Greg Anderson | Microdosing Adversity: How To be Courageous In Challenging Times | Wellness Force

Again, it goes back to microdosing adversity. And I microdose my adversity in a hundred different ways. I sit in hot saunas, I sit in freezing water, I train hard, I do martial arts. Restricting what you eat is just another way of putting your body through a little bit of adversity. And here's the thing. Since the beginning of time, the human experience wasn't eating three meals a day and having your digestive tract plugged full 24 7. No, it's Feast and famine. You kill a large animal and you get to gorge for a while. And then, guess what? Winter comes and none of your crops are growing and the hunts are not going as well as you had hoped. And you're going to go through some periods where you don't have food and an abundance. It's natural, it's healthy. And again, now that we don't have that experience based on our lifestyle, we have to implement that into our own lifestyle.

Greg, welcome back to the show, man. We're so stoked to have you.

Yeah, thanks for having me, man. It's been a while. We were talking changed.

I know. We were just talking and I was like, we need to record this. So if you don't know Greg Anderson, his heart is so pure, his strength, the way that he really faced tyranny. About a year ago in March, where we did our podcast, in the Middle of the Storm. In the Middle of the Storm. Greg, you had just gotten kicked off of the force. If people don't know you, just tell that quick story. Just if they haven't seen the episode on COVID 19 Truth, we'll link it in the notes for our show. But if they don't know, man, just tell them in 30 seconds what happened to you?

I was a police officer in Seattle and I was on patrol and I was in my patrol car in uniform. And I just seen too many of the stories that we'd all seen. Moms getting arrested, surfers getting put in handcuffs, and all the stuff that was bothering everyone. And so I just spoke about it as a uniformed police officer, and my message was directed towards other police officers. And it was simply, this isn't what we're supposed to be doing. This isn't what. This isn't what our oath entails. And we need to be thinking about what we believe to be morally and ethically correct in our hearts and not following these orders from all of these politicians that we know are nefarious and that we know are agenda driven. And that was in the very beginning and it was already becoming clear. And here we are. They got rid of me as quickly as possible. I made that video, I got fired for it. And here we are a year later, and I literally saw this morning, like 200 police officers being used to surround a church. And up in Canada, granted, but I mean, over here, over there, same thing, right? It's. It's people dealing with this problem. And the writing was on the wall from the beginning, and that's why I felt compelled to speak out against it. And to tell you the truth, it's. It's been. It was a blessing in disguise. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.

We've all heard these social media memes too. It's like on the other side of fear is something that's blessing you or, you know, all these things that we see, where they reductionize courage. But today, man, there. There's so many things that I want to discuss with you, but the big one is how do we have courage? How do we embo courage both practically and emotionally in these crazy, challenging times? Like, the writing is on the wall and there's even more writing to come. And this. My intention with this podcast with you, dude, is not to scare people. It's not to put people in their sympathetic state so they're hardwired by the amygdala to be in fear. No, I want to come from a place of love today when we discuss this, because it's really, really, really important that people have a clear action plan as to what are the potentials to come, what are the ways we can prepare our spirit and our body and our home life and everything else. So we had like 20 people. Actually, it's about 15 to 20 people ask you questions before we even jumped on the podcast today. Let's start here with a jumping off point. So the state of affairs is that there are many, many laws that are coming through around guns, around family protection, even around freedom of health. Right. Vaccine cards and passports. Give us like you did a year ago. Give us the state of affairs from your vantage point. A year out of the force, you know, and where you are and what you see things happening for us now. What exactly is going on?

Well, I mean, the government continues to use this as an opportunity. And you can see they've used all of the COVID stuff and now they're using the vaccine stuff to continue to use it as an opportunity for a power grab. And we're to the point now where if you don't fall in line with the narrative, if you want. Even if you're just a free thinker and you're questioning things, you're somehow now painted as this evil, uncaring person. And it's bizarre that the narrative has been absorbed by society so well. I mean, you can go through any store or you can be walking down the sidewalk, you can go to a park, and there are immediately going to be people that are confrontational with you if you don't have a mask on if you get too close to them. All of these things that I think in our core, most of us know are flawed, most of us know are not correct. But it goes back to what you just said. Keeping people in that state of fear that, you know, activating the parasympathetic nervous system and keeping people worried and concerned. And I think when people are actually.

A lack of parasympathetic.

Yeah, yeah.

Any. Anything at all that can shift people over to the fight or flight is happening right now. It's actually fight, flight or freeze, by the way too. I'm sorry to interrupt you. It's. We're being frozen as well. It's not just about fleeing as frozen.

And what people are failing to realize is that being in that state is exactly what Big Tech wants, it's exactly what the media wants, and it's exactly what our government wants. I think between keeping people in a. In a state of fear and then also hitting all of us against each other. Like black people hate white people, gay people hate straight people, liberals hate conservatives. And now the most bizarre one is vaccines. Vaccinated. Don't like unvaccinated. Think about that. Vaccines have been around our entire life. Flu shots have come around every single season. And now for the first time in history, if you don't want to take a shot, you're some. You're a terrible human being. You're a bad person. I literally was just reading an article before we hit record that said the unvaccinated are going to cause huge spikes in the cost of health care. So that's just one more little thing is like to make people angry at each other. And the truth is our frustration and our anger doesn't need to be pointed towards each other. It needs to be pointed at the government.

And whenever we point a finger at someone else, we have three fingers and a thumb pointing back at us. So I think about what are the ways in which we abandoned ourselves? And this again isn't about shaming people or making anybody wrong, but what are the ways that we have abandoned ourselves? If we look back and I'm going to go pull the E brake here, so please, just give me one minute. If we go back to 1776 and we think about what occurred when in the middle of the night, people on horseback had to take bold, massive action in order for us to be free now. And I've come to terms with really, like, the putrid essence of how freedom not only has been poisoned pretty much every single day since 1776.

Yes.

But especially if you look at human history and the history of the United States. Howard Zinn's a really good one on that. If you conceptualize us as a child, when you're a father. I'm about to be a father in June. We as a country are really, right now about 12 or 13 years old. We're about ready to get our driver's license. We can't necessarily be trusted with the incredible sacred power of what freedom and the courage to have freedom actually is. So where do you see us right now as far as specifically freedom? Like, what are the key things as far as our freedom, our sovereignty that are specific, specifically being infringed upon?

See, I think. I mean, it sounds kind of cliche to say, but freedom is not free. Right. Any group of people from the beginning of time, if they wanted to be free people, they had to earn it, and then they had to sustain it. So it's earned every day. And I know people look at our soldiers when they say, like, you know, freedom's not free, and it's a bumper sticker. And then we're over in Afghanistan doing things that seem completely unrelated. And I'll be the first to admit, when I look back on my military career, I have to raise an eyebrow and be like, what was the government using us for? But the truth is, there was generations where it did take courage and bravery and to confront evil. And that's the only way to sustain your freedom. And it doesn't have to be on the battlefield slinging bullets back and forth at people. It can be. The courage can be as simple as, I'm not going to close my doors in my business today, or I'm going to have my grandmother over for Thanksgiving. Even though people are saying, I can't, or I am going to go on this vacation even though I'm unvaccinated, I'm told I can't like all these things that are coming down the pipe. I think the only answer to show that we are still a free society and that we get to the government doesn't have control over us is us for to embrace those freedoms and continue to live our lives. And that involves all those little steps because they've been systematically chipping away at things and like, oh, well, you're a restaurant and you can only have 25% capacity. And it just goes back to the government being so out of touch with how business works and how the economy actually generates money for individuals and for employees. You can't operate a business at 25 or a restaurant at 25%, period. And so we have to look at what's being asked of us. And then you, you just have to ask yourself, is what they're asking, is it reasonable? Is it legitimate, or is it agenda driven? And if you only you can come to that conclusion. But I have come to the conclusion that all the things we're seeing happen nationwide is agenda driven. And because of that, my business is open, My gym is doing the best it's ever done. And that's because it's a direct result of saying, you know what? I'm going to open. I think for these reasons, I'm going to allow people to make a choice, and if they want to come train, come train. And that's what I've done. And I've been very open about it. It's funny to the point where I was like, man, I wish I would get a little bit of pushback because there's always a part of me that likes confrontation. I'm not going to lie.

You're like, I live in aggression.

Come at me. But the truth, we haven't been messed with at all, really. We got a couple letters, a couple of emails, and a phone call saying, no, you're violating the governor's these. And I'm like, okay, whatever, come do something.

And when I say they, by the way, because I want your voice on this, they is federal, state and local municipality that controls the regime of laws and regulations that essentially are breaking and continue to break many components of the Constitution every single day. They are these people. So when you hear Greg and I say they. But Greg, I'm curious what you see as they. Is it Ansley, Is it the government there in Washington? Is it federal? Is it all of them together kind of being in fear and control?

Like, for me, for me, they is everybody from the top that is orchestrating this, including everyone to the bottom that goes out and perpetuates it. And dude, to tell you the truth, and if people want to listen to rants filled with profanities and me really going off, they can listen to my podcasts and listen to Ever. But, but I'll keep it a little more lighthearted on your show. The truth is, if you're at the bottom of the food chain, you're, you're just a foot soldier. You're just a patrol cop that's going out and enforcing this stuff. I literally heard it this morning. This female officer goes, hey, this is just my job. I'm just doing what they're telling me to do. Guess what? That, that phase is over. You've had a year to analyze what's going on and figure out how you want to treat American citizens. And if you're going to enforce this stuff because a mayor or governor thinks it's a good idea and you don't feel it's correct in your heart. But hey, it's your job. I need a paycheck. Well, I'm done with that. You don't get a free pass if your paycheck includes is derived from infringing on my rights. You're part of they. And I don't care who you are. And I'm not anti police. I was in the profession for a decade. A lot of my close friends are part of that profession.

Yeah.

But the truth of it is some are good, some are bad. That goes for cops, that goes for doctors, that goes for electricians, that goes for human beings. Right. So you don't, you no longer get a pass because that's your job and you have a mortgage to pay. And you don't understand. I just bought a new car and I have this payment. No, no, no. What is the moral and ethical obligation that you have to the public? It's very clear. And a lot of police officers are not standing up and showing the courage that I think they're obl to show. And it's, it's very frustrating.

I could see how it be frustrating too, because when you swore allegiance to uphold the public good, do you remember the motto when you were an officer? What was painted on the door?

Oh, it was, it was, it was like honor, integrity and courage. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

Honor, integrity and courage. And so if, but, but as soon.

As you show any of that, like get this guy out of here. And that's the thing. Mottos are easy. You can put that on the back of a challenge coin. You can paint it in our lunchroom.

Yes.

Where the rubber meets the road. Are you going to embody those principles? And if you're not willing to embody those principles, I don't think you should be wearing a badge.

So it's in order to embody. And this is, this is where you really hit the mark, man. In order to embody, we have to have the courage and the knowledge to do so. So let's go to a knowledge space right now, because I know a lot of people, they're just, let's be honest, they're not feeling courageous because they're hijacked by their own biology. Their. Their ancient brain is sending them into all these crazy places of, oh, if I stick a needle in my arm and I have an RNA modifying vaccine that is not properly tested, go into my body, then somehow, Craig, somehow I'm safe. Which is utter bullshit. But you look at any kind of convoluted messaging that has ever happened over time since 1776, fear has always been used to abuse and to divide people so that they can easily be controlled. Anybody that has any kind of knowledge of history, it's like. And I say this from a place of love and not just of judgment of others, because, like, I fell into the fear. When we first started, when you and I did our first podcast, I was like, I was feeling really angry. I'm like, I wanted to go to war. Like, I really did. But now from this place of knowledge, how do we begin to take an honest approach to what's really happening? And how does that honest approach and how have you used that honest approach to build your own courage?

Well, I think it's important to speak about fear and courage and kind of unpack that a little bit, because this is the reality of being a human being. I think America, we have created this utopia where everything has worked pretty well, especially since World War II, right? And people have created these bubbles that feel safe, they feel happy, they don't feel like they're in danger, they're not confronted with a lot of adversity. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm happy that my kids are living in a time in history where they do not have to worry about being hurt and killed and confronted by a rival horde. All this stuff is good, right? Yeah, human history. I mean, you can pick up any book, and it's abundantly clear that there is a large percentage of human beings that are evil, that like to hurt people, that like to kill people, that like to grab power. And if you think that somehow suddenly changed just because it's the year 2021, you're not being honest with yourself. So knowing that those people are out there, knowing that, that that type of energy exists, the only way to truly be free of it is, is to be brave enough to be able to confront it. And, you know, maybe it was a blessing in disguise for me when I was. I was 21 years old when 911 happened, and I did 14 combat deployments as a result of that. And I came to terms knowing that my belief structure, like my belief system and the things that I am willing to fight for are going to cost me my life. Like, I came to terms with that. I thought, there's no way I'm going to get out of this alive. And is. And that sounds kind of morbid in a way. But I'll tell you what it was. It was actually freeing. It was freeing because it made me understand, like, listen, I'm just a little cog in a big wheel, and I'm doing my part and I'm going to try and obviously do as best as I can, but it's just a. It's just a rule of percentages. I'm probably going to get it before this is all done and over with. And, dude, I'm telling you, deployments after, I kind of came to terms with that, they were relaxing. They were easy. And I'm not saying this to, like, boast or sound tough. Like, bombs would be going off, we'd be getting shot at. And it didn't instill fear in me. What it instilled was, okay, it's time to act. And I could actually think clear. Okay, there's a piece of COVID or we need to drive and take a. Take a right. So we're going northbound on this road because blah, blah, blah. And once you start to think clear in the face of fear, it makes you realize, like, fear is. Fear doesn't help you. It doesn't help you in any type of stressful situation. What it does is it paralyzes you. And now here we are, and I'm 40 now, and it's been 20 years, and I'm applying that same mindset. And it's like, obviously, I don't want to have some crazy, you know, like, revolutionary shootout with the government and have my daughters have to navigate this world without their father. But the other side of the coin is if it goes. If it were to get to that level, people need to be willing to confront it. Because if you're not willing to confront it, then guess what's going to happen? You're going to continue to be a slave. And, like, one of Jocko Willink. I don't know if you've read any of his books. He writes kids books that are for like, my five year old reads them.

I've heard of this. Yeah.

In one of his phrases is be brave or be a slave. And I was like, that doesn't need to be in a book for five year olds. Every American needs to think about that.

Every parent who's reading that to their kids is learning at the same time.

Yeah, be brave or be a slave. And bravery can start with, like making a video in your patrol car. Bravery can start with protesting. Bravery can start with just simply opening the doors of your restaurant. Like. But bravery can also go all the way to the top, to where you're willing to give your life for the things that you believe. And I think it's important for people to think about, especially parents. I'm obligated to leave a better America behind for my daughters than what I inherited. And if that does mean that it cost me my life, at some point, I think we have to be willing to say that's okay. The human experience, we all have a finite amount of time left as is. No one gets out of here alive. Right? So what's more important than trying to get out of here alive? What's more important is leaving behind a better society than what we inherited. And it's bizarre to me that I feel like the whole Covid thing, people are trying to perpetuate the amount of time that they have on this earth while simultaneously giving up everything that is good about spending time on this earth. And that's why it's just. It's very obvious that it's, it's convoluted and it's. It's a backwards way of thinking.

Yeah.

I mean, my papa, he's 77 and he isolated for a while, you know, and he called me one day and he goes, greg, I've had a realization today, is that I am avoiding all the things that I love about living for nothing more than the purpose of prolonging living. He goes, it doesn't make sense to me anymore. Bring your daughters over. I want to see the grandkids. And it's like, yes, yes. And here's the thing. If you get sick and die as a result of doing the things you love, I'm not saying that that's not a possibility. We all know that there are certain people that are at risk for this. It's dangerous for them. Nobody's disputing that. But we're willing to give up life for no other purpose than sustaining life. And I just don't understand it.

Well, the quantity versus the quality is what hits My soul because I think it was Alan Watts. So you're going to quote Jocko, who I think is a teacher for our contemporary time. Ancient masters from the mid-1900s, Alan Watts, he's like, it's better to live a short life well lived than to live a long life where you don't live at all. That is exactly what you're talking about. Because geez, freedom is not free. Like our freedom is essentially paid for by the blood from my grandfather who was in World War II as a brigadier general, by the blood of so many men and women who have spilled it in the name of freedom. And Greg, I know that all these wars weren't purely for freedom. I know that a lot of these wars that we were involved in were probably for oil and gas and money and control. But look, the human spirit, like we are born with freedom, Babies are free. Like my son coming your family.

Yeah.

There's nothing that somebody could tell you about limiting their freedom that you would ever believe because they came into this world completely free. It's the unlearning, as my buddy Cal from the Unlearned podcast talks about, we're all unlearning the shackles and the anti freedom beliefs that we ourselves unknowingly have been projecting out by the way we live. How are the way we're living as a society right now? Exactly? How is the way we're living as a society really enabling the anti freedom energy that we're experiencing?

I think the biggest problem that we're having when it comes to like a societal wide problem is the fact that the government is moving to restrict all of these freedoms, just like you said. Right. It's we're unlearning these. But the most bizarre thing that we've seen is they're doing it in a way where citizens are doing it and enforcing it amongst each other. And so they've created this state of fear that's so great that if you don't fall in line with it, other people are coming after you, other people are going to confront you, other people are going to report you and be. And like I have and I hate that it hasn't happened to me yet. And maybe it's just because of my cauliflower years, but the truth is almost all of my friends are being confronted on a regular basis.

Confronted how? What do you mean?

Like for example, one of my jiu jitsu students, 16 year old kid. Right. So I shouldn't say kid. He's in that transition from a, from a kid to a man.

He's ready for initiation.

Yes. Yeah. So in the grocery stores in Seattle, they have one way, arrows down the aisles. I don't know if that's a thing in other states. Okay, so he's walking down, not. Not on one of the aisles, on the ends of them, right? He gets to the soup aisle and he walks 10ft the wrong way and grabs a can of soup 40ft at the other end of the aisle. He said this morbidly obese man, who is probably 45 years old, started screaming at him, hey, you're walking the wrong way. What are you doing? Don't you see the arrows on the ground? And it's like, listen, since the beginning of time, some morbidly obese guy has. He does not have the ability to be violent and confrontational with a 16 year old kid that's training and fighting every single night. Like, it's not how this world works. But we've arrived at a place where the world is so backwards that now the incapable get to dictate what the capable do. And I'm sorry if that sounds. Yeah, exactly. I'm sorry if that sounds like harsh or insensitive, but we've arrived at a place where the people that have put the least amount of effort into taking care of their mind, body and spirit are now getting to dictate what we who put the most. I mean, I wish I could be £400, I wish I could eat pizza every night. But unfortunately, I hold myself to a standard. I'm disciplined, I train daily, I try and put good nutrients into my body. So the people that have actually taken the steps to be capable human beings are now being berated by the people that have neglected themselves. And it's just bizarre that we've arrived here and it just continues. I mean, the Krispy Kreme thing, it almost makes me feel like I'm living in a bad comedy. Like, hey, if you get a vaccine, you can eat donuts every day for a year. Even though the number one comorbidity is obesity. What are we talking about here? You know, and so I just see people being confronted all the time. Well, my best friend, I've had him on my podcast, he is a physician. He worked in New York during the height of the pandemic. He had 200 COVID patients. And every evening he would go for a run around Manhattan and he didn't have a mask on. And people are just going, and the dude's in a mask 18 hours a day, literally trying to save people's lives. Then you have people screaming at him. And it's just. I mean, it is what it is, but it's not. I have to look at the overall picture and the trajectory of our country over the last year. The path that we are on is not sustainable, period. It is not sustainable. So at some point, yeah, something has to give.

God, there's so much I want. I mean, we could do a whole podcast on the two minutes you just spoke about. But really, like what? The core of what you're hitting on that really, what I loved that you expressed was the people who are less capable and who are the ones who have not been investing in their health and their emotional health, their mental health. They are the ones that are the most triggered, the most angry. Yes. And we know from all the guests we've had on the show that center around emotional intelligence and how to be really emotionally resilient and strong. Whenever there is a trigger, there is an exploration point for self discovery. So think about that. Anything in my life, Greg, that triggers me, that makes me super angry, that makes me project on other people, it's cause for me to look within. And I think in the beginning of this whole thing, and I'm curious how you feel about this, in the beginning of this whole thing, I felt so much anger and frustration at my fellow men and women who were literally just like silent. I mean, what really triggered me the most is I'm in the health and wellness space, as are you. You know, we're in the health and wellness and I guess you could say development, personal development world. And there were so many people with millions of followers who could have affected radical change just by speaking up a little bit. And they were fucking silent. And it triggered me so much. I wrote so many of my friends who are podcasters and influencers specifically, I was like, you have an obligation and a responsibility to speak the truth. Yet they wouldn't. And you know what their traditional response was, Greg? Most of them said, if I do that, I'm going to lose revenue, I'm going to lose followers, I'm going to lose traction in my business. And my response was, so the fuck what?

So what?

So the fuck what? Because what are we standing for if we're standing for nothing? How do you feel about this?

Well, it goes back to what I sang about when I was a young soldier, accepting that my beliefs may end in my demise, Right? And that's my physical demise, like my physical body. But it's the same thing you could apply to that. Like my beliefs may end in my. In A decrease in revenue. It may end in a bunch of people unfollowing me. Because all these people that are out virtue signaling are going to see someone that's like speaking the truth and they're going to attack them because that's what happens on social media. But guess what? You get to go home with your head held high, knowing that you're on the side of right. And I'm telling you right now, this is my Nostradamus moment, right? When all this is said and done, the people that stood on the side of right, they're going to be able to hold their heads high. And there's going to be a lot of people out there that are ashamed of themselves. I mean, the Nuremberg trials, like, hey, I'm just, just following orders. That's not a viable response that we're seeing. And I know making the connection to Nazi Germany people think is like kind of obscure, right? But it all starts. I mean, it's the frog in the pot analogy. You know what I'm saying?

That's right.

And the heat is being turned up. And if you think that it's not, I don't think you're being honest with yourself. Your eyes aren't open, the heat's being turned up. And do we stand up and do we push back? Once the water's boiling, it's going to be too late. That's why I think it's important and it's imperative that people start having these conversations, opening their businesses, pushing back and doing the things that we're talking about right now. And then also personal accountability. Take care of yourself, take care of your family, start changing your habits. All these things are important. And the thing is, everybody, our society through again, going back to what I was saying, just good times have created us. Is this put us in this constant state of weakness to where we know what the solution is to beat Covid. You know, I joke, I tell people at my gym, if you can do one dead hang, pull up, your body's too strong to die of COVID Now, some doctor will probably say, oh, that's inaccurate, you're lying. But by and large, you don't have to have elite level fitness to beat this thing. You just have to have a body that functions well and that is running on good nutrients. Why aren't we talking about that? Why isn't that in the mainstream media?

Well, because monetized as much.

Exactly. Can't be monetized. And then the other side of it, it's going to take a little effort, you know, you're going to have to wake up and put your running shoes on and actually go out there and earn it. But nobody wants to earn it. People want to just get in line, have a shot put in their arm and we're good now. And it's just, it's ridiculous.

The how we started this podcast with the sympathetic parasympathetic remember, for everyone, it's not just about fight or flight, it's also about freeze. So I think what's going on here and a lot of what you've been speaking about, if people had like super deleterious anti serving health habits before COVID whatever happened during that past year really magnified. Like, I'll be straight up. I put on some extra weight during COVID and I really got. It was a. Remember whenever I'm triggered, whenever I'm experiencing hardship, it's always a way for me to look within myself. And I thought, okay, my relationship with food gets to change. So actually just this past week I did a 48 hour fast. Just water some LMNT who I love and also like just being with my thoughts, being with myself, being with my pregnant woman and our community and just living life without being subjugated to a relationship with food. That really for me personally got amplified during COVID I know that you did a fast as well. And I remember, was it a 5 or a 10 day fast? Why did you do that? Because this is the same frame of taking care of ourselves that I'm speaking to you about.

So I did. I actually failed on the first to admit it. It's supposed to be 10 days and I did nine.

I don't think that's a failure. Nine days of no food is not a failure.

So I had a podcast scheduled on day 10 and I woke up and I just felt like dog shit. And I remember me and my wife sat down. I was like, okay, I could fail this fast and put out a good product and have better energy and have my cognitive abilities firing at a higher rate, or I could continue to starve and put out a lower quality product. And maybe that was just me justifying quitting. But yeah, I did nine days and then I put out and that was actually a really good episode. So I don't regret it. But the thing is, again, it goes back to microdosing adversity. And I microdose my adversity in a hundred different ways. I sit in hot saunas, I sit in freezing water, I train hard, I do martial arts. Restricting what you eat is just another way of putting your body through a little bit of adversity. And here's the thing. Since the beginning of time, the human experience wasn't eating three meals a day and having your digestive tract plugged full 24,7. No, it's Feast and famine. You kill a large animal and you get to gorge for a while. And then guess what? Winter comes and none of your crops are growing and the hunts are not going as well as you had hoped. And you're going to go through some periods where you don't have food in an abundance. It's natural, it's healthy. And again, now that we don't have that experience based on our lifestyle, we have to implement that into our own lifestyle. And I mean, again, we could do a whole nother podcast on fasting. And I'm not super well versed on it, but I'm well versed enough on it to know that it has huge benefits. And again, nine days started to kind of tear me up a little bit, but three, four, five days, sometimes it's good to put yourself through that.

What came up emotionally, Greg, for you in the fast? Like, obviously with your jiu jitsu training and with your background in martial arts, not to mention military and law enforcement, these are all spaces that require microdosing of adversity every day, all day long.

Yes.

So, but for the average person, what can you share vulnerably about yourself that came up during a nine day fast? What emotionally happened for you there that you had to come to terms with?

I don't think I went through necessarily like emotional struggles that are directly related to the fast. And again, I am vulnerable. I'm an open book. I talk about depression, I talk about ptsd, a lot of the stuff that is part of who I am and part of my life, I'm not ashamed of it. But as far as the fast goes, it was more of just pushing through the physical because your body goes through that keto flu phase. It goes through, you're getting headaches, you're feeling weak, your muscles aren't firing right. Right. But then it becomes rewarding because it's like two or three days of that and then you enter this state that's almost like a euphoria. And I would say day, probably midday three to day eight was actually like, it felt rewarding, it felt good. Now when I was fighting in training, I don't think I was operating on a level that was optimal. Like, I could tell I was not a hundred percent, but I still felt good and it felt rewarding. You could Just tell that things are going on in the body. Like your body's intuition is better than anything you're going to hear from a doctor, anything you're going to read on Google. And once you get in tune with that, you know if you're doing the right things or not, you know? And that was another reason why when I woke up on day nine, I felt like, okay, I'm starting to go from feeling benefits to now I'm going downhill again. So let's probably wrap this up, you know? But that's just part of any type of adversity that you face. I mean, I was literally talking to a buddy about this yesterday. Think about a hard run. Think about sitting in ice water or even studying, like, reading a book that you don't want to read, something like that. As soon as you're done and that that event is over, do you ever look back on it and say, man, I wish I didn't go on that run. God, I wish I didn't hop in that cold water? No, it's an instant reward. Your body knows it. And so we're still reluctant to put ourselves through that stuff. And I am, too. It's just part of the human experience. Like, you're looking at the ice tub, there's always a party that's like, not today.

It's the flinch. It's the flinch that we all feel. And I feel the same way that you do, man. I have a sunlight and sauna, and I have a cold tank in the garage. And every single time, I always feel that, do I really want to do this today? And I do, because I always know that the fruit that is yielded is worth the effort that it takes. The fruit that is yielded is so worth it. So what are some other ways, man, that you've microdosed the adversity? Because really, what we're going to get into in a little bit here in the show is the practical strategies for us to prepare for what's to come. And part of this is exactly what you're talking about with the microdosing adversity, which I love that, by the way. I've never heard that before. Is that yours?

That's mine.

I heard that from someone else. Yeah, you heard it here first. Microdosing adversity. This is not microdosing psilocybin. This is not microdosing ayahuasca. This is microdosing, the real medicine of the human experience, and that is adversity.

But I like microdosing some of that other stuff, too. So that's I combine those terms.

So what are some other ways, man, that you microdose the adversity?

The biggest thing for me that I've felt growth through, and I know people are getting sick of hearing about Jiu Jitsu, but that for me, is the biggest way to microdose your adversity. Because when you were in a fight, and even though it's a training partner, someone that I've. That I love and respect on a biological level, when another man has his arms around your neck and you're having a hard time breathing. Yeah, it goes into exactly what you said. Fight, flight, or freeze. Right. And this is the interesting thing about fighting, when those emotions kick in. Well, I'm trying to fight and I'm losing. So option one's off the table. Okay. Flight, I want to get away. I can't get away. This guy's on top of me, and he's better than me. So now that option's off the table. And then freeze. Well, if I just stay right in the position that I'm in, I'm literally going to die. And so all of these primal emotions are going off with intent of helping your survival, and none of them are working, and it can turn into instant anxiety. And, dude, I'm a black belt in Jiu Jitsu. I own my own academy, and I've been training for 18 years now. And the right circumstance can bring that back just like it's day one. And I literally have had conversations with myself now thousands of times where it's like, okay, this guy's on top of you. You can't. You can't do anything. You're losing this fight. Let's think about how to get out of here. Let's think about how to survive a little longer. And you literally talk yourself through finding success. And I tell my students all the time, the biggest thing that you get out of being a fighter or doing Jiu Jitsu is you learn to find comfort in uncomfortable situations. And I'm telling you what, man. That in itself is a survivability mechanism that I think everybody needs. It's the same reason when I was in 2nd Ranger Battalion, every Thursday, you put on a 65, 65 pound pack, and you go walk 15 miles. It is the same lesson that gets learned like, oh, this hurts. I have this much longer left. I don't want to do this. And you realize after doing it over and over and over again, I'm a lot more capable than I thought I was. My body can push a lot harder than I Figured it like my quit is a lot farther down the road than I thought it would be.

Yeah.

And people need that stuff.

We need it as a society. I think about in 2017, I did this Mark Devine event. It was called the 20X. And his whole methodology is that you're 20 times more capable than you think you are. And I'll link the video in our notes for the show today. Because I was 37 years old then, I'm about to be 41 here at the end of April. And I look back on that time and I'm like, wow, that was so powerful. Not just from the physical training standpoint. What goes on in my mind when I'm experiencing adversity and compression and fear. Training for 14 hours straight, overnight, soaking wet, doing Murph with like 20, 50 other people is not exactly the most fun thing. It brought up a lot of fear. And I'm not saying this because I think you need to do hardcore physical training all the time. I'd love for you to expound upon this. How can the average person who may be isn't physically gifted, or maybe they're just beginning their training regimen or their training process. How does the average person with no athletic background microdose adversity.

So I like this question because I get told this all the time because my gym is CrossFit and it's Jiu Jitsu, right?

So you got some swole people walking.

You know what's funny is the crossover is almost non existent though. It's you got your Jiu Jitsu side and then you got your CrossFit side. But regardless of what path you want to walk, you have to understand that every journey starts with one step. And a lot of people are reluctant to take that first step. They feel intimidated. They feel like I've failed myself for too long. And something I hear all the time is I want to get in shape first before I try this. And if that's the head space you're in, you're telling yourself a lie. Because the time to try it is right now in the body that you're currently occupying and start to figure out that journey as who you are today. And guess what? If you've neglected your body for 20 years and you're morbidly obese and you can't jump on a, on a 12 inch box, then maybe you do step ups on a six inch box, right? Like, and that's the cool thing about these communities. I know CrossFit gets a bad rap sometimes and it's probably the vibe's different gym to gym, but in our gym, we don't care if you're trying to go to the games or if you're somebody's grandmother that's 80 pounds overweight, that has never done a minute of physical activity in your life. Your journey is yours, but it needs to start now. And I think that's the biggest lesson that people need to understand is like, whatever happened preceding this moment is a moot point. You might be a savage athlete or you might not have an athletic bone in your body, but now it's time to get better and it starts right now. And if you tell yourself, well, I need to do this first, I need to do that first. And again, we all have that voice in our head. Not just, just put it off until next week.

Yep.

No, it's gonna hurt. No, it's gonna be embarrassing. There's a bunch of, there's a bunch of girls there that, that work out in sports bras and I, that, that's intimidating. Like all of that stuff, it's your own brain telling you a lie to try and convince you to not become better and put all that shit on the back burner and just go in and do it. And again, you're going to go to a CrossFit class, you're going to join a jiu jitsu lesson and when it's done, you're going to feel better and you're going to be proud of yourself. And then the path has started and then it's just up to you. You know, I tell everybody about my gym. I said the hardest part of becoming better is showing up and walking through the door. That's the hardest part.

It's like 80% is just getting there.

It's not the hundred burpees you're going to do, it's not the 10 minute rounds we're going to do. Yeah, those, those have their challenges as well. But just simply showing up, that's the hardest part. Now you're here, let's do it.

Let's go to one of the questions from our audience. It's from Kelly. Kelly asked so excited for the interview question I've been considering For Greg, personal freedom is one of my strongest values. What does Greg believe about is it possible to experience freedom without interfering in the freedom of others?

So my answer to that would be no. To a certain extent. We all have kind of an unwritten rule in society that the amount of freedom that we feel that we deserve and that we get to experience and that we get to express stops where my beliefs or my desires don't infringe on your beliefs and your desires. And so that's why I think, like, I mean, the age old rule, treat others how you want to be treated, right? We have to be able to navigate this world and express ourselves and conduct ourselves in a way that we feel we are expressing our freedoms and living our freedoms as long as they don't infringe on other people. And I think that that's a pretty simple concept, but for whatever reason, it seems to be getting lost more and more every day. And that's why, I mean, I, I lean more libertarian. If you want to shoot heroin in your own basement, I don't care if that's. If you wanted to destroy your own body, that's up to you.

You can have compassion for them, but. But at the end of their choice.

Yeah, it's their choice. But as soon as your addiction causes you to rip the downriggers off my boat and put them on, offer up, which happened a couple months ago to someone that was addicted to methamphetamine, now your choices are having a direct impact on me. And that's where we need to have zero tolerance for that kind of stuff. But no, I think, I think it's a fine line because, let's be honest, being a free person does come with its inherent dangers and it comes with its inherent problems, but that's okay. I would rather live in a way where I feel like I'm a free person, getting to choose my own path and choose what works best for me and my family. And the truth of it is, it might not always work out perfect for me. I might find myself in some bad situations. But if you think the alternative to that is just falling in line with whatever the government says to do is somehow going to end up being beneficial for you long term, I don't think you're being honest with yourself.

It's a huge point. And if you're watching us on YouTube right now, there is a clip right here that I'm sharing. And Greg, can you see this? Okay, I can.

Yep.

All right. So coming from exactly what Greg just spoke about, a friend of mine, Dave Kemp, shout out to Dave. We were on Facebook and I am officially calling out Jonathan Levitt. Not from a place of wanting to hurt him or wanting to be anything other than loving awareness to him. He was posting and just lighting up our Facebook page about how vaccines must be injected into everyone, literally removing Greg. The exact point that you're talking about, which is power of choice, Freedom of choice.

Absolutely.

So I just made a simple analogy to him. And again, if you're watching with us on YouTube, the screenshot is right here. So I'm not making this up. We have somebody that works for a health company who's saying that no science ever validated smoking. Science has validated the vaccines. My simple response to him was, are you sure that no science validates smoking? We have journal after entry after journal of in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, both in cartoons from the Flintstones and in epidemiological, quote, quote, research that tobacco was safe and nothing was wrong with it. And there was a screenshot right here from those.

None of those studies were being funded by Marlboro, were they?

Exactly. So this screenshot right here on YouTube with us, it says, more doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette. My question to you, Greg, is, are we making science a God? Do we need to take ownership, real ownership of science being wielded as the arbiter of false narratives and lies that are putting people into this state of fear? That's really what I believe we're experiencing right now with COVID with the vaccines.

Here's the thing. If you look hard enough, you're going to find it no matter what it is in life. Right. So I could go to Google right now and I could find 100 articles saying why taking the vaccine would be a good choice for me. Then I could go find another hundred articles that talk about the things that are concerning. There's not. It's not FDA approved. It has not had a substantial amount of research done. There are concerning results in some of the animal studies. And this isn't me saying, take the vaccine or don't take the vaccine. My point is you can find a lot of conflicting information. Therefore, with that in mind, my choice may be different than your choice, but I'm not going to judge you. Some of my best, My best friend on planet Earth got the vaccine. Do you think that bothers me at all? Do you think that that estranges our relationship? No. You do you based on your belief systems, and I'll do me based on mine. And I think that that is exactly the problem that we're seeing in our country is like, that's no longer good enough. I want you to do what I want you to do.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Yes. And that was the post that honestly, I believe brought us together. Probably the biggest post I'd ever done with the most hate mail. I'm talking, like, hundreds of messages, actually, some of them threatening Me, like, if I see you, I'm gonna kick your ass. Where I posted, I. I posted that I'm unvaccinated. And I said, I'm proudly unvaccinated because it's my choice. Now, I also put in the quote.

Bro, that went pretty viral. I saw that get shared.

I think it's what really brought up our reconnection here. Because I've been called to this for some time now, but I've been waiting for the right moment. And after a year of what you and I have experienced, what we've all experienced together, now is the fucking time. And I say that from a place of love and ownership. Anyways, what happened was all these people wrote and I just responded to them over and over and over again. I had a copy paste and I was like, the post was not about being anti vaccine. The post was about the freedom to choose. Period. End of story.

And please, I've been asking this question for months now and if you have an answer to it, I'd like to hear it. If you've done the research and you have decided this vaccine is good, obviously if you're gonna take it, I'm assuming you've decided this vaccine works, right?

Yes.

If people are doing those things, why do they give a shit what I put in my body? They're good. Them, their loved ones, their families, their children. If you guys have used it and you've come to the conclusion that now I am safe from this, why do you care? Are they that angry that I may get sick? I mean, what, honestly, what is the foundation of that argument?

The foundation is if you're challenging my belief, then somehow, unless my belief is grounded in love and truth, I am going to find something wrong with you and I'm going to project it onto you. In other words, if my belief isn't grounded in me knowing 100% it's true, your challenge of my belief is going to bring out my anger and judgment of you. Yes.

And it's a crazy place that we've arrived at. And listen, I don't claim to be, like, have all the answers. Maybe the vaccine, in 20 years, we'll look back on it and people will say, hey, it was a good thing. Look, yeah, maybe that happens. I don't know.

I disagree with you. But that's okay, right? We can disagree with each other.

Listen. No, no, no, I'm not saying. I mean, if I had to, if I had to put a wager on it, Trust me, bro, I'm on your side. But my point is I'm not claiming that like my path is the path. It's the path for me.

Sure.

And there's a possibility that I might be wrong. But guess what? A lot of things that you navigate through life, you make mistakes and you're incorrect. On if I, if my opinion about this vaccine ends, proven wrong scientifically. Okay. I mean, is it, is it something that we need to hate each other for? But again, like I've lost so much faith in our government over this last year that when another thing is like I'm an energy person, I can see how people speak, how people carry themselves, how they project, who they are. And when you see these people on tv, when our president is literally begging you to get the vaccine, it's clear as day to me that there's more than meets the eye. There's some weird stuff going on here, you know.

Yeah, there really is. And I know a lot of people have been really patient to get the practical tools. So let's dig into those. Let's do it. And it really goes with my love. The mother of my child, my partner Carrie, she asked Greg, you know, how would a new mom who has never had any range training or survival preparedness training and of any kind mind begin her journey to prepare for what may come?

So there's, I mean, we could talk about this for an hour, right? I go back to the same thing. Every journey starts with one step, right? So if she wants to now start walking down that journey of preparedness, there's, there's basically three fundamental rules of survivability in combat. And it's shoot, move and communicate, right? So you have to have the tactical ability to move from point A to point B, get to where you are to where you want to go. You have to be able to have a weapon system that is capable of defending yourself and others that you know how to use, that's reliable, that is something you're very familiar with. And then you have to be able to communicate and the communication everybody, when you think about this three tiered approach to survivability. Shoot, move, communicate. Everybody's out on the range and they got their new guns and they're shooting paper targets, which is cool, right? Like I have fun doing that. But moving and communicating are the two elements that win wars. Because again, you have to be able to get from where you are to where you want to. You have to be able to articulate that to like minded people and then those other people have to be willing to support your movement. And the biggest thing about the Communicate side of it is, in order for that to work, you have to build a tribe of the correct people. And when it comes to preparedness, I put that at number one. You have to have a tribe of people that has your best interest in mind. And likewise, you have their best interests in mind. You have to find those people, you have to connect, and then you have to nurture those relationships. And no matter how bad things get, you have to have a community that you can fall back on. And I think a lot of people are missing that right now. Like, we have a group of probably 25 friends, and we literally, we call it Tribe fest, and we get together once a month and we bounce around different people's houses, but we talk about these kind of things. And it's not like, oh, you know, I'm living in fear and it's doomsday preppers. It's just the future that we are about to navigate through is very unknown and unclear. And I don't want to be the guy that's caught off guard. There's a statistic that says if the power grid goes down, 90% of Americans won't live one year, one calendar year without electricity. Try and wrap your brain around that. In order for us to be able to create a scenario where we're going to be successful, if we do lose something like the power grid or just anarchy on the streets or government unrest, all of these things, in order for that to work, we need to at least thought about them and put some plans in place. Now, another thing that comes to mind when everybody says, how do I start shooting? What kind of guns should I get? If. If you're a new mom with a baby and you've never fired a gun before, and I'm not saying this disparagingly, your job within the tribe may not is probably not best suited as a war fighter. So what would your best job be? How could you support the mission? How could you help people? How could you strengthen the tribe? You got to think about those kind of things because it's not going out and doing raids with firearms or confronting your enemies. It might be helping harvest food, helping cut wood. Like all these things that. Like one of. For instance, one of the guys that's in my or we call him our tribe, he's one of the most savage guys in there. He's a super athlete. He's a good fighter. But you know what he is, He's a blacksmith by trade. So we tell him, I know that you're going to want to get in the Fight. But guess what? You're too valuable for that. You're staying back on the compound because your skill set is one of a kind. And I'll tell you what, man, I think if we were to go, go back a couple hundred years and find ourselves in a community style, living, it would be more rewarding. That's what I've been telling my wife and my daughters. I was like, the, the, the thought of this happening maybe may sound scary on its surface, but it'll bring us closer together. It'll make life feel more meaningful. And I'm telling you, our experience on earth is going to have, it's going to be better if we go through hard times as a family. I'm not saying it's going to happen. I'm not even saying I want it to happen. But I want people to know that if it does, it's okay. People have been enduring hardships since the beginning of time. Half of the world is experiencing a hardship as we speak. You know, you and I are looking at each other through these high tech computers, talking on microphones, and there's people that don't even have water. And that's, again, that's part of the human experience.

Forget that. Yeah. It's so easy. You bring up such great points. Because I think about the, the, the shooting, communicating and moving. That's great. Those are skill sets. But from another practical standpoint, there's also the mental training and the preparation of home and space.

Yes.

What do those look like for you? And by the way, do you have a compound? You said back at the, you said to the blacksmith, you're staying back at the compound. Do you have a compound?

I literally closed on a remote 30 acre piece of property two weeks ago.

Amazing.

And we're going to build it, we're going to build it all off grid.

Yeah.

And.

All right, I'll meet you there, Greg.

Well, this is, so this is what I keep telling people, okay. Because I don't want to not be grounded in reality. I don't want to create this fictitious future where I'm fighting the government, people are trying to kill me and all this stuff, right? Like, I'm a pretty reasonable person, I always have been. But I also think about, okay, what is worst case scenario and is worst case scenario possible? When I ask myself those questions, I have to say, well, worst case scenario is A, B and C. And it does involve not being able to have food, having lack of security, not having police and fire support. Like these things that we take for granted once they're gone, things are going to change, they're going to change quickly. So if that were to happen, what would I need? Well, I'd need my off grid compound, I'd need this much ammunition. I would need this level of fitness because once gas runs out, guess what you're getting from point A to point B and your leather boots. And so when I think about all these things and what the steps that I need to take to be prepared to be successful in that scenario, this is the conclusion that I've drawn and I think you're going to like this. Building strong relationships with my community, having a good piece of property to be able to fall back to, having a high level of fitness to be able to sustain life in this environment, being able to be tactically proficient, being good with my firearms, having the ability to communicate with my friends through ham radios. And I've been doing all of these things as we speak. And I've come to the conclusion is even if there's a 5%, even if there's a 1% chance of ever needing that, focusing on all those things is only going to add value to my life, even if everything turns around and life is great. So with that in mind, it kind of gave me a sense of relief. It's like, okay, focusing on these things is only going to benefit me regardless of the direction that the world goes. And with that in mind, it's kind of freeing, you know what I'm saying? It's like, oh no, I'm not afraid of this happening. I'm simply saying it's a possibility and I don't want to be the guy that's caught off guard if it does.

It's a huge point because another question from the community was from Johnny and he's like, Greg, how do we prepare ourselves for what's to come without being in fear? And before you answer that, I just want to say it's perfect timing because what you're talking about is proactive care. Like in the same way that you would train to avoid the doctor, because once you get into the medical system you're in, I mean, it's very challenging to get out your habits when it comes to the compound and the mental training, the physical training and the preparedness, those don't actually negatively impact anyone else at all. And juxtapose the vaccine conversation. Anytime I am telling someone else what they should and should be not doing with their own body and making that a rule and a law and a regulation that does cross the boundary of being free. And that's totally different than what you're talking about, where you're preparing for your own freedom that doesn't infringe upon the freedom of others.

Well, and the truth is, what's going to be the catalyst that does make me decide, hey, it's time to get my daughters to the compound and get armed men in the fighting positions and start to hold ground and be concerned. What's, what's going to be the catalyst that causes that? And it's hard to say, what do.

You think it is if you had to pontificate?

There's a couple different things that I think about. A, if the vaccines get, if it gets to a point where like we're treated like second class citizens, you can't go here, you can't get on a plane.

It's happening now with the vaccine passport. It's not controversy, it's real.

I mean, you saw the video of, was it St. Vincent? They were evacuating people. No, you can't go. You didn't have a vaccine. Did you see that?

I did not see that video, but I've heard it from you and multiple people. I see so many things all the time.

It's insanity, right?

Flooding me. It's flooding.

I think, I think one, one potential catalyst is that once you start stripping people of their human rights to be able to go and have freedom of movement, it's going to reach a point where people are gonna be like, you know what, I can go here if I want to. Try and stop me and the cop that gets put in the middle of that. Well, listen, it's just my job, because you don't have the passport, I can't allow you through this checkpoint. Violence will erupt sooner or later. And bro, that was the whole point of my video A year ago. I thought violence was going to erupt when cops were shutting down restaurants and stuff. But I still think that that's a very likely possibility. Here's scenario number two. And this one is closer to the horizon than we know the whole George Floyd thing, right. Our society. And listen, I was the first to say the way that cop conducted himself was not professional. It was dangerous, it was a violation of policy. And guess what? The guy's in jail right now looking at murder charges. So I would say that the system said, yeah, we don't agree with that either. But what did we see? We saw nationwide looting, burning, violence. And I would argue if, if you're upset with the system, then take action against it. And even if it's violence, even if you want to take violence, if that's the choice that you think makes sense right now. Maybe it is, but it's not smashing the windows of a store and grabbing new pairs of shoes. Right. You are not. That's an opportunist is what that is. Right. If he is somehow found not guilty, next week is supposed to be the verdict. I have friends that are. That are involved in the case. They said the verdict is supposed to come down in the next week or two. And if that verdict is not guilty, put your body armor on and get ready. Because American cities are going to burn again.

That's right. I saw it happen with Rodney King Greg when I was 12 years old.

Yes, exactly.

LA was on fire for weeks, but it was.

I feel like this perpetually gets worse. And so are people going to continue to just sit back and let their stores be looted and let their cities be burned down? We'll see. But I think that could also be a catalyst where people are just like, I've had enough of this. I mean, I was literally. My gym's on a three and a half acre piece of property, so it's kind of remote. It's not a normal gym. And the gym's right in the middle of a big field. Right. And so I remember having conversations. I was like, if people start coming around here throwing bricks through windows and stuff, they're gonna die. Like, that's. I'm sorry if you don't agree with that, but this is mine. I built this. This is what raises. This is what's feeding my family right now. And if you think you're gonna come and destroy it, well, then we're gonna settle this like men. And luckily, it never happened to me. But the crazy thing is, it's just by chance because it happened to me, to millions of other people around the country.

Sure. And many people who own stores that had nothing to do with any kind of. Any racism towards racism or African American abuse or any of that. Their businesses were burned to the ground just because they happened to be in the wake of the anger. So.

And a lot of those businesses were owned by African Americans.

This is what people don't even realize, too. So we're at this culmination point, Greg, where even in our conversation there, there's like this crescendo. We've painted the problem. You've given us very specific tools that we begin to work on. How do you see your movement? With Endless endeavor, the podcast. Shout out to Alan. By the way, thank you for all you do for Wellness Force. And also and Endless Endeavor. But how do you see this unfolding with your voice? In other words, Endless Endeavor is your podcast. It started a year ago when all this stuff went down. What are the conversations you're having over there for people that don't know?

My biggest. The biggest thing that I'm trying to drive home with my podcast is courage and be willing to resist what you interpreted as tyranny. And I don't want to be like, oh, I'm this. This guy that's trying to overthrow the government. No, I'm not saying any of that. But what I'm saying is you have to draw lines in the sand. And when people. When people just trample over those lines, you have to be willing to defend your belief system and what you stand for in your business and your family. And if that even includes up into your life, so be it. And I've talked about it a lot on my podcast. Like, for me, a big one. Is all of this gun legislation coming down the pipe, you know, and I know guns are a very controversial subject. Right. But again, if you look at data, do you know handguns are responsible for 45% of the homicides in America? Rifles are responsible for two. So if you're looking at data, what weapon systems do we need to take off the streets to save lives? The data would suggest handguns. They're not coming after handguns. They're coming after rifles. And so, again, it makes me just think, what are we talking about here? This isn't. This isn't based on yours or mine's safety. It's based on an agenda. And once you see this for what it is, you have to be willing to push back, and you have to be willing to stand up. And I'm telling you, the Amer America was founded on a spirit of defiance. That's the. That's literally. That's why we're the country.

That's right.

Yes.

We want to be oppressed by the tyranny anymore.

And when he. And when the king said, you still have to pay taxes, there was a lot of people that were like, just pay taxes to the king. It's okay. It's okay. And then there was other people who were like, you know what? Fuck the king. If saying that doesn't feel good, I don't think you're a human being. You know what I'm saying? Like, that should feel good inside. That should light a fire in you. And that's where we're at right now. Except we don't have a monarchy anymore. We have These governors and we have this political elite class that think they're our king, and they're flying around in private jets. They're blowing money, which is our money. Let's be honest with the government doesn't generate money. They take money from us, and then they blow it on these lavish parties. And again, man, I worked for the government for a long time. I was on protection details for Supreme Court justices. When I worked for the doj, I did Department of State protection details. I've seen all this stuff with my own eyes. I haven't watched. This isn't from YouTube videos or rabbit holes on the QAnon. I've been around government at all levels, and they look at us like they're minions. And I feel like this last year they're becoming so bold that they're not even trying to hide it anymore. And I just think something has to give. And I don't know what that is or when that'll be, but something has to give.

I have a intelligent perspective on this, that there's a term called overreaching. So anytime that there's a moral imperative or a moral crisis, it's because the people in power have overreached. So I think actually kind of what we talked about in the very beginning of this podcast was the sweetness of salt and fat and sugar. And the reward of that being in nature, it's super rare. Well, power is the same thing. So people can become drunk on power. And what I believe will happen, Greg, and what gives me the most intelligent hope, man, is the people that have been raining down all of this bullshit, they are so drunk on their own power that they will eventually overreach. And when they do, when they overreach, that is when social unrest and you and I will go to war if necessary.

Yes.

And I'm not saying that to bring fear to people. It's like I'm in the middle of preparing myself now because I love myself and I love my future son and I love my lady and I love my community. And, like, this is the path that I'm walking. So if you're walking this path, go listen to Greg's podcast. Share this Podcast this podcast is coming from empowerment and love. This isn't about fear and acknowledging fear.

And it shouldn't cause any fear for you as a human being to want to push back against tyranny. It shouldn't cause fear. It should cause excitement. It should feel good to say, you know what? We're done. We are done with you. That should feel good. Like, I mean, I was 14 when Braveheart came out. And I tell you what, as a 14 year old kid, watching William Wallace tell Edward Longshanks, no.

Gives me the chills.

Oh, it gives me goosebumps to this day because there's something primal about a person saying, you know what? I'm not going to be oppressed anymore and I'm done. And I'll tell you what, the government's power is simply a perception of power. The powers of is held by the people. It always has been. And that's how the country is supposed to operate. They're not supposed to be holding the power. And so it's this weird shift that we've had where now they think that they're in charge of us. And it's like the government is supposed to be a representation of the people and nothing more.

Yeah.

And now they're controlling the people. And that's exactly what the forefathers dealt with. They saw the writing on the wall and I mean, wasn't it Thomas Jefferson? That's like when. When people fear their government, it's tyranny. And when the government fears their people, it's liberty. They're simple concepts, but they're so true.

Yeah. Well, let's mic drop, end the podcast with this exact quote then. And it's from William Wallace, AKA Mel Gibson, and it is when they were at the battle. And just like we are, I'm not condoning and glorifying war as we leave this show. What I'm saying is let's all look deep within our hearts and ask ourselves, like you asked us a year ago, does this feel right in our hearts? Does this feel true in our hearts? And the quote is run and you'll live at least a while, but many years from now, dying in your beds, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day till then for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom.

Yes, bro. That was the name of my podcast two episodes ago, that same quote.

Well, great.

Because it's powerful and it's real.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for being who you are, and thank you for refreshing our memory to what you had been through, what you stand for, and how you serve the world. So, Greg, thanks so much for coming back on the show. Did we miss anything? Did we, did we not uncover anything that you think is most pressing right now for people to know when it comes to how to be courageous in challenging times?

No, man, I think that was a good overview again. We could do three shows on this. This alone, you know, so maybe that's just an excuse to come back on sometime in the future.

Awesome. Awesome. Well, Greg, thank you so much. You guys check out Endless Endeavor. And until Greg and I see you again, we are both wishing you love and wellness. We'll talk to you soon.

Take care, Sam.