The Need for Competition with Michael Russo

Josh (00:00:02) - Good day, everybody. Welcome to Uncensored Advice for men. This is going to be a special episode because I get to hang out and interview one of my dudes from Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Mr.. Mike, welcome to the show, man.

Mike (00:00:16) - Thank you. Josh. Happy to be here. Long overdue, long overdue.

Josh (00:00:20) - We've been talking about this for a long time and I'm glad we we get to do this. I, I really love hanging out with my friends because you guys are going to ask me questions that I'm going to ask you questions. And people get to see behind friendships of 30 plus years. So, um, as we dive in today for this interview, we're going to talk about fear, uncertainty, perseverance, fatherhood, competitive stuff that you do. But, uh, let's start out with this man. Who are you, Mr. Mike Russo?

Mike (00:00:52) - Thank you. Um, it's such a simple question with such a difficult answer. Right then. I'm just a dude. Uh, but, you know, at the end of the day, man, first and foremost, I'm a husband and a father.

Mike (00:01:02) - Uh, I've got, you know, two boys that, uh, I'm raising to be young men. They're, uh, quite early in that journey. You know, five and most three. Um, a business owner. I've been headhunting for 15 plus years. So I launch my own practice at the very tail end of 2022. Asymmetric talent solutions. We're a modern headhunting practice for the technology sector, 100% driven by data. And I'm a competitor. Uh, so I'm a professional, uh, gas gun marksman. Um, I travel primarily the southeast region of the United States and, uh, and compete in a variety of disciplines. Um, this year, I'm going to be adding the precision bolt gun, uh, to my focus as well.

Josh (00:01:41) - Yeah. Super cool. I love how you start with, first and foremost, I am husband father, but then you get into what you do because a lot of times as guys are identities built in, what do you do? Hey, my name's Bob.

Josh (00:01:54) - What do you do? Right? Like it's all built in that, but like you shared, like you know, your family and your relationship as your primary identifier, right? So I think that's really cool.

Mike (00:02:05) - Yeah. I think that goes back to really just my DNA kind of how I was raised, what I was taught. Um, it certainly, you know, out of respect for my wife, uh, I couldn't do the latter two things without the support structure that I have. And without getting into specifics, really, that support structure is my wife, right? Um, so as much as my time is distributed to other things, and, you know, we don't have enough time for all of it as it is anyway, uh, at the least I could do is pay my respects. And, uh, you know, without my boys over the past couple of years that I've had, they have been, you know, obviously the best thing that's ever happened to me, but an incredibly positive and wrong word.

Mike (00:02:44) - But, you know, people will relate to them being a positive distraction.

Josh (00:02:48) - Oh for sure. Now we're going to give you a chance to win some brownie points with your wife, because she's far better looking than you and she's smarter than you.

Mike (00:02:55) - And I'll I'll tell you, I'll take them if I can get them. Man. You know she.

Josh (00:02:59) - Is. She's cool. Yeah. Yeah, we we both married up. Maybe that's because we're both good sales guys. But when you talk about support systems, you know, what does that look like? Because you are competitive. You're out there building business. You've been in the world of head hunting and that you have been top of the game in that industry for a while, and now you're top of game in competitive gasps. Whatever. Shooting. Right. Like your, your marksman uh, what does that what does a good support system look like.

Mike (00:03:34) - Man, that's a really good question. And I'm probably going to take these away and, uh, put them in my back pocket and probably write them down somewhere that I can reread them a lot.

Mike (00:03:43) - You know, I think it really just stems from and this is, you know, I got a pretty big soft side, but this is going to be soft here, man. I think it really just stems from unconditional love. Um, it's the simple statement of, hey, I support you for whatever you think is best for you, whatever is best for us. Um, you know, the business side of the house is what, you know, keeps the walls up, right? And, uh, and and it's what, you know, contributes. Primarily to our future. Um, and she's a contributor as well. So, you know, I'm not, you know, the sole proprietor of the family, if you will. But, you know, when it comes to things, uh, outside of what we have to do, right? You talk about me being a competitor. These are things that I want to do and that want, you know, over the past. 7 or 8 years certainly has evolved into more of a need because of the level of passion right, that I possess for what it is that I do, and more importantly, the granularity behind right building up and continuously maintaining a focus on progressing the skill level needed to perform, you know.

Mike (00:05:07) - Owning your own business. You can understand anybody who owns their own business. There's they will understand. There's not a timeline. You don't turn it on and shut it off right there. Certainly I think healthy times that you can walk away and then there are really, really tough, challenging days. Um, and it depends on where you are in the business. It depends how many people are involved. Of course, those things are variable. But when it comes to being a serious competitor, you know, it's it's something you consistently have to provide to. Right. And, uh, you know, a lot of people will I don't want to say give me feedback. I'll talk to a lot of people and they're like, oh yeah, man, that looks like you're having a blast. Or, you know, it appears that if I'm going on a weekend like, you know, I'm with the boys or I'm having fun because, you know, I shoot with a lot of my friends who have become my friends over time and a lot of my competitors, a lot of my mentors, um, that are all peer competitors.

Mike (00:06:02) - And the reality of it is, is, yes, it's fun because I love it. But but it's operating at the same level of focus sometimes, if not a greater focus. It's just a different gear, right? You don't get to slow down. It's not a break. It's it's a very serious thing at the level of which, you know, I have been and will continue to try to operate and perform at, um, so, you know, it gets at you. It's exhausting. And you have to feed that system in order to be able to, to be there and do that for yourself as well. Yeah.

Josh (00:06:35) - I think the, the thing that I want to dig in with you is this man's need for competition. I, you know, I was a wrestler back in the day and, and then, uh, once I graduated, I did a little, you know, Brazilian jiu jitsu. And every once in a while, I'll run A5K. But, you know, I've been out of competition for freaking ten years or so, and there's an itch in me to get back on the mat.

Josh (00:06:59) - There's an itch for me to do something competitive, you know, I'm looking at now. I look at business numbers or I look at, you know, my metrics for podcasts. And there's like this thing that's itching that I'm not that I'm not itching. And I think it's I think I need to get back on the mat or get it, get back into competition. So when you talk about the need for competition, talk to us about how does that drive you? How does that shape you? How does that improve you as a dude?

Mike (00:07:26) - You might have to reel me in. That's a lot. I'm going to try and hit on all that. I think it's important to hit on all of those things. So competition for me. You know, if I go back to kind of like its origin, like I've always been a competitive person and I've always been on a competitive landscape. So I played competitive. I played baseball my entire adolescence right at a very young age. I started playing at five, tinkering that progressed into, you know, your normal rec leagues.

Mike (00:07:48) - But at a young age, I was recruited to some travel teams. And, I mean, I played every weekend my entire adolescence. I think that I was lucky to have maybe 4 to 6 weeks off a year, um, until I got to that high school level, which then that became high school and then travel ball when you're not playing high school and, you know, just competing at a level I was on, you know, nationally recognized baseball teams at a super young age. I mean, starting around probably 13, um, all the way through my high school career. Um, you know, and music was always a source of inspiration for me and kind of taking, like, word tracks from them and then inserting them into your memory for motivation and reference points along the way. And one of those things was everything is the best for me. And I kind of grew into that because I felt like maybe that that was just true, because it wasn't just baseball. I started surfing and while I didn't compete, um, you know, it's a competitive thing.

Mike (00:08:40) - Surfing is a very competitive thing in the water. You know, if you want to catch waves and in good ways in the right places. And I started playing music, right. And I started playing music with my friends, and that grew into recording records and actually going on tours and, you know, potentially making a career out of that. And then, you know, you grow up to a certain point. And I found myself in the in the white collar world at the age of 22, in a boiler room type environment where there were results on the whiteboard that were advertised for everybody in who's doing what, how are they doing, you know, and competition is a source, you know, of reference. Um, because really, it lets you know, kind of where you are in a certain discipline. It doesn't matter what it is. Um, and, you know, over this past year, you know, with shooting in mind here, um, the a primary topic that I've been approached with, uh, in general, kind of one on one advice.

Mike (00:09:35) - Hey, Mike, help! What's the deal? And also, hey, Mike, will you serve as a resource? I, I'm, I'm executing a video or some content on how people who want to compete, who have never competed can enter this landscape, what to expect and some general advice. And the reality is, is you just got to get out there and you have to understand what your goals are, and they've got to be realistic. Like you got to be honest with yourself, right. And for example, and this is, you know. This transfers across any type of discipline. But you know, this is a source and it depends on the community. Speaking of the shooting community, if you will. It's an individual sport, but it's the most positive team sport that have ever played. Right. And I played team sports. Um, the community is amazing. And when you go out there, whether it's your first, third, fifth, 10th, depending on your skill level, you're getting access and exposure.

Mike (00:10:24) - You're getting access and exposure to maybe equipment that you've never been able to touch, see or afford. You're getting to view all different types of skill levels and be exposed to them. You have sounding boards, you have answers to your questions, and if your goal is learning, you're going to have an amazing time. If your goal is a new competitor is winning.

Josh (00:10:44) - Yeah, like.

Mike (00:10:45) - I would say, like it's probably going to be a very humbling experience for you. Right. And it goes the same for everything. Um, this is one of those moments where you're going to remind me what we're talking about here, so I can go back to it. No, this is.

Josh (00:10:56) - Good, though. Like. All right, so you you gave us a snapshot of your life in terms of competition. Baseball. Then in the boiler room, seeing white names up on the board, like your your name, you want to get to the top of that board, right? And then you get into shooting and then you talk about a humbling moment where you know you're going in there to win.

Josh (00:11:19) - Fill in the blank with whatever sport, and then you're stepping up against real pros. And you said it's humbling. So you had to it feels like you had to learn to go from I'm out there to win and destroy to I'm out there to learn and join a group of people that I could be friends with. What's the difference?

Mike (00:11:36) - I mean it so. I think the difference is, you know, humility is a part of it. And your skill level, right, in whatever discipline that we're talking about. And that that goes back to what I said, like, you just got to be realistic with yourself and set realistic goals. So, you know, for me, I didn't focus on winning. Right. And as a competitor, you always want to win, right? Like I've always for myself, defined success is where I stand on the scorecard against my peers. Right. And humility has been a big part of that because, you know, I won a national championship in my division this past year, and people have a lot of questions for me.

Mike (00:12:12) - And the winds are dead to me. Right. Like, yes, it's important to celebrate them. But then they quickly become past tense. And there's a lot that goes into what you see around winners, um, and, and what they talk about. And generally speaking, you don't hear them criticize themselves or speak about what they did bad or, or focus on what they could have done better. They they trap what they did well and they remember and focus on those things, because that is what is going to contribute to. The continuation of them improving and operating at that level. Right. So, you know, I didn't focus on winning until I knew it was possible. And I say focus. I didn't say set a goal right. Those. Those are two distinguishing things. Um, and regardless of your skill level, like, you can be a fantastic whatever, but if you've never stepped foot on that landscape. It's a different environment, right? So is your goal winning right away or is it.

Mike (00:13:20) - Hey, let me check this out and see what it's all about and figure out the game. Let me feel around. Right. Like and then, you know, and again, of course it depends on the environment. Right. Like team sports are probably a little bit different. You know, you don't join a team to play a sport without some type of competitive nature. You know, us as men like you. You're on a baseball team of, you know, 15 plus people like the environment is competitive. Right. And when you become an individual, like you said, you were a wrestler. Um, I grew up around wrestling. I wasn't a wrestler, but my best friends were wrestlers. They were very good wrestlers. I watched the regiments that they had the terrible diets, the strenuous activities. I mean, these guys would run in in heavy trash bags to my house and, and eat the food in my parent's kitchen, you know, like it's it's a it's a pretty tough environment.

Mike (00:14:11) - But you're an individual, right? You have to be super in tune and super focused. And there's not really many people to help you unless you got a coach, right? I'm a I'm an adult that isn't paid to shoot. And yes, I have mentors and I, I couldn't grow without them. Right. But you know, when you're the you can't be the smartest person in the room or the field or the landscape. It's not going to help you get any better. But I think going back to my point about, you know, goals versus, um, just winning, right? There's there's comes a time, I think, where there's an intersection of those things and they have to be if you're serious about what you do, and that really is what you want. But for me. It's one thing at a time. It's one match at a time. And you know, in the business world, it's one day at a time. And my wife has helped me kind of hone that in a lot of, you know, being a source of, if anything, a reminder of don't worry about March.

Mike (00:15:13) - And last year was a year I was able to really execute that in my match regimen or my match schedule. And you get a win. That's great. Man. That's that's what I came to do. But you know what? Let's check that, because I have a match in two weeks and we're going to focus on that now. In order to prepare for that, I focus on the process. The process of what I'm doing, the process of doing the things that I need to do to win. But I'm not focused on winning. Right. Um. That's kind of the pointy thing versus the goals. But, you know, I think more important stuff is the process and really the what's underneath it. Right? Um. Most of what we do is physically, you know, visually physical. But I think that 90% of most things are actually mental.

Josh (00:16:04) - Oh, for sure, for sure, for sure. Absolutely. You mentioned some old buddies probably referring to DJ and and, uh, Ben, I.

Mike (00:16:12) - Lost your volume.

Josh (00:16:13) - Hey, check, check. One, two. It might be your headset.

Mike (00:16:17) - I don't have any sound.

Josh (00:16:18) - All right, hold on one second. Holy moly. Uh, we lost the signal for a second, but we're back in the game. I was, uh, you were mentioning, uh, uh, just to kind of kick us back off in a fun way. You were mentioning some old school wrestlers that, uh, that are your friends and that I grew up with, you know, maybe DJ Kane and and Ben. Exactly right. Ben wins. All right, you put those two boys in a in a Matt. 20 years later, who's going to win Ben or DJ?

Mike (00:16:44) - I mean, is there anything at stake here? It doesn't matter. We're going to totally know these.

Josh (00:16:49) - Are going against my cousin for sure. I'm betting against. I'm betting four.

Mike (00:16:54) - Yeah, you. I take the same side.

Josh (00:16:57) - So we want to see this happen, right? DJ, if you're listening, just.

Mike (00:17:00) - I mean, it didn't matter for his wrestling or not, man. That dude has grit. And he he has one speed, man. He's gnarly.

Josh (00:17:10) - Oh. So we got to see this happening. All right. Uh, so back into, uh, your competition, right? Uh, what got you into competitive marksmanship?

Mike (00:17:21) - Some bad advice. Um, and then some good advice, or I should say peer pressure. So, um, I didn't come from a military family, and I certainly didn't grow up around firearms, but I just had kind of this intrinsic interest that, you know, I went out when I was eligible in terms of age and got a handgun, and I took some bad advice, and somebody did some modifications to my first handgun, and I was intimidated by it, and I didn't really know how to be resourceful. So I sought out some training. And coming from my background of playing sports and being competitive, um, that kind of, I think slowed me down on the resourcefulness.

Mike (00:18:01) - But I jumped into a training course, which is really the best advice that I would give anybody else anyway. And I quickly was like, Holy cow, I fell in love with it. And I was like, this, this could be my sport now. And I just continued to seek out private instruction. And I did that for a pretty significant period of time. Um, I was doing pretty well so I could afford, you know what? I needed to be out on the range. I could afford to explore some equipment that is, generally speaking, a much slower process, uh, for, for the average, you know, shooter. But, you know, I started with a handgun. I quickly jumped into a rifle. It was pretty simultaneous. Uh, you know, I adopted, like, the red dot as well as a precision optic. I started meeting people resources. Right. And and and learning. And then I started applying that in my own time and continued learning. And this just really became, you know, an everyday thing.

Mike (00:18:52) - And I did that for 5 or 6 years until one of my mentors and one of my best friends was like, man, are you going to compete or not? Like, come on, there's a there was a monthly, uh, two gun match, right? Um, for upwards of 20 years that actually now today one of my shooting sponsors was, you know, responsible for and help shape the community here in Northeast Florida, which is one of the most volume and most positive and robust communities in the shooting world in the entire United States because of these efforts. And, you know, I got peer pressured, right? Typical man stuff into shooting this competition. So January 17th, I started competing and never stopped. I showed up to a two gun match, and I placed seventh out of like 140 people, and it wasn't even a good day. So I kind of like walked out of there and was like, oh, like. So again, to my point, earlier, like I showed up, didn't have expectations at all.

Mike (00:19:50) - And it turns out I did pretty decent and I knew that I well, I think that my next motivation was, all right, man. Well, if I can do that on an okay day, um, for my first time, like, let's go. Yeah.

Josh (00:20:01) - Not a little bit of natural talent, right? But you had six years of. I'm just going through the process. I'm going through the drills. Never had it in your mind to compete. And then one day your buddy's like, you're going to do this, and you did it, and you got seventh. And then fast forward a little bit. National champ, right?

Mike (00:20:17) - Yeah, a little bit. Quite a bit, actually. Um, but yeah, I think I think he knew what was going to happen. Right.

Josh (00:20:24) - You got addicted.

Mike (00:20:25) - And he, he's he's an absolute machine, this particular individual. Um, he he pushes himself harder and holds himself accountable in a physical way. More, exponentially more than anybody I've ever known.

Mike (00:20:38) - Yeah. Um, and obviously that shows in everything that he does, but, um, yeah, he, he was somebody that that I chased and chased and chased, and I had him at my fingertips. Right. Um, that that really, I think, sped up the progress for me in a competitive landscape. And, you know, you fast forward two years, you know, I started kind of dabbling in the scoped rifle, right? So I don't know how much of your audience is like, man, I have no idea what they're talking about. Right? But there's a lot of disciplines that, that you can compete at in shooting sports, right. Pistol, rifle, both of them together, which is two gun. There's three gun which adds the shotgun into the mix. And you get into more of the precision game. And there's two types of, you know, platforms, right? You've got your gas gun, your semi-automatic platform. What people know is the AR 15. And then you've got your Precision Rifle series, you know, and this is a small, you know, purview of it, but which is which is the bolt gun.

Mike (00:21:30) - Um, definitely a whole different level of precision required to be successful in that sport. Um, all the fundamentals are pretty similar at the end of the day. But, um, my training had had really covered. And again, this is, you know, self-inflicted training, all facets of shooting sports in general, all platforms, all environments. And, uh, you know, that's what really set me up for success. I was having fun doing it. And I guess, you know, from that peer pressure, it was kind of just time to turn on the heat and, and drive a little bit more purpose and value to it. So I say that because as I start to grow a family, right. You talk about the support structure. I'm 100% sure that if I didn't perform in the competitive landscape at the level that I was, on average, there's no way my wife would have supported me. I mean, it's obvious that I'm passionate, it's obvious that I care and I want to be doing it, but there's absolutely sacrifice involved from everybody's part primarily now, my wife and kids.

Mike (00:22:34) - Right. It's time away from my boys. It's time away from my family. So for me, I, I need to perform at a certain level in order to validate those things. Um.

Josh (00:22:45) - That's a really good point. If we're going to do something that takes away from. Wife and kids. We've got to measure the ROI on it. Right. And and for me, I've got to do things that I'm, that I, that I like doing, that I'm passionate about doing. Because when I show back up with wife and kid, I'm more there than if I didn't invest in me. So my wife supports when I go away and and get involved in the nonsense that I get involved in because I, I show up better, dude. I show up less stressed. I show up with more discipline and more focus. Right? So I just for me, I need it. And my wife knows I need it. And I always thought that it actually takes away. But I think it adds to, you know what's funny? I'm getting a call from Adam Jeter right? The second one of our other really good buddies.

Josh (00:23:39) - That's so cool.

Mike (00:23:40) - So some of the voicemail.

Josh (00:23:41) - Yes. Are you Adam? All right, so but I the support system is I think the, the thing that we're getting to hear is. Giving the person supporting the person in in what they need. Like you and I, we're kind of dudes where we need that time away from business for a minute and hearing loud pops and seeing, you know, holes and things far away. Like target's far away. Like, for me, I need that kind of stuff. I really enjoy that process. And shooting and buying new guns and testing new things out. And, you know, I like it.

Mike (00:24:15) - That makes me that makes me sick these days. Haha.

Josh (00:24:19) - Yeah, right. But you probably done it. Yeah. I mean, you know.

Mike (00:24:22) - I think I think, yeah, a thousand times too many men, um, call me. I can save you from some of this stuff. There's, there's so much administrative stuff involved with, you know, the success of things in this sport, man.

Mike (00:24:35) - Um, but without getting into the science of it, which isn't the purpose of this thing, we'll leave it at that, you know? But you're you're, you know, your, uh, your view, right, of it actually supporting you. Right. And and I think that that's a mental thing, right? It supports you mentally. It makes you kind of not a better but a whole dude. Right? To your to your to your choice of words. My my choice of words as well. I think my pronouns are dude, bro. But, um, I think you're right. And you know there. For, for people like us that have families. I think that the support structure is a prerequisite. Like without it. Like what? You know what I mean? Like, I won't even go there. But, you know, I compete with a lot of guys that that don't have these things that, that we have. And, you know, they're just doing it, um, which I mean, good on them and, you know, it is what it is, but it's a much greater responsibility.

Mike (00:25:26) - And really, you know, as it relates to time in general. Um, so I couldn't be more grateful for the support that I have to be able to do these things because, you know, I, I will be able to look back and regardless of what happens with, you know, my competitiveness in this particular sport, it has helped me through the hardest years of my life, and it's given me something to focus on. When I didn't have motivation, when I wasn't happy, when I was less than when I wasn't, you know, a person that entirely respected myself and my wife will be happy to be the first volunteer to tell you how hard I am on myself. And that is completely unnecessary. But, you know, I think that being weak is really just that. And even in our bad days, I think, you know, you talk about doing the things that we want to do, should do, can do that make us whole or better? I think what leads to that is really doing the things that we don't want to do.

Mike (00:26:25) - Right. So going back to the process in some of these things, like, you know, you don't have to be the most fit person to run a gas gun in a match, man. But you do got to get in some weird positions, right? And your body's got to contort and do some weird stuff sometimes. And, you know, that obviously lends a hand to you being able to do that. But, you know, when it comes down to anything, if I eliminate shooting from this whole thing or even competitiveness and just being successful at your day, whatever that might be, I have a great deal of respect for mental health and what I've been through the last, you know, like I said, a handful of years here, I've been challenged at all fronts, you know, in every facet of my life. And the competitive nature of this sport, I think, is one of the major things that I've kind of held me together. Yeah. So I, I will forever respect that.

Josh (00:27:16) - I love that, uh, that comes from a high level of self-awareness, but. When I was going, you and I went through very similar things at the almost at the exact same time. Yeah, we did. And when you're going through a tough time, you know, for, for us it was losing people that we love and then building businesses and then trying to figure ourselves out in the middle of all this stuff. Right. Uh, having something to not distract you, but having something to work towards having having that next thing like, hey, I want to learn bolt, you know, bolt action or I want to learn to gun or I want to do this, or I want to test out my new fill in the blank, whatever the case may be. And it might be for one guy, it might be golf. But like having something that focuses us on something that's healthy and helpful, right? But I think that guys need that. And I think the competition. I think guys need guys like us.

Josh (00:28:11) - At least guys need competition because when we don't get it, what happens is I think it I think we turn that to maybe some unhealthy places.

Mike (00:28:20) - Yeah, it happens fast, too. Um, you know, and I'm just going to dance around and give you some some content here for a minute, but just hit it on the head. I mean, my my parents were. Their health was declining very, very fast. You know, in, you know, the the later years of, you know, 2010 to 2020. Um, we had some other family issues, dynamics, um, with, with my sibling getting into some bad things. And again, the, the shockwave of what that creates in the family dynamic. Um, but, you know, come 2020, I lost my grandma. Fast forward to September. I lost my mom. My dad went to assisted living. I took over all of their state, which was basically in negative, you know, in a negative position and, you know.

Mike (00:29:06) - Essentially I, you know, I wasn't the the 100% caretaker for my dad, but I was there as much as I absolutely needed to be. I saw it and nothing more than my duty right, to do that. But, you know, he was in assisted living until he passed away. And in October was a year. This past October was just a year. And, you know, I joked around earlier about the everything is the best for me comment because I continuously find myself, you know, in this state. I've tried to slow down, I tried to take the breaks and you find out that you really don't even want to be alone in your own head, and you're a strong person and you persevere and all of these other things. Right? But you're like, you know what? I'm just going to keep going. I think that that is what's best for me is to stay busy and to stay focused. And like I called my kids a positive distraction. You know, at around that time, my youngest son wasn't here, but I had my oldest son.

Mike (00:29:51) - And to have that, you know, as a, as a, you know, a pillar, right? That that helped me a ton because I couldn't break. I just couldn't break. Right? I had him and I have a duty to my wife and a responsibility to my family. And at the same time of all this, I decided to take a risk and leave, you know, a successful 12 year career. Um, and break that up and go out and seek what I needed to to find which was a better way to do my job. And I didn't have the opportunity to do that on the job. And I started making some career adjustments. And then we, you know, transitioned into a new home. And as I transitioned into a new job, and then I had some major injuries, and then my wife was expecting my my next son. And then I decided, you know, based on what happened when I made that career transition, that actually what was best for me is to do it on my own.

Mike (00:30:44) - So, you know, let's go build a company in the midst of all this. And meanwhile, you know, my career was a really and this is by self designed but a toxic environment. I was working 70, 80 hours a week, networking, drinking way more than anybody should. And I knew that I had to make some changes again, kind of in line with injuries. At the same time, I had to get back and give that focus on myself and my physical health. And for me, and this is, you know, unique to everybody. But the physical health was a direct contribution to my mental health. Right. So, you know, when you have two compressed discs and you rip the forearm muscles that are attached to your elbows off your elbows, it's really hard to be in the gym. Right. And when you have, you know, fractured bones in your feet, you can't just go on and run, right, or you're missing cartilage from both your knees. Like, you know what I mean? Like, there's a lot of challenges lined up physically for me because I beat the shit out of myself as a kid and a young adult, and I'm paying for that.

Mike (00:31:43) - Anybody out there who loves to skateboard? There you go. So, you know, I mean, things pile up and they pile up quick. And I don't know if I if it's really just a result of me doing it to myself. And I love doing it to myself. But there are things that fuel me to keep me going. And again, like that outlet of competitive nature. You know, it's it's not just a place to to prove or validate, but, you know, you talk about the philosophy of like, you are who you surround yourself with. This sport in general, and I know I'm going back to shooting here. It has given me access to such a dynamic and diverse group of people. Everybody from your average Joe like me, all the way up to killers. Like literally the most dangerous people that walk the soil of our country. And you get access and exposure to these things. And, you know, as you get older, you obviously have.

Josh (00:32:39) - Talking about like really hone.

Mike (00:32:41) - In and figure out what's important to you when.

Josh (00:32:43) - You mention these.

Mike (00:32:44) - Guys. Family.

Josh (00:32:44) - Yeah. Hold on a second. When you mention these guys like you're mentioning, are we talking about, uh. Yeah. Same by. All right. So when you're mentioning, like walking around with these dudes, get an access to the, you know, average Joes and then, you know, these guys who are the monsters on the field, the most dangerous guys who walk the soil. Are we talking like operators and special force and, you know, those kind of dudes? So 100% feeding side by side with people who are absolute professional in that craft. And it helps you level up. But you can also see like the, the, the, the big gap between an average Joe and someone who does this for a living. Right?

Mike (00:33:27) - So, you know, my intent is exactly that, but not necessarily in terms of performance in a competition on the scorecard for shooting, it's. When you're surrounded by.

Mike (00:33:38) - Folks, right. That that just. Maybe they always have. Maybe they do work hard all the time. Maybe they, you know, join the military at 18 and they're just in the greatest shape of their life. And they can run circles or they're your friends or or whatever it may be. Um, it's it's a really difficult thing. At least it has been for me, right? To not being able to physically do something or physically hang or, you know, to be, you know, I never wanted to be a comedian, right? So, like, you know, being the guy with a gut, like, you know, I got I got a sense of humor or whatever. And there's times that it comes out that it's funny. And then there are other times where it's just like, hey, man, it's not really the time or place. You know, when you when you surround yourself with people that are physically and mentally built on just absolute fortitude, you desire those things.

Mike (00:34:24) - Right. And and I don't think that you need those physical like those, those visual resources of people to want to be that. But, you know, again, what I said, I mean, for me, physical strength contributes to mental strength. And when you are, you know, mentally clear, self-aware, you understand what you're doing. You know, everything else becomes a little bit more clear and a little bit easier to go attack as well. Right. And, you know, I think life is extremely difficult, but, uh, you know, your the way you view things is always, is always going to trump whatever it is that you're probably going through. Yeah, I love.

Josh (00:34:57) - This conversation and I love hanging out with you. Um, when it comes to guys who who might be, you know, like me, who go, man, I miss competing. I miss being a part of a team or an environment where I'm working toward something other than just, you know, making money, which is cool, right? Like, I like the the competitive nature of business in itself, but I want to get back into something that's not specifically related to business, probably somewhere in the world of, you know, competition with shooting or maybe even getting back into some wrestling with, you know, because I got a six year old boy who I think he's going to be pretty good.

Josh (00:35:32) - What's that? What's that first kind of like step to that. You would take or encourage me or encourage the dudes to to move in that direction?

Mike (00:35:43) - Yeah. So I got an answer for this. It's super simple. Yeah. Show up. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. It's literally it like, you know, and it's, you know, it's hard for myself included, but other people not to bring me into the conversations about what I do in my own time. Right. The business landscape. I've always been in a very, very competitive business landscape. Right. Um, I have to compete for business. I have to compete against my peers to score card to win that that trip or the bonus or whatever it might be. Right? Um, but, you know, just showing up to whatever it is and doing, you know, maybe the hard things are the things again that you don't want to do or going home and, and preparing to do the things that are going to make you better tomorrow.

Mike (00:36:24) - Right. And, and it could be as simple as eating healthy. It could be as simple as getting the right amount of sleep. It could be as simple as stretching, could be as simple as, you know, working out for 15 minutes because you don't work out and you want to start working out instead of jumping into that hour circuit. Right. And then you can't move the next day so you don't do it type of thing. Like, you know, it's about creating habits that are that you're able to continue. And it's it's the small wins. Right. Um, but my, my greatest piece of advice is just to show up. We get that a lot in the shooting world. And the reality is, is there are some prerequisites, right. And these don't apply to everywhere. But we need you to at least be safe. Because if you're not, you're. Your time is not going to last very long out there. You know, and obviously I think that would make sense to anybody.

Mike (00:37:10) - But really that's it, man. That's it. If your goal like I said, if you have realistic goals and you're like, this is something I think that I want and I'm just going to show up here and learn. And I really don't care if I end up last on the scorecard. I'm going to walk away with the wins that I have created for myself, which is exposure and learning. And maybe I have some new relationships, and those relationships grow into resources, and those resources grow into friendships, right? And those friendships get you to skip, you know, the mistakes that you would have made related to time and money around whatever it might have been. And it's, you know, it's the same thing with with business. You know, I come from a recruiting background, which is obviously, you know, a contact sport, right? It's business development is recruiting. And you're not going to make 100 phone calls a day unless you plan to make them. Right. And how do you plan to make them like, you got to get viable information.

Mike (00:37:59) - You can't sound like a clown on the phone. Um, you know, if you if you're approaching Mo, especially in these days, people are bombarded, bombarded across all of their platforms cell phone, texts, calls, email, whatever it is like. It's got to be genuine. Um, otherwise it is what it is. And even if it is, you know, the the open rates of their sponsor rates are still pretty nil. Right? So, you know, being personable and being genuine and everything you do is, is a huge thing, but especially when it involves, you know, one on one or any interactions with people, you know, and that that goes to say, I think no matter where you work or what you do for a living and what you do personally, you know, people are only going to want to reach out to you if you're approachable and you have information that they want and they like you enough to do it.

Josh (00:38:45) - Yeah, everything is the best for me.

Josh (00:38:49) - Is something that you pulled and you mentioned multiple times. Where did you come? Like where did you get that? Was that a lyric of a song? Yeah.

Mike (00:38:55) - It's a it's all strung out lyric, man.

Josh (00:38:58) - I got it. Why is that so important to you?

Mike (00:39:01) - It's not. And I think it's generally bad advice for people. Um. It's just something. It's. Yeah. Like. Hey, man, stop what you're doing and go figure out 15 new things to do at the same time as stress. Stress, you know, stress you out completely and just live in chaos. Like, um, like I said, I think before, it's just something that, like, I found to be unique to me that I just probably couldn't escape. And it started to grow in meaning in various ways. And, uh, you know, it's just something I thought about, like it wasn't a meaningful quote. It's not really a meaningful lyric, but it's just one of those things that stuck and started to have meaning for me.

Mike (00:39:40) - Um. Like I said, I mean, disclaimer, I think it's terrible advice.

Josh (00:39:45) - So so good, so good. So my for for dudes out there who would love to maybe connect with you, follow some of the work that you do. Uh, or maybe, you know, they need some help with, with staffing, recruiting. Maybe they, they want to know more about, you know, gun stuff. Where can people go to connect with you and, uh, continue the conversation?

Mike (00:40:06) - Sure. So all my socials are out there, obviously, but my company is called Asymmetric Talent Solutions. You can find me at Asymmetric Talent Comm. You know, again, we focus, you know, on the technical landscape of talent, um, data driven head on solutions, particularly at a C-suite minus one and two type approach. So senior level individual contributors, you know, managers, executives, things of that nature. Um, in the shooting world, um, I think the easiest way to get Ahold of me is probably just through Instagram.

Mike (00:40:34) - My handles. Mad dog mister. It's spelled mad DWG. Mister. Um, I, you know, there's there's limited content on there and my goal isn't to be, you know, an Instagram, uh, influencer, if you will. But I try and keep that outlet, um, you know, much less of what my Facebook is, which is really more related to family and something my wife really contributes to. And I'm thankful for that because I'm bad about it. Um, but, you know, shooting is pretty much what you're going to find on there. There's a lot of content that we're putting out, actually, there's a video released today around, uh, some general advice for new shooters who want to get in the competitive landscape. Cool. Um, so those are probably the two easiest ways to get Ahold of me.

Josh (00:41:19) - Sounds good.

Josh (00:41:20) - Mike, thanks for showing up today, man, you and I, this is long overdue. I love hanging out with you and and, uh, just spending time with you and the boys.

Josh (00:41:27) - Um, miss you guys and, uh, hopefully see you guys soon. Uh, fellow dudes out there, as always, reach out to our guests. Hey, thanks for being on the show and sharing their wisdom, their knowledge, their experiences and and their joys. Uh, with you, I really think that this. There's a need for competition, uh, with dudes, uh, whether you agree with me or not, man, I'd love to hear from you and hear your thoughts. Uh, uncensored advice for men. Com, uh, connect there. You could fill out a quick form and maybe have you on the show next. Love you guys, and we'll talk to you all on the next episode. See y'all.