S3 Ep 39: 2 Time Debt VS Time Asset

In a concept that I'm— my time debt is if I am not focused, time debt in today's day and age is very easy because we have social media. So, you know, it's just one click away from a time debt.

Hey everybody and welcome to the Hustle and Muscle Podcast with Richard and Riz. My name is Riz. Above me, beside me, or below me is Richard Toutounji from ComMarketing, and we're here to talk about all things hustle and all things muscle today. Richard, how are you feeling?

Yeah, I'm feeling in a hustle mode at the moment. I'm in Sydney for the week with my family and staying down at Coogee, and our offices are at the Zetland The Whatso space there. Yes. And I just forgot about the Sydney hustle traffic, Riz, I'll be honest.

I did forget about— You got lost in the hills up in Queensland.

Yeah. I got lost in the Sunshine Coast and definitely forgot about the hustle of the traffic. And I don't know if it's me just being a bit of a, haven't been here for 12 months kind of situation, or is it things have changed? Either one, it does take a bit of hustle to get through the traffic in Sydney.

I think a healthy combination, mate.

So yeah, I'm feeling good and feeling good for this week. We've got a few topics that we want to cut through this week. Absolutely. I believe that, you know, this concept always comes from what's happening in the marketplace, what's happening with us. So it's kind of a show, this one, if it's the first time listening, it's all about a bit of business and a bit of muscle in the gym and combine them together. Um, just for anybody who's tuning in this episode, uh, Riz was my personal trainer for a year. And the same time too, I've also, you know, we run a program called Com Marketing Ninjas, and Riz is also in our, you know, in our program as well for a year. And, um, we both learn off each other more. Yeah, you're in a scale program, remember?

2 years now, 2 years almost. Yeah, as of, as of, I think Like May or June. So almost— how good is that? Anniversary, brother.

How good is that? How good is that? And you started off with your nan's garage.

I

did, uh, all in your nan's garage and, uh, progressed to a 24/7 gym and then said, hey, I'm out of here, and opened my own space up. So

yeah,

we talk about that in the show. We talk about the, the progression of what's happening there, and then we also talk about what's happening on my side. We work with, um, hundreds of, uh, fitness business owners, from personal trainers to studio owners, to gyms, and I'm able to see what's happening in the marketplace in regards to leads, inquiries, and business frustrations. And that's what we talk about in the Hustle and Muscle Show.

Perfect, mate. Well, thanks for getting us all up to speed, brother. I wanted to talk about a couple of things today. I'd love to touch on a few things. Dying on the hill. So something that you always say is, is do you want to die on this hill? For example, for vaccines and businesses, when temperatures were really high in Sydney, we were in lockdown, It was, Riz, well, do you want to die on the hill of not getting a vaccine or do you want to run a fucking business? And I was like, yeah, kind of want to run a business more than I really give a shit about whether I'm vaccinated or not. And that's just my personal stance. And it just kind of took out all the fluff. So I love that saying. And I think unpacking that a little bit about where we've, you know, where we've died on a hill where we shouldn't maybe, and other areas where we've pulled back and gone, well, I don't really give a shit. I don't want to die on that hill. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna keep moving.

Yeah, yeah, it's interesting. I think once we're younger, we, we go through an experimentation stage, younger in business or younger in, you know, lifting weights, wherever it may be. And we, um, and everything's very passionate to us that pretty much everything's got to die on the hill to things.

Yeah, it's emotional.

It is emotional. Yeah, so it's more of an emotional thing. And, um, you know, just on that, I just, I just recently saw, I went to the Easter Show Just 2 days ago, Riz, and unfortunately I just saw the news that some young kids, 17, you know, stabbed each other.

Yeah.

And 17, they're fighting over postcodes. And I go, wow, you know, if they were 27 or 37, I doubt they would have died on that hill, you know. And I didn't mean to take that out of context, by the way.

Of course. Obviously

with respect. But at the end of the day, these are serious things, dying on the hill. If it's a fight with a mate, if it's a fight with a family, if it's a fight with a client, if it's a fight about vaccine, there's so many different hills we can die on, right? Literally anywhere you go, you can die on the hill. And when we unpack this, I guess where I got this from was that, you know, they— like, I argued about a lot of things back in the day, like always arguing even with like, you know, family, always argue with family. And then all of a sudden there was something that really turned my attention to— I don't know where I got this from, but someone turned my attention and say, is it, is it even worth this argument? Because I'm, I'm working on bigger and better things, and you can't work on that if you're in the weeds, um, if you're stuck in just the tiny details. And then, okay, you're gonna argue your point against somebody else, and then one of you are going to win.

Yes.

Whoever wins, the other person is going to say, well, that guy felt— made me feel really bad, or that girl made me feel really bad. Was it really worth it? And then at the end of the day, you've lost a friendship or you've lost a family member or you've lost that relationship. So there's always going to be a winner, there's always gonna be a loser. And the question is, is it worth it? And something to really think about as we go through our business If we, you know, it's one of the problems of growth that we stay stuck on these areas of able to understand what is worth dying on. And I guess the question is, what is worth dying on? Is there anything worth dying on?

I was curious, I think if we go for a one for one, right? What was something, a hill that you died on that you regret and one that you're still happy to die on? where, where does that lie for Richard personally? And then I reckon I'll have a stab and we'll go from there. So let's go with the one that you regret. Uh, what was a hill that you died on that you stood for that was the wrong thing? Shoot.

Yeah, okay, I, I'll, I'll basically say I think I died on a lot of hills with, um, family arguments, where it's like consistently battling with family arguments. Brothers— I had 3 brothers, we're always fighting about something. And this is in our, you know, is in our 30s, you know what I mean? I'm talking about like when I was 15, this is in our 30s. And it just, it just, it's a lot of energy, a lot of energy spent because we did the email wars back in the day and it's just like unnecessarily. And now there's no issues on that, but there's a lot of wasted time on that. In regards to business, I don't know if there was a huge amount that I died on the hill about, but I probably died on the hill saying I don't want to do certain activities. And I just stayed in one direction. So I don't know if I died on the hill. I think it was more, I find I die on the hill with more listening to the news and then going deep into a story. And what happened is that I waste a lot of time. So I would focus on one thing because I was dying on that hill. I saw something that took my interest and it took 2, 3, 4 days before I could really get my head clear again. And that's, that's where I found that dying on the hill, just the time wasting. It's the time wasting more than anything, and it's emotional wasting more than anything. Like, it's, it's hours of emotional energy that is eating up inside, and you're stressed, and then you're tensed, and then that, that was eating me inside. And so it was more like these little dying on the hill, whether it was a family it was a conversation with somebody, it was like, oh, this is what I think, this is what you think. And I was like, well, we're gonna have different opinions. And so now, in a way, I was probably more emotional, but now I'm sitting back a lot more and I'm just trying to be calmer because, um, I could be that one that's loud and has an opinion and everything, but I just, I couldn't be bothered. Um, and that's just me personally. What about yourself, Riz?

Mate, look, I don't think with family I was always that way inclined. Maybe I've got a smaller family, perhaps. So maybe that's kind of why with them, but I definitely did it for like social justice causes. So I think I was vegan for about a year when I was 23 to 24, I think, for ethical purposes. Yeah. Because I was like, well, fuck, man, I can manage. It was before bodybuilding and I was doing some kickboxing and stuff. Like, but I was like, I can't contribute to the death of animals if I couldn't do it myself, which was like my moral stance. I'm obviously not vegan anymore or vegetarian anymore, but that was what I was willing to get in, provoke and get into arguments for, just something silly. Hmm. That really has no bearing. It's a personal choice. Yes, there's a lot of emotion and feeling behind it, but that doesn't mean anybody's particularly right. I think, yes, obviously people want things to not die. I think that's, and the proper treatment of animals is very important. But at the end of the day, I didn't want to die on that hill anymore. You know, and that was, you know, like that for me, that's not gonna— I'm not gonna become a vegan activist. I'm not gonna try and change the world through my vegan behavior like I, like I maybe even thought I could, or whatever was going on through my head for that sort of year. Um, it was— it just wasn't serving me. And I was like, dude, that's, that's just not who you are. You're not a provocative, aggressive person like that, you know, like where you're just trying to seek out fights and prove people and tell people that they're wrong for their choices. It just wasn't the hill that I wanted to die on. So I think very much similar to you, perhaps different vein, but that's just one I can think of that's really salient to me that sticks out quite a bit, was my vegan stuff for about a year. That was the hill I wanted to die on. And I just go, that was so young and dumb. Like, as much as I enjoyed it, I felt better on it, everything was kind of good in that regard health-wise, it wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth it for the friendships and stuff and the reputation that I damaged quite seriously.

I definitely had a lot of, you know, I remember this guy when we were on The Amazing Race, he was a vegan and he just fought cats and dogs about when you ate meat and the bad things about it. I was just like, oh my gosh, dude, like, I get it, but just let me eat my meal, you know? Yeah. And, um, it is— it, it's even though that other person may not be as strong against you when you, when you're going full on, at the end of the day, it actually, it actually like makes a negative effect to them.

Yeah.

Hey, well, listen, I'm not going to hang out with him. I'm not going to talk to him about that because I just want to whatever I want to do and not have an argument. Um, and so it does, it does cause relationships and friendships to, to, uh, to simmer really fast.

Big time. Big time. And, and I just think it's beneficial, mate. I think it's a highly emotional thing.

I like when you said it, said like, like the dying on the hill. It is just that, guys. It's, it's if you want to stop this concept fast, just say to yourself, am I dying on this hill?

Yes.

And everybody can die on any hill they want to, any hill they want to. They can die on the religion hill, the political, the vaccines hill, the bodybuilding hill. They can die on the business hill. They can die on, should I use SEO or Facebook? Should I do cardio or weights? There's any— there's a thousand hills you can die

on.

And there's many platforms. There's many platforms today to ensure that you can stand on your soapbox and you can give your 2 cents. And people will listen to you. A lot of people will listen to you. But in the day, it's your choice how much time, energy, focus that takes away from what your real purpose is. And maybe when we're younger is we don't have that real purpose. We're just trying to find our feet, figure things out. But I guess it is a hack that if you're in a position and you're going, hey, I'm just sick of this place, just, just, yeah, just cut the hills out. Less hills. More flow.

Right. And I suppose then to that, to that same point, what's something that you still hold very dearly? And that is the hill that you are willing to die on? You know, what is that for you at this moment? What is your higher belief? That for me personally, it's helping all Australians and every human in the world educate and empower themselves through education about health and fitness, through tracking calories, through understanding how to integrate a healthy lifestyle. I'm willing to die on that hill. That's one that I'm going, you know what, that's my life purpose, is to educate, inspire, and empower people to take their health into their own hands in a way that's very simple. What is it for you?

Well, it's a great question. And I was just saying to Joey this morning, I said, I've got 3 webinars today. And I was sort of counting up how many webinars and events that I've spoken at this year alone and I'm trying to calculate the last 10 years and I've been harping on the same thing for the last 10 years, Riz, and it's about brand, it's about marketing, it's about a small business owner, an independent owner a lot of the time, people that struggle with growing their business and then they're struggling to get to the next level. I'm willing to die on that hill and specifically in the health and fitness and wellness field. And the reason why I'm passionate about that than other industries is because I think this industry has the biggest effect with, um, with health and longevity and calmness and clarity. And we do that through empowering, uh, fitness professionals to, to run a business, not a hobby, because we know when they run a business, we have lifelong, um, you know, we can get— we impact more people basically. It's always been that way for me. How do we impact more people to be healthier and happier? I don't know where that comes from. But at the end of the day, I think it deeply comes from, you know, when I was in the States looking at this, I wrote a book, a kids' health book 10 years ago called Please Mum, Don't Super Size Me. And I, you know, I stopped working on cruise ships after 2 years, even though, you know, they wanted me back and it was a great, great time. At the end of the day, I stopped because I was writing a book and that was the hill that I was willing to die on. Today it's the same thing. I don't 100%. I'm not, um, at the, at the front line like yourself, but where we work is we work in the back, the back line to make sure guys like yourself can actually be in that front line.

So

I'm willing to die on that hill. That's the hill I'm willing to die on and stay on that hill. And, um, you know, and when you think about this, Riz, when you think about this, if you choose your hills and we choose our hills, we— there's only a few people that get to the top of the hill because along the way they're going to decide, you know what, that hill looks a little bit nicer. I'll go that hill or I'll go that hill.

Yeah.

And so once we know, and it's like the why concept, once you know your why, once you know your hill, then everything is easier to stop arguing about.

Yes.

And we just focus on what actually matters.

Yes.

And so that's the reason why, you know, we'll continue doing what we're doing. That's the reason why we'll continue fighting. That's the reason why you continue waking up in the day and say, you know what, oh, we had a bad day yesterday. Had a shower, we're ready to go again today.

That's why I can wake up at 4:30 in the morning ready to go with enthusiasm to train my clients. Morning everybody, let's rock and roll. Every single morning. That's it. That's it. It's funny, it's a simplify to amplify scenario, right? Knowing your why or knowing what hill to die on is simplifying your life so you can move faster and move further quicker. I mean, it's just, I just, I 100%, mate, it really—

And I think, I think that, I think the next book is Dying on the Hill. I mean, I love it. Very deep in this conversation. I think we'll do some more of these conversations because I honestly think that this is the biggest problem where growth, where the lack of growth comes.

It's where humans and our psychology really, it's, it's defeat can defeat us or empower us. Our own psychology, we're taught to detect problems, to find hills for our own safety. But now we live in an age of, especially if you're watching this podcast, we live in an age of abundance. It might not feel like that, and trust me, I've not felt like that on particular days, but we live in a land of abundance. You know, if you're lucky enough to live in America, Australia, UK, whatever, in heavily supported countries where you probably won't have to go without a meal if you look well enough, and shelter if you have no money. But like, now we don't have to really look for any danger. We're quite supported, quite, quite healthy and safe. So we can find one particular hill and that's all that matters and our life can be geared purely towards that hill. Whereas before, oh shit, we probably had to worry about a few more hills. Like, always—

Totally.

Do I need to do everything I can to secure a house or secure this or secure that? And now it's like, well, we're actually in a land where there's less crime than there's ever been. We're safer, we're living longer than we've ever lived. And now we can achieve things through the internet, through scale, in whatever weird avenue that we want in life. You could pretty much be an expert and make $60K to $100K doing, ah man, you know, performance pushbike riding for children under 10, you know, like, like just weird underwater athletics, you know, whatever it is, you could excel in it. So.

Yeah, totally. Yeah, well, that's a good one, guys. Which hill are you dying on? That kind of takes us to something else I want to talk about, Rhys. It was when, you know, sticking to the plan.

Yes.

And to die on the hill, we need to stick to the plan. You know, this week especially, I think for both of us, there's been some trials and some tribulations. But, you know, when you talk about, you know, you wake up the next day, you wake up at 4:30, let's go again. Let's talk about that, Riz. You know, how do you stick to plans when the hill seems to— like there's a flood coming down that hill and it's trying to get you off the hill?

I mean, having health and fitness be your life's purpose is a pretty powerful drive. And I don't think— I know there's not many people on their purpose as much as I am. And I've felt it since I was 16, since I first stepped foot in a gym when I was 16. 16 years of anxiety, being thrown around from house to house, worst, like, you know, top 10 shitty upbringings, had all that energy and all that throwing away of my health, mental health, no control over my life. And I finally found something I had control over.

Hmm.

That's the one thing that has a 1 to 3 return ratio. You put in an hour, you essentially get 3 hours of benefit back, if not more. when you do fitness. And so for me, I've gone, well, fuck, this is the best value for money if you're going to do any activity. Whereas other stuff, I don't feel like you get the same return on your investment. And so for me, it's the only thing that I've ever really cared about is bringing health and fitness to other people. When I'm in the gym, I'm at this gym called Metroflex, and there was this guy who was training without shoes on— with shoes on, deadlifting, like Nike Air Maxes with the bubbles. And I just, I couldn't help myself. I had nothing, no vested interest, but I was like, hey dude, have you ever tried— and sorry, but have you ever tried like deadlifting without shoes on? He's like, no, I've never tried it. I'm like, give it a go, trust me. He tries it, loves it, says, oh mate, moves like butter. And it's just in me. I don't know what it is, but it's where I belong. I've never felt like I belong anywhere else other than a gym. And I'm just, I love helping whether or not there's something in it for me or not. And maybe that's my selfish thing of like, I love seeing people, other people grow. Maybe that's my selfish part. I get joy out of it. But like, that's what helps me get up and going because some people, it might be building cabinets. Some people, it might be building tools and equipment. For some people, it might be nursing, helping people. That might be their thing. But it's like, for me, I've found my shit. It's been there since I was 16. I've just gotten laser focused on what that feels like. And so waking up at 4:30, really? if that's a sacrifice for the life that I love, so be it. I don't know if anybody else feels that way, but that's— I, I feel like I'm a bit different in that sense because I just feel like that's just my life's purpose. Yeah,

well, it also sounds like to me when, um, when you take away the business and the financial side of anything, when you stick to the plan— like, I remember when I was in school, I had these magazines, like bodybuilding magazines, and Kids would come to me and say, hey, can you give me a program? I want to get bigger arms. And I'd have— I'd go to the arm section of my, um, like a— it was like a, you know, the clear, the clear plastic dividers. And I'd go and I'd have them all photocopied, the workouts. And I'd give that to little Bob over there or William over there and Jimmy.

And I would go—

I wouldn't charge them for it, but they would come to me to get the workouts, right?

Of course.

And, um, there's always, you know, even in what we do now, there's always people that I want to help. They're not necessarily, you know, financially that could start it or do it, but we've always got these, I like to call it like, you know, it's the caring factor about us. Yeah. You know, we'll do it for free. And, you know, I've always got that side of me on it where I just find someone I want to help and they just can't see it yet. And you spend so much time on them because it's just, There's something there. It's almost like that little thing you just need to— they just need to be a bit more convinced. Or— and when you get that, they're just like, oh, amazing. And I remember doing that at school. There was a, um, there was a kid there that, um, that, you know, I trained him and I helped him train and got bigger and bigger and bigger and didn't charge him a cent. But it was just— it's that satisfaction and that helps you to stick to the plan. And so,

yes,

it's that free, it's that I don't know what you'd call it, the, well, you're not getting paid for it. It's contra, whatever it is, not even a contra.

It's like, hey, this is my— Philanthropic, I believe, is the word, right?

That's it.

That's it. Philanthropic.

And you do that over your period of what you do. And to me, I think that that's a great way to stick to the plan, knowing that sometimes it doesn't work out, but you're always helping the way that you are.

I think that's the underlying thing, right? So it's like you have to have, if you want to stick to something, You have to believe in it, that it's the right thing for you. And then you devise a plan, right? So you've got to believe in it. You've got to believe in this is your purpose and this is what you want to do. That's your base of the pyramid. And then there's another layer. There's like, say there's a few layers of this pyramid. Second layer, most, second most important is a plan because I know some people who have a shitty plan and still can build a great business, you know, still can get it done, still get good results. So a good plan will help you get there faster. But having a good plan that works for you. So something that you and I nutted out early 2021 was, okay, Riz, you've done X, Y, Z, cool, but now we need to do it for a year straight. You've shown me you can post on social media 7 times, whatever it is, so you need to lock that down. Then you need to lock another thing down. Then you need to lock another thing down and layer and layer and layer. So now it looks like for me and my business might be different for you and your business and anybody else listening, it's going to be different for your business as well. But my mornings on a Tuesday, I've got 3 email marketing things that I pre-plan and schedule out, they get done. Photos for social media, every day there's a photo being put out for social media with a unique caption, etc., etc. Then there's reels getting made, then there's 3 scheduled posts for my free public Facebook group. Then there's all these different things that I am layering on. And if I just had a shitty plan that wasn't custom to me, and you said, Riz, it is 7 days posting socials, it is this, it is this, it is this, and you don't— you— and you don't do those, you're not going to be successful. It's pretty hard, mate. It's pretty hard. So sticking to a plan that's not going to work for you is going to be very, very difficult. So finding something finding a coach like yourself, or if you're, if you're a client, you say you're, you want a personal trainer, finding a trainer that devises a plan that works with you, not against you, is a really, really good way to make sure you stick to the plan. But then I think on the third level is making sure that you have your lifestyle factors under control, that you haven't overloaded yourself, that you haven't taken on too much stuff, because that will indefinitely impact how you stick to the plan. It doesn't matter. Sometimes if you've got, you know, you've got 2 kids, wife you've got to keep happy, business you've got to keep booming, staff you've got to keep happy, and then a family. If you even add maybe 2 or 3 more things, one of those things is going to come crumbling down whether or not you like it. You're just going to go, fuck, I'm not going to train today, fuck it, it's too much, it's too much. Or you go, I'm not going to eat healthy today, it's too much, it's too much. So we're not going to stick to the plan because we've overloaded. And so I think that's sort of a good way of making sure we stick to the plan, having a clear vision of what we want, making sure we've got a good plan and how to execute it that's custom tailored to us, then making sure our lifestyle factors can facilitate it. And we get good at saying no to the things that aren't important and yes to the things that are important, like what it is at the bottom, which is dying on our hill. That's our vision. Now dying on the hill, and then we build out a structure and a foundation from that. I believe that is the best way to stick to the plan.

Oh, totally. And it sort of carries on to the last topic we want to talk about today, which is the time debt versus the time asset.

Yes.

Choosing what you put your time to, which you just mentioned there, time debt versus time asset.

Yep.

Time debt.

What's something for you? What's a time Debt for you and time asset for you that you've created for yourself?

Yeah, time debt is interesting. I've tried a lot of different ways, like, hey, get to, like, start getting into the work first early in the morning when there's no distraction. Then the other thing is like, I want to train first so I feel good. And I always go between the two of them. But if, if in a concept that I'm, my time debt is if I am not focused. Time debt in today's day and age is very easy because we have social media. So, you know, it's just one click away from a time debt where that can take you down a path for 2 minutes, or it could take you down a path for 2 days, or it could take you a path for 2 years depending if you get hooked on following the same characters. And I say characters as in a friend or an acquaintance or a colleague or somebody you don't even know around the world and you get hooked on that. That's a time debt. I've certainly been in the time debt zone. Yeah.

What was time debt for you? So people can get a bit of a grip on what we actually go through.

Yeah. So a time debt would be following somebody and I've done this multiple times following some people I don't know too much and then people I do know on social media and it's almost like your— that 1 minute that you see what they're posting about, it's just 20 seconds, but it actually goes deeper than that. And then it will change the way that you decide to do your business or not, not that you follow because it— because there's all these layers and you see them, you'll see what they're doing. And so, so to me, that is the biggest time debt and biggest time debt over the last 10 years is that It's that concept. I deleted my Facebook, Instagram. I go through stages deleting them off my phone, so I just don't have any distractions at all. And that works well. But sometimes it's just like they can be on the phone and I won't check them. And we are in the business of— we're all in the business of online marketing, every single one of us, right? We all got probably a Facebook group to our clients. We're all in that game. So it's interesting that You want to use social media as a time asset where I would say, okay, I'm going straight to my Facebook pages for my clients, checking that, responding to messages, getting off that. I would say that's the one for me, I would say over the years. How about yourself?

Something groundbreaking, right? It's a time asset. So I created more time.

Let's talk about that.

So for years, I kind of placed a lot of pride on the fact that I had a good Instagram sort of community where I could be very like open and honest with everybody and they would always get a reply and it was always that good fun and good banter. But I kind of realized by following the people that I was following, clients or not, and nobody's done anything wrong, but I just realized it was just taking up too much of my time for minimal gain. Hmm. I can talk to my clients about what's important to me during the session, what's important to me, to us in the session, And that's that. If they need any reaching out, I'll reach out individually, not just open the floor to have public forum discussion in my DMs every fucking minute of every day, which is what I was doing.

Hmm.

And so I stopped following absolutely everybody. So this is— I'm following zero people. And what that allows me to be is purely a service. Muse Fitness is a service. We're not a public forum. And that saved me a lot of time and mental stress because I can leave my work stuff at work and I can go home and have my home stuff at home. And I've got my own personal page for Instagram and stuff and I follow that stuff, but it's my choice. I'm not obligated there. I don't get paid through my personal page. I get paid through my business page. So I'm not obliged to reply necessarily on my personal stuff and it's— and I can say what I want, etc. Anyway, but what I was thinking of, that's given me a time asset, right? But what I was thinking of now, if we look in a straight line at something, let's say We've all got 24 hours in a day or 16 hours in the day, Rich.

Yeah.

And if we take on 1 minute of somebody's post that we don't want, well, it creates a little wave along our timeline of the day. So our day's going straight, there's a 1-minute wave, and there's a 5-minute wave. I've illustrated it here. We've got a straight— there we go. We've got a straight line. That top line is 6 hours, A to B. That bottom line, straight line, is with debts. And it's 12 hours from A to B. Exactly.

The second line is audio only. The second line is hills up and down. First line is straight. First line, 6 hours. Second line, 12 hours.

Exactly. And so if you encourage those little waves, those little time debts, might be 5 minutes, might be half an hour, but they will distract you like a little wave. Imagine dropping a rock in a pond, that'll disrupt the water. And so you might get distracted for half an hour, hour, something like that. And it's not worth it day to day to let that sort of stuff into your life. You could do, you could take the same time, you take 6 hours and be super productive or take 12 hours and be just as productive. I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do the smarter, not harder variation. And I think a lot of people, like you were saying about time debt asset, people get caught up in the time debt scenario where they kind of, it just ends up, we just end up wasting time and it's nobody's fault. It's just not the smartest thing if you really wanna build a business or grow.

Yeah, I think well done for that decisive decision, by the way, getting some time asset back into life. I, you know, and the scenario of this, when I was driving from Sunshine Coast to Sydney this week, you know, you drive on a road, a freeway, the freeway got blocked, the police detoured us, everybody down or everybody ride around. Straight away I looked at the map. Yeah. And we said, okay, the way they're detouring us, it's going to add an hour and 20 minutes onto our trip. And it added an hour 30 minutes onto our trip. We stopped, we had a little bite to eat. So it was an hour 40 minutes pretty much delayed. And at the end of the day, we got back on the same road. It didn't do anything. Now you're going to get different thoughts and scenarios and experiences when you're on that detour and you just gotta understand, is that detour a good place to be?

Yep.

Or is it a detour that is gonna detour you from your main goals? And again, it's the die on the hill concept.

Yes.

Do you want to go down and there's no right or wrong to any of this. It's, do you wanna go down and talk to 100 of your potential people or clients in your day? Or do you want, is your focus sticking to the plan? to grow and to focus on impacting more people, um, in a different scenario. And, and it is sticking to the plan concept.

And then that's what it is for me, Richard. Like, I want, I want 4 Reece Fitnesses, and I want them to eventually, after I get to the 4, to franchise out to hundreds, right? That's where I want to be. And I realize day by day, and I'll come to my own realizations of my own flaws every day, but I'll go, ah, okay, there's another way I can tweak. there's another 1%, there's another 1%, there's another 1%. How I can get my time back and my efficiency back in a way that gives me a lot of abundance, purpose, and joy in my day, but also allows me to get the things done that I need to get done.

Yeah.

And allow me to push forward. So 100% creating time assets, creating things that give you more time. So for me, a time asset was getting rid of all the people that I follow. So I'm not chasing up people for no reason or watching stories aimlessly. And a time debt, is posting stories that I get more engagement on that just might be whatever, that aren't really adding to the general sense of what my services are about. Just could be fun and that's good. That's all well and good, but I'm here to educate, inspire and that sort of stuff. And I feel like you can do that in a much better way than how I was executing. So it's just those fine-tuning details, I feel.

Awesome. And you're an all-in or nothing kind of guy, aren't you, Riz?

Never have, never. Look, I'm I am with business now. I'm a lot better with my food. I mean, my personal trainer, me and my coach were talking about it. He's like, mate, you're no longer an all-or-nothing guy with the food. I've worked on a lot, a shitload, which I'm really proud of. But with business, baby, best believe it's all or nothing.

Awesome. And, um, team, I think the social media constant conversation of where this is leading down the line, I, I, I just think like anything, try it out. And give it a go. Delete it off your phone for a day, a week, whatever you want to do, and just give it a go and try out to see this extra time you have, were you able to achieve more? And what happens generally, and I think you experienced this too, when you're your first trainer, you rang me up and said, hey, I've got all this extra time, what the hell am I going to do with it? We'll find your flavor in a second. But don't— but, but you've got to allow yourself to say, okay, I've got all this extra time. You may not realize you've got the extra time because all you've done, you've just you know, found a time debt somewhere else. So you probably clean your car or your desk. And once you do all that shit, you're gonna find the time asset that you now have. And it just, for me, it goes that way anyway. Like I could stop this and you start this and you stop this. And so sometimes it just takes a bit of time to get really super hyper-focused. Once you get rid of all your, I call the $5 tasks, as you know.

Yep.

once you do your things you need to do or empty, undo your dishwasher or clean your floor or clean your car or do anything that sucks that time out. And it's interesting, we, like you were saying before, we're human beings that just to a degree want to be distracted. Um,

and we're wired, mate.

We just want to figure out what's going on with somebody else.

And it's, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's a fucking human experience, but it's Is that what we want to do? Really? Then should we, should we facilitate to understand a bit of self-awareness, which is what we always talk about? Should we be aware of our human condition enough to the point where we facilitate, facilitate it and go on Facebook community pages or go on the drama on what's been happening with X person, Y person, Will Smith getting, uh, slapping some guy? You know, I don't give it— Will Smith's bloody life has never impacted mine. ever, right? I'm talking about it like it matters, and it's like, it's, it's so stupid. It is so— if some guy came up to me and gave me the finger in the street, I'd keep walking.

Yeah.

You could say anything to me, I wouldn't care. It's not worth my time. I did that when I was young. When I was 20, I'd get in fights for no reason, end up with 2 broken hands because of it. Dumb shit. When I was 20, 21, stupid. Then I ended up with a cast for 8 weeks both times. Not fun. And it's like, do you? No, it is the most. I don't care. I would quicker sprint from a fight right now than I would to jump in. So, but yet I'm still there. Oh, you know, like, like it's just in us. But if we understand that it's in us, the quicker we can move on.

Yeah. And we're all talking, you know, this podcast is for those, for those who are listening who want something else, for those who are listening that are more than they're working at the moment. For those who are listening that just, you know, they want to craft what they're born to do, those who are listening who are just going, this is okay where I'm at, but I want more, you know, all these conversations with people who don't want average and who want more. And you look at then the total, you know, that person you admire, you look at a Steve Jobs, you look at a— You hear these stories and they go, they were assholes. And so you've got to figure out what level of being an asshole do you want? Do you want extremeness or do you want a balance? And there's nothing wrong with either way. And the sooner you realize that if you want one goal, one goal only, you have to stop doing other activities. And that is one decision. The other way you go, okay, I'm gonna do, I'm gonna stop doing 2 out of 4 activities or whatever it may be. And you've got to find the flavor. And this is, you know, as we finish up, Riz, this is where the whole concept and maybe the 4th point here is the whole comparison thing is so screwed up. It's so screwed up because the comparison thing, when you compare to somebody, you've got to compare the whole concept. You've got to compare their whole life if you do the comparison.

I do.

So you've got to find someone who's a very similar age, a very similar style, very similar everything, and realize, okay, this is what you're doing, the exact same thing. And there's not— there's very few people that you could probably say, I'm comparing to this person. Even if you look at a competitor, you have a studio that's opening up the road and you have a franchisor coming in, you don't understand the debt that that person has and why they're pushing so hard, where the other person's more of a lifestyle business and they're loving all aspects of their life. And so It's very hard to do this comparison on an equal playing field. And that's what I really advise. What's that?

I think we get caught up. A lot of people have asked me in my business owning thing, well, who's your major competitor? I'm like, I don't really give a fuck.

Yeah,

I don't. I used to.

Used

to? Used to. But then I go, I'm on my own shit. It's okay if I get it wrong. It's okay if it's not perfect, but I'll find out for my own people, for the people that want to be in the business, people love what I do. Either there's gonna be proof of concept and it's gonna work so far so good, or it's not.

Yeah.

So is it gonna shrink or it's gonna grow? And so far growing. So I think like, and, but you can play the comparison game all day, Rich, and you'll, and you know who's gonna suffer? You.

Totally. Totally.

You're not gonna, I've never met anybody that's gone, look at what they're doing. Oh God, you know, and 10x their life. Like, It's a time debt. It makes you feel worse about yourself. You don't gain anything from it. And even if you are better than that person that you're comparing to, so what? You're not winning any points. You don't get any money for being better. You're just better. Okay, cool. What next? Yeah, I hear you, man. It's hard though. I do it all the time.

Yeah. So I think you've just got to, you know, I always said, I think I said last time, if whatever age you're at right now, you got to draw a line in the sand and say, what are the items that's going to help me move towards my goal and what aren't them? And by now, guys, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up and say, hey, Is it training in the morning? Is it sipping a latte? Is it having a cigarette? Is it meditating? What the hell is it for you that helps you to be the best version of yourself and do that the majority of time? The majority of time.

Yes.

And that, and what you said before, you know, it is what basically we do is that the items that you do to be a better person is gonna help you in the business sense. That's why there's so much you know, so much conversations on, on self-belief. And when you look at anything and you go, oh, that person's crushing it on Instagram or social, because they might be talking to a broad concept like how to believe in your goals and motivation. That's a very broad topic in that because everybody needs it. The reason why everybody needs it and everybody's wanting— I believe that every day, every day we wake up to be a better version of ourselves than the day before. I honestly believe that every single person where they're at the moment, they wake up and they want to be better than they were yesterday. I feel that. And some people have a very odd way to show that, but most people, majority of people, want to be a better version of themselves than yesterday in what they know and, um, what they've— how they've been brought up and everything they have. And so when you look at that concept, guys, is that by now— and this is probably the biggest regret thing when you talk about 4 at the start is not understanding what that was. Was that a swim in the morning that made me feel better, or is that— was that a run, or was that a walk, or was there a workout session? What was it that made me feel amazing? And then everything else is good after that. But if you can't get the basics right, like what am I going to wear, what am I going to eat— I went through, through probably about a year or 2 there where trying to figure out what I was going to eat for lunch was, was a really hard activity for me. Because it was just like in my head so much.

Yeah.

Why I wear the same shirt, white, black, eat this very similar food, got the same haircut, Riz. It's easy. And then everything else makes sense. It's simple after that. So guys, get the basics sorted if you don't already. And if you do, hey, congratulations. You know the way that you can now start working on the hustle and the muscle in your business. Self-awareness. Yeah, self-awareness.

100%. That's a massive one, I think.

No, I don't think we talk about it enough because this is the key right now. Like everything that we're trying, if we can't be self-aware of—

If you know if you're going to overload your plate or not, if you know you have the capability to execute and get it done, it's everything. If you have self-awareness or self-confidence and both, the self-awareness and confidence kind of tie into each other, I find. But if you have self-awareness, you're sweet. And it's actual self-awareness. It's like, how do I emotionally react in this situation? For me, let's say when I, when I was trying to get sober, and Jeff always says this, he goes, mate, spend enough time in a fucking barbershop, you're gonna get a haircut. It's like, spend enough time in a pub, you're gonna have a drink.

Yeah.

You know, so where do I need to spend my most time? Or spend enough time in a gym where you're gonna have a workout? Right? So it flips on its head. Where do you want to be? Do I want to be the person that's going to work out more often than not, or person that's gonna get drunk more often than not? It turns out working out. So it's all that sort of stuff. Where do I belong in this stuff? Who am I? And then going and executing on that. Massive.

Yeah, let's make it happen, guys, on the Hustle and Muscle Show with Rich and Riz. Go and crack in, go and figure out where your self-awareness is. I mean, self-awareness is probably one of the most underutilized items that you can do to grow your business.

100%.

Again, you should know what it is by now. And if you don't, just write a bloody list and say, this is what I think it is and then test it out, get it going, stop comparing, stick to the plan and definitely don't die on the hill. Don't die on the hill. Don't die on the hill. There's a book gonna come out sooner or later than that.

You've got to write it, mate.

No, we'll have it going there. Don't die on the hill. Choose the hill you're gonna die on. And when you want to die on that hill, go hard, go hard.

Make sure it's a good death.

Make sure it's a goddamn good death. 100%. 100%. So Hats off to you if you're on a hill at the moment and you are dying on it. Amazing. Good for you. Good for you. You can't get on two hills. You can't get on two hills. So be on the right hill and you can wave your flag proudly. Chris, been good to chat.

Been good to chat, mate. As always, thanks for having me and thanks for being an awesome, awesome partner in the Hustle and Muscle podcast. Thanks, guys. If you want to find me, it's Riz Fitness everywhere. Rizfitness.com.au online. Instagram, Rich Fitness, Facebook, etc. I have a new podcast app called the Protein Bites Podcast. If you're interested in that, available I think on Spotify, Anchor, but have a look on my Instagram, you should be able to find it.

Yeah, and definitely episode 1, he, um, episode 1 Protein Bites, he talked about what the whole title is about, and that's very interesting. So definitely listen to episode 1, why the title that is. It was hilarious. Listen, if you're going to want to find me, um, you know, we probably have the best marketing program in the world for studio and personal trainers. Businesses. And so if you wanna, if you wanna jump into that, uh, best place to do that is go to commarketing.com.au, commarketing.com.au, fill in a form and we'll be in contact with you and show you how you can grow your business. If that's more revenue, working less, depending on what situation you're in. Not everybody wants $1 million. Some people just want their time back. We can help you with that too.

Beautiful thing.

All right, team, we'll see you next week on the Hustle and Muscle Show. Enjoy Easter if it's Easter for you. If it's not, enjoy next week. Um, don't eat too many eggs, but if you want to eat too many eggs, you can as well, right? It's actually good business too. It's good business, you know.

That's right, repeat customers.

For fitness trainers, this is great business. And just before we finish up, like, you know, don't be mad with your clients for any extra Easter eggs. Easter, it's Easter.

Guess what? Live a little bit

and they come back to train again, you know.

Yeah,

your job is to keep people maintained through the highs and the lows, through the Christmas, all that kind of stuff. So guys, um, peace out, have fun, and we'll catch you next week on the Hustle and Muscle Show.

Peace, everybody. Enjoy.

Bye for now.