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Speech Transcript

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[00:00:00] Hey, time to shine today podcast varsity squad. It is Scott Ferguson, and I am super pumped, fired up, stoked to bring you my good buddy, Allan Misner from 40 plus fitness. This guy is a top 0. 5 percent podcaster with his podcast in called 40 plus fitness. It’s amazing. , being, being 52, I tune into every one of them.

His story of kind of not being committed and seeing commitment through early on and how his daughter really changed his life and his outlook is just amazing. So, trust me, you’re going to want to share this with anybody that’s really looking to level up, not just their health, but also their mindset.

Share this with them or hit the like or subscribe button. My sponsors and affiliates absolutely love that. And I honestly have three pages of notes. So you might want to break out your notebook as well, because here comes my really good friend, Ellen Misner from 40 plus fitness. Let’s level up.

L. Scott Ferguson: Time to shine today. Podcast varsity squad. This is Scott Ferguson and. I got, [00:01:00] took up a lot of my guy’s time here off the mic, a good 15 minutes, just kind of picking his brain and kind of digging into his past a little bit. But it’s my really good friend, Allan Misner, who has 40 plus fitness. And this gentleman, I don’t care.

I can, , log, , block this out, but he’s like 58 years old. He looks fricking amazing. Takes care of himself. Him and I were off mic talking about, this is how it’s supposed to be with me being 52, my lady being 59, him being 58. And it’s just, he looks amazing. His energy is amazing. Dropped some serious knowledge nuggets on me off the mic and I can’t wait to kind of roll into the, what he’s going to help you out with.

But Coach Allen is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer, a Precision Nutrition Level 2 Master Health Coach, and a Functional Aging Institute Certified Functional Aging Specialist. He has earned specialties in behavior change, corrective exercise, performance enhancement, fitness, nutrition, and online personal training.

He is the host of the 0. 5 percent globally. That’s like Rogan stuff here at squad. His, his podcast [00:02:00] is recognized in the top, less than 1 percent in the world. And again, he is the host of the 40 plus fitness podcast and is the author of the award winning book, the wellness roadmap, a straightforward guide to health and fitness after the age of 40.

And coach, thank you so much for coming on. Please introduce yourself to time to shine today. Podcast varsity squad, but first. What’s your favorite color and why it’s gold gold of that? All I see is gold.

Allan Misner: Yeah. Well, , it’s, well, it’s kind of the funny thing, , is, is growing up as a kid and, and no, I’ve never lived in Pittsburgh, but I was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

Okay. And you might know this. Okay. If you’re around my age. Okay. When I was six, seven, eight years old, I’m watching this. This is mean Joe green, Terry Bradshaw and swan, , Every single person on that team should pretty much be in the hall of fame right now if they’re not already there. And so it was, it was watching them.

And then when I decided to go to college I went to Southern miss and their color is also gold black and gold. So it’s just, it’s just [00:03:00] kind of been this thing that’s followed me along. And yeah, when I see gold, I just, I feel good.

L. Scott Ferguson: Were you there when Favre was there?

Allan Misner: I was never saw him play in person because I was the guy working my way through school with different jobs.

So every Saturday I was managing a restaurant. I was, I was managing a restaurant, listening to the game on the radio. So I’d never actually seen him. And I had a friend who was a cheerleader, smartest guy I’ve ever met. Cause he said, look, I live in the athletic dorms. I get to work out with the players and I get to ride to the games with the cheerleaders.

Ooh, that’s a rough one. Date their friends. Date their friends who are hotter than them. That’s awesome. And don’t even want to be cheerleaders because they’re that hot. Love

L. Scott Ferguson: it.

Allan Misner: Yeah. So he was good friends with Brett. Okay. And one day he brought him into the restaurant. So I met Brett. Nice. He walks in. I think he’s like a linebacker that, , I played high school ball linebackers with big, huge dudes.

He walks in six foot, , six foot five, six at six, comes in and he goes [00:04:00] to shake my hand. And I’m shaking his hand and his fingers. Touch around my head, like a kid, like a kid shaking a grown man’s hand and I’m like. This is why I’m not playing division one football, right? It’s

L. Scott Ferguson: crazy the athletics that there’s levels to games Yeah, I just , and also with you being a stealer fan like there is here where I live in south Florida, it’s a mixing bowl of things and like literally there’s actually a bar.

That’s all stealers in south florida I mean you show up there on a sunday. There’s a waiting line to get in and and you’re right I mean it their team in the 70s is Was, , again, like you said, mean Joe Green, L. C. Greenwood, Jack Ham, Lambert blonde. I mean, those guys were just the, the steel curtain, man.

, I’m more of a defensive oriented guy, but their offense with Brad, Sean Harris and Swan and Stallworth were unstoppable as well. But man, let’s kind of get to. Kind of the roots where you have, because off Mike, you and I were kind of joking that, , my first love was real estate and I’m lover, [00:05:00] but I’m not in love with her.

And yours was kind of like exactly different with an analogy of your kind of VP of a fortune 500 company. But let’s dig into that and kind of work with that story into how you’re helping the masses right now, 40 plus level up.

Allan Misner: Well, like I said, I was, I was an athlete in high school, , really, really playing multiple sports just all over the place.

And then, yeah, I realized I wasn’t going to make it division one. So I went on to college and I was doing my thing ended up joining an army to make sure I had some money for school. So I was infantry and doing that kind of thing. And, and so. I got, I was like at that point, like just at peak fitness, there’s like nothing I couldn’t do.

And at least that, , you’re, you’re, , of course you’re, you’re in your late, mid, late twenties. Of course you’re invincible and you’re strong and I’m lean and I’m, , able to do all these things running marathons, , just cause I wanted to ultra marathon. Cause I want to [00:06:00] all that stuff.

Well, flash forward just even 10 years later, I’m into my career. And I go to this resort in Mexico and I forced myself to take this vacation because I had gone three years without taking a single day of vacation or a single sick day. And so I, I forced myself to take a week off and go down to this beach resort.

The day I arrived, I just went upstairs and just take me upstairs and sell me one of these timeshares,

,

cause I knew if I paid for it. Well, I knew if I paid for it, I’d show up. So it was kind of one of those things of, I, okay, if I’m pot committed, I’m going to come do this. So take my money and make me do this every week.

Well, I like that

L. Scott Ferguson: in a way that’s really brilliant in a way, ? Okay. So

Allan Misner: what was really cool was they had these they had The schedule of all the events that they do every day for entertainment and one of them that was like, 11 o’clock, 10 o’clock in the morning was sand volleyball. Okay.

And again, I was really competitive in volleyball when I was younger, so I was like, [00:07:00] okay, this is gonna be cool. And so I get out there, and I almost didn’t make it through the whole first game. And this was not 2 on 2 or 4 on 4, this was 6 on 6. Right. Take a step, bump the ball, take a step. And how old were you by nine?

Because I’m thinking Army. I was 39. 39, okay. Got, yeah, I was, at this point, I’m 39, so yes, I am vice president at a Fortune 500 company, c-Suite executive. , I’ve got the job, , I’ve got the thing, what we do when we’re trying to climb the corporate ladder. Sure. I did. Didn’t, , check that box.

Okay. Absolutely. But I, I almost had to ask the staff to call an ambulance to take me to the hospital. After one game of sand volleyball. Okay. And so I’m sitting there the next morning and I’m like, what in the hell has happened? Right? , because this wasn’t who I was supposed to be, right? And I’m, I’m like, I asked a guy to take a picture of me at the time and it was like, okay, I’m gonna change this now.

It was all inclusive resort and I’d paid for the alcohol package. So I was , [00:08:00] I was pot committed there too. gotta be. So I didn’t. So I didn’t change then. Obviously, I was going to do it when I got back and I would try things and I would do things and I could tell you a thousand different stories of try and fail that I did for eight years, right?

And I was looking for research like somebody tell me what to do. I’m over 40. Why is this so hard? And then two things happened. Okay. One was my daughter and I were on the phone. She was getting into CrossFit. Okay. She was now a level one instructor. She loved this. She was like, Really get, , competing.

She was really enjoying herself. And so she calls me, we’re on the phone and she’s like, daddy, would you come watch me do this CrossFit competition? And I’m like, Whoa, I’m supposed to be a participant.

L. Scott Ferguson: Offspring at that time. Yeah.

Allan Misner: She was 20, 20. Okay.

L. Scott Ferguson: Gotcha.

Allan Misner: So I’m like, Whoa, what’s going on here? , I was 45 at the time.

I’m like, , or 46 or, , but I was like, wait, [00:09:00] I’m not supposed to be a spectator. I’m supposed to be a participant. If my daughter tells me she wants to go to a CrossFit competition, I’m like, well, can I do it? And that’s what I should have been able to say. And I couldn’t, and that was, that was a kick in the gut.

, again, I, eight years later, I still hadn’t fixed. Fundamental problem. And I’m like, okay. So I sat down, I said, okay, why have I been able to do hard things before all these hard things? Pass the CPA exam on the first try make it to the sweet suite by 39. I was in a ranger unit when I was in the Army and I’m busting ass with rangers even though I had not gone to ranger school.

Sure. So I’m doing all this stuff and I’m like, why is this different? Is this actually harder? Right. And I came to the realization that it wasn’t. But my approach was not the same. [00:10:00] Because when I was doing those other hard things, I was committed. Right. I was obsessed and fanatical. There was no fail.

Right. I hadn’t done this with my health and fitness yet. Gotcha. Cause you kind of were kind of

L. Scott Ferguson: taking that for granted through the years in a sense up until the picture was taken when you’re 39. Okay. I feel you. Gotcha.

Allan Misner: So I, now I hear him. Yeah. I’m, I’m, , we’re practically eight years later and I’m like, okay, this is, this is not, this is not good.

And then I finally said, okay, I haven’t committed. I haven’t gotten fanatical. So I started looking for resources. Okay, let’s find a book. Okay, so I’m looking for books. Amazon existed at this point, so it’s pretty easy. I was looking for books. The only books I could find for people over the age of 40 was chair yoga and stretching.

Just, just go stretch and die. I mean, that’s how I felt about it. Like, this is ridiculous, right? I can’t do [00:11:00] what 20 year olds do. I can’t go and do the insanity workout with Sean T no matter how much I like it and it looks fun, I can’t do that. I’m not capable. I break, I break myself. And so I was like, that wasn’t that I was looking for podcasts.

I was looking for anything. And there was even an online coach. I was like, can I find someone who would coach me online? Right. Nothing. There were some online coaches, , bodybuilding prep, show prep, some powerlifting coaches, but really no general pop or older, , population online coaches, which would have been perfect for me because as a C suite executive, I was traveling like 90 percent of the time.

So 90 percent of the time travel, if you do the math, I’m home one weekend a month. So I can’t really try and I can’t, I can’t hire a coach, local coach and say, Hey. Train me one week in a month. I’m not going to get there. So I decided to become my own coach again, fanatical. So I went and got the certifications.

I went and all the certs, most of the certifications [00:12:00] you’re talking about there earlier, those, I went and got those, I got those to be my own trainer. Gotcha. Okay, so now, now I know what personal trainers know. And so I started training myself. Gotcha. Now, I also knew my behavior and the way I am it’s classically called type A, but I call it, I call it, I call it high challenge.

I like having a challenge. I like something scary and hard in front of me. So I called up my daughter and I said, Hey. How about we do a Tough Mudder? Ooh, there you go. Ooh, she’s a level one CrossFit coach, and I have no business signing up for a Tough Mudder at this point in my life. But, I knew if I had that scary big thing in front of me, I’d get there.

You’d dig in, yeah. And I committed myself to say, I don’t want to just go to a Tough Mudder with her. And then her either leave me behind or feel like she has to stay back with me. [00:13:00] Gotcha. I was like, I want her to run as hard as she wants to run and I want to run her race. Right, right. Okay. Which meant I had to fundamentally change my life.

Gotcha. And my body. Yeah. A hundred percent. So I, over the course of 11 months, this was eight months that I gave myself to get this done. So I’d started losing some weight cause I made that initial commitment. when I said, I’m not going to do this. When I actually sat down and said, no, I’m going to do this Tough Mudder.

Over the course of 11 months, I lost 66 pounds of fat. Wow. And I put on 11 pounds of muscle.

L. Scott Ferguson: Oh, yeah. What were you weighing then at your heaviest, fattest? The reason I can say that because I was 317 pounds with about seven chins at one time. So, ,

Allan Misner: I don’t know. I honestly, I honestly don’t know how much I weighed.

What I do know is that when I weighed myself. And I went and got a DEXA scan and everything. And since I made that commitment, I’m like, okay, let’s take the, let’s draw the line [00:14:00] in the sand. Okay. Where am I right now? Get the facts. Absolutely. So I got a DEXA scan done, got weighed. At the time they weighed me, I weighed just under 260 pounds.

Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. When I completed the Tough Mudder, when I went to go for the Tough Mudder, and I came back from that, I went and got the second DEXA scan, this was 11 months later, or almost 12 I weighed 205. My body fat had gone from 47 to 19. Hell

L. Scott Ferguson: yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah, that’s where it’s at, the BMI, man, and like, so much.

Without a doubt.

Allan Misner: Wow. Okay. And so we did the Tough Mudder together. I ran the race with her and we finished together. So here we are coming in now. The Tough Mudder is 12 to 13 miles. It’s in terrain that is tough, , cause this is where ATVs go and stuff like that, so this is, this is not just a run.

This is, this is rough terrain and difficult to get through. And then they just, they throw in 25 [00:15:00] obstacles to just salt it up a little bit. , it’s flavor in there. Yeah. And so. One of the last deals was an electric challenge. So there’s these electrodes hanging from rods and then you’re running through and basically there’s water and, and then there’s ripples in the mud underneath, like, , rows.

And so as you’re running, you can’t just run. You got to pay attention. You’re stepping in the water and there’s these hanging electrodes that are going to hit your body and send enough electricity that it will put you on your face.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right, right.

Allan Misner: Okay. This is part of the race,

L. Scott Ferguson: right?

Allan Misner: This is part of the race.

Yes. Yeah. We’re coming up on this, on this obstacle. And there’s like 25 guys standing there looking at the obstacle and they’re just the trepidation. You can just see the fear. And I knew because they were watching guys run and hit those wires and fall face first, try to get up, that’s the instinct. And get hit again [00:16:00] and go down again.

So every one of these guys was just looking at like, holy hell, man, that hurts. That looks like that’s really bad. I don’t, , so we’re running up on this. My, my daughter’s like, what do you want to do? I’m like, just go around. And we’ll meet on the other side, right? She’s like, we’re going to go right past them.

I’m like, yeah, she said, we’re not going to wait. I’m like, no, go. We both separate. We come back together. I grab her hand and we run through. Okay. Now the electrodes did hit and you can feel them because your leg would start to feel like it was going to go numb or that kind of thing. But we ran right through and we finished that race holding hands.

Nice. Zach, that’s, that’s a memory. It is seared in my brain, just like when she was born and she wrapped her fingers, hands around my pinky and just like walking her down the aisle just two years ago. And I know, I know if I had not made that commitment when she told me to come watch her do a CrossFit [00:17:00] competition, I might not have been there.

Yeah. Okay. So those, those are the moments now I’ll give you guys a little hint. If you ever do a Tough Mudder and you’re running through that, hold someone else’s hand because the distribution of charge between two people is going to help you get through that a lot easier. Okay. So I cheated a little bit because I know a little bit about electricity.

Cause I have an associate’s degree in physics, but that said , We went right through it. She felt great. I felt great. And so it was just really one of the most wonderful moments in my life. I love that. I’m so glad I did that.

L. Scott Ferguson: That thank you for sharing that. So what is, okay. So there’s a lot of, okay.

I have competed in a lot of bodybuilding competitions and I’ve had those online coaches and whatnot, but a couple of them are just cookie cutter. I catch them cookie, like cutting and pasting from other clients, whatever. So. What do you think then makes a great because a lot of your work is virtual or like, zooming [00:18:00] and stuff like that because again, thank you for sharing that about fathom earlier But what do you think makes a great coach?

Allan Misner: Okay a great coach Meets you where you are and moves you to where you want to be

L. Scott Ferguson: love that

Allan Misner: Okay. So this is not about meeting you for a certain number of hours. This is not about just saying, okay, I want you to put on muscle mass or lose body fat or whatever. It’s what you need. So shorts, I’ll tell you a short story.

It won’t be very long. Okay. So my grandfather, Glen loved, loved, loved golf. He lived on a golf course. He played golf every day until he was 80. And then he quit golf and I’m, so I’m with him one time. I’m like, okay, grandpa, why, why won’t you, aren’t you going out with the guy? She’s like, well, my bAllance and everything.

I said, I can’t swing a club anymore. And I [00:19:00] was like, oh, that’s terrible. You want to go hit some balls? Just the two of us. We’ll just go here and work on your bAllance. She’s like, no, no, I can’t do it. I’ve tried. I’m like, okay. Now a lot of people say, well, he’s 80 years old. Okay. , that’s, he’s an old man that you, sometimes you gotta, you gotta put your clubs away.

Right. Right. He lived until he was 95. So the last 15 years of his life, he didn’t get to do the thing he loved the most. The most.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Allan Misner: Okay. Now, flash forward to 90, he can’t make it from his chair to the bathroom in time. Oh, gotcha. He has to call down at the desk. He lived in this assisted care facility place with apartments, but they would have to come to his apartment and clean him up because he couldn’t even do that.

Okay. So I tell people I want to be able to wipe my own ass when I’m 105 love it. Okay.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it.

Allan Misner: A hundred percent. Yeah, man. Okay. And what that means is that I want to live [00:20:00] my life on my terms. I want to do the things I love. I want to be independent. I want to take care of myself. And I want to be able to take care of my wife and do those other things.

So when I’m coaching someone, it’s really, what do you really want? And if I’m talking to someone and I’m like, okay, well, what do you want now? Sure. And for most people, it’s like, well, I’d like to cut 25 pounds, 60 pounds, whatever I’m like, okay, what do you want next? And most people have never thought about the next.

Okay. The next is where your life is going. So if someone tells me I used to play, I used to play tennis. And I loved it, but with my ankles and this and that, I can’t play. Yeah. And I’m like, well, we need to get that back for you. Yeah. Yeah. , I’m not going to play around and just say, let’s get rid of 60 pounds.

You’ll feel so much better. Your energy will be high, but I want you to then be able to go out there and build the conditioning necessary so you can start [00:21:00] playing. And maybe it’s pickleball you play instead. I don’t care. But you’re still moving. I want you to be out there doing the things that you love as long as you pops.

I want you to be independent as long as you possibly can. And if you find yourself now in your thirties, forties, fifties, and you can’t open a pickle jar. Right. You ain’t getting no pickles. Yeah, a hundred percent man. , and if you have asked somebody else to open that, you are now no longer independent.

True. And if you need a tool to do it, you’re no longer independent. And so absolutely. As we look at our lives and we think about, well, what do I really need? And what do I really want? Yeah. , so at the time, the, the tough mutter I needed or wanted to be able to do a tough mutter. Yeah. So that’s what my fitness looked like.

Sure. I was a maniac, right? Freaking maniac with my training. And I was able to sprint at that low. I will do it. That was awesome. But there’s other times when people can’t do that and they want something more. You could call it benign, but it’s important to them. [00:22:00] Okay. So, , you want to put on a little bit of muscle mass because you realize, okay, I don’t really look very good.

I don’t feel very good. I don’t have much energy. Or if it’s a lady, it’s, it could be okay. My bone density, the doctor’s telling me I’m starting to show osteopenia and osteoporosis. So you’re like, okay, I need to build some bone density. He’s telling me to do some exercise, to build some bone density. And so when I have that conversation with her, I’m like, okay.

Okay. This is resistance exercise, right? So I’m going to give you some resistance exercises to help you build a little bit more muscle. It’s going to be hard. Sure. You’re a woman and it’s in your older, so it’s going to come slow, but we can build bone density. And that’s what we need to focus on. I love that you’re

L. Scott Ferguson: kind of really niche into what that person wants.

Cause , even one of my speeches that I give is, , I like people ask, what do I want or what’s my definition of what I want or success. It’s living a life of options, not obligations. If [00:23:00] you’re obligated to that fricking wheelchair or you’re obligated that couch, it’s not fun, right? , so let me ask you this then when you’re in talking with a client or a prospect or whatnot, is there any good questions?

That you wish they would ask you, but never do?

Allan Misner: Well, I’ve, I’ve done this for almost nine years. So I’ve had a lot of, a lot of questions. I think, I think what a lot of it is, is people will have struggled. And probably the first, the main thing I hear, the first thing I hear a lot of times is I know what to do, but I don’t do it.

Okay. And so I, I wish more people would ask me, it’s like, why am I not doing it? Okay. Okay. Because we, we look at motivation like this, this magic force. Sure. I’m going to start on Monday. You and I are talking on Thursdays like, Hey, let’s start doing this [00:24:00] on Monday. Okay. When I start tomorrow, when I start tomorrow, , we’ll start Monday.

Right. Right. So we expect then Monday morning, we’re going to wake up. The alarm goes off at five 30. Motivation. And maybe it’s there. Maybe it’s there. It’s awesome. It shows up on that Monday. We love it. We’re out there doing the thing. And then three weeks later, we wake up one morning and motivation doesn’t show up.

We hit the alarm off and we go back to sleep. Yeah. Okay. So everybody thinks that motivation is this thing that, that comes. Sure. But, but what motivation is, is something entirely different. Motivation comes from doing exactly. Okay. And so there are two types of motivation. There’s accountability. And there’s self efficacy, right?

Now, accountability is easy. So you go online, you go to my website, you send me a message, and you say, Hey Allen, I need a coach to hold me accountable to do the things, yes, I already know how to do, but [00:25:00] haven’t been doing. I need accountability. It’s joining a group. So you say, I want to join the spin class, or the water aerobics class, or the whatever.

Run club. Or, , I’m going to join people and get around people that are doing what I want to do to hold me accountable. So the two levels leader is a coach, hire a coach, easy. And, and, and it’s good. It’ll get you going. Joining a group is good because they’ll be there and they’ll expect you there for their, the things to spend classes at six o’clock.

You’re there at six o’clock. Then you’re, you’re in with those people. They’re holding you accountable. So accountabilities. The easiest way to get, , to get motivated, but it’s not long lasting for the most part, because if once you’re done paying the coach, then you don’t have that anymore. If you move and you don’t have access to the group, you don’t do the thing.

So let’s say I’m going to go, you and I decide we’re going to be workout partners. And then you decide if something happens with your work schedules, like, dude, I can’t, I can’t make it anymore. Maybe Donald’s [00:26:00] traveling. I’m not going to be there. And so then what? I don’t have the accountability of my workout partner.

I don’t go right. Okay. So accountability is good. It’s a good start. I recommend most people start there. Self efficacy is a little harder. So at the leader level of self efficacy, what we have is self management, right? And this is where you become the CEO of your own health. Now, what is a business leader in a company do to make sure that things get done?

They put processes in place. Sure. Protocols. So there’s strategies and tactics. So what I was finding was I wanted to go to the gym at two o’clock in the afternoon because there were no one there and I could do all I wanted to do and get it done. Yeah. Get it done. There’s old people and a couple of college kids and I can get on every piece of equipment I want to.

Right. So, but here’s the thing. I’d pull out my gym bag and I’d go get to change. And I’d be missing something. I’d forget the shorts. I forget the shirt. Right. One day it was one shoe. [00:27:00] I don’t know how you leave one shoe out of your bag. I still to this day cannot understand why that happened, but I understood it was a, it was a break somewhere in my psyche that was like sabotaging me.

So I printed out a list of everything that needed to be in my bag, love it, laminated it. And I said, while I’m brushing my teeth every night, I’m packing this bag and I’m putting it by the door to the carport. So I have to step over it or trip over it to get out of this house. Right. And what, as soon as they implemented that tactic, that set of tactics I had my gym bag full ready.

Every single day at work. And so it, it kept me consistent at the gym. So when you’re doing self management, you’re making those things happen, right? You’re going to bed a half an hour early. So when the alarm goes off, you’re just not exhausted. You’re packing your gym bag properly. , you’re picking a gym that makes the most sense that you’re going to be able to go to consistently.[00:28:00]

I actually had three gym memberships. Yeah. Cause I lived an hour away from work. So I had one right by the office. I had one right by my house and then I built my own gym. And so, yeah, that’s a solid. And, and so I wouldn’t say go get three gym, gym memberships. You don’t necessarily need that. But I had that as a way of a no fail.

There’s no, I was, I was fanatical. So there was a no fail in my head. And I just kept doing things. If something was going to fail. I wanted to have another one. I wanted a redundancy. I wanted everything right. And so I just kept doing that as self management. Okay. Now, the most powerful one is the social piece of self efficacy.

And this is where your habits and your values align with what you’re doing. Okay. Okay. And so the easiest way for me to explain this would be a a runner. So someone goes out and starts walking. They start adding a jog to it. And, and so then they’re kind of running. And they’re like, okay, well I’ll sign up for like a race.

And they sign up for a [00:29:00] 5k and they love it. Sure. This is the funnest thing. I got a t shirt. I feel good. Right, right. I’m going to keep doing this. Okay. Now in their head, they think of themselves as a runner and what does a runner do? They run, right? Okay. So when the, when the alarm goes off in the morning, they don’t even think about it.

It’s like brushing your teeth, baby. So that’s exactly the word identity. They identify as a runner and they do what runners do. And so as you go through this process of realizing, okay, if I can put my feet in all four squares, I am 100 percent solid. Love it. Okay. And so Again, motivation doesn’t just happen, right?

You do something and you have it. So you hire a coach, you’re doing that. You join the group and you have that. Now you have your accountability, solid. You start looking and implementing. Processes, [00:30:00] basically strategies and proceed and, and, and tactics that make sure it’s easier and easier to be successful.

You do your batch cooking on Sunday. So if you’d come home when you’re tired, you’ve got good quality food sitting in your freezer, fridge, you’re, you’re, you’re making sure, okay. I know if I, if I know, if I try to work out in the evening, when I’m tired, I’m, I’m much more likely to just drive right past that gym.

Right. But if I do it in the morning, I know it got done. So, , you do those things. That’s the CEO of your own health and fitness, your own body. And then the identity comes from just doing and doing and doing until it’s a habit. Yeah, exactly. It’s like,

L. Scott Ferguson: , like McKay said it, , like motivation is like bathing.

You got to do it every day. And I love that you lead into the self efficacy with basically how habits and values aligning with that. That’s, that’s beautiful. So have you seen the movie Back to the Future?

Allan Misner: All of them. Yeah. That’s what you

L. Scott Ferguson: do. Gotcha. Let’s get that [00:31:00] DeLorean. Let’s get that DeLorean with Marty McFly.

Let’s go back to the double deuce, the 22 year old. , Allan, what kind of knowledge nuggets might you drop on him? Not so much to change anything, but to maybe help him shorten a learning curve, blast through and level up maybe just a little bit quicker.

Allan Misner: Well, I think, I think the short answer was, I didn’t think I would ever be fat.

I didn’t think I would ever be lazy because I had not been those things. I wasn’t those things. I was, , most, for most people, if you ask back, they’ll say, Allan was the hardest working person I’ve ever seen. Right. I was driven, 100% driven, whether it was athletics, when I went to college, everything I did, boom.

I’m on it, like I said, fully committed in at 22 I was just coming out of the army and going into southern miss to major in accounting. [00:32:00] Okay. Got my bachelor’s and master’s degree in three. Okay. Three and a half years, what would you tell him and well, I would tell him to stay that way, you know?

Mm-Hmm. , you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re gonna want to, , basically you’re gonna let stress change your behavior. And when stress changes your behavior, it’s typically not. A good behavior and that’s what happened. It’s like, okay, I’m eating like crap. Cause I’m traveling and this is easy. This is fast.

Get off work. You go home, go back to the hotel. There’s a hotel bar. You walk in there. It’s like, okay, I’ll have the hamburger fries and a beer. And then they bring you the beer. You drink the beer. By the time, , before the hamburger even arrives, you’re like, oh, okay, I’ll have another beer, another beer.

Yeah. And then you’re eating the hamburger and the fries. And it’s like, yeah, I’ll take another beer. And then I’ll close it out with another beer, maybe. Maybe two. And that’s my night. Then go back to home, back to [00:33:00] my room, pass out, do it all

L. Scott Ferguson: over. Yeah. So you’d say really just to stay who you are and stay who you are

Allan Misner: and don’t, don’t let this, don’t let life because again, a hundred percent, yeah.

Working that hard, putting those hours in, doing those things. Yeah. Most people would think it’s impossible. It’s impossible to get fit. It’s impossible to stay fit.

L. Scott Ferguson: That’s mediocre, baby. Winners make winners make what? Adjustments. What do mediocre people make? Excuses. Exactly. Bottom line, baby. Stop the excuses.

And so when I was

Allan Misner: trying to change and I was traveling, it was simple. It was like, okay, I’m staying at this hotel, or I could stay at this hotel or that hotel. Which hotel is better? Well, this one has better access to a better gym.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Allan Misner: Okay. I’m looking at restaurants between where my office is and where this hotel is.

What restaurants 100%. That’s right, baby. , what am I going to order before I even walk in the door? Yeah. Okay. They sit down, they say, what would you like to drink? I’m like club soda. Water. , do you have bottle [00:34:00] water? Like, sure. So they bring me a water. I, I order something that’s that it fits.

Yeah. It’s whole food. It’s exactly what I want. It’s, it’s, , I know it’s not going to weigh me down and I know it’s not, It’s not bad. It’s not best. Cause I’m not cooking it, but it is, it is what it is. So best foods I can get where I am. I used to carry food. I was this weirdo. Like they open up my bag, there’s sardines, there’s tuna.

I do it every day, baby.

L. Scott Ferguson: I

Allan Misner: do

L. Scott Ferguson: it every day.

Allan Misner: Yeah. It’s in my luggage. And they’re like, what is this? I just tell you when you’re traveling, particularly international don’t put your protein powder in a Ziploc bag. Okay. Just don’t do that.

L. Scott Ferguson: I did that before. There will be a lot of

Allan Misner: questions.

L. Scott Ferguson: So how does.

Allan, one is dash remember that little line in between your incarnation date and your expiration date. Hopefully it’s way down the line Your life date and death date. How does Allan want that dash remember because you do a lot for a lot of people Okay, but how do you want that dash remember?

Allan Misner: Well, again i’m trying to think about the context of the question But the general the context [00:35:00] is

L. Scott Ferguson: how do you want to be remembered brother?

Like, okay Well, that’s the point

Allan Misner: Yeah, no, no one’s gonna, no one’s gonna remember me as being the best internal auditor they ever met and that yes, he was the guy who was the executive that, , was in a fight every day at work. Everybody hates him. He’s, he’s the auditor. Everybody hates him. , that was my, that was where I was.

That was my legacy. Yes. I’m making the money and then I’m out. Okay. That’s not a legacy right now. I speak to thousands of people and I give them the best advice I can to improve their health and fitness. And I get messages all the time. I’ve been listening to your podcast for years. I’ve lost a hundred pounds.

Oh yeah. It makes you feel good. One woman I was talking to. Yeah. She hired me. She hired me to strength coach her because she had been following me for nine years. She’s listening to every episode. She said, I’ve listened to every episode of your podcast. And she said, I’ve lost a hundred pounds. And I’m [00:36:00] like, that’s incredible.

And she says, what, one time we were chatting, she says, you probably don’t remember this conversation. We were chatting on Facebook and something came up about the failure rate of people who lose weight and regain it. And you said that the stat you had seen was 12 percent were the people who were able to keep it off.

And then she said, you said to me, I believe you’ve probably been in the top percent many, many times in your life. And you can be in the top 10 percent of this. Right. And she said, I wrote that down. She said, it’s on my wall behind me. Someone believe I look at it every day.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Allan Misner: Okay. Yes. And so that’s what I want.

I want people to remember he was trying to help in an environment where we’re all in trouble.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Allan Misner: The obesity rate is soaring. I saw a stat this week, 1 billion people on this planet are obese. There’s only a little over 8 billion [00:37:00] of us now and 1, 1 billion. Okay. No, I’m not. I’m not going to turn 1 billion people around, but it’d be a good story.

Yeah. I know God I’ve done a lot of bad things, but Hey, 1 billion people that’s just it. That’s all I want. Love it. Yeah. So, , it’s just. It’s just one of those things of saying, yeah, I, that’s what I want. I want people to remember that I did all I could to basically give them good information and help them fix themselves.

That’s

L. Scott Ferguson: beautiful, man. So, so softly. That’s, that’s fantastic. So what, what is your definition in a, in a concise sense? What is your definition of a life well lived?

Allan Misner: I think it’s having the experiences. That you want to have.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. So I traveled,

Allan Misner: yeah, I traveled around the world myself. , that’s what I wanted to do. I took a job that [00:38:00] specifically allowed me to do that. Not just for the job, cause I did with the job, but for myself. And so I levered everything with my career, with my life to go and see and do all these things.

And I brought my daughter along with me as she was growing up. So she’s been able to see the world. And so this, those experiences, when I met my wife is again, changing your life, getting away from all this toxicity. I set myself up to be in the perfect place, the perfect time to meet my wife. Nice. Okay.

, you tell yourself never going to do that again, never, never, never going to do that again. And then we meet each other and we’re like, shit, we’re going to do it again. 100 percent brother. Right. And so we did. And it’s been the most, it was the most wonderful thing that we’ve done that we’ve been together over 10 years now, but I was in the process of taking my daughter to Asia for six weeks.

Just before that we got married. So we meet, we’re gonna [00:39:00] just, we’re gonna get married. And then now I’m, my daughter’s 21 and that’s the time I was going to take her to. Asia for six weeks, right? And so I’m like, well, I can’t just, I mean, it’s weird. We just got married and in May and now here I am in, in the summer, I’m going to take my daughter and leave for six, six weeks.

So I’m like, well, I should take my wife, but then I’m like, I can’t just take my wife and my daughter. I need to take her three kids who are also adults. And so I took all six of us on a six week trip through Asia. Yeah. , and it was that experience and being with the people you love and being, we’ll do everything we wanted to do.

So with Becca, we were out, my daughter, we were out doing CrossFit. We were finding all these CrossFits all over the Hong Kong, Australia, and we’re doing, we’re doing CrossFit workouts together. , her son’s, I mean, her son wanted to go to the gym with us one time and I’m in the gym and I said, okay, I said, have you ever done a dive bomber pushup?[00:40:00]

He’s like a what? And I said, dive bomber pushup and I showed him how to do it. And he’s like, he, he was, he could do a couple of them like, oh my God, ,

L. Scott Ferguson: And this is right after, like, how long ago was this trip? This trip was well, it would have been 10 years ago. So you were really kind of coming out of your fatty time then, right?

Like I was out. Who you are, like, that’s awesome. But you’re, you’re paying it forward like that, that that’s beautiful. Time to shine today.

Podcast Varsity Squad. We are back and Ellen, I’m definitely going to meet up with you one day. We’re gonna rap for a while. Maybe have, , maybe a brain grenade if, if not, no problem. We can, , split a burger or something, man. But yeah,

Allan Misner: we can talk about, no, no, no, that’s another thing. It’s just part of me.

If you want a beer, Have a fricking beer. Have a beer, let’s go. You’re a brown ass adult. Have a beer. Let’s go. That’s but make it a good one. Make it a good one. Don’t do a crappy

L. Scott Ferguson: beer, just No, no. You gotta have a nice IPA. But we’ll talk about some of these questions at length, but today you have five seconds, no [00:41:00] explanations.

And they can all be done that way. You ready to level up? Yes, sir. Let’s do it. Alright, Allan, what is the best leveling up advice you’ve ever received?

Allan Misner: Don’t do anything outta

L. Scott Ferguson: fear. Love it. Share one of your personal habits that contributes to your success. Commitment. Beautiful. You see me walking down the street and you’re like, Fergie, man, he looks like he’s in his doldrums a little bit.

What book might you hand me to level my mind up?

Allan Misner: Ooh, great one. It hasn’t come out yet. But it is it’s called the obvious choice by John Goodman. It’s it’s on pre sale. He’s a mentor of mine, a friend of mine. Beautiful. Most commonly used emoji,

L. Scott Ferguson: if any, when you text

Allan Misner: the

L. Scott Ferguson: wink. Nice.

Allan Misner: So nicknames growing up.

Not a lot, not a lot. I’m sorry. This says, yeah, I, I just played football and sports and not many beautiful Mises Mises it.

L. Scott Ferguson: What is your, any hidden talent and or superpower that you might have that nobody knows about until maybe [00:42:00] now?

Allan Misner: Well, I know the I know all of the states in the United States in alphabetical order.

Nice, that’s beautiful. Chess, checkers, or monopoly?

L. Scott Ferguson: Monopoly. Headline for your life? Helped people. I love that. Go to ice cream flavor? I’m gonna go with vanilla. Awesome. Me too. Actually it goes with everything. There’s a sandwich called the Myzie. My nickname for you. Sandwich called the Myzie. Build that sandwich for me.

Allan Misner: It’s got a lot of beef on it. Some veggies just to bAllance

L. Scott Ferguson: it

Allan Misner: out.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it. Love it. And favorite charity and or organization you like to give your time and or money to.

Allan Misner: I do a lot of local stuff. I live here in Bocas del Toro, and yeah, there’s not a lot here. So we’re helping out the local series. You’re the back

L. Scott Ferguson: of the community.

That’s awesome. And last question, you can elaborate on this one, but what’s the best decade of music? 60s, 70s, 80s, or 90s?

Allan Misner: I’m gonna go with the

L. Scott Ferguson: 80s. Yeah, my man. Love it. So you would I think I might [00:43:00] ask you this. Were you 80, Three or 84, 84 graduate. Yeah. I graduated high school in 84, 84. Awesome. Greatest year.

It’s the last time the Detroit Tigers won the world series. That’s a stat. Where’d you store that one? Because I’m from Detroit, man. And it’s like, I love Detroit till the day I die. And I’m like, dude, we’ve been back a couple of times, just never won it. So Ellen, how

Allan Misner: can we find

L. Scott Ferguson: you my brother?

Allan Misner: Okay. Well, you can go to 40 plus fitness com.

That’s four zero P L U S F I T N E S S. com. That’ll, that’ll point you everywhere you want to go. The podcast is listed there. The book’s listed there. So everything you’re going to want to know about me, you can find out there. Tell us about your book. Okay. Well, I wrote the book. When I got laid off. So that was a whole nother story of leaving the corporate life and doing this full time.

But I got laid off and decided I needed to write a book. And so I sat down and thought about what did I learn fixing myself. And at that point, fixing several other people that I’d been coaching. And so I wrote that [00:44:00] out as a plan, basically a full roadmap to help you figure out how to get where you want to go with your health and fitness when you’re struggling.

And so it’s, it’s a fully structured book to take you from beginning to end, In reaching your health and fitness goals.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it. Done squad. I’m going to do a five book giveaway for the wellness roadmap, a straightforward guide to health and fitness after 40 by my good friend here, Allan Misner. And the first people person that puts my Z M I Z E Y in any of.

My anything out there on social, most of you people are probably going to email it to you because I’m blessed to have a huge list. If you email it to me, or if you even text it to 561 440 3830, I will on time to shine today’s time, I’m going to mail you the book, the wellness roadmap, a straightforward guide to health and fitness after 40, but again, by my new good friend, Allan Misner, and.

Allan, do me one last [00:45:00] solid please, and leave us with one last knowledge nugget we can take with us, internalize, and take action on.

Allan Misner: Okay. You are the boss of you. You’re making the decisions. You are the driver of your health and fitness car. Love it. Take the wheel and do it.

L. Scott Ferguson: I love it. And squad, , you hear me talk a lot about my, my coaching philosophy aligns so much with Allen’s with regards to like, I take my clients and he just mentioned kind of the driving, I, I put my clients in the driver’s seat and I sit in the passenger seat and I say that, that review mirror, that’s small for a reason.

That’s where your past is. That’s where things happen, but it’s a great place to visit and learn from. But we don’t live there. If you want to be there. Then I got to send you to a therapist, but the windshield big, huge, scary, what, , it’s crazy. But if you look at the dashboard since 2011, they have these things called GPS.

That’s what I am for my clients. I cannot buckle your seatbelt. I cannot start the car for you. I can’t drive you anywhere, but if you want to get there and you [00:46:00] want a solid roadmap, that’s what someone like Allen’s going to do for your health and fitness. That’s what I got from him. This guy is planting trees.

He’s never going to sit in the shade of, I mean, join the army. So thank him for that. He found himself really spectating and not really living as much. , he said, man, I used to do hard things. What the hell’s going on with it right now? So he started coaching himself. , he became a fanatic. He became committed to it so he could hang out with his offspring, his daughter, and go do fun things instead of sitting on the sidelines spectating.

And he calls it kind of a high challenge personality, , and if you’re out there a really good tip for you and you’re doing the Tough Mudder and those electrodes are out there, make sure you hold hands to somebody because that will help you out a lot. , great coach. Allan, remind us. Reminded us, , we’ll meet you where you are be that mirror for you, He’ll ask you kind of like would or ask your coach you what do you want me to do now?

And then maybe even what’s next you remind us there’s two kinds of motivation, , there’s accountability which it’s it’s hard But it’s easier [00:47:00] than it is Then really changing your identity with a self efficacy that he talked about. He wants you to be the CEO of your own health, your whole life.

And remember that winners make adjustments. I never say losers, but mediocre people make excuses. Okay. Winners will make adjustments. Like he was talking about laminating that paper, putting it on the door. So he didn’t walk out and in the bag in front of the door. So you had to trip over it to get out to his carport.

, he wants you to go out and live and have experiences. And like, I always say. And even one of my speeches that I’m giving tonight in Texas or anywhere else is living a life of options and not obligations. Yes, you gotta get your bills to play. You have to do that. But also get on a plane, go somewhere, go out to the dinner where you want to.

He reminded us Listen, you are the boss of you, , get in that car and drive and drive to what’s going to make sense while you’re pouring into others. And the last thing that I love about Allan is he does these things for the intention, not the attention. You don’t see him on social [00:48:00] media, you know, rah, rah, look at me, look at me.

He has, he told me that he has like sometimes 40 hours a week of coaching clients. I mean, to do that, that means people have flocked to him. And I I’m one of those people as well. And Allan, you level up your health. You level up your wealth. You’re humble yet. You’re hungry. You’re a handsome devil. You earned your varsity letter here at time to shine today.

Thank you so much for coming on, man. I absolutely love your guts.

Allan Misner: Thank you, Scott. This was awesome. Love you too.

L. Scott Ferguson: All right. Chat soon.

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