“3 simple high-protein breakfasts!”

“The hidden truth behind GLUTEN”

“Are seed oils going to unalive you?!”

You may notice how I rarely talk about topics like these.

And it’s not necessarily that I don’t think that info is helpful, I just think:

1. Other coaches who enjoy/are better equipped covering them should do so
2. They’re not as helpful as other skills and perspectives I think you should learn
3. They’re incredibly boring

I would argue spending too much time on these semantics are more a form of procrastination than anything. A well-intentioned search for knowledge, I’m sure, but mostly a waste of your time regardless.

I.e., your emotional overeating at nighttime that’s serving as a distraction to you for not having enough joy or romance in your life should probably be covered first before wondering whether you should do fasted cardio or not.

But, hey, you do you.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep covering how to make this fitness stuff align with your values in life in the most effortless way possible.

Because as I’ve mentioned many times before, you know what you need to be doing on a regular basis. At least, roughly.

But you might feel like there’s a “block” between what you’re doing now and what you know you should be doing consistently.

And you know what’s the most annoying?

You’re bombarded with “solutions” all day long on social media, especially the narratives of motivation and discipline.

I’m just curious: have you ever tried “wanting it as bad as you want to breathe?”

Or what about forcing yourself to do it, even when you’re unmotivated, no matter what is going on in your life?

I don’t care that your newborn child kept you up all night ⏤ get your ass to the gym. TWICE, actually, because you’re doing #75Hard for some reason and that requires two workouts per day, or else you fail.

These “solutions”… are not helpful.

What if instead of brilliantly advising you to simply “want it more” or “just do it,” we uncovered what was blocking you from doing these things in the first place?

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I’ve been enjoying a new book lately called Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal where he writes about a US Army battlefield concept called ‘commander’s intent’.

War is extremely chaotic and unpredictable, so the idea behind commander’s intent is to lean less on detailed step-by-step tactics, and more on a philosophy that prioritizes a clear sense of why over a tactical how.

There were three components to this method:

1. The purpose behind the operation
2. The end state that the commander was aiming for
3. The key tasks that the commander felt should be taken to accomplish the objective

By using commander’s intent, the awry plans that so often unfold in war didn’t ruin the entire mission. The soldiers knew the why behind the operation, so they could adapt the how any way that they needed to to still reach the desired end-state.

This example is the root of why I refuse to talk about white rice vs brown rice or cables vs machines, or the importance of your step count.

That shit doesn’t matter.

At least, not until you’re aligned on why you’re doing any of this.

I’ll take it even further: you don’t care about abs.

Of course you have aesthetic motivations, but they’re rooted in something deeper.

You care about getting respect from yourself and others. You care about feeling confident in your own skin. You care about having autonomy and proficiency around your daily food choices. You care about setting a proud example for your loved ones. And you care about living a long and healthy life where you aren’t limited by your fitness levels or crippled by disease.

So let’s ditch the vision board of the genetically-gifted Instagram model and recognize taking care of yourself is a non-fucking-negotiable in this dream life you say you want to live.

We owe it to ourselves to do this inner work.

Not only will it make us deeply fulfilled long-term, but it will be an unwavering driver in the decisions we make today.

And to be clear, I’m not saying that understanding our why means that we’ll never make an unaligned decision again. Especially in the beginning.

We have to build momentum. We have to use our daily actions as incremental “votes” towards this identity we’re aspiring for. And this begins the scaffolding to the foundation of our internal compass.

We just have to start pushing that snowball downhill, then the goodness in our life compounds with less and less effort.

And our personal internal compass we constantly filter our decisions through provides the guardrails to keep us on track most of the time.

Being this aligned with who you are and where you’re going and why you’re going there can be beneficial after a few days, impactful after a few weeks, and absolutely life-changing after a year.

It’s available. For you, for me, for all of us.

So you can keep reading about seed oils or we can work together and take the first step towards creating the life you deserve.

Together.

I’m no messiah, and I won’t have all the answers, but I know that when it comes to this fitness stuff ⏤ you’re better with me, than without me.

And I’d love to help you.

​I have a few 1:1 coaching spots for February, click here to apply.​

Any questions, shoot me a DM on Instagram.

-Matt

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