lot of something is lingering for a long time. Something in your psyche is probably saying, not right for me. I can't do that. I'm not good enough. I don't know the way.

Because what happens to people is, oh, I'm abandoning this thing. I'm saying no to this thing. Which means loser or quitter or, you know, but it just means it's not resonating. It just means there's no progress. It just means that the people that you're working with on it don't have the same vision that you have. It just means that it's time to go. Hey, man, thanks so much. Whether it's an email or a phone call or a conference call, it feels like I have to beg bail on this thing because there's this other stuff that I really need to put my.

Energy into and I'm tracking it. You know, maybe you're tracking it and it's not getting results and now you're just being honest. Dang, this is not getting results. So I gotta change it up. I gotta add variety. I gotta be more intense. I gotta be more consistent. But it's having that guts to look at something on a continual basis. So you say, okay, I gotta track it. What's another thing, like self talk? You say to yourself, like, just like, these are just successful thoughts that you have that maybe you've never even verbalized. But it's like things you say, Tony, and you just say something. What type of things do you say?

Well, you know, I would say also the other part of it, the other key for me is just balance, you know, especially. I mean, you understand that you and I have spoken about that a lot. You know, when you do become a little bit successful, how do you keep yourself from burning out? How do you keep yourself from saying yes to everything? You know, I think these two things are kind of go hand in hand.

So what do you say? You say, tony, chill out, Tony. Well, yeah, like, what do you say to yourself? I'm just Curious.

Well, now I know. I know. I know very specifically what it is that I need to do. You know, it's for us, it's branding. You know what I mean? Like, what's helping your brand, what's not helping your brand? You know what I mean? And so if you're at the early stage of this, it's like branding. I don't have a brand. I'm just a guy who's looking in, who's trying to move forward. And so if you ask yourself what you need and you're trying to follow your purpose, but you've got a family and you've got kids and you got a job and you look, I got two hours. You know, a great story that I told you was this gentleman, a friend of a friend who was an accountant, and he was in the cubicle, and he was a good accountant, and he worked for a good firm, and he provided for his family, but he loved bikes. He loved mountain bikes and road bikes. So he'd end up at the bike shop on Saturday and Sunday for four or five hours. The manager finally said, jesus, dude, you're here so often, you know, more than half my staff. You want to work here for an hour or two? So his. His action step was ask my wife if I can work at the bike shop for a couple hours on Saturday.

Because I love it.

Because I love it. Five years later, he owned the place. He owned the place because he became the weekend manager, and then he became, you know, the assistant. Was the assistant manager of the whole place. And then he ended up buying it. And then, you know, so, you know, one of the biggest tips I think, for anybody is, is if you don't have a hobby, go get one. And a lot of times, like, I got this from the Magic Lamp Keith Ellis book, the Magic Lamp. I mean, my purpose was not to be a trainer, to help millions of people. I wanted to be a comic, and I wanted to be an actor. That was it. But I was doing these two separate things. Training people and doing this fitness business. And the two merged because I kept following this simple formula. You know, seeing the progression in the fitness empire wasn't happening anymore. Right? I wasn't finding balance in that field. I was just finding, like, wow, do I want a bricks and mortar place where I have to get a whole staff and get all this equipment in there and pay those kind of bills? You know what I mean? But I was still doing these acting jobs on the side, you know, building that repertoire, building that Persona. And so, ironically, the two things Came together. So it's about staying curious. It's about pursuing your purpose, even if you have a busy lifestyle, creating a hobby for yourself on the side. What is it that you truly love? What is it something that you just. You get so excited about and people, like, once they get into the rut, get into the routine, you know, it's. It's lost. It's gone forever. And then 5, 10, 20 years go by and they go, jeez, man, I really want to be a bike shop owner, but I didn't have the courage to ask my wife. I could work there on Saturdays. Ask those questions, you know, and who knows what will happen?

Love this.

What.

What defines a successful person?

What makes.

When you think about a successful person, what is it about them that makes them successful? You had to describe a successful person. Not that everyone fits in a stereotype, but, like, what makes a successful person to you?

Well, I think, you know, different people have different definitions. I think a lot of people think success is about money, it's about fame, it's about power, and, you know, that seems to be successful. And a lot of people chase that. You know what I mean? They think, okay, well, you know, a lot of actors and musicians and people, they just want to be famous, you know, I mean, when you finally get famous, you despise your fans because you have no privacy anymore. Oops, fame wasn't it. Or money, you know, money. I can't tell you how many very, very wealthy people that I've spent time with and trained are miserable. So if you're chasing the almighty dollar, maybe that makes some people happy. It doesn't make me happy. I think altruism, authenticity, someone who's civil, someone who's kind, somebody who, you know, there's a lot of people who give away more than half their fortune because there's so much joy in that. You know what I mean? And here's the thing is, when you're searching for other people to be in your life who really have that lifestyle, who have those intentions, who have that kind of vision, oh, my God. It's just the whole thing is such a dream, such a pleasure. So successful people, to me are ones that are, sure, they have a lot of money and they have fame, maybe, or they have a certain amount of.

You know, they have a lot of important external recognition.

Recognition on that. But ick, like, whatever, name droppers and famous people that are mean to their fans, like, the worst, you know what I mean? So it's really understanding that there's a lot of trials and tribulations that come with success. I can't tell you a lot of nouveau riche people that I've. I've watched along the way who were all kind of the same at one point and now they're just unhappy and miserable and not fun to hang out with, you know, so.

Cause they didn't get the rest of their life in alignment. They didn't get that mental side, those habits that make them feel balanced or happy.

I think the reason why I'm so impressed by you is because you're a happy. Like when somebody describe Brendon Bouchard in a second. He's happy and he's authentic and he's real and he's in the moment and he's present and he cares about other people as much or more so than himself. Boom. Check that box. That's it.

That's how I would describe you. Well, that's why we're friends.

Brother, brother, man.

I love it. I love it. Before I do the questions, why do you love this course? Why are you so excited about it?

Well, you know, I've been the fitness guy forever, you know, I mean, I've developed so many programs that help so many people. But I understand there's another element. There's another level that beyond the physical, it's the mental and the emotional. It's learning how to be successful. And I want to share my story. And my story is that everybody else's story out in the world is like, okay, Tony, you help me do some push ups and some squats and lunges. What is it about you and your life that is taking you to the next level? And I just, I just felt, I felt so compelled to work with you, to be able to share what I know so people can have all aspects of their life just rocking.

I love it. So true. I'm watching when we was filming the course, I'm watching it. I mean, you're talking about, you know, habits that you do with your wife, about things you've done in your career, things he's done to build his brand that. I mean, if you ever wanted to know how he's built this billion dollar brand, I had some help enroll in the course. He had excellent help. But the way you thought through it, I think that's a big, huge piece. I mean, it blew my mind watching some of that, you know, the career stuff, the relationship stuff and the mindset stuff is so powerful in this. So I have some questions submitted here. Michael from Arizona asked.

Fire away, Michael.

How do I keep driven? I Get excited watching you guys. And I know next week though, I risk being complacent again. So how do I keep driven?

You know, I always start with the physical. You know what I mean? So, you know, what are you doing? What's your day? What are your daily habits, Michael? I mean, are you taking care of yourself? You're exercising on a regular basis? What kind of food are you eating? I mean, you think people have this just so much desire, they want to live large, but they're living on hot dogs and sugary cereals and, you know, drinking 16, 17, you know, alcoholic beverages a week. It's just, you just can't do it. I don't, I don't know. Some people can. Some people can do it purely on intellect. But if you find yourself struggling, look at your diet. Look how often you're exercising regularly. And then who's in your life? I mean, you are the five, you are the company you keep. Who are the five people in your life that are just rocking? And if you don't have those people and you look around and go, boy, everybody in my life is struggling, well, then you have to decide, you know, you really have to make a massive decision in that moment of searching for other people in your family, at work, online, you know, go to a course, do this course. I mean, I mean, if you don't have anybody, I can tell you a girl, Kathy Smith, no support from her husband, bought Power 90. She was 5 foot nothing and weighed almost 300 pounds. When I met her a year later, she couldn't do a single push up on her knees. When I met her a year later, she did 10 pull ups in front of me. I mean, just think of the willpower because it was all about the desire for new information. If it's not working, you don't have the right people around and you're not taking care of yourself. You know, nutritionally and exercise wise, it's time to make a shift and stop waiting around for other people to do it for you. I mean, you got to just go, enough is enough and make that list. What am I doing wrong? What are the things that I need to do? Ask for what you want, my brother, and it'll come. But a lot of it has to do with just, you know, being around the nice right people. I mean, I found you and I improved. You found me and you're good at push ups now.

It's just, it really, really is that.

And don't be attached to the outcome and you're gonna have good days and bad and failure is awesome. That's when you learn. And these are just little simple lessons that you get.

And sometimes you need to hear these things over and over and over before they set in. Yeah, that's why we, with this online course, when you, when you take it, you have access to it for life. So you just take it. Listen, listen, listen, listen. Let it set in. Because you know what? Sometimes drive comes from consistently hearing good things, in my opinion. Okay. Wendy from Virginia said, how would you compare this course to your fitness programs? Because obviously this isn't a fitness program. So how would you compare it and how would I measure success in this area?

Well, I'd say they're similar, but very different at the same time. You know, I mean, the other one is purely diet and exercise. This one goes beyond that. I mean, I talk about that in the course. I understand that's the foundation for me and I explain that and how my experiences with exercise and nutrition has helped me sort of have more energy and enthusiasm for life. So what you're going to learn in this course, which is, I guess different than P90X or X2 or 3 or 10 minute trainer or all the other ones that I've done, is this gives you a chance to sort of dive in, to see who you are, where you've been and where you want to go. And so, you know, there's, and everybody's. It's a journey for everybody. And so what I don't want to happen to you, Wendy, is to have you, you know, finish high school or college and have everything start to go downhill, you know, because that typically happens to people. We stop learning after, you know, regular education. And so this is an opportunity for you to take the next course for your life and to really make some dramatic changes. And, and I make it fun. I mean, it shouldn't be a struggle, even though there's some work to do. I mean, work is part of it. But you're going to like the routine. I think you're going to really enjoy the things that you're going to hear and learn. They're going to sort of light the switch and you have to. I mean, if you know any of my programs and you've had success with them, then you had to have a certain faith. And I think you'll continue to have that faith with this personal development course we've done together.

Yeah, and Sean from LA had commented about your switch to personal development. And I sort of, as I was reading it, I thought that's funny because I always saw you as Personal development guy. I know you're, you know, in this course. He's not doing push ups and all the P90X stuff.

Right.

But at the end of the day, getting somebody to change is personal development. Your last book was a big bestseller and that book is in personal development. You've been teaching people how to change in so many parts of their life for so long because you know what, they come up to you and it's that people just come up. I've been, I've hung out with them. When I picked him up at the airport one time, and a person think about that.

He picked me up at the airport. Yes, you're a good man.

I love you, brother. And of course I pull up and here's this guy talking to one of his students. And his students don't just say, you know, thanks for helping me lose weight. They go, you know what? You changed everything. You gave me a positive attitude. You helped me believe in myself again. You gave me a path out. This is, this is the work of personal development and you're pro at it. So I can't wait to, for you to experience that level of mastery he has too.

Well, you know, my, my programs are personal development. I mean, they really, I mean, you know, maybe it seems physical, it seems, it's all about the aesthetic, but it's not. It creates a completely different mindset based on the fact that, that you have more confidence, more energy, a greater desire to sort of live larger in life. This takes it to the next level. I became a fitness guru because of all the personal development I did prior. Nice. And then I had this little, you know, 17 year span, you know, with the company that I worked with and prior to that with celebrities. And now I'm getting back to personal development. I'm just sharing with everybody out in the world the things that I've learned throughout the entire long process.

My favorite part for I know a lot of you have your own brand or you're trying to build your social media, or you're trying to, you know, excel in your business or your career. There's a lot in there about his journey that inspired me to think differently about my own career. You know, you don't get that when you're watching a, you know, necessarily physical workout program. This is about, this is career, this is family, this is relationship, this is your focus, this is your mindset. It's awesome. Sarah from New Mexico, I believe. Yep. I feel stuck. It's hard to see a better future sometimes. How do I get out of a funk?

Oh, man. I would say first and foremost, you want to write. You want to write it down, you know, I mean, in your own handwriting on a piece of paper. Like, what are the things? Like, there's a great process that you can do that really, really helped me, and that is sitting down quietly in a room with a candle in front of you. I mean, I know she's like, you're probably not expecting this, but this worked tremendously for me for a couple of years. And just turning off all the stuff, right? Turning off your phone, turning off the TV, telling your family, hey, I'm going to need 10 minutes of downtime. And you go into a space where you're really comfortable. Don't lay on a bed. You want to be sitting up nice and tall. And you sit quietly and you try to blank out in your mind. It's just like a form of meditation, asking yourself what the issues are. I'm struggling with my mom. I'm struggling with work. My relationship is crap. My kids are making me whatever it is. And then the next question is like, once you figure out what it is in a sentence, ask yourself this question. How is that making you feel? Because if you're in a funk, we know how that makes you feel. It doesn't make you feel good, but I want you to attach words to it. Attach real words to it. Makes me feel sad, it makes me feel depressed. It makes me feel stuck. It makes me feel like I'm out of control. Bang. And then you ask yourself how that makes you feel. Oh, it's a double whammy, right? But what that does sometimes is maybe you won't get into the next layer, but you get into a deeper layer. Yeah. Wow, that makes me feel desperate. That means makes me feel lost. I mean, that's the possible. And then the next one is easy. What are you gonna do about it?

What are you gonna do?

What are you gonna. What action step are you gonna take? And guess what? I'm gonna give you seven days to take that action step. A full seven days, because let's say it's a Monday. That following Monday, the phone call, the meeting, the tough conversation, the whatever it is, the class that you have been putting off for five years. Oh, my God. And the level of energy that you get from take jumping in with your entire body into that simple process. And it's scary and it's hard, but it creates a brand new mindset because you looked at it really closely. You looked at how it made you feel. You took the action step. Yippie. I yay, repeat.

I love it. This is the level he goes to in his course of giving you these exercises and these things. Just, you can do these and they'll change your life. You already know what he just said could change your life. Imagine if you had five different sections of training from him. That's what this course is about. Becky from Washington, I don't have time to breathe. How can I fit in any strategies for change? It just doesn't seem possible when I'm so busy.

I think Becky's gonna hate my answer. You're lying here. She's not being truthful with herself. My friend Tracy Morrow, four kids, full steam ahead, lots to do. She started exercising, started doing personal development. All of a sudden, the time showed up. So she went to Ethiopia and got two more kids. Now she's got six. All right, but she has a full time business and she's a millionaire now. And it was only because she said, you know what? I feel overwhelmed. I feel like I'm out of control. And so got the food thing in order, got the exercise thing in order, set aside her prioritize. She started prioritizing, which we, you know, of course, talk about like, this stuff is chaff and I'm spending too much energy here and I got to cut some of this out. Where's my hour? Where's my half hour? What am I going to do on Saturday mornings now? And before, I was just going to brunch with friends. Like, okay, friends, no more brunch for a while because I got stuff to do because I don't like the state of mind that I'm in. So, you know, look, if you watch any television, then you're not prioritizing. I mean, you have to really cut out all. You have to kind of look at it. And a lot of times it's just hard. It's pen and paper, man. You know what I mean? Because, look, everybody's got an excuse, you know what I mean? And in reality, if Tracy Morrow can do it, and a lot of friends of mine that have, you know, busy, hectic, crazy lives, it just means that you're, you know, you're not being honest with yourself. I know that's kind of a harsh answer. I wasn't. I mean, this comes from a guy who was, you know, I used to call myself, you know, 50, 50 guy. Half the time I was, you know, saying that my life was together, and the other half of the time I was making stuff up that wasn't true because I felt really, you know, I felt like, my friends would judge me if I wasn't pretending everything was okay when reality, none of it was good. I was just miserable across the board. And eventually, you know, the truth will set you free. And when you're lying to yourself and the people around you and saying that you're crazy and busy and all that, it sounds really good. Like, people go, okay, well, then you're forgiven for not being happy and not being successful and not having the things that you want because you seem to have a really crazy life, when in reality, most of us will find the time.

I agree. Jamie from Florida. How do you overcome the fear of change and worrying about what other people think, which you kind of just talked about? But the overcoming fear of change thing is a big one.

Really, really big. I mean, you have to embrace it at some point. You have to accept the fact that it's not an easy process, that it takes longer than you think, but lower your expectations, begin to enjoy the journey, understand that the change and the. All the things that come with it and how difficult that is, and the process is not perfect. And when you know those things in advance, like when I used to go on QVC back in the day and, you know, whatever, you're on live TV and it's around the world, right, Tony, we got an audience of 7.4 million, people would say to me, well, Tony, I mean, how do you feel? I go, oh, I feel fine. What do you mean? I said, well, because I have extraordinary low expectations. You know what I mean? I go in prepared, and that's fine. And that's not what was initially. I used to be in a panic.

You know, I used to be in a panic.

And so change is hard. And if you just let go of the fact that it is and that the process can be fun and that you're going to bring in some really great people to help the change, you know, not be as difficult. Because some people are solo fliers, and like the woman Kathy, who lost all that weight, she used to get up in the dark, go in her basement in the cold and do it alone. I don't know who that is, but that was never me. You know, I would just say, call a friend, you know what I mean? Look for support. And if you're not getting it at home and you're not getting it at work, then just go search those people out and get rid of the folks that say, why do you want to change? I love the way you are. That's another thing, too. A lot of times you're just getting some bad mojo and feedback from people in your life that aren't really helping you, and so you have to let go. All right? I mean, how long do you want this feeling to last?

Weeks?

Months? Years? Decades? Ick. Ick, man. It's TikTok. It's flying. So do it now. Like with you. It's like, you and I were talking one time. I got this art project.

He goes, you should just do it Saturday.

Just Saturday. Check Saturday. Call your two friends, and we're gonna do it Saturday for these five hours. Like, he's right.

I forgot about that.

Just change Saturday.

Do it now.

Do it now.

Do it now. Well, Tony Horton, an honor and a privilege, my friend.

Thank you, Brendan. Pleasure, too. Thanks, everybody.