Hacking Your Health
Hacking Your Health Podcast with Ben Canning and Dave Kennedy - Two guys setting out to hack body, mind, business and beyond. We are here to provide a single source, bullshit free guide to understanding your body and how you can live better, for longer.
Hacking Your Health
Standards, struggles and self mastery - why hard things matter w/ Patrick
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Most people only chase goals they know they can hit.
Patrick isn’t wired that way and that’s exactly why this conversation matters.
In this episode, Patrick (former U.S. Army Ranger turned cybersecurity consultant) breaks down the real reason hard things matter: standards. The ones you earn, the ones you carry, and the ones that quietly ruin your life when you let them slip.
We get into:
- Why comfort made him miserable
- The moment he realised “doing enough” was actually killing his potential
- How he used challenge as a compass - not a punishment
- What 33 lbs lost in 12 weeks really says about someone’s identity
- Why self-employment exposed every gap in his discipline
- The psychology of long-term goals (2+ years, not 6 weeks)
- What the Ranger Tab taught him about carrying standards for life
If you’ve ever felt stuck in comfort, coasting, or running on fumes — this episode will feel uncomfortably familiar.
Patrick isn’t here because he “needed more knowledge.”
He’s here because he needed someone to hold him to the standard he knew he was capable of.
This is what happens when you stop avoiding hard things and start choosing them.
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Why Patrick Joined And Context
SPEAKER_01The job in cybersecurity or tech or whatever it is is a lonely one.
SPEAKER_03Why are you here? It's kind of uh the right time at the right place. A year before we had that first call, my wife had breast cancer. That was my life was getting her everything she needed. My health was kind of I just did enough to make sure that I was taking care of myself so I didn't just hit burnout. So there's a saying, for those who have a ranger tab, it's harder to bear the tab than to earn it. So even though it's hard to earn, once you earn it, you carry that standard and expectation with you for like the rest of your life. Like everything you do is like this is the standard that a ranger would uphold. My background's a little different. I like the workout, having been in the military. I kind of knew getting into it is gonna be very like community-driven. Coming out of high school as a basketball player, and then in college was in the army ROTC stuff. Stumbled in the CrossFit, enjoyed that, but I enjoyed the strong man. It was more the community that I really liked. The gym shut down, I moved out of the area, and then I took up running just because why not? But what I did start to do is I start listening to the Rehack Health podcast, I start to realize, like, man, I'm doing good, but I need more. I need more energy. I'm getting a little too heavy to having somebody like yourself to hold me accountable, tell me the things I don't know. Or the things that I I do know. Yeah, sometimes you don't need more knowledge, you just need reminding. Yes. If you're coaching yourself, you have an idiot for a coach. Yeah. But I'm the hardest person for standards on myself. In the corporate world, like I was comfortable. I start to realize, like, well, I'm miserable. I get to the end of the day and I didn't do anything, but I'm still smoked. And I start to realize, like, if I want to like be the best cybersecurity coach or being in a better spot physically, just the confidence-wise, the energy-wise, and then just being able to be truly in the moment just makes me that much better of a consultant.
SPEAKER_01Yo, today we sit down with former US Army Ranger Patrick. He mentioned it's harder to burrow the tab than to earn it. Today we talk about consistency and goal setting, long-term thinking, and your ability to do hard things. Since Patrick has joined, he is resetting the standard of Wehack Health. Let's get into it. So, Patrick, thanks for joining me. Um, I want to start at right now. This is obviously your first event. Um in the grand scheme of things, relatively early on in the journey. We're 12th, we're in your 12th week. First impressions, events, not me, of the event. Like what what you expected, did you have expectations come in? What was delivered?
SPEAKER_03Well, I generally do my homework. Okay. Uh so I saw, you know, kind of the highlights of previous events. So I kind of knew getting into it is gonna be very like community-driven, a lot of group activities. Um, not everybody just disappears and shows up at times and then disappears again. So that very much was what I expected, and uh I'm glad this one has been about the lifting at times. Um
Event First Impressions And Community
SPEAKER_03because I've been working so hard I didn't want to get here and then like take a vacation where you just do all the opposite of what you do. Yeah, far. Yeah, like I wanted to come over here and have a good time while doing it healthy. So that's very much been living up to what I was looking for. And so far, so good then? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay. How did you get on at the beach this morning?
SPEAKER_03Oh, the beach, well, my background's a little different. Okay. So I like the workout, but like having been in the military and going through a couple different schools uh of like the tough guy stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now that I'm older and I've checked that box, not interested anymore. Time for other folks to check the box. Okay. But it was good because uh we had that uh mental training about the chimp. Yep. And I told Jason, like, all right, I'm gonna have to get my chimp in line. Because as soon as you're like, let's put the face camel on. Yeah, I was like, no, thank you. That's not what I said, but yeah, yeah. But uh, but then I I calmed down, I'm like, yeah, I've checked this box. The other folks they need to check that box. So then I just went to work and made sure it wasn't me being a stick in the mud. Fair. So you did participated. Yeah. So once I got through that, I was like, oh yeah, yeah, all right. I'm gonna get sand in places I don't want sand. Um and having been in a desert for a period of time, I'm cool never having sand in places like that. Well, I guess you've never had Irish sand. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yours is much better. It's more peaceful. Yeah, true. True, true, true. Okay, cool. So you mentioned your background's a little bit different, and I will talk more on a training experience. Um, this isn't your first rodeo whenever it comes to pursuit in some sort of health and fitness. Uh did you mention at some point you were a CrossFit instructor to me?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, for like a year, year and a half.
SPEAKER_01So is that you're coming in to fucking take my job or what?
SPEAKER_03Well, if you want me to. No. Perfect, perfect.
SPEAKER_01No, no, no. So you've done um CrossFit stuff, you've done strongman stuff, what else?
SPEAKER_03Uh well, coming out of high school, I was a basketball player. Okay. So like traditional, like strength training. This is like the 90s. So it was like take creatine,
Background: Military To CrossFit To Running
SPEAKER_03go lift weights. Yeah, okay, cool. Um that was all of the advice. Yeah, basically. I summed up the 90s. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh and then in college, it was in the army ROTC stuff is very much body, you know, push-ups, squats. But then the lifting was the same, like three sets of whatever, four sets of whatever. Um, not a lot of Olympic lifts or anything. Um, and that was really the style that I kind of come up through, and then uh got banged up and was more PT focused of trying to figure out how to uncluster uh a few places. Yeah. And then uh stumbled in the CrossFit uh mostly uh he became my friend, he was the owner of the gym, and then uh enjoyed that, but I enjoyed the strong man. It's more the community that I really liked about the CrossFit, it's less about the CrossFitting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03It's more about having that community of people that show up and you're pushing each other. And then I gym shut down, I moved out of the area, and then I took up running just because why not?
SPEAKER_01I can give you many reasons why not, but you know what? If you're happy doing it, that's okay. Yeah. So that's probably the short version. Okay, cool. Um I laughed a couple of weeks ago, I think it was maybe week 10 or something, and like we said in the group call, like I every every time I'm doing your checking, I'm like, I can't believe Patrick's only been around for fucking 10 weeks. I feel like you've been a part of this forever. And uh a couple of guys were laughing, like, did I bring you in as a ringer? Because you just come in and fucking executed on it. Um and just I'll go slightly before that. We obviously had a call probably about six months before we actually began. So first of all, with the the knowledge and the experience that you have, why are you here?
SPEAKER_03Uh it's kind of uh the right time at the right place. Um so a year before we had that first call, no, it was two years. Whatever it was. Uh my wife had breast cancer, and so for that year, that was my life was getting her everything she needed, taking her where she needed to go. Uh so my health was kind of I just did enough to make sure that I was taking care of myself so I didn't just hit burnout. But what I did start to do is I started listening to the Wehack Health podcast, and I would walk two miles to town to get a coffee, a latte, by the way, for those extra calories. And uh I'd put the podcast
Cancer, Solitude, And Seeking Accountability
SPEAKER_03in, walk two miles, walk home to two miles, and then I would listen to it on the way to the doctor, and then while my wife was getting chemo, I'd be in the Jeep with like four four dogs or three dogs we had, listening to the podcast and working. And now it started to kind of be like, I need something more to push myself, and then also we live in a pretty remote area, and I was like, I enjoyed CrossFit because of the community. Like, I know if I have to, I do this and I grow my bicep. If I do push-ups, I'm gonna get stronger chests. Like, I get all that, but it is that extra piece of like the brotherhood, the camaraderie of and the accountability that comes with it. Um and I really felt just listening to the podcast, I kind of got a sense that that was the case. And then the big thing is too is the accountability. Like I think I told you something along the lines of if you're coaching yourself, you have an idiot for a coach. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was a big piece too, is having somebody like yourself to hold me accountable, and then also just tell me the things I don't know or the things that I I do know. I just need somebody to be like, hey, do what you said you're gonna do or what you know you should do. Yeah, sometimes you don't need more knowledge, you just need reminding. Yes, yeah. So that's fair. Yeah. So at the time I talked to you, I had just quit my corporate job like a month prior. Nice. Spent money on solar panels and a new truck and going self-employed. Yeah. And I was like, oh, I want to do this, but I just don't have the funds to like get it through. And then uh you showed me your check-in. Yeah, like this is how I do it. I'm like, oh, that's brilliant. So I like I tried to like copy it. So I'm like, okay, well, I'm gonna try that because I was using a notebook with all my daily items, and I tried to check them off. Yeah, and I was like, oh, spreadsheet's way better. That's brilliant. That's a spreadsheet. He's a genius, he has unlocked the mystery of hell. Formulas? Oh shit, yeah, I can do formulas. What the hell? Which is ironic since I work in tech, I should have thought about that. But uh, so but what I I would make some progress, but it was really inconsistent. Right. And then uh running my business, I started to realize like, man, I'm doing good, but I need more. Like, I need more energy, I'm getting a little too heavy. Um I can do better. I need a I need to set a bar that I'm gonna go chase. And then I was like, screw it. I'm gonna invest in myself, bet on myself. Yeah. And uh here we are.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, here we are. Fair, fair. I think you mentioned a couple of things there. So, first of all, the sort of solitude piece, generally from you know the people I work with, the job in cybersecurity or tech or whatever it is is a lonely one. Like, okay, yes, you work on teams, but you work by yourself. The self-employed thing, also lonely. I'm like, I'm coming up with all these ideas that I think are fucking cool, but I'm doing all this work, I don't really know what the fuck I'm doing. Um, so they're coming into to being a part of things. But I think the the main thing, just from everything you've said, like you're quite obviously not a person who's afraid to do difficult things. We spoke two weeks ago. Um, you asked me a question that usually I wouldn't go down the rabbit hole of answering. I would say that's a good question. That was the second time I asked you though. Did you say that the first time around?
SPEAKER_03When we had the first call? Yeah. What answer did I give you the first time, right? You said those are professional actors and the own their
The Ranger Standard And Identity
SPEAKER_03influencers, they get paid in their life is to do that stuff.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. That's generally the answer that I would give. But after 10 weeks, I'm like, okay, right, I feel like this guy has the thing to execute on that. Um so I I just mapped it out, I broke it down for it, and I was like, okay, right, well, this is what it's gonna take. And we decided it's probably a two, two and a half year time frame. So you have that longer thinking, which is often difficult, and especially in this space, because I see you know on socials and other coaches, like they're fucking selling the shortest amount of time to do the thing as possible, and um, we're having a conversation about okay, right, this is gonna take you two and a half years, and you're like, okay, I'm in. Um you you want to do it because you want to challenge yourself in a different way. So where does the where does that come from? Where does that desire for challenge come from? Oh man, this wasn't on my list, but here we are.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, yeah. Uh I don't know. I've actually kind of thought about that because I I do a lot of like reflection and journaling and trying to figure out like why am I frustrated? Or why am I not content? Um like I feel like I have a drive, something, I need to do something. And I literally ask those questions myself and write out my answers. And uh I always look back, it's when I set a really high bar, so like all college was about getting in shape to go to ranger school. Okay. It was a challenge, but it was also a purpose because to be in the best infantry leader of men in combat that I could be, I felt the bare minimum I could do for them was to achieve getting a ranger tab. Okay. Like I had done enough work and earned some credibility that now I don't instantly get their respect, but I've put in the work that now I'm in a position to then truly earn the respect and have the responsibility to be in that leadership role.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And that that's like the challenge that I pushed towards, took care of that, and then deployment to Iraq was kind of similar or an ultimate challenge of how do we bring all of these guys back home alive. I don't care what the actual mission was, that was my mission.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_03Uh accomplished that. And then uh then kind of got a little lost coming out of the military because like, how do you find a similar type of like challenge? Um, I got into obstacle racing for a little while, the tough mutters, the warrior dashes, and that was kind of close. Um and then it kind of took me years because I couldn't figure out why. Like, what about that? And then when I started to kind of get back into things, um, when I hit like
Setting A Two-Year Goal And Process Thinking
SPEAKER_03a heavy weight that I was like, oh, this is too heavy. Like I was like 286 pounds at one point, and like not healthy. Uh and for whatever reason, if it's just, oh, if I run every day, it's good for my heart and my cardio. If I lift every day, I get more muscle and I can live longer. Something about that just doesn't it seems almost too easy. Okay. And uh or it's too average, where I need to have like I said a marathon last year, um because it's hard. Like I need something to be like I need to outwork other folks. Like if it's something that everybody's doing and everybody can do, it's almost like, uh I know I can do it, but that's just not enough. I need to do something where there's a chance that I'm gonna fail. Or if I do succeed, I'm gonna feel like I really earned it. Like it was worth the journey, and there is a journey. Sometimes the easy stuff is really not a journey. So I don't know if I can really say why. That was gonna be saying I was like, that's those are all cool words, and like I'm on, I'm in for the story, but why I think it's how I'm wired, is the best way I can describe it. There's something about my there's something about my wiring, the way that like if there's if it doesn't involve hard work and like digging in and breaking a sweat, like it just doesn't get me out of bed. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um I mean I I get it. I don't think I can give you the why either. And I'd have tried to unpack this many times, and even Matt and I sat here yesterday and I tried to unpack it, and I was like, I I can tell you these words in this similar format, but I just can't give you the why on it. Um so we set the goal, and truthfully, for being 10 weeks in, you had already made really good progress, and as I said, you just came in and executed on things. There was no fucking about. Like even before this, I went and had a look at your Google Drive, and like we start with three folders in your Google Drive and your check-in sheet. You have got pen. I'm like, this guy, like every single detail. So it was like previous experience, uh, your sort of fitness experience before in terms of progress. This is what I looked like whenever I felt like this, this is what I looked like. Fucking blood work, we have journals of you vlogging the whole thing that I asked you about. We have the nutrition piece, like every detail is in there. I'm like, this is this is it for me because the more that I like in the nice way possible, the more that you're in, the more that I'm in. Because that like this is how I feel about things. I'm like, okay, well, well, this is what I this is is sort of the baseline, but like, how can I make this more for myself and for the experience in general? So I guess back to that. You had made pretty good progress in the first 10 weeks. We are now just over 12 weeks in, and you have lost, I have 33 pounds here, which again for that time frame really respectable. Um There's been a shift since we had that call already, and
Nutrition, Tracking, And Consistency
SPEAKER_01it's a fucking long way away for the thing. So two things. Number one, what was the shift? What have you learned? And number two, how do you like how do you comprehend those longer-term goals? Because people struggle to you know, think about like I don't know how to break down a goal that's gonna take me three months, and we're now looking at fucking two and a half years.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, well, I think it's one, like anything, it's repetition. Like having done hard challenges in the past. It wasn't like I was like, oh, going to Ranger School tomorrow, get in shape. Yeah. Uh um or running a marathon. It wasn't like I was like, ah I'm gonna sign up for the marathon next month. Yeah, yeah. Um I picked those things knowing that it is a journey to get yourself into the position to do the final step of that journey. Um and then because once I realized that too, it's almost like a reverse uh a reverse where I know failure is gonna be really awful. Like if I try to run a marathon and I don't train for it, could I finish? Most likely. Will I finish in the time I want? Probably not. Will my legs cramp up? And uh I don't want to be that guy who's like limping and like it's hour six. Good. Perseverance, that's all. Everybody's went home, that sort of thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't want to do like one person's waiting there with like the stretcher. Like, is this guy gonna be like, and I don't want to be, I wanna do it and push myself and be uncomfortable, but I don't want to be like uncomfortable because I didn't do the work to put myself in the position to be uncomfortable pursuing like excellence. Yeah. So when I think about it that way, I say, okay, well, what do I have to do to not be in that position? And that's where I start breaking down the work. And then having done that enough, I realize like, it's not like I go to bed and I'm like, oh yeah, I'm like two minutes faster. Or I lost 10 pounds a day. Like I know it doesn't work that way. And I started to, at some point, I don't know when it was in the last few years, I started to realize that it's about making as many good decisions throughout the course of the day. And the more good decisions I have versus decisions that are not aligned with my goals, the better. And I don't have to make them all perfect, I just need more in this column. Yeah. And that's where mentally it started to change for me of like, all right, I just have to trust if I do these things, the results will start to be there. And that's the same approach I took with this. I'm like, because I'd done my sleep for years, cool, but I didn't have my nutrition down. Or I do a shit ton of running, but I wasn't lifting. And my weight still hovered like 280, 260. Even when I ran the marathon last year after running 500 miles, I was still at 249. I thought that was awesome. But I wasn't doing my nutrition very well. And then this year with the program, I was like, fuck it, I'm just gonna do what Ben says.
Business Pivot: Leaving Corporate Comfort
SPEAKER_01That's a good start. That is a great start in any coaching relationship for anybody who's listening that is a client of mine or is thinking about it or has a coach, that's the place to start. Yeah, I was like, you know what?
SPEAKER_03I'm gonna trust the process. He knows what he's talking about. Um, and I knew enough that I couldn't do just one thing on the on the daily tracker. Like, if I didn't lift and I just did the nutrition and the cardio, like, oh yeah, could I do the marathon? Yeah. But it's not gonna get me to a place where I'm truly like strong. I have more muscle mass for longevity, all of that stuff. Um and I also am like, well, I'm I need to get more muscle mass to burn more calories based on listening to the podcast, you know. So I'm like, well, I have to do all of these things consistently, not perfect, but damn near perfect if I want the best chance uh to be in the best shape possible for the marathon. Um so that was a big piece of it. And then the piece for me that was the toughest was the nutrition side. Like I didn't, I've always ate clean, I just ate a lot. Uh so I would just eat a shit ton of steaks, and but it almost became this thing that I was known for. Like people were like, Oh, are you gonna feed us tatrel sized servings? Yeah, it was like the thing. If people come over to my house, they would get like all the fennies and all the pheasant, like whatever they haven't had before. I will make sure you get all you want. Like a banquet? Yeah, feast. I mean, can't wait for that. We have to go to Patrick's house for that. Oh, yeah. Uh, I'll make sure to start filling the freezer. Um, but it almost became like that expectation that they had for me, which I then made my own expectation. So I was I'm hungry, I'm gonna eat. Well, that was part of the problem, is I was eating more calories than I was burning. Um so the nutrition piece was the biggest challenge of like, all right, I gotta start figuring out how do I start translating everything I'm doing for the food I'm grabbing out of the fridge and prepping to like, is this a good decision or is this gonna go in the not great decision column? And it took me a few weeks, not too many, but a couple, of navigating, like, okay, this was a good decision. This day had more in this column. And that's how I start to view it is like the progress is gonna happen in the two years if I start to just think of like I can only make a decision for here and now. So let me make the best decision now, and then I'll worry about the next one when I get to it. And it just starts stacking.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, fair. It's the um, I mean, I it's been an evolution as well. Like you say, you didn't absolutely kneel it right away in terms of the decisions, and there's a couple of things you came to me and you're like, I'm you you're quite honest about the things that you you know
Building A One-Person Cybersecurity Practice
SPEAKER_01that weren't necessarily the best decision, but we have seen the shift, and you'll come and be like, Oh, I changed this for this, or we've done that, and and whatever. Um, your super scientific way of tracking foods um that worked, like it wasn't any case of it that didn't work, and I think that that's a that's a big piece. But since you shifted to you know, weighing at your food, like number one, you're learning a lot more about the foods, number two, there has been more progress because we've we've been really been able to refine that. So I think that I guess that the value piece in this for anybody listening is number one, like it doesn't need to be like everything's weighed around. Find a system that works for you in terms of being able to track whatever the thing is. There will be different levels to that, and whatever works for you is absolutely fine. The second thing is the being able to sort of accept that okay, I'm gonna do my best to make the best decisions that I can on this day and be able to make better decisions as the time comes with the intent that compounding over time there will be more good decisions in a day than bad decisions. There's also been times that you can hear like the pizza conversation. I'm up in any way, like pizza is good, like eat pizza, that's fine.
SPEAKER_03You have to mention the specific pizzas and it starts to blend together.
SPEAKER_01Okay, well, no, it was the it was the um the local place that does it seasonally and it was the last one and the but I think that the the real value in that is understanding that you can also do those things. And for me, it's the when I come to making decisions, I'm like, is this in line with my goal or not? Yes or no. If the answer is no, it's that is it worth it or not? And sometimes the answer is yes. And whether it is, you know, an event like this that you know maybe we'll drink a margarita potentially, or if it is, like you said, time with your wife that you're just fucking having a pizza, that's you know, something that you do, it's uh you know a regular thing for you, or or whatever it is. Like it's okay to do those things too, because I think when people go into this, they're like, I can't have all of my favourite things, I can't live my normal life, I can't do all of these things. It's like super restrictive. So being able to do it in a way that you can still do those things and be okay with making those things that you don't necessarily think is like in line with with the goal. Um, and that's what really allows progress to happen over a longer period of time. Now, I'll maybe not be saying that whenever it's two years and four months away, and I'm like, bro, stop fucking eating pizza, we gotta go here. But you know, for right now, yeah, it's it works and it's something you can do longer term. Um just to sort of touch quickly on the business side, because obviously you run a business, you know what within everything that you've done and experience and you know the ability to do hard things, number one, wanted you to start a business in the first place because a lot of people like the idea of it. Not that many people action it. The people who do then go, fuck, this was not the fucking thing that I thought it was gonna be. Oh shit. Um do you think everything that you've been through and done up until that point had helped you make that decision and helps you as a business owner? Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um even in some ways, it's it's not what folks would maybe expect, is that
Energy, Leadership Presence, And Health
SPEAKER_03like some of the biggest challenges or failures I had in my corporate corporate career influenced it. Not like, oh, I suck at corporate, I'm getting out of corporate. It was I'm very like I'm the hardest person for standards on myself. Like any feedback you give me isn't gonna hurt my feelings because it's probably a fraction of how hard I am on myself, which is good and bad. Um and so from a leadership perspective, I tend to gravitate towards wanting to be with those types of individuals as a team and being like, let's go. Um and so in the corporate world, sometimes you don't have that. And you're working with folks that are like, you know what, it is a job.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm prepared for a paycheck. Right. It's okay.
SPEAKER_03And that's perfectly okay. And I probably there's times where I probably could have done a better job of understanding and recognizing that. But I'm also the type of person where if the boss says the objective is this, we're gonna accomplish the objective. Whether I'm pushing you up the hill or you're going up yourself or I'm pulling you, we're gonna get up the hill. I don't care. Uh and so that was a lesson I learned. We're like, you know what, sometimes in the corporate life you roll the dice, and sometimes it's not about accomplishing the objective because it's a job. Uh, and I started to ask myself, like, why was I miserable in those situations? Or why did we not accomplish the objective? But reverse engineering that to the point of like, you know what, it wasn't so much about reaching the objective because, like, in the grand scheme of things in corporate life, like sometimes that's not the point. Because I had a boss who's like, I want you to go to meetings that are a waste of time. It's perfectly okay. Literally, you're getting paid to go to these meetings and do nothing. Everybody is. Okay. And that was where I was like connecting the dots of like, that's not who I am. Like, good for them. I don't want to be in a meeting and waste time. This could have been an email, hot one. Yeah, like, yeah, exactly. Like, that's everybody over here. Yeah. Like, if you want to go punch the clock, cool,
Consistency Rituals And No-Off Switch
SPEAKER_03go do that. But uh, and then of like, well, I push myself so hard and I want to do hard things. I started to realize like finding a team that does that in a very specific aspect of cybersecurity in a company who embraces that is pretty rare. Because security is usually overhead. It's you do it to protect the company, not because the company does security. Okay. Right? Like they they build beds, they sell TVs, they're not cybersecurity experts. Um, and that makes complete sense. So I was like, well, if I can't, I don't want to drift around trying to find a team of like other hard chargers who want to just kick ass and like be the best. Um my only other option is to do my own business. And I went through like, should I hire folks? Right now I'm not planning to. Like somebody was like, what if somebody I went to an entrepreneur boot camp and they're like, oh, you're doing a lifestyle business. You're a one-person shop and your business is just you and as big as you can make it. I'm like, yeah, that's a thing.
SPEAKER_01Somebody said to me lifestyle business recently, and I was almost offended. I was like, I mean, I know what I do, I I get the concept and I understand, but like, this isn't the lifestyle that people would want. Like, but sorry, Kyle.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. So at first I was like, no, no, no. I'm not a lifestyle business. I was thinking like uh people who sell perfume or something on the internet, yeah. Social influencer, right? Like no offense to perfume sales. Yeah, it's amazing work. Um so at first I was taken back, but then I started to think there's a lady who went on Shark Tank, and her business model was like her giving was it dating advice?
unknownBah, whatever it was.
SPEAKER_03She's
Closing Reflections And Rapid Question
SPEAKER_03a one-person business doing like multi-million dollars in revenue. Yeah. And I was like, okay, if that's a lifestyle business, you can sign me up for that. Yep. Sounds good. I meant yeah. So that was the evolution of getting to the point where I'm like, wait, so the challenge that I can do is be the biggest lifestyle business cybersecurity consultant coaching business that I can. Like, that sounds cool. I can push myself as hard and as fast and pursue whatever I want, and I don't have to like pull people along with me. And if I get to a point where I can add other folks into a team model, great. But if not, if I can do a million dollars in revenue, like that's my goal. Like, can I do a one-person business in this line of work and hit that goal?
SPEAKER_01Like, that to me is like a on your own terms, though, I think is the thing. It's there's nobody thinking like you can do it in the way that you want to do it. Um, and there's a there's a freedom in that, and I think to sort of, you know, what you said there about sort of looking, and it this is how this in a sense came about about how we hack health came about. I was sort of trying to find a room that I felt like I wanted to be in. And I had a conversation. The person said me, why don't you create your own room? And I was like, Oh, I can do that. Yeah, and then here we are. And well, now we're actually in a room, right? But um, but I think that's sort of similar to what you're saying. You just made your own fucking room.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah. Well, in part, there's another aspect, uh this the marathon. Changed a lot of stuff where I through that course of training last year and getting to the marathon, I realized like in the corporate world, like I was comfortable. And I was even I was chatting with my brother who's self-employed, and I was like, it's such easy money and it's safe. But I'm I'm too comfortable where like I'm not pushing myself. And when I'm not pushing myself, I'm not thinking about I'm making a lot of decisions that are going in the not so great decision on a daily basis. But I'm still getting the same level of reward in a paycheck that is pretty good for like barely any effort. But I start to realize like, well, I'm miserable. I get to the end of the day and I didn't do anything, but I'm still smoked, like emotionally and mentally. Because I'm not pursuing like what you know drives me and what refuels my battery. And I was like, if I want to, I'm not old enough, I'm not too old where I'm ready to like be that comfortable. So the nice thing about the self-employment route is like it is high risk. Like if I don't land business, like yeah, I don't get paid. Straight up. Yeah. That's kind of an important deal. Yeah. Uh so I wanted to be uncomfortable again because I wanted to have that feeling of like, oh shit, yeah, I suppose I could fail. Um shit, yeah, I did fail. I didn't get any sales out of that conference. That's not how that's supposed to work. Yeah. So like I gotta do a better job. Like, what can I do better? But it gets me out of this state of just too comfortable where you're not like to me, it's not like I'm not living, like just going through the motion. Yeah. So all those things came together to be like self-employment. I've got a clear objective, you know, quantifiably with the revenue goal. Um, I like to plan. Um, so I can do my planning, like, hey, I'm gonna do this, this, and this, and we're gonna get there. And then if shit hits the fan and it goes completely sideways, I'm like, all right, well, I'm gonna adjust my plan and see if I can get this thing going again. Yeah. Um, and then every day I wake up and I actually say, like, what am I thinking? Like, God, am I on the right path? Like, would I make a terrible decision? But then I'm like, no, no, I believe in this thing. Yeah. You know, dismiss it, like Sean says, like, oh yeah, acknowledge the thought and then set that thought down. Yeah, like, yeah, okay, cool, brain, whatever. Uh, but I'm gonna be uncomfortable. Like, screw you, let's go. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So fair. I think you know, from what you're saying is a lot of the things that you recognized in situations, it seems to come down to identity. Like you mentioned, I'm not that person, or you know, it didn't fulfill you, you were exhausted. So I think that you're you're definitely on the right track with that. Has the business thing been what you thought it was gonna be?
SPEAKER_03About 90%, it has been. Okay. So again, like I do my research whenever I can. Uh I'm always listening. Um like I got friends that are self-employed in different industries. Um, you know, when I pick their brains, and even just small business failure rates is super high. Um so a lot of it was exactly what I expected. Um some of the areas that I didn't expect is I underestimated like marketing and sales. Like I knew the concepts, like, oh yeah, but I underestimated like the art and the work you have to do. Um but that was awesome because I was like, oh, let me figure out how to how to improve in this area. So like right away I started to go to work of like, alright, what am I gonna do differently? Um so for the most part it really lined up some positive. Like, I actually didn't think that going self-employed would be as big a motivation to get my health like back as an objective as it did. But I think that was part of like being super comfortable in a corporate job almost like made it okay. Where like, oh yeah, I don't do a whole lot of hard work, like I don't have to show up like focus, like I can sleep through my job basically. Yeah. Uh where after a few months of being self-employed, of like seeing success by being like, I'm not gonna get to this revenue goal if I don't bring more energy, I don't get more stuff done. Um or just the I think leadership, you know, it's part about who you your attitude, your presence, and how you affect other folks, and whether that's in a room when you're working with folks or on a phone call or virtual call, like as much leadership is as much as like how you present yourself and the energy that you bring. Um I start to realize like if I want to like be the best cybersecurity coach or advisor to customers, like I need to be as on as possible every time I interact with them. Uh, because I don't want them to think that like they tell me something, I'm like, oh geez, that's a bad situation. Yeah, like you're effed. Like that's the opposite. You know, I want to be able to hear what they're saying, convey confidence and calm to them, you know, and like to acknowledge, like, oh yeah, that's not ideal, but you're doing a good job. So tell me what you did. What options do you have? All right, cool. Now let's go to work. So being in a better spot physically, just the confidence-wise, the energy-wise, um, and then just being able to um be truly in the moment just makes me that much better of a consultant. So that was kind of unexpected to see how fast I went from that December meeting of like, oh yeah, I liked your idea. That'd be cool to work with you, Ben, but I don't know if I can really sign up for that right now to like a few months later. I'm like, oh fuck it, if I don't sign up for this, I don't think I'm gonna hit that goal. Like, I need to invest my time and my effort and my resources into my health to get me back to like pushing harder.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So yeah, I mean, I think it's a a good note to sort of wrap up on like the and I something I mentioned, you know, on um Wednesday morning, like you know, there's a a standards thing that I think goes across the board. And when you hold yourself to a higher standard in your health and in your fitness, it filters in, and like you said, in the corporate world, you didn't have to hold yourself to that standard because you could get away with it when you were in work, so that obviously filters in too. Um thanks for sitting down. Thanks for coming in and just resetting the standard within because I know that people look and be like, Well, fucking hell like it. This guy's really brand new and he's fucking getting all this shit done. I'm looking forward to having many more of these conversations. Um before you go, we're totally ripping off the fucking dire of a CEO questions. So I have a question for you from the last person that I have not read.
SPEAKER_03Well, well, I'll so there's a saying for those that have a ranger tab, it's harder to bear the tab than to earn it. So even though it's hard to earn, once you earn it, you carry that standard and expectation with you for like the rest of your life. Okay. Like everything you do is like, well, is this the standard that a ranger would uphold? Yeah. And that's been a good driver. Because like whenever I do something, I'm like, well, if the standard is to complete the daily check-ins and have it to you by Sunday morning or whatever it is, yeah, well shit, I have to do that because that's what a ranger would do. Yeah. So it's been a good additional way to like have that standard for life. Um, at first I heard that saying many, many years ago. I was like, oh, how can that, how can just bearing it be harder than actually earning it? And I was like, oh, yeah, that is pretty, that it holds true.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I I noticed last night, um, generally, you know, the consensus whenever we have these events, like if they don't do a check-in, that's fine, because we'll have a conversation. But you were sat at the table, I saw you film out your check-in sheet. I'm like, yes, this is exactly it. This is why he has made the progress, and this is why I know that we will nail that goal because there is no off. You do the stuff because you said you would do the stuff, and that's what the expectation is. So I appreciate that also. On your question, if you could only choose to hear or see for the rest of your life, which would you choose and why?
SPEAKER_03Oh, this one I'm gonna be a little biased because I have tinnitus from getting blown up, so my ears ring nonstop. Okay. So like my hearing's okay-ish. So I haven't been able to hear super great, and there's always a ringing, so like fuck it, I don't need hearing. So probably eyesight. Okay. Like I would want to keep my eyesight. Yeah, sure. Uh, because I think without hearing, oh, I'd have to learn Braille. Like, the lit, I'm already going through like how would I get to like do this. What's the process here? I'm already studying. What's the next thing I need to do? Like, how would I how long is this process going to take me? Yeah, I was like, how can I deer hunt if I'm blind or if I can't hear? Okay. I'm like, oh, it's gonna be really hard to deer hunt if I can't see as well.
SPEAKER_01So right, dude. As I said, thank you so much. I will get you now to write your question for the next person. Oh, I just come up with any question? Yeah. You're on the spot line to write a fucking question.