#23 Mike Thurston & Louis Armstrong - How To Create a Better Life For Yourself

Back when I was in London, I think I just needed to speak to someone who could guide me in the right direction.

I'm super lucky to have been able to live with Mike for 2 or 3 years. I don't think guys should mess girls around because at the end of the day, if you get with a girl and she's potentially going to become your girlfriend and some guy has previously messed her up or fucked her up or broken her heart, then you have to basically pick up the pieces and try and help that girl and put her back together.

Whenever the gym was empty, I would just get a tripod and camera started making videos in the gym. And bear in mind, to begin with, it was absolutely terrible. Like, I just could— I was so bad at speaking on camera.

Guys, welcome back to the podcast. You may notice a big improvement in the audio and the video, and that is because I'm in a new podcast studio in Marbella called You Seek Studio. This place is just phenomenal if you're doing a podcast or even just recording any type of content. Go hit them up, tell them I sent you. And now let's get into the episode. It's a big one today. Fellas, Sunday morning chat with the boys. I just want to start off by saying thank you. I love you guys.

Love you too, Rob. Absolutely love you.

It's always good when we're back together again.

Yeah, people like it. Like, I love it. I noticed Louis's engagement has picked up a good bit since he posts that pic. And whenever I need a video that gets some views, I'm like, Mike, please. I'm like, you don't even have to share it, Mike. Just let me put your name in the title. Exactly. No, it's so good to have everyone back together. And so I want to take people on a journey today, the journey of our trio. But it actually starts with you guys, okay? So tell the people how you met.

Hollister.

Yeah, Hollister. What, when was it?

It was— this was in Newcastle upon Tyne. Yeah, I just finished university. I was working in Hollister. It was 20, 21, 22 years old, and I was an assistant manager there, and Louie was one of the models working on the shop floor. So this is 2012.

Yeah, it might have even been like 2011. Yeah, me and Mike are coming up to our 10-year anniversary.

That's insane. And did you ever think, like, is it surreal, like, when you were working in Hollister on the floor and then you compare your life now?

Yeah, we knew we had to figure something out because we were like, we can't do this forever. Yeah, I don't think we thought we would have got it this good.

Yeah, and so the way I met you guys then— how did we meet? It was like through videography.

I came to your— one of your events. Yeah, in Dublin. And I was like, I watched all your videos and then I came to one of your events and I was like, right, listen to you, Christian, Max, Shawley, Marianne, and that guy who's like Gary.

Yeah, Skinny Gaz. Skinny Gaz. Yeah, he's still going, he's still doing great. Me and him are in touch.

And then I basically didn't actually get to meet you didn't even get a picture with you, but I met Nabil and Ben Keeley. And then I basically just messaged you being like, I came to your event and I literally, it's changed my life. I drove back from Dublin to Belfast for 2 hours and just couldn't stop thinking like, I need to be in this crew.

Yeah.

And then I messaged you on Instagram being like, can I come down and do a video for you for free? And then—

Did you reply?

Yeah, yeah.

No, I was like, free video, nice. That's literally Rob. That's Rob in a nutshell. I don't care if you're holding like an iPhone 5, If you DM me and like, free video, I'm like, yes, literally 10 years old.

And I was actually not very good at making videos at the time, so I'm grateful for Rob for giving me that opportunity. When I was— Rob, that was me getting my foot in the door. But another thing as well that I kind of worked out was that if I went to your event, then I could at least tell you in the message that, oh look, I came to your event in Dublin, and then that would maybe be— give me a higher chance of you replying because I've kind of committed to coming to see you before. So that, so then you kind of are, well, okay, this guy came to my event, maybe I'll give him a chance.

Yeah. And, and that's like the power of going to these events and networking. Like massive things come from it. There's actually another thing, that exact event, there's these two lads that they're actually doing something in Marbella soon. They own like a clothing company, it's called like Carpe Omni. I always reference this, it's like really big clothing company in Ireland. And they went to the Creator Agency event, you have that exact one. And they started it after that. And so you never really— and like, now it went on to be huge. I'm like, give me some shares. And I always joke about that with them, you know, I'm joking serious. But that went on to be really big. And I think there was actually a few other guys at that event who they met and they partnered up and things like, you know, really blossomed on. So you never realized, like, from these events how much things can come from it, like a butterfly effect and trickle on.

It's crazy. You can fast-track your journey. Yeah, a lot of people who are lost and they're maybe they're actually doing all right, but they don't have any people to network with or any people who are in a similar situation to them. Just go to these masterminds and meetups. Like, you'll never know who you might meet.

Yeah, so one of those questions from that question box that just threw up as well, they're like, you know, how to meet like-minded individuals and stuff like that. But another one as well was, do you stay in touch with your old friends from like before you were doing all this?

I do, but just not as frequent because I have friends from Leeds who I went to school with who, I mean, I still follow a lot of them on Instagram. They might reply to some of my stuff, but whenever they have meetups or whatever, it's in Leeds or it's in London, and I'm not obviously going to go back for those, uh, meetups. And a lot of them in a different situation to me now that, like, loads of them are having kids and they're married, so that, like, they're kind of doing their own thing. And, you know, they're at that stage in their life. My, some of my university friends I still am in touch with as well, but it's, I think at this stage is Now it's kind of like the— is that I have my Dubai friends and then a lot of business acquaintances. Yeah, like, like friends who are in a similar situation to me, but it's weird because I wouldn't class them as like proper bros. Yeah, yeah.

And what about you? Do you stay in touch with my school friends or anything?

I went home for the first time in 2 years last week, and I got a big, big reality shock going back to the UK. I was like How do people live here? Like, honestly, like, and I'm not trying to shit on the UK, but like, honestly, I was like, my mind is blown. Like, that people just live this life and don't question it and just drive in an hour of traffic every day to work, work 9 till 5, drive an hour home, and then say they've got no time, say they've got no money. It's like they're not doing anything to change it. But my really close friends who I would have considered my best friends growing up, obviously I still love them all I actually met a couple of them for coffees and stuff, but I mean, it's, it's difficult when, like, when they're doing their, their normal 9-to-5 routine. They've got dogs, they've got babies, they've got houses, they can't go on holidays. Like, they can't— they can't— yeah, yeah, they get 2 holidays a year. Like, it's, it's difficult to— and I kind of, I was like trying to encourage them to be like, oh, will you not like try and do something to, to get out of this situation? But I don't know, it's hard. Yeah, I think we're very lucky. And I also think that our mindset is just completely different to most normal people's, which is why we're in this position.

Yeah, I think there's some people who are pretty discontent with that life.

Yeah, yeah, well, the majority really, like, you know. And so one of the most asked questions as well is of course how to escape the 9-to-5 life. And you've actually kind of like— you, I, you know, we've all done it, but like you've got like the Creator Club and everything. You've got to teach that now, you know.

That's what—

because one thing as well, right, Okay, do you think like you've different attitudes and approaches to life even though you have very similar lives?

It's kind of similar. I think Louis is a lot more like mine now. Yeah, compared to a year ago.

Yeah, compared to a year ago.

Louis was, I'm gonna party now, I'll do the work later. And I'll be like, no, I need— I'm gonna do the work first, then I'll party after.

Yeah, yeah, I've changed a lot.

Yeah, yeah, and we're gonna go into that as well. But so Advice for somebody who wants to break out of 9 to 5 and live a kind of more nomadic lifestyle?

Well, my advice— this is what I teach. So my Creator Club now, I've got 55 members.

That's crazy, by the way. Like, I saw you post that, like the screenshot or whatever. That's wild.

It's amazing. And like, you've been on the calls before. Yeah, you were on the calls before it was the, the monthly membership. And now we've got like this amazing community. Everyone is getting better every day at doing different things. One guy builds apps, one guy's a photographer, another guy's video editors, other people do motion graphics and designs, people are coaches. But what I always tell people to do is basically try as many different things as you possibly can outside of your 9 to 5. See what you like, see what you don't like. And then if there's any way that you can provide a service for people— like, the best, the easiest way to get out of a 9 to 5 is to provide a service. So it could literally be something as simple as cleaning cars or walking people's dogs. Like, these are all different types of services that mean that you don't have a boss. So that's the, that's the number one step, is try and provide a service to people. So online coaching is a massive one right now.

Yeah, I think that's probably like the, the easiest one, which is good and bad because like you get a lot of shit online coaches then because there's no barriers to entry.

Exactly.

If you know your stuff, if you're educated, you give out good advice and you're actually attentive to your clients, then, then absolutely do it.

Exactly. And then obviously the main ones that I focus on are photography, videography, editing, and now a massive one is copywriting. So people who are doing newsletters, who are good creative writers, like, you can make a lot of money doing that. So I kind of teach how to use your kind of creative skills to escape the 9-to-5. And obviously the most important thing of all, which is a big one, is work for free in the beginning until you get your reputation up, until you get, until you get your name out there. So many young guys who are like 20 years old are seeing the life that we live and they want to kind of jump all the steps.

Yeah.

And I'm, I'm like, no, no, you have to be patient because even if you do jump straight to it and you get lucky, you don't appreciate the grind, that the steps in the middle. And then you don't appreciate, you don't understand how the game works.

Yeah.

Everyone has to work for free. Like, I'm sure when you did, when you quit your job, you had clients who you probably were charging a minimum amount for, and now you can charge whatever you want.

Yeah, literally. I would actually just give all my friends and family free, like, diet and training plans just so I could have reviews and testimonials. And nowadays kids are so entitled. Like, I think it's good because of social media, you know, they want to skip to the end and they don't want to work for free, and they're actually just setting themselves up for failure. You need to be tough. You need to fucking eat shit for a while. Exactly. Do you think you're going to have your dream life from the get-go? Like, the audacity. The fucking audacity to think that, it's insane. And so Mike, what was the first entrepreneurial online thing you ever did? Because I know, I know you did the gym, you're the physical gym.

What the first one ever was actually quite illegal.

Great, great soundbite right there. Yeah, that's the intro.

I was selling, uh, fake Ed Hardy clothes on eBay.

Wow, I never knew this ever.

I was at, I was at university in second year. I don't know how I think Ed Hardy was massive then.

Yeah, it was. Yeah, he's making a comeback. Is that the one of like the shite tigers and stuff?

Yeah, with all like the crazy—

I got a t-shirt and I was like, Rob just got Monster in the eyes, smoking, laughing so much. I just dropped myself full of Monster.

And this is when eBay was the wild, wild west and PayPal. There was like no rules or regulations.

Yeah.

So you could fucking get away with anything. But I had no intention of doing anything illegal. I didn't understand how things worked. I found, uh, like, like a website, Alibaba, where I guess it was like a form of dropshipping. So I would list the item on eBay with the pictures, but I would say like at the bottom, this is not a real one.

Well, at least you're honest.

Yeah, but it was fun ever.

Yeah, but it was like, it was much cheaper than the original, like the, the one that's actually like legit. And, uh, they ended up selling like loads, so I was making a couple hundred quid every day. But then it got to the point where like probably half of the people who ended up getting them were like complaining because they're like, this is not real. But I said it was real.

Anyway, it wasn't a very long-term sustainable business. No refunds.

After a month I got shut down.

Okay, so that was the first one.

That was the first one.

And then you went into Hollister, of course, spoke about that. Then you had a physical gym, which, you know what, it seems so weird for me thinking of Mike in like, because you're, you love travel, yeah, and thinking of you like locked down in a physical business, like, yeah, that was like for my person, PT, at least 3 years in on Scotswold Road, yeah, like in the gym all day every day from like 8 in the morning till sometimes like 8 at night, 9 at night, yeah, and every day. When did you start, like, first of all, like how many clients were you training there and then How did you— because this is such a big question to ask— how did you transition from in-person PT to online PT?

So at the time, I think I had, uh, it was like 4 or 5 a day. I kind of kept it at that. Yeah, there was— we had some other coaches there, and then I always had Sunday off. And then I realized whenever I traveled— and I love to travel— the moment that I would leave the UK, I basically was not making any money. So the longer I was out the UK, the more of a problem it was because I was like, fuck, I have no money. So the trips were always short and I had to kind of restrict with how many of those I could take each year. And then I think after a couple years of doing the coaching, I realized, okay, I feel like I know quite a bit about coaching now. And I would watch other YouTubers, and back then there wasn't really as many.

Yeah.

And I just kept thinking to myself, there's no reason why I can't do this. And I kind— I knew I didn't want to be a personal trainer forever. I knew I didn't want to be in that gym forever. I wanted to travel. I wanted to basically make money online, and I knew in order to do that I'd need to create some sort of demand online. So I needed to get my face out there. Yeah, I needed to get people watching me. So I started off whenever the gym was empty, I would just get a tripod and camera, just start making videos in the gym. And bear in mind, to begin with, it was absolutely terrible. Like, I just could— I was so bad at speaking on camera. But, uh, after filming loads, editing loads, I got better. And because I was speaking about stuff, I was educated about. It came across as being more confident. And then, uh, I guess after a couple months of kind of being semi-consistent, I built up a bit of a following on YouTube. And then, um, when I moved to London, when I left all of everything in Newcastle— friends, clients, literally everything— so my revenue was basically zero. I had a sponsorship from EHB Labs, $1,000 a month. I was, I was at a point of desperation. I was like, I need to make money. Yeah, and the only way for me to make money was to do it online. So I just said to myself, 2017, 2 videos every week for the whole year, and then the YouTube just blew up.

Nice. What was the first video you ever made, and is it still in the channel?

It was the FIBO. It was like a FIBO vlog, but it was just— it was weird because I'd never done a vlog before.

Is it still online?

Yeah, I think so.

Yeah, I, I love my first ever videos. Like, so I was speaking around Paul Daly's seminar thing, and like, we were talking about like your most prized possessions And honest to God, mine is the first, is my YouTube library. Like, I watched it the whole time. I'm probably just the only one watching anymore. I've got any views, all the views are me. Yeah, but like, I look back on them and like, to the fact that we even have a video of when we first met. Yeah, like the fact that we have that. Joe what? Okay, I was in London getting a haircut, okay? And this barber was like, he fucking loved us. And he— I just walked in randomly, it seemed like Chelsea. He was Turkish and he was like, oh my God! He was like, "Your Ibiza vlogs are the best," and they're like 40 minutes long. So he puts one on in the barber and he's just playing it while I'm getting my haircut. I'm like, "This is the best thing ever." So my prized possession is just all the videos that we've got together and just documenting the journey and everything. And so what was your first video that you ever uploaded?

One of the— also one of the worst videos ever.

Like, what was it?

Like a vlog in Las Vegas, and it was just so, so bad.

All of copyrighted music.

And like, it was just so— like, I look at my videos and just be like, what, what on earth was this?

Yeah, if you're not embarrassed by your first video, yeah, then—

and like, as well, I think one thing that used to have, which is really, really good, is that used to at least know the full kind of video making process. I think a lot of people now want to start a YouTube channel and they have no idea how to set up a camera, how to edit, even the basics, how to find copyright-free music, how to upload it, how to put it on YouTube. So many people try and skip all the steps by just hiring a videographer. Yeah. And then they post like, oh, I'm gonna start this YouTube channel, and then they literally post like 4 or 5 videos and then they just never do it again.

You know what they also do as well? That they're waiting for this first video to be this, this perfect.

Yes.

Yeah.

They don't realize that probably nobody is going to watch it.

Yeah.

So you might as well just get a few out the way first and then actually build some sort of a catalog, and at least you'll learn and each video will get slightly better to the point where you'll maybe build up a bit of traction.

Yeah, yeah, your first video should definitely never be your best video. Like, I would say that's the best advice— make it not your best video, because every video should gradually improve. And I think people as well should post consistently, at least once a week, but if they can, twice a week, because the more times you do something, the more repetitions, the better you get at it.

Yeah.

So if you just wait for one year and practice, practice, practice, and never post anything, that— there's no experience in that. Like, you it's better just to post consistently and use YouTube as a test. Like, you can test and see what people like. You can test thumbnails, test titles, and then after a year of posting once a week, you're, you're gonna be in a much better position than if you wait for a whole year and try and perfect the whole process.

Yeah, but even at this stage, if I don't vlog for a while, I get a bit rusty.

Oh, I get so— I started fucking up my words so much, and like, like, then I'm watching it back, editing it, and you're like, God.

It's the first vlog.

Yeah, yeah, so like, I'm the exact same way. You don't do it regularly. And so the best piece of YouTube advice, it's pretty much that MrBeast— MrBeast said it, obviously the GOAT. He goes, make just— no matter what, doesn't matter, just make 100 videos. Just, just don't even like worry about like hacks and hook and everything and just make 100 videos. And by default you're going to get better at everything. Then he goes, take those 100 videos, sort your analytics. What are the top 10 videos? Well, then that's my niche. And then just make those 10 again. And like that, that's probably the best advice I've ever heard. And so, right, okay, so you're leaving the gym, what— and you're, you're saying you need to make more money. You're sponsored by EHP. What's the first sale you ever made online?

It was online coaching.

Okay. And what was the program like? What was it?

I think back then I had 4 things. There was the one-to-one coaching, there was a customized training program, and a customized nutrition program. And I think the coaching was for 3 months.

Yeah. How much was it?

I don't think it was much, it must be about £300.

And I was—

I Skyped them every week.

Oh, fuck.

Every week for half an hour. So it was a, it was a good deal.

Yeah.

Um, but luckily because I'd already built up momentum on YouTube, like very quickly, yeah, it was like, oh, I'm getting over 10K a month.

Yeah, from YouTube.

No, no, from the, the traffic that was generating from YouTube.

Yeah, I remember my first ever sale. So I've like a theory or whatever, a quote, some just a rule to stick by. And because a lot of people, they're working 9 to 5, and I'll never forget I was working in 6— actually 9 to 6. 9 hours a day driving there and back. I'd earn— crying, crying in traffic like the Joker, crying with a smile. And I would earn, I think it was after tax, €1,800 a month. Yeah, I'm like, average rent in Dublin's like €2,000, so you're minusing €200 every month. Like, it's terrible. It was minimum wage at the time. And so I was like, I was so depressed. I was genuinely depressed. Like, I dark thoughts. I was like, how am I going to make it out of this? Because I've no third level education, you know, I've no daddy's business. Even though people think, oh, Rob's got a posh accent, you know, he definitely comes from rich family, they'll just— they'll give him all this, they'll give him all that. And another funny one people say, it's like, oh yeah, you had it handed to you. What, a fucking YouTube channel? My mum, my 70-year-old mum, give me her login details? The fuck you on about? So I was like, okay, I had no money, I had like €300 on my bank account, I hated this fucking job. I was like, I was like, I'm fucked. Like, I have nowhere to go. And so I had to make it. Like, I just had to make it. The only thing I could do was fitness. It's the only thing. And still to this day, like, I think people are like, what are you gonna be doing in 10 years?

I, I can't see myself doing anything else really, maybe property, because if I had no skill and I was like a little bit fat, yeah, I would just go and travel and just make travel vlogs.

Yeah, yeah, same.

People love food.

People love food.

Look, Your most viewed videos on your channel are food.

I know. I didn't want to become the calorie challenge guy, but I might have to. Honestly, I might have to go back.

Even, look, honestly, this is really good advice. All of your—

Bring it back to life.

Come on. Where are you all at? What do you want from me? A calorie challenge, is it? Is that all I've got to offer?

I remember when you had that massive chocolate bar that you had people melting.

What was it? Where was that from?

It was from Bali.

Yeah.

Oh, God. It was like a mist or something, or something.

It was like a 5-kilogram chocolate bar. You just had to keep like eating it and melting it to get the calories.

I was walking through the airport with it. They're like, you'll check that thing in? I said, do I have to pay extra luggage for this? I'm like, trust me, it'll be worth it. My girlfriend at the time is like, what the fuck is— what am I going out with?

But it got you a lot of calories. It was, it was the secret.

It was It was like I had to melt it and break it down, but we got it.

He's like chopping up with a saw.

They actually were some of my favorite videos too. Like, you've seen how much I can eat. Like, at dinner, I'm like the first one to finish anything. So I'm going to do one, maybe like, you have to be really lean to do it or you're not hungry enough.

Yeah.

Like, so you got to like diet.

You got to start early as well.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Well, the 10K one I did was done in like 12 hours.

I was like, is that it?

Then I did 10K in 1 hour. That was horrible. That was horrible. And then the 20K, that was, that's the limit. Like, at around 17K, I was like, this is not enjoyable. But wait, but we, we were going back. Me escaping my 9-5 went to be smuggling chocolate bars from Bali, from Bali, for my first ever sale. Okay, basically I had like a WordPress site, and I'm thinking back on the site, like roblipsett.com. Still, still have that website, but like, obviously it's updated. But the site was like so slow and so clunky, like it looked like Microsoft Paint, like Windows 92 or whatever. And I had just like, I had like coaching options and an ebook. And this is also so funny as well. I remember LF Gymwear, I was selling stringers. I had the audacity, I had like 1K subs, but people were still buying them. Like, it's crazy.

It's Irish, Irish following is the strongest, the strongest audience that you could ever have is Ireland. They're so loyal.

They are. They'll hate you, but they'll also be super loyal as well.

Yeah. If you slip up the slightest bit, they're fuck you up.

But I have, but it's been a few times.

But they're also the most supportive.

Let's just ban these words from my comment section.

Yeah, Rob actually does that. I remember when he told me, like, he showed me like on Instagram, like, oh dude, you know, like if you get any hate you can just ban certain words. So have a look here. And I know exactly what the words are. I'm not going to say them on camera.

Maybe we'll say them at the end of the podcast.

What year was that? Was it peak worst for you?

Okay, okay, wait, wait, so finish the website. So wait, anyways, I got the website that could do online coaching, sell an ebook, and then like when someone actually got the site working and navigated it, was able to buy some clothing, and I made more than $1,800, then I could fucking finally quit.

So you just—

if you— and oh no, not even that, you have to make it for 3 months in a row.

There's a point where you sometimes have to be balancing like two jobs.

Oh yeah, yeah, like, so I was working 9 to 6, then I would drive home, which would take like an hour, then like 7 PM, then I'd, you know, eat and like fuck around, get ready for the gym. I hate training at night as well, like, can't even take pre-workout or just be— no sleep. So 8 to 9, training, Roger in Portobello, and then 9 to 2, I'd be patching up orders, editing YouTube videos, and doing clients. And then 2, I'd sleep till 6. Like, no wonder I wanted to fucking end myself. Fucking 4 hours sleep a night will do that to a man. Like, and like, sleep is fucking— we'll get into that with the trackers later. But that was the breaking point for me. Like, I was like, I just need to, need to get out of this. Um, but yeah, then in terms of, you know, years where it's been tough, I think, uh, I think 2017 and '19, there was incidents Let's not bring them back.

Those incidents, like, now when I look at it and I think about it, like, that's character building.

Yeah, it is.

Yeah, it's good to have your name in the paper.

Yeah, yeah, any press is good for us. For anything, as long as I can still enter America. That was honest. That was, that was my concern. That was my concern. Like, that was my main— that's why I don't, you know, bring it up too often. If that— if it got bigger than it was you can't enter America, you know. If you're ever like actually arrested— I've never been arrested, thank God— but if you are, you have to, you have to say it, you know. So, but we're all good.

I got arrested once.

No, but now you're banned from America.

Can Owen go to America?

I don't know.

No, one of the, one of the lads can't.

Yeah, I got arrested because I was just being my usual drunk self and I walked out of a bar, like out of the door of the bar and there was a police van outside and I just walked out of the bar and opened the door of the police van and just got in.

Probably like easiest clients ever.

And then like, I thought it was the funniest thing ever. And then they literally just shut the door and took me to the police station and I was absolutely gutted. And I was also scared because I was going to Canada in like 2 weeks and I was like, fuck, that's going to— I've literally spent all my money on this this one-month trip in Canada, and now I'm not gonna be able to go. But luckily they like basically let me off.

Do you like Canada?

Yeah, I love it. Do you?

Yeah. Do you really? Why do you not like Canada? I think it's like America light, like American Junior. I've only ever been like Toronto. It's kind of like Ireland, you know.

No, I did a road trip around the mountains. It was sick. Whistler and Banff and shit.

I'm loving how sidetracked we got. I was like, please like sidetrack the fuck off. I was like, there's ever a part where I won't like follow any off the point It's gotta be this one.

No, it's good. And also you were talking about your first online sale. Yeah. Mine's actually very different.

That's you.

Yeah.

Different to both of yours.

Mine was also one of the best feelings. I mean, listen, it's also one of the best feelings like ever when you make that first one.

Especially a digital product. Oh, like for me, mine was even, mine was literally like a life cheat code. It was preset, Lightroom presets.

What a sack. AKA online course. You just do AI now. No, you can't.

Exactly. But at the time, no one knew how to edit photos, and no one could understand— like, no one even wanted to put in the time to learn how to edit photos.

Yeah.

So I just made 10 presets that kind of— they were basically filters, and you just press whatever one, 1 to 10, whatever one suits your photo, and people pay £30 for it.

They—

and I remember just waking up one morning, 3 people had bought my presets overnight. I woke up with £90. I was getting paid a grand a month at my 9 to 5.

Like, that's so— like, that's life-changing. It is life-changing.

Like, making money whilst you're asleep.

Yeah.

Like if someone, like 3 people bought presets and I woke up and I had 90 quid in my bank and I was like, what the fuck?

I still love that. Like if someone, if I see someone sign up to my app for like, like also because we make loads of money and all that, I never think like that. Like if I make a sale for like €89, I'm fucking delighted.

It's nice to see that notification.

Yeah, I love it. I have those, they're the only notifications I've got turned on. It motivates. So So if anyone's like listening to this and they're, they're like, oh, I don't make 10, 20K a month and all this— people love to inflate, like they would love to flex on social media and act as if it's nothing to them. And it's like, it's fucking great.

No, it's the best thing ever.

It's great. Like, 100 quid is loads, you know.

And so 100 quid extra to spend a day.

Exactly.

Yeah, don't save anything.

Yeah. And Joe, I actually bought—

that's very important. I don't save anything. I just spend every Yeah, that's just— I'm gonna be completely honest.

Yeah, don't ask us any questions about investing.

Yeah, me and Mike are exactly the same. We're all the same. We don't come— like, my parents have never ever give me money. My grandma used to give me like a fiver if I cleaned her car or cut the grass, but like, I've never— like, if I get myself in a bad situation, so like, I don't know, like get arrested overseas or crash my car or something bad happens to me, my mom and dad can't bail me out. Yeah, so I have to fucking figure out a way to fix whatever it is myself.

Yeah.

Which I think makes you, makes you a good person, makes you a better person, knowing that you don't, can't rely on your mom or dad or parents to, to bail you out. It means that you fuck up less, I think, and it means that you actually have to grind, and you're so much more appreciative of the things that you earn.

Yeah, it literally, like, it's so easy to just spoil someone. Yeah. Yeah. And they'll, they'll actually become this big man-child.

Exactly.

And then never learn anything. And you, I see these people the whole time, and they're like, they can't do their fucking laundry or cook a meal. That's terrible. What age did you guys move out?

It was pretty much when I went to university. I felt like that was when I moved out. I came back home for the holidays. Yeah, but I couldn't wait to get out. I wanted my own space.

Yeah, I remember.

What about you?

I moved from my parents' house to my ex-girlfriend's house and lived there until I was like 27, 28. And like, they literally—

yeah, they did everything.

They did everything for me.

Yes, he's the man-child.

My ex-girlfriend's mum literally used to go to Marks Spencer's and get me the best quality steak ever, every night.

I can't believe how good you—

you had it too good.

Yeah, like my ex-girlfriend's dad used to be like, like, how is he getting that steak? Yeah, like, he's like, I can't even get a BJ.

But literally, like, fuck, you had it so good.

Yeah, and like, Louie just had to self-sabotage.

No wonder you don't want to leave Ireland.

Yeah.

And then, uh, and then obviously I did have to go and do some self-sabotage. Yeah, I had to just—

yeah, just go full send for a while.

Yeah.

So I remember I moved out. I had like, um, I, I had to move out because— so like my whole family like separated when Family Business like went under when I was like 18, 19. So my sister's all like— I think a few went through like America, uh, they just went, everyone went. Um, Mexico. Yeah, fucking all over. Honestly, one of my bras was in Japan for a while. Like, they all just left, um, my parents split. So it was just me in this, like, in the family home. But then the family home, every room was rented out to make money, you know, to get by. So it was like Hey Arnold, like it was just me and like a bunch of strangers. And like, you can see all this on YouTube, you can see like the, the backgrounds, place a complete fucking mess. And people would walk into like the kitchen when I'd be trying to do like a a cooking video, Peri Peri chicken, some shitty recipes. So it would have been like very early 20s, like, so it would have been like just at the start of YouTube, so like 22. And so the place was a shit hole, uh, people actually would steal like my laptop and cash out of my room. I'm like, I'm trying to, I'm trying to become a YouTuber, I need a fucking laptop. And so I was like, I, I have to move out no matter what. So it was kind of like the 9 to 5 thing. I was So with the 9 to 5, I was like, as soon as I make more money than my 9 to 5, I'm quitting. And with the moving out thing, I was like, as soon as I'm able to afford rent, I'm out of here. And the feeling when I, I'd rented this place in Sandyford, you probably know Sandyford, it's like beside Raw Gym. And like I rented that and it was me and my ex living there, but like I paid for the rent and like going from that mess of a house to like a really clean, organized space. Made the biggest difference to my life ever.

Environment is everything.

Yeah, it invites everything. So like, I'll show you guys my house later. It's actually a little bit messy today. The maid is coming soon, a little bit. For the fact that I just said that, actually, thank God, like, that I'm actually went from hating where I live to actually just saying that sentence. But, um, where you live, like, it needs to be clean and organized because a reflection of your car, your office, and your house is a reflection of your mind.

And your shoes, apparently.

Yeah, oh good, I'm wearing a nice pair today. But that is good, actually. And your phone case. If you've got a cracked screen, you're probably a meth addict. Fuck's sake.

No, I literally don't respect anyone that goes out with a cracked phone.

Yeah, especially if I see a girl with it as well. I'm like, girls are meant to be like dainty and like, you know, a little bit like synchronized.

She definitely goes out a lot.

Yeah, she's always out if the screen is smashed. Like, you know, she's not smashing it like sober at her breakfast table, you know. She's eating like her oats, you know, she's in the club throwing that thing against the fucking wall. But anyways, organized space. I got out of that place and I moved out and made the biggest difference. So there's like a debate, you know, should you stay at home and try to like save money, you know, or should you move out and start renting on your own? Personally, I think like move out as soon as possible.

I have a couple of things to say about that. I noticed on your very first videos when you didn't like living in that environment. Yeah. You filmed a lot of videos in your car.

Yeah, yeah.

And I also did the same when I used to live with my ex. I didn't like filming the house. I didn't want people listening to what I was saying.

Yeah, exactly.

Just go out in the car and film in the car. And I think that's a, that's a huge barrier to creating content. And one thing that I learned from Mike specifically was Mike will always spend more money than he needs to on his, on his environment, on his apartment or wherever he's staying. Because when you're somewhere that's comfortable, beautiful you, you feel, you feel inspired to create, and you can set the camera anywhere. The lighting's nice, it looks good, you feel comfortable. I think that's one of the, the biggest and most important things to people who are starting to create new content is spend a little bit of money if you can, or if you have to spend all of your money to be in a nice environment, it's going to help you in so many different ways that you don't even realize.

Yeah, it made the biggest difference to me. There's some advice I actually heard from the Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort, like, he was kind of joking, you know, and it's like a funny quote, but like, it's kind of true. And he's like, if you want to become a fucking millionaire, go buy the house you can't afford and the sports car you can't afford, and you'll work the hardest you will ever work in your life. And so I usually, I would hear that and I'd be like, that's irresponsible advice, that's stupid. But so one thing I haven't really spoke about this is, uh, it was, it was like 2022. So yeah, about 2 years ago, like, I, I bought the house And so for people that don't know, basically to do a down payment when you are living, you're a fucking YouTuber, the banks are like, what the hell is this? And you're a foreigner. So like I'm Irish living in Spain. I do a 50% down payment like on the house. I was just obsessed with it. I was like, I'm going to get that villa no matter what. So I had to do a transaction of over a quarter of a million, right, in one go. It felt crazy to see that number leave my account. Okay, so I had to do that. 50% or way more than 50% down payment, and then I had to renovate it. So the renovation was like, all together with furniture, it's been like $150K. And like, that's— I had '22 where like my account was like just fucking taking hits, and then 2023, I had one of the best years ever financially because I was like, I need, I need to work. Yeah, you know, I need to go. And now I'm left with a house that someone tried to offer to buy for $1.8 million, which is great. And now I've like all reno done, everything done, up only now.

Now you can be reckless again.

Yeah, now it's G-Wagon Lambo time. Now we've got to reset it again. But, but so like in 2022, yeah, I've never said I was like super stressed for that whole year. Yeah, like, like really financially stressed. And like, it was, it was definitely a few low moments in that year. Yeah, when you're like, you're like, some years are not good and some years are. And this is like good advice for people listening. Like, it's gonna go like this.

I think it should be hard.

I mean, like, I don't like when there's a load of money sat in my account because it's just—

oh, we know what it's there.

I'm like, oh, like, I don't necessarily need to work today. Yeah. But if it's, if it's gone, it's not there, and it's like closer to zero, I'm like, fuck. Oh shit.

Yeah.

I think as well, like, I learned so much from Mike. Like, I was saying to Mike yesterday, did a podcast with Mike Mike was basically my— like, so many people have mentors and pay for mentors, and I was literally so lucky that Mike was my mentor, and I didn't even realize it until now. And I'm like, pretty much everything I learned is from Mike, from you. Yeah, I was very lucky that my ex-girlfriend's older brother, he was super like insane businessman. I learned a lot from him, so I was like used to— and him, I learned so much. Yeah, but also with Mike, the things that I'm realizing now, I'm a little a little bit later to the party. Like, I didn't move out until I was 28, but Mike living in London in that really expensive apartment in London, paying everything for me and paying me a salary, like, that was a lot of financial pressure.

Yeah, but you—

it's like investing in yourself, I guess.

Yeah.

What was the rent in London?

That was 4K.

That's good. That was like the same as mine in London. But then your rent in Dubai, do you want to disclose?

It's like 9K.

Oh man. You use that?

But that one is, uh, studio. Everything's included, so I don't pay for bills, anything else. No bullshit letters coming through the post. Okay. And, um, it's the podcast studio as well.

Yeah, yeah, it's sick. Like, that's, that's a big thing as well. That's why I tried to make, uh, you know, Villa Lipsett like pretty much a studio. My last 6 posts are all in the back garden, which is great. I'm like, it's finally like paying off. Like, so, you know, it is a good investment, like, when you put it back into where you live. Quick one on mentors, right?

Going back to the Jordan Belfort. Yeah, of buying the house and the car and then going to work hard. I left—

has ruined many lives.

I left.

Yeah, I literally nearly ruined mine.

Turned 28, 27, 28, and bought a Range Rover. And then the day I got it, drove to Ibiza. Literally didn't even go, just bought a Range Rover. And drove straight to the ferry to Ibiza and then just got the most expensive apartment me, Joel, and Jake could get. First time ever living alone.

I knew how rich you were early as well.

I was like, how the fuck are you doing this? Tell me you got a Range Rover.

I was just like, fuck it, let's just go fucking all in. I basically came out—

It's all about applied pressure.

Yeah, too much pressure.

Came out of a 10-year relationship and I was just like, fuck it, like, you only live once. So me, Joel, and Jake got like our penthouse in Ibiza.

Like, it was the best.

I made it work.

You did make it work.

I made it work. And then Jake and Joel were like, fuck, we can't live in Ibiza, this is a terrible place to live. Like, we had the best year ever. Like, it was so fun. It was obviously incredibly crazy, but I did make it work. But then they left, and I for some reason was like, oh well, I'm just going to keep the apartment because I can't let it go.

Yeah.

So then I just had to pay like $3.8K alone for my apartment with 3 bedrooms. And for some reason Cindy told me like she was gonna help contribute, and I was like in my head like, yeah, yeah, I'm sure she will. And then like obviously just never. So then I had a $3.8K apartment, I have my car, and like everyone else is gone, and I just decided to stay there for another year.

That's, that's when a man goes insane. Like, yeah, like literally, like that is a recipe for insanity.

Yeah, living in a bifa paying that much on rent, just being surrounded.

You could have saved a bit of money by like going to the supermarket, buying some food and making your own food, and you're like, nah.

Yeah, coffee's out every day, like €8.

Eating out every meal.

Didn't cook one meal in the business.

I know, I know. Nowadays with social media, everything is so in your face. We're constantly looking at what the other person has and we're comparing it to what we don't have. You know, one of my favorite quotes is, don't compare your chapter 1 to someone else's chapter 10. And we're always working on our physiques and our lifestyle, but sometimes we forget about our mind. So thank you to BetterHelp for sponsoring this video. They are an online therapy service. You go on, you fill out your details, and you get paired with a therapist that's suited to you and your goals. Have a sit down, figure out what you really want in life, and train your mind. I couldn't recommend them enough. They're a service that I'm very proud to stand behind, and I think that everyone watching this video would really be well matched with BetterHelp. So if you're thinking about starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. They're designed to be flexible, convenient, and they work around your schedule. So stop comparing and start focusing. Go on to betterhelp.com gameplan. That's betterhelp.com/gameplan to get 10% off your first month. Go check it out and enjoy the rest of the podcast.

Like, it's impossible. Why the fuck would I cook in a beef—

like, like, you, you would spend— there's some days, like, in summer. So like, I go through like phases in Marbella. Like, at the moment, like, this week I had loads of people visiting and loads of meals out. So I'm like, this is kind of like holiday time. Time. But like during the year, I like cook all my own meals in Marbella. But I notice when I'm eating out loads, it's like my biggest expense. Yeah, like there's some days, especially if like you're paying for Linda or your friends or whoever you're with, or you know, your video team, just some days like it was just like €500 on fucking meals out. Yeah, and they're like small portions.

Yeah, in Ibiza it's literally like €500 to a grand like a day. Like if you go to a club go to Pasha and every drink's €37 for one drink. And then if we're being stupid and we buy like a fucking shisha, that's €400. Like, you paid €90 into it. Yeah, €90 into the club. You probably went to Passion for breakfast, which was €60 each somehow. And then you go and pay for a gym, €14 for a gym, €20 for a gym pass, for a day pass at Nirvana where all the equipment's broke. and then you go out for dinner to like Roto or somewhere, that's another €150 more. Then you pay €100 into the club, then you buy a few drinks. It's like literally €500 a day.

Yeah, even, even more. It's closer to €1,000. And if you're paying for your girlfriend as well, yeah, just double, just times 2.

But it's actually quite amazing how you managed it, to be honest.

Yeah, I'm like, how? Two words: overdraft.

I had a lot of brand deals, but now Now what I've done is in the last 6 months since I've gone sober and stuff, I, yeah, pretty much dropped all my brands and now I'm trying to build my own thing, which is the Creator Club. So now I only work with 3 brands, which is 3 YouTube videos.

It's like plug 3 different brands.

Yeah, that was just so great.

I literally— that was the thing, I was making good money because I had so many brand deals, but I was having to make 2 or 3 YouTube videos a week just to put the brand deals in.

Yeah.

And everyone— I was selling like I mean, it was all products that I used, but I was selling something to people in every single video, and then people started to get sick of it, and then it's diluting my personal brand.

Yeah, it's like there's a word for it. It's something like, um, I was about to call it audience fatigue. That's the politically correct professional term for fucking sellout.

Rob also works with the most brands I've ever seen in my life as well.

No, no, So I— all I have now is Ghost and Athlete. That's it.

Like, no, you just did BetterHelp in the last podcast.

Oh shit, were they in that one?

I just—

Darren, my editor, just fucking throws them in. Okay, that was first one in a while.

I think it's fine if you're working with brands that are actually legit.

I went to them in the last vlog.

Yeah, I saw that one. I worked with BetterHelp. Joe, I actually— I need to do— to fucking— I'm like, can I get some better help myself as well?

Do you guys—

have you guys ever needed it with relationships?

I think, yeah, yeah, definitely. For real, it's meant to be like really good. Have you guys ever done any therapy?

I've done therapy.

Have you? Yeah, like in person or online?

When I, when I did my 6 months sober, I was like, I had to like— more so about my— I get very jealous. It's more relationship therapy with Cindy. Like, I always thought Cindy was the one causing the trouble, but actually my therapist was like, yeah, actually, actually It's a lot down to you.

No, I'm serious. So once, like, I used to kind of think it was Cindy as well, and then like, I live— me and Linda stayed with you for 3 days. We're like, well, maybe it is Louis.

It's both because, yeah, me and Cindy are exactly the same.

Yeah.

And we both like, I believe I'm right and Cindy believes she's right, and both of us are too stubborn to back down.

Yeah.

So now when we, we got— me and Cindy still go to the therapist like like once every 2 weeks.

Nice.

2-hour session. It's the best thing I've ever done in my life.

Whoa, wait, online?

Yeah. Well, the guy, the guy is— he's based in Ibiza, so he speaks Spanish and English. No, but because he speaks Spanish and English, so it's— but it's honestly the most beneficial I think I've ever done. I think every single person in the world can benefit from therapy.

Yeah.

And unload.

Yeah.

And then find out why you do the things you do.

And also, like, in relationships, like, I— after— since I've been going to therapy, I can see other people's relationships as well and see like, fuck, like they would— but like, I can see now after everything I've learned, yeah, that other people would benefit so much from it.

Yeah, yeah, I mean, Linda definitely gonna do it. It's really, really good.

You learn so much about yourself.

Yeah. And, um, a really good quote— a few, few— there are a few things I want to go in on there. So first of all, really good analogy that I've heard: it's better to go to the gym now instead of waiting till you're obese. It's better to get therapy now instead of waiting until you're crazy. Like going insane. So that's why it's like, it's better to start from a good place and maintain it instead of like really starting from a bad place and trying to get back to that good place. So that's like, that's probably the most accurate analogy between mental health and physical health I've heard. When you jump on, on the call— but this isn't a fucking brand deal— when you jump on the call, like, what do they ask you? Like, what's like, what are the questions?

I think it's important first that you know why you, why you're going there, your reason for therapy, because because for me, when on my 6-month sober journey, everything in my life was fixed. So I wasn't making— I wasn't messing up anymore. I fixed my business, I fixed— I fixed my mental health, I fixed my, my physical health. I was the fittest I've ever been, to run marathons. And the last thing that I need to fix was the relationship, because I knew that me and Cindy, whenever we have a problem, it's— it escalates so bad because I'm not very good at dealing with it and she's not very good at dealing with it. So the relationship with me and Cindy. Obviously it would be easy for me just to be like, okay, me and Cindy don't work, break up with her. But yeah, we both love each other, so we want it to work. And I think that's the key in a relationship, is if you really want it to work, you need to put in the work. So we would just go, we would write down on our notes, like if we, if we had a problem, we'd write down on our notes what our problem was. Cindy couldn't see my side, I couldn't see her side. Then we talk with it with the therapist, and he's kind of got like a neutral perspective. Okay. He kind of helps us both understand each other a little bit better.

Yeah, because there's actually, uh, meant to be like, it's kind of like the fitness industry, like there's a lot of PTs. Apparently there's a lot of shit therapists as well, so you have to like really choose.

No, 100%.

And there's loads of that. Apparently if they're like a female, they'll just take the female side, or even vice versa, a man could just take the, the man side. So having a neutral one is, is—

I think it was nice for, for, for my therapist to tell me like, no, Louis, that's wrong.

Yeah, like, because we need somebody honest.

We all basically— how our parents bring us up, that's how we think. So like like, because my mom and dad taught me certain things are wrong or right, then I truly believe that, but it might not necessarily be true.

Yeah.

So like, when I'm telling Cindy, like, you shouldn't do that because it's not right, I don't think it's right, or it's hurt my feelings or whatever, it doesn't— like, I'm— it's just the way that I've been brought up. Yeah. So he like dives deep into why my beliefs are that way and why my perceptions are that way, and then we kind of— he— we kind of work back to what is right.

Or was it because your parents—

what But just like, as well, our culture, like British culture, is so different to Latina culture. So like, certain things that I think is unacceptable, or like, I don't know, I was lucky because my ex-girlfriend like didn't go out and party and club and have like—

she was just like, she didn't even have social media.

Yeah, she didn't have social media. Exactly, exactly. So going from that to then Cindy, who's an extrovert and more like me.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. It's, it's like I, I'm used to for 10 years being in a certain way.

Yeah.

And now I need to remember that Cindy isn't my ex and that I need to treat the relationship as a completely blank page, blank canvas, and kind of reset everything and be like, okay, I need to think differently now.

Yeah. So while we're on the, the topic of self-improvement, what is— if you now— I know you've done like so much self-work the last 6 months. If you could improve one thing about yourself, what would it be? So get ready for that as well. I just got it. Just one.

My, my, my biggest problem by far is, is distractions. But I think, I think you especially deal with it the same.

We have ADHD. Oh yeah, horribly.

Like, it's really bad. Yeah, like, I don't know why I've now got two phones. One was meant to be for work and one was meant to be for pleasure, but Like, I've literally just hired a video editor because when I sit down to edit a YouTube video, my brain is literally going off in every different angle like possible, and I can't get anything edited. So now I have some apps on my phone, one called Opal. It blocks Instagram and WhatsApp, and I block Instagram and WhatsApp, and I literally can't unlock them.

What's the app?

Yeah, the best ever. But so mine, definitely time management. And just distractions. Yeah, but when I get into the deep work, so normally what I do now is iced Americano, sparkling water, fast until 2 PM, concentration levels are the best.

Yeah, yeah, I do pretty much the similar and, uh, a little bit of Adderall as well. Yeah, I got a plug if you wanna, but I'm thinking like what, once every, like every time I really need to get something done, like it's for even for me it's strong and I take a lot of caffeine and everything.

Mine's just distractions. Yeah, everything else is really, really good now. Like, yeah, I run every day, my diet's much better, I journal. Like, all of that, all of that stuff really helps me. Yeah, but just, just diet. Well, I would say diet and time management.

You love your diet though, like, you know, it's not like—

I was saying, I want to see him with shredded abs.

That was actually a topic that I have down. How do we get Louis, like, actually, like, peeled? Just for— he doesn't have to stay there. Yeah, we just want to see—

I want to see it.

I just want to see it.

His abs look better than mine.

Mash's ab genetics are so good. Yeah, you just don't know. Yeah, like literally, like rises to the top of the fitness industry like Ulysses. Mike, we're gonna go in on that later. What's one thing that you think you could work on? You could do some stuff.

I think the focus is a big thing. Um, organization, massive, because with everything good, like, I'm just not organized. Like, I'm way too chill. Yeah, so I hired an assistant to basically do the organizing for me, which helps massively. She just looks at my week, she's like, Mike, you need to do this, need to do that. She does the things which I don't need to be doing. And then, uh, this is something which— not a problem now, but I think in the future— is I'm so used to living by myself now and having my own time, I wonder what it's going to be like when I have a partner, when I have kids. Yeah, like I really don't know how I'm deal with that.

Yeah, well, I lived— I was the same. I actually love being on my own. I'm actually an introverted person. Like, people are surprised. No, it's where you get— it's where you recharge. So I don't recharge when I'm around people because I give everyone such enthusiasm. I'm actually wrecked when I, you know, leave the room or finish a talk, and like, I have to be on my own for a while. And so, you know, I love my alone time. And I lived again kind of like in a 3-bedroom house out of choice place or apartment paying mad rent, and someone's like, do you want a roommate? And I'm like, no, because I love being on my own for so many years. And now I— and it's— that's a really important quality to have. That's like probably one of the best traits, especially as a man, the ability to be on your own. And I think if you don't know how to be on your own, you will not attract a good woman, because like you're, you're like desperate and needy. Yeah, you're like, oh, I need to meet someone. But having like Linda around the house and like, you know, especially if it's like a nice feminine girl, you know, it's, it's a nice atmosphere.

How did you find it when she moved in?

Yeah, so it actually happened really gradually. Like, she was, um, she just kind of like stayed at mine for like a week and just never left, you know. She was— she would just come over. Yeah, she would just be like coming over and staying, staying over like often, to the point then like we'd be going out for like, you know, 6 months to a year, and then we're just like, you know, know, just gradually moved in. This is in Dublin, and then we moved to London together, and then here.

Cindy.

Yeah, yeah, it happens a lot.

Like, Cindy, the night before Mike's birthday, and I text Mike being like, ah, just met this girl last night, she stayed over, can I— she seems like really funny, can I bring her to your birthday? And Mike was like, yeah, bring her, that'll be, that'll be funny. And then after that night, Cindy has just never ever left. Yeah, like 2 years since I haven't been apart from Cindy. From the day I met her, she— we haven't left, she hasn't That's mental. But I, I like, I like, I like being with girls as well. This is a— it's a question that I was asking Mike yesterday, is like, what are you gonna do when you find someone that you want to move in with you?

But I think maybe I do meet the person who I genuinely want to be around almost all the time.

Yeah, I think it just has to be a girl who isn't super, isn't super needy.

Yeah.

Yeah, like maybe she's like got so much shit going on and she's like even above me.

Yeah, I don't know if you'd like that. No, we say that, but I don't think you'd like that.

I think, I think that would be good for you. I think you, you need like— that's exactly what you need, a girl who's literally similar to you and as busy as you.

Yeah.

And then, and then you— and then she just like— then you'll like— I can't If she's working on her own projects and she's super passionate about what she does and just leaves you to do what you need to do, and then you come together and have dinner together and go to bed together and whatever, like, that's nice.

Yeah, yeah.

I think that's what you— you just don't need a girl who's gonna be sat around doing nothing, like, basically begging for your attention. Yeah, there's nothing worse than that. It's the, it's the most distracting thing of all time. And then you basically resent them because they're, they're being so needy and craving your attention, and it's preventing you from doing all of your work. So you end up being like, fuck, I'm so sick and tired of this.

Yeah.

So, so what is the, the one thing you need to improve on, to summarize it? Because I think you're quite organized, like—

yeah, I'm far from perfect though. I guess it depends what area of my life I want to improve. I don't think, uh, I'm that bothered about improving my relationship side of my life at the moment. Yeah, I just want to focus on business and career. So I think just being more focused and organized and going, going in on the things which are going to provide the highest return on investment.

Yeah, I think I need to be more patient with people unless they cause me to be snappy sometimes, which, which I, I don't like to be. Like, I like being very polite to everyone. And then, yeah, patient with where I'm at in life as well, you know, like always want more, more and I need to stop rushing. And like, even like the way I talk is so fast and everything, so I need to calm, be more calm.

We'll give you a tranquilizer every day.

Yeah, yeah, maybe swap my Adderall for fucking sleeping tablets.

Is it time to inject Rob?

Yeah. So, and then here's a nice one, okay? What do you think is the most positive trait in each other?

Well, by the way, yeah, I was just about to say, I think both of you are absolutely smashing it like better than I am. Like, you still are— I feel so lucky that my two biggest role models are my two best friends. Yeah, man, honestly.

I'd say for Louis, his, uh, loyalty and honesty.

Yeah, me too. That's, that's literally perfect. Like, especially the honesty as well. He'll like always just be straight up with you.

Yeah, I, I can't not be honest. Yeah, it's just—

I think, I think Mike is like, he's definitely like a born leader. Like, that's— I think it's the most positive, I think, you know, Mike's just—

being in his presence is just like, he's very chilled, he's very relaxed, he's— most of the time you're, you're never stressed.

Yeah.

And also, I just feel like if I'm inside, I feel like I could ask or tell you anything and you'd always help me.

Yeah.

So I don't know what the word is to describe that, but maybe reliable. I don't know.

I've noticed that whenever I've gone on first dates or I've been like get to know someone new, they open up very quickly.

Yeah.

And they feel like, I don't know what it is, I feel like I can trust you.

Yeah. And with Rob, I would say that it's good that I can, like, if, if ever I'm going to see Rob, I know that I'm like, it would be impossible to be in a bad mood.

I know, I know my stomach's gonna hurt from laughing.

Yeah, exactly. Oh, my face, my face and my cheeks. Like, the other night, even on, on our dinner on the first night on Friday, my face just hurt from laughing so much.

That was a great dinner, by the way. That was lovely food.

And like, we always say, like, oh, if Rob's gonna be there, like, this is— it's gonna be a funny day.

Even when you— when you did the— the— when I came on your podcast. Yeah, that's probably the best one I've done because you brought out, like, the best in me. Like, I've done other ones that have been, like, really serious and boring.

Yeah, that's what all the comments are like.

And people don't— people, people are like, oh, surely he's not like this in real life. And I'm like, no, no, no. Yeah, way more intense.

It's just less politically cracked.

Yeah.

And like, you're just like, you're just, it's just Rob. So like, it's, I think it's just a pleasure to be around. It's always exciting.

Now another one that we nearly touched on there, you kind of brought it up there, is mentors. Okay, do you think, you know, people should, how do they get a mentor? Like, okay, so I'm the same as you, like my mentors have been, you know, you guys of course, Christian Guzman, who I used to queue up to who at an expo was like now one of my best friends, you know, going to each other's wedding and everything. Max Schuening is someone that like I could literally, when I was making Fuel Cakes, literally text about like, he built a candy company. I could just be like, tell me exactly what I need to do. Like, so all my mentors like you are your friends. Who, Mike, who are your mentors? Who have they been? And do you think like, do you think guys should like pay for a mentor or just kind of let it happen, you know?

Yeah, I don't think I've I've— there was one time I paid for one, it was Mark Coles.

Okay, yeah, so he's in that event here in Marbella recently.

Yeah, yeah, this was back, back when I was in London. I think I just needed to speak to someone who could guide me in the right direction, and I think he was the one that kind of confirmed that, yeah, I need to go off, I need to travel, I need to go down the lifestyle route as opposed to just sticking in the training. Yeah, uh, route.

That's interesting that he said that because he's like super, you know, trained. Trainer, corporate PT.

Yeah, but he's, he's very switched on. And, um, I would say a lot of them have just been picking people who I respect and admire and just listening to them. I mean, thankfully now in today's age is all these podcasts. Yeah, all this like information. If you can't afford to pay for mentors, then just listen to the people who are smashing it. Yeah, and it's like you're getting a free mentorship in a sense. Um, if you— again, if you don't have the money, like, you've got some guy who's just started shadowing you, if you— this is someone who you respect and admire, you could literally just offer your services and just work for free just for a little bit of time. And maybe they'll be up for it, maybe they won't like it, but you know, you'll never learn more than being with someone who's smashing it.

Exactly.

Yeah.

So like, I'm— I always say this, like, no matter what, my— I wouldn't be in this position now if I hadn't been with you two. Yeah. And like, Mike took me under his wing, and I'm so grateful. Like, it changed my entire life. So I'm super lucky to, to have been able to live with Mike for 2 or 3 years.

Yeah, that's why, like, you guys have probably spent so much time together. Yeah, like live together, literally. Yeah. And so wait, on that note, right, there's a good one. What was the moment when you were like, this is actually all working? When did you feel like— not about like the online sale— like, when did you feel like life is really coming together?

You know, when it started for me was you know that Ibiza trip we did? Yeah, with, uh, Mariah was there. Max. Yeah, yeah, that was when I was like, fuck, like, this is, this is fun. Yeah, this was like just broken up with almost a 2-year relationship. It was weird being single again. I had no chat. I was finally in a position where I could just travel, and I was making money whilst I was traveling. And that, that, that was the beginning. And then it peaked like 2019 when me and Louie would just fucking go around everywhere.

Yeah, when me and Mike just used to— we literally had like, like, I remember how we had like, literally we, we went to so many different places and we were just living the absolute best life and making the best videos, taking the best content, and everyone was loving it. The feedback on YouTube was amazing, the feedback on Instagram was amazing. We were just literally living our best life. Like, yeah, okay, I was like, fuck, this is this is literally insane. And all my friends at home were like, what the fuck, this is— I can't believe we get to do this.

That was the best thing we could have done before COVID Yeah, yeah, I could go to as many places as possible.

So like, I remember I was very similar, was in Ibiza of course, and it was— I remember it so vividly. There's this moment, it was 2018, it was during summer, and I was actually with Max Wyatt. The first time me and Max met, it was just like a random party, but I was with this random crew. He was the only person I know. And we were driving around on like a little small boat in Ibiza. It was really fun. I was with like, you know, Rara and all that crew as well. When I just first met them, and like it wasn't a big like extravagant boat or anything, but like I just spent like the whole day jumping off cliffs and like jumping into the sea. And then like we went to like fucking some shitty bar, we watched a football match, and then we went to a club. And yeah, it was just like a classic Ibiza day. And I remember that day just having no worries.

Yeah.

And I was— I wasn't worried about money. Like I could go up to the spent, whatever. Like, you know, I didn't make as much as I do now, but I was still just so comfortable. And I distinctly remember that day I had a moment where I was just like standing on the side of the boat, like, just looking at the sea, and I was like, I'm— I can do this. Like, I, I can—

like, I don't know what it was as well. It was actually a couple weeks before the Ibiza trip when I met you for the first time. So I remember I was on, I was on the plane landing into Dubai just thinking, fuck, like, I'm going to this cool place, I don't have to pay for a thing. Yeah, we're getting treated to like this week of like the best of the best in Dubai, and like all I have to do is like be myself. Yeah, make a video.

It did. I remember that as well. It was funny. What's from that trip as well? A few slaps in the face. But yeah, I remember there's a few moments like that. But yeah, around like 2018, and like I deal with such imposter syndrome. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. Another good quote is like, the only people that don't get imposter syndrome are imposters.

Yeah.

So, but I, I always feel like, when's this gonna fucking end? Like, oh God, like someone's gonna come knock on my door and be like, the jig's up, like the dream's over.

It doesn't, but it doesn't. The simulation ends.

The simulation ends. But I'm like, you know, you just keep going. Exactly. After a year.

Did you notice in 2020 that people just stopped buying programs? 'Cause for me it would like, dude, dude.

Yeah, I noticed it. People during COVID like, because our demographic, um, does not do home workouts. Yeah, they're all guys that want to lift weights. So definitely there was a dip, but then like I never noticed anything like too, too extreme. But then that is actually in 2021 is when I started doing high ticket, like one-on-one again. Yeah, because I think people like crave uh, human interaction after COVID, and they wanted accountability. The program's the exact same. If you sign up to fucking Game Plan, or if you work with me one-on-one, you're gonna be lifting and tracking your macros, doing the same shit. But the only difference is, you know, you can literally call me whenever, and you can actually even come to Marbella and train me whenever, whatever you like. That's like something I offer. It's actually really nice as well to like meet someone in person, train them, like, because you don't get to do it often, like. And, and you're not doing it like 9 hours a day And so that's the only difference, uh, that I'd say, anything that I started doing.

Also, another thing that I want to say about mentors as well is so many people see all these successful people making all this money and they're like, oh, that's, that's my— I need to be like that guy, so I'm going to hire this guy or invest in this guy as my mentor. But I recommend that you only hire or invest in a mentor that's living the life that you want to live. Like, so many people don't realize that people like Iman and all these super successful people are literally working 12 hours a day grinding on their laptops, on their phones. Yeah. And you only see like the, the 5% of the life that they're actually living. So I actually recommend if you are going to hire a mentor that you research their life and see how they're living day to day and ask yourself, is that the life that you want to live?

Yeah.

And then go for it.

Otherwise they'll say you just have to work more.

Yeah. Because like, let's be honest, we don't— like, I'm— I don't want to work all day every day. I want to be able to live a little. I want to be able to just book a random trip to Marbella to come and see you guys. And that— this is the life I want to live, a life of balance. So it's very important that you look at whoever you are interested in hiring as your mentor and have a look at their life and be like, do I want to live my life like that before investing?

Yeah, it's also like when you see an out-of-shape PT— well, nowadays, like, there's half people are like, oh, relatable, and they'll get all those clients. But like, if you've got like a male audience like me and Mike, like you got to be in shape, you like, you got to walk the walk, like sell more programs. Speaking of that, like when I was prepping like for my show, so first of all, wasn't like drinking, didn't drink for like 4 or 5 months, in insane shape, it's like this time last year, obviously just more productive, but like the highest sales have like ever, ever been. Like, yeah. And what do you think of out-of-shape PTs nowadays?

Like, I don't know if it— so say for example, like James Smith, he's not like in insane shape. No. You would look at him and you think fairly average. Yeah, but he's a fucking good coach. Yeah, and his content is like really good. It's really great. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, so you don't need to be shredded and jacked, but you need to have the knowledge and you need to be able to present it in a way that is almost like relatable and just easy for people to digest. Just make it fucking simple and then add a bit of personality and humor, and then bam. Like that Dr. Mike Isratel, like his humor is fucking hilarious.

He's so funny, and you don't expect he's gonna be Yeah, so because he's this big massive bald like Dr. Octagon looking guy with Cyclops and he's just this like really funny chill dude. Did you guys have a good podcast?

Yeah, it was good. It was, it was so annoying that we couldn't do it in person, so that was a remote one.

Oh shit. Yeah, I haven't done any.

Maybe now then I'll do a remote one because it just means that I can keep like good guests coming on. Yeah, but it's just, it's just not the same.

Yeah, yeah, I listened to it on the way down here. I thought it was good. Yeah, I thought it was really good.

But I think actually, like, us three in particular, we have the best life in the fitness. I really do.

I do as well. I wouldn't trade my life with anyone else's.

No, like, Andy, someone— a recent guest of yours actually said it, you know, Rob Oliver. Yeah, he was like, he was like, you and, uh, Rob Lipsett, like, that's— you're the only ones living the life. Like, we've got like a nice balance. I definitely think it's like there's a bit of a Euro, a Euro element to it. Like, Americans work very hard. Like, it was the saying, it's like Americans live to work, like Europeans work to live. Yeah, yeah, I definitely think that you can see that in the fitness industry. But, uh, I love the, the balance that we've got. Yeah.

And so it's also— there was two moments as well for me. The, the first moment when I was like, this is the life, was our first Ibiza trip together with Rob and the Harrison twins, when we got like the whole trip covered. Remember, for the—

oh my God, Rob walked into the body house and was like I was like, right, I'm gonna have to get out of here. Right, that's enough of me. Yeah, yeah.

Louis, can you make sure that those clips—

can you delete—

Louis, actually, can you delete that clip now? I don't want to be seen in here.

There was a picture of me. You're the one saying, "We go to the body house." Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I was like, "Oh, the body house." So, Braddy would listen, right? Wait, Owen and Louis, we're gonna go to the body house at what? Yo, we're going to the body house at 3 AM. So literally every, every, every, like, literally every single part of every day, only Lewis, you should just go to Bunny House. Yeah, like, you know, it's like perfect if you're single, but you have to be on camera for Aidan. So basically, right, we, we like got coaxed into going to this like an OnlyFans house pretty much, and we thought it was like just, oh, it's a cool, cool house that we can go take content in. And like, I mean, there were There were strippers and then they were like, these were world masterclass strippers. These were the strippiest strippers you've ever seen. These were some hoes. Like, we had no idea what we were getting into. Rob was so excited to go and then when he got there he's just like, fuck. Yeah, I was like, the vibes. I was like, nah, I have a soul. Like, I have morals.

I was just there, even though I had a girlfriend too, I felt kind of bad but Yeah, I was hired by Mike. I had to video, I had to be there, and Mike was just like oiling some girl's ass, like, yeah, and I was there videoing it and just like, for fuck's sake.

Yeah, question on like cheating in a relationship, uh, open relationships. Have you ever done it? Like, well, what do you think? Because I know your man that we just mentioned, Rob Oliver, he's—

I think, you know, open relationships is completely bullshit.

I think it's weird. Well, if the, you know, the man— I think it's just the man and it's like, no, it's bullshit because, yeah, no, I think it's bullshit as well, but I'm like it's super bullshit if it's both. All of the woman as well.

All of these guys saying this are guys who have probably a broken heart and aren't open to basically give their heart to one woman because they're scared that they're gonna get hurt again. So basically, if you really find a girl that you actually love, you don't want to go and fuck other girls. You don't want to mess around with other girls because you want to give everything you can to the one girl that you love.

Question then, how do you deal with temptation? Like, if you just see like a super hot girl, like, you know, go all in, to be honest. Yeah, Mike said deal with it. What do you mean deal with it?

No, temptation's everywhere. Like, Ibiza is Temptation Island. That's why I had to fucking get out of there. Yeah, like, it's a disaster. Yeah, start and build a relationship in Ibiza is just like literally impossible. It's, it's just constant temptation. And I think I think you just have to be true to yourself and ask— this is what I always do if I'm tempted or looking at another girl, or maybe a girl DMs me or whatever. I have to ask myself, if a guy is doing this to my girlfriend, how do I want my girlfriend to respond? Yeah, would she reply to the message? Would she talk to the person on the street or in the bar? Like, I have to basically ask myself, how would it make me feel if the shoe was on the other But yeah, and that's how I always just try and behave.

My kind of reading, you're a really good one with Sadia. Yeah, yeah.

I think, uh, if you struggle with it, just don't be in a relationship.

Exactly, exactly.

Yeah. Do you ever think like you're like, you're at, you're at a state, maybe you're like at a stage where you should be in a relationship, you should be settling down, and like, like the, the past 2 years, I think that in the first 6 months or first year the first year of a relationship is easy, then it gets harder, then you've got to work harder at it.

And I would probably say realistically I didn't work hard enough to make that relationship work. But then I thought to myself, I don't think I actually want to be in a relationship at this point in time. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. So just end it. As long as you're very honest with your partner and say like, I honestly, I don't, I don't want to be in a relationship right now.

But I think you need to be pretty honest from the get-go. So like, don't mess— I think I don't think guys should mess girls around because at the end of the day, if you get with a girl and she's potentially going to become your girlfriend and some guy has previously messed her up or fucked her up or broken her heart, then you have to basically pick up the pieces and try and help that girl and put her back together. So it's pretty much just— it's hard fucking work. So my recommendation is if you're a guy, just be honest with girls and don't fuck them over, because if you fuck that girl over, then that's a problem for someone else. And it's also just not nice to go around.

She's probably never going to trust you. To again.

She's not, she's never going to trust any man again. So that's, that's the problem, is just be a good person and don't break people's heart. Like, I don't think it's a nice thing to do.

How do you build trust in a relationship?

Good communication.

So like, let me go through all your DMs.

No, no, me and, uh, Linda have like, um, an open phone policy. I think that's a good policy. I think it is good.

Yeah, you don't need to hide anything.

Yeah, we've nothing to hide. Leave our phones lockline round, I'm like, oh, will you send this DM to the— like, if I'm driving, I'm like, oh, will you go into my DMs, like, send this to like whoever, just—

yeah, that's like ultimate trust.

That is, yeah, yeah, that's what you need. She'll do the exact same to me. And like, also, like, I'm not— I'm not— I know how to work a phone. You have some girls, though, there's some guys, they don't know where to look or hidden things, like, you know. And also, I'm pretty tech savvy. But yeah, we've— she'll be the same if like, will you call this person off her phone? And yeah, I think, I think that's a helpful thing in today's day and age. But some people I saw debate online, they're like, no, your phone is too private.

And I'm like, I've seen that as well.

Then what are you saying?

Like, what are you hiding?

What are you hiding? Like, yeah, I don't care. How can you argue that?

But I also do think that, like, depending on how long you've been in the relationship for, especially if it's a new relationship, if a girl or boy goes for their partner's phone and go digging— oh yeah, yeah, you'll always find something. If you go into the boys group chat yes, you're gonna find some shit. Yeah, like you have to obviously respect the boundaries.

Yeah, and she doesn't go in there.

Yeah, yeah, like I, I wouldn't go looking because I know—

yeah, we don't look at friends' phones. I'm just saying we're not like hiding. Yeah, hiding shit. Yeah, especially if you first like get with someone, you just start dating them, don't go looking in the phone because, because like, oh yeah, like a psycho, because they're probably like just been dating someone else, which is normal, you know, which is okay. But in general, yeah, trust is, is—

trust is the absolute— trust and communication are the two biggest things in a relationship.

Yeah. And not, not being secretive. And you can always just tell if a girl's just acting off, like, yeah, if you have any sort of social skills, really. Yeah. And so what are some, uh, what are some green flags, some qualities that you value most in a partner? What do you look for? For example, mine is— okay, mine has— they have to be into the gym. Yeah, they have to. I'm not even like just have a good body because like there's some girls with great bodies that don't lift. They have to be like interested in health and fitness. Like, no, not like be a PT, but like they have to be able to go to the gym with me and like be healthy. Yeah, there's that. And then also have like the same values as well, like, you know, kind of say, kind of say political beliefs, you know, like not be a turbo Nazi feminist, you know what I mean? Like not be a big like, you know, social social justice warrior, virtue signal Nazi family. Yeah, yeah, I'm like, you know what I mean? We're big, like, you know what I mean? Like, just like a big—

I, I like it when they have their, their own thing going on, like they have a hobby or a passion, and you can see that they're, they're working on something. Yeah, if it doesn't really make much money, it doesn't matter.

Exactly.

Yeah, something that they care about. Yeah. And I like it when they honestly just prefer to stay at home. Yeah. And stay instead of going out and partying.

Yeah, that's, um, like, that's where every issue arises, just from alcohol. Yeah, I'm going out and partying. And that's why I bet you and Cindy get along so much better now.

Way better. Like, now, I— now, like, that— since I haven't— since I've stopped drinking, there are no problems. Yeah, there's literally no problems. And like, now even if Cindy has a couple of beers, like, I'm, I'm not drinking, so I can control my emotions more. I feel like when you drink drink, you get way more emotional. Yeah, way more emotional. So because even if Cindy becomes more emotional after 2 or 3 beers because she's a little bit tipsy, I'm not emotional, so I can control my emotions better, and then there is no issues. Yeah, but when me and Cindy drink like 10 pints each, um, and we've been like— and I don't know what happens, or like, basically what happens is you spend all day together, you drink 10 pints, and then you basically get bored. So like, because me and Cindy don't know when to go to bed, like, we something will happen. And then like Cindy will look at something on my phone, and then we just used to have these explosive fights over nothing because we were bored.

You're not even making sense.

Exactly.

There's the language barrier, literally.

Yeah. And now we— that never ever happens. Yeah. Like hasn't happened for 6 months.

Yeah.

Like, and it's all just alcohol.

Are you worried to go back to drinking?

A little bit, yeah. Yeah, I'm a little bit scared.

I think just as long as you— you think you're gonna do like the 3 days or you'll have like an intense 3 days and then—

no, I think I'll do like 3 days and then I want to just go back to like— basically some guy told me about having like, do have like 12 tokens in the year. So you get 1 token, 1 drinking token for each month.

Wait, is that like 1 beer or a day of drinking? A day, like a night out.

Yeah, whatever you want.

Whatever. Yeah, yeah, that's good.

That's—

I think a year is, is realistic.

So like if I use 3 for my birthday, yeah. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, just use all 12 in one.

Yeah, yeah, personally I would say one token for the weekend. Yes, covers the whole weekend. I don't go to sleep, so okay, this is one day.

I'm scared because I don't know what I'm gonna feel like, but I'm pretty confident now that I've— I can restrict myself and I can control myself.

Really?

But again, I want to go back to being it. Like, whenever I've not been drinking and I've gone to clubs or like on nights out, I honestly don't have as much fun.

Yeah, yeah. I hate when people say, oh, being sober is great, oh, you can have just as much fun. No, you can't. No, it's not true.

It's literally not true.

It's a black coffee at high, completely sober. It was fucking weird.

Yeah, it's honestly shit.

So strange. Like, I hate when people say that. Like, just stay in and go to sleep. Like, yeah, literally. And so how are you gonna— like, like, what's your first drink gonna be? Are you gonna like—

well, so this is how it's gonna go.

Yeah.

By the way, we're all going to—

I mean, you know, literally 20 days, 21 days.

You know, when you compete and you plan all the cheat meals you're gonna have after, he's planning the exact—

he's actually drinking.

It's in exactly 21 days.

Oh my God.

Friday we'll do a nice dinner, and I'm not gonna have a drink on the first dinner. Saturday is gonna be Black Coffee, which is my favorite event, as you guys know. Yeah, so probably have a few beers. Probably, um, a few beers.

You nose beers? No nose beers.

But we might need our sunglasses. Yeah, let's just say that. Yeah, but bear in mind that serotonin levels are completely reset.

Yeah, well, mine aren't. Mine never go back to normal. You know, like, I just be serotonin, just it doesn't exist.

Whatever happens, I'm gonna be extremely excited and extremely happy. I know we're gonna have the best weekend ever. We're going, we're going to Ibiza for 3 days for my birthday. Rob's stag do.

Yeah, yeah, pretty much.

And it's gonna be the best weekend ever. And I'm gonna be— at the time I'll be 200 days sober. And yeah, I'm gonna book my flight so that I have to leave Ibiza and don't get stuck there. Yeah, so I'll be leaving after my birthday and then back to the routine. And then Mike's birthday will be in August, so here in Marbella. Yeah, we'll probably do a little boat day for that, which I'll have a few drinks, but I'm not gonna just— I'm not gonna go back to my old ways of just drinking every day.

And so a really important one that I need to ask as well, because like I have a lot of Irish viewers and the stereotype is true, a lot of us struggle with alcohol. What's your advice for someone who wants it? Like, how, how do you do it? Did you go cold turkey?

Change the environment, that's the main thing. Yeah. And like friendship groups. So when I went to Madrid, I was out of Ibiza, so completely different environment, and I was alone, which was honestly a bit of a struggle and quite depressing and sad at times, going from being in Ibiza surrounded by everyone having the best time ever to being in Madrid alone and not having any alcohol. First two weeks were really difficult. I recommend getting an app on your phone called Days Sin. Yeah, and you press it when you say, right, I'm going sober, press it, and it starts counting down the days. And when you see the momentum, when you see the number of days— a lot of people are like, right, I've done one week, I'm gonna have a drink. I did that. Don't do it. I also did a month and then had a drink. So I, I'm actually 7 months sober, but I had a drink on New Year, and I regretted having the drink after one month. So try and go for as long as possible. You'll only really start seeing the benefits after 2 or 3 months. Yeah, but get the app so it counts down days. And that way, when you've, when you've got a streak, you don't want to break it.

Yeah.

But I honestly recommend, if you can do a month, do a month. You'll see huge benefits. But if you can do 3 months, you'll see even more benefits. If you can do 6 months, you'll see even more benefits. But then again, if, if moments come along where all your friends are together, it's someone's birthday, someone's getting married— yeah, like, don't be scared to just go and enjoy yourself. What's the point in being like, all my best memories that I've ever made have been when we've been I feel like if you win, yeah, like, honestly, and that's like, I don't regret them.

There was like a stage in my life, especially when I was like really young and like I was in Dublin, I'd be going out pointlessly and like there's just the same night out every time, begin blackout, and I'm like, I could have done without them. But then there's some like big events like your birthdays and all the shit that we will remember for the rest of our life. What's your relationship with drinking right now? Pretty, pretty negligible. Negligible.

Uh, like when I was in Ibiza a couple weeks weeks ago, I was having the odd drink here and there, and I would probably say every couple of months there's usually like a big blowout. Yeah, but fuck me, it just destroys me for a couple days afterwards. So I think I can— I know my limits with how many drinks I can have and it not affecting me too badly the next day.

What is that like?

Probably 3 or 4.

Yeah, I used to be able to drink like 5 or 6 beers and still wake up with a green wood.

Yeah, no, no, your body was so trained to process it.

Does that actually— is that true? I thought that was bro science.

No, no, no, actually, my body, my body was just accustomed to it. Like, I could honestly drink 5 or 6 beers and just wake up in the morning completely fine. Yeah, like I was having 2 beers and go for a run to the gym.

That's fucked. And so you didn't drink once in Marbella, did you?

This trip?

Yeah, this trip.

No, no, I had a, I had a glass of wine Glass of wine.

Yeah, nice.

That's very, very, very grown up.

Yeah, but one of the— a lot of the times I like to drive now, like I'm the designated driver.

Yeah.

So even if anyone wants to give me any shit, I'm like, look, I'm giving you a lift home.

So yeah, designated driver, take your car keys with you, is always a good one.

Yeah.

And then, um, what I found to be quite useful when I was doing the 6 months sober, when I did it back in 2020, when you say to people like I'm, I'm doing 6 months sober. Yeah, they kind of respect it and they're like, okay, fair enough.

Whereas if you say I'm not drinking tonight, then they're like, yeah, I've never heard that one. That's, that's a good 100%. And also, it's also nice to say I'm just doing 6 months because if you say to someone I don't drink, I'm completely sober, they get freaked out because they're like, they're drinking. And so they're like, oh. But if you say like, I'm just doing a month or 6 months, they relax a little bit more and they're like, yeah.

If you say you don't drink or you've never drank— yeah, when someone has never drank, I'm like, what? Why?

Yeah, I know, exactly. I'm like, what?

What?

No, who did this to you?

Usually maybe their dad might be an alcoholic or something bad happened with alcohol.

Yeah, so you need to respect everyone's decision as well. Yeah, and also exactly what Mike said, when you tell people you're doing 6 months sober, I've got a month left and then I'm 6 months sober, people will literally just leave you alone. Yeah, another thing which I I completely forgot is the 0-0 beers are an absolute game changer. It feels, feels like the same thing if you like the taste of beer, which I love an ice cold beer. Yeah, especially Madrid, you can get 0-0 beers on draft, so it feels like the real thing. So for my first 2 weeks, I would have like a 0-0 beer with my dinner every night. And then when I went to Bali, you couldn't get them. I didn't need them anymore, just, yeah, drunk coconuts. But when you're, when you're trying to transition from depending on alcohol to, to sober, the zero zeros are a game changer.

So it's even better. And so I like did this by accident, unintentionally, in Dubai. So you know those places in Dubai, like they don't serve alcohol because like, you know, for whatever reason, the culture, or if it's in the malls. So we, me and Linda, we got like mocktails and we thought they were alcoholic because they're just called something on the menu. I was like, I'll get a Flaming Dragon, Flaming Moes, whatever And so we got them and like, yeah, they come in the nice glass, like no one would notice. You don't have to say like zero zero, you just say whatever funny name. And then they come and we were drinking them. We were like, oh, these are unreal, they're amazing. And we were having like a great chat, like a lovely dinner and all. And then afterwards, like we realized it was in the Dubai Mall, like overlooking the fountains and everything. Really nice place. Afterwards we realized like there was no alcohol there and we're like, oh, we should probably do that more often. Yeah. So yeah, that's it. Going back to the drinking, and the sleep where you're saying it didn't affect you. Like, now what's your Whoop score like if you do have a drink? Well, and also, sell me the Whoop. I don't, I don't, I don't have them.

Like, I'm an expert seller. Yeah, I was top— I was top 3 in the world of, of affiliates.

Are you serious?

Yeah, top 3 in the world. They made the mistake of telling me, and they were like, oh, we're gonna reward you, we'll give you $100 per referral. Referral, and we're gonna— and I was like, well, now that, now that I know that I'm in the top 3, I also want a salary. Yeah, yeah, of course.

Wow. But I love working.

Yeah, it's the best. It's, it's my favorite product ever. Anyone that's ever bought one has never ever told me, oh, I sent it back, or that was shit. Like, it does change your life, I think. Makes you just respect your body and your sleep and your routine so much more. But I mean, when I used to wake up—

anyone not wearing one here?

Yeah, I mean, when I used to wake up, I actually got Mike on the referral referral on the referral scheme.

Yeah, I was like, shut the fuck up, stop trying to make $50 off me.

Yeah, and then Mike got on it and I was like, fuck's sake, now I could have— I basically just shot myself in the foot.

Yeah, it's like your audience.

Yeah, yeah, but it's a good product, it changes people's lives. And for me, like, yes, there's a massive difference. You can look at it like yearly calendar, so you can see the amount of reds, yellows, greens. Obviously green is a good night's sleep. Red is a bad night's sleep. Yellow's in the middle. And if I look in a beeper—

yeah, this is the average sleep.

Yeah, it goes to zero.

You can get 1%.

You can get 1%.

Yeah, I've had a lot of 1%. Yeah, like, I've had a lot.

Yeah, there's a few times I would get on a mad one in Ibiza and it wouldn't register that I've been asleep.

Sometimes it's better just to take— sometimes it's better just to take it off.

Yeah, you have to take it off.

Yes.

Yeah, I don't know if I do the, the highest strain I've achieved was in Ibiza as well. 19.9. What does that mean? I don't know. Out of 20. 20 is maximum. So I remember I went to the gym. I remember I walked up and down the beach a couple of times. And then I think it was for your birthday when we went to play Salil and then, uh, went out again. Like, there was just— it was just non-stop, like, movement.

Can I actually say the worst I ever felt in Ibiza? I've never said this, okay? This this is the closest I've probably been to death, right? Okay, I hadn't slept in 48 hours and like I was just on one. And then on, it was like maybe like 2, it was like 4 in the morning, I was like, okay, I need to get to sleep. So I took a sleeping tablet and I still couldn't sleep. So I'm there like waved on the sleeping tablet and couldn't sleep and coming up to 3 days of no sleep and it was I was literally— my face started changing shape.

I think that was when you were in like Wikiwoo Hotel.

That's exactly it.

Yeah, we had to put him to bed. Remember?

Exactly it.

We had to put him to bed and then we thought he was in bed and then he called us and he was like, I want to come back out. And we were like, fuck. He's resurrected after taking a sleeping tablet.

Yeah, like it's like, you know, those like bears in the zoo and they're going mad and everyone's shooting them with tranquilizers and it's like, they're not working. And he's like, ah.

Yeah, I remember that very well.

Yeah, that was, that was the worst.

When your face starts to melt.

Yeah, don't look in the mirror.

Yeah, don't look at the mirror. You're literally just like, who the fuck is that? Just like, this is like my evil ugly cousin.

I've done many 3-day benders and it'll be fun.

But come back to the boob.

It's good, but you don't need it.

Yeah, yeah, I think it's another thing for me to track. Which is like, I, I track macros like pretty much every day, every second day, depending on the week. Track what I'm lifting in the gym. Just try to retrack sleep.

I think one thing is that people think that they're getting a good night's sleep and actually have no idea. So I think, yeah, I think I recommend people get it for 6 months or even a year to see how they actually are sleeping, because sleep is— I would argue that I think the most important thing, it is the most component, the most important component of health. Yeah, like if you're not sleeping good, it's affecting everything in your day.

Like you could have an 8-hour sleep, but then you might not be getting any REM or deep. It's just all light sleep. Yeah, figure out why that's the case.

Exactly.

Do you know what's meant to be really good? And I was meant to get one at the start of the year. I'm actually trying to get like a brand deal off, to be honest. If you're listening, uh, SleepAid, please.

No, I had one.

You've got one.

Best thing. It's a mattress that basically has like liquid flowing through it so you can cool the mattress and you can basically put it on a setting that adapts to your body heat, so it changes to keep you at the right temperature.

Yes.

Radiators, all of us.

Radiator? Oh yeah, we're like— yeah, and like in Spain, or if you're in California or Texas, like it gets so hot here in August when it's like 35 degrees. We actually can't sleep downstairs for whatever reason. The downstairs is like hot, it's just too hot, like it's boiling. So we have to sleep upstairs.

No, I Eight Sleep, Eight Sleep mattress. Yeah, like it is expensive, but it's literally a game changer. Yeah, if you get Eight Sleep and a Whoop, the Eight Sleep also can track your sleep.

That's what I want.

But if you get Eight Sleep and a Whoop—

all right, Brian Johnson.

Yeah, no, but I, I swear by it. Brian Johnson, is he the reverse age guy? Yeah, it's from literally like drinking and Ibiza. Every day to literally being Brian Johnson.

No, because I love it. Like, staring in the light.

I do that. I, I— so I walk out my back. I mean, that's one thing, like, like, so you're like— Huberman says like, don't stare directly at the light. I, I do.

No, he says, he says—

I was like, come on! No, he says you can't challenge yourself. Yeah, I'm like, dilate these parts.

That's the benefit. No, in the morning you, you are, if you can, meant to stare at the sun, but not when it's obviously at its peak around like 11 or 12, then it's danger. But in the morning you can stare directly at the sun. Yeah, if, if your eyes can tolerate it, because that is— that helps you circadian rhythm.

It wakes me up. Yeah, immediately.

It's the best thing.

Like, you feel your, your pupils.

Also, if you're in Marbella and you're in a hot country, just waking up and lying on the balcony and like literally lift your legs behind your head like this and turn your butthole— sun in the butthole first thing in the morning.

I believe, I believe that for a while. I believe that for a little bit.

Doing that on the balcony, 2020.

Guys, you want to know the funniest thing ever? I, I'm going to show you actually now. No, I need to show— okay, if you go on— I don't want to give away like my, my address. If you go on Google, Google Earth, you can see me lying naked on the roof. No way! I'm just going to show you it right now. You're going to laugh your head off.

Mike's, Mike's balcony in Ibiza, his rooftop in Ibiza, got me the most time ever.

You used to wake up before me, get yourself covered in oil, take your clothes off, and just lie there.

Drink one of them passion cold brews. Yeah, literally liquid fertilizer.

It's literally, literally me and Linda. Look on the right, right?

No way, it actually is.

Fuck, that is mad.

Is that from a satellite?

Yeah, I know. I'm like, can I sue Google for that?

I would.

Like, I'm literally like me and Linda's legs spread out naked on the sunroof and it's just blurred out.

That is mad.

But that— I actually do the sun on the balls, but I just do because it feels nice.

No, it's good. I think it's definitely good. Sun exposure. Yeah, a good night's sleep, sun exposure, and a relatively clean diet is the absolute key. And also movement, of course. I run every single day. That— them 4 things is enough to make my day a good day, even if I do nothing else.

So I, I have like— it's tough one to say because people will be like, oh no, I'm depressed Cure for depression, right? I'm just gonna fuck it, say I don't care, cancel me. So many people— I know, understand, people have diagnosed depression, but the— every time you see someone online, they're talking about their mental health and stuff, do you just know they are not lifting weights, in good shape, getting out in the sun, pursuing something they want to do, sleeping, drinking loads of water, nutrient-dense diet, surrounded a, a nice community. You do all them, and if you're— then if, if you do all them, you're still depressed, then okay, then all right. But the majority of people— and I'm, again, I'm big on mental health, like I think it's the most important thing ever, your mindset— there's so many people that are not doing those things, and I, I can't take them seriously, really.

Yeah, community. You would look at their life and you'd be like, well, yeah, I'd be—

I'd also be depressed.

Community is a good one. I think our, our relationship that we have is our group is one of the strongest things that we have, and we don't actually realize how lucky we are that we are literally the, the best group of friends ever. And like, when I used to get fucked up and shit, to be fair, like, you two would both text me being like, 'Louie, what are you doing?

Are you okay?' Like, yeah, there was one stage we were like, me and Mike were having conversations about you, like, not you there. Like, we were like, 'Well, how are we going to get him to stop?' Yeah. And then you actually did it on your own.

I think everyone needs to change on their own, but I think one thing for people that are depressed, often they feel like they're very alone. They feel like they've got no one that can help them. So like, even if you don't have a friend that you can text, basically how— this is how I think of it— is if you hold on to things and you store them inside your body, then it holds you down and weighs you down and makes you feel bad. So it's much better to talk to someone about how you're feeling and what it is that's bothering you, whether that's a friend, whether it's a family member. And even if you don't have any of those available, or you don't want to tell them about what the problem is, that's when you need you need to get a therapist.

Yeah.

And just by opening up and telling them what it is you're dealing with, that lifts the weight off you. And that can also, I think, is a, is a big thing with people who are dealing with depression or anxiety or feeling sad and alone. Like, just talking to someone will help you, as well as doing, as well as doing all those things that you said.

I've like days where I feel like really bad anxiety, like I, I def like, and I'm like, fuck, you know, I need to do all this. But, and, and days where I feel really low, and like, again, people think me me as like the positive guy, the high-energy guy, which I am. But I'm like, just know that I do have really—

you know, you don't want to wake up ecstatic every single day.

Well, no, you should do, but then something happens and I'm like, fuck. But, uh, no, there's days where I wake up and I'm like, I just— no motivation. And you, Mike, what about you? How do you deal with it when you're feeling low? Because people, you look at— look at Mike as like literally like because of the physique and looks and everything thing. People's like, oh, Mike has it all, like he's a god. But like, you know, I'm sure you have some days where you feel like shit.

Yeah, I think that I'm very lucky now because the network I have and then just the friends I have, like there's no substitute just having a conversation with your male friends. Like that can often just be a massive stress relief and you can discuss things with them and they, you know, either they just, they tell you what you need to hear or they'll give you the advice that you need to hear and it's just just, it feels a lot better. I've noticed sometimes when I've been in relationships in the past and I've sacrificed guy time just to be with my partner, then it's like the balance is off and I'm like, shit, I can't even see my mates anymore. And like, I miss just having that time with them and just chatting shit or just sharing whatever's on my mind.

It's so important.

Like, yeah, I think me and you are definitely guilty of doing that.

When I was in Madrid, even though I needed to be alone, I needed to do monk mode and I need to go and sort my shit out myself myself, one of the biggest struggles was just not having my friends close to me. I mean, I could have drove down to you, or I could have— I could have went somewhere else, but I think I had to do that monk mode and isolate myself just to work on myself. But another thing as well with being sober, 6 months sober, is that I haven't woke up once with anxiety or feeling bad. Yeah, every— I haven't lost any days in the last 6 months, which I think has literally been a game changer for me.

When you go off the radar for 3 days, oh my God.

You'd look at your phone, you'd be like, oh no, literally Insta story you posted on Friday. Yeah, literally fucking Monday. Yeah, literally. No, literally radio silence.

Be like, it'd be literally like, you can tell, I knew, I knew.

Louie's gone.

That, that was, that honestly, that is the worst feeling in the world. I remember it would always happen like near the end of the month where I would go on like a 3-day send and it would always be like Saturday was black coffee, Sunday was at Blue Mall, and Monday was fucking DC10. Of course, it was just a 3-day send. And then like Tuesday, my landlord would be texting me being like, oh, you need to pay 3.8K. And I'll just be like, check my bank, it'd be like on zero. And I'd just be like, oh my God.

I remember when I was— show me, you're like in overdraft, like a minus. That's not even possible with Irish accounts. I don't have a credit— I've never had a credit card. Like, you have to hit zero and it doesn't work.

And I was just— I would just be like, just wake wake up like just and just start instantly sweating and just be like, what on earth am I gonna do? And then like just have to basically tell the landlord every time like, oh, just give me like a few days and I'll, I'll find a way. But like I don't have to do that anymore, which is just so much better way of— I can't believe I lived my life like that for so long.

Yeah, I, I was, I don't know, I was about to ask you like, do you regret it?

But I don't know.

Yeah, I really don't.

Got out of my system.

Yeah, I really do. I love the most fun life ever.

You did Ibiza properly.

You did it, you did like— that's a story to tell.

No, it's a story.

And even like had a comeback too, you know, like if you're still doing it, maybe, maybe, but for now we can laugh.

What do you think is worse, having a period of time, whether it's a year or a couple years, where you go off the rails, do it when you're younger, or do it in your 30s when you've made a bit of money?

That's a really good question. And I was thinking that because I think it was like Luke Belmar or something was like like you should work in your 20s to set yourself up in your 30s, which is true, but then like nothing hits different when you're young and free, you know, and traveling around. I would like— the answer, the obvious answer is the happy medium. Like, you know, do a little bit, like go out, go out and have fun in your 20s, but don't overdo it. And then like, so by the time you get— like, that's kind of what I did, you know. I had like my 3 years, says, in '14, '15, '16 when I didn't out, you know, no money, and I was trying to make YouTube grow. And then after that, when I saw a little bit of success, then I started to go out a little bit more. So it's kind of a little bit of a balance. But if I was to choose one, I'm glad I started early, and I'm glad now I'm 32.

And the body is definitely better at handling it when you're younger.

Definitely. Yeah, yeah. But like, you're all— you're also like, if I see this like 22-year-old lad in the club, I'm like, this guy's a child. Yeah, like it looks crazy. Yeah, it's how babyish you look. So if you're like after pulling girls or even like making connections, you got to realize how young you look, you know.

When you're in your late 30s, 40s on a bender, it's like, yeah, yeah, pestering girls and like just being like a nonce.

Like, that's just like not the vibe, honestly. Yeah, I, I did it late because I didn't— even though I was at uni and stuff, I didn't party and go crazy and do all the stuff and try everything. I didn't do that when I was— I didn't like experiment with any— everything, everything until I was 27.

I took my first pill when I was 14. Did you? 14. Oh my God, in a park drinking cans. 14. They don't make them like they used to, like, honestly, they're better back then.

Yeah, I didn't take MDMA until my first trip to Ibiza with Mike, and that literally changed my life. Just to be honest.

Yeah, but now, like, I find, like, especially the last 2 years, definitely, like, you know, go out less and less and everything. And I really enjoy just, like, being healthy, staying in, chill.

What me and Mike was saying is I'm gonna enjoy my birthday so much because I've worked my fucking ass off and I've got incredible results and my life is going so well. So now I deserve to have a break, whereas in Ibiza I had nothing to do, so I was just partying for the sake of of it, whereas when you earn it and you've worked hard for it, it's, it's so much more enjoyable.

You'll probably miss that feeling of being fresh and productive, super like, fuck, I want to go back to that.

Exactly, which I think is the best way to live. Yeah, but like what you said, like, if I think guys who, who try and restrict themselves and don't go out and have fun and don't go and do the things that they've always wanted to do, like, I think you should try everything that you want to do in life. Yeah, as long as you're careful about it and like you like, obviously if you go to Ibiza and you're gonna go to parties and stuff, you need to be careful. Take care of your friends, be careful what you're doing, and be responsible. Don't just go and take a load of shit that you have no idea where it's from or who it's come from and be irresponsible, because that's how people die.

Literally.

Like, so you need to just be careful, you need to be responsible, you need to be with the right group of people. We all take care of each other, we all have the best time ever. Like, I think there's no better feeling than when we're all absolutely on one in the club, and I turn around and like, oh, oh, we're all just there. Yeah, we're all just there. And we're online.

I don't even want any girls though.

Yeah, we don't care about— who fucking cares about girls?

It's just the lads having the best time ever.

That's like, that's the best feeling in the world.

No, it's giving me goosebumps.

Unless you're giving me goosebumps.

Wait, okay, okay, I got one. So I've started running recently, like doing— I'm actually, I'm actually pretty fucking good doing 5Ks. Like, I'm, I'm afraid to say it or else the runners will be like, no, you're You, you're like what all the boxers do, like, you know. So anyways, I've gotten pretty good at running. You love running, okay? Are you still doing 5Ks often?

5K every day.

Okay. Mike, would you ever get into running? I was about to ask, we should get Louis to get shredded and Mike get into long distance running, so then that picture of your body swapped would be more accurate.

I could do it more often, but I wouldn't want to do it too often because then I'm just going to sacrifice size my legs.

Yeah, true.

Yeah, I think my legs have gone smaller.

If I had to choose anything, I would choose running over weightlifting every day of the week. The endorphins, the natural endorphins from running are so much stronger than a weight session.

I think I need to do, I need to do one session a week that focuses on cardiovascular health. Yeah, so whether it's HIIT or just some form of high-intense cardio, getting the heart rate up.

Yeah, I was saying by Peter Attia, and he did, he said like like to really get the actual health benefits of cardio, like walking steps is amazing, it's great for longevity. But to really get like the heart health and unlock those other benefits, you have to be doing like zone 2 cardio. Yeah, like a higher intensity.

You can't really get that from a weight session.

No.

Yeah, and that's another thing as well on Whoop and with my Apple Watch both. When I was run up to my marathon, when I did my marathon, I got under sub-4 hours.

My— you could see— I don't even know, what's your best 5K I'm like, what's your—

like sub-20, 19, 19.

Really?

Yeah.

Are you serious? That's fucking elite.

It's, it's hard, but like that, even like it's harder to run a marathon I think because it's 4 hours of running at a decent pace. Yeah. But I could see on my Apple Watch and on my Whoop data my resting heart rate declining massively over 6 months, my VO2 max going up. So when you can see those trends in your health data and you're like, fuck, look how healthy I am compared to where I was here. That's like one of the best feelings in the world, knowing that. Or like, I was running sometimes. I was running for a month. I did 10K, 10K run every day. I was just feeling the best I've ever felt in my life.

Guys, again, You Seek Studio. If you're in Marbella, this is the place to be. But we have been going for— we could do this all day.

We could do it all day. It's like, honestly, my favorite thing. Yeah, me too.

It actually like, it feels like you just put your phones down and you have a conversation.

That's what it is, is not having your phone and not having any any other distractions. That's, that's the key to a good conversation.

When he goes back to Marbella, we'll just do it again, you know? Yeah, yeah. We'll even do it for like each of our channels and stuff.

Like 1st of August, I'll, I'll move.

Okay, 1st of August. And maybe we even do it when— before we get fucked up and for Louis's birthday. We can do Louis's birthday pod.

We could do that. Do you have your stuff?

Yeah, no, we do the pod when Louis cracks open his first beer.

Yeah, we could do that.

Do they have studios in Ibiza for those?

Yeah, sure they do.

Yeah, I know, I know one. I, I know a guy. Okay, it's a co-work space.

If someone's got equipment there, we could find us 6 spots to do it.

Yeah, I'll organize it today. Let's do that.

That's the next one, guys. I, I know, I know our audience is going to enjoy this one. I bet you hope you enjoyed. I know it's going to be a good one. It's been the best, guys. Thanks so much for coming to visit me in Marbella as well. It's so good having you here. I've like just had the best couple days ever. Feel, feel, just feels good on the inside. Wholesome, wholesome. Yeah. So guys, keep it real right here. Until the next time, peace.

Thanks for having us.