Coach Ted talks about the advantage and importance of community.
Community
arrow_drop_down_circle
Divider Text
[Block//Author//First Name] [Block//Author//Last Name] [Block//Date Added %M j, Y g:i a%+0d0h0m]
[Block//Comment]
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
0:01 Jon
Just before we recorded today's podcast, Coach Ted got pretty emotional. And I think it's appropriate for me to share what happened since this episode is about community. If you've trained at the gym this week, you've seen a lot of additional gear on the floor. That purchase was delivered on Saturday and so many in our community set aside their morning to help receive that shipment, which included about one zillion pounds of weight and dumbbells and racks and such. Well that shipment was supposed to arrive around 10 and didn't get there until about one. So, first thanks to everyone who put a slot on their calendar in the morning. And then an enormous thanks to Tom and Susan and to Jerry and Lisa for sticking around until the truck actually showed up. And they got to work unloading that zillion pounds of stuff. That sense of community coming together to raise the barn so to speak. That is what got Coach all emotional. Seems he was overcome with gratitude. I'm also very grateful for this community where we hold each other to account and push each other to grow stronger. It's really something and I appreciate you. I hope you enjoy this episode.
Introduction:
Optimize your training. Optimize your nutrition. Optimize Your Life. This is The Ted O'Neill Program.
1:27 Jon
Welcome to The Ted O'Neill Program. Now that we've established that we can create a vision for our future and that that vision is likely to evolve as we get stronger. Let's talk about the importance of community.
1:39 Ted
Yeah, it took 30 minutes of backstory to kind of get to that jumping off place but I felt that was really important to frame that as I think what happens a lot of time with this type of work is people jump ahead. (Yeah) Without really addressing or making a proper assessment of their starting point. So, let's talk about community.
2:01 Jon
Okay. It was crucial to me, because I was just involved and I was enjoying the process and the process was there for its own sake. And then interestingly, I saw a Facebook memory from three years ago today so right around now if I look at three years ago, I had probably been training with you for a few months. And so, things had already begun to take hold.
2:28 Ted
Wait, that's only three years ago? (Yeah) Four years ago?
2:32 Jon
Now it was three years ago. I think I've been training with you for about three and a half years.
2:38 Ted
Didn't we build the media room during COVID. (Yes) So it must be four years. But regardless of three years ago, (yeah) whatever.
2:47 Jon
So let's say at that three year mark, or the three year memory that I just saw, maybe I was a year in, enough of the results had begun to take shape that my posture had changed. My, just what I was communicating outwardly had begun to transform and even when I looked at that picture from three years ago, certainly wasn't complete, but I had made noticeable progress enough that I was able to begin to redefine what it meant in my life. A lot of that though, had to do with the fact that I had all new associations I had made without losing any of my old friends, maybe a couple of my old friends, but I had made a bunch of new friends who had reframed what success in every measure of the definition meant to me.
3:35 Ted
Yes, so we're going to talk about I'm still a little bit really in about the three years thing, and here's why. So I promise I'm not gonna go down a rabbit hole on this. But even after doing this for so long, to hear that now, and also considering how many podcasts we've done, or how long we've been doing this, that seems like almost, it's an almost an impossibly short amount of linear time, considering the magnitude of the journey that you've been on. Like for example, if you were still in this phase of losing that initial weight that would be an acceptable amount of time. (You're right) Right, it's in fact, considered really, really exceptionally good progress. And I feel like the majority of that story was putting the can out like two years ago, and then it's been kind of an evolving process since then. (Yeah) So this speaks to the speed at which we can completely redefine ourselves. And you're talking about having new associations around you and maybe losing some old friends. And so, what generally happens, a lot of times when we're in a state of deep dysregulation, it's not uncommon to find that many of those around you that you've considered friends. Were maybe just more casual acquaintances that were also within the same levels of suffering, same levels of behavior, and so there's not super strong ties that bind. Because if someone's really tough for me, I always risk the friendship over you know, someone's feelings if they need the wakeup call. (Yeah) Because that's going to tell us where you know, I don't enable anyone's destruction. In other words, it's not always for me to jump in and do something about it. But if someone asks for my opinion, then they're going to get it and I'm not going to enable their weakness. And a lot of times and that for them, sends them on a certain path away from me. So, in your case, you did the opposite. As you're making new associations affirming yourself in a positive way, you make new associations with new people who are on a similar journey, as opposed to those going in the opposite direction. We would call that entrainment. (Yes) So human beings are great entrainers. And if you're not familiar with the concept of entrainment, just Google it and go down some rabbit holes there because it's a valuable exercise and understanding how the universe itself works. This is not specific to just human beings, all energy ultimately, in one way or another, entrains to whatever the dominant frequency is around it. And you know, you can feel this if you walk into a room of some really positive people, some very motivating people. Based on their demonstration, you generally don't feel doubt. (Yeah) You're gonna feel uplifted. If you walk into a place where everyone's full of gossip and frustration and anxiety and depression. You're gonna feel that it's a pretty palpable thing as well. So, this idea of community who you choose to surround yourself with is so important that not only are we very selective on who participates at Lifted Academy, and it doesn't mean we don't include people based on their starting point. That's not what I'm getting at all. It's past that point what somebody is choosing.
6:59 Jon
You often hear reference in analysis of championship teams about the environment in the locker room. (Yeah) When we talk about your community, we're not necessarily talking about individual choices, although there will be some choices that you make about certain individuals in your life. But usually what it is you choose a locker room or a clubhouse, and once you choose that clubhouse, then it comes with different dynamics that you probably may not have individually chosen, but when they exist together in a cohesive environment. That environment gives you something to entrain to and then when you begin doing that, you start to have clarity for your vision for your future, because you start imagining things, your exposure to people into environments and to everything that comes along with that clubhouse gives you a reflection of yourself that you weren't prepared to make in your imagination.
7:59 Ted
It expands the boundaries of what you perceive to be potential. (Yeah, there you go) When you're in a place with people of higher demonstration, or at the very least those that are seeking it. You all of a sudden can attune to a greater mission. You know, for me as a powerlifting coach, one of the things that I always did for my training groups was the idea that you wanted to graduate from group to group until you were in the main group. (Yeah) So I would have people have similar strength levels training together. (Yeah) And you get to see them who rises to the top and it's a really interesting study, and the way relationships are formed and human psychology in and of itself, where sometimes you can have the person who's the strongest in the group, not be someone who's the most forward thinking or group supportive and it kind of holds everyone back. And this is kind of in sports in general. We hear someone you'll hear as old, like a sportscaster was talking about players that make their teammates better versus those who are great stars who don't make anyone better. (Yep. Yep) They're just great individual talents. This is really a thing. I've had some of our best lifters be some of the ones that were the most unexpected. I'll give you a great example of someone who's currently with us Denee Zah when she started and never lifted weights before she came in, she's 51 years old. She has in her estimation, a bad back and a bad knee. So, lifting weights isn't on her radar. She was getting treatment from Doctor Vitz. The only time she had to train was essentially with the powerlifting team. And at this point, this is a team of very highly established veterans. Were about 12 deep of guys that could all total probably 2000 or more. I don't remember all the girls who were training at that time but I'm sure they were pretty established. I think we had a couple of world record holders in that group amongst the women. And, you know, being new to that of just being new to training at all, much less being in that shark tank is a monumental endeavor. Well, a lot of those people, whether they retired or moved or quit or moved on and whatever capacity that they did that and then ultimately the last one standing was Denee. Now, if at any time in her first year, you were to say this is someone who someday will hold the all-time world records in all of her lifts for her weight class, it would have seemed like an absurd proposition. She was the newest of the new. At that point, just wanting to get stronger didn't come in and said I'm going to be a powerlifter. Her brother was my longest tenured training partner. So that's a little bit how they got the spa because I wasn't taking new members at that time. It was through Dr. Vitz recommended that she wanted to see her get stronger. And it wasn't an easy first year for Denee. She hung in there right guaranteed to give me 100 People in the same circumstance. She's the one who would have made it. Everyone else would have cut and run because it was not an easy environment to be in, especially for someone who's new and not already had a high level of achievement. But she stuck with it and stuck with it, stuck with it. Now, fast forward five years, which again seems like a not long amount of time for the story. She holds the all time world record in the squat, the bench and the deadlift and total for her age and weight class and did so by beating 20 year old established marks that were legitimate world records.
11:35 Jon
Long standing world records. Wow.
11:39 Ted
So oftentimes, you know you can have people in your environment that are holding you back or it's as that deck gets reshuffled, it opens opportunities for someone else to step up and step in. So, I think constantly being aware of your environment and really seeking to always better yourself within that environment is such a huge part of giving back to it. (Yeah) That's really the essence of community, not just because there's people who come in who draft off of that and just (Yes) have to take and take from it until they bounce because I don't that's not what we do. And I often let that run its natural course because it always does. But no one's gonna come in and just continually take from the place without giving back and have that be transparent. It's always exposed ultimately through their behavior and then where they end up watching out. (Yeah) Whereas in someone else's case like Denee's case, she became a great teammate, from someone who had no idea what that even meant. She had no training in it. (Yeah) But is now one of my most trusted people on the floor. Right. So, it's, you sometimes have these stories developed where opportunities open up within the community. (Yeah) And if you've been contributing, then you often now become the person that others can train to that others look up to for guidance and respect. Like when people come in and they're new and they want you to train. It is very, very different than in your first couple months. (I'm sure of that) Right because you're now one of the standard bearers to wear when you're out there. And people are like, Man, that guy, you know, he just did five rounds of that crazy condition and he's not even winded. Whereas when you started, you're just you had you had an idea but you were kind of clinging on for dear life. You were a little bit dizzy.
13:26 Jon
Famously so, you know, but the other thing that happens is that when you're in a community that demands the best of you, then you know, then you deliver and you feel an obligation to deliver that's really, really rewarding. I mean, a few examples of the people in my training environment. You know, sometimes Larry will walk by and go, is that enough? Wait, John, that's excellent. And then I go, Yeah, I'm working up from here, Larry, or Gary or Matt, one of the two of them will look over their shoulder and go, let's go one more.
13:59 Ted
This is exactly what good training partners do. They don't nest simply into the familiar and continue to repeat it. They challenge themselves and each other. (Yeah) And we've had some historic groups, not just in condition like you're mentioning, but on the powerlifting side, and this is oftentimes the path to world records where you have people pushing each other to do things that was seemingly impossible, and oftentimes even outside of that person's vision for the day, and then they get kind of called out or challenged on something that everyone steps up as Okay, now we've ascended to a new level, what's going to happen next, like how can we actually redouble this level of intensity (Yeah) in our next training? So yeah, great training partners will always tell you the truth. They will always make an attempt to lift you up even if on the outside and might not initially feel that way. I've had some really great training partners who aren't people that I would have been hanging out with and going to dinner with, but they brought out the best in me in some ways by forcing me to re align with what my true mission was.
Just before we recorded today's podcast, Coach Ted got pretty emotional. And I think it's appropriate for me to share what happened since this episode is about community. If you've trained at the gym this week, you've seen a lot of additional gear on the floor. That purchase was delivered on Saturday and so many in our community set aside their morning to help receive that shipment, which included about one zillion pounds of weight and dumbbells and racks and such. Well that shipment was supposed to arrive around 10 and didn't get there until about one. So, first thanks to everyone who put a slot on their calendar in the morning. And then an enormous thanks to Tom and Susan and to Jerry and Lisa for sticking around until the truck actually showed up. And they got to work unloading that zillion pounds of stuff. That sense of community coming together to raise the barn so to speak. That is what got Coach all emotional. Seems he was overcome with gratitude. I'm also very grateful for this community where we hold each other to account and push each other to grow stronger. It's really something and I appreciate you. I hope you enjoy this episode.
Introduction:
Optimize your training. Optimize your nutrition. Optimize Your Life. This is The Ted O'Neill Program.
1:27 Jon
Welcome to The Ted O'Neill Program. Now that we've established that we can create a vision for our future and that that vision is likely to evolve as we get stronger. Let's talk about the importance of community.
1:39 Ted
Yeah, it took 30 minutes of backstory to kind of get to that jumping off place but I felt that was really important to frame that as I think what happens a lot of time with this type of work is people jump ahead. (Yeah) Without really addressing or making a proper assessment of their starting point. So, let's talk about community.
2:01 Jon
Okay. It was crucial to me, because I was just involved and I was enjoying the process and the process was there for its own sake. And then interestingly, I saw a Facebook memory from three years ago today so right around now if I look at three years ago, I had probably been training with you for a few months. And so, things had already begun to take hold.
2:28 Ted
Wait, that's only three years ago? (Yeah) Four years ago?
2:32 Jon
Now it was three years ago. I think I've been training with you for about three and a half years.
2:38 Ted
Didn't we build the media room during COVID. (Yes) So it must be four years. But regardless of three years ago, (yeah) whatever.
2:47 Jon
So let's say at that three year mark, or the three year memory that I just saw, maybe I was a year in, enough of the results had begun to take shape that my posture had changed. My, just what I was communicating outwardly had begun to transform and even when I looked at that picture from three years ago, certainly wasn't complete, but I had made noticeable progress enough that I was able to begin to redefine what it meant in my life. A lot of that though, had to do with the fact that I had all new associations I had made without losing any of my old friends, maybe a couple of my old friends, but I had made a bunch of new friends who had reframed what success in every measure of the definition meant to me.
3:35 Ted
Yes, so we're going to talk about I'm still a little bit really in about the three years thing, and here's why. So I promise I'm not gonna go down a rabbit hole on this. But even after doing this for so long, to hear that now, and also considering how many podcasts we've done, or how long we've been doing this, that seems like almost, it's an almost an impossibly short amount of linear time, considering the magnitude of the journey that you've been on. Like for example, if you were still in this phase of losing that initial weight that would be an acceptable amount of time. (You're right) Right, it's in fact, considered really, really exceptionally good progress. And I feel like the majority of that story was putting the can out like two years ago, and then it's been kind of an evolving process since then. (Yeah) So this speaks to the speed at which we can completely redefine ourselves. And you're talking about having new associations around you and maybe losing some old friends. And so, what generally happens, a lot of times when we're in a state of deep dysregulation, it's not uncommon to find that many of those around you that you've considered friends. Were maybe just more casual acquaintances that were also within the same levels of suffering, same levels of behavior, and so there's not super strong ties that bind. Because if someone's really tough for me, I always risk the friendship over you know, someone's feelings if they need the wakeup call. (Yeah) Because that's going to tell us where you know, I don't enable anyone's destruction. In other words, it's not always for me to jump in and do something about it. But if someone asks for my opinion, then they're going to get it and I'm not going to enable their weakness. And a lot of times and that for them, sends them on a certain path away from me. So, in your case, you did the opposite. As you're making new associations affirming yourself in a positive way, you make new associations with new people who are on a similar journey, as opposed to those going in the opposite direction. We would call that entrainment. (Yes) So human beings are great entrainers. And if you're not familiar with the concept of entrainment, just Google it and go down some rabbit holes there because it's a valuable exercise and understanding how the universe itself works. This is not specific to just human beings, all energy ultimately, in one way or another, entrains to whatever the dominant frequency is around it. And you know, you can feel this if you walk into a room of some really positive people, some very motivating people. Based on their demonstration, you generally don't feel doubt. (Yeah) You're gonna feel uplifted. If you walk into a place where everyone's full of gossip and frustration and anxiety and depression. You're gonna feel that it's a pretty palpable thing as well. So, this idea of community who you choose to surround yourself with is so important that not only are we very selective on who participates at Lifted Academy, and it doesn't mean we don't include people based on their starting point. That's not what I'm getting at all. It's past that point what somebody is choosing.
6:59 Jon
You often hear reference in analysis of championship teams about the environment in the locker room. (Yeah) When we talk about your community, we're not necessarily talking about individual choices, although there will be some choices that you make about certain individuals in your life. But usually what it is you choose a locker room or a clubhouse, and once you choose that clubhouse, then it comes with different dynamics that you probably may not have individually chosen, but when they exist together in a cohesive environment. That environment gives you something to entrain to and then when you begin doing that, you start to have clarity for your vision for your future, because you start imagining things, your exposure to people into environments and to everything that comes along with that clubhouse gives you a reflection of yourself that you weren't prepared to make in your imagination.
7:59 Ted
It expands the boundaries of what you perceive to be potential. (Yeah, there you go) When you're in a place with people of higher demonstration, or at the very least those that are seeking it. You all of a sudden can attune to a greater mission. You know, for me as a powerlifting coach, one of the things that I always did for my training groups was the idea that you wanted to graduate from group to group until you were in the main group. (Yeah) So I would have people have similar strength levels training together. (Yeah) And you get to see them who rises to the top and it's a really interesting study, and the way relationships are formed and human psychology in and of itself, where sometimes you can have the person who's the strongest in the group, not be someone who's the most forward thinking or group supportive and it kind of holds everyone back. And this is kind of in sports in general. We hear someone you'll hear as old, like a sportscaster was talking about players that make their teammates better versus those who are great stars who don't make anyone better. (Yep. Yep) They're just great individual talents. This is really a thing. I've had some of our best lifters be some of the ones that were the most unexpected. I'll give you a great example of someone who's currently with us Denee Zah when she started and never lifted weights before she came in, she's 51 years old. She has in her estimation, a bad back and a bad knee. So, lifting weights isn't on her radar. She was getting treatment from Doctor Vitz. The only time she had to train was essentially with the powerlifting team. And at this point, this is a team of very highly established veterans. Were about 12 deep of guys that could all total probably 2000 or more. I don't remember all the girls who were training at that time but I'm sure they were pretty established. I think we had a couple of world record holders in that group amongst the women. And, you know, being new to that of just being new to training at all, much less being in that shark tank is a monumental endeavor. Well, a lot of those people, whether they retired or moved or quit or moved on and whatever capacity that they did that and then ultimately the last one standing was Denee. Now, if at any time in her first year, you were to say this is someone who someday will hold the all-time world records in all of her lifts for her weight class, it would have seemed like an absurd proposition. She was the newest of the new. At that point, just wanting to get stronger didn't come in and said I'm going to be a powerlifter. Her brother was my longest tenured training partner. So that's a little bit how they got the spa because I wasn't taking new members at that time. It was through Dr. Vitz recommended that she wanted to see her get stronger. And it wasn't an easy first year for Denee. She hung in there right guaranteed to give me 100 People in the same circumstance. She's the one who would have made it. Everyone else would have cut and run because it was not an easy environment to be in, especially for someone who's new and not already had a high level of achievement. But she stuck with it and stuck with it, stuck with it. Now, fast forward five years, which again seems like a not long amount of time for the story. She holds the all time world record in the squat, the bench and the deadlift and total for her age and weight class and did so by beating 20 year old established marks that were legitimate world records.
11:35 Jon
Long standing world records. Wow.
11:39 Ted
So oftentimes, you know you can have people in your environment that are holding you back or it's as that deck gets reshuffled, it opens opportunities for someone else to step up and step in. So, I think constantly being aware of your environment and really seeking to always better yourself within that environment is such a huge part of giving back to it. (Yeah) That's really the essence of community, not just because there's people who come in who draft off of that and just (Yes) have to take and take from it until they bounce because I don't that's not what we do. And I often let that run its natural course because it always does. But no one's gonna come in and just continually take from the place without giving back and have that be transparent. It's always exposed ultimately through their behavior and then where they end up watching out. (Yeah) Whereas in someone else's case like Denee's case, she became a great teammate, from someone who had no idea what that even meant. She had no training in it. (Yeah) But is now one of my most trusted people on the floor. Right. So, it's, you sometimes have these stories developed where opportunities open up within the community. (Yeah) And if you've been contributing, then you often now become the person that others can train to that others look up to for guidance and respect. Like when people come in and they're new and they want you to train. It is very, very different than in your first couple months. (I'm sure of that) Right because you're now one of the standard bearers to wear when you're out there. And people are like, Man, that guy, you know, he just did five rounds of that crazy condition and he's not even winded. Whereas when you started, you're just you had you had an idea but you were kind of clinging on for dear life. You were a little bit dizzy.
13:26 Jon
Famously so, you know, but the other thing that happens is that when you're in a community that demands the best of you, then you know, then you deliver and you feel an obligation to deliver that's really, really rewarding. I mean, a few examples of the people in my training environment. You know, sometimes Larry will walk by and go, is that enough? Wait, John, that's excellent. And then I go, Yeah, I'm working up from here, Larry, or Gary or Matt, one of the two of them will look over their shoulder and go, let's go one more.
13:59 Ted
This is exactly what good training partners do. They don't nest simply into the familiar and continue to repeat it. They challenge themselves and each other. (Yeah) And we've had some historic groups, not just in condition like you're mentioning, but on the powerlifting side, and this is oftentimes the path to world records where you have people pushing each other to do things that was seemingly impossible, and oftentimes even outside of that person's vision for the day, and then they get kind of called out or challenged on something that everyone steps up as Okay, now we've ascended to a new level, what's going to happen next, like how can we actually redouble this level of intensity (Yeah) in our next training? So yeah, great training partners will always tell you the truth. They will always make an attempt to lift you up even if on the outside and might not initially feel that way. I've had some really great training partners who aren't people that I would have been hanging out with and going to dinner with, but they brought out the best in me in some ways by forcing me to re align with what my true mission was.
LISTEN TO MORE EPISODES
LISTEN TO MORE EPISODES
clear
Lifted Academy™ is a high-level coaching platform designed to lift its members to their highest level of fulfillment, purpose, and freedom through the implementation of world-class curricula in the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual planes of experience.
Turn your biggest weakness into your greatest strength.