0:02

Welcome to the Adaptive Mindset. I'm Brett Gallant, cybersecurity thought leader and founder of Adaptive Office Solutions. Here we don't just talk tech. We unlock the strategies, stories and mindset shifts you need to stay secure, lead boldly and thrive in a digital world. Let's get started. Today on the Adaptive Mindset, I'm joined by Stuart Miller. Stuart Steward is a business architect, speaker, fitness industry innovator and strategic advisor with more than 25 years of experience scaling fitness and wellness ventures globally. He helped turn Emotion Cycling into one of South Africa's largest cycling businesses, growing online bike sales from 50 bikes per year to 100,000. He went on to build and lead brands including Platform Studios, Fit and Glam and Livewire Production, helping shape how fitness content, boutique studios and wellness experiences are delivered in a changing world. But what I'm most interested in today is not just the fitness industry. It's the mindset behind building businesses that move people. We're going to talk about entrepreneurship, founder evolution, customer experience, technology leadership, and what it really takes to build something that lasts. Stuart, welcome to the Adaptive Mindset. Great to meet you, Britt. Thank you for having me. Yeah, it's great to connect. I'm so happy to have you on our show. When I looked at your journey, what stood out to me most was not just the fitness. It was the pattern of building, scaling and reinventing and seeing where an industry is going where other. Before other people do it. So I want you, what I'd like to ask you is can you take me back to the beginning? Where did this already? Like, where did this really start for you? The beginning was watching my father build businesses and he moved from Liverpool to Zambia, where I was born. Then we moved as a family to South Africa. And watching him build multiple businesses, so I got to see that it's not an impossible task. I got to see, yes, it's not easy. But at the end of the day, he made up his mind, he got things done. So it definitely lowered the barrier for me to see that it's all possible. And then his network of friends were the same as him. So it rubbed off on us, obviously, as a family. But importantly, I also got to spend time with these incredible people. And as I got older, I got passionate about certain things. I was into motorbikes and my father connected me to someone that was in Cincinnati. A friend of his from South Africa had moved to Cincinnati and we started bringing out motorbikes from the US Then that was the start of my business. When I was around 20 that. That led me into the automotive industry. From the automotive industry and distribution, I then did multiple businesses. But at the end of the day, the last 25 years, I've been focused purely around the exercise experience and moving people. And that was where it really settled in for. For me and my wife, that. That's where we felt we made the biggest impact. And yes, of course, financial is important, but at the same time, we felt like it was really meaningful work, and we were able to touch thousands of people every day, because you don't just touch the people that you interact with, whether you're selling a bicycle or whether you are, you know, opening a gym, and you've got people coming in every day. It's the five people or the 10 people that are around them at work, at home, and who care about them, you're actually impacting their lives. So this massive ripple effect, and it's really fulfilling. Brett. It's not something that we take lightly. We're super privileged to be in the space and, you know, for. For the last 25 years, we've been able to journey from the cycling business and triathlons and running and swimming and kids bicycles and boutique gyms, yoga and hiit and all these beautiful products and personal. We're able to really get involved in that whole industry, and we've actually had a fabulous time doing it. And, you know, you asked how we got into was pretty easy because we were passionate about the exercise itself. So, you know, I don't want to say it's the hobby, turning a hobby to something, because that wasn't it. It was a business at first that we actually got more involved in because I was running a car business at the time when I started the bicycle business. And we made a very conscious decision that in order to be successful, we had to decide what. Which. Which. Which one was it going to be? And we walked away from the one, and we focused purely on the bicycle business for 12 years exclusively. And. And when you made that decision, you had tremendous success, but you were doing something you were passionate about at the same time. Yeah. So it's a mutual win. I. I think of my father. He. He always said to me when I was younger, do what you love to do, and everything else will come. Yeah, yeah. I think that there's an element around time, so if you put enough time into something, it will be successful. Unfortunately, some of us run out of time because of budgets, because of cash flow, because of life. But we were fortunate enough that we had, you know, support of the family around us. We had a little bit of a business already going, so we could afford to make that jump. But along the way, we partnered with some incredible people and we had some fabulous businesses that we represented in South Africa. And that's also the key. It's who you work with, because from that first meeting you have with somebody, if it's a forced meeting to try and get to the first base, you know it's going to be like that forever. So we were very clear that. And that's why at the very beginning of that bicycle business, we actually partnered with a Canadian brand out of Toronto called Celo. That was the first bicycle product we brought in. And the two, the two, the two gentlemen that had it was a gentleman by the name of Phil White and Gerard Vrooman. And they were exceptional. And just that relationship opened up that whole industry for us. And we know, we're truly grateful to them for giving us that platform and opened the doors to the rest of the industry, but supported and guided us. They didn't have to. You know, Brett, it's like in business, if I'm buying from you, you don't have to do that extra piece. But they did and it set us up and it allowed us to build that business. As you mentioned, starting from 50 bikes to 50, 100,000. But we also took it from one brand to 16 brands. Yeah. And that was, that was the journey. You know, I. It's interesting what you've been sharing and I, I'm really mindful of something I've heard again, and I've heard this multiple times. I was in a group coaching call with Dan Martel. He said, you're one conversation from changing your life. One minute. One minute, one post, one comment. Yeah. And you know, you get. I get. I sometimes connect with someone on LinkedIn or I'm standing in a group of people or I walk at an event and I'll go to a new group of people because I know somebody in the group and they'll introduce me to the guy on my left and then the relationship starts. Just didn't have to, didn't have to go down that, that path. But you do. And within that minute. Yeah, the trajectory changes by 1%. Let's dig into that for a minute because, yeah, there's something on my heart that says we need to dig into this. Okay, so one conversation, one minute. Yeah. Sometimes. Have you. And I've had this over, over the years, the mindset of not reaching out or not connecting, that they wouldn't want to talk to me or they Wouldn't. Or sometimes we forget. Oh, you're going deep. You're going. You're going deep now because now you're touching on. Touching on something that we all feel. Yeah. So let's. Let's go there. Have you ever felt that? Sure. A lot of the time. All the time. Yeah. And then you also have reached out, you have made a connection. Yes. But nothing's happened. And the first instinct is they didn't like me. Yeah. Yes. And nothing to. Had nothing to do with your product or your price or your presentation or the fact that they're. They're busy. That. Yes. They have multiple things on. She's running five other projects. She's looking after the house. She's going on holiday. And we're upset that they haven't come back to us because it's been two days. So. Bingo. Yes. Yes. It hurts, huh? And then you sit there and you dig in, and you dig in and you start to create this story. And unfortunately, the stories that we tell each tell ourselves. That's where we have to find that space. And I must tell you that one of the most. Probably the most successful tool that I've used for this is exercise. Yes, sir. Yes. Right here. Yeah. Then just finding that space during the exercise so that you get out of that loop, you know, this vortex of what's going on in your mind. And the second thing is meditation, because you can go to a space where you give yourself a little bit more room. I don't want to say to be vulnerable, but maybe to be open to thought. And during this process, you end up analyzing things, but you can analyze it from a third person. So when I was younger, I was quite a serious swimmer. And you have 60 seconds to win the race. You have to finish in 59 or 54 or 55, or you have seconds. So how do you do that? You do that here first, and you have to remember these things, and you have to keep reminding yourself that I was successful once at this, I can be successful again. I can phone that person back and I can give them the space, Then I can contact them again, and then I may have a win. Because it happened before, why wouldn't it happen again now? We get sensitive that it happened. Yes, yes. 100%. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think that's a big part of it. It's almost that, look, nothing succeeds like success. But as entrepreneurs, we have a mindset that we also sell to ourselves a lot of the time. And we sell it, sell to ourselves, positive and negative. We're not always a positive force on ourselves. So we have to continuously remind ourselves those wins that we've had and celebrate those wins. And I think that's one of the hardest parts when you're an entrepreneur, because it's not really a win, it's just an order. Yeah. And it's like, well, it's a small order. I wanted 75, 000 and it's only 7,500. It's 10 times less. So I'm not really going to celebrate. But you've worked at it for six months. You don't reward yourself, and that's hard. You don't ever diminish those successes. I, I, I remember being called out on that before. I said something and I diminished my success, and one of my accountability partners said, hold it, Brett. Yeah, I'm not going to allow you to do that. What you did was pretty darn amazing. We're going to celebrate it and you're not going to allow yourself to do that. Yeah, that's good advice. And it, you know. Yeah. I like the fact that you landed on this particular point because when started off where you're talking about mindset and you're talking about leadership, you're talking about a space, a space where we have to also be able to work with our teams and also be able to explain this to them. And, you know, nothing's better than, you know, mastering something, as they say, by teaching it. So, you know, if there's one thing I have learned by managing big teams, because, you know, at times we've had hundreds of people working for us, it's exactly this. It's giving them the confidence to fail and giving them the confidence to reach out and giving them the confidence that it's not personal, you know, what you're doing in a daily basis. You don't have to take this personally. Yes, it's, it's not just business. It's because you're putting in the effort and you want to win. But at the same time, if you're ticking all the boxes, it will break. You will win. And I think sometimes to allow people to fail and trust them, you know, so, yeah, yeah, yeah, I, I see it all the time. And it's interesting what you shared about getting out, exercising. That's how I reset. I call it my reset. And I built my own, what I'm calling the Brett operating system. And my daily rhythm starts with 5am gym. Now, to be be honest, I, the last month and a half, I got away from that and went to other places, but I recommitted to 5am, made that part of the rhythm. In the middle of the day, I get out for a 60 to 90 minute hike. Amazing. And that's the time where I win. Yeah. Because. And I, I think there's that mindset that I know I've had and I see and I talk to a lot of different entrepreneurs and business leaders. We forget to put our own oxygen mask on. And how can you serve? Well explained. I think that's, that's very true. I think you've articulated that well. You know what they say when you're on the plane, you know. Yeah. Put yours on first. Yeah. You can't, you can't serve others if you're not doing that. It's. So when did you discover that? Or do you ever, like for you, you know, do you ever catch yourself getting out of that rhythm? Of course. Of course. And it's unfortunate that times when it shouldn't be that way. Yeah, it's at the time, it's at the times when you're in a down cycle, not an up cycle. Because when things are going good, you're unstoppable. It's when things start to slip, then all of a sudden you feel six things slip. It's this downward trend that throws all of this doubt that you then want to turn your world upside down and change everything. Everything's been wrong. Meanwhile, it's been, you know, 10 days of one or two difficult moments. So I do. I often catch myself and, you know, it's about this year. I've identified a word for the first time that I'm living by. And it's steady. And it's not steady being slow. It's steady in the decisions you make. It's steady in your progress and it's just that 1% every day. Yes. I've spoken about this for years, but the problem was I wanted it with speed. Now it's not in. It's got nothing to. Steady is not slow. Steady is just in the same direction with the same consistent effort. Yes, I'm prepared to change a percentage here and a percentage there to redirect, but it's not. I'm not throwing the baby and the bathwater out every time there's a challenge. Stay steady on the course and it's, you know, we're five months in, we've had an exceptional year and there's some beautiful opportunities on the horizon that we're closing. And again, I'm just going to stay steady because we will blink. And three months further, we'll be down the line and we would have closed a lot of these and it's just staying true to that course. Yeah, it's, it's. Sometimes we can drift and steady. It's interesting you said that word because I went through an exercise before the new year and we were encouraged to pick our word for the year. Yeah, mine was steady. Yeah. Okay, good choice, good choice. But you know, for those of you listening, there's going to be times that we drift and things come up but like you gotta double down and recommit and get back into it and like life happens. So. And I, I'm just, I think this is more, I'm projecting a little bit because I'm living it and I, I decided last week myself to recommit, get back to that steady that,

you know, like that consistency that 5: 16:55

00am so you, the biggest win is when you catch yourself and, and have those rhythms like what you've built into your life. And I love tying it back to your, your work. You know what you're doing, you're making an impact. You know, when you help other founders and other business professionals, you have that spin off effect with helping that trickle down effect where you affect somebody, you know, a business owner that you're working with and then the trickle down, all the multiple people that they have. I, I'd like to just go back to that for a moment and tell like, tell me like some of the wins you've had with that. Like so, you know, if we talk about team, if they don't understand this in a high touch environment like a boutique gym, they will not be able to appreciate the level of impact that they're making in the world if they don't feel the same way. So when we started to work with the team and we started to explain this deeper and they started to live it because a lot of people operate within the space, whatever environment they're in, unconsciously, you know, and bringing this to the consciousness, but also identifying it as it comes along and guiding my team for each of these points, whether it's the coach, whether it's receptionist, whether it's the cleaner, whether it's the coffee, the coffee team, whoever it is, by giving them this sense of how they can make an impact in one person's life that could change one person's day, that changes their life. It actually their behavior changes because it's no longer about being recognized, it's no longer about being rewarded financially. Always. And you know, I'll give you an, if I just give you a If you just bear with me a second, I'll give you a story about Grace. So assume Grace is an avatar and that's the Persona. And you know, she's living in a city on her own, working her butt off. But her biggest. No, not her biggest. One of the most important things in her day is how she starts. And her start is like you, 5.30am, her alarm goes off, she gets up, she walks to the gym. When the door opens at the gym and she pushes the button for the door to open if she arrives and the place is quiet and dull and the people behind the reception don't look up and there's no love, she'll enter the class with that same feeling and her state wouldn't have changed. But the minute she pushes that button and she walks in the space and the smell smacks her in the face and that smell automatically sends a signal to her brain that goes, this is my happy place. This is where I recharge. This is what sets me up for the day. This is my win straight away. The smile behind reception, the high five behind reception. Don't worry, I'll have your smoothie, your favorite berry smoothie ready for when you finish. The yoga teacher or the HIIT teacher high fives her when she arrives in the class. They know her name, they know where's Grace's favorite place. She's got her place booked. Now this when she, when Grace finishes the class and she gets up to walk out the door and she says goodbye and the. The team member says, you have the most amazing day, Grace. See you on Thursday. It's so nice. And she's. She then walks home. She's a different person. So she's arrived as person A, and during her time and experience with us, she's been upgraded and she leaves this person B. Okay. Yeah. So this transformation that she's going through with us, that's our responsibility and she's trusting us to change the state for her. Now when Grace gets to the office and she's sitting in that boardroom at 10 o' clock and somebody's grilling her about the numbers or someone's pushing her about a project, I promise you, that meeting is very different than if she hadn't have had that win and the rest of her day and how she manages that situation and how she walks through the rest of her day is very different than if she just got up, got in the taxi and got to work. And that's how we want to set people up for success. And that's why our Mission is to move a million people a day. And doing it in the analog world is very hard. That's why we do analog and digital. Because to move a million people a day in an analog world, you know, you got to open a few thousand gyms. Bingo. But just this story right now, every single one of us listening, we can apply this to our own lives. First of all, Stuart, how much does that cost for that gym to do that? There is no difference if it was a$25 gym a month or a $250 gym a month. The person behind reception is paid to sit there. Agree? Yes. 100. I agree. And so is the coach. When you arrive in the room, the coach, the good coaches know you and they know how to support you and they build that relationship. And you know, they could have done the workout at home, but they chose to come to you. Yes. So make it worth their while. Right. And so what, what I'm saying, that's very low investment. It's just called being a exceptional, great human being. And my point to that is being a lighthouse. Each and every single one of us can be kind, smile, treat people with empathy. And so you, you do that in the business and affect that environment, that gym. You've had a whole trickle down effect. She can tell that story to her office, may draw more people into the gym. I want some of that energy. She shows up better in her, at her office, she shows up better with her family, her loved ones. All because she had one hour that changed, that brought her alive, pumped her up. Yeah, yeah, that's exactly it. That's exactly. You've said it. I brought her alive and taken her out of that, that, that subconscious environment, into the conscious environment that she's, she's doing something for herself, she's setting herself up for success. And again, that exercise and the release of the dopamines is a whole nother story. Yep. And that's what that really is doing, at least for that business, is creating loyalty. What gym do they want to go to? I want to go to the gym, that fitness environment where I feel good. So if somebody comes up with another offer, it might be a little less. They're gonna go, they're gonna go there because that's the experience. I, and by the way, I've, I've, I've had this experience because over the years I go to, I have two gym memberships. And there's not always a consistency on who's working the staff, but there's certain, certain staff that are working. They know you and you can joke with them. And you, you. I like to lighten them up and they lighten us up. So you. There's, there's a preference sometimes of what gym I go to. Yeah. And I think that when, when you look at the, the leadership within that team, whether it's the owners or the management, is that. Do they exercise empathy? Do they understand what they're actually doing there today? Because your, your front of house team are the ones that touch your customer. Your coaches are the ones that touch the customer. We could be spending fortunes on equipment, facilities and marketing, but then there's this consistent drain at the bottom and the fitness industry is broken because 50 of the customers leave every year. So when you look at those stats, that's why I say it's broken. There's something wrong. Why is 50% leaving? Partially maybe because of that experience. Yeah. And they don't feel heard and they don't feel heard and they don't feel valued. So then price becomes almost like the number one reason why they left. But just like you're saying that if you, if you enjoyed that experience and it made a difference in your day, price becomes irrelevant. Yeah. Now, it's interesting you just said that because the next question is, you know, I've been here before. I had the old identity. I was the guy that had a gym membership that was on autopay for a couple years and I didn't go. I was three, Stuart. I was £349 before. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Amazing. Yeah. So I reclaimed my life and I. When did you do that? It was in October 2023. Now, I flirted with it up and down, but I made that commitment of making this be part of my identity. But I know this question, or at least I feel I know part of the answer. You know, a lot of people buy the gym membership, the treadmill that becomes a glorified towel rack. Because I've had that too. Yeah. But they never become the person who use it. In your opinion, why do you think that happens? I. I know we touched a bit on it, but. And this is a big one. I know. So. Yeah, so we, we're, we're, we've done a number of different businesses and we're, we're launching a brand new business in, in July here in Dubai, which is called arc. And you know, the meaning behind the name is the journey. Your ark is very different to my arc. And where you are in your journey is very different to where I am in my journey. And that goes the same for everybody. So not everybody is the same. Not one size fits all. So when you talk about the pre, the during and the post, it could be the exercise, it could be the month, it could be, it could be the workout, it could be the month, it could be the year. Your arc and your journey throughout the year is going to be very different. It's never going to always be up. They're going to be moments of down. There's going to be moments when to get to that five o' clock gym session is not possible. You're either not well or you're traveling or whatever it may be. So it's having this continuous arc because it's fluid. What comes out of that is how do we individualize everything, customize everything for every single guest? So we make sure that we have 80% of what's in the market for the exercise experience, but then we layer it with a wellness concierge who actually talks to you and spends time with you to give you the right tools to help you navigate through the process. Whether you need to check into somebody every day, every week or every month, we help you along the process. But it's not about the accountability, it's about the empathy. Because what happens is this somebody, and I'll give you an example, probably you might have. You might have already experienced, is that. I've just gone. I think it's David. David Lieberman's book where he studied some individuals. I think, I think it was David Lieberman's book. He studied individuals in Africa and they were super fit, great longevity, great endurance athletes. And in his studies, not only in the, in the physical, in the physical bodies, he under. You understand that there is an element of difference between someone carrying extra weight versus someone who's leaning like this particular community in Africa. The, the levels of dopamine. For someone who is fit, who exercises for one hour, the level of dopamine rush is higher and long and sustains for longer. You get a better, a bigger kick. Somebody who's overweight, they don't get that dopamine rush. So what they get when they work out is sore muscles. They get stiffness without any upside. So when, when someone who's fit works out and does a new routine or pushes themselves, they may get stiff, they may get sore muscles, but they had so much dopamine that it was worth it. Whereas if you're overweight and you got to start walking, then you got to start running, then you got to start doing weights, you're just in pain for the first year. And if there's no guidance and support along that way. Why carry on? So you got to be able to also appreciate that when you start to look at every single demographic because it's the same for someone who is, as you say, super fit and training every day. But maybe there are other areas in their life that they need support and you need to have a team that has that empathy to guide them along the way. Maybe they're training too much, maybe they don't have enough recovery. Maybe they're not eating well enough. Maybe they've got sleep problems, maybe they have hormone problems, maybe they need blood tests, maybe they need to meet the doctor doctor and all of this. That's why mindfulness is becoming such a big thing now with exercise and recovery, because it's part and parcel of the experience. You can't just exercise without the recovery. You can't just push yourself and not sleep. So this is a big part about what we're building right now. And I think that's going to be one of the missing pieces with businesses that are successful in the future is that if they don't embrace this piece, they will become irrelevant. Yeah, I, I've, in your industry, I don't believe I've ever heard anybody express it that way. No, I, I, and I appreciate that because yeah, they, they don't they. The difference in, in, in most of the industry. And remember, I'm not from the industry. We started the gym business 12 years ago from a, from a business aligned, the sporting industry aligned, but not fitness per se or gyms. And the gyms are always the hero. You know, the gym's the hero brand. The gym tells you what to do, how to show up, how to behave. Give me another set. The gym's the boot camp, the gym's the CrossFit. Whereas in our story the customer is the hero. And that's the big difference. You know, we're just the guides and the mentors to assist them on their journey. They're the hero in the story and we're their guides and mentors. We. And that shift then allows you to also increase the stickiness and that's the secret sauce between having a business where there's a hole in your bucket and 50% of the water goes out every time you fill it up. That's what's happening in the gym business and I think in all businesses but like tying my own journey into this. When I was my previous self, you know, I, I was yo yoing before, before I really committed to my health journey and I remember one time I was in another city and I decided to go to the gym. I was going to the gym regularly. I went to this other gym and I was, I would say, £320 at that time. Stuart, this man that was working out came over, gave me a fist bump. He saw that I was working hard. He said, good for you, man. Working on yourself. Yeah. Do you know what that did for me? Yeah. And you know what? And how many people. I think. How many people are thinking that when you. When you see somebody in the gym who's starting out and don't say that one thing, and that's an important part, because as you say, it makes you realize how hard you're actually working to be there. And I'm saying this right now to you because I'm committing to you that I'm going to do more of that. Because I remember three or four months ago, I seen this man that was bigger than me, and I. I noticed he was showing up. I would wave to him. But next time I see him, and I hope I do, I'm going to say, hey, man, it's good to see you. I haven't been at the gym myself for a few days, but it's good to see you. That I hope helps that man on his journey. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that that's. The intimidation factor is at all levels. Yeah. And the word. But it's not so much intimidation, it's insecurity, it's being unsure, it's lacking the confidence. And it happens whether you're really overweight or you're just starting out on the journey. But there are times when I still go to places and I feel intimidated because I don't know where everything is. I may have to ask somebody to give me some guidance. I may be uncomfortable being in this space because everybody knows each other except me. So, of course, there's those moments. Takes enormous courage. But when you're out of shape or you're unfit or you haven't done it before, it's a whole nother story. And I think that it. You don't just have to be overweight to do this. There are a lot of people that are not working out or that should work out more for health reasons and that don't do it because of this. It's just that barrier. It's like, no, I don't feel comfortable when I'm in that space. So, you know, I wish we could do more. I wish we could do more. Well, and I. I think collectively we all can do More together. Yeah. So what, what's the difference, though, between someone who wants change and someone who actually changes in your. Like, I think it's pain. Pain. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tony Robbins has said that before, hasn't he? Yeah. I think you got to have enough pain and then you need to think about, you know, I don't know if you want to get into, but you need to think about what was it for you that shifted. And then there seems to always be this underlying pain. But also, are you prepared for that personality to die? Like, that sounds horrific, but that person has to die in order for the new person to be born. Now then you say, well, my personality hasn't changed. I don't want my personality to change. I don't want my friend group to change. I don't want my life to change, to change. I just want to. Then it's not going to change. So I think that's quite a massive shift because you then easily get sucked back in, you know, and, and Tony Robbins, good example, he says when you want to, you want to get in shape, you know, you go to the pantry, take everything out, chuck it in the bin. It's no point leaving it there for temptation for another day when you've reached a certain size. Chuck your fat clothes out. Like, yes, they're not there. You're not going back. Yeah. Now all of that, all of that stuff sounds great on, in a book or on a podcast or on a dvd, but when you actually got to do it, where you've actually got to take those shirts out and those jumpers out and put them in the, and put them in the pile to give away, it's like, but some of that's my favorite stuff, but it's too big now. Yeah, yeah, that's the tough part. And it, that ties into identity because I can relate to this because I'm living it. There's the old identity, the old Brett, the£349 that sometimes shows up. And there's the identity that I had to tell that Brett that, that identity of who, how he shows up. The guy that wouldn't go for a walk with his kids to the park because worried about sweating and being exhausted. The new identity is, hey, I'm the kid that makes time and goes to the park. But, and I think, like, what you were shedding light on there is. There's that, that old person has to die. Like those, those habits, that identity becomes the new identity where we say, I can't remember. I can't remember who, who it was if it was Alex and Mosey that said it or Chris Williamson, one of them, I can't remember which one it was. But speaking about the death and the personality change. Oh, it was Joe Dispenza talks about your personality. You have your personality changes, your reality changes. Then if you don't change your personality, your reality doesn't change. And then you listen to it and listen to you like no, no, no, that's not, that's. But that's the, that's the point. You know, it's like doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result is not going to do it. It. No. And I think, I think Dan Martel guides the same direction. It's like, you do this every day, you do these goals every day. You do this every day. There will be change if you stop doing it. There won't be change if you start doing it. If you carry on doing it 365 days, I guarantee you there's change. Because of course you're going in a different direction to where you are now. And you do it on every day. That ends with day. Every day. Yeah, yeah. So, Stuart, do you think most people fail because they lack information or because they lack environment, accountability or emotional connection? You know, I've seen some people be super successful in business and with their physical, with their physical selves and their mental selves that have zero support around them. And then I think, well, it's got to be support. That's got to be the reason why you, you know, you're successful or why you're in shape or why you've got this personality or why people like you. And then you think it's because of their network and because they're. But that's what I'm saying. There's some people that don't have it, that are equally successful. So originally I thought it was because you had family support and you had community support and you had friend support. But I, I don't think it's that and I, I don't think that it's also not for everybody. So I've got to a point as well in my life where I also don't think it's for everybody. I, I used to think it was for everybody and maybe I, I judged too much, whereas now I, I'm far more understanding that it's not for everybody when I say it. It could be, it could be massive success in business. It could be in, you know, six pack abs, it could be, you know, loving and caring relationships. It's that that is not necessarily, you know, one size. Again, fits all. It's not true. And yeah, I think it's because I've also interfaced with a lot of people who come from very different backgrounds and have very different life circumstances now, and I get an exceptionally well with them. Some of them are good friends of mine, and they're exceptionally happy, whether they're making a lot of money or not making a lot of money, whether they've got a lot of people around them or they're on their own. And I think that it's a very tough question you've asked me around what makes them fail? But it kind of gets to the point around, do they really want it? So sometimes we say we want something, but do we really want it or we just saying it? Because it's good to put on the, on the, on the vision board, or it's good to write down, or it's nice to say, but it's not really what I want. So Arthur C. Brooks does, you know, I did his course through, through Harvard about two years ago, and he talks about the reverse bucket list. Have you heard of this concept? I think so, yeah. Yeah. And it's. It's quite an incredible concept where you take things out of your list that used to be there that no longer serve you. So if you had a bucket list five years ago, Brett, I'm sure it's very different to today, but maybe you haven't analyzed it enough to see that actually that is no longer priority in my life. That's like, you know, whatever it may be, it may be sitting on your list and your subconscious is working towards something you have to bring into the conscious and say, do I really want that anymore? And you've changed. So you say, well, actually, that's no longer in my top 10. It's not even on my list. And I think what that does is it also starts to make you realize what's going well in my life, what am I enjoying? We're often too critical on what's bad, and we spend less time in what's actually good and more time in what's bad. And that's the difference. I think here what you're talking about is just the fact that going to gym three times a week for 20 minutes, that's a massive win. But someone who's doing it, you don't celebrate it. And it's not even having a massive celebration. It's just about the fact that you've been going six, six weeks in a row, 20 minutes a day for three days a week. What did you do last year? Zero. So look at the volume of the last six weeks versus last year. And it's about saying, okay, well, I'm actually enjoying this. I'm going to keep going. Of course you're going to. That path is going to change. And that decision is that one minute decision, that one second decision that says, I've had enough of this, I want to change, I want to have energy to go to the park with my kids, I want to have energy to go on a hike, I want to have energy to travel. And yeah, you know, that's one thing about enough. I think sometimes it's that, that 30,000 foot view that sometimes in all areas of our lives we forget to look back and say, hey, where did I win this week? Where did I win this year? And then we negate, hey, I didn't hit this goal. But we forgot to look at how far we've come and celebrate that. Stuart, thanks for sharing that. I know that's impacted somebody today. I hope so. I believe so. I know what we've been talking about has been really high level, good discussion today and so I'm really, really happy to be having this discussion with you. So I want to, I just want to get to one place for a bit about founder evolution because you've evolved, you know, this is a question I want to get your viewpoint on. A lot of founders, okay, they build something they love and then one day they feel trapped by it. Have you experienced that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was done. Done. Yeah, I was it. Trapped is a very good word. A prisoner. Yeah. You know, and my health went, my relationship started to change the way I had an outlook on things and. I funny enough treated the business the same way. I actually worked harder because I felt like if I worked harder, then the results would be better than I wouldn't feel the same way. And the harder I worked, the better the business did, but the worse I felt. And that's not. It became, it became this, this, this very, very tough part of my life that I'm glad I went through it because I will never, ever do it again. And you know, when you're thinking about things that you've done well or things that you've done badly or things that you've learned from, when you're looking back from this 30, 000 viewers you mentioned, sometimes the difficult times, the mistakes you've made, and this wasn't a mistake, this was just the life that I was in and the environment, the space I was in, that the fact that you got out of it is a massive win. And you got to almost look back at that and go, wow, you know, I managed to have the courage to get out of it. And sometimes it's not that easy. And then you, you, you, you, you. You're running from it or you're trapped by it. And the worst part is you built it. It's not like someone built it for you. It's not like you got hired and you got stuck in the basement counting the files. It's. You built this thing. And that's where it gets really tough because you think, well, I built it. I can get out of it. Well, I built it. I can improve it. Well, I built it so I can find the way. This is what I wanted. So this is what it is. I'm going to just, you know, carry on. And, yeah, it just got too painful. Yeah, I can. When I ask that question, I can feel the pain. You're feeling it, aren't you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, like the. That's the hard thing sometimes in life. Letting go of something to let it go, you know, And I think that, you know, yeah, we struggle with it, but at the same time, when you build something, it becomes quite personal and it becomes part of you that you get emotionally attached to this living, breathing business and the people that are there and the customers you have and how you created and how you live by it and all the heartache you put into getting it to a point that, why would I want to abandon this thing? And then I changed the narrative to sell it. So I. I restructured it. I made some pivots to create it, that it was structured so that I could exit and I exited at a very good value. So it made it easier to get out because it was a good opportunity to get out. But the path started because I had to get out, because it was like we're saying trapped. Then I just turned that situation into a positive. But if. If I didn't feel trapped, I. I probably wouldn't have got out or sold. But at the same time, wondering if this defined you so you knew what to look for and never go back to that feeling again, you know, like, yeah, as we're talking about it, you're right. I am feeling it now. And. Yeah, and. And it's reminding me about some of the decisions that I'm making today. Even, you know, this afternoon, I've been making some decisions, and a lot of it's based around. It's not that fear of being caught in that it's about the fact that the signs that start to represent themselves, you can identify them. So you're right, I can now see the signals go, hang on, that's one of the signals. That's the orange caution sign. Don't go down there. No. And you know Stuart, I, I can relate because this business I've built has pivoted and changed. I do cyber security, it, and over the last number of years, you know, I've had my own personal transformation. But I used to say I, I, I had a business that I ran. But you know what I used what I really had, I had a business that ran me. Yeah. Like it was running me. I had 15 hour days and being the rescue and hero or not putting myself first had it all backwards. And then I reclaimed my health and I changed my business. How we structured, how we lead and you know, following this principle, I follow and it changed everything. But when I find myself going back to those moments, you see those signs? No, I've been here before, I'm not going back. You know, it's, what was it that, do you remember a particular point in time when you, you made that decision? Was there something specific? Okay. Oh yeah, I, I, I, it was, I did a, I was doing a job that I shouldn't have done, should have been my, one of my team members. I did a point of sale install. I got to this gas station at 12 noon and I didn't know, sorry, it was supper time and I didn't leave until noon the next day and I realized that that had to change. I missed bedtime with my kids. I was exhausted and I was doing something I shouldn't have done and I was doing the type of work our company shouldn't have done. And that's when I made the decision. Yeah. You know, and you, you, you have these moments and then you just get to that point where it's like decision day no more. This is it. Yeah, like we, we actually bought a cake too when we decided to get out of that line of work. We were doing debit point of sale replacements on subcontract when we, when we did it, when we decided to get out, we had a cake in the office in, in the shape of a debit machine and we just, we celebrate it that we shed that peace no more. So yeah, just little quirky thing. Stuart, before we go, I've had, this was an incredible conversation. How did people find you, Stuart? And how do people connect with you? My name is Stuart Miller. M I double l er my website is stuart miller.com so I have a website with some information on there. There's email and telephone number and my Instagram is also Stuart Miller. So I do quite, I'm quite active on. On Instagram. On Instagram I do LinkedIn as well also under Strut Miller. But Instagram I'm most active on at the moment. Just DM me. And you know, we've got a number of new products that are coming out soon. So if you DM me the. The podcast. Your podcast is called Adapt Adaptive Mindsets. Is that it? Yep, yep. Yeah. So, you know, just email me AM and I'll send you a test around retention because it applies to any business. And some of these questions in this report might be interesting for you to see just where you're currently sitting, whether you're a retailer or whether a gym business. And then I'd be happy for you to go through this, this free report that we put together for everybody. Thank you, Stuart, everyone, please share this episode. I can say this was a really powerful talk, Stuart. I'm thankful for this conversation. I know like we could have went on and on and there were so many areas that wanted to go. What a great, what a great conversation was. I'm, I'm really happy that you were with us today. No, I appreciate you. Thank you, Brett, and congratulations on your journey and let's both be steady for the rest of the year. Thanks for tuning into the adoptive mindset. If you found value in today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with someone who's ready to thrive in the digital age. Stay secure, stay adaptable, and I'll see you next time.