text:
"Dershy" Dumps on the "Ellison Express" (Updates)
I promised myself I wouldn't wade into the whole business of Keith Ellison running for head of the DNC, but it looks like Alan Dershowitz is still acting like he's going to leave if Ellison gets the nod (as noted here – in response, I'll offer to hold the metaphorical door for Dershowitz and give him a nice kick in the ass on the way out).
Dershowitz is entitled to his opinion and to make it public – I'm not arguing that. However, I'm tired of dealing with his metaphorical hand-wringing which, apparently, doesn't take into consideration the fact that, y'know, politicians can actually evolve on issues and, once they make some kind of an utterance found to be objectionable many years ago (especially concerning Israel), they can NEVER, EVER BE FORGIVEN!
Being a lawyer, I appreciate the fact that Dershowitz is fundamentally basing his case on facts (with at least one exception noted below). However, I would question the interpretation of those facts.
And in response (as noted here)…
"If Keith Ellison, who is a decent and good person, would be named head of the DNC, Hamas would support it and cheer … " argued Dershowitz.
Yeah, Ellison is so "good and decent" that he's embraced by terrorists. What cowardly garbage from Dershowitz!
"You can't always judge a person by supporters (continues Dershowitz). What we are seeing in this country is a very dangerous development on both sides. We are seeing the Republicans move alt right and we're seeing the Democrats move hard left. I have to tell you, the only thing the hard left and the hard right have in common, they hate Jews, they generally hate Israel, they generally hate America."
Ellison's constituents in the Minneapolis Jewish community were appalled by both Dershowitz's comparison and the avalanche of hate aimed at Ellison. "To try to create an equivalency between Keith Ellison and a vile miscreant like Steve Bannon is an act of immoral desperation. Keith Ellison represents the best of our constitutional democracy and the best of America. Steve Bannon represents its worst," said Rabbi Michael Latz, who knows the five-term congressman well. Latz said that Ellison had attended his Shabbat services and described him as "an exquisite mensch, brilliant, a terrific community organizer who represents his constituency with great integrity."
Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block, Director of National Government Affairs for the Jewish social justice organization Bend the Arc, who has collaborated with Ellison on issues like voting rights and raising the minimum wage, concurred. "He has been in Congress for a decade and we know who he is. We work very closely with Keith Ellison – he is an extraordinary leader. Anyone who would associate him with any kind of hatred hasn't met him and certainly hasn't worked with him."
Listen, at this point, confirm Ellison. Or Tom Perez. I don't care at this point. Just pick somebody, for God's sake!
Update 2/26/17: Congrats to Tom Perez (here) – FINALLY!
Update 2/28/17: Oh yes, Ellison is so "anti-Israel," isn't he? (here)
2 Comments	| Congress, Israel, Middle East, Politics (General), Pundit Ponderings (Bad), World Stuff	| Tagged: Alan Dershowitz, DNC, Keith Ellison, Tom Perez	| Permalink
Life In These United States, Donald J. Trump Edition (updates)
So President Big Orange Cheetoh has been in office barely a week, and there are so many horrors and outrages that it's practically impossible to catalogue them all:
Issued an executive order to underfund (and ultimately destroy) "Obamacare"? Check.
Issued an executive order to approve the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines? Check (see above…and by the way, is anyone out there besides me going to be impolite enough to point out that, last I checked, Trump was still an investor in Trans Energy, the company behind DAPL?).
Pull back $5 million of already-paid-for advertising encouraging people to sign up for health care through the Affordable Care Law by 1/31? Check (here is an update – good!).
Floated Supreme Court nominees who are almost certain to roll back provisions on worker safety, economic justice, minority rights, environmental protection and women's reproductive health? Check.
Supported an alleged plan to rebuild our infrastructure which is nothing but a giveaway to the plutocrats who supported his campaign (here) and now comprise almost his entire gaggle of cabinet position nominees, including this soulless shill? Check.
And oh yeah, he threw a hissy fit about the actual size of the crowd at his inauguration, even asking a Park Service official to find a picture of an allegedly larger crowd (here), gave a political speech at a hallowed location at the CIA which was nothing but an insult to the memories of those who have given their lives in service to our country (here), confused visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May with a porn star (here), lied about alleged shooting victims at Former President Obama's farewell speech (here), squelched reporting by government agencies funded by our tax dollars (here), told U.S. taxpayers that we're supposed to go along with paying for that stinking, idiotic wall of his on the Mexican border (here), and NOW (as noted here), he signed an executive order banning Muslims from entering this country. And I know this list of all of his ridiculous antics is incomplete.
And here is my question to anyone who supported this tiny brained, hateful egomaniac – why is this surprising to you in any way whatsoever?
Oh, maybe it's because you're FINALLY focusing on "Donald Drumpf" since we're no longer in a political campaign and that supposedly godawful Hillary Clinton isn't in the news anymore. Maybe it's because you're FINALLY realizing that you've been played for a sap by our usual corporate media suspects and you've fallen for the "fake news" garbage from Breitbart, Infowars and other purveyors of this utter slime.
You're also apparently shocked, shocked I tell you that Trump is acting like a thoroughly ignorant, narcissistic, misogynistic clown as president. Again, what the hell else can you expect when he acted like nothing but a thoroughly ignorant, narcissistic, misogynistic clown as a presidential candidate?
Gee, welcome back to reality, huh?
Sucks, doesn't it?
And by the way, don't think this means that I'm now head over heels with the toadies in the DNC political/media/industrial complex who do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for us except lose elections. While the marches last weekend and recently in Philadelphia were absolutely awesome, that did not take place at the behest of the clueless knuckleheads I just mentioned, not in any way whatsoever. Instead, team "D" seems to be preoccupied with this ABSOLUTELY INTERMINABLE contest between former Obama Labor Secretary Tom Perez, Dem U.S. House Rep Keith Ellison of Minnesota, and (I believe he's still a candidate) former DNC head and presidential candidate Howard Dean (personally I prefer Keith Ellison) to head the Democratic National Committee.
Note to the Democrats: I stopped giving a shit about this weeks ago. Just name Keith Ellison (or, if not, provide a damn good reason why) and be done with it, OK?
Update 2/19/17: And in a related story, as they say, kudos to Laurence Lewis at Daily Kos for this.
Update 2/22/17: Oh, for God's sake, ENOUGH ALREADY! (here).
Also, speaking only for myself, I've been inundated with requests to contact Sens. Bob Casey and "No Corporate Tax" Pat Toomey (as well as Repug U.S. House Rep Brian "No, I'm Not Really My Brother Mike, But Just Pretend That I Am And It Will Be Fine, Honest" Fitzpatrick) in response to just about every single bilious development concerning the tiny-handed man-child now taking up space in An Oval Office. And I'll actually act on some of those requests, but don't expect me to take the bait and spend the majority of my time calling/petitioning/whatever every single time "Fergus Laing" says, does, or tweets anything stupid.
The election is over. And sorry if this sounds self-serving, but it's not like I didn't warn you (here).
Update 1 1/28/17: I don't know about you, but we regularly deal with people who, by all accounts, are good neighbors and friends and people who are really good at their jobs. And oh yeah, they're Trumpsters too. But when Mrs. Doomsy and I describe these people, we end up having to add the inevitable suffix of "But (he or she) is a good person" or "But (he or she) is a good worker."
And then I take a look at my phone to see what's going on, and this is the first thing that pops up (tied to what I linked to above).
You know what? I don't give a crap about any "P.S." remarks about these human beings any more, these utterly soulless, craven life forms who, when cornered, retreat to the inevitable fallback of "Oh yeah? Well, liberals this and minorities and welfare cheats that and unwed minority mothers this and Section 8 housing that and Clintons this and Ted Kennedy that, blah blah blah."
I'm sick of that garbage. The actions of this monstrous fraud in the White House are going to impact this country for generations. And aside from what Sen. Chris Murphy said here (which is entirely correct), it's also going to hasten the "brain drain" in this country that we can ill afford (and by the way…).
Wingnuts, you "built this." At least have something like the courage and/or intestinal fortitude to own it yourselves.
Update 2 1/28/17: Uh, yep…
Leave a Comment »	| Barack Obama, Congress, Crony Capitalism, Donald Trump, Financial, Health Care, Hillary Clinton, Immigration, Infrastructure, Middle East, Politics (General), Science, Supreme Court, World Stuff	| Tagged: Affordable Care Law, Barack Obama, Bob Casey, Brian Fitzpatrick, CIA, crowd, Dakota Access Pipeline, DNC, Donald Trump, EPA, gag order, Hillary Clinton, inauguration, Infrastructure, Keith Ellison, Keystone XL Pipeline, Mexico, Muslims, Pat Toomey, size, speech, Supreme Court, Theresa May, Tom Perez, U.S. Senate, wall	| Permalink


In preparation for the up and coming Crushers Cup it was decided to have a training camp in Sports Scotland's National Centre in Largs. All the players were gloved-up and in their chairs by 10:00am for the start of the first session of the first day which would consist of individual chair and ball skill,s then stopping for lunch at 12:00pm. After lunch, in the second session we focused on team tactics and running plays, time and time again till we got it right. The third session commenced after a hearty dinner, where we spent the evening reviewing our days work with the video analysis. The first session of day two saw us gloved-up and in our chairs for 9:00am, it comprised of Individual chair and ball skills testing which would give Davie and Paul a baseline from which to gauge players improvement and the effectiveness of future coaching session. After lunch, the second and last session again was spent on tactics and running plays before finished off by a full length game.
It was a hard tiring weekend but Paul and Davie seemed pleased with our energy and positivity, if we could carry that momentum with us into the Crusher's Cup then it would stand us in good stead.


A major update to the operating system running on iPads and iPhones was released yesterday. It's called iOS 7 and contains some major changes in design and function. Here's a quick look at the new features!
Disclaimer: While we haven't come across any major problems with iOS 7, we're not recommending everyone rush to update. History tells us that updates like this never work 100% perfectly! So update at your own risk.
There are so many options these days when it comes to presentations! Each of the following programs has its own strength and purpose, see which will work best for you!
Let's start with the default here: Powerpoint.
Powerpoint, really, is a fine program. Is it the fault of the technology that it gets misused? No. Can you do a great presentation in Powerpoint? Sure, why not. Is it covered under Hampshire's Microsoft contract for use on all college computers and even for at-home use? Yes it is.
New versions of Powerpoint even have forward-thinking features like embedding YouTube videos and publishing presentations to the web. Many of the cooler features are only available in the Windows version, however.
I have to say, though, that Powerpoint makes it easy to make a bad presentation. There are so many ugly backgrounds, clunky effects, the bullet point button is right there just begging to be clicked. It takes a little extra effort and forethought to defy the defaults and make your presentation your own.
Welcome to the cloud. Google docs has a "presentation" type of doc with very basic options. The main reasons to use it are if you want to collaborate with others on the presentation, or be able to access your presentation anywhere. You can also upload an existing Powerpoint file into Google Docs (.ppt, not .pptx) and then have it available and editable online.
Google Docs is all about collaboration and is a great choice if you want to work with others. Multiple users can access the file at the same time, you can have a "chat" happening while you work, or use the brand new "discussion" feature for a richly collaborative, social-media-esque experience.
Google also just introduced a pretty nifty tool called Cloud Connect, which lets you work on a google doc, collaboratively, on your local computer, using Microsoft Office! So if you want to collaborate with someone who's not familiar with Google Docs, they can just work on the presentation in Powerpoint but they are actually editing the Google doc. *Wow*.
And when you're done, you can publish the presentation to the web or embed it in another webpage.
Prezi is about as outside the box as it gets for presentations, in fact, it's completely non-linear and it can take a while to wrap your head around it. You create your presentations online, and instead of individual slides you just have a huge pasteboard. You add content wherever you want, and then tell Prezi which areas you want to display and in what order. The advantage is you can give a big-picture view, then zoom in to details as needed.
Overall it's a limited program in terms of design options and effects, but if you're a free thinking individual who doesn't want to be confined by slides, Prezi may be for you. Oh, and an educational account is free.
One caution: the zooming and panning can sometimes make people a little seasick!
Steve Jobs is famous for his presentations. Just watch the one where he introduces the iPhone and the audience is practically throwing their underpants on the stage. People have written books about his skills. And we all know that you just don't mess with Apple when it comes to design. So it figures that Apple's presentation program, Keynote, is just a little bit cooler and more awesome than all the other options.
While Powerpoint makes it easy to do a bad presentation, Keynote makes it easy to do a good one. The design and layout defaults are beautiful and simple. The effects are fabulous- words can burst into flames or appear through a cloud of fairy sparkles. And it's really hard to find where to add bullet points.
To be fair, Powerpoint can do everything Keynote can. Keynote just gives your presentation a subtle aesthetic advantage- and when you're giving a visual presentation I would argue that aesthetics are pretty darn important.
I did find the program interface slightly un-intuitive and it took a little getting used to. They make it easy to insert media from your iTunes, iPhoto, etc, but it's not so obvious as to how to place in content from outside Apple's dominion. You can publish a presentation to the web, but it will only look good in, *sigh*, Safari. So Apple's keeping it all in the family here, and it's a little limiting and annoying.
The other downside is that it's only available for Mac (duh), and Hampshire only has limited licensing for it.
So there we are. There are tons of great resources out there for advice on creating better presentations, here are a few!


text:
Environmental engineering science (EES) is a multidisciplinary field of engineering science that combines the biological, chemical and physical sciences with the field of engineering.  This major traditionally requires the student to take basic engineering classes in fields such as thermodynamics, advanced math, computer modeling and simulation and technical classes in subjects such as statics, mechanics, hydrology, and fluid dynamics. As the student progresses, the upper division elective classes define a specific field of study for the student with a choice in a range of science, technology and engineering related classes.

Difference with related fields

As a recently created program, environmental engineering science has not yet been incorporated into the terminology found among environmentally focused professionals.  In the few engineering colleges that offer this major, the curriculum shares more classes in common with environmental engineering than it does with environmental science.  Typically, EES students follow a similar course curriculum with environmental engineers until their fields diverge during the last year of college.  The majority of the environmental engineering students must take classes designed to connect their knowledge of the environment to modern building materials and construction methods.  This is meant to direct the environmental engineer into a field where they will more than likely assist in building treatment facilities, preparing environmental impact assessments or helping to mitigate air pollution from specific point sources.

Meanwhile, the environmental engineering science student will choose a direction for their career.  From the range of electives they have to choose from, these students can move into a fields such as the design of nuclear storage facilities, bacterial bioreactors or environmental policies. These students combine the practical design background of an engineer with the detailed theory found in many of the biological and physical sciences.

Description at universities

Stanford University
The Civil and Environmental Engineering department at Stanford University provides the following description for their program in Environmental Engineering and Science:
The Environmental Engineering and Science (EES) program focuses on the chemical and biological processes involved in water quality engineering, water and air pollution, remediation and hazardous substance control, human exposure to pollutants, environmental biotechnology, and environmental protection.

UC Berkeley
The College of Engineering at UC Berkeley defines Environmental Engineering Science, including the following:
This is a multidisciplinary field requiring an integration of physical, chemical and biological principles with engineering analysis for environmental protection and restoration. The program incorporates courses from many departments on campus to create a discipline that is rigorously based in science and engineering, while addressing a wide variety of environmental issues. Although an environmental engineering option exists within the civil engineering major, the engineering science curriculum provides a more broadly based foundation in the sciences than is possible in civil engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

At MIT, the major is described in their curriculum, including the following:

The Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering Science emphasizes the fundamental physical, chemical, and biological processes necessary for understanding the interactions between man and the environment. Issues considered include the provision of clean and reliable water supplies, flood forecasting and protection, development of renewable and nonrenewable energy sources, causes and implications of climate change, and the impact of human activities on natural cycles

University of Florida
The College of Engineering at UF defines Environmental Engineering Science as follows:
The broad undergraduate environmental engineering curriculum of EES has earned the department a ranking as a leading undergraduate program. The ABET accredited engineering bachelor's degree is comprehensively based on physical, chemical, and biological principles to solve environmental problems affecting air, land, and water resources. An advising scheme including select faculty, led by the undergraduate coordinator, guides each student through the program.
The program educational objectives of the EES program at the University of Florida are to produce engineering practitioners and graduate students who 3-5 years after graduation:
Continue to learn, develop and apply their knowledge and skills to identify, prevent, and solve environmental problems.
Have careers that benefit society as a result of their educational experiences in science, engineering analysis and design, as well as in their social and cultural studies.
Communicate and work effectively in all work settings including those that are multidisciplinary.

Lower division coursework

Lower division coursework in this field requires the student to take several laboratory-based classes in calculus-based physics, chemistry, biology, programming and analysis.  This is intended to give the student background information in order to introduce them to the engineering fields and to prepare them for more technical information in their upper division coursework.

Upper division coursework

The upper division classes in Environmental Engineering Science prepares the student for work in the fields of engineering and science with coursework in subjects including the following:

Fluid mechanics
Mechanics of materials
Thermodynamics
Environmental engineering
Advanced math and statistics
Geology
Physical, organic and atmospheric chemistry
Biochemistry
Microbiology
Ecology

Electives

Process engineering

On this track, students are introduced to the fundamental reaction mechanisms in the field of chemical and biochemical engineering.

Resource engineering
For this track, students take classes introducing them to ways to conserve natural resources. This can include classes in water chemistry, sanitation, combustion, air pollution and radioactive waste management.

Geoengineering

This examines geoengineering in detail.

Ecology
This prepares the students for using their engineering and scientific knowledge to solve the interactions between plants, animals and the biosphere.

Biology

This includes further education about microbial, molecular and cell biology.  Classes can include cell biology, virology, microbial and plant biology

Policy

This covers in more detail ways the environment can be protected through political means.  This is done by introducing students to qualitative and quantitative tools in classes such as economics, sociology, political science and energy and resources.

Post graduation work

The multidisciplinary approach in Environmental Engineering Science gives the student expertise in technical fields related to their own personal interest.  While some graduates choose to use this major to go to graduate school, students who choose to work often go into the fields of civil and environmental engineering, biotechnology, and research.  However, the less technical math, programming and writing background gives the students opportunities to pursue IT work and technical writing.

See also

Civil engineering
Environmental engineering
Environmental science
Sustainability
Green building
Sustainable engineering

Notes

References

"MIT Course Catalog: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering." Massachusetts Institute of Technology. <http://web.mit.edu/catalogue/degre.engin.civil.shtml>.

2008-2009 Announcement. Brochure. Berkeley, 2008. Engineering Announcement 2008-2009. University of California, Berkeley. <https://web.archive.org/web/20081203005457/http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/EngAnn08.pdf>.

External links
Engineering Engineering and Science program at Stanford University
What people go on to do in Engineering Science at UC Berkeley
Curriculum at University of Florida
Curriculum at MIT
Curriculum at University of Illinois

Engineering disciplines
Civil engineering

Environmental science

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Just when you thought it couldn't get hotter...the temperatures keep rising.
The Fayetteville Observer is reporting that Friday and Saturday (July 21 & 22) are about to get hot. Most of us are used to the hot weather during the summer, but it doesn't make it any more tolerable.
Record high temperatures in Fayetteville this week have range between 102-106. Due to heat and constant humidity, the heat index this weekend over most of the Sandhills will be 110 or very close to it.
While we normally see breaks in the heat when temps drop below 70 during the night, that hasn't happened much recently. This is what makes the heat that much stronger, and a lot harder to tolerate.
There are multiple organizations working to provide fans for those eligible for them. Visit The Fayetteville Observer for eligibility.
Please remember to drink water, stay in the shade, wear a hat if outdoors, and always apply sunscreen!
Janie Wadsworth is a Netflix addict that loves attending concerts and traveling the world. See where she's off to next @simplyjanie_.


text:
GE Hitachi announced establishment of GEH SMR Technologies Canada
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) on 11 February announced the formation of GEH SMR Technologies Canada Ltd to support the deployment of the BWRX-300 Small Modular Reactor (SMR) in Canada. Lisa McBride has been named Country Leader, Small Modular Reactors. In this role she will collaborate with Canadian customers, stakeholders, suppliers and partners to bring the first grid-scale SMR to market by 2028. "We are quickly progressing to further build our local presence by identifying key suppliers and enhancing relationships with stakeholders and communities," McBride said.
"GE has been a pioneer in Canada's commercial nuclear energy industry since the 1950s and was part of a consortium that developed the country's first nuclear plant, the Nuclear Power Demonstration unit in 1962," said Jon Ball, Executive Vice President of Nuclear Products for GEH. "With the establishment of our Canadian SMR business we look forward to building on this legacy and bringing the world's first grid-scale SMR to Canada, positioning Ontario as a hub for SMR technology."
McBride is president of Women in Nuclear (WiN) Canada, an organization of more than 3,000 industry members across Canada. She also serves as chair of the Women for STEM Council at Ontario Tech University and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Nuclear Association. She brings nearly 18 years of nuclear experience gained in a number of key roles throughout her career in the Canadian energy sector.
The BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems that leverages the design and licensing basis of GEH's U.S. NRC-certified ESBWR. Through dramatic and innovative design simplification, GEH projects the BWRX-300 will require significantly less capital cost per MW when compared to other SMR designs. By leveraging the existing ESBWR design certification, utilizing the licensed and proven GNF2 fuel design and incorporating proven components and supply chain expertise the BWRX-300 can, GEH believes, become the lowest-risk, most cost-competitive and quickest to market SMR.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


First encounter. I have read about you but we never met in person. The pleasure is all mine. Bottle brought in by a regular who shared the last glass.
Delicious, compelling, high acid and plenty of youth.
2008 #Meursault, #CocheDury is text book Burgundian #Chardonnay at its mineral-driven finest--PERFECTION!
I'm gonna miss you France!!
Is there a better village level white? Drinks better than most GC's Rich & creamy with lemon, citrus, matchstick, mineral, good structure & racy acid.


text:
Q: Calling a React component based on different states. Need a better solution if possible I am using a Modal Component from Material UI and I have to call this component based on the state(useState) I have.
I did something like this -
<ModalPopup
   open={deleteRole}
   onClose={handleDeleteClose}
   title={<DeleteConfirmDialog />}
   content={<DeleteRoleContent />}
   footer={<DeleteRoleAction handleDeleteClose={handleDeleteClose}/>}
   maxWidth={'xs'}
/>

Here deleteRole is a state hook and the modal will get open based on this value (true/false).
I am using another Modal in the same component but with the different set of hook and props.
<ModalPopup
   open={open}
   onClose={handleClose}
   title={clientTitle}
   content={clientContent}
   footer={clientAction}
   maxWidth={'xs'}
/>

I don't want to use Modal component 2 times, rather I want to use it once and add few conditions to render the correct one at the correct time. I did something like this -
<ModalPopup
   open={open || deleteRole}
   onClose={(open && handleClose) || (deleteRole && handleDeleteClose)}
   title={(open && clientTitle) || (deleteRole && <DeleteConfirmDialog />)}
   content={(open && clientContent) || (deleteRole && <DeleteRoleContent />)}
   footer={
      (open && clientAction)
      || (deleteRole && <DeleteRoleAction handleDeleteClose={handleDeleteClose}/>)}
      maxWidth={open ? 'lg' : 'xs'}
    />

But not sure if that's the correct way to do it. Any ideas as in how we can do it in more optimized way ?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
What We're Great At
Podcast Show
Every Episode (Archives)
Starter Business School
Create A Six Figure Podcast
Adam Gilbert: My Body Tutor Founder Join Up The Dots
Listen to the Episode Below
Pls Leave A ReviewListen in a New WindowDownloadSoundCloudStitcherSubscribe on AndroidSubscribe via RSSSpotifyTuneIn Radio
Welcome to the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast interview with Mr Adam Gilbert
To subscribe to the podcast, please use the links below:
Click Here to Subscribe via iTunes
Click Here to Subscribe via RSS (non-iTunes feed)
If you like the show, we would be so grateful if would consider leaving the show a review in iTunes as well as Stitcher Radio. A couple minutes of your time can help the show immensely! Thank YOU!
Introducing "My Body Tutor" Adam Gilbert
Have you ever been in corporate land and wondered why you are feeling sluggish and overweight.
Do you wonder why you are reaching for that sixth doughnut just because its sitting three feet away from you then today's show is for you.
Our guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast interview is Adam Gilbert and he was in a similar position, before taking the leap of faith.
Working for Ernst and Young , back in 2007, he realised that he wasn't happy with his body, but lacked the time and energy to do something about it.
And he was not alone.
It seemed that Adam's work colleagues all wanted to have a fitness timetable, that fitted around their lifestyles and would ask our guest for tips.
How The Dots Joined Up For Adam
And after hearing the same request for the millionth time, he realized something.
Something had to be done.
He had to set out to create a program that would solve this problem in a big way.
He had to follow his passions.
Adam Gilbert loved helping people. he loved writing and is a health and fitness fanatic (since the 4th grade).
Bang. He slammed them all together and created the online company mybodytutor
Well let's bring onto the show to start joining up dots, as we discuss the words of Steve Jobs with the one and only Adam Gilbert!
During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Adam Gilbert such as:
How we all have to think "All fires start small" when building a business.
It ain't gonna be a blaze overnight!
How he used to walk to work with a stomach ache for over two years, knowing that the job wasn't right for him, but still doing it!
How he quit his job with no income coming in but just one goal: I will pay my next months rent….and he achieved it!
And lastly…..
How his big dot that showed him his path was way back in college, but he still went into corporate America first!
How To Connect With Adam Gilbert
Return To The Top Of Adam Gilbert
If you enjoyed this episode of Join Up Dots then why not listen to some of our favourite podcast episodes such as Derek Loudermilk, Rob Harsh, or the amazing Mitch Matthews
Or if you prefer just pop over to our podcast archive for thousands of amazing episodes to choose from.
Audio Transcription Of Adam Gilbert Interview
Intro [0:00]
When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David, Ralph.
David Ralph [0:26]
Good morning, everybody. Good morning. Well, this is Join Up Dots Episode 105. And God is hot today. I am sweating like a pig. But um, but I won't stop me because I've got somebody on the other end of the line who generally I'm not you must sweat like a pig every single day because he's a fitness guru. Let me let me give you some information about him. Have you ever been in corporate land and wondered why you're feeling sluggish and overweight? It sounds like an infomercial. Do you wonder why you're reaching for that sick doughnut just because it's sitting three feet away from you been today's show is be you. Our guest today was in a similar position before taking the leap of faith working for Ernst and Young back in 2007. He realised that he wasn't happy with his body, but lack of time and energy to do something about it. And he was not alone. I'm looking down at myself now. saying that he's work colleagues all wanted to have a fitness timetable that fitted around their lifestyles, and would ask our guest, but tips and after hearing the same request for the millionth time, he realised something, something had to be done, he had to set out to create a programme that would solve this problem in a big way. He had to follow his passions. He loved helping people he loved writing and is a health and fitness fanatic since the fourth grade bang. He slammed them all together and created the online company, my body tutor. So let's bring on to the show to provide us with the perfect plans. And of course, to tone up our bodies and join up the dots. The one and only Adam Gilbert. How are you? Adam?
Adam Gilbert [1:54]
I'm very well, thank you so much for that introduction.
Are you a sweaty person, Adam Are you one be supremely fit people that can run forever in a day and not a bead on? You?
Know, you know, fitness is definitely challenging. As we get older, it gets harder and harder. So, you know, there's certain things that are easy, and there's certain things that are definitely challenging.
So we were talking just before we pressed record, and Congratulations, you've got a new son in the family. So does that sort of send out your plans? Or do your plans fit around your son to stay on that fitness timetable?
Yeah, I mean, there's no question my little Zachary has been a huge challenge. You know, it definitely makes you know, just going to the gym and makes eating when you want to a lot more challenging, but I think one of the things I do is, you know, I really try to build habits and behaviours, and you know, thankfully, they have been, you know, been able to last the last three years, the last three months. And, you know, there, it's, it's been a challenge, but we're working true.
I think the fittest I've been was when I used to have one of those baby things that you hang around the neck and you just dangled a baby in there and off you go. And look at the bottom of your back after you've been walking for about half a mile was unbelievable. I remember literally having a an outer body experience thinking I can't deal with this pain. Just somebody take this baby, I don't care who you are. Take the baby and give me freedom again. Are you back for the dad? Are you the kind of dad who will strap the baby to you and off you go? Or is it sort of them in a pram and you're pushing around?
We're trying to push them around. I mean, I will hold them. He's He's a big little boy. He's about 15 pounds now. So you know after a while, definitely you feel it. But you know, we're usually he's in a stroller. So it's not as challenging as what you're describing.
Oh, come on at me is challenging. Oh, my Oh, am I a bit of a wimp? Because I struggled. I struggled why I'm saying
I'm not carrying him as much. So but when I do after a while it certainly it certainly is challenging. There's no question about it.
Now you've come down to my way you say you, you know that the host is always right. That's where horse you leading to? You're a good man. I like the way that you think so. So whereabouts is a life for you? Obviously, you're an American. So where is home for you?
Unknown Speaker [4:21]
I live in Manhattan.
So yeah,
that was home for me. Well, actually in the city of Manhattan.
Yes. New York City.
Okay, normally people who are from New York always say to me, I'm in Queens, I'm in Brooklyn or something. I've never met somebody who actually lives there. So that's that's an expensive place to live, isn't it?
It is definitely expensive. There's no question about that. It's, you know, it's funny, I talked to some of my friends around the country, and it's a, it's always fun to check in and see how much money could buy elsewhere. And but you know, the thing is, you know, my family lives, you know, in Long Island, I live in Jersey. You know, my friends are in New York. So, you know, to me that worthwhile?
And Have you always been a New Yorker?
What, what does it give you going to New York numerous times. And it's a kind of it's, it's very much like London in certain ways, but it's very different as well, there seems to be a slight craziness. It's a force Full speed ahead over time, sirens which you don't get in London? What does it give you as a family that really says, Yeah, this is home?
Yeah, well, I think the first thing you know, New York gives us is just this energy, right? You walk outside of the door, and you just feel this energy, right. Whereas you know, when you're in the quiet suburbs, you just don't feel that. As far as what New York gives us, I think it just gives us options, you know, we can step it up a door, and there's a class for Zachary or the doctors are right there. Or, you know, our friends are, you know, few few blocks away. So just to be the fact that we can just kind of go anywhere, you know, very quickly and everything is just so close by as a wonderful thing. You know, and love driving, but you don't need a car here. So it's nice to be able to just walk everywhere if you want.
So so you're naturally keeping fit into your lifestyle, Ben?
Yes, we're walking everywhere. I mean, we really are unless you know, we're going out to the burbs or whatever we are, you know, getting a lot of steps in every day. So it's nice.
So let's take us back in time, because this is what Join Up Dots is all about because you were somebody who it sounded in the research that I did, but was a bit sluggish at a point in your life. And you was in corporate land, he was working for Ernst and Young. And it was the classic office environment that I was in for many, many years that seemed to have cakes on every table because it was always somebody's birthday. And so there was always a cake sitting there. And it's hard to resist the cake, isn't it? So was was there a kind of sluggish version of you? If we dug around on the internet? Could we find pictures, but you've been trying to hide away? Adam, were you? You really weren't happy with yourself and, and the moves were at their best?
Yeah, so you know, I think for me, it was more about this feeling. Right? So when I was in college, I'd started businesses. You know, I just had this feeling of passion, right? I knew I was alive when I did that. And I never felt that when I was walking to work, or when I was at work for those two years. And I think, you know, part of that part of the reason why we eat is to cover up emotions, right? we suppress emotions. And I think, you know, part of me was just very unhappy. And, you know, you look for source, you know, sources of comfort. And, you know, food became an easy source of comfort. So, you know, I don't think I ever let myself go too much. But I definitely for me, I just didn't feel the way I have, I didn't feel as focusing on point. Physically, I was just making excuses. You know, I was rationalising you know, not going to the gym, I was rationalises eating this. And of course, it was to just seek this pleasure, right? Because I felt so unhappy my day to day life. And, you know, after a while, I just realised, you know, something had to be done. You know, I was, you know, I couldn't live like that anymore. And I needed to get that passion back inside me.
So So what was it that gave you the passion creating your own businesses being an entrepreneur? What, what actually stimulated you? Was it the creative process?
Yeah, I think it's just, you know, it's really wonderful to view to control your destiny to really be in control. You know, it was just, I don't know, I've always been interested in business, I've always been interested in just kind of creating things. You know, and again, I just go back to college, like, I remember, you know, between classes, and even during the summer, like, I stayed up there, you know, and, you know, for my business, then it was like, helping local restaurants promote themselves, you know, I just, like went door to door over and over again, you know, talking to these business owners, and I loved every second of it. Right. And like, you know, I did this during school, after school, you know, while most of my friends were, you know, you know, they were being college students, and don't get me wrong on my phone as well. But this was truly fun to me. Right. So my friends played, you know, video games, I would, you know, go out and, you know, try to, you know, work on my business, and I loved it. So I just knew I needed that back in me. I didn't feel that the corporate america wasn't giving that to me.
This is question on opposed to many of our guests, but if you go back really in time to the young little Adam, were you somebody that was a hustler? Even those days when you look back to sort of the five year old or 10 year old, were you somebody that was going around washing people's cars and mowing lawns and and being productive? The the classic lemonade stand, kid. Yeah,
yeah, I actually did have a lemonade stand. I was always shovelling driveways. You know, I was always looking for ways to kind of help people and make some money doing it. There's no question about that. I think one of the most defining experiences for me was caddying. Actually, I used to be a caddy for golf at a local Country Club. And I started doing that when I was like 14 years old. And most of the caddies there, you know, we're the sons of members, right? So the members belong there, and they just forget their sons in there. And, you know, it's a very, you know, lucrative summer job for, you know, a kid, and I didn't have that, but, you know, I convinced the starter to let me in, you know, I showed up every single day like 530. You know, and this was, like, when I was like, in high school, it was not easy, on weekends. And also during the summers, and, you know, I think that just really, you know, just really started at all, you know, besides the lemonade stands and the shovelling driveways and, and things like that, it just realised, you know, if you work hard, you know, and you show up every day, and you help people, you know, in that case, it was helping people play better golf, and really kind of helped them through their, you know, psychology as they're playing golf, golf is not an easy game. It really it
David Ralph [10:44]
started at all, I think, is fascinating, because at the tagline of the show is connecting our past to build our future, and to a man and a woman. And what I discovered is I didn't kind of expect to hit upon this beam, but literally, to a man and a woman who was successful and finding their own path. When they look back to their younger self, they can pretty much go, Yeah, I was kind of doing this kind of thing when I was younger, but for some reason, I went off and got a job. And I did the part that was kind of expected of me. But now they look back on it, and they join up their doors, they can see that actually, if they were entrepreneurial, they did have the hustle muscle. They did like to help people. It was all already there when they were kids, but for some reason or other, we just go down the path of what's expected. Even if it's not our path. It's fascinating, isn't it?
Adam Gilbert [11:32]
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think like, it's your point, I think a good question would be like, you know, what jobs, you know, would you want your kids to do? Right. And, you know, when I think back on the jobs I've done, I was a waiter, I was a caddy. You know, I started a few things. I mean, I def, I would love for my, you know, my son to be a caddy, I'd love for him to be a waiter. I think those are very powerful experiences, where you're just dealing with other people, you're serving other people. You know, I would love for them to work even at like a McDonald's because I think it'd be very powerful to learn systems, McDonald's has, you know, is the best in the world at creating systems, right? I mean, think about it, they have, you know, young kids working in their stores, and, you know, they have created this empire. You know, and I think that could just be very powerful as well, whether you want to be in business or not. Right. I think also, you know, just being in sales, one of the jobs I had, oh, my God, I hated this job, didn't last very long was selling knives. And, you know, that was really, really hard to do. And I think the biggest lesson I learned from there was that I cannot sell anything unless I truly believe in it. 100%. And, you know, from then on, it was like, I thought to myself as a terrible salesman, but yet, when people talk to me, you know, when I talk about my business and my service, you know, people are like, Oh, you're, you know, you're this, you're incredible, but it's truly just because I believe in what I do. I could not, I'm not one of those people that could sell, you know, ice to Eskimos or something like that.
I think that's the truth as well. I've been in sales for years and years and years. And generally, when it was something that I actually believed in, and a lot of times it was things like insurance plans and bank accounts and things like that it was very financial sales that I was doing. But there were certain times that we were told to just get your sales figures and don't care how you do it, just get your sales figures. And it was hard. You were just banging away at it and your heart wasn't in it. But yeah, absolutely. When it was something you actually bought, yeah, I'd buy this myself, I think this is worthwhile, vain, it flew off the shelves.
Exactly. You know, and that's how I felt with my businesses. It's like, you know, that was really hard for me, because I come off, you know, that sales job, it didn't want, you know, the night night selling job, it didn't last that long. But, you know, I wasn't all that confident myself. But then, you know, when I had this idea for my business in college, and I would just go to restaurant owners, it just it just the passion is radiated, and people all the time would thank me for my persistence. And the only reason why I was so persistent, was because I truly believe in what I was offering. And, you know, for me, I think anyone who has, you know, trouble sales, or you know, is not one of those, you know, sell ice to Eskimos type people, you have to believe in what you do. And if you believe in what you do, and then truly the sky's the limit.
So, what is it about Americans in this lemonade stand thing? Because I now use it as a phrase and the Americans I speak to go Oh, yeah, yeah, I used to run it. I've never seen an English person ever do a lemonade stand in my life. It just doesn't happen here. But so many of you set up these little stains, and you sell lemonade. What is that all about?
I don't know, I think it's just one of those things that just kind of gets passed down. It's, you know, one of those things that, you know, it's like, oh, we must I think it's just one of those kind of, I don't know, the storeys that gets passed on. And just people kind of use that. As an analogy, I guess, you know, for, you know, success later on. It's like, oh, he must have done that. I don't know, it's an interesting question.
I'm gonna find out for you, Adam. And one day, at a sort of five o'clock in the morning, when you're out with young Zachary, I'm gonna I'm gonna email you. And I look for waggon that contact you. So you're back in Ernst and Young, back in 2007, your favourite lucky and you suddenly had this realisation? That Hang on, I'm on the wrong path. Was it a realisation? Or was it just a gradual, gradual feeling of hang on? I gotta be doing something.
Yeah, so it was definitely this gradual feeling like literally every single day I'd walk to work had the stomach ache. And I just knew I just was not engaged. I did not like it. It just wasn't for me. And, you know, actually, one day I was on a treadmill early in the morning, before work, and I just felt so good. I just felt so alive. It sounds so cheesy. But I really did. And I just like, I wanted to help other I wanted people to experience that. And, you know, I think that week, actually, you know, I told my mom, you know, I because, you know, my mom is definitely someone who's very important to me. You know, I said, Listen, I'm going to quit my job, I had this idea, I have to pursue it. I'm just going to regret it too much. If I don't, you know, before you know it, I'm going to just I'm getting older and older. And and I put in my two weeks, everyone thought I was absolutely nuts. You know, one of the things my mom always said was like, you know, why can't you just appreciate what you have, you're in such a great position, people killed being in your job. And you know, why I appreciate it that it wasn't making me happy. You know, I think ultimately, I think happiness is what it's all about. Right? So really, yeah. So you know, I put in my two weeks, that was in, you know, January of 2007. And then I started MBT in February 2007. The month afterwards. And how old were you then? I was a Was it 2031 now? And was that? 14? What is it? 2524
said, You said you ready for you at prime time really to do this? You know, I was 44 when I did mine. And to be honest, I think I left it too late. In many ways. I left it too late. You can argue that I built up experience to be able to have conversations on a daily basis and all that kind of stuff. But I think 25 that's the time, isn't it when you really are going Yes, I'm going to make my mark. And this is the part I'm going to do.
I do I agree. Because you know, as you get older and older, you just have more responsibilities, you know, more, you know, things life, kids, you know, spouses, etc. And it's just, it's never going to be easier than it is right now. No matter where you are, even if you are 44 next year is only going to be more busy. Right? So I just had this, this pressing need and this desire, I literally couldn't sleep and I just knew there was something in me. That wasn't being realised. So I had to do it. Yeah, for sure.
I'm going to play a little speech here. And this really cements What you talking about a it's not Steve Jobs. One, we're going to do that later. But this is from the the classic Jim Carrey. So this really sort of says what you're saying,
Unknown Speaker [17:53]
my father could have been a great comedian, but he didn't believe that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant.
And when I was 12 years old,
he was let go from that safe job. And our family had to do whatever we could to survive.
I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don't want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.
That says when my God saying, isn't
it? Yeah, when I I've seen I've seen that clip? I absolutely loved it. That's one of my favourite clips of all time. I mean, I think it's so true.
Yeah, it is what I'm saying. There's no question.
But how do you know that? How do you know that? You're going to take that leap of faith, you're going to create a company, and it's going to work? Or maybe you don't, because I think that's one of the things that holds people back is the fear is the fear of the unknown. They're in employment, they're earning money, but not liking it. It's not too bad. It's just boring. And they want to do something else. You did it? Did you have all the answers?
So I think this is a great question, right. So one of the things that we say, and you know, you know, my mom was a former English teacher, she was a fantastic English teacher, she's, you know, inspired a lot of people, you know, and she always used to encourage your students to go after their dreams, right. But she never would encourage me, she always would encourage me to stay in my job, right? Because ultimately, she wanted me to be comfortable and secure. Right. And I totally get that. And I love my mom to death. And I know, she loves me to death, but she wanted me to be comfortable and secure. But the only way to really go after what you want sometimes is to give up that comfort in that security, there's no way to get to that, you know, third thing of maybe, you know, living, you know, an amazing life or living your dreams, right. And for some people, you can build it on the side. But for me, I just couldn't do it, I was just too miserable. And that fear just propelled me, right. So, you know, I quit my job. And I had, you know, no income. I mean, I had saved some money, you know, from the past. But my goal for that first month was to be able to pay my rent, I refuse to move home, I wanted to live in New York City. And it just to me, I think when you truly believe in what you do it success is almost inevitable. It truly is when you truly believe in it. I believe that so much. And I was willing to quit my job, right. So I think having that fear having that drive is important. Right. And you know, some of the things, you know, a lot of the things I've been thinking about lately is, you know, Parenthood, right. And like, I think it's a wonderful thing to be able to give your kids comfort and security, of course. But you know, my mom never said, you know, if you fail, like I'm going to be here for you. Like obviously, I wouldn't be thankful I wouldn't be on the street. But she would always she was always a great reminder of reality, you know, which is paying bills, paying your rent, paying yourself home paying everything I've always, you know, been self sufficient. And that was something that that fear definitely drove me. There's no question about that. And I think that's why for me I path and just leave the job rather than trying to build it on the side.
I couldn't do that. I don't think I was brave enough. So I basically worked for five years building online income, that would just pay my bills just enough. So when I quit, I didn't have any extra additional cash except for paying the bills. And I'm still like that, I'm still like that now, because I'm building base, and I'm building it up. And I'm trying to make it the right way. And I'm trying to inspire people. But I can see it from both sides. Now I can see the leap of faith. And because of the panic, you just work all hours to make sure that you hit your goals. And you write your goals down and you go How am I going to achieve that, and you set off to work? I see that totally. But I was certainly from the place of Let's Play side. Let's play safe. I've got too much to lose here. I can't let it go any worse than it is. But I still gotta stay safe. What would you say to people out there who are really playing safe? What would you say to them? Like I try to on a daily basis. Look, what's the worst that's going to happen? The worst going to happen is that you have to get another job and you end up working in a gallery or something to pay the bills. There's always jobs out there isn't there. But the justice, the stagnation being they're building up these beers, these doubts, these inabilities to just take that last little risk is the dream killer. And it's only up to them to actually do something about it.
Absolutely, I think, you know, like, one of my favourite shows is Shark Tank, right. And, you know, you see these, you know, heartbreaking storeys of people, mortgaging their houses and, you know, mortgaging their lives. And, you know, they're in a tonne of debt to pursue their dream, right. I think that's absolutely irresponsible. For me at that point in my life, I had no responsibility besides myself, right. If I if it was now, then it would be a very different storey. And I always advocate for people to start small and start aside. Because you know, you can't do your best work, you can't be, you know, you can't let your brilliant shine and whatever it is you're pursuing, when you have to worry about putting food on the table. Right. So, you know, I always advise people to start on the side. But you know, if after a year or two years goes by, and you're not doing anything, you know, then it might be worth considering taking another step. Because sometimes comfort as you said, is the killer, right? If you don't have that fear, that fear can be very motivated. But to your point, I mean, if I were in your shoes, I would have done the same exact thing. And most people should, because you cannot be your best self, when you're worried about paying for food, and paying your rent and paying things like that. The basics. So so I'm
going to having a passion for what you wanted to do. What super talent Did you have that set you apart from anybody else? So the listeners in listening to you? And you're saying yes, I left my job without income coming in. And I've created this online business, my buddy tutor, which is going great guns want extra talent? Did you have bad listeners don't have.
I don't think I necessarily had a talented No, I have a talented no one has. I mean, I do know, I'm willing to work extremely hard. You know, I mean, I work so hard, I literally would sit in my in front of my computer all day long, for like 18 to 20 hours a day, I sat there for so long that actually, after a week of doing this, my back hurts so much, I went up shifting a disc in my back. And it turns out, I had to go to, you know, a physical therapist, that was from sitting too long, because I wasn't getting up, I was just in front of my computer all day long. And that's, that comes from, again, I think just believing what you have, I just felt the world truly needed, what i what i was offering, and what I still do believe that what I currently offer, you know, just tactically, you know, that's one of the reasons why we offer a money back guarantee, simply because I really believe in what we offer. And then as far as my own, you know, personal, you know, what I think separates us, I think I just really understand the psychology of weight loss really, really well. And that just comes from hearing it from my other clients who've tried, you know, everything out there. And they always say, you know, no one is ever explained it to me the way you have, or no one has ever been able to, you know, get through to me like you have. So that, you know, just is always nice to hear because I can take them great, but you know, results ultimately is what is the real test.
So for the listeners, you're basically saying you knew your subject, and you were willing to work twice as hard as you've ever done before.
Exactly, because I wanted to excel, I wanted to be the best in the world at what I was going to do. And you know, when I was an accountant when I was working on so young, I did not want to be the best in the world at that. And that's important. And you know this, there's two schools of thought, right? David likes some people, you know, Will our say go passion, passion, passion others or just pick something and get good at it. And then the fun, then the passion will come for me I couldn't get good at something into it unless I really liked it.
Yeah, I think I think that's absolutely true. Doing this on a daily basis, I listened back to some of my early shows. And it's a kind of mutated version of what I am now. And I've done 150 shows I've recorded now. And I'm still not where I want to be, you know, and that is great. I think that's fantastic. But the progress is still there to have. And if you look at people, like you know, the classic thing, the 10,000 hours, you look at the Beatles, and the Beatles went over to Germany before they were like, properly The Beatles. And they were just an all white band, but they had to play 20 hours a day kind of things, you know, just constantly playing, playing, playing. And it fine tune them to such a belief that when they came back, they were head and shoulders above everyone else, Bill Gates, if you look at how much time he put in Steve Jobs, all these kind of Uber successful people, it really comes down to having a passion, a talent, but working three times as hard as I've ever done before, to really set you apart from everybody else. Because I think naturally, humans are lazy. And we like the easy life. Somebody was saying to me yesterday, they were saying to me, you know, what are you doing? You're running a seven day a week show how much how many staff have you got? And I said I haven't. He's just me, I do absolutely everything. And they went well, how do you do that? I said, I just work three times as hard as I've ever done before, until I can work three times as smart. And basically, once I get it to a certain point, then yes, certain things I will hand over to virtual assistants and stuff, you know, but up to that point, you've got to put in the hours to hone your skills and build something. And once again, set you apart is as simple as that, isn't it?
I think it's as simple as that. But of course, easier said than done. And, you know, I like to say it's as simple as that, and as complex as that. But I think, you know, the hard part, you know, for a lot of people is really figuring out what they truly love. And I think, you know, the the ultimate test for that is, you know, what do you spend your free time doing? You know, what do you just naturally gravitated towards, I was very lucky, or am very lucky that health and fitness has always been a passion of mine. And I was able to combine it in a way that could you know, make a living make me a living, you know, and make others living too?
How have you combined them? Because we've touched on it, but how? How did it become a business? You're sitting there in your office, your work colleagues are saying, Oh, God, I need to have a fitness timetable. And you started working things out for them? How did you transfer that into a business? That's actually providing you an income and a steady income?
Yeah, well, I think,
you know, it was for those two years, while I was there before, then, you know, I was always kind of known as a fitness person, right? I was just, it was just my passion. It was something that, you know, I've been doing for a long time. And, you know, I always give my partners, my colleagues, my clients advice, you know, and then I'd see them a week or two later, depending on client engagements, you know, and it was always the same storey was like, I always loved the plane gave you made for me, but and then it was, you know, I got caught up with my kids, I got caught up with work, I got caught up with happy hour, I got caught up, you know, reality TV, whatever it was. And I really something, you know, needed to be done. It wasn't that these people didn't know what to do. After I had given them a plan. It's just that they weren't sticking with it. Right. And these people were very busy, they didn't have time to be, you know, for in person meetings or anything like that. And, you know, really, you know, 70 to 80% of weight loss and being fit is our diet. Right. And, you know, I had this idea to just create this plan this programme, where people would check in every single day, right? Because it's one thing to, you know, talk to a coach or talk to someone be all pumped up, and then you know, it's like, All right, good luck, you know, let's touch base in action few weeks or a few in a month. And to me, that's assuming that, you know, compliance isn't the hard part. And compliance is the hard part. That's the whole, that's the whole thing. You know, in 2014, the lack of knowledge isn't so much the problem, you know, it's a lack of consistent action. So I set out to create this plan this programme, you know, where people would, you know, get coaching through the internet. And you know, what really separates us is just the daily and personal accountability, right. So you connect with your coach, you know, you have your initial phone consult, we make sure you know exactly what to do to reach your goal. But then what really separates us is, you know, we're in communication with them every single day to make sure they're actually doing it day in and day out. And that's the key, that's the key to getting results, the key to getting results in fitness in business in life, as you know, I mean, as you're doing, you just said you recorded your hundred and 50th show, which is incredible. Congratulations. Thank you. It was consistency, right doing the right things over and over. And we make sure our clients are doing the right things. And when they have that inevitable Roadblock, like we all do, we're right there with them, you know, to help them, you know, pick back up whether it's, you know, a tactical challenge, or a mental roadblock. We're right there.
So how do you do this bow, for example, I'm somebody who is naturally slim always been slim. And it was interesting when you were saying at the beginning, that people who are unhappy will generally eat because I'm the opposite. If I'm unhappy, I go go without food. And I can go sort of days just picking up things, I just don't really have an appetite. So I sort of, so naturally, I'm slim. But if I suddenly looked down at myself, and I let you into a secret, it's so hot at the moment, I haven't got a shirt on, I'm sitting there, that's what that's why we haven't got a webcam going, Adam, I wouldn't want to do that for you. But I look down at myself. And I think to myself, right? I want to become a massively I want to have that sort of Bath body. Can I do that for you? Or is it just about getting fit?
Absolutely, you can do that the rest I mean, we help people you know, reach all sorts of goals. Weight Loss, increasing muscle mass, it all comes down to the right diet, the right exercise plan, and then ultimately doing those two things consistently.
So how would you get Meebo? How? How do you? Do you email me? Or you you send a text to the phone? Or what do you do?
Yeah, I mean, if you know, if you're just let's say you were to sign up as a client, right? I'm not going you know, I
promise you.
So what would happen is, you hate fitness, we're gonna change that you're gonna take on it. Here's the thing, when you are really fit, and you really, and you feel really good. It allows you to do everything else better. And you know, as we get older and older, I think short, looking good is nice. But when you feel good, it helps you do everything else better. It really does. It gives you increased, you know, energy, clarity, productivity, so many other things. So if you were to sign up for a client, right, we'll have an initial phone consultation will talk about your current diet, your current exercise habits, if you're exercising, you're not, that's totally fine. We'll create a game plan for you. Right? So we'll talk about that. Here's what we want to eat, you know, here's what we want to do for exercise will make sure you feel comfortable with it. Because if you're not comfortable with it, you'll never stick with it. You know, I think a lot of the reasons, one of the reasons why people can't start, you know, can't stick with a diet is because the diet they're starting is is not sustainable they're doing from the start has to be sustainable. So we'll make sure you feel comfortable with your plan. And then again, you know, what separates us is that every night, you'll log into our website, it's very, very easy to use you tell us what you ate, what you did for exercise, if it wasn't exercise day, then the following day, you're very on today in this case would be me. Well, right back to you with critique suggestions, encouragement, and then just truly day by day, daily feedback by daily feedback will make it happen. And you know, as you know, as you said, you know, humans are inherently lazy. You know, human nature is always attracted to pleasure. And as always avoiding pain, right? And it just becomes very easy to rationalise and justify reporting poor choices. And when you're accountable to someone, when you have a coach who has a vested interest in your success as an expert at what they do. It changes that, right? You can't just rationalise yourself, you can't just do the old no one sees it, it doesn't count. Well, I'll just go to the gym tomorrow, well, I'll just eat this, right. And it's not about never eating your favourite foods again, or, you know, working out two hours a day or anything like that, again, that's not sustainable. But when you're accountable to someone, you have support and expert guidance, it makes all the difference.
The interesting thing about these and I was flipping about sort of not wanting, you know, fitness, I've never been in the gym in my life. I'll be honest, right. And the thought of that would be horrendous. But a nice brisk walk with some music in my ears. I do that any day of the week. And you know, and that's that's as good as many things I suppose. But when you're talking about accountability, leading to success, that is no different. Ben, the most successful businessman is no different from from anyone else. If you've got somebody that you've got to report into, you will do that. It's why they give you scorecards, when you're at school, if I didn't do those kind of things, and homework and you had to hand in coffee, you wouldn't do it, you would just live your life. But by actually having to do that is a blueprint for success. And what I just want to sort of point out to the listeners out there, but if you have got an idea, but like Adam, it doesn't have to be like my body tutor or whatever. But if you can add accountability to it, you're starting to cook on gas, because Ben, you're starting to buy into people's buy in. And once people invest in that you are starting to build a community. And once you've got a community bank, that is possibly one of the most powerful online things you can do.
Well said, Absolutely.
So as your community is flourishing, I imagine it is because if you've got these people that are signing up to you, they're wanting your help, they're seeing the improvement, and they will reporting back to you saying Adam, I've lost x men pounds and stuff, that's going to be a win win, because they have been going to say to their colleagues, ah, I'm doing this never worked before, but because I've got Adam, on my side, I've lost bass, bass bass. Oh, I tried that. And it starts to sort of build up, but that'd be true.
Thankfully, yes, it is true, you know, results to get referrals. Right. And, you know, some people, you know, very private about their weight loss. And some people are very public, and they're just very excited because it's it's very exciting. It's awesome to look good. It's awesome. It feels good. And they tell everyone they know. And it's a beautiful thing. So yeah, there's this natural, you know, built in more to map because obviously, you see someone every day all the sudden you like, well, you lost a lot of weight, what do you do? Right? And that what would you do? Question is a pretty natural question.
I have been in America many, many times. And to be honest, whenever we go out for a meal, I'm more likely to have a challenge portion. And the challenge portion is big enough for me. The plate sizes out there absolutely enormous. And I've seen people sit there and I've had a starter like a main coals. And Ben, I've had a main course that was you know, if it's a rack of ribs, it's a rack of dinosaur is that big. And when they will end up with you know, putting and whatever on it, it must be very difficult because the the American way of life is pretty much based around food even when you're watching Telly. Literally all the adverts or some kind of drink or food it mean it's constant stimulation, isn't it?
Yeah, first of all, I love your accent I could listen to you talk all day. It's so soothing. But yeah, you know, it really bothers me a lot when people say, you know, weight loss is about it, you know, get just eat less and exercise more dog. Um, yeah, but if it was only, you know, it's way easier said than done. And
I'll be honest, that I'm I say that a lot.
Bc it's not about a lack of willpower, right? You know, the environment that we're in is very, very hard to succeed in. And if you build systems, if you have a right plan in place, if you have the right support the right accountability, and you only understand, most importantly, the psychology and the mindset around weight loss, then you don't need willpower as much, right? As I always say, you know, it's always easier to avoid the dragon than it is to slay it. Right. And the easier we can make things in ourselves, whether it's eating well, exercising, business, anything, we don't you know, the better we don't get extra points for using hero like willpower. So we want to set ourselves up for success to start with.
So if this is all absolutely fascinating, because it seems like it's it's an idea, it's an idea that you've realised it's based on your passions, but it's gone on to a level that perhaps at the very beginning, you couldn't even perceive that you were going to get to, because that's the beauty of all these ideas. They start small, they start ugly, and then they progress into something but then starts gaining attention. As Steve Martin, the comedian always says, be so good that they can't ignore you. And that's what you're starting to do here or you're not starting, you're already doing. You're building a platform that's getting worldwide notice because it is so good. And is it something that's totally different than what's out there? Or are you just finding your own area of that that sort of world, that fitness world to actually make your mark?
Yeah, so first off, I love that Steve Martin quote, that's actually on my desk, it stares at me all day long. be so good. They can't ignore you as well, my life is that. Yeah, another quote of mine that's on my desk is all great fires start small. Right. And, you know, I think one of the challenges people make is they think they have to start the next Google, right, they have to start, you know, the next billion dollar company. And I remember vividly talking to one of my buddies who's, you know, a successful entrepreneur, and he was like, you know, you have to worry about the time of your, you know, worry about your time, you know, break it down into minutes, hours, how much you charging for your time, you know, it was all about the money. And, for me, if I did that, I would have never started this business, because I'm very generous in my time. And it wasn't about that. So, advice for you know, people who are, you know, aspiring entrepreneurs, start small, you know, take baby steps, you don't have to build the next school. That's not the goal. You know, when I first started MBT, I actually started as a spring break company, the goal was to help college kids get ready for spring break, because where I went to school, and where my friends went to school, it was a huge thing, everyone would just all of a sudden, the gyms would be packed. Right? Because people just we would go away in spring break, and everyone wanted to look good. And I would help my friends throughout the country and get ready for spring break, too. And that kind of you know, that idea kind of started even in college. But when I started this, it was for spring break. And then very quickly, you know, my college clients started referring me to their brothers and sisters and their, you know, family members that were in corporate America. And that's when it really started to take off. Because, you know, it was just a real service. It wasn't just, you know, a spring break thing. Then, you know, to answer your question about, you know, what separates us? You know, I think what separates us is a few things. First off, it's the daily and personal accountability. You know, we're the only cert were the first and only service that offers daily and personal accountability. And that's really, really important. Because, again, you know, even your listeners right now, right? They can listen, they can be all pumped up, but what action are they going to take, you know, and it's all about the consistent action. And it's very easy motivate, you know, here's the thing, motivation is very fleeting, right? People hopefully listen to this are getting motivated, we're getting inspired to take some action. But what happens in a week from now what happens in two weeks, it's very easy to start all kinds of things, especially diets, but it's very hard to actually stick with them. So that daily personal accountability makes all the difference. And then the missing component that a lot of guys out there, you know, don't hit on is the psychology and the mindset. Right, a lot of people only focus on their food they're eating, right, so they'll just go from one food diet, the next, you know, one month reading this, the next month reading that next month reading this, and the only thing they're changing is the food. But if you're not changing your mindset, your psychology, your relationship with food, the way you think and react to food, then you're never going to change for the long term. And that's a big part of what we do is help people understand their psychology and change your relationship with food. That's the key.
Fascinating, I'm sitting here, and I'm thinking of what you're doing. And I'm thinking also about the TV programme man versus food, where they're actually programming him to eat these huge powers of God knows what, just to see if you can get through it. And it is, is that psyche, it's that mindset, isn't it. And I suppose once again, it's that same mindset is that same consistency, it's that same accountability that leads to success, what you're doing in your field, you're just providing the perfect blueprint to success, that people to take into other areas, it's that ability to get up at five o'clock in the morning, when you used to get up at seven and do two hours work, because you haven't got the time to do it at the end of the day, or what later on in the evening. And by starting small that the liberation of it all is, you're not going to be noticed, as we said before, you can start you can make mistakes. It's only when you get that momentum going, that generally you would have fine tuned enough, but you're not looking like an idiot. But then people will start taking you seriously. But all the kind of mistakes you make at the beginning, then a bits of people are frightened up, they almost want the perfect product are it's never gonna work. Because if I haven't got this, and I haven't got that I haven't got that rubbish. You just kind of throw it together. And if it doesn't work, you move it around, you change it, because no one is looking. No one cares about Adam Gilbert, the very first day that he sat there at his computer and for how the hell do I do this? Nobody cares. But now they actually because you built it up?
Yeah, you know, and I think again, that stick Tunis if you want to call it comes from really believing in what you do. That's a good word.
Say that. Say that? Again, I'm gonna write that one down. I feel like you've just created an new word. What is it?
Stick to witness. I didn't mean I've heard this before. So I didn't make this up. I can't take credit for this fake word. I'm but I do like it stick to this. Right. And, you know, we understand what that means inherently. So the only way to have that is to truly believe in what you do. For me, at least I you know, I can't speak for everyone. But for me, I can only you know, the reason why I've been doing this seven plus years later, every single day, day in and day out is because I believe so strongly in what I do. And I really believe what we offer. I know what we offer works. And I and I know, you know, it's just the power of it.
Where can you take it though? Adam, you're building it at this point? Is it just got you the ball is bad here it does it stay almost the same. But you get just get more and more community more and more clients? Or can you spin off into different areas?
Yeah, so that's a good question. So um, you know,
I guess better, you know, going back is that, you know, when I first started out, I was the only coach, right? So, you know, now we're at about 20 coaches. You know, and for me, money isn't the end goal, right? For me, it's truly helping people, money is a byproduct of my success. Okay, it's a byproduct of results for our clients. My goal has never been to build a billion dollar company. It's not that that it's just, it's not because if it was, I'm doing it entirely wrong. For me. My goal is to love what I do every single day. And, you know, I talked with some of my entrepreneurial friends like, and you're like, I truly feel blessed every single day, as cheesy as it might sound to do what I do. Because I know how much I hated working in corporate America, I hated working at that company. I just didn't like it at all. And for me to be able to make a living, and to impact people in a massive way. And you know, the emails we get every single day, you know, just the lives are changing. It's unbelievable. And to me, that's the real reward, money, success, you know, being wonderful programmes like yours. That's all wonderful byproduct, but it's not the goal. You know, so here's an example. Right? So like, as we, you know, we're getting a lot more traction we're building we're getting more and more well known, you know, the emails we get every week have increased, right, so now we're getting about 15 emails a week from companies that want us to promote their products, promote their pills, you know, their magic, quote, unquote, diet pills, you know, their exercise, contraptions, whatever, ridiculous, you know, thing they're selling, I can make thousands and thousands of dollars extra a month, if I were just start mentioning a few of them. Right. But I've never wants done that. Because for me, trust is number one. And if it's not great for my clients, then it doesn't work. So, you know, it's not, you know, my goal isn't to build the next Weight Watchers, you know, we can have a very wonderful business, and a very wonderful community, you know, with, you know, several thousand clients, that's, it's, you know, that's not to take over the world.
I'm going to play the speech of Steve Jobs now, because it is key to the actual show. But just before we play, I want to ask, Is there a party in your life that you would classify as your big dot, and most people will look back at their big dog as sometime in their life that was dark, or they were very unhappy, which made them change direction to where they are? Was it the Ernst and Young situation? Or was there another one that you could look back on and go? Yeah, I think that was when Adam Gilbert really said, I'm grabbing life.
I think the big that I love this question was in college, when I started my first business, I had the idea. This was between, you know, semesters, I had the idea for this website, back then, I built it that night, was terrible, but it worked. And I just remember the passion and just being able to stay up all night, I loved every second of it. And that was when the real, you know, I would say, you know, entrepreneur, and born I just knew that was inside me. You know, and I always knew that if I found what I really loved, then the sky was the limit. But, you know, it took me years to really, you know, I loved what I did in college, but I knew that I wasn't planning on doing that for the rest of my life. So those two years at Ernst and Young, you know, until and before, I found that what I what I really wanted to go after and pursue because I just couldn't sleep anymore. Because I love the idea so much, was very hard, because I knew that passion was me, but I didn't know how I wanted to use it, or where I'd pursue it with. So yeah, it all started in college with that first business.
I remember doing this show, and it was Episode 37. And I was recording Episode 37. And I suddenly realised that I wasn't being the person that I had been previously, I was being totally myself. And it was a switch flicked on. And I suddenly thought, hang on, this is easier when it was I'm not actually having to think about what I'm saying, I'm having a conversation. And I'm feeling bad, it's a better show, because of it. And leading up to it. It was very much me trying to my feet and asking the right things and you know, just basically struggling along. It doesn't sound too bad when you listen back. But I do remember 37 was the episode I suddenly bow. I think I know what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. And it was about 1015 minutes in. And it ties up with that quite nicely as you say. It says that part of its those joining up the dots at Steve Jobs talks about where you suddenly thing, hang on, this is it. This is it, I've suddenly found it, I found that passion that they're talking about for years and years and years, go out and find your passion. You know, I don't know what my passion is. But then suddenly, it hits you in the face. And you think, Oh my god, it was here all the time.
Right. And it sounds so cliche to keep saying Find your passion. But, you know, we both know, you know, success is not easy. And it takes a lot of stick to it. And this, there's that word again. And the only way to do that is to really love what you do. So it's important, you know, and I think, you know, when you find that day, when you find that, you know, dot, you know it, it's amazing, you know, I like to say you know, the two greatest days of your life, right or the day you're born and the day you find that Why? You know, and you you figured it out in Episode 37. Right. And I figured that out, you know, seven plus years ago, and I just had this idea, and I didn't stop, I haven't stopped working on it since.
Fascinating. Let's play Steve Jobs. And let's get your feelings on this.
Steve Jobs [50:22]
Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later. Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leaves you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.
Your casing question in there on you.
I love that.
You know, like I said before, I think for me, the real reward is getting to do what I love doing every day. Right? So like I write a blog, you know, it's pretty popular, whatever. But there were many, many years where you know, I didn't have all that many readers, right now we have 10s of thousands of readers. But here's the thing, if I didn't have any readers, I'd still be reading that. So for me, it was always loving what you do, that's the real reward. And when you love what you do, you can excel at it, you can become really, really good at it, you can hopefully become the best in the world at it. And with that becomes success. Right? So yeah, I mean, I love that Steve Jobs speech. And you know, it's one of my it's one of my favourites, it's actually bookmarked on my computer.
Well, when you when you're on your deathbed, and you look back, and you see what you've done in life, you will have left your mark in a positive way. Is it something as it stands at the moment that you would be still proud of? Or were you Is it always going to be worth progress?
As you know, I tell my team, we're always, you know, a work in progress. We're always we always can get better, and we always can improve.
So, I guess I mean, you know,
I guess I'm happy with the impact we've had. But we still we're not even scratching the surface of, you know, the impact we can make? And so yeah, it's it's a combination of both, you know, it's important to you know, I'm definitely happy with where we are. But I, there's a lot of room for us to grow and improve as well. I
love that answer. Because I think that is the killer, isn't it? And you see it a lot when people have a certain amount of success and go, yeah, job done, I can lay on the beach. And I can go out with my 25 year old girlfriend and all that kind of not a bad life really Adam is it. But it's when you've still got that passion to just grow it again and go a little bit more and Ben improve, and then be something a little bit more. I think that is when true success comes. It never arrives. It's always just around the corner.
Yeah, and you know, one of the things I often say to our team and my clients is, you know, the number one reason why we stopped being successful is because we stopped doing what made us successful in the first place. And, you know, that's something that we take very seriously because you don't want to rest on your laurels. Yes, you know, here's the challenges, right, that we all wrestle with, is the very thing that, you know, makes us you know, successful is also the very thing that makes us not appreciate what we have, right, and it's this fine line, because you have to stop and smell the roses, but you also have to keep looking ahead. And for me, you know, one of my just I guess it's just a core motivation is just to be the best that we can be, and to really realise our full potential as a business. Right? And you know, I think we owe it to our clients, we owe it to ourselves to do that.
Let me last question before we send you back in time to have a one on one with your younger self. One of the things we've entrepreneurs, and I've seen it in myself, is that you cannot constantly striving to improve, you're constantly striving to achieve goals. But as soon as you hit those goals, it's like, Okay, done that just move on. Do you allow yourself time to celebrate? Are you in that kind of rat race as well?
It's funny, I just wrote about this the other day. And it's something I really think about a lot. Because, you know, if you told me five years ago, I'd be where I am today, I'd be like, you know, no way.
it's I don't it's a question I still struggle with, I think it's, you know, when is enough? You know, how much more do you need? You know, when are you satisfied? And I think that these are just, you know, this is the human condition. Right? And, you know, I think the key thing is to just keep asking yourself these questions, ultimately, what makes you happy, right? I think a lot of the goals we have are ego driven. But they're not necessarily, you know, things that would make you truly happy.
one of the things I wrestle with is just not appreciating it and just continuing to improve and move more and more and more, which I don't think is going to lead to satisfaction and fulfilment. And I see that already. I can feel that already. So it's, you know, one of the best parts about Zachary, you know, is that it makes me stop a little bit and just appreciate life and appreciate him and my wife and all that.
lover, lover, right, let's play the theme tune and send you back on time. So this is the Sermon on the mic. And if you did go back, and you bumped into younger Adam Gilbert, what age kind of Adam, would you choose? Would it be the five year old lemonade stand guy? Would it be the one at college sitting up all the way through the night doing the websites? Or would it be the ones or man about 2007, Ernst and Young, who's reaching out for that ninth donor of the morning, I'm going to tell you the theme tune and when it fades off your lap and this is the Sermon on the mic.
best bit of the show. I'm
Adam from January of 2008.
I'm choosing this because working for Ernst and Young is what gave me the idea what propelled me to really go after my passions. So I would say listen, help would be seeing what you could have accomplished. If only you didn't take a risk. And there's no guarantees in life. If you follow your heart and follow your passion, then good things will happen. things will work out.
Focus on being fearless.
Focus on discomfort. The more you can embrace discomfort, the more you can do things that are more challenging, rather than the easy way out. And do that the the sooner you can do that the better. lead with your heart, and be fearless and good things will happen and follow your passion and things will take care of itself.
Adam, how can people connect with you?
You can find me My website is my body tutor.com I actually prepared a bunch of cool bonuses for your listeners. health and fitness related all good stuff. And they can find that at my body two.com slash Join Up Dots. So they can just sign up for that email. And I'll just send them some good emails, all quality stuff, I promise. They can find me on Twitter. And you know, they could find me at my body through that's where I am. And I have a blog there as well. So
I hope to connect with some of your listeners.
I'm sure you will, because it's been an absolute pleasure speaking to you today. Thank you so much for spending time with us today. joining up those dots. Please come back again when you have more dots to join up because I do believe that by joining those dots and connecting our past is the best way to build our futures. Adam Gilbert, thank you so much.
Thanks so much for having me.
David doesn't want you to become a faded version of the brilliant self you are wants to become so he's put together an amazing guide for you called the eight pieces of advice that every successful entrepreneur practices, including the two that changed his life. Head over to Join Up Dots.com to download this amazing guide for free and we'll see you tomorrow on Join Up Dots.
PrevPreviousKatie Krimitsos: How To Live At 200% And Be Loved By The World
NextJasper Ribbers: Airbnb Author Reveals Travel Success And FreedomNext
THE PODCAST STUFF
Copyright © 2014 - 2020 • JoinUpDots.com • All Rights Reserved.
Ready to become financially free just like us?
we are here to help you get financial and time freedom straight to your inbox
Join over 100,000 other dream lifestyle builders with our free courses and expert advice and coaching
GIVE ME ACCESS IN MY INBOX


In the RGB color model, hex triplet #6a7199 has decimal index of: 6975897, is composed of 41.6% red, 44.3% green and 60% blue. #6a7199 in CMYK color model, is composed of 30.7% cyan, 26.1% magenta, 0% yellow and 40% black.
#666699 is the closest web-safe color to #6a7199.
Sample HTML/CSS paragraph codes using #6a7199 color.