Training arms & talking relationships with Mike Thurston.

You know how we were kind of exposed to a bit of the raw grittiness of the north of England. Yeah. The UK streets. I kind I kind of liked it. What's the pillow talk going to be about? Good. [Music] We're in Collective up north in Austin and I'm going to train with Mike Thirsten. You know him as a YouTube fitness guy. I know him as a dude that I went to university with 18 years ago and I'm going to lift some weights. Good to see you, man. You too, man. How are you? Good. A little bit tired, but ready to rock. How can you be tired when you flex so hard about the expensive class of plane that you were flying in? It's got to be done. Sick. Yeah, it's cool. E. Okay, I approve. I didn't think that the outfit could get actually tighter. I was thinking of wearing a stringer today, but I thought I'd be a little bit too cheeky. We have we have we ever trained together? Well, in the apartment block of your spot in Dubai, I think we crossed over. I think you were doing leg raises one day when I was staying in the same building. Yeah. Uh, the last time we'll have trained together will have been the Center for Sporting Excellence at Newcastle University. I was saying earlier on, man, like people would know you as fitness clothing owner, YouTube man. Like to me, it was just the dude one year younger than me doing my course at uni. Yeah. And uh yeah, we've known each other for like 18 years. No. Yeah. I went to Newcastle University when I was 17, 18 years old, which was 200 seven eight 2008 I think. Yeah. And here we are. Who could have thought? Who could have thought that we would end up in Austin, Texas? I know. By the way, I see you a lot with Mike Israel. Are you uh you following a program of his or you? Are you looking a little bit bigger than last time? A little bit bigger than last time. Um I am following Oh, this looks nice. Let's go here. All of the stuff that Mike and Jared and those guys from RP have been talking about now. Tempo, controlled negative, I swear has been [ __ ] that you've been doing for a long time. Um, but yeah, someone that's been a someone that's been a proponent of Oh, yeah. controlled lifting for quite a while. You must feel vindicated when the science people come in and tell you that you got it right. Yeah. Although I did used to overdo it. I used to do um probably more volume than I should have done. So now I pull it back. I don't like this. There's nowhere near enough range in this. No, I mean like that's the bottom of the rep. Hm. Not good enough. I mean, with your current schedule, are you are you actually struggling to find time to train or is it? Not really. Uh, what else have we got? Well, we can start with a seated row if you want to do a little bit of rear delt. If you're happy with that, if that's not too backy for you. Yeah, I don't know. It's 3day, 4 day split is maintainable and I don't feel too drained from it and I can still turn up and perform on the show and uh I made gains last year which was good. Yeah. First time in a while that uh a noninssane training regimen has caused me to actually gain muscle. So, is the diet on point? Pretty dialed. Yeah. Yeah. Uh just meat and fruit. Like I I'm aware this is the most often thing that I could say. I came out here. I bought a cold plunge. I started eating meat and fruit. Just need to do a [ __ ] Iawaska journey and then got the full house. Uh but was that is that a that's a common thing in Austin IAS? Uh psychedelics are okay. It's very micro doing macro dosing. Oh macro dosing. Uh I mean the micro too but hey. Yeah. You're here till Sunday. What are you doing? Podcast with you tomorrow. Workout with a tasty Venezuelan on Friday. A tasty Venezuelan. Are you single? Yeah. Are you? Wow. How long's that been going on? Why are you surprised? Because usually you're secretly wifeed up and you just don't tell anyone. Oh. Oh, and you the master of secrets. So, yeah, this is this is probably the first time I've been like fully fully single and it's kind of good cuz you can just do anything you want, not get any headache. So, we'll see how long it lasts. But we are getting a little bit older now though. It's like, yeah, how long do I want to be doing this? There is there is a degree of it's time to grow up, Christopher. That sort of sneaks in the back of my mind. Yeah, I get a few people replying to DMs and comment like, "Huh? When are you going to settle down? Don't you think it's time to make some kids?" Oh, yeah. It'll come with time. Would you start a family in Dubai? Uh, I think so. I haven't really thought about it. a huge amount, but I thought it's safe. There's good education, but do they really get it's a bubble? It's not real life. You know how we were kind of exposed to a bit of the raw grittiness of the north of England. Yeah. The UK streets kind I kind of liked it. So, uh we'll see. Will you raise kids here? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know whether it would be Texas. Good stuff. Given that so much of work for you was around physique, was around the way that you looked, is that something that you're becoming a little bit more aware of as you getting older? You're like, I think we spoke about this last time that we were together where we were saying it's going to be hard for me to get much bigger, much leaner, much better condition. At the very least, it's going to be tougher for me to to sort of hold it. Are you happy that you made the sort of beginning of a pivot towards something that isn't just based on your physique, which is the podcast? Yeah. Yeah. The the podcast is going well. I think this year as well, I'm giving it a real stab because in the past two years, it's kind of like side project. Yeah. But it's doing all right. Um, and yeah, it's not like people are expecting me to be posting a workout video every upload or a topless picture every upload. Mhm. So that's where you even uh I remember the last time that we spoke. This is like You want one more? Should we get one more set of plates on? Yeah. Yeah. Even for people who aren't full-time content creators, I think there's this sense that your social media is a you've set some sort of expectation and that you need to adhere to it and you can't break it. I can't remember what it was. I think you'd said something like uh you're envious of the fact that not every post needed to be super curated or something. Yeah. Uh and this is when every image from you is you in Bali with a Brazilian or you know you on a boat. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Many coconuts. And um now it seems like that doesn't I know you're a little bit more sort of liberated from that sort of stuff. I think a lot of people have this weird sense that other people expect from me the thing that I used to do in the past, you know, like you're [ __ ] you too trying to release an acoustic album or something like what what what if the fans don't like the new music? It's like dude, no one's [ __ ] paying as much attention as you are. Yeah. No one cares as much as you do. It's a it's it's a evolution thing. You've got to evolve. I think that's the key to staying relevant on social media. Things have to change. And I think a lot of people who do, they lose that relevancy because you just keep doing the same thing over and over and over again for so long that people get a little bit bored. And you can't be making, you know, me going around IA on a mad one, you know, which which is what I was doing in my late 20s. I can't keep making those type of videos. Well, your body can't keep surviving those kinds of sessions, I think, is what you mean. Holy [ __ ] it's so bad now. On New Year On New Year's Eve. I had a beer and then I just couldn't stop yawning after this. Like, what the [ __ ] is wrong with me? How often are you drinking at the moment? Very rarely. Mhm. Like, how many times a year? It was like once a month. Now it's like once maybe every two months. And that's how much? A couple. I think I can get away with drinking three and be okay the next day at more than three. Brain isn't working properly. The gym session is pretty terrible. Even the mood mood is a little bit depressed. The vibes, dude. And it's like there's just more to do. I can't afford to be lying in bed feeling sorry for myself. We want to do one more. Another exercise. Let's do one more. This feels quite nice. Yeah. I don't know. Maybe it's what like getting older feels like. But then it's also I do get the sense that I was more tolerant of feeling like [ __ ] when I was in my 20ies. What is that's the thing? I don't know if it's because we're healthier that we feel it more. Oh, you know what? You know what health is supposed to feel like because I'm not permanently feeling like kind of [ __ ] or if your body just genuinely is not adapted to processing it with age. Probably both. A higher bar for what you want and less resilience to be able to deal with feeling like [ __ ] Good. But it's a it's a good thing. I used to not like the fact that I would get bad hangovers, but you know how some people don't get them and they can just Yeah. Well, those are the people who don't get any signal to slow down drinking when they turn [ __ ] 37. So, their li their liver's battered or they just age very quickly. Yeah, I feel fine. What are you talking about? I feel fine. Yeah, dude. You have the liver of a 90-year-old. Solid. Have you done these uh incline lateral raises that Israel is a big fan of? Have you been to Mike's place in Detroit? No, not yet. Well, I would go, but it's the middle of [ __ ] nowhere. What else is Detroit? Steel. It's good at making steel. Car manufacturing. Yeah. Yeah. Used to be until China came in. China. China. You know what's impressed me? How you've kind of you you really got into the the world of politics and discussing things that I imagine you probably never thought you'd be discussing. Getting in trouble about things that you never thought that you'd be getting in trouble for. Are you getting in trouble for it? N. Every comedian says, "Oh, man. I'm just a comedian." Like, don't take what I take what I say seriously. There's an equivalent ejector seat button, but for just being a bro. It's like, hey, look, if you're coming to me for your political insight, that's not a me problem. That's a [ __ ] you problem, dude. We're doing this right. Yeah. So, I would put tiny little bit more uh bend in the arms. Just a little bit more of a kink. And then lead with the little finger. So, you're thinking little finger up. I wouldn't go false grip either. So, you can turn over it. I'd go thumbs around. Yeah. Yeah. Tiny little bit more little finger high if you can. Yes. Beautiful. Good. Good. Oh, it's a tasty one, Matt. You feel it, eh? Yeah. It's one of the very few exercises that I've been able to regularly create delts from. Like medial delt dos. How long's it been since you had medial delts? Like 2007 when you first moved to Newcastle or some [ __ ] You're looking a little leaner than the last few times I've seen you. Yeah. Is that right? Yeah. Uh-huh. Is that purposeful? It's more so the nutrition is really dialed now. So, I cut back on over consuming and cheat meals in general. Mhm. Because I realized to to maintain a certain level of leanness requires you to not overeat when there is a tendency to overeat. So, and we've both got big appetites. Yeah. And I think I would just rather be leaner than to have the temporary pleasure of that food, the cheat meal. We checked out uh Miami recently. Yeah, a little bit thoughts. So Paul Graeme's got this essay called uh every city whispers to you or what cities say or something and uh each city whispers something different. I always think about it whenever I go to places in America, you know, like New York says your self worth is the uh street that you live on or Miami would be you're only as good as the car you're in or the watch on your wrist. Or LA is uh you're as important as your friends are. Whereas Austin is a little bit more like the richest people drive the shittest cars. Yeah. Everyone's kind of a little bit hidden wealth like flexing in a different way with what they say or companies they own. Yeah. Yeah, I guess. Yeah, true. The companies. Yeah. Uh the governments they can topple. Clothing mate. Oh, headache. I don't know if that's something I want to pursue to be honest. Out of everything that I'm doing, it seems to be the biggest headache and the least profitable. Yeah. So, I'm thinking, what the [ __ ] am I doing? I mean, already I'm spreading myself a bit thin. Yeah. So, I'd rather just focus on the things that are working well. The fitness is always something that will work well. The app is doing very well. I should just double down on fitness related stuff. Even though it's saturated, but I sometimes forget how much I'm kind of known in the space for fitness and how long I've been around for. Like, I'm a figure of authority, I would say. Yeah. We I mean, everybody has this, right? If there's something that comes easily to you, you kind of discredit how valuable it is. Yeah. Because it comes easily to you. So you don't realize that for somebody else to do that thing or get to that stage or achieve that whatever they would have to absolutely bury themselves to get there. And we also forget um like heritage I guess or how established you are. Yeah. And you know if you are a voice of authority if you have been doing this thing for a while in some ways you could look at it and say oh that's old news nothing fresh there. go in in other ways you could say I'm one of the like legends of the world or one of the respected people within the field or whatever it might be. So like uh you know no one's going Einstein who's all right but like you know who's the new one you know so um yeah I just think especially with the clothing thing from my limited experience of seeing people try to run clothing brands it is an awful lot of effort. Yeah. And the the guys who are doing the best, they are all in on the clothing. Ben Francis all in. He's not [ __ ] around doing a bit of coaching on the side. This is how I made loads of money in clothing. Yeah. Yeah. Follow my agency accelerator to grow your own Gym Shark. George Heaton. Yeah. Full-time. Full time. Like although he trains like a professional athlete, so he has two full-time jobs. Yeah. He's trained like twice a day sometime. Um but yeah the something which is interesting me more than never now is like the the the the longevity wellness space biohacking even though biohacking is a bit like you know some people just kind of roll their eyes when they hear it I think that is it's the future like everybody wants to live they don't necessarily live longer but live look look better for look and feel better for a longer period of time but it's a difference between health span and lifespan Yeah, it's Yeah, maybe you're not going to live much later than your 80s, but perhaps you can still be hiking and stuff basically until a couple of weeks before you die. Yeah. And it kind of dawned on me. I was like, hang on, like when is when is the the peak of the male physique? Like what age is it? Obviously, it depends on a number of factors like genetics and how well you're looking after yourself, but you could argue, you know, 34, 35, 36, you know, that that is peak. And then I'm 34 now going on 35 and I'm like, holy [ __ ] am I getting to the point where I will soon I will soon be past my best. I'm like, no, no, no, no. Like, I'm not ready for that. So, how about we just keep this going for as long as possible? What what is what do I need to do? How do I need to be looking after myself? So, what have you found as the biggest buckets that you need to focus on? Uh, sleep and nutrition. Fairly obvious, but um the sleep, even though I know what it is that I need to do in order to get the best sleep, it's sometimes [ __ ] difficult when you when you have a [ __ ] brain that doesn't switch off. Yeah. Yeah, that's difficult. I mean, obviously, it all gets [ __ ] up when you travel. Yeah. Um, depends, man. It depends how expensive the cabin is that you've got. Did he fly you boys? Did he fly you boys first class as well? Are you kidding me? Not yet. What? Nobody's getting paid. Nobody's getting Nobody's getting paid. No, everybody got folded up and put in [ __ ] hand luggage. Unreal. Crazy. Good. [Music] It was funny when we we spoke last time and you were you were kind of like Chris the podcaster but not you were just getting into like the business world. Mhm. And now I am the business world, baby. You are the business. I am the business world. Uh, no. Yeah, you're right. It's um I think it was weird because I did so much business in my 20ies. It's the same thing. It's you always assume the [ __ ] that comes naturally to you or that you've done for a long time is less valuable. Yeah. Ryan Long was talking about this Canadian dude that does the sketches and skits and stuff. He's real funny to him. Writing comedy skits comes so seamlessly that he has to assume he always down like devalues it. He thinks, "Ah, everybody can do this." It's like, "No, you're a freak at the thing that you can do." Put your [ __ ] foot on the gas. Yeah. It's kind of the same that if you've done something for a long time, you're blind to it a little too. Like for you, it's like maybe I need to be doing traveling or maybe I need to like start a clothing company. It's like, dude, just [ __ ] lift the weights and look pretty and tell people how to do it. You know what I mean? like stop [ __ ] about them. Yeah. And um because I did so much business in my 20ies, I was like h should do something different. I should, you know, diversify. It's like what's that mean? Yeah. Everything is business. Everything that you're going to do is business. You're just going to like not talk about it for a bit and then get back into it. And sure enough, here I am. Do you want more weight or I'll stick at this? You normally train by yourself? Uh trainer like most days. Why? What is that? because you struggle to push yourself or because Yeah. Yeah. I just about 3 years ago I just ran out of gas solo. It's like I'm tired. I'm tired of using that much willpower in the gym and uh realize that if I wasn't training with someone or with a trainer, I would still get the session done. It'd be fine. You wouldn't enjoy it or you It would use a lot of willpower. that would sat me for the rest of the day. And I wouldn't push myself to above probably an 8 out of 10. Yeah. But with a trainer, it's like actively rejuvenating. So I actually feel better once I finish. I feel like I haven't used that much energy. And uh good. Come on. Come on man. So the way that memory works, human memory, it's from repeated recall, not repeated exposure. Something has happened and it becomes a memory, but you keep going back to that memory. Yes. The more that you recall it. So it's about repeated recall, not repeated exposure. That's that's me. That's how human memory works. So one of the things that I've taken to doing is if I read something on a morning, I'm reading like maybe two articles or something before I go to training. And I'll try when I get into training, if they were good, I'll just try and explain it to my trainer. Okay. And then when the pod comes along later on that week, it's already firing. And then I do it again. And then it's like locked in for the next 6 months. Yeah. You're very good at that. Now trying. Yep. Nice. The only people who ever say you should have asked more hard-hitting questions are people who don't agree with your guest. Yeah. No one who agrees with what that person's saying does that. So what they're basically saying is I want you to be a hired gun for me and hit the person that I don't like on the head. Yeah. Whereas my position is if I invited you on my podcast, you know, kind of obliged to give you a good time. Yeah. Yeah. It's supposed to be [ __ ] enjoyable. I invited you on. It's like, "Hey, come around to my house. By the way, you're going to step on pins the whole time that you're here. And then another part of it is look, it's not I don't think you actually get to learn the most about somebody if you get them defensive. Yeah. If they're like really uncomfortable, if they feel like they're being pushed into a corner or being attacked, I don't think that you get the best version of them. Well, on top of that, it's not in my demeanor to be the Jeremy Paxman, Piers Morgan, you know, that's not my vibe. So, between I invited you around to my house shouldn't be that shitty of an experience, I don't think you get the most truth out of someone if you make him defensive and I'm not that guy, bro. Yeah, like there's And again, the only people who ever have any criticisms about the fact you didn't go hard enough are people who just don't like the guest and wish that you'd been the best version of the bad person they wish they were if they'd been able to sit opposite that person. I would have said this. It's like, well, do your own podcast, invite them on, and you can give them a shitty experience. Yeah. So, anyway, um but if you dial away from during politics season, if you don't go hell for leather on everything to do with politics, then you're going to have a little bit of a pullback. So, we did that and then at the inauguration and all that stuff, I'm like I've been emotions, mental health, emotional well-being, neuroscience. It's like not sexy stuff, but that's where my passion is at the moment. So, I've just gone like balls deep on all of that. And I I don't mind uh there's a point where you have to play the game a little bit to accumulate this like I'm going to here's me on a yacht. Here's me with a bird. Here's me doing the thing. Then in go I can actually get back to what I came here to do. Yeah, maybe that was some of it. But if if you if you are chasing maximum views and growth, it's usually starts to not be fun. George Mack says if you run enough split tests, you always end up with a porn website and uh that's it. If you if you just optimize for the most amount of plays, you're going to end up doing what everybody else does cuz there's only a very small number of ways you can maximize that. Whereas, if you just want to do what you want to do, that's always been my approach. One more. Yeah. It's been a while since I did Close Script Bench. Holy [ __ ] What have you been interested in topics wise recently? Dating, relationships. Uhhuh. Cuz I've had my fair share of uh even recently like I've got experience in the dating world a lot. But still, I after every relationship, I just learn something new. I'm like, Me too. Me too. Every time. Yeah. Like I learn more each new relationship. Yeah. I wonder whether it's because we're paying attention more. You're sort of detecting stuff that would have passed you by previously. Yeah. And I for me, what stands out is how how different women can be. Like what makes one girl happy is not what makes another girl happy. How one girl shows love. Yeah. Very different. Yeah. That's so that's so true. And I think because I want I want to learn the most about it now so that when I do find the person that I have kids with, I'm going to be the best partner that I can be. Yeah. Same. Exactly the same. [Applause] I wonder I wonder with having the whole kid things, is it better to have like if you're going to have two kids, would you want to have two kids two or three years apart or would you rather get it over and done with in one go and have twins? I'd want two shot I'd want two bites of the apple because what's cool is it's probably worse for the mother to have to go for a child with twice. Uh I don't know. I mean it you're you're kind of designed to have a kid in you. You're kind of not designed to have two or three kids in you. Yeah. You know what I mean? So, like I mean there's loads of complications with natural births all the time. How the [ __ ] is there not a complication when there's two or three in there? Crazy. Nice. Your thoughts on Mike's locks. Mike's arms. Yeah. I mean, he's just been a very big boy his entire life. Always very lean. Yeah. Which helps. Nice. [Music] So, if you're 35 this year, when are you going to start doing high rocks? Along with everybody else. I'm not doing high rocks. I I I had a phase of doing hybrid related activities in January. I did see you run. Yeah, I was running. It's rare rare sight to see me run. Yep. And I'm actually not bad. Okay. So, I think if it's something which I wanted to actually be good at, I could be good at. Mhm. But I noticed I was losing quite a bit of mass on my legs quickly. Really? Yeah. Wow. Oh, like it being having massive legs and longdistance running does not Thank you. It's very inefficient. Yeah. A huge calorie burn. Yeah. But I did feel great. Did you fit? Wow. How long did you do it for? Five weeks. Five weeks. Yeah. That's not nothing. But I I just had relationships that have lasted less time than that. I just missed lifting weight. It's like when I was running, I was like, "Man, I'd rather wish I was in the gym. I'd rather be just like, yep, I'm not [ __ ] scrap. I'm just saying." Then David Stoker used to think that that line was about me. Are you still doing episodes where you feel like you're forcing yourself a little bit or are you speaking? push. I I have to push sometimes, but that's usually because I've taken a little bit of a break somewhere. So, if I do one week that's only got two episodes, I need to do the next week. I have to do four. If I do one week where I only do one, I have to do five to keep it three a week. So, that can hurt. Like, you know, I always want to read another person's book, but once I'm ready to sit down, I'm usually pretty fired up. So, Yeah, cuz I I found for me one a week is nice. Like it's uh I could do more, but I can be more selective with guests and there's more time to prep. I don't [ __ ] I don't know how you've been doing it. Three a week, man. For so long. For 5 years. That is That's why you deserve the success you had. Thank you. Not even like haven't missed a week when I had my when I snapped my Achilles and I made a a studio where I got the mic arm. Yeah. My foot was raised up above my head. So I was laid down with the laptop. It was like [ __ ] vision. Laptop on my crotch. That mic arm coming in from the [Music] side. I'm going out the way. [Music] Oh, Max. A little tilt. [Music] Surprised you're not wearing Crocs today. Not for training. I'm telling you, man. Have you You must have tried them for travel for flying. They're unbeatable. Like literally unmatched. [Music] Have you noticed as the fame has risen, the channel has grown, female interest has also increased. Uh yes. Yes. Um like probably better quality women. Well, yeah, that's true. But it's like a very specific, especially for me, I'm attracting a very specific niche of woman, right? It's like, if you're ready to listen to me waffle on in bed, what's the pillow talk going to be about? Come on, be [ __ ] Be careful what you wish for, ladies. Get into a relationship with a podcaster. It's like, "Hey, we finished having sex 3 hours ago. Shut the [ __ ] up. I want to go to sleep." Oh, man. Good. You know what's crazy? So in your 20s when you're a guy, you think that what you need to do to attract chicks is be a playboy. Like look like a playboy. Be a f boy. Yeah. Yeah. Like you're what you realize when you get into your 30s is that you just need to give off the maximum dad energy that you can. And if you push like hardcore dad energy because like when you're when you're maybe early 30s, mid-30s, they can sense like that is it's the age. This is the age when he's looking. anytime anytime that there's ever a reel out where I'm talking about marriage or raising kids or or strategies for parenting or um like communication in a relationship long term or how to make things work. It's like it's guys aren't really that interested in that. A lot of women are. So yeah, I think, you know, if I was to give advice to younger dudes that want to be serious about getting into a relationship, attracting like a really good woman, they're like, "Stop trying to signal how wealthy you are, how much status you've got, how popular you are." Like, just really really signal that you'd be a [ __ ] sick dad. Everything else fall into place and and it's a blue ocean cuz no one else is doing that cuz everyone else still thinks that the best approach is like the tape model. Yeah. You know what's interesting as well? The more people that I've had on my podcast that are extremely wealthy, they don't want anyone to know how much money they have and they're very reserved about it. You can tell who has recently come into a bit of money versus who. It's the classic. It's succession. It's succession, the TV show. It's new money versus old money. And the old money is all settle well. They're not showing off. And all of the people that aren't used to it, all the people for whom this is a novelty. That's why Austin's cool. Austin's cool because even if you are new money, you have to behave like you still don't have money. Yeah. No one's driving around in a [ __ ] drop top Lambo or a Rolls. It's all Chevy trucks. Maybe someone's got Cyber Truck or something. Maybe someone's got like a But the last nice car I remember seeing was an Urus that hadn't been cleaned in probably 3 months. Yeah, that was the last night's car. I get that vibe in Abu Dhabi. Okay, cuz Abu Dhabi is obviously very there's a lot of money there, but people aren't showing off in Abu Dhabi. A bit more chill. [Music] I remember when you were talking about the podcast, you took a while to commit to doing it. You talked about it for maybe 18 months. Yeah. And then it was after I came on yours, I was like, I really enjoyed that. Maybe I could do that. Yep. Didn't do anything for like Yeah. Two years later. It's like, right, I'll dabble. I'll just stick a toe in. Come back out. All right. We done? Yeah. All right. Dinner. Who would you go on if you got dream guests? I like um musicians and uh like actors. Okay. So, like 50 Cent would be a big one. Great. I'd love to speak to him because I' i've been listening to him since I was freaking 13. But he's also You stink of a 50 Cent fan. He's he's obviously gotten into business and he's managed to Young Vitamin Water. Yeah. Like he's he's done a lot and he doesn't give a [ __ ] I mean, every look, here's the thing. Everybody at some point has got media obligations. Everyone has to promote something. And if you're the guy Trump Yeah. you're like the, you know, one of the most famous people on the [ __ ] planet. Come to Austin. Bow down. sit on the [ __ ] seat for three hours talk. Yeah. You know, well, not everyone's trusting podcast now and mainstream media. I think so. Uh maybe erroneously so. Like we don't know what we're doing. Yeah. But that I mean it's a what an absolutely awful indictment of the state of modern media that people look to the [ __ ] that we do as somehow more reputable. Atrocious. Just really kind of like a simple calm existence. No complexity. No. Well, you drama with everything that you've got going on, you can't afford to be with somebody who's bringing that amount of like craziness to your life. Able to provide sufficient craziness in my own life. Thank you very much. Yeah. And like it can massively like imagine I remember we I had a podcast to do and uh you put that reel up. Mhm. and one of the team had put up the thumbnail of my me with my ex-girlfriend like on my arm and then I don't know like another girl. I got a call again in the morning like what the [ __ ] is this? She showed me I was like what are you talking about? And then she shows me this the real and the the cover photo is with me and my ex. I'm like for [ __ ] sake like don't like I am not choosing that picture. I am not posting. It's my team and they don't even know you exist cuz I keep my private life private. Yep. So that that completely put me off in like the wrong mood an hour before I had to do a podcast. I was like, you got to bring yourself back around. I'm like, I don't I can't handle this. Yeah, I'm not in the right head space. That's a weird thing. Creative work or anything that's performance-based is such a unique category where you actually have to be in a good mood to make it work. Yeah. You don't need to be in a good mood probably to be a good accountant. Yeah. Or even maybe a good lawyer. Like lawyer is like real hard stuff. Maybe even to be a good doctor. I wouldn't want to be a surgeon that's, you know, had a recent emotional like perturbation. Very angry. Yeah. Shaking. Uh, but there's loads of jobs that are real high level or or lower level or whatever and you can just get through them. And then there's some things where it's performance and you're putting a bit of yourself over. If you're not in a good mood, you're at 50% capacity of what you can do because you're distracted. Yeah. You're not thinking clearly. I think about comedians. How the [ __ ] do comedians step on stage? Like your job is to bring the vibe. Yeah. And you're stepping on stage. Like a member of your family has just died and you're like, "Oh, [ __ ] Still need to do this." Yep. Oh, man. It's so good. We get to catch up with someone that I've known for nearly two decades. Sick. It's good to hear a familiar accent here in Austin. Mike's a cool guy. And uh yeah, it's mad to see where you end up. people that you bump into second year of university in the northeast of the UK. And then yeah, he's a genuinely good person and uh just a nice end to a Tuesday afternoon training session, some food. I hope you enjoyed it.