Dad Bods, Discipline, and Winning at Life | Justin Cross

Rick Jordan  

Rick, what’s shakin? Hey, I’m Rick Jordan. Today, we’re going all in all right, today is an awesome day, and we’re just jumping into it because we’ve been talking a lot before we even hit the record button. Today, I have Justin Cross on the show, and he’s gonna crush it with me and talk about some cool stuff with maybe some security, but a lot about just being successful and making it in life. Justin my man, welcome. 

 

Justin Cross  

What’s going on? Rick, thanks for having me, brother,

 

Rick Jordan  

Dude, it’s so good to have you. It’s really good to have you. I like telling you the stories seriously, like, before we hit the record button, you were a little bit of my therapist, because there haven’t been many people I’ve been able to tell that were awesome. 

 

Justin Cross  

It’s a funny business sometimes, you know.

 

Rick Jordan  

Yeah, it sure is. I’m looking behind you, bro. I mean, audio is our biggest platform on Spotify and Apple, but you know, there’s a lot of shorts that we publish to get some good traction. You have, of course, a couple of bottles on your rights. What is that bourbon that you’ve got back there? Some kind of whiskey. 

 

Justin Cross  

Another one over here. It’s tequila. Wild. Comment, tequila.

 

Rick Jordan  

Oh man,

 

Justin Cross  

This talking with your guy before we came on. This is my favorite tequila brand. If you’re in a tequila, these guys are phenomenal, super top shelf, no preservatives, no additives. Oh, nice. They make Mezcal in the silos and Buffalo Trace barrels.

 

Rick Jordan  

That’s awesome. You know, I was, I just found, I’ve been, I’ve been a Scotch drinker for a long, long time. And it’s, it was actually the drink, because I dropped a ton of weight years ago, and I needed to find something after I dropped weight. When I was drinking a glass of wine, like my fingers blew up, like sausages, you know, I was like, I need to find a better drink that’s classy, that I can drink around clients, you know, so and Scotch became it. I mean, I just had one. It was a glen live at 18. McAllen is by far my favorite, you know. And if they’re listening, someone’s there, I would love them. I’ve never done sponsors, but I would entertain that with McAllen. 

 

You know, it’s just a bucket list item. But when I when I had that, I’m like, oh, man, this is it. But then, due tequila, tequila, I have come to colloquially and affectionately call the Scotch of Mexico, because it’s like at similar qualities, as far as the aging goes and how it’s distilled, you know, even though some of it might be made in whiskey barrels, you know, or Asian whiskey barrels, but just you know, whether you’ve got blancos repository extras, it’s just the amount of time that It’s aged, just like you’ve got, like you’ve got, like, a McAllen 12, a MacAllan 18, a McAllen 25 so it’s been really, really good. But to your point, dude, and now we’re edging we’re not even talking about what we’re supposed to but I don’t care. This is good information. Tequila, so much of it, I just found out, maybe six months ago, has a lot of additives, even what you would consider, like top shelf, you know, like $100 bottles have just tons of additives. But what you’re saying isn’t wild common, correct?

 

Justin Cross  

You know, unfortunately, a lot of the really famous ones that are owned by celebrities, or, yeah,

 

Rick Jordan  

like Casamigos with George Clooney, yeah, yeah.

 

Justin Cross  

They’re not, they’re not very high quality, you know, they’re made in mass production. They add sweeteners to it. One of the things they add a lot of times, is sweeteners because a lot of people don’t think that is good. Tequila tastes good, at least they have good so when you have something that is truly top shelf, you look for 100% agave, blue Weber, tequila with an all additive, no matter what brand it is, if it says that it should be good. But these guys are absolutely phenomenal,

 

Rick Jordan  

and that’s cool. It’s good stuff. That’s awesome. Here’s a plug. Everybody wild comment tequila. I’m going to be picking up a bottle or two of that too. That’s awesome, brother. Then, of course, you have a flag on the back there too. Is that? Who is that representing?

 

Justin Cross  

This was my father-in-law, who passed he was in World War Two, fought every day of World War Two essentially came over from Italy when he was 15, and then just about two years later, 17, went back to go fight against Italy in World War Two was a tail gunner on a B 17, and then when he wasn’t flying, he was kicking in doors. Fought the whole war made it and this was his flag that we had flown on an F-20 fighter jet. Wow, to kind of remember him by.

 

Rick Jordan  

That’s incredible, man. And you were in the military too, right? Hold on. One sec. Wow, sure, Dude, I got like a tickle in my throat. Holy. It just came on tequila. Think I know I was thinking I’ve got Scotch over there too. You’ve been so patient. Give me. Give me just two minutes. This is not it suddenly was there. I think it’s what I just had, I splurged on burgers and a fry today. Yeah, and I think it’s a piece of fry. All right, one sec. All right, not often that happens, but we’ll just pick it right back up here. So cheers. I’ve got some scotch to help the throw. If you’re joining go for it.

 

Justin Cross  

As you said, scotch is a great kind of gentleman-type zipper, and so is a really good tequila. And I love giving people like, a reposado that has a little bit of the sweetness from the Bourbon Barrel, because it is kind of Oh for sure, until, like, oh yeah, because of it. It actually does add a little sweetness, a little more, you know, flavor, especially if they’re in the bourbon. So if you give them something like that, they’re like, oh, wait a minute, this is tequila. Maybe I do like tequila now,

 

Rick Jordan  

Yeah, no kidding, are you involved in that tequila company, or is it just a friend that owns it? No,

 

Justin Cross  

just a friend who owns it. I mean, this is my brand, one of my first brands to earn your booze. So I’ve worked with it. I’ve worked with so many brands, I can’t even take all the big brands out there, and I’ve seen a lot of good and a lot of mediocre and a lot of bad products, yeah. Now the only thing that I, you know, have is going to be something top shelf. 

 

Rick Jordan  

Well, that’s how it’s got to be, yeah. And this is good life advice too, man. I mean, it’s, I think I was in a, it was a Mexican restaurant, but they were giving away the free margaritas. And, like, here happened? I’m like, sure, whatever. And I had not had a margarita in many years. And of course, the free ones are always like, the low of the low when it comes to quality. I don’t get hungover, man, because I drink, you know, top shelf all the time, you know. And when you say top-shelf tequila is not that expensive for top shelf, you know, for things that don’t have a lot of that don’t have a lot of that you’re only talking like 4050, bucks for a decent reposado. That’s right, I don’t know how much the wild common is, but it’s, it’s, we’re not talking, you know, like two, $300 a bottle scotch. Can get that high, for sure. So Can some tequilas. But yeah, brother, I mean, you said a nice sipper, right? Scotch and tequila are both nice sippers, and most don’t even know that tequila is supposed to be sipped.

 

Justin Cross  

It is, and if you drink it in a margarita, like, yeah, you’re right. Anytime I see like, a hey, two or $3 Margarita special, no, dude, I don’t care if it’s free, no, thank you, because here comes the headache. Yeah, and that’s what people get in trouble usually when they have a drink, it’s all the other things that are added to it, the white sugar syrups. It’s the fake flavoring, it’s the junk. And after having four or five of those, like, imagine how much sugar you’ve had and how much syrup you’ve had, how much fake lemon flavor, it’s no thanks. You know, if I’m gonna have a margarita, it’s gotta be fresh all the time. Real juice, real agave nectar. Yeah, Realty

 

Rick Jordan  

For sure. Brother, you mentioned your first brand back there earn your booze. You know, which I love the I mean, I just love the phrase of it. But tell me about that, dude. That’s, that’s pretty awesome,

 

Justin Cross  

yeah? Well, if you think about it, I was in the Navy, so what do they say the sailors do?

 

Rick Jordan  

Yeah? Just those two things,

 

Justin Cross  

But, yeah, they custom drink. So I was in the Navy, and I definitely, you know, earned my stripes with, you know, drinking, especially going into port, and just the culture of it, but, yeah, but I was always adamant about being in great shape. And so I got out of the Navy, and that’s really kind of where it hit me. I was on one hand, working out like crazy all the time. I opened a nutrition store out here in Arizona back in the day, and then I was going to open a brewery. So I had all the brewery buddies and the beer buddies, and I was starting to help them, like, you know, lose the beer gut and feel better when you’re around that environment of, you know, brewing and drinking and parties and promotions and all that. And it just kind of dawned on me one day, like, Man, I could really help a lot more people if we took this seriously. You know, instead of just helping a handful of buddies here and there, what if we just put this mentality out there that you can enjoy the finer things in life if you earn it? 

 

And so earn your boots. Launched in 2017 kind of just as a lifestyle brand with T-shirts and events and whatnot. But now with earn it all, we teach people how to do that, and it’s in the answer to earning your booze. I know you didn’t ask, but I’ll tell you what it is, dude, I know. Yeah, it’s not just calories in, calories out. Sometimes people think it’s that I’m gonna go drink a bunch of beer, so I need to go burn it before or after. That’s not what it is. Yeah, the answer to how do I earn my booze is, well, you have to earn it all. You’ve earned everything in life, and that’s your health, your wealth, your mindset, your relationships, essentially, if your whole life is put together and you’re doing well and like you’re a good person and you like the way you life is going, of course,e you can have some drinks and this adds to an already awesome life. But a lot of people go the reverse route. They open a bottle or crack some beers because they’re not really enjoying their life, and they’re trying to get that for sure, that enjoyment from the booze, and then it usually just spirals. They’re not healthy, yeah, they go board and all that. So we practice, you know, earning it all. If you do want to enjoy that

 

Rick Jordan  

kind of thing, it turns from, like, the fun aspect of it and escape almost into, like a numbing as the reason, you know, it can spiral totally quickly, yeah, yeah. I’ve met a lot of people that are like that, unfortunately,

 

Justin Cross  

oh for sure. And then then, like, we were just starting this conversation with if you don’t know what to drink either, and you are drinking extra drinks and the cheap beers and then having the pretzels and the late night pizza. And after years, a lot of people wake up and 10 years have gone by, yeah, and they’re like, oh, man, why am I slaughtered sheep? Why do I feel like crap? How come I don’t have a strong relationship? How come I don’t have any money in my bank account? Well, because you’ve been spending all your time, yeah, on shit, you know. So we work on all of that stuff so we can earn and enjoy everything.

 

Rick Jordan  

I feel you leaving this McAllen 12, it’s like 80. Bucks a bottle. It’s not shit, yeah, but even with scotch, I mean, McAllen is one of the it’s one of the higher-priced ones. You know, even their their low ends, they’ve been around forever. But to your point, it’s like even looking at some of the tequilas, you know, or even scotch, if you look at Glen live it Glen fittic, you know, that’s like 3040, bucks a bottle. It’s priced just like everything else. But you just have to know what to look for, like your wild, common that you have there, you know, just Dude, that’s a life lesson too, isn’t it just education, educating yourself about so many little things.

 

Justin Cross  

Yeah, one of the things I harp on when it comes to fitness are the basics. You know, a lot of people want to jump in and get into peptides and hormones and red light and cold plunge and sauna, and it’s like, dude, well, are you still eating this shit you shouldn’t be eating? Yeah, water. Like, how is your sleep? You know, most of us in business, like, you know, the grand culture says, you know, sleep when you’re dead. Yeah, I’ve had a business for 10 years. I do get how involved and all in you have to be. However, if you don’t take care of yourself with the basics, at minimum. Yeah, yeah, where education needs to come in. A lot of people don’t. They don’t even hear that in these days. Oh,

 

Rick Jordan  

for sure, dude, that man, that grind culture, too. It’s, I get it. I mean, if you want to look at it’s like, I was saying to my podcast manager, my show manager, the other day that it was, uh, I was like, man, I’ve really been working my ass off these last three months. He’s like, you’ve been working your ass off longer than that. You know, I was, like, trying to get the public filings and everything. And that’s even why, you know, you were so patient and gracious to just wait 10 minutes before we started today. But it’s still that it’s almost like a toxicity with the grind culture and the hustle culture because it’s that same. It’s like, you see these lists. It’s like, for a year, don’t watch TV and everything. I’m like, Dude, in order for me to and this is like a basic, a fundamental, for me, in order for me to be mentally healthy, I need something to shut my brain off at night. 

 

Yeah, otherwise, I will keep going. I’ll keep working on something. And that’s the thing. It’s like, because, within me, you are probably the same way is that even though, like, you complete a task, dude, no matter what, I don’t care if you’re a janitor or if you are. Elon Musk, there’s always something more that you could be doing in whatever professional career that you have. You know, a janitor could be like, Oh, I could. I could sterilize the toilet seats instead of just washing them today. You know, there’s always something more that could be done, but you’ve got to take care of yourself, too, dude. So yeah, it’s, it’s kind of like a routine for me, man. It’s just popping on something, streaming something, even if it’s just for 20 minutes, sometimes even 10 minutes, just something to shut my brain off, to be like, I am now going to rest. That’s a fundamental for me. Yeah,

 

Justin Cross  

same here. And I do things like, I’m fascinated with ancient like, civilizations. Oh, really, because it’s so completely different than

 

Rick Jordan  

what I do any specific civilization.

 

Justin Cross  

I think Egypt is really fascinating. Egypt around the world, yeah, from different centuries. I think is absolutely fascinating. But you’re right. It is like that grime culture. That’s how people burn out, yeah, if they never allow themselves to relax, to have fun, to flex a creative mind, if you’re in the black and white ones and zeros all the time, you know, we really do need, you know, that kind of mental break really, even if the body’s fine, like you can, you know, hydrate and sleep and caffeinate, and your body can keep going. This is what gets full of gray matter, and it just burns out for sure.

 

Rick Jordan  

Brother even working out for me, I that’s not even like, a mental rest time. I try to double it up. I’m like, I can, I mean, obviously it’s not a physical rest type. But even during that, it’s like, I don’t listen to music. I listen to audio books. I listen to hardcore business books, hardcore motivational books, hardcore mindset books, High Court psychology books. You know, while I’m in the middle of working out, and that’s how I consume a lot of the information. So that’s not even a break, you know? No,

 

Justin Cross  

no, you’re still in that personal development gap. And it’s like, man, like, sometimes you just need to have fun and watch a fight movie or something, or have a couple drinks or whatever you’re into, unless

 

Rick Jordan  

it’s a super hyped fight, like the Tyson fight, right? Those

 

Justin Cross  

women right before? Oh

 

Rick Jordan  

my God, for real,

 

Justin Cross  

best fights I’ve ever seen.

 

Rick Jordan  

No joke. Yeah. Okay, here’s a question on that too, because obviously her eye, right? And everyone’s like, it was curious whether to stop it or not. Yeah. I had a friend say the other day, like, That was nuts. They should have stopped it. Come on. Do you think if that was a dude, they would have kept the fight going? I was like, Whoa, that’s an interesting perspective. I haven’t had this conversation with Justin with anybody else. It was just him saying this, and I didn’t really respond to it, you know, and address it head-on, but I’ve just been thinking about it and pondering it, you know. And it’s like one it’s like women have way more pain tolerance, I think than men do. You know in general, I mean, they’re giving birth and all the things that happen with a female body. But just generally speaking, men can be physically stronger because of our physiques, but maybe women can have more pain tolerance at the same time, it was a dude who was a referee. Right? And it’s like, I start to unpack these things, and I go down all these rabbit holes. It’s like, what do you think should the fight have been stopped, you know? And do you also think that you know, if it was a dude fight that, imagine if Tyson’s eye, you know, was like, That dude, they would have called it that would have been done. So

 

Justin Cross  

the only time that they will call it with, according to the rules, is if there’s blood in the eye and it’s affecting the vision. And so that thing was not bleeding very much, like, it wasn’t,

 

Rick Jordan  

which also was crazy, yeah, yeah.

 

Justin Cross  

So I think that’s why like, and so that’s why they wouldn’t call it like, even though it looked nasty. And of course, it’s like, I was like, kind of like, oh my god, stop getting the

 

Rick Jordan  

close-ups. Oh,

 

Justin Cross  

it was nasty, but, like, her vision was good, and the fighter was still there. She was still saying, let’s go. So there, if they had called it, it would have been against regulations. Interesting. Yeah, the guys go. It’s the same with the guys, like, if Tyson or Paul had a huge cut, but it wasn’t affecting their vision. Like, well, yeah, they’re there to fight, you know. And then if you think about UFC. Some of those are incredibly bloody, yeah, and, but they only call it if the guy is like, obviously, like, if he’s almost, like, drunk and can’t tell what’s going on, and he can’t, you know, defend himself. That’s the main issue. Yeah, if you can’t see, it’s that you can’t defend yourself. And now you’re maybe setting yourself up for real injury. For sure, they call it. So I think it was the right call not to call it, even though I was wincing watching it. Oh, Lord, it was wild. Those

 

Rick Jordan  

when they were doing those close-ups, man, those zoom-ins with the camera, that was, that was nuts, yeah, because, I mean the first, when I first got cut, it wasn’t horrible. But then she got hit. She got punched right there, right on the cut again, and then it looked like she had, like a second eyelid that was out, like, that was, that was sick, that was sick. But

 

Justin Cross  

I did think, watching some of the slow MOS and the close-ups and replays, yeah, the girl that did it, I feel like she might have earned, like, a couple more points deducted, because she’s known for head apparently. Oh, she was dirty. Man, yep, he kept leaning in and doing it. And that’s me. That’s not boxing, no,

 

Rick Jordan  

it’s not at all. I’m Irish, and I’m looking at her. I’m like, she’s fighting like an Irish person, right there? Seriously, yeah, exactly. But, I mean, her tactics were there, but yeah, it, you know, I always say at the beginning, I want a good, clean fight. I’m like, that was not clean. No, we’re definitely entertaining.

 

Justin Cross  

Yeah, he got that right. He tuned in to be entertained. Jake and Mike, we’re not, we’re not entertaining. So beforehand was like, Maybe I do like boxing.

 

Rick Jordan  

That was the best, Yeah, no kidding. Especially it was the last 30 seconds, man, they just unleashed in the final round. Oh, Lord, it

 

Justin Cross  

kind of reminded me of like a lightweight, like UFC fight or, yeah, a lot of times like the heavyweights, there’s a knockout or something or someone gasses out, yeah, they were so conditioned and so strong. They just kept going and going and going. And it was, it was, yeah,

 

Rick Jordan  

I totally think they earned their booze that night. Oh, they tipped, yeah, that’s awesome, man. So you got, you got earn your booze, but then on your shirt, you got earn at all. Tell me about Earn it all that is that an evolution now that I’m thinking about that? Was that kind of an evolution of the brand?

 

Justin Cross  

You nailed it, you smart guy. Look at that. Yeah, yeah. It really is, you know, earn your booze is, is the niche, you know, that’s, that’s, it’s kind of weird. You know, that’s what landed us in Men’s Health magazine and all liquor.com and chilled magazine and fitness and drink. It’s kind of a weird thing to bring together, but the number one question we always got, we’ve done like, 100 events or something, so it kind of spread pretty well the first couple years, yeah, but we always were asked like, Well, how do I earn it? And now the answer is, like we talked about in agos, is to earn it at all, you know. So earn it all is our coaching group and our health group. We do. We do, like, very high end, top shelf health, where we go and look at your DNA, your epigenetics, your bio, age and all that stuff, and really get you truly healthy, like I used to on fighter jets, looking at data. Yeah. So we do that, but then we also do coaching, where we, you know, work on mindset, we work on leadership and fitness and nutrition and all that stuff as well. So that’s what

 

Rick Jordan  

we do with learn at all. That’s cool. I can appreciate because there’s a this is really starting to take flight, and I’m seeing a lot more groups, especially fitness groups, that are doing this, that are doing the DNA testing, that are doing even the mitochondria testing that, you know, to that level, define the unique areas to target, not just with fitness, but also, of course, for nutrition, you know. And I’m curious, because I haven’t asked this question before, for somebody that’s that’s in it is what’s maybe one or two of some very common ones that you see. Because, I mean, you could go down to genetic defects, right? And you could, you could see that, oh, this person’s going to have trouble putting muscle on, or they’re going to have more trouble burning fats or carbs, you know, because of these markers that they have, but there’s got to be some commonalities that you see across the board, like a broad stroke. That’s always my belief in a lot of things. It’s like, if you can find that one thing to show people that you can make progress quickly, they’re going to be much more invested in the long term commitment, for

 

Justin Cross  

sure. So the most broad stroke is. Is almost everybody needs better sleep. Wow, and that’s simple, very underrated, especially, you know, in the business and grin culture, like we talked about, but people don’t realize what happens in deep sleep. It’s not just about feeling good the next day or feeling fresh or having energy. Our hormone production happens in deep sleep. Our gray matter is scrubbed in our brain when we get into deep sleep,

 

Rick Jordan  

dude, I love those cells. They’re janitor cells of the brain. I’ve looked those up before. 

 

Justin Cross  

Yeah, that’s amazing. Like the body truly repairs in deep sleep. So over time, if you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re literally breaking your body down, and maybe you’re getting a little bit more done in work, but I would just argue that maybe it’s more effective in the time you’re awake. Yeah, maybe look for ways that you’re wasting time and maybe you’re not as all in on your awake hours as you think you are, you know, find some other ways to like be more effective in the eight to 1012, hours that you work and get a solid seven to eight hours of sleep, and see what your health does. Because again, the hormones come from sleep. A lot of guys, you know, need hormones. And that would be another broad stroke. Most dudes now, like, really starting in their late 20s, which is kind of crazy, but we see the data, yeah, are very low on testosterone. Well, that’s because

 

Rick Jordan  

of all the shit that’s in all the foods these days. Seriously, it’s not like it was 3040, years ago, the the quality of the foods that we have or the naturalness of the food, you’re

 

Justin Cross  

right, and it’s even more than the food you’re absolutely right. It’s 100% the food. But it’s also the environment. It’s the digital environment, the Wi-Fi, the Celtics, the blue light screens. It’s on the lack of hydration, probably too much booze, too much nicotine, and just like people just kind of being on edge all the time, watching the news and just doing stuff that’s like, not really good for them. The body feels that as stress and as cortisol and all that stuff adds up into our body. And imagine it like, it’s like, my big water cup here, all that stuff is kind of adding up, and it’s kind of easy to spill over. And that usually comes into place and shows up rather as low hormones, low energy, low libido, beyond extra fat and ruining sleep and everything. So it’s crazy. How many people like just overlook sleep, but it’s very, very important. That’s

 

Rick Jordan  

so cool because it you said something that I want to make sure that everybody who’s listening and watching picks up on is I’m going to mess up. It’s not going to be verbatim what you said, but in essence, it was, maybe figuring out how to be better during the day so that you can still sleep what you need to sleep at night. And entrepreneur, this is back to that stupid toxicity, man of grind and hustle culture. It’s like, well, if I just had more time, you know, it’s like, what if you could, what if that’s the wrong question that you’re asking yourself, What if you’re able to ask, Well, how could I be more efficient during the day? How could i delegate better so that everything doesn’t rest on my shoulders? How do I become more operationally scalable so that I can continue to grow while not having to put in more time and hours and also still see the exponential growth in the company? Because sleep is a priority for me,

 

Justin Cross  

right? Yeah? Because most people, if they were to, like, zoom out and look at, like, a 30,000-foot view of their day, yeah, and how they spend, let’s say something’s away from 6 am until 10 pm right? They might think they’re working that whole time because they’re an entrepreneur, and everything can be justified as work. But if you really zoom back and you look at how much time you’re scrolling on your phone, how much extra time you spend in the bathroom or in the shower, how much time you’re not being productive by not making decisions worthless meetings, saying yes to too many meetings, saying yes to too many things, you might be like, Oh, damn, out of the 10 hour work day, you might actually be working four or three. And that’s why, like people, you don’t need more time in the day, because your day is not optimized yet, right

 

Rick Jordan  

on, dude, that’s a you’re hitting the nail on the head with this. We see things eye to eye in so many different ways. I When was it? I was thinking the other day about, well, it’s gone. Oh, well, we’ll keep moving on. Like, seriously, just out of my mind there, see, and I did get a good night’s sleep last night.

 

Justin Cross  

Yeah. Well, hey, yeah, that’s what I mean. And one of the other things you can see there is, when we do that deep data testing, this is what’s been blowing a lot of guys minds, is, like, I’m 41 years old. My brain is aged at, I think 46 years old. So what’s up with that? Why is my brain aging faster? So that’s what we’re looking into. We’re trying to slow that down a bit. But you can look at your heart, you can look at your liver, your kidneys, you can look at your muscle, skeletal system. And see, no matter what age you are, how is your body aging? And down to each organ, how are they aging? How are you doing? Because, you know, you don’t want to be aging fat. You know what? I don’t want my brain to be 50 if I’m 40, I don’t want it to be 60 when I’m 50, because that’s why that’s when we get into dementia, and that’s when we get into Alzheimer’s and these issues. So when we can. Get the data, like the real data, and look at it now we can actually make real decisions on, okay, what do I need to change with either my epigenetics, which is how my environment is infecting my body, or is there something in my DNA that maybe could be addressed? What’s my nutrition? What am I putting in my body and my brain? There all so many things, but it all come from data. Yeah, which I think coolest thing. I worked at airplanes forever. All we care about is data. There’s no emotion. This is black and white, ones and zeros. Is it broke? Does it work? One dude?

 

Rick Jordan  

Binary is the best way to live, because there’s no there’s no challenging it. Yeah, for sure, yeah. I love that. As you’re talking about this too. It’s like my the thought that comes in my head, because you said, maybe there is something that’s in your DNA to be addressed. I’m telling you, I bet you you can find the most people like, Oh, you’re gonna find the thing. You’re gonna find the thing, and then I just need a pill, and then everything’s solved, you know, rather than the putting in the work, in the effort of me, like, oh, wait, I did an episode, one of my favorite episodes I ever did. It was a solo episode on the so it was called, you’re not that special, you know, but, but that’s the point. It’s like those rare things that everybody think, Oh, that’s it for me, you know. Or someone’s like, oh, you know what? I think I have ADHD, you know? And I’m like, No, you fucking don’t come on, get the hell out of here. You know? What you have is you have a lack of focus, and you don’t know your purpose in life. That because you don’t know your purpose in life, that’s it. Get get your life in alignment, and then your focus and your attention is going to be just fine, because you’re going to be doing the things that you actually care about and are meant to do to begin with, you know. So I don’t care who I find with that, but that’s it, you know, does ADHD exist? Sure, do rare DNA genetic defects or mutations exist that you find? And the answer is Justin Yes, but rare, right? There’s not this magic thing to happen. It just takes work and consistency and discipline, dude. And throw your curveball

 

Justin Cross  

with that, but you’re exactly right, because most people, what do they actually have excuses. Yeah. You know, you hear this a lot from people that are overweight. They’re like, Oh, my mom is fat. My dad was fat, you know, I’m a big bone. Do you have all these things you can outwork that? You know? Yes, you might be set up like that, like, I’m a hard gainer. By by by my DNA. I stopped going to the damn gym and stop eating. I started to lose weight, but I know how to counteract that. I eat more and I work out, and I needed, you know, so most people, especially when it comes to the other side, if they’re overweight, oh, I got that from my mom, or whatever, it’s like, well, sure, you might be predisposed to that, but you’re also eating Big Macs every day. Yeah, you know, you’re also consuming a half, a half a gallon of coca-cola every day. So there are things that can be changed to fight back against that DNA.

 

Rick Jordan  

They’re not either. I should say I was about to say they’re not easy things, but they are simple things. But I guess I would be right, right? There are simple things, but they’re not necessarily easy, because it’s changing wiring in your brain. It’s changing patterns, it’s changing habits, which

 

Justin Cross  

is great, because, like everyone has the opportunity to rewrite their story. You know, if you’ve been say you’ve been obese your whole life, you can change that, and you can change that very easily on most especially if someone’s really overweight, it’s pretty easy to drop a lot of weight right off the bat just by lifestyle changes. Oh, dude, yeah. I mean it’s you’re eating sugar. So it’s like, Yep, it is simple. Maybe it’s not easy, but it is simple to do. And if you want to do it and you have the will to do it, then it’ll, it will, yeah, especially

 

Rick Jordan  

when you’re like, you’re right. Because, I mean, someone wants to describe to me this way, it’s like, when you’re large, like when you’re obese, if you just eat less, you will lose weight. Like, like, that’s one of the simplicities of it, because it’s just simply deficit. That’s all that it is. You know, just eat less to your point, cut out the soda. If you just cut out soda, make one small change. It’s like you’re going to lose weight. What’s another change that you can make? You know? And then you start to build those things. And by the way, they’re all really the same. It’s all just making good decisions. Because why would you want that shit? Anyways, now here’s coming from somebody who, seriously, like from the age of 10 years old. My favorite soda was Mountain Dew, you know, but I haven’t had it in eons at this point, because it all changed when I dropped weight. I’m like, when you look it up, it’s like Holy hell, that’s a lot of sugar. You know, when you look up, how much is in a can? Is like, 54 grams of sugar in one single can, you know, 12 ounce can. And then I was working in the mall at that. But, you know, I was getting these 44-cent refills and 44-ounce drinks because for the mall employee special seven thrillers. I’m like, I’m drinking a gallon a day of this. You know, it was like 500 grams of sugar. And I’m like, that is just the stupidest thing. No, I didn’t know, right? I was 18. I’m 45 now, different scenario. But dude, that’s why is it that tough. You know, because for guys like me and you, it’s it is binary. When I’m showing the data, there’s no arguing with myself or making up excuses anymore. It’s right there in front of me, and I do course correctly immediately when I’m when the data is right in front of my face. I’ve always been that way, but that’s not the case. When I’ve seen some people, it’s like, it’s an old phrase, isn’t it? It’s like you wouldn’t know the truth if it stared you in the face. I’ve heard that phrase before. Why is it that way? Why is it that way for some people and then our way for other people? I

 

Justin Cross  

think a lot of people are just in denial of their own capabilities. They don’t believe that they could be that person or that version of themselves, that maybe they would like to be and that and that kind of spirals a lot of times, you know, like, we’ll just keep using the the obese person. So hopefully, if someone’s, you know, listening and you do need some, you know, weight to drop, like we’re saying this because we’re in your corner, yeah, sure, we’re not bashing that group of people, but a lot of times they know that they don’t want to be that heavy, but they’re not necessarily sure how to get there. They think it’s going to be a lot of sacrifice and a lot of suffering, and it’s just kind of like, Oh, I’m not even going to I’m not even going to even start, or even, I don’t know where to start. I don’t know, you know what? I mean, that’s what, yeah, there’s a dialog in the hit. It’s a lot of, I don’t know, and it sounds horrible, but this is why I think it’s important for everybody to have a coach like I have coaches. I’m a coach for people. Yeah, I think everybody should have someone that they can learn from, even if it’s just listening to a podcast where they get information from and then follow that person and maybe go to their event or something. But I think everybody should have a coach because that’s really, I think the only way to continually level up, because one of the problems that happens is, when somebody does decide, okay, I’m going to lose the weight, they get it off by doing usually, a horrible kind of crash diet. They don’t do it the right way, air fingers, the right way. What happens is it comes back on because they haven’t really become that person yet. They just crash the calories and the diet, but they don’t really install the discipline and the belief in themselves to keep it so that’s one of the main things we do, is work on habits and personal development. Because when you get a little bit of that physical win in the body, what we’re really doing by using the body is beating the body up or dropping the weight off, is showing the mind who we really are. Yeah, we’re beating the mind into submission, because if we can get the mind to comply, then we can keep those results, and we can stay healthy because that’s the whole goal. We don’t just want to get skinny and then just kind of figure out, not know what to do, and then get it back on. We want to become a healthier version of ourselves and then keep it you know,

 

Rick Jordan  

yeah, for sure, man, I’m curious on your coaching styles too, because you’re talking about shifting the mind, but when you’re saying people, do, it’s almost like they’re scared of becoming that person on the other side, because they’ve never been that person. It could be, yeah, and looking back, it’s like, how do I operate there? Because it’s, it’s almost like the because they’ve got you talking them through, if we’re just talking fitness as an example, right? They’ve got you and health talking them through how to get there. But then, of course, it’s a continuation after that. So it’s like, the first step is to how, and you’re doing that, that’s fine. You’re doing all these things, but, like, but when you get there, you know, well, what do I need to do to stay there, right? You know? And that’s why the answer

 

Justin Cross  

to everything is this, like, it’s everything. It’s not just calories, it’s not just nutrition. It’s it’s leveling up everything at the same time. Like, if you’re married and you do lose that weight, even if your spouse says they like, you know, your dad bought or whatever, you know, whatever, the thing is, is like, well when she sees you getting into better shape and they she sees how much more you like yourself and like as you’re changing like they’re going to be inspired as well. Yeah,

 

Rick Jordan  

let’s translate that for them right now. How about that they accept you and love you for who you are? It doesn’t it doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t prefer a better way. It just means that they accept you and love you for who you are, which is okay, and at the same time, I’m sure they would very much support you in getting into better shape.

 

Justin Cross  

Totally, totally Yeah, and 100% and that’s I love your dad bod

 

Rick Jordan  

What the fuck? Oh my gosh, yes. You know, you read the studies on that. I have read studies on that too, you know, in I think even Harvard Medical, you know, and when it was looking at the psychology of that, and a lot of that that I read around there, was more like, oh, well, well, he’s mine. Like, this is what the women were thinking, right? He’s mine. And I know that he’s not going to be able to go anywhere because he’s got the little extra Pudge it on him, but he’s okay, right? That means that other women won’t really look at him in a way to be like, oh, I want to get with that, you know. That was some of the stuff that I was reading, you know. So it made the women feel a little more secure in their marriage by having the man have a little more weight on them. It was the craziest thing. Yeah, it is totally insecurity. But that was like an insight into the culture, you know. 

 

So it’s not necessarily that they prefer a dad bod. They just prefer some of the security that might come with that, because of the insecurity or the perceived security, you know? Yeah, I’m just calling I’m just these are straight shots today, man. I mean, that’s just. Quickly, how I go, but that’s a Yeah, but that’s it. It’s like, they love you and accept you for who you are. Just awesome. That’s a great partner. Seriously, because it’s like, you know, I’ve got weird stuff about me. I’m sure you have weird stuff about you too. It’s things that we have to work on exactly, exactly things that we most definitely have to work on, you know, and finding somebody who can love and accept you for who you are, but also not be okay with you staying there. That’s a good partner. Not being okay with you staying there, because you should constantly be in a state of growth, especially if you’re not in a position where you want to be right then and there, you know? Because, I mean, how many guys would like look down and be like, No, I don’t want to be fit. Now, who who says that? I don’t think anybody you know, or if they say that, it just means I just want to avoid the work it takes to get there.

 

Justin Cross  

That’s right. That’s right. And another thing is when, when a lady, for your example, says, Oh, I don’t want him to get in shape, because other women are going to notice him, I think really, what they’re saying is I don’t want him to get in shape, because then I’m gonna have to get in shape. And I don’t want to give up my lifestyle or my comfort foods or whatever it is. It’s keeping them probably in a similar shape. Yeah, you know, so like, man, if he levels up, that means I’m gonna have to, and I don’t want to dothat

 

Rick Jordan  

Vice versa too. This isn’t just one way, you know. This isn’t just women looking at men. It’s men it’s men looking at women too. There’s Conan O’Brien is one of my favorite talk show hosts of all time. You know, I used to watch him when he was on The Late Show, then he was on The Tonight Show for the shorts then, but on HBO right now is, uh, Conan without borders, you know, it’s from a couple of years ago. But then it’s also like a newer one, where Conan’s traveling the world, you know, and he’s just going to Greenland. And Conan is this, I mean, he, if you know him, if you watch him, he’s very tall, very lanky, you know, I mean, just almost like Shaggy from Scooby Doo you know, it’s how his body is exactly, with a huge head, yeah. But he’s going over and, and he’s making these jokes about, you know, and trying to flirt with the women that are, like, over in Greenland for an exam, for example, right? Like, what you wouldn’t want to go out on a date with me? And she, know, and they’re very direct and straight up, like, you got some extra weight there. He’s like, what I do, you know? And he’s, he’s lengthy, you could look or lengthy. And you could look at him and say, Oh, he’s thin. But then they like, this was even Japan. They’re like, No. And they put their hand on his stomach, like, every time, you know, this was in Greenland. This was in Japan. This was in several countries. And he’s not what we would consider fat air quotes that, right? But they’re like, Yeah, you got to work on that, you know? And, but that’s the thing. It’s like, that goes the opposite direction, too. You could say that Conan has a dad bod, sure, but you go to other places in the world, they’re like, Nope, I would, I would rather you work on yourself a bit,

 

Justin Cross  

right? That is very interesting because I’m not even saying that everybody needs to have a six-pack, and most people don’t care about that. I really want to optimize people’s, you know, their health, yeah, yeah, and their confidence and their energy and things like that, because you’re gonna perform better, you know, like if you’re in business, or even if you’re a stay at home mom, or whatever the deal is, you get in better shape. You’re going to be able to show up stronger for whoever relies on you, for sure. Man, if you have someone who looks up to you, there’s always a good reason to kind of level up and take yourself to another level.

 

Rick Jordan  

More energy, dude, more mental capacity for that. But absolutely right on, dude, yeah, I never intended this conversation to go to Dad-Body talk today. This is kind of fun. I love it, dude, you’re awesome. We’re gonna bookend it here because I think that this is a great spot. We’ve hit. We’ve hit hard today. Earn your booze. Everybody. Earn it all. You know, I’m drinking scotch right now. You know, we’ll leave that. You heard me hacking earlier. I think that was but here’s the thing, it’s like, I splurge on a burger and french fries today. I haven’t had a burger from this place in six months. I was like, I just want all the fat today, but sure as hell, dude, I’m gonna be working out tomorrow morning. You gotta enjoy life too. 

 

Justin Cross  

Yeah, I love a good I love having a good drink every now and then I love I’m gonna go have a Spartan meeting, close the deal. So yes, because also back, real quick, back to your hustle culture thing. A lot of your grand culture, a lot of people say it’s chicken, broccoli rice, and no fun. It’s like, No, you got to enjoy life too, and that’s for sure, burn and enjoy the best in life. Because when you are successful in business and you have a great relationship, go out and enjoy your life too, and don’t worry about the six-pack. That’s not what you’re into. But let’s try to be healthy so we can enjoy these things. 

 

Rick Jordan  

Dude. Amen to that. Brother. Justin Cross, everybody, dude, where can people follow you?

 

Justin Cross  

Earn it all.com. Is my website for the business, but Justin Cross and just about everything, Instagram, Facebook, all the places

 

Rick Jordan  

I love it, dude, thanks for coming on today. This was a lot of fun.

 

Justin Cross  

You bet brother, good to see you.