Getting After It

128 - What Getting After It Truly Means with Ally Rossell

• Brett Rossell • Season 4 • Episode 128

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What does it actually mean to get after it?

In this episode, Ally Rossell joins me to break down the real meaning behind the phrase — beyond the t-shirts, the hashtags, and the highlight reels. This isn’t about motivational fluff. It’s about discipline, daily reps, mental battles, and doing the hard thing when no one’s watching.

We talk about the difference between grinding blindly vs. reflecting intentionally, how to win the war against your inner voice, and why “getting after it” will look different in every season of your life.

Ally shares her journey from struggling to run four miles to completing a full marathon with confidence. We unpack how small, boring reps lead to massive breakthroughs — and why excellence in one area of life bleeds into all the others.

This episode is a mission statement. A reminder. And a challenge.

Because getting after it isn’t a feeling. It’s a choice.

If you’re ready to stop coasting and start showing up with intent, this one’s for you.

Challenge from the episode:
Pick one area of your life where you’ve been passive. Take small steps toward it this week. At the end of the week, reflect. Then adjust. Then keep going.

Let’s build momentum — together.

Until next time, Keep Getting After It.

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I hope today’s episode sparked something within you to pursue your dreams and unlock your true potential. If you found value in it, consider sharing it with someone who might need that same push.

This podcast is built for you—the dreamers and the doers. My goal is to provide a space where you can find inspiration, learn from others, and feel empowered to chase what matters most to you.

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Ally:

I'm happy to be here regardless.

Brett:

What do you mean? You don't know what to expect. You know what getting after it is.

Ally:

That's true.

Brett:

It's important. I'm a witness to it, it is true. You have been a part of my whole journey, so this will be a good one.

Ally:

I'm excited.

Brett:

Because I think getting after it is something that people need to understand, myself included. What does it mean that people need to understand, myself included? What does it mean?

Brett:

um, I was thinking about this based off of our last conversation about getting after it and like defining what it is and that kind of thing, and I would say today's episode is a bit of like more of a mission statement, like I like that kind of an understanding of where we come from. The whole point of this is we are going to peel back the layers and get to the core of what this whole thing is about, what getting after it means and all that kind of thing, because it's helped me in every area of my life, in every arena. You can say and it's something I know can have that same effect for everyone else, everyone else. It's just a commitment and it's hard as can be. But as I was thinking about this, I've thought about my own experience and my own journey and there's times in my life where I've just focused on getting the work done and like grinded it out, sat there, like push through whatever challenges come my way.

Brett:

But then there's also times where I've done work but then have gone back and reflected and saw where I could improve my situation. That kind of thing. And for me that's what getting after it is is. It's, yes, grinding, but you grind and then you reflect on what you did, because otherwise it's just like you're going to be moving, you're going to be like Sisyphus.

Ally:

No.

Brett:

You don't know who Sisyphus is.

Ally:

Dang it Sorry.

Brett:

No, this is a great story. So Sisyphus he was. This is all Greek mythology kind of stuff.

Ally:

My worst subject.

Brett:

Super interesting, but Sisyphus got in trouble with the gods and I think he might've slept with the god or something like that. I can't really remember I don't do it.

Brett:

But he's this little slippery guy and for his curse you probably know this but for the curse the gods placed upon him a curse where every single day, he had to push a boulder up a hill. And so, right when he would get to the top of the hill and the next day would start and he would go back to the bottom and he would have to push it up every single day.

Ally:

And so that's like Is that Cam Haines' nickname or something?

Brett:

Sisyphus. It should be, it should be.

Ally:

He has a push-up boulder.

Brett:

It's pretty close to syphilis though.

Ally:

Which.

Brett:

You don't know what that is. I'm uneducated. I'm uneducated.

Ally:

This is why I'm here. Hopefully there's uneducated people as well that are asking the same questions. I think I know that one though.

Brett:

It's a disease you don't want.

Ally:

Okay, that's what I thought.

Brett:

Yeah, wow, sisyphus, I'm now getting all jumbled with these names. He might've had it Anyways. So, yeah, I mean getting after it. Like I said, it's a mindset, it's a code, and it's the work that moves the needle when no one's watching. And for me, it bleeds into every part of my life, from family to faith to fitness, podcasting, writing, my business work, like everything, and we'll talk about a lot of that today, but we'll dive in.

Ally:

I like it.

Brett:

The first thing, the first thing I think everyone needs to understand about getting after it is it is a choice. It is not going to come to you and it's not something that you're born with getting after. You're not born with the getting after it gene Unfortunately I wish I was. But, more importantly, it's not a feeling like you don't get to choose the days that you get. You want to get after it, like like today's a great example. I sucked it up on my run today. I went outside, it was kicking my trash, but I knew what my goal was and I knew I needed to push through. Push through the pain I knew it would end and ultimately do the work. But for you, what does it mean, like I, to choose being disciplined every day, to choose to get after something every day? What does that look like for you?

Ally:

I think it kind of varies day to day in terms of what I have going on, because we've talked about this recently. You had a big conference this week and you were getting after it in terms of you were pushing yourself, you're pushing your limits. You had long, long days and you got home late and and I think getting after it is doing what needs to be done that day. A lot of times for us it's running, or it could be like studying for me, or it could be podcasting or work for you, but I don't think getting after it looks the same, in my opinion, right now, every day with the same exact thing yes, in order to be consistent with your running, if you want to be a good runner, and stuff like that, but with you working like a 12-hour day and having things to do and prep for the next day or whatever, if you didn't get a run in, I don't think that's you not getting after it.

Ally:

You may not have, like, reached your mileage goal that week or something, for an example, but, but you did. But. But I think getting after is doing like the most pressing thing, like the thing that is most valued that day. A lot of times it's multiple things, but for me personally I think usually it is running and then it is anything with aviation I need to get done and of course, family and faith. Yeah, those are the four things like probably the most important in my life that I make sure that I somehow involve. Like something gets done on those four categories every day, yeah, but I know it kind of can rotate on importance level day by day.

Brett:

Yeah, that's an important thing to note. Actually is like with what you said the different buckets that you spend your time on, the things that are important to you, the most. There will be days that some demand more attention than others. Like you said, business this week was a huge week for me because I was talking to clients, I was taking them out to dinner, we had this conference, and the time to be able to work out was cut in half, I would say, but I still made the effort to do it and so, like, yes, I didn't get the 10 miles I would want to on a Tuesday, but I still had five, you know, and it's like I still was able to get after that goal in some degree, but my attention was needed elsewhere at the time.

Ally:

Right, I can't believe. I can't remember if it was Sally or where I. What's her last name? All of a sudden.

Brett:

Sally McRae.

Ally:

McRae yeah, I was like we just call her Sally, as if she's my good friend.

Brett:

She is our good friend, Sally. If you ever want to come on the podcast, there's always an open invite to have you.

Ally:

Sally's, our good friend that we talk about but your book was great. She's awesome and I think it was her, but it might've been someone else that talks about, like your hundred percent every day can look different. Your hundred percent one day is, yeah, all 10 miles. You're a hundred percent different day After a 12 hour work day. You had to do all these different things. Your hundred percent could be five miles, but even though you gave it your all, you still went after it and you did what you could.

Brett:

I think the important thing here is like there's a choice being made right, like I could have easily said I had a 12-hour day, I don't need to run right, but it's like I know that's important to me. I know how I feel afterwards and I want to still make that effort because I know I'll be feel better at the end, um, and I'll be more proud of myself and um. That's just something. It's like you don't get to wait until motivation. That's not how it works.

Ally:

Unfortunately.

Brett:

Yeah, I wish it was. Sometimes you don't wait to get motivated If you did, you wouldn't get much done Like you have to show up when it's cold outside and you have to still lace up your shoes and run, or you're done in the long day and this is more for me but like I sit and open up my journal and write a few things down. Sometimes it's nonsense, but it's there. Even with like faith, it's like finishing a whole day. It's like, all right, still got to read a little bit. I'll call you and be falling asleep, but we still read anyways. It's a choice and you get the choice every single day, and if you have the opportunity to choose doing something difficult, I would say to do it, because there's so many others out there who don't, and that's what's sad is. David Goggins talks about this and our good friend Dave our good friend Dave.

Brett:

Yeah, all our good friends. But it's interesting because the way he talks about it is like he loves what he's. He's a little bit of a crazy man, but he says that he loves doing what he does because there's so many people who can but don't, and he's obviously driven by different things. But still like, if you have the opportunity to push yourself, take it, because life is short. Five years could go by. You might not be in the same physical state that you are now, like you and I are talking about. Like okay, well, how can we start a business? We're in a good situation right now. We don't have a home like we both have jobs.

Ally:

We don't have a home. Great time to start a business.

Brett:

I mean, we're going to build, but you know some things we don't have those expensive right, Right those expenses and so it's a scary time in terms of we both feel like something is on the horizon.

Ally:

Right.

Brett:

But we just have to keep pushing forward in it Right. It's scary, but I just got water on my iPad, that's good.

Ally:

You're a big spiller.

Brett:

I'm a big spiller and it's unfortunate, but um, the last thing I would say on this part is just like, remember what jaco says like discipline equals freedom. It's um, that mantra has stayed with me for way longer than it should. Like I don't know, it's just been with me forever and like since college don't let it leave no, it's.

Brett:

I mean, it really is. There's a lot of truth to that, because I do believe that being disciplined does equal freedom freedom from your mind Because, like, if you get things done that you said you're going to, you're not going to be thinking about it all day, being like man. I wish I did that, I wish I would have pushed a little harder. Discipline and health Like, if you learn to say no to all your cravings and try and avoid junk food as much as you can, you exercise a little bit, you're going to feel a lot better than the adverse. It just kind of weighs.

Brett:

You might feel in the moment that being disciplined is not letting you be free. But try both of the lifestyles and come back and tell me, because I think you will see that being disciplined helps you be financially free, mentally free, physically free from ailments, whatever it is. But it's so important just to push yourself and be disciplined. But the truth in everything is you don't need to feel like it, you just need to decide that you will do it. So that's number one. Number two with getting after it, I think you focus on the daily reps instead of the dramatic results, because that's how the dramatic results come is from the daily repetitions, and I kind of want to ask you about this your first marathon experience Because you never looked at yourself as a runner, right?

Ally:

To this day, but onward To this day.

Brett:

No, you are. How dare you, um, but like you've ran team tim before, and talk to me about going from that to deciding to run a marathon and what that was like, what deciding to run a marathon was like, and then how you trained for it, and kind of go into that I'll say well, let's see the half marathon we had for team tim in 2023 january 2023 in california.

Ally:

That was eye-opening.

Ally:

I usually start running like two months before our annual cancer race the half marathon and I can do well enough in terms of I usually get to mile 10 and then I'll walk and then my average pace is like 11 minutes. That's how it typically worked out. It was about the week before the race and I could even run like four miles nonstop and it was so humbling. And I remember I was so nervous you and I would just start dating and you were a good runner and I was so scared to ask you for help. I was like this is so humiliating, like I don't want to tell him, like what my paces are. I don't want to tell him and like what do you think would happen?

Brett:

I don't want to tell him why. What did you think would happen?

Ally:

I don't think anything was going to happen. But obviously you say you ran so fast because you want to impress me. I didn't want to show you how slow I was. I was trying to impress you too.

Brett:

Well, I'm a guy.

Ally:

I'm a girl.

Ally:

You are a girl, that means nothing. We try to impress each other. We got to be physically fit, appealing and appealing You're ridiculous, but anyways, that was like the week before. I was like, wow, this is bad and I want to do a half marathon every year for my dad. How am I supposed to just show up the week before and call it good, like this is not good enough for me. So we do that race. It was bad, one of my well, not my slowest, but it was still not great. My well, not my slowest, but it was still not great. And I think that race was kind of the eye-opener where I was like, why do I wait until right before if I don't stop running?

Ally:

this would be so much easier I know I'm doing a half marathon every year. If I literally just did a little bit every day, I'll be fine by the time the next time it comes around why do you think you didn't? Up until this point. Yeah, running's hard, it's uncomfortable, it's not fun. I've always kind of been like a one to two miler like every few days type of thing. But one to two miles every couple days doesn't really stay up that well for a half marathon. You got to go a little further than that, yeah.

Brett:

It's just. I think it just boils down to uncomfort. Yeah I mean it's hard, like you said, you called it out and so what flipped one.

Ally:

I feel like kind of embarrassed really I think it was an embarrassing thing where I was like this is literally my race, like we put this on for our family and I can't even run a half marathon, and I I was like how am I? The whole idea behind running for team Tim is the idea we can do hard things.

Brett:

Yeah.

Ally:

And like, if I show up and do day of 13 miles, like, okay, that was a hard thing, but I'm doing the same hard thing over and over, I'm not even progressing. Really like the idea of doing the hard thing and just getting the mileage in, like yeah, and just getting the mileage in, like yeah, that's, you did it great. But the reason it gets hard is because you want to do better every time, like that's the hard.

Ally:

I wanted to progress, to try and get better every time, not just get the miles, miles done. So definitely helped that you were getting into running. All of a sudden you're starting to like it. So we were talking about it more and I was like you know, I'm gonna try and just like, keep going, try for the year and see how it comes around. You know, and as I started running, more it becomes easier you enjoy it a little bit more. I wouldn't say I enjoy it. I don't know if I can ever say those words, but a lot more than I used to, because it's kind of like a love hate.

Ally:

Where you're like I, I like what it does for me.

Brett:

I hate doing it yeah, no, I feel the same way.

Ally:

I just wanted to hear your answer and so then I was running more consistently and especially in the beginning I saw a lot of progress really fast, because my baseline was bad, it was low it's like. Like my baseline was so low that you run for two weeks straight, you already progressed a lot you know, and so I was seeing progression. My mom and I already progressed a lot, you know, and so I was seeing progression. My mom and I went on a cruise for a month Sounds crazy, it was.

Ally:

I don't know why we did that, but anyways I was in Antarctica and bad for you and I yeah and yeah, we were only dating for a month and I was gone for a month, so that was great, but there was nothing to do on that cruise such an old person cruise and it was incredible like the sights we saw. But the longest time like time span that we had at sea, I think was like five or six days, that's before porting what was ours longest on our cruise, two days at sea yeah, that felt like an eternity yeah, and so it was so long.

Ally:

It's because I was like weather at a port or something, so we skipped it and kept going, or I don't really know, but it was so long, and so my mom and I would get up, we'd go to the gym, yeah, and then we'd go to the pool, we'd go do lunch and then we'd like go back to the gym and then we'd do it again like we'd watch a movie, play games. It was not very eventful, love my mom, I'm. So I think it was really good for us, like it was really fun.

Ally:

It could have gone either way, like just with one person on a cruise, for that long I mean 30 days is a long time it's a long time, but we're doing like one or two workouts a day just because we had nothing to do got two days baby got two days and I started to notice progress. I'm like okay, maybe there's something here, yeah, maybe I can run like and walk me through those workouts.

Brett:

Were they like super intense or were they kind of just like? You know, I'm just going to show up and do what I can today.

Ally:

Depends on the day I was. So this is actually funny now thinking about it my goal on the cruise ended up being to get six miles under an hour. So I could not. That was so difficult for me. So I could not. I was like that was so difficult for me and in the beginning I was getting I would do probably five miles in like 57 minutes or something is what it was like something on, or 55 minutes, something like that. I was like I got to shave five minutes to get six under an hour. So that became my goal and so I was like running a lot, um, trying to hit that. So I'd probably try, like every other day or something, to try and hit it. So I was like pushing hard, like my heart rate crazy, probably sky, like my heart rate's already naturally pretty high and I remember times I was like my heart's gonna stop, like I'm convinced, because I was like pushing so hard because, I wanted that so bad.

Ally:

Some days I just go and do elliptical or I lift a little bit and stuff like that. But I did end up getting six under an hour by before.

Brett:

I remember that you, you text me you were so pumped, big deal. I was very proud of you.

Ally:

But because I was able to do that, I think I was like okay, maybe I can do it. Maybe, I can. And this was a month after our team Tim in January, so I was like dang. A month after our team tim in january. So I was like dang, I couldn't even run four miles before that race and I'm doing six under an hour, like, maybe, like, if I keep, if I don't stop, like I actually can get better.

Ally:

It's the reps right, and so that's when I decided, okay, I'm just not gonna stop, like once I got back from the cruise. And then you and I were like, hey, let's get married. I'm like, okay, sweet, now we're running forever. And so now, you're running forever. And so I think we did. Let's think we did the St George half marathon in 2023.

Brett:

And we did the Utah Valley one first. Oh yeah, we did Utah Valley. That was my first marathon.

Ally:

Yes, my goal at Utah Valley was the half marathon under two hours, which was like a huge deal for me because I came from my January half marathon in like 2.30, something like that. I was optimistic because the Utah Valley was downhill. I was like, okay, well, maybe I'll get a little extra speed this way, and I did. I think my time was like an hour and 58 or something like that. That's awesome. I was like right in front of the pacer.

Ally:

I was stressed. So then I was excited because I got a PR and I hit my goal, yeah. So like, okay, maybe there's something to this, I'll keep going. So we keep running every day. Then you and I did St George and I was like I just want to PR, I want to beat my last pace. I think St George, I got like an hour and I'd need to double check. I think it was like 50 or something maybe, maybe.

Ally:

It was like every time right and since I started running, I have PR'd every race, and and so I'm nervous because we have Minnesota coming up for a full marathon.

Brett:

Both of us got issues with our legs, so it should be fun, right.

Ally:

So since January, committing to run in 2023, every race we've done, I've PR'd and I think that kind of gives me a little taste to keep going forward. Yeah. But I know if I'm not putting in the consistent reps, I'm not going to PR and I'm going to be sad.

Brett:

So I think it's finally just registered for me that if I don't stop, oh, maybe I'll actually get better and it's been working so yeah, that's huge, it is huge.

Ally:

And then it was neat for me because the year a year later from the 2023 half marathon was when we did my full marathon.

Brett:

Yeah.

Ally:

And my time was three hours and 57 minutes. It was like an average pace of 906 or four, I don't know what it was Some average pace of low nines, and that was almost a minute and a half faster than my half marathon the year before.

Brett:

With double the distance, with double the distance, that's awesome.

Ally:

And so I think it just started feeling so good that just so much self-confidence came from one putting in like doing multiple races and seeing progress, but also just in my day-to-day runs, being able to see like, okay, I, I can run four days out of the week and not crumble. Yeah, so it's been. It's been a confidence builder for me for sure, and I think that's what keeps me running um, it's huge for that yeah, but it's been.

Ally:

It's been a lot more enjoyable now. But I will say I have started to plateau because I was like, oh, now you got to like a regular average runner and and then now it's like I'm stuck here. So like the faster you start going, the less time you shave off every race and so it's starting to get more difficult.

Brett:

But Well, I think this quote kind of fits a lot into this from Jim Rohn. He says success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines practiced every day. That's really what it is. It's like the reason you saw success in your running is because you showed up on almost a daily basis to run and you're like you know what? Whatever, I'm stuck in this forever. We do a race every year for my dad. My husband's a runner.

Ally:

We're doing this. Fine, I'll start running regularly, it's just that consistency.

Brett:

That's really what it is. It's like the reps. The consistent reps are what will bring those dramatic results over time.

Ally:

You have to trust the process. The hard thing is if you miss a week or two weeks, you notice it's like obvious how dramatic you feel after not running for a week or two, versus running every day yeah and now that I noticed that I'm like I would rather run every day and feel decent enough most days than not run for two weeks and try and come back.

Brett:

Yeah, and then also like the mental game.

Ally:

Right, that's probably the hardest part.

Brett:

That's what we're talking about next. That's the third part. Okay, getting after it is the mental battle. I need the help Because that is something that I think we all struggle with, myself included. This is the hardest thing that I have to deal with, with anything I do, but it's that voice in your head, um, that will make or break you. You can give the power to choose to listen to it or not, and I, um, I wrote down a few thoughts that I have on a regular basis when my head tells me. The voice in my head, the bad one says you're falling off, you're not good enough. What's the voice in my head, the bad one, says you're falling off, you're not good enough. What's the point? Those are probably the three biggest things I think about.

Ally:

Dang, that's sad.

Brett:

You're falling off or you're not good enough. Like what's the point? Like I even thought about that today with, like BPN's last man Sam. Like I wonder if I just wasn't good enough to be chosen because like it's a raffle kind of thing, you know.

Brett:

I mean that's the problem. Like I have those thoughts, but the thing is, is that voice doesn't get to lead right? That's where the general comes in and slaps him around, says, hey, let's get to work. Um, to me, getting after it means recognizing the voice that's in your head, acknowledging it and then doing the work anyway, because that's honestly one of the hardest things to do. But you have to show up. And do you know who Confucius is?

Ally:

We've talked about him once.

Brett:

He's like a Chinese stoic.

Ally:

Okay, but he has this quote where he says I'm going to get it wrong.

Brett:

It's like a short quote too. That's stupid. Here it is he who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.

Ally:

That's cool.

Brett:

But the more that you act against that voice, the quieter it becomes. It's not about turning it off completely, because then I think that's when you become arrogant, but it's about proving it wrong. That's what's important. You got to tell it. Hey, no, you might want to be comfortable, you might want to stay in bed, but we're not doing that today, and it's hard.

Brett:

It's a hard thing to do to overcome the mental battles, and that's like things like fear, that's uncertainty, it's like I said, not thinking that you're good enough or not feeling that you have the capability to do that thing, you're not qualified Like, like it's all these things in your head that no one's told you, but you just make up these stories instead, and that's a dangerous place to be. I'm there, I think, more frequently than I would like to be, if I'm honest. But that voice also drives me forward because I know if it's speaking there's something I have to do, and it's usually not. Listening to that voice like not giving up. It's tough.

Ally:

Can I give you a little spin on that?

Brett:

Please do.

Ally:

I don't know if this applies. I work very differently than you believe.

Brett:

I what do you mean like jobs professionally?

Ally:

no, but yes, that too I I mean. When I'm running, usually I'm telling myself like I'm tired, I'm I want to, I'm bored. Yeah, you know, it's like those kind of things. One and every two months it'll be like I hate myself, like I suck. This is the worst, like I wouldn't say my normal negative talk is so harsh on me like the examples you just gave. I would say it's more like my quote-unquote negative talk is more like I'm too soft on myself sometimes.

Brett:

Really, what do you mean?

Ally:

So, like you, you're like hard on yourself and mean and stuff like that, and you have to fight and like ignore it and move on past it. I would say I'm almost the other way, where I give myself too much grace, where I'm like I got tired, it's okay, like, well, everyone's different, I know, but that's what I'm like I got tired, it's okay. Well, everyone's different, I know, but that's what I'm saying, giving you a different spin on it, where I wouldn't say that the thoughts I fight aren't self-hate and self like putting myself down and stuff.

Brett:

You fight the siren. Call of comfort.

Ally:

Wow, that was beautifully stated, thank you, yeah, bringing, that was beautifully stated. Thank you, bringing.

Brett:

Greek mythology back into it, but it was okay, so that makes sense to me. I would assume everyone has a different way to talk to themselves. Mine, I guess, is aggressive. But when that voice is like, hey, you've already ran eight miles you don't have to go another four Right. What do you do?

Ally:

I'm like hey, you've already ran eight miles.

Brett:

You don't have to go another four, right? What do you do? I'm like you're right, I'm just kidding You're right, all right, I'm tired.

Ally:

Usually I just try and think of something else. We know I'm a big daydreamer.

Brett:

Yeah.

Ally:

Like usually getting through my runs, I have to set a scene. I'm watching a movie in my head, like I'm very immersed in my daydream, yeah, and so if I start thinking like, oh, I'm tired on this, I like create a new plot, I'm like, all right, next movie, I'm obviously bored. Moving on interesting and so I try to just think of different things, like today's run so boring I did on a treadmill, and it's facing a mirror and and so I'm staring at myself for two hours.

Brett:

Yeah, that's impressive. I only will do eight miles on this treadmill. I cannot look at myself for more than an hour.

Ally:

It's humbling. You're like, oh, look at those cheeks like jiggle, like over and over, and I was like starting to get tired. And so like I was thinking about our marathon coming up next month quite a bit and I'm imagining Duluth and the trees and I'm thinking about that race, and then I got tired so I'm like you know what? I'm switching. I'm thinking of our 50K. Now my whole mindset is in a different area of just being able to endure rather than going for speed. So I did have to slow it down for a minute to be able to regroup. My knee has been bothering me. I think a minute to be able to like regroup my knee has been bothering me. I think speed hurts it. So I've been kind of dabbling with that, seeing what feels better to get more miles in. So then I put myself I was like you had already finished in my daydream.

Ally:

I was like competing against drew and I didn't see him at the very end and I'm trying to catch up. So like I'm like creating these stories to like get my mind away from comfort. Don't get me wrong. Every so often I had the same negative guy yelling at me and it makes me want to quit, because I quit running because of how mean it can get. But I think the day to day temptation is that the comfort.

Brett:

Yeah, and I will say it is important to listen to your body, Like you said. Do you have any issues? I don't think it's smart to be like I'm really feeling pretty bad today but I'm still going to go run, Like I think it is important to listen to that sometimes. But to your point, it's like when you're doing the thing, that's when the siren comes and is like hey, just come, rest up a little bit. Why don't you take a seat, your knee hurts.

Ally:

See how yeah.

Brett:

So it's when you're doing the thing, right? Okay, I just want to make that clear.

Ally:

If we're not giving advice, to push through pain if you're injured, yeah, no, and I I mean I took about a week and a half off just doing like elliptical bike and stuff like that. So I'm starting to make my way back. I think it's feeling stronger than it has in the last week or so. So I think we're on our way up, but I do realize that speed isn't really quite there yet. So moving back slowly.

Brett:

It's fair.

Ally:

Hopefully the right way.

Brett:

Yeah, it's important. I mean those reps, it's like we talked about that'll bring the brilliant result. So I love that. But beat the mental game, and that's why I talk about doing hard things. That's why I talk about waking up early and going to the gym, because that helps you beat the mental game.

Ally:

And it bleeds into all areas of life, as you always say, which is what we're going to talk about. Oh, wow, wow. You would think I read this. I swear I didn't. You're great at segues, Thank you.

Brett:

Get after it in every arena.

Ally:

Wow.

Brett:

So ode to the man didn't have anything to do with this section, but I just love that. Um. So pretty much what this means is that the way that you do one thing is the way you do everything, and if you're going to go all in and running, if you're going to go all in and business like that is how you should be doing all parts of your life. So for me, I broke it down with like faith, like reading scriptures when you're tired and praying when you don't feel like it. That's important Family, having hard conversations instead of avoiding them, and work showing up prepared even when others aren't Like. I had to prep a lot for this week at Accelerate and it was a lot of work, but I'm glad that I did, because I was able to have better conversations with the people who I spoke with.

Brett:

And so it's not just about fitness. This is like a mindset to adapt spoke with, and so it's not just about fitness. This is like a mindset to adapt. It's like okay, the reason I talk about fitness first is because I think that's the easiest example you can do. That's like what you were talking about on the boat. It's like, oh man, there are real results here. Like maybe I can do this and see something come from it and that's why I talk about fitness too is because the discipline that follows from it. Being fit requires immense discipline. Being healthy does, and that should teach you that if you're able to do those things, if you're able to go to the gym and be consistent there and start eating better, then why can't you do that at work? Why can't you do that with your family? Why can't you do that? If you want to learn something new or start a business, go all in on the things that you do. It's the Ron Swanson quote you never half-ass two things, you full-ass one thing.

Ally:

Is that really his quote?

Brett:

It's a great quote.

Brett:

That's funny, yeah, but it really is just important you don't compartmentalize excellence. The reason you are an excellent person is because everything you do is excellent and it requires drive. And when I was in my young men's group in my church, the leaders of my church would say, like the leaders of my quorum, they would say you've got to be a stallion. I'd be like what does that mean a stallion? And they would always say it's say you got to be a stallion. I'm like what does that mean a stallion? And they would always say it's the five again the stallion.

Brett:

You got to be like megan the stallion yeah, no, um, we would all probably be in jail oh um, she got shot in the foot I know might be a ditty thing could be a ditty thing stay tuned megan, we're disappointed. Um, anyways, so they would talk about the stallion, say, okay, a stallion has five pillars, like their faith, their family, they are able to talk to people.

Ally:

Um, I can't remember the other two right, they're making that up yeah, they just made up the stallion so this is like their own, like pillar, basically yeah, but they would always say, like it was.

Brett:

Basically, they broke down everything that we would do as kids or teenagers into five different things. So it was like, uh, professionalism, faith, family I can't remember the other ones um, but like the only way you became a stallion is if you were doing well in all those areas I think education was another um, I can't remember the last one.

Brett:

Lance Foster and Kelly Shepard are going to kill me, but I think that there's a lot to that, because the only reason that people are great is because they're great at all things that they do. Maybe not great, but they try in all things that they do. That's more applicable here, I think, because you won't be great at everything you do. Go listen to the first episode of this podcast. It was not good, but I've poured a lot of work into it and it's gotten a little bit better over time. Same with being in my career. I started creating a company with my brother and I was a little baby at the time. Going back now, I feel like we could have done way better.

Brett:

He says the same thing, but, um, that's all part of the process is learning these lessons, but the only way you'll learn them is if you try your best at it, like that's what's important is you got to do the hard thing, got to push and and see what you can do, and I don't know. I mean, I think that's just such an important thing for everyone to consider is like are there areas of your life that you're neglecting or you're putting. You're putting more time and effort into one area that's not getting you as far as you would like. Like for me, if I poured everything I had into fitness, my job would probably fail. My relationship with you would probably suffer, um and so there has to be I don't want to say balance, but you have to be disciplined enough to do the things and still make time for the others if that makes sense.

Ally:

I kind of like how you didn't say balance, because I think some things are seasonal.

Brett:

Yeah.

Ally:

Like a week before your race or like leading up to a race. If you have to prioritize certain things differently, then you have to prioritize things differently. And same with job. This last week we had a big conference, so I wasn't expecting to get an hour call every night when you get home, got to get to bed and you got an early morning. So I think things just kind of keep wobbling around. As long as you're giving them all care it's like plants Not all of them need water every day you just kind of give them what they need and it's a good analogy a little bit of sun or whatever, and you just make sure they're all growing.

Brett:

but they may need different things at different times do you do anything in your life where you're like almost like a reflective practice, where you do like a debrief on each area, like how am, am I doing? In my faith? You know what I'm saying.

Ally:

Yeah, I obviously don't journal the way you do, which I should. We talk about all the time, I know.

Brett:

No, everyone's different.

Ally:

But I would say I don't have like designated times I'd say at church. I'm reflected on my week, like spiritually, what I can be doing spiritually the next week and stuff.

Ally:

And I'm reflecting on my week like spiritually, what I can be doing spiritually the next week and stuff, and so that's kind of like a trigger point of when to like reflect on how I'm doing spiritually and then at work, like it's obvious, if you're not doing great when you're flying, if you're like, oh, I feel behind, so you, I mean I get a, I crash the jet.

Ally:

I know, so I get to think about that or whatever. I feel like when I'm in the scene, am I thinking about it? I'm like while I'm writing I'm like, okay, how am I feeling? You're kind of like a little internal check and a physical check. Like how are things checking out? I wouldn't say that I like I sit down and just debrief all aspects at the same time. It's more like when I'm in it. How are we doing? How are we going to refine it?

Brett:

Yeah, I like that. I do a lot of that too. It's like in the moment, kind of thing.

Ally:

Yeah, I mean, I would say before bed is like my closest thing to debriefing all of them. When I'm trying to sleep, you know, I think about how my day went. I think about my future Quick story about Allie.

Brett:

Oh gosh this. I had a crazy dream last night and I don't remember it at all.

Ally:

Oh yeah, this is a really weird thing actually.

Brett:

And then as soon as we get in bed, and she puts her head on the pillow she remembers it like it just happened.

Ally:

That is very odd. I listened to a Chris Williamson podcast with a memory guy.

Brett:

Yeah.

Ally:

And he was saying how, when you put yourself in a place that something happened, the memory comes back. Yeah, like how, when you put yourself in a place that something happened, the memory came back, comes back, yeah, and like so. A lot of people affiliate like oh, I was drinking diet coke when I was reading these study questions. Okay, so when I drink diet coke it might help you remember those yeah, the setting right right, and so I'm thinking that's what it's got to be, because I'll wake up.

Ally:

I'm like that was crazy and then, boom, it's gone. Don't remember it all day long, don't remember what happened. I put my like. Once my head hits the pillow, it's like oh my gosh, that was crazy.

Brett:

I'll tell you now, you know, and then I'm like half asleep and I'm like, wow, yeah, that's crazy it's insane.

Ally:

Yeah, it is pretty cool, so weird.

Brett:

But I do think it's important to like reflect time to time um on the things that you're doing and yeah, how do you know if you're progressing and how you can progress?

Brett:

yeah, you can only progress what's being tracked right. So the last one this is the most important part of getting after it is what does getting after it look like for you as a principal? But I'm curious, I want to ask you that question what does it look like for you? Because I think it's different than me, I think it's different than your brother, like it's a personal thing getting after it to me.

Ally:

I think I need to think about it for a minute. It's hard to really Brett what's the right word for when you're trying to get data, Trying to get data.

Brett:

Yeah, like it's hard to like quantify, quantify okay is that what that means? Like um yeah okay, yeah, data analysis okay, that's what I mean.

Ally:

It's hard to quantify, like how much you're getting after every day. And if I did it right that day, I would say.

Ally:

But I think a rule of thumb for me is did I do what I could? Yeah, like, did I one? You got your checklist for the day? Did I get things, everything I want to get done? Did it get done? And did it get done well enough that I can say I'm proud, yeah, and sometimes it's no.

Ally:

Sometimes like, oh, I didn't get my run in, or like I kind of sucked at it, I quit because I listened to my comfort voice, or sometimes I didn't study as long as I should have, or whatever it is. But it's very obvious to myself when I didn't do that in terms of I'm like, oh, I obviously want to study for four hours, all I got to. But but it's like trying to identify did I work as hard as I needed, even though study for four hours, I only got two? But it's like trying to identify did I work as hard as I needed, even though it was two hours? So, all that to say, I think if I can go to bed at night and be proud of the effort I put in, I would call that a success.

Brett:

I love that. I think that's great Because it will look different for everyone, like for me. I think of the quote from Marcus Aurelius where he says be strict with yourself but be tolerant with others. And so when I'm thinking about getting after it for myself, it's a code. I've talked about codes before and why they're important and basically it's just certain principles that I live my life by. Like I wrote a few down.

Brett:

I train when it's hard, I tell the truth when it's uncomfortable, I keep promises, especially to myself, I take care of those around me, like things like that, and I always want to make sure I'm doing what I can to keep going forward, because getting after it helps you build momentum and that needs to keep going. And ultimately it's just a code that helps me achieve goals. That's really what it is For me. Getting after it is principles I live by that help me build the life that I want, and that's a lot from setting goals and achieving them, or setting goals and failing at them and learning from that. But there are principles that have never led me astray and the more I incorporate them into my life, like when I train hard, even when I'm tired, and I still make that effort. I know I can push through difficult things and I know whatever comes my way, I can probably figure out a way to get through it.

Brett:

And it's not an easy lifestyle. But I think if you want to be great at anything, it's not going to be easy because there's other people competing for it and they might want it worse than you, which is another thing I think about when I'm running. Someone else wants it better, but that's really it, and it will look different for everyone because you might have not the same athletic body as others or you might be overweight. That's what I'm trying to say. So getting after it might look very different for you than it might for someone else. Or you might be in the beginning of your career when someone else is a veteran and has been doing it for 20 years.

Brett:

You can't compare yourself to that person, and so you have to figure out what in your life you can get after to get to that level and break it down constantly, reflect, choose it. This is full circle here. So you choose to be disciplined and you choose to get after it. You do the reps. You don't focus on the big results, you focus on the daily repetitions. You win the mind game and you push through, even when it's difficult and you don't want to listen to it anymore. You write your code down and you just keep getting after it, because it's going to look unique for you I like that quote that says to choose the harder right than the easier wrong yeah and I think that's a good rule of thumb of how to progress like are you doing the uncomfortable good so that you can become a better person?

Ally:

are you letting yourself just kind of wither away and go through life? Yeah are you? Are you actively attacking life or is are you like a victim to how life is treating you?

Brett:

I like that. Yeah, I think that's difficult, though, choosing like, but what I? What I do recognize, though, is, when I choose the harder right than the easier wrong, it's not as bad as I thought it was, yeah, and so that's like why I say winning the mental game and beating that voice in your head is because oftentimes it's a liar, true.

Ally:

It's so annoying.

Brett:

And it doesn't tell you what actually is the truth. And if you listen to a liar, you're going to have a pretty crappy life. So get liars out of there, including yourself, and that's why one of my principles is I will not lie, especially to myself, like I'll always tell the truth. And if I can take one more step, I'll ask myself can you?

Brett:

and if I can, I will I like that so that's pretty much it because, like I said, it's personal and you shouldn't treat it as something that's like just a mantra, like getting after it, like in the beginning. I think it looks cool on a t-shirt. I think it's a cool thing to say to someone oh yeah, I'm getting after it, but it will look different for everyone. The point is push yourself, challenge yourself, see what you can do. This is life is short, we don't have a lot of time, but I have a challenge and I think it's a pretty easy one, but I want I think it's an easy challenge to get started. Then it's going to get hard okay, because once you identify this, you're in.

Brett:

You're in trouble, okay. But finding out one area in your life that you've been a little, a little more passive than you would like, and figure it out, find it and this week just take more steps toward it, whatever, take small actions, get it done and at the end of the week, reflect, look at the results, because you have to do the work, but then you also have to think about what that work did and adjust your behaviors.

Ally:

I like it, I'll do it.

Brett:

I love it. Everyone else should do it too, but I appreciate everyone for listening to this episode and I hope it shed a little bit more light on what getting after it means and what it could mean for you, because it has changed my life and I know it can do the same If you take these principles, you apply them to your life and you figure out what you want to get after and go full throttle into that thing. Because life is short. We don't have a lot of time, so make the most of it now.

Brett:

Thanks, for coming on lover and until next episode, everyone keep getting after it. That's right, baby.