How to Make Big Changes

Have you ever wanted to make some bug changes in your life but you have no idea where to start?

This week we speak to Spencer Sullivan who lost a significant amount of weight in 2020. He's here to share with us what attributed to his success and where to start when you want to make big changes. This episode covers everything from the importance of mentors to the importance of failure. If you are wanting to progress and make big changes in your life or business then this is the episode for you!

You can listen to all episodes of Agent Vs Lender on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Play. If you love Agent Vs Lender follow us on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram for all bonus content. 

Transcript

Ron Pippin: 0:28

Welcome to a another episode of agent versus lender. And today we have with us Spencer Sullivan. Spencer is actually a good friend of mine. I've known Spencer, to whom I know. Yeah, I've probably known you since you were like 12.

Spencer Sullivan: 0:42

Yeah, it's been per probably close to like 14-15 years.

Ron Pippin: 0:48

Yeah. It's been a long time. Oh, yeah. And sprinter. So what we're going to talk about today is Spencer has made a life like a serious life change in his life. We'll just give him a real quick preview. So Spencer, what did you weigh when you were at your heaviest?

Spencer Sullivan: 1:10

So when I would started last summer, I was weighing in about 330 plus pounds, I'd probably say 332. Was I what is what I remember weighing in at Yeah,

Ron Pippin: 1:22

okay. And it so we're gonna put, if you're on YouTube, we're gonna put some we're gonna put some pictures up so that you can see what what the difference is. But he does not weigh that now. And I'm not sure if he wants to tell you anyways, now that's fine, later, but I can

Spencer Sullivan: 1:39

I can go ahead and tell you. So I'm weighing about 202 pounds roughly right now,

Ron Pippin: 1:47

I would not have guessed that looking at you. Dude, man. I'm telling you that that I would not have recognized Spencer, knowing him from before. And today, I would have thought you would have you're under 200 pounds. Good dude. Man, you look awesome.

Spencer Sullivan: 2:02

Well, the thing to also consider is that, you know, there's a lot of muscle growth along the way too, which I'll probably go into here in a bit. But Oh, cool. So yeah, there's definitely been a lot more muscle being added. But

Ron Pippin: 2:15

move that just just move the microphone towards you a little bit.

Spencer Sullivan: 2:18

That sound better?

Ron Pippin: 2:19

Yeah. The closer you get on this one, the better. It sounds.

Spencer Sullivan: 2:22

All right. Well, just Oh, there

Ron Pippin: 2:23

you go. There

Spencer Sullivan: 2:24

it is. There's no money. Yeah. So about about 202 pounds, the body fat percentage is down to about 18, which is awesome. So yeah, that is we're, we're almost there, almost to the next chapter. But

Ron Pippin: 2:39

that's awesome. So this is this is kind of a universal. I know, this is not like a real estate topic. But man, I tell you that I've noticed I know several people that have gone through this kind of journey that are in real estate. And there's a lot of us that probably liked go through would like to go through this journey. Just because you know, it's it's it's not just your Lux. It's like total health. It's like you it's life. Totally life changing.

Spencer Sullivan: 3:11

Yeah.

Ron Pippin: 3:12

So how's that changed? Tell us how is so before we get into how it all changed? So tell us tell us about? Tell us about yourself? Tell us what you do. I mean, tell us just a little bit about about, I'm going to tell you something, some tell. He's, if you don't know, I'm a drummer, and I'm a drummer in a band. And Spencer knows that. And Spencer is a fellow drummer, but he's also like a musician. And he writes, so his choice of music and my choice of music is far different. It's like It's like his his like, what a what they call it? What do they call it music you write

Spencer Sullivan: 3:47

like, metal core, like heavy metal? I guess you could call it in a in a nice way.

Ron Pippin: 3:54

Yeah, it's like, it's like, he gets on there. And it's like rice. Great. Yeah, it's nice. Like,

Spencer Sullivan: 4:00

it's the it's this the words you can't understand. You know what I mean? It's, it's when you turned on the radio, and it was really loud. And it scared the holy daylights out of you. And you're quickly changed. That's kind of that's, that's where it is. So I exist to make that two seconds of your life exciting.

Ron Pippin: 4:16

But that's that's fun, man. I love Spencer to death. And, and I like that, that we have some differences. But man, we're still like, we're still a good friend. So yeah, it's always good to have that. So. So tell us a little bit about your life changing journey.

Spencer Sullivan: 4:31

Oh, yeah. So well, I can't give myself all the credit here, Ron. I have a partner in crime who was right by my side and still is right now while he's at work, but his name is Cody. I'll give him a shout out Cody Squires. He's my probably one of my best friends that I have like that I've known since I moved to North Ogden initially. But he's a he's also been doing this And last summer after I had this break, so what started all this really is I was dating this nice lady for about almost three years. And you know, mutual breakup wasn't like anything super horrible or anything like that. But I just kind of took a look in the mirror and I was like, you know, I don't want to be fat and sad. I don't want to.

Ron Pippin: 5:27

I think a lot of people can probably relate to that, you know, totally relate to that.

Spencer Sullivan: 5:31

Oh, yeah. So I didn't want to I didn't want to be just because I was already feeling sad. Like, that's inevitable after you get your, you know, you go through a breakup of any kind. But I basically was like, I don't want to be where I'm at now. And I just started, I was working from home, I'm sure most of us were at the time, you know, during last summer of 2020. quarantine. And I just started tape, we had a meeting at the end of work for like an hour where we would like kind of go over the day, you know, share best practices and stuff like that it was more or less kind of like a debrief at the end of your shift. And since it was virtual, I was like, Well, I mean, I can just put them on speaker and I could maybe like do some setups or something, I don't know, I could just do something. So I started doing that. And then I was like, This is fun. And then I started intermittent fasting, I started looking into that and so did my buddy Cody that I previously mentioned. And he was he was all about it. He had done like keto diet before he had lost some weight. And then he had done a few other things. And so he was all on board to like look into this. And so that's all we did. Just intermittent fast at first, we didn't change our diet at all, we just didn't eat at a certain time of the day every day and just follow that so I was still eating like Sonic and like you know, frozen pizzas and candy and soda and just I had this big tub under my bed that I would keep I was working from home just I mean think about it just filled with candy and crackers and granola bars, anything you want, you know, it was just my infamous tub of gluttony so and I still ate out of it. And then but at first it was just kind of recognizing like what I was eating, and then that kind of changed into the calorie counting. And I started being like, Okay, how many calories am I eating? I don't really know like much about it, but I want to kind of know like where I am. And there was a stark realization there.

Ron Pippin: 7:27

So I'm really curious so like, most people don't just all sudden just start thinking hey, I need to count my calories there was there did was a Cody was at somebody I know that your dad and your brother also have just lost a tremendous amount of rage. So this is like a family affair kind of thing. Yeah. So definitely. So is is Did somebody like coach you along with that? Or is that just something you just started doing? Because that's that's just unusual.

Spencer Sullivan: 7:55

Yeah. So at the time, I didn't have any sort of health mentor or coach or anybody like that. I actually started looking, researching on my own just looking around and seeing what what existed and I found a YouTuber Not gonna lie named Kiana douchery. I hope I said her name, right. And she was talking about like, nutrition science, but it was in a really digestible, very understandable way. And I just kind of saw, like, why certain foods were bad, like on a scientific level, and like how it actually affected your body. And I was like, okay, that's interesting. And it kind of scared me. And I was like, well, I just want to know, that kind of spiked my interest in like, what am I eating? What's going in? What's going out? Whatever. And so yeah, and then I started thinking like, Well, I know people count their calories. I don't know why, like, I don't know how many like is for me or whatever. But if I know how many I'm eating, then at least I can go from there. And so that's all me and Cody did was intermittent fast. And then we just started counting calories. And then at that point, we were like, okay, we're eating 4000 calories a day, or more, you know, so the first change was, how do we limit that? So instead of eating two case ideas at night, we'd eat one and instead of having three bowls of cereal, I'd have to and just little scale progression just week over week,

Ron Pippin: 9:17

you know that I think that's really important. When you're making changes in your life. It's not like you can't just like make this massive shift. If you didn't start eating, you didn't start eating apples and, and carrots and stuff. You just you just limited quantity. You didn't eat anything different, you limited the quantity. So that and I think there are several things that you said that are actually really business related. And I'll hopefully I'll remember them.

Spencer Sullivan: 9:47

Yeah, you know, I'm

Ron Pippin: 9:49

gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna say one of them right here. So, making a change in business when you're making some kind of a shift It's the same thing that you just did. If you don't make these massive changes, because you can't keep up on them, it's it'll never, it'll, it'll never be part of your, your daily routine. So if you just make these mild, small changes, and you're just so there's a, there's a book called to 12. And, and I love that book. In fact, I'm going to give you one. Oh, thank you. Thank you. And the premise of the book is, water is hot at 211 degrees, but a 212, it boils, and it can power a steam locomotive, but a 211 account. And so that one little change that one little degree, makes a massive amount of difference, especially long term. So only that one little degree that little shift. So maybe it doesn't make a big difference today. But a month, or three months or a year down the road, you know, you're in a completely different place with that one little shift. Yeah. So so what you did, I think is really important is like you didn't try to go in into these massive, massive change that you could not, there's just no way you would continue it. Because you because you just can't make that kind of a shifting in and keep up that keep that progress up.

Spencer Sullivan: 11:23

It would be unsustainable,

Ron Pippin: 11:24

right. That's, that's the word I'm looking at. I was looking for so. So you just made some little shifts. So I'll let you continue. So that those that Yeah. Anyway,

Spencer Sullivan: 11:34

thanks, Ron. Oh, so yeah, basically, I was making these small, one degree changes at a time just whatever made sense. And the thing was, there was no timeline, there was no, I have to do this, right. This second. It was, okay, this is interesting, because it started out like, it started kind of like that, like, I need to do something right, right now, like I have to, I have to do something and instead of just like, you know, doing a crash diet or, you know, just starving myself, I was like, Well, you know, just being self aware. And then so just kind of moving on. After that. I started seeing a few pounds dropping off the scale. After a week or two. I was like, okay, that's really cool. Like, there is progress. I wasn't even exercising, I was just limiting a little bit and intermittent fasting. I found this app that helped me with it kind of kept me on track. It was great. And then August came, and I'm not gonna say

Ron Pippin: 12:26

is this August of 2020? Yes. So this is just recent.

Spencer Sullivan: 12:30

Oh, this is this was last summer. Okay. Yeah, awesome. Just super recent again. So august of 2020 rolls in and not to slander anybody, or, you know, take this into a negative place. But you mean, my ex, we're sharing is a living space at the time, and we were making arrangements for her to move out and it was kosher and fine. There was a few times some dates would roll through. And that, you know, just didn't really feel too good. I'm sure most people can relate to that. Yeah. And I'm not gonna lie, that was kind of a really bad moment for me. Just kind of seeing that and being in the house and just kind of having that that moment, and it kind of turned into a really dark thing. And I just didn't really know what to do with that negative emotion that I had. I tried writing music, and it was good. And it helped. But it didn't alleviate, like this internal just fire that was burning up inside of me. And little did I know that that was a desire for change. And so in August, me and Cody debated for about two weeks. It's really funny. we debated for two weeks about what gym we were going to go to because we thought we should exercise at some point. And there is a gym right across the street from my work at down here in Ogden, and it's shout out iOS fitness. Go and they're awesome. And so I was like, hey, there's a gym right next to both of our works. It's right there. It's 10 bucks a month, because let's do it. So he's like, all right, I signed up. And then first day, this is a funny story on first day, I'm in the gym, I just walk in, get on the elliptical, just do a little something. And I'm like, Okay, I'm here. I did it. Day one, let's go. And then their manager saw me and was like, Hey, come here real quick. And I was like, oh, man, did I like break the equipment? Like, Austin wants to talk to me. And so I go up to him. And he's like, hey, I've never seen you in here. Like, did you just sign up? And I was like, Yeah, yeah, I just signed up just barely. And he's like, cool, cool. And he's like, come talk to me for a minute. And he sits me down and he's like, what are your goals? What are you trying to do? Like, what's your knowledge with working out and kind of got a read on me? And he was like, Hey, man, I know this is gonna sound like a sales pitch, but I'm just gonna be for real. I have a guy named Mike, who is a personal trainer. And with what you want to do, I think you guys will get along pretty good. And I was like, not into it. Not into it. You're trying to just I get this you saw the big guy at the gym and you're like, let's get this guy trainer right? Like, let's do it. And so I just at first I was really hesitant. I even told him I was like, Hey man, like that's Kind of a financial burden I don't want to take on and a responsibility I don't think I could keep up with and I just had a lot of doubt myself. He's like, he's like, how about this man? I'll give you the first month free. And if you don't like it, you can, you can just, it's whatever, I just really think you guys are gonna get along. And I was like, okay, so I signed up, and I met my trainer, and he was awesome. I still work with him to this day. I actually saw him yesterday morning.

Ron Pippin: 15:26

Shout out to Mike Leon, shout

Spencer Sullivan: 15:28

out to Mike Daniels. He is the man with the plan. And he came through for me in a very bad time in my life. And I told him that I was like, Hey, man, I'm not really going through, I'm going through a pretty bad time right now. And I'm just trying to like, figure some stuff out. And he's like, well, let's

Ron Pippin: 15:43

get to work. You know, what this reminds me of is when the student is ready, the master will appear. I like that. And that seems like we're that's where you're at. It's just like you needed somebody in your life to help you get through. Because you probably could have done this by yourself. You know, I don't know that you would have had the same kind of results without a trainer with without a mentor. But But you're ready for it?

Spencer Sullivan: 16:14

Oh, yeah. I mean, if I think that if at any other point in my life, if I would have like been there, I would have slaked you know what I mean? I would have canceled even if I felt that, that push to go, I would have been like, you know what it isn't for me. But because I was at probably the lowest point emotionally that I can remember in my adult life. I didn't really have anywhere else to go but up. And I thought to myself, as I was driving home for my first session, he gave me a meal plan. He broke it down, told me like how much a pound of fat is in calories, which is 3500, by the way. And he he kind of broke down like what certain macronutrients were supposed to do, how they were going to help me why the foods he chose he gave to me and just really broke it down. Because I'm, I'm a logic guy. If you can break something down to me in a scientific way, I can pretty much grasp. But that's how I learned. And so when he was like, well, it's just basic math. Like one plus one is two, you know, and I was like, oh, okay, like that, I can see that. I can add it up myself. That makes sense. And I just thought, you know, what if this, if I follow his plan, and it doesn't work, then I'm not any worse off than I am now. So why not give it a good the good old college try?

Ron Pippin: 17:27

Right? And you did? And

Spencer Sullivan: 17:29

oh, yeah. And that was the thing. But the part of that is that there was a moment where it was like, I just signed a contract for six months to work with this guy. And I have to pay, you know, a good chunk of change every month to get it to get the service. But I mean, I was like, if I don't make this worth it, then not only am I robbing myself of money, but I'm robbing my future of years of life to live, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, so I was like, it would be an incredible disservice to myself and to everything that I've been trying to do up to this point. So I'm in two months after this boy's September, I started in July. And that was just the fasting and just to cutting back then August was, let's count calories. And then September was let's get to work kind of thing. So it was this two month preparation period before I was ready to go. But the thing is, like, you know, Mike is the man and I love him to death. And he's a good, he's turned out to be a pretty, pretty cool guy. And I've gotten to know him very well. And I only worked with him once a week, though. So every other time was up to me to make sure I was on point and to make sure that, you know, I was eating what I was supposed to do. Because he wasn't always there every meal of the day, you know what I mean? It was like, I had to be like, Okay, I have to eat certain ways, which at first it was really good. And that's how I learned and that's kind of changing the micro degrees is like I went from making a small little change of a small little change to be ready to tackle a bigger challenge, right? And I feel like that's the part that people try to jump to first with weight loss is they're like, I have to cut my calories down from like what I was doing four to 5000 calories of junk food a day down to 1600 calories a day of nothing but rice and Turkey you know what I mean? Like, and that like what you were saying earlier is just unsustainable. Because you know, you're a human being and human beings are emotional creatures. And the first time a bad day happens and you have a bad day at work or maybe you're getting a fight with a loved one like you're just want to turn to the Ben and Jerry's. You know what I mean?

Ron Pippin: 19:37

Yeah, you're gonna grab that tub of your of all the candy and granola bars. Yeah, you're gonna grab that cup, right? Yeah, totally. I think I think everybody that's listening to this, or watching it can totally relate to that.

Spencer Sullivan: 19:49

Oh, yeah. And that's another that now we're going to kind of just transition to the to the part two of this which I like to call the discipline phase. And that was just living an E Those of myself every day guideline that it was a code, basically a code of conduct within myself that it didn't matter. Like, I wasn't trying to live off anyone else's world, I was in my mind, and I was doing what I was doing because I had a drive for it. And I actually found two things. I've heard of this guy named David Goggins. And I'm sure probably at least a few people out there might know who he is. He's been around for a long time. He's a retired Navy SEAL, ultramarathon runner cyclist, he's just been defined as the hardest man alive, the toughest man alive. And I thought to myself, what is somebody like that think? Like, what, how does that mindset work? And luckily for me, the man made a book, like an autobiography, basically, and I got it on Audible. And I listened to and I listen to the whole thing, and like two days, and I mean, it was no, I'm not a reader. I don't listen to books. I like music. I like movies. I like I never picked up a book, especially like an autobiography of like, a retired athlete. You know what I mean? Right? I have never thought that that would be something I'd be into. But his words spoke to me. And hearing his story, really just I saw myself and a little bit, and I needed somebody to kind of tell me, like, stay hard get to work, like, and just saying, like, yeah, you feel this way. But there's more to give. And so I just started adopting that mindset change. And like, he has a lot of these little rules called, like the 40% rule, where it's like, whenever you feel tired, you're only really truly at 40% of your actual effort that you can give. And like, sometimes, you just got to dig a little deeper to find that extra 5% to go just a little bit more. So next time, you're at 45, and then 50, and then you know, etc. But like, back to the point, though, is I just basically had to keep at it every day, every single day, like there was little times that I would let myself let up. And that was just me, some people like to never like, Don't try to like cheat meals and stuff like that, like some people will like never ever do it and wear it as like a badge of honor. And that's cool. I kind of tried to stay away from it, just because again, I was building the discipline, I was like, I've had 28 years of cheat meals, I can, I can go, I can go a couple months, you know, or at least like some weeks just staying very onpoint with this meal plan that my trainer who very generously made for free, which he normally charges clients extra for hooked me up because again, he saw something and he saw that I was ready to work. Then I started going to the gym twice a day. And then I started going to the gym at 530 in the morning. And then people started being like, why are you doing this, like, you don't need to go twice a day. And you don't need to like go like this. And it was because I needed to prove something to myself that I can do things that are really difficult because it was all these little baby steps that led up to this, those little micro changes that were like, you know, try this go just a little bit more, don't worry about going like you don't need to double your time, you don't need to go to 100% you just need to go 101 or just that one extra percent today that you didn't do yesterday. And that literally like textbook literally just added up over time with experience. And I guess trying new things. And then I guess honestly, just seeing the progression was really cool. You know, and like I didn't think people would respond the way they did. You know, on social media people have been super duper, duper supportive and very, like onpoint. And I've had people reach out to me and ask me questions about their, you know what to do and how to do it. And so that's why I'm excited to be here and to talk about this.

Ron Pippin: 23:49

Yeah. So, you know, there's a couple things that that comes to mind again, yeah. Is that when you started making some changes? So you said you picked up that that audible book and that you're not a reader? It's not, it's not you, you would have done that three or four months ago, you know, previously, because you hadn't make any pay that any of those changes. So when you said you had two months of preparation before even you had three or four months of preparation before you picked up that book, because you weren't ready for that book yet.

Spencer Sullivan: 24:22

That was very smart. Yeah,

Ron Pippin: 24:23

I know that there's a lot of people that buy a book and say, Hey, I'm going to I'm going to read this book, or I'm going to listen to this thing on Audible. And they don't. And that's because they're just not ready for it. Hmm. So, so kudos for you for preparing yourself. And I'm sure there's more to the story here in a second. But yeah, so congratulations to you for for making those changes so that you could and recognizing that that you've made some changes to to better yourself. And, and in starting to become so I can see that you're starting to become a mentor for other people. So I'm gonna let you finish your story and then remind me I want to talk about mentors. Yes, I want to talk about your mentor. And the changes that that can make in one's life.

Spencer Sullivan: 25:11

Of course, yeah, so. So we're at this point, we're in October, okay, so September was the first month of just a meal plan and working out and doing it. And I just told myself, I need to go every day, if I can go to the gym every day, and I can just worry about the next meal and make sure that I'm just going to eat that and that, and having a plan. That meal plan was amazing. Because I knew what I needed to do. And it was just up to me to do it. It was that simple.

Ron Pippin: 25:42

So my question is, is when you go to the gym? Do you know what you're going to do that day?

Spencer Sullivan: 25:47

Um, a lot of the times nowadays, yes, I nowadays, it's I tried to keep it very structured. But back then it was just kind of like, I was still learning the machines and short sounds just kind of like, Yeah, but like, you know, having a plan now. Yeah, that and now I'm seeing even more results and more success in different ways, like muscle growth, and, you know, endurance, stuff like that, because there is a structured plan in place that is going to be progressive overload, adding little by little, following proper form, you know, doing little things like that, to just get further and further ahead. And taking the time to also just kind of on a side note, taking the time to not just work every single muscle group at once, but to target specific ones and give them a good work, and then let them rest and then work a different one. And just doing that, like and recognizing what needs worked on. And what needs to addressed, you know, has been very helpful as well.

Ron Pippin: 26:44

Yeah, so. So my point is in, you've confirmed this is when you made a plan, your growth

Spencer Sullivan: 26:56

happened much faster, insanely faster. Yeah.

Ron Pippin: 26:59

So and that that's the same thing in life, it doesn't matter whether it's a business, it doesn't matter whether it's whatever it is, without a pilot plan, you're totally just winging it, and your hope. Hope is a really terrible business strategy. Oh, yeah. And it's a terrible strategy for working out. It's a terrible strategy for anything. So loving a plan, whether it's your eating, whether it's your working out, whether it's your business, whether it's whatever you're doing a plan is like vital, like vital. So if, if there's any realtors, or loan officers that are listening to this, and you don't have a plan for this year, reach out to me because I can help you. And I'm not charging for that. This is just like a free thing, because you need to have a plan. So just reach out to me and we'll get that plan going. So back over to us, Spencer,

Spencer Sullivan: 27:53

well, that's nice. If you guys should take advantage of that. Now. That's very nice. I'm gonna do that anyway. So yeah, that was that was it was having a plan and then along the way, so here's that that plan was, was was provided to me from from my trainer, Mike. And at first he was like, just do this just follow this plan day over day, whatever, like, and so I did exactly that every single gram of every single food at that was on there for a long, long, long time. And then it got to a point where, because I was so interested in nutrition, because of these small things I was doing over time, it just piqued my curiosity. So I started learning a lot more about macronutrients and like all those different things and stuff like that, and how other how you can substitute other foods for the same thing and stay in your calories and not go above your it's funny that we're talking about that you talk about, like loaning loans, and you know, things like that, because I actually view my calorie intake and my macros and stuff like as like a physical currency in my body. It's like, I have a budget of 1700 calories, we just call the 1700 bucks. And it's like, I can either spend $800 or 800 calories up front, right up front. And then I got to keep that in mind throughout the rest of my day. So I don't go over that. That like calorie budget that I've given myself every single day. And putting it into terms like that, for me was a big help too. Because again, rationalizing coping, and all those types of things are very helpful when you're doing something that can provoke stress. So

Ron Pippin: 29:27

that that's a I don't think I've ever heard of put in those terms before. So that's, that is really awesome. So we're going to take a real quick break, because we want to talk more to Spencer so we're going to take a quick break, and we'll be right back. Alright, now we're back with Spencer. And yeah, it's it's it's so we've been talking about if you're just joining us, we've been talking about his journey on losing weight going from three You know, mid three hundreds, down to just these just about to break the 200 range. But if you so we'll put another picture up here, of Spencer. So you can see that the massive difference. And well, you can probably see him right here on the video. If you're watching it. You can see him right here and you can see the difference that's made. Awesome. So let's continue with with our conversation you were just talking about some What were we talking about? Where were you at with this.

Spencer Sullivan: 30:31

So we were just talking about, I was just kind of going through the months here. And I had mentioned that like, through right after I got my meal plan I kinda was like learning about the calories and the macros and the proteins and fats and carbs and stuff. And I started translating all that into some sort of, like, coping mechanism into like currency in my body like so I thought about how you would spend money, and how you would save money and things like that. And it kind of worked and it was good. But then came the holidays. And when you're going through a weight loss journey, and you're kind of like in the, like, the throes of it and it's that Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's like Quick, quick, you know, 12 weeks of time I go by, it can be very tempting to not follow your meal plan.

Ron Pippin: 31:19

Oh, totally. It's like I hear so many people, they have cheat days or, you know, so I'm curious. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, though. So do you do you take Do you have cheat days? Do you have cheat meals? do you have?

Spencer Sullivan: 31:32

Oh, yeah. So I am I basically so one thing for me is I found that having a cheat, like you'll, you'll hear a lot of divided people say oh, like you shouldn't have cheat days or cheat or even cheat me. I should say cheat meals, not cheat days, like you should have shouldn't have a cheat meal. That means your diets too rigorous, it's not sustainable. It's not good. And it's like hey, that's some people like eating healthy. Like some people like eating lots of you know, chicken in in salads. And like me, I like eating lots of Greek yogurt like low fat Greek yogurt. I like my quest bars shout out to quest. I like I don't

Ron Pippin: 32:09

even know what that is. But

Spencer Sullivan: 32:11

quest nutrition man they came, okay. Anyway. So basically, they just finding stuff that I liked, that could still meet the same calories and still meet the same macronutrients is are nice, but every now and again, it's like, Hey, I also like to have doughnuts. I love pizza. I think pizza is probably my every cheat meal. Like I will have a slice of pizza or several. But yes, to answer the question I do. I'm a firm believer in cheat meals I am in I think if you work hard enough and long enough, and it's something that you can control. I think that having a day, every good while isn't gonna kill you isn't gonna totally for your progression entirely. I think that it's definitely a good mind. You know, it's more than just the physical, it's a lot of emotional, it's a lot of mental. It's a, it's a psychological thing. Because, like I said earlier, we're emotional. We're emotional people, and a lot of us have them. When we are feeling emotional, we like to eat, whether it's happy or sad or whatever. So, I know for me, when I get stressed, I like to snack. So

Ron Pippin: 33:21

we do I do. So we go into your point of, of being when we're stressed or whatever we like to eat. You know, what do you do you when you're going out? When you have friends that want to get together? Like you always want to go out to eat, right? I mean, it's it's, it's not just it's not just eating because you're hungry. It's like for our culture, and many cultures. It's like you're breaking bread with friends, you know, you're, you're that's something we do to to bond with each other. And so how do you how do you cope with going out to some of these these restaurants and you know, your friends are probably ordering stuff that you used to order. Oh, how do you how do you how do you cope with that kind of stuff.

Spencer Sullivan: 34:11

So I'm pretty sure a lot of us are going to be able to relate to that because I don't know I'm I know, I'm not the only person who's been on a quote unquote, like diet or calorie deficit or life change and you are find yourself at a familiar restaurant looking at the menu that you used to just totally annihilate when you like, you just know everything is so good. And you see your family maybe it's some friends and they're all ordering, you know, appetizers and stuff. I mean, honestly, it's you got to be prepared. I mean it, I'll just I'm just gonna keep it super real here. It is kind of a lonely road. Sometimes it really is because you have to realize that you are on your own journey and that journey doesn't change just because, you know, you're in a certain situation like you have to you have to plan ahead and that's something thing that I learned from David Goggins was visualizing not just your success, but visualizing what's gonna stop you from reaching that and tackling it before it even comes now, there's going to be things that you're not going to be prepared for, that are going to pop up. Because that's what life is, you know what I mean? There's really, there's no way around that. But if you can at least think about, okay, I'm going I know at some point, I'm probably going to go out with some friends. And if it's not a day, or the time of the week that I'm going to have a cheat meal, or maybe I'm just, I have kind of slipped up and I'm kind of going back on the cut a little bit harder this week, whatever it is, whatever your mindset is, and you're there. I mean, Hey, be prepared. I bring I bring protein bars. I do, I'll bring a protein bar, I'll get some water and if anything, and order a salad, if it's like I'm like, because for me, I like to schedule my cheat meals around. My days off from work, just so I can have a day to relax. Like, we all know, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, the famous wrestler, he doesn't write, right? He has every Sunday, he does an epic cheat meal, where he just makes like the most delicious Li disgusting calorie rating meals you could ever think of. But every other meal and every other day of the week. He's very regimented. Right. So I like to kind of adopt that a little bit to you know, in my own life, and I'm not trying to copycat, but so that's what I do is I'll plan a date. And if it's not that day, and I'm out somewhere, I don't, I just, it I'm not, it hurts sometimes, you know, it's like, I want to order more, but I can't not like I can't, but I'm not going to

Ron Pippin: 36:34

Yeah, that's the difference. That there's there's the difference, man, it's just like you've, you have to prepare yourself mentally. So this isn't just because you're hungry. It's just like, this is a mental thing. And you have to prepare yourself so that when you are up against that is one thing. Another thing you said is, is you're not trying to be a copycat. Yeah. But man be a copycat, it's, you know, do find, find those people in in it, whoever your mentors are, or whoever your idols are, or whoever those people are that that you want to, to be like, whether it's whether it's in business, or whether it's in losing weight, or whatever, whatever your journey is, find those people and don't reinvent the wheel. Just do what they do.

Spencer Sullivan: 37:27

Oh, yeah. And that's actually a good point. Because there is another person and I know you said you wanted to kind of circle back to mentors. And this is kind of where I wanted to, this is where it's going to connect into that is. So I had that book by David Goggins, which I listened to, which was this his life story, it was about hearing him run with broken legs, hear him doing a navy seals, Hell Week, three times in one year, like, it's so crazy to hear that somebody physically did that, and just hearing their headspace through that. So that was a very good example for me to live by. And I did adopt his ethos of like, working hard and doing it, and I'm not him, and I'm not anywhere near what he does. And he's the hardest man alive for a reason. But if I can at least be a micro percent of what he is, in my own way, then that's good for me. But the other thing is, is I started looking for other people and other avenues and other mentors of sorts, like I had Mike to help me out in the gym. And if I need anything, I could text him, right. And he was always there for me, which is awesome. I had david Goggins book, which I would listen to, to help me stay disciplined and stay focused. And then I found a new YouTuber, and his name is wil Tennyson. And he is probably the biggest impact on my life up to this point in health and fitness I've ever had, like, he was a big boy, like, not like me, but he was a big boy who he dropped 100 pounds, and he ended up putting up a ton of muscle and he's very, his physique is very shredded. Just think of like, your typical bodybuilder kind of guy, you know, is very, very defined. And his content is so wholesome, though, like, in a way, because he shows recipes on how to make stuff and he's relatable. He talks about, you know, hey, I get it, like, I'm a human too. And he even has, like, think about it. He's a big shredded guy. And he has videos of him eating doughnuts with his little dog talking about, like, you know, I'm just enjoying a moment. And then he would be like, no, let me show you how to like some cool tips on working out and it wasn't like a flex. It wasn't like I'm better than you. It was like a, hey, this is something I did. And this is something I do. If you want to adopt the method to try it out. You should because you might like it. But if not, don't worry, do your own thing, but it's here if you want it, and I loved it. And he's this guy from Canada. He's so so funny. And he has taught me so much about nutrition, and about how to, you know, make really yummy recipes like I'm making pancakes and brownies and ice cream and it's all healthy, no sugar, low fat, high protein stuff and It's all stuff that tastes good. So now, when people say what do you eat Spence, I say, I have our phase chocolate per phase. I have brownies on the weekend. I and all this is like healthy stuff like it's it. There's no sugar or fat in it. And it's all like things that you can just just replacements. And again, a year ago, or even last summer, if I would have saw that video and saw those recipes, I wouldn't have wanted to try it.

Ron Pippin: 40:25

Yeah, totally.

Spencer Sullivan: 40:26

I was like, I want a kit cat. I don't want to. I want a Snickers bar. I do not want a sugar free anabolic brownie. Like that sounds disgusting. to him. He did Greek yogurt before I hated it. But now, it might as well be my blood. Yeah, like I eat too much of it. But anyway. But he was a big inspiration to me and a very big mentor. And I just look forward to his videos twice a week. And every week, he's just showing something new and I adopt some of the tips he does like, like you were saying, like, I'm not trying to, like reinvent the wheel in my workouts. And that's where I've got a lot of my structure from was seeing how he structured his workouts and his diet. And I was like, Okay, that makes sense. Maybe if I do something like that, I can see success. And here we are.

Ron Pippin: 41:13

So mentors, so we've circled back around to mentors. So it sounds like mentors have been instrumental in what you've done.

Spencer Sullivan: 41:23

Oh, yeah. And people want to tell you that you can't that like that's like a privilege, which it is, you know, being able to have a trainer and go to a gym, especially in our you know, the last calendar year is definitely, you know, not the norm for everyone. But I mean, anybody who has access to a free Wi Fi signal can get on YouTube, you know what I mean? Like and who has a connected device, which most people most adults in 2021 do have some sort of connected device. And with the internet on it, whether at home or mobily, or kid or kid kids

Ron Pippin: 41:53

have admitted This is like legitimately

Spencer Sullivan: 41:55

like it's everywhere. So yeah, I mean, and that was what I did is and I'm not paying, like this will tennis and youtuber guy, like, that's just it, he's a YouTuber, he just makes his own content. And I found him amongst so many other people that, like, there's so many other people who I didn't like, but I like him. You know what I mean? You don't have to like what I like, and you don't have to like what your friend likes. But if like, for example, like me and Cody, just to bring him back into the equation he has he he's not as much into well, tennis as I am. He likes a few other people. And I don't like some of those people as much as I like my friend will tennis and you know what I mean? But that's okay, because he gets what he wants out of the mentors that he's looked to. And I get what I need out of the mentors that I've looked to. And I'll just be real, there is one last person name on YouTube that I've also kind of learned if you're really struggling with not wanting to eat junk, sometimes watching other people do it as soothing. I know it sounds kind of weird. But like, I've seen this guy named Eric the electric and he does these food challenges where he just eats like a disgusting amount of food and like in a short amount of time. And it's just first it's like, oh my gosh, that looks so good. I want to eat all of it. And then watching him eat it. I'm like, you know what? I'm good now? Like, like, I don't know, I just kind of a funny off topic thing. But yeah, anyway, so back to the point with mentors is, it's definitely super important to have people in your life that you can look to and Cody has been a mentor to me to like and I to him like we've been mentors to each other to try and teach each other things that we learn. And that's something I think is really important is being able to be vulnerable with somebody about what you're going through.

Ron Pippin: 43:34

Yeah, I think that's that's actually more of an accountability partner. Yeah,

Spencer Sullivan: 43:39

a little bit. Cody was my accountability partner. Like, I can't tell you how many times Ron I would, I would have a moment of weakness. And he would just give me these eyes. I always tell him I'm like, did you give me the eyes, man is that you're staring into my soul. And he doesn't say a word. He just looks at me. And like tilts one eyebrow up a little bit. And I just know that he knows that. I know. You know what I mean? Yeah, it sounds like, and then at that point, I'm like, all right, and just a quote, Lord of the Rings. I know, that's kind of out there. But Frodo couldn't have gotten far without Sam. Right? Right. And Cody has definitely been the SAM wise, to my Frodo, if you will, along this journey, like, carried me up when I was low. And I've helped him up when he was low. And I think that even if you don't have someone in your life, like that, you know, like a close friend or a roommate or, you know, a significant other event of some kind or family member, just whatever, like, holding yourself accountable can be hard. But it's doable. You know, it just takes it just takes actual honesty. And that's is hard. But it that's profound man, that, you know,

Ron Pippin: 44:42

that's a that's a profound statement. That's like, really profound. I love that. It's it's accountability is hard. But it's doable. I love that.

Spencer Sullivan: 44:50

Yeah, I mean, definitely because I mean, nobody wants to look in the mirror and say, You know what, I didn't do what I was supposed to do today. I know I wanted to and I really tried to justify Why I didn't, but I didn't do it. You know, and that you don't have to sit there and stay in the dumps. You just have to acknowledge it. You real with yourself and say, You know what, okay, I messed up. I'm going to do better. And then give it another try. Because failure is a part of the process, you are going to fail your way to success.

Ron Pippin: 45:21

Yes. I love that dude. Man. Listen, I love this podcast, man. This is. So failure. Failure is not a bad thing. No failure. If you look at anybody that is successful, like yourself, there there is. You have fallen more times. And but it's not how many times you fall, how many times you get up?

Spencer Sullivan: 45:43

Oh, yeah. And like, I can't remember. I think it's Rocky. And I think is like Sylvester Stallone says. It's not about how hard you get, how hard you hit, how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and stay in the fight. Right? Yep. Because there will. And I'm going to say this with a with as much confidence as I can, there will be times where you will fail, and you will not meet your goal, you're not going to find the success that you're looking for. And those are the true moments that test where you're at. It's like, for example, I'll be real. I was in April, starting today, I wanted to be under 200 pounds. That was my absolute goal. I said I want to be I want to be 198 by April 1 2021. And I didn't get there as 202 pounds this morning. And you know what, instead of just crying about it all day and just beating myself up, I, I sat back and I said, Okay, so why are we not here? Well, let's analyze what's going on, let's take a step back and analyze the last three to four weeks if we can see if there's been any changes in the diet in our workouts. And I noticed, oh, my goodness, I've been in a calorie deficit deficit for so long that maybe you know, the weight loss is slowing down just naturally. So maybe I have to look into other avenues. And instead of just being so upset and hung up about the number on the scale, I just now made me realize that, oh, maybe it's the fact that I'm going too hard on one thing, maybe I need to switch it up and try something else to see if that's going to work. And I mean, at this point, the number on the scale doesn't really matter. You know, it really like I mean, it's a good thing to look at, you know, but like, it is what it is, in some days, it'll be higher, some days, it'll be lower. But I mean, ultimately, if you're moving my The one thing I always think of is it doesn't matter where you are, you can be in first place you can be in last place, as long as you are facing the target goal. like think about it, you can have the dude who's in first place, but turns around and starts running the wrong way. And now he's not going to be in first place in just a minute. But you who is dead last who is facing the direction of the goal will have a better chance of that moment of reaching the goal than that guy who just turned his back. Right. So that's just where I look at it

Ron Pippin: 47:58

just dropped the mic now.

Spencer Sullivan: 48:01

Well, I mean, these are things that like I had to it just comes down to that accountability thing. It's like just being like, this is the lesson that I'm taking away from this, and I'm not perfect. There's some days where Yeah, failure does hurt, like maybe I'm at work and I don't hit my sales goal. And now because of that my boss is on me. And because now My boss is on me, I'm on my agents and my agents are getting back to me. And now I'm in a bad mood. So when I go to the gym, I'm just irritable, and I'm not going to work out as hard. I'm going to get home I'm, you know, it can spiral into it. But if you can take just one. Now I'll take it back. If you can take 10 seconds, take a breath, and let your mind get out of disarray for a second and let your heart rate slow down just just one beat. You'll gain a moment of clarity, and you'll go Okay, it's not as bad as I thought, like I got it. But, you know, it's it comes with practice. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, what you see and what you hear right now was not just the byproduct of a weekend or a pill that I bought or, you know, just a fad diet or just a one counseling session. This is like a bunch of days that I strung into weeks I strung into months, which I'm now stringing into a year which I will hopefully string into more years which will weave into the rest of my life.

Ron Pippin: 49:14

Yep. You're you're creating a lifestyle. You're not you're not doing a fad diet. This is like a lifestyle for you. And that that creates a life worth living.

Spencer Sullivan: 49:25

Yeah, it's all about long term change.

Ron Pippin: 49:27

And don't get me wrong. Because when I say a life worth living, just because just because you're heavier, doesn't mean your life's not worth living. So don't don't get me wrong there. But no, I

Spencer Sullivan: 49:38

feel what you're saying. Okay, all right, but more so of like, Well, let me just be honest with you. Like I said that the number on the scale doesn't truly truly define who you are. Like you said, Ron, you're like, Hey, man, I thought you were under 200 pounds, but like, you know, I feel good. Like I can jog now. I can get up I can do yoga, I can stretch and I can pick up my little nieces. Did that I love so much. And that's another thing you want to talk about what really pushed me is my sister Simone has this kid named her Stephanie, cutest little girl I've ever seen in my life. And I thought, I want to be part of her life forever. Like, I want to be uncle Spencer, I want her to know me. And I want her to, to love me, and I want to be part of it. And I just want to be there for when she graduates high school, and when she goes to college, and it's like, I know, she's not even my kid, you know. But like, I love her so much. And like Steven, my brother, he has some kids, and I love them too. And I just thought to myself, man, how sad would it be if they were like, man, I really wish uncle Spence was around more, you know what I mean? Or like, just whatever it is, and it kind of got sad. And I was like this, I want to be there. So when I remember when I was first working out, whenever I felt like, I'm tired, I want to stop I thought about, I thought about them, their little faces popped into my head, and I thought, you know, they're worth fighting for. And that was just something for me. Just just personally, I don't think I've ever told them that. But yeah, they were definitely a big part of that. So it's a big personal experience, you know, like, Yeah, you got to find what works for you. Because if you just try to like, it takes some soul searching, it takes some accountability sessions, and it takes some time to just to find the process that works.

Unknown: 51:16

Yeah.

Ron Pippin: 51:16

So for those that are listening, find, find your mentors. And I hadn't thought about being having mentors on YouTube, quite honestly. So find those mentors, whether they're on on YouTube, whether they're at the gym, whether they're family members, find those accountability partners, because those people are gold in your life. So what would you say to people that want to take that same journey, but are just struggling? What what is what of words of wisdom? What what words of counsel what what words of advice that you might have for them?

Spencer Sullivan: 52:03

I have two types of answers. And I'll give my I'll give the I'll give the short and quick one first, and then I'll give them more in depth one. The first answer is just do it. Just do it. Just try it, jump in the water. Do it, see what happens. Just try it one. And that's and that's not saying jump into the deepest, darkest water out there. That's just getting your hiney in the water in the first place.

Ron Pippin: 52:28

Let's just get your get get into the kiddie pool, right? Yeah,

Spencer Sullivan: 52:31

there's never going to be a good time. Never there. You can, you can say I'm just waiting, I just kind of wait till there's a good time, you're never gonna find it, you'll never find it. Because I will tell you what, the more times that I just did it. I was like, Okay, I did it and that spiraled and other things. But then the second answer here is really think about what it is you want. It do. Like if it's about if we're talking about health and fitness here, you got to really before you before you even decide to buy the gym membership before even decide to throw away your tub of gluttony under your bed. And, you know, bring in the protein bars and the chicken and rice, think about what you want and why you want it. And don't be afraid to break out the journal and to just write it down. And that's that's actually my biggest bit of counsel is writing stuff down. If you can write down just weather and don't do it on your phone. I mean, if you if you have to do it on your phone, like that's fine, or on a computer or something that that's cool, but try actually hand writing it down. Because that's going to force your mind to really think what you're writing into, or what you're, you know, putting on the paper and keep it keep it somewhere you can see. So for me when I first started, I wrote down, I want to see my niece's grow, I want to live longer. I want to hike with my friends this summer. So 2021 I wrote him real things, just what I want, what do What do you want, you know, this is just what Spencer wanted at the time. And I kept it up right by my computer. And I looked at it every single day, every single day. And I just reminded myself, This is what I want. This is why I'm doing it because that that question that one word question that buries itself deep inside of our brain. Why? Why am I waking up at 430 in the morning and waiting in the coal for the gym to open at five. So I can rush home by six quickly shower get to work by seven and just have this crazy morning when I could just sleep in till six and not even worry about it and do it later. For you have to be able to answer that question because it will pop up and it sucks. Because if you don't know why you're doing something, then you will crumble that the first moment of pressure. You know the first time things get super real, you're going to be like why am I doing this that this doesn't make sense. I don't need to do this anymore. And then you fold and then everything you just worked for just kind of falls by the wayside. And maybe it's not that quick of a process that the question does come up a bit but write it down. Write your why's down and and in visualize it and also visualize your, your insecurities and what's going to hold you back and do not be afraid to grab them like metaphorically speaking, don't be afraid to grab them in your mind and say, Listen, I'm coming for you. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but one day, you will be mine.

Ron Pippin: 55:21

Spencer, you are wise beyond your years, my friend. Thanks. So yeah, that's been this has been awesome. So the I didn't ask you before the podcast if if you don't want people calling you. That's okay. So now, if somebody wants to just reach out and say, Spencer, man, you inspired me. And they just have some questions. What's the best way to do that? Phone Email text, but what's what's the best way for the people to reach out to you?

Spencer Sullivan: 55:48

That is a wonderful question. I have a fake Facebook account like any like any other person, it's just I kind of a funny name, I'm probably going to change it because I'm doing a lot more professional stuff. Now. It was kind of a funny high school name. But for now it's Spencer, the wizard O'Sullivan, you should be able to find it on on Facebook. But also I have a YouTube channel where I post I've been doing about once a month, I started out as like video diaries with the weight loss. So if you kind of want to see a more in depth, like real time, like, where I was actually at during the process, I kind of documented some of that time.

Ron Pippin: 56:23

Yeah, totally go look at that. Because that's it. That's That's impressive. So yeah, look at that. So

Spencer Sullivan: 56:27

there was some old footage, some archive footage I have there. But nowadays, it's going to be a lot more like, like fitness challenges and keeping up and giving advice kind of like what we're doing here. So that's just Spencer K. Sullivan on YouTube. I mean, it's it's it's not anything like the super extraordinary. So if you guys have any questions or anything like that, you know, feel free to reach out on social media. Like I said, just Spencer the wizard O'Sullivan on Facebook or you know, I'm probably gonna I'm probably gonna make some sort of fitness Instagram title, maybe? I don't know. Well, we'll have something eventually. But you know what, honestly, like,

Ron Pippin: 56:59

just post you can probably get on social media and put in Spencer Sullivan. And just if you've got if you see behind me see see Spencer Spencer wizard. You know, you're the right. Yeah, you're ignoring the right place. So yeah, that's awesome. Thanks so much, Spencer. I've really enjoyed having you here. It's been good to catch up again, because we've been a bit a little while since I've seen you

Spencer Sullivan: 57:21

worse. Yeah. Thank you for having me. It's been a it's been a great pleasure.

Ron Pippin: 57:24

Yeah, awesome. And if there's anything that my team or I can do to help you, in your business, real estate loan, loan officers, if there's, you know, if you just have questions, feel free to reach out to me, My phone number is 801-628-7667. And feel free to also go on to to YouTube or Apple podcasts or Stitcher and leave us a five star review. We'd love to hear hear from you. Thanks and that will bring to close another episode of agent versus lender.