The Entrepreneur's Biggest Productivity Lever Is You: Performance and Healthspan with Stuart Phillips

0:01John Lee Dumas:Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by High Level, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. Today we'll be breaking down the entrepreneur's biggest productivity lever is you, performance and health span. To drop these value bombs, I brought Stuart Phillips into EO Fire Studios. Stuart is a professor of kineology at McMaster University, specializing in muscle metabolism, aging and protein nutrition, advising on longevity, performance, and healthspan across lifespan, research, and practice insights. And today we talk about how your body is the business, the real productivity multipliers, the entrepreneur's insurance policy, and oh, so much more.

0:39John Lee Dumas:And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Stuart and our sponsors. Fire Nation, is your business stuck? Join Eric Trump and Clay Clark's life-changing business conference, November 5th and 6th in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Learn the specific proven systems Clay Clark has used to create thousands of success stories today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. Again, request tickets today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. High level gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking, payments, and course hosting all on one platform.

1:14John Lee Dumas:Plus award-winning 24 seven supports get a 30 day free trial and my full bonus stack that includes a 15-minute private call with me and much more at highlevelfire.com, highlevelfire.com. Stuart, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Hey, Fire Nation, Stuart Phillips here. I think the line I want every entrepreneur listening to sit with is that your body is your first company. It's the one asset you can't sell, you can't replace, and you can't raise another round of capital. So every pitch, every all nighter, every hard decision is run on the same hardware, your brain and your body.

1:59So most founders are running that hardware into the ground. And I'm going to teach you today that I think that you probably need to pay more attention to it than you think.

2:08John Lee Dumas:And Fire Nation, I've got my notepad out. I've got my pen ready. I will be taking notes because, man, let me tell you, at 46 years old, I want another 46 great years of productivity. And we're talking about the entrepreneur's biggest productivity lever. It's you, performance and healthspan. And I want to start by talking about how our body is the business, which you've already alluded to, Stuart. You're known to say this, our body is the business. Why is health the foundation that every entrepreneurial outcome ultimately depends on? Yeah, great question. So let me start with a bit of a reframe.

2:44So we talk about founders, in quotations, betting on themselves. And I want to take that literally. So you're the single point of failure in your company. If you go down, if you burn out, if a back gets thrown out, it won't let you sit. A brain is too fried to make a good call. The whole thing wobbles. So the question isn't, can I afford to spend time on my health? It's really, can you afford not to? And here's what people miss. Health isn't just a separate category of your life that competes with work. It's the substrate that work runs on. So sleep sets the quality of your decisions. Cardiovascular or your heart and lungs, their fitness, how long you can concentrate before you fade.

3:27Muscle sets your physical resilience and whether you bounce back from brutal travel week or get flattened by it. These aren't wellness luxuries. They're inputs to performance, the same way server uptime is an input to software business. And the body keeps score quietly. Take muscle, for instance. From middle age onward, the average adult loses skeletal muscle at a rate of roughly 1 % per year. If they do nothing about it, the 1 % doesn't sound like much, but compound it, and founders understand compounding, you're looking at the potential it'll lose a large fraction of your muscle by your 80s.

4:04Strength fades even faster than muscle mass. Nobody notices the year it starts. They notice a decade later when the stairs feel different and the energy isn't there for the long days. So the foundational point, the one that everybody else today sits on, you need to treat your health like the core infrastructure of your business because it is. You wouldn't run your company's data on a hard drive that you never back up. Stop running in your career on a body you never maintain. The founders who last are those that are still sharp and still building in their 60s and 70s. Almost universally, these folks figured it out.

4:43The body is the business.

4:45John Lee Dumas:Yeah, I mean, there's some crazy stats out there. I mean, one of them's like Warren Buffett, who of course has been incredibly financially successful. 99 plus percent of the money that he's generated for himself or his personal wealth happened after 50 years old. Now, part of that's because of that magical word that you talked about, Stuart, which is compound, of course. But you need to realize that, Fire Nation, it's the compound on all of these things that really adds up. And I want to talk about the real productivity multipliers because let's be honest, Stuart, there's no shortage of productivity hacks out there.

5:21John Lee Dumas:I mean, in fact, it's very overwhelming, but you personally focus on these four, muscle, sleep, nutrition, movements. Why do those fundamentals outperform everything else? There's a whole industry selling entrepreneurs' productivity hacks, cold plunges, no tropics stacks, supplement stacks, the perfect morning routine, a new note-taking system. I'm not here to dunk on any of it. I am here to talk about leverage. So as a founder, your scarce resource is attention and you should spend it where the return is biggest. So let me give you the four big levers, sleep, nutrition, movement and muscle. These aren't hacks.

6:06They are load bearing walls. And this is why they win. A hack might give you one or two percentage edge on a good day. The big levers determine whether you have good days at all. Start with sleep because it's the cheapest and the most abused. Underslept, your judgment, your impulse control, and your emotional regulation all degrade. The exact faculties or a founder leans on the hardest. You cannot out-hack a sleep deficit. No supplement buys it back. Nutrition is lever number two, and I'll keep it simple because the basics carry most of the weight. Get enough protein. Most people, and especially busy people grabbing whatever is fast, are going to fall short.

6:50Eat plants you'd recognize as plants, stop drinking your calories, and the official protein floor, the recommended dietary allowance, is simply not enough. So there's a growing body of evidence that says the floor is too low. So the number that myself and many other colleagues point to is at least 50 % higher than the floor or 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight or 0.55 grams per pound. and more if you're training hard. Lever three, movement. Not just train for a marathon, just stop sitting still for 12 hours. The founder's default posture, hunched over a laptop from dawn to midnight, is a metabolic slow leak.

7:37Movement is the patch. Leave a floor, muscle. I'll come back to you because resistance training is one of the ones most entrepreneurs tend to skip. You've got to lift a little bit of weights to keep your strength up and keep your muscle. So here's the mindset shift I want everybody to land on. Don't optimize the 1 % until you secure the 80%. Sleep, protein, movement, strength are the 80%. Nail these. And honestly, you probably don't have to worry about the hacks. Skip those and no hack will save you.

8:08John Lee Dumas:I mean, Fire Nation, think about which one of those four are you really lacking? I mean, for many people, honestly, it's going to be two or three of them. Um, I will say for myself, I've really, I really do have sleep and movement dialed in. I get six miles of hiking a day in with my dog. I am so focused on being in bed by 9 PM and sleeping a full eight plus nine plus hours per night, every night. Um, you know, where I need to really up my game, if I'm being transparent, honest here, it's the muscle and nutrition. I mean, number one, um, I'm just not doing enough when it comes to lifting weights, you know, I'm doing the pushups and the body weights things.

8:43John Lee Dumas:And maybe you can touch upon that a little bit later. Is that sufficient, Stuart? But, you know, there needs to be more there. And I'm definitely not getting and I want to see if my math is right here, Stuart. Like if I'm 170 pounds, should that basically mean that I'm getting about 85 grams of protein, 90 grams of protein, 95 grams of protein every single day? You're hitting the math perfectly, John Lee. I'm going to tell you right now that you're doing a great job. I think the really important point to make is that you're doing so many things right. And even the body weight work, which you kind of slid off as not being a big deal, I think is a big deal.

9:21But physical activity is literally the insurance policy, right? So if every founder could do one thing, it would be this build physical activity in don't negotiate it away when things get busy, because busy is exactly when you need it the most. And in other words, I want you to think about exercise the way you think about insurance you don't buy it for today you buy it for the version of you that has to perform under pressure in the next quarter in the next decade so you know let me give you the return on that policy first energy focus today not in 20 years exercise increases blood flow to the brain supports the machinery your brain uses to think clearly and in studies of adults, regular aerobic, so the hiking that you do, and the resistance training, even if it's some push-ups, some pull-ups, going to the weight room, awesome.

10:12They improve executive function. That's your planning, your focus, your ability to switch between tasks and hold a complex problem in your head. So these are a founder's core competencies, and you're not taking time away from the work by training. you're actually if you like upgrading the processor that does the work so i think that um you know the premium on the insurance policy and its bargain is a couple of things two strength sessions a week plus regular movement that's it the payout more energy now sharper decisions and a body that's still going to carry you and ambitions decades from now and and i don't really know a better price policy anywhere, particularly when we talk about ROI.

10:56John Lee Dumas:I love that. And Fire Nation, just to do a recap on this entrepreneur's insurance policy, just remember, physical activity becomes an insurance policy for what? For your energy, for your focus, for your resilience, for better decision making. As entrepreneurs, as business owners, we want this, we need this. So make sure you are subscribing to this insurance policy. We're going to talk about healthspan reverse lifespan, the engagement advantage, the minimum effective dose, and more when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Fire Nation, is your business stuck? Join Eric Trump and Clay Clark's life-changing business conference, November 5th and 6th in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

11:34John Lee Dumas:Learn the specific proven systems Clay Clark has used to create thousands of millionaire success stories. See thousands of success stories and testimonials from real people just like you who Clay Clark has mentored and coached into prosperity at thrivetimeshow.com slash EOFire. Clay's proven business coaching program is month to month and it costs less money than hiring a minimum wage employee. Yes, it's month to month and costs less money than hiring a minimum wage employee. Schedule your free personal 13 point assessment with Clay Clark himself today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire because Clay only takes on 160 clients and only allows 300 attendees to each business conference.

12:08John Lee Dumas:You will interact with Clay directly, see thousands of real success stories and learn about attending the Thrive Time show today in person workshops featuring football star and entrepreneur Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump, today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO Fire. Become the next success story. Schedule a free consultation and request tickets to join football star and entrepreneur Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump, at Clay Clark's next business conference today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO Fire. Fire Nation, if you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure.

12:40John Lee Dumas:That is why High Level is Entrepreneur on Fire's featured partner. High Level gives you a website builder and hosting, funnels and landing pages, email marketing, appointment scheduling, payment processing, course and membership hosting, and so much more. Everything you need to succeed all under one roof. No duct tape, no juggling five platforms, just one clean system for your business. And their award-winning 24-7 support has your back when you need it most. When you sign up at HighLevelFire.com, you also get my exclusive bonus stack, a 30-day free trial, a private 15-minute call with me, JLD.

13:13John Lee Dumas:access to my weekly live office hours, a digital copy of my book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, my 50 Days to Something Execution Roadmap, and more. Visit highlevelfire.com and start building your something today. Stuart, we're back and I want to talk about healthspan versus lifespan. Why? Why should entrepreneurs focus on healthspan, not just lifespan, especially during the years they're building and scaling. I want to draw a clean line between these two words that often get blurred together. Lifespan or longevity versus healthspan. Lifespan is how long you're going to live. And everybody chases that.

13:57And I'm not denying that, you know, we all, quote unquote, want to live forever. But healthspan is how long you live well. You're strong, you're sharp, you're independent, you're fully in the game. And as an entrepreneur, I think HealthSpan is the one that you actually care about if you've never used the word. So when you think about it from a business standpoint, what it really means is that you're not there merely to exist at 70. It needs you at every age to think clearly, travel hard, recover fast, carry stress, and keep showing up with energy. that's all health span so adding empty years on the back end of your life where we're living in poor health where we're frail or foggy does nothing for the work of your or for your life the goal isn't a longer runway it's a longer runway you can actually fly on and here's the good news that doesn't get said enough the same handful of things i was just telling you about they stretch health span strength training enough protein aerobic fitness sleep staying connected to other people these aren't separate programs or separate goals they're the same small set of habits that pay out across your energy every day and your decisions this year and your independence in 40 years one investment compounding returns so let me reframe the whole longevity conversation for a founder audience.

15:30Stop asking, how do I live longer? And start asking, how do I stay fully capable for as long as possible? Building a career and a company and a future version of you that's physically able to enjoy all that you've worked so hard for. That's healthspan. That's a real prize. The years literally take care of themselves when your habits are right.

15:54John Lee Dumas:So listen, we talked about focusing on muscles, sleep, nutrition, and movement, and all that's incredibly important. That to me is the real productivity multipliers as we talked about. But let's also mention the engagement advantage because I think this is an important factor. The role that relationships, purpose, human connection play in both the performance and the long-term health of individuals, of ourselves. Can you speak to that, Stuart? And this is something that I think a lot of people don't put in the health bucket. And it might be one of the most powerful of all. Connection, relationships, staying engaged with people.

16:35And this is where the entrepreneurial path is quietly dangerous because it can sometimes be isolating. The hours are brutal. You're carrying things you can't share with the team. And it's easy to let every friendship and every relationship come maybe second to the company. founders wear that like a badge and they shouldn't so there's data that stopped me cold the first time i really sat with it a landmark review pulling together an area 150 studies and involving over 3 million people found that people with strong social relationships had about a 50 greater likelihood of survival over the study period than those who were more isolated 50 that puts social connection in the same league as the classic risk factors that we lecture people about.

17:22It's not a soft, nice to have variable. It's a hard health input. And when you put a finer point on it, in 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a formal advisory on loneliness and stated that the majority of the mortality impact, excuse me, of being socially disconnected is similar to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. Whoa. That just blows my mind. So if you read that back to yourself, we'd never let a founder casually smoke 15 cigarettes a day and call it the cost of building a company, but we let them strip out every relationship and we call it hustle. So here's my challenge to every founder listening.

18:06Schedule connection. Make it count. The way you schedule investor calls, protect the friendships, stay in your relationships, not just adjacent to them. Build the kind of community around you that makes the hard seasons survivable and make more durable, if you like, human and, not coincidentally, a more durable entrepreneur. So don't build a successful company and arrive at the finish line alone. I think that that's a recipe for disaster.

18:35John Lee Dumas:That's insane. I mean, 15 cigarettes, that's mind-blowing. And I will say what really drove this home for me was watching the show alone. Like I love the show alone. It's about survivalists that go out into the wilderness and they're alone for 30, 50, 70, sometimes up to a hundred plus days. And the one that lasts, you know, makes a significant amount of money. And this is life changing money for almost every single one of them. So they really want to win. And what's the biggest reason they tap out? It's because they're lonely. I mean, these are introverts. These are self-proclaimed people who don't like other people for the most part.

19:09John Lee Dumas:They like being alone. and after 30 days, 50 days, they're literally dying of loneliness? Think about that, Fire Nation. So think about the average person if you're lonely. It's absolutely insane. So I wanna talk about the minimum effective dose because a lot of entrepreneurs, they're short on time. But the biggest thing that I hear is, JLD, I have no time. So what's the minimum effective dose of health habits that actually can deliver the biggest return? Yeah, great question. And, you know, I'm going to end by killing a myth here because it's the excuse that I hear the most. I don't have enough time.

19:47The myth is is that time is, you know, in some sort of degree of short supply and I need to squeeze everything else out of the cloth. It's also the decline is inevitable that after some age, you're just managing some sort of downhill slide. So, you know, why bother? It's wrong and it's an expensive thing to believe. So so here's the truth. The research keeps showing us a large share of what we blame on, quote unquote, getting old is actually just sitting around. But the biggest, and I can't say this enough, biggest bang for our buck in terms of health getting better is when we take someone who goes from doing very little to doing something.

20:31And I'm talking about a minimum effective dose of even 10 minutes a day. So it's not the candles on the cake. It's decades of sitting still and thinking, I don't have time to do this and allowing yourself to slide into a decline. And when you look at people who keep training into their 60s and 70s and beyond, they hold on to far more strength, far more muscle and a capacity that we assumed wasn't possible. Masters athletes, as an example, who keep training into their 70s, tend to have muscle that looks like somebody in their 30s and 40s, younger than their sedentary peers. So the decline curve that people accept as destiny, it's largely a choice.

21:18But I know the real objection isn't belief, it's time. You're a founder, you don't have spare hours, so let me give you the minimum effective dose. The 10 minutes is a start, But the gap between zero and a little is enormous. For strength, two short resistance training or weightlifting sessions a week, not two hours. 20 to 40 minutes hitting the big movements, moving your legs, moving your chest, moving your back. That alone captures a huge fraction of the benefit. For aerobic fitness, the general guideline is around 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week. And if that sounds like a lot, just start walking daily.

22:03Add a brisk burst. Go uphill if you have it. Or pick the pace up. For protein, aim for a solid serving at every meal. For sleep and connection, defend them like they're on your calendar. Because they should be. That's the whole prescription. is a genuinely doable within a, I think within a founder's week, you don't need to become an athlete. You just need to stop doing nothing. The first small dose is where all of the return lives. Start there this week. And I bet you will feel it in your energy and your focus before you ever see it in the mirror.

22:39John Lee Dumas:Stop doing nothing fire nation. To me, that's a huge takeaway. Just stop doing nothing. Cause guess what? When you start doing something, you realize, oh, I feel a little bit better, a little more energy. I feel a little more accomplished. I'm making a little progress. I mean, that's one of my biggest complaints is like when I hit my goals, because when I hit my goals, I'm like, dang, I'm not progressing anymore. And so what do I have to do? I've got to set new goals and then it never ends. And that's a good thing because it never should. So steward of Fire Nation is really jiving and really loving what they're hearing from you.

23:12John Lee Dumas:What is the best way for them to connect with you, to learn more from you? What is your call to action for our listeners today? You can find me as at MacInProf. That's M-A-C-K-I-N-P-R-O-F. I'm on Instagram. X, I am on TikTok. I don't play there much, but I'm on Facebook as well. Today, you know, if you could take one thing from today, take this. You are the biggest productivity lever you will ever have. It begins with taking care of yourself, not as a reward for success, as the engine of it. Sleep, strength, protein, movement, and staying close to the people that you love and the people that you care about.

23:55Defend those five and you will build longer. You will think sharper and actually you'll be there to enjoy it. What you build is your body. It's your first company. Run it like you intend to keep it.

24:10John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with SP and JLD today, so keep up that heat. For links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Type Stuart in the search bar. The show notes page will pop right up. And Stuart, thank you for sharing your truth, knowledge, and value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we will catch you on the flip side. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Stuart for sponsoring today's episode and Fire Nation. Are you an entrepreneur on fire who's looking to share your amazing message with the world?

24:43John Lee Dumas:If yes, we are now accepting applications for EO Fire. So to learn more about becoming a guest, visit EOfire.com slash guest and I'll catch you there or on the flip side. Fire Nation, is your business stuck? Join Eric Trump and Clay Clark's life-changing business conference, November 5th and 6th in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Learn these specific proven systems Clay Clark has used to create thousands of success stories today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. Again, request tickets today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. High level gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking, payments, and course hosting all on one platform.