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Mondays with Matt is a weekly short-form podcast from Barbell Logic founder Matt Reynolds, delivering practical lessons on strength training, coaching, and business you can apply immediately. Each episode blends real stories, clear takeaways, and simple actions you can take this week to move forward with confidence.
New episodes every Monday.
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Online Coaching Success Story: Before Coaching
Adam Skillin worked various jobs, including banking, but always knew he did not want to go down the typical 9-5 path.
Adam lives and grew up in New Jersey. He worked in the banking industry and also did various jobs including bartending. More than once he picked a job that did not align with good macroeconomic timing.
He became interested in BJJ and MMA, and thought that this would become his side hustle. He planned to open up a gym and tried to get a professional fight.
In 2010 he saw someone in his weight class (he was 5'6″ and weighed 130 pounds) deadlift 405 pounds and did not think that was possible. Further, he immediately saw that getting stronger would provide benefits to his strength.
He began training, got stronger, it improved his BJJ game, and others grew interested. Suddenly, he was coaching other people.
Online Coaching Success Story: Quality of Life
Adam saw that this could become his side hustle. He got stronger, got certified, and as he started to coach people in his free time outside his 9-5 job, online coaching became a thing. He immediately saw the benefits.
A few months later, Matt offered him a job at BLOC to start coaching online.
Adam now coaches over 50 clients making 6 figures a year and works an average of 75-100 minutes a day. He has 100% on-time feedback and extremely high retention.
This is his online coaching success story.
PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Reliability Costs Nothing – Integrity over Time
Andrew Jackson shared his value equation a couple years ago, which includes ability, integrity, and benevolence.
Reliability is essentially integrity over time. Do you show up each time, on time, and do the thing you said you would do.
This costs no money. It takes time and effort. It means you will show up when you're sick, tired, and for whatever reason do not feel like it.
Reliability Costs Nothing but Changes Everything
Reliability brings tons of value to those you interact with.
You likely have been in a situation, as a parent, supervisor, or friend, where you know whom you can rely on with a difficult task and whom you cannot.
As a manager, it is wonderful to know that you have an employee (or multiple employees) you can rely on to get the job done each time.
You can fake benevolence for a short period time. You can probably fake integrity for a short period of time. Over months and years, however, your character reveals whether you are reliable or not.
Decide to be reliable today. Consider if you are reliable. Think about how others (your spouse, friends, supervisor, etc.) perceive you. Would they say you're one of the most reliable people they know? How can you become more reliable?
Reliability costs nothing but changes everything.
PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Defining Your Core Values: Brainstorming & Reflecting
Matt discusses how to identify and list your core values. These should reflect your personality but also be aspirational.
For example, for Matt, quite reflection would not be a core value. He verbally processes ideas, and he would be working against his natural tendencies.
Rather, lean into your personality, though work on addressing your weaknesses and bolstering your strengths.
Notice what attracts you on social media, literature, podcasts, movies. Which characters and actions attract you (and which repulse you)? What are your natural tendencies and preference that you have no problem with?
Start listing these out, thinking about them, and you can move on to refining your list.
Defining Your Core Values: Refining & Defining
As you create your list, think about different aspects of your life, such as family/relationship/interpersonal, business/professional, religious/spiritual, etc.
Once you feel you've taken some time and reflected, identify the top 5 core values.
These help underpin your goals and actions and all your decisions.
They help avoid chasing shiny objects and help you avoid the lesser, easier, more comfortable paths that clash with your values.
Defining your values is useful, whether for just yourself or your business.
PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
When One Teach Two Learn: Importance of Teaching
In order to become an expert coach, or to master any subject, you have to coach, or teach, when it matters.
You may have found at some point that you had read or consumed a lot of material on a subject. When you tried to explain it to someone else, the apparent coherent thoughts were not there.
Technique coaching in person is important to mastering technique coaching (you can simulate that, to some degree, online). This goes for teaching as well.
Taking your ideas and trying to turn them into an article, podcast, or speech helps the knowledge not only deepen but also cohere. Many times, you have unordered ideas in your head – you need to order them.
When One Teach Two Learn: Matt's Teaching Process
Matt has a process he has followed to go from interest to refined speech, presentation, sermon, etc.
Before the first action, you have to find something that interests you. It could come from a book, podcast, YouTube channel, thoughts – whatever. Something peaks your interest and you want to learn more.
Matt starts at a general place, such as Wikipedia, and goes from there. Look to the sources from those initial places, dig deeper, and learn as much as you can. As you do so, take notes.
As you take notes, you'll start to see certain patterns and major points or thoughts. Consider these major bullet points and how they related to each other. Try to put them in a coherent order.
Next, speak it (or write it) and share with someone else. For example, if you have to talk in front of a group of 20, first talk to your spouse or a friend. This rehearsal helps you better organize your thoughts and refine your speech. It is, however, a critical step.
When one teach two learn. Go learn (and teach).
PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Building EliteFTS – Before EliteFTS
Both Dave's dad and grandfather were business owners, who inculcated and demonstrated the value of hard work. Dave helped his dad as a teenager, and his dad stressed the importance of quality products (which Dave has stressed with EliteFTS' equipment).
As a teenager, Dave grew sick and tired of being "beat all the time," so he trained harder and worked harder and started to see benefits. His wrestling coach saw him running stairs one day and told him that if he worked harder than everyone else, he wouldn't be beat. This, paired with the benefits of strength, started to help him build confidence.
Dave also struggled in college, but ultimately decided to return, work hard, and brought up his GPA.
He was deciding whether to move to Columbus or Cleveland and ultimately decided to move to Columbus (in part) because of a girlfriend, which meant that Dave would train with Louie Simmons at Westside Barbell.
Dave had different jobs, including personal training, bouncing, and gym management, and describes in his story at a couple points where he did not want to continue on the track he found himself, so he made a change.
Helping Louie sell equipment and deal with customer service, paired with creating a Q&A website, ultimately created EliteFTS.
Building EliteFTS
Elite FTS began in the late 1990s, with the internet early and shipping times for gym equipment being 16 weeks.
He learned, from eMyth, that he needed to free up time to spend more time as manager and then owner of the business.
Dave and Matt talk about the importance of adversity and how it has refined them both. This aligns with Matt's voluntary hardship principle. Ultimately, as a business owner, coach, and human, you will face adversity. Prepare yourself by doing so voluntarily so that when the involuntary challenges come, you can handle them better and grow from them as well.
Enjoy Dave and Matt talking about building EliteFTS.
PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chase Value not Status
In a social media world, it can be easy to pursue status. In the world we inhabit, it can always be easy to chase money.
Pursue something else. Chase value.
Deliver value to your customers. When entrepreneurs talk about opportunities, unless they are discussing some loophole or morally questionable pursuits, they're talking about a clear area where a problem exists where business can provide value.
You provide a customer a new roof, they give you money. The value you provide should be more than the price point.
Chase Value not Status – Appearance Versus Reality
You don't have to have thought too much about social media to know that people don't typically put mundane tasks, boring events, or things they're not proud of.
People select, for their own purposes, what they present to the world via the social media site.
This is illusory (and might be fake).
Chase value and deliver it to others.
Yes, business have to make money, but the singular pursuit of value does not lead to long-term success or happiness.
Chase value not status.
PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Excuses that Derail Progress – Valuable Things are Hard
We at Barbell Logic value voluntary hardship. Simple, hard, effective training brings you toward your goals. Voluntary hardship is refining, whereas involuntary hardship may or may not refine someone who experience the difficulty.
As we grow and encounter growing challenges, common pitfalls or excuses arise, where people can sabotage themselves, their goals, or their businesses.
You may have all or some of these to differing degrees, and even if you improve yourself in mastering them they do not completely disappear.
The Excuses that Derail Progress
Matt discusses the following four excuses:
Fear
We often consider the approaches to the flight or fight response. Maybe this excuse is someone who freezes.
Matt identifies 3 types within fear: the staller, the saver, and the micromanager.
The staller hesitates to make decisions, putting off the hard decisions as long as possible (or longer).
The saver never spends money or invests in needs of the business.
The micromanager lacks trust in his or her staff to get the job done correctly.
All these stifle and potentially end progress, maybe even to the point of failure.
Chaos
Maybe chaos is someone who fights in response to fear. Without consultation or consideration, he immediately makes the easiest, quickest decision.
This person often drowns in urgency, and whereas they do not stall, they also do not think very much. Some time, reflection, and discussing things over is warranted for most decisions. You have to spend time on the important.
Self-Medication
The third excuse that derails progress is self-medication.
Self-medicators rely on pleasurable activities to ignore or bury the stress. They may dive deep into vices such as gluttony, drugs, sex, or other pleasurable pursuits,
These behaviors can often wreck people, families, and business. Important, they do nothing to deal with the issues at hand.
Stubbornness
The stubborn fail to take personal responsibility, own up to their mistakes, and say "my fault."
If you're a business person, you have to be learning, and learning, often times, is painful. Yes, much of it is reading books and listening to podcasts and seeking out those more experience than you.
Ultimately, though, even with reading books, you have to see that a recommendation approach to solution in the book is better than what you are currently doing.
Many times, learning comes in failing or stumbling. You cannot ignore these. They hurt. They're not fun. Learning opportunities, however, exist from reflecting on these failures.
Excuses that derail progress abound, and we can't let these derail progress or lead to failure.
PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Job or Business – Should I Own a Business?
Not everyone should own a business. Probably, most people should not own a business.
It's not an insult: it's reality. Owning a business is too much risk and stress for some people.
You still may be an excellent coach or technician. You may provide a huge amount of value to your employer or to your customers.
If you're the right person to own a business, you probably find yourself unable to put up with some of the downsides to jobs and tend to naturally get after it.
Matt and Scott are great examples of people who are natural business owners.
Job or Business – Which Do You Own
You may want to consider simply owning your own job, rather than a business.
For example, you may want to be a coach, get as many clients, but not be a business owner. You may own a job.
You'll still have to be your own boss and complete certain functions that aren't simply coaching, but you may not want to have other employees, and may be happy with growing to a point, making good money, and not be worried about a business.
As a business owner, you assume the risk. You will likely, over time, hire employees – some will be technicians, others will be managers. You need to understand the nature of the business you are in.
For example, Scott talks about the gym owner business as a type of real estate.
Job or Business – How Good Can This Get?
Regardless of whether you own your job, a business, or you work for someone else, you need to think about what your options are.
What is important to you? Can you deal with the risk and stress of business ownership, or not? Do you want to grow a business, or are you okay with a smaller, steady income stream? Would you like to simply punch the time clock and not worry about things when you're off?
Understanding the nature of your business or job and whether it is really a business or job is important.
On the Stupid Tax podcast, Scott and Mitchell discuss thinking or your job, even if you work for someone else, as a service you are providing that employer. It may make sense, for some, to work for that company as a contractor rather than an employee, for example.
Do you own a job or business?
PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
New Year's Resolutions Done Well
New Year's resolutions have really been dismissed in recent decades, likely because of the high failure rate they have (especially when you consider fitness or health goals).
It's true, New Year's resolutions can be done poorly. If this is the only time of year you make big, bold goals and you find yourself never having achieved them, you may need to reevaluate how you create and pursue goals.
If, however, your built more like Matt, it's simply a way to make goals for the upcoming year. It takes advantage of the down time during the Christmas and New Year's holidays.
It also makes sense because it simply follows the natural calendar year. You should have goals you're pursuing. You should be improving yourself. Having an annual time where you evaluate the past year and make goals for the upcoming year is not foolish.
Matt's New Year's Resolutions
Matt ultimately broke his goals up into 5 categories, with over 20 goals. His categories are listed below:
You might have different or fewer categories. That's okay.
Some of Matt's physical goals include reaching a 225 pound bodyweight and 35-inch waist. He wants to complete 250 workouts in 2024 and track macros every day in 2024. Having at least 80% of meals be homecooked and reducing alcohol consumption by 90% are also included.
For business, there are some big projects he would like to include, such as a Series A funding round, a book deal with Forbes, and a couple TV shows.
In the realm of spiritual goals, he wants to hit 0 debt (including mortgage), make some home renovations, and go to Europe.
His spiritual goals include reading the entire Bible and preaching 10 times.
Lastly, his family goals include having a date night once per week with wife (barring travel) and have bi-monthly daddy-daughter dates with his youngest daughter.
Your New Year's Resolutions might be different. But, if you're someone who makes goals and accomplishes them, don't be afraid of New Year's Resolutions.
PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Don't Prioritize. De-prioritize. Remove Things That Provide No Value
If you're looking to create your GAMEplan, first remove those tasks and goals that do not provide you value. Remove the unimportant and non-urgent.
One way Matt has identified these tasks is by how he creates his daily to-do list.
He has a to-do list that populates on his tablet or phone every day. He simply renames it.
When he notices the items that consistently don't get done, it's probably time to reconsider them (and likely remove them).
Don't prioritize. De-prioritize.
You can think about this with nutrition too. There are so many calories you can eat (or want to eat). What on your plate is not moving you closer toward your goals and does not matter to you?
For nutrition, this can help you identify your non-negotiables – those foods or activities such as a small dessert in the evening, pizza on Fridays, etc. that provide you value and you desire to remain in any nutrition plan you follow.
PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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