The Entrepreneurial Secret Weapon with Russ Yeager: An EOFire Classic from 2022

0:02Who's ready to rock today, Fire Nation? JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, the only daily show interviewing the world's top entrepreneurs seven days a week. Today, we're pulling a classic episode from the archives, and we'll be breaking down the entrepreneurial secret weapon. To drop these value bombs, I brought to Ross Yeager and to EO Fire Studios. From chubby kid to top body transformation specialist, Russ and his team have helped thousands of people transform their bodies and health without giving up the food they love. And today, Fire Nation, we'll talk about how to use the slightest mental, physical, and emotional energy to get the same result and use other energy to accomplish more things, and how you are one workout away from getting more confidence and better results for your business and oh so much more.

0:43And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Russ and our sponsors. Fire Nation, this is your year to get unstuck and to grow a successful business. Attend the world's highest rated business growth workshop taught personally by Clay Clark and now featuring football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump at thrivetimeshow.com slash EOfire. Again, request life-changing tickets today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. Ross, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. What's up, Fire Nation?

1:20What's up, John? Great to spend time with you today, brother. So I have several, man, but I'd say the biggest is that grinding, hustling, and not sleeping is the best way to succeed. and I've tried that everybody talks about it grind hustle and you get results from that because you're taking action but the problem is you're left worn out tired and you create your reality so you're creating more work and the older I get the more I realize why Napoleon Hill named his book think and grow rich and not grind and go rich and it's you know one great idea and you have to execute but one great idea can get you so much further than just just pounding it out grinding without even thinking about it.

2:02So my philosophy now is, don't get me wrong, hard work is a great tool that people need to have. So my philosophy now, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get the result, but my goal is to use the least amount of physical, mental, and emotional energy to get the same result because then I've got all this other energy to go accomplish more things. I love that example. It's not grind and go rich, Fire Nation. It's think and grow rich. and so many people have such a hard time just sitting in one place and just thinking, just looking out into the horizon, just breathing the air. I mean, I look at anybody that's alone at a restaurant, God forbid, you know, their faces in their phone, they can't be alone and thinking for one second.

2:46And I don't even know who the person is. I don't even know what the real quote is, but it's just something along the lines of like all of humans' issues and troubles would be solved if people would just sit down every day and think. sit down every day and think. And I want to start chatting, Russ, about how our health affects our business and why a fitness program is not optional for entrepreneurs. It is mandatory. Yes. So I use this example and that's, you know, when I'm talking to entrepreneurs, business owners, the biggest thing to say, I don't have time. I know I need to be healthy, but I don't have time.

3:18And I give them this analogy. I'm like, if you had a billion dollar piece of equipment in your business that was responsible for sales, marketing, you know, managing people, finding the best people, running your business, would you run it 24-7, redline it, never do maintenance on it, and hope it doesn't break down? The answer is, of course not. For most business owners, they are the most important asset in their business. Taking care of your physical, mental, and emotional health is not optional. It's imperative. Everybody talks about Warren Buffett's, what he says is famous for saying, don't lose money, you know, but which by the way, he's lost money.

3:55Everybody's lost money. That's, that's made money, but nobody talks about, you know, the other thing he's, he says is one of the reasons he's so successful is he's lived a long time. He's had a long time to be at it. And so it's having that longevity of health, but also, you know, people were in an instant want it right now, you know, society one, I tell people you're six months away from making this a lifestyle where you're healthy and fit three months away from a complete transformation of your body. If you do it the right way. But you're one workout away from walking into your next sales meeting, meeting with your team, podcast interview, whatever, a different man or woman.

4:29You walk in, when you get a great workout, when you're confident, you have that, what I call that magnetic attractiveness. And people respond to you differently and you get different and better results in your business. I love this topic. I love this conversation. The only thing I don't love is that somehow Warren Buffett goes to McDonald's every single day and gets a Big Mac and a Coca-Cola. And yet he still has lived for this long because that is just putting terrible things in your body. But it's interesting. We're going to be talking about cheat meals, Fire Nation, later in the episode. But I bet, I'm not going to put words in Russ's mouth, but I bet it's not every single day he recommends it.

5:02We'll see what he says though. We'll see what he says. But I mean, five years ago, now it's actually six years ago, I made the decision to make a complete refocus on my health and wellness. And I became to a place where I would say I'm in really good health for the past six years. And then this past year, 2021, the beginning of it, I decided to become great. And that is actually where I'm at now. It's fantastic. It's the feeling is I've done three 10 day water fast this year. It's completely transformed my body, my mindset, my relationship with food. And I just love that attitude of like, you are six months away.

5:38You are three months away. You are one workout away. For me, I was 10 days of just water fasting away from not just a body transformation, the start of one, but a transformation with my relationship with food and with my body and health in general. So I love this conversation because most people fail, Russ. Most people fail in their weight loss efforts. And over those five years where I really was working hard, I was still failing multiple times per year. I'd get down to the weight I kind of wanted to get down to, and then I'd sneak back up, and I just wouldn't be able to hold onto it. So why is that?

6:12And talk to us about the two types of exercises we must do to succeed in this world. Yeah, congratulations, by the way. I'm gonna quickly put myself on the spot. How has this affected your business in a positive way or has it? It's been the best. I mean, it's just the energy. I just feel better about myself. I feel better about my conversations I'm having with people because, again, it's just like it's taking control of another part of your life. And that's why I love having systems and tools and automations and teams in my business. But now that I have them in my personal and health organization as well, and my health lifestyle, it's been a game changer.

6:48So everything about it has just been such a positive, productive result. You know, I'm a practical guy. I'm not a research guy, but there's been studies showing, you know, people who take care of their health, make hundreds of thousands of dollars more over their lifetime. And that's, you know, using normal people's salaries, you know, entrepreneurs, you know, executives that, you know, that are listening to the show, you know, that translates into millions of dollars. So there's, there's no doubt about it. Um, you know, to go into why most people fail and the two types of exercises you should do is most people, they get excited, they're overweight, you know, they're going to go on a diet, they're going to lose weight.

7:21So what do they do? They start running, they do lots of cardio and they dress dramatically, dramatically, dramatically, excuse me, lower their calories. And so they're going to lose weight, but the problem is the type of weight they're going to lose. They're going to lose water quickly because a lot of people don't realize that carbohydrates cause you to hold water. So you get rid of the carbs, right? On these low carb diets, you flush water out. Then you're going to lose some fat, which is good. But inevitably, if you're not doing strength training and your calories are too low, you're going to lose lean muscle, which is a huge problem.

7:54So let's say somebody loses 30 pounds and 10 of that is lean muscle because they're eating too little and they're not doing in strength training. Then they're probably tired. You set it up and down. You try for a while. They're tired of the frigging diet. So they say, forget this. I'm going back to eating normal. But big problem, because they lost those 10 pounds of muscle, they're burning less calories per day than they were before. They would have been better off if they never did that diet in the first place. And then most of them, they get motivated again and they go into another diet. And so most people, John, are literally driving their base metabolic rate lower and lower and lower every year and it gets harder and harder to keep the fat off.

8:31And they either stay in that vicious cycle or give up. And so when you get to the two types of exercises people should do, it's number one, something you enjoy so that you'll actually do it because execution is the most important. And number two is some form of strength training for what the reason I just talked about. And the cool thing is the opposite is true. Every pound of lean muscle that you build and my average male clients gains 10 to 20 pounds of lean muscle in their first year with me, average female about five to 10 pounds. And that may sound like a lot. It's not spread out of your body.

9:01It's going to make you look nicely, not big and bulky. But let's say you add 10 pounds of lean muscle. You're burning an extra 10 to 40 calories per day or per pound. So you're burning an extra two to 400 calories a day. So one of my great mentors, Grant Cardone, loves passive income. I invest with him in real estate. I love my passive income. This is a way to create passive fat burning to where you're literally burning fat all day long. And it's one of the secrets. People say, how are you? You'll keep saying when you're 30, wait till you're 35, wait till you're 40, wait till you're 45. I tear in 47 in what, 10 days from now.

9:33And I'm as lean and fit as I've always been because I understand this and everyday people can do it too. Passive fat burning. I mean, Fire Nation, everybody that listens to this is on some level looking for at least some of their income to be passive income, which is great. I love it too. I mean, I have passive income that comes in on different levels every year. Of course, that I worked really hard for in the past that now has become passive income, just like you have to work right now really hard on your strength training to create in the future, this passive fat burn that's just happening every single day.

10:05And let's just go back a little bit, Russ, because you kept trying to say this word dramatically. And I think that should just be a new word. Like we should just make dramatically a new word. I think it's got a lot of potential. So Fire Nation, let us know. Tweet at John Lee Dumas if you think dramatically should become the new word of 2022. It could be fun. I think that's perfect. But I do also love how you talked about do what you enjoy. I mean, I can remember early in 2020, actually, I really got in to pickleball. And I would go and play two or three hours of pickleball every single morning for like at least five days a week.

10:38And I mean, that was just such a great, enjoyable outdoor, or in the sun, vitamin D is hitting me, I'm sweating, I'm with people, I'm having fun. Like that was a really enjoyable moment for me. But I never forgot that Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I'm in the gym with my personal trainer. He's virtual. I've been working with him now for seven years, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, putting on the strength training, doing the strength training, putting the weight on the dumbbells and flexing those muscles, building that. And would you say, Russ, that three days a week is enough for strength training or should I bump it up to four?

11:17Absolutely. I tell my clients three to four times a week and that's what I typically do. Unless you're trying to be a bodybuilder or an athlete, which most of us are not, competitive athlete, even in that case, three to four times a week strength training is plenty. And I found as I get older that that actually works better for me for a few reasons. I recover better. Recovery is super important. That's when you're actually building muscle, when you're recovering, as long as you're eating well and getting rest. And then also just from a mental standpoint, when I know I'm only lifting weights, which I love lifting weights, I'm lucky enough that the thing that I love is the strength training.

11:51So they go together. You know, I only get three chances. So I'm in there busting it, man. I'm, you know, excited. I'm pushing it versus, you know, in the past I've trained six times a week. I'm doing two a days and I can, again, grind through it, but it's just not as fun. And the results are not any better. And I do love that. I want to repeat it one more time, Fire Nation. Do what you enjoy. I mean, when I got a dog 20 months ago, I really enjoy getting up and doing a three-mile hike with my dog every single morning. And then another two-mile walk on the road every single evening. I enjoy that.

12:22That's getting outside. That's getting my cardio going. And then, of course, like I said, three days a week, I'm in the gym, my own home gym here with my personal trainer, zooming in on a Zoom call. And I'm doing a real strength training workout. And I have Peloton as well to kind of get my cardio fix in. But something that I like as a quote, and Russ, I'm curious what you think about it, is I tell this to my father all the time because he used to just be this cardio-obsessed freak, but doing next to no strength training. And I would always tell him, Dad, you can't out-exercise your mouth. So get that in order.

12:54What do you think about that? I like to use that and add to it. I say you can't out-exercise a bad diet, but it's sure fun to try. But you're 100 % right. Right. And that's, you know, that goes back to most people, they go to cardio and cardio burns calories, but it, it, the risk is that you're losing that lean muscle if you're not doing strength training. And I have to say your, your trainer, man, is he was, uh, he was ahead of his time because we were maybe had done a couple of virtual sessions. And now, you know, after COVID, we got shut down. We added virtual one-on-one personal training. A lot of people do, you know, coaching online, but actual virtual personal training, I hadn't heard of it.

13:30And we're one of the few people. We're in, I think, 12 states, three countries now, but that's fantastic. No, he is a trailblazer. We started in 2015 together and haven't not missed many sessions since then on a three to four day a week schedule. And Fire Nation, we have some really cool things that are coming up. I mentioned the cheat days. We're going to talk about those and so much more when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Fire Nation, this is your year to get unstuck and to grow a successful business. Are you looking to learn the proven processes and success systems that have been used to create thousands of millionaire success stories.

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14:37See thousands of real success stories and learn about attending the Thrive Time Show two-day in-person workshop featuring football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump, today at thrivetimeshow.com slash eofire. Become the next success story. Schedule a free consultation and request tickets to join football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump, at Clay Clark's next business conference today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. Summer is here and that means beach trips, vacations, and summer camps are here too. And with these activities come seasonal jobs, everything from camp instructors to tour guides and more.

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15:41Gear up for summer with ZipRecruiter's high-speed hiring tools. See why four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Just go to this exclusive web address right now to try ZipRecruiter for free. ZipRecruiter.com slash fire. Again, that's ZipRecruiter.com slash fire. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. Russ, we are back and listen, we all hear about cheat days, but break it down for us. Why should we eat pizza and ice cream when we're trying to lose weight? Talk to us about that. Definitely. So it's important for people to understand the difference between eating healthy and eating to look good because they're not the same thing.

16:23And here's proof. So people think of eating healthy as eating things like, you know, vegetables and fruits, staying away from dairy, gluten, processed foods, sugar, starch, you know, alcohol, all that stuff. But you may have somebody that does all that, and they still don't look very fit, right? They're maybe even overweight. Eating to look good all comes down to understanding your macronutrients and your calories. And macronutrients is just a fancy, you know, word for the three types of calories. You got protein, carbohydrates, and fat with calories being the most important. Everybody talks about the what to eat and the when to eat, right?

16:56You know, don't eat this, don't eat that, eat this, you know, don't eat after six, you know, eat every two to three hours. No way you're actually supposed to do intermittent fasting. Nobody's talking about the how much. The how much is, is the frigging problem. So what I've figured out for myself and what I teach my clients is to eat mostly healthy foods because that matters. That's where you get your micronutrition, the vitamins, the minerals, the antioxidants, if you eat junk food all the time, not going to be good for your health. So about 75, 80 % of the time, eat the healthy foods. 20 to 25 % of the time, eat whatever the heck you want.

17:28And I want, but 100 % of the time or as close as you can, get your calories right and get your protein right because protein is the only macronutrient that builds lean muscle. We talked about why that's important already because that's going to increase your metabolism and burn fat nonstop. And the reason I say have the 20 % is because it's sustainable. Now, the best way to do it is to eat 100 % healthy food and get your calories and protein right. I know three guys who don't eat any junk food, all healthy. One of them I know is lying. One of them I'm pretty sure is lying. And the other one's probably going to live longer than all of us.

18:03But for everybody else, we know we're going to eventually eat that pizza, that ice cream. So why not plan it in? And so I, so there's two ways to do it. You can eat totally clean, so to speak, and then have one cheat day. I used to do it that way because I'm an extremist. The problem was my cheat day turned into gorging myself because I have struggled and I'm transparent about this. Still have struggled with overeating, eating disorders my whole life, probably eating disorder, never been diagnosed. I still struggle with it from time to time. I have that chubby kid come out. So what I do now is every, every night I eat ice cream, but I eat a controlled portion.

18:39And so I'm doing that 80-20, so to speak, but I'm doing, I guess, in a more, you know, you would call it, you know, regulated manner, but either way works. But unless you're somebody who literally can, for the rest of your life, never eat carbs or never eat pizza or ice cream, then plan it in so you don't feel bad about it and it's something that you can sustain. Eating healthy versus eating to look good. Think about this conversation that Russ just broke down Fire Nation. Very important. And there's a quote that I've always loved too, is that we all love to hear good things about our bad habits.

19:13So be very careful. You know, if you're like a cigar smoker and you come across like one research test that just says like, smoking cigars five times per week, you know, may do this for your health. And you're like, I'm not going to read ever anything else again about cigar smoking, because that's just what I'm going to believe the rest of my life. Just remember, we all love to hear good things about our bad habits. So always keep an open mind and really keep a finger on your own pulse, meaning what is working for you. Can you be like Russ and do one moderate cheat a day, like a little bit of ice cream?

19:46Or is it maybe more of a once a week thing? You can kind of keep, you know, a very enjoyable cheat meal slash meals one day per week at a reasonable level. Now, we all want to get the results that we want with our body, with our business, with our life. So it's a big question, I know, but you can handle it, Russ. How can we ensure we get these results? Yeah, and I wish I had a more sexy, fun answer, but it's freaking consistency. And, you know, it's getting it, you know, I won at 27 years old after growing up the chubby kid, you know, wearing the husky pants. This is why I do what I do today. I freaking hated it.

20:21And I decided I was going to be one of those fit, you know, lean, muscly guys. I tried running on my own, you know, realized early on that cardio didn't transform my body, started lifting weights, had some success, but got into the, you know, workforce. as a CPA. And finally at 27, I said, I never did what I'm going to do. I'm going to figure this out. And so in 12 weeks, I took my body fat percentage from over 20 % to completely shredded 5%, won this International Physique Transformation Contest. The thing I'm most proud of is not winning that contest, John, but I've stayed in shape for the past 20 years.

20:53And people are like, how do you do it? And I wish I had some kind of magic pill. And yes, your programming matters, your periodization matters, your nutrition matters, your supplements matter to a degree, but I've been freaking ridiculously consistent. And it's the same thing for business. Consistency is an unsexy answer, but Fire Nation, our listeners, Russ, they are smart. They are intelligent. They are listening to us right now. Hello. They're obviously brilliant people and they know the unsexy answer is often the right answer. Then the question is, well, how do you be consistent? And so number one, you got to know what you want.

21:30What is your goal? What is your target? And it shouldn't be what I say it should be or what John says it should be or Tony Robbins says it should be or Grant Cardone. What do you really want? And then you've got to find your why. Well, why is this important to you? And then you've got to make a decision and a commitment to go get that. And then the shortcut and to really ensure it is to find a coach to hold you accountable and to give you the steps and then hold you accountable because we all need accountability. Ever since I used that coach to win that physique transformation contest, I still use fitness coaches today.

22:03And I have multiple business coaches. And with your coach, though, you want to find someone who has – everybody's a coach these days. Find someone who has actually done what you want to do. But especially in the beginning, I'm talking to clients 40, 55 years old. They're like, I've struggled with weight my whole life. I'm like, look, dude, if you could do it on your own, you would have done it by now. You don't have to work with me, but especially in the beginning, at least for that first six months until it becomes a habit like brushing your teeth, you need to have someone to give you the plan, but just as importantly to hold you accountable so you ensure you follow through and get the results you're looking for.

22:37Yeah, I have a slightly different way of putting that phrase that you just shared, which is find somebody who is currently where you want to be because they know that path. They've been on that path. They can get you to where they are because they can show you the way. So Russ, you've dropped a ton of value bombs, brother. Give us the one takeaway you really want to make sure Fire Nation walks away with from our entire chat today. I know you have a great call to action for our listeners and then we'll say goodbye. It goes back to what we started with, and we talked about with business, about not grinding, but taking the intelligent, I guess, working smarter, not working harder, but it's the same thing for your body.