Nick Bare
Appearances
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
At one point they thought I had a parasite and a worm from Mexico, from a vacation. They thought I had celiac disease, so they had me eating no gluten for a period of time. And one of the last tests they did on my body was they put me under and they put a tube down my throat to look into my stomach. And what they realized was the food from the day before was still sitting in my stomach.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
So my organs weren't working and they weren't digesting this food. And I was essentially killing myself through this process. And I remember one day my mom would take me out of school and she'd take me to the doctor's appointment at the Hershey Medical Center, what it felt like on a weekly basis at this point. And we would drive into the medical center and we'd turn towards the
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
The clinics and the emergency room section. But this last trip we ever took, we pulled into the Hershey Medical Center. And instead of turning left, we turned right on this one day. And it was the outpatient clinic. And we pulled into this building. And on the building, it read eating disorder clinic. And at that moment, I knew it was like, I'm caught.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
Right. Wow. So I remember that day where we walk up and I can picture it like it was yesterday. We walk up these set of stairs into this outpatient clinic and I sit down with this doctor and he literally just confronts me right away. We know what you've been doing. We know you've been starving yourself. Wow. And I broke down just crying. And I turned to my mom and said, I'm done.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
I'll fix it right now. I was that embarrassed that I didn't want to be in that room. I didn't want to come back to this place. I'll make a conscious effort to get better. We wrapped up this session and we went home. And I remember opening up the pantry thinking I need to start eating again. And I grabbed this box of Pop-Tarts. And I pull out a package and there's two Pop-Tarts per package.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
And I turn it around and it says 400 calories in two Pop-Tarts. And I'm thinking, this is probably more than I've been consuming in a day. For most days. And I ate these two Pop-Tarts, which was, at the time, relatively one of the most challenging things I've ever done. And I had a very, you know, I started eating and putting weight on after that moment.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
To say it was like a switch flipped, it wasn't that by any means. For years, I had unhealthy relationships with food. That slowly got better. That's what made me want to study nutrition in college. I wanted to learn more. I wanted to know more. But that, for me, was a pivotal point in my life. It was very long ago, but... I still can remember a lot of those moments like they were yesterday.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
And that'd be from 6.30 to 7.30 or 6.30 to 8 a.m. And then I would eat my breakfast in my truck, shower change, be in the office by nine. That was my morning routine. And I lived that for four years. When I transitioned out of the Army. So that was ROTC, is that what that is? That was actual active duty military. Okay, but that was in the U.S. or in South Korea? That was in the U.S.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
But it was, I think, fundamental and a foundation for who I am today and what I'm interested in, what I'm passionate about, possibly a reason I want to and enjoy helping others, especially in health, fitness, nutrition. But that was challenging for me when I was younger, for years.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
No, I mean, the only thing that I can really pinpoint to is, and this might have correlated and transformed who I am today, is I enjoyed having control. I enjoyed having control of what I was able to put in my body and how much I would work out, how much I would sweat to lose weight. And I loved having that control, this obsessive, controlled mindset and motivation.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
I do think I have funneled that level of obsessive control into building a business, into building chasing and working towards success. I think I still have that in me, but I've just funneled it into something else.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
In the U.S., gotcha. Yeah, that's when I was stationed at Fort Hood. I was in South Korea for a nine-month rotation in 2016. Got it. Morning routine was very similar. When I transitioned out of the Army, there was never really the thought of, well, let's change this morning routine up, because it worked.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
For me, it was proven successful that it allowed me to achieve a lot of things that I wanted to do throughout the day through backwards planning. Backwards planning and forward thinking. Now, my morning routine, I still wake up early, move my body and sweat, and search for solitude. Solitude for me it is a form of meditation and that's running. So I'll wake up every morning, 5 a.m.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
And people ask the question all the time, like, well, if I'm not a morning person, how do I wake up at 5 a.m.? Sometimes you have to train the body. You got to become a morning person. Right. You wake up at 5 a.m. for 30, 60, 90 days. That just becomes routine. That becomes habit.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
Right. No. I'm trying to get at least seven hours of sleep. Yeah, exactly. So I wake up at 5 a.m., and the first thing I do is I go out in the kitchen, I make my coffee, and I'll check my emails, I'll go through kind of things I have to do to prepare for business that day.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
I check my schedule, and as soon as I'm done drinking my coffee, I lace up my shoes, throw on my shorts, throw on my hat, go out for my morning run. Right now, it's anywhere from five to seven miles, and for me, That morning, five to seven miles at a aerobic pace, it's below my max aerobic heart rate, I can really sink in.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
And what happens during those five to seven miles is absolutely transformational. Where if there's problems in my life, they will find me during that run. I will navigate issues that I'm experiencing. I will solve problems I'm experiencing. I'll get emotional during these five to seven miles. there's this dopamine dump and rush that I experience unlike anything else in my life.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
And then when I get back from that run, it's eat breakfast, shower, get into the office. But I've already started my day with a win. I've accomplished those three things of waking up early, move my body and sweat, and then solitude. Yeah, it's beautiful, man.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
It's off, I feel like I'm behind. Really? Yeah, I mean, even days that I, I might wake up early and not run if it's not a run day. But regardless, I'm waking up at 5 a.m., I'm moving my body in some capacity. I just feel better when I move. And I'm searching for solitude, whether it's sitting on the couch drinking my coffee or giving our baby girl a bottle to put her back to sleep.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
But if I don't achieve those things, the day's off, or I feel like I'm behind and I'm playing catch-up. where I need that 5 a.m. wake up call to set the day up for a big win.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
I think you have to detach yourself from the issue you're experiencing. Go big picture. So to kind of paint a picture of a story that kind of wraps that all up, I remember I was in Fort Benning, Georgia for training. This was 2014, probably. It was before I got to my unit in Fort Hood.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
I was a brand new second lieutenant, and we were being mentored by the 75th Ranger Regiment for a few days in training. And these were all captains in the captain's career course. And I was talking to this one officer and I said, you know, sir, when I get to my unit, what's going to set me up for success? How do I become the best officer possible?
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
And he pointed across the room to this other officer. He said, you see that guy over there? When it's a fan, when chaos strikes, that guy is as cool as the other side of the pillow. Really? Because he detaches himself. He's not reactive. He's proactive. He has a plan, but he pulls back from 10,000 feet in the air, looks at all the moving pieces and then makes a plan.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
So I think what happens with a lot of people and myself included, it used to happen a lot is something goes wrong. Your plan isn't working. Well, now you're in fight or flight. You're reactive. You're trying to just put things back in place. it's often better to just take a step back, take a deep breath, look at what's going on, and how do I deliberately make a plan to adjust and execute?
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
What's the things you guys did in the Army to train for that? I think it was just through mentorship. You always throughout training have... a non-commissioned officer who has years of experience or an officer who has years of experience. But when I got to my platoon in 2014 in Texas, I was an infantry platoon leader. I was the platoon leader of these 40 soldiers, non-commissioned officers.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
I had the least amount of experience out of all of them. You were the leader. Exactly. New officer. My platoon sergeant had 18 years of experience in the Army with multiple combat deployments. But he was reporting to you. Technically. Wow. My squad leaders, my team leaders, they had multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. You know, a lot of experience.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
And then I had, you know, junior enlisted soldiers in the platoon, but... For me, I was being mentored by my platoon sergeant, my squad leaders, my team leaders. So the biggest piece of advice I got when I first arrived at that platoon was don't make any changes. This is not your platoon. Allow them to let you in. Just come in and observe.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
And when they start asking for some advice and your opinion, that's them letting you in. And I learned so much through and from these non-commissioned officers and soldiers during my four years. A lot of it was just having awareness, you know, reading the room. Like, do these people trust me? Do they want me to lead them? Will they work alongside of me?
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
Having that awareness and then repetition, consistent repetition will help you get better.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
My wife has a morning routine. It was definitely different. It wasn't 5 a.m. wake up? It was never 5 a.m. wake up. But for her, it was always, we are routine people. It was wake up. She would go through her green supplement and then water and then coffee and then go work out and train. And both of us, we need to move our bodies to be sane. Having the baby has changed life pretty significantly.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
But we've found ways to still implement our plan to achieve our routine throughout the day where we both have to adapt and make some changes. But It's difficult, it's challenging, but it's doable. Yeah.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
It goes back to, I'm a huge fan of what the military taught me about setting your, not day, but a mission, a week, a year, five years up for success, it's backwards planning. So it's okay, in this amount of time, for me to get from point A to point B, I now need to go backwards. What do I need to do at this time away and this time away?
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
How do I set myself up for success to get from point A to point B? So it's backwards planning while you're forward thinking. And anyone who has some sort of routine allows you to, execute and complete your non-negotiables while still achieving your day, your week, your month, your year plan.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
So there's three things I talk about that are non-negotiables for my morning. One, it's wake up early. Two, it is move your body and sweat. And three, it's search for solitude. So when I was in the military, you don't have an option to press news or sleep in. You've got to wake up early. Right.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
And for me, that's why I believe it's, it's so important for myself, but a lot of other successful people, it's because if you don't have a routine, especially a morning routine, you're playing catch up. And especially if you have a lot of responsibilities and obligations, because for me, as soon as the day starts in the office at 8 a.m.,
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
I don't know what fire I'm fighting, but if I didn't do my three things early on, I don't know what I'm getting to, especially now having a child.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
I mean, if it works for you. If it's not broke, don't fix it. I've never been the type of person that says, you need to, you have to, you should. A lot of the content that I put online is, this is what works for me. And it might work for you. But I can tell you right now, if I didn't have a morning routine... You'd be a mess. I'd be a mess. My day would be chaotic. I would be behind.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
I'd be... I hate being in a reactive space and state. I'm a very proactive, deliberate, strategic, intentional person. One of my favorite things that I've ever heard, and it's from Jordan, my media director. I walked into his office one day and it was his note on his computer. And it said, lack of intentionality leads to a repetition of what is easiest.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
For me, I want to be intentional with everything I do. And if I'm not being intentional... with a routine or my day or the things that I say and do, I'm falling into a rhythm and routine of easy. And I don't want easy. I want challenging. I want hard. I want deliberate, intentional, strategic. Why do you want challenging and hard versus easy and comfortable?
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
Because I've grown in every aspect of challenging and hard. I can't tell you...
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
one moment of my life where i've grown in easy and it drives my wife insane she's like take a break quite often but i know that when the pressure is there and it's challenging and it hurts and it brings stress and discomfort i know it's on the other side of that and the only reason i know it's on the other side of that is because i've gone through it so many times you know bootstrapping a business
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
is tough. I've gone through a decade of hurt and struggle and pain, but to see where it's put me, there's no way I'd be there now if it was easy and comfortable. And regardless, I want to work for what I achieve. You know, it's often choosing the hard right over the easy wrong. Mm-hmm. And wherever I get to, when I die one day, I wanna know, I've worked for this. I've earned this.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
So I had an eating disorder when I was younger. I was 13, 14 years old. To this day, I can't tell you what caused or created it.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
Unfortunately not. Yeah. When I got to Fort Hood in 2014, I was a infantry platoon leader, and I lived about 30 minutes away from Fort Hood. So I had to be at work by 6 a.m. So I'm waking up at 4.30 a.m. every morning, and I'm getting to work at 6 for a quick meeting. And then by 6.30, we're stretching out for morning PT, and we do that for an hour.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
I just remember I slowly wanted to restrict more food. I wanted to be able to feel more bones. Really? Over my skin. I wanted to be lighter. I wanted to see the scale decreasing. I wanted to be hungry. I wanted to be frail. I don't know why to this day. You wanted to be weak. I wanted to be weak. How old were you? 13, 14 years old.
The School of Greatness
How To Start Your Day For Peak Mental & Physical Performance
And I mean, it started getting pretty severe to the point where my parents were taking me to the hospital on a regular basis and they were running tests. I was in and out of the hospital. They diagnosed me with all these different things multiple times. I internally knew I was starving myself. So what did they diagnose you as and what were you telling people?