The Fit Perception

Make Positivity An Olympic Sport

Thomas Belliston Season 4 Episode 88

Send us a text

This episode of the Fit Perception Podcast sparks a heated debate with a controversial Olympic opening ceremony segment that reimagines Christ's Last Supper as a drag performance. I dive deep into the reasons behind the backlash, critiquing both the provocation and the lack of quality in the execution. We also announce some exciting updates: a new direct messaging feature for feedback, plans for guest interviews, and ramped-up social media presence with video clips on TikTok and Instagram.

The spotlight then shifts to the modern Olympics' commercialized state and the financial inequalities plaguing athletes. As we dissect the Olympic Association's huge profits versus the scant rewards for the athletes, the conversation gets intense. We delve into the contentious issue of trans athletes in sports, advocating for separate leagues to maintain fair competition. Real-world examples like female boxer Angela Carini underscore the urgent need for systemic change. Furthermore, we explore the nuanced differences between equality and value, arguing that while everyone holds intrinsic worth, inequalities drive societal progress and innovation.

Wrapping up the episode, we shine a light on our favorite Olympic events and the unparalleled talent of athletes like Simone Biles. We question the inclusion of sports like breakdancing and skateboarding, suggesting that the Games focus on events that showcase exceptional athletic prowess. A reflective conversation with a client about personal growth and life's deeper questions adds a heartfelt touch. Lastly, I discuss the power of positivity and the benefits of reducing negativity, reaffirming my commitment to creating uplifting content. Thank you for joining me on this journey—I'm your boy T, signing off with love and gratitude.

https://www.instagram.com/fitperceptionspodcast/

https://www.instagram.com/thomas_belliston/




Speaker 1:

Oh, what's up, fam? If you're listening to this in the morning, good morning Cheers. Fam. If you're listening to this in the morning, good morning Cheers. Welcome back to another episode of the Fit Perception Podcast. I'm your boy T, if it's your first time joining us. Thank you for joining us.

Speaker 1:

I hope this is entertaining, valuable of some sort. You learn something, you feel something and you walk away a better person, anywho. So before we get into it, because it's going to be lots of hot takes and lots of just shooting from the hips, you know Before we do that, if you have listened before, you know how the show works. There is a number you can text now Um, if you go to wherever you listen to the podcast, uh, I usually listen to my podcast on, uh, spotify or Apple, um, so I don't know necessarily how the other ones work, but, uh, if you listen on Spotify or Apple, you can go to the episode. If you click on it, right above the description of the episode will be um, something that says like uh, send a message to the show, or text the show, or something like that. Um, where you can message me via the show and, and you know, say whatever you want. Uh, you know. Thank you for this. I really enjoyed this part of the show, or I think you should add this to. Or here was my thought on yada yada, yada, um. Or if you have ideas for the devil's advocate if you know what that is, or final takeaways, or just something that you would like to hear me discuss or get your, like my thoughts on, go ahead and message the show. Um, a cool little feature. It's been fun. I've had people reach out and say, oh, I thought this and this and this about the Devil's Advocate, so use it, check it out, go, click on it. It's right above the description of the episode, but yeah, it's a fun little feature that we can do now.

Speaker 1:

Also, I'm working on getting some more peeps on the show, some co-hosts, so we can interview, so you don't just have to listen to me ramble the whole time. And then we're also going to employ the talents of my wife and get video clips of this. Eventually, I'm sure it'll be the whole episode. You'll be able to watch it on YouTube. I do not have the energy nor the time to make that happen right now, so we're going to get clips and get a TikTok going and more use of the Instagram page. So watch out for that. If you haven't already done so, go follow the Fit Perception podcast on Instagram and then, yeah, watch for the video clips. They're going to be entertaining, I'm sure, because I'm very dramatic and very enthusiastic and very in your face, and not just with my voice, but with my face.

Speaker 1:

Anywho, here's the deal, fam, the Olympics starts. Also, screw the Olympics, you know what I mean. Um, so, okay, I know people are all up in arms about the opening ceremony and I didn't watch it, I just saw pictures, so I can't really give my take on it, other than pictures and pictures are biased, they always take, you know, the most dramatic parts of the thing that happened and don't tell the full story. So, um, I'm not really going to dive into too much detail on that. Um, you know everybody's up in arms about the, the way that, um, uh, well, I mean, I mean people are obviously take sides because people are stupid. But, um, you know, uh, a drag version of Christ's last supper with his apostles. Now, obviously, that's what it looked like. Do I care? No, now, before people get upset and go hey, you've got to defend your faith, because I'm very, very, very Christian, um, very deeply religious. Um, but here's the thing people have been attacking and making fun of religions, and specifically Christian religions, for a very, very, very long time, and it's not going to stop. Do I think that it was appropriate? No, I don't. Do I think that it was lame. Yeah, if you were going to put on a drag show, get RuPaul to be in charge. Were going to put on a drag show, get RuPaul to be in charge of it. And put on a drag show, dude. Like something that's incredible to see, not some weird version of a religious picture that doesn't make any sense. Like, why is that in the Olympics? It has nothing to do with Christianity.

Speaker 1:

Number one if you're trying to make a political statement, you didn't do it correctly. If you're like, if you're like and I'm not trying to play both sides at all, cause I genuinely don't care necessarily but if you were going to do that like, if you're, if your whole goal was to put on a drag show, why not make it really cool instead of being like Ooh, we're going to target our number one enemy, the Christian religion, or whatever it was? I'm not saying that's what happened, but like it's like. If that like, why would you do that, it didn't add anything If you were running an agenda. If you were running an agenda, it didn't get you anywhere, it didn't help your cause. And if you weren't trying to do that, why not go all out with the best in the world? Rupaul, like I don't understand what the point was, other than to just piss people off that you knew would get pissed off Like hello. And then here's the other thing. Here's the other thing. Also, if you're going to do something and again, I'm not saying that it was their agenda Does it look like that was the agenda?

Speaker 1:

Yes, it does. It's very blatantly, obviously. That's what it looks like. Am I saying that's what it is? No, because I'm not in their minds, but that's what it looks like. And if you know, you would have to be pretty stupid, like you would have to be to the point of dumb that you think that two plus two is five. If you did that and genuinely didn't think that people would see that and get pissed Like. If you didn't think that you're a dumb person and if you are that stupid, you shouldn't be in charge of anything involving the Olympics. Okay, so that's hot.

Speaker 1:

Take number one, um, and then also the guy, the creative director, whoever the loser was, comes out and says um, oh, we didn't, we didn't mean to piss anybody off, that wasn't our—. Hey, man, if you're going to do something, at least have the balls to stick up for it. Like, don't back down. If you did something, like, if you did it, own it, dude. If you're worried about it, don't do it. If you're like—if there's this shred of, oh, we might piss people off, okay, then don't do it.

Speaker 1:

It's the Olympics, man, people are supposed to be hyped up, not pissed off Like it's such a lame thing to do. And, and regardless of whether you're on the right, I hate the fact that it's a right and left situation. But hey, the United States is fricking stupid and everything has to be right or left. But the fact that that even this turned into a, a way to have a stance for right or left on the Olympic, hey, man, you're a loser. Why can't we have something that isn't political and you're like oh, but we're standing up for? Hey, screw you. How about that? Take a breath for a second, let that stay here and don't bring it to the world stage. Yeah, you moron, anyway. So no, I'm not going to get into the fact that, the religion and all that other stuff, because I just, if you want to talk about that, talk to me about that in person. I think that it's just not the place to talk about it on here.

Speaker 1:

But, that being said, when I saw that I instantly went oh, the Olympics are beep, they're screwed, like. My immediate thought when I saw that said oh, these Olympics are going to blow, these Olympics will suck Because that's how we're starting. Oh, we're screwed. There's no going up from here, there's only down, only down. And guess who was right? You guessed you, boy.

Speaker 1:

There's so many things that are happening with this Olympics that are cool. I understand that. There's also so many things that are happening in the Olympics that are so dumb, that are so stupid, that are so bad, verging on evil. Okay. So here's the thing. The second and you know this about me if you've listened to the show. The second anything goes the route of money. The whole reason we do things is for money. It's bound to suck. Doing things for money equals suck. Okay, it's a fail. You fail immediately if you're doing it for money and you go, oh, but you're going to be successful. Hey, that's not the point. You can be successful and still be a royal piece of garbage, a very, very wealthy piece of trash. Okay, if you do things for money, bad Shame on you. Okay, it's a perfect scenario here.

Speaker 1:

When the Olympics started, it wasn't for money. Did the athletes get a little bit of stuff? Yes, they got a little wreath crown, like a little crown of leaves, whatever that's called the olive branch, whatever I don't know and medals, and they were prayed around and cool For a long time. There was no money attached, and there's still no money attached for the athletes. Attached for the athletes, there's billions with a B billions of money for the Olympic Association, billions in sponsorships and advertisements, billions of dollars. Hey man, why, though, you're putting on a show? Okay, an opening ceremony, a closing ceremony, you're housing these athletes, which, in Paris, guess what? They're not in the Olympic Village. They're checking into hotels.

Speaker 1:

Because you sucked at it, you made cardboard boxes, because you were afraid of people having sex. So, hey, man, do better with your billions of dollars. And, yes, it's expensive to host people from all over the world, but guess what? Not billions of dollars expensive, and the people that are in charge are making so much money. Guess who doesn't get anything from the Olympics, the athletes, the people who are performing, the people who are giving us the entertainment yeah, they don't make it. Now they do get money from their countries for winning gold, silver and bronze. Okay, you get three chances to make money at the Olympics. So you have to. You don't have the option to not be the best in the world If your whole goal is to make money at the Olympics. I don't think anybody that goes to Olympics is that like has that in mind of like, oh, I'm doing this to make money, otherwise they wouldn't be at the Olympics, because it's a stupid idea.

Speaker 1:

But the countries can pay. The Olympics does not pay the athletes. Okay, the countries have the opportunity. They don't have to. They don't have to pay their athletes, but the ones that have the money to do so generally do so. For instance, the United States. If you get a gold medal, you get $38,000. Okay, and you know that's a pretty good chunk of money for people. Okay, and you know that's a pretty good chunk of money for people. Probably not the US citizens that are competing in the Olympics, though they're probably making a lot more than that with their sponsorships that they're doing for their sport. So cute, the United States gives them $38,000. The country of Hong Kong, for a gold medal, will pay their athlete $768,000. Three quarters of a million to win a gold medal. Okay, which that's great. That's a solid chunk of money to win to do a sport. Okay, totally respect that. Every country can do its own thing.

Speaker 1:

But what about places like Nigeria or South Sudan? They can't pay their athletes. They can barely afford to get them to the Olympics, much less pay them. And the Olympic Association is making billions of dollars. That's so effed up. That's the biggest scam in all sporting events. Like it's so outrageous. I just don't get why we're okay with it. Still, like it's so insane.

Speaker 1:

To me they were like oh yeah, the world is coming together for sports. Don't get why we're okay with it. Still, it's so insane. To me they were like oh yeah, the world is coming together for sports and it's so amazing and all the rich countries get to pay their athletes and all the poor countries can just suck balls. Like, hey, man, it's so dumb and it's all because it's come down to money. Everything that comes down to money should be lit on fire. It's a dumpster heap. It's just so bad. It's just so bad and it bleeds into everything. Once it becomes money, you can politicize it, so everything becomes political. Oh my gosh, the first female this, oh my gosh, the first. Hey, man, what about just being athletes? What about that? What about just having an equal playing field and saying go for it? It's so infuriating.

Speaker 1:

And the fact that, like so, if you know me, you know that I'm very involved in the LGBTQ plus community. I love them very much. They're some of my best friends in the world. I work for a company that is in that um community, founded in that community, and, and I love them, I do, I support them. Um, I do not hard, hard, do not support trans athletes in these sports. I just I don't. I support trans athletes in their own community, in their own league, but you cannot have a biological man and a biological woman competing against each other Like you. You can't do that in the name of equality, because it's not equal If you're like oh, but they have rights to yes, yes, they do. Here's the thing. So we're going to get deeper for a second. Okay, so something happened there.

Speaker 1:

There is a whole basis to this Um a. A female, a biological female, angela Carini, who is a boxer, and I forget what country she's from. Fought a and, and here's the problem, this is going to get really dicey, and I don't care anymore, because I told you guys, I'm going to get authentic and real and vulnerable in this. Fought a a? Um, a biological male. Now here's the thing. I know because I did a little bit of research.

Speaker 1:

This is a situation where this, this person, this human, is I think it's called intrasex, I don't remember the actual biological name for it where this, this person, has a, has the genitalia of a female, biological female. However, they have an xy chromosome and very high levels of testosterone, like they are testing as a biological male. Okay, now you can make the argument oh yeah, but she has the genitalia of a female Great, awesome. But she has an XY chromosome, which means that this person has an advantage, not only an advantage, has an advantage, not only an advantage a very, very, very massive and dangerous advantage. Okay, so, if you didn't watch this which is crazy if you didn't see this, because it was everywhere Angela Carini is an incredible boxer and she was fighting this person and I cannot remember their name.

Speaker 1:

To save my life, I should have written it down. They punched her in the face so hard that she had to quit the fight. Now I guarantee she has boxed a lot of girls, a lot of females, and been punched in the face a lot of times. Okay, a lot. To get to the Olympics, you have to. She got punched once, shattered her nose, shattered it, and she had to quit the fight, the match. And so this biologically tested male one in the female boxing match, in the female boxing match.

Speaker 1:

That is not okay, not okay. You know what that's like. I was talking to my wife about it and I was getting steamed up. That's like not me going into a female room and beating up a bunch of girls. That's not what it's like. It's like if I went into a 10-year-old to 12-year-old boys boxing gym and said I'm going to box these guys and you can't stop me because I identify as a 10 to 12-year-old. Okay, because we both have the same genitalia, but my testosterone is way higher than yours, I am way stronger than you and I'm going to beat the living shit out of you and you're going to be okay with it because I said I identify as a 10 to 12 year old. That's what that's like, fam, like fam. It's not a a in this situation, necessarily a boy, girl, male, female. But that's not what this is. This is someone who has an unbelievable advantage and is taking advantage of it and is using violence.

Speaker 1:

Like if you are pro women and pro feminists, you should be sick to your stomach that this happened. You should be appalled, you should be violently opposed to this, because this is the world stage and if we're okay with this, on the world stage, the top of the top, the premier, there goes all hope for equality of women's sports. All hope. There is no hope at all. You know why? Because if we're okay with this, guess what happens hope at all. You know why? Because if we're okay with this, guess what happens.

Speaker 1:

All of the hard work that every feminist and every woman has has gone to, the pain they've gone through, the suffering they've gone through, the tireless amounts of of work that they've put in to fighting for women's rights, to fighting for equality in sports, to finding just to be able to compete in sports, goes out the window. It is gone. Done for sayonara. All of that hard work for yay women, strong women, it's gone and you will never, ever get it back if we allow for this type of garbage to happen. It can't happen, fam. I mean, it can. Obviously it is.

Speaker 1:

If you're with a stupid ideology, if you do not think for a second and go, okay, I'm down, for I totally support the trans movement. I support people being comfortable in their skin, I get that this can't happen. This can't happen because this is a contradictory of the ideology that you are promoting that everybody matters, that there should be equality, that everyone should have equal opportunity. Yes, guess what happens when you put biological males into female sports because they say they identify as a female? Guess what? It is no longer equal, it is no longer fair, it is no longer okay, because people will get very hurt and it's no longer hooray for women. Now it's another way for men to beat the out of women. That's what this is to make a mockery out of women's work. And you go oh, there's no such thing as women. Okay, that's fine, I don't care. This goes beyond your dumb idea, because people will get injured, people will get hurt and we will go back centuries of work because of your ideology. It's so appalling, it makes me sick to my stomach, makes me so angry, so so angry. Oh, my gosh Like, oh, my goodness, it just, it's so dumb, it's so dumb and and here's, here's the problem. You guys I was thinking about, you know, this whole movement of equality and I'm all for it. I'm all for everyone feeling good about themselves, totally good with that.

Speaker 1:

The problem is we are confusing equality with value. They are very, very different things. Every single being in the world has the exact same value. Every single person, regardless of your race, your socioeconomic status, your sexuality, your gender, your ideology, your political stance, your views on life. It does not matter any of that. You have the exact same value as the person next to you. We should not confuse that with equality. They are different.

Speaker 1:

There should be inequalities. Someone who is willing to work harder than someone else deserves to have more, deserves to get more. That, by all intents and purposes, is not equal. It is not equal. It is not equal. It doesn't change the value of the person. But there should be inequalities. You know why? Because inequalities lead to development. Inequalities lead to progress. Inequalities lead to people getting out of situations they don't like. It leads to people working hard to improve. If there's no inequalities, nothing goes anywhere. It stays the same. Humans are built to be resilient. Humans are built to fight, to work. That's literally what we're built for and it comes from inequalities here and there.

Speaker 1:

And you can argue with me. That's fine. It's totally okay to not agree with me. Totally fine, because truth is a matter of circumstance. Right? I'm not saying that this is truth. This is my opinion. Truth is a matter of circumstance. It's not everything to everyone all the time, and that is a quote from Black Widow from the Captain America movie. So hashtag women, women's rights, women's strength. But it's not right. This is my opinion, but I believe it to be correct. I believe it to be true.

Speaker 1:

I would love for somebody to argue with me how there's a difference between, like you should be all equal. I don't think so. Everyone should have the same exact value and be treated that they have the same value. But to say that we're equal is so stupid, it's so insane. I could beat the crap out of most girls, and that's not because they're weak, it's not because they aren't as good as me or they have less value. It's because I have a lot of testosterone and I train to be very strong every day. And if that offends somebody, they go. Oh, that hurts my feelings. It makes me feel inadequate. That's not the point. I'm not trying to do that. I'm trying to say that inequalities aren't bad. They're not a bad thing. We should treat each other with the same exact value, but understand that there's differences, and I can do some things really good and you can do some things really good and you can do some things really good. And guess what? That makes the whole world better when people are different and have different strengths and different things, that they equate power to it's.

Speaker 1:

It's so bad to be always seeking for equal everything all the time. Yuck, who wants to live like that? There's no. There's no diversity. There's no, there's no differences anywhere. Shut the fuck up. That's such a bad way of living. It's so dumb, so dumb.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, I know this is going to make a lot of people uncomfortable and you probably turned off the episode by now, and that's okay, totally fine, I don't care, let's talk. I don't know. Yeah, it's just, I get really angry when people are are doing things that rile people up, that don't need to be riled up, that don't need to happen. It's just, use your mind, be kind to people, treat everyone with the same value and let the world be different. It's okay, oh man, so okay.

Speaker 1:

So I got to ask this question what are my favorite things? This is all about the Olympics. By the way, y'all this is hot, take on the Olympics. What my favorite sporting events are in the Olympics and it's a very easy one for me it's gymnastics. I will watch that forever. I think it's so amazing. Simone Biles is the greatest athlete in my mind of all time. She's so good, um, incredible, like. She has three or four moves named after her because she invented them and was the only one that could do them at the time. Now people can do them because she showed them how. But, um, so gymnastics is definitely number one. Track and field is up there. Weightlifting is up there. Um, what else? Uh, swimming, I love swimming.

Speaker 1:

Uh, here's the thing they keep adding things to the Olympics that I think are so stupid, and not because I think less of the sport. Okay, so break. Dancing and skateboarding are now an Olympic sport. Shooting rifles and pistols is an Olympic sport. Um, there's a lot of other sports that I think are silly, that are part of the Olympics. Here's the thing if I can do them as a hobby, don't make it an Olympic sport.

Speaker 1:

If I practiced for, let me just try to paint the picture for you, if I practiced for I don't know how long they practice for every day, 10 hours, eight hours, working on shooting, working on skateboarding, working on dancing I would probably get pretty effing good. Not Olympic level, I'm not being arrogant or cocky about it, but if I worked on something for hours and hours, and hours, and hours and hours, I would definitely get very, very good at it. Because that's what happens when you work on something consistently and with hard effort. Because I did work on gymnastics, but if I worked on basketball or I worked on diving or I worked on swimming, or if I worked on track and field like sprinting or jumping or throwing, guess what I could put in all of the time and I would never have any hope of getting to that level at all, ever.

Speaker 1:

Because it's not just a mixture of hard work, it's a mixture of how you are built genetically, the amount of skill that you god-given have, the amount of talent that you have, the ability that you possess, talent that you have, the ability that you possess. Those are what should be an Olympic sport, because those people are for lack of a less cliche phrase built differently. They are built different. They are built different. The amount of people that could be really, really really good at gymnastics. The amount of people that could be unbelievably good at gymnastics is so incredibly small. It's ridiculous. The amount of people that could get really really good at shooting is very high, and if you can have a lot of people get really good at something, it shouldn't be an Olympic sport, it just shouldn't it like.

Speaker 1:

It's so silly to me to be like, oh, let's try to include all these new sports and stuff. No, don't do that. Don't do that. That's embarrassing, that's weak. It makes it makes the human race look really stupid with you're. You're going to give a gold medal to Simone Biles and someone who can shoot a gun. That's crazy, dude. And I'm not trying to downplay the sports, I'm not trying to poo-poo anybody who does those things because shout out to them, they're putting their life into it. Great, you found something that you're obsessed with, awesome, pursue that. But to say that they're on the same level is so silly to me. It's laughable. It is laughable.

Speaker 1:

I think there should be way less Olympic sports. And you know what would happen if they did. Way more people would tune in because they would be like, oh, I don't have to watch 9,000 things happen on the same day. I only have to tune in. I get a six hour window to watch swimming and gymnastics and track and field and table tennis and there you go. Boom, okay, cool, I can tune into that. I would love that. Let's see the best in the world. Do world do that like that's? It's so silly to me that we have these things that are just hobbies that people got really good at, versus something where you literally have to have a different genetic makeup to be good at.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, I just yeah, that's my hot take for the Olympics. I think that it's just so. The Olympics sucks now it just sucks. The athletes don't. The athletes are amazing. Don't get it twisted. The athletes are incredible, amazing that they're, they're doing what they do at the level that they do it. But the Olympics sucks. Needs to change Hands down, just needs to change.

Speaker 1:

Um, anyway, sorry, that's been like so negative fam, so freaking negative. Um, I'm sorry, I just I had to get it off my chest. I was it's what I've been thinking about, obviously the whole time, because it's in my face all the time. Um, anyway, uh, let's move on to like let's let's talk about happy stuff, you know? Um, so I was. I was, um, talking with a, a client of mine, who's having a birthday soon, um, a big number birthday. Uh, I'm not going to say what it is, I don't want to blast him out, make him uncomfortable, but he was talking to me about and he's not just a client, he's a good friend of mine Um, he was talking to me about how he is really contemplating life now, and you know that happens from time to time. Things happen. You go, oh wow, life is real bro.

Speaker 1:

And we started like going down the religious road and then we went down the like obviously, the theology road and we went down the philosophical road and the political road, all while we were doing, you know, upper body curls and shoulder press. So we're sitting there and we're talking about the value of life and like what we do and like it hit me obviously everybody knows this and we talk about all the time but like life is so incredibly short. Now here's the thing Not only is it short, it is so insane. The chances of you just being in existence, like it's something that we don't really think about very often and we should, because we would value life more, I think the chance of you having a thought. Being capable of thinking a thought is like a trillion to one. It's so absurdly insane that you exist that I don't know why we worry about dumb things like politics and we go oh, but that's everything. It's how humans become better and it's how we do things now today. Okay, cool, so you're just giving in to sucking.

Speaker 1:

Like why, though, there's so much to do, there's so much to be and to improve on. Like the reason like obviously, this came up is because we were talking about how hard we have to work to improve, and like why we work out so hard. I was talking to him about what I had done previously. He's like oh my gosh, dude, that sounds killer. I was like yeah, dude, but like, why not, though? What other option is there? To go home and binge, watch a stupid screen, some freaking pixels on a screen. Like what are we talking about, dude? You didn't go and make this human form that the chances of it actually being a thing is so mind numbingly crazy. Why wouldn't you go and improve this? Why wouldn't you go and test it? Why wouldn't you go and push the limits? Because tomorrow it's gone, bro, see ya, and we don't know if we get it back.

Speaker 1:

That's where you go into, like, obviously, your belief system on the afterlife and if you come back or versus, you're just a spirit figure, or if it's over Any scenario. This goes bye-bye scenario. This goes bye-bye. The fact that you as a unit, as a thing, exist is crazy. It's so. You are so freaking lucky just to exist.

Speaker 1:

So the fact that we get worried with how things go is so silly to me. We don't have to worry about that. The fact that they're happening is an absolute miracle. It's so insane, um, and we waste it, dude, we fucking waste it. It's so silly, like, how are you not wanting to to learn new things and to get better and to do more and to milk every second of every day and night for everything that it's got, instead of just ooh, I watched a TikTok video, hooray, and now I did it for three and four hours. Ugh, what a waste. Oh, and then you're dead, dude, holy freaking, you're gone. It's oh anyway.

Speaker 1:

So we're talking about this and I had this. Maybe I've talked about already, I don't know. You remember last year about this time. Actually, it might have been a year ago today. I need to check.

Speaker 1:

Um, I decided to run a marathon. Never had any interest in running a marathon, never had any desire to run a marathon, never had any interest in running a marathon, never had any desire to run a marathon. I'd never run more than five miles in my life ever and decided to run a marathon with my brother on a dare. And guess what? It wasn't like a normal marathon where you train for you know, four or five, six months. No, no, no, no, no, no. This was hey, dude, let's do this in four weeks. You good, okay, cool, let's try. Um, so I, I swore after that. I was in so much pain, the most physical pain I've been in for possibly ever. Um, I swear after that I would never do another marathon. I was like absolutely not, there is no reason.

Speaker 1:

Now, after this conversation with my client and friend, I was like you know what? I'm going to do? Another marathon with this caveat Okay, I wish you could see me because I'm staring you down right now. I will run a marathon with anyone who wants to. Anybody who listens to this is more than welcome to join me. And guess what? There won't be medals, there won't be crowds helping you. There won't be anything other than you and your willpower. I'm going to run a marathon, I'm going to trap it out where I need to go the route and I'm not going for time. I'm not trying to race anybody. I'm not doing it for accolades. I'm not doing it as a way to get into another marathon. I'm not doing it for any other reason than it was the hardest thing I've ever done and I want to do it solely to say that I can do it off of willpower. I'm not doing it for a medal, I'm not doing it for my brother, I'm not doing it for the a time, I'm not doing it for any other reason.

Speaker 1:

Then it's very challenging, the most challenging, and I want to do it and go to work the next day. How about that? How about that? We need to do way more difficult things, way more difficult things, way more difficult things. You know why? Because if you don't, life will give you difficult things. I'm going to give myself the most difficult thing and then be fine with it. I don't need applause, I don't need hugs, I don't need oh, you did it. You're so incredible, no F that I did it. Because I did it. How about that? Because life is way too inconsequential to not do hard and incredible things. Um, but, yeah, just deep thoughts from working out, I just, I mean, that's probably going to be your final takeaway.

Speaker 1:

Honestly, it really is, um, but this has been a a intense episode. A very authentic on my part, episode Um. A very authentic on my part, episode Um. I. I hope that that people listening did not get in their feels to the point where they let themselves be offended by anything because they are just opinions. Um, I hope that that something resonated with you, um, but uh, let's, let's do something a little bit less dramatic and less downer, I guess.

Speaker 1:

And so let's get to the Devil's Advocate. All right, so if you've tuned in before, you know what the Devil's Advocate is. It's a part of the show probably the most entertaining part, honestly where I get to argue a point or a belief or an event or something, where I get to take two sides of an idea and hopefully, fingers crossed, always the goal, give an equal amount of attention and belief and effort into the argument, regardless of what I believe. It's an exercise that keeps me open-minded. It's an exercise that, hopefully, people listening keeps them open-minded. It's an exercise that, hopefully, people that listening keeps them open-minded, um, and allows for discussion with you and your friends with you and your family with you and somebody, um, or just with yourself, cause that's what I do all the time is argue with myself. So and again, I don't know if I've done this one before. It's something that I love to talk about, so I probably have done it in the past. If I did, oh well, this is what freaking 88 episodes in, or something. So, yeah, I'm bound to repeat something. Hashtag. Sorry, not sorry, but your devil's advocate today is and if you watch Lewis Howes, this is where this came from, and if you watch Lewis Howes, this is where this came from Is it more important and valuable and good for you to be less negative in your life or to be more positive?

Speaker 1:

Which one should you focus on if you want to live a better, more well-rounded, happier, healthier life? And right out the gate, you guys know me. If you know me, I should rephrase that Exactly like everybody listening knows me, they don't. If you know me, if you've been around me, I'm a very positive person and I don't say that with vanity, like oh, I'm better than no, I just like being positive. My brain is positive. Um, it just that's. I prefer that Um, and I know that sounds silly, like, well, no, everybody does, yeah, but a lot of people stay negative. Um, I don't. It's really hard for me to be negative for very long because I don't like the way it feels. I don't like the thoughts that I have when I'm negative.

Speaker 1:

So I'm a huge proponent of always being more positive, more positive, put more positivity into things. And you know, like um, for instance, like when we're, when I work out with people, I'm not the type of coach, um that that uses like a negative um encouragement, and I don't know if you've ever heard that before. I just don't do it, I don't like it, I don't think it works, it never worked. Um, when I was a, a, an athlete, but I I've never used negative like, oh, stop being a pussy, stop Like, uh, you know, like, give me one more, don't you dare stop.

Speaker 1:

Like negative encouragement, I don't use it, I don't use it. Um, and some people like, are not used to it, and I can tell when we train, because they'll say like oh, I'm sorry, I give, I don't care, I'm happy that you pushed, I'm happy that you did something Like. I will always, always, always be like no, you're good, you're good, you're happy that you pushed. I'm happy that you did something like. I will always, always, always be like no, you're good, you're good, you're good, keep going, keep going. Even if you fail a rep, even if you don't do it correctly, I will always give you encouragement, like that's just how my brain works.

Speaker 1:

It immediately goes to positivity always. So I'm always encouraging people to be more positive. Why? Because life is effing hard and and it's not a natural thing, I think, to be positive Because your body is always in like a defense mode. Positivity is not defensive, positivity is offensive. You have to be positive. Negativity is just there and life sucks and it's hard. So you have to work on being positive, because your natural reaction is to be negative oh, this person did something, this person cut me off, or whatever it is. It's like negativity is a gut reaction Most of the time of like oh, this happened, defense, but I got. I got to protect, to protect myself, I've got to protect my whatever. I have to protect my mind, I have to protect my image, my whatever.

Speaker 1:

And so I think that being more like putting time into being more positive, is way more effective than just being less negative, because you can just be like oh yeah, just being less negative because you can be like oh yeah, I'm less negative and not really change your, your attitude. Like what? What do you mean? Be less negative? Like that's? That's a silly way to to saying be more positive. Like, like, and and be more positive is actionable. Right, like, I can work on, like, oh, if somebody does this, this will be my response. I will, I will be more positive. I will answer in this way Um, you know, I'm going to to wake up in the morning and you know this is a big.

Speaker 1:

This got really trendy for a while. Um might still be a trend, but I'm going to give myself daily affirmations. Um, I'm going to look in the mirror when I wake up and these are my affirmations. Guess what? That's being more positive. You're being more positive with yourself. You're being more positive with other people. You're giving them compliments, whatever it is. You are being more positive, and there's a reason those things get trendy and it's because they work.

Speaker 1:

If you talk to anybody you know, or or the the daily affirmations, what about a gratitude journal? That's huge. People do that all the time. That's being more positive. You're being more positive about your life by being grateful. Oh, I'm thankful for this. I'm grateful that I have this good job. I'm grateful that I ran into this person that made me smile today. I'm grateful that I got this hat, or I'm grateful that I was able to have a great meal today, or whatever it is that, or I'm grateful that I was able to have a great meal today, or whatever it is.

Speaker 1:

That's being more positive, and the more positive you are, the more positive things will be in your life. And it's that whole the Secret book where you attract the things that you think about and the things that you verbalize and the things that you put out into the world. You'll attract those same things. So if you're more positive, you're going to have more positive things happen to you. Um, and so I think definitely putting effort into being more positive is is going to breed way bigger and better results, because you'll actually be consciously focusing on doing things and being on the offensive rather than the defensive. So, yeah, I think that being more positive is the way to go if you want to live a better life.

Speaker 1:

Now, on the flip side of that, there are studies that show that if you focus on being less negative and I don't remember the actual studies. I wish I had written it down. You know your boy just thinks and goes and goes, and goes and doesn't ever write it down. He just remembers stuff.

Speaker 1:

There are studies that show, percentage-wise, people who focus on being less negative, and they've done this in study groups where they had people do things thinking more positively versus just thinking less negative. And they've done this in study groups where they had people do things, you know, thinking more positively versus just thinking less negative. And the people that thought less negative had a better mindset about themselves, a healthier interaction with other people, a more consistent level of emotional response to things, rather than this really high, high and really low lows. The people that were thinking less negative and trained in the right way to do that, percentage-wise, were way higher emotionally intelligent and emotionally healthy because they were consistent. They were way more consistent with their emotions and their responses to things, rather than the people that were trained to think more positively and they went down this deep road.

Speaker 1:

Obviously they have statistics and all the scientific stuff that they do, but in layman's terms, at the base level, when you are just thinking less negative like if you catch yourself thinking negative, get yourself out of it it's a lot easier to do because you don't have to do things. I don't have to have the stress of keeping a gratitude journal because, guess what, if you don't, you're going to beat yourself up. Oh, I didn't, I didn't keep my gratitude journal. That's a negative thing that you just told yourself. I wasn't good enough to do this. You know, if I miss doing something more positive, I think negatively about myself in essence.

Speaker 1:

And so when you just think less negative, you don't have the pressure of forcing yourself to do anything. You don't have, um, the, the added intensity of okay, how, how do I become more positive? It's something more to do. No, no, no, I'm taking something out of my life rather than piling something more on my life. Um, you know more on my life, um, you know, and and as you think quote unquote less negative. What starts to happen is your brain and and your viewpoint just starts to think clearly. It's not necessarily that you're more positive, it's just there's less bad things that you think there's. There's less bad things that you think there's, there's less. There's less, um, what, what's the word I'm looking for? There's, there's less room for there to be negative things because, because they just aren't there.

Speaker 1:

Like rather than so think about like this if I'm, if I'm climbing a mountain right and I'm piling more and more positivity, that's a steep mountain to climb. I have to do all these. I have to be more positive. I have to work really hard to be more positive, whereas if I am taking things away and saying, oh, that's negative, I don't need that, I'm just going to be less negative, I'm just going to take that out. Rather than having to do something, I don't have to work as hard and the same result happens. I don't have to have the added stress of putting this forward. I just go, oh, I'm being negative here, so, so now I'm not going to be, and it goes there. And then all of a sudden your brain gets rewired where you don't start thinking negative at all. You just don't think it. It's not part of what you do, and that's kind of how I've become very confident in myself and very happy and satisfied.

Speaker 1:

Is not because I keep a gratitude journal, I don't do daily affirmations, I don't focus on working, on being positive. I just if a negative thought comes in, I push it out. If, if I, I tell my, my, my people all the time I don't have time for, for people who are negative and people who don't share my viewpoints, um, in life, like like I'm not saying opinionated, I'm saying like the same energy I just don't have them in my life. I, I have a very small circle of friends. I have a very, very close. I have like legit six people that I that I, I have a very, very close. I have like legit six people that I consider very close friends.

Speaker 1:

I don't really have people in my life that are negative, because I've lessened that, I've taken those things out of my life. I don't consume negative things on the internet, negative things on the internet. I don't watch negative movies and shows because I'm eliminating the negativity and it was very easy. I just didn't do it and because of that I'm way happier. My brain just doesn't think negative because I eliminated. I had less and less and less and less negativity and now it's. I don't have to really work. My life is pretty consistent. I don't really have super high highs or super low lows. I'm very, very consistent. Thankfully, um, because I just didn't want to have negativity, and it wasn't that I had to be more positive, I just didn't want to have negativity and it wasn't that I had to be more positive. I just had to have less negative.

Speaker 1:

So let me know what you think. That's your devil's advocate. What is more beneficial to you? What have you tried? What do you think about that? Let me know via the messaging capabilities on the podcast. Let me know. Or, if you follow me on Instagram, hit me up on that as well and let me know what you actually truly believe. Is it more impactful to be less negative or to be more positive? So what are you going to put your time into? That's your debate. That's your devil's advocate.

Speaker 1:

Um, but before we get out of here, the most important part of the show it is your final takeaway. Your final takeaway is the most important part of the show. If you miss anything and you just get pissed off and you're bored, you want to skip ahead. Always, skip ahead to the final takeaway. It is the part of the show if you haven't listened before where I give actionable things to do that I truly believe, with all my heart, will make you a better person, because I've tried them. I will never ask anybody to do something that I haven't tried, and so these things are things that I've tried and I know that work that have made my life better, have made me more positive, have improved me in some way, have improved me in some way. Whether that's a way of thinking, whether that's a thought, whether that's a book, whether that's an actionable thing to do, it doesn't matter what it is. It's supposed to be designed to help you live a better life, based off of personal experience. So your final takeaway today has to do with the conversation I had um with my client, and that is to take the harder option for the sake of taking the harder option.

Speaker 1:

Um, I think that that today's society has become so reliant on what's the easiest way of doing things, and you can see that it's led to really, really, really bad things. What's the easiest way to make food? What's the fastest way to make food? Oh well, now you have literal chemical garbage being sold as food because we were trying to find the easiest way of doing it. You know what's not easy Cooking a very, very, very well-balanced and delicious meal. It's not easy. It's not Period Hands down. It's not easy to do. It's so much easier to just order a pizza or to go to freaking Wendy's and get a burger. That's so much easier and that's a silly way of proving this point that just because it's easy doesn't mean you should do it.

Speaker 1:

You to do which is something that I'm trying to do more of, and every time I do it I'm always happy I did is take the harder option more. I'm not saying do it every single time, right. I'm not saying that because there's some things that it's beautiful, how easy it is. Take, for instance, travel Fly to Utah. Drive to Utah Hands down going to fly every single time. If I can, that's the easier option and that's a good way. That's a good thing to do is to take that easy option, for sure.

Speaker 1:

But if you want to improve yourself and become better and become more confident in who you are, find things in your life that you can take the harder option and run with it. Don't always find the easiest way of doing things because it doesn't improve you at all, it doesn't build any sort of resilience, it doesn't build any confidence, it doesn't build any self-image support. It's just easy. That's all it is. It's just easier. It doesn't make your life better, it doesn't make your mindset stronger, it doesn't make you a better person, it's just easy. So find things in your life that you can practically do.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I'm not saying be impractical here. Be realistic. Do things the harder way of doing them to make yourself better, to show that you have control, to show that you are willing to do hard things, that you are willing to put yourself through discomfort even when there's an option to be more comfortable. Right, take those harder options. You know, the obvious one that everybody always talks about is take the stairs versus the elevators. Okay, great, cool. I'm not saying, do that every time. That's not what I'm saying. But you should do things like. There should be situations that arise that are not life and death, situations that don't destroy your day, that don't completely ruin your schedule. There are things that come up that you should look at and go oh, that's the easy option, that's a hard option. I'm going to take the harder option because it makes me stronger. Period, end of story. Do that and I promise you, I guarantee you, over time you will become a much more confident, much more resilient and much more happy and positive person when you can. I love you guys. Thank you for tuning in.

Speaker 1:

I hope that the first half was not too intense or offensive. That was never my point. That is never my agenda. I hope that you found some sort of beauty in this, some sort of something helpful, something that you took away, something that improved your life, and, if you did, please share it with with people on social media, share it with people on text message. You can share it, you know, any way you can share it.

Speaker 1:

I want, I want people to feel good and to feel positive and have their minds opened. Um, and if again, if you have ideas for me, for devil's advocates, if you have people you want to hear from like for me to interview, I would love to interview people. Um, and yeah, just just stay on top of this. I'm going to be way more consistent with this and and uh, get videos out there and really start to promote this and grow this, um, in hopes that it changes lives, because I love you guys and I I want to be there for as many people as possible and to be a good influence and a positive energy for people in the world. So, anyway, I'm going to just shut up now. I love you guys. Thank you for tuning in. I'm here for you always. You're an amazing person. I hope you know that. I genuinely mean that. This is the Fit Perception Podcast. I'm your boy T, and I'm out. One, one, one, one.