From Meth To Mindset: John Wildsmith On Fitness, Faith, & Redemption

Today, I sit down with John Wildsmith, a man whose transformation from addiction to  fitness coaching redefines what recovery looks like. Mr. Wildsmith grew up in Denton, Texas, and battled a methamphetamine addiction that led to incarceration. His story of relapse, guilt, and redemption reveals the harsh reality of rebuilding trust after addiction and the power of purpose found through structure, discipline, and belief in something greater than ourselves. 

We talk about the pivotal moment that changed everything— not wanting to take his daughter to a father-daughter dance just days after a relapse—and how the regret and shame changed him. From there, Mr. Wildsmith got into fitness, replacing destructive habits with daily discipline, doing burpees to fight temptation, and a routine that rebuilt his body and his mind.

Faith became the cornerstone of Mr. Wildsmith’s new life, giving him the humility to repair family relationships and the strength to mentor others through his brand, WyldStyle Fit. He shares how he and his wife have turned hardship into purpose, coaching clients toward transformation and using social media to spread content with a purpose. We also discuss fitness culture in prison, mental-health recovery, and what it means to stay coachable, humble, and spiritually grounded while pursuing self-improvement. 

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*Couple O' Nukes LLC and Mr. Whiskey are not licensed medical entities, nor do they take responsibility for any advice or information put forth by guests. Take all advice at your own risk.

Transcript

 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Couple of nus. As always, I'm your host, Mr. Whiskey, and I have, if I had to say top three favorite things excluding my dog, it would be fitness, faith, and addiction recovery, cover all those individually on the show as well as oftentimes all three of them come together in some amazing episodes I've had, including today's, I'm here with John Wild Smith to talk about.

Navigating some dark times talking about fitness. I've had so many episodes where fitness isn't just about going to the gym. It isn't just about losing weight. For some people, like myself and our guest today, it's a lifestyle. It's about discipline. It's about the things it does for your mind.

And I think that's so powerful, you know? And so we're gonna get into that DA day, and Mr. Wall Smith, could you please tell us a little bit about yourself? Thank you. Very nice introduction. So yeah, my name's John Wild Smith. Grew up in Denton, Texas, just right outside of Dallas. Been in recovery from meth methamphetamines for five and a half years now.

I was incarcerated prior to that. I was incarcerated for about a year. I got out my first 60 days. I was on the ankle monitor. Kind of got, you know, did the whole, got a new job, got life started and everything. And then. About a week from getting the ankle monitor cut off, or, I'm sorry, a week after I actually I relapsed.

And so when I relapsed I had the daddy daughter dance for the first time with my daughter coming up. And man, that was kind of a dark moment, I'd say. And so I ended up taking her my wife and I kind of sat down before I took her to the dance and just man, to be quite honest, I was kinda like begging her like, Hey, don't make me do this right now.

I'm just not in a good state of mind. And that, I guess, guilt that I was kind of telling her or asking her not to, you know, make me go was just a dark place. You know what I'm saying? Because I just felt like I let my daughter down. I let my wife down after having, you know, a year of sobriety. Yeah. Trying to turn my life around.

When you're incarcerated, you're always like, oh, hey, you know. I promise when I get out, this is gonna be different. Whatever, whatever. Right, right. And that's of course the goal, you know what I mean? And that first slipup was just man back in the trenches and ended up taking her to the daddy-daughter dance the whole time I'm there, man.

Just like my heart is churning. We're taking pictures and just that whole it was just a dark, a dark moment. And luckily my daughter was happy, had a great time looking back on the pictures, you know, of course she looks gorgeous. And then went home that night, man. And I talking to a gentleman the other day?

There was something about that that just. Flipped the script for me. I don't know if it was just the guilt from look in the mirror, just the guilt from how happy my daughter was, or just honestly the overwhelming guilt, how much I just let my wife down for standing strong with me through not only that year of being locked up, but from a 10 year just addiction.

You know what I mean? Like we can get into that however you want, but just I was just a huge letdown and from that moment, bro, like I just kind of. Turned a corner focused on the work. I was kind of already, you know, I was already in the fitness things from being incarcerated, and I just really. Dove into that.

I do a lot of burpees. And that was very, that was helpful, man. Every time I wanted to get high, I thought about it. I just hit the ground, started doing burpees, you know what I mean? I still have my gym routine. I'm very disciplined throughout my day. And then the, that's, you know, another big thing that I implemented that helped me.

With my sanity of my day is just structure. Right. You know what I mean? I'm very regiment, meals, very regiment when I get up. And just giving all that of my attention instead of trying to focus on not doing drugs. 'cause initially when you focus on not doing something, you're still giving it all your energy, regardless if you're doing it or not.

Right. So I just learned to focus my energy on much more healthier habits, and once I started to do that, things kind of started to fall in place. Whether you want to get into like the body recomp side of things or, or just inside of like your habits and how it changes your mental state, like we were talking about a minute ago, because I think.

I think that's more of where I thrive now, is just what I went to the gym right before we hopped on here. Just 'cause I knew the mindset, you know, was gonna put me in, you know what I mean? Like that was my, that was my round two for the day and I just went and made sure I got in the right state of mind. I was doing pushups right before we got on, and I just know how.

How much stronger it makes you mentally, you know what I mean? Like the gains are cool, right? That's what we all chase at first. But I think once we get past that physical attribute, you know what I mean? I'm more focused on how my brain operates than I look other than I look in the mirror. Yeah. You know, it's so funny because right before we recorded.

I did counter pushups, and then I have these raised handlebar pushups, and then I was just doing some light lifting to warm up because after our recording is when I'm actually going to the gym. So funny. We we're all on the same page there. I I definitely do it more for the mental I lose weight pretty much every week and I'm trying to bulk up and it's, it's hard, you know, if I take even a few days off, you know, if I take a few days off I already start losing the weight, so.

My weight gain started not with diet. I mean, I'd done a lot of dietary work. It was actually just muscle weight, you know, just going to the gym consistently and getting into a different style of lifting than what I had been doing. And that was it. But so I like to say mentally I'm a gym rat. My body just hasn't caught up to that yet because the mindset a hundred percent, you know, and I'm, I'm one of those hardcore guys that I get criticized by my friends because.

Like, I had pneumonia for the past two weeks in, in the heart of it, it was like 90 degrees. And I went and ran for, you know, about a mile and a half with a weighted vest. And my friends were so pissed at me for that. But, you know, it's just, I don't know. I, I watch a lot of David Goggins, so if, if I feel like going for a run, I don't, I've done it with 102 fever.

I've done it in the rain. I just. If I wanna go run, I'll go run. But if it's raining out, I won't go to the gym, lift weights, you know, but I'll go run in the rain, but I'm not driving to the gym to lift weights and everything. But yeah. And as far as the burpees, you know, it's funny. The military kind of programmed me to be unable to do them in the sense that every time I go to do burpees, I end up doing eight counts instead, which is like a military version of a modified burpees.

So it has more steps to it than a regular burpees. And every time I go to just do like a regular burpee, I end up doing. All eight steps, and I'm like, well, I don't know how this keeps happening, you know? So I wanna go back to the root cause of your addiction, if you've been able to figure that out, or if you kind of got over it and just threw it aside.

But what was the root cause? Like, when did you start, you know, your addiction, would you say? Yes, sir. So, great question. The root, root of it, man, I, I'd say I'm still figuring that out, to be quite honest, in multiple different ways. You know, there's for one I was adopted and there's a lot of, of things that as I've gotten older, looking back, that I could probably recognize of that being a stem of some things.

My mother and father. Adopted me at an older age, and so just from like middle school to high school, there was just a huge age gap and I feel like that's where we just disconnected, you know what I mean? Yeah. I started getting trouble as a youngster, probably sixth or seventh grade. I was gonna private school at the time went to public public school, just flipped the script there, just got worse.

And then I actually went to military school my seventh grade year, repeated seventh or eighth grade, and then came back. The high school and just, man, it was just a huge disconnect to be honest. And it was just, you know, rebellious states. And I, I don't think at the time I thought about it as an adoption thing.

I still, honestly, I still don't necessarily, my wife and I talk a lot about that, about the adoption. She wants to meet my adopted family. We've done the whole 23 and me. I haven't dove into it quite a bit, but she has. But you know, when we talk about it, a lot of things, just like I was telling you about the age gap of my parents, things like that start to make sense and me and them have that talk, you know what I mean?

Like, they're, my parents are super cool, bro. So like we talk about those things and just kind of putting it together. My mom and I have a great relationship. Me and my father do as well, but my mom and I beforehand just weren't, we didn't get along at all. You know what I mean? And then getting out. My mom and I have an amazing relationship, so it's cool to see how the flip the script flipped there.

But yeah, things we talked about there. So just throughout high school, just kept getting into trouble. I started doing drugs probably at like 15 or 16. I got kicked outta military school for doing drugs, so I guess about 15 years old and then in high school, just turned up started with cocaine throughout high school, got kicked out, a couple different schools there.

And then I started doing meth, probably about 17. Recreationally, you know what I mean? Like on the weekends I guess, kind of, that's how I was doing cocaine. And so I just kind of turned from there. And then 21 hit 20, 21 hit and man, that's just when it became like an everyday habit. And from there I just, I, yeah.

Things got spiraled. I met, I met my, you know, the, the positive things at the, you know, beginning of the worst times I met my wife, she pulled me through out the dumps back then too, you know, that was 12, 13 years ago before I even went to prison. And she pulled me out of the gutter then. But it just, it wasn't enough and it, you know, no, nothing on her.

It was just, I wasn't done with, you know. Right. The things that I was doing. We got married she, she was pregnant. I was kind of in and out of the streets for a little while. I had a job that just had me working nights for a long time. Mm. In the construction field, and that's obviously not a good look with drugs, you know, and that, so I, I, yeah, yeah.

Justified the night, the night work with, you know, doing drugs or whatever. And that just took over my, my, my marriage. It took up over my whole life. Fast forward from, you know, having a daughter at 23, 24 to about 29. That whole, you know, whole time in between man was just. Moved a couple different houses things were just falling apart left and right.

And then I ended up getting fired from a job for being on the clock for too long. Like, they kind of started to catch on, like, you know what I mean? Like, yeah. Been on a while. And then once I lost that job, I just. Man, it was kind of felt like everything was really falling apart and I really just turned left again just a little bit deeper.

And that was it. That's kind of when crime started coming around. I felt like I had to make a means to an ends, why I didn't just think about selling drugs instead of committing like hard felonies. I don't know. Motorcycles were kind of a. Interest of mine, and for whatever reason, that methamphetamines just c circulated.

And then I started getting into just stealing motorcycles, selling motorcycles, cars came around credit card fraud, just all in the mix. And I just boom, got arrested the first time. For some credit card stuff. And then that was 2018. I think I was arrested like nine times that year. 10 times that year.

I have 'em on, on my Instagram. One of the first posts that I pinned is the, just a mugshot of all of those pictures. Yes. That was one year. You know what I mean? And it was just one thing after another. Surprisingly, I never caught any, like hard drug charges. They were all stolen theft motorcycles, stolen cards, and then the credit card fraud.

So, man, it just was on a tear. I, it's almost like I felt like I had something to prove to how bad things could get. 'cause I kept saying the next terror type situation, you know what I mean? Like, every time things got good or were about to get good, I just turn the other direction. Yeah. No, I, I get that.

And you mentioned prior to, to the, you know, drug implementation in your life, just being in trouble all the time at school. Was it just not showing up? Was it talking back to teachers? Was it starting fights with other kids? What did that look like? Yeah, like, I guess a little bit of everything. More so just really rebellious in class.

Like I didn't, didn't, we wouldn't go to class, skip, you know, skip get caught skipping or whatever. And then yeah, like a little bit of fighting was, was in there towards the end. That's actually how we, I ended up getting kicked out with a buddy. He got in a huge fight. We were all kind of part of whatever.

And, and it's, to be honest, that's a good question. 'cause looking back on it, I have such a bad memory of that stuff, to be honest. I was just, it was just a tear. You know what I mean? Yeah. Just on a roll. It was one thing after another. Yeah, for sure. And then how long were you once you got arrested and put in, how long were you in for?

So that 2018, like I did a couple, you know. A couple overnights and then a week here and there. And then when I finally turned myself in, in the beginning of 2019, I did a total of like 10 and a half, 11 months. I did until sep, August to September, I'm sorry January to September in Denton County. And then from September till the end of October, I was in TDC.

So I was there a very short time. I was blessed with not having to go to prison for a very long time. Can you tell us a little bit about your experience while there? Yeah, so, so like I said, I was in county for seven months and man, that was it. It sucked. It was away from family. Easy time as far as like just dealing with people, you know what I mean?

Like, I didn't have to, there wasn't a whole lot popping off, you know, I saw a couple people getting fights, people trying to push back at each other, but it was well maintained to be quite honest. Then when I got down to TDC, same, same situation because I was only in transit really. I was in transit to get there.

Stayed there for a month and a half, and then transit to, to be to get out, you know what I mean? And that was only a couple days process, I guess. So, touchdown people were trying to fight people trying to tattoo smoking cigarettes in the bathroom and stuff, you know what I mean? Yeah. Super hot.

There's no AC down there, so you're like soaking your, your sheets in water just to stay cool. Everybody's pissed off, you know? But man, it was a huge busting. It was what I needed to just to get my stuff together or I, I say that it was, that's what I needed to get my realization, I guess, that, you know, snap back into it.

And then when I relapsed, that was just a true defining moment. So just all of it really was just a turning point, I'd say. Yeah. And around the fitness and prison culture and, and, and jail time, is it a. I'm bored and have nothing to do, is it, I gotta just constantly maintain to survive? What was kind of the mindset around that man?

So yeah, just distraction at first, just a, a true distraction. And then you kind of get, you know, linked up with a couple of people and then you start pushing each other and it's just, man, a huge distraction. You'll be working out when you get up before you eat. Lay down, get up, workout, eat again. And it's just kind of like, repeat that cycle.

So, you, you know, you get in there with a group of people and if you get around a decent group of people working out, they're normally in the same mindset of not trying to go back to do dumb shit. You know what I mean? Okay. And that's kind of where just, you know, you build a, you, you start to shape your mindset to get out of that negative stuff.

You know what I mean? A lot of those people, again, that are working out are thinking, I don't want to go back to this. I gotta change my ways. I gotta find a new. A new way of living. And so that, I think that was a huge part of it as well, for sure. And then how so again, how long ha like kind of passed between your relapse and when you got out?

About two months. Two months? Okay. Yeah, about two and a half months I was out because I was on my ankle monitor for like 60 plus days. And then it was about the end like. Middle of January of 2019, or I'm sorry, 2020. I got the ankle monitor off and then end of January I relapsed. So was the cause of the relapse just.

No, someone was no longer controlling you. It was that first kind of taste of self-discipline because I don't know if the ankle monitor is what helped stop you from, from, you know, going back into addiction. Would you say it played a role in that or you know, and so once you were kind of on your own, you instantly went back.

It seems like there was some time that passed between the stopping of the ankle monitor and the relapse. So kind of what happened in between that time. Yes, sir. So yeah, the ankle monitor was a huge, you know, weight of why I wasn't going just straight back to drugs. But it was a good reminder as well of kind of to stay grounded.

And then, yeah, when I got it off, it was just a weak moment I was drinking. It was my daughter's, it was her sixth birthday. You know, some, had some people over celebrating my daughter's birthday. I had a couple drinks. Everybody left. My wife went to sleep and I was just sitting up there drinking by myself and I was like, well, it's that time, you know what I mean?

And then ended up having it brought to my house even more disgusting thing, you know, having somebody bring drugs to where my wife and daughter are after, after years of. You know, a full year of that not happening, just bringing that darkness back around, just let alone like doing drugs with your family in the house, like especially methamphetamines.

It is just, it's a dark thing. You know what I mean? There's a lot of, a lot of saying behind the evil that goes behind meth. And I'm a firm believer it's, it's in it, it's when you smoke it, it's when it's around, it's when it's in the room. Like meth is a very dark, dark drug. And so just to bring that back around, I think that played a lot of.

The guilt that I felt that whole week of doing it just 'cause I was having to be in the closet, if you will, about just what I was doing. And it was just really, it was, it was a hard, you know what I mean? I'm having to go back to habits of hiding, doing drugs from my family and then opening the door and being like, hey, like trying to be normal and I'm not.

My wife's like, I hear it in your voice. I know you did it. You know what I mean? Yeah. And they just bold face lying that, nah, I'm fine man. I don't miss those days. I know for my father, when he would relapse into drinking I could tell and we could tell because of the way he would text us would change the way he would talk.

You know, and it's for maybe coworkers and other people, you can hide it more easily. But for the people who are very used and get very used to the different ways you behave, it's it definitely gets harder and harder to hide. And I think it's interesting 'cause I think some people would've had the mentality like, Hey, it's my daughter's birthday, but.

I'm definitely not gonna drink 'cause I don't wanna risk anything given, given my past. But, you know, everyone, everyone's different. And so you had that turning point. How long ago was that turning point where you sobered up after, you know, the father daughter dance it? How long has it been since that?

So that was February, 2020. So going on five and a half, going five and a half years ahead. Okay. And do you still struggle daily or weekly or every now and then with, with thoughts or cravings or anything like that toward addiction? Nah. No sir. So I drank for probably until this past year really?

For after that, you know what I mean? I felt like I had a, a grudge. To prove like that I could sober up from methamphetamines only and still drink alcohol. And I did for a while. You know what I mean? Like I did for four years from that. And you know, and I never, I never drank to an extreme excess. You know, I got drunk a couple times, but I really have a drink or two with dinner.

And that was about it. And then one time this past, april, I guess it was. We went, going out to dinner. I even put like two shots of tequila in my macros, like to count it or whatever. And I sat down and I was fixing to go for a run the next day. And I was just, I was like, what? No, because somebody sold me a couple weeks prior, I was like, Hey, bro, you know, like when you're drinking alcohol it prevents you from burning fat?

And I'm like, yeah, but I guess I didn't think about it until that, like that scenario. And I was like, hell no. Like, that's not for me anymore. Like, I don't mind putting on a little bit of fat. To build muscle at the same time, but I'm not, I don't wanna prevent from burning fat at all. I was fixing to go work out in the morning.

I was like, nah, that just doesn't, that's not for me anymore. And so, yeah, that, that's kind of was the deciding factor of why I quit drinking, to be honest. But as far as the meth, nah man, I, I don't even think about it. I, I think about the times. I think about, you know, some of the bad things that happen, but I don't ever crave that because there's just so much more going on.

And a huge part of it is I, I eat a lot, right? And so I, I was very selfish when I quit doing meth. And I was very selfish when I got out because I only focused on myself and trying to fix myself instead of instead of structuring my day around personal development to not affect my family. I did it in a way to where it was in, in the mix of my family.

And so I, I had my own meals. I worked out on my own time and it kind of disrupted the mix and I was just like, I don't care. I gotta fix me first. And now I've gotten to a point to where I make sure my family time is prioritized and I prioritize my mental health, my physical health, and my meals before anybody gets up.

And so then about my day, I don't have to worry about. What I'm doing. 'cause my shit's already organized, you know what I mean? And that took a long time. You know what I mean? A lot of people start out being able to do that. It I did. And I was a very selfish individual with my routine, with my habits. And it took me recognizing that to kind of flip the script there to where now I have whatever my family's having for dinner.

I don't worry about prioritizing my own separate meals. I still, we still count everything. Don't get it, don't get it wrong like all my meals are, but, but I don't. I don't just focus on my needs. I guess I've been able to kind of prioritize my family time first, which was a big flip. And that was kind of like through faith to be quite honest.

I started really getting back into my faith and the first thing that was like I needed to change was my ego, right? And I was just so selfish about what I was doing. I just really needed to put my family first, which I still struggle with, but I'm very self-conscious of it. Yeah, and I'd love for you to get a bit into that.

'cause I mentioned in the very beginning, faith, what role did that play? Like when did you start implementing that back into your life? So January, to be quite honest, and I just really was wanting to get back into more structured habits. You know, I was already doing the discipline of my workouts and my meals, but I feel like I was missing something as far as just my, you know.

Prioritizing my mental health as well. Not just waking up and going to the gym, trying to fix a negative attitude. I wasn't really focusing on like the internal work that needed to change for just my whole life. And so I started just kind of sitting down and writing down three things I was grateful for and three things that I needed to work on.

And I did that every day for, you know, two or three months, and I was very. Organized and detailed with it. But again, I kind of got to a point where I felt like that wasn't enough either. Just 'cause I was making corrections, I was being aware of things I needed to change and just showing gratitude first.

But I wasn't feeling my mind with, you know, not only new information, but just positive stuff. So then I started reading a devotional. I started reading my bible a little bit. And so now I kind of have all that together that I do. And that was just a really big, man, that was a big step. Just because when, when, when you're not walking, I say this to a lot of my friends 'cause this is a sermon I heard, but when you're not walking by faith, the devil will leave you alone.

And as soon as you start walking by faith, he will fight you. And that's when like you're on the right path. But you, you question that because of just the resistance all of a sudden starts. And that's because I know it was January when I started this, you know, since then it's just been a, a fight, you know what I mean?

A challenging fight. Uh uh, to stay in that faith, I guess, if you know what I mean. Yeah, I do. Whenever there is a revival in heaven, there will be a rebellion in hell. So I, I agree. And, and on my own journey, the deeper I've gotten into the scripture and faith, the more isolated I've become. The more issues have aroused, but as they say, where there is.

Sin. You know, grace abounds much more than sin. You know, God can use whatever is in our life for the good and salvation of others. And when Joseph's brothers found him in Egypt and they feared he would kill them, what he said to them was what you intended for sin. God intended for the good and the saving of many lives.

And so even the sins of others that have affected our life. Whether it was a traumatic childhood because you had abusive parents or a toxic relationship that left you stranded it, it will be turned around. You know, I've seen it many times in my own life and others, and I think it's so important. And, you know, part of my fitness journey is because of my faith.

I believe that God has given us remarkable bodies. If you actually studied the body, all the little pieces that line up for everything that work just in your eye alone. You know, it is truly incredible and I think it is so utterly selfish. I believe that fitness is about self alignment and identity more than anything.

It is selfish to neglect and waste this body that we have been gifted. Especially when you look at the people who were born with deformities or genetic diseases or experience life circumstances that left them unable to perform. There are people who wish they could go to the gym, who wish they could go for a run, so I.

Do not take any day for granted that I have my health. Every day I go to the gym and run because God gave me a body that can regenerate, that can grow, and I believe it is all my, my duty almost to take advantage of that, to use that and to not waste that opportunity that other people. Wish they had. I think it's so important that we pursue that every day.

Like we said, it's, it's, it's about mindset and in general, being healthy has no downsides to your life, right? If you are working out even a bare minimum, you're gonna have more energy. You're gonna have a clearer mind. You're gonna be able to perform tasks better. And you know, for me, I wanna be always ready.

You know, I have been in situations where I've had to pick up and carry people who were medically ill or injured, right. And if I didn't have the strength to do that, now you gotta call in other people and make a scene. You should be ready to take care of any situation relatively. So I think it's important.

We're always pursuing our health. And I wanna get into your, your brand wild style fit. Where in your journey of fitness and addiction recovery, did the whole branding kind of come together and, and can you expound on that? Yeah. So, man, it's honestly just been a, a recent thing, something my wife and I have been talking about for a while, and the coaching side of thing has been on and off for probably about two years.

But just recently we really started diving into it. She lost her job about a month ago, and so we just took that as a sign from God. It's like, all right, it is time to really dive into this. There's just no reason for us not to put things. You know, so we've been really just buckling down the past month.

I've been doing, again, work with clients for about six months. Again, I currently have one client that I work with pretty much, not only weekly, but we speak every day. And then also I just had a gentleman finish about a month ago, and so yeah, just really trying to get back in the groove of things and really get this popping off.

So, I'm super excited where we're at, to be quite honest, my wife's been a huge help in that. She's very. Very much behind the scenes. She doesn't get enough credit. She doesn't like to be on camera, so I gotta to get it out there when I can. Well, you, you know what they say. I'm not saying it's a correct saying, but there is a saying out there.

Behind every successful man is a smart woman. Right? So a hundred percent, bro. I mean, I've definitely experienced it in my life as well. And I know you're big on social media, and I want you to just share a little bit about that, the kind of content that you share and who should really follow you and check you out and what they can expect from that.

Yes sir. Yeah, so, man, I, I enjoy social media to be quite honest. Just to get that out there, you know what I mean? Like, content's fun. I enjoy making it, I think the biggest part about my content now is something I say a lot. Content with a purpose. Right. You know what I mean? I find I find purpose in it, but not just making content for social media.

I find purpose in what I do and sharing my story. And it's just that every day I wake up excited to just get back out there and do this because I feel like we're blessed. Like you said, having this just not only a body, but just this life, you know what I mean? And whatever circumstances you're in. You make you, you know, not only your reality, but you make your circumstances.

If you're in bad circumstances, understand, but you can pull yourself out. And so just recognizing that gratitude is, is where I start. And then by just saying content with a purpose, I think, we all are here to be followers of Christ and to show other people how they've overcome some sort of situation.

It doesn't have to be drugs and alcohol. It doesn't have to be prison. You know what I mean? It could be just straight depression, bipolar, like mental health, like that's huge. Yeah. You know what I mean? And, and being able to overcome those things to where you can sometimes just go outside like, man, that there's days where, yeah, I don't wanna see the world.

And so just being able to share those things, how we still. Muscle through it, if you will, and how we take life's hits and keep going. And then also by recognizing some of most of life's challenges or the things that we think are bad or negative, are really just blessings. Like, I mean, I'm telling you this past month with my wife losing our job, man, we've had so many good things happen from it.

You know, it feels tighter on the neck in some circumstances. Like of course, I'm not gonna lie financially, it was definitely a kick in the neck. But we, we were able to really focus on some things and it challenges us together, you know, at the same time. But I think it's just, once we find our purpose, we need to put that out there.

And that's where I think social media really comes into play. 'cause I think you know, we can grow as a community, we can grow as a fitness, faith, and support each other through the hard times. And I don't think enough people use it for that. I think a lot of bad comes. Oh yeah. I've had whole episodes dedicated to social media and a lot of the bad stuff on it.

A lot of the ways it's used, but. I always, you know, counter that with the community building, with the connecting with like-minded individuals with the good side, right? It's a tool. It's how you use it. Unfortunately, a lot of the youth are being given this tool already on one, pre-programmed to one side rather than the other, you know?

So it is unfortunate, but at the end of the day, you, you can build your algorithm to be, for the most part. What you want it to be. They're always gonna slip stuff in there to try to take you off track, right? That's never gonna stop. But you just gotta stay strong in what you like and don't like and what you follow.

You know? I think it's great. What I do say with especially with fitness stuff, and, and not, not for you, right, but for anyone. Who is following any of these people online, so always fact checking and make sure. Right. I, I believe you're a guy who puts out great fitness advice. Right. But I've definitely call people giving misinformation or, misleading information. Dangerous information. Right? Not everyone who is huge knows what's what they're talking about. There's a lot of science behind fitness. It's not just about looking great. Right. And we've talked before on the show about some fitness guys that were. Definitely popular among my generation being busted and even the older generations busted for steroids.

Multiple people come to mind and you know, that's for women as well. So just always be careful who you're, you're looking up to. Right. And I don't say that to discredit you, I just want everyone to know. Yeah, yeah. No, of course. There's a lot of you gotta filter through it for sure. And something I want to ask you, Mr.

Wild Smith, for everyone who was in your position who may be a troubled youth, and I don't know how many troubled youth listen to this show, but if they're someone who is in middle school, high school, whatever it is, and they're kind of rebelling in the same way you did, maybe they're not getting along with their peers or the teacher, or they're thinking school is stupid, what, what would you say to them?

What would be your, you know, your mentorship to them right now? Find a mentor. Find someone that you look up to that can guide you whether it's they've been through what you're going through, or just have a level head and can help talk you through, and then be coachable and take their advice. I made a post about that yesterday about specifically being able to take constructive criticism and feedback and being coachable.

So I I, to answer your question, find a mentor and be coachable. Learn from other people's mistakes. Yeah, and I gotta say filter through that too, right? There are so many people just hating and tearing down and that's different than constructive criticism, you know? So, oh, of course. I always look at, most of the hate will come from people who are at your level or, or below you, right?

The constructive criticism will come from people who care about you and, and typically successful people. I find most people who have. Done well in the gym or podcasting or business, whatever it may be, when they find people who are new to the industry, right? They give them good advice and they help them out.

They don't hate on 'em. They don't say that their stuff is cringe or weak or failing. Right. And, and that's all about ego and, and self-discipline too. Right? You know, having started in the gym has such a low weight. You know, I was 120 pounds my whole life. You know, proportionally the weight, I was able to lift, match that, you know, when I see people, if they're just benching the bar or a few, you know, 10 pound plates, five pound plates, right?

I know that they're at a starting point, right? So there are people out there who will mock you, criticize you and, and shame you for that. But I think one thing I heard is don't compare your day one to someone's day 100. You know, like stuff like that. Yeah. So. Be careful who you listen to, but do listen to the people who, who care and are giving you good advice.

You know, I think a lot of times we, we let our egos get in the way as well. You know, we, we wanna say, no, we know what we're doing, or we wanna do it on our own so bad. And a lot of us end up failing and having to restart or injuring ourselves or, or failing, like I said, and maybe never restarting. So don't let your personal pride get in the way of.

Of that, you know, don't be untrainable, right. Listen, right, make sure everything is done with respect and it's okay to disagree as well, just make sure it's done with respect. But Mr. Weill Smith, what would you say the future is looking like before we close off here? For, for the coaching, for the brand, for the social media and, and for you personally.

Man. So me personally, I first, 'cause then I, I, I wanna you know, every day is a journey to better ourselves. And one thing that I'm really working on is just, patience, making sure that I am being present in the moment and also prioritizing the work, whether that is my job, whether it's in the coaching, or whether it's just being a father and a husband.

You know what I mean? Yeah. So really being present in the moment. And so for just in general, man, I really wanted, we're really gonna dive into this coaching. So about a year ago I started I got a modeling portfolio done and so I've kind of been doing a little bit of fitness modeling here and there in between as well.

That's really what I got into and ended up turning into some background acting. So I've done a. A few shows the past summer and I did a short movie. I did two movies actually in April and June. And so I have that going a little bit. And so really just getting the brand built around that to where, you know, I can step away from my nine to five and really focus on my coaching folks, on helping other people get in shape, helping people break the chain of addictions as I pursue you know, the modeling and fitness side of things as well, just to really solidify the brand as a whole.

For sure, and I, I said that was the last thing, but actually I remembered a few things. So one thing I like to ask whenever I have a fitness person on the show is favorite workout or exercise and, and least favorite. I know you mentioned the burpees, probably your favorite, but I, I love to know the least favorite that maybe you avoid and don't do ever, or you hate it, but you still have to do it.

Man. So I used to hate legs. I didn't do them. I had a couple, 'cause everyone's answer. Everyone always says that on the show. Come get it. I had a couple degrees as a youngster but I've learned to love legs. I do legs almost twice a week. But I really enjoy legs. It's probably one of my favorite muscle groups.

And then, yeah, definitely the burpees. And so I don't do a lot of like power cleans or I deadlift a little bit. I don't do a lot of things straight from the floor. Okay, so, so I'd say, you know, any of the, any of the old school power lifting, I don't do a lot of anymore. I just kind of stick to conventional bench press back squats, you know, if I do deadlift, it'll be just that from the floor and then just your, your, you know, normal back stuff, I guess.

But I, I, I train pretty hard. I like to think, and I think that's a huge part of fitness is being able to. Amplify your intensity, which comes with just, I think, experience. But yeah, man, I'd, I'd say that's definitely, probably legs is my favorite. It's so funny 'cause like the other guys I've had on the show said the same thing where they were like.

I hate legs, but I've grown to love it and this and that. And for me, I always loved legs because I was always a skinny guy, but I always ran and did swimming, right? So for me legs, that was my heaviest lift. So I liked it because it was, you know, that boost like. Abs and legs were like, this is nothing.

Right. So I always did what was my weakest, which was chest buys and tries, you know, doing that stuff. So for me, legs was never an issue. I just kind of never did them because I did so much running weighted runs, calf work and other stuff in, in different areas. I, I running with the weighted stroller on the beach.

Your calves man, like I'm telling you, you feel the burn. But yeah, I, for me it's what I wanna start doing. 'cause I had that mentality too, of like. All right. I don't like this workout, so now we're gonna go do it. You know? And anytime I'm running, I'm like, Ugh, we're gonna stop early today. Now we're gonna run double.

Right? That's the mentality I have to, to push myself. I really don't like the hack squat. It's like, it's kind of angled. It pushes down on your shoulders. I don't know. I just don't like it. So I'm gonna start doing those more. But what, what I wanted to ask you that was important was because we were talking about the faith, was there any particular Bible quote that you'd like to share That kind of.

Really spoke to you more than any other or one that's been on your mind lately? Man, not, not anything that comes off the top of my head. I'll be quite honest. I've been the past two months been just reading Proverbs and just doing like, the front to back with the day of the month. Yeah. Yeah.

That's kind of where I'm at right now. Just absorbing just kind of like the day-to-day life lessons, I'd say. You know what I mean? Letting, letting what I read focus my day and then really. About that midday, make sure I'm refocusing and not just forgetting, not just doing my quiet time just for to do it.

You know what I mean? So yeah. Yeah. So ladies and gentlemen, well, well safe from that to take away is, if you aren't familiar with the Proverbs de Devotional, it kind of lines up with the days of the month where you can do one each day. So definitely check that out if you haven't already. That section of the Bible is full of a lot of wisdom.

It's, it's great for all that advice. So. Great to have you here and I wanna thank you for your time today and we'll be connecting in the future for sure. Yes, love to. Yeah. Sounds great.