[00:00] Jason Khalipa: And so I’m out there and I’m, I’m giving people flyers, tons of flyers, like, dude, yeah, thanks for talking to me, blah, blah. You should sign up for our, they call it the NC fit collective. It’s for gym owners. And this one person comes up and he’s like, Hey, your QR code isn’t working. Oh, so it turns out our servers were down and that we had no web or email for the next three days.

[00:22] Jason Khalipa: Then I was emotional because I’m like, dude, like this is real money. This is blah, blah, blah. And then my perspective was, I’m out here doing all this work. And now the website’s down and blah, blah. But my team is sitting there and their perspective is different. Welcome

[00:37] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: to another episode of success through failure, the show for successful people, and for those who want to become.

[00:43] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Successful, the only show that reveals the true nature of success. This is your host, Jim Harshaw, Jr. And today I bring you Jason Kalipa. You ever met someone who practically epitomizes success only to find out that they face more failure in their lives than you’ve ever faced? Well, today we’ve got Jason Calipa.

[01:03] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: He’s a CrossFit world champion, and he parlayed that athletic success into a global business empire. And he’s also a father of two. And you’ll be surprised to hear what Jason does every morning with his kids. And you’ll also be shocked to hear about a terrifying diagnosis that his daughter received and how Jason handled it.

[01:21] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: He’s an example of someone who’s faced not only failure, but also tremendous adversity, and he’s created success. Despite all of it in, after you’re done listening to this episode, you’re going to be out of excuses. He, he wipes them all away. You’ll also be interested in hearing why being the CrossFit world champion, when he was named world champion and being named the fittest man on earth, why that actually was not his favorite CrossFit games, but instead it was a different year when he actually CrossFit games.

[01:50] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: That was his most favorite competition. And he’s going to tell you why here in a few moments. So stay tuned as we unravel Jason’s fascinating story of success through failure, take us back to the moment in 2008, when you won the CrossFit games, when you were deemed the fittest man on earth, can you describe that moment for us?

[02:12] Jason Khalipa: I mean, it was good. Yeah, it was good. You know, the thing about that moment was compared to the rest of my CrossFit career. It really wasn’t like the highlight. I mean, at the time it was the highlight, but then, you know, once you put in more and more years of dedication, getting back on the podium, finishing second and third and representing United States for a few times later on in my career, those are definitely the highlights.

[02:33] Jason Khalipa: But in regards to 08, you know, obviously I didn’t have much expectations. I just went out there. Yeah. Yeah. Grinded, competed and won. And so it was a great moment, but it didn’t have the same depth that it did after doing it for another, you know, quote unquote decade and then getting back on the podium.

[02:50] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Why would you put some of those other ones sort of in your own mind? Why would they even, even better experiences?

[02:55] Jason Khalipa: I mean, a hundred percent. I’d put, I’d put my second in 2013 and my third in 2014, probably my second in 2013, well, actually my third in 2014, probably the highest, because I had put so many years of dedication between 2008 and 2013 and 14, and I was close, you know, top 10, top 10, top 10, top 10, top 10.

[03:16] Jason Khalipa: I just wasn’t able to get back on the podium and, and I had won my regional, every year I had competed for Team U S A, I mean, I was, I was doing it all. And I just, I just couldn’t get back on the podium at the world championships. And so to get back on it after all the bulk of work, you know, it’s just like anything in life and, you know, I’m sure you’ve experienced this through wrestling and whatnot, if something is given to you without much hardship, without much struggle, without much work, it’s not as meaningful as when you worked your butt off for a long time and then you accomplished the goal that you set out for, so that’s why.

[03:45] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: So tell me about the failures along the way. I mean, you know, you win a world championship, you, you win the CrossFit games and then you fail after that. Were there moments, I mean, you know, prior to that championship, prior to any of those great, you know, highs of experiences, like when you failed. Were there moments of doubt?

[04:03] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Were there moments of what the hell am I doing wrong? Why can’t I figure this out? Were there moments like that? Or was it just like, okay, dust myself off. I’m going to keep on going. No problem.

[04:13] Jason Khalipa: Yeah, it was kind of like, you know, I mean, obviously I’ve failed in a lot of things. If you look at it from a annual perspective, you know, again, a lot of top tens, but just wasn’t get back on the podium.

[04:22] Jason Khalipa: He had to do some evaluations, say, Hey, what’s in my control. And if you look at across 15 events. If you’re top 10 in every event, and then you get 50th in two of them, well, it’s a glaring weakness on where you need to work on. And so it was just allocating time and being humble enough to work on those things to get me better, to get me back on the podium.

[04:40] Jason Khalipa: And, you know, in 2009, I go in there as a current champion and I ended up blacking out. And passing out in, in, in the first event. And so I got last place on that basically. And then I had to work my way back up. I ended up taking fifth that year. So I went from, I took first in 2008, I took fifth in the world in 2009.

[04:59] Jason Khalipa: But I took basically last place in the first event. Had I even done remotely, okay, I would have won again, but you know, I just got overzealous. I couldn’t control my nerves. I turned numb and I blacked out fast forward to the next year, 2010, I have a first and a fifth underneath my belt. And now I’m going in for the first event at the home Depot center.

[05:19] Jason Khalipa: And at this point, you know, national Anthem’s playing jets flying over. It’s badass. And I just couldn’t control myself again. I ended up kind of not performing my expectations. I had a lot of pressure on myself from coming in as a favorite to win. And again, that year it just didn’t perform as well. And then after that, I kind of started working on the mindset tools and really started building myself back up and, and, and performing really well.

[05:41] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: By the way, for the listener, I do want to recognize that that second year, 2009, when, when you got fifth, you won the spirit of the games award. I mean, people were like, sorry, I mean, saw the effort. They recognize you’re probably the best there. Maybe you had a bad event, but that’s pretty cool. You go, at least got recognized for that.

[05:57] Jason Khalipa: Yeah, I mean, I recognize the spirit of games and I mean, shout out to Miko Salo for winning the overall event. And it was just, it was just tough. It was, it was a tough, tough way to lose, but it felt good to come back. And, um, I think if you’re not going to be on the podium and win, what happened with me was good because it helped me build some confidence, earn some confidence to move forward with.

[06:15] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: So you talked about the mindset piece. You started working on the mindset stuff. Was that an important piece of your career?

[06:22] Jason Khalipa: Yeah. I mean, I think it’s important for anyone, you know, especially like obviously wrestling, you know, I spent a lot of time doing jiu jitsu. I’ve been doing jiu jitsu now for about seven years and it’s very dynamic in CrossFit is a little less dynamic.

[06:32] Jason Khalipa: There’s more that’s in your control. And because of that, it’s really important to focus on what’s in your control and out of your control and even in wrestling, right. Or any sport focusing on what’s in your control and out of control. And then how does that carry over to real life? And so I think that the mindset tools that I worked on heavily was recognizing what’s in my control versus out of my control and utilizing positive self talk.

[06:51] Jason Khalipa: Those two things alone helped me earn the confidence to train and to win. I mean, I, those were big, big, big tools for me.

[06:59] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Quick interruption. Hey, if you like what you’re hearing, be sure to get the notes, quotes, and links in the action plan from this episode. Just go to Jim Herschel, jr. com slash action.

[07:10] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: That’s Jim Herschel, jr. com slash action to get your free copy of the action plan. Now back to the show. So you’ve parlayed this success as a competitor into an amazing global business before we talk about the business. Is the mindset work important for business as well? Has it helped you in business like it did as a competitor?

[07:36] Jason Khalipa: I mean, I’d say it works in business. It definitely works in real life. I think that’s the more accurate approach. I think that if you can understand to focus on what’s in your control in sport and training, when it comes to real life, it makes it easier. You know, like, and I’m saying that from a position of, you know, my daughter was diagnosed with leukemia.

[07:53] Jason Khalipa: I have experienced adversity. And that adversity sucks, but it makes it easier if you can understand what’s in your control versus out of your control. It’ll help you overcome that. So although in business, it relates as well. I think it’s more so in real life that those mindset tools really transfer over well.

[08:11] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Yeah. I lost a sale yesterday. I had a. Conversation with the guy who was going to join our coaching program. He was, this guy was all in and I was stoked and he ended up ghosting me. He just, he’s, he’s, you know, I don’t know who knows what, what he changed his mind, whatever it might be. And I was like, I was so frustrated.

[08:28] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: And so, I mean, it was like after a wrestling loss, it was like I was kicking myself or what am I doing wrong? What am I screwing up here? And then I changed my mindset. I let myself grieve or get upset about it for a while. And then I changed my mindset. I’m like, okay, this is a learning experience. I will be better because of this.

[08:46] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: I need to go back and review the film, you know, review the recording and identify where are the, cause I’ve had a couple of those recently and I’m like, I can’t keep having, those are losses that I can’t keep having. What can I do differently? So just speaking to listener right now, like you have to like, we have that presence of mind, like in the moment, like it’s one thing to listen to Jason and I talk about this, but out in the real world, when you actually experience this stuff, you actually have to apply it.

[09:11] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: You can’t just go, Oh, that was a great podcast. Now I’m just going to go back to my default operating over here in the real world, you actually have to apply this stuff. So Jason, you apply this in maybe one of the hardest arenas ever as a parent, having your daughter get diagnosed with leukemia.

[09:28] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: How did you handle that? And how did that come?

[09:30] Jason Khalipa: I think that detachment becomes a major factor here. So like using your example, your example, obviously it’s a real thing. It’s a really big deal. You worked your ass off for this sale and you didn’t get it. I’ve worked hard for business. And I’ve not gotten deals.

[09:45] Jason Khalipa: I’ve been on the, you know, a hundredth yard lot, whatever you want to call it, and right there about to sign the deal, and then a deal’s not a deal until it’s a deal. And we all know that, but it’s tough. It’s tough. And I think what’s important is when it comes to a business perspective, detachment, meaning the other day I was at an event.

[10:02] Jason Khalipa: We service through our gym. So our gyms have evolved over the years. We’ve, we grew globally. We’ve done a lot of different things, but what we currently do is we own and operate brick and mortar gyms and we serve as gym owners and coaches and we service them through digital platforms. And so I’m at this event and I’m getting a bunch of gym owners.

[10:20] Jason Khalipa: I’m giving them flyers and whatnot. And by the way, I’ll get back to your point about the, I’m not trying to deflect from the leukemia, but I just want, this is just business wise. And so I’m out there and I’m giving people flyers. Tons of flyers like, dude, yeah, thanks for talking to me, blah, blah. You should sign up for our, they call it the NC fit collective.

[10:35] Jason Khalipa: It’s for gym owners. And this one person comes up and he’s like, Hey, your QR code isn’t working. I’m like, “Oh.” So it turns out our servers were down and that we had no web or email for the next three days. And so I went to this event, here I am pumping it. I did all this work and then nothing could happen. Right? So I get on the call with our team and I’m pretty frantic.

[10:57] Jason Khalipa: Right? And what I didn’t do at the time was I did not detach well enough from my emotion, my ego and my perspective. So my ego got in the way because here I am busting my ass and now these people can’t engage with us. So that was my ego talking, right? Cause I’m the one working hard, et cetera. Then I was emotional because I’m like, dude, like this is real money.

[11:18] Jason Khalipa: This is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then my perspective was I’m out here doing all this work and now the website’s down and blah, blah, blah. But my team is sitting there and their perspective is different. It’s like, dude, it’s a Saturday at 5 AM. Cause you’re on East coast time right now.

[11:32] Jason Khalipa: You’re red, alarming it. You’re being emotional. You’re being reactive. You’re losing leadership capital with us right now. You are. Like, if you were here, you’re not here because you’re getting on a zoom call and you’re being reactive and you’re being emotional. So what I’ve taught myself through business, and this is something I’m continuously working on.

[11:49] Jason Khalipa: So I don’t act. I’m an expert at is that when situations come up, whether it’s you’re losing a sale, your websites down, take a deep breath. Kind of look around, create some space between the event and your reaction and detach from your emotion, your ego, and your perspective, because chances are the people you’re talking to are coming at it from a completely different perspective.

[12:10] Jason Khalipa: So those have been really helpful for me from a business perspective.

[12:14] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Is that a framework that you learned, like their mindset coach, the emotion, ego, and perspective? Is that a framework you use?

[12:20] Jason Khalipa: Yeah. So that’s from shout out to my, my, my buddies over at echelon front that late Babin and Jocko JP, they really talk about it more from like, so if you see how it practically applies to like, for example, a military operation, you’re going on a target and it’s like, Hey, we’re going to detach.

[12:35] Jason Khalipa: We’re going to step back, take a look around, take a deep breath and detach from our emotion, our ego, and our perspective. And the reason why it’s so important for them is imagine if you’re, you know, overseas and you’re trying to have comms on a radio, and this has been really helpful for me too. When I talk to our team, I assume they have the same perspective as us.

[12:54] Jason Khalipa: So let’s just say I’m talking to our head of sales. They don’t have the same visibility or perspective that I have. I own the company. I have visibility into these Excel spreadsheets. These are, or I’ve talked to these people, but all of a sudden when I’m talking to him, I assume he knows, but he doesn’t.

[13:09] Jason Khalipa: It’s the idea of talking through a radio. So for example, if I was talking to you and I was like, Hey, there’s a bad guy in the top, top building, you’re like, bro, where’s the top building. I don’t have the same perspective as you, but if I’m like, Hey, there’s a bad guy in the second floor window of the East corner of this, this, this, this.

[13:27] Jason Khalipa: That clear communication helps because it alleviates looking at it through different lenses. So something I’m working on with our team is when I’m approaching situations, trying to look at it through everybody else’s perspective and not just mine, because they don’t have the same visibility that I do.

[13:41] Jason Khalipa: And then also leaning into those other factors.

[13:44] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: That’s great. So how do you apply this when something happens to your daughter?

[13:49] Jason Khalipa: Back to that. You know, obviously the detachment from ego and perspective and stuff, the one with that really relates to that is more about understanding what’s in your control and then positive self talk.

[13:58] Jason Khalipa: Those two relate really well. So like in this case, you know, when you’re in the hospital, like this is not business, like this is life. This is coming at you. It’s coming at you at a million miles an hour and you’re going to react the way you’re going to react and you might be emotional and you got to obviously detach from that.

[14:11] Jason Khalipa: It’s a different time in a different place. You’re doing a different thing, but what you can do is focus on yourself and think about. What can I do to serve and what you could do is you could take what’s in your control. You can make her the most comfortable as you could be. You could be her biggest advocate.

[14:28] Jason Khalipa: You could educate yourself on the disease. You could be there, show up, be present, remove all distractions. Those are the things that are in your control. And that’s what I focused on. And then there’s positive self talk. And this really comes from training. So you’re on the mats, you’re in the gym and you tell yourself your legs are fatigued or something’s going on.

[14:47] Jason Khalipa: That’s negative self talk, right? Instead, if you reframe it in terms of coaching yourself through a workout, you wouldn’t say, Hey, your legs are sore. You can’t breathe. You’d say, Hey, find your heels, keep your chest up, move around this way, snap down this way, do whatever. So that idea of positive self talk and reframing it, like you’re coaching yourself through a workout.

[15:06] Jason Khalipa: Instead of negatively coaching yourself, obviously, cause you would never coach. I would never coach you through a workout and be like, dude, your legs hurt. You can’t breathe. Like you’d say positive things. If you could do that in training, it translates to real life really, really, really, really

[15:20] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: well. So big, so important.

[15:22] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Like you’re, you’re exactly right. We have to be cognizant in the moment, right? I worked out this morning and it was really freaking hard and painful and all that. It wasn’t to the point where I was, I was sort of needing that self talk, but you have to be aware. Like I know when I do get to that point.

[15:37] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Sometimes the only word that I can get in repeat in my head, because there’s no blood going to my brain is, is a positive thing. It’s yes, it’s yes. Like when I get to that extreme, extreme, like end of my rope, it’s just, yes, because it’s a positive word. It’s a moving forward where it’s, I can do this word, but you have to say those things and by default, we don’t, right.

[15:57] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: By default, it’s, this sucks. I’m tired, man. How much longer? When’s the clock done? You know, all that. And so. Do you do any mindfulness work, Jason?

[16:06] Jason Khalipa: Yeah. I mean, well, I’ve had a, I’ve had a mindfulness coach for a long time that I worked with and now it’s more of like a leadership capacity in terms of business.

[16:13] Jason Khalipa: But yeah, I mean, I think it’s recognizing those things, taking a piece of paper, putting what’s in your control left, what’s out of your control, the right to having two circles focusing on the left. Like it’s, it’s very basic stuff, but if you really reinforce it and if you then. Reaffirm it through training over and over and over again.

[16:29] Jason Khalipa: As soon as you get a negative thought, boom, pop it out. As soon as you get a negative thought, boom, switch it over, over and over and over again. Eventually it starts to play into real life. And

[16:37] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: for the listener, like again, you know, this is two guys talking on a podcast about this stuff. Like, What are you going to do?

[16:44] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Like you have to do something with this information. You have to apply it. You have to maybe do some journaling on it. You have to work with, maybe you have an executive coach and work with them on it. Have a conversation outside of just, just listening to us talk about it.

[16:56] Jason Khalipa: Yeah. I mean, what you could do right now is take something that’s in your life that’s stressing you out, right?

[17:00] Jason Khalipa: This is a practical, you can do this right this minute. Think about whatever’s stressing you out for me. Let’s just say it was the CrossFit games and take all the things that are in my control and put it on the left circle. So that’d be my warmup, my preparation, triple time, my shoes, you name it, name all the things that you are in your control, right?

[17:18] Jason Khalipa: What you do, your mantra before you go out onto the floor, what you consume before you go out to your meeting, for example, like what you’re eating, what you’re putting in your body. Then take all the things that are outside of your control. For example, for you, how is this individual going to react when I do a, you know, single leg on them or whatever that’s outside your control.

[17:35] Jason Khalipa: For me, it was like, what are my competitors going to do? What are the events going to be? What are my judges going to do? Those are outside of my control. I cannot worry about them. And it’s easy to worry about those things because they draw you. They draw you like, dude, I wonder what, what’s the event going to be here?

[17:49] Jason Khalipa: You know, you know, who’s going to set the best time? Or what if my judge gives me a no rep on this, whatever. But those things are not conducive to you, especially like from a professional setting, if you’re going in for a big meeting. What you should be focused on is your preparation so you can earn your confidence so you can go out there and crush it.

[18:06] Jason Khalipa: If you’re focused too much on the things that are outside of control, like, Oh, what is my client going to say? Are they going to take my deal? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like that’s not the way to get the most out of that potential. You know, so that’s something you could do today is take a situation and put those in your control.

[18:21] Jason Khalipa: And that

[18:21] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: allows you to focus on the process, not the outcome. When you’re focused on the outcome, you don’t control the outcome. I used to, when I was coaching wrestling, I used to tell young wrestlers, like, listen, you don’t control if you win or lose. And you know, some people look at me like I had two heads, but it’s like, the truth is you don’t control.

[18:36] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: The outcome of the match, you control all the things that you just said. What time you go to bed the night before? What time you wake up? Do you rehab your injuries? Do you show up early? Do you stay late on and on and on? And if you control those things, you can have a confidence and a calm that allows you to go and perform at your best and your best may be good enough today to win.

[18:54] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: It may not be good enough today to win, but whatever your best is, that’s the goal is our best. And whether that’s parenting, whether that’s your next job interview, whether that’s athletics, it doesn’t matter. The process is the same.

[19:06] Jason Khalipa: Yup, agreed.

[19:07] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Jason, you wrote a book called Amrap as many reps as possible and emphasizes giving everything, giving it your all in every moment that we talked about some frameworks and some mindsets.

[19:17] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: How do you apply that outside of the gym, right? In decision making and productivity, maybe in your personal relationships. I mean, maybe it’s just what we talked about in terms of focusing on the process, not the outcome. But I mean, any, any things that you do in order to really live that out that Amrap mentality out?

[19:34] Jason Khalipa: Yeah. So am I going to tell you? So for those of you who are unfamiliar with what an amrap is, as many reps or as many rounds as possible. And a good way to think about that. If I was asking you to do as many burps as you can in a minute, you would just be doing it. You wouldn’t stop and check your phone.

[19:46] Jason Khalipa: You wouldn’t get distracted. You would just be present and focused. Like I am with you right now. And if you take that mentality. I’ve never been more efficient in my results than when I’m am wrapping. Meaning when I’m in the gym and I’m focused, I get great results. If I’m distracted, I don’t. That same thing applies with everything we do.

[20:02] Jason Khalipa: So the way the amrap mentality works is it starts by being present and focused. So it’s like riding a bike. Step number one is you got to focus. If you don’t focus, you’re going to tip over on a bike. Step number two, right? Is now that you have your focus, let’s just say right now it’s you and me. Then I’m going to work hard at it.

[20:19] Jason Khalipa: I’m going to pedal the bike. You and I, I’m going to give you everything I got right now. I’m going to pedal. I’m going to work hard. If I’m with my family, with my family, if I’m working out and working out, if I’m at business, I’m at business. I’m just working hard. Then I switch gears like on a bike, right?

[20:31] Jason Khalipa: Sometimes you’re going uphills. Sometimes you’re going downhill, whatever. But I switch gears from what you and I are doing right now. To training, to business, to family, and I switched gears throughout the day, but I’m focused, I work hard, I switch gears. And then every now and then, right, when life throws you a curve ball, you might need to reevaluate what you want to focus on.

[20:51] Jason Khalipa: But the idea is each facet of what you’re doing throughout the day. You’re am wrapping each one, because what was happening to me for too long, where that was one foot in one foot out in too many areas. So I wasn’t getting the most out of my training session. I also wasn’t getting the most out of my business.

[21:05] Jason Khalipa: I was doing conference calls while on a salt bike, or, you know, that’s, that’s just not a good way. To feel like you reached your potential in either area. And so the idea is Amrap everything.

[21:15] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: You’re a busy guy, you lead a company. You probably have a full inbox and a lot of people pulling at your time. Are there productivity tactics that you use?

[21:23] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Do you do time blocking? Do you have, I don’t know, do you feel like you’re good at delegating? I mean, what are some things you do to make sure you’re working on the right things?

[21:31] Jason Khalipa: I think we’ve delegated. Well, you know, I started the company when I was 21, um, right out of college. I, you know, so I’ve owned it for a while now.

[21:38] Jason Khalipa: I think I’ve learned a lot throughout the process. I think we’ve developed a really good team. I think I’ve come to find out what am I uniquely good at and how can I spend more time there and then allow enable others to do the things that they’re really good at. So I think delegation has been the biggest thing, you know, in the morning.

[21:52] Jason Khalipa: So I train with the kids at 6 AM every day. How old are you kids? And how many nine and 12, a boy and a girl

[21:59] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: every day. Train them every day. You know, like Joe, you’ve been on, I know you’ve been on Spartan up. I was on Spartan up a while back and I’ve had Joe on here a couple of times. Like same thing. He’s training his kids every frigging morning,

[22:09] Jason Khalipa: every morning.

[22:10] Jason Khalipa: So my daughter and I. Every morning, my son and I, we either jump in there or we’ll do a session after he gets back because he plays a lot of, a lot of sports in either case. I train them both every day. And so it starts off in the morning training the kids. Then it goes to answering some emails, spending a little bit of time with them.

[22:27] Jason Khalipa: They go off to school. Boom. I’m, I’m working, working, working. I’ll put a training session in. I’ll work, work, work. Maybe put another training session in something short, or I’ll go play sports to the kids and then I get back for dinner. And then after that, I’m back on emails working again, but I segmented.

[22:42] Jason Khalipa: And I’m, I’m a little bit broad in my approach. I don’t have like a 10 minute block and then a 10 minute block. It’s more like, Hey, from now to now, I’m gonna be working. I’m gonna be answering emails from this time, this time. But the, the non negotiables for me is we’re going to train in the morning and we’re going to be there for dinner.

[22:56] Jason Khalipa: And that’s, it’s just a non negotiable. And I’ll be at as many practices and as many games as I possibly can, which for the most part is almost all of them for both kids.

[23:04] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: So talk about balance a little bit, right? Balance or harmony, whatever you want to call it. Work life balance, work life harmony.

[23:09] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Different people call it have different terms for it. But as a parent, you’re an entrepreneur. You wear a lot of different hats. How do you find that balance or that harmony between your ambitions in your career and your business as well as your

[23:19] Jason Khalipa: family life? Yeah. I mean, it’s, it’s, I do think I have a, um, you know, I’m very, very blessed where a lot of our business is now coming through digital.

[23:26] Jason Khalipa: And so we’re able to be. You know, not traveling as much, which is nice. So I’m able to spend more time with the family. Although there was a long time where I was traveling all the time. And so I, I think that it’s ebbs and flows. And I think you try and pull your family in and make them feel like they’re a part of the journey with you and not just like this other thing.

[23:44] Jason Khalipa: And so when I think about it, it’s like, How do I engage the family so that when we go do business stuff or when I’m doing business stuff, it’s not so much like dad’s at work and you’re not, it’s more like, Hey, we’re going to go to the gym right now. You guys go do your thing. I’m going to go film some stuff over here, or I’m traveling for work to this place.

[24:00] Jason Khalipa: Why don’t you guys all come with me? That’s, that’s how it’s evolving now, right now with, as a family is, is trying to pull them in more and set them and make it feel like they’re disconnected and also talking about it. Right? So around the dinner table discussing like, Hey, this is what’s going on with the business.

[24:14] Jason Khalipa: Just wanted to update you guys. Okay. And I feel like then they have more buy in to, they get interested to see how things are going. That’s the way we’re doing it.

[24:24] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Talk to us a little bit about your training regimen. Now, like, obviously you’re not competing anymore. You know, I know the listeners would be curious about hearing about your training routines and how that sort of transitioned into this different phase of life.

[24:37] Jason Khalipa: So, I mean, things have evolved, you know, back in the day I was trying to be the fittest on earth, and now I’m trying to be the, you know, the toughest guy in the room. I want to be the, be able to protect myself, protect my family. I want to have the fitness to be able to do that for all the years of my life.

[24:49] Jason Khalipa: Like that’s where, that’s where I’m at in my journey. Like, I want to be able to always say yes to my kids. If they want to go do something physical, I’m ready to rock. If my physical. Fitness is called upon. I want to be able to perform. That’s where I’m at. So my training is, is such right. Whereas before maybe I was doing three sessions a day of cardio strength, this, that now it’s more like, Hey, in the mornings when I’m training with the kids, I’m doing more mobility work.

[25:13] Jason Khalipa: Cause I’m trying to make sure I’m starting the day off. Feeling flexible. Then I’ll either go do a crossfit workout, go to our gym, train in the garage, or I’ll go do jujitsu. And then later on, I’ll do something a little bit different. So it’s a balance of like three days a week of jujitsu, almost daily crossfit.

[25:28] Jason Khalipa: And then on the weekends, typically like tomorrow, I’m doing a men’s club ruck. So we’re inviting all the dads from my kid’s school and we’re going on a, you know, hour long weighted. So that’s kind of the way it’s flowing right now is, and those things align with what I want to be. Fitness should, should enhance my life, not take away.

[25:46] Jason Khalipa: So if I’m too sore to go play baseball with my son, that’s a problem. So I need to make sure I find a balance where I’m training enough, where it’s giving me the outputs I want, but not training so much that I can’t go do the things that I love to do.

[25:59] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: What kind of nutrition guidelines do you follow these days?

[26:01] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: I mean, I know it’s probably evolved since you were competing, but what’s a typical Jason Kalipa diet look like?

[26:08] Jason Khalipa: I generally fast up until like midday. So right now it’s 12 o’clock here. I’ll go have like my first something today. I generally try and eat real food, meaning not highly processed foods. I try and balance macro nutrients.

[26:23] Jason Khalipa: So a protein, a fat carbohydrate per meal. To reduce brain fog. So the long and short there is if you just consume carbohydrates, like a bagel, you’ll get a blood sugar spike and an insulin dump, and you’ll feel his brain fog shortly later. That’s not good for an entrepreneur or dad or anybody. And so instead you want to try and balance out that meal.

[26:43] Jason Khalipa: So if you are going to have a half a bagel or whatever. Try and balance it out with, you know, some avocado and some turkey, for example, that’ll help slow down the digestion and help the brain fogs. That’s what I think about.

[26:55] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Yeah. I found a big shift in my life as well, since I’ve switched to intermittent fasting.

[27:00] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: And sometimes if it’s a hard workout in the morning, I’ll do maybe just a hard boiled egg or something like that in the morning, but it’s, and then it’s a salad for lunch and just so much cleaner eating helps me. It’s a. That’s a productivity thing for me. Um, and, and a focus thing, you know, and that all relates to, and for the listener, like, you know, Jason’s talking a lot, a lot of this is like, all of this relates back to like how you want to live your life and what kind of father you want to be, what kind of business person you want to be, what kind of leader you want to be?

[27:24] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: This is, it’s, it’s all connected. Like this stuff is not separate. You know, the work you is not really different from the home you. They’re connected.

[27:32] Jason Khalipa: That’s right. I want to reach my potential in all areas and I’m very diligent about it.

[27:37] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Yeah. So can you share a resource, something that maybe you found along the way, maybe it’s a book or a tool or a resource that’s had an impact on your life or your career?

[27:47] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Maybe it’s an app or some kind of routine that you do that may, maybe it’s not that widely known or maybe it is. That’s been a game changer for you, man.

[27:55] Jason Khalipa: I mean, that’s a broad question. I, you know, I’ve read a lot of books. I’ve been inspired by many, but I think ultimately it comes down to you as an individual and you finding out what makes you tick and really having deep rooted conversation yourself about where do you want to go?

[28:09] Jason Khalipa: What do you want to do? And, and, and are you reaching your potential? And I think what happens for me is like, whether I’m in the sauna on a long cardio ride or on a ruck. I’ll just ask myself like, Hey, how am I doing? How’s my micro checking going? Am I, how am I doing as a husband, a father, a business owner?

[28:22] Jason Khalipa: Am I on a path to reach my potential? And if not, let’s course correct. Right. But I think that’s ultimately what it comes down to is I don’t want to look back 10, 20, 30 years from now. I’m like, dude, I did a terrible job as a father, right? That’s just unacceptable. That is not something I’m allowed to do.

[28:38] Jason Khalipa: And so if I could do these micro check ins on a regular basis, it’ll help me course correct in different areas. To reach my potential, because the last thing I want to do is be 70, be 80 and look back and be like, dude, I didn’t reach my potential in whatever that facet is, that’s the big ticker. I mean, obviously like, you know, we put out weekly newsletters.

[28:54] Jason Khalipa: We do a lot of stuff where I also consume my own content, meaning I put it out and I really refresh and say, Hey. How am I doing on the things that I’m talking about? And that also helps me. Yeah.

[29:04] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: There’s nothing that’ll hold you accountable. Like when you’re preaching something and teaching something to make you actually do it.

[29:10] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: I know it became a much better wrestler whenever I started coaching wrestling.

[29:13] Jason Khalipa: Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah.

[29:15] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: So for the listener, you know, Jason talking about these micro check ins with these check ins, right. And, you know, we’ve talked for years about this on this podcast, but this is a form of. The productive pause, this is one of the secrets that we keep hearing from high performers and world class performers, you know, years after years of this, we have interviews, interviewing amazing people.

[29:36] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: It’s this idea of stepping back. Uh, the definition of a productive pause is this, it’s a short period of focused reflection around specific questions that leads to clarity of action. And peace of mind, you’re hearing it again, you’ve got to do this work.

[29:51] Jason Khalipa: I love it. I love it. Yeah.

[29:54] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: So Jason, what’s an action item, something that the listeners can do in the next 24 to 48 hours, something they can take from this and apply to their lives.

[30:03] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Something they can take action on here in the next day or two.

[30:06] Jason Khalipa: I mean, well, first sign up for our never zero newsletter. I can send you a link. It’s the never zero concept is you can never let momentum get to zero period. And. You know, it’s, it’s like a, what’s the good old saying, right? An object in motion stays in motion.

[30:20] Jason Khalipa: And the reality is, is that if you allow your fitness to get to zero, let’s just say you don’t train for a day, two days, three days, five days, all of a sudden that could very quickly turn into five months. I’ve seen it. With thousands of people that we coach. And so we want to have a mindset of never getting a zero.

[30:36] Jason Khalipa: And in particular, we’re talking about our fitness. So we have a never zero newsletter every week. We just put out, you know, things that are on my mind, topics of discussion. So make sure that you guys sign up for that. And the other thing I would just say that doesn’t cost you any money. I mean, which the newsletter doesn’t cost you any money either, but it doesn’t cost you.

[30:51] Jason Khalipa: Anything to do is just take a piece of paper and go back and just think about what’s really stressing you out in your life. Like sometimes profoundly impacting you after some deep reflection and just put on a piece of paper and take that and put it around your refrigerator, around your office wall.

[31:06] Jason Khalipa: And when you find yourself gravitating towards something that’s outside of control, you got to check yourself and be like, dude, what are you doing? Like you made a commitment to yourself to focus on what’s in your control. Focusing over here does nothing for you. Zero, especially like in the highest, most stressful moments of my life, right?

[31:22] Jason Khalipa: We were in the ICU with my daughter and it was just super stressful. What’s out of my control at that moment. Is the physical care for her that I had to trust in the process of the doctors. I had to be there, but what I could do is what was in my control is consoling my wife, being there to support her.

[31:38] Jason Khalipa: Or, you know, again, there was just so much that was out of my control in that moment. And in many moments, but if I, if I dove too deep in that direction. It’s a journey you don’t want to take. You want to pull yourself back and focus on what’s in your control because that journey is one that you can take is the takeaway from today’s final moments, I guess.

[31:58] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: How’s your daughter doing now? So my daughter, she was diagnosed in 2016, five years after your treatment is complete, you get the cancer free mark. And so she passed that in, uh, in February of this last year. So she’s been cancer free for like eight months now. So it’s, yeah, it’s a big deal. Congratulations.

[32:14] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Thank you. Congratulations. Yeah, no, thanks for asking. I should, I should do a better job of prefacing that one. Whenever we talk about stuff like that, because it is, it is heavy. And sometimes I forget that people don’t have the same perspective that I do, right? Like my perspective is one of positivity, you know, in the long run.

[32:31] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Thanks for that reminder. Yeah,

[32:32] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: man. Well, thank you for sharing. Where can the listeners find you follow you by your book,

[32:36] Jason Khalipa: et cetera. Yeah. I mean, I, I think at Jason Kalipa on Instagram, just go there. You’ll be able to find everything. We have some super exciting stuff coming up in terms of a digital brand that we’re really focused on to help hard chargers, dads, moms just level up.

[32:49] Jason Khalipa: And so stay tuned for that. If you join the newsletter, you’ll, you’ll, you’ll get some cool stuff coming up.

[32:54] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Love it. And for the listeners, we’ll have that, of course, in the action plan. You can just Google Jason’s name and you’ll, you’ll find them all over the internet. So Jason, thanks so much for making time to come on the show today.

[33:03] Jason Khalipa: Appreciate you. Thank you.

[33:06] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Thanks for listening. If you want to apply these principles into your life, let’s talk. You can see the limited spaces that are open on my calendar at Jim Harsha, jr. com slash apply where you can sign up for a free one time coaching call directly. with me and don’t forget to grab your action plan.

[33:22] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Just go to jim harshaw jr dot com slash action. And lastly, iTunes tends to suggest podcasts with more ratings and reviews more often, you would totally make my day. If you give me a rating and review those go a long way in helping me grow the podcast audience. Just open up your podcast app. If you have an iPhone, do a search for success through failure.

[33:45] Jim Harshaw, Jr.: Select it and then scroll the whole way to the bottom where you can leave the podcast a rating and a review. Now I hope this isn’t just another podcast episode for you. I hope you take action on what you learned here today. Good luck and thanks for listening.

Note: This text was automatically generated.