Hello and welcome to the RevoPT High Performance podcast. My name is Jane Erbacher and I’m your host. RevoPT is a personal training, strength and conditioning and functional fitness gym in South Melbourne and our goal is to inspire ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Every week here on the podcast we’re going to have a different episode for you and we cover all things health and fitness from training to nutrition to mindset to recovery to training after having a baby to training just tovacher. I hope this episode finds you feeling great and fit and well and happy and excited by your life.

I’m coming to you from Melbourne today. So I wanted to provide a little bit of an intro to this next episode. So I’m back home. I’ve had eight weeks of overseas in America, having the most amazing time ever. If you missed out on a couple of our episodes that I had posted while I was away, feel free to catch up. There’s some pretty amazing episodes in there, starting with last weeks with Paul Roberts, a good friend of mine, Paul Roberts, who’s just an incredible, amazing person. And that’s an unbelievable episode in one you do not want to miss and also a couple of others there’s no such thing as luck how to holiday write and also one that I have dedicated to my friend Vincent Wong and it’s about paying it forward and it’s about gratitude and it’s about enjoying the journey and not just focusing on the destination so there’s just a couple that there are to catch up on over the last last couple of months but I’m back in Melbourne I’m really excited to be home because I do love my life I’ve had a pretty unbelievable adventure overseas and it’s been really really really great for both development of me Jane Rebecca and also of my business which is the me project and I got to run workshops and I connected with some amazing people I did some really really great meetings with people and interviews and they’re all going to be coming up over the next couple of weeks on the podcast and I’m really excited about that.

But my business seems to be really, really taking off, which is great. And I’m excited to be back. For those of you who don’t know, I do work at Revo twice a week. That’s why we’ve got the Revo VT podcast. And this podcast kind of came about by accident. ” And I did it as a hobby and now it’s taken off. Thanks to you guys always listening and sharing it with your friends. We’ve got a pretty incredible amount of downloads and subscribers. So if anybody else who know would be interested in this podcast, please do share it with them because I am trying to have an impact on the world and I’m finding that this is a really great way to do it.

So I would absolutely love that. And yeah, and also if you are interested in what I do as the me project, I do run workshops. I spoke yesterday at this amazing event for trainers and coaches about how to be an unforgettable trainer and coach. I talked all about the importance of connection, education, empowerment, and inspiration over simply programming. I’m a big believer in human interaction and connection and valuing and validating people in a genuine way. That’s how you get the most out of them in both fitness fear and also in a life sphere.

So I do that, I run workshops, I also run a really cool rowing workshop which is called Romi. Romi. And yeah it’s on the, the ergo’s the concept to ergo’s. I’m a big fan of that piece of equipment and just run a bunch of those workshops over in New York at Varsity House and also a precision and I’m gonna be running those workshops all all across Australia in the next six months and then around the world. So if someone you know might be interested in coming to one of these or hosting one of these, I would love, love, love you to put me in contact with them.

And then I also do my one-on-one coaching. So I call that mindset and performance coaching and the whole idea is working with people to unblock whatever it is that’s stopping them from being who they need to be. And we do that by aligning people’s schedules with their priorities. So there’s a whole host of really, really exciting things that I’m doing. And starting with today, I am bringing to you one of my favorite podcast episodes that’s ever been done. It’s with an amazing, amazing, amazing man. His name is Rob McNodald, but you might know him better as as Bobby Maximus so he’s all over social media and all over the world as Bobby Maximus and he is the general manager of Jim Jones and he’s also huge face of men’s health also Lalo which is a really really great shoe that he is the face of and he is an amazing person and the reason I’m so excited to bring this episode to you is because he is the epitome of what this podcast is about.

He is a self-made success and he is self-made and he is a success because he chooses every single day to get the absolute best out of himself and he is one of the most hardest, hardworking individuals I’ve ever come across. And I want you to listen to every single word of this podcast. And then I want you to go out and figure out how you can be that person in your life in whatever way that you can. So I really hope you like the episode. Please do connect with me on Instagram or Facebook or any way that you want to.

and please share this episode with whoever you think might get something from it. Thanks for your support. Bye. Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of the Revo PT High Performance Podcast. Today I am so excited and yes, we all know that I wake up so excited and I spend every single day super excited. So I’m pretty next level right now and it’s hard to sit still so I might end up standing up to do this podcast. But I’m sitting here in front of somebody who I’ve known from afar for about five years now and I’ve known pretty close proximity for the last year and he is one of the most incredible people that I’ve ever met and I’m definitely the most hard working person that I’ve ever met and I’m so excited to be talking to him today because I’m so excited for everybody who follows this podcast to really get an insight into this person and I’m talking about the one and only Rob McDonald.

Hi Rob. – Hi, how are you? – I’m good, how? Now you know nobody’s good, no good idea. I know, I was about to say who this actually is. Yeah. Everyone’s like, who’s Rob McDonald’s? Like, yeah. Okay, so I’m going to introduce him by his other name, which I think you like better, don’t you? Bobby Maximus, I’m actually leaving the process of changing my name completely. Seriously? No, no. I would actually. I believe everything you say. I actually believe everything you say. So yes, if you can’t understand that Canadian accent, I will translate.

So this will be double early long. Yes. So that’s Bobby Maximus. And I don’t call you Bobby. I call you Rob. That’s okay. You don’t mind? ” Oh, I’m good. The cat can do that. So why you punish me so me so much? So I want to introduce Rob first before I let him give us a little bit of an introduction because I want to introduce him from my perception of him. So I think the perception is really, really important. I think that if you follow him on social media or in any capacity, you’ll see a pretty awesome side of him, which is the really hard working and very, very jacked and strong man.

And the Bobby Maximus or the Rob that I know is actually probably one of the most charismatic people I’ve ever met, which is, it kind of came as a surprise that you were. Last year when I met you, I was shaking. I was so scared to meet you. He’s so big and strong and quite a looming figure. And then I met him and he’s one of the nicest people that there is and he’s funny and he’s charismatic and he’s extremely engaging and he will never forget your name or a detail about you. And it’s so refreshing to meet somebody who is so big in our world and definitely growing even more in every capacity.

And he bothers to get to know everybody that comes in contact with him. And I today really, really want to focus the podcast on your internal drive, your work ethic, your passion. And because that’s something that I just see that just seeps out of you. In every time that I’ve seen you and every time that I see you online, I can just see how passionately you live and how seriously you take your life. And I’ve learned so much from you and I’ve grown so much from being in contact with you. So I really want people to hear that.

So I do like to kick off every podcast with a quote. So obviously I’m going to quote you because there are many many opportunities for me to do that. And every Sunday you post a sermon and I really like this. It’s from the book of Bobing the Axemas. And I can’t believe how much I’m talking about. Yeah. This is a really really this was my favorite thing you’ve ever posted. So what Rob wrote on his Bobby back. So my most important person to believe in is yourself. Believe in everything that you are and understand that within you, there’s something greater than any obstacle you’ll ever face.

Have faith in your abilities, work hard, never give up and there is nothing you can’t accomplish. With the right amount of confidence, anything is possible. No matter what you set out to do, your first words should always be, I believe in me. And the reason I wanted to read that one out and the reason that that is so, that really resonated with me is because that is clearly how you live. And I really want to know where that came from. If that was an innate belief that you were born with or if that’s learned That’s kind of what I would love to hear and and in addressing that question I kind of want you to talk a little bit about what’s led you to now and and who you are now what you do for work What it looks like for your family?

Well first of all, thanks for all the nice things you’re saying about me That’s good for my image. I’m sorry. There’s many people possible. – All right, Australia will know. (laughing) – But seriously, when you talk about the whole nature versus nurture type thing, I don’t know, I think certain people are born with natural characteristics. Whether they manifest or not, I think it’s a different story. I grew up in a very, very small town of about 1,800 people. And I grew up surrounded by family, people that loved me, close family, friends, and a very tight-knit community where everyone helps each other and everyone’s held accountable in a way.

You know, if you live in a city of 20 million people and you act like a douchebag There’s probably not much social repercussion on that because there’s so many people in the city If you act like a douchebag in the city 1,800 people you get called out So people tend to be a lot more friendly a lot more thanks to them. But with the belief in yourself stuff, one of the biggest lessons that I always had from my mom and dad was that I could do whatever I wanted to do. As long as I worked hard enough and no one had the right to tell me that I couldn’t and I was really supported in everything I did.

One of the most important lessons my mom taught me specifically was I remember coming home with a 90% in school once and she wasn’t with it. At all. And my argument was I got 90% like what gives? Yeah. And she said you didn’t work for it. Yeah. And then I came home with a 60. And I thought I was going to get murdered because if I came home with a 90, it wasn’t good enough. But she was fine with it because she knew I worked for that grade. And so that kind of always set the table for as long as you work hard, nothing else really matters.

Like the end result is one thing, but if you work hard, that’s what matters. And I think that stemming from lessons like that, that’s where the belief in myself comes from because it doesn’t matter at the end of the day, how much money I earn, it doesn’t matter what successes I get as long as I’m giving it my own, I really enjoy it. Doesn world. I don’t think I can be the best rugby player in the spring of the world and I don’t think that, you know, but in terms of stuff, I think if I try my hardest and everything, it doesn’t really matter what other people, as I said, think or say.

So that’s where that really comes from. It is getting rid of all that external noise that, you know, I think we’re so worried about other people’s judgments of ourselves that we lose that faith in ourselves. And at the end of the day, it’s way too short to live up to somebody else’s expectations. Completely. It’s really interesting because that whole idea was really opened up to me when I came and did Level One Jim Jones last year. It’s almost like the result is irrelevant if you go all in. And that was something I learnt when you made us do a one minute all out on the bike, the air dine.

And we were all so petrified that we had to hit this number that you had set for us, but all you wanted to see is all willing to throw it all in. And you get to the end of it and you do know what the result is, but that wasn’t what you walk away from feeling like you’ve grown from. It’s you walk away from knowing that you put in the work. And that’s what feels so good. So I think that it’s really interesting. I feel like you’re one of those people that’s kind of lived 19 lives and you’re still only 38. Yes. So you’ve been a cop, you’ve been a UFC fighter, you’ve been a teacher.

There you go. And you’ve been now you are full time, Jim Jones. And so what’s your role here? And what do you feel like you learned in those sort of past lives that has added to you now? You know, my role here is in the general manager and training director. And I’m going to say I’m responsible for a lot of the direction of the GM. I teach seminars, I run the seminar program, I run the website, I’m the one that’s in charge of certifying people, and I have to face more of the jam and face for the brand. Now of course I don’t do that alone, there are other key people around here that help, but I’m essentially, for all intents and purposes, I would call myself the CEO of Jim Jones.

I don’t use titles like that. That’s the best way to explain it to people. Now, in terms of the other part of life that you know what I’ve learned from is I think a lot of people open up gyms for the wrong reason or they open them for the right reasons and are not equipped for the business side of the gym. The things that come along with it. You know, it would be great if all I had to do in a day would show up and work with people like you. It’s a dream. We have a great time. We could go for lunch. You know, hang out.

We’re out again and go home. But there’s a county. There’s business stuff. There’s internet development. There’s stuff, Yeah, there’s all kinds of stuff that needs to happen. And working in what I’ll call some very regimented professional organizations like a police service, like working in a school where you have people working beneath you and people working above you where there’s policies and procedures where there’s organizational stuff, it’s really helped me on the business side of things. Like in terms of organizing what needs to be done for this thing to grow in that structure.

And I think a lot of people don’t have that. You know the best athletes aren’t necessarily the best brains and the best brains aren’t necessarily the best athletes. And so it’s giving me some insight in terms of things that we’ve had to do to get to this point. ” There’s a lot of other stuff that goes into that that we’ve had the plan to prepare for. So that’s why I’m grateful for my past in that regard. It helps to see bigger picture things. In the Toronto Police, for example, there was 7,000 employees. You manage the place at 7,000 people.

You know, or I didn’t manage it, but I saw how things were done. It helps me learn to deal with 50 people, 25 people, 30 people, 100 people. – Definitely. And my favourite question to ask people when they come on the podcast and is definitely what do you feel is your purpose in life. So I want to know, obviously you haven’t prepared for this, but go for it. You know, if I was speaking from the heart, I would say to have fun. You know, that I really have this belief that life’s way too short to be miserable if you’re in a relationship that you are happy and get out of it You know if you’re in a job, you don’t like go do what you love doing Don’t be a slave to the world because really you might only have 80 years here 70 years.

That’s not a long time It goes by way too quick. You said I’m 38 in my head. Sometimes I still think I’m 21. But time goes by really quick. But I think my real purpose here is to help other people. And I know that sounds corny and it sounds hokey, but that’s what is fun for me. I really enjoy helping others. And I’ve had a lot of opportunities in my life that sometimes I don’t even know how the hell I got here. If it wasn’t for the kindness of some other people and who really helped me and maybe gave me a chance to do something that maybe I otherwise wouldn’t have had.

And I look back, there’s been a lot of pivotal points in my life where somebody has helped me or been kind. And so I would say, you know, what I really enjoy doing now, that’s where it comes back to having fun what I really enjoy is helping other people accomplish goals that makes me feel good like like I’m paying it forward paying it back yeah somehow awesome that was actually the topic last week of the podcast so that’s really really good but it’s really interesting witnessing that because I’ve been through the whole program now I’ve done level one two and three and I’ve also got to help out during my internship at another level one and I loved it and it was so great to sit back and watch you teach in a way that I was still learning and I still had to take notes and stuff but I could really watch the people learning as well and see it’s so refreshing to see somebody who invests so much in there, you know, I’m gonna say students, but you kind of see people as your peers, like as equals, you never treat them like you’re better than them in any way.

And I think it’s really interesting because if I look at Bobby Maximus on Instagram and stuff, I think that some people might shortchange you and not realize the kind of investment you make in people around you because you do and you present things in a very digestible way so people actually walk away knowing more stuff and knowing that they can do anything and there’s a question that you ask in the level one seminar which I really like and I knew that I knew the right answer this time. It was if you had to run an Ironman, if you had to do an Ironman tomorrow, would you be able to do it?

And the reason you ask that question is because you say to people, you might not do it well, but why don’t you have confidence in yourself? And the people who come to Jim Jones are people who are, you know, fit and strong and determined already. So it’s a really interesting question and it made me kind of evaluate the attitude that I’ve approached my my life and and you know not question whether or not I can do something but just just give things my all and I haven’t yet signed up for an Ironman with 24 I was noticed but one day I might do it but something I really want to know is how do you stay aligned with that purpose like how do you Like keep up the drive every single day to kind of live the way that you live, which is a really kind of high intensity way, investing in other people, putting effort into other people.

And like all the people I’ve ever met, I’ve never seen somebody who is so definite in how well they treat their life. You’re very serious on, you know, rest, training, nutrition. And I’m going to use the term nutrition, because we talk about food a lot. But and also in how much you value your wife and your family, you live in a way that you are so purpose driven, you’re so intentional with everything you do. Do you find it challenging each day to live like that? I guess is what I’m asking. I’d say not really because it goes back to what I talked about before that I’m having fun.

Yeah, I suppose that if this was something I didn’t love doing it’d be very difficult But when you love what you’re doing it almost ceases to be work at a point and don’t get me wrong like for people out there listening There are days. I just want to stay in bed. I’m a human being. Yeah, there are days that I swear. Yeah, that I’m like fuck the gym. I don’t want anything to do with it. There are days that I don’t want to answer another email. We all get those things. But the reality is I really love what I do. So I suppose I could look at a seminar as I’ve got to teach a seminar this weekend.

I look at it as an opportunity that I get to meet 20 more friends. You know, it’s fun for me. It’s enjoyable. And like I said, when things are enjoyable in your life, they’re just so much easier to do because the motivation is innately there. You know what I mean? Like, I don’t know what your favorite thing in the world to do is. Take my dog to the park. Take your dog to the park. So I say, hey there you know what I mean? Like if you’re I don’t know what your favorite thing in the world to do is take my dog to the park Take your dog to work.

So I said hey, you know Take your dog to the park today. It’s not hard to get the motivation to do that. Totally imagine you were getting paid for that. Yeah, totally. That’s how I feel about helping other people. Yeah, that’s how I feel about my training That’s how I feel about my eating. I really am very lucky to be doing something I love, which makes it very easy to stay motivated. And I suppose that the day I’m not motivated to do that anymore is the day I should retire, look for new work, or find something that I want to do that is fun.

Now, can everyone just do that? No. And I realize how fortunate I am to have somehow turned something as a hobby for me and I would do anyway into a job. But I think there’s always something out there for everybody that you love doing. And I think that it’s really interesting. So the basis of the May Projekt I think you know is aligning people’s schedules with their priorities. So the first thing I do with people is I help them get really clear on what their priorities in life are and I think that you’re the perfect example of somebody who’s actually done this.

You’ve aligned your schedule with your priority and I think it’s interesting that you use the term “lucky” and the reason I think that’s interesting is because I think that you have worked incredibly hard to align your life like this and and I think that I don’t want any responsibility to be taken away from that hard work. No, and you’re right, like there’s a difference between fortunate and lucky for sure. Yeah, but I guess the reason I feel lucky is there are so many people out there who maybe had an opportunity but didn’t take it.

Maybe didn’t have that right person in their ear to help guide them. Maybe didn’t have that chance encounter that could have changed their life. So I, you know, in some ways I agree, like I’ve worked very hard for everything I’ve had. So it’s not just luck. But at the same time, there were certain opportunities that came my way that I think I was lucky to get. And I do whatever term you want to use. I do kind of pinch myself every morning. I get to live this life that I live. And you love and you do so well. And so I want to know, talking about pinching yourself every morning, what does a regular day like a normal day look like for you?

Oh boy. I work almost every day. How do you wake up? Jump on a bed and do a thousand questions. So the first thing I’ve done is I’ve kind of built my life for the most part. I don’t have to wake up to an alarm clock. Now that requires a certain amount of sacrifice. It means I’m going to bed early every night. I like going to bed early. Yeah, it’s the best. I’m going to bed sometime around night at night. And I don’t have to be at work till nine in the morning. Are there times once again that I have an early morning flight or stuff that I have to get up for?

Sure. But for the most part, I wake up at about an alarm clock. I find that that really helps because you feel energized. There’s nothing worse getting woken up when you don’t want to wake up. And it’s funny because I have to be at work at nine. Some days I’m up at five. And if they eat eight hours, they’re gonna feel great. Some days it’s five 30, some days it’s seven 30. But I like my body wake up naturally. Usually at that point I’ll start on emails. Email is a huge part of my job. I communicate with so many people.

And it’s a great way to get to know your fans, your audience, your clients, and your unbelievable reply. Sometimes it takes me longer than I’d like to get so many now. But I answer emails. Go to the Jim at 9, work out from 9 to 11, because that’s such a big part of my life, and train with the people I want to train with here. Then I go home, eat some lunch, do more email, business development, stop. I spend a lot of the day on the phone now, talking to our very instructors and people in our organization. Then I usually train again, have dinner, and then I will relax for the evening.

So really pretty boring. – No, it’s not fair at all. – It’s pretty work-trained, work-trained to eat. But in that, I love watching TV. I love going for a walk with my wife and her dog in the afternoon. I love going to my son’s recitals, his rehearsals and his school. I don’t have to miss any of that. And if I want to have lunch with a friend, I have lunch with a friend. It’s a beauty of making your own schedule. The hardest part about running the business, you’re always working. The beauty of it is, is you can make your own schedule so you don’t miss those other things.

And I’ll do things to make the computer work more palatable. Sometimes I sit on my deck and just look at the mountains while I do computer work. Most of the time I’m on the couch watching football or basketball or some show on ESPN or some show on Netflix. – Are you saying well? – You love him. – Yeah, I mean, it’s hard to consider that work. – Yeah, I love it. I love when you speak to people who are so definite on their priorities and you hear their schedule and it’s like, it’s massively aligned. Like it’s like health, fitness, nutrition, family, work, passion, all in every single day.

And that’s just, I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it. I want to know now, because I know that we can’t talk forever, even though I’ve got a billion questions for you, but I will come back to you, Tara. I want to know now where you feel like you’re going in the sort of next 12 months to five years. Where’s Rob McJohn old? Where’s Bobby Maximus? Where are you all going? My goal is to influence as many people as possible. Yeah. Right now I use Instagram for that. I’ve actually got a book coming out with men’s health.

Yeah. It’s going to come on January 20th across your fingers. Yeah. I’ve got a shoe that just came out. Yeah. A lot of tactical. The Maximus. Max Maximus. – So those are things that I’ve been working hard at and also I mean building the gym. Gym’s in my home for nine years. It’s something I care deeply about. I love it and something that I don’t want to see grow. But how big this thing gets in the next five years, I don’t know. I mean the bigger it gets and the more it becomes scary. Growing comes with a certain amount of pain.

There’s more work to do and your schedule does not become your own at some point. And my goal is to just strike that balance. To keep growing this place so we can help as many people as possible but still not losing the quality of life that I’ve developed. And I’m not talking quality of life in terms of money. In terms of being able to spend time with my kid, my wife, like things like that. So I would love it, you know, in five years, this is a very long-winded way to say this. I’d like to be one of the most influential life coaches for lack of a better term on the planet, you know, and through books, through Instagram, through television, if I could positively impact a bunch of people’s lives, that’s what I want to do.

I’m going to get there. I don’t quite know yet. But the foundation of that is before. Well, I feel like you’re incredibly on your way. So and no you are. And I mean it like 100% that you did influence my life in an irreversible way. Like my whole life changed after level one and it’s on my way to do all the exciting things that I want to do in the next few years. And I really appreciate it. – And that makes me really proud of you. But it’s something that I think for your listeners too, it’s important is at the end of the day, what makes happy.

There’s actually a story my English professor told me about a gentleman that was the Dean of Oxford University, one of the best universities in the entire world. And he was miserable. And he went home to his wife and told her, he was miserable. ” And he said, ” to deliver the mail She’s like you want to be a postman? Yes, I want to ride my bike to deliver the mail. I just always Yeah postman kids. She said we’ll do it Yeah, quit his job as the dean of one of the best intellectual places in the world And it became postman.

Yeah now I can’t bounce for the truthfulness of this story or you know and it’s whether one of those things is like an old wives tale. But the point is when you’re wrapped up in money, when you’re wrapped up in keeping up with other people or when you’re wrapped up with some notion about what you should be doing, that’s when life falls apart. Like I tell people do what you really want to do. You know, because it’s like I said, like short and if you enjoy what you do, it makes every day easier. And I think people do things for the wrong reasons sometimes.

Totally. Social pressures rather than how they actually feel. And a lot of times with these like pressures is what I’m sitting here looking at you thinking that you’re judging me thinking that you’re thinking certain things that the reality is you’ve got so much going on yourself like the last person on your mind and I think that we all fall into that trap because I’m worried what other people think of saying it’s almost like get over yourself they They’re not talking about you. They’re not thinking about you. And they don’t care that much.

Totally. And that’s something that I love about this place is you come in here and it’s just good people, treating other people well. And that’s what Jim Jones is. Like when I like to try and explain it to people, what is Jim Jones? I’m like, it’s an unbelievable community where work ethic and like treating people well is valued above all else. Well, it’s important. It’s very important. No one, you can’t buy your way in here. No. No one cares whether you’re an NBA superstar, or you’re a Wall Street banker, or you’re garbage.

Totally. Like nobody cares. No, it’s irrelevant. Everybody works hard. Yeah, it’s the best. Thank you so, so, so much for everything. – You’re welcome. – And for today, that was awesome. Thanks for listening, guys. Bye. (upbeat music)