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![19. AJ CALLERI - Leaving The Grind & Hustle 6 Figure Career To The Simple Life In Costa Rica, PURA VIDA [GUEST EPISODE] image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=54,quality=85/image-files/6334d1971e1433478852cf38/9715bf6e-e289-441f-be96-f10fddba0852.jpeg)
19. AJ CALLERI - Leaving The Grind & Hustle 6 Figure Career To The Simple Life In Costa Rica, PURA VIDA [GUEST EPISODE]
89 Plays3 years ago
Welcome back!! I have my friend AJ and on this episode talking about how he left a nice and cushy 6 figured job to become an entrepreneur living full time in Costa Rica. He also opens up about his past life and how shifting his mindset helped him achieve his biggest milestone. What was this biggest milestone? Enjoy the episode :)
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Transcript
Introduction and First Conversation
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Unlocking with Adam Pike. Today we got a special guest on. AJ, what's up my man? What's up buddy? Long time no see man. It's been a minute since I've been talking to you.
00:00:12
Speaker
I know, man. It's funny when you reach out to me, we're discussing this podcast. I was like, me and Alex, we're going back over the times that we spoke and how I even connected with you to begin with. The time
Overcoming the Fear of Taking Action
00:00:24
Speaker
has just flown and now our lives have evolved so much since then. So I'm kind of excited to maybe reminisce a little bit about how we started.
00:00:33
Speaker
Right? If anyone listening right now, we've actually never met each other. We're just being kind of... Yeah, basically. That's the world that we live in now, right? But I feel like I know you. We've chatted so many times, right? But yeah, it's been a minute. I actually was going through your
00:00:56
Speaker
your instagram there and i came across this post that you had and it's like your your clients wanting to level up but scared to take action and that you know what you know which one i'm talking about
00:01:08
Speaker
I don't, but I've said that before. That one hit me hard because I used to do phone calls with you and Alex. You guys were coaching me, but when I seen that post on your Instagram, I was thinking,
00:01:27
Speaker
That was me. That was me. I was too scared to listen to you guys. You know what I mean? Yeah. And you know what, dude? At
Creating 'The Missing Link' Coaching Business
00:01:34
Speaker
the end of the day, like this is where the missing link, the coaching business that Alex and I operate has evolved. It's just like when we first started, we actually started during COVID when all that shit started to happen and everyone got laid off work. And we, she was a hairstylist at the time. I was working in corporate at the time and the missing link kind of evolved because
00:01:57
Speaker
I always knew from my anyways, I can go back to even further than the missing link and further than where I really wanted to start helping people. But let's just fast forward to talk about coaching for a second. I always knew that I wanted to help people like in a bigger, broader way. That's kind of always been my purpose. It still is my purpose and my mission. And we kind of developed the missing link from that mindset of helping others kind of step in within themselves so they can fulfill their purpose, fulfill their needs, fulfill their journey.
00:02:27
Speaker
Yeah, like the missing link has just always been this bigger vision of helping people and making sure that they can listen to their own voice, have the trust with themselves. And a lot of people didn't trust themselves. A lot of people still don't trust themselves on like where they want to go and how to execute all these things. And the vision of where the missing link has turned to now is
00:02:47
Speaker
It's kind of cliche, but it's really not when you're in the mix of it all is helping people step by step, build their life and build their business. So like we essentially are like walking with you throughout the whole process. So it's, you're never alone. You're always with someone who's walked the path first.
Client Success and Building Confidence
00:03:04
Speaker
So like, it's not as scary. And yes, it's in your own journey. It's in your own field. It's in your own direction, but at the same, the system, the method is still the same.
00:03:13
Speaker
So it's crazy to see the evolution of the missing link and the evolution of even me and Alex's coaches.
00:03:19
Speaker
We started like five different online businesses that are still operating to this day. And the system is just repeated. It's the same system. So now we kind of copy and paste it with individuals who are looking to maybe leave their corporate job, or just start something new for themselves as a side hustle. And we integrate the system along the way. And it's just so much easier. And they're getting clients and because they're feeling confident, they're trusting them, they're trusting us. It's just amazing connection in this chemistry. And it all comes down to just like,
00:03:48
Speaker
that's what stands out to me the most because I remember when I used to have those calls with you guys and like if I think back on that time now I did not trust myself and like yeah you guys were giving me like great information but like I wasn't fully trusting me and I was way too scared to just go do it right
00:04:08
Speaker
And I feel like I had to go through all these transitions and, you know, life lessons and stuff like that for me to finally be like, okay, let's fucking do it now. But at the end of the day, like, if you just trust yourself and take a leap like you guys done, right? It all works out. Totally, dude. Fuck, man. Did we ever take leaps? Like, I'm living in Costa Rica for over two years now, and it's just like... Yeah, so let's back up, right? So like...
00:04:36
Speaker
You were working in the oil and gas, correct? No, it was more like heating HVAC, like project management for HVAC, project coordinating. So you would say you were making like six figures? Roughly, yeah. Yeah. So yeah. Before taxes. Yeah, yeah. So like, and Alex was also making good money too. She was making killer money, yeah. Yeah. So you guys were fucking killing it. You were working the nine to five job and you said, fuck it.
00:05:03
Speaker
And to you piece though, you've been down there for four years. That's actually insane. Oh, two years. Yeah. I don't know. Why is it four years? Yeah. That's wild. So how has it been? Oh man. It's what? What are we in March 17th? It's 35 degrees outside. Like it's just.
00:05:24
Speaker
Pura Vida is what they say. Pura Vida means the simple life, dude. It's just like how we've really embodied that lifestyle has been incredible. We've been in Canada since we've lived here once for two weeks.
00:05:41
Speaker
leaving Toronto lifestyle, leaving the Canada, just a grind mindset. Everyone can relate to the grind and the hustle and always planning for the next step, but never living in the present moment.
Lifestyle Change and Living in the Present
00:05:53
Speaker
And that really
00:05:55
Speaker
dawned on us when we moved here. There's always like, okay, from work, I got to go to the gym, from the gym, I got to go home and cook dinner, from cooking dinner, I got to do this, from this, I got to do that. It's like, they're never present. And it's just like, what the fuck, man? And now living here, people will literally stop whatever they're fucking doing in their night, in their evening, and watch a sunset. And like, I got goosebumps because like, when we when we watch this happen in this transition of lifestyle from
00:06:23
Speaker
Hustle grind always thinking of the next step to literally like
00:06:28
Speaker
full embodiment of being present, you can just see the difference. People look healthier. I mean, yes, you're in the fucking sun all day long. You live by a beach. There's not much stress. There's different stress. But when we took on and embodied this lifestyle, I can see the difference. I started losing weight. I started looking younger, feeling healthier. My hair was nicer. It was just so many different things that changed in myself.
00:06:55
Speaker
I must say the hardest part was letting that corporate ego go and embodying
00:07:03
Speaker
entrepreneur's mindset I think to me was that was my biggest missing link if you will that was my biggest challenge of like leaving the corporate world always having something to do even if it was busy work versus productive work I always felt like I needed to be doing something and I felt like chilling or being at a beach I'm like I could be making money right now I could be doing this man I could be doing that
00:07:27
Speaker
And it took me a while to embody this Pura Vida lifestyle, like just the simple life. And now it's... How long would you say it took you to kind of transition to that? Because I feel like I'm in that stage right now where if I have a day where there's absolutely no calls or there's nothing happening, I'm like,
00:07:50
Speaker
Oh man, like, you know, I could be doing that. I've been going, you know what I mean? So it's really, and it fucks in my head sometimes, you know what I mean? So like, how long did it take you to, I must say, because like we have multiple businesses on the go, it's still trinkles in time to time. Like where I'm like, I could be doing something or I always like, you know, the famous saying like, you're always shitting yourself. Like you should be doing blank and you just take a moment to reflect. And sometimes the best,
00:08:20
Speaker
part of your day is living in the empty space. And why that happens and why that's true is because in the empty space, when you truly are embodying a present moment, you have the time to get creative. You have the time to just literally maybe in the moments of you, for example, taking your life, for example, if you have a moment of a blank day, you can take a bird's eye view and be like, okay,
00:08:42
Speaker
let's just, let's just reminisce. Let's see how far I've come. Let's see what my projections are going to look like. Let's see how, if I want to pivot and do something different, what would that be? What would that look like? And in those blank spaces, you have the opportunity to do that versus call after call, gym, food prep, this, that, and the next. It's just like, you don't have time to really be present with your thoughts or present with what your, with your creativity. And, um,
00:09:09
Speaker
I think to answer your question, I know it was long winded, but to answer your question, it still trinkles in time to time because we have so many things on the go. But to answer your question, it really comes down to me just remembering that, remembering, okay, you know what, AHA, just
00:09:23
Speaker
take a second just like relax like we have like a like a philosophy right now where unless it's absolutely die hard priority if it's a client call or if it's something that needs to get done for clients that we promise to fulfill we're hard stop at like 3pm like done you know and from then because we wake up early we have a whole day
00:09:44
Speaker
why can't we get the shit done that we need to get done? Unless like I said, it's a priority of the client needs to call or whatever. So 3pm, it's done and shut off time. And then that allows our brain to like decompress allows us to communicate and to talk about our day, it allows us to just unwind so that going into the next day, we aren't going into the next day all busy, clouded gray, it's like, okay, we're sharp, we're focused, we know what we're planning to do. And it actually
00:10:09
Speaker
makes us more eager to go into tomorrow to fulfill those tasks because you're like, fuck, okay, I know what I need to get done. Let's get started. And then you kind of becomes this fun game with
Finding Balance in Life
00:10:20
Speaker
yourself. But I don't think I, I still think the corporate mindset still trinkles in the hustle mentality. It's good at nature. It's, it's, it's fun. But at the same time, it's, it's just that finding that fine balance. It's finding that ebb and flow of like hustle and bustle.
00:10:39
Speaker
chill. Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I don't think I don't think I'll ever just be all the way chill because then I probably won't be making money. But I think if you could find that balance of like grind, chill, grind, chill, then I think you can have a good life happy lifestyle.
00:10:53
Speaker
I like how you said too that everybody down in Costa Rica, they look healthier, right? Because they're like in the moment. And it's funny to say that because last night I had a buddy here, we were just chit-chatting. And he was like, oh, I got to get up in three hours, right? Because I got to wake up at 4.30 a.m. and go back to work. And I almost puked in my mouth because
00:11:14
Speaker
I used to do that. I used to just two hours sleep, three hours sleep. Sometimes I'd go out for a night and I wouldn't even sleep and go to work. And it turns my stomach to even think about not getting seven hours of sleep now. My whole day will be thrown off.
00:11:30
Speaker
Now that I'm actually sleeping and I'm, you know, I'm a lot more healthier and I'm not just go, go, go, go, go. Like you said, gym, work, sleep, whatever. I feel a lot better and I feel healthier and I'm like more energized in the day and stuff like that. So totally. And you know what? I need to take a moment and congratulate you for a second. First of all, thank you. You have done incredible fucking things in your journey to from like working and all the shift work and this that doing something you hated, but you had to do it because you needed to do it.
00:12:00
Speaker
Now look at you like that is like a huge transformation on your end too. And you embodied this new version of Adam, you know what I mean? This version of Adam, I haven't even really spoken to. This is kind of cool, you know, dude, man, like I came across a video of me. It was like an old video on Facebook, it's popped up. And I think it was around the same time.
00:12:22
Speaker
that we were doing calls and stuff together. And I was just, I was seeing how I was talking in those videos and the way that the video was edited and I was just, I was cringing. I was like, this was me? I was like, who the fuck was that guy? I'm just completely fucking different now, but it's so crazy, man. It's such a crazy ride, but it's definitely, it definitely can't be a mind fuck because you,
00:12:50
Speaker
You have to, you know, motivate yourself every single day to go, like, get your ass up and do things. You don't just have this job where you just have to go and that's it, right? If you don't go, you're probably gonna get fired. Like, you gotta get off and you gotta, like, you're the one in charge now, right? So... Totally. No, and I think that's the thing, like, for me and going back to what you were saying,
00:13:12
Speaker
because you own your life now like I say you own your life now because before it was like your job on your life or this on your life or that and you did it because you had to like your life depended on it it was bringing you in it was bringing in the money so now that you own your life it's it's fun because you actually get to be a little creative you actually have the opportunity to
00:13:33
Speaker
to do whatever the fuck you want. And like that freedom that in going back to trusting yourself and feeling your own motivation and believing yourself to create your life. It's like, what the fuck do you have a blank canvas in front of you? It's like, what do I want to make out of this? And I think for a lot of people, that scares the shit out of them.
00:13:52
Speaker
I think that if you showed someone a blank canvas, which is in reality is the unknown. If you showed someone the unknown of like, okay, this is your blank canvas, do what you will.
00:14:05
Speaker
people will choke because they do not A, trust themselves, B, believe in themselves, C, know what's the first step? Do I move the canvas? Do I prep the canvas? Do I just take the paintbrush and start going? And I think that is where we're at now in business and coaching people to transition is exactly that. It's like, okay, hold on one sec.
00:14:29
Speaker
take a big breath. Let's go over the pros and cons of what it is that you love and what it is that you want to do. And we kind of dig down and help people find a purpose or find a passion that then equates into a purpose. So everything is like layers within layers, right? But, uh, it's, it's true. People don't know where to go, how to start and what to do, but that's why they go to the rat race. They go to the grind because it directs them. It tells them just like the school system, you go on recess. Okay. Then you have math. Okay. You go to lunch.
00:14:57
Speaker
It's not the life, man. It's not the life. I have this mindset now that I'm going to do everything I could possibly do to never, ever put on coveralls again.
Happiness in Simplicity
00:15:11
Speaker
No coveralls, no work boots.
00:15:13
Speaker
I don't want that. I'm now seeing that you can really live off a lot less than I was used to. It doesn't make any sense in my mind because I used to make a lot more and my MasterCard used to be bracked. I was just spending money like crazy because I knew that, okay, I'm going to get a couple of grand this paycheck, right? Fuck it.
00:15:38
Speaker
And now like I'm making actually a lot less and I have more money in my bank and I'm it just it really don't make sense. No. Well, it does because it's two different lifestyles. So it's you were living this version of yourself in this lifestyle and now you're living this version of you with this lifestyle and it's like this version of you needs less.
00:15:58
Speaker
You're entertained with less you're fulfilled with less so that all this shit starts to dwindle away And what you have left is a happier version of you that doesn't require all this fucking mechanics It's just like no, I just need these things to do what I love to do And as the money comes in it's less output of finances It's more just i'm just chilling like i'm just taking it all in and enjoying it and that's what's happening so
00:16:23
Speaker
You were, I think the old version of you that was always spending the money was always just distracting yourself. And in order for you to distract yourself, it took money. Yeah. And this is very true. This is very true. So, um, you, you mentioned too, that you have five businesses now. Is that what you said? Between me and Alex that we operate five. Yeah. Yeah. Let me know what's, what's up with those. Okay. So we have the missing link. Yeah. I know that. I know that one.
00:16:50
Speaker
as we coach together, we have she's got her shuffle shred. Okay, we're doing a digital advertising business that we're operating here in Costa Rica. And then I'm not gonna talk with the next two because they're very, very fresh. So they're very just, they're, they're still in the building phases. So I don't want to jinx myself. I don't want to go in that route. But everything we're trying to really plant our roots here within Costa Rica. So we really want to start
00:17:18
Speaker
building, developing, having businesses and stuff like that that are working and functioning here because that's where we're living. We plan on owning places here, owning property here. So those two other ventures are kind of hand in hand, but I am going to leave those aside right now because those two are still, they're literally in the planning phases, but that also does require the most work. So that's a lot of our energy right now is going towards
00:17:41
Speaker
those other functions. Whereas the other ones, Missing Link, ShuffleShred, and our digital advertising and marketing business that we're offering here is starting to come to fruition. The seeds that we planted mid-September last year was when we started planting seeds for all these other things, and now they're starting to come to fruition. So anybody listening, if you have a business, it ain't no overnight success.
00:18:07
Speaker
You need to put the fucking work in, get your systems in place, get your priorities in place, and trust that your seeds that you are planting now are gonna start to come to fruition. They're gonna start to actually flower and blossom weeks, months later. You could get a fast and early blossom, that's cool, but what you're looking for, the abundance will come.
00:18:33
Speaker
as long as you keep attending to your garden. That's the mindset that I have right now, like working with these companies, Microcybin and Eons, like I just, I really, really believe in this stuff and like it is changing lives.
00:18:49
Speaker
And I know if I just keep fucking showing up every single day and like, you know, the longer I am with this company, I just feel like I'm eventually gonna, it's gonna pay off one day, right? Like right now, you know, I'm not getting fucking all these dollars fucking passed out to me, but you know, I just, I do believe that if I put all my marbles in that basket, it's gonna, it's gonna pay off one day for sure. I feel like, go ahead.
00:19:12
Speaker
I was going to say, honestly, though, you're right. Like, we're in a world right now where even in Costa Rica, it's adopting the plant medicine like you would not believe.
Microdosing and Creativity Boost
00:19:22
Speaker
And it's a beautiful thing because I'm a firm, firm believer in plant medicine. I, you know, Alex and I built the missing link off micro dosing like that is a known fact. And really? Yeah, dude, we took seven weeks and we did a micro dosing experiment for the first time. My coach at the time was like,
00:19:41
Speaker
micro dose and the world will set you free. Wow. And this long story short, actually I want to tell you a funny story. So I heard of micro dosing back in the day and I was like, cool, this guy's taking mushrooms, like whatever. Like I was so naive. I had no idea. And a friend of mine shut his phone off. I would say the acquaintance, not necessarily a friend, but an acquaintance I knew through my cousin and
00:20:11
Speaker
He shut his phone off for a month. No one can get ahold of this guy. And what he did was pretty much deconstruct how to extract gold in Africa and figure this whole process out, went to Africa and started doing this shit. And he's currently like living in Africa, doing his thing. And it's just like finding gold. And I'm just like, that is...
00:20:34
Speaker
something to think about. So every time I think about micro dosing, what he was able to do in like a month's time or whatever month's time, and then actually follow through with his actions and actually make it work, it all came down to micro dosing and just was able to just chill and just I couldn't believe it. So I'm like, fast forward to me and Alex micro dosing and getting our shit together with seven weeks and developing a whole website, figuring it all out.
00:20:57
Speaker
and taking on two beta programs with a missing link. We did that in seven weeks. And it all came to fruition through microdosing. That's where all the creativity came. That's where all the thoughts came. It was fucking phenomenal. I have no words in terms of facts and science of how it works, but I just know it works. I have a living testimony to that. Yeah. I love that you fucking said that because I'm out here preaching this shit all the time, right? So when other people talk to that, I'm like, yeah.
00:21:26
Speaker
Yes. No, it is great. Honestly, like I micro dose every day and just like being a creator online. It's just, it just, I'm just constantly getting all these ideas and stuff like that. You know what I mean? So it's, uh, it's pretty wild. Do you, have you ever, do you macro dose at all? Have you ever dabbled with that? Yeah, we have. Um, it's not frequent. Um, and when we have done it, it's been more of a,
00:21:54
Speaker
It's not the hallucinogen where it's like, I'm feeling it. I'm seeing different things. So maybe it's not too much, but do you find that like, like you connect a lot more with Alex? Like when you do it together. Oh yeah. Yeah. The conversations we actually, we were doing moments where we would coach each other.
00:22:13
Speaker
and it would be an hour and it would be I'd be her coach for that hour and then a couple days later a week later she'd be my coach and we would just do a coaching session together which was like a brilliant idea because you guys we live together we work together we have multiple do multiple things together so it's interesting to see the coaching perspective from my fiance to hear what she has to say about like how she sees me how she views me as an entrepreneur etc and vice versa
00:22:40
Speaker
But doing that while micro dosing was like, on steroids, there's just not another level, you know, the conversations got deeper, the thoughts and the solutions were like, way out of this world that we would never think about it was just like, and we started and we still implement some of the solutions to this day, for example, celebrations, like when things happen, you have to know, again, people listening, listen to this, you have to know, you need to get your brain on board.
00:23:09
Speaker
Your brain is the first thing in your whole system to tell you, fuck no or fuck yes. And if you humble, if you, oh cool, especially at the beginning stages, oh cool, I made a sale or oh cool, this is happening or oh cool, a client reached out to me and they want more information.
00:23:29
Speaker
celebrate the shit out of that because your brain is so used to the old lifestyle your brain so used to just the working in the eight hours and the hourly rate of nine to five and all those other things so when you celebrate the shit out of even the smallest wins
00:23:45
Speaker
You continue to hustle because it motivates you. You continue to build the dream because it motivates you. And your brain's like, fuck, what are we getting excited about? All right, yes, let's get hyped. Yes, someone reached out to me. Yes, yes, yes. Your brain's like, hey, let's go, let's go, let's go. And that's where the excitement comes from. But if you humble everything,
00:24:02
Speaker
And your brain is just like, whatever, like, cool, someone reach out to me, whatever, whatever. You become this whatever person. And if you get excited about the small things and excited about the small wins, your brain, it snowballs. And you actually call more of that in because your brain is sending this excitement frequency when this shit happens, and it wants more of it.
00:24:23
Speaker
So we always focus on getting our brain on board. And we do that through celebrating the small wins. And when you celebrate the small wins, more of them just keep happening. And sometimes you get a macro win, and that's just a massive celebration. So that's what we really realized through micro-voting too. Man, your brain is the most important thing because if your brain is not well mentally, everything else in life is just
00:24:53
Speaker
He took the words out of my mouth, because I go through it every now and then, man. And I know when I'm having that day, I do nothing. I'm in my head. Everything's just... And like you said, when your mind is fresh and you're celebrating and that train starts fucking moving, it just keeps going. And you're just radiating this energy. And then people's like,
00:25:14
Speaker
I want whatever you're on. You know what I mean? Like you just see how happy you are. And yeah, that's, it's, it's very, very important to have your brain mentally strong. 100%. Yeah. Go ahead.
00:25:28
Speaker
No, I wanted to say, I feel like I know a lot of people now that are moving to Costa Rica. It's not just you guys, so there's a few guys from Microsoft that live down there. My last guest I had on, she was in BC. She sold all of her shit, moved down to Costa Rica. She's down to right now. There's another girl on the team at Microsoft, and she's down there right now for a wedding. And I think when she goes back, she's going back for six months. I just feel like everybody's going to Costa Rica. I don't know.
00:25:57
Speaker
I have to pack my bags. Bro, I'll pick you up from the airport. I'm telling you that. Man, I've definitely been thinking about it because I have nothing tying me down and like I am working from my phone and my computer and like I could definitely go do it but it seems like such a crazy thing to do. It so is though. It so is. So the one thing that we did, I did personally and then it was like
00:26:25
Speaker
How could we just up and move to Costa Rica? How can we just do that? So it's funny, I'm talking to a friend of ours right now, and she wants to do it. She's just like, I want to do it. I'm like, I can do it. Book a ticket and do it. Just do it. And she's like, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but. And I'm just like, no, like, what are all your butts about? What are they about? What is it really? You can always just book a flight back home, you know? Like, when it comes down to it, you can book a flight back home.
00:26:56
Speaker
That was kind of a saving grace for me and it was saving grace for her when we're kind of still talking about it, but it's not that scary. Like it's so out of the ordinary, 100%. Like it's totally just not moving from this street over to this street or from this town over to this town. It's like, I'm literally leaving the country. I need a new fucking phone number. You know, like this, like that there is, it's scary, but I must say,
00:27:22
Speaker
when you come here, I'm going to say when, not if, when you come here, you're going to see how amazing you feel at the moment you land. And like the moment for me and Alex, the moment we stepped foot on the beach and into the ocean, it was like we just celebrated a whole new life. It was like, we're just like,
00:27:45
Speaker
we like you on the lottery like we're just throwing our hands up in the air in the ocean like we fucking did it like this is so insane like we don't know what to expect we have no idea what our life is gonna look like in the next year and fast forward two years later we're here that's wild that is well you could totally do anybody looking to do anything doesn't have to be Costa Rica anything that you want to do just fucking
00:28:10
Speaker
I guess I kind of I kind of did that like after high school I just like did whatever Newfoundland or dawn hopped in the car and went to Alberta and Just kind of made a life up
Embracing a New Identity
00:28:21
Speaker
there. It's kind of the same thing but like not not really
00:28:23
Speaker
But it is like you've kind of dipped your toe in the hole, leave things behind to just start a new life or do something different. And I always think that in order for you to really step into a new version of you, you do have to leave things behind. You do have to leave a piece of you behind. And the greatest part is
00:28:43
Speaker
the bigger the move, the bigger the piece you leave, but the bigger the empty space that you can now fulfill. And if you can, like we left our whole identity, like AJ in Canada is two years old, two, like has been changed two years ago. And AJ in Costa Rica, I'm the same person through and through, but
00:29:04
Speaker
whole identity has changed who I am what I do the way the things that I like that people like communicate with that's all changed but I had to leave my whole identity there to now build this version of me that I truly love like I love me through and through right now there's not a piece of me that I don't but it took leaving all this baggage out there like we packed and left our whole house and moved to Costa Rica with three suitcases and a carry-on
00:29:32
Speaker
That's wild man. That's cool. It is it is cool. Yeah, you gotta be constantly working on yourself Like you got to be constantly striving to to just level up like keep on like what you guys say 1% better. Yeah 1% better every day and if you're not doing that and you're stalking your same because I know people like that and they're just been the same like for
00:29:56
Speaker
40 years and like they're just saying the same shit, same jokes, same bullshit, same negativity. Like, they're just there's just no growth. Like, what are you what are you doing? What are you doing your life? And they truly don't know when you get to the bottom, when you get to the bottom line, it's like they truly don't know what they're doing.
00:30:13
Speaker
And they're living, they're living blindfolded. They're living paycheck to paycheck. They're like just like taking the same track and just moving it one piece at a time in front of them. So they're 1%. It's not 1% better. It's just 1% living every day. 1% living every day. So something that I want to bring up, I was actually looking at your Instagram there and one of your posts said your biggest milestone was being 300 or over 300 pounds.
Personal Transformation and Mindset Change
00:30:39
Speaker
That's right.
00:30:40
Speaker
To now and I thought that was really interesting story I don't know if you wanted to Open up about that a little bit because I feel like you'd be able to motivate a lot of people but from this story Totally. Yeah, I think truthfully before I get into the story. I think that was the catalyst I think that was the tipping point at the age of 16 that was a tipping point that changed my life and
00:31:04
Speaker
My brother and I, I was 16. He's three years younger than me, so he would have been 13. We were big boys at the time. I was wearing a 5XL shirt. I was wearing a 52-inch waist. My high school uniform, my waist was massive.
00:31:25
Speaker
We had like a scale competition. We were both scared to step on a scale. And we were like, oh, I weigh less than you. I weigh less than you, whatever. I stepped on that. I saw over 300 pounds. I jumped off. I was like, fuck that. I started crying. I was like, how did I let my life get to this point? Like what happened? Where did I like go? Anyways, the spiral started happening at 16. And that night I didn't sleep. I had a punching bag. I was always into martial arts and everything. And I had a punching bag and I was just
00:31:53
Speaker
all night crying, punching his bed. I'm like, what the fuck do I do? Like I was visualizing me punching myself, you know?
00:31:59
Speaker
The next day I changed my life. The next day it was like as a light ball went off and it was just game time. And I was always a football player. I was always athletic. It's so funny. I was able to do handsprings, front flips, the fucking like kick ups and all these other things where you're like laying on your back and you kick yourself up at 300 pounds. And people are like, you're just a skinny man in a fat suit. And I'm just like that. It was so true. I was faster than every fat man that I ever knew. Like it was just crazy.
00:32:30
Speaker
Fast forward, a year later I had a personal trainer, I got a nutritionist, I just stayed committed. And the purpose for me was, if I'm 16 and I'm over 300 pounds, what the fuck am I gonna look like 10 years from now, five years from now, a year from now? Imagine just putting on 10 pounds a year for the next 20 years.
00:32:52
Speaker
That's a lot of fucking weight. So who knows what could have happened to me had I not changed my mindset. And it was my official rock bottom at that time.
00:33:05
Speaker
I like that you said that just changed my mindset. That's all it is, is changing your mindset. But that's what it comes down to. Nothing else could have done it for me. You couldn't have pressured me like a million dollars if I was happy with myself and a million dollars to lose a hundred pounds in like 14 months, I think it was.
00:33:23
Speaker
you couldn't have paid me to do that because if I was happy with myself, I would have maybe started, but I wouldn't have lost over a hundred pounds because the commitment wasn't there up here. The commitment wasn't there in my mind to be like, no, you are better than this. You deserve more than this. Your life is so much more valuable than to feel lethargic, feel ugly through and through. I mean, I have a pretty face, but like I felt ugly, you know, like I was just like,
00:33:50
Speaker
Fuck dude, what's going on here? What's going on here? How'd you let yourself escape to this? And I think it's a lot of things. I think it was just poor discipline on my end. I was growing up. I just had my own habits that I've developed and I was coming up from football practice late. I would be hungry. I would down a bowl as two bowls of cereal. Like it was just like just poor, poor, poor habits.
00:34:13
Speaker
no one to blame really like I had the moment of blaming my parents and all this other thing like you're a kid like how that how can you watch me do this to myself but like nonetheless I love them I will never blame them but at the time I was and I took a lot of growth emotionally physically spiritually for myself I feel like I'm an old soul because I was always into meditation I was always into
00:34:39
Speaker
I was always into energetic work and all these other things, even at that age, but I really believed in manifesting. I really believed in if you write it down and if you put a practice to it every day for whatever it is that you want, you want to learn Spanish, practice it every day. You want to learn blank, practice it every day, percentage of it every day, and you will get there. And I think that year and a half, that 14 months of me working out, eating consistently, doing things consistently for the weight loss,
00:35:07
Speaker
it automatically started just to come off. And I got to the goal of 198 pounds, not walking around, I got my lowest was 190, I was walking around like 205, 210 pounds. And
00:35:21
Speaker
I felt amazed. I was wearing a large shirt for the first time in my life. Like the last time I wore a large shirt back in the day was probably like the age of five, six, like, I don't know, you know, and I was wearing a large shirt. I was wearing like a large waist size, which has never been done before. And it was just a journey. But all through and through that whole story, it is a, you got to get your brain on board. You just got to get your mindset right. You got to just believe that you can, you got to believe you're worth it.
00:35:49
Speaker
You're going to believe that you deserve more. And through that, there's limiting beliefs and all these other things. But that'll fade away the moment you just keep putting 1% in that task each day, the limiting beliefs will start to dissolve. Because you don't have to eat the whole cake, man, just one fork full at a time. And that's the 1%.
00:36:09
Speaker
Man, that story, that gave me fucking cold shivers like multiple times, man. Fuck, that was a mission. Good job, man. Good job. And like, keeping it off, I like to eat. I love to cook. Who doesn't like to eat? I fucking love to eat. And I like to cook, like, I see you with the HelloFresh all the time making these bomb-ass dishes, so I'm just like,
00:36:31
Speaker
I love to make presentation.
Healthy and Delicious Cooking
00:36:33
Speaker
I think for me, it's not even about the food. I love the food too, but for me, it's the presentation of what I can put together on a plate and watch people. Alex doesn't really like to cook, but she loves to eat the food and I love presenting it to her like, what does this taste like? It always turns out great.
00:36:50
Speaker
i think for me i love to cook so i don't i don't discipline myself um to the point of like i only eat plain chicken rice and broccoli that's fucking boring it's but it's bullshit you it's bullshit you don't have to do that you don't have to eat fucking plain shit to like be healthy like i have these like bomb ass meals every single time right and it's it's it's healthy it's just yeah
00:37:12
Speaker
Like, if you're in, like, prepping for a fitness show, then sure. But, like, majority of us out here are not fucking doing that. And, like, you don't need to, like, suffer, like, on a meal plan. I don't know. That's fucking bullshit.
00:37:26
Speaker
I love that you said like the mindset thing is the big part because, you know, I've definitely had clients before where their mindset is not really there. And, you know, for the first two weeks, they got a little bit of motivation. You're like, yeah, but then like after that, it just goes off and then they don't see progress and whatever. But like you stuck with it and you lost a hundred pounds, right? So anybody out there.
00:37:50
Speaker
that are looking to lose weight, just be consistent. That's the same with microdosing, right? I actually just posted something on my story today.
00:37:58
Speaker
Because you have to be consistent with that starting out. Right. And then over time, like I did it for six months and over like I look at my life now, I'm a completely different person. And I feel like I use that medicine as a tool that was consistent with it. Right. But everybody now is just looking for a quick fix. They just buying a fat burner or, you know, buying this fucking bullshit product, buying this, you know what I mean? And it's just everything takes time and work and mindset. And yeah.
00:38:27
Speaker
It truly comes down to the belief of like, why do you really want this? If you want it because Sally has it, or you want it because you saw Jim do it, and you want it because like, those are, they could be little fuel to the fire, little kindling to the fire, but like, in order for you to truly want whatever they got, if, again, getting competition out of it, but like, if you want that lifestyle through and through, why? And if you do, if your why is powerful enough to you, you'll get it.
00:38:57
Speaker
But some people want it because Adam has it. And it's just like, if Adam has it, I want it. I'm just like, okay, let's do it. And there's like, well, maybe I don't want it that bad. Like, I know some people that like, well, you know, I know a lot of people that are just like, I can teach someone, they have all the how tos on how to make a million dollars, but they can't do it for themselves.
00:39:14
Speaker
And it's just like, do it for yourself, then go teach it, you know, like just your actions first. So it's crazy. The world's a crazy place. People are crazy. Just just got to live your life. Yeah. Anyways, AJ, this has been a really fun time. I'm glad that you came on. But before you go, I got I got a question for you. And I actually got this idea off the School of Greatness Lewis House. Like at the end of each episode, he asked a couple of questions.
00:39:40
Speaker
And I think it's fucking great. And you know, you might not be on the school of greatness. So like, I want to ask that question. Go ahead. So if you were if this was your last day on Earth, right, and you only have one thing left to leave to the world, to the youth, for them to remember you by, like some some piece of knowledge or quote or whatever, what would you want to say to them? Who?
00:40:11
Speaker
If this was my last day on earth, like all the knowledge that you learned over your lifetime, like what would be one thing that you would want to leave to the world? Honestly, and this is the kind of what I've embodied a lot. And this is like kind of, it's, it's my purpose that's been driving me even living in Costa Rica. It's the truest fulfillment doesn't come from making
00:40:39
Speaker
all the cash, having all the things. And that
Helping Others and Finding Fulfillment
00:40:42
Speaker
means nothing. The true fulfillment is finding ways to better your life and someone else's life. And the more people you can touch emotionally, physically, spiritually, in a way where they are enhancing their life, like the ripple effect. Like if you're the pebble in the water, and you start creating ripples, and you're touching people emotionally, helping them grow, like
00:41:06
Speaker
teaching, you know, this old saying about teaching someone to fish, you can teach they can fish for the family for the lifetime. That's kind of the goal here is like my goal is to really embody the idea of how can I help someone better their life. And I think it's not about
00:41:21
Speaker
the glam and all that bullshit. It's about just helping others. And I think that's the truest thing that I could ever say if I was to die tomorrow. Hope I don't die tomorrow, but if I did. God damn. Play this podcast, everybody. That was good. That was a great answer. That was a great answer. I love that. I love that so much. But anyways, buddy, I appreciate you coming on. Thank you. And we will chat soon. Looking forward to it, buddy. Have a great day. Everybody talk soon.