100 IRONMAN TRIATHLONS IN 100 DAYS! w/ James Lawrence

What is it that drives a man to the outer boundaries of physical and mental endurance? Is it possible to push past the human body’s PERCEIVED LIMITATIONS and do what no person has ever done before? In a word, YES! And James Lawrence, the IRON COWBOY, is the man who has done just that. I think we can all agree that completing a single IRON MAN TRIATHLON by itself is an INCREDIBLE athletic feat. However, lots of people have accomplished it, so James set a much loftier goal: 50 Ironmans, 50 states, and on 50 consecutive days. Impressive, right? Of course, it is. But that wasn’t enough for James. So earlier this year, he embarked on Conquer One Hundred -- 100 FULL-DISTANCE TRIATHLONS IN 100 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. That’s 140.6 miles a day for 14 weeks, totaling 14,060 miles. Absolutely MIIND-BOGGLING! Obviously, you need to be in PEAK PHYSICAL CONDITION to do this. Just as important, you have to have an unparalleled degree of MENTAL TOUGHNESS as well. In this episode, James and I talk about the importance of PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY, how to OVERCOME ADVERSITY, and why setbacks and hitting rock bottom are so important as you make the journey toward your goal. James also reveals his number one SECRET to mental toughness and SETTING GOALS, and how these things can apply to you. And believe it or not, the first 20 of the Ironmans were harder than the rest. That’s because James understood the need to ADAPT AND EVOLVE as he approached each day, especially after he learned he had developed a STRESS FRACTURE early on in the Conquer One Hundred project. Learning to adapt and evolve is an incredibly IMPORTANT LESSON for you to embrace as well. We also have an extended discussion about being PRESENT IN THE MOMENT and breaking large tasks down into small and focused efforts. PRO TIP: The secret to taking on 100 triathlons (or any task for that matter) is one step and one mile at a time. James also reveals why it’s essential to have COMPELLING reasons before you can succeed. He touches upon using internal motivation and channeling that into your external efforts. This is a jam-packed and EMOTIONAL discussion about how to push yourself to new limits. And as you’ll see, James Lawrence is a REMARKABLE human being on many levels. 👉 SUBSCRIBE TO ED'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL NOW 👈 → → → CONNECT WITH ED MYLETT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ← ← ← ▶︎ INSTAGRAM ▶︎ FACEBOOK ▶︎ LINKEDIN ▶︎ TWITTER ▶︎ WEBSITE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Ed Mylett?

  I hear so many small business owners say the exact same thing. They just never have enough time in the day. Well, I measure time differently. I've compressed, condensed, heck, I've bent time. My first day is 6:00 a.m. to noon. My second day starts at noon and goes till 6:00 P.M. And my third day, 6:00 P.M. to midnight. I now get 21 days a week. Stack that up over a month, over a year, over five years, and my life's completely different than it would have been otherwise. And if you want to win as an entrepreneur, you have to compress your time, too. And you definitely can't afford to waste it. Waiting weeks on a big bank for capital? Your best bet's to work with my friends at Cardiff. They know how to compress time for entrepreneurs. They get your business approved in minutes and funded the very same day. They're America's favorite small business lender, and for good reason.

• 0:45Ed Mylett?

  Over 20 years in business, over $12 billion deployed to small business across America. Stop letting bank delays slow down your momentum. Head to cardiff.co/ed. That's cardiff.co/ed. Cardiff.co. Real growth, fast funding. Cardiff. Borrow better.

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  This is the Ed Mylett Show.

• 1:48Ed Mylett?

  Welcome back to the show, everybody. Hey, have you ever thought about, like, running a marathon? Because I've thought about it. I'm like, there's a, there's an Ironman in Coeur d'Alene where I spent my summers. Just the marathon part of it, I was like, that's bananas. 26 miles, you know? And have you ever thought about doing that? Or you ever watched one of these Ironmans and go, man, I'm gonna do that someday? And by the way, it's like about a two and a half mile swim, 112 miles on a bike, 26 mile run. That's kind of what an iron length triathlon is. What you imagine doing one of those? Then I want you to imagine getting up the next day and doing it again. Can you imagine back to back days?

• 2:28Ed Mylett?

  Then I want you to contemplate thinking about doing it 30 freaking days in a row. You got that? How about 50 days in a row? How about 100 days in a row? Get your mind around that, okay? That would be one of the great all time athletic endurance feats in the history of the world and simultaneously, one of the great mental toughness and resiliency feats of all time. Guess what? I got the dude here today who did it 100 in a row in 100 days. His name is Iron Cowboy, James Lawrence. Welcome to the program, brother.

• 3:12James Lawrence?

  Hey, Ed, man, I, I gotta tell you, I'm, I'm gonna try to keep it together as, as we talk. Obviously just came off of insanely emotional journey, physically, mentally, spiritually. But I gotta tell you, huge, huge love, adoration and respect for you. You maybe single handedly and unknowingly got me through this quarter of a year challenge because during the 112 mile, I cried every day. I, I would tee you up, man. And you're, you're, I don't know if it was just how soothing your voice was, but like I was like, I, I, I got to the point where I got through all of it and then I would have to wait because

• 3:55James Lawrence?

  I caught up and I'd have to wait till, you know, the next one dropped and I was always so excited when it did. And so I just wanted to say, man, thank you so much for, for being part of my journey, not knowing you were part of my journey. So, so, yeah, I just wanted to.

• 4:09Ed Mylett?

  I did see a post from one of your daughters that had said that you were listening to the show during it. It makes me choked up to think it for two reasons. Number one, it's an honor to have been a speck in the sand of the beach of what you did. Number two, it's as close as I'm ever gonna get to doing what you did. So at least I was, at least I was in your ears, brother.

• 4:27James Lawrence?

  Yeah, you were, you were out there every day with me, brother.

• 4:29Ed Mylett?

  So, hey, everybody, so we're gonna talk today about all kinds of stuff. Obviously, you know. Resisting quitting, overcoming fear, overcoming pain, mental toughness. Honestly, I, if you, if you listen to that introduction, everybody, it would sound like this is crazy. But it's not. And then also he did it for Underground Railroad, you know, raising money. There was a reason behind it. There's so many things, but I want to go back. Just because you would think you do this, and even looking at you, you look like a wrestler. I think visually, when I look at you, you look like a wrestler. I'm thinking this dude, I'm gonna, when I, you know, we've been following each other for a while. I'm thinking, I'm gonna see this guy. He's probably 6'3", you know, real long legs, super lean. He's probably got some athletic advantage because everybody wants to discount success, right? I's probably got some.

• 5:14Ed Mylett?

  Then I started reading on it. This guy was a high school wrestler, like, lost about every match his freshman year. So there was no gift there. Kind of tried to play a little professional golf. You know, that didn't work out. But visually, it's not like you have some athletic gift to be doing this, right? So what, what was the, what was the catalyst to get you go, I'm gonna do some endurance sports? What made you do that?

• 5:34James Lawrence?

  It's interesting. I mean, everybody has a start to their journey, right? And like you said, I grew up wrestling. I loved it. I, I gravitate towards individual sports. Cause like, not realizing it, but looking back on what I've done, I, I did wrestling and then golf and then triathlon, and they're all individual sports because I love that if I win or I lose, it's my fault. And, and I love that accountability of it. And man, I, like you said, I got, I got too old. Beyond comprehension when I first started wrestling, but then I went undefeated my senior year and went on to represent Canada, which is where I grew up.

• 6:16James Lawrence?

  And then I got married and found my beautiful bride and we now have got five kids, just celebrated 20 years of marriage. But, but back in the day, she was into running and she was like, hey, let's go do this four mile fun run. And I'm like, what are you talking about? Nobody says fun. And have you ever seen a runner like going down the road smiling? No, it's impossible. Like, stop talking. And she was like, just come do it. It'll be fun. I'm like, it's Thanksgiving. I'm like, okay, I'll be the good husband. I'll go support my wife. And dude, I, I distinctly remember like, I'm like, my heart's pounding, my lungs feel like they're gonna explode. And I look over and these beautiful women.

• 6:57James Lawrence?

  Just pushing their their kids in strollers, laughing and talking, just blowing by me. And I'm like, what the hell is that? Like, I'm a physical specimen. Like, what is going on that this is happening in my life right now? And so it it allowed me to sit back and and do kind of like a mini audit on where I was physically in my life. And and I had some situational depression and I was a new father of these two beautiful girls. And I I just was like trying to figure out my place. And and Sonny comes up to me, it was Thanksgiving, looks right at me and she's like, dude, you are pathetic. And and I was just like, whoa, what are we talking about here? And she's like, I just, I just signed you up for the Salt Lake City Marathon. Um, figure it out.

• 7:42James Lawrence?

  And I was like, a marathon? I'm like, what's that? How far are we talking here? And she's like, well, it's twenty six point two miles and it's in four months. And and I and I just like, it just rocked me and I went and did the marathon and I actually hated it. Funny story, the MMA fights were in town. I'm a huge MMA fan. Uh, they were in town that night and I went to the stadium in Salt Lake City and I I sat down in my chair and I'm like, I'm pissed, I had this terrible marathon experience. I'm just gonna sit here and watch the show. Well, four hours go by and I go to stand up to go home and I can't.

• 8:17Ed Mylett?

  What?

• 8:18James Lawrence?

  And I looked down and my knees had swollen up to the size of cantaloupes and I could not stand up out of my chair. And so now picture the machoest of environments.

• 8:27Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 8:28James Lawrence?

  And I have to get wheelchaired out of the stadium to my car and eat just the big, like, the entire humble pie. I had to eat the whole thing, not a piece, the whole thing. And I got home and I was just like, F running and indoor sports. Like, this is so stupid. I'm like, I'm a wrestler, I'm a fighter, I'm a guy that goes to the weight room and does the weights. I don't care. And I woke up the next morning and I went, I can do that better.

• 8:55Ed Mylett?

  Did you really?

• 8:56James Lawrence?

  And I said, I am not gonna allow that moment to define who I am. And and then I over time I learned, because you hear all the time, I don't run, I've got bad knees. And I was I was that guy. I was like, I've got bad knees. It's obvious. I got bad knees. It must have been from all the wrestling. I'm not a runner. And then I I learned over educating myself and whatnot. I don't have bad knees because of running. I have bad knees because I don't run. Right. And and I started to go down this journey of endurance and I found the love for cycling and I got into the Tour de France and watching it. And I had a friend that did sprint triathlon, which is the short version. And I just fell in love. I had I had to teach myself how to

• 9:40James Lawrence?

  swim and buy a bike. And I just fell in love with the the diversity of training. And and I didn't look like everybody else, right? Like I was I carry more muscle. Right. And I remember early on, I went to Ironman, Ironman Arizona. And I was spectating. And I have no idea what his name is. But I watched the fourth place professional, he was either fourth or third, come across the line. And this dude looked like you. I mean, he was yoked. And I was like, OK, you can look like an athlete and still have success in this in this game. And so then I just really because my passion is truly like lifting and and and that's where that's where my I started in wrestling and fighting and all that. And so

• 10:25James Lawrence?

  when I saw that dude, I was like, OK, I might be able to be successful in this sport. And I just fell in love with the the diversity of it and the training. And then what I learned was a lot of this is mental. And going back to my roots was was triath- I mean, was was wrestling. And again, if I win or I lose, it's my fault. And I loved that. And so I just started to implement the mental side of stuff and the nutrition side of stuff. And it just became this like, big challenge for me. And over time, it just escalated. And I would try one thing and I gain experience. And and I totally long story, but I we lost everything in the economy. I used to own a mortgage company and and all of these things

• 11:09James Lawrence?

  happened. And and I remember doing my first Ironman triathlon. And I I just fell in love with it. It it and it was hard to have the perfect race. And again, it was like, I I can do better. I can do better. I can do better. And you just keep going back to the drawing board, trying to do better. And I started working for a charity and it was a charity in Africa and we ended up breaking the world record for the most half Ironmans done in a year. And and it was so cool because it was the hardest thing I could think of. It totally pushed me physically and mentally. And and as you know, the number one question that a lot of people get that that a lot of people ask or want to know in today's day and age is like, how do I become more mentally tough?

• 11:53James Lawrence?

  It's like, how do and I'm like, well, you have to show up. And it's only through experience that you can become more mentally tough. And what I've experienced over my career is like when you're when you set a goal, it should be the most intimidating, scary, but exciting goal that you've ever set for yourself. And as you work towards it, and then when you're in the middle of it, you say to yourself, this is the hardest thing I have ever done. And then you accomplish it and you're like, ah, yes, I did that. And now I have knowledge and experience and you look back at that at what was the hardest thing and you say, I can do better.

• 12:32Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 12:33James Lawrence?

  And and now you've gained, you've gained confidence and knowledge because you decided to show up and not quit. And only then can you now conceptualize the next big goal. Because I didn't wake up and just go, you know what, life is hard and I don't have much experience. But I'm going to go do conquer 100.

• 12:52Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 12:52James Lawrence?

  Right? You don't, you don't go from there to there. And if you do, I guarantee you, you're going to fail.

• 12:57Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 12:58James Lawrence?

  Because one, you don't respect the goal and you haven't endured the process to where you gain knowledge and experience. And so the that half Ironman led me to the full Ironman world record that led me to the consecutive to where.

• 13:12James Lawrence?

  I then believed that I was capable physically and mentally to do a quarter of a year of 100 consecutive full distance tries, which is unreal sports endurance history.

• 13:23Ed Mylett?

  I want to unpack that for a minute. So I want everyone to catch this because you've got a dream. Maybe you want to maybe like, maybe you're sitting here going, look, I don't know what my big thing is yet. Wouldn't you just unpack two things there because he said them, you know, in one bunch. One, this is a guy who runs, struggles through his first four mile deal. Right. Gets wheeled out of the damn arena, right? Which is incredible. Like that's after the, the, the first, the first big one you did. Then to think that this is really, this came on the heels of catastrophe in your life, which was your mortgage business failing. Right? I mean, I want everyone to understand this through one of the most difficult times in this man's life was really born this new adventure slash challenge in his life.

• 14:04Ed Mylett?

  This did not come like in, you know, spring season of his life. It came in winter time. And can you go back to that just for a minute? I mean, were you, did this give you some kind of like a release like, hey, this is something maybe I can prove myself in again. Like you said, I loved it. Did you love the actual sweating and the, you're gassed by the end of it? Or did you love the challenge of the whole thing? Because you had kind of had this business setback.

• 14:27James Lawrence?

  Yeah, I love the challenge of the whole thing and I want to congratulate anybody right now that is at rock bottom.

• 14:37James Lawrence?

  Because if you choose to get up and fight,

• 14:44James Lawrence?

  your life is going to be so spectacular. And, and to me, the best place that I could have ever been was rock bottom. Because it gave me an opportunity to claw back and fight and take back what was mine and prove who I was. And so I just want to like, look, if you're struggling right now and you feel like there's no way out, you're exactly where you need to be. And if you can wake up and say, look, I'm just going to win today. And you don't, you don't gotta get all the way there, but if you just show up and, and, and have intent with what you're doing. Dude, I'm so excited for you because that's where I was.

• 15:26James Lawrence?

  And I'm telling you, I'm, I'm living the life of my dreams right now and I, I, I have the relationship of my dreams. I've got five kids of my dreams and none of it would have happened without the lessons and the destruction and everything that I experienced. And so I, I just want to congratulate anybody listening that if you're in the thick of it and you feel like there's no way out. Congratulations, because if you choose to show up with intent every single day, ah, you, you're going to take your life back and you can, because I did. And I'm nobody.

• 15:58Ed Mylett?

  You know, bro, that's one of those I just sit and want to base in that for a minute. It made me think, by the way, you could tell he's obviously one of the best speakers in the country too. And his book, redefine impossible, the Iron Cowboy redefine impossible. It's really what you did, you redefined what was possible too, right? But I've sat at those Ironmans because I lived in Coeur d'Alene. So I've sat at an actual Ironman, one of the trademark ones. And I don't go to watch the pros finish. I've gone, I like to go at nighttime. It's usually raining and you're watching a 82 year old priest finish right before the end of the night, right? Or a guy with a prosthetic leg or a lady who's just survived stage four cancer. And what happens to you when you watch something like that?

• 16:42Ed Mylett?

  And then what you've done is some level that's just beyond comprehension almost is that I weep and everyone's crying. And I, I, after about six years of doing this, my kids are like, dad cries once a year, you know? It's watching these beautiful souls.

• 16:57James Lawrence?

  Yeah.

• 16:57Ed Mylett?

  Make something that seemed impossible, possible. And I concluded that we're all crying because we know this courage, this mental toughness, this incredible thing these people are displaying. We also have inside us and we're not utilizing. And that's why it's a tear. It's not laughter, it's a tear because I know it's tears of joy, but it's also tears of personal reflection. And when I was watching you finish this thing, I was reflecting, it's amazing you're listening to some of my stuff, but I was, I was reflecting. I just literally lost my breath saying, I was reflecting like, what am I capable of? You know, what, what's the last massive challenge I've taken on in my life? And I'm curious for you, I want to go through it. Because I think there's metaphors everywhere. So he's, by the way, the reason I started with thirty and fifty is he's done that.

• 17:42Ed Mylett?

  And then when you do the fifty and fifty, I'm like, bro, I like, you're out of your damn mind, right? And then to go do the conquer one hundred, but I'm reading about both, you know, both of those last two, it's inspiring, right? But this time, like day five, your shins start exploding, right? Like you're on day five. Talk, talk us through that. Did you think of quitting then?

• 18:02James Lawrence?

  So, so two really cool things happened that took me a little bit of time to realize. I, I went into it knowing that you can't train for a hundred consecutive. You have to adapt and evolve along the way. And I knew, look, the first fifteen and twenty of these are going to be hell. Because you've got to get to the point where you're broken physically, mentally, and then push through that. And that's where everybody quits. And if I can push through that, my body's going to adapt and evolve, and it's going to become the new normal.

• 18:33Ed Mylett?

  Stay on that. Everybody, I want you to write this down. Pull over, adapt and evolve. That's in your business, that's in your family, that's in your fitness, that's, that's the key. Go ahead, keep going.

• 18:41James Lawrence?

  Yeah. And so when I went into it with a, an ankle problem that I didn't tell anybody about, and it immediately exploded into my shin to where we developed a, a stress fracture in the bone. And super long story, but a miracle happened. We ended up getting a carbon plated shin spr- brace that allowed, allowed the, the, allowed us to offload the shin and continue on to heal that stress fracture by doing the marathon portion every single day. It was a, it was a total miracle, but a complete testament to me that you give the body the tools and assets that it needs to recover, it can still do so under stress.

• 19:27James Lawrence?

  And, and that was amazing to me to watch the body heal like that. Now, it, the, the shin and the, and the imbalance that created a hip problem became so painful, some of my worst days, I don't remember them, but we have the video footage where I would be trying to move and the pain would get to a point that I could no longer manage it and I would blackout. And my, my, we called him the wingman. My wingman would catch me, I'd come back to, and he would do a ten second countdown and then say, here we go. And we would repeat that until I got to, I'm going to be emotional, but until I got to the finish line that night. And again, it's just a testament to how powerful the mind is.

• 20:11James Lawrence?

  Now, I, I was angry because I wanted to showcase how strong our team was mentally and physically. And I wanted to make the hundred look easy. I believed we could do that.

• 20:30James Lawrence?

  And I was angry that I couldn't run. And then I was forced to walk.

• 20:43James Lawrence?

  And it turned out to be the biggest blessing of the entire campaign.

• 20:48James Lawrence?

  Why? My, my, um, my pain and discomfort forced me to walk. And every single day, we had people from around the country fly in and locals to support us. And without fail, they said, I'm so grateful you're walking. Because I wouldn't have been able to join you.

• 21:17James Lawrence?

  If you, if you weren't walking and, uh,

• 21:21James Lawrence?

  and I was hard on myself because I was like, look, I'm an athlete.

• 21:27James Lawrence?

  I want to destroy this. And as, as I, as I got deeper into it, I was like, I'm so grateful for this injury. I'm so grateful I'm walking and, and my, my pain has turned into a blessing that other people can join and have an experience. And every single day, somebody did their first 10K with me or their first marathon or their first full distance or their first hundred, a hundred mile bike ride. And every single day I got to experience somebody else's first. And it was humbling. And it was, um, yeah, humbling.

• 22:11Ed Mylett?

  Wow. I mean, by the end of this, you guys, a couple hundred people riding cyclists with them and you, I actually, for you, I'm grateful that it didn't look easy because I think you connected, at least with me, watching you struggle. I'm on Instagram every night watching these videos when it was happening and like, there were literally times for me, watching you, like I'm in tears, like not wondering the next day, just, but the, it, it's one of the most, I don't even like to say one of the most because when I say that, then I have to think of something that I think is more. It's just insanely inspiring and I can't think of something mentally or physically I've ever seen close to this because of the adversity, because of all the people that got caught up in it with you.

• 22:56Ed Mylett?

  Also though, there's another element of this that, you know, this idea of adapting, man, I'm just so glad that you said that for everybody's sake, but I, I'm curious of all of them, the one you time you did the 50 or this time, was there a moment where you're like, I'm out, I'm, I'm going to tap, like you're literally blacking out, right? So that's insane to me. But was there a time when you just consciously went, I'm in too much pain, I'm in too much, because guys, these are icy roads, snowy sometimes. You imagine shin issues on a snowy ice. Oh my gosh, like, like was there a point? Or are there lots of points where you're like, I'm out. Was there one particular, bro, where you're like, no, no, no, like this time I'm really out?

• 23:39James Lawrence?

  So, um,

• 23:44James Lawrence?

  my team is world class. Um, and, and there's, there's the core four of us. It's my wife, Sonny Joe. Um, and then the two wingmen, Casey and Aaron, and they were, they were the four of us thick and thin through the 50 and then, and then I brought those boys back on for the hundred and they played massive roles and Sonny is obviously the, the head of this, this entire thing. Um, and, and we, we just know from experience that, um, it's okay to feel and it's not okay to quit. It's okay to problem solve. It's not okay to quit. And it, and.

• 24:22James Lawrence?

  It's okay to process. And I think that's what a lot of people don't do, especially men, is they they don't allow themselves to feel and process before they hunker down and keep going. At no point in time was ever any of us saying, you know, we're quit and we gotta be talked back into it. But every single one of us had moments where we just needed to cry, to feel, be

• 24:46James Lawrence?

  supported, to where we said, okay, I've had my two minutes. I'm not going to dwell on it. We're gonna, we're gonna quickly turn this around, and we're going to get back to work. And, and, and that's the reason the four of us are so strong together, because all four of us have that mindset. And I will tell you this, the closest that I ever came to even considering it was somewhere between fifteen and twenty, where we were at the peak of that pain, where I had a, a couple of days where I was blacking out. I don't remember portions of it. And I remember standing in the shower, and I kind of just shrugged my shoulders at Sunny, and I said, I don't know how many more days I can manage the pain at that level.

• 25:32James Lawrence?

  Because when, when you've got eighty-five more days to go, that is so, it's so daunting. And when you're broken, you, it's hard to conceptualize what it's like. And I'll never forget what she said. She said,

• 25:47James Lawrence?

  you're done today.

• 25:49James Lawrence?

  And you don't have to do anything else. And all you have to do is now trust in the team. Get out of the shower, go lay on the table and let them take care of you. And then we will face whatever comes tomorrow together. And, and I think that's what a lot of people don't do is, is you've, you've got this today's mentality of the people that do decide to show up, that it's like, I gotta go in all the time. I gotta go all in all the time. I gotta hurt more than he does. And they don't take two seconds to reset mentally. And, and I can't tell you how important that was. And the valuable lesson that I learned was, you've done enough today.

• 26:33James Lawrence?

  To take two seconds and reset. And as soon as I I got into that rhythm, knowing, and and again, it it it takes, it takes putting the right team together, and then it takes letting go and trusting the team that you have put together to do their job, to do their part. And that's hard, too, as a as a man to let go of like, control of every piece of that puzzle and to go, I I surrender and I trust you to do your part. And it's hard to find good people nowadays that are willing to do their part.

• 27:07Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 27:08James Lawrence?

  Um, and and I have that team. And so when Sonny said, you've you've done enough today.

• 27:14Ed Mylett?

  Beautiful.

• 27:14James Lawrence?

  And and I think that's so important, because we go through life, and I think we're so hard on ourselves. We see ourselves differently. And how many, how many times in our lives on our journeys do we take a minute and say, you're, you're enough? You've done enough. And I think it's so important, especially as men, to be, to be vulnerable and and just say, I've done enough today. I'm gonna take on tomorrow when tomorrow comes.

• 27:40Ed Mylett?

  I'm very surprised to hear you say it, yet it resonates with me as complete truth. Just one of the biggest badass athletes of all time going, hey, man, needed to cry, needed to let it go, needed to give myself some credit, I'm enough. Like, I even sometimes, because I'm kind of like you, we're very similar. And that's why I think I'm growing to be so fond of you, is that we both have pretty masculine sides to us, but we also, whatever you want to call it, there's also sort of a, you can call it a feminine side, I guess what people call fem, if you show feelings, you're feminine, so to speak, right? I don't have any problem saying that. And sometimes people will say to me, oh, I love when you don't tell people they're enough when they're not enough. And I'm like, no, they are enough, right? And if they don't believe they're enough, they're not gonna get their A effort. How much of it is about being present, though? I would think when you have a hundred days, and I'm just spitballing here, because you're the one who did it. But.

• 28:24Ed Mylett?

  Kind of down your road, the other thing that happens when we're down or even when we're winning, we go, I'm gonna have to do this 11 more times. I'm gonna have to make phone calls 800 more days on my business career. I'm gonna have to find 9,000 more clients. Like, they start projecting further down the road and stacking this impossibility when most things are in bite-sized chunks in life. I didn't get to, wherever I am, I certainly didn't end up, you know, oceanfront or wherever it is, like, because I projected forward. If you'd have told me everything I had to do to get here, I probably would not have started. But if you said, what I gotta do today, I'll do it today, right? How much of it, I gotta think with 100 of these. It's like, it might never be the day, it might just be the next step. I don't know. What is it? How do you do that?

• 29:06James Lawrence?

  Yeah, for sure. You've got to break it down into really small manageable chunks, or you do, you get overwhelmed. And I actually call it catastrophe-ism. And what that is, is looking into the future in an event or situation that hasn't happened yet, and then continually feeding it and giving it energy until it blows out of proportion and control. And it engulfs you, consumes you, and completely breaks you down and sidelines you. And that's what happens to all of us. Like, guys, business or whatever it is, your to-do list is never going to end. And so, like, stop trying to, like, worry about the pieces of the puzzle that you don't know. And that's another great point, is like, you're not gonna know everything

• 29:48James Lawrence?

  when you start, and so stop worrying about it, but just, you gotta start and start executing. And it was interesting, I had an experience, it was deep into the campaign, well, two experiences. There was somebody, we ran on this asphalt trail by my house, and early on, somebody, I still don't know who it is, they wrote the words conquer 100 on the trail with spray paint. And then, every single day when I would complete it, they would come out and put a hash mark. I was so pissed at this person eight days in. Because every single time I would go by it and it was a reminder that I had ninety two more to go. And I was like, are you freaking kidding me? Like, stop doing whatever you're doing. I cannot, I cannot

• 30:32James Lawrence?

  compartmentalize and figure out how to do eighty two more of these. Because I'm trying to be present, stop bringing to my attention that this is happening. Now, I was grateful when there was like, there was a, you know, ninety something hash marks and I'm like, yeah, there's ninety, that each one of those represents something. And then they threw this party at fifty one when we broke, officially broke the world record and then we broke it every single day. But they were like, dude, you're halfway there. And I'm like, F you. Don't tell me I'm halfway there because that means to me I still have halfway to go. Don't bring that to my consciousness. And, and it got to the point where I had to, I had to break things down into manageable, smaller numbers to where I didn't have fourteen to go. I had nine to go till five to go.

• 31:18James Lawrence?

  And I could manage those smaller compartments. And it was interesting, I got into, I was so hyper focused on the moment, what we were doing. And some, a guy said to me, I was on ninety one. And he said, dude, you're so close, you have nine more to go. And I looked at him and I said, no, I have three. And he goes, no, no, no, no, you have nine. And I looked at him and I said, you're a moron. I have three miles to go today. And I was so focused on where I was right there in that moment. He was talking about full distance, days to go. And I, I'm not even, I'm not even like, my mind wasn't even, I could not comprehend what he was saying. And I'm like,

• 31:59James Lawrence?

  you've been with me the whole marathon. How can you not know we only have three to go? Why do you think we have nine? He was talking about days and I was so present right there on the moment that I could not comprehend what he was saying because I only had three miles to go to where I was enough that day. And so you've, you've got to be on any journey that you on, whether it's lists or business or marriage or whatever. Be there right now. I've got five kids and people are always like, hey, you know, how do you do, how do you do family? Balance and and do what you do. And I'm like, it's not about 30%, 30%, 30%. My daughters, they're teenage girls. They don't want 30% of my time.

• 32:42James Lawrence?

  Are you freaking kidding me? They want me to be all there for four minutes. Like, that's it. But when I'm there in those four minutes, I better be there with them for those four minutes.

• 32:56Ed Mylett?

  I think, James, I think you've hit on something, brother, because I I'm gonna tell you, the peak performers that I coach, you know, outside, too. They have an ability to shrink timeframes. And so they have a long-term plan, like you set out. Conquer 100. That's the long-term vision. Most people can get that done. They go, I want a beach house. I want a dream relationship. I want 8% body fat. That the big thing, most people can get there. It's the day-to-day executing at a super high level in a hyper-focused intentional state that most people don't have. And it's because they're projecting into the future. And to some extent, that projection into the future is a cop-out distracting from your lack of execution right now.

• 33:39Ed Mylett?

  And the best pitchers aren't trying to throw a no-hitter. They're trying to execute this slider low and away. The best, you know this from golf, the best golfer isn't thinking about the 16th hole on hole three. They're thinking about this nine iron to 146, five feet left of the hole in that shot.

• 33:57James Lawrence?

  I tell people all the time, you have to have a short-term memory. You have to have short-term memory and and and you have to have the vision for the long-term goal. But and I'm totally gonna botch the saying, I don't even know who said it. But like, focus and intent right now, today, will take care of the future and the long-term goal. You don't even have to worry about it if you're executing with incredible focus and intent now. Everything else takes its care of itself.

• 34:28Ed Mylett?

  Because there's so much brilliance. I've watched some of your talks. Obviously, I read the book, but you talk about, I'm gonna tell you something interesting about me that I'll share. I don't know if you have this or not, but I think if, I think people, some people might be surprised to know that I'm a, I'm easily fearful. What I mean by that is like, just because of my upbringing, when I say fearful, meaning I can, my mind will find something to worry about if I let it. And, and that's why I have to work on my mental toughness, because if I get mentally weak, my mental weakness for me manifests in different people. Mental weakness for me isn't I'm gonna quit, or I can't do this. Mental weakness for me manifests itself sometimes in anger, and it manifests itself sometimes in worry or fears. What if this happens?

• 35:11Ed Mylett?

  And you talk about like isolating and attacking a fear. I forget where I saw you say or write this, but what do you mean by that? And how the heck do you do it?

• 35:19James Lawrence?

  Yeah, so to overcome, like, to me, fear is no different than, like, fear is just an emotion. And fear, like, there's fear, there's, there's happiness, there's sadness, they're all, they're all just emotions. And we can, um, there's so many tools and resources out there to overcome any of those buckets, right? And, and the, the more we, the more we isolate ourselves and focus on something, the more it magnifies and becomes real. And so, so what people do is they have this fear, which is an irrational thought process because of either lack of preparation or experience. And so when I said that, I meant, look, you've got to realize what your fear is,

• 36:04James Lawrence?

  and then attack it with relentless pursuit and break it down into a manageable piece that you can go and then have confidence and momentum to take on the next piece of it, right? And so it's just like we were talking about being present. Let's say our fear, we'll compare that to the giant goal. Okay, you're not just gonna rush and accomplish the big goal. You've got all of the tasks that are manageable along the way as you're present to try to get there. Fear is the same thing. If fear is the big goal, you now have to break down that fear into something that is manageable and a little less scary. To where you can go and take it on head on and fight that fight.

• 36:45James Lawrence?

  Now, as you gain momentum and experience and you're getting closer to what the true root or true fear is. Now you're gaining momentum and confidence and having success along the way. By the time you get there, you've overcome it and it's no longer a fear. And that's what people need to do is they need to show up in their lives, but they need to break things down to where you gain the success. You gain the momentum and you can ultimately, you know, by the time you get there, you're a prize fighter. And you're like, let's go. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna drop kick you in the face. I'm gonna Hulk Hogan leg drop you and it's over.

• 37:16Ed Mylett?

  Somebody should be transcribing this and just turning it into a book on mental toughness and achievement. Seriously, is what it should be. I just, I'm sitting here going, by the way, I love the Hulkster. Just so you know, that's why I ate vitamins when I was a kid was because of Hulk Hogan. So, what about this? I'm gonna ask you a couple of things. What's the hardest part about this? You just said, hey man, the hardest part about conquer 100, endurance in general, the hardest part is or was what?

• 37:47James Lawrence?

  I think truly, it's believing in yourself that you can do it. Because it's belief and conviction. It's getting to the point where you have the belief and conviction where it's impossible for you to fail. And I listened to the, recently the podcast with Tim Grover.

• 38:08Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 38:08James Lawrence?

  And, and dude, stud, love his stuff, but I am gonna disagree with something he said. And, and I believe he meant it to, once you've reached this level and you want to win at the highest level. It's no longer, I showed up and that's a success. And I, and I think for the masses.

• 38:33James Lawrence?

  Showing up needs to be celebrated because they they they're so lost and this generation showing up is a problem. My daughter, my daughter is the the supervisor at her job and and this is going to blow your mind. There's a three-strike policy on a no-call-no-show. You're allowed to no-call-no-show three times before you're fired. Can you imagine an employer, when you were working and growing up and fighting and digging, you don't even, it's like, they don't even warn you. One no-call-no-show, I'm sorry, you're gone, right? The fact that in today's day and age,

• 39:16James Lawrence?

  there is a three-strike policy on a no-call-no-show completely blew my mind. And so I think I have a little bit of empathy for this. I struggle understanding it because of the massive generation gap. My kids will call me a boomer, but it's crazy that I I fall into that category. But I do think showing up needs to be celebrated because that's where it starts. And a lot of times showing up is the hardest thing because you're overwhelmed, you're daunting, and people don't have the confidence yet because they don't have the experience.

• 39:52Ed Mylett?

  Well, brother, I think one, the best ability is availability, right? And the other part of it is learning to play hurt, learning to play physically hurt, obviously in your case, but learning to play mentally hurt, showing up and playing when things are a mess at home, showing up and playing when there's no money in the bank. Because I don't think that I have a lot of superpowers, but one of them, it's ironic that you said is I would get my ass up, and I would get to the office when I didn't eat breakfast because I had no damn money for breakfast, kind of hoping if I busted my butt that day, somebody at the office would take me to lunch, right? That's the truth. And so that shows up. But you look at right now as we're

• 40:32Ed Mylett?

  recording this, the NBA playoffs are going on. It's a process of attrition. I don't think the best team's going to win this year.

• 40:40James Lawrence?

  Healthiest team is going to win.

• 40:42Ed Mylett?

  It's the Lakers, maybe. It might have been the Nets, but they they couldn't get guys to show up because they were hurt and they couldn't play hurt. There's a difference between injured and hurt. I get that. But the point I'm saying is, this year, there's probably going to be a championship held up by somebody who's not the most talented, not the most gifted, didn't have the best record during the season. Because they showed up, they could get their bodies to show up. You're absolutely right about this.

• 41:07James Lawrence?

  Can you, can you imagine if the NBA finals this year ends up being Atlanta versus Phoenix?

• 41:12Ed Mylett?

  I know.

• 41:13James Lawrence?

  Who, who would, who would have said, oh yeah, I'm going to put all my money on Atlanta, Phoenix in the finals. Like everybody wouldn't like, what are you crazy? That's like a for sure way to flush your money down the toilet.

• 41:23Ed Mylett?

  Even if one of them, even if one of them gets in, that's amazing.

• 41:26James Lawrence?

  Insane. And here, here's what's interesting about this concept is I got asked the question, hey, at what point in time during your day? Do you know that you're going to finish? And, and, and I said, well, that's easy. As soon as I get in the water.

• 41:41Ed Mylett?

  Wow.

• 41:41James Lawrence?

  And, and to me, that's where I think it's important to celebrate just showing up because in my world, when I show up, I know it's accomplished. I know it's done and, and.

• 41:52Ed Mylett?

  Showing up triggers you to finish. That's interesting.

• 41:54James Lawrence?

  Showing up triggers me to finish and it creates that momentum going forward. So really the, the answer to the question is when, at what point in time did you know you were going to be successful? And I said, well, as soon as I did the first stroke and as soon as I made the decision to show up, I knew the goal was done because how many of us don't show up and don't have that clear path to what we're doing? So for me, I, I celebrate showing up because in my mind, showing up means I've completed the goal.

• 42:23Ed Mylett?

  Yep. And I think we both, I know exactly what you mean. And I know we both know what Tim was saying at the highest level.

• 42:29James Lawrence?

  For sure. Yep.

• 42:30Ed Mylett?

  Is that there's a level passed out, but to baseline function, to get into the pool of success, you have to be there swimming, even if it's with floaties on.

• 42:39James Lawrence?

  Yep.

• 42:39Ed Mylett?

  You've got to get there, even if you're in the shallow end. You want to go play in the deep end? That's another story, right?

• 42:44James Lawrence?

  That's a different story.

• 42:44Ed Mylett?

  That's what Grover's talking about is the deepest, deepest end. But just getting in that pool, the success pool is something to be celebrated. And for you, the trigger is I'm in the pool, I'm finishing.

• 42:53James Lawrence?

  I'm done. And I think, and I think, I think it's important for people to understand that you're never going to feel ready. And that's why it's important to show up because by showing up you start to gain that knowledge and experience that you need in order to bridge that gap from where you were to where you're going. Nobody, nobody shows up and is, is an expert. I have this picture of me in my very first event where I'm holding, I was in a pool, I'm holding on to the edge of the pool, gasping for air with a nose plug on because I don't know how to, I don't know how to swim. And I promise you, nobody would have looked at that guy and said, he's going to go on and, and, and break four world records and set sports endurance history. Nobody would

• 43:38James Lawrence?

  like, that's just like St. Atlanta and Phoenix is going to be in the finals. Nobody puts their money on that guy. But that's my point, and I hope that people get from this is you need to show up when you're not ready. And when you don't have the confidence, because that's how you gain the confidence to be ready to take it to another level so that you don't have to celebrate showing up like Grover saying, you can now focus on winning, right? And to where you can just, just consciously be conscious and it like a, a, a full distance for me became routine to where my body craved doing it and it became the new normal. What would have happened had I not decided to show up because I didn't feel I was ready?

• 44:21James Lawrence?

  How many thousands of people around the world have had, has our family had an opportunity to impact? I can't tell you the, Ed, the messages that have come around the world of, of people. I, I, I was out walking on the marathon. I can't remember what day it was and a guy came up to me and he said, hey, you don't, you don't know me. But before the journey started, literally the day before the journey started, I almost took my own life. And he goes, I, I, I showed up on day one and I watched you.

• 44:52James Lawrence?

  And I just, I, I just wanted to see what you were doing. And then I showed up on day number two, and by the time I hit day number 10, I saw the intense struggle that you were going. And you set the example that you just have to keep showing up and face the demons and adversity. And things can get easier. And he goes, you saved my life.

• 45:10Ed Mylett?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 45:11James Lawrence?

  And, and I can't tell you, we have a hundred of those stories. And I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I decided not to show up when I didn't think I was worthy or had value to show up and start my journey. Because we truly have no idea who's watching, especially as a parent. I mean, our kids, holy cow. They are watching, they hear everything, they see everything. They, they may tell you they hate you, but you are their hero. And I think as adults, we need to, we have a responsibility to be the, be the best who we are at all times. Because we have no idea who's watching. And I think our kids are watching even when we think we're alone. And it's the most impactful times of our lives.

• 45:55James Lawrence?

  And I think who we are, when we think nobody's watching is who we truly are to our core and what our values truly are. And so I, I think we need to do a constant self audit of who we are in those moments when nobody's watching, because that's who our true character is. And I believe what our potential is. And so if we can be extraordinary and spectacular in the dark when we think nobody's watching. Imagine what you can do when the lights are on and you, and you have thousands of people watching you. Imagine the impact that you can have on individuals if you were to show up in your life with that type of intent every single day. The, the, the legacy that you could leave if that's who you were on a, on a 24 hour basis.

• 46:41Ed Mylett?

  I, uh, you said earlier that fear is an emotion. One of these things about kids, I would just add that you're saying our kids are watching everything. And I used to think your kids are going to behave just like you behave. That's not always true. Some do, some don't. That they're going to think just like you think, some do, some don't. Let me tell you what I think most kids end up marrying as they become adults. Your emotions. So if they see you live with a particular set of emotions, anger, fear, worry, depression, their life may go out and they may produce external results, but they'll find themselves, their emotional home being those same emotions they saw you experiencing. And so, but if they see you experiencing, you know, joy, ecstasy, passion, triumph, challenge, you know, these other emotions, they do mirror.

• 47:26Ed Mylett?

  I found that, you know, my dad's life was very different than mine, right? You know, that he had drank and you all that, but I, as I got older, I was, I behaved a little bit like my dad, but I did sort of experience the same emotions as him, even though our external lives are very different. Some of those emotions I wanted to have because I loved my dad, but some of them I didn't. And I'm like, why am I not happier? Why am I down when I've got all this stuff? I learned to embody those emotions, watching my dad all those years. And so you listening to this, what emotions do you carry that are your parents? And in front of your children, what emotions are they seeing you experience? Cause they see you in the quiet times. They see you driving in the car. They see you when you get home from work and it's, oh, right? They see those things. And so be cognizant of your emotions.

• 48:08Ed Mylett?

  Speaking of emotions, I gotta think to do something this again, we've got a couple more minutes. Thank you for today, by the way, and I mean that someone transcribed this, put it in a book and sell the heck out of it. But, um, what about your reasons? I say, I think big goals are awesome, but when I meet people that have deep emotional reasons for doing this, or whatever it is they're doing, that typically overrides most pain, most fear, most adversity, when they can reflect on those reasons. What are yours? And is there any time during these hundred days that you reflect on it? Either during the running, swimming or biking, or when you're resting in the evening?

• 48:46James Lawrence?

  I think the number one reason people fail in anything that they're doing is because the reason, the benefit, the value didn't match the sacrifice that they were, they were doing. And I think, um, that is the reason why most people fail is because they haven't put enough thought and time into what they're doing. And I call it a bag of whys. And everybody says, what's your why? What's your reason? And I promise you, if you go into a journey that has meaning, uh, that is going to push you to the brink, that is going to challenge you to your very core. It's going to back you into a corner and you're going to experience some darkness that you've never felt. I promise you, your one reason is not enough.

• 49:30James Lawrence?

  And you're going to have to pull all of the reasons and put them together into one big ball of purpose and reason in order to overcome that moment. Because you're going to get there and you're going to go, this is why I started. Now that I'm in the pain that I'm in and I'm backed into the corner. Ah, that's not enough and I'm out. And so, so if you're on the cusp of something big and on a journey. I think it's super important to sit back and reflect and start to compile the reasons that, that you're doing it and, and it can't be a lifetime reason, right? Things are always going to evolve and change. When I was on the 50, we had lost everything. We were broke. I wasn't financially stable. We, we had lost our home.

• 50:15James Lawrence?

  They had taken it away from me. And while I was out there, my reason was I'm going to take my life back. I'm going to build my dream home and my, I'm going to give my wife and kids the family that I believe they deserve. Well, I had done that and going into the 100, that can no longer be my reason. It, it has to change. And so you have to be thoughtful and, and with intent with the purpose and reason you're doing things. And to be honest with you, um, a huge reason for me on the 100 was because I said I would. And, and to me, even in the darkest of moments, my word meant so much that I could not

• 50:59James Lawrence?

  set that ultimate example for my kids and watch them or watch, have them watch me back out for really no good reason. Pain, discomfort, just because I'm done. And to me, showing my kids that ultimate example of you, you say you're going to do something, which I think is a lost art. To me, when I said I was going to do it, it was my virtual handshake to anybody that was listening, that I'm committing to do that. And I, and I think the day and age of like, there's gotta be an ironclad contract and this money on the line and that money. No, I shook your hand and I said, I'm going to go out and do the conquer 100 project.

• 51:40James Lawrence?

  And, and to me it was, I'm going to prove to everybody, but most importantly, myself and my family, that I am who I said I am. And without question, it's going to take hell or high water for me not to continue on the journey and to do what I said I was going to do. And to me, that was reason enough. And it should be reason enough for most people that our word should be our bond and integrity at the highest level should be the most important thing. If you lead with lo- love and integrity, the cream will always rise to the top. And sometimes it's going to take a little bit longer, but if you always strive to take the higher road, you never have to look over

• 52:21James Lawrence?

  your shoulder, you never have to worry about somebody opening up the closet, you never have to worry about somebody else's opinion of you, you never have to worry about the journey that you're on because you have built that confidence of love and integrity and you can go forward with intense confidence that no ma- it doesn't matter what anybody else's opinion is, is because I have that love and integrity on the journey that I am and my family's here with me and nothing can trump that.

• 52:48Ed Mylett?

  Right, right. Uh, you know, there's, there's people who say inspiring things and then there's inspiring people. Rarely are, is somebody both. And it's, you're, you're incredible. Like, I'm watching my face in the cameras, you're talking, like, I need to maintain my face, because, you know, um, I don't, I've, I don't have ever done that in an interview before. I got a lot of things I, I wanted to get to, and we'll have you back because you're incredible. But I do want to go through two more things. One was the hardest part, the lack of rest. I'm just curious, because there's not a ton of rest, I mean, actual sleep. Like, I was reading that you actually didn't just blackout, but like, you could fall asleep riding the bike, true or false?

• 53:32James Lawrence?

  True. Um, so let, let me contrast really quick, the, the difference between the 50 campaign, where we did 50 fulls in 50 days through 50 states.

• 53:41Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 53:42James Lawrence?

  And then the 100, where it was in a remote location.

• 53:45Ed Mylett?

  Which you got to get more rest then, right, the second time?

• 53:48James Lawrence?

  Correct. So, so if I was to pigeonhole or label the 50, it was, um, logistics, it was fatigue, and it was chaos.

• 54:01Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 54:02James Lawrence?

  And then the 100 would have been pain?

• 54:08James Lawrence?

  And duration, right? And so, so the whole reason I believed that a hundred was possible was if I remove chaos, put systems in place, can we double what everybody thought was impossible? And defy, and defy logic, right? And what happened was is the chaos still ensued because you just can't predict the unpredictable. And when you're doing anything for a quarter of a year, you, you've, we've all heard that in order to achieve success, you've got to have, it's when preparation meets luck. And, and a lot of luck has to go into these types of things when you're doing it for that long. And so to compare those two, the hundred was,

• 54:53James Lawrence?

  was very difficult because of how long it was. And the, I mean, you're talking about going from 7,000 mile campaign to 14,000 miles, which is, that compounding effect of that is super hard to, to rationalize i- i- in our minds and in our, in our heads. And so that, that's how I would compare the, the 50 and the hundred.

• 55:16Ed Mylett?

  It's just, it's, it's even as you say it, it's just, it's just unbelievable. It's just unbelievable. It's just, it's gotta be one step in front of the next. All right, last question. By the way, thank you for today. It goes without saying, like, I already know what the response is going to be to this. I have, you know, when I do interviews, I love all of them. I won't have someone on my program anymore. We're lucky that we can get who we want typically, that I'm already not friends with, fascinated by, or inspired by, or want to learn myself from. But then there are certain ones that I'm, I'm doing the conversation, I'm in the interview, and, but I'm, I'm making decisions as you're talking. I'm making decisions as you're talking, man. And that's when I know it's profound. And that's what I've been doing the whole time we're talking. Share with us what it's

• 56:00Ed Mylett?

  like to finish, to achieve it. So you've had a few of these. You know, we're all sitting out here like, I got my dream too, man. Mine isn't a hundred, conquer a hundred. You know, it's not that. My dream is X or Y. What's it feel like? Woo, I did it. What's that feeling like, if you can even begin to describe it?

• 56:19James Lawrence?

  Yeah, th- th- this is, this could be an entire podcast to unpack because coming off the 50, I got heavily warned. They said, "Look, you're gonna fall into depression, you're gonna have confusion, brain fog, you're not gonna know what's, what's up." And I didn't experience that on the 50. And so, when I was coming off of the 100, I was like, "It's not gonna happen. I've got this. I'm a man. I'm invincible. I just, I just, I just did sports history. I'm good." And, and I, you saw the emotion of crossing the finish line of the 100.

• 56:59James Lawrence?

  And it was, that was raw, and that was real. And what I didn't expect was the depression, the confusion, the brain fog. I don't know when it happened, but at some point in the time, I transitioned into a protective state to where I was in such trauma and, and turmoil that my brain was protecting me. And it was not allowing me to feel, and I believe I was, and I, I, it was probably around 85 that, now looking back on it, I was in the ultimate of flow state. And, and that's when it was, it was, somebody said, the documentary asked me a question.

• 57:41James Lawrence?

  I was on the table and they said, "How many could you do?" And I said, "200." Like, I didn't even hesitate. I was like, "200." I was in such a state of like, power and, and flow. And then I came out of it, and I had this like, my, my brain, and our brains are so powerful, Ed, that it was masking every emotion that was real and that I was feeling. And, and it's, it's hard to explain, but I was in an ultimate protective state from trauma. And I now have a lot of empathy for people that are going through something intense that they aren't themselves because they're trying to protect themselves

• 58:23James Lawrence?

  from the feelings or the emotions or the trauma of what they're going through. And I, and I would have never said I was in that state until I had an opportunity to come out of it. And it's been really hard. I've been walking around the house. I'm supposed to be recovering. I don't know what to do. That was who I, who I was, and that's who I- That was my identity and everything and now that gets stripped away and then you start questioning, well, who am I? Is that, is that my only value? Is that my only worth? And then now you start to have this like real conversation with yourself. Okay, now where, what is my place? And you, you start to go this through this transitional conversation with yourself. And I think

• 59:05James Lawrence?

  there's three phases to any big journey. It's preparation, it's execution, and then it's post and recovery to whatever that looks like. And I think we have to respect all three levels of that type of journey. And the recovery portion of it could be the most important because it's when you unpack the lessons and you try to internalize the experience so that you can evolve again and be a better person to have influence that you want to have to help other people have that same type of experience in their lives on a positive level. And so I'm, again, I'm grateful for the struggle. I'm grateful for the lessons that I can learn so that I can develop empathy

• 59:46James Lawrence?

  for others that are in that situation. And so like we talked about, I'm, I'm grateful for rock bottom. I'm grateful for the struggle. I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn those lessons so that I can be a better father and person.

• 1:00:03Ed Mylett?

  I'm grateful for you today. And hopefully it will dawn on you when we finish this that one of the places you belong is doing what we just did here today. Because literally millions of people's lives are affected by this, especially on the audio side, millions of people. And there were no wasted words today. And only you are qualified to deliver these because of what you've gone through, because of what you've achieved, only you. No one else could do what you did today because someone else has not gone down literally the road that you've gone down. It makes me emotional to say. And so it'll begin to reveal itself to you, brother, as you move forward. You're in that repair and recover stage. One of the realest answers of all time. I've had the same sense. Lot of athletes, lot of business people have had those things happen.

• 1:00:46Ed Mylett?

  Oftentimes mothers have it when they have the dream of giving childbirth. Some of that is obviously chemical, but it is a thing that sometimes when this is, this journey ends or identity changes, the chemistry in our body isn't just right. And there's just what's next, is there a next, what's my value, all those things you said. I can just tell you that for everyone that listened or watched this today, they would all come back and you put their arms around you, hug you, go, brother, you just did it. You just spent an hour doing it. And I can see the emotion on your face now. And so little did you know, it's the ripple effect. You know, only you are capable of delivering the words and the messages and the insights you have because only you have gone down that road. So I'm grateful for you and wow, like just a wow. So thank you, and I'm here to help you, by the way, you know that.

• 1:01:31Ed Mylett?

  We've got each other's numbers, anything I can do in this transitional phase for you.

• 1:01:36James Lawrence?

  Can I wrap up with one, one thought?

• 1:01:38Ed Mylett?

  Hundred percent, yes.

• 1:01:39James Lawrence?

  Okay, so I, I, I don't know if you tuned out after day 100.

• 1:01:46James Lawrence?

  Do you know what we did the next day?

• 1:01:47Ed Mylett?

  No, I don't.

• 1:01:50James Lawrence?

  So we did 101.

• 1:01:54Ed Mylett?

  Did you really?

• 1:01:55James Lawrence?

  And.

• 1:01:56Ed Mylett?

  Did you really?

• 1:01:57James Lawrence?

  Yeah, so we went live every day during the swim and, and I, I think this is important because of who you are and you know, your tagline of Max out. And, and we turned on the live the following day when I would have normally been swimming every single day. And it was, and it was just me in the pool by myself, doing one more. And I got asked the question a lot, why did you do one more? And I had a lot of people understand and then I had a lot of people just, they were confused. And I, I, I hate the, because my, the way I feed my family is I, I get on stage and we

• 1:02:40James Lawrence?

  tell our story, we, we motivate and we do coaching and whatnot. And I, and I love talking from stage and impacting people. And.

• 1:02:53James Lawrence?

  I don't appreciate the speakers that are out there telling, trying to teach a lesson when they haven't done it. They haven't been on the battlefield in the battle. And I felt like I would be a hypocrite if I told people that you can get up and you can do one more. And the campaign, day 100 was on a Tuesday, and Sunday night, I said, I just got the most intense impression, James, you need to do one more. And I was like, are you freaking kidding me? Like, I am broken. Like, I am mentally exhausted. I've been

• 1:03:34James Lawrence?

  showing up for a quarter of a year. Why would I do one more? And I got the impression it's not for you. And I felt like our team needed to show up and do one more because on your journey, when you're broken, and when you are at your limit, I promise you, you can get up and you can do one more. And that one more might be by yourself. And I don't know how many times you're gonna have to get up and do one more by yourself, but I promise you, you can get up one more. And I didn't feel like I could bring integrity to our

• 1:04:14James Lawrence?

  story if I didn't go out and as a team, we did one more. And so, we did 101 because I want to lead from the front, and I want to show people when you are broken, and when you have reached your limit, you can do one more. James, the book I'm writing right now is called One More. You just stole the title of my next book, Ed. We're in a fight. I'm gonna be out before you.

• 1:04:45Ed Mylett?

  And I'm adding your story to the book because I have the rights to this podcast.

• 1:04:52Ed Mylett?

  But I'm not exaggerating. I'm almost done. And I told you that you went on this journey. You did this. I know you did it for my audience, but you just did it for me. And so I'm sure the books will be very different in content. But yeah, the my book is The Power of One More, and it'll be out in the fall.

• 1:05:07James Lawrence?

  I am so excited for that book.

• 1:05:09Ed Mylett?

  I'm just blown away that you just said that. That may be the craziest thing that's ever been done on the show. And it was at the end. I hope everyone's still listening because that's a that's a wow. Thank God you added that too. An unbelievable conversation. So thank you, James. Everybody go find the Iron Cowboy on Instagram. Follow him, get his book, book him to speak. It's just he's the real deal. Like he said, like you're bringing someone in who's done these things. And does not struggle through the ability to articulate his thoughts and his points and his emotions. He's got an anointing with his language as well. So thank you for today, brother. And everybody out there, share this, subscribe. If you're listening to the audio, subscribe to YouTube. If you're watching YouTube, go subscribe to Stitcher or Spotify or iTunes or one of these platforms.

• 1:05:53Ed Mylett?

  Get the audio version as well. God bless you all. Max out.

• 1:06:02Speaker 03

  This is the Ed Milat Show.