Make Anxiety your SUPERPOWER!

Through sobriety, through having that shift, and through working through my anxieties and working through my mental health issues, I've learned to reframe them. Reframe anxiety into something of a superpower.

Anytime we're talking about shifting gears in life and personal transformation, I always get super stoked. That's, like, my jam. It's like I get super excited about it. I'm curious, um, I know we're settling your story in a couple seconds, but I'm curious for you. What is the number one thing that it takes to shift your gears in life?

Wow. It's. It's all about mindset. I mean, I know that's a big, big answer, but to me, that. That's. That changed everything, because I'm not. I'm. I'm still the same person I was when I was in the depth of my. Of. Of my disease, of my anxiety, of everything else. The thing that changed the most dramatically for me was the mindset. And it took a lot of work. But that was. If it's one word, that's the one thing. It's all about mindset. 90% of life is about mindset, and the 10% is the action you take based on it.

Well, rock on. Well, that means we got to jump into mindset when contrasting. Right. So you've got Adam today, and you got Adam 10 or 15 years ago. What's the difference between Adam then versus Adam now?

Well, I was very much. I was using alcohol to numb the pain of my anxiety, that I had an anxiety disorder. And when I. When I was younger, I didn't know I had it. We didn't, you know, when I was young, we didn't talk a lot about mental health issues, that those wouldn't really come up. And I didn't really know that I was experiencing anxiety. I thought I was just a worry word. I thought it was a spaz. I thought, you know, I was just afraid of talking to girls because I just wasn't confident or I was a nerd or whatever. Yeah. And then, you know, when I got into college, I started having these massive panic attacks, and I didn't know what they were, but they were totally irrational. Like, they would just revolve around. Yeah. Yeah. I was just studying for an exam, and all of a sudden, like, it's like, oh, my gosh, I have cancer, or I have this terrible disease. And it was so debilitating. And at the time, of course, I was drinking recreationally, as college kids do. And of course, during that time, I leaned into it. More as my weapon of choice against the anxiety that I was experiencing. And so it became that crutch and it became dependency and it became my life. It came my solution so that, that. So, you know, fast forwarding to about 10 years ago when I got sober.

That. That's where I was. I was. I was in a jail cell after a dui. That Something that I never thought that I would do, something that I hated myself for, something I hated even before that experience. But I became something I hated because I became a danger to others, and not just myself, but to others.

And so that's where I was 10 years ago. But today, just contrasting that through sobriety, through having that shift, and through working through my anxieties and working through my mental health issues, I've learned to reframe them. Reframe anxiety into something of a superpower.

I know you had Wendy Suzuki on a couple weeks. Yeah, she talks about it too, and she's right on the money. It's like, yeah, anxiety can be a superpower. And that's, that's what I've experienced and, and that's how I've been able to use it to get into a new fitness, new lifestyle, become qualify for the Ironman World Championship and do all those great things that I've enjoyed.

That's awesome. Well, first of all, congratulations on your sobriety.

Thanks.

My father struggled with alcohol for a long, long time, and I saw the battle that it took to, to. To. To basically become sober and stay that way. Um, so rock on to you, man. Seriously.

Thank you.

Congratulations. That is an achievement that you need to kind of like, not only say pat yourself on the back for, but feel like, feel the. All right. That I did something in emergence. Right. So that kind of thing. The other thing that kind of dawned on me a little bit is it seems like there was a ton of negative self talk through throughout the. This growth curve. Do you still struggle with negative self talk the way you did then, or have you. Have you been able to reframe it?

Absolutely. I mean, the challenges that I face now haven't. Aren't any different. I still, you know, have that. I still struggle with anxiety. And I don't think you ever get over it. I mean, it's always going to be with me. The differences that I. I've learned to be able to transcend it, to rise above it, and to use different tools to help me with that. But I still have panic attacks. But at least now, now I can name it and say, this is a panic attack. I'm experiencing this. And, and so I've been able. I've been fortunate to be able to live with that reality and almost make it just a companion that I live with and some. And oftentimes a friend that I can just experience with. And, you know, a lot of times your relationships with your friends isn't always the best. You know, you have arguments, you debate, and sometimes that anxiety comes at you hard. But. But yeah, I've learned to, to reframe it a bit. So it with me.

Yeah, yeah. No, that's good. No, one of the things that I, that I love about you is you're crazy transparent. You're crazy vulnerable with your story specifically. And I've discovered that that gives those are coming behind us on the journey, so to speak, a lot more confidence that they can do it too. Right. And even naming anxiety for what it is or, you know, having a. Having an attack, so to speak, you know, to name it. You're also able to go, well, I know it's an attack. I also know it's not gonna last forever.

Yeah. Where.

I don't know about you, but when I used to struggle with panic attacks back in the day, this is probably pushing 15 years ago, when I would struggle with them, I would think that I was. I legitimately thought I was dying. Like, I. And I didn't think it was going to end, you know, and. And that's when I began really hardcore praying and meditating and stuff like that. And that seemed to really, really help. What are some of the things? Obviously being. Becoming incredibly fit with Ironmans and all triathlons. I'm like. So I know that that's, that's a key part of it, but, you know, but what's going on in the mind to kind of help, even tackle that type of like elevation.

Yeah, it's really coming to terms with the type of mind that I have. It's always running, it's always going to be moving. So whenever I used to think. So I do meditate, I do breathing work, I do exercise, I try to eat as well as I can and also take some liberties on that front because I love donuts.

Got to have some good.

Right? But you know, I think it's. But the meditation piece and the mindset piece is just learning to understand what type of mind I have. I have a mind that's always running, it's always thinking, that's always, you know, generating ideas or arguing with itself or doing those kinds of things. So recognizing that meditation for me looks like not trying to shut the mind down. I got frustrated for years trying to meditate and just say, I need to shut my mind down, and it wouldn't shut up. And then I would get frustrated, and then I'd stop and I'd never do it again. But recognizing that, okay, well, for me, meditation is just sitting back and watching it without judgment and saying, all right, yeah, there's some thoughts coming by. I'm going to try not to attach myself to it. If I attach to it, I'm going to detach. Once I notice it, then that's the practice that works for me. And I've recognized that it's not like an immediate relief, but if I'm doing it enough consistently, it makes it so that I'm just more level over the course of those days. Combine that with more breathing work. I particularly. I love the WIM HOF method, if you're familiar with it, that that method just. It creates so much confidence and energy. And it's been a great relief to my anxiety, especially when I have things like panic attacks. That's really helped. And the exercise, specifically the aerobic, really, really easy exercise. That. That was a revelation to me in terms of managing my anxiety, because I used to think that I got to. I got to go out and exercise to help with my anxiety. So I go out for a hard run, then I'd come back and I'd just be anxious and tired.

But that really easy stuff, I found that it helps. It was almost like a working meditation, focusing on the breath, you know, just easy heart rate. And then, you know, I found that it was just. I was more energized and calmer with that kind of stuff. So, yeah, there's. There's a lot of tools, and when they're combined together, they just give this sense of empowerment. And again, it's not getting over the anxiety for me, it's just rising above it through all of these methods and tools.

Yeah, man, that's so good. It's so good. You know how much in this transition, this transformation that you've had, how much of that has been tied to, like, some of your close relationships? Because I know for me, when I was trying to break free from the things that I was facing, a lot of the people that I was surrounded by just weren't good. People may be around. And then I would get around people that were good for me to get around, but even necessarily wouldn't necessarily understand what I felt like in my gut that I had to go do. Right. So how important has relationships kind of played a role in your transformation.

Oh, it's been huge and it's been critical. And I can't speak more highly of the idea of community, of having community for that. And I've been fortunate. I know that you know, a lot of people, and you just mentioned having some toxic relationships that don't, don't help with that. And certainly that existed in some, in some ways. But I was so very fortunate to have a wife that loved me and supported me throughout everything. And, and, and you know, encouraged me on when I had crazy ideas like doing an ironman for the first time without experiencing that. But, you know, through sobriety, I mean, I challenge, I was challenged early on with getting sober because I just wasn't bought in, I didn't have the willingness. So I was always in, in and out of the doors of recovery because I, I found myself not being able to relate to the people in the rooms. You know, they were all, they were riding motor motorcycles and they were getting into hard drugs. I was just, you know, I was just a dabbling alcoholic. You know, as I found I thought myself, I was functioning. I had a job, you know, no biggie. But you know, then, then came the point where I was, I was to the point where I was completely feeling hopeless, feeling like I had no control over my life, which I didn't. And alcohol controlled me completely. And then I found that community to be completely relatable. And once I changed my mindset, shifted my mindset on that front to recognize that I was part of this community and I could immerse myself, being involved in that community changed my identity around the whole thing and elevated my life for the first time. And that was the first transformation I was able to successfully make. And it was primarily because of the community I surrounded myself with. I surrounded myself with people that had what I wanted, which was sobriety, long term sobriety. And it worked.

Yeah, no, that's awesome. You know, and.

Some part of me is like, and this is just me being guttural right now. Part of me feeling feels like right now we're going to have someone who's watching, who is on the fence about sobriety. Maybe they've tried to get sober two or three, four times and it hasn't worked out for them. Maybe, maybe they're just considering it for the first time. Maybe they're realizing that their life is, they're not getting the outcomes that they desire, you know, and they, they can start to see that some of that sobriety is tied to that. What would you tell them right now? If they're in that, if they're in that mode of either they've. They've tried and kind of fallen a couple of times, or they're considering trying for the first time.

Yeah, I would, I would say there, there's certainly no harm in taking a step in there. And the very first thing I would, I would tell them is, is I don't, I mean, I don't want to advertise any specific type of, of recovery because there's all different kinds and I happen to go through.

My particular advice is just to, Is to go in, give it a shot, talk to people, and take it one day at a time. Because that's really all we have is today. If we can live obsessively in the present, and you're already thinking about the idea of maybe I should get sober right now. In the present moment, your mind is telling you what you need to hear and you need to follow that. So take that step today and then, you know, and don't get trapped in the, in that feeling of, well, what about tomorrow? What if, you know, what if I get to the weekend? I usually drink on the weekend and I have that obsession. Well, that's the obsessive thinking and that's, that's, that's future tripping, you know, stay right now. Just right now. Yeah. And then. And surround yourself with a community of people that, that have what you want. And you'll know that when you hear it, when you feel it. Yeah.

Yeah. No, that's so good. You know, one of the things I saw my dad do, and this is, like I said, you mentioned, sobriety is. It's a journey for the individual. But there was obviously, you know, community. There's, there's aa, there's all these different things that obviously you can use as a resource. But one of the things I noticed that he did is he actually changed the, the commitment or the obsessive direction of what he was focused on. So he took the focus off of alcohol and put it on better health, for example. And he spent all this time. And he got pretty healthy for, for a while. I'm curious. I mean, I feel like that that's. If, if it serves you, it may not be a bad thing to kind of go all in on something. What are your thoughts?

I, I agree. I mean, when. Just as we were talking about with anxiety, you don't get over the anxiety. And one of the symptoms of, of say, an anxiety disorder is something that I have is an obsessive nature. I obsess. You Know, I obsessed over alcohol, I obsessed over, you know, a career that I wanted, that I didn't have at the moment. I obsessed over all of these things and it was never channeled in a healthy way. But realizing that I'm not going to get over my obsessive nature if I can channel it in a healthy way, if I can obsess over being a great father, a great husband, or obsess about, you know, getting involved in something like triathlon, I'm going to find fulfillment rather than frustration. And that's, that's exactly what I found through triathlon, is I could channel that and I could turn that obsessive piece, which is a negative, which is perceived as a negative, into a positive. And now it's a superpower. And so I've got this obsessive focus that drove me to, from being a non athlete into something of a, of a high end triathlete.

High end world champion.

Well, world championship qualifier.

Yeah, you know what, I'm. Yeah, but still, but like that's, that's not like no big deal. Right?

Right.

There's some serious training and stuff like that involved. Well, the reason I bring that up is because I feel like a lot of folks that are in the, in the areas of anxiety or a lot of the folks have been struggling for a little while, you almost just completely lose hope. Right. So hope is, becomes an afterthought. And one of the things I've always tried to do with this particular show is come at life from a thousand different angles. Life, business, relationship, from a thousand different angles. And at the end of the day, show everybody. There's hope. Yeah, right. And there's hope. And so much of what I see in the marketplace is people's attention just being focused in the wrong direction. And it seems like if we can get them to focus on things that serve them versus the things that don't serve them, they can kind of shake themselves out of pretty much anything and then go on to do amazing things like, like you've done with your, your athletic career. How did you discover that the athletic career was going to be a conduit for you to begin this healing journey and to kind of keep yourself happy and whole?

That's a good question. And the seed was planted really early on. So I, you know, I've always been, I've always felt like I've just wanted to. When I, when I put my mind into something that I want to achieve, I want to achieve it fully, 100%. Even when I started music in high school, I played, I played the cello and I just went all out and I wanted to get world class at it. And so I did what it took to get there. And then I had my lull of where I was just drinking. And I guess you could say that that was my, my attempt to become world class at that.

Right.

And so, you know, and, and obviously that that didn't work but, but I guess the seed was planted for the, for the fitness part. When I was maybe about 15 years ago or so when I was watching, I was just watching television on the couch. I was in the world championship of the Ironman came on it and I was just watching this thing and I was immediately drawn in, of course by the picturesque beauty of Hawaii that was, that was all around. And then you know, the announcer comes on, Al Trotwig, who's got this amazing voice of talking. Yes. And he starts talking about these distances, 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26 mile run. And I'm like, geez, how many days does it take to do that? And they're like, all in the same day? And I'm like, what are you all crazy? Yeah. And I'm like, okay, these must be Australian crazy people, you know, that just do that on a Tuesday kind of thing. But then.

I kept watching and just watching the people that were crossing the finish line and hearing that they were doctors or lawyers and watching 80 Year Old Sister Madonna Bouder, this frail, seemingly frail old lady just kicking butt in this triathlon and finishing and they all had smiles on their faces. And I was just like. My immediate response to that watching this on the couch was like, oh my gosh, that's amazing. Look how happy these people are. They're on Hawaii, they're doing this race, they've suffered, they've overcome something they never thought they could achieve. I would love it if I could do that. And then, but my mind immediately shut it down self doubt and said, no, no, you can't do that. You're a smoker, you drink, you know, you've got anxiety, you've never even swam more than a lap in a pool. You couldn't do that. And so I said, okay, yeah, yeah, I'll listen to your brain. And then, you know, then I just went on, as I say in the book, I just cracked a beer and went on feeling sorry for myself. Didn't think about it again until I had about a year sober. And when I had a year sober, I'd always listen to people in the rooms of sobriety say this Phrase, don't make any life changes, major life changes, the first year in recovery. And what I interpreted that as was when you hit a year of sobriety, make a major life change.

And so I happen to be injured. I happen to have. Have just gotten a shoulder surgery from some, you know, painful exercise routine that I got involved with that was 90 days. I won't say the name.

But I was recovering from that surgery, and I. And it kind of came back to me at that moment because I was thinking to myself, I'm not feeling. I'm feeling spiritually healthy. I'm feeling mentally healthy. I've got this year of sobriety. I've done something that I've never thought that I'd be able to do, which was get sober. I did it with a community of support. Now, I feel. I knew that my mindset had shifted, but. And at that point in time, I was like, how could I. How could I improve my health more like, because I'm. I'm sitting here, I'm downing peanut M M's, I'm still smoking cigarettes. And so I. It was at that point that I kind.

Of.

That the memory came back about watching the Ironman World championship. And I remembered that feeling that I got, and it came back like it was just that point of reference, but my mind shift. My mindset was in a different place.

Yeah.

So instead of saying, I can't do that, instead I said, well, what if I tried? What if I could? And then the wheel started spinning, and then I started looking on the Internet, and then I started getting excited about it, and then I talked to the wife about it, and that was the. That was the deal. That. That was the. That was the thing to seal the deal. Because she immediately said, oh, yeah, yeah, you should do that. And I was like, well, crap, I got to do it now.

Yeah. Well, I mean, she's a good one. Nice job. Yeah, good job. No, I think that's good. I think, you know, I. I feel like we actually discover ourselves at the other end of losing ourselves. Right. So I've been through three major crushings in my life referring to. There's no other way out than to go through it. Right. So I actually see those as a blessing and not a curse, even though they definitely don't feel good at the time. But the spiritual fruit they give, the emotional fruit they give, the physical fruit they give. All that kind of stuff.

It's.

It's. It's pretty much.

It's something you can't really articulate. You've been on the other side of it, and it's like what people are going through, they're like, there's no way that's going to possibly be true. And you're like, no, seriously, just keep going. Right? Like, I don't want to keep going. I don't want you to tell me that I want to. I want to. I want a quick way out. Right, right. You know, but one of the things I love about shifting gears specifically is this element of being honest with your. Now, I noticed that one of the things that you did is you quasi told everything in chronological order, but then you kind of got away from it a little bit. Why?

Oh, the, the race anecdote kind of stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I wanted to draw attention to the fact that that those, those lessons that I learned in sobriety and learned about anxiety are applicable in every situation. And, and that triathlon, that. What I discovered in triathlon and Ironman in particular was that that training and that experience translates so much to life. And that's what I, that's why I found that triathlon in particular is such a great supplement. And I say supplement because it's not a good replacement. It's a good supplement to recovery because it helps to teach that patience, that acceptance, that, that health, that. And, and all of those things. Lessons you need to learn that the unpredictability and the fact that you can't control every situation, there are things you can control and you can't control. And that is. That is wildly apparent in triathlon.

Yeah.

So that's why, that's why I kind of use those, those differing. Those staggered. Those chapters the way I did.

Well, I mean, it makes a lot more sense now that you explain it.

But no, I mean, it's a great work, man. I am curious. You know, there's a lot of. We're always saying on the show, hey, look, you're gonna have to get. Become comfortable with the uncomfortable. Like we're not the first person to say that, that line. But I have discovered it's basically a life truth. And I know that you had this slogan of like, what was it? Rest in peace cheeseburgers or dying to your comfort zone or whatever. Right. So I'm curious, like, how important or how did you break or like. Because if you look at the first part of your life and some of the stories you tell, you see this element of totally staying in the comfort zone, and then you see this element of radically not being in a comfort zone. What was the bridge?

Yeah, the bridge. The bridge was really Sobriety. Because at that point, when I was sitting in a jail cell and I had. I didn't just get a dui. I wasn't just stopped at a checkpoint, but I, you know, I was in a blackout, got in an accident, and fortunately, you know, thank God, nobody was hurt or injured or killed.

Yeah.

And that, you know, that was a breaking point for me. That was a point where I hated myself. I was so disconnected from who I was that it was just like, I can't. I couldn't believe who I was. And so I was pulled in two different directions. The two different choices I had in that jail cell were I'm going to. Because I'm a danger to everyone else and myself. I shouldn't be on this world. So I can end it or I can legitimately be all in with getting help. And so that. That bridge became. I mean, I was so. I mean, I had no choice but to be uncomfortable in that moment because I was so fearful. I was so full of anxiety. I knew I couldn't. Couldn't drink anymore because I was going to hurt people. And then so. And I was afraid to, you know, kill myself or I was afraid to even go into recovery. I was fortunate that I went in the direction of leaning into the right fear, of leaning into the healthy fear of seeking help, of getting that recovery. And I just. I want to. I want to share that message because there's. There's different types of discomfort. I mean, there's a reason we have fear because it serves us. Fear serves us. But there's also fear that that is. Is a fear that we have to move beyond that that is there because it's challenging us to go beyond it. And that was one of those moments. So that bridge was just get that. That was the first experience of really getting comfortable, being uncomfortable. And that discomfort, what it looked like was just accepting that I had no control. And whatever legal ramifications of what I had done came about, they were. What they were. My key role was just getting help so that I didn't drink again and take one step at a time doing so. Leaning into that discomfort, that was that first shift in mindset where it was, you know, over time I. I learned that I could apply, you know, that. That in. In other ways.

Yeah.

So. So, yeah, and. And you look at the dynamic there. You look at this moment when I was, quote, unquote, comfortable, when I was leaning into comfort, was it really comfortable? No, I was. And now you look at these. These moments when, I mean, you look at how I Am now. I mean, I'm. You know, and where I'm leaning into discomfort, I mean, how. How do I look now? It's. It's a lot different, you know, So I would say that it's counterintuitive, but leaning into that discomfort leads to a more fulfilling, healthier and happier life. Yeah.

That's such a good transition. Or a contrast between a good fear and a not so good fear. I've never actually thought about that. I think that's brilliant, and I think you are right. You know, it is funny. As I have talked to people about their personal transformation and as I have looked at my own personal transformation, as I have helped people with their own transformations.

There'S a core that starts the entire process. And you just actually articulate it, which is radical honesty, like being radically honest with yourself about really where you're at, really what's at stake, really what you would like to change or what needs to change. And then you make a choice, right? And then you make a choice. And then the other thing that I heard you say that I think is really powerful. If I'm trying to break this in like a one step, one step, two step, three is stepping into acceptance. Right. It's one thing to be honest with yourself. And in that moment, you can either beat yourself up with all the things that you've done wrong, or you can say, no, this is not who I'm going to be anymore kind of scenario, which I think. I just think is amazing. You know, I believe that as an author, that certain books call you to write them, right? Call it universe, call it whatever you want to call it. I call it God. But I believe that these types of works call us to write them. What calls you to. Right, Shifting gears.

I felt that you said it very well earlier where you said that you want to help people to experience hope that feel hopeless. And having known that myself, having known that spirit of. Or that feeling of hopelessness where there's just a lack of, whatever you want to call it, spiritual energy or anything that exists in me and experiencing what a transformation can really change.

I felt it necessary to at least share that story and share my story of how that transformation, how that shift happened for me.

And it was really even before I qualified for the Ironman World Championship that I was thinking of writing that, because I felt that shift even before I qualified for Kona. It was all about just the journey of getting into Ironman. But it created a very nice epilogue that I did end up qualifying. But. But yeah, it was. It was the idea. And I was. I felt exactly as you say. I felt called to write it. If, if for nothing else, just to, to document how I shifted. And if it, if it gets. If it got in the hands of a few people, then great.

Yeah.

And that's, that's. And I'm glad it, It. It's out there now, and, and, and it feels really good. But I'll say it wasn't, it wasn't always a comfortable process.

No, no. Writing a book is never comfortable.

It's always, actually, in many respects, is more challenging than anything else. Because, you know, I don't know about you, when I'm, When I'm writing, sometimes I'll write something like, I don't really like that. I don't have to go back, you know, backspace, backspace, backspace, backspace, backspace. Like you would think I can write an email in 600 words and nothing flat. 600 words in a book takes me like six hours.

It's crazy.

Talk to me a little bit about the Art of Impossible.

What do you love about it?

The book? The. Yeah. What I love about it is it just breaks. It breaks down.

How people who seem to do the impossible.

Can actually do them. And it just talks about a lot of the habits, a lot of what's created, and it backs it up with a lot of the data. One of the great things that I love about it is it talks about this idea of pushing just 4% beyond your comfort zone at any given time. And if you could do that every, every day or every week or what have you, you know, by the end of a year, you will have pushed so far beyond your comfort zone that you will have achieved something you never thought possible. And that's so important because if you push yourself too hard, too far past your comfort zone, you're going to burn yourself out. You're gonna, you know, you could injure yourself or you could, you know, you're gonna try and deadlift £400. You've never done a deadlift in your life. Yeah, that's discomfort. But.

Yeah, right.

But, you know, if you, if, if you just push that, that 4%, you're building that elasticity of your, you know, fear and your ability to have that courage about that fear and courage relationship, which is, which is important. So I, I love that concept in that book that, you know, go 4 beyond 4% beyond your comfort zone.

No, I love it too. And I actually, I mean, it's a great feedback. I mean, it does keep you growing and keep you pushing, but not stretching yourself so far where you feel like you're, you're, you're almost intimidated by taking the step because you know you're going to fail because it's too big of a thing. Right. Kind of thing.

Yeah.

And I've seen that most everybody's become super successful in whatever genre it is. Right. It doesn't matter if it's being an author, a speaker, a business owner, a mom, a dad. It's always the baby steps. Right. It's always incremental progress day after day. Right. Almost like it's, it feels mundane in the moment, but then you look back, you're like, holy cow. Oh my gosh. Wow. Kind of scenario.

Right.

You know, with all the workouts that I'm sure you had to do to prepare for these, these different events, Ironman and triathlon and stuff like that. Did you discover any workouts that were like super beneficial versus workouts that were super damaging?

Yeah, in fact.

Early on I discovered that. So I started using the Maffetone method, which is Phil Maffetone. He was, he was a coach of a lot of the triathletes back when they were wearing Speedos, Oakleys and war mullets. Yeah. So, but he, he, he developed this heart rate training program where you essentially two zones, aerobic and anaerobic, instead of like the five zones that you train in. And that spoke so well to me because it was just so simple. And I was like, okay, all I got to do is stay under 142 beats per minute. And I, I've sucked at fitness all my life otherwise. So just learning how to do that, that I think for me was the most, that I felt was the most beneficial was doing a bike ride because it's not, not as high impact. You can go out for a couple hours, you know, you can enjoy nature, you can enjoy that. You could do it at an aerobic pace. And the energy you feel and the fitness that you gain is just so, is so great over time. Just, just doing that and it's so simple, so easy. You know, that's, that's, that's all. For me, that, that's, that's what I love. Yeah.

Yeah. No, that's awesome. You know, my, one of my boys, I got one boy who loves to exercise. One boy who's, he just started exercising, which I'm super happy for him about, but he used to say, I'm too far behind. It's not worth my time. You know, he's a little overweight at the time, some stuff like that. What would you say to someone who is maybe doing what you used to do? Maybe they're consuming too much alcohol or smoking, you know, packs of cigarettes a day or whatever, you know, how would you encourage them to get out there and take care of themselves and make themselves a headphone, healthier person?

Yeah, well, first, first of all, they have to really want it. I mean, from my experience, and they just have to want it more than anything else. Because in my experience, when I first tried to get sober night and I, and I didn't, and, or I failed or I relapsed, I always thought to myself, well, I'm going to go to these meetings until the, as the heat comes off. But I still have a family to take care of. I still have work. Yeah, to me, it had to be even bigger than that, you know, it had to be more important than work or family. And I know that sounds terrible to say, like, hey, you're putting that before your family. Yes, because if I'm not sober, I'm nothing to nobody. And, and so if, and if, if they're already beyond that or they just want to quit smoking or things like that, I really recommend, you know, the cold turkey approach and really just. And, and that stay exactly in the present kind of moment and try and shifting the identity around what they are. Because the immediate, immediate, at the immediate point that you stop smoking cigarettes, you're not trying to stop or you're not trying to quit, you're no longer a smoker. You are not. That's your, that can be your identity now. So shape your identity around that. And then just if, if, if it's getting started in fitness and if it's the time that people worry, because that's one of the biggest things that I hear is people don't have the time. Well, just if you're coming from a background of drinking or smoking or you've had that experience with sobriety, think about the amount of time you're spending doing those things and think about how much time that takes. Think about how much money that takes and then think about how you can do that, how you can apply that time in a better way. And additionally.

My feeling on time management is that it's a simple math formula. It's a mathematical formula. Time is a product of energy and efficiency. The more energy you have, the more time you have. The more efficiency you practice, the more time you have. And if you combine those things, it elevates it so much. So make efficient use of your time and improve your energy. You can do that through. Through physical exercise, quitting smoking, quitting drinking, and eating healthier. Yeah, that's really it.

Well, I mean, that's really it. But you just unpacked a ton right there. Impact a ton. I mean, big time. You know, as. As we're trying to wrap. We're gonna wrap up the show and whatnot. Before I let you go, I'm curious. When it comes down to it, you've done all this work. You've done all these amazing things. You've obviously worked your butt off to get to where you're at and, And. And take. And taking extreme ownership of your life and, and whatnot. What do you think you ultimately want to leave behind on this planet as kind of like your. What do they call it? Your odata or whatever. Whatever the word they use. What is. What is. What is the thing.

Yeah. If I could put it into a word, I would just leave. Hope. And if I could expand on it is I think one of the things that makes me angry or frustrated is unrealized potential.

Yeah.

I mean, we have one trip around this planet. I just, I, I. And the one wish that I have for everybody is that they could realize their true potential because I believe it's possible for anybody to achieve what they're. What they have their mindset out to do. Our potential is. Is limitless, and we have so much in us to do that. So that, that would be my. My goal, Hope, hopefully in some form or another, if, If I could pass on to one or more people, you know? Yeah. Work to reach your potential.

Dude, man. So good. So good, so good. Women. I'm enjoying all of this. Where can everybody actually pick up Shifting Gears?

So shift. Shifting Gears is on Amazon, and they can find the link directly on my website, which is adamhilltri.com and. And find out any more information there about what I've got going on.

All right. Is it safe to hit the website to connect with you and learn more about all the. Everything you're doing?

Absolutely. Yeah. I got all my info there.

Awesome, dude. Well, man, I appreciate you hanging out with us today. I know that I got a lot from it. Again, I thank you for taking the journey, because when people take the time to take the journey, it always inspires other people along the way to follow suit. And I firmly believe that if we can get behind each other and help each other kind of elevate, that will also continue to elevate nations in many respects.

Yeah, dude, it was an honor, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity. Thank you, Stephen.

Awesome. We have to do it again.

Absolutely.

All right, take care. See you.

Peace. Bye.

If you love that interview, go ahead and check out this next one right here.

The moment you stop saying I can't and I have to, you really remove yourself as the victim. In your language, you start to put everything in alignment. Once you're telling yourself the truth, you start to live according to that truth.