142: What You Asked Me on Instagram

30:03Nick Bare:because I have found that sometimes even when I'm not motivated at all, I can still be consistent. I can still see the reason why I am doing it and why I have to do it. So I don't allow the motivation to determine my consistency and my consistency isn't reliant upon being motivated. so these might be two separate questions. Why do people find it so difficult to stay consistent? And then why do people find it so difficult to stay motivated? But let's talk more about consistency because I think this question and topic is, in terms of motivation, I think it's overdone. I can sit here and tell you, So it's not the motivation you need.

31:02Nick Bare:It's the discipline and that's true. And that's as far as it really has to go. Like you're not always going to be motivated. Sometimes you just got to be disciplined and just get it done and just do it because you know that doing it is going to help you be consistent and then you're going to then in turn achieve what you want to achieve. So that's all that has to be said about motivation. You don't need motivation. Even though it's nice, you got to be disciplined. but why do people find it so difficult to stay consistent? That's a good question. And here's where I'm going to go with this. There's so many different directions you can go.

31:46Nick Bare:And I think a lot of people will struggle with consistency for many different reasons. But my question to the question is, what are you rooted in? What are you rooted in? In order to be consistent, you have to be rooted in something. Think of a tree. A tree, a really strong tree that's durable, that has life. It has these deep, strong roots. Those roots keep that tree standing upright and strong. When the storm comes in, it's not falling over. because those roots are so deep and strong. A tree that has new shallow roots, wind comes in, blows it right over. Storm comes through, rips it right up.

32:41Nick Bare:You want strong, deep roots. What are you rooted in? Many people aren't rooted in anything. That's the truth.

32:55What do you believe in? What are your values? What are your core values? What do you believe in or who do you believe in? And what do you believe about yourself? I think this is a great question to the question. What do you believe about yourself?

33:16One of the best things that Chad Wright ever told me that I love, he said, you know, Nick, your tongue is your rudder.

33:28Your tongue is your rudder. The things that you say out loud

33:33Nick Bare:or the things that you say internally about yourself, about your circumstances, about your situation, those things that you say, whether out loud or in your head, those are the rudder to your life. Your tongue is your rudder. What you say about yourself, what you say about your situation, what you say about your circumstances, that will guide just like a boat where you go in life. It can either lead you to a really dark, negative place or it can lead you to a really positive, light place. It either leads you to a place where you view the cup as half full or it leads you to a place where you view the cup as half empty.

34:20What do you believe about yourself?

34:24What or who do you believe in? What are you rooted in? If you're not rooted in anything, if you don't have positive thoughts

34:36Nick Bare:and words to say about yourself, if you don't have something that you believe in, it's really hard to be rooted. And if you're not rooted, you are vulnerable to being ripped up and blown down. and that's when it makes it really hard to be consistent. Another question, the question, who and what do you want to be known for? I was listening to this podcast the other day and they were talking about two different perspectives on how you want to build your life. Do you want to build your life where at the end of it, you've built it for a resume or do you want to build your life in such a way that it is built for your eulogy?

35:28Nick Bare:What people are saying about you, that they have a person you are, your character when you pass or are they going on your LinkedIn and be like, dude, this guy's impressive or this girl's impressive. Look at all the things he or she has done. Look at their accomplishments. Look where they went to school. Look where they worked. Look at their position. look at their salary, look at their house, look at their money, look at their things, look at their cars. Who and what do you want to be known for? That goes back to what are you rooted in, which then goes back to why or why not are you consistent?

36:10Is your purpose in being rooted? is your purpose rooted in pleasing others? That's a dangerous spot to be. It's really hard to be consistent then.

36:31And don't allow your emotions or reactions,

36:35Nick Bare:just like Chad said, to be the rudder of your life. Not only your tongue, but your emotions and your reactions.

36:48this next question is going to really solidify what I'm about to say. But for me, consistency is all about defining your vision.

37:11and I've brought up this book so many times on this podcast. It's probably annoying to many of you at this point.

37:19Nick Bare:BE 2.0, Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0, chapter four, the vision chapter. Three components of vision, core values, purpose, and goals. If you know your core values, what or who you believe in, you know your purpose, why you're doing what you're doing, and you have goals, you then can be extremely consistent because what you say yes to and what you say no to is so clearly defined. You're presented with an opportunity. Does that opportunity go against your core values? Okay, it's an obvious no. does that opportunity align with your purpose? No, okay, it's a no. Does that opportunity align with your goals?

38:19Nick Bare:Maybe, maybe not. That's, you know, that one has more flexibility, but if there's not alignment between your core values, the purpose and the opportunity, it's an easy no. It allows you to be extremely consistent.

38:42Now, your core values and your purpose,

38:47Nick Bare:in my case, can and is rooted in my relationship with God in following Jesus Christ, which is what we're gonna talk about in the next question. What has been the biggest difference in your life since committing your life to following Christ? This question and some of the questions I'm going to answer as sub questions within was probably 90 % of the questions asked in the Instagram question box. many people have been interested in my faith journey as I've been sharing it publicly which gets me super excited because I love talking about it one question I get on online all day every day and I've shared this but people must have missed it.

39:52Nick Bare:What Bible am I reading? The Bible that I read is the John Maxwell Leadership Bible. I get this question so many times. I love this Bible. This Bible was gifted to me originally by Steve Weatherford a few years ago. And then about a year ago, Trey Freeman also gifted me John Maxwell Leadership Bible. And it's my favorite because it has the traditional scripture in it, but there's also these little blurbs throughout the books and the scripture that break down how certain parts of the word are applicable to leadership lessons and how we can apply it to our life, whether in leading a business, a community, our family, our relationships.

40:53Nick Bare:I mean, it's got some really good stuff in there and I really enjoy it. So that's the Bible that I'm reading. What's the biggest difference in your life since committing your life to following Christ? Man, there's a lot. There's a lot of differences. I am not the same person as I was before I was saved. That's such an amazing thing to say.

41:30You're not the same person. You are reborn. You are new. You are a new person when you are saved, when you commit your life to Christ.

41:42Nick Bare:It's so powerful. you know i want to bring steph on the podcast here soon steph is my wife to talk about this so we can just share how it has transformed our home it has transformed our relationship it has transformed our family the way we speak how we speak how we act how we approach life it's almost like we're living a new life together and I want to bring Steph in to to share her perspective on everything this Sunday actually in two days Steph and I are both getting baptized at Celebration Church in Georgetown, Texas. Extremely excited about that. We were getting baptized. I was baptized when I was a baby.

42:46Nick Bare:You know, in the church that I grew up in, my family grew up in, babies when they were born or young children would get baptized. And I obviously don't remember any of that. I might've been like one year old when I got baptized. But this baptism this weekend means a lot to both Steph and I because it's a choice that we are making ourselves based off of our transformation and community our life to Christ and being saved. And there's scripture that I wanna share here that is applicable to this question. What's the biggest difference in your life? since committing your life to following Christ. Matthew 11, 28 to 30.

43:39Nick Bare:Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. And you will find rest for your souls. for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

44:11That is the biggest difference that I feel since committing my life to Christ. It is peace. It is ease. It is rest. rest for the soul.

44:32Not constantly striving and desiring more and more worldly things. It has repositioned my purpose, why I'm working so hard, what I'm working towards, the impact that I want to create and leave. It's a glorified God. but it's not for these worldly things that I used to want and desire.

45:04And I used to pursue a lot of things because I wanted to be praised for my achievements. I wanted to be viewed on this pedestal because I measured my worth in those things. And I don't feel that anymore. My identity is embedded in the Lord. My purpose is to glorify and serve the Lord.

45:47Nick Bare:one of the questions is how has your faith shaped you as a business leader and i i think personally this is where i'm experiencing the most growth as a leader in the business it is shaping the way that i view relationship building one-on-one. It has provided me more compassion and humility and care.

46:29Nick Bare:Since committing my life to following Christ, I want to make this very clear. It hasn't made me want to work any less. it hasn't made me any less driven but it has shifted my perspective on what is important what I value and how and why I want to achieve certain things the pursuit what that looks like and how I want to lead others in their pursuits as well I mean, how has faith shaped me as a business leader? I asked myself the question, like you remember those bracelets that everyone used to wear? I mean, in the 90s, everyone was wearing a WWJD bracelet. What would Jesus do? You just ask yourself that question.

47:23When confronted with a problem

47:28Nick Bare:that you're trying to navigate or solve, what would Jesus do? Jesus was the ultimate teacher and leader. By following Jesus Christ, we can be a great teacher and leader just like he was based off the scripture and his teachings and the gospels. And that's why I'm in my Bible every night reading and learning. One of the realizations I had recently, I think I was reading the book of John. And one of the things I used to say is I wanted to be a light in this dark world. This world is a dark place. There's so much evil. I want to be that light. And as I'm reading the book of John, I believe it was, he actually addresses this and he says, he's not being called to be the light for the darkness.

48:29he's being called to be a witness of the light for the darkness. And that clicks for me. Oh, I get it now. I, as a follower of Jesus, am to be a witness of his light to share with the darkness. As a disciple. As an apprentice of him. that's how it's shaping me as a business leader. And I'm, to be honest, very proud of what I'm learning and implementing as a leader that isn't coming from these traditional leadership books or podcasts of how to manage and direct

49:20Nick Bare:and oversee people in all of these systems. No, everything that I'm learning and implementing is coming straight from my John Maxwell leadership Bible. And I've learned more in that Bible by following the ultimate leader and teacher than in any of the other traditional corporate leadership executive books that I've read before. I thought this was a good question, which is still within the section that I'm in. What is God teaching you in this current season? What do I think he's trying to teach me in this current season?

50:08I believe he's trying to teach me to how to be obedient,

50:14Nick Bare:how to be patient and how to find and embrace stillness. Stillness is something that I have struggled with forever. As a business owner, as an entrepreneur, as a high achiever, you feel like as a type A individual, you feel like you have to constantly be doing something. This is why I used to really struggle with vacations. That stillness disturbed me. But embracing and accepting stillness, I believe God's trying to teach me that right now. It feels so good when you surrender everything, give him everything and truly do embrace that stillness, which brings about joy and peace. I also believe that God is trying to teach me that change is required.

51:21Nick Bare:You are a new person. You have been transformed. I am transforming you

51:30in the image of my son, Jesus Christ, to be a follower of him.

51:39Nick Bare:To do that, when you become something new, change is required. Matthew 9, 16 to 17.

51:50Nick Bare:my mentor walked me through this last week and I wanted to share because I found it very powerful. Matthew 9, 16 to 17. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment for the patch will pull away from the garment making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wine skins. If they do, the skins will burst. The wine will run out and the wine skins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wine skins and both are preserved. So back in the day, when they would make wine, they poured in these wine skins, which would be made from animal skins. and as the wine fermented, these wine skins would expand and then they would serve the wine when it was ready.

52:56These wine skins,

52:58Nick Bare:which were expanded through fermentation, they were done. You couldn't use them again. If you tried and poured new wine in those old wine skins, the fermentation process would happen again. They would expand. They would burst. because they'd be cracked, they already be used, they've already been expanded. So you have to put new wine into new wine skins. When you are a new person, when you are reborn, when you commit your life to following Christ, you can't go back to your old ways. You can't put the new wine in the old wine skin because it will ruin the new wine. I think God is trying to teach me in this current season, you are new wine.

53:50You can't go back to your old routines and habits

53:54Nick Bare:and what you used to do because you will ruin that new wine. So now it's finding the new, the new routine, the new habits, the new structure to facilitate this new life, which is so exciting. I believe that is what God is trying to teach me. One of the things he's trying to teach me in this current season. Next question, are you ever satisfied? And when is enough truly enough? Again, great question. Great question. Are you ever satisfied?

54:41I didn't used to ever be satisfied.

54:45Nick Bare:I think if you look at a lot of entrepreneurs, especially high level entrepreneurs, maybe even athletes, just high achieving people, it's always what's next. What's next? What's next? Need more, need more, need more, need more trophies, need more accomplishments, need more monies, need more toys, need more cars, need more followers, need more subscribers. When's enough enough? And someone asked this question actually, which I don't know if I have the answer to, but I thought it was a great question. Why do so many books about greatness and growth lack a chapter about family? That's a great question.

55:38I don't know if I have the answer to that, but maybe a hypothesis to that is that a lot of people believe that in order to get to where you want to be, you have to sacrifice, which I agree.

56:00Nick Bare:There's certain things you have to sacrifice to make certain things work. but some people put success and accomplishment and achievement at the very tippy top of their priorities where they're willing to sacrifice everything else to get that one thing, including their family, which is unfortunate and scary. So if you would ask me this question, years ago, are you ever satisfied? I would have said no. I would have said no proudly. No. When's enough enough? It's never enough. We got to keep growing. We need more. We need more. We need more. And I think that tune is just on a tune.

57:00Just don't resonate with it anymore.

57:05Nick Bare:you know, one of the reasons that we can never be satisfied and that we always want more is because that's what the enemy, that's what the devil wants from us. The enemy wants to distract us so that he can then destroy us. And one of the ways he does this, the enemy does this, is by tempting us with constant desire for more and more and more.

57:35someone asked the question,

57:37Nick Bare:can you define contentment as it's related to balancing faith, family, and business? ChatGPT says, the state of peaceful, sorry, contentment is the state of peaceful satisfaction with one's current situation characterized by an inner sense of wellbeing and a lack of anxiety or restless desire for more. Okay, so that's interesting. To be content is that you lack this restless desire for more.

58:261 Timothy 6, 6 to 10. but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing,

58:46Nick Bare:we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. I want to be clear here.

59:19Wanting more, to accomplish more, to do more, that is not that's not the evil that's not bad

59:34but it's why the why is the line in the sand that determines you know are you content or are you not why do you want to accomplish more why do you want to do more What is the purpose? What is the reason? If the reason is more money, more things, more power, more toys,

1:00:10those are worldly possessions that are not ever going to serve contentment.

1:00:22you know for my for my faith my family and my business I for my faith I want more I want a deeper more meaningful connection and relationship with the Lord for my family I want to spend more time with them. I want more quality time with them. I want a day every week just with my wife. For my business, I want more people to grow and develop personally and professionally

1:01:11Nick Bare:as leaders here in this workplace. In my opinion, that more is not evil and it's not bad.

1:01:24And that's not a question of, are you satisfied or not? And when is enough enough? You can be content and still be ambitious. this. Being content does not mean lazy or easy, but it is the reason behind the more. It is the reason behind the why. Okay, next question. What will your training look like after this Ironman

1:01:57Nick Bare:prep, and race. This gets me very excited to talk about and share and definitely more to come on this. Right now I am training between 19 and 21 hours a week on average. This week will be about a 20 hour training week. and it's a big week. And this volume of training for me feels very manageable for at least the next five weeks. I definitely couldn't train 20 hours a week for a year, nor do I want to, if I'm being honest. That's why I like these preps and these builds in these training blocks because it's high effort, it's high intensity, it's high volume, but it's for structured purposes and there's specification integrated in two.

1:03:03Nick Bare:So five more weeks of Ironman prep and then my training is going to look completely different. And like I said, I'll share that as I start building it out. But to be honest, I don't know exactly what it's going to look like right now. There's no races or competitions on the schedule for the foreseeable future. I don't plan on doing any races or competitions in 2026. Training for me is going to be a lot of fun. I'm going to run. I'm going to lift. I'm going to cross train. and for most days, I'm probably going to decide what I'm going to do either the night before or the day of. Hey, today, do I feel like running?

1:03:56Nick Bare:Today, do I feel like strength training? Today, do I feel like doing a high rocks circuit or some sort of cross training? Do I feel like going on a rock? Do I feel like getting on my bike? For the first couple of weeks or months, that's probably just the way I'm going to train. It's going to be once a day, maybe twice a day occasionally. Running mileage in volume will go to say 30 to 40 miles per week. Right now I'm anywhere between 60 and 65 miles a week. I've significantly reduced strength training during this Ironman prep mainly for the reason of just not having enough time to fit in more training on top of the swim, the bike, and the run.

1:04:49Nick Bare:And post Ironman, my time is going to be spent between my family,

1:04:59my relationship with the Lord and business and just fun things that I want to do with my wife.

1:05:10Nick Bare:And then training in my preference and opinion is going to support that lifestyle. Training is always going to be a priority in my life, but not the number one priority. And right now in this Ironman prep, it's not the number one priority but it's occupying a lot of space and time on my calendar, on my schedule. That's just the nature of an Ironman prep but in five weeks, it's not going to look like that. And I'll go back to a very traditional, normal conservative training routine and time allocated per week to my training and I'm excited for that I'm excited to give the business more time again I'm excited to give my family more time again I'm I'm excited to really find new opportunities to go deeper with my faith and my relationship with the Lord.

1:06:25And post Ironman, I'll have, say,

1:06:3312 plus hours a week given back to me

1:06:37Nick Bare:to dedicate to these things. So that's what training is going to look like post Ironman prep. That's as far as I've gotten. but as I navigate it and build it out, I'd love to share it with you guys and take you along for the journey. So the last question I'm going to answer, which I mentioned at the beginning of this podcast episode, I believe is very applicable. How do you manage getting sick while training?

1:07:13So like I said,

1:07:17we started sending Charlie who's three years old to school this year

1:07:23Nick Bare:and we are now experiencing what it's like when you send your kids to school and they get sick because there's all these other sick kids at school and they bring those sicknesses home and then the whole house goes down everyone in the home gets sick we uh we've experienced that i think this is our third time now since charlie has started school so end of last week nico got sick i don't know how nico got sick nico's one maybe charlie brought the bug home he picked it up first because he's just younger and his immune system still trying to figure it out. And then earlier this week, I was on the bike.

1:08:17Nick Bare:I was feeling great. It was a big workout day. I ran in the morning and then I swam and I was on the bike. And I was on the bike for maybe an hour and a half into a big ride and my stomach started turning. I started feeling a little nauseous and just not right. Within 10 minutes, it got significantly worse. Within another 10 minutes, I was down. I got off the bike. I crawled over to the turf, which is about 20 feet away. I'd laid down in a cold sweat and I was in the pain cave. I went from zero to 100 so quick. And I was like, okay, Nick, you just got to get from this turf floor back to the house somehow.

1:09:09which is like a 25 minute drive.

1:09:14It took me an hour and a half to get home.

1:09:17Nick Bare:Just like picking myself off the turf, getting all my stuff collected, getting in the truck, taking my time, getting home. I went straight to bed and I was out. Out. And I woke up, I fell asleep probably like 4 p.m. I woke up at 9 p.m. just hurting. And the whole family was starting to go down now. Charlie started going down. She was getting sick. Steph was still feeling strong, but later that night, she started going down. By the next day, we were all down. We got hit hard. Bear family got hit hard with a stomach bug.

1:10:06and I could tell the next day when I woke up,

1:10:11Nick Bare:it's so cool watching objective data to see just what like illness and sickness, how it impacts your body and your recovery. My HRV, my heart rate variability was tanked. My resting heart rate was increased. my sleep performance, my sleep score was absolutely horrible. So all this objective data is just like reinforcing, yeah, you got pummeled by the sickness. So how do I manage getting sick while training? I prioritize rest first off. I don't try jumping back into training too quick because then it just delays the recovery process. This was a fortunate one where it was a 24-hour stomach bug. I had to take one full day off.

1:11:09Nick Bare:The next day I was good to go. I was good to train again. But I think what I want to share is prioritize rest because if you don't prioritize rest while you are sick, you were just extending, like I said, that recovery process. It's delayed and it just isn't helping you. But the second thing I want to share that I do that I believe helps out significantly. So let's go back a little bit. Got off the bike, was feeling sick, went home, got into bed, laid in bed from 4 p.m. until 8.30, 9 p.m. got up, the last thing I wanted to do was eat food. Now, this is just my personal approach and preference in the way that my mind thinks.

1:12:01Nick Bare:Maybe it's not right. Maybe it doesn't work for everyone, but this is what I like to do. I woke up and I'm thinking, okay, I had a big training day today. I haven't eaten since getting off the bike because I got sick. Before I go back to bed, I have to get a meal in me. to help my body just fight this and be stronger and recover from the workouts. It's one thing to get sick, but to get sick in a prep, when you're already beating your body down, I wanted to fuel it to provide my body with the tools and resources to get better. So I forced down some food that night. I mean, it took me a long time.

1:12:43Nick Bare:I was laying at the kitchen table five minutes in between bites just to get this meal down. And I kept it down, but I knew that just putting some fuel in my body would assist in the recovery. And the next morning I woke up feeling a little bit better, but definitely not 100%. And I ate as much as I could throughout the day. I mean, I pretty much stuck to my diet, even though I wasn't hungry, because I wanted to get in vegetables. I wanted to get in fruits. I wanted to get in protein. I wanted good carbs and good fats. I wanted to stay on top of my hydration with my water and all my supplements, my vitamins and my minerals and electrolytes.

1:13:27Nick Bare:So even though I wasn't feeling great that day, I still made myself eat as much as I possibly could and stay on top of my routine to fuel my body with what it needs to be stronger and fight the sickness, to fight the illness. also knowing that, hey, if I want to train tomorrow, I have to get food and fuel in my body because if I don't and I'm training fast the next day, it's just going to be a disaster. So I like to use rest. I like to use sleep and I like to stay on top of my nutrition as much as possible, even when I don't want it and it's hard to get down. I know that it's it's fueling my body to recover stronger and better.

1:14:20Nick Bare:So that's how I try to manage getting sick. Will this be the last time I get sick in this prep while Charlie's school was picking up all these illnesses and they're coming home to our household? I hope so. I hope this is the last time, but we'll see. But I fight it with food, nutrition, hydration, water, sleep, rest, and prayer. All right, guys, that's all the questions I'm going to answer today. Hope you guys enjoyed this one. And as always, go on more.