050: Stressless Success and Shifting Your Focus with Chalene Johnson

Hi, I'm Natalie Jill, fat loss expert turned high performance coach. When odds are stacked against us, how do we shift and create everything from nothing? How do we level up when we aren't feeling it yet or we've had a big setback? On this podcast, I'll be talking to some of the most inspiring and courageous men and women on this planet who at their worst learned how to achieve success greater than they ever dreamed possible. Leveling up and creating everything from nothing. Mega lifestyle brands. Shleen Johnson has built a successful eight figure empire, top ranked podcast, and so much more. But it was never quite as easy as it can appear online. What worked for Chalene was that she was taught at a very young age to ask questions, listen and figure things out. And she learned to be relentless at finding answers when what didn't work, being stressed and feeling inauthentic at times. What I love most about Chalene is that she's a master at teaching exactly whatever she is learning in her life. And she's so skilled at breaking it down into simple and fun methods that all can understand and apply instantly. For example, she realized early into her success that stress success, which so many teach, is not a goal. And she created clarity in her method on how to maximize productivity and chunks of focus, focus. And she's taught this method to hundreds of thousands across the globe. Today I dive deep with Chalene as to why she herself shifted from fitness to business and then back to her love of health and nutrition, developing the 1:3:1 method that took the diet industry by storm last year. Join in today and learn exactly how Chalene Johnson has leveled up time and time again, creating everything from nothing.

Today I've got my friend Chalene Johnson here. I'm so excited to talk to you. I've been waiting to talk to you forever about how you leveled up and created everything from nothing. Chalene, we see you online, you've got this big brand. I mean, you're everywhere. I you're with business, with fitness, with Nutrition, with your 1:3:1. You look like you have it all together, which you do. I know you do, but I know that's not who you always were. So thanks for being here today. I'm dying to dive into who you were before the Chalene that we see online right now.

That's awesome. Well, can I first start by saying you're like my favorite interviewer? You're so freaking good at it.

Thank you, thank you.

I mean, you know, I'm your big fan anyways, but like when I was like, oh, of course I'm gonna listen to my friend's podcast. Do you feel like all your friends have a podcast now?

They all have a podcast now. You're right, everybody.

I'm like, oh, I'll do her favor and listen. Brett, this is really good. Like, she actually doesn't talk over people and she asks really good questions, and you're just killing it.

Thank you. Thank you. Well, I'm excited to interview you because, one, I learned so much from you. I think I probably actually learned to interview because of you. So believe it or not, because just watching you do it for so long and you interviewing me before, I think I learned what makes a good interviewer from you.

That's very sweet of you. And to answer your question, I'm the same person, definitely. You know, someone said to me the other day, like, you're always reinventing yourself. How do you do that? And I'm like, I'm not. I don't know why that triggered me when they said that, because I guess it makes me feel like, what do you think I was phony before? Like, I am who I am. I'm just evolving. So I don't think of myself as reinventing. I think of, like, Madonna has reinvented herself or Lady Gaga, like, as a character. But I just think I evolve and I'm continually doing that. And I don't think it would be fun if I felt like there was no more room for improvement. I mean, like, this year was a really big eye opening year of growth for me. A humbling year. But I think, you know, we're all a work in progress. And I'm way. I have to, you know, own the compliment and say that I'm way better than I was, whatever 10 years ago, 15 years ago. I hope that we're all just continually getting better. And the biggest difference for me, this difference in my life is people who are willing to teach and share and for me to listen and to realize I've got great people who are sharing their answers and I can be a better person because of their failures and the successes that they're willing to share.

Wow. Okay. So I want to go back a little bit, though, because somebody would look at you right now and say, well, she's just always been successful. She's always been successful. She must just know business. She was just good at this. But I know that's not really who you always were. I mean, can you take us back? Like, I'd love to know. How did this all even start? Like, did you set out to Be an online business brand. Where did you start with?

Yeah, well, that's the other thing is when sometimes when you'll hear someone's resume or what someone's done, it can feel overwhelming. It can, wow, this person has this jam packed life. But when I hear my own credentials or things that I've done, I am reminded, I remember that it's happened over a long period of time. I've been an entrepreneur all my life. I, you know, was fortunate enough to be raised by some. My dad's an entrepreneur and so I just started working with him at a really young age. And it was taught to me that, okay, if you've got an idea, and especially if you can help someone with that idea, you'll make money. And we were always encouraged to do that. So I started off creating my own income so that I could, could pay my way through college. I was the first college grad on either side of my family and I just didn't think anything of it. My dad, that's awesome. Let's come up with a plan so that you can figure out how to pay for it. And I didn't think of that as a burden. I'm like, okay, that's all I knew.

Okay.

So entrepreneurship has been very easy for me to just make money as an entrepreneur. I'm not saying like kill it, but enough to pay my bills, enough to get through college, enough to buy a car. What never came easy to me was having the ability to stick to something. I didn't have that and I didn't, and I didn't have focus.

So was it because you would lose interest in something or is it if something wasn't working the way that you wanted it to, it was like, okay.

Most often, if I'm being honest, I would quit things because I didn't feel like it was going to be big enough or I was going to be successful enough or get enough notoriety. And this goes like all the way back to my childhood. I remember if I went to the first day of softball and there were girls who were better than me, I'm like, oh, I want to quit, you know? Or if I took piano lessons and I had a practice that wasn't great or a lesson that wasn't great, I was like, I want to quit. I went to gymnastics and someone could already do, you know, a back handspring, I'm like, I want to quit. You know, if there was somebody better, I didn't want to compete. I, I guess I still don't like to compete. But I realized I have to stick to something long enough to at least be good at it.

Huh?

Yeah.

It's interesting that you're saying that because this is. I never noticed this about you. And actually it's interesting because that could have become a total pattern. Like, okay, I'm not doing it enough because you use that word enough a few times. So I'm just not even going to go for it, which is almost the opposite of being an entrepreneur. But I see you as like, you don't give up. Like, you, you don't just master something. You like, dominate it. You're like, I think you, you figure it out, you dominate it. So do you remember consciously, like learning how to shift into that so that you.

I do.

Okay.

Yeah. I remember the moment. I remember I was sitting in my car, I was listening to a shock jock, you know, radio DJ kind of guy by accident, and he started telling the story about how he had been fired as a DJ from this, like made. This is like back when people listened to the radio, right? And he'd been fired from this major job and he like a really well paying, big market radio dj. And what he decided to do is to take out an ad in, I think it was maybe the New York Times. He took out like a full page ad with all of his credentials and he listed like everything that he had done and everything he could do and was saying, like, you know, somebody hired me because look how talented I am. I've been in advertising and copywriting and sales and all these things, including a dj. And he was thinking that he would get all these jobs and he got letters and interest. But he got a letter in the mail and when he opened it and unfolded the letter, there was just one word in the middle of the page. And the word was focus. Whoa. And I was sitting in my car, stressed out, driving from doing a personal training client into my morning job as a paralegal. And I was just doing a million different things. I was at a million different mini businesses, always hoping something would pop. Like, okay. And then if it wouldn't pop, I'd be like, oh, that person's doing that. I'm going to do that too. And I would just keep jumping, jumping, jumping. And I know that I was, that was, you know, God, God's intervention. I was supposed to hear that message because I, I can picture the streetlight that I was sitting at. And I don't even know who the radio DJ was. But when he told that story, I was like, holy, wow.

Wow.

My answer, that's why I feel this way. That's why I am so busy morning, noon, and night. But I haven't had a success. I don't feel good. I don't feel like I've done anything. Well, I can do everything okay, like, good enough, but I haven't done anything where I'm like, I've killed. So I need to just scrape all of this away and focus on one thing. And if that doesn't go well, I have to at least give it my all and go all the way in and. And before I jump into something else. And that's what I do.

Now, how do you decide if something's just you losing interest or it's really not going well, or it just needs more work? Like, I know that struggle with a lot of entrepreneurs. Like, some people never know when to quit. Right. But also, some people don't ever quit. They should. So true.

Yeah, it is true. And I wish I had a special formula for it. I just try to look at is the reason why I want to quit because I'm getting tired. Is there a reason why I want to quit? Because I've had a few setbacks, and I need to practice endurance. And for me, usually there's the answer. And then, of course, it's looking at the numbers and being realistic and giving something, a truly your best effort and a fair shot before you make the decision whether or not to continue. I mean, the numbers don't lie, so you always have to look at the data. You always have to look at your. Your numbers. And from a business standpoint, we're always doing that. It's really helpful that Brett and I can do that together. But I also agree with you, Natalie. There are people. I'm like, man, give it up. Give it up. You know, like, you're not quitting. You're making a decision to move forward. If you just, like, that's. It's just not working anymore. Yeah. One of the most important things for people to remember is sometimes what you love is still legit. But. But you. You've gotta stop doing it the way you've been trying to do it.

Yeah. Yeah. So, like, learning a different method or getting different help or asking different questions.

Totally. I mean, like, I coach entrepreneurs, and I can think of a few that they've had success in the past, and they're still trying to do the exact same thing, and it's not working. And so they're still doing the exact same thing, but harder and longer, which results in resentment and burnout. And once you hit the point of Burnout. You're taking it out on your family. You start beating yourself up. You begin to lose your confidence. You think that maybe you don't love this thing, when the fact of the matter is you probably need to look at adopting new skills, a new approach, because you fell in love with it at one point. It's kind of like being in love with your husband or your significant other. And then you get to the stage where you're still doing the same things, but you're feeling that burnout. Well, you know, you fell in love at one point, so maybe it's learning new skills for this stage and season.

I'd love to hear. I know the answer to this, but I know that them listening do not. I'd love you to share a few times where you've gotten to that point where you've been maybe doing the wrong thing. Or in that burnout spot.

Yeah. Gosh, there's so many Natalie and. And they're such a blessing. They really are such a blessing. Like every major change. And I love the theme of your podcast because every single episode, you hear people sharing this point where things. There's a big change and change scares us and change sometimes feels like failure. But, oh, it's such a gift. And even when it's painful, it's always a gift. The most. Probably the one that I have talked the least about is where I made a change in how I wanted to help people with their health.

Okay.

And realizing that I had been a victim of kind of the diet and fitness and health industry, and at the same time, I'd also been part of the problem, a big part of the problem.

How are you part of the problem?

Not taking seriously the responsibility I had in being. Okay. So I. I've had imposter syndrome. I've felt imposter syndrome. And, you know, imposter syndrome is common, I think, for a lot of people. But for me in the fitness industry, because I never set out to do anything in fitness. Sure. I just wanted to do business and how I would sol problems and in the process, develop a business around it. And when I did that for myself, for fitness, I didn't think I was going to be a fitness expert. So from the moment people started calling me that, I felt very uncomfortable with it because I also knew that I couldn't do what it was I was suggesting people do. Like just work out a half an hour a day, five days a week, you know, eat this meal plan. Well, if I did that, I would have gained 10 pounds. And I always hid that, like, I didn't have a weight problem, but I had. I didn't have an overweight problem. I had a constant fear of gaining even a pound, you know, because I think. I think I'm taller than you.

You keep saying that, but you're definitely not taller than me. But I love. Say that forever. I'm five two. I think you're five two. I don't know. I believe it.

I'm five five one and a half. Okay. But, you know, at our height, if you gain a couple of pounds, it looks like.

Oh, yeah.

And once you're being called a fitness expert and you already are like, what am I doing here? I don't look like these other people. That's how I felt. I was in constant fear of gaining weight. So because of that, I. Even though I was giving the same information to people, like, eat low fat, exercise more, exercise longer, do more cardio, count your calories. I was saying all those things, but I was doing it to the extreme and just didn't want people to know that I had to work out for eventually it was an hour a day, and then an hour and a half a day. And then, as you know, the more fit you become, the more efficient your body is at preserving energy. So then I'm not burning as many calories. So then I'm like, okay, gosh, I have to work out longer. I'd like to lose two pounds. I'm going to have to work out longer. I'm going to have to work out for two and a half hours, and that's not working. So I better cut back my calories Now I'm, like, eating so few calories. I never specifically went on a diet until this one moment, but I would eat less and just exercise more, More.

More, more and more.

And always in fear that people would find out how much I had to exercise and they would, like, kick me out of the club. Like, someone would go, yeah, someone, like, whip back the curtain, go, aha. Look, she's not doing what she says everyone should do.

So it felt. Did you start feeling inauthentic about it?

Like, yeah, yeah, definitely. Definitely. There was that just. It was always, like, in the back of my head, like, oh, girl. And so instead of worrying about that with diet, I worried about it by over exercising.

Okay.

And then there was this time where I was getting ready for a consumer video, and we've talked, you and I, both about, like, how horrible sometimes that can be.

Yes.

Which is funny because anyone who's in fitness, they're like, how Do I get a. How do I get a video deal? I'm like, oh, hi. Is that what you want? So I'm getting ready to do this consumer project, and I'm working on the choreography and the planning, etc. And so the producer called. I wanted to call and schedule a time to speak to Brett about the project. And I thought, that is weird. Why would they call Brett? It's like, my program, right? Why are they talking to him about the program? And he got off the phone, and I was, like, pestering him and prodding him as, you know, wife's do. I'm like, what's wrong? Because he seemed upset. I'm like, what was. What was it called about? And he basically. It's really uncomfortable telling me this, but he said, well, the producer wants me to have a conversation with you about your body.

And I'm, like, sweating just hearing you say this.

I'm like. Like. I mean, in this moment, it's like, I don't know if you've ever had, like, a secret. I thought, and someone knows it, and you just want to hold your composure once. They're like, I felt like in this moment, like, okay, now everyone's gonna. Everyone knows my secret, that I don't belong here. And the. This individual called Brett and said, you know, we just think if she could lose some weight before this video and just really tighten up, you know, because if her body was more inspirational, she would make. She'd have a lot more sales.

Wow.

And a part of me wanted to, like, go public and, you know, punch this guy in the head and, like, tell everybody this, but a part of me. The part of me that felt like an imposter was also, like, prove them wrong. Like, prove to them that you belong here. And so I just went on a mission and nearly killed myself. The first 90 days. I couldn't lose. I did everything. I got a diet plan from a gal who was a fitness competitor, and I just went on, like, the very last, like, you know what you're supposed to do the last four weeks where you're supposed to shred?

Well, that didn't shred, like, broccoli and chicken.

Yeah, yeah, totally. That didn't shred me. I did Paleo. I did, you know, juice cleanses. I did drink these three shakes all day. I did everything, and nothing was working. I'm like, diets are stupid. They just don't work. And. And. But what I kept doing is amping up my workout. So now I'm working out, like, three, four hours a day. Like four. And I'm not. I'm just like steady state cardio. I'm like running for an hour in the morning, then doing Piyo, then doing Turbo Kick, then running at night like insane.

And now your body's like needing that because the more you're doing, the more it needs to do.

Totally. And I'm not. And so I'm like, well, the only thing I can do now, I was like, two weeks, I was like, I need to pretty much cut my calories down to nothing. And I literally, like, what I was surviving on was ridiculous. It was like sugar free Jello and 100 calorie popcorn and Diet Coke. No joke. Wow.

Yeah, we do not recommend that.

No, we do not. But guess what I did lose? I think it was a total of six pounds total.

That would probably be a bestseller book by the way, though, if you want to make a diet about that.

Right. How to get leaky gut. So I, you know, I lost a very small amount of weight, but I remember the listeners may not be aware of this, but when you film a consumer video, you know, with a partner, with a, you know, someone else who's in, it's their brand. They want to sign off on everything. The set, your, your clothing, the people behind you, the colors, everything. So there's this point at which you have to line up in front of whoever's making the decisions to have them decide on your outfit. And I just remember I was standing there in these little, tiny, teeny tiny bike shorts, which by the way, I never wear, I just would never wear like in my own life. But they're like, oh, you gotta wear these. Okay. And then a tiny, tiny little short bra top, which again, I don't wear that when I go to the gym. But I'm standing here as a grown woman, practically naked in front of a table of five people. And to be polite. And I'm standing there letting them like look at my body. And they're like, oh, turn around. Can you turn to the back? Turn inside. And they're whis, like putting their hands over their mouth to whisper because they don't want, I guess, for me to feel uncomfortable, but like, I can't think of anything that's more uncomfortable. And I'm just watching them like look me up and down and kind of whisper to each other. And here's the thing. I know they're doing this for my benefit. I know they, they're like, they don't want me to look bad, they want me to look my best. But it felt so, yeah. Humiliating and so awful. And I just was. I wanted. I was having a panic attack inside. I just wanted to scream. Yeah. And I was standing there at the thinnest I've ever been in my life. My body fat was super low, as was my energy. My hair was falling out. I was on the brink of an emotional breakdown because you just can't go that long just beating yourself up and not getting the right kind of nutrients. And so I'm about to break down, and they just finally looked up, and they're like, well, you look great. We've. You've never looked better. We're really happy.

Seriously. Getting reinforcement for all these bad habits.

And I filmed that series, and it was just emotional for me the whole time. And it was emotional because my hormones were out of whack because of what I was doing and because I knew. I knew the lie that I was living. I knew. Here I am filming these videos, telling people, just do this for 30 minutes a day, and you can get results like this. And I knew that wasn't true. And I knew that I had never been less healthy. I was the most unhealthy I'd ever been in my life. I posted a picture of myself from the set onto Instagram, and there were two comments that stood out. Two people said. One person said, you've lost weight and you look anorexic. Are you okay? And I hit delete. And the next person said, whoa, you lost all your muscle. You look horrible. You look horrible and old. And I went delete. And the other, like, thousand comments were like, hashtag goals. Oh, my God, what is this program you're doing?

You look amazing.

Compliment, compliment, compliment, compliment. Now, when I look back on those photos, I had lost my muscle tone completely. I did look horrible. But every comment under that Instagram post was a compliment.

Wow. And it reminded me, yeah, we don't.

Know what to say when someone's lost a lot of weight. I was thinking about this the other day, how there was this gal who worked out in my classes, and I remember her dropping a dramatic amount of weight for fast. Eventually, she had to be hospitalized for anorexia at the height of it. I remember, like, being in the room, setting up my stereo to teach the class and hearing all the members talking about it before she walked in the room and. Oh, we're so worried about her. No, she. Something's going on. No, she really definitely has an eating disorder. No. Have you seen her lately? She looks horrible. She walks in the room, and everyone's like, you look so good, girl. You lost so much weight.

Oh, my God, you look great.

And it's like, we have to stop.

Doing that because, yeah, we're, like, saying one thing behind people's backs, and then we're giving them this false fat. You're right.

And it was so. For me, the. The. That was. It wasn't that moment, but it was in retrospect, when I started having all these health problems, when the £6 came back on, you know, immediately after the shoot. And then I had all of these major health problems. So it wasn't like the moment that my husband got the call. It wasn't me standing in front of these people. It wasn't me filming. It wasn't the comments on Instagram, but it was all of these things stacking up that made me realize I needed to level up. I needed to take a look at what was going on and stop compromising my integrity. And if I'd gone down this path, what does that mean I've done for all the people who've trusted me and followed me, and I needed. If I was the least healthy I've ever been, and I'm supposed to be a health professional, how did I get here? How did this happen? And how do I fix it? Yeah, you know what?

It's really interesting for me to hear this, because I feel like I've known you for several years, but I didn't really tie this part together. So what makes sense to me now is not only why you focus on what you always really want to do on so much with business, like a smart success and marketing impact, but also why it was important for you to take on your one three one. This is. It's all tying together now for me.

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like it's my opportunity to set the record straight, to be honest, to speak my truth. And. And. And I think that silence is. You're contributing. If you're not talking about what's wrong, what you know to be wrong and evidence and facts that you have and. And. And, you know it's wrong and you're not talking about it, then you're contributing, in my opinion. And that's when I had to realize, like, you know, I have to tell the story, and I know it makes a lot of people upset. And people will say to me then, does that mean you don't believe in those workouts you created? And I said, no, I believe in those workouts. I don't believe in the diet plans that were attached to them. I do not. And I didn't research them. I didn't. That's the problem. The biggest mistake that I made was if someone of notoriety said it or I heard it on a podcast or I read it on a, you know, a blog of someone who was, I thought to be credible, I accepted it as fact. And now I'm. I question everything. And I know that everything that we know is just what we know right now. It doesn't mean we can hang our hat on it indefinitely. It's like, okay, here's, here's probably the best course of action based on what we think we know right now, but we know very little. And just recognizing that there isn't any one way that everyone's gonna get fit and healthy. And so much of it really boils down to not what shake you're drinking or what workout you're doing, but mindset. Yeah.

Yeah. And don't you, wouldn't you agree, though, that, that, well, maybe you wouldn't agree. I'm saying, wouldn't you agree? But mindset, I feel, is such a big part of anything, whether it's your body and what you're talking about now, your diet, your body, but also business. I mean, I think what you've taught in business is all mindset too.

Yeah. I remember the first time I watched Tony Robbins. I think he was like on qvc and he was talking about mindset and business and diet. And I thought, oh, that's weird. What? Make up your mind, buddy. And you know, but today I realize, yeah, like, it's outcome. What outcome do you want? Because the collection of thoughts that you have around what that outcome will be, that those are your beliefs. And if you can change that collection of thoughts, you can change your beliefs. And if you change your beliefs, you change the outcome.

Yeah.

And that's a really big piece. And then I think we just have to start there. And then from there it's just a matter of helping people to understand that our bodies are really complicated. And it's not as simple as following someone's quote unquote diet for 30 days, but it is thinking. Just like using common sense and going back to our biology and thinking and just how were our ancestors designed to function? What were we intended to eat and how. And if you look at that, you realize we haven't evolved that much. Although consumerism has. And the marketing of, you know, have a pre workout and then have a post workout drink and then have a, you know, eat every two hours. And all of these things as we start, as I started to unpack them, I Realized, oh, wait, there haven't been any studies on this. What do we know? And so now I just have a far more open mind about all of it. And I just am on a mission to help people understand that health isn't something that you can see in a photo on Instagram, especially women. Man, we get caught up in that.

Yeah, we do.

We do. And it's so easy to be, you know, down on yourself because you're looking at someone's, you know, photo apt, you know, image where they've taken in their waist and they've made their butt look bigger and they've shaded their abs. And PS that photo was taken two years ago and then we beat ourselves up. And PS, we also don't know if that woman was eating diet or sugar free jello and popcorn and crying every hour, you know?

Yeah.

Like, is that really what you want?

You're right. Yeah. We don't know the stories behind everybody and what's. What's happening. And you're right, people look at a photo, they look at and those highlight reels and it's that they see the best of what somebody wanted to show.

Yeah.

And then we compare our lives to that.

So for me, it was just a decision that I wasn't going to be a part of that. And it meant really paying attention to integrity and my belief system and allowing that to guide decisions when there's big paychecks that are being offered and opportunities being offered, where it's really easy to say, well, you know, everybody's doing it, but I just have a real problem with it. I have a real problem with people who are calling themselves leaders in health and fitness who are selling, excuse my French bullshit, and they know it and they're not using it and they're not drinking that and they're pretending that they like and celebrities do, pretending that they, they're drinking this diet tea. No, you're not. You cannot do that. Amazing body from that. Like. And I just think it's so misleading. And I don't know what's going to happen to our quote unquote influencers. I just wish. And I'm fine with people making money recommending things that they truly use. I think that's awesome. It's a must, right?

Yeah.

I would rather hear it from my friend or someone that I trust than from the company itself. But I do think we need to really get serious about our integrity and our beliefs and make sure that that is what guides our decisions and not how much someone's offering to pay us Yes.

I want to speak a little bit more into that too, because I feel just looking at your brand and what you've built, really there's, there's a bunch of different things that you've done, but looking, dividing into two things, the dividing it into fitness and nutrition as one part of it, and then the business side as another part. There are, even though they're very different things, there's a lot of common ground that you bring to both those things. And I feel that that's why that those have worked so well. And I, and I think a lot of that has to do with that integrity. And I always describe you almost like a reporter, that you, you're a master at whatever it is that you're learning for yourself or figuring out. That's what you research and teach. Can you speak a little bit more into that? Because I, I feel that that's what works for you. And I'm curious if you've, if you've connected that.

Thank you. I, that for me has been the way I find confidence when I question myself, when I have moments of self doubt, like with that experience I shared with you in shooting that video and that series, I had so much doubt and then having this health scare, I felt very insecure about my knowledge. So when I feel that, I dig and I start researching and I learn more about what it is I'm unsure of. Knowledge gives us power, it gives us confidence. And then once I have all that knowledge, I want to help other people to feel that, so I share that with them. When people ask me, I don't understand, you teach business and you teach health and fitness. And I say, that's just because I'm going to teach anything that I've struggled with and figured out an easier way. I believe that God's intention for my life, my purpose is to be a teacher. I believe that. And because I've declared that, you know, I don't think you, I don't think like you're, you know, you're going to hear a knock at the door and it's like, hi, here's your purpose. I think you just have to decide what that is. And I just early on decided, okay, I'm going to. Whatever I struggle with, once I figure it out, I will share it. And entrepreneurship is probably my first love. And what I figured out first, which led me into fitness, which I don't think I took that as seriously as I should have the responsibility that I had. And so today I want to share that people can have a happier healthier life by starting their own business, even if it's while you're running, you know, or while you're working full time. I also think that people can have a happier, healthier, fuller life if they understand the science of their body.

Yes.

Understand if they become an expert, not at my diet, but if they can become an expert on their own nutrition, they will live a happier, healthier, fuller, longer life. Yeah.

And. And I feel that that's the way that that works, the way that that's working for people and why that's showing up so big on your end is because you solved your own problem with that, with all these things. So can you share a little bit about smart success? Because I found that program, so that program changed my life. And I would love for you to share where that came from, because I know it was formed for you out of a place of being in chaos.

Another one of those moments. I think we say moment, but I wonder if anyone really had like a moment. Right. You know, because people always, when they tell their story, they're like, and then lightning and my car caught on fire. And I think when I look back, I can see like a day that stands out kind of like a scene in a movie. But usually that's not the day that, like, the change happened.

Okay.

It's just like when you look back on different, I guess, accumulations of these events, that's when you go, okay, I've got to do something different. For me, there are quite a few of them. I was just, I was overestimating my capacity. Okay.

Which, like, everybody listening probably is in that spot. So everyone understands that. Overestimating their capacity.

Yeah. I don't get stressed. I would say I can do more. I don't need to sleep. I. I really believed that there was something different about me where I didn't need the sleep that everybody else did. I wanted to be a great mom. So I would be with my kids the moment school ended until 9 o' clock at night. And then I would work from 9 until 1 or 12:30. And then I would wake up at 4am 4:30 to go teach a workout class and work out for a couple of hours and then run multiple businesses. We were building an apparel company, a certification company, and doing four different formats for health clubs. 2000 different health clubs around the globe. And then in addition to that, I was doing consumer workouts and infomercials and trying to keep that brand moving and also trying to do all of the things so that no one else would get credit. Like in our Own business. Even though I knew we needed to hire someone to do the music, I didn't want someone else to be able to say they did the music because our music was so good. I wanted credit for it.

Okay.

I didn't want to hire a designer to design our clothes because if someone said, oh, my God, your clothes are amazing, I wanted to be able to take credit for it. Everything that I refused to give up, I can say it was control, but it was really that I wanted the accolades for having done it. That was, like, my biggest problem. And I just kept going and going, going, and then it just crashed. I kept having mini breakdowns. Like, I remember them. I remember, like, just. And trying to hide them, but, like, feeling sorry for myself and so angry at everybody else. Even though I had put myself in this position and feeling like I have to do everything, this is never going to end. Nobody can help me. I can't hire someone to do the music. Nobody can do that. No one can do that the way I do that. And just feeling so sorry for myself. It's so pathetic now to think about it and just. I remember being up, like, at 2am and working on a project for our business, and I just had a breakdown. I'm crying at my computer, and I walked outside, and I'm just crying and walking up and down, down our sidewalk in front of our house. And I know I was doing that. I was doing that, and I probably slammed the door because I was trying to get Brett's attention. I wanted him to, like, wake up and go, look. Look at her crying.

Feel sorry for me.

Yes, exactly. Which is so ridiculous, so stupid, because he. Guess what he did. He kept sleeping. You know, so that just means the next day, I just wake up with big, puffy eyes. Yeah. You know, and it was just like, these pathetic moments. And then really, we were on a run together. And I remember telling him, I. We were running, and I don't know if you've ever gotten emotional while you're exercising, but, like, you cannot breathe. I was like, I wasn't expecting to start crying, but I was just like, I can't do this anymore. And he's like, what? And I'm like, any of it. And I. I let it get to the point where all the things I loved, I was so burnt out on them. Like, I wanted to just move to Fiji and clean houses. Like, I just. Anything that would.

I've had those fantasies many times.

So I. Yeah, like, just anything other than this miserable place that I put us in, and you get Envious.

Envious of those simple jobs and the simple, like showing up and doing.

Yeah, we had the house. We had this huge house. We had, like, you know, these amazing cars, and we were taking. We could. We could take these amazing vacations if I would have allowed us to have that time to do so. We had, you know, the purses, the jewelry, all the things and the money even. And even the notoriety. But what I didn't have was peace. I didn't have the ability to take a deep breath. I didn't have the ability to watch a movie and actually watch it. I was stuck. And so, you know, I'm fortunate enough to have a. A partner who can stay calm when I lose it, which isn't very often. But he just said, well, we'll come up with a plan and we will get. Get out from under this. And it didn't happen overnight. It took us about three or four years, but immediately we created a reverse engineering of where we were so we could. What. How would we build ourselves out of this so that we could sell those companies and we could start over? And we knew it wasn't going to be overnight. But I would say to anyone who feels like you're in that, sit down with a pen and a piece of paper, figure out what you love, figure out what you want to go away, and then create a plan to make that happen. And just if you've got the plan, that light at the end of the tunnel can just give you this renewed excitement and passion. And. And for us, that was getting through that and how we did that allowed us to teach other people exactly that process so that no matter where they are in their life, they can what I call, move from stressed success to smart success. And smart success starts by thinking about what one feeling, not what do you want to have on your vision board. Because everything in our life that was on our vision board, we had, and I felt horrible. And so now I don't start with like, things and picture things. I close my eyes and I feel what do I want to. What do I want to feel? And then what do I need to get rid of and what do I need to bring into my life? What do I need more of and what do I need less of so that I can have this feeling, whatever that feeling is. For some people, it's controlled. For some people, it's stability. For some people, it's love or to feel recognized. For me, the word was and still is peace.

Yeah, and you're a master at that. I'll never forget being in my own stressed out state and saying to you I was going to a networking event of some sort, I don't even know what. And you're like, you're so stressed out. Why are you going to a networking event? And I don't know if you remember this conversation. I remember it super clear. And I was like, well, because I agreed to go. And you said, and you're super stressed out, so why are you agreeing to go? And it was like you talked me through this process and it was so powerful for me to call and cancel and just going and freeing up that day. Yeah. And I did. And it was. And it's not that you were saying never network or. But it was this, like, we can make those choices based on where we're headed and what we want. And like, you gave me this permission that I don't have to hustle, hustle, hustle, that I can actually listen to my. And my body and work towards what I want to create, not just what I think I should be doing.

Which for people like you, like myself, like a lot of the listeners, means we have to set up safeguards for that. Because it's our default, right? Like, it's our, it's our default to want to do more. It's my default to want to do more. It's a drug. I know that. I am a workaholic in recovery and I've done therapy for that. So I have to, the way an alcoholic has to try to avoid hanging out with people who love to drink. I have to avoid spending time with people who don't have a family and don't have an off button because I can slip into that. And I have to avoid putting myself in situations where I know I'm going to be triggered to want to do.

More, more, more, more, more. Yeah, I get that. And I remember you, you specifically telling me that one time that you couldn't hang out with me if I was going to keep going with ideas. So I was like, I believe.

You are so funny.

Yeah, you'll, like, I'll remember everything.

You'll always have this like, like, amazing rush of ideas. Like usually about a day before I have a big conference and you're like, have you thought about this? Have you thought about this? And I'll be like, girl, listen, I will talk to you in five days. But until then, don't text me with these ideas.

See, that's good. Boundaries, though. I like it. It's. I've learned a lot from you on.

This because we always laugh back and forth at each other. Y. Okay, never mind.

I've got an interesting question for you. And this. Because so many people listening do think they have to hustle. They're in that I've got to do more. I've got to hustle. I got to say yes. Do you feel you're more successful when you're not hustling like that?

What I've learned to do. That's such a good question. What I've learned to do is to concentrate. My time versus what I used to do is work from the moment I woke up till the moment I went to bed in little doses. Like kind of like half working, if that makes sense. Like never having. Like, okay, from. I didn't use a schedule. I just went all day.

Like what you felt like doing all.

Day, what I felt like doing. And whatever was on fire. Like, so whatever email came in, whatever phone call, just whatever, you know was on fire. That's what I took care of. So I never felt like I was caught up. Cause I wasn't working on my own agenda number one. And I just never stopped. So I also. I didn't know how to turn it off because I never turned it on. It was just on all the time. It was constantly running. And once we went through this process and a big part of what we teach in smart success is that you have very specific periods of the day. All of us do. And it has to do with our circadian rhythms where we are incredibly focused and excited and creative. And we're in work mode now. If you just try to schedule it to happen at a certain time every day, it's. That's probably not the best idea. What you should do is just kind of pay attention to it and then you can start scheduling it. So now that's what I do. And I think you and I have pretty similar times periods during the day where that's true for us. And now instead of like continually working, I just make sure I do what I'm supposed to do in about a four hour window, sometimes five. And then. And I really just focus on that. Taking breaks about every 45 minutes to an hour. And that has allowed me to be far more productive and more focused. And the more focus I have, the more success I have. I clear I'm okay with letting. Here's the other thing I want to tell people. You have to be okay with letting a crop rest. So I'm from the Midwest and farmers, they aren't growing corn all year long. You allow that crop to rest. And what most entrepreneurs do is they have this little project, and then they come up with an idea for project B, and they try to keep Project A growing at the same time that they're trying to grow Project B. And so they neither of them get the proper care, the proper water, the proper nutrients that they need. You have to be okay with allowing one of those projects to rest or at least putting people in place to take care of it at a bare minimum. But you need to remember that every crop has a season. And so I really have no problem with taking a break from podcasting. From time to time, I'll take a break from social media channels. I personally hadn't posted or done anything on my Facebook page until yesterday for about three months because I gave myself permission to not have to keep that going.

Yes. For those of you listening, this. This stuff is brilliant. It may sound so basic, but it is so brilliant. Like, where do we get the idea, like, we have to do something? Like, for instance. I learned that from you about, like, when you just took a break from podcasting, took a break from Facebook. And I remember having. Being really consistent with YouTube, for instance, and it was just overwhelming me. I'm like, I don't have time to put two new videos a week on YouTube right now, so just stop. Like, who. Who is the police that said we couldn't. We have to keep doing these things.

Yeah.

And. And I watch you. I watch that you don't always release a podcast on point on a specific day. And it's okay. Like, you. You can let things go in season. Yeah, it really is brilliant. And the. The working, the really focusing on your focus hours, three to five hours a day, I think is critical. And I think we get fooled by a lot of successful entrepreneurs. Just like you gave with the diet example. I'm not telling the full truth.

Right.

So they. They talk about on one side, like, let's get be smart with a week, but then they're hustle, hustle, hustle 24 7. And that's not being smart with your time. So thank you for being honest about this, because listening to you, who is very successful in your businesses and everything that you've created, knowing that you do focus your work and your energy in about five hours a day is really, really critical. And that's really worked. And it works for a lot of people when they embrace it.

Do you find that you're triggered by seeing certain people, certain entrepreneurs, doing more? Do you. Does that trigger you?

It does trigger me. It triggers a competitive side in me first. So right away, I Go to. Am I not doing enough? So it doesn't empower me. It makes me feel like I'm not doing enough. And then if I get to know the story behind them, then I feel like I've been faked. Like it's inauthentic because it's not necessarily true.

So.

Yeah.

And I don't think, I don't know why people don't look. I don't know. Sometimes it bothers me that we get so enamored with what it looks like people are doing and we're not looking at the whole picture. Okay, so that person thinks you're supposed to hustle five days a week and travel and they're wearing their, you know, flight miles as a badge of honor and they're getting on, you know, flights and speaking and this and that and this stage and that stage and this networking event, that networking event. And you know, we think to ourselves, like, oh, well, that's, that's the level I want to be at. But then I always ask, people just stop and say, though, but what really makes you happy? Because that's going to give you some recognition and maybe some status. But what really makes us happy is people. It's your daughter, it's your husband, like, that's what makes us happy. And how's that look for that person? Because if you're never with your, I'm sorry, I'm gonna go on a little soapbox right now, if you don't mind. But I don't think we can call that person successful until their children are up and raised and in their own healthy, successful relationships. Because personally, I think if you, if you have kids like that should be your number one responsibility is to get them right first. Not for you, but for the rest of the world. Get your kids right first. And I just have a hard time with people who have families, children looking at entrepreneurs who maybe don't and thinking that they're supposed to be doing what they're doing.

Yes, that's so true.

There's another season for that. Like, you know, our kids, we're empty nesters this year. And it's weird, like the other day I stayed at the office until 8 o' clock at night and I really wasn't even doing anything. I was like messing around on my phone. And you know, because nobody was at the office, I was having a good time. You know, I'm an introvert and I'm just like doing all these fun things at the office by myself. And then I just like casually drove home and I'M like, this is so weird. This is so weird that I'm not like rushing home to be a mom.

Yeah.

I can just like do like. And I'm finally at the season. The season will come for you. This season will be there for you. And you'll never, ever get the time back with your kids. So stop worrying about your fricking ego and look at your family and spend time with them because you're never going to get that time back. And you will be just as smart, just as brilliant, just as creative when everybody's gone. And then you can do that.

Wow, that's powerful. And it goes back to that in the car when you said you heard it come on from the radio, the guy that talked about focus. That if you do just use that word and spend it on focusing on specific goals like you did, you can do it and be a, be a mom and do have a real life with that.

Yeah, yeah. You know, and I know that's my opinion and I know lots of people disagree with it, but I, I don't care. I don't care if I offend people with that. I just really think we would have fewer problems if people made their children feel more significant. And you can't make, you're not making them feel significant if you ain't never there.

Gosh. Okay, I have so many more questions for you, but I'm going to narrow it down because there's some important things I want to make sure. I'm asking if somebody's listening right now and they are in their own personal rock bottom spot, whatever that means to them. I mean, maybe it's, they're feeling inauthentic and their career, like just the way you started feeling a little bit in fitness, you felt that way. Or maybe they're in there, they're overwhelmed and they're not financially where they are. Whatever their own personal rock bottom spot is. If you were to give them three things that they could do right now to start shifting and creating everything from nothing, start leveling up, what would you tell them to do?

Well, I can give you lots of cliches, but if I have to think about what my mindset was, when I felt that I felt low and I didn't have confidence and it's hard to make a phone call and even return a te when you feel that bad. So I would have to say the first thing you need to do is do something that makes you feel better about yourself. Okay. And it can be something really simple like just reaching out and helping someone Else reaching out and writing a letter to someone who's been a mentor to you. It can be as simple as doing some journaling about your gratitude. Using your faith, turning to your faith. You've got to do something that boosts your confidence and makes you feel happy because you're not going to take action, you're not going to take the steps you need to unless you feel better about yourself. So do something that you know is going to make you feel better about you and that you'll be proud of. Right. I love that you just.

By the way, I don't even know you said do something for yourself, but then you shared things, focusing on other people, which is really interesting. So that's actually really cool in itself. And that's something you do is you focus out on people. And when you focus on somebody else, that does end up coming back to.

You and it makes you feel better. Like, you just, you can't not feel better about yourself when you're helping someone. And so to boost your own confidence, you know, it's not about like standing in the mirror and saying, you know, you are worth. Doesn't work.

Okay.

I've seen that in snl. You really, you have to do for other people that makes you feel better or when you make other people feel good and recognized and valued and seen that makes you feel better. Yeah, I would start by just doing, like, little things. And then the next thing I always tell people to do is you've got to get your thoughts out of your head and onto paper because if you have a plan, you have hope. So if you can. You know, I just had a call last night with my daughter and she was overwhelmed. She's working on an E book, a digital ebook. And she just said, I had a horrible day. And I said, why? And she's like, because, because I, I have so much to do and I don't know if what I'm doing is in the right order. And there's so many things I keep thinking of that I have to do. And I said, okay, stop. Take a pen to paper, Sierra, Write down everything that you think maybe is a possibility, needs to get done, you'd like to do, needs to get done, should get done. You're not sure if you need to do it. Just get it all on paper and then work backwards from the things that you are absolutely positive should be done first. They're contingent or things that need to get done before X, Y and Z can be done. And you're going to feel a sense of peace and she called back a couple hours later, and she's like, wow. Yeah, I was kind of freaking out, and it's not that big of a deal. Like, it feels like a big deal when we're letting things bounce around in our head.

Yeah.

I didn't feel. When I was in that moment with Brett, I really felt like the only way I could get out from underneath that stress was to escape, like, to change my name and move to another country. Until I sat down and went, okay, on paper, it's not that bad. And we can do anything you set your mind to. If you create a plan around it, you can do it.

Yeah, that's good. So gratitude or focus out. Write it out on paper. And then a third one.

Oh, sorry, third one. Third one would be that you have to just endure. Right. So I think we oftentimes we don't like being uncomfortable. Who does? But if you know you're headed in the right direction, it's going to be uncomfortable because it's going to be beautiful once you get there. Like, the most uncomfortable growth that we experience is followed by this euphoria. Like, that's just how it's the yin and the yang. You know, I. I did a yoga class last night, the type of class I'd never done before, and they had us hold this really super awkward, uncomfortable pose. And she said, we're hold it for five minutes. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. Notice if I sneak out.

Yeah.

But then once we came out of this really awkward, uncomfortable pose, I'm like, wow, my body feels amazing. Like, it feels awkward. Uncomfortable moments in our lives help us to appreciate, like, the awesome beauty that comes afterwards. So endure, you know, just have endurance, keep at it. Because if you have that plan in place, you will reach your destination, and it's going to be a beautiful thing.

That's so good. That's so good. Okay, so where can people learn more about your mindset and how you structure and organize your day? And then also about 131-awesome.

Well, of course they are. Welcome to listen to my podcast, the Chalene Show. We talk a lot about, you know, the principles of smart success and organization and mindset, Anything that will help you to improve your life. And then, because my book is coming out shortly, the 131 method, what I've done is created a bonus for people so that they can work on their mindset first. Because, let's face it, if it were just as easy as eating whole, healthy foods and figuring out your metabolism and having more information, I mean, the Information's out there, right?

I'm with you. You know, it's like change your state.

Exactly. So I want to help people change their mindset. So anyone who pre orders the book, if you go to 131book.com, you enter your order number and your best email address and I will send you my mindset coaching program. It's an audio, so if you like listening to podcasts, you'll love it. You just pop in your earbuds and we'll start working on your mindset. Because if that doesn't shift, frankly, it doesn't matter what the program is. It's not likely to stick until you change your mindset.

I'm so with you on that and I love that you, you, you and I might be the only ones that include that in our nutrition stuff. So I love it. I love it.

We are wise, aren't we? We are wise.

Thanks, Chalene. And then obviously everywhere on. On social media you can find her. You're most active on Instagram, right? Yeah.

Yeah, that's probably the best place to DM me.

Chilean official.

No, I'm Chalene Official on Snapchat. And Chalene Johnson.

Chalene Johnson.

Someone else had that. Yeah. So Chalene Johnson on Instagram.

Awesome. Thank you.

Thanks for having me. So fun.

Thanks for leveling up with us today. Please share this episode if you found.

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Creating everything from nothing.