The 5 Lifestyle Principles for Epic Health by Clark Bartram

I'd like to ship you a free copy of my book Habits of High Performers. If you come and join the 2026 goal setting workshop, I will ship you one of these today. The link is in the notes. Please come and join me to set up the very best 2026 you could imagine. If you've set up goals in the past or New Year's resolutions and they haven't substantiated, I'm here to help you across all the key pillars of your life nail your goals. I'll see you there. Welcome to Life on Purpose. My name is James Laughlin, former seven time World Champion musician and now success coach to leaders and high performers. Each week I bring you an inspiring leader or expert to help you live your life on purpose. Thanks for taking the time to connect today and investing in yourself. Enjoy the show.

Before we jump into today's episode, I want to tell you about the Purpose Club. I started the Purpose Club quite some time ago so that I could coach people of all backgrounds. Not everybody has access to coaching and certainly it can be out of people's price range. So I wanted to create a community where I coach my members each month and it's incredible, incredibly affordable and I do a deep dive monthly live session and deliver my best techniques, strategies and habits. And I impart great lessons on leadership, motivation, mindset, abundance, habit, installation and you're creating a lasting legacy. There's free replays in there from all the previous live casts. There's high impact worksheets for you to take home and actually work through. Throughout the month. You'll receive weekly planning emails with actual planners to fill out your week. You'll get a weekly self evaluation email where you can evaluate yourself on all different levels. Relationship, life, business, wealth, career, everything that you want. You'll get weekly journal prompts to really get your mind tuned into that higher level thinking. And also on a monthly basis you'll get planning worksheets and reflections for your month. So if you would like to learn about it, please get in touch with me or someone in my team. You know, jump onto Instagram. Jameslochlanofficial drop me a DM or you can email me jamesjjlachlund.com or just go to the website jjlochlund.com and check it out. Enjoy the show and I hope to see some of you guys over in the Purpose Club.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. This week's podcast guest is none other than Clark Bartram. Clark Starred in the Batman movie. He's also the host of American Health and Fitness, which is seen in over 110 million homes. We sat down and we talked about fitness, his five pillars that anybody can adopt to really have the most amazing life. And Clark is in his late 50s, but has the body of like a mid 20 year old. He puts me to shame, guys. So we talked about fatherhood, we talked about business, about mindset. It was simply phenomenal. So sit back and enjoy today's show.

Foreign.

Massive. Welcome to the Life on Purpose podcast.

Thank you, James. It's great to be here, brother. I am excited to get this going. I mean, just the pre conversation we had was interesting to me. So I cannot even imagine what we're going to get into. So let's go.

Let's have some fun. So I'm really intrigued by your career, your life. One thing that really stands out on your online presence is your connection with your kids. You're there as a dad. You've got children, you're proud to be a dad. So talk to me a little bit just about building your business and your career while still being a present dad. How did you manage that?

You know what? I'm going to take you from today and go backwards. Because something happened today that was so meaningful to me. My son said, hey, man, I want to start lifting weights. I want to get bigger. We have a great gym here at the house. But I like to get out and go to the gym, be around the people, because I love people and I have a really good connection when I get around people. That's how I built my business, is really loving people. And it's funny because as your kids age and you're going to experience this yourself, James, you'll see that they go through the phases of acceptance we'll call it, you know, dad is dad. At first he's a superhero. Then dad is someone you don't want to talk to because you're a teenager and it's not cool. And then dad becomes a guy that's just, you know, constantly bugging you about, hey, this is what you should do. This is what I learned. And if you just do this and, you know, we become that guy. But then dad becomes what I witnessed today. And it was so beautiful to me. And I might even end up crying because that's the kind of guy I am. But we went into the gym, and when I walked in there, I introduced my son to the person at the front desk. Hey, this is my boy. Oh, my gosh, look at him. And, you know, your dad is a really good guy. And, you know, your chest kind of gets a little bit puffier, and your head stands up taller when you hear that, because that's just validation of the fact that other people see what you're doing to pour in to your kids who you're a steward over. So then we go do a workout. I introduce them to a few people, and everyone kind of has the same sentiment. We come back to the front desk, and a young kid there who had just met me, he's like, wow, man, man, if I could look like you when I get to be your age. And the other kid says, who? They're around my son's age. He's like, I would love to look like him right now, you know? And they're making a big deal about me, and they're talking about the magazines, and this is all in front of my son who grew up with this, who's kind of used to that lifestyle. But we get in the car, and I just looked at him and laughed. I said, do you ever get tired of being my son? And he didn't have any comment at all. And I knew the answer was, no, I don't. Because he's really seeing who I am. And he might have overlooked that before, but now he's appreciating that. He's seeing the impact that I have on people. Because the tagline, or actually the mission statement, more importantly, that I created for myself 25 years ago, is to positively and powerfully affect everyone I come into contact with. And the fact that he witnesses that on a daily basis. Another thing, I have my tagline on my Jeep. Get busy living. We were driving to the Jeep. Guy pulls up next to me on the on ramp, where he had the red lights, you know, letting you get on the freeway. And he says, hey, man, I love what it says on the back of your Jeep. Get busy living. Let's go. I love that. And I'm just sitting there knowing my son is right there, witnessing this encounter with another person that I impacted a big. In a positive way, just from the messaging on my Jeep. And then one more on the way home, there's a homeless lady standing there who I know from encountering her on the off ramp, talking to her, giving her money, hearing her story, interviewing her for a documentary I'm doing about homelessness. So that is what happened today, like, in one day with my son. And you're going to experience this, man. And anyone who's out there impacting people, if you hang around with Your son or daughter, they're going to see that just by an organic view of our.

Life that is so powerful, like truly powerful. And I always look at modeling like we're modeling for our kids. And I love to see that. That doesn't stop. That continues throughout the generations. That's so powerful. So it sounds like you've got a real strong affinity for connection and also to contribute. So where does this come from? Where does this intrinsic drive to help others and to impact others come from?

You know, and again, I see it in my kids. My kids both have this.

Desire that's deep within them to connect with people who are, we'll call them underdogs, if you will. Maybe the kid at school who is dealing with some type of physical disability.

My kids have always had this desire to really be the person to help them maybe push him in a wheelchair during pe. So I think it's born in us. It was definitely born in me. It was something that I've always had. I've always cared about people on a level that I didn't quite understand when I was younger, but now I truly get it. It's burned into my DNA. When I was created, there was a piece of the puzzle that was put into me that said, you will care for people. You will have a connection with people. Just two days ago, my son and I were riding our electric bikes and we went down by this liquor store and there is a blind homeless woman who I know by the name of Donna. Her boyfriend is Brent. And I pulled up to her and said, donna, it is Clark. I want to introduce you to my son. He is as good looking as I am. And she laughed. And it is just in me. I can't pass by someone like Donna or Brent or Butch, a guy I ran into the other day, and not acknowledge the fact that these are humans who are in need of love, who are in need of connection, who are in need of edification and a word of encouragement. No differently than you or I. They just, you know, I just. I love people who feel like the world has kind of left them by.

Man, that's stunning. And honestly, we need more humans like you out there doing the work on the daily. And sometimes it's not the big actions, it's the small little actions that nobody sees happen. You know, nobody's watching and you're right there doing it. It's amazing. And, you know, I look at your role as a dad and how important that is to shape our kids and then our grandkids. But all too often, dads will get so focused on trying to be the best dad, they forget to fulfill their own dreams. They forget to look after their own physical health, mental health. So looking at you, you know, when I'm your age, hey, I'm another one of those guys that said, I want to look like you. In fact, right now, I do want to look like you. So tell me about health and physical health. Where did that drive to be the most physically healthy you could be? Where does that come from?

Yeah. So with respect to those guys that you're referring to that dedicate themselves to taking care of their family, I deal with those guys every single day of my life. And I give them permission, based upon my experience, to move into a place that some might consider selfish, where you're taking care of yourself, where you're being what I refer to as a maximized demand. So for me, with that, physical ability has always been a part of my life. I was very gifted as an athlete. I could do things very easily. Things still come very easily to me. So athleticism and being a highly functioning human is also something that's been burned into my DNA. And realizing that we have one life, we have one body, and we're a steward of that body, and it's a gift to us and our why. Like Funk Roberts says, our why should make us cry. The reality is our why is the fact that we live in a human body. And being that I'm 57 years old now, I understand that better than I've ever understood it. Because if we buy into the age deal, you know, functionality will slip away. Being someone who could do something that I do all the time without thinking about it is something that we've relegated to our 23 year old self, not our 53 year old self. Well, that's a lie. And we all need to shift that lie into a truth that we can accomplish things that we never thought we could if we just start doing things that we never thought we could. For example, the other day, I do lives all the time. I have a group of 11,000 men from all around the world that I coach. Not all of them are active, unfortunately, but I'll do random stuff. Like I have my phone in the backyard and we have a small fence, it's about waist high. And you know how when you were a kid, you used to pop over it and go to the other side? I said, guys, look, you know, being safe, if you can't do this, don't. But if you haven't done it because you thought you couldn't Try, you know, put a pillow on the other side. If you have to pop over five times on the right, pop over five times on the left. And the amount of guys that I had say, Clark, I haven't done that since I was a teenager running from the cops or playing hide and seek or whatever you call it, New Zealand.

I said, do it, do it. It's fun. And guys were reporting back like, wow, I did it. So these are the type of functional behaviors that I have guys do. It's not about just lifting weights and getting abs and getting ripped. It's about being a human that is capable. I mean, what if you had to get in a fight? I mean, what then? You know what I mean? It's not beyond the scope of what is possible in this world that we live in. So be prepared, man. I mean, hit a heavy bag, do stuff that you thought you couldn't do, and wake your body up. You get me fired up now, brother. I'm going to.

We're just getting started.

I love it. And so tell me more about this group you're mentoring. 11,000 men worldwide. So tell me more about that, how you got started and what the whole purpose is behind it.

So I've been a spokesperson for companies for years. People have taken my brand, made millions of dollars off of it. And I've been sitting in the background as a face and a set of abs, in all honesty, with a lot of really good ideas. Mainly you mentioned it, how to connect with humans. I think what is happening in business today is we've lost the connection with humans. And I'm sitting there telling these companies, like, listen, if you just ask them what they want or if you just talk to them like they matter, it changes the way business is done. And people have been too smart to listen to me. So I told myself if I ever, or when I finally do, that's probably a better way to put it. When I finally bet on myself, I'm going to do it my way. And I know that my way is going to resonate and I'll go back to my father son relationship. As a young man, I remember my dad telling me he was a salesman, he sold cash registers. So we went to convenience stores and little bars and American Legions and all of these drinking establishments. And my dad would sell them cash registers and he would come out in the car and I can remember today the smell of it. It smelled like this.

Paper that was a copy paper that came out of a cash register had a really distinct smell to it. Gave me a headache. And I can remember sitting in that car with that smell. My dad said, you know what? It doesn't matter what I think about that person on the other side of that door. If he gave me $50 for a service, I give him 100 back in that service. And that has stuck with me. And that's the way I treat these men. They get more in value than they'll ever pay me for a service. That is a fact. No one ever, ever will outperform me when it comes to. If you give me 50, you're getting 150 back guaranteed. So I coach these men, it's free. So I'm guaranteed that I'm giving more back. So they come into the group. I never ask for a penny from anyone. I don't want anything from anyone but their commitment. So these guys are engaged, they're really connected because they see the value and more importantly than that, they see the authenticity of who I am as a man. And if I ask them to do something, they can guarantee and know that I've already done it. Whether that is being a better husband, getting on the treadmill at 4:30 in the morning, fasting for an entire day, doing a workout that I think is hard but possible. I've done it already. And they can look at me. I mean I have 50, 60 year old men changing their lifestyle because they believe what I'm telling them is true, because they see evidence of it in me. That's a powerful place to be and I take that very seriously. This is not something that I never stop thinking about. It's constantly on my mind.

It's unbelievable. So is this something that, so I'm 35, my dad turns 60 in a couple of weeks. Is this something that my dad and I could join and be a part of and learn?

I would absolutely love it if your dad, you join it because that goes back to what you're doing. You know, you're all about family, you're all about connection, you're all about fathering. To see fathers and sons doing stuff together is the best possible.

Place I could ever be in life for you to come in. And you'd be an encouragement to your dad, your dad be encouragement to you and you to be an encouragement to the community saying, hey, we're a father and son team, we're here together and we're doing this because we saw the value in what this community brings. Because I don't take any credit for any of this. I was simply given this vision and this idea of creating the best online Community for men.

And.

And. And I. I just say men over 50 because it gives me a very specific, you know, target audience. But it's any man, honestly.

Yeah. Men are suffering at 16 to 90. You know what I mean? Everybody needs what we're teaching here. And I teach five lifestyle principles, and we get into that, if you want.

Yeah, definitely. The whole idea of this group, I think, is amazing. My dad's in Ireland. I'm in New Zealand. We're 12,000 miles apart. But actually, this is something we can connect on. And I want him to look after his health equally as much as I want to look after my own. So for anybody that's listening or watching, how do we find the group?

So if you go on to Facebook and you type in nano test performance, it'll pop up. It's a private, closed community, whatever they call them. You have to request permission to join. We do get some information because we do email people. We have offers. I have a product that I sell. I'm going to put that right out there, but I don't require that anybody buy anything from me. So it's nano test performance. Type that in. I do the approvals. I'll approve you right away. And then I have a very specific way that I ask people to enter the community, and that is vitally important to the success of the person entering the community. A mentor of mine years ago, a great man of God by the name of Ed Cole, he told me, clark, you're only committed to what you confess. So when men come into my group, I ask them to shoot a video. Writing, hello, I'm here is one thing, but shooting a video saying, hi, my name is James. I live in New Zealand. My father's in Ireland. We are here together because we want to get closer together as a father and son. I want to get stronger. My dad wants to lose weight. We are committed to each other. We're committed to this group. Where I struggle is sometimes I fall off of these things because I get so busy. Please reach out to me. If I disappear, that's it. Boom. Now you're committed to that confession of what it is that you've asked for when you come here. And I know that I can feel the energy. I see the commitment. Writing that is one thing, but saying it on a video is another. And then I asked people, like, a guy was negative today. I said, listen, bro, don't get it twisted. I will refund your purchase of my product and kick you out of this group so fast. And I love the fact that he Manned up. He private messaged me and said, I'm sorry, that was wrong, I shouldn't have done that over with. My community is positive. It's uplifting men, encouraging men. I get them in huddles, smaller groups so they have even higher connectivity. They trade emails and text messages and even meet up for hikes at times. So it's really a very active community.

That's amazing. I love it. And you talked about these five principles, so please share what that's all about.

You know, over the years in the fitness industry, people have always asked me what's the single most important factor for someone to get in shape. And I think most people in the industry will just blatantly yell out nutrition. But I couldn't disagree with that more. My five lifestyle principles are in specific order for a reason. The first one is mindset, meals, movement, community and supplementation. So if your mind is not set, I don't care if you get on keto, intermittent fasting, low carb, all carb, high protein, paleo, whatever, if your mind is not set to follow that, you're only going to be on it for a temporary period. You're going to lose 12 pounds, gain 24 back, and you're going to be in this cycle that humans get in. So I teach ways to hack the mindset. And it's simple. Everybody teaches the same thing. You get up 15 minutes earlier, it's a no brainer. It's easy, right? It, it's simple, but it ain't easy. Let's put it that way. It's simple to get up 15 minutes earlier. But listen, if you want to change your life. 15 minutes, go to bed 15 minutes earlier, you're getting the same amount of sleep. You're just being what I refer to as a bitch ass dude. You're not really putting it in the work. Do you want it? Then get up, bro. I mean, it's not that hard. So then instead of watching the news and posting on Instagram and all of this sort of stuff, affirmations, read a book, watch a YouTube video. Look, 15 minutes, man. Come on, we all got 168 hours in a week, 1440 minutes in a day. What's 15 of those minutes? To invest into yourself, to be a better dad, to be a better husband, to be a better leader, to be a better employee.

You know, to be a better talker in your own brain. For goodness sakes, if you're all alone and you got nothing but yourself, have a better conversation. So powerful. Mindset, meals, movement, community and Supplementation. And when I say supplementation, what I'm trying to say here is be an educated consumer man. Don't even buy my product until you research it and understand what you're putting in your body. I don't let people buy my product unless they live by my lifestyle principles. I don't want anyone buying my product if they're not committed to joining my community and saying, yes, Clark, I'll get my mindset, I'll get my meals, I'll get movement and I'll get in the community. Because any supplement that anyone takes is only good as the lifestyle that supports it. I always want to be on record saying that.

That's amazing because supplementation is something I have very, very little knowledge around. But I see it's getting thrown at me all the time. So someone who's plant based, what supplements should I be looking at? So I'm a pretty lean guy. I'm not incredibly muscular because I'm not putting in the work that I should be. But, but what should I be looking at for supplementation for a long, healthy life with strength. Strength being my base?

Yeah, well, I don't even talk about supplementation until we talk about what are your daily nutritional habits. So you said you're plant based. Both my kids are vegan, so I'm used to that. I've been used to that for a decade now. Both my kids have been vegan for the longest time. And I went vegan for I think four or three or four months and then I did vegetarian. And I've cycled through the isms, if you will, and understand that my body needs certain nutrients. So that's really what it comes down to is your human body, James, getting the nutrients that it needs to facilitate the activities that you're requiring it to have the nutrients for. So if you're very active and you don't feel, you know. But the most stupid thing I ever hear people say is, oh, how do you get your protein? You've heard that so many times that your head is probably spinning like, oh my God, I gotta answer this question again. My son is in the next room, he's probably shaking his head like, yeah, if I ever hear that again, I'll smack somebody in the face. I hear all the time statement. And I'm not saying that to demean anybody. I'm just saying it's ignorance. Like we're ignorant to the fact that you can get as much protein as I can get sometimes in even better sources. Like spirulina, for example, is one of the most protein rich sources that a human can take in. So as long as you're getting the nutrients that you need. So I would ask how much you're eating, what you're eating, and you know, what are some of the things that you're eating that are void of the nutrients that your body needs. And then if you don't need anything, supplementation is not a requirement based upon your lifestyle. Now if you say, Clark, I want to compete in a bodybuilding contest, this is a different conversation, you know, so it's, it's all individual. I was talking to a young kid the other day and there was this very smart person listening and I could tell he was just assessing every word that came out of my mouth. And I talked about carbohydrates, how you should not be afraid of carbohydrates. This guy came back to me a couple hours later, said, Clark, I agree with everything you said, but there are a lot of people who are. And he started filling in all of these different things. I said, Sean, that wasn't a conversation for the masses. That conversation was between me and this 23 year old kid who's trying to get bigger muscles. If I was having this with a 53 year old, insulin sensitive, type 2 diabetic, that's a different conversation. You know what I mean?

That's amazing. Those five principles, like they're really, they make sense, they're common sense. But often we don't use that common sense approach. We get so complex and complicated in our approach. So for somebody who needs this new transformation of life, they're not healthy inside or outside. They're procrastinating, they're indecisive. How do you help them? If they came into your group, how would you help them to get motivated and get clear? Actually, health is the way I need to be going and I need to be focusing on that.

Hey, James here. I wanted to take a quick moment to let you know about something. Look, I get asked to deliver keynotes and workshops for teams and companies all over the world, from London to Antarctica, from America to Australasia, from armies to small businesses to large corporates to sports teams. But I go in and deliver keynotes around the mindset of high performers, around the habits of high performers, about how we navigate change. If you would like me to come and speak to your team or speak at your conference or deliver a bespoke workshop, please get in touch with my team. Caroline, jlochlin.com will be able to help. I'll also make sure that we put that in the show notes.

Yeah. I give them permission to be a human and realize that you're not here to be perfect. So with those five lifestyle principles, I give them a way to gauge their success. I say, on a scale of 1 to 10, how did you do today? Just today and go down. Mindset, meals, movement, community supplementation. On a scale of 1 to 10, how did you do today on Mindset? If you're at a seven or above, we're golden. Seven is not like if you were in school. At least here in the States, if you get a 70%, it's okay. I mean, you're not a genius. No one's writing home about you, but you're not getting in trouble. It's okay. That's how I feel about mindset, because I realize most people, when they enter this program, they're at a 2, maybe a 3 at best, because they do these default ways of living their life. They get up, they watch the news, they get on Instagram and they get their messages and they engage in negative unknowingly. Right. Negative information download. Just by nature of being a human who is stuck in this pattern of living that until we break it, it's going to be what we live by. So if I could take someone from a three to a seven, man, I know their life is going to change. And you go right down the line. So if there are seven and everything in a three in community and they're struggling, I'm like, okay, let's get the three to a six and then six to a seven. What does that mean? That means shooting your video, because you probably didn't do that. That means getting into a huddle, a smaller group, because you really need that connection with a smaller group because maybe you're intimidated by the big group atmosphere, that's fine. I wasn't always this guy. So we evolve into a different version of themselves. So I treat each person with a very bold kind of approach, but also an understanding that this is new territory for a lot of people. So I'm really good at being like this aggressive guy that you're seeing right now, but in a very loving way. When people go, he's not being an asshole, he's being a guy that cares. But he has to be aggressive because he's got to manage 11,000 people. You know, that's right.

And to push through some of the masculine energy, you do have to have that sense of aggression to get there. For a lot of men, I get that 100%. And if we were to Take a deep dive into your, like, your life, your daily life. What does it look like for you? What are some of your habits, like microhabits that make such a difference and give you structure.

So the micro, microhabits were the conversations that I have in my brain on a minute to minute basis. I almost feel like a. What do you use? Tiger woods, for example, lining up over a 25 foot putt to win the US Open. I have this conversation in my brain constantly every time a situation arises. For example, if my wife and I were having a negative encounter prior to her going to the store, when I hear her car pull up, I start having this conversation of I need to act better. I need to control whatever it was that I contributed to that last encounter that we had together that wasn't one that either one of us wanted. Or if I'm doing a workout, I want to be a little bit better than this guy in doing this, just to push myself a little bit more. Or when I'm challenging myself to do something that I've never done, like I'm doing all these trick shots the other day with a football. I'm just out there having this conversation like, okay, flush it, let it go. It's okay, everybody misses. So that's what my life looks like. It's, it's, it's micro conversations with myself that turn into macro behaviors that are, you know, much like what other people do. You know, I don't journal a lot. I'd be lying if I said I did. But I take a mental accounting of all of my blessings in my life. And if that takes me calling a mentor because I'm so like, out of it at the moment and I am certainly capable of that, I will call one of my mentors and say, listen, talk me up. And that happened today. And we ended our conversation with Clark. Listen, brother, you are so blessed. And he, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I got the phone. I am not beyond being coached. I am not beyond learning. I am not beyond understanding that I can improve. And that is what I tell myself every day.

That is so great to see an amazing coach who has a very successful life be open to being coached and being mentored. So for all of guys out there that are listening, how important is it that they find someone that they can go to?

It's the single most important thing anyone could ever do. I love being coached. You know what's really weird about me? I love being called out on my bs. I love when someone says, no, bro, no.

That was wrong. And that happened to me the other day. I was doing, like, you know, trying to be like, this person, this, that, the other thing. And the guy's like, I don't agree with that. I was like, oh, really? Why? Let me hear. And I am so quick to say, you know what? You're right. I get that. And I'm going to go and do my best to correct it. My best friend back in Ohio, where I grew up, said, clark, you're probably one of the most willing guys to look at yourself. And I'm not trying to put myself on a pedestal. I don't want anyone to think that what I'm telling you is an answer to the question, like, this is where I'm at in my life right now, today. I love looking at me going.

That'S bullshit right there. That wasn't right. And someone calling me out, man. And I have those men in my life, and I call certain ones in certain situations, and I call them based upon how honest they're going to be with me.

And not every guy wants to get the honest feedback. So I think there has to be a sense of reality and vulnerability for you to be open to being told, hey, you're being incongruent with who you say you're being.

Yeah. And vulnerability is probably the best word that describes me with my men. They love how vulnerable I am. I mean, I'll cry instantly. I'll tell stories that people were like, whoa, dude, okay, I wouldn't be that honest, but I've got nothing to hide. I really don't care. You know, I. And I tell this to my guys all the time. I don't give a F what you think about me, because I actually really give an F what you think about me. You understand what that means? You know, it's. I don't care because I care so much.

You know, the beautiful place to come from.

It's. It's so freeing for me, honestly. And when a man can get to that place, I'm going to tell you what, it takes so much pressure off of you to be. I mean, imagine being in my position, right? I'm this guy that.

Just because this is the way we are in our culture, we put people on pedestals, okay? I'm on magazines, tv, movies. I've done a lot of cool stuff. I don't think I'm special. I'm no better. You're no worse. But because of our culture and the way it's been set up, we put people up there and act like they're untouchable and they don't have problems. And the more honest I am, the more it puts me on the same playing field with everybody else. It's a lot less pressure on me to be somebody that I'm not. You know what I mean?

Yeah. It's a hell of a lot of pressure. And you look at actors and you look at people who are in the limelight. There's so much self imposed pressure, but also media imposed pressure. So that in itself is something difficult to navigate. Now, I also look at you from a dad point of view and freedom. You mentioned the word free, so freedom is really important. I feel for dads in that we want to create financial freedom and independence for our families so that we can have security, we can have opportunities. So how have you went about your life being a dad, showing up, looking after your body, having a great partnership, but how have you really focused on the financial side so that you can actually have more freedom and more opportunities?

Yeah, you know, I was talking about this today with somebody who was coming after me for an opportunity. I've never chased money. I've never chased money in my career. Money is that byproduct of what I naturally do as being Clark Bartram. Chasing money actually disgusts me and grossed me out. I almost walked away from an opportunity today because something just didn't feel right about it. And I've had situations where I walked away from six figure deals when I needed money because it wasn't in alignment with my messaging or who I am as a man. So the money part has always been taken care of. And in the way I see it, it's almost like manna from heaven. There's a story in the Bible where, you know, just enough food drops down for the day. That's how I approach my life. You know, surplus and abundance and all that. It's there, it takes care of itself, but it's not what drives me. I did a post the other day on my Instagram and I said, what? What was it? Money doesn't motivate me. Being a person of value does. That is that is the answer to your question. Being a person of value is what drives me. And then the money follows that. I want to show you something in real time right now to show you how coachable I am. What, Lita?

Yeah.

She'S not there, so if my wife comes in, I'll show you something. So the other day she came to me and she said, honey, you know what you need to do. And she always thinks the minute she says this, I'm just going to blow her off. She said, when you're doing a podcast, you need to sit more left of your, your painting back there. And you're doing it right here. Yeah. And I purposely aligned myself right here because I remember my wife saying, honey, it looks so much better when you see the whole thing. I just jump in and I start going like this. And Is she right?

100% right. I'm going to tag her in this. When I, when I repost it, I'll be tagging her.

Yeah. And this is me listening to my wife and being coached when before, I'd be like, you know, whatever. And I blow her off. And I'm like, you know, but she's right. And another thing we. My son moved out, and I want to turn that into a business room, talking about making money. Like, my daughter moved out. I turned this into a money making room. I bought a T shirt printer. I was just in here printing T shirts, making money, selling. You know, I hold up a T shirt, I'm like, what is this? They're like, T shirt. I'm like, nope, 25 bill. I fold it up and set it out, you know, and then my son moved out and we had an argument. She's like, I want a guest room. I'm like, anita, how many guests have stayed here in the 33 years we've been married? None. But you know what? My son sleeps there all the time, and I'm happy. My wife's friend didn't want to drive an hour and a half home. She slept here two weekends. It's great. She was right. And I told her so that's, that's where I'm at in my life, man. I'm okay with that.

That's brilliant. You're not that kind of macho guy that has to be right about everything. You can open up, you can listen, you can adapt and adjust.

I'm trying.

That's so good. Now, the one thing I have to say that's really inspiring is that you're continually wanting to level up. When I look through what you've done, you're on the movie, this show that you're the host of American health and fitness. 110 million homes that gets cast into. That's huge. But to me, it's not like you're sitting on your hands going, okay, I've done everything. You're continually wanting to level up. So what's next for you?

So I'm hitting my stride right now. All of what I've done in the past has really Been a catalyst. It's like, you know, you're winding up one of those, those toy robots, man. I'm getting ready to go and absolutely take off. I feel like right now what is in store for me with the future is this group of men growing. My goal is a million men in this group. My goal is to create a pathway to maximized manhood. Somebody might come to me because my hook is my body or my ability to communicate. But when enter into my ecosphere, they suddenly get confronted with this idea of become a maximized man. Yeah, you came here to lose 10 pounds, but what about all the other areas of your life that could use an equal amount of work? Are you really being a good husband? Are you being a present father? You had mentioned that earlier. Are you somebody who is willing to really look at other people and see what you can do for them? This is, I think we're all on some level really wanting to do this, but we get so caught up and we get so busy that we miss that. So I slow these guys down. So I want a million men in this group. I want to impact guys in a way that maybe someone who is out there with this being the forefront of what they do, like, hey, come here and be a maximized man. I want to kind of slide it in on them as they come into this world and understand that there's more. Like it's easier to get in shape if you stop hiding from some of the stuff that you've been lying about. I'm going to tell you that right now. Not having hidden things in your life makes getting in shape a whole lot easier because you're not carrying that stress around.

That makes sense. And too many of us do carry those, whether it's childhood issues or relationship issues and brushing things under the carpet. Hence the reason we can't shed the weight or get into our best selves.

Yeah, I mean, my guys are open, we talk about it. I do a zoom call every Saturday and you never know who I'm going to bring on. It could be some marriage counselor, it could be NFL super bowl champion quarterback, it could be anyone in between. But the bottom line is you're going to get poured into guy. I had speak last Saturday. Absolutely rocked these guys world, man. And they didn't expect it. And it just happened. He happened to be at this mastermind event I was at. I'm like, tom, will you speak to my guys? He said, absolutely. I put them in front of my guys and he poured into them. And I'm sitting back like Proud father, like, let's go. And I'm taking notes. I have so many notes in my garage because that's where I set up my zoom calls. From guest speakers that I've had come on, where I'm like, wow, I'm glad I had this guy speak because I'm gonna use this. The other day, I was here two Saturdays ago. I had a football quarterback by the name of Brad Johnson. He won a Super bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And he did a great, you know, speech, we'll call it. He talked to my guys. But he. He said one thing that really jumped out at me. He said, we won the Super Bowl. And you know what I did, guys? He said, I slept in my jersey that night. And he said, you want to know why? He said, I wanted to wake up smelling like a champ. I'm like, man, if every one of you guys didn't write that down, I'm kicking you out of the group. So now I go around like.

I woke up smelling like a champ. Let's go.

That's epic. I love it. That's legendary. So this is all part of your free group. The guys get access to all these zoom calls, and that's all part of it.

This is me every single day. What you're witnessing right now is me every day going live in that group. The zoom calls, this is what they get. And here's the problem, though. Familiarity breeds contempt, right? These guys are so familiar with me coming in there and getting this that some guys don't get on the zoom calls. And that pisses me off. It's because it's like, come on, man. Just because I'm not charging you a premium to get access to what I can give you access to doesn't mean that you should blow it off because you had something else to do that was better. There is nothing better than investing into yourself. And that sometimes includes doing business things or maybe even family things sometimes. Because if you're not whole and you're doing a family thing, as half of who you are, you're not fully there. So I would rather take a break, get whole, and come back in and be a badass dad husband.

I agree. I was talking to one of the world's best ever cricketers. He's an amazing. He was the captain of the New Zealand cricket team and he had a saying which was beautiful. He said, look, James, I had my 18 month old baby girl in my arms in the kitchen, and I was looking down into her eyes and all I could think about was the Next cricket match, the next big international cricket test match, he says. So I talked to my mentor about it and my mentor said, look, be where your feet are. And he said, just look down. Wherever your feet are, you'd be there. So if you're there holding your child, just psychologically be there. If you're on the cricket pitch, be there.

I'm a steelhead. Be where your feet are. I love that. It's true, right? I talked to these brilliant, brilliant men. Someone asked me the other day, hey, what was it like when you talk to so and so? I said, he was never present. He was never in the conversation. He was always dreaming of the next big win. And I just didn't like being around him because I didn't feel like I mattered. I felt like, oh, this guy's not even. I'm not even worthy enough of him paying attention to me when that might not even have been the case. But unfortunately now, I mean, these guys are. Yeah, it's. It's not a good situation.

That's really interesting about that focus. I was interviewing about three weeks ago, the former prime minister of New Zealand, and he said, look, I was in America sitting down with former President Bill Clinton, and he said, I'd heard about this thing that Bill had in terms of making you feel like you're the only person in the room. And he said, whatever it is he does, it's true. He said, he's really fully engaged. So I've been going back and looking at some footage and videos to see what it is he does, but I truly think it's an energetic thing and an eye contact thing, but actually being present and not being somewhere else while you're supposed to be here.

I believe he listens. I've watched him a lot and he's captivated me through a television talking to somebody else. So if you can have that ancillary connectivity with the human that you're not directing specifically, that's magical. And that's part of what it is with him. I think it's just one of those things, like I refer to, it's burned into my DNA. You know, you can perfect those things, but if you have it in you already, it's like the thing. It's like, well, you know, he's not that good looking, but there's something about him, you know what I mean? That's the thing you want. He's not that, or she's not that good looking or what, but I don't know what it is. That's the magic stuff, right? There, man.

Yes. The magic sauce. You're right. And, you know, there's only a few people that you can think of that have that. But what they do is they double down on their strengths, I guess, rather than focusing on their weaknesses. Okay, this is my strength. I'm going to roll with it. And it's such a talent.

And listening is a big one, too, right? So many people are anxious to. They're not present because they're already thinking about the next thing they want to say, waiting for you to stop saying what you want to say, or more often than not, cutting you off with. They're so anxious. So I've tried to be very aware of.

Huh. And listening. And it's like shooting a video. One of the things I notice if I ask somebody to shoot a video, hey, I need you to shoot this video for me. If they're not familiar with how to shoot a video, the minute I stop talking, they cut it off. So there's no pause at the end to edit from. You need a bit of a pause. And I even think that in a conversation, when you finish something.

You let it marinate for a second, and then you come back. That's a good ebb and flow with the conversation because it's like, okay, let that settle in. Oh, boom. And then you come back. But it's. It's. It's too often, man. It's just. It gets. My wife comes in all the time. Oh, my gosh. Every time I try and talk, she just cuts me off. I said, you're being taught a lesson. There's something. You attract these people for some reason. Whatever it is, learn from it.

The power is in the pause. That's what I'm hearing there. Just pausing and reflecting. And honestly, Clark, I think the pausing can be awkward for a lot of people. And, you know, people just can't sit in silence. So, yeah, I really believe you're right. Like, be around more people who are okay with a little bit of stillness after a sentence has been spoken.

That's why people use pause words. I don't even like saying the word that most people use as a pause word because it drives me nuts. But we add these words in there because we're so.

Fearful of doing what I just did. It's okay to think about the next thing you want to say. You know, as long as there's a pacing in what you're doing and you know what the hell you're talking about, nobody's going to worry if you pause for a second. But if you're constantly saying these pause words. You seem so ignorant. I coach people on how to speak. I listen to them. I used to have a company called FMI Fitness Model, Fitness Model International. And I would put people in front of a camera and they would absolutely lose their mind. And then I would ask them, just talk about yourself. You know a lot about yourself, don't you? So just tell me who you are, where you grew up at, whatever. And I would just sit in the back of the room like this.

Counting the amount of times they said.

Listen, don't, please cut it out. It sounds ignorant. And now people who are watching this are going to start being aware of the fact that maybe that's something they use when they're talking because they're uncomfortable pausing for a second. It's not a big deal.

You're totally right. I had a previous boss who was notoriously known for. Yeah, but you know what I mean, like going on and on with these ums and we count them, sometimes there's a hundred ums in like a four or five minute period. Quite hilarious. But you're right, it's not being afraid of silence. Not being afraid of space.

It's a powerful place to be. Just a nice silence. And that's another thing that I do is one of my micro habits, if you will. I'll sit alone right here in this chair and I just take in all the ambient sound. I hear my pool pump. Come on. I hear squirrels running around in the front yard. And I allow that to be what gives me just a consciousness to the fact that I'm here and capable of constructing my day. However, I want to construct my day and people wake up saying the most silly things that start the construction of their day on the wrong foot. And that's why I say just get up. A little bit earlier I wrote a book called Magical Mornings and there's a quote by Remy Remy, I believe it is. The morning breeze has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep.

That's beautiful.

Silence. There's secrets in that silence.

I need to get a copy of the book. And the other thing I want to do is ask you how can we help you get that group of yours to a million? Like, what can we do? Myself included and anybody listening, how can we get more men in there?

Just make people aware of the fact that it's there? Because I believe that because so many marketers are out there trying to get people's money and they're not really truly being a person of value or being honest about the offer that they're putting out there. I'm not saying I'm the only one doing this the right thing, but it's unfortunate, in my opinion, that there are so many people who are just great marketers. So when they get someone into their ecosphere, it's not being represented the way it was in the ad copy. So I think people are fearful of joining groups, especially if it's like, hey, I'm not going to charge you anything. Instantly they think, well, there's got to be something. I know he's going to sell me something. Or there's got to be a, you know, there's a hook somewhere. I know it. There's not. There's not. I can promise you that. So just making people aware of the fact that it's available and there's a coach that really does care and is in there every day pouring into you, and you will get value from it. The more people that hear this, the better. I was talking to a business potential business partner today, and I said, mike, man, listen, all you got to do is get me in front of people. Just get me in front of people. Whether it's 20 people at the YMCA who want to hear about how to boost their testosterone naturally, or if it's 100,000 people on a zoom call, or me speaking at Rupp arena, just get me in front of people. That is how we get this out there, get the message in front of men. Because every single man out there should be understanding of the importance of improving not just physically, but emotionally, spiritually, relationally, financially, and every other part of their being.

That sounds so fired up. Like, literally, after our conversation, I'm going to apply to the group. I'll be sending my dad a message, too. I think it's amazing and we need to surround ourselves with more people like you. I'm a coach, but I'm constantly looking for great coaches and mentors, and I think I'm looking at one right now.

Well, I appreciate that, brother. And as coaches, we understand the value of investing. I spend a lot of money on coaches. I'm not afraid to pay somebody. And you know why I'm not afraid to pay somebody? Because I know I'm going to do the work that people ask me to do. I'm not there to just justify the fact that, hey, I get coaches. No, I put in the work. So if I got to pay a coach $15,000, I'll pay a coach $15,000. If I got to go and sit with somebody and carry bags for them, to their events. I'm carrying bags to their events. I did that for years, man, when I was a model. I still am, I guess, but when I was young in the business, I would help photographers set up lights and, and do whatever they needed me to do just to be around it, to see what other models were doing. And then suddenly I became the go to guy. Like, I wrote a book called you Too can be a Fitness Model. No one had ever done that before.

That's so cool. Proximity is so powerful.

Oh, it's. It's everything. Proximity is key. I was just talking to my buddy the other day. I went to a men's event, four Day Deep. Dive into My Soul. We were talking about proximity. And he told me there's a book that he just read about it and I forgot the name of it. But proximity is key. It's vital.

It really is. And I'm the same as you. I mean, in the last six months, I've probably invested 25, $30,000 in coaching. And sometimes I have to get up at 4am to get that coaching call with one of my North American coaches. That's the price that I pay. And I'm happy to do it because I'm doing the work in the background.

That's the key. And most people, unfortunately, are not action takers. The difference between me and anybody else is not only do I take action, but I take immediate action. And you just said that. I can't wait to get off this so I can go join that group right away. And I'm getting a hold of my dad. I hear this stuff, that stuff registers in my brain and I hold it back there.

Yeah, I could go into a whole different thing here now, but that is the key to success in life. Everybody wants to do something, everybody thinks about doing something, but the difference between the guy that gets it done and the guy that doesn't is the one that gets up and gets going. I told my guys this morning, I said, step up and step in. If you want to make change in your life, step up and step in. That's the only way to make it happen. Well, you're done. That's it. You're done?

Yep.

The minute you, you're done, step up and step in.

That's amazing. And the One Life. I have to ask you a question. So got two more questions just before we wrap up. But One Life is in the background. It's an amazing painting. So I want to ask you about your one life. So let's think about a legacy statement. So something that will be said about you by the people who hold you dearly at the end of your life. What would that legacy statement be?

So if I. If I put it in the context of what we started off with today, and you would ask my son, he would say, my dad loved people.

And I want that to be what my legacy statement is. Clark Bartram loved people.

Because I do.

It's almost like my statement where I said, I don't give an F because I give enough. I love people, but people piss me off. You know what I mean? And it's because I love them so much. They piss me off because I want the best for everyone I encounter. My mission statement to positively and powerfully affect everyone I come into contact with. And it's unfortunate that my family and the people closest to me are the ones that are constantly getting that version of me that because familiarity breeds contempt, they see it as something that it isn't. So if I say something to my wife, it comes off as, oh, Clark's being controlling. Clark's being this. That's never the case with me, and it's never the case with anyone who gets around me. It's. If I see something that I know someone could do differently and I suggest it and they don't take advantage of it, that just bothers me, man, because I know that it's going to stop them from beating their head in a wall, and eventually they're going to come around and say, damn, you know what? The amount of people that I've had come up to me who've lost £40, that I talked to three years earlier, and they come up to me and I'm like, what did you do differently, James? I ate right and exercised. I'm like.

But we could save you three years if you just would have applied that simple knowledge then instead of now. Because we eventually all come around. Because we all evolve and we all grow and the scales come off our eyes 100%.

And the last question I want to ask you, and ask everyone this to finish up, is, what does living life on purpose mean to you?

For me, it is this constant desire to be doing what I've been called to do. You know the old saying of, if you love what you do, you never go to work a day in your life. It's cliche because it's true. Like, I literally never get up and think, I'm going to work today. If I have an opportunity to do a podcast, I run in. I can't. I sat in here for five minutes deciding what shirt I was going to wear to look the best on your podcast.

I love it.

You know, do I wear one cut off so they can see my arms? No, that'll be too hairy. And I go through this process and I thought about this today and I was thoughtful and I was grateful. That's me being on purpose. Like, this is not something that I take for granted because I think, oh, I'm a big shot, you know what I mean? And then if I'm at the gym, the purpose is, guys, look at me to be in shape. I'm gonna go for it. My son said, dude, your workouts are too easy. I want to train by myself. Oh, my workouts are too easy. Okay, let's go.

Are they still too easy? He's like, nope.

You know, that's purpose. And then meeting with my team today and giving them an opportunity to speak into a decision I was making because I value their input and the work that they put on something that I might change because I saw a better opportunity. That's purpose, you know, seeing people have value in my life. So for me, all of these micro conversations I have with myself related to what I'm doing on a minute to minute basis in my life, those are all forming this, this day that I had today. Because this one life is made up of those 14, 40 minutes that we have today. So I'm constantly thinking about what is on purpose. Does this make sense or does that make sense? And I'm doing it. I feel like in this stage of my life, you've seen those lazy rivers that you jump in an inner tube, like you go to Las Vegas or something. I feel like I was standing there one day and one of those inner tubes came in front of me and I heard this voice. That's your. That's your inner tube. Get in it. And I sat in it and it's taking me on this, this cruise through my life. And I'm not fighting it. I'm not trying too hard. I'm allowing these opportunities to come as I pass them on this little lazy river. And it's not lazy at all. It's just a beautiful journey that I feel like I've entered into because I stopped trying so hard to find a purpose. I entered into it and here I am.

That's incredible. Like, there's been so many things I've taken away from this. I'm going to go back and take notes on what we actually talked about. It's powerful. I can't wait for people to actually get a hold of this podcast. And listen to it because you have so much to offer. And I hope that every man that listens to this goes and joins your group. I'll put the link in all of the podcast, YouTube, all the mini clips. And also, if there's a lady listening to this, please pass that group on to your brother, your partner, your dad, your uncle. Get them all to be a part of this group. We need a million guys in there.

I have another program for women, too, that I failed to mention because we got so excited about this. It's called One Step Body. So if women want to join in, it's a men and women group, and my wife is in that one with me and we share the same content. It's the five lifestyle principles. Nothing changes but my delivery. I'm a little bit softer in there. I'm a little bit more gentle because I understand the room. I'm a good judge of how to speak to people and when to be aggressive and when not to be aggressive. So One Step Body, if someone just goes to1StepBody.com join, they can join that group for free. Free. Same thing.

Brilliant. I'll put all those links in so everybody can get access. All right, Mia, thank you so much. It's been an absolute pleasure. And I'm pretty confident this is not the last time that we'll speak. I think we've got work to do in the future, that's for sure.

Right on, my brother. I appreciate you having me on here and I promise I'll do my best to be your best podcast ever, man. Hopefully. I live.

You were absolutely badass. I loved it.

Right on, my brother. Thank you.

Thank you so much for listening in today and investing in your own personal growth. Please hit the subscribe button and I would love, love, love if you'd leave me a rating and review, as it really helps me to impact more people. I've got some amazing guests lined up in the coming weeks, and, folks, it's that time. Get out there and live life on purpose.

Sa.