#16 Q&A - Transform Your 2024: Essential Steps for a Productive Year

You want to get to 10K steps per day. You want to vastly improve your diet. You want to start tracking calories. You want to get to the point where you're in the gym 4 to 5 times a week. You want to improve your strength in the gym. You want to sleep 8 hours per night. You want to drink 3 to 4 liters of water per day. That's very overwhelming. So I said about 5 different topics there. Really start with one per week. So you might think, oh God, it's going to take me 5 or 6 weeks weeks before I even start getting things moving. Trust me, you will burn yourself out. You will get sick of things. You will get overwhelmed. If you are not losing weight and you want to, you're not in deficit or something's going wrong with tracking. With aging, it really comes down to weight loss, and that's also by default you're going to have a healthy diet there as well. And drink plenty of water and sleep, and they're the main things. I'm not even big on skincare at all. AI might be the most important new computer technology ever.

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What is going on, everyone? Welcome to the final podcast Q&A of 2023. It is a solo episode once again because it's pretty much Christmas. Everyone's gone home, no one's in Marbella, everyone's doing their own thing. It's kind of that time of year where people clock off, relax, and chill out a little bit. So it is just me and you for today. So let's get into it. We got some epic questions here. It's the morning time, I've got a nice big shaker of electrolytes, I've already been caffeinated, so I'm ready to go. Okay, so first question: how to plan for the new year? Goal setting, vision boards, habit building, big goals versus small goals. So my best piece of advice, and I've made this mistake so many times before, is setting too many small goals. Instead, what you want to do is you want to set one massive goal and keep going until you achieve that. And so that could take you 4, 5, 6 months. It actually might take you the entire year, but that one goal that will change your life, change your entire year. All these other small goals, they're just kind of distractions. And oftentimes once you achieve that main thing in your life, it could be starting that passion project, that passionate business that you know you should do, that's calling your name. It could be completely transforming your health and fitness. Probably in my opinion, would sort out a lot of people's life if they just focus on their health and fitness. But anyways, everyone has this one big goal that they know if they do, it'll sort everything out. And for me, that one is actually YouTube. I need to get more consistent. I need to pick up the camera. I need to get better video ideas. I need to kind of— I will still use all the other apps like, you know, Twitter, Instagram, of course, TikTok, everything. But I need— and YouTube Shorts, you know, all this vertical content. For me, I need to just concentrate on YouTube long form as I think that is what I'm best at. I think that's probably like, I know I've got, you know, more of an audience on Instagram, but for me it's the fact that I've built, you know, such an amazing YouTube channel that I need to keep going with it. I want to hit that 500K. So that's my goal. And doing that will sort everything out. You know, more Fuel Cakes will sell because there'll be more eyes on the business. Yeah. My coaching will go to the next level. It will scale because again, I'm doing more YouTube, providing more information. I'll be happier. Everything. You know, it'll all just sort itself out. So for me, that's my one big goal. I'm disregarding everything else in 2024 because I know everything else will be sorted if I just go really hard on this YouTube channel. So my biggest goal setting advice is forget all these little goals, set one goal, and then whenever that's done, then move on. But do not move on until it's done. I've made that mistake and I've also set all these little goals. And first of all, you're a mile wide and an inch deep. You don't actually achieve any of them because you're so scattered and you've no focus, and focus is such a hard thing to come by in today's day and age, and you end up achieving nothing because you're trying to set all these goals, you're getting distracted, and you're getting pulled all over the place. So set one big massive goal. And another thing is when you set all these small goals and you don't achieve them, you feel really bad about yourself. You're like, oh, I'm a screw-up, I messed up, you know, I didn't achieve all these things. So set that one big massive goal. And with vision boards, this is powerful as well. So one thing that I've seen people do, I've done it myself, is set their screensaver as something that motivates them. Maybe a quote, an image. Maybe your goal is to, you know, buy a house or get an insane car or just anything. Just every time you see that, you pick up your phone, it is just a reminder to stay focused on that goal. I know people like, they have these big massive vision boards that they have loads of on them, but, and I think they're good, especially if they're somewhere that you will see often. It's very motivating when you have that vision board and then you see it come true. But I think, I hate to say it, but I think the phone is the most powerful as unfortunately that's where most of our attention is nowadays. How to finally get in shape in 2024. So this is gonna be kind of like a New Year's theme Q&A, New Year's kind of theme podcast. And so when everyone's starting out, And this goes for even if you've got quite an advanced physique and, you know, maybe you want to just get healthier, or maybe you want to get leaner, or maybe you want to get— you want to get bigger and stronger. And again, you need to concentrate on one goal at a time. That actually, it's so applicable to fitness because so many people, they're like, I want to build muscle and lose fat, and they end up just spinning their wheels. So pick one goal at a time. And if you're more of a beginner who's getting into things for the first time, you really want to make that change, I would say create create ultra, ultra small habits, like a list of things to do, and make slow progress per week. Okay, so let's say this— what I— this is what I'd say. Let's say you want to get to 10K steps per day, you want to vastly improve your diet, you want to start tracking calories, you want to get to the point where you're in the gym 4 to 5 times a week, you want to improve your strength in the gym, You want to sleep 8 hours per night, you want to drink 3 to 4 liters of water per day. That's very overwhelming. So I said about 5 different topics there, really start with one per week. So you might think, oh God, it's going to take me 5 or 6 weeks before I even start getting things moving. Trust me, you will burn yourself out, you will get sick of things, you will get overwhelmed. So week 1, just focus on getting the steps in. And that's a habit, you got that locked down. Week 2, focus on getting to the gym 3, 4, 5 times per week, lifting weights. Week 3, get your water intake in check. Something that people overlook so, so much. Like it's so simple. You know, it's just drinking water, I don't even track water. But it's something that so many people overlook. I think actually that people are chronically dehydrated. I think that's like a little thing in today's day and age. And then so next, which is the hardest one in my opinion, and I'm going to go in on it a little bit more, is get a good sleep routine in place. So there's so many different facets of fitness and trying to do them all at once is going to end up in disaster. So small habits that compound. Predictions for 2024 with social media trends. I think it is going to go back to a lot of unedited raw stuff, podcasts, long-form style like this. I think people, they still want information, they want motivation, they want comedy. You always have to give the audience some sort of value. That's how it is. But I think people are gonna be less impressed with the big edits and doing big kind of MrBeast style challenges and just kind of seeing a little bit of realness as well because things come and go and trends like, remember that like 2016 Casey Neistat vlogging era? My favorite, to be honest. I think that's gonna make a big comeback and people will wanna just see someone on a mission documenting their journey, be it in fitness, business, property, whatever niche of YouTube or social media that you're in. Diet soda versus water for fat loss. So there's actually research showing that people who include zero-calorie drinks that are delicious and taste the exact same as a normal thing are better and more consistent at losing weight. What an absolute shock. And the people that say, oh, it's unhealthy, oh, it's going to give you cancer, it is like the equivalent of drinking 40 cans of Coke Zero every single day, okay, is just— actually, I think it's actually way more than that. Either way, it's just not going to happen. It's not realistic. You can drink crazy amounts of water and die, okay? The, the dose— the poison is in the dose. So don't worry about that. I will be drinking on my zero-calorie delicious beverages for, uh, I think the, the 12th or 15th year in a row. Pretty much my whole life. 'Stop losing weight and I'm in a deficit. What do I do next?' First of all, you're not in deficit if you stop losing weight. And there's a few things here, starting with the most common, and that's adherence. You're simply just sick of being in a diet, and whether you realize it or not, you are eating more. You're grabbing some stuff from the fridge and it's not really registering. You're being less consistent with tracking. That's another thing. Or you're simply not tracking. There's just maybe another one that happened to me once. I was like, I would buy this sauce that was for like, like it was like a chili con carne sauce. And I was reading the calories and macros on it wrong. This is like many, many years ago. And I was adding it to all my meals and I was like, why, why am I not getting leaner? Why am I not shutting up? And I realized like it was like insanely high in calories. And like I thought it was healthy. I thought it was fine. And until I had a closer look and I realized it was like, you know, when things are like per serving and only 100 calories and it's like, oh well, that's like 1,000 in the fucking, in the thing. So there's probably some inaccurate tracking going on there, made considerable progress. You've lost, you know, maybe 5, 10, 15 kg, whatever it is, and your new maintenance and your new deficit has changed. So when you think about it, if you started at 100 kg and you're now 80 kg, well, you're— picture this, right? You're not carrying around a 20 kg dumbbell per day. So you've, you've like got a 20 kg dumbbell, you've stopped carrying around. That's my best analogy for when people's maintenance changes. You're gonna burn a lot less calories. Imagine you're gonna wait vest, you know, and it was 25 kg. You stopped carrying around, you stopped walking up the stairs with that weighted vest, you stopped going on walks with that weighted kg vest. Well, that's basically what happens when you lose any amount of weight. So your maintenance calories change. That is the weighted vest one. That is a great analogy, I need to use that more. So you need to recalculate your cutting diet. You need to either increase cardio, your— you need to increase your physical output or decrease your calorie intake and calculate your new maintenance. And, um, And maybe also take a diet break as well. That can help a lot with adherence. But if you are not losing weight and you want to, you're not in deficit or something's going wrong with tracking. How to cope with Christmas weight gain. So you will hear a lot of personal trainers like me acting all holier than thou saying, "Oh, it's no excuse. You know, it's only a few days of the year and you know, you can go anyway." Okay, I'm gonna be training over Christmas. I just love going to the gym. I'm gonna relax on my diet a little bit. I've got a few social events. You can do either or, okay? You can cut all the way through Christmas, you can stay on top of your fitness regime. Probably that's going to be a better choice. But if you choose to take a break, you know, maybe that's a better choice for you. You know, maybe that's going to help with long-term consistency and adherence. But here's the main thing: what you do over the next 2 weeks is not important as what you do over the next 50 weeks. Okay, bigger picture. This 2 weeks of the year can't mess up the whole other 50 weeks. Like, divide 50 by 2. It's a fractional time of the year, OK? So whether you decide to train your ass off through Christmas or take it easy, take a complete rest, or maybe a little bit of both, there's no wrong answer. And just do whatever is best for you. But I do urge people to not worry about it at this time of year. Here you go. I'll see you in the gym in January. Don't worry about it at this time of the year. But you should worry about your health and fitness for the majority of the year. So that is my official Rob Lipsett Christmas advice. Don't worry about it. Also, weight gain is not permanent. You know, just, you can, if you gain it, you can lose it back. Do you track water and fiber intake? Mm, those Ghost electrolytes just really make drinking water so easy. Code Lipsett for 20% off. So, no, I do not track water or fiber intake. I just, make sure they're getting nailed by just consistently drinking liquids throughout the day. This, how much is in this? Like, it's like pretty much nearly a liter. It is 710 milliliters. So I'll drink like, you know, 3 of these a day, a few glasses of water. Probably have one of these when I'm training as well. Just make sure I'm hydrated, okay? And the color of your urine, something to go off as well. And with fiber intake, Fiber is amazing, okay, just for our overall health and for our satiety, for hunger. If you're hitting your 5 a day, generally fiber tends to sort itself out. So it's not something I track. I kind of recommend people, they track the bare minimum. Like the main thing is obviously tracking calories and macros. If you want results, it's just the way to go. Other things I'd say is tracking your weights in the gym, extremely important. So there's two. And the only other thing that I do loosely track, or I just do my best, is sleep. So I haven't got like a sleep tracker. I really want to get one of those Eight Sleep mattresses that you can heat them up and cool them down. Really want to get one of them. But I do not track sleep for the moment. They're the only two things I really track is my nutrition and my training and my step count as well. My phone does that automatically. I think if you try track like your micronutrients, it's impossible. Try track your water intake, your fiber intake, your sleep intake, your steps, your cardio, it just becomes a little bit overwhelming and unnecessary. And if you're just doing the right things anyways, they'll just sort themselves out. Current role models I look up to. So I try not to use the word role models. It can be just a little bit of a strange word. And there's definitely people, you know, I don't think we should idolize certain people, but I think we should definitely take inspiration from people. You know, don't put anyone on a pedestal but yourself, really. You know, you want to be the main character. But there Plenty of people that I choose inspiration from and that I consume their content, I really enjoy. And, you know, if I met them in person, I'd be like, oh, holy shit, you know, you know, I follow this guy online. So at the moment, I listen to a lot of Joe Rogan, of course, Andrew Huberman, Lex Fridman, and Chris Williamson, really good. And then my friends, you know, Mike Thurston, amazing podcast, Christian, Max. I love Max's podcast, one of the best. And then I'll kind of just see what guests they have on, and then I will, you know, kind of monkey branch from there. So I think if you have like your 5 main YouTubers, 5 main podcasters, and then just see what guests they have on, it's a good way to find, uh, find some respectable individuals. New projects for 2024. I am— project is out of it, okay? No more. We got, you know, the Game Plan app, we have my one-on-one VIP coaching, we have— that is what January is going to be be the main focus there. We have Fuelcakes, we have the Villa, we have YouTube, you know, we have the brands that I work with, Alpha Leap, Ghost. I'm actually taking on 2 new sponsors for the coming year that, you know, have nothing to do, there's no clash of interest with them. There's a lot going on, you know, so there's only so much I can post about. There's only so much I can do and talk about. So I'm like, I think less projects for 2024. I think I've got, I've got more than enough right there. So So like I said at the start, if I just focus on YouTube, all those projects will sort themselves out. Two projects actually, I'm not sure if these, you know, these are strictly mine. One is the wedding. Me and Linda are planning our wedding, so we're trying to kind of confirm that. It's looking like September in Marbella. We're just chatting to a few different venues, getting quotes. It's looking expensive. And then also this kind of ties in with that, we want to use Villa Lipsett, um, as like a day 2 venue for the wedding is that will— could cost a lot and it's a little bit more meaningful, you know, having everyone here. Um, and so what we need to do— this is the question as well, what's next for Villa Lipsett? What we need to do is we need to do the outdoor. And that's kind of one of the reasons why I haven't done like the full room tour, the full house tour yet, is the inside is done. It's, it's great, it's fantastic. As you can see, looks like a studio museum. I'm so happy with it. But the outdoor, there's a few issues like that grass has completely died out in the left. So we're going to have to tile over that and turn it into a seating area or even a workout area. Should have done that from the beginning. The upstairs needs a pergola and then we need to get rid of the old tiles. Like we still have the old tiles. They have like paw prints in them from the previous owner. So we still need to do a lot to the outdoors. And I've gotten a few quotes for that and it's ranging anywhere from $30,000 to $20,000, which I'm just like, oh God, you know, more house stuff. It really is never-ending, as much as I, I do love it. Um, so they're like some kind of the main big projects I'll be focusing on for next year, on top of the usual things that I have going on. Do you think you will always live in Marbella? No, I think ideally— so I'm actually going to Dubai in January to set up a few things there. Uh, I think I am actually getting my residency, by the way I'm going about it. I need to double-check that because it's like a citizenship residency So I'm going to set up in Dubai for a while. That's somewhere where there's just a lot of business, a lot of networking, a lot of people in the fitness industry there. So I'm going there in January for quite some time. Going back to Ireland next week, of course. The plan is, look, I'll always probably base myself here, but realistically, I really, really do want to get a HQ, a base in Ireland. But it is just, I think it's the hardest property market in the world. And I've looked at like America, UK, Spain was pretty straightforward. You know, getting a place here was surprisingly easy. Of course, the Spanish are so relaxed and chilled, but Ireland is so— you have to jump through so many loops to get a place. So that's super difficult, but that is a long-term goal of mine. But I think like, that's honestly like 3, 4, 5 years down the road, depends how well YouTube goes. Um, but I think I, I will, I will— I think I will always live in Marbella, between Marbella and Dublin. That's the plan. I do also— I just love it here. Like, today's December, It's pure blue skies, and I just, uh, generally love the lifestyle here more and more every year. So yeah, between Dublin and Marbella. 3 tips for someone moving abroad. So the biggest tip I can say, right, I've moved, I've lived in America for 3 months before YouTube when I was on like a college exchange, and I've obviously, I've spent like 3 months at a time in America before as well. I've spent, you know, a in London. I've obviously spent a lot of time in Marbella now as well, and I've lived in Dublin. So I've lived in like 4 different places technically, and I've traveled a lot as well. I've been so fortunate to travel a lot to many different places, and not just places for like a week, you know. I went to Tulum for a month, okay? And my biggest piece of advice is if you want to move somewhere, okay, go get an Airbnb there for a month. People are like talking about, like some people ask me, they're like, hey, I'm gonna get a year lease in Marbella, and I'm I'm like, dude, you could hate it. You could like only like the summer and, or only like the winter. You could only like a certain time of year, you know, just go there for a month, rent a car, drive around, get familiar with the culture, the locals, the day-to-day life. Just do one month. Okay. One month and see if, hey, could I see even two months and say, hey, could I see myself living here for 6 or 12 months? So that is is tip number 1 is just get an Airbnb for a month. It doesn't— if you don't like it, you just leave. It's fine. Um, so that's my biggest tip. Number 2 is say, you know, what am I going to do day-to-day basis here? You know, what am I going to do for work? Am I going to make money here? If you make money online, it's probably not a big issue. And 3, just kind of do a lot of Googling. Walk around on Google Maps, you know, see what area you'll go to, what's around what gyms, which shops, what amenities are in your area. So I think if you do those 3 things, number 1 being the main one, you'll be, uh, pretty well prepared. I want to visit Marbella. This is like the Marbella part of the podcast. I want to visit Marbella. What is the best area for gyms and healthy food? So in my opinion, it is Nueva Andalucía. That's where Rob Lipsett is, and that is the place just above at Puerto Banús. So Puerto Banús, you— it's like kind of like nightclubs and bars and restaurants, and it's where all the yachts are. So it's like very touristy. I don't actually like it too much. Like, if I was to go for dinner, I'd probably go down towards Puente Romano area, but it's still a central location. You know, property is ultra expensive on the port for a reason. But if I was to choose an area and recommend it to stay in, I would say it's called Nueva Andalucía, and it's just above Puerto Banús. So you're still in the action. There's— it's where all the gyms are, like Paddle Club, M13. Elements is in San Pedro, but it's very close to Nueva Andalucía. And there's like loads of healthy cafes— Breathe, Rosas. Um, there's just, just so many, there's infinite amount. And it's also in the suburbs, so, you know, there's not much trouble around here. There's a few nightclubs here as well if you want to partake. But Nueva Andalucía, in my opinion, has it all. You also, um, don't really need a car. Like, I didn't have a car for the first month or so until I got it over and you can walk everywhere. I can walk down to Portmuse if I want. So Nui Van Lucea is my favorite area in my very biased opinion. Thoughts on the current situation in Ireland? So this is a super tough one to me, for me to answer, because I try to stay unpolitical. And you know, I'm not that interested in the news. I'm not glued to news. And if there's something going on in the world, I, I try not to let me— if they'll necessarily affect my life. You know, so many people, they get, they get caught up and stressed over what's going on, you know, and other parts of the world that have nothing to do with them. And, you know, they let that dictate their life. And it's like, that's not how you're going to improve yourself and your community by worrying about just something that has nothing to do with you. Okay, but Ireland does have something to do with me. I'm from there, I'm very patriotic, I love Ireland, and I love Irish people. And there's basically just a lot of riots going on with immigration and housing, and just right now it does not look like a nice place to be. Conor McGregor has been very vocal about a lot of it, so you can go check out some of his tweets. I think they actually could be gone now, but I just hate to see the whole nation fighting against each other and just in a kind of state of unrest. It actually really makes me sad. And when I go back here, I think go back like 2 days, 3 days, I really hope that, you know, there's a— it's, it's mainly just the news is portraying it badly and that walking around town is still a nice experience as I remember it. Comment down below if you've been in town Dublin recently. But I think with the immigration you know, as long as I'm an immigrant in Spain, as if I can complain about that. But I think I'm resident actually, because if you buy a property over half a million, you get automatic residency. And there's also digital nomad visa if people want to look at that. But to go in on that, if you're going to go to another country, you need to be a contributing member of society, and you just need to be vetted. And that's as simple as that. You just don't want letting dodgy characters and criminals into your country. And I don't think that's a controversial statement. And then I think if you are vetted properly, then it's good to go, and you're going to contribute to society, you're going to assimilate, then absolutely. And I also— people say close open borders in Ireland. Personally, um, being in the EU, I've found it great being able to move freely around to different countries, have the same currency. So that's my take on it, and I think it's pretty simple, and most people will agree that. If you don't agree, comment down below. I'd love— I'd actually love to hear your opinion. Best breakup advice. So number one breakup advice is be selfish. Be selfish for a couple of months. Get your money up, get your physique up, get your health up. That's gonna get your confidence up tremendously. And find a project to take you off your mind, off your ex, be— if you're male, female, whatever whatever. Just find something to stop you sitting around constantly thinking of your previous relationship. And it's funny, when we go through a breakup, we— it's called selective memory— we have a way of thinking of all the positive parts of the relationship, and you don't remember all the fights, the arguments, and the stress. You only think of the good things. And so you're like, you know, you're just thinking, oh my God, should I get back with them? In most cases you shouldn't. So find something to preoccupy your mind. Finally pursue that passion project that you just didn't have the time to. As you know, maybe you're hanging out with Stacy and you just never got around to it. Well, now it's the time to be selfish and work on yourself. Become superhero, like literally become the person that you always wanted to be. Level up in every aspect. And look, I'm gonna say something a little bit evil here, Once you do that, your ex is gonna start noticing. She's gonna be looking. She's gonna be like, oh shit, I made a mistake. Maybe you got broken up with or not, I don't know. She's gonna be like, oh God. And, uh, yeah, you'll come out the winner there. So my advice is be selfish. Um, don't actually go out like chasing chicks, chasing tail, uh, going on loads of nights out. One, when you're hungover, you'll just feel ultra depressed with a breakup on top of that. Um, that's not gonna be, uh, helpful with your health and fitness and finance. Goals, and it'll just be kind of empty, and you're just kind of going out and chasing girls for the sake of it, and it will also come across kind of desperate and needy. So I would say go in, stay in for a while, focus on yourself, relax, um, hit the gym, you know, get your money up, and just really be selfish for at least 6 months. And you'll look back over those 6 months, you'll be like, whoa, I leveled up. And that's the ultimate goal. So best breakup advice is that. And you don't, don't go, don't go on the piss, don't go on the rebound, you know. Let's say if you're a guy watching this, which you probably are, if you, if you want to let the girl go out and, you know, sleep around, then just do it, okay? And don't be tempted to do the same. It honestly, it'll just make you feel worse.

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What are your thoughts on the manosphere/red pill community? I think it gets like 90% of things right. I think when you go a little bit too too far, it starts to just kind of hate on women and it becomes kind of incel behavior. And then it goes into MGTOW, which is Men Going Their Own Way, which basically means like guys who've just given up on women. They think women are evil. But I think the red pill and the manosphere, I think it focuses on just, you know, becoming— leaning into your masculinity, becoming the man that you're meant to be, and also just seeing modern relationships for what they I think it's, it's pretty cool. It's taught me a lot about relationships and dating, and it's taught me on kind of what to focus on, um, to becoming a man. But I think it gets most things right. It's mainly just kind of, you know, telling yourself to boss up, work hard, train hard, you know, get your physique up. But yeah, that's pretty much it. But I think if you go lean too, too far into it, you can go a little bit crazy and a little bit into MGTOW area, which is, is, you know, it's a dangerous area. Like, women aren't evil, okay? Women are the most beautiful things in the world. You know, they complement and make men's life. One thing that's like the reason men do anything is like for women, you know. Why did I buy a fast car if it's like just a bunch of dudes watching? Most guys wouldn't. So yeah, I think it's interesting and, you know, it's a, it's a massive kind of niche that I dip into from now and then. Views on being single versus dating in your 20s. So I was in relationship relationship, I think from I was about 16, 17 up until I was around 24. And then from about 24 to 27, I was single. And then 27 now to 31, in a relationship again. So I can kind of compare the two. And when I was in my early 20s, being in a relationship actually kept me really focused. And it helped me build a great career in the fitness industry. I think if I was always going on dates, always kind of texting girls, DMing takes up so much time, always going on nights out drinking and didn't have someone to kind of just stay in with and chill and work, um, I think that would have detracted from my mission and it would have kind of made me work less. Some people say that, you know, oh, when you're single it's easier to focus more, and it all just depends on the type of partner you have. Like, a lot of guys will find it very difficult to stay in if they're single and maybe it's a little bit too lonely. So then I did that period, right? So I achieved, you know, some decent success, you know, I had a nice freedom in my life by the age of, you know, like I said, 24, whatever it was. And then again, those 3 years, I definitely wasn't as productive, you know, I was going out traveling more, I was partying a lot more. And you didn't have someone, I didn't have someone to kind of, you know, keep me grounded. And then, you know, I met Linda, of course, when I was about 27. And then for those 2 years, when we were just getting to know each other, you know, we were still traveling around, having having fun. But then the last 3 years, you know, as we've both grown up, we've realized like what we— you know, we've gotten so comfortable with each other, we realize what we like. And she's just so supportive of my goals. And having a woman in your life to wake up next to and she just tells you that you're the best and you can do anything and she'll always support me, that's like invaluable. Like, that's the biggest entrepreneur hack, that's the biggest productivity hack, it's the biggest motivation hack, is having that someone to just value that and just back you up no matter what. So I think it depends on the type of woman you have in your life. Um, I think, you know, you should try a little bit of both out. You know, you shouldn't be in a relationship your whole life, shouldn't be single your whole life, but ultimately it comes down to what type of person you get in a relationship with. And number one thing, number one green flag is you got to find someone who supports your mission. That's it. Find that, lock her down, boys. How to become better on camera. So first of all, I think speaking to camera, if that's not a skill that you have already, it's not just by being a YouTuber, it's not about like Zoom meetings, you know, business meetings, anything, presentation, being more articulate. I've definitely found that it transfers into real life. I've definitely found it massively improves confidence. There's just so much benefits to being able to speak to camera in 2024. Please please put that on your to-do list of things to learn. The only way that I've gotten better at is just putting in the reps. I've been doing this for 10 years, and practice, practice, practice is the only thing I have found. Maybe there's a course out there that is a speaking to camera course. I haven't found it. Perhaps there is, but from my experience, just, you gotta just put in the reps, put in the volume. And don't get it twisted, to this day I still mess up the time. You know, just saying, even in like a day-to-day conversation off camera, I'll like mess up my words because I speak quite fast. And so don't let that discourage you that, you know, you will still, 10 years on, you'll still mess up the camera, but don't make that put you off from doing it. But the only tip I have is just do it more and more and more. And it also helps if you've got something prepared. So I don't read off a script, but I'll have these questions written out and I flow to the conversation. And when I'm doing a podcast, even, you know, I will have just in front of me, I'll have key points that I want to hit. So you don't have to script your videos and read from teleprompter, but it just does help to have some structure to when you're about to go speak on camera. Do I eat much junk food? Not really. I think my taste buds have kind of evolved. I think when I was young, you know, when you're in college, you're teen, you love McDonald's or Burger King, Subway, all that. But mainly if I'm going to quote unquote cheat on my diet, hate that word, doesn't really make sense. But if I'm going to go off plan or whatever you want to call it, I just go for something kind of nice and high quality. Like last weekend we were in Nobu, which is like just so nice, really quality ingredients, you know, the best ingredients. And it's just sushi, it's like fish and rice. And I think that's like the most delicious thing ever. Or if I'm going for a nice steak with some roast vegetables, maybe very high calorie due to the cut of steak, but it's still quite a healthy meal. It's still very nutrient dense. So I haven't had like my favorite, if I was to choose my favorite fast food, it would probably be like a Domino's. Like I haven't had a Domino's in so many years. Maybe I'll get a Domino's after this. But no, just my taste. If I'm going for something that, you know, I'm going out to eat, I like to go to like a high quality restaurant and instead. But no, I'm kind of grown out of junk food. And it definitely is like some people are a little bit addicted to it. They're addicted to the convenience. They're addicted to like that certain taste of something. And, you know, it's, it's definitely something that you should try and improve your taste for more, more quality foods if you can. But yeah, no, I don't eat much junk food or fast food, so to speak. Hardest period of your life. So when I started YouTube, I was 22 at the time. And just that year before that, when I was failing college, college, I had no job, I was getting fired from like, you know, little retail jobs here and there. I had no direction. I didn't know what my next move was going to be. I was feeling so lost. That was a tough one. But at the same time, because I was so young, I was like, ah, I got time. If I try something and I fail, it doesn't matter because I can just try again. I've got so much time. And thankfully something did work. But that was definitely a tough period of my life. But more recently was 2022. So it was the year that I was like building this house, I was finishing it. And so financially it was very difficult. The renovation came to like €150,000 in total. At the cost of the house, I'll never say the exact price, but it was over half a million. So it was very financially straining. And then I didn't have a base, so I was like paying all this money and I couldn't work to my best. You know, I was moving around, living out of a suitcase, going home for a few months at a time. Then I'd come back and, oh, the villa ready. I've got to rent an Airbnb for a month until it's ready. Oh, it's peak summer. What's that? Rent is $5,000. Oh great, another $5,000 that I could have put towards the house. Super stressful year, super disorganized year, but you get through everything, you know. There's a light at the end of the tunnel always. And then now 2023, this year, I've had the best year ever, you know, truly the best year of my life. I can confidently say that. So if you're going through a shitty year. Maybe a few of you guys have had a shitty year this year. Oftentimes when you go through some shit, there's good things coming your way. You've got through the worst of it. The quote that I kept saying to myself last year, or the year before, 2022, whatever, was, you've got a 100% success rate of getting through everything life has thrown at you. You'll always get through it. You always have. So that's one thing that I always said to myself. So yeah, the start was tough, and then, you know, 2022, difficult as well. Actually, even like, yeah, this time last year, I was, I was not in a good place. What do the next 10 years look like for you? So I love when people are like, oh, you're gonna do this forever. Guys, I'm 31, right? Personally, I think I'm looking the best I have, you know. Physique is definitely the best. Mentally, financially, now I'm in the best. I got some assets. Personally, I think like, I feel like my life is only beginning. I really do. And, you know, men especially don't have a clue what they're doing until they're 30. Like, we don't, our brains don't start working, they don't start maturing until we're 30. So I'm 31 now and I feel, I feel like I'm 1 year old. You know, I feel like my life just began at 30 and now it's time to really make an impact on the world. So I'm gonna be doing what I'm still doing, you know, doing this. Everything is gonna be revolving around fitness and social media and all that good stuff, helping people improve their life, making a positive impact. And I feel I'm really only getting started. Like 21, 20 to 30 was like the intro. And now this 30 onwards is part 1. Do you invest? What's your advice on investing? So first of all, not financial advice. There is probably some amazing financial YouTubers that you can go watch. But for me, I do invest. Okay, so I guess property now, which has gone up a lot in value. So I'm a property investor, I guess. And it is also very expensive to rent this place in the summer. Not saying I've rented it yet. Maybe I have. Gotta keep the taxman guessing. But yeah, so property I've made an investment in now. But before that, I invested in crypto, Bitcoin, which again Seen great returns on it. If you like, if you zoom out, like, yeah, it goes, it's very volatile, but if you zoom out, it's never gone down. So yeah, I know I have cashed out as well, but always leave a little bit in. So that and the S&P 500, which again, it doesn't go down. Just zoom out, go 5 years out, it doesn't go down. So that's it. I don't do any trading. I just do dollar cost average. So it just comes out of my account, you know. And there's, um, also there's a few apps that it can round up. So let's say you spend like €8 in a shop, it'll put €2 into Bitcoin or €2 into the S&P 500. Just plenty of apps that do that. Uh, so that's what I do, you know, nothing aggressive, uh, nothing genius, just property, Bitcoin, um, S&P 500. And number one thing that I've invested very heavily in is myself. So they're the best investment you will ever make is into your own business and into yourself. So that could be self-education. I think laptops, cameras, videographers, hiring editors, anything that will help your business is just— it's an immediate return. It's an immediate return. Okay, so that I've invested heavily in. I'd say that is what I spend my most money on, um, myself and my business, you know, be it editors, videographers, laptops, camera equipment, podcast equipment, all that. If you want to make more money. It's just an information thing. You can literally pay someone or, or buy something, be it a book or a course, that will just tell you what exactly to do. Like, it's literally like following an instruction manual and you're just like, oh, I literally do this. Like, if you want to make more money, it's an information thing. It's as simple as that. It's crazy. And once you get in this mindset, it's like an abundance mindset with money that you, you realize it's, it's a game. It's just like a video game. There's so much money out there. Then it just becomes a lot more easier and it just feels like a video game. Dealing with imposter syndrome, I think one of the key traits of any successful person is having imposter syndrome. I feel every single morning that there's going to be a knock on that door of someone just going to be like, hey Rob, the jig is up, come on, it's time, pack up your stuff, let's go, go on, you're going, you're going back to Ireland, you're going back to the box room, get in there. And that keeps me on my toes and that like motivates me to not— I don't want to go back to my old life, you know, I don't want to do that. But I feel I'm like I should. So I have intense imposter syndrome every day and I'm not sure if I want to get rid of it because if I do get rid of it, then I'll just get too comfortable. So I think imposter syndrome is normal, especially if you're constantly leveling up in life, you'll feel like, oh God, you know, I'm the old me, I don't deserve I deserve this, but you do. But I think it's just completely normal thing that a lot of people who are progressing in their life will have. How to stop overthinking. This is something that I haven't gotten the hang of and something I do want to get rid of, and that is overthinking. And something I overthink a lot about is like my content as well. I'm just like, oh, what did that person think of this, you know? Oh God, is this going to be good enough? You just have to just stop caring and just do it. I know that's so simple advice. I'm like, I wish I had a hack for you, but I don't. One little hack is you're thinking that everyone will care about a certain thing. They're not even thinking about you. So once you realize that, then that'll cause you to stop overthinking less and just do your own thing. But it's something that I suffer from for sure, um, and that's something I want to change in the new year and focus on becoming better at just not caring. Have I ever felt hopeless? How did I deal with it? For sure, I go through phases of feeling kind of like, you know, the imposter syndrome thing, but just this is a bit more intense. I go through phases of feeling like, oh, I'm done for, oh, this is the end, I'm screwed. And again, it just takes a little bit of time to get over it. And I just say to myself, you know, you've gotten through every single thing that you've ever been put against. And I've got a tattoo on my leg and it says, you'll either find a way or make one. And I'm not a big tattoo person. It's like tiny. Most people can't even notice it if you're looking at me. It's on my ankle. And I honestly, like, I always go back to that quote and And when I feel hopeless, you kind of like— I picture my life as a movie and I'm like, oh, this is the part where the character is like, it's looking like he's gonna lose, you know, hope is all gone. Oh God, he's screwed. And then they make like an epic comeback or they figure it out and they overcome whatever hurdle they're going through. So you kind of make a movie out of it. And that's what I do. I just snap out of it and get back to it. But of course I feel hopeless, you know, I feel depressed at times, I feel anxiety at times. I'm very positive guy. But of course, we all have these feelings and they're all normal. How do I build a fitness routine that lasts? You need to find whatever form of training that you just don't mind doing. This might, might change over time. Like, I know there's people that start off in bodybuilding and then they go into CrossFit, and that's fine. Just whatever it is that you're into at the moment, just something that you won't mind turning up to. And if you can like even rotate these things, a lot of people are going hybrid, well then that's okay. But for for me, I've tried, you know, lower rep strength training, I've tried the CrossFit stuff, actually been doing a little bit of HIIT recently, it's fun, but I just do it once every like week or two. And for me, it has always just been high-persh free pump work, you know, bodybuilding style training. I don't know why I like never— I don't know why I always stuck with it and never gave it up. I honestly think like when you're pushing yourself in the gym there's that sick lighting, you're getting that last rep out, and you stand up and like you see, you kind of see results straight away. Like you see that pump in the mirror, you know, it hangs, whatever you're training, it's always something kind of new, especially when you're cutting down, you see those new shreds. It's just like, it's kind of like instant gratification. You see it straight away. I just always love it. And for me, I know I'll always just kind of stick with that. And maybe I want to improve like my fitness, you know, start getting into running a little bit more. I think that actually complements lifting. Don't kill me, but as long as you find that thing that you just don't mind doing, it doesn't matter if it's like fucking Zumba or whatever. Just if it gets you up off the couch consistently, then I'm all for it. I'm not gonna hate on any exercise. What are your thoughts on the carnivore diet craze? So that has been definitely, especially if you're on Twitter, for some reason that has been like the most, um, trendy diet I've seen this year. Like, I've seen the most people convert to it or most people talk about it, and I actually really like it. I think animal-based products are one of the most nutrient-dense, healthy things we can eat. I just think, as with any extreme diet, you just go a little bit too far. You know what, veganism— vegetables are amazing, you know, plant-based, great, right? But then you just start eating— you stop eating— but then you stop eating honey 'cause it comes from a bee. And you're just like, are you insane? It's fucking honey, for God's sakes. So it oftentimes, when you get these something, it's like the something diet, it takes a good thing and ruins it, okay? So then carnivore, like they're afraid to eat vegetables for some reason. They say your body doesn't digest them, doesn't absorb them. It's just complete waffle. And the answer always lies in the middle. But I think out of all the crazy diets, carnivore, I do see the appeal to. It's simple to follow. It's easy. It's high protein. It's high satiety. It's delicious, to be fair. And look, if you want to call it carnivore, if you want to call it caveman, if you want to call it the Stone Age diet, whatever you want, sounds cool, whatever. Um, if that gets the job done for you, I'm all for it. But, um, you're just in most cases cutting out a lot of things completely unnecessary, and you can get all the results that you are feeling or getting or plan on getting from carnivore diet from just a normal healthy diet. Eat your vegetables, eat a nutrient-dense diet. I'm actually gonna— I'm gonna start something I'm going to call the nutrient-dense diet. I think, I think that's pretty sensible. But yeah, out of all the crazies, I think like I eat a lot of meat myself and the carnivore diet, you know, I like it. But yeah, it's just, it's just a little bit, a little bit too— it's pro-sciencey. How do you age so well? So I have been— some people— how do you age so well? Thank Thank you. A lot of people on the internet would say the opposite. Personally, I think facially I've aged fine. You know, I've been on YouTube or social media so many years, like near a decade, so of course you're gonna look different. As like, I started off as like a boy pretty much, like when I see pictures and videos of me when I started, um, and now I'm obviously a man. So obviously there's going to be some changes, but I think I've generally kept my skin quite good. And what I notice whenever I do kind of look older, it's when I gain weight on the face or when I look puffy or inflamed or whatever it is. And so my— if I was just to give an honest answer, my biggest tip would just be to stay lean. And that is what is going to make you look old. If you gain all this fat and water in your face, your face is going to look droopy. Like, it's not going to look tight. Okay, people go get a facelift. Okay, all you need to do is go on a diet. So if you're lean you're gonna have that sharp jaw, your eyes are even going to be more clear, even around your nose, everything, um, your neck. You're just going to look a lot sharper and therefore younger. So I really think, uh, with aging, it really comes down to weight loss, and that's also by default you're gonna have a healthy diet there as well. And drink plenty of water and sleep, and they're the main things. I'm not even big on skincare at all. I have like a little moisturizer I use, that's it. I shave, shave. That's it. And also, like, one thing as well, when I'm shaving, I do think that kind of like— I've always been clean-shaven, I've never had a beard. I, I've been like— this isn't proven, but I think by shaving so much it like keeps my face clean. But I'm not too sure about that. If you've got a beard, how do you keep your face clean? Tell me. So that's the main thing, is honestly staying lean. And that's why I'm not a big fan of these, you know, massive bulking cycles. I, I did that, you know, when I first— when I was a teenager, I was first into lifting them off of that. But I think as you get a little bit older and more advanced in your training, they become more pointless and there's less return on them. And I think it can kind of, you know, mess up your facial aesthetics as well as your physical aesthetics. How do you think— last question— how do you think social media affects our mental health, especially younger people? So I was looking at this crazy graph, uh, Scott Galloway posted it, and it was like the satisfaction— what life for younger people. And I think it was in 2008 or 2009, it just drops off a cliff. And a lot of people were commenting, you know, there's no clear answer to why it did this, but a lot of people were commenting this was when the popularity of social media and mobile phones came into play. And I think that makes perfect sense. Dropcom, what do you think? But I think it has definitely made us compare each to ourselves more than it ever has. And this is why it is so important to always go back to my quote, "Don't compare your chapter 1 to someone else's chapter 10." In a world where comparison is just everywhere nowadays, it's when every time we pick up a phone, we see someone with the new thing, we see someone hitting a new milestone, and it just can distract from your mission so much, and it can make you feel bad. So look at people for inspiration, but don't get too hung up on it. Don't dwell on it. I think that's a, a nice way to finish the pod. But to answer the question, just to go over it again, I don't think social media affects especially young people's mental health, especially young girls. I think it affects it really badly and that you need to really be careful and curate your social media. So guys, I will see you in 2024. I'll probably do some Dublin videos before that, but if not, I will see you then. And let's have the best year ever. Let's literally have— make 2024 a year where you look back on it and you're like, oh my God, I'm just so glad that I set those goals and I made those decisions. I'm pumped for it. I have a good, good feeling about it. Like, you know, when I went back to my bad year there, I didn't have a good feeling about that year because I was like, oh, I don't have a house. This year I'm feeling a really good year. So let's get after it. I love you guys. Keep it real. Peace out.

Catch you in the next one.

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