How to Get Through Hell, Smash Anxiety, and Become Unstoppable – Craig Ballantyne

Chris Albert 00:00:00 (link to this point)

Hey, guys. Before we get into this week's announcements, I'm just gonna throw an extra one up here, and I hope you'll forgive me because it's important. I wanna talk to you about a marine named sergeant Simon r Lakey. And sergeant Lakey served with Echo Company second battalion fourth marines. He served bravely amongst his peers.

He was recognized as being one of the best. And these are some of his words. He said, remember this, there's nothing in nature that respects weakness. Stay strong. Hard times are here, and more are coming.

And though sergeant Lakey served honorably, he served with bravery and with distinction. Many people didn't know that sergeant Lakey was fighting his own battles. And on a day in the year 2015, after long after he fired his last shot, he took his own life. And I don't talk much about suicide here on this podcast because this podcast is about life. But I wanna tell you about an organization that is helping veterans to truly live, and that's Save the Brave.

They're an awesome organization I had. One of the founders on actually, one of the founders and one of the board members on last week, Nick Velez, he is the founder of Save the Brave. He's also the owner of Bastards Canteen. Major Scott Huesing, who is the author of Echo in Ramadi, and who detailed his marines actions in the battle of Ramadi in 2006. They're hosting a golf tournament.

It's gonna be on Friday, 10/04/2019 in Temecula, California at the Temecula Creek Inn. Now, I don't play golf. I probably am awful at golf, but I'm gonna be there and I'm gonna be playing. So if you guys are interested in this, you can get tickets or you can send your support. It's up at savethebrave.org/events.

That's savethebrave.org/events. And I'll have a link to this up on the show notes. Alright? Really important. Again, I'm sorry for the interruption, but let's get into this week's announcements in this week's episode.

Hey, guys. Before we get into this episode of the Warrior Soul podcast, I just wanna say that you've probably heard me talking about the Warrior's Obituary Society. It's a new group that's going to empower men to live their absolute best lives, lives worthy of epic obituaries. And I'm not gonna bother you with a long announcement about it now, but I am gonna cover it after the show. So once this production is finished, just stick around if you wanna learn a little bit more about what we've got going on.

The Warrior Soul podcast is written, produced, and edited by me, Albert. Our mission is to provide tools, tactics, strategies, and ideas to US military veterans and anybody else willing to listen to help them to navigate toward living their absolute best lives. If you find these episodes helpful, please share them out with somebody that you know of that can use them. And if you really like the podcast, please also head over to iTunes and write us a written rating and a review. It really helps us to spread word about the show, and it really helps to get these tools in the hands of others who really need them.

This podcast is sponsored by f bomb nutrition. They make awesome delicious packets of macadamia nut butters. They mix them up with chocolate, with sea salt, with pecan butter. They're absolutely delicious, and they also have a number of other fat fueled snacks, like their meat sticks and their cheese crisps. They're amazing people who are sending boxes of this stuff out to the troops on the front lines, and they're offering 20% off to our listeners on their first orders.

If you head over to www.dropanfbomb.com and use the code Warrior Soul at checkout, you'll get 20% off of that first order. And I'm gonna keep the announcements short and sweet today. You can stick around to the end. I got a really special announcement about a brotherhood that we're creating here at Warrior Soul. So hope you enjoy this episode.

I hope you get a lot out of it. And without delay, let's get into it.

This is Chris Albert, and I'm here to remind you of one thing. Someday, you're going to die. Now that's not some morbid statement or scary idea. It's solid fact. Your time here on this earth is limited.

We need to be reminded of this as much as possible for one simple reason, to live your best life while you can. This is the Warrior Soul Podcast. Alright, guys. This week, I have a really special treat for you. His name is mister Craig Ballantyne, and Craig is somewhat of one of my idols.

I started following him when I got into the fitness industry a long time ago. He coaches some of the top top producers in the fitness industry. We're talking about guys like Bedros Keuilian and Vince Del Monte. Guys who've literally created empires for themselves. And Craig is one of these guys who helps people to create those types of empires.

He's specifically had this kind of impact in the fitness industry, but also many other areas. He's also an author, a prolific author, not just in books, but also in blogs. He runs the blog Early to Rise, earlytorise.com. And Early to Rise is loaded with some amazing content. He's got some great articles up there about productivity, about seizing the day, about squeezing every single thing you can out of your day and doing so in a manner that really allows you to enjoy your life.

And that's how I came across Craig in the first place. I was in this period when I became an entrepreneur that is very much like the period I was in when I was getting out of the military and what a lot of you were finding yourselves in. Basically, it's the curse of more freedom. Having the ability to do what you want with your time. And what few people understand about those types of situations is that they can actually add up to a lot more stress and a lot more anxiety than if your day was completely structured out for you.

And so Craig's insights over the years and through his book Unstoppable have given me a lot of tools that I've used to structure my day, to be able to get a whole lot done and to do so in a manner that allows me to still live my life and to enjoy my life without anxiety. So I've got a lot of respect for Craig. If you guys have heard of him before then you probably do too. If you haven't heard of him before then you're definitely gonna have loads of respect for him after this episode and after you get his book Unstoppable and check out the rest of his work. So with that, guys, I'm gonna leave it at that, and let's get into this conversation with mister Craig Ballantyne, the author of Unstoppable and the Perfect Day Formula.

Craig, welcome to the show, man.

Craig Ballantyne 00:08:24 (link to this point)

Hey, this can be a lot of fun. Really looking forward to this.

Chris Albert 00:08:27 (link to this point)

Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, before we hit record here, was telling you, I I read one of your articles about five, six years ago just as I was getting going on my entrepreneurial journey. And it was an article on Early to Rise and it was about a book called Daily Rituals. I think it was just as you were starting this kind of exploration into creating the perfect day and I have to see that article had a massive influence on me because I didn't know how to structure my day whatsoever, where to go, what to do or anything like that.

Craig Ballantyne 00:08:59 (link to this point)

Yeah, I mean to me I love seeing what other high performers are doing, taking the best, applying it to my life, applying it to the lives of others and I really have done a deep dive in the last, I would say twelve years now. It was really like 2006, 2007 when I started going and figuring things out for myself because I was struggling back then and now I've been able to help so many great people like yourself.

Chris Albert 00:09:25 (link to this point)

Yeah. You know, you're one of these guys. I mean, you're an author. You've you've had some best selling books, but you've also helped a lot of people build massive business empires and you built your own empire. When I was reading your latest book, Unstoppable, of hearing what you were going through at that point, I was like, well this dude seems like he's on top of the world. Got everything, he's helped so many people, He's friends with such amazing people. Lives in amazing places. How could this guy be dealing with that kind of anxiety?

Craig Ballantyne 00:10:01 (link to this point)

Well, I did deal with it. I don't I I fortunately don't deal with it anymore. But you know, in 2006 when I was a struggling personal trainer, starting to get some success on the internet with my fitness programs, that's when I had the problems. And it was because I I was living with no boundaries and and drinking too much and working too much and stuck in my own head. Today, I'm the opposite of that.

Now, you know, nobody's life is perfect. There's definitely still some ups and downs and I'm you know, I get a little bit frustrated and then I realized, okay, you know what? You're frustrated because you're thinking about yourself and you're not helping other people and you're not asking for help. And so I'm quick to get out of things whereas when I was younger, I would have stuck in that phase for a long time and then also whether self medicated with alcohol or just tried to distract myself with it and that would have made things worse. So now I'm much better and I you know, I am kind of on top of the world and you know, like again, life's not perfect, but I'm very, very happy where I am.

And I had to go through a lot of unfortunate stuff in order to get here though. So anybody listening, know, it doesn't matter what position you are in life, just wanna know that there's definitely light at the end of the tunnel and also even if life is great, life can always get better.

Chris Albert 00:11:14 (link to this point)

Absolutely. Absolutely and and that's a big theme I saw particularly at the beginning of the book Unstoppable where you had basically the curse of freedom, right? So you were able to work for yourself which is the dream. Everybody wants to work for themselves. They want to work in their home and you got to the point where you were just starting to not have to take on personal training clients and you're doing most of your stuff online.

But that's where the problem started, right?

Craig Ballantyne 00:11:45 (link to this point)

Yeah, everybody says they want freedom. But if you say okay, you can go and do whatever you want. First of all, don't know what to do. They're like, well, I've got all these things that I can do, and they're paralyzed by choice, which is something. And then there's no boundaries, and so I can go and eat as much as I want.

I can drink as much as I want. I can sleep in. I can do all this stuff, but yeah, I kind of got to do a little bit of work and I guess I can work whenever I want. And all that, you know, all over the place is is actually not good for humans. Humans like routines.

We like to just like our dogs like routines. Right? You and I were talking about dogs before before we started. We both have dogs, both love dogs and you know that if your dog doesn't get, you know, its nap, its its walk, its thing at the normal time, it gets a little bit skittish and most people don't realize that we're actually the same way. We we operate best when we go to bed at the same time, when we wake up at the same time, when we eat meals at the same time, when we generally eat the same meals as well.

Our bodies get into this rhythm and everything's working and it's when we get out of off track, when we go on vacation, right? We eat whatever we want, we come back and we get sick. Oh my goodness. The worst thing, right? And it's because we get way out of whack with our life and we thought, Oh, this is the ultimate freedom.

I can go on vacation, do whatever I want, and we actually pay the price. In the book, I talk a little about structure equals freedom. It was funny that I came out with that book right around the same time Jocko's book came out, Jocko Willink. And he has, know, discipline equals freedom. And you know, I had never heard of Jocko until like a year after my book came out.

So it wasn't like I stole it from I really actually got the idea from stoic philosophy and you know, guys were writing thousands and thousands of years ago and I'm sure that there was some influence there for Jocko too. So we both agree though that when you have that in place, when you have the boundaries, then you'll have true freedom.

Chris Albert 00:13:35 (link to this point)

Absolutely. And I think those ideas that have stood the test of time through thousands of years, those are the ideas that we really need to start looking at first when we feel lost because, there's new ideas born every day and I think that a lot of times if we lose our way it's because we've lost wisdom and what you say there in your book, there's absolute wisdom in that. The more structured you are, the more freedom you have to do the things you want.

Craig Ballantyne 00:14:07 (link to this point)

Yeah. Definitely. And I think that almost everything we need to know has been figured out before and the wisdom of the ancients is absolutely incredible and that's why I I mean, most of the books I read are old books because, you know, you can get caught in these shiny objects if you read too much new stuff and and most of the new stuff is still, you know, referring to the old people anyways. So go to the source I say and you know, Dao Te Ching and and Epictetus' discourses and letters letters from Seneca and all these things really have given me the wisdom to separate myself from that anxiety and figure out what matters in life and focus on it.

Chris Albert 00:14:46 (link to this point)

A 100%. A 100%. Now you're also legendary for having a very very disciplined schedule. I've read stories about you being at conferences in Las Vegas, going to bed at 8PM and then making sure you're up for your magic hour at three point am. Can you talk about that a little bit?

What's that like being at a conference and you know saying, hey guys, I'm gonna cut out right now. I gotta be ready for tomorrow.

Craig Ballantyne 00:15:17 (link to this point)

Man, I'm I'm the kind of person who I I really don't care what other people think. So it's very easy for me And you know, if someone else was in that situation, you just have to first of all, you have to plan in advance. You have to go, okay. Listen. I'm going to Vegas for this seminar.

I'm going for whatever it is you're going for. And you have to go and say, okay. Here's how the day is gonna go and I'm gonna live by this plan and I'm gonna stick to it. I'm gonna make a commitment to stick to it. Now if you're on holiday, you might say, hey, listen.

I'm gonna stay up a little bit later, but I'm not gonna overdo it on this thing and this thing. I'm not gonna overdo it on drinks. I'm gonna enjoy myself, have an amazing time, but I'm just not gonna go crazy. And you know, people can can bug me. You're gonna get peer pressure all for sure, even no matter what age you are.

And you just have to be strong enough to overcome it. And you get better at overcoming the peer pressure with practice and time. It's not something that's super easy, but you need to commit to it and believe in yourself, believe in your principles and your values and your vision. And I knew that, hey, listen, staying up a couple extra hours in Vegas, rarely does that lead to anything good happening. And so I was like, okay.

Listen. You know, I've I've had a great day. I've spent a lot of time with people. You know, I spent twelve hours with, you know, this group of people. They don't need it doesn't need to be fourteen hours with this group of people.

I need to do some other things. I have other projects and other deadlines. I have to focus on them. I'm actually at a work event anyways. So the you know, it's not it's it shouldn't be you know, irregular for someone to focus on work when they're at a work event.

So I make the most of my time. That's for sure, but I just do it in the hours that I need to.

Chris Albert 00:16:52 (link to this point)

Now, one thing I want to mention here is, as you know, most of our audience is combat veterans of the US Army and the US Marine Corps. Men and women who lived pretty disciplined lives while they were in. A lot of people have this idea that the military is kind of constraining but in my experience as a US Marine, it was actually one of the most free points in my life because I was focused on my job. I knew exactly what I had to do. My gait was structured.

I didn't even really have to worry about what I was gonna wear. Course my gait That's point had to be

Craig Ballantyne 00:17:27 (link to this point)

like the Mark Zuckerberg, right? He wears the gray t shirt.

Chris Albert 00:17:30 (link to this point)

Exactly. Exactly. He just has a million t shirts, same size, same styles, same color, and he doesn't have to worry about it. And I think what a lot of young a lot of these young people who who might still be in, what they aren't realizing is how lucky they are right now to be learning these things. I think one of the big mistakes they make when they get out is that they're like, Oh, I'm free.

I get to go do what I want. I can sit on my couch and drink beer and eat But till two there's a lot of them also suffering and they're suffering from anxiety. Dealing with insomnia. They're dealing with depression and that schedule's not helping them out. Had you dealt with, and I know you have dealt with depression, but do you want to talk a little bit about depression and how that was alleviated by instilling these types of disciplined routines into your day?

Craig Ballantyne 00:18:28 (link to this point)

Yeah, well I'm not an expert in depression. I think depression is a much, much bigger demon and deeper animal than anxiety but anxiety itself which is something that has, you can really get out of anxiety a whole lot faster than you can depression. I have some clients that have depression and there's no triggers into it and there's no triggers out of it when you have real clinical depression. But in terms of anxiety, anxiety is brought on mostly by ourselves. A little bit of genetics as well and the environment in which we were raised.

And so yeah, we have to maybe do some therapy but we also have to take care of ourselves. So sleep, nutrition, avoiding a lot of triggers like alcohol, caffeine, any type of, most of those stimulants and also avoiding comparison syndrome and overcoming the negativity that's around us and then not trying to do four fourteen things every day. Like, a lot of it's on us. Like we can't say yes to everything. So when I started to say no and really focus on my most important stuff, and I was able to step back and learn how to breathe properly because that was really important overcoming the anxiety, controlling your nervous system.

There's a lot of physiological stuff that goes into anxiety that you can control whereas on depression, you really can't. It's a lot of brain chemicals and I don't think that there's a lot. I mean, for anxiety, I was able to do it absolutely no pharmaceuticals or medications and I think most people probably can. Whereas with clinical depression, I think you're probably going to need some pharmaceuticals on a judicious basis and not overdoing things, but but it's really getting the structure into your life that's gonna help you overcome that anxiety saying no, sticking to your values and your vision, knowing what matters and what doesn't, having the courage and strength to say no, I cannot do that or I will not do that because that does not serve me. And I know that kind of selfish, but if you let your if you go overboard and get an anxiety attack because you're doing too much stuff, you're staying up too many hours and you know, you're you're socializing way too late and then trying to get up and serve people all day long, you're gonna pay the price eventually as I did and I don't want others to do the same.

Chris Albert 00:20:43 (link to this point)

That's one thing I really liked about your book is that everything that was in there were things that that people could begin implementing right then and there. You just mentioned comparison syndrome and there's a situation in the book you mentioned, you mentor some very successful people. One of them being Vince Del Monte. He sent you an email and he said you'd be killing it with his latest program and then all of a sudden you were like, oh man, why is he doing that? Should be the one with the killer program.

Craig Ballantyne 00:21:15 (link to this point)

Right. Yeah. I was old. I'm older than him. I'm older than him so therefore I should be more successful as if that matters, right?

And also like he was a coaching client of mine and I was envious of him. It's not jealous. It's envious. Envious is when people have something you want. Jealous is when something's been taken from you.

So I I'm such an expert in envy and jealousy that I know the difference between the two. So so I was envious of him and and you know a lot of a lot of us suffer from comparison syndrome where it's like, you know the guy next door. He's got the brand new f 150. I only have last year's f 150. My life is so bad.

So frustrated right now. I mean come on here we are with we we need some perspective, but it's actually really difficult. Like when people say, you should just be grateful because you know, you're not living in Syria or something. That doesn't actually work. It doesn't actually work because we only we only compare ourselves to our local tribes.

And so saying that type of thing, you should be happy about that. It works a little bit but not enough. And so what we need to do though is understand that if somebody's life is going really great, it doesn't make our life better if something bad happens to them or if they have more than us. It doesn't affect our life at all. What affects our lives is us doing the best that we can.

Us going out and creating value so that we can have these great things. And then also for us to really understand what makes my life fulfilled. What is fulfillment in my life? And for most I have a lot of clients who have a couple of kids and they're not as monetarily successful as I am. And I don't have any kids and so they're all they're always frustrated.

Right? They're like, oh man, know, I wish I wish I had your life. And I'm like, Well, I kinda wish I had your life. You got a couple of kids. I don't have any kids.

And in forty years from now, when we're both in rocking chairs, you're actually gonna be probably more fulfilled. So just understand that what one person has doesn't affect you anyway. No way at all. And the other thing to understand is that you may only see what they have superficially. You don't see all the problems that they have.

And I have worked with thousands of people as a personal trainer and as a business coach and I have seen some of the most successful people also have been some of the most tormented people. What they're going through. Some business owners who make a lot of money are locked into a business, especially public companies, CEOs of public companies that I work with. They they can't leave. They they they can't they can't even tell people that they need to go to a doctor for depression because if that if the the shareholders found out, they would be you know, the stock would go down.

Like that's you you just don't worry about other people. Just worry about yourself.

Chris Albert 00:24:05 (link to this point)

Right. Right. And you never know what battles that other person's

Craig Ballantyne 00:24:09 (link to this point)

my gosh. I have heard everything, my man. Everything. Everything. And and it's just just under like, I've I've heard heard it said this way.

You know, when you when you look at somebody and go, oh man, I'm envious of that person. They, you know, they they're having a little bit more success. Realize that in order to have if you wanted to have that success, you'd have to have everything that came with their life. And maybe maybe you look at their kids and go, wow, their kids are brats. I would not trade my kids for their kids just in order to have more financial success.

So understand that when you want something else somebody else has, the only way you're allowed to have it is you take everything that they have, good and bad and in most cases you go, yep, I'm pretty happy right here.

Chris Albert 00:24:55 (link to this point)

Yeah. One of the things I did right after I finished your book, I started another book and I read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl for the first time. Just reading that book and seeing what he went through in concentration camps and then his psychological analysis afterwards and his discussion on how to bring meaning to suffering in life.

Craig Ballantyne 00:25:20 (link to this point)

That book should be mandatory reading in teenagers in the entire world. Mandatory. Should be. It's not but should be. If was king and here's the crazy thing.

I mean, that book is crazy enough already but he did not have to go to the concentration camp. He could have escaped it by not going back but his parents were still in whatever country whether it was Germany or Poland. And he could have, you know, said, well, if I go back, I'm going to the camp too. So I'm gonna take care of myself and you know, hopefully they'll be okay. He went and they still weren't okay.

So they still passed away in the camp and he he was one of the very few people that survived. But he did not have to go to a concentration camp for for he was there for years. He could have taken the easy way out, but he did not. So that's not mentioned in the book and most people don't know that.

Chris Albert 00:26:15 (link to this point)

Right. And he had opportunities to escape that he didn't take because he wanted to look after his patients, which was another crazy thing. Yeah. So That's a huge thing, just bringing meaning to the suffering and finding what you're going to suffer for.

Craig Ballantyne 00:26:33 (link to this point)

I understand that the suffering is making you stronger and it's leading to something in the future and I have a little rule that I live by that it will all be over soon and this is both for the bad. The bad stuff will be over soon whether you're going through a divorce, whether there's been a death in the family. Listen, we're all gonna come out of this and there will be better days ahead. But also on the flip side, when you're going through great times, remember that those will all be over soon too. Everybody goes through ups and downs and so you gotta really cherish the good times and not waste them.

And so always remember that. Those are great words to live by. We'll all be over soon, both good times and bad.

Chris Albert 00:27:13 (link to this point)

100%. Now I wanna make sure everybody goes out and gets this book. You also mentioned nutrition and exercise as being hugely important as far as defeating anxiety and including those things in your routine, but also not necessarily overdoing it with exercise. Not going out there and trying to, I mean for a while I was still training like I was a marine for years and then I went into powerlifting and I still, even after I stopped competing and powerlifting, was still training like a powerlifter but that had a huge toll on me, my anxiety levels in my body. Talk a little bit about that and how you've struck that balance.

Craig Ballantyne 00:27:55 (link to this point)

Well as I say in the book, when I had my anxiety attacks, I was in the best shape of my life. Six pack abs, one hundred and eighty five pounds, 9% body fat, magazine cover and that didn't mean anything. And so you cannot exercise yourself out of anxiety. You can exercise yourself into anxiety probably and you cannot eat your way out of anxiety, although you can probably be so obsessive, compulsive about your nutrition that it feeds your anxiety. So it just needs to be good.

You need to be active and healthy. The breathing is really the key. The breathing is so important. I was not breathing properly. I was breathing from my upper chest.

Short, shallow breasts blows off more carbon dioxide. When that happens, your body responds by elevating adrenaline in the body and adrenaline is one of the hormones associated with anxiety and alertness and that fight or flight response. By learning how to do belly breathing, yoga style, meditation style breathing, it was massive for me and just made me feel so much better. And from there, I use it every day and I calm down and I'm in a great space.

Chris Albert 00:29:11 (link to this point)

Yeah. Yoga, breathing, meditation is another really, really big one that's definitely helped me and you said you started meditating just two minutes a day, right?

Craig Ballantyne 00:29:22 (link to this point)

Yeah. Yeah, I did. I'm pretty sure it was two. Might have been one, I'm pretty sure it was two. I I counted and then I started counting breaths.

So it was like two minutes a day for a couple days, then a little bit longer, then a little bit longer. So most people think, well, I gotta go and you know, do this twenty minute meditation session. It's very difficult. Well, yeah. I did that.

I tried doing that too and I failed the first two or three times I tried the meditation and then I said, you know what? I'm gonna stick to it this time and make it really easy and that's how I started it up.

Chris Albert 00:29:52 (link to this point)

Awesome. And you know, just one more question because I wanna make sure that you get over to your next meeting but but the big thing I wanted to ask you here is we got a lot of guys out there who they're trying to figure out what they're going to do after their Marine Corps, after their And army we live in this kind of crazy world right now where it's not just go to college, get a degree, you're going to get a job for the rest of your life and that job is going be satisfying. There's a huge world of business out there. You've been able to build your own empire. What's your advice for some of these younger people in their 20s who are trying to figure this stuff out, to figure out where they're gonna go, trying to figure out what that next big adventure is gonna be?

Craig Ballantyne 00:30:41 (link to this point)

Well, I would say you gotta sit down and and this is not maybe gonna come in one session but you need to understand your values and your vision because they're gonna drive every decision. So you have to know what's true to you and your morals and ethics and where you what you want to achieve in life and sit down and say, you know what? If if family is the most important thing to me, if making money is the most important thing, if having an impact on other veterans is the most important thing to me, whatever's the most important, you gotta set that as your North Star. And then you guys know how to do an objective and a mission objective better than anybody. Okay, if that's where we're going, then every movement, every day we must move towards that and make progress towards it.

We must avoid detours and detours come up every single day with new opportunities and shiny objects and distractions and temptations. And we have to say, okay, you know what, as much as much as I want to, you know, go to Vegas for another bachelor party, I also more importantly wanna make sure that my fiance and I get married in four weeks from now. And the last time you went to Vegas, you go with some guys that are pretty can really bring the ruckus and if you go four weeks before you're gonna get married, you might do something so stupid that it throws off the rest of your life for one short term gain. So what I want you to do what I want you to do is is have that North Star. Figure out what it is and it might take some self reflection.

I I have a lot of exercises and questions about it in the Perfect Day formula and in Unstoppable. But once you figure it out, then you have to go all in on commitment to it just like you've you guys have gone all in on commitment to so many other things in your life.

Chris Albert 00:32:29 (link to this point)

Absolutely. And and finally, you know, I just want to acknowledge you because you you have these two books but you also have volumes of other content out there that has helped people like me, that's helped thousands and thousands of people. And I know that your actual clientele is a very small circle of people who are very, very powerful but you've also gone out of your way to really get information out there to people and to provide value and to serve. I think that's just absolutely amazing and you've been an example for me and so many other entrepreneurs who've tried to make an impact on various communities out there. So I wanna thank you, Craig.

Craig Ballantyne 00:33:11 (link to this point)

Well, hey, I'm happy to help. I mean, that's why I wrote those books and that's why I create all that content. And you know, I I help people at all levels and and my goal is just to to provide some level of coaching to everybody because everybody needs it. I think we could all agree that if we all went through life with a mentor or a coach from when we were teenagers on up, we would all make better decisions and therefore have less anxiety and more success. That's what I'm all about and I'm I'm very grateful that you've used it and put it to use and we'll continue to do so.

Chris Albert 00:33:41 (link to this point)

Absolutely. And and where can people find you online? We're gonna get all these links up on the show notes, but but where's the best place to to interact with you and and to find more about you?

Craig Ballantyne 00:33:50 (link to this point)

Yeah. There's one new school way which is Instagram. So real Craig Ballantyne on Instagram is my favorite. And then old school way, I really do actually answer all my emails so craiggodfather dot com. Hit me up on email.

I'm happy to help.

Chris Albert 00:34:04 (link to this point)

Craiggodfather dot com. Outstanding. Outstanding. Like Godfather like like that's awesome. Yeah.

Craig Ballantyne 00:34:12 (link to this point)

Yeah. Pretty cool.

Chris Albert 00:34:13 (link to this point)

That's amazing. Very cool, man. Well, dude, thank you again for coming on to the show. Thank you for speaking to our community. And definitely, you know, I really appreciate that.

We're going to get these books up on the show notes for those of you who want to take a look at them. And to everybody out there, get out there and live your best lives while you can. Perfect.

Alright, ladies and gents. I hope that you enjoyed that interview with mister Craig Ballantyne. If you did, please remember to write us a written rating and review up on iTunes. Like I said, it really helps to spread word about the show. The more people we get listening to this podcast and these episodes, the more we're gonna be able to get awesome guests like Craig Ballantyne and others.

We've got some amazing guests coming up in September. We've got mister Robert Greene, the author of the 48 laws of power, and also his recent book, the laws of human nature. Really awesome individual. I'm looking forward to speaking with him. I'm also going to be speaking with Nick Koumalatsos, the marine raider.

He's also a filmmaker and a businessman, a multifaceted businessman. I'm really looking forward to speaking to him about his book, Excommunicated Warrior, which details his transition out of marine special operations and into the civilian world. Now at the beginning of the show, I mentioned that we've got something new going on here at Warrior Soul, and it is called the Warrior's Obituary Society. Now, what is this? Well, this is a group.

It's going to be a fraternity for men that empowers men to live their absolute best lives, lives worthy of epic obituaries. And the way it's gonna work is this. We're gonna have an eight week development program upfront for all new members. And what that's gonna do is it's gonna get everything straight as far as fitness, as far as personal finance, your business, your career, your relationships. Right?

And then what we're gonna be doing once you're through and during that that eight week development program, we're gonna be inducting you into this society. And each week we're going to be running live calls, we're going to be holding challenges, challenges that are going to push you forward in each facet of your life. We're going be running physical challenges, workouts, and we're going to be holding all of our brothers accountable for each area of their life, moving forward and accomplishing goals for each area of their lives. And this is all gonna start with a vision that you're going to create. There's a lot of programs out there that are like this, but super expensive.

And what I wanna do is I wanna keep the costs low on this. What I'm envisioning is an international fraternity of men who are pushing each other to be their absolute best. I've always said this, if we want this world to change, we all need to step up. And that means that those of us here in the veteran community and those of us who are civilians who are looking to push forward, who have a vision for what this country and what the world should be like. Well, we need to step up.

We need to take charge of our own lives, and we need to make stuff happen and put ourselves into position to make things happen. So that's what the Warrior's Obituary Society is going to be about, and we have opened up our membership. So if you're interested in joining the Warrior's Obituary Society, we're taking the initial class through in September, and then after that we're going to have some rolling admissions. If you are interested in joining this society, in improving your life, and then taking a leadership role in what I think is going to be something that's going to transform this country and transform this world, then you are definitely welcome. Like I said, this is for men.

It's not just for veterans. It's centered around values. Those of us who want to push each other to be our absolute best. So if you're interested, either DM me on Instagram or email me over at chris@warriorsoulagoge.com. I've written out an operations order, and I will send that to you.

And if it's something that piques your interest, then let's do it. Let's get you in there and let's get you moving. So with that guys, I wanna thank you for listening. I look forward to getting all of these episodes out to you in September, these awesome episodes that are coming up. And if you've got any questions, feel free to reach out.

I'll talk to you guys again soon. And with that, I am out.