The InfiniteYouniverse Podcast
Shaping Life through Persistence, Discipline, and the 75 Hard Program with special guest Prasanna
Ever pondered how minor, deliberate choices can cause a ripple effect that profoundly transforms your life? Step into a fascinating conversation with my friend Pras, as we peel back the layers on our journey with the 75 Hard Program, a tough but rewarding personal development initiative. From the grueling sessions of exercising twice a day for 45 minutes to overcoming skepticism about its sustainability, we expose you to the raw and riveting details of our pursuit towards personal excellence.
Our narrative is punctuated with vibrant discussions on the surprising power of small decisions - a wholesome meal, a daily workout - that build momentum and foster personal growth. Pras reveals how the 75 Hard Program sculpted not just his physique, but also his habits, pushing him towards a healthier, more disciplined lifestyle. We also touch upon the resonating impact of our actions, how they inspire those around us, and the significance of these transformations in navigating the choppy waters of a pandemic.
In a bold move towards more personal terrains, we candidly share about dealing with gynecomastia, a condition often misunderstood and stigmatized. From the emotional turmoil of living with it since puberty to the experience of undergoing surgery, we bring to light the silent struggles often hidden behind smiles. Along the way, we aim to inspire you to embrace your imperfections, make conscious choices, and realize that every small step taken with intent can lead to monumental changes in your life. Tune in and discover how life can be reshaped with persistence, discipline, and an audacious commitment to personal excellence.
Ever pondered how minor, deliberate choices can cause a ripple effect that profoundly transforms your life? Step into a fascinating conversation with my friend Pras, as we peel back the layers on our journey with the 75 Hard Program, a tough but rewarding personal development initiative. From the grueling sessions of exercising twice a day for 45 minutes to overcoming skepticism about its sustainability, we expose you to the raw and riveting details of our pursuit towards personal excellence.
Our narrative is punctuated with vibrant discussions on the surprising power of small decisions - a wholesome meal, a daily workout - that build momentum and foster personal growth. Pras reveals how the 75 Hard Program sculpted not just his physique, but also his habits, pushing him towards a healthier, more disciplined lifestyle. We also touch upon the resonating impact of our actions, how they inspire those around us, and the significance of these transformations in navigating the choppy waters of a pandemic.
In a bold move towards more personal terrains, we candidly share about dealing with gynecomastia, a condition often misunderstood and stigmatized. From the emotional turmoil of living with it since puberty to the experience of undergoing surgery, we bring to light the silent struggles often hidden behind smiles. Along the way, we aim to inspire you to embrace your imperfections, make conscious choices, and realize that every small step taken with intent can lead to monumental changes in your life. Tune in and discover how life can be reshaped with persistence, discipline, and an audacious commitment to personal excellence.
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Infinite Universe podcast. I'm your host, Paiyan Riazzi. Today is a very special podcast because it's this show's very first live in-person podcast interview with a good friend of mine and his name is Praz. Thank you for being here.
Speaker 2:Yo, yo yo, bro, I am stoked to be here with you, Niverse.
Speaker 1:Thank you, that's jokes. All right, that's good.
Speaker 2:That's really good. All right, yo. Thank you for having me, bro. I'm super stoked to be here. You know I love listening to your pod. Thanks, man, and you're a homie. I've known you for years now. Yeah, you've always been like a positive influence in my life. Thanks, man. And yeah, bro, let's get into it, let's chop it up.
Speaker 1:I'm really excited, dude. Thanks, honestly. Thanks for making the trip today. It's really really nice to see you since the pandemic.
Speaker 2:Yes, bro.
Speaker 1:And we'll get to this later in the pod, but we've always been in touch quite a bit Yep Over phone call.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:And it's been great to be, you know, when that pandemic hit and it isolated so many. It also gave opportunities to find your circle and fine tune the people who are going to be closer to you, and that's something that happened to us, where we connected even deeper during and post pandemic, and it was a result of the specific actions that we decided to take. And if we didn't take those things, we wouldn't be at a certain frequency and this pod wouldn't happen, in a way.
Speaker 2:That's right. And for those of you listening, my good friend Payam is of course referring to the 75 hard program.
Speaker 1:That's right. Created by Andy Fersala. That's right.
Speaker 2:So the first time I heard about 75 hard obviously. Well, a little background. We know each other because we work together at chronicing tattoo studio.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so if you're from the States, chronic was, or is, one of the larger studios in Canada and Pras and I met there, so I was actually his manager technically, but I was a cool ass manager.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we hit it off. We just, you know, you obviously have a dope energy, dude you spotted my contact. We had a good time. We would clown around a lot, but we got the job done.
Speaker 1:We did dude.
Speaker 2:Dude, so many of the things that, like you said at that time, or the conversations we had just really resonated with me deeply. And there were certain things, like 75 hard, for example, that I wasn't ready for at the time, but you planted that seed.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 2:And so that was the first time I heard about the program at chronic a few years ago. And basically, for those of you that don't know, the gist of it is, it's a personal development, self-discipline program and it's 75 consecutive days and there's a list of tasks that you have to complete within that day. Payam. Do you want to shoot off the tasks?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and one other thing this seems hard and it is. It's supposed to be. And the biggest thing with the program is that it's a non-negotiable and so a lot of times, you know, when we wake up, our brains almost start to negotiate. And so if we know that we need to get up at a certain time to get an exercise in or to just spend a few minutes to read, those are all simple decisions that are easy to do, but they're also easy not to do. So the program literally forces you to do them for 75 days, and even for me that wasn't even enough the first rounds that I've done it, and I'll get to that shortly.
Speaker 1:So I started 75 hard in December of 29, meaning that it was just before the pandemic. Actually, the way the days worked out. So I started I believe it was the 26 or 29th I kind of forgot right now, but it was sometime in December, the 26 or 29th and the day that I finished the end of day 75, it was March, I think 13th and two days later our Toronto and all that stuff we were into full out lockdown. So I entered lockdown with a clear ass mental state and I was able to like see, you know what's going on from a bit of a different perspective, and I also was super confident that my health is amazing and my body is capable of so much more.
Speaker 2:Well, that's one of the biggest things that stood out about the program For me is that when you're operating at that level, it gives you the tools to navigate turbulent times. Yeah you're just so calm and clear headed and you know just thinking rationally in times of chaos.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that was obviously super chaotic anyway for the world, right, Like shut down, but yeah, so. So the timeline really is Pras and I likely met in about maybe 2018 at work and I love delegating consults to him. So that's kind of our joke. Can you spot this consult? Because when you only have two people at front desk, how many people can I actually delegate to? Right, Are we firing shots? Yeah?
Speaker 2:Isn't that? Jokes Sometimes, you know, in every kind of hey man work environment sometimes you feel a little understaffed.
Speaker 1:Oh dude, don't don't understaff, don't understaff yeah don't.
Speaker 2:I do want to say though, because originally I passed the mic to you and said go ahead and list off the 75.
Speaker 1:Right, so let's do that right now. So the task is this is daily for 75 days, so it's two workouts a day for 45 minutes. One has to be outdoors.
Speaker 2:Can. I stack the workouts. Can I do one consecutively after the other?
Speaker 1:No, so the point is, the whole intentional thing is you have to make time twice in your day for the workout. So I like to obviously do like morning and night makes sense morning before work, night after work and so it's those two workouts. And for the outdoor part, I literally just do an outdoor walk and the biggest thing is I'm not going to walk around, really, it's just your speed walking, essentially right.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:And more recently actually, I ended up getting that ruck bag, so I've been having a weighted backpack basically that's specifically made for weighted walks, and that's been literally it's killer. It's so good.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So, along with those two workouts, we have to read 10 pages a day, drink a gallon of water and take a progress selfie picture, and no cheat meals or junk food and no alcohol, all for 75 days. That seems like a lot of things to do in a day, and even right now I'm not on the program in this specific moment. So this program is 75 days as a prerequisite, called 75 hard. Once you finish that, you can move on to three different phases, and so there's a phase one, there's a phase two and a phase three, and the start time of those things are. All of those phases are also intentional. So, for example, you can start phase one on day 76. Once you finish 75 hard, but for phase two, you have to wait 30 days in between, post phase one, and the point of it is is what happens in that month break where you're not on the program? Are you going to fall back into your patterns, like your old patterns? Are you going to prolong, like you know, starting back up on phase two? And so it's very intentionally challenging and hard. Hence the program is to live hard program right.
Speaker 1:And what's really sick is Andy. He started this program, I believe in 2018, because I started it a year after. So this December coming up, so December 2023 is my fourth year doing this program, which is insane to think about. And it's so crazy because, even though this will be my fourth year, I still don't look as good in my eyes as the way I looked after 75 hard that very first year. And the point of this is is that everything we learn through that program is still perishable. And so, even though I was in one of the best physiques in recent times, right when when COVID hit, I didn't choose to do that, choose to upkeep the disciplines post program. And so what happened the last few 75 hards, literally for three years, is that I would start back up the way I looked on day one each cycle. So what's the point of that? Right, it's like okay, so you're going to be disciplined for a few months, four months out of the year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like the yo-yo diet, or you know they get a shape get out of shape, get in shape.
Speaker 1:Exactly, and so what's really crazy is to fast forward just a little bit. Is this newest cycle that I just did so this past December?
Speaker 1:going into 2023,. I actually failed on day 30. And I restarted that very day because I knew if I started the next day, my mind would be like, nah, nah, you have to make up again for those last 30 days, Whereas that moment I was like, okay, I'm restarting right now because it'll just give me another 30 days to be better, It'll give me another 30 days advantage. And so I ended up doing I think it was 100 and I'm going to butcher the math it might be 107 or 127 days straight. That might include phase one, but I basically went a huge portion of the beginning of the year, basically Christmas till about April, where I was just nothing no alcohol, just reading, cold showers, just growing and getting better.
Speaker 1:And I guess the backtrack again just a little bit is it was so great to do this the first time because back in our workplace, no one else would do this.
Speaker 1:So this isn't for every tattoo culture and shop, but at least the people that we were around and even that I'm still around now in the tattoo culture and business, a lot of them are not so much health oriented, so you know they'll rely on not healthy eating and they'll smoke cigarettes a lot, which suppresses your appetite as well and drink caffeine to kind of get through the day, and that's not healthy, right?
Speaker 1:And so what was really interesting is because I was the only one at chronic at the time doing this and I just did it, and, of course, I talked about it to just the people that I was around and like comfortable with, because I didn't post about a once on social media until I was finished, Because I was just like you know, I want to do this for me and I just want to do it in the shadows kind of thing. So if you want to go over what it was like in your shoes at the time, not doing the program yet, and then just seeing maybe what it did for me in your eyes or what you felt as I was doing it back in 2019.
Speaker 2:Yeah, bro, I mean that's a good question, because at the time you were doing it, my reaction was the same as a lot of people's reaction were to find out that I was doing it, which was like that's like, that's a little over the top. Isn't that a bit extreme, you know? Isn't that unrealistic? Isn't that unsustainable? Questions like that and the reality of the situation is, at that time I wasn't ready. But a couple of years later, when I was just in a in a slump, in a funk, I was looking at myself in the mirror and like it looked like. It looked like the soul was gone for my eyes and I was in the worst shape of my life and I was doing well in business and I attributed for a long time almost all my worth to that fact and then neglected every other area of my life. And I just reached this point where I was like I'm not living up to my potential. And that's when I remembered this program that you were talking about and I was like I need to do something that's really hard, that's going to push me through to the other side, so that I can like reach true personal excellence, so I can do all the things that I always said I'm going to do. I always said I'm going to get in shape. I always said I'm going to read this book. I was a notorious like buy six books a year, read the first few chapters and then there's just a bookmark in there for years.
Speaker 2:And I just kind of reached this point where I was like, okay, I need to do something extreme. So I hollered at you and now I tell people like, because people will tell me like, still, isn't that like kind of extreme? And they'll be like don't you need balance? Yes, I would love to have balance, but the reality is right now, even now, after doing the program, I don't have the skills to achieve true balance yet, but I will. And you know what, on end of the day, I don't even want balance because, like true winners, like people who really crush it, they're not sitting around talking about balance, they're getting after it.
Speaker 2:And when it comes to balance, even if that's something that I want to achieve right now, I don't feel capable of it. So if it comes to living on one end of the extreme, I'm going to live on the end of the extreme. That doesn't involve me sitting around on my ass, smoking weed all day, eating junk food all day, watching TV all day. You know if the other end of that is extreme, but it means that I'm in the best shape of my life, which I got in, and I'm reading more books that I've ever read in my life, which I've done. I've eating healthier than I've ever ate in my life, which I was doing. My skin was looking better. Everything bro, like right down to my piss, you know, because you're drinking all this water and it's just like you know it's clean.
Speaker 2:It's just like and eating healthy like sorry to the listeners, but I'm I'm just going to say this like taking healthy shits every day feels really fucking good.
Speaker 2:And to just clear out your system and everything about it. Man the outdoor workouts. I started to crave harsh environments. It would start raining or freezing rain because I was doing it during the winter, and I would switch up my workout schedule so I can be outside during the harsher conditions, because you come back from it and you feel so good and I'm dude. Honestly, I say this with confidence. It is the best thing I've ever done to propel my life and if you want to move your life forward at an accelerated rate, this will give you the tools to do so. But, like you said, the regression is very real when I was off and it doesn't happen overnight.
Speaker 1:That's the scary thing is the slow regression is death by 1000 paper cuts, kind of thing.
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly. So at first it's like oh you know, I bit, I killed it.
Speaker 1:I got a bag of chips.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this week's and then the next day. It's like, well I, I killed it, so I can do two days in a row. Oh well, I killed it, so I can do three days in a row. Because I'm dope, I'm in the best shape of my life, I'm absolutely smashing it across the board.
Speaker 2:So I can I can quote unquote treat myself, but like it's really bizarre that we treat ourselves with the habits that we work so hard to get away from, because those habits put us in the hole to begin with. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:That's right. And it goes back to what is self love, right? And I think back on the point of balance. I don't like using the word balance. It's more of a dichotomy. And and every choice you make, you're gonna, every choice you lean into, will naturally have other variables around your life. That you're I hate to use the word neglecting, but you're not putting action or energy into because you're leaning into a different action. And so when you're on, like a program like this, you can still go to a restaurant that's the point but instead of fries, you'll have a salad, instead of fried whatever, you'll have a steak or something like that, right? So those are the small choices that will bleed into, will bleed into every other facet of your life, right? And what's really amazing is, once you're in the momentum of it, you're kind of just like, wow, I can't believe I didn't do this earlier.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, because it's so bizarre, bro, at the early stages of the program you're fighting against your basic desires and your instincts to like be lazy or to eat junk food and all that stuff. And every time you make that decision like you're out at a restaurant, for example, and you know you're on the program so you order a salad or something that you wouldn't normally order, because when you go out you want like fries and burgers and whatnot. Right, so you're at first you're not super stoked about it, but you reach this point where it's not even like a battle anymore, because you go out and you want this, like you're working so hard that you just want things that are going to fuel you and propel you to where you're trying to get to.
Speaker 1:You know what's jokes too. So I always say like the universe, like we are the universe, right. That's the whole point of this podcast. And the universe always has subtle ways to play with you. And so ever since my very first round at at chronic, all the way to my workplace now Abolo. Every time I'm on 75, somebody, whether it's a client or one of the employees, will come in with a box of Krispy Kreme's every time. And when I was on 75 this year I was on day 71 or 72. And I remember that night I was thinking I'm like man, I guess no Krispy Kreme's this year, right, literally do. The next day at work one of the client's buddies came to visit with a fresh box of Krispy Kreme's. I was like there it is, bro, I can't even every time.
Speaker 2:I can't even tell you how many of those landmines were placed in my path. I mean, I did my program, it was so I started on New Year's Eve intentionally so that I wouldn't go out and drink on New Year's, because what a weird way to like. We talk about New Year's resolution bullshit but we all start the year off being hung over and shit. For the most part, you know most people do not us anymore.
Speaker 2:But like doing starting the year with this program was such a game changer because I got to start the year with the actual mind, like with a clear mindset and with so much ambition and intent. So when I was on the program it was New Year's, it was the first couple tests were like I had to fly out east east to see my grandma and my sister was pregnant at the time and it was kind of like an emergency situation where we was last minute flying down there and because my sister was pregnant, my dad wanted to bump up her flight to whatever the whatever it's called business class or whatever it's called. I'm a peasant.
Speaker 1:So at the top of the top of the plane, the caviar section you're in the back.
Speaker 2:So he bumped us both, obviously because that would be okay. So, so he bumped us both up, obviously because it would have been kind of a wrap. So you know, super grateful for that. But now I'm experienced is where I'm, at the Pearson lounge, which I've never experienced before, and it's like there's a buffet, there's all you can eat, all you can drink, and I'm only on day 12 right now. So my willpower is shit at this point and I'm fighting. I'm like, oh God, like you know anything. So I'm like I beat that test. I get past the Pearson, the lounge, whatever it's called, and then we get on the flight and the same situation is like, yeah, anything you want to eat, anything you want to drink, it's all covered bombs.
Speaker 2:Like I'm good you know like a water and I'm just, I'm here, I'm just going to read my book and then I get, we get to Nova Scotia, I, we take a cat to my aunt's house, I walk in and there's pizza, wings and garlic bread just laid out on the island and like God damn, like this day of tests will never end. But then, after you know, you get through that and then you know, homies, birthdays come up. My own birthday, I was on the program during my birthday and honestly, bro, to spend your birthday working like to do two workouts on your birthday and read and just take care of yourself, is it's the dopest way to spend your birthday. It totally trumps going out and partying and feeling like shit the next day.
Speaker 1:Because you're actually doing something to better yourself. Yes, because, honestly, dude, self love has been so badly portrayed. It's not self sabotage, right, and self love honestly is. Yes, rest is important. I'm a huge advocate of that. You could look around my studio, right, I have a couch. There's like I like to chill, yes, but there's also that discipline that I need to follow, because otherwise I'm leaving so much of my potential on the table.
Speaker 2:Right, yes.
Speaker 1:And so, like, one of the things that me and Pras talked about prior to recording is even our career choices right now. Right, it's like the path that I'm on, how much of my actual, the person, the pie I'm that was born to be here on earth, that all my ancestors have to survive and go through to let me be here, and all the working mechanisms in the background of our consciousness that work into play to have you here. How can I, how can I waste that opportunity? You know I was born into a great mom and dad. We're not perfect. I have huge trauma, but that doesn't take away from how much they worked hard and how much they tried to support me in the best way that they could, and they still support every venture that I do. It's like how can I waste that blessing by following the shadow career or even in relationships? How can you stay in a shadow relationship and leave so much of your potential on the table? Right, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, and that's what doing things that are incredibly difficult and push you out of your comfort zone and are inconvenient and require sacrifice, those things all illuminate your self worth and illuminate your potential.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So if you go long enough making those choices, then you really start to realize what you're capable of, and then you start to become restless and antsy because you want to actualize that potential.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's so fun because when you're actually growing and you're doing hard things and you see the outcome and how much it's helped you progress in life, why would you?
Speaker 2:stop at that point Exactly, and before I forget, I do want to just go back to the what we were talking about regression.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because some people might think like, oh, what's the point of doing the program if you're just going to regress? Well, here's the incredible thing that I mean. I knew that before doing the program. Andy's very candid about when he's explaining the program like these skills are perishable. This isn't something that you earn and you get to keep forever, you know. So I didn't really realize that until it happened. So once, like you know, it was six weeks, eight weeks being off the program and I started to really notice like, oh shit, I'm really letting my good habits slip away.
Speaker 2:After having done the program, you catch yourself so much sooner and you know exactly what you need to do to get back on track. So I caught myself way sooner than I would have otherwise and I knew exactly why it needs to do. I need to jump into the next phase, that's right. And you snap back into it and, like dude, all I know is like, despite the fact that the whole journey is there's going to be a lot of up and down, up and down I'm net up. You know what I'm saying. I'll never let myself regress to the point of my before picture from last year. I don't personally see that, see that happening, because, like I, hold myself to such a higher standard than.
Speaker 2:I ever thought before. And one important thing to understand is like I wasn't a super good student, you know, like I went to university, I did all that bullshit, but like I just scraped by and like I struggled like no attention span in classrooms.
Speaker 2:I was just never a good student, never good student, and the way we're raised is and what we're taught is that, like you know, so like, I always like reinforce this belief that like, well, I'm not good in school, so I'm not going to make anything of myself.
Speaker 2:So, like, what's the point in doing?
Speaker 2:Like, what's the point in, like, taking care of myself and trying to be great, you know, and like I think entrepreneurship and started starting my own business is really what instilled, like the initial confidence that like, oh, you can do things that are great, like, you can do things that exceed expectations and you can make money without being like a cog in the system, without, like, being someone's bitch for 40 hours a week.
Speaker 2:You know, that's right. And the problem was I reached a point where, like, I was making more money than I ever thought imaginable and it made me complacent and it also gassed up my ego to the point where I was like, well, I don't really need to do anything else because, like, I'm fucking killing it, you know. But you reach a point where, like, the thing is like, none of that, like milestones in business made me feel accomplished and the metric of that was financial gain. But it's not the actual like money or the financial gain that excited me, or it's just that that was a metric to indicate success, you know, like that's a sign that you're doing something right.
Speaker 2:But it was really entrepreneurship and the hustle and the pursuit that got me excited.
Speaker 2:Yeah me stoked, but I did fall into the state of like complacency and like, okay, well, if I'm if I'm making six figures, for example, and like what my qualifications should only get me something that's around the 50 to 65,000 annual salary range, though, like, why should I do anything more? I'm already crushing it and killing it. But doing this program made me realize, like, how much more I can do, how much better I can use my time, like, how much more impact I can have on other people. And it made me really aware of my complacency as an entrepreneur. And it really made me aware of, like, the stagnant situation you can feel like you're in as an entrepreneur if you're not doing anything to break out of your comfort zone and continue to grow and continue to expand. And for an entrepreneurship, again, like, the metric may be the financial return, but the reality of it is the actual pursuit for an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2:Like entrepreneurs are hungry by nature. You know they, they like, like they're addicted to the pursuit. They're addicted to the hustle, to the grind, and once you put everything on autopilot, it doesn't really matter that you're making money consistently and that, like you're making enough to live by and be comfortable. You feel, like this hair inherent need to like risk it for the next big thing, you know, for the challenge alone, not necessarily for the financial gain, like I said. So, for me, being an e commerce and spending the last seven years being in online retail, I feel like the next challenge for me is to venture into brick and mortar. You know, like for me, having a business that either provides a good or service in the physical world, in the physical space, with real life interactions with customers, like that's the next thing that I think will excite me, and I don't know if I would have the self awareness to come to that conclusion or like the courage to pursue these things if I didn't put myself through this situation with this program.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one of the things I said to my coaching group with Aaron last week was it was something along the lines of where we're our own unique puzzle peach for each other and what's really cool is the amount of years that I've been in the brick and mortar personal service businesses. My whole transition now is to be online and yours is to go into brick-and-mortar.
Speaker 1:So it's cool too, because, even though those are, we're going to the space that we're already in now and we're trying to transition. That's beautiful too, because there's so much insight I have in brick-and-mortar and there's so much insight you have in the online world as a business that even that alone, those puzzle pieces of our own wisdom and knowledge they fall into place so well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, big time, bro. And it all goes around too like who knows, maybe in that last six months stretch in retail you picked up something that's going to be like invaluable to me in my journey, you know, and vice versa, and like if you have the intent that you genuinely want the people around you to be lifted up and come up with you, then there's so much reciprocal energy and there's so much like it just goes around and around, you know, like you don't know exactly who it's going to come from or who you're going to provide it to, but just in the pursuit and surround yourself with these people, which just happens organically you start to like lift each other and hook each other up with, like all these dope resources or pieces of information or people that you know can get us all where we're trying to go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the whole philosophy of this podcast is to be a light for change, right, and so we want to be the light and the embodiment of the wish and the change that we wish to see in the world, and that starts with you.
Speaker 1:Yep right, so we can't force someone to sweep the front porch, but if you do it and your neighbor sees and that, and you give them that permission by acting first, and they do it now, two homes and then the domino effect goes into place, right. And so I just want to backtrack for just a quick thing that you can share with the audience is tell me the impact that 75 ended up having for your life. Not the details, not the grind, but the actual life impact it had on you and your close friends.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I really love talking about the ripple effect of the program and of just by being the light for change.
Speaker 2:Yes, and just by pursuing personal excellence, people around me made small changes. For example, they would eat healthier, at least around me, or they would be interested in working out more often, or they would increase their water intake or they would start reading again these little impacts that are gonna help them create momentum in their own individual lives. They don't necessarily not everybody needs to do this program, but everybody can make small changes to improve their lives and start building better habits and start building momentum. So that's on the smaller end of impact is a lot of my friends and family started making small adjustments to their life to be healthier because they saw me completely change my life and everybody even do. Two weeks into the program. Before even telling people I'm on the program, they would be like dude, you're different. Like, you look different, you're radiating at a super crazy frequency, like a crazy good, like a super vibrant.
Speaker 2:You know frequency, and I felt that too, I was radiating this energy, this light, and just I enjoyed my own company. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:The other big thing, too, is like we're not saying this from a egotistical standpoint where we're better or worse than someone else, but what we're actually trying to tell people and anyone who does this program you are so much more capable than what you think you are and that's the whole thing.
Speaker 1:It's like, even when I tell people and if they're hesitant because I was too I was hesitant the first year Andy created it, otherwise I would have been a year ahead because I was like, can I really do this? And your mind's like, no, but you got to do this and this. And how can you do that? How can you do this? For 75 days you're not gonna eat sweets because I have a sweet tooth, so but yo, you can. You're so like, we are so powerful, right yes, well.
Speaker 2:Well, that's what it is. It's like it's not an ego thing. It's like you genuinely want people to experience what you're experiencing, because you know that how much happier you are and how much more fulfilled you feel, and it's like yo come with me on this ride because you can do it yeah, and, by the way, to those who say it's not sustainable, it is absolutely sustainable and you find like it's.
Speaker 2:It's. It seems counterintuitive in a way. You're dedicating more time to these things, but it you end up having more time in the day because your mind is so organized. You need structure in order to fit these things into your schedule and you realize that all the other bullshit that you're wasting your time with, like scrolling through Instagram and all that shit that adds up to a lot, and you had way more time on your hands than you, than you knew. You just didn't realize how much of it you were wasting on bullshit and and we waste a lot on our phones right?
Speaker 2:oh yeah, look at your screen time yo pull out your phone right now, if you're listening to this, and check out your screen time and tell me that you don't have time to work out twice a day or read 10 pages, which takes 20 30 minutes dude.
Speaker 1:Honestly reading sometimes can take an hour for me depending on my mental state, but I still do it yeah, fair enough.
Speaker 2:What because?
Speaker 1:I'm a. I'm a slow dude, like my brain. I'm a slow reader yeah but sometimes my brain is so active where if I'm in kind of that like ADD zone and my brain is just it just can't kind of keep quiet right. I'll have to read a little bit, go back to it later in the day or reread it at night before bed, like yeah you find your way to make it work and however way you function.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do find though that, like I've become a faster reader this year. Like at the beginning of the program, it was taking me a month to read a book, and now I can bang one out in like four to seven days, you know that's crazy. I'm not saying that's gonna like dude to trust me. There are days where I'm like I'm reading my 10 pages and it's taking forever because my mind keeps drifting and I have to keep rereading, rereading, rereading.
Speaker 2:But I so I didn't want to say the other impact that it had is one of my close friends who was going through a very tough time started 75 hard. So what happened first is I convinced him, like I was talking to about it and he was interested, he wanted to do it, but then something happened with his business because of someone internally. There was a lot of threats to the business and things were falling apart at a very fast rate. And he told me like dude, I can't do the program right now because, like, everything in my life is falling apart. And the summary is I basically made him realize like this is the time to do it. Then this is the best time you could possibly do it.
Speaker 2:And you know, I threw on the podcast and he's podcast and he got hyped up and, dude, he just come within weeks, bro, he 180 everything, completely new staff, like any, any. Told me he's like, once I started doing this program, the universe just started putting things in my path that I needed. Like it's, like it's like the universe was listening and feeling all this energy. I was putting it out and bouncing it right back to me and like I'm not saying it's a magic formula like you do, this program and everything else in your life is gonna work out. But if you do things with intent and if you do things with, with a plan of action in mind and you pursue that action, then things will come into your path that are in line with your motivations.
Speaker 2:So he did the program, he's on the program right now and the crazy thing is he met. He's messaged me a few times with like screenshots of him talking to other homies who are now doing the program to. So it's crazy because you didn't realize that by doing this program a couple years ago 2019, 2019 that now, 2023, it would be affecting so many people and the ripple just continues because those people are gonna influence people and then those people are gonna influence people. Someone influenced you.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean and that that's the beautiful thing, because I was telling you this earlier.
Speaker 1:But when you're doing the program, you're still going through life yo yeah, right, and so life is up and down and it's been hard right, like it's been for so many of us.
Speaker 1:It's been so challenging, you know, and and I've talked about a lot of the challenges I face in my own life, and it's so crazy because I remember, especially the last few years there's gonna be moments in time where I'm negative and I'm down about myself and in my brain there's a lot of worthiness conversations that happen and there's a lot of things that you know I think, like what I do is worthless, or perhaps my workplace doesn't understand what this program is when I talk about it, or whatever it feels like I'm not really doing much.
Speaker 1:But the truth is, is that by me choosing to illuminate my best self that I can try to become that day and the day again after and again and again? That at least will plant a seed in someone like yourself which then, two years later, no one put a gun to your head, just you just did it, and your choice of doing that helped a close friend of yours turn his life around, and then that person is now gonna have another person be affected by it positively, and then that's how you change the world right, that's how you be a light for change, how you be a beacon of of light and change, and everyone else will essentially see the light and when they're ready, they follow and then they create their own, they illuminate their own light from there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, I mean dude, and it was crazy seeing it in my friend. You know like seeing the transformation and again within a couple weeks that's crazy within a couple weeks, like I'm looking at him is like glowing.
Speaker 2:You know his skin is glowing, he's vibrating, you know, and it was just dope to see it kind of just like reinforced all my beliefs about what I, what I felt about the program. After I did it and, yeah man, I just dude, I fucking love dude, dude. I would typically read an average like cover-to-cover maybe one to two books a year. Two books, it was like a good year and this year I'm up to I think I'm on my 14th book this year, hold, and we're in September. Wow. So by the end of the year I should have read, like you know, 15, 16 yeah and dude.
Speaker 2:It's just what was a chore and an inconvenience at first, at the beginning, has become something that I look forward to like. The idea of reading before bed makes me feel relaxed even just thinking about doing that, whereas before is like, well, I could read, but I'd rather just watch 10 episodes of some bullshit on Netflix yeah oh, and it's usually some shit that I've seen already rewatching office exactly and and, like dude, reading has just provided so much value to my life, you know so good it's helped me with my written skills, it's helped me with my verbal communication skills.
Speaker 2:And you, just like you, read a book and you, you know you're not gonna retain everything, but there are a couple little gems that stick with you, you know, and every book I've read this year has been personal development book. So from all those books, there's been at least one invaluable thing that I've taken away from each book.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean golden nugget is all you need exactly and that one nugget that you can get out of a book that is worth all the efforts of reading the entire book, because that one little nugget can compound and change your life in drastic ways over the course of years. You know.
Speaker 1:I think the principle is it's not to shove down the program to your face, because we've basically talked about it for 45 minutes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's just something it's.
Speaker 1:It's it's not so much that, but if you're listening now, there's going to be something in your life that you're resisting the action and energy to do. It could be something, anything. It could be creative. It could just be exercise or drinking one extra glass of water, it could be smiling to someone down the road, like just something different that would actually benefit your life, and it's just so easy to resist doing it. This entire episode.
Speaker 1:So far, as much as we're praising the program, all it is is it's an avenue for us to challenge what we think we know about ourselves and to actually see, like, what we're capable of in the midst of chaos, because life can be chaotic, right Like it is, and the more that we dive into this, the more we dive into who we are in our truth. Right, and that's something I want to obviously parallel in this show is yes, it's a spirituality focused show, but we're, we're in our bodies right now. Our consciousness is, is its focal point is in a human body and our ego is relative to the things external of us. So, even though we're all one right now, my consciousness is in knows me as Piem relative to you, praz, and all the other 8 billion people. So to change the world, you just have to change yourself, and everyone can change in the smallest manner and it creates such a big ripple effect, you know, and that ripple effect is no money can buy. It's just an action that you take from a heart-centered place for your own growth and development, and when you shine your light, those who are meant to see it see it. Real shit, dude. It's in the Bible too. You know Jesus, like he was like oh, come follow me. You know, and those who are ready follow. When we do this, it's not so much that we're saying, it's not so much that we're saying, hey, come follow me. We're just shining this beacon of light and showing people what's possible, because there's so much shit that goes on in our personal lives too. And it's like, on top of all, that we're making it extra challenging by doing all these things. I'd rather not, but in a way I actually would rather, because how much more can I do? And it's not so much the output, it's how much more am I capable? You tap into this place within yourself that is just so powerful, and you kind of rethink what the world has ever taught you, and even for me I was never good at school either. Right Barely passed my last exam in university.
Speaker 1:I failed. It was like a 48 or something, and it was this polycyc class. It was so stupid I wrote about Trump. Really, what year was this in? I graduated 20, I think 16, and then I stayed back an extra year just to work Best job ever at that gym.
Speaker 1:My last exam to graduate my program I failed. I remember emailing the prof being like hey man, is there any extra assignment that I can do so I can just bump my grade to a 50? And he actually wrote to me. You shouldn't be surprised as to why you failed the essay. It was like an essay exam. But because you're graduating, I'll bump you to a 50. And that's how I passed.
Speaker 2:Bro, I didn't know that about you and that's really fucking trippy, because the literally exact same thing happened to me during my undergrad.
Speaker 2:I failed my very very last exam it was with half a credit and it was an essay based exam and I actually challenged it. I was like yo, what the fuck? I wrote a dope essay. So I tried to appeal the grade, and I mean ultimately the university, the university sided with the prof. I mean it just kind of further. I mean, unless you're trying to specialize in something like it is, education is pretty fucking bullshit.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, to begin with, like there's a lot of fluff material and dude if I did it again knowing what I know. I'd take that OSA money and buy Bitcoin and drop out for it.
Speaker 2:I would take that money and like invest in a business or some shit.
Speaker 1:Sure, yeah, it's investment. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's always easy to invest in hindsight.
Speaker 2:Like it's easy to be, like, oh, I would have invested in real, real shit you probably would have like taken out of the bottom, fucking G person.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, but I want to move on a little bit. So not so much about 75, but what's really great is so, pras and I, after lockdown so when COVID happened and stuff, everyone's obviously in their own path, their own home both of us left chronic at some point during the lockdown. So I left June of 2020. And so we both left at some point during the lockdown and at that point everyone's really in their own vibration. Everyone's in their own path.
Speaker 1:Your lockdown you can't go to health stores, but you can go to the LCBO. You know like it's very easy to get into a really bad rut, and so I even fell for it, right, even though I just got off the program. It was like, okay, for one day I'll, I'll watch Netflix and I'll eat chips. That turn into another day and another day, and another day. And so by the time but December of 2020 came, I looked like shit again, like I did the December prior, and that goes back to the perishable thing, and so even our relationship now. So if you never did the program, you wouldn't have been living at such an elevated level, and then we wouldn't have connected the way we connected either, because I actually you brought it up. I haven't seen you since work, but then when you came over, like you know, we hugged each other. It was. I honestly felt like I saw you a few months ago. Bro. I feel like I saw you yesterday, that's what.
Speaker 2:I'm saying I'm already trying to get away from you.
Speaker 1:Thanks for saying spots, yeah, so distance, right, so yo like you, like this podcast is happening because we both did something very challenging and it brought us together. And a lot of times, bro, like hardship brings people together, yeah, we're wired to go through hardship right and you know, good times are great. I wish we had more of it, but hardship brought us together. Man, I'm really grateful for that.
Speaker 2:No real shit, bro, real talk.
Speaker 2:I would have done this program either way, but it helped a lot to have a homie who is not only has done it, but who was doing it.
Speaker 2:Like it's nice to have someone in the trenches with you, you know, because like there were some rough like there were some rough times, dude, like, like, like I said, as much as I loved the program, and I genuinely think I'm going to do it every year, there are some hard times, especially when shit in your life is not going according to plan, which is inevitable. There's times life is going to throw you some fucking curve balls and when you're also in the program and, like you're doing, you have everything that's already on your plate, plus 75 hardship which you consciously put on your plate, and then life takes a dump on your plate as well and you force yourself to navigate. That you know. Like you said, zero options mentality, like you find a way to navigate it and and figure it out. Like you come out on the other end like a beast, you know, like bro I I went to two funerals on the program.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and they weren't people that I knew it was. I wasn't like you know you're emotionally affected there, but they were mainly like friends of my parents and but even there you know like they're giving out candy and not candy but sweets and you know kind of like the culture's delicacy and treats and stuff. But even there I remember this one moment like we're all sitting at this table. This was after the funeral, it was like a week after. It was like a celebration of life kind of thing and we were sitting at these like large circular tables and dude, like during the service. There's people on their phone.
Speaker 1:man, oh, that's fucked up, right and so, and yo, like I'm- sitting there like, okay, not, not comparative in a way, but I just know, okay, I worked out. I'm going through my gallon of water like I do normally every day, regardless on the program, or not get my water and no, you know no snacks, as tasty as they are, but at least I have the discipline to pay some respect to someone I don't even really know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, real shit.
Speaker 1:But at least to their family. At the very least not be, at the very least not be on my phone. And the thing that really sucks is like how can you be proud of yourself if you can't even sit at a service to someone that you likely know and still just try and escape through their phone? Right, and that could even be a trauma response thinking about it now. But what if you could teach your brain to stay present and in that moment, regardless if you're uncomfortable or not, because that's a lot of the program is. Yeah, you know, when you're on the program you have this list of shit to do on top of your fucking life. It's like yo, you can't sleep in that extra hour Because if you do your whole, you'll probably fail the program.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know you're not in our block. You're done. It was the worst. You sleep in and you wake up and you have a moment where you're just like just fucking give up that anxiety. Yes, yes, oh bro, like about you, about the cell phone shit? Like like, yeah, I do like genuinely think that's foul and that's fucked up and, like I personally have the self awareness to be yo like I'm here to pay respect and there's nothing respectful about fucking going on tiktok.
Speaker 2:Yeah during this situation. But it also makes me feel dude people are. They're on apps and shit.
Speaker 2:The release dopamine and they're on give them this, so they're addicted to seeing that little red heart on Instagram with how many likes and shit they have. People are addicted to that because it almost satisfies one of our baser instincts to be accepted and to feel connected with people, and one of the things after like fuck. Keep looping back to the program. But this year I may. I've developed this habit of I take my book with me everywhere, and it's not even about like I need to do my reading or whatever. It's just like I would genuinely rather read if I have downtime than like browse through Instagram and shit because that's where I realize what a fucking waste of time that is.
Speaker 2:And one thing I noticed is this whole year just being in all types of you know waiting rooms, you know airport lounges, whatever situation I was in, bus stop, whatever where I would bust out my book and read it. You know, you look around and you see every single person staring at their phone and it's like some black mirrorship bro and you feel like you feel like everyone's in the in the matrix and you look around like it sucks because you know like more than nine out of 10 of those people are on their phone doing some bullshit. That's not going to better their lives, you know. So it's like if I'm waiting for a doctor's appointment for 20 minutes, well, I just read like a couple chapters, whereas other people or you know most other people on TikTok or Instagram and just like consuming shit that has been made to capture like the lowest you know you're escaping time.
Speaker 1:in reality, yes.
Speaker 1:Dude, you know it's crazy. So I was at Wonderland, I don't know, a month and a bit ago, I think, and I was with my partner and our my stepdaughter, and my goal is to obviously be as present as I can. But Alex Hormozzi, he had his book launched that day and I registered for that thing like a month prior to wanting to go to Wonderland with them. Okay, and so what was nuts is for about an hour and a half I told Christina. I was like yo, I'm not going to be present, I don't, you know, it's gonna piss you off. Whatever, I need to listen on this live event because I want to get his book that's going to be released through that live and whatever offers. I just got to make sure I'm tuned in.
Speaker 1:And then after that, bro, you know, you got eight hours of my attention solely like genuinely, you know, and I remember I was literally I had my headphones in and how many people are Wonderland? Like thousands, thousands. Right, I got my headphones in. I'm still kind of with them, but obviously I'm paying attention to the thing and, as annoying as I might have been for, you know, christine, at the end of the day, like I taught to talk with her.
Speaker 1:I was like yo, like if you're dating me, like this is how it is not to say that I'm not going to be present in what we do, but if there is something that is generally going to up level my life and I'm going to teach, I'm going to learn something that will benefit not only my life but our life, because you're a part of, like my family yes, nothing is going to stop me, and so I was the one guy. I'm obviously assuming this, but out of the thousands of people there, I can put a fucking solid bed that I was the only motherfucker with those headphones in listening to that live event, regardless that I was there or not. And it's that small choice when you, when you do that choice, like in that intentful manner, day in and day out, that's how you build a life that is crazy to most eyes.
Speaker 2:And, bro, it's like well, people need to realize is like, let's say, eight hours at Wonderland and you took out an hour to do this hour and a half. Yeah, like whatever, let's call it. Two hours, that, two hours pretty much. If you allocated that to more Wonderland time it would have just been more of the same, and it's almost like exactly like if you're watching eight hours of TV a day you know like take two hours.
Speaker 2:We'll take more than two hours off that, but you know, take two hours and do something else and you're not going to miss out on anything.
Speaker 1:I'll literally be present for full time outside of listening to that live event, because I've trained my mind to be able to and I have the fucking discipline. You know what I mean?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and dude, real shit, like if you're doing something that matters to you, like if you're like I need to take a break from this because this is really important to me, then, like you know, ideally everybody's if you're partnered, you're with a real one who has confidence in themselves and confidence in you. Confidence in themselves in the sense that, like okay, I don't need your undivided attention for eight hours. And confidence in you that, like if you are sacrificing time to do something that matters to you, it must be important and there must be value to it.
Speaker 1:Exactly, you know exactly, and not everyone gets it at first. Just like how 75. You just have to keep like if it's your light that you need to shine, you have to do it. Yes, it's no different than how 75 was a chronic originally with you, right? Yeah, I mean, that's the thing.
Speaker 2:Like I didn't understand it then, when you were doing it, and people don't understand it now. Yeah, I'm doing it now, but, like fuck man, if I let those voices creep into my head and stop me from doing it, then I'm the one that's going to suffer first of all. And second of all is they're not going to be able to experience, like you know, the best of you gains of being around. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah and yo I want it. Take this somewhere else. So one of the nights on 75. So we, we, at least I like to start 75 in December, like I guess you too. It gives the winter purpose. I remember you saying that one one time. I love doing it. So in Canada we obviously get crazy winners here, you know minus 30 Celsius, sometimes minus 40, with windshield right, it gets really cold and it's not always snow.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it's freezing rain like oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, dude, it's crazy, but I love doing it, because the winter everyone's in. Yes, they're all inside Cozy and warm, and you are the only motherfucker out there. Oh, it feels so good.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I remember man, like a lot of times I'll have to do like six, and walks Something like that, and I just, you know the my robotic thing is this alarm goes off, I get up. No snooze, get up, I take a piss, I put my layers on and I go outside. Yes, that's the first thing I have to do. There's no, nothing else.
Speaker 1:Nothing taking that piss is crucial. That's crucial, nothing else, because I know my brain. If I, if I sat down to pee and, let's say, read a book, then go on a walk. I wouldn't want to go on a walk because then I'm comfy and I'm in my, I'm warm. I don't have time to negotiate. Yeah, with that inner voice that wants to stop you.
Speaker 1:Yes and that's what really you kind of learn when you do these challenges is you learn how to navigate your inner voice that stops you from doing things. Yes, that holds you back and you, you hold yourself back right. And one of the nights I remember we were talking is we talked about a surgery that you just had, so we can talk about if you're cool with that. Yeah, dude, and yes, we. We didn't realize how much we connected even deeper. Yes, I told us conversations, so do you want to take it from here?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I do. And I was shocked to hear that you were dealing with this too, because when I when I booked the surgery, there's a lot of anxiety around it and I Basically made a decision, you and I were getting very close to this program we're talking about a lot of personal shit and I was like yo, this is a very isolating, difficult experience to go through alone, again, because this is my second surgery and I'm gonna tell Listeners what the surgery was in a second. But I decided, like yo, I'm just gonna confide in pie I'm about this because I have to talk to someone about it and Then to later find out that you have suffered your whole life starting since puberty.
Speaker 2:Yeah and what we're talking about is gynecomastia and, for those of you that don't know, this is something that impacts about 50% of males during puberty, but out of those 50%, 90% of the time it goes away. And gynecomastia is basically the formation of glands and, like the Lame is term for it would be man boobs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but not fat. Yes, it's the same breast Material you could say that woman have naturally. So we're developing that gland that basically Woman have, which we call boobs.
Speaker 2:exactly so what happens during puberty is for men and women. Your body is producing both testosterone and estrogen. So what happens for young men during puberty? As, as the body is producing estrogen, like I said, in about 50% of cases it'll You'll develop these glands around your breast tissue, but it does go away on its own, usually within a few months or within a year or two, but for a lot of males it's a condition that stays with you, and no diet, no amount of exercise, nothing will get rid of it. In fact, sometimes the leaner you are, the more noticeable it is.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 2:And this is a very difficult people realize how difficult it is growing up with it, how many things you have to deal with and I don't really want to say trauma, but there are traumatic. This is around it.
Speaker 1:You use trauma first with me on the phone and I brushed it off, but the more I thought about it, dude, it was very traumatizing Growing up. Yes going through puberty in high school and having the gland and not really knowing what the fuck it is, yeah, and. And then you have your friends point at you being like yo, you got mantis. Yes, that was fucking worse and and what's crazy is like you can always just share on this, but you can't wear a lot of different t-shirts.
Speaker 2:Yep right because the the way is a nightmare.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like the t-shirt you wear, depending on the cut, even the color, yeah, the way it sits on your, your shoulders and chest. If it sits the wrong way, because it's a gland, it's very pointy. Yes, it really pops out and so well. We both experienced this. We're growing up. You couldn't wear any shirt you wanted. You have to be very specific with it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so like men with gynecomastia or young boys with gynecomastia, will have like a kind of laundry list of laundry list intended of Tricks they use with their clothing. For example, like darker clothing Usually we tend to lean away from, from like white or light colored clothing clothing t-shirts with graphic designs across the chest those help cover the contours. You know, or you know wearing a t-shirt and then wearing an open button shirt over it, or wearing a.
Speaker 2:Zip-down hoodie or just wearing crew necks or anything that's kind of thicker, that can kind of mask it. But, dude, it goes way far beyond that, because it's like any type of situation that involves a swimming pool or going to the beach. You, you find these excuses, I dreaded it.
Speaker 2:Yes, bro, and people don't understand like you you make these excuses or lies of like why you can't go, and they don't understand like you Desperately want to be there, you desperately want to be comfortable taking your shirt off at the beach and and all these things and, obviously, like sexual encounters, like it's never been something that, like my partner has pointed out or, you know, I've never had like a girlfriend say anything about it or Make me feel bad about it at any time in my entire life. But it affected me, it made me more timid and it made me behave in a kind of way that, like you know, I'm trying to hide it or try to conceal it and that each of those situations, like dating and, like you know, sexual encounters- yeah and it's.
Speaker 2:it's weird too, because most people like, if your friends are ripping on you or your family is ripping on you, they, they don't understand that it's gynecomast, they think it's like fat, yeah, exactly and, to be honest, I we convince ourselves of that too, because once you go through the process of, like figuring it out and researching, you find out what gynecomast is, you find out that the only way to get rid of it is through surgery, which costs upwards of ten, fifteen thousand dollars and I honestly can't believe it's not covered by oh happy there. Yeah, that's bullshit, because it does cause like it is a mental health dude.
Speaker 1:100% it is yeah. 100% it is yeah, I do. I have a shirt right now. I I like my marina wool. Shit right, I Bought a really nice white Short-sleeve marina wool.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I got to wear something over it because it's white and there's the way it fits, so comfy yeah but it just the guy know, because I haven't had surgery yet on it. Yeah, it's just super like super prominent dude I have, so I still deal with it, but luckily I'm not in high school or anything. I've developed my my sense of knowing, like I know that it's Something larger in my head than what it really is in reality.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And it doesn't take away from my worth like I'm at that place, but you tell that to a 15 year old boy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly who's getting bullied in the locker room or whatever.
Speaker 1:And now social media.
Speaker 2:We didn't have that yeah, yeah, yeah so that's why it's so important talk about yeah, definitely, I do think any, and like dude, a lot of guys who have it won't, and even me, like going through the surgery. I didn't tell any my friends or family, because I think a lot of people, a lot of men who have gynecomastia, feel that it challenges their masculinity Because because of how it comes to be and because it's caused by like estrogen during puberty and it doesn't mean that these men have high estrogen or less low testosterone what it means is that during a period of puberty, there was a point where the extra spike was spike exactly, and the body wasn't able to basically do its thing exactly to balance out
Speaker 2:right. So yeah, dude, there were. The most extreme thing is I didn't go to my cousin's wedding Because it was a destination wedding and I knew I would have to take off my shirt. So I lied to my whole family and I told them that I was in summer school and then I had to. I had exams during that period and, dude, there's so many examples of that, like from age like 13 to fuck, I didn't. I was 30 when I got the first surgery. So I got the first surgery and Like I mean, there's no point in dropping names at this point, but the surgery bit surgeon basically botched it. And then, when I was out in Toronto.
Speaker 2:Yes. So when I brought up the issues, he said like he's like wait for the one-year mark and like that's when we'll really know what's going on. So I waited until exactly the one-year mark. I called in and the secretary puts me at hold, talks to the surgeon and says Doctor so and so is retiring, so he's not gonna see you. And I was like, well, like what the fuck I need? I have Questions that I need answers to and like I'm concerned about the results. And she's like, if you're that concerned, go to the hospital. I'm like, bro, what the fuck.
Speaker 1:Kind of janky ass Shit is this as if you weren't alone all your puberty life? Exactly now, you paid for something and you're still being left in the dark.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it feels like he like gas. Lit me about the yeah.
Speaker 2:It's like he told me to wait the. I feel like he told me to wait that mark because he knew he'd be gone at that point. Yeah, enough to deal with it. So, anyways, I went to the hospital where I got the surgery. Like this guy, he doesn't operate out of his own plastic surgery place, it's like he operates through a hospital. So I went to that hospital and I had to get like a mammogram and Ultra sound. Mammogram and an ultrasound All this shit takes ages, bro. You got to wait a few months to get the appointment, then you got to wait a few months, like, to see the doctor, then you got to wait a few months for the mammogram, then you got to wait a few months to see the doctor again, then you have to wait for the actual surgery. So he told me he can, he can Improve it, but it was gonna cost another $11,000.
Speaker 2:But at this point, bro, like I was so determined to just like address this situation. At this point, it had been more than half my life having it and I just knew that, like this was a step that I needed to take in order to like, feel good about myself and feel confident and enjoy like the rest of my life and I thought the sooner I get it at this point, I wish I did a 10-year sooner. But I was thinking the sooner I get it now at this point, the more value I'll get from it because I'll have more years to enjoy it. So I Did that surgery and, again, dude, leading up to it, so much anxiety and basically post traumatic feelings.
Speaker 2:From my experience with the last surgeon and dude, like doing this kind of surgery is like I Don't know it's. I mean it's obviously not as stressful as you know. You have a life-threatening condition and you need to, you need emergency operation, but Just something like this when you like sink a significant portion of your life savings into and the results aren't a guarantee and you feel alone throughout the whole process, like I was stressed out and I was having nightmares. Dude, I had nightmares that this like surgeon, this new surgeon, was like an evil dude. Remember I called you and I told you about that. I Ended up just having a really great experience overall with the surgeon and the staff. Dude, after my surgery, I got home a couple hours later and I get a call on my cell phone and it's the surgeon and he's like hey, I just wanted to make sure you got home Okay and like that you're feeling okay and everything like you know what the fuck.
Speaker 2:This guy called me to check on me Whereas, like the other dude, didn't give a fuck.
Speaker 2:Yeah what happened after, like he got paid and that's it. Everything about the situation was just way more meticulous when I, when I went for my first surgery, I Walked in, saw the surgeon. He's very sporadically putting marks on my body and then, within three minutes of walking him, I'm under anesthesia and when I wake up, the surgeon's gone and I don't see him again until my check, my follow-up appointment a week later With my second appointment. First of all, there were such thorough checks that they did all the way through I had to get a bunch of blood work done. When I got there, they were doing a bunch of physical body examinations.
Speaker 2:When I got into the surgery room, everybody was like repeatedly checking on me and making sure I was a hundred percent Okay when the when the Surgeon was marking my body the way the first first surgeon did. First of all, he didn't do it in like 20 seconds like the first one did. He did it over the course of like five minutes. He was taking measurements, he was checking it from different angles and then he took me in front of the mirror, showed me all the markings he made, asked me like, explained what it all meant and then asked me if I had any concerns. And then we move forward, dude, and then hold on. One more thing, bro after my surgery I'm expecting this guy to be gone. I wake up and then he comes to me 10 minutes later. He's like hey, like I, just I just wanted to stick around to make sure You're okay, do you have any questions? Or anything like that. And then he still calls me a couple hours later to check up on me.
Speaker 2:Then all my follow-ups, like so one of the concerns with getting a second surgery is gonna be a lot more scar tissue, and the scar tissue can also create like a contour and like a misshapes, sort of so when I went in, I was a little bit concerned about, like the scar tissue. There was a buildup, but he put an injection on each side to break down the scar tissue and then over the next couple weeks I massaged it down and, as of a few months ago, for the first time since I was a child, like I'm, I can take my shirt off and, like I don't have gynecomastia anymore, basically I just have. I can see like muscle definition in my chest for the first time in my life, bro.
Speaker 2:Because what happens when you have gynecomastia? No matter how hard you hit the gym, you're not gonna see that definition. If anything, the more jacked your chest gets, the further it pushes it out and it so it's like you can get super lean and it becomes more accentuated and noticeable, like the all the contours. Or you can get super buff and it pushes everything out further. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:That's what I did when I was powerlifting. So I was a monster like 200 pounds, just muscle. Yeah, I actually ended up doing so much incline. So all I really did was just, you know, at the time I was pressing 90s, just inclined, you know, inclined just built that upper chest so much Mm-hmm that it would kind of ease out on how much the, how much the gyna would pop out, because the upper chest is so much more puffed out.
Speaker 1:Yeah that it really is like smooth, so it looks like a nice pack. But again, one of the things we talked about too is when it comes to pool events. It's like when you're not pumped and and the and the gland is like loose.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:We. Oddly enough, I did it on my own right. You know I never talked about this growing up, but we found out that we did the same thing is anytime before we have to go into a water or take our shirt off. You'd like squeeze your nipple. Yes because when you do that, it like hardens the gland and so it makes it a lot more Peck like yeah, and super temporarily, yes, super temporarily, yeah, like for minutes minute.
Speaker 2:You still do, yeah, but you can go in the water and exactly you do it again the coming out of the water.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah right, and so it's crazy because, again, like we did that on our own without having any idea, no, it was weird, a lot of the similarities, like a lot of the clothing things too, that we talked about like what kind of techniques you use Tub mask it.
Speaker 2:But yeah, dude, did you ever do like? Sometimes I would like try to do like 20 push-ups right before like I go to the bathroom and do like push-ups. Really in situations where I have to take my shirt off and I would just be like just out of sheer desperation, like obviously that's not gonna do anything really nothing, but it's like that's how desperate I was. You know that I was like fuck, I can't pop my if it's a situation where I have to pop my shirt off. It's like I can't not try.
Speaker 1:I used to not that, but I used to Back in university. Like you know, when you have so much time and you're drinking, like every Friday Saturday a Lot of the nights I never did Friday Saturday for a lot of times but Saturday nights when we'd go out, I remember, like Saturday afternoon or whatever I would, I was doing little like just a quick workout, like farmers, you know, farmer walks, and little bit of incline and just to get some blood flowing in that upper pack, little bit of arms. It was all to just get that pump. You know, go home, eat, shower and you're just kind of, you know you don't have to squeeze the nipple but everything just fits nice. But then you know, when you're coming back home at the end of the night, super loose, yeah, yeah and it's. I mean, it is what it is.
Speaker 2:You know what else to bro, like a part of the time, like when you have it and you research and you find out like okay, it's going to cost 10,000. I don't know about you, but me personally, I I was in such denial that the only solution was to like go and get the surgery that I would continue to convince myself that it's it's my exercise habits and it's my diet habits. And if I'm really really anal about it, then I can fix it. And I think that mentality really contributed to the fact that I used to be like a yo-yo fitness dude who would like hit the gym super hard for a little while, but then the guy in a Kamastya would discourage me because I was. I would tell myself like oh, I'm not seeing the results where I want to see them. And then I would be like well, fuck the gym.
Speaker 2:Like what's the point in going in there, like putting in all this effort, eating clean, and like not eating the junk food that I want to eat, if it's not like addressing the one thing that I'm most self conscious about. You know, yeah, and dude like yeah, bro, I think like honestly, like if, like when it like kind of Kamastya is so under discussed amongst young men, and young men are very like reluctant to talk about it, and that's why I think like things like this, bro, conversations like this, just like need to happen. It feels like years ago that we were talking about 75 hard road, just because like this, this.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, I mean it's good, because I don't know if any of my followers right now are teens. I doubt. I doubt that but at least we will probably know someone that knows someone, or they might know somebody in the future that you know is a dude growing up and puberty. You know this happens and I know, like personally, I know five people, including yourself, and all four of you actually got the surgery. I'm I'm the only one left. So that's something I'm going to do in the next few years and you know I'm excited. It's, it's, it's just nice to finally, you know, get it out of the way. Yeah, and yeah, just enjoy. But I'm also really proud of how much growth we've both had to actually talk about this on a platform, and not that this gets like thousands of views, but the action of just getting it out there and just even opening up about it. Yeah, because if you never opened it about it, it's not that I neglected it, I neglected to talk about it. It's just not really on my mind. No, yeah.
Speaker 2:As a daily thing.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. I don't think I would have brought it up unless I would, unless, like a conversation, directed it to it. But the fact that you even trusted me to talk about it in the first place, it's crazy, because I added a whole new depth of Relatability.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and like, dude, I'm not saying like to anybody listening to this. I'm not saying like if you have gynecomastia, you there's, there's a problem and you need to go get surgery and fix that. For one thing, there's varying degrees of gynecomastia.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Most people who still have it in adulthood it's actually not that noticeable at all and nobody would notice. Like there's cases where they'll point out their gynecomastia and people still won't see it because it's so subtle but in our case, we had, you know, the latter where.
Speaker 1:Yeah, more prominent we were in the smaller percentage of people that really retained that extra gland.
Speaker 2:Yeah dude.
Speaker 1:I remember this one night I was in first year university he was a friend. At the time I was at his house. We went to his house to study for like a math exam and he had a nice place Like his parents place, had a bunch of stuff and they had a hot tub. And I remember it was just him and I right, and I remember I had obviously my shirt off, like we were in the hot tub, and he was a sneaky dude bro. But I wasn't aware of that at the time, I just couldn't see it right. But I remember we were in the hot tub and he was basically just like bro, like you got to get rid of those man boobs, and I knew I already knew at that time it was gyno.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I tried to explain it to him but it was. It's pointless because he not that he doesn't even care, but you know he wouldn't even understand anyways. And so again, that was another hurtful thing. It's like damn, like it's nighttime, I'm in a hot tub and it's to that noticeable that sucks.
Speaker 1:Yes, man right and so you can imagine now, especially again with social media and kids growing up like I just hope that they understand that you're not alone and it doesn't dictate really who you are. It's just something that happened during puberty and that's okay and it's worse. Honestly, dude, it's worse in our heads than really what it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:To to the external world, Not to take away from the importance of it, but it's really not that Important than it is in our own head.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, a hundred percent, a hundred percent. And yeah, that's why I'm saying like if it's something you have, it doesn't necessarily mean it's something that you have to have to address or or get rid of. But for me it was something that in so many areas of my life it was, it was causing me personal problems and I'm I'm glad that I did it. I'm flabbergasted that it's not something that's covered by OHIP. Like I'm not going to get into like the political discussions of what surgeries are and aren't covered by OHIP.
Speaker 1:Talk about OHIP for a second For years outside of Ontario, oh yeah, OHIP is just for Ontario Canada.
Speaker 2:It's like our Ontario health plan and it basically just dictates what, what prescriptions or surgeries, operations et cetera, visit visits are covered by taxes, by the government by taxes, and we pay our fair share of taxes.
Speaker 1:By the way, yeah, yeah, we get rocked.
Speaker 2:We pay unfairly.
Speaker 1:We're bent over and pounded deeply yeah.
Speaker 2:So our prime minister can go on yeah, $7,000.
Speaker 1:Yeah, $7,000 in night vacations and neglect the indigenous.
Speaker 2:Yeah, real talk.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So thanks again for bringing this up to me on that phone call in the winter, because it was something really important for us and we even made it a point to talk about it on our podcast. Yeah, all these months later went by and we're finally here. So thank you for having the vulnerability and curse to even bring that up and I really hope that one person could benefit from that segment of the show and please, if then just share this episode, and I don't even care if this is the whole thing, just just the segment that Pras and I talked about, because I really think it'll help their mental health and I'll and I'll let them know that they're really not alone.
Speaker 1:There's so many other men that go through this in silence and we just hope that we could amplify that sound a little bit more and just to know that you know you're not, you're not alone. So, with that said, pras, I want to get to a bit of a close to this show. So, knowing what we know and knowing that 75 is coming around the corner in the winter, what's the next six to 12 months going to look like for you? Well, super.
Speaker 2:I'm actually on phase two and, bro, like for me because I'm going to be on the program in December as well, it's it's going to be largely about utilizing that in between time, which is like October 13th to December 1st, and just keeping myself in check during that time.
Speaker 2:I mean, next year I'm going to start the program from the beginning, you know, on December 31st actually, and the next six to 12 months, like, honestly, bro, like I'm going to be in the same place I am right now and even though I feel great about the place that I'm in right now, so much better than last year I know that, like everything I've done this year is just to get me to like a reset point, like I feel like the beginning is around the corner you know what I mean and I'm working towards like a launching point for myself.
Speaker 2:So, all of this work I'm doing right now, I'm just going to be working on the same thing, but I'm just going to be working on the same thing, I'm just going to be working on myself. So, all of this work I'm doing this year 75 hard, live hard and developing all of these habits I feel like I'm just loading up my arsenal for the next attempt and then hopefully I feel the same way next year, better than I did today, but just getting ready for the next step, you know what I mean and just keep pushing the goalposts further and further the closer I get to it, so that I can just Recognize the person in my before photo from you know, eight months ago, nine months ago.
Speaker 2:And it excites me to think about who am I going to be in six months, 12 months, five years, 10 years? So, dude, for like the first time in my whole life, like I'm just like actually excited about the future and like stoked to like reveal who I'm going to be to myself, you know. But what about?
Speaker 1:you. Yeah, that's beautiful bro.
Speaker 2:Thank you, bro. Let me flip that question. I want to know what you're saying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, we talked about this earlier this year. You know, one of my goals was I'm going to be making more money by December come, and my company just got paid for the first time this past week, which is super sweet, and not that it's a huge number, but it's the start of many and it's the start of momentum. That's all you need, hell yeah.
Speaker 2:Hell yeah.
Speaker 1:So again, by December come, it'll be a lot more paychecks extra for my own company and when I'm looking at that 12 month month part, I'm going to love work again, meaning that I'm going to be doing really. I'm going to be in the entrepreneurial space and for myself, as well as the coaching space with Aaron, while I'm working with and all the people we get to impact because they're heart centered. They're, you know, they're just people that are heart centered, that have service in the forefront and they're ready to heal and up level. And it's just working with those people and guiding them through whether it's a perspective teaching or whether it's breath work to help move that energy and that trauma around and to release, you know, those modalities is really what I'm looking towards and just being around again, like having my work not so separate to my own personal development journey. It's going to be a lot more aligned.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it'll be together. It's not going to be like I'm at work and the coaching and the service is separate out of that.
Speaker 2:It'll be. It'll be a compound together. Amalgamate all that shit, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's respect, bro. Fucking fist bump Doug. That was so much. That had so much more substance than my vagus answer. No, I want to get more specific, but I actually can't think of shit right now. All.
Speaker 2:I know is like, dude, all I know is we're on like a very dope trajectory and I'm super excited for myself, I'm super excited for you, yeah, I'm super excited for all my homies who, like, have clear ambitions in mind and who just want to better themselves. I think this is the sickest fucking thing you can do and I think that's the best thing you can do for society and for your friends and families just the pursuit of excellence.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know, just remember, you are an infinite being, so you're more capable than the things that were taught and what the world tells you, and you and I are living proof, and we're not even anywhere to our tap potential.
Speaker 2:No, not even close. It's untapped, no just having barely scratched the surface.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So, once again, thank you, pras, for joining me today. Dude, it was so special man and thank you for, yeah, being the first live in person podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, bro, dude, the vibe in here is immaculate, thanks dude, thanks, dude.
Speaker 1:So thank you again for listening. Be a light for change. I really appreciate your time and energy. If you need anything, email me at pyam, at pyamryazzycom, and I will talk to you next time. Peace.