Unveiling The Mindset: Derick Johnson On Fitness, Focus, & Fulfillment (Episode 7)

Frank Hereda (00:02.41) All right, welcome everybody to another episode of Focused Free Fit. Today we have a great guest, Derek Johnson. How you doing, buddy? Derick Johnson (00:10.779) Doing great Frank, thanks for having me. Frank Hereda (00:12.69) Absolutely, man. Absolutely. So let's, let's get started. So first, you know, I know now that you're in Palm Beach, and you were living abroad for a little while. So that sounds awesome. You're just getting situated over there. But if you want to talk about that in a little bit, that'd be awesome. But I want to talk a little bit about early life. I always try to go and ask Derick Johnson (00:23.046) Yes. Frank Hereda (00:39.582) everybody that comes on, you know, what was it like growing up? Because I like to try and see what the connection if any, from how it was when you were growing up to what you're doing now. And so tell me a little bit about where you grew up and how it was. And I always ask about family life, parents divorced, parents together still, and just what it was like when you were growing up. Derick Johnson (00:49.35) Yes. Derick Johnson (00:58.415) Yeah, for sure. Great question. So I grew up in Germany as a child. My mother is German and my father is African-American. He's from Mississippi, so he's a country boy. He grew up on the farm, has that work ethic in him. And my mother, she grew up in Nunbeg. Americans would say Nuremberg, Deutschland, Nuremberg, Germany. So they met when my father was stationed in Germany. And so they had my sister first. And years later, they had me. But my childhood, I lived in Germany. on an army base and then I also went to a German kindergarten. So my first language was German because of my mother. And then they also taught me English. And then after kindergarten, I started going to American military schools and there's a lot of like different cultures, different ethnicities. So just growing up, I was always surrounded by different people. And so my dad was U S army. He was did 20 plus years. And my mother, she's been a kindergarten teacher most of her life. I would say, probably 50 years now, and she retired with her last 20 years at Montessori School. I personally did not go to private school, but she was a Montessori school teacher. And so her structure, her way of teaching, also the German borderline OCD side and then my father being military, that structure and discipline, early wake up times, waking up, seeing my parents exercising six days a week at five or six a.m. It was just the norm. I don't have kids yet. But as you know, Kids do as they see, not as they're told. We didn't really have that greater relationship, but I definitely was always up early exercising, taking care of myself. So fitness, mental and physical health was always number one. And I never in my life saw my parents miss a day of work, except when one of them needed surgery or they were just actually thrown up. Besides that, maybe that's five or 10 days in their whole life. But that was just instilled in me. So that was the positive side. Loving family. Frank Hereda (02:47.008) Yeah. Derick Johnson (02:55.875) always had what we needed. And once I went into middle school, that's when we moved to Pensacola, Florida. So we moved to the United States. And what a lot of Europeans do, or anyone that was living throughout Europe before they moved to America, especially if you're a kid or a teenager, you watch the American movies and shows and you wonder, is it really like that? The bully, the jock, the cheerleader, the energy, and like all this stuff, is it really like that? Frank Hereda (03:21.882) Alright, so let's tell everybody what you thought. Derick Johnson (03:25.067) And 100% it is like that. When I moved to America, so Pensacola, Florida, it's in the Panhandle. People are probably familiar with Panama City Beach, Destin, Florida. So it is right there in the Panhandle about two hours from New Orleans and 20 minutes from Alabama. So at first it was a culture shock because I was not used to a closed mentality because again, I grew up mixed and I grew up around all these different cultures and then living in the Panhandle at that time, I noticed that the mentality was very skewed. And I had no issues with anyone, but I was like, oh, this is different. A lot of closed minded mentality here, because as a kid, you're thinking Florida. You're thinking automatically Miami and Disney World, if you don't know geography and then living up there, beautiful beaches, but definitely the mentality was closed. And so in middle school, that's when a lot of things started shifting. So we went from a really loving family. And then in middle school, I noticed that something internally in the present moment or in their past. Frank Hereda (04:05.677) Yeah. Derick Johnson (04:22.991) started to eat at them and between the hours of 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. they would do a lot of drinking and they would release a lot of rage from their past. I had good grades, played sports. My sister was a genius. She skipped a couple of grades. And so education and discipline was in our nature. But we knew that something happened to them personally in their past and their upbringing that they never had time to take care of. So they were both they grew up poor and became very successful. and they were the oldest of multiple siblings. So they had to play mom, dad, cousin, uncle, like they had nieces and nephews that lived with them as well. So since the age of 12 and 13, they went right into working and taking care of others. So they never really had a childhood because they were the ones taking care of everyone. And so once I was in middle school, I noticed there was a shift. So I was 11 years old and that's when they would drink more, but it was only at night. It never affected their career, never affected their personal life. It was only after the cookout we had a four bedroom, four bathroom house with a screened in pool in Florida. Beautiful family always had what we needed driveway. That was like half the size of a basketball court and just had everything. So from the outside, people are like, man, your parents are awesome. Your family's cool. Blah, blah, blah. And I was the quiet kid who never wanted to bash anyone's reputation. So I kept it to myself. But between those hours, about 300 days a year, I would get physically beaten. mentally, verbally, just all the typical stuff that happens in an alcoholic rage home. So with that being said, at the age of 11, I made a decision that I no longer wanted to allow anyone to bully me. So it started with my parents and then move into the United States. I was getting thrown into the lockers. I was getting my head pushed into the toilet like everything that happens in the movies was happening to me. And I just said, what is going on? First 10 years of life was. amazing and then at 11 there was a shift and so by 12 I said to myself I'm no longer allowing anyone to have control of me from here on out and I went deep into personal development and I just had to because I just saw a lot of violence and I want to go into all the details and say I had the worst story ever but that was just my turning point was at 12 years old I decided I said okay I'm either gonna end up this angry teenager who releases Frank Hereda (06:34.926) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Derick Johnson (06:48.023) myself and it started with fitness because I was always the skinny kid. I was very athletic, but I was timid. I had a stuttering issue. Didn't really know who I was. So there was just a lot going on at that time period. So my step one initially on my personal development journey was fitness. I knew that I had to change my physicality, my physique to not fear people to feel more confident in myself. And then I noticed I fell in love with pushing my body and mind past all thresholds. because that's where I was chasing the calmness. So that was my actual natural high. I was chasing that neutrality. And in that moment, I noticed that God would start speaking to me. So before the age of 12, I didn't really have faith because we saw a lot of stuff. And I was like, why does he allow this to happen to kids or the teens? And I was always the kid asking questions and nobody would answer my questions. They're like, oh, it's in the Bible. Oh, it's in this. And I said, nobody can answer my question, so I need to figure it out myself. And so I noticed that my faith work Frank Hereda (07:37.822) Mm-hmm. Derick Johnson (07:47.939) was only super effective after a hard workout. And so within two years, I totally transformed my physique, who I was. I was the team leader. I was the coach in regards to army ROTC. And I was just serving other people. And people are like, what just happened in that two year time period? Used to be in the back of the class. Quiet. You get beat up. You always looked half asleep. You were timid. You stuttered like, who is this guy? And then I just fell in love with showing people what I did naturally with elevating my faith, strength and conditioning and so forth. And so once I got into high school at the age of 15, I became a certified personal trainer and I was training my parents, friends, my teachers, my basketball coach, my neighbors. And I just started training a plethora of people of all different age groups because they saw my passion in it. But again, I just never told anybody what was happening at home. So I used all that energy into productive action. And so. One of the biggest reasons that I chose this path was at the age of 12, I was in my dad's truck and he was always flying through ranks, successful and just working hard and he was always listening to Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, all the classics. Frank Hereda (09:03.574) Hmm. You know what I find funny though? Not to interrupt. I hate to interrupt you, but you, you're talking about Zig Ziglar and he's listening to that, but then he's doing what he's doing at night. That's such a contradiction. Like you couldn't get any more one way and the other, like having drinking and being physical with your family or whatever, you know, whatever the situation was versus Zig Ziglar. I mean. Derick Johnson (09:10.287) Not at all. Derick Johnson (09:16.816) Yes. Derick Johnson (09:20.294) Yes. Frank Hereda (09:31.49) How did, did you ever, I mean, I don't know that I would have had the courage to ask either, but did you ever ask your dad, like, what the heck is going on? Like at night, this is like two different people. Derick Johnson (09:42.039) Yeah, so I did. But when I did, you're not supposed to ask questions. You just like we treat it like a system and it's a structure. But I knew deep down that this is all part of my comeback story. So going back to when I was 12, the key initial moment of I already made my decision to change my path and to not have this fear and be scared of everything and everyone. I was in my dad's truck and he was listening to a cassette tape. Frank Hereda (09:46.082) Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. Derick Johnson (10:07.719) I'm old enough for that. Some people are like, what the heck is that? But he's listening to Tony Robbins cassette tape in the truck. And Tony goes, if my mother gave me the love I wanted as a child, I would not be the man I am today. And I'm 12 years old in the back seat and I'm getting chills. I'm getting teary and I'm like, who is this guy? Whatever he's doing to me, I want to do to other people. And so I made a decision. I was like, I don't know what he does. I love fitness and athletic performance. So I started with that. And then years later, I got into life coaching. But. Essentially just to connect everything and in hindsight, it's just the family trauma, personal things that happen, a lot of violence. There's also drug addicts in my family, but I never resorted to anything drugs or drinking. I flipped it into fitness and faith. And then I gave what I was not receiving. So like in our home, we had everything, but we never really said, I love you. We rarely really had dinner together. And if we did, it was like systematic. All right. Well, what are you doing later? You're doing this. It's like superstructure. So there's no. There's really no conversations, love and affection. So I realized that what people lack in their childhood or teenage years, they tend to give to others. Sometimes that's bad because then they become codependent. But I looked at it in regards to I'm giving the support and I'm actively listening to people. And so once I was in my teens, I realized that strangers in public would just come up to me and just like pour their heart out. I'd be sitting at a bus stop or sitting at the gym and just Frank Hereda (11:09.079) Mm-hmm. Derick Johnson (11:36.695) an old gentleman or a young kid would just come up to me, sit next to me and just say, hey, and just open up. And I just felt, I said, I feel like something is happening here. I've been doing the inner work, I have the faith. God has me here to do something that relates to this. And I couldn't pinpoint it, because I was just, I mean, 16 at the time when it was happening a lot, but I knew that it was gonna be something deeper than just fitness. And so in hindsight, If that didn't happen, all those situations and seeing death and trauma and violence and all that, then I wouldn't have chosen this path. So that is a huge thing that connected my path and my life, because I knew that I would not be totally fulfilled if I wasn't able to help people overcome what they were struggling with. So it's a win win. Frank Hereda (12:24.382) Yeah, it's, um, it's interesting. I mean, I think a lot of people, myself included, we're both in the coaching space, uh, you know, you get, you feel a calling in some form or fashion, whatever it is, you know, that, that does that. I really find it interesting though. How, how this path takes place for you. Um, because I also think there's certain individuals that, like some people wouldn't answer that call. Right. And I think. Derick Johnson (12:51.952) Yes. Frank Hereda (12:52.838) Also, you had a lot of challenges along the way. I mean, that's a stressful thing when parents are fighting, screaming, things are disruptive in the home and then day is normal. That's a disruptive, consistent disruptive situation. So to come out of that takes a certain amount of strength. So that's pretty impressive that you were able to do that. Derick Johnson (13:08.932) Yes. Derick Johnson (13:16.483) Yeah, I appreciated the huge thing that helped the most outside of just fitness and faith was I literally got obsessed with learning people's comeback stories. I would read books, autobiographies, listen to interviews, music. So I would just absorb all this information. I was like, OK, he went through something worse. I can get through this, too. She went through something way more traumatic and became successful. I can do it as well. So I would just play this narrative in my head. This is part of my comeback story. Even if I was crying with the stuff happening at home, I'd be in my room saying, this is part of my comeback story. And I just ingrained that into my subconscious. And so I started like operating in that way. And I had friends that went through similar things and they were starting to go down the different path. And I was like, you know what, I see what's happening. And I just always had a higher vision because of all the stuff going on. And I do believe that in those moments when, and as you said, some people don't listen to that calling. But in those moments that you do realize what God, the universe, whatever somebody believes, I believe that God was just telling me, hey, this is happening for you, not to you. I have a path for you and it's all going to make sense. And when I felt that the more and more I felt that by 18, I legitimately didn't have any more fears because I already saw the violence, the guns, the all the stuff, the bodies and just all the stuff before the military. So Frank Hereda (14:42.336) Yeah. Derick Johnson (14:43.695) The funny thing about all that is I knew internally there are still a couple of fears. Excuse me, before 18, I know I still needed to get rid of fears like fear of heights, things of that nature. But I knew that in my core, I had to go army X amount of years and just go all in to really mold that man. And so. Frank Hereda (15:05.242) Let me ask you a question. So I have a bunch of questions, but the first one is, you know, you would think, it seems logical to me that when you have a father or a figure that you're dealing with those situations at night and at home, you would think that you would say, oh, I'm definitely not going into the army like this guy. So I find it interesting that you did go into the army like him. Derick Johnson (15:08.774) Yes. Go ahead. Derick Johnson (15:33.956) Yes. Frank Hereda (15:34.294) Was that why you did it or what did you see or was it that you saw some good in him certain times and some bad? So it was like alcohol, no, Army, yes. Is that what happened? Derick Johnson (15:47.799) Yes, so I saw that and also I really loved. So I grew up watching Rambo, Rocky, all the classic, the real movies, basically the real movies. And he and I would watch that stuff together like we really didn't have much conversation besides like working out and discipline and structure and leadership and all that. But once they started drinking in the crowd left, it was a different person. But I also knew when they were drinking the next morning, they were just. Frank Hereda (15:55.661) Who didn't? Yeah, right? Yeah. Yeah, the real ones. Yeah. Derick Johnson (16:16.543) say, hey, what do you want to have lunch at today? Where would you like to eat breakfast? As if nothing happened. But I started to learn their backstories. And I said, this is interesting. So one, I learned other people's stories like celebrities or athletes and all that or. Business execs that crushed it and went through a lot of traumatic things. And then I started peeling back the layers of my family tree. And I didn't really tell people this, I would just research and then I learned. My great grandfather, he passed away at 103 years old and he went through some wild things and he somehow got like 100 acres of land in Mississippi way back when and nobody knows how. And then my old mom, my grandma in Germany, she survived the Holocaust. She was hiding in the attic. So I started thinking about all these extreme scenarios and saying, I'm not allowed to complain. It only happens at night. I have food, water. I have four different bedrooms. I could sleep and I have a swimming pool. I have good grades. It could be worse. And I would just. I would just override the blessings from that dark time period of at night. And so I would just keep perspective hopping and saying, yes, this sucks, but it's going to be temporary because I'm out of here at 17 or 18. And then I'm going to go from there. So because I was consuming so much information from other people's stories, it made sense. So I never had like a victim mentality or I never was like, why is this happening to me? Maybe at 11 or 12 when it first happened. Frank Hereda (17:11.69) Yeah. Derick Johnson (17:41.243) But once I saw like their patterns, I realized that my gift from the pain was discernment and identifying people's patterns as in, okay, I can I can base her or his energy. They're gonna be drunk by this time than this and this is gonna happen. So I need to mentally prepare myself for this. I was just playing chess in a mental game. But in hindsight, the full connection of all this, the funniest part is that when I'm 18 at basic training, And drill sergeants are yelling in my face. I'm trying with every energy and ounce in my body, not to bust out laughing. Because I'm like, you guys will get destroyed by my five foot four German mother, like my dad would rip you guys apart. And it all made sense. And I was like, that was the battleground, the preparation for this. And so instantly they chose me as a leader. And then I just saw the vision. I said, wow, the reason I got so good at leadership was because of this. So any time that people would normally stress in a situation, I would just thrive in that. Frank Hereda (18:17.066) Yeah. Derick Johnson (18:40.391) and I would just be calm. And then I just felt like I would get chills in those moments and say, wow, that kid is now proud of this man and I'm leading them. I see the fear in these soldier's eyes, male and female, and I have the skills now to make them feel calmer and more confident. So everything in those moments would just hit me. I was like, thank you. Thanks for allowing this to happen. I'm not questioning anything from here on out. So it was very interesting. So I do believe that every individual, no matter what they've gone through or about to go through, that there's a gift within that. And it is our job to push the pride and ego away for a moment and try our hardest to identify what that is. Some would call it the light at the end of the dark tunnel, whatever analogy somebody wants to use, but once we can initially, especially as men, push pride and ego aside to look for that, that's where the quote unquote magic happens or the blessing happens. So I'm happy and blessed that I was able to do that. And so on. The flip side, I know people that went through similar things and they went a completely different path. It was just hatred towards their family, hatred towards whoever did whatever. But they hold that for decades on end and make sense. Three divorces does X, Y, Z to their kids like their dad. And they just continue the generational curses. And so having that ability to have that discernment, I always saw the bigger picture and I said, this is all a teaching ground. I'm never going to do that to my kids. We don't have kids yet. But. I would just always see things from a bird's eye perspective. And I feel like that was also a defense mechanism. I was rarely present. I would always like zoom out and envision version 10.0. What advice would he give me? What would my younger version? And I would just do this thing. And once I got into college and I was studying the psychology, I'll literally bust out laughing in class and my professor like, what's, what's up? And then I started telling him a little bit and I was like, I don't want to go deep into it, but I was doing this stuff at like 12 and 13. Frank Hereda (20:14.476) Hmm. Frank Hereda (20:17.76) Yeah. Derick Johnson (20:36.487) self therapy, shadow work, like all this because I didn't know what it was back then. And I was like, this is insane. How was I like, where does this come from? And I was like, that was God. That was not me. God was just guiding me to do the inner work. So it was very interesting. Frank Hereda (20:43.94) Mm-hmm. Frank Hereda (20:49.257) Yeah. It's interesting. And I think also your mindset had a big part of it too. You know, the way you flipped it in the story you told yourself. I think that's a big part of it. And that's a big, big part of it. Tell me about the military and, uh, how long were you in and how did it prepare you for what you do now? Derick Johnson (20:58.714) Oh yeah. Derick Johnson (21:07.983) Great question. So I was in 10 years, five years active and five years National Guard. And if people don't know Army National Guard, essentially you have your job for the government, for your nation, but also you work for your state. So I was in the state of Florida. So we'd have hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, active shooter that they would send us out. We'd help. Excuse me and go from there. But my main job was. 25 Quebec, which is the MOS. It is essentially just satellite communications. So satellite communications was my thing. I loved technology. I always saw the bigger picture of laptops, communication, just all that. I was always drawn to that. And then the other job I had in the army was master fitness trainer. So in the military, usually have one main job. And then you also can do other things. You don't get paid extra for it. But there's another skill set that you can have and looks great on your packet. And I knew that it was going to teach me a lot of things. And so I was already a certified trainer in the civilian world. So then in the army, I was able to get the master fitness trainer. So essentially what they do, they get male and female soldiers mission ready mentally, physically, if they came back from an injury, teaching them how to get into better shape. So on paper, they qualify for everything. So or if they came back from deployment, divorce, weight gain, alcoholism. and really helping them on a physical and mental level. And I've truly fell in love with that. Just seeing that within 30 to 60 to 90 days, they would just flip. They're about to give up. They're about to quit. Think of other things, but I was able to help them with that. And I said, hmm, I'm loving this, but I know I can do this at scale. Frank Hereda (22:55.758) That's interesting. So I would love to know. I'm big into fitness and health. And so I have, I'm wondering what you saw that you think is different or was it a lot of, I would guess there's some similarities, but is there anything different that takes place in the military from a fitness perspective versus what you did in the civilian world? Was the teaching any different? Was what changed for you? Or was it like, wow, I already, Derick Johnson (23:01.924) Yes. Frank Hereda (23:24.502) This is pretty much everything I already know. What was different for you in the, in the process or what they taught. Derick Johnson (23:32.391) Great question. So honestly, the difference at first was just seeing that I had so much more left in the tank than I thought. I would push myself, but training solo. Ninety nine point nine percent of my workouts in my life were always solo because I was my own therapy. And besides that is I realized that just that camaraderie was just next level. Being able to have somebody push you outside of your comfort zone and not just that when you're throwing up on yourself, you haven't slept in three days, you're dehydrated and hungry. and then somebody falls out and you got to pick them up. Another version of you pops out and then you just start taking care of people. And then two days later, you're like, I can't even move today. And then it just clicks. You're like, wow, what is the body in the mind truly capable of? And so one of my favorite guys is David Goggins. I relate to his story a lot, but I just want to bring him up real quick because in regards to tapping into that potential, most people tap into 20 percent. And. just have my own experiences in the military before I even knew who he was. Once I learned who he was, I was like, exactly. He saw the big picture. So it's very interesting. So I would say number one, realizing what you're truly capable of, not just physically, mentally also, but knowing that your soldiers eat first, meaning no matter what's going on in your personal life or physical, you're taking care of your people before you do. If there's food left, awesome. But you take care of everyone and just That level of discipline and leadership just instilled into us from positive good leaders. It was just my favorite part to see how good leaders interacted with different ethnicities, genders, mental headspaces, and they could just always empower and elevate people's morale. And then on the flip side, obviously, just like anything else, corporate America as well, you have prime example of how you don't want to be as a leader. So I would look at both ends and really learn from both because. That's one thing people don't discuss enough. You can learn a lot of what you don't want to do and how you don't want to make your teammates, coworkers feel. So I would definitely say number one was pushing past all physical and mental barriers. And then the other thing in regards to training was different modalities because I had my own and then just learning different body types. So it's more so a plethora of things that I can have at my disposal. Frank Hereda (25:30.03) For sure. Derick Johnson (25:54.863) to see who needs work. Frank Hereda (25:59.818) What do you find are the top three or five challenges people have with being consistent with being in shape? Derick Johnson (26:10.811) Great question. So nowadays, I believe the biggest issue is attention span. People's attention span is lower than ever. And I just let you use the dog analogy squirrel. Like people are just all over the place all the time. Notification. This, that, this, that you hear about Tom Brady. Oh, my wife and this. And then what do we do? Slow down, lay the phone down, be present with your kids, be present in the gym. And honestly, it's just people have lower attention span than ever. So because they're always interrupted and they're never, present in their workout, in their conversation, in whatever they're doing. It's really hard, nearly impossible for that person to have consistency in anything because they get 10 minutes into a workout or, Oh, I got to check my email. But what does do it? Two o'clock. I have a meeting and I got to do this. Then they leave. They don't finish the workout. They're eating. They can't even eat without being on the phone. There's like, Oh, I got, I got to look at this email and everything is urgent. So they're very sporadic. And so for that individual, it's very hard for them to be consistent with anything. So Nowadays, that's the biggest issue that I notice when I was a teen. It was different. But nowadays, it's just everything is just go, go. So it's hard for people. Exactly. Frank Hereda (27:12.654) That's interesting. Yeah. Frank Hereda (27:18.434) So focus, lack of focus. Okay. Anything else? That's number one. Is there anything else that you find that people struggle with the most? Derick Johnson (27:27.491) Yeah, lack of presence, lack of presence, as in they're wondering, will I get to said goal? Or stuck in the past, so fabricated scenarios of the what if future and then the stress of whatever happened in the past. So what if this happens? Nobody understands me because this and this happened to me. And it's like that bounce, that duality where it's hard for them to just be here and say, you know what? Let me just focus on conquering today's task and today. Frank Hereda (27:58.754) So that brings up a good point. Before we finish with this list, I see a couple of roadblocks that are most common in our world in the coaching space. Fear of success, fear of loss, imposter syndrome, you can't relate to me, my past, you know, like we just brought up. What are some things that you do to help them get past that? Derick Johnson (28:15.121) Yes. Frank Hereda (28:25.086) I mean, you know, because if they can't get past that, they can't get back into their fitness routine. They can't proceed. Derick Johnson (28:30.819) Yes, exactly. Great question. So the first thing that I do, we create an elimination sheet. So old school sheet of paper, pen, and we ask ourselves, what is something that I can eliminate that will help me make more progress? So I flip it and instead of giving somebody a routine, a schedule, coaching modalities, etc. We just say, hey, for step one, what can we get rid of? My intent is not to change his routine to add stuff to it. Let's just see what we can get rid of. So we start with what they consume. Maybe he is eating too much sugar, too many complex carbs. Maybe she's drinking too many coffees or Red Bull. Okay, we'll start with the basics. What are we eating and drinking? You know what, if I had less of this, I'd make more progress, okay? If I had less of that, I'd be more focused because my sugar wouldn't be dropping and spiking, okay? What about digitally? You know what, I need to stop grabbing my phone when I wake up at seven and just scrolling and not having control of what I'm gonna see. And they've been awake for 30 minutes, but they haven't gotten out of bed because they're just scrolling. So then we start to go deeper and say, OK, what else? And then they really start to think. And then the true things come out and intrusive thoughts. I always think that I'm going to end up alone my whole life. And it just starts to flow. But we start with the basics and then we really see who said, ah, that's the real reason that he or she is stuck. Maybe somebody was bullied at 12. So in the conference room, when they're having the Monday meeting, they feel like the fat 12 year old who's laughed at and then they start stuttering and they mess up and everybody's like, where are we at, Jimmy? Like, what's today's focus? But he feels that way internally. So I don't just straight up ask, like, hey, tell me what happened when you were 12. We just slowly get there. But that's the first thing that I do. We create an elimination sheet. What are we consuming with food and drinks? What are we consuming in our digital space? Group chat, social media, what we're looking at. Frank Hereda (30:16.299) Yeah. Frank Hereda (30:20.341) Interesting. Derick Johnson (30:28.999) how much time and then from there, they start to go a little bit deeper. And so once we have clarity, we know what's most important, but I like to focus on keeping it simple and stacking winds. So if he has drank Coca-Cola every day for the past six years, if he just has one today, that's a huge win for him. Other people like he just gave up Coca-Cola. But for him, he's been drinking that for a decade. So if he only drinks one a day, he's like, man, I haven't done that in a while. So his. His confidence is elevated and then we just stack other small wins and make him hyper aware of that. So within a few days are like, man, I didn't realize how much I did this or didn't do that. And now they're really intentional about what they're doing. And then we start to really take traction. But we start with the small things. Frank Hereda (31:16.522) Interesting. Okay. That's a, that sounds like a good process. So you, we talked about, um, attention span and lack of, uh, presence. What else do you see standing in the way of people getting in shape and living their best life in the fitness way and then way of fitness? Derick Johnson (31:30.182) Yes. Derick Johnson (31:37.551) Definitely the story that they're telling themselves, whatever that story is. So the story is, for one person, I won't be happy until the scale says this. I won't be happy until I can fit in that 42 regular suit and 32 pants. I won't be happy until I see two commas in the check-in or business account. So the happiness is placed on end goal where they never actually stick to anything. They're like, well, I'm not gonna be happy. Even if I drop 10 pounds, my goal is 50. Frank Hereda (31:46.071) Haha. Yep. Derick Johnson (32:07.723) I should be way further by now. And it's that story where I'm like, hey, understood. But look at the numbers. You can lose in two pounds a week or you just you just got a promotion. Understand you're not the CEO or not X, Y, Z. But be proud of yourself. Give yourself more grace. Just look where you are right now. The numbers don't lie. And I'm just blowing people on my right now. I love you. But if your feelings, let's look at numbers. The numbers are given the signs. Frank Hereda (32:29.854) Yeah. What do you say? What do you say to people? Because one of the conversations I have with others is that you have to be happy first before you go and get the thing. Because that's not going to bring you happiness. You're still, if you're not happy and you want money, you're just going to be, you're going to have more money, but you're still not going to be happy. So how do you, how do you help them get past that? If I'm not happy and I come to you and I want to get in shape, but I want to have this big goal. Derick Johnson (32:48.805) Exactly. Frank Hereda (32:57.794) How do you help them get happy with where they're at now? Derick Johnson (33:00.743) Great question. So what I like to do, I have them list out the characteristics of their version 10.0. So I started with clarity. So after elimination, we get full clarity. So as some opposed to asking them what would make you happy. I say, I want you to envision the ultimate life that you want. Who is the man that you want to be? Who is the man that you would want your daughter today? Who is the woman that and just keep going deeper and have them paint that vision? And I challenge him, I say, don't use any vague statements. I want to be rich, successful in love and have a great marriage. Great gives you no rush, gives you no adrenaline. Just like an Eric statement is kind of floating out there. Say, OK, I understand you want to be successful. What amount do you want to make a month? OK, a quarter get very specific. Write that down. OK, how is his posture? What does he wear? Where does he travel to? Is he married? Where do they live? Frank Hereda (33:36.658) Yeah. Derick Johnson (33:55.483) Do you live in Park City, Utah and have a beautiful view? Do you live in a penthouse in Miami? Do you live in the country and you have a couple cows? What specifically is it? And then they really start to flow and then they become more present. You can literally see their body language just sink and like, man, cause it's hard for many people to really be in that imagination zone because they're always taking care of everyone else. So they don't really stop to just say, what do I actually want? And so we eliminate and then we get crystal clear on their version 10.0 and then we see, okay. Let's reverse engineer this. This is what you want. Here's what you need to get rid of. Do we see the disconnect? And then we really start to build a daily process, weekly program to start to catch some traction to that. And then they start to have clarity and say, you know what, I was placing happiness on this. And then the big picture is we're actually just falling in love with the person that we become. It's about the who. So I ask them like, who do you have to be to even deserve that? Who does she have to be to even deserve that? Because we all know somebody that's rich and has three divorces and is doing blow every weekend and is just miserable. But on paper, he or she is successful. So like I just give them prime examples and we said, obviously, it's not who you want to become. Not judging, we're just being honest. But it's just the clarity because many times people, they don't really get crystal clear. They just have these vague statements. But it could be because of their upbringing, because Frank Hereda (35:01.482) Yep. Derick Johnson (35:21.723) Growing up when you say something grandiose. Oh yeah, that's not for us. Oh, you know, rich people are pricks. Whatever limiting beliefs somebody was surrounded by. That's what starts to be their narrative. So. Frank Hereda (35:29.836) Yep. That's interesting. You said, you said a key word there. I had this conversation with someone on a podcast a couple episodes ago about limiting beliefs. So someone comes to you with a limiting belief. Is this a different process you work them through or no, do you do the kind of the same thing? Derick Johnson (35:49.947) So I number one, I do eliminate number two, we do the version 10.0 clarity. And then from there, the programming is different depending on where they're at. Because he might be in great physical condition. He's struggling mentally. Somebody else might be shredded, but he's broke. So it's limiting belief. It's like you got abs, but you can't pay bills. Frank Hereda (35:54.51) clarity. Frank Hereda (35:59.191) Gotcha. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Frank Hereda (36:10.25) And there's a process to help them get past that limiting belief or no, it's just pretty much, it depends on what it is and you might change the way you do it. Derick Johnson (36:17.123) Yes, I changed it depending on the person and also depending on what their relationship style is to others, like some are very avoidant. Some are very codependent or maybe they don't have anybody. So we really go deeper and depending on what that person needs. And so once we have those first two conversations, I can see their path for them because it's not a one size fits all. But just the first two processes just give us clarity on here's the data. Here's the objective we need to take. Frank Hereda (36:19.426) Okay. Derick Johnson (36:46.808) and then we build it for them. Frank Hereda (36:49.174) Gotcha. Interesting. Cool. Um, let's talk a little bit more fitness. So bands versus weights, both place for both. No one better than the other. Does it matter? Cardio weight, you know, there's a lot of talk right now in the, in the fitness space and the health face about getting in enough protein and how many times you got to work out and how long. And so Derick Johnson (36:57.254) Yes. Frank Hereda (37:17.87) I'm just curious the conversations you have around that, what you do and how many days a week and what—and how big of a role diet plays in that and—yeah. Derick Johnson (37:26.683) Great question. So first question with the resistance and weights, I recommend both. I always challenge people to say, if right now you go into a, you go into a restaurant with your family, can you protect who you love? Or have you only been training like a bodybuilder and you have no cardiovascular and you're like, well, I got a pistol. Cool. Sounds great. But do you even know how to use it? So I create real life scenarios. I'm like, are you ready when shit pops off or are you just lifting and watching videos all the time? And so we create a real scenario and I just go in the approach of I understand you want to look this way. You want to feel this way. But could you actually sustain it? So like myself, I'm not the keto guy. I'm not the CrossFit guy. I'm a guy that's going to say, all right, here's where you're at. Here's where you're trying to go. Here's something you could do long term. And you always get progress. And so we do the weights, we do resistance bands. There are some days where I challenge them to go on a rock march. Hey, if you got a backpack, put some weights in it or get a vest and just go walk for 20 minutes, listen to podcasts or some music. So we change it up to really get them out of their comfort zone. They're like, wow, I feel like a badass walking with 30 pounds in my back to my neighborhood. My neighbor's like, the hell is he doing out there? And they just love that approach. So I mix it up and I bring a lot of the military mentality into it. So various styles of calisthenics, weight training, resistance, but showing them different modalities. and everything's going to get them towards their goal, but they really start to fall in love with something. So what happens a lot with my female clients, I don't want to look manly. I don't want to lift weights. Within two months, we're like, oh my God, this is amazing. Let me get a leg press. Let me squat. Let me do some dumbbell. And it's just funny because I can tell in the beginning, you're like, I don't want a gym membership. But in my head, I'm like, watch. In one month, I'm like, yeah, I'm tired of training at home. I want to get into powerhouse or gold gym. And so just seeing that, but letting them taste a little bit of Frank Hereda (39:02.656) Yeah. Derick Johnson (39:20.579) all the variations of training styles, so they see their strengths and weaknesses. And then we just keep going from there. Yeah, exactly. Frank Hereda (39:22.059) Interesting, yeah. Yeah. And they don't know what they're like. Yeah. Okay. Interesting. So a little bit of everything. I agree with that. Derick Johnson (39:33.999) 100% and it's more so functionality so they feel amazing and then the physique is the end bonus result Opposed to just fixated on the scale the abs the butt whatever it is. We're like, hey, I'm feeling amazing I'm closing more sales because I'm just loose confidence is higher and really looking at everything outside of fitness. You're like man That's what I was missing. I don't need to take the edge off on a Friday or Saturday Oh, it's been a long week. Let's go have some beers with the guys like they're not doing that anymore Frank Hereda (40:00.958) Yeah. Uh, and talk to me about diet a little bit, not diet, but just in terms of what they're eating, how much time do you spend on that? Um, as far as meal plans and prepping or what they're just least going over what they're eating, how, uh, how much do you go over that? Derick Johnson (40:18.767) Yeah, so 80% of what I do is mental. The other 20% is the fitness and nutrition. So I focus on the mind-body connection. But in regards to nutrition, I base everything off of foods that they like and give them pick and choose options. And depending on their goals, we focus on macros, macronutrients, so we don't just count calories. We're not just doing extreme cuts or cutting carbs. It's more so like, hey, he has borderline diabetes. She's had past injuries. Frank Hereda (40:32.96) Okay. Derick Johnson (40:47.803) Both of them have never eaten the right amount of protein. Let's give them some minimal numbers and let their body adjust. So I go that approach rather than the athletic or military, like, Hey, I want you to wake him to a six by 10 a.m. Text me what you ate and all that. And I'm just like, dude, we're just starting. I never tracked anything. So I just focus on longevity. But the main thing that I do for their performance is what do they need? Nutrient wise, what did they do? They need mineral wise. Frank Hereda (40:59.914) Yeah. Frank Hereda (41:04.426) Yeah, gotcha. Derick Johnson (41:16.367) And let's let their body adjust for two weeks. Like, man, I'm eating more. And then week three or four, we really start to dial in their macronutrients because they're feeling better, opposed to just day one. Here are your numbers, here's what you gotta follow. Shut up and do it. That's not my approach. And military, but I understand people's patterns. 90% of people are never gonna sustain that. Frank Hereda (41:37.238) Gotcha. That's wise. Do you recommend, uh, when it comes to tracking, like my fitness pal or something different or what do you usually recommend to people? Derick Johnson (41:48.271) Yes, so I have a coaching app and it syncs with my fitness pal. So like they'll use my fitness pal and then the coaching app. That's where all their workouts are calendar, et cetera, tutorial videos. But yes, we do use my fitness pal and it's, it's always been great. So I have clients that are 17 years old. I have clients that are 78. And so with the apps, everything's pretty user friendly. And we do the coaching calls once or twice a week via zoom. And so anybody that does have questions, we grab our phone. Frank Hereda (41:52.164) Cool. Frank Hereda (42:06.275) Mm-hmm. Derick Johnson (42:17.639) I give them full clarity and if they know how to use everything and they're confident, then I know they're going to do better. My military brain is like, you can't figure the shit out. Like you can't Google for 30 sec, but I don't bring that out. Sometimes I might feel it and I'm like, what do you mean you can't figure it out? And I'm like, you know what? Let's get on the call. I'll walk you through it. And then they get amazing results. My younger version was like, Oh my God, people are so, but I don't let that come out. Cause I'm like, they're not going to win longterm. So. Frank Hereda (42:28.218) Yeah. Frank Hereda (42:35.905) Yeah. Derick Johnson (42:44.899) Honestly, training people just like, you know, coaching is just we have more patience than most people. Yeah. Frank Hereda (42:50.15) Mm-hmm. Well, you have to and everybody's at different stages. And my favorite saying is you have to meet them where they're at. Derick Johnson (42:55.751) 100%. Frank Hereda (42:57.334) So that's just how it is. But okay, interesting. So business-wise, what do you think is the toughest challenge in growing a business? What has it been for you? Derick Johnson (43:13.411) I think the toughest thing for a lot of people is you're listening to too much information, information overload. So myself, I've always had the discipline, the work ethic internally. I'm like, I'm taking out everybody in this room and I won't say it just in my head. I'm like, oh yeah, he thinks he's the best. Watch this. That's just the competitive mentality. But internally, I knew that I went through a phase of just reading every success book, buying every course, hiring this mentor, hiring that mentor. And I started seeing similarities. 80% of these people are not even doing that well to begin with, because they won't show me their numbers. So I've just been transparent with people. I was like, that's awesome. But can I see your stripe? Can I see your PayPal? Are you open to show me your business account? They're like, well, you know, and they get really fumbly and like you don't even do it. You're just teaching regurgitated crap from somebody else's course. Like I could see through you. So I went through a phase where I was unaware and I was buying everything. And I would just go all in and learn and study. And then I started seeing what was. Frank Hereda (44:03.266) That's right. Derick Johnson (44:12.935) fluff what was outdated. And then I flipped and said, who do I need to become? And how can I find people that have actually already done this? And then the aha moments just happens. Mike, how much time, money, resources that I waste hiring the wrong people or taking the wrong course. But you don't know what you don't know. Once you get experience, as you know, then you're like, wow, this individual has actually done it. Everybody else can kick rocks. Frank Hereda (44:35.634) Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly right. So it sounds like I agree with you, especially nowadays with the internet and social media, the amount of information out there. And you can get into this endless. Rotation of just reading book after book. I mean, I read a ton of books. I'm sure you do too, but read a ton of books, watch a bunch of podcasts. At some point though, you can see once somebody comes out and changes the narrative or there's, they're on a topic. It's like every other, you know, you start to see that more and more. Derick Johnson (45:05.079) Oh yeah. So about six years ago, I remember clear as day. I could feel it. I just didn't verbalize it. But even my girlfriend was like, Oh look, another Amazon prime book. And internally I was like, I knew I had an issue like getting too much information. I was like, we don't drink, we don't smoke. We don't do. I was like, but I was just hoarding books and just information and all that. And I was like, Oh, I need to learn. And then I just bust out laughing. We had a conversation. I said, you know what, babe, I've been learning level 12 business and I'm at level two. Frank Hereda (45:05.398) The new thing. Frank Hereda (45:14.99) Heheheheh... Eh... Frank Hereda (45:24.703) Mm-hmm. Derick Johnson (45:34.911) 90 percent of what's in my brain right now, I can't even put to use. And when I verbalize that, she's like, oh, really? Because you already knew it. You're waiting for me to say. And I was like, all right, let me push this pride and ego and this alpha male vato out of the way and say, all right, here's step two. Now, just kept focused on where I'm at and going from there, because all the other stuff was just I wouldn't say it was a waste of time. It was interesting. But I realized that before it was super popular on social media, just the mental endorphin. Frank Hereda (45:41.569) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Derick Johnson (46:04.899) Oh, I learned this. I'm going to become rich by 28. I learned this by 35. I'm going to be and I just had this stuff in my head. And I said, I was falling for that mental. I call it motivation porn. Like everybody has a buddy that sends him a motivational video every couple of days and my dude, you've been out of shape for 10 years. Like, quit them. Crap. Like, like you, this all you watch, like you're broken out of shape. Like, stop sending me this crap. Frank Hereda (46:16.084) Yeah. Frank Hereda (46:23.175) Heheheheh! Frank Hereda (46:29.054) Yeah, that's a really good point though. I think focusing on where you're at, that's a good point because a lot of those will, they will teach you stuff, but it won't be anything to do with what you're doing. What you need to do. Derick Johnson (46:40.239) Yeah, and the exactly and the cool thing about that trajectory, like your three to your five. I started to use those level eight, level 10 things. And I said, wow, this is what I learned from Grant Cardone and sales. This what I learned from Tony when it came to dealing with this person with trauma. This is what I learned from NLP. And then you really start to see the similarities. But the reason is experience. And as you know, just the experience of working with hundreds of people, learning their personalities, what they need. An example is I might have a call booked and I said today we're going to speak about tonality and something else. They get on the call within the first three seconds I see their body language and say you know what they're not going to absorb anything. Let me just ask him like hey today just let it out. What's going on 30 minutes they just rant about everything body language changes and by the end I say hey so I had a topic for today but that was more important. How do you feel right now? OK, here's what I want you to do for the weekend. Then I get to give them some tasks. But without having a discernment or being the coach that actually wants them to win. They wouldn't see that, and that's what they needed. And the more that I had those moments said, they will actually tell me and their body language what they need right now. So that's why I structure the first part. But once I learn more about them, then I see what's more important. It's like, oh, he has a terrible relationship with food. That's why. His dad used to force feed him. It wasn't about the abs. It wasn't about the success like he never verbalized it. Yeah, exactly. Frank Hereda (48:10.43) And sometimes it takes you 10 calls to get there. And you're like, you could have told me this on the first call, but yeah. Yeah. Totally get that. Um, that's great. That's great. So, you know, before we wrap up, tell me, um, I have two more questions. So one is, one is tell me a little bit about who you follow. Anybody in particular that you follow that you find is gives great information or that you think people might get benefit from. As far as podcasts or books, you know, back to the books thing. Um, but anybody in particular. Derick Johnson (48:42.63) Yes. Yeah, so the number one male outside of like men in my family that inspired me was he passed away, but it was Greg Plitt. Greg Plitt had the biggest positive male role model impact on me than anyone. So Greg Plitt was a US Army officer. He was part of the Black Knights parachute team. He was adrenaline junkie. He was on like thousands of fitness covers. When people see him, they'll recognize him. His body was actually used for a lot of Marvel characters. It wasn't actually the actors at that time. So like Green Lantern, I want to say who played him. Matt Damon, that was not Matt Damon's body. That was Greg Plitt's body. So yes, so it's pretty interesting. So during my periods in college and all that, going to personal things, I was just scouting the Internet and seeing stuff. And I came across him like amazing shape, 24 seven successful in the army. Then it was a model. Then it was a motivational speaker and actually was present with people. And at expos, he had thousands of people online. Frank Hereda (49:19.438) Okay. Oh, interesting. Derick Johnson (49:43.287) Every single person would cry when they walked up to him. And I was like that he's the man that that's the guy. So Greg Plitt hands down my favorite recipes, Greg Plitt. But if you get a chance to go to YouTube and you'll see what I'm talking about. But he was the real deal. And so after that, I'm certified via Tony Robbins life coaching certifications. I've always had respect for Tony Robbins, just the lives he impacted and also just helped me as well. Besides that, in regards to right now. Definitely Andy for Sela. Frank Hereda (49:49.026) That's cool. Derick Johnson (50:13.431) Andy Frisello is one of my favorites. I'm just always like straightforward to the point. Here's my life, here's where we're at, here's what we're gonna do, and there's no acting. Frank Hereda (50:18.936) Yeah. Frank Hereda (50:23.574) I bought some of his books for my son. Yeah, he's got, yep. Yeah. That's what I mean. I bought all the kids books, uh, that he wrote for my son who's a seven. And, uh, so I like him a lot too. And I like TR so that's cool. Derick Johnson (50:25.751) Awesome. Yeah, so he has the kids. He has the kids books as well. Awesome. That's amazing. Derick Johnson (50:41.063) So yeah, I would definitely say number one was Greg Plitt, number two, Tony Robbins, and three in that six year period where I was doing a lot of learning and growing and scaling the business, the MFCO project is podcast. Now it's called really F, but the MFCO project come the mother fuck CEO, Andy Frisella. That podcast helped me more than any business book, any investment in a mentor. I guess it's insane. All the episodes are still on there. People can scroll up to the beginning, but. Everything that I went through in business, I learned from his podcast. Like I would be going through. Yes, Andy for sellers. His old podcast was called the MFCO project. Now it's called really if but all the episodes are still on it. You just have to scroll back several years and then you can see the topics and all of that relates. And it was just insane like how much free value he was putting out there. So definitely him. Frank Hereda (51:13.459) Andy Frisellos. Okay, gotcha. Frank Hereda (51:28.788) Interesting. Frank Hereda (51:34.05) That's what's great, you know? When people do that, I think that shows their genuine character. Derick Johnson (51:42.807) Exactly. 100%. So those three gentlemen, definitely there's others. But to me, I like to look at the top dogs that are actually leading by example and making a positive impact, not just good at sales. I mean, I learned a shit ton of sales from Grant Cardone. I love Grant, but I like Andy better, but it is what it is. Frank Hereda (51:58.53) Um, yeah, well, there's so many, um, that's pretty cool. And Grant puts out some good stuff as well. Um, where can people find you? Where would you want them to find you? Derick Johnson (52:10.593) People can find me on social media at fitwithderek2, the number two, so as fitwithderek. And then my coaching website is fitwithderek.com. I just like to show real people, real results, and I love having video testimonials of the clients so people can see what they overcame, the lights back in their eyes, and just their overall confidence and energy. So I bring the fitness and the life coaching. I don't necessarily like using the title life coach because just thrown out there and people are weirdos online. But that's why I like to show real people and their results. But they can find me a fit with Derek. Frank Hereda (52:44.882) Okay. Cool. Yeah. Coaching, uh, has really, I do more of the business side. So I tell people, they go to my website, frankarita.com, but it's like, there's so many people out there throwing, you know, any coaching out there just as a, and they don't really have any certification or training or, you know, like you do or like I do. So, um, I think it's great. And I didn't say in the beginning of the call, my dad was in the army. Derick Johnson (52:49.993) You know what I'm saying. Derick Johnson (53:00.785) Yes. Frank Hereda (53:10.794) My grandfather's run the military. Thank you for your service. We appreciate it. I think. Absolutely. And, um, so great. Well, I'll make sure, you know, we'll put any links to any of your sites in the, uh, in the show notes. Um, and we appreciate your time. Thanks buddy. It's been great. Derick Johnson (53:14.553) Guys, appreciate it, man. Derick Johnson (53:28.675) Appreciate you having me, Frank. Thank you. Frank Hereda (53:31.042) All right, and we'll see everybody on the next episode of Focus Free Fit. Take care, everybody.