Strength In Business: A Gym Owner's Perspective (Episode 1)

Frank Hereda (00:02) Adam, what's up buddy? Adam Eidson (00:03) Not much, Frank, how you been, bro? Frank Hereda (00:05) Good, good. I appreciate you being on the first ever, first episode of Focus Free Fit. Adam Eidson (00:08) Absolutely, thanks for having me. I'm the guinea pig, right? That's right. That's right. Frank Hereda (00:17) You're the guinea pig, man. You know how we do it. So, well, I'm glad you're on and I'm looking forward to talking about you and what you have going on with your business and a bunch of other stuff. It's gonna be fun. We'll see where it takes us. Adam Eidson (00:33) Absolutely. Frank Hereda (00:36) Why don't we get right into it and tell me, um, why you pick the gym business. Tell me, you could tell us a little bit about you. And then I'm interested to know why, why the gym business. Adam Eidson (00:49) Why the gym business? Honestly, going back. Yeah, I mean the fitness business, the gym business, yeah. Growing up, I was bullied a lot. I'm a little guy, 5 '5". I think I started high school as 98 pounds. I'm sure a lot of guys, women, everybody listen, they probably have gone through similar stuff. But anyway, bullied growing up and in seventh grade I had to bully, break this forearm, my left forearm. Frank Hereda (00:51) if that's a great way to say it. Adam Eidson (01:16) Um, my brother had gotten into lifting weights and, uh, exercise and he was two and a half years, um, older than me. Um, my mom was married three times. His father was married twice. So for many years of our life growing up, we didn't have a father figure. So after being bullied quite a bit, my brother was just tired of seeing me, you know, basically with my head up my butt with my own pity party and life sucks and we don't have a dad around and stuff like that. So, you know, he literally pulled me into the gym in seventh grade after this incident. and said, you know what, you're gonna start lifting weights and you're gonna start getting confident in yourself and who you are and go from there. And so, you know, here we are. I just turned 50 nine days ago. I walked away from a very high paying job at 34 to pursue my passion of fitness and helping people build their confidence. Because when you have confidence, you know, you... you really can do whatever you set your mind to. I think that's the foundational thing. If you don't believe in yourself, it doesn't matter. So that's really how we got into it. It's been a pretty interesting path and journey because when I started, it's like, hey, let's open up a gym. I had no business experience, no acumen, first person in my family to go to college and graduate. Both my parents are blue collar workers, you know, but they poured into me to try to help me go to college because they... thought it would be a better life. But that's really how I got into the gym and the health space because I had no confidence growing up. And really I didn't have any, in my life I didn't have like a mentor or a father figure to lean on. I know you have a child, so you can probably relate to that too. Frank Hereda (03:01) That's really interesting. So it kind of, what were you, what was your business before you got into the gym business? What did you do? Adam Eidson (03:07) I didn't have any business. I was a government contractor. Yeah. Frank Hereda (03:10) Government contractor, okay. Well, I mean, I didn't know what you did, so that's what I meant. Okay, so government contractor, interesting. So unpack that a little bit. How did you make such a big leap? Because I feel like you went from one extreme to the other. Working as a government contractor to just going on your own? Adam Eidson (03:15) Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Yeah, I did. Yeah, so it's a it's a funny thing. So my parents, which probably a lot were, you know, they go to college, get your degree. And we've all heard this any book you've read. It's like, you know, get your home white picket fence and have your wife or your husband or whatever and have kids get your dog and happily ever after. So anyway, we're in Virginia here about an hour south of Washington, D .C. I was going up and down 95 that commute thing. Graduated college. got my first job out of college from a buddy of mine who opened up a door at a company, you know, who you know, and started doing that. Worked my way up, you know, got my Microsoft certification, my Cisco certification, all of this stuff became an Oracle DBA and did all this and was getting raises. I mean, at one point, you know, I had a, I got a $50 ,000 raise at one pay cycle because I was getting educated and growing. But then I just got really tired of going up 95. Like the commute was an hour and then it ended up being after years, like it would be two hours some days one way. And it just really hit me one day. I'm like, man, I am spending so much of my time just in my car. Like, and it sucks. And at that point I wasn't really doing car university. I wasn't doing audible books and reading, you know, like Tony Robbins stuff. I wasn't doing that stuff. I was just listening to the radio and music. So how do you have, if I could go back now, I would have definitely done that sooner. Um, but I really just got tired of that and I realized it wasn't, um, for me, it wasn't money, wasn't making me happy. And that was my realization. I got, I was tired of getting, you know, sitting in traffic and it was the same rigmarole, you know, um, I'd go out Friday night with my, with my girlfriend at the time, sleep in Saturday, go to the gym, cut the grass, go out again, Saturday, Sunday was doing laundry, uh, cleaning my clothes, you know, ironing, getting ready for Monday. And I just, I sat there one day, it just hit me. I was like, this sucks. Like, what am I doing? So I had read some books, I think some Tony Robbins books and stuff and it's like, you know, hey, what is it I really want to do? And the one thing that always came back to I love the gym and I was training some people, but just not in the business aspect. It was just friends and family. And it really made me happy. Like my happiest time of the day was being at the gym. So I was like, well, hey, you know, I want to open up my own gym. And I remember telling my wife that at the time and she's like, you're going to do what? You're You've lost your damn mind. Like, are you crazy? So that's really why I chose it. But what was hard is I thought about it for a year, Frank, a good long year. And I'm like, what am I going to do? I can't just leave my job. I need to have an income. Because when I quit my job, I was making six figures at the time, four weeks paid vacation, 11 sick days. It was a government contracting job, pretty cushy job. Right. I mean, so. Frank Hereda (06:21) Yeah. Adam Eidson (06:23) I was like, all right, what am I gonna do? Well, at the time, one of my cousins and a good friend of mine, they both owned franchises, Pepperidge Farm. Some listeners may or may not have heard about Pepperidge Farm Cookies and they Pepperidge Farm Bread. Well, my cousin was doing this. He was a CPA. He had quit being a CPA and bought this Pepperidge Farm route. And he liked it. He didn't work nearly as many hours as I did. And he was making just as much money. I'm like, well, huh, maybe that's an avenue. And then a friend of mine at the time had a bread franchise from Pepperidge farm and he had been expanding and he was, he needed to sell off some territories, a portion of it because he was just, um, it was too big for him at the point. And I got the thing is like, well, huh, maybe, maybe that would be, you know, the go between from leaving my job to getting my gym. Like, okay, I'll get some income and I can build a side hustle. So, um, and again, Lee, my wife, she's like, well, you're not a hustler. Frank Hereda (07:15) Gotcha. Adam Eidson (07:22) You're not a grinder. Like, have you lost your damn mind? And nobody in my family said go for it. They're all like, you're gonna do what? You're gonna leave all this? Why don't you just stay there? Like the typical mindset, like be unhappy, you're making money, you got everything you want. And yeah, be safe. And yeah, things don't make you happy, you know? So anyway, ended up working a deal with my buddy to buy the franchise. And again, I thought about this for a year, I was trying to strategize, right? Frank Hereda (07:35) Be safe. What you know. Adam Eidson (07:51) about, okay, what am I gonna do? And I thought worst case scenario, Frank, even if I'm a horse's ass, and I'm not able to figure this out, well, I've got my cousin and I got my friend here to lean on, they've been doing it, right? So I've got some people to lean on, even though nobody in my family and my wife at the time was like, they weren't like, go for it. They're like, you're crazy. Please don't do that. So yeah, ended up buying a franchise. That was really the step between opening the gym. But the real kicker is when I put in my notice, at my government contracting job, I was the only one who did the job. I worked on this database. And so when I put in my notice, they're like, well, hey, would you consult with us a little bit until we find somebody? I'm like, well, what would that look like? You know, how many hours? Because I'm going to be working full time running this franchise. And in the same time, I'm trying to build our gym. So what does it look like? So that ended up, I went up two days a week to consult with the government. Frank Hereda (08:41) Yeah. Adam Eidson (08:50) I bought the franchise, started running that seven days a week. And then in the spare time every day was building the gym. So when I left, my days basically looked like this. I got up Monday morning about three 30 or four. I went loaded up my truck for my route. I ran, I coached the five M class here at the gym. Then I drove an hour away to Culpepper, Virginia to run my route, came back, got home about one o 'clock. At that time I was running ultra marathons as well, like 50 miles, a hundred miles. So I'd get home about one, I'd go run, I'd come home, eat, change, and be to the gym by four. And I did a four o 'clock, a five o 'clock, a six o 'clock, and a seven o 'clock class. And then when I left the gym, I went to the warehouse to load up my truck for the next morning or pull the orders. So I did that for a good four years. Every day. Frank Hereda (09:45) It's interesting to me. Um, you know, so many people, I think they say they want to do their own thing, but the amount of effort and, um, I don't want to say drive, but, but essentially drive, right. And, uh, the sacrifice, I think that's a, that's another one. Look at what you had to do. And I've got the same experience as my past at some points. Adam Eidson (09:55) Mm. Mm -hmm. Frank Hereda (10:13) But you look at that, it's like, how bad do you want it? We have those conversations all the time, right? When we're talking and, um, and I just, a lot of people don't really think about what it's going to take the sacrifices they'll have to make to get what they want. And I think that's a big piece of it. Do you feel like you were always that driven? Um, even in your, when you were doing your government job or no, it's just something that kicked in. Cause you were so excited about doing your own thing or have you always been that way? Adam Eidson (10:18) Mm -hmm. I think I've partly always been that way. I remember dreaming as a kid because again, my mom was the basically an office manager, a secretary at Fairfax Hospital for nuclear medicine and some doctors, but she basically ran the office and she worked her ass off every day just to put food on the table for her brother and I honestly, and then Friday and Saturday nights, she was out at the local restaurant bar with her friends because. that was her out like working so hard trying to take care of two kids for many years on her own between marriages. My dad, on the other hand, worked for the United States Postal Service and he just retired, I think eight years ago and he had done that after getting out of Vietnam and everything. So he drove a truck for them and, you again, you know, just grinding. So growing up early, I'm like, man, you don't want to become a millionaire one day to be able to buy my parents a home and take care of them. I think a lot of us have that like. to be successful, to take care of what our family and stuff, maybe what they were trying to do for us. And like, man, I just don't want them to work as hard. That was always something that drove me. But I noticed with one of my girlfriends that I dated for three and a half years before my wife and I, she was one of six kids, was one of the hardest workers I ever knew. When I was in college, bartending and waiting tables at Outback Steakhouse, she worked with me and we started dating. And then I met her family and her dad worked for the FDA. Great guy. I remember when he would go to bed at night, he'd always be reading. He never said a swear word. He was always doing stuff, working at home and stuff. Her brother graduated from VMI valedictorian. So a very driven family. And I believe some of it was, yeah, my own determination, but also getting around people like that, which inspired me because I wouldn't have gotten into computers. like in college stuff without seeing them because they were all in the computers. So I think, yeah, it was some of my own, but it was also the people I was around. And you know, this one of the reasons, you know, we had been to go abundance and stuff like that, you know, you want to be the dumbest person in the room, you know, you want to up level and get around people like that, because they're going to not really people want to be pulled along. No, they want, they're going to push you along, right? They're going to lift you up. So it was definitely part of my own. And I think just seeing some of the struggles, my parents and stuff had growing up and what they're trying to do. But then I was also surrounding myself with, in my opinion, high level of people that got me even more driven, you know. Frank Hereda (13:17) I want to get back to the schedule, but you said something that I'm curious about. So when you were growing up, were your parents entrepreneurs? No. How much, and how much of that affected what you did, what you do currently today? Do you think. Adam Eidson (13:24) Not at all. Not at all. Um, I mean, I think a lot of it, I wish they were where my wife now Lee, her family, they're British. They've owned a trucking company in England for a hundred years. Like her, her grandfather started it. Her dad didn't finish school in England. And I think he started working in that business when he was 12. He's 78 now. Um, and, uh, you know, I learned a lot from him as well, but, um, yeah, my, no, my parents were not. Frank Hereda (13:44) Oh wow. Adam Eidson (14:02) I mean, they were both when I said I'm gonna leave my cushy job to go open up a gym and stuff. They're like, you're crazy. Like, what are you doing? Have you lost your mind? They literally thought I was crazy. Frank Hereda (14:13) So they're more the safe route, the conservative route, making sure, you know, and which makes sense. I mean, my, my parents were the same way, not they're all, they, they grew up in a different time, right? Everybody worked at a company 30 years, retired, that kind of thing. Adam Eidson (14:23) Yeah. Yeah, it's great. Yeah. Culture, man, culture and community. You can look at it now. I mean, I don't have kids. I know you do. But the culture now I had a, I'm in rotary here, one of the rotary groups and where we live in Fredericksburg and one of my good friends I trained, he just retired. He's 68. He was a financial planner for 40 years and he's just a great guy. So I ping a lot of stuff off of him. And he made a comment to me just a couple of weeks ago. He said, you know, Adam, like your parents, And kind of on my end, like times weren't amazing when they were, you know, 10. So a lot of them have this where they bought stuff, but they never sold it. Like they keep it, you know, and they never get rid of it. And I look at my parents and like Lee's parents, my God, they have so much stuff. And it's like nice stuff, like China sets and stuff like that, which nowadays nobody really cares about. But now, you know, everybody wants to be rich yesterday without, like you said, taking time to think about. Frank Hereda (15:18) Yeah. Adam Eidson (15:26) the passion, the drive, the work, the sacrifices. You can do that, but acknowledge like, hey, what you're gonna have to do. And it's what, so culture and community is such a, it is, it's really interesting. And not only just in house, like our family, but societal. Like how all this ebbs and flows and changes over the years, you know, in decades. Frank Hereda (15:47) I think it's also long -term gratification, right? Your outlook of the future. Like you said, everybody wants it yesterday, but no one's saying like my favorite. One of my favorite sayings is, uh, everybody totally overestimates what they can do in one year, but they totally underestimate what they can do in 10. And, um, and it's kind of that whole situation. Adam Eidson (16:04) Yeah. Yeah, I heard that that's one of, I think Tony Robbins said that. Yeah. And a couple of other people. Yeah. Tony Robbins did an Alex Hermosy of, uh, you know, Jim Munch and that, yeah. And acquisition .com. You know, give yourself 10 years and you're going to be as successful as you want, but nobody wants to do that. Like 10 years. Holy crap. And you know, at my age now, I'm like, man, you, you have plenty of time. I met with a girl who was 24 yesterday. I'm like, you can do anything you want to do. If you just give yourself enough runway and enough time and just stick with it. Frank Hereda (16:10) Did he? Okay. Yeah. That's it. That's it. Adam Eidson (16:37) Right? But that's part of it. Nobody wants to stick with it. Nobody wants to take time to say, man, what is it I want to do today? I wish sooner in my life, I would have been like, yeah, I love this health and fitness. Let's go for it. Instead of waiting until I was 34, I wish I would have done it at 24. So. Frank Hereda (16:47) Yeah. Yeah. Well, we're young, man. We got lots of time. Adam Eidson (16:54) That's right. That's right. Frank Hereda (16:57) Tell me about, tell me, okay, so let's go back to your schedule. So you had this schedule. You basically working three jobs. How long did it take before you got you? Like, what did you do to get out of the pepper? Well, first of all, how long did you have to wait before you could completely say, okay, I'm going to stop doing the admirable thing here. I've given you a year to help transition someone else in the government job. And then did you go to two jobs or did you also at that time say, buy the pepper farm? Like how did that whole, how did that all play out to where you were a gym a hundred percent of the time or. Adam Eidson (17:26) Yeah, I think two, so leading to like all this and this might be a blur as I walk through it, but I think two things over the whole thing and even now are the difference makers. Taking time to think about what you want and then the people you're around. And I'll get to those two. So again, what is it you want? Like every day we should be thinking about that. Like what is it I want? And then two, who are the people around? So let's pause. Okay, well I got Tom, Dick and Harry here. Frank Hereda (17:26) Yeah. Adam Eidson (17:52) They don't support me. They're energy vampires. They never tell me to go for it. They're always like, you're crazy. You can't do that. And then I got Sally, Jim and teen over here who like, man, go for it. Can I support you anything I can do for you? So when I put in my notice with the government contractor, I love the three guys who work with my boss. His name was Edwin. He worked for Rockwell international out in California when that was a thing like way back when he was a retired Marine. I learned a lot from that guy. And you just talk about like, He worked his ass off and he stood up for you. He didn't take any shit. And then another guy named Ray who's retired army. He's the guy who actually got me into running. And then another guy named Mike Sione and the four of us, when I joined their team, they were doing like two networks at the Pentagon and stuff. And by the time I left, we were supporting like 20 with different three letter agencies. And it was really interesting work. But I'd started hating my job just from the commute was thinking about it for years. But the main reason I stayed longer is because I loved working with those guys and I was still learning. So it was a transition of like, man, I hate this and man, but I love these guys. But when I turned my, my notice, Edwin was like, he was happy for me. And I was, I was stressing for months about, Oh my God, he's going to say, get the hell out of here. You asshole. Like what, you know, we've done all this for you. And he wasn't, he was very supportive. And he's like, man, go for it. And then he had asked, well, Would you mind consulting for some time? And I'm like, sure. You know, what does it look like? So we started doing that. That was, I'd go up there Wednesdays and Thursdays for like eight hours. And how did I run my route? Why would load my truck up and stuff and still do the gym stuff? But I had a kid from my buddy that could help run my route two days. He had, he had a little extra time and this kid was a hustler. He had a full -time job, but he was able to carve out a couple of days. So again, managing people too, right? So it's like crazy. So then as I, Realize the time and effort I was putting into everything else. I'm like, man, if I keep spending 16 hours up the road, which I'm not including commuting, it was really two full days. Um, I mean, I've got to cut something here. So it went from two days and then I was like, okay, I'll go up one day. And then the one day went to like six hours and then went to like, I'd go up one day for four hours. I'll never forget, man. I went up there one day. It was a Wednesday for an hour. And I came back home and Lee's like, why are you home so early? I'm like, I'm just tired of this. I'm just gonna totally quit this. Screw it. Because again, the money they're paying me, I'm like, I don't care. Like I'm wasting this time going up the road for a dollar when that time I could be putting into the gym, not the franchise, the gym. And that's what I wanted to do. So it was a slow evolution, Frank. But I wish I would have just thought about that and had like when I left and he said, hey, do you want to come consult? I never thought he would ask that. So I never thought about it. And I wish I would have said, hey, Let's step back. I'm going to put on my notice. What are all the things that could possibly happen? And let's prepare. Let's have a strategy for if a happens, okay, I can do this. If B happens, I'm going to do this. So that's why, again, and I still probably don't take as much time to think as I should, but I do that way more now. So that was that evolution. So then I was working the franchise in the gym. And then again, we didn't know what the hell we were doing running a business. So I, you know, Frank Hereda (20:50) Mm -hmm. Adam Eidson (21:14) my wife got into a little bit about, hey, we need to hire a business coach, because I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm tired of like not making money. And it wasn't about money, this is I'm passionate about it, but where's the light at the end of the tunnel? I don't want to do this until I'm 80 and have no money to show for it. So, I mean, I could talk to you about that for weeks. It was just, it was crazy, but that was really that transition. And then also as I was trying to spend more time building the gym, Frank Hereda (21:21) Mm -hmm. Adam Eidson (21:42) I was trying to get more help as I left the Gov job, but then more help running the franchise. So the money I was making at the contracting job, I was paying another kid to run my route so I could put more time into the gym. If I could go back, Frank, Oh my God, I would have taken a year and just sacked all that money I made as a contractor and just invested it either into real estate, the market, something else. And I would have just sucked it the heck up. Frank Hereda (21:56) Mm -hmm. Adam Eidson (22:11) because I have nothing to show for when I paid that kid who really just wanted a nine to five who had not, he wasn't driven like me. I would have tried to find somebody who maybe I could have brought into the gym or actually help build their dreams and goals. So that was another learning lesson of the people you're around and who work for you. Like I want A players. I don't want C players. I want somebody with like a passion. Frank Hereda (22:15) Yeah. Yeah. Someone who lives the culture has the drive, all the things that represent your core values. So total time from when you decide from the day you got up and said, okay, I'm making, I'm starting to take action on leaving my government job to the day you were all in on the gym. Meaning like that was the only job you had. How long was that process? Just out of curiosity, huh? Six years. Adam Eidson (22:57) Six years. Six years. I didn't take my first paycheck here for the gym for six years. Frank Hereda (23:05) So I think that's another really important message, right? Not because of how you did it, but because that's a perfect example. Again, going back to the sacrifice. I mean, you did all that just to get to your, the state you're at now, right? Because that was how bad you believed and wanted to do. And you went for your dream, but that's what I think about. Adam Eidson (23:10) Mm -hmm. Yeah. And it's like, I'll give the like to me now at 50, it's a, it's kind of an easy example. You're like, you're in the real estate, right? I'm not, I mean, I have some real estate, but it's not what you do. If I really wanted to go like full time, I'd be like, all right, pause. I need to hire Frank and not be like, Hey man, you're a friend. Can you hook me up? No. Hey Frank, I'm going to pay you to help coach me. Is it even something you do? If you don't, do you know somebody? You know, the value of just figuring out what the hell you want and then being real. Like when I have people coming to the gym now, I always ask this, I say, hey question, how long have you been struggling with your health and fitness? And man, I'll have a range from like a year to since high school, like 20 years. And I'm like, holy crap. So I go, well, hey, you didn't get your degree in exercise science or kinesiology or anything else like that, did you? And they're like, well, no. And I'm like, Well, why are you beating yourself up then? What did you expect? And it would be the same thing. If I'm not in the real estate, sure, I can go rentals and try to fix it up, but I'm not a handyman. So if that's what I want to do, why not go hire somebody and say, hey, Frank, could I work with you for a year as your go -to guy? And I'll suck it up knowing my vision. I would, I tell people, do that, but don't undercut like the knowledge and the value you know, respect that and go do that. Frank Hereda (24:55) It, it's interesting. You say that, um, you know, I see that a lot as a business coach and we do a lot of real estate also, but finding someone who's a mentor or they can get you there. Right. That's huge. Tell me about, you said something really interesting. Tell me about, um, because I'm, I want to know what your process is. So I would assume the gym talk about how competitive it is in your industry. I don't know. I assume it is. Maybe it's not anymore or it isn't at all, but where. You talked about asking people questions. So I know you have a process. I feel like you're, you cover most bases. What, what else do you cover when someone comes in and, and how much, what do you help them with and how do you cover that? Cause I feel like you've always focused on a complete package, right? It's not just about what you're doing in the gym, but tell me that process that you put someone through when they come into the gym and what does that look like? I'm sure some people want it. Some people don't. How does that process work for you? Adam Eidson (25:50) Yeah, so we, we run some ads on social media a little bit, which, you know, we've actually cut our budget on it because I think with a lot of AI, you know, I feel like we've been getting like crappier leads. It's just like, I don't know, since COVID man, I'll tell you what, since COVID, and again, I'm only 50, if I was 80 or 20, maybe the perspective would be different. People's heads are up there, but I mean, I think more lazy and just a bunch of other things I really do. And that's a whole nother topic, but. Frank Hereda (26:03) Interesting. Hmm. Yeah. Adam Eidson (26:20) Our process is one, we run ads so they could schedule an appointment of one -to -one with us and they come in. If not, it's referrals and anybody, but anybody came in. I had a lady come in yesterday, a young girl, 24, and she just, I heard a knock on the door and I heard Elvis bark. And she just looked up gyms and she came in and said, hey, Ken, I'd like to know about your memberships. And I'm like, sure, no problem. So our process is, and it took me years to do this because at one point we were just like, man, I just need to get members. I just need to cover my rent. I just need to. be able to pay my paycheck. Now I do care about that, but it's like low in the totem pole. When people come in, we give them a one page, basically it's a goal sheet. And in that goal, it's like, you know, what have you been struggling with? How long? What do you think is your biggest hurdle? Why do you think you failed in the past on a scale of one to 10? Are you just kicking tires right now? Or do you really want massive change? So we asked this set these sets of questions. Literally when I first sit down with them, I'm looking at the first thing on there. I'm looking at their commitment level and If they are less than a ten, I just make it a short conversation. It's basically hey Frank question You are a seven out of ten committed to transforming your life Why and you'll hear all sorts of stuff and then I'm like, well, we're not the right gym for you and they're like Why is that and I'm like, so let me ask you a question. I? Let's say you come into the gym and you join and you come into a class and it's Friday, it's four o 'clock and you come in and you're not feeling it. And then you see Tina over here and Tina comes up and says, God, Frank, I'm just not feeling it today, man. Hey, let's go get a margarita, dude. Screw working out today. Let's just go over here. And you guys leave. I said, so do you want to surround yourself with a bunch of other people who are sevens, committed to themselves to make a change and get what they deserve? Or do you want to be around a bunch of tens? I want to be around a bunch of tens. And they kind of get it after that. I said, so let me ask you again, are you a seven in your own, like I'm ready to make a change? Like, are you tired of being out of breath going up the stairs? Are you tired of walking in the house to the man of the house and really feeling like I'm not the man of the house? Like, are you tired of being tired? Yeah. So because I don't want to waste time. And at the end, these are the top three objections we get. I don't have time. I don't have money. I need to talk to my spouse. Frank Hereda (28:39) That hurts. Adam Eidson (28:48) which is all BS because the people that say they don't have money, they don't budget, you know this. The people that say they don't have time, I'm like, I didn't realize you were Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos with trillion dollar companies. You don't have time, really? And then the people that say, I don't wanna, why I need to talk to my spouse, I'm like, aren't these your goals? Like this isn't your husband and wife's goals. Yeah, but he takes care of all the money. Well, does he know how much you're struggling and that you felt like shit for 10 years? Well, and I'm like, no. Well, you need to go home and have an open conversation and be honest with them. So anyway, it's like, that's our process because I don't want to waste my time with somebody who's just going to throw me a bunch of malarkey. But it took me a long time to get there where, I mean, honestly, I can sell them. I have enough sales skills now. I could absolutely sell them, but I don't want in two weeks them to have buyers or mores. And then, and then it wastes more my wife's time because she handles cancellations and all the memberships. And she hates that. But that's her part of the job. Frank Hereda (29:38) That's right. Yep. Yeah. Well, it also takes up time where you get two months of payment, maybe because from a business standpoint, but they suck up your time from other people who really need it. And you could have maybe just taken the time to get one person who's going to pay for years. Adam Eidson (29:48) Yup. Correct. Yeah, and build that like art. We've been open 16 years now. My longest members been with us 14 crazy, you know, and dumb and that's an ebb and flow too. And this would be something I'd say for anybody listening, whether they're my age or older or younger is, you know, again, your target market and the standards you put in place are huge. And there's no right or wrong. You know, there's no right or wrong. You know, you can retire and. and be successful in real estate. You can retire and be successful with a franchise. Maybe you're part of a fire community who at 30, you want to be retired and not have a bunch of stuff and you invest on your own. Totally cool. But what is it you want to do and how do you want to get there? And it's also okay to evolve and change. I love Charlie Munger. You know, Charlie Munger, I'm reading one of his books, The Towel of Charlie Munger. And I just read this part and he said, I think success has to do with reading as much as you can and sitting on your ass. And I'm like, yeah, I love that. Yeah. Read more and sit on your ass more and you'll be more successful. Yeah. I love it. Frank Hereda (30:56) That's funny. You're like, thanks for the help. That's funny. That's funny. So, okay, let's say we get past that point and I'm like, yeah, man, this is my jam, I'm a 10. What's the process like then and how does that work for you? Adam Eidson (31:20) So then we have a scale in here called an in -body scale. We bought that, another learning lesson. We bought that eight years ago and had a member who was in real estate and we was working a partnership who agreed she would buy it. We'd promote her. Well, that fell through in a heartbeat. And then we were in the, it was $6 ,500. And for us we're like, holy crap, where are we gonna get this money? Frank Hereda (31:39) Oh, that's hilarious. Yeah. Adam Eidson (31:48) So again, another thing of like, if you set a deal with somebody, do it black and white. All right, Frank, you're doing this. I'm gonna do this. Do we agree? Okay, cool. Big mistake. But in a way it's worked out. So we have the goal setting sheet and then we get them on the scale. And the scale has actually had a great ROI return on investment because it shows BMI, how hydrated the person is, their muscle mass, how much body fat percentage they have like. Frank Hereda (31:57) Yeah. Adam Eidson (32:16) how much actual body fat they have. And it gives us a lot of data for us to help them, but also that I could show you and like the light bulb goes off like, oh wow, okay, I can see that that is a problem. And I'll give you an example. A lot of doctors focus on BMI, which is an okay number, but it's just like a point on the journey, right? For you in real estate, maybe it's like, what's this house cash flowing? Okay, cool. But that's not the only number, right? There's many more you need, you need to look at. So we help them understand like, look, BMI is one thing and doctors, remember doctors, I'm not knocking them, we train a few, but doctors go to school and are taught education one way. And it's not to think it's to prescribe you this, to do this, to go rest more. That's it. Um, they don't step back and think so, but they mainly focus on BMI. I'm like, Frank Hereda (33:08) That's right. Adam Eidson (33:14) Well, hey, one of the most important factors to your health is how hydrated you are. And that's the first number the scale shows. So we always point them out. I'd say 90 % of people that come into our gym are dehydrated. And I'm like, look, if you want to get healthier, you need to consume more water and electrolytes. Easy things to do are also the easy things not to do. I mean, you see me, I just finished this and I've got another glass right here that I'm drinking water. So I show them examples of that. And then I also go through, what their weight is, and normally, you know, their weight is this, and I'm like, well, what's your target? Where do you wanna be? And that can be a struggle, because a lot of people come and say, well, I'm not worried about the weight, I just wanna feel good. And I'll ask, okay, when was the last time you felt your best? What did the scale show her? What size pants was it you were wearing? Like, we need to have a goal, right? And then mainly the biggest issue we see is their body fat percentage. Like the two ladies I sat with yesterday, they were just women, they were men the other day. um, had well over 40 % body fat, Frank, which just for any of the listeners, um, and you can do an in -body, you could Google wherever you live. Like, um, anybody that has an in -body scale, like, like a lot of nutrition shops will have them that you can go in for free and do them. But you can also do a DEXA scan, which is quite a bit more in depth, but you'll get enough from an in -body to understand like, okay, I need to work on some stuff, but a body fat of 35%. Frank Hereda (34:18) Wow. Adam Eidson (34:42) is atrocious, meaning if you're at 35%, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, heart disease, pre -diabetes, hypertension, all of this, it is coming. And it's not a question of will I get any of these? Like no, you're well on your way and you're shaving decades off your life if you do not fix that. The highest body fat I've ever had with somebody come in was 52 .6%. Frank Hereda (35:09) You know, it is insane. So this is interesting. I have been obsessed. We're both, you and I are both obsessed with always staying up on nutrition, reading all kinds of books on nutrition. You're in the space when it comes to fitness. Um, I feel like the deck is stacked against the average person and I just feel bad for him. I mean, look, there's obviously simple things we can do, not stuff our face all day long. Adam Eidson (35:09) It's insane. Mm -hmm. Frank Hereda (35:38) You know, not eat processed foods, not lots of sugar and, and be somewhat active. Uh, so there's simple things. Don't drink Mountain Dew all day, you know, whatever. But I feel like just from like the standpoint of the bread people eat, you know, it's, it's just everything's processed. And so, um, do you ever have a conversation with people at any basic level? I mean, If someone comes in there like that, where do you take it from there to help them? I mean, do you give them info on nutrition? Do you simply just like, how do you put that plan together for them? Cause I feel like it's just basics, but a lot of people just trust that the food on the shelf is safe. Adam Eidson (36:17) Yeah, I don't know. And if you're my fitness pal and just scan stuff, you'll realize like most of the stuff you scan isn't even what the package says it is. It's crazy. Yeah. So what we do is, it's part of that getting back again, it's an awareness and it's actually the person wanting to learn and be educated. So again, getting back to us and our standard, if you're less than a 10, I'm like, you know, hey, I don't want to sound like a jerk, but we're probably not a right fit. You know, are you really a nine? Cause if you're a nine, that place is right for you. And I'll recommend something for you, but. Frank Hereda (36:23) Yeah, it's crazy. Adam Eidson (36:45) This is the place you're gonna be around great people like Frank and the listeners of this and I want you to build relationships because it's not what you know, it's who you know. So get around people who want to add value to you, want to see you succeed, aren't like, you make how much you're worth this much blah blah blah, like forget that man, I want you to like push me to be better. So I always give them and I gave the two ladies this, I could have sold them yesterday and got them signed up and I didn't. I said I'm gonna give you homework for a week and then. I am not going to reach out to you. And somebody listening to this, somebody who's in sales would probably think like, you're an idiot. What are you talking about? You should call nine times. I know, but it's the market and the target of who my client is. So I'm putting the onus on you. And if you call me back in a week, great. Then I know you're right fit. I know you're committed and now you're coachable. And now I can help change your life because one person, one event, one thing can change the entire trajectory. Okay. So here's the homework I always give them and for all the listeners, if you want to live your best life ever and get into shape, another piece of real estate, another car, another home, winning the lottery, that will not do it. And you need to take care of this. You need it like inner peace, feel good. So work on this. There's four foundational things you need to do and it's not nutrition and it's not working out. Everybody thinks it's working out, but they're missing these. Everybody's probably heard, you know, can't out train a bad diet. Meaning I can't work out at the gym every day for two hours and eat Chick -fil and McDonald's every day. Right? Everybody's like, yeah, I get that. I'm like, cool. Well, you can't work out perfectly and there is no perfect workout and you can't eat perfectly and there is no perfect diet. Okay. So you, you can't do both of those and get two hours of sleep. You can't do it. You cannot do it. Sleep is the number one. And you know, most people have these in their face. in bed or the TV and they're sitting here scrolling and they're wondering why they get crappy sleep. And you and I both know and everybody listening, the blue light, it is meant to keep you engaged. It's like the death star. It pulls you in the tractor beam. Well, you should, you should cut that out off an hour before bed, like no TV, none of that. And I guarantee if you start to do that, your sleep is going to get better because it is not how much sleep you get. It's the quality of your sleep. It's the quality. If you can get. four and a half hours of quality sleep with your REM cycles and everything, you're gonna feel way better than if you got eight hours of broken sleep, where you had to get up and pee three times and you were thinking about shit. It's just a fact, the circadian rhythms. So that's number one. So I tell people, are you tracking your sleep? Do you know? Are you in bed at the same time? You know, everybody thinks it's the time they get up, it's not. If you book in your day by going to bed at the same time every night, guess what? You're gonna wake up when you need to feeling rested. So sleep and what time you go to bed are number one. Number two is hydration because most people are dehydrated. They don't drink enough water. Number three is getting sunlight every day. If the sun is out shining, if you listen to Dr. Huberman, Huberman Labs, Andrew Huberman, way smarter than me, love his podcast. He talks about sunshine in the morning. If you get like 10 minutes of sun, Frank Hereda (40:00) like his podcast. Adam Eidson (40:09) You're good for the day on a bright sunny day that sets your circadian rhythms and your sleep. It helps you like our eyeballs need sun. Always tell people that come in. I'm like, look, why do you think in the morning when the sun comes up, flowers bloom? They love it right there. Like, man, I feel good. We're the same. So number three is you need sunlight and number four. And the last one is you simply just got to start moving every day. And yeah, steps. I used to be a runner and I thought I used to laugh at people who walked. I'm like, that's stupid. You need to walk. You need to go run. No running is dumb for now because it's just more impact on your on your joints and stuff. So those are the four foundations. Sleep, hydration, get sunlight every day and get steps and get back to the sunlight. If it's a cloudy day like today here in Virginia, it's kind of cloudy. You need to be out there for like 30 minutes because sun's still coming through the clouds but just not as powerfully. But you need that which is going to help your sleep and help you feel good. It's going to release the feel -good home hormones. dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, all that stuff. And then getting back to the steps. In the 16 years we've been training people, I've seen the sweet spot is eight to 10 ,000 steps a day. It's not the Holy grail, just rule of thumb. When I've seen people get less than 8 ,000, I see their weight start to creep up. So that eight to 10 ,000 is a good marker. And honestly, that's not that much movement really. Like it's what, 10 a .m.? I've already got 3 ,000 steps today. Frank Hereda (41:35) Yeah. Yeah. Well, you were, you were, well, for you and I, uh, but I get, you know, I talked to a lot of people that are like 7 ,000 steps. This is crazy. So, but that's because they're not used to actually being active. Right. So it's funny. You say these things and like the tracking your sleep, for example, it takes effort. It's like anything else. And it's amazing how many people won't take. Adam Eidson (41:38) It's still so early. That's nothing. Mm -hmm. Yeah. Does. Frank Hereda (42:03) I mean, sleep cycle is just an app on your phone and then you just put it on when you go to sleep right next to your bed. That's you don't even pay for it, but it's amazing how many people don't want to do it and don't want to take the time. And then the water, Oh, I've got to bring water to work. What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to stay hydrated all day? And it's just, it's really unbelievable. And that's really what I think goes back to your laziness of what you see in your gym. You know, you said you see a lot of people being lazy. Adam Eidson (42:09) Yep. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Yep. You know, it's funny too. So I shared that with them as well, the four foundational things. I'm like, then worry about nutrition, then worry about working out. And they're like, really? And I'm like, trust me, if you do these four for a week and what you said, like measure those, look at, I mean, I have a Garmin, people, there's Apple watches, there's so many things. And the irony is I bring it back. I try to do things simple and everybody comes into our orientations, they drive up in a car. And I said question, and it doesn't matter if it's a Lexus or if it's a Subaru. It doesn't matter. I said question, if I went to your car and it has ripped out the dashboard, are you going to drive your car the same? And they're like, what do you mean? I'm like, well, let's think about that. If I took out your dashboard and your speedometer is not there, your oil pressure is not there, the RPM gauge, your fuel gauge, the temperature, move it all. Cool. How are you going to drive now? You might go down the road and get a ticket for going too slow. You're probably going to be stressing about, god, am I speeding? So now you're building up mental stress. When you go fill up at the pump, if you drive a car that has gas still, you don't have a gauge to see if the car is filling up. So you're going to stand there wasting time trying to get a little bit. You're wasting time and money. I said, but you're not tracking anything for the most expensive car in the world. Like, We live in this skin every second of every day of every week of every month of every year. How many minutes or hours a day are you in your car? But the average car payment, Frank, right now in this country is $725 at a 6 .58 % interest rate. People spend $700 a month on a car that they, I don't know, spend two to four hours in a day, but we walk around in this every day and people think they're gonna go to another gym and pay 10 bucks. Frank Hereda (44:08) Crazy. Adam Eidson (44:20) and get the results they want. I'm like, does it make sense? Frank Hereda (44:23) It's really no, it's a great, it's a great analogy though. A comparison. Um, I think that's really, that's really interesting. I think also, you know, you're talking about, you're talking about the fact that people won't spend money on their body. Totally agree. I think it's really interesting that we prioritize that, but even when we have the problems, like all these people that have these problems, like you said, but I think tracking and measuring is where it really goes back to. No one tracks and measures anything you do because of your business. I do because of my businesses. We track and measure nutrition, fitness, all those things. But if you don't track and measure the sleep, but they don't do that. And so I think it all goes back to that. Hey, what's your system for tracking and measuring? Because if they don't have that, then they won't do any of the other things. Adam Eidson (45:10) Yeah, well yeah, and I'm sure you know too, you probably, you're around a bunch of real estate people too, and like with red flag, because I ask other gym owners, I'm like, hey man, what's your like ACV? And if somebody says, what's ACV? I'm like, that's your average client value. And if they're like, what is that? I'm like, you don't run a business. I'm like, yeah, they don't know. Frank Hereda (45:25) Yeah, they don't know. They don't know. And that's not shocking if they don't, especially if they don't run a business. Adam Eidson (45:33) Yeah, exactly, but you're right. But it's habits and I try to help people understand like, look, health and fitness, running a business, anything, it can be just like brushing your teeth. for most people probably three, four, five, six years of her life, her parents, mom and dad were like, damn it, Frank, get your ass upstairs and brush your teeth before bed. Like, I'm 50, at my age, I did get a bar of soap in my mouth. My mom was like, damn it, if you do that again, boop, it was like the Christmas Carol with Ralphie. Bar of soap in her mouth, sitting in the bathroom. Wasn't child abuse, but it was. Frank Hereda (46:01) That's right. Yeah. Adam Eidson (46:12) Good love and tough love, and guess what, I'm 50 years old, I have one cavity, which I got it at 40, I still think it's bull crap. Yeah, right? But I'm like, yeah. But it's because I don't floss and use mouthwash, I just brush my teeth twice a day. That's it, that's it. And I tell people, I'm like, so if you get the sleep you need, drink enough water, get sunlight every day, and move first, and it's not hard, you just gotta do it and create the habit around it, then you add on the other stuff. Frank Hereda (46:17) That's pretty good. That's really good. Adam Eidson (46:42) and build habits like you know this, like we both have businesses. If we're not spending some time each day or times during the week to get leads, are you getting any signups? What do you expect? Well of course not, you know what mean? So it's gotta be processes in that. And for you and I, the business owners, that's one of the things, that's what we're job, we're supposed to be getting sales, right? Unless we have a sales team, or maybe we do. But it's building habits around those foundational things that you need to do. And if people did that, they'd be way more successful, but most people just want the easy way out. They did this, you know, and they, and yeah, tracking and measuring stuff, it does take work and effort, but there's so many things now that you can actually do to automate that, which we started doing that, but I don't like that. Cause I, for me, it was like, when I started automating my numbers for the business, I felt my eyes started slipping away from the importance. So I still manually track my numbers every day. Cause like, okay, we need to up this here. or hey, we're doing good there, I need to physically do that for me. But you're right, it's work, it's work. Frank Hereda (47:46) What do you feel like? So, you know, it's 2024. I can't even believe that. Or I know crazy. It's a chaotic year for I think everybody. I'm curious to know what your top struggles are business wise. What do you feel like right now? Are your top struggles in business or just in the market? What are you dealing with? You're like, man, you know, for all the cause, you know, there'll be. Adam Eidson (47:54) End of March almost too, man. Jesus. Frank Hereda (48:14) people that are watching this that have a business or want to start a business. And I'm just curious what your biggest struggles are right now, or even people that have already a gym business, a fitness center. What do you feel like the biggest struggles are that you're facing? Adam Eidson (48:30) The biggest struggle we faced are facing right now. And again, this has been an evolution from my, you know, you learning. Where we first started was, I don't know what I'm doing. I'll just try to wing it and I'll just work through it. And then I had to get coaches like, hey man, why don't you do this? And then when we weren't running numbers, like coach, like, hey man, like what's your ACV? Like, you need to know this. You know that fuel tank you have, like you're almost out of gas. Are you going to stop and get gas? or you're not even looking at it. Well, then you're gonna run out of gas, get broken down. And that evolved as we had some good coaches and bad coaches and whatever. Some of the struggles were at some point building a team and learning that. I've been in this with my wife now. I started it and she started from day one with me. So we're co -inners, she's CFO, I'm CEO. We're different. I'm... Frank Hereda (49:25) Yeah. Adam Eidson (49:27) more calculated risk, she's very conservative. And that is learning to work together. Like I'm down here in my office, she's at the end of the building in the other office. We didn't do that for the first six years. We worked together. So that was a learning thing. That was a struggle. So in the beginning was knowing thyself and understand like, hey, I need to know me more goals. Lee, you too. As we went through COVID, that was huge. The worldwide pandemic. Frank Hereda (49:37) Yeah. Adam Eidson (49:55) But since then and still, it's like I told you about 30 minutes ago, people with their heads up their butt and some may listen to this and say, hey, that's an excuse. I'm not saying it as an excuse. We have really seen, and I believe mindsets have really, really shifted of more people than I've ever seen. Meaning the, I don't want to say don't want to work, but. not really knowing what I want, haven't taken the time. So the struggle is like helping people understand, like take time to think and understand like, what is it you want? What is it you want? And then bringing them on as a team and understanding what you said so elegantly earlier is that you haven't even thought about how much it's gonna, how much work it's gonna take to get there. Now we're not saying don't do it. So it's finding the right people. We've had a challenge finding the right people that wanna join in. And I don't say that's an age thing per se, but on the flip side of that, in that challenge, we've also found more of the right people. It's just been a slower process. Um, like our newest coach right now, her name is Jackie. Um, she works for a company called, uh, McLean. They're a distribution service. They're actually owned by Berkshire Hathaway. You know, they have 22 divisions in this country. Their headquarters is in Texas. Well, she is the division president right here in Fredericksburg. She's in charge of 700 employees, right? She started in the warehouse with them 35 years ago as a warehouse sweeper. And now she's the president of this division. She's our newest coach and people like, holy crap, like, why is she even coaching for you? She has a job. I'm sure she's doing well. A because like you said, she's who we are as values. Like she's a go getter. We've helped change your life. So she wants to serve and give back. and she raises us as well. So the people have been a little bit of a challenge and at some point, Lee and I want to step out of what we're doing here and have somebody come in and run it. That's been a challenge of finding that right person that wants to take those reins and do that at some point. Because our ultimate goal is, you know, Lee's British and her family's in England right now. They haven't been over here for seven years and we at some point want to spend, you know, a lot more time over there with them. So. getting that person to come in and understand. I know I've gone along with this, but I think it's really, we struggle with some people finding that right person that understand how much work it's gonna take, understand constructive criticism, like I'm not yelling at you, I'm trying to help you, we're trying to add value to you, but it's probably gonna be a lot more work than you think. But, and if you really want it, like, holy shit, I will help you get there and our whole team will help you get anything and everything you want. if you allow yourself and give yourself permission to do that with enough time. Frank Hereda (52:55) I find that a lot of times, um, with a lot of, uh, in the real estate industry for sure, as well, and other businesses, employees and finding people whose work ethic is what it should be and committed, right. And willing to, you know, I hear a lot of people asking about balance and it just isn't any balance. You can get close, but there's no balance. There's no equal. Something's always going to be shifted more one way or the other. Adam Eidson (53:09) Mm -hmm. It's counterbalance. Frank Hereda (53:24) Yeah. And heck, I do way more than two or three things anyway. So we can equally balance all four or five things. It's not going to, it's not real reality. So, um, that's interesting. Okay. Adam Eidson (53:34) Yeah. Well, it's funny you say that about balance. It's two of the things I don't like is hearing people say, hey, find balance in your life. There is no balance. You need to find counterbalance. Prime example is you and I were on this podcast. You're giving something up to be here and so am I, but you're also gaining something from being here and so am I. It's counterbalancing. And then number two, the self -made man or woman. There are no self -made men and women. I would fill up a book telling you, Frank Hereda (54:04) Yeah. Adam Eidson (54:06) in writing out how many people have helped Lee and I on our journey over 50 years. Thousands, thousands. Now I'm not saying you and I haven't worked our asses off, but neither one of us self -made. That's total bull crap. No. No, absolutely not. And if you get that early, get around people that wanna see you succeed. Holy crap, like that are rooting for you, like want you to succeed. I want you to be worth 100 more times than I am. Yeah. Frank Hereda (54:16) Sure. No, there's no way. Nobody does anything by themselves. Yeah. No, I think that's at our core for both of us. So I think that's, that's a good thing. Um, I can't believe it because we're coming up close to the end of our time, but let me ask you a question. If you said, um, Top three books. I mean, you've, you've had quite the journey and, um, what are maybe three books that you're like, Hey, these are three that I definitely think. Adam Eidson (54:53) Mm -hmm. Frank Hereda (55:01) had a big impact on me for whatever reason on long your journey, not so much. It could be anything, but that really helped you make big decisions or comforted you at certain times or Hey, this really gave me insight. What would you say? Adam Eidson (55:14) I'm actually, I'm looking it up now because I have a list, because I want to give an honest answer. So the first one, and this is probably my favorite is, it's called, I'm looking at it over here, The Road Less Stupid. And I know I've brought this up to you before. The Road Less Stupid by, yeah, Keith Cunningham, because it's all about, you know, and again, I'm not perfect at it, but like taking more time to think. Frank Hereda (55:17) Yeah, that's so funny. Yeah. Road less stupid. Adam Eidson (55:44) and the book's great, it's like 80 chapters, but each chapter is like two to five pages. So you could pick it up anywhere and read it, and it's more meant for business, but if you step back and you can easily apply it to life. So I'll give you an example. In the first page of the book or paragraph, he asked a question, and it was pivotal when I was reading. He goes, if I could challenge you to think about if you could take three financial decisions you've made that turned bad in your whole life, how much would that have cost you? And I looked at that when I read that book like five years ago. It was easy, $150 ,000. And for me, that was a lot of money. And the next paragraph, he goes, oh, don't feel bad with your number because for me, it's been $10 million. And I love that. So everybody listening to this, like stop today and think about what have been three of the worst financial decisions you've ever made and how much did that cost you because you didn't take more time to think. And then in, Frank Hereda (56:29) Yeah. That's good advice. Adam Eidson (56:42) And then in that, yeah, he says, always when you have something, what's the upside, which everybody's like, oh, shiny object, I'm gonna do this. And then he's like, hold on, what's the downside? And then most importantly, can you live with the downside? And so it reminds me of Warren Buffett, rule one, don't lose money. Rule two, go re -read, yeah, right? So that is my favorite book. The second one is How to Win Friends and Influence People. That is pivotal. Frank Hereda (57:01) See number rule number one, yep, yeah. Absolutely. Adam Eidson (57:13) It is just, you need to learn how to talk to people. And then after that, my God, there is, I mean, there is a list and I guess it just. Frank Hereda (57:22) It's tough, isn't it? Especially when you read a lot like we do. Adam Eidson (57:25) Yeah, it is. And I'm looking over there now. I got the road less stupid. Uh... Probably after that is Pivotal and one of my mentors was partners with them was The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papazon because that goes on to understanding we all have a ton to do. What's the one thing you can do today that would make everything else easier and simpler if you just simply did that like the lead domino. And it kind of goes back into reading Cunningham's book. If you're taking time to think today, like, okay, think, all right, what does that want to do? Frank Hereda (57:42) Interesting. Adam Eidson (58:02) All right, okay, cool. What's the upside, downside? Can you live with the downside? Great, okay. All right, now knowing I wanna do this, okay, let's list out all the things I could do to get there. And okay, if I chose one that would be easy to help me get there, what would I work on today? So I really love those three books. And then going back to how to win friends and influence people, nobody's self -made. So after you realize what you want, the first thing you need to work on, a lot of other things work on how do you influence other people to help you and how can you help them? Frank Hereda (58:32) Yep. Love it. Adam Eidson (58:33) So, yeah. Frank Hereda (58:35) Uh, I'm going to put everything in the show notes, but location, you know, tell us, tell us the name of the business again, just so everybody has it. And you're saying, I want everyone to know what it is. Where are you? Adam Eidson (58:47) Sure, yeah, it's rare cross fit. Really, it's rare fitness now doing business as rare cross fit. But we do online training, we do in -house. We're in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It's right between DC and Richmond, right off of 95. We've been doing it for 16 years. And I love what I do, but I'm a Rotarian. I'm on the board at the food bank. We like to serve and give back. And yeah, we just like to help people live their best life if you're happy in here. You know, life's gonna be easy. If you're not, man, life's gonna be really hard. So we just try to help people, you know, be happy in their skin again, man. And, you know, have sex with the lights on, take your shirt off at the beach, you know, like all. Frank Hereda (59:29) That's what I'm talking about. There we go. What's the best way for people to contact you if they ever wanted to? Adam Eidson (59:35) They can go to rarecrossfit .com. We've got a thing on there that you could schedule a talk, whatever. So that's the best way. Or follow my Instagram. You can get on there. I do videos and stuff. It's the same thing. It is our rare CF. So R -A -R -E -C -F. That's our Instagram handle. Oops. Frank Hereda (59:54) Cool. Awesome. Well, I appreciate your time today and, uh, we could go for another hour. I got lots more questions, but it's amazing how fast it goes. I know we there's a good chance we're going to have to do that for sure. So, uh, well, I appreciate it, man. And, um, and I appreciate you being on and wish you the best of success. Adam Eidson (59:59) You bet, man. Easy, we should do a follow up, man. Yeah, I appreciate you man, and you too. Yeah, I know you're already successful, so more success. Yeah, cool. Absolutely, thanks Frank. Frank Hereda (1:00:19) That's right. For both of us. All right, buddy. We'll talk soon.