Latest / Discomfort Required / What Does It Mean To Actually Endure Hard Things | Adam Everett
Transcript
- Trent: What's up guys this just Comfort Required. This is Trent. I have my good buddy Adam Everett on with us today. We're gonna get into Adam's whole story, what he has going on now, how we got to the point where we're at, and I just want everybody to hear all the cool things that he's done and what drives him to continue to stay striving forward, right? So Adam, how are you my friend? Adam Everett: Man, appreciate you. Thanks for having me on. Trent: Absolutely super stoked about this. So first thing like we asked us everybody that comes on What does this comfort require me to you? Adam Everett: Man, it's the life heart beat of what I'm going through right now. And that is the fact that endure or endurance is required for growth and discomfort really matches that. know, most men in my life and most men in general, we seek to escape. And there's so many stats that follow that trend. You know, whether it be pornography or drug addiction or alcoholism or divorce rates. I mean, you name it, we seek comfort over discomfort. And I would say the idol of the American culture is comfort. Trent: 100 % without a doubt. Adam Everett: Yeah. So for me, it's like James one for desert city, both for desert city classic, which is a CrossFit competition that we run and own. Then into endure which we'll talk about a little bit more later, but that word to me You know has really defined the last three years of my life and it's it's awesome man what you're doing and and Discomfort is absolutely required for growth in every area of your life And so you know when I when I break it down we are not just physical beings You know so discomfort in terms of physical, you know in order to grow muscle we have to be discounted we have to be uncomfortable or Embrace discomfort, Trent: You're very, very correct. Adam Everett: right? Trent: Yeah. Adam Everett: But also for me, it's like you gotta look at it in different layers. We're not just physical beings, we're also emotional beings. So how do we embrace discomfort when our emotions take the toll? And oftentimes we lead with our emotions, so we claim that that's the sort of due north or truth in our life, which oftentimes is not. We have to really be prepared for that. What's uncomfortable is not raising our voice when we're angry or not feeling like, man, this is truth when we are battling anxiety or depression of sorts. And there's all kinds of ways in which we can really go through that. Often it's very, very uncomfortable, So Trent: Definitely. Adam Everett: that goes into the mental. then obviously for me, I'm a big proponent and... advocate for some form of higher power. And for me, it's God or Jesus Christ. And so for me, it's like the spiritual component is a huge part of that. And Jesus talks a lot about that. He talks about, if you want to gain this, what is it to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit your soul? If you want to follow me, you must take up your cross and die daily. I mean, there's some really radical teachings that he. He talked about it. And so for me, it's like there's discomfort there. And I would say that's a definition of discipleship. And to me, discipleship times discipline equals a formation of who you are. It takes both of those to really lean into the best version of yourself. So I love what you're doing. I think this is absolutely required in our society. So it's a great line. Trent: Thanks man, thanks. I spend a lot of time on it, right? Like, it's just one of those things, it's, you know, when you get up to work out, it's gonna be uncomfortable. You just have to be uncomfortable with it. And you can't grow without change, right? And there's a lot of people that just take the easy way out and they're like, this is fine, right? I'm fine with just being mediocre, right? And it's like, I don't like saying that, but it's like, it happens so easy, right? People are just like, this is fine. Like, work is fine. I'm unhappy, but I get up and I do this every day. And it's like, that's no way to live. Right? So it's like, my philosophy is... Do as many things that make you less unhappy every single day because you're not going to be happy every day. Just do things that make you less unhappy. Right? So like have an extra cup of coffee if you want a cup of coffee. If you need 20 minutes to just sit with your thoughts, sit with your thoughts. Right? Like that's uncomfortable. One of the biggest things that I've ever done after I moved to Seattle, which was a whole nightmare and all in itself is like being alone so much and being with your thoughts is probably one of the most difficult things that I've ever done. And I'm sure if people actually did it and sat and like was like, wow, that's an unpleasant place to be. And they got to address some things. That's how we grow for sure. Adam Everett: Absolutely. Yeah, man. One of the things I talk about a lot for men especially is just awareness. So aware of who you are, aware of what you feel, aware of your surroundings and other people's feelings and thoughts. And there's so many times where we're so distracted, we're desensitized a lot of times. So we're Trent: Thank you for sharing. Adam Everett: overstimulated. The dopamine hits that we're constantly craving and constantly seeking. So that desensitizes us. And I think there's a lot of ways in which our habits or our environments will shape and create a lack of awareness. And so if we're not in tune to how we feel and then how we... portray other people's feelings or how we're able to discern that. There's a huge lack of awareness within our society. And so, I mean, I think for me, that's the number one thing for men especially, is to be aware. you have to, exactly what you just said, you have to sit with your feelings. And Trent: Great. Adam Everett: that is a very scary thing. It's like, what am I feeling right now? And a lot of times Trent: right. Adam Everett: for men, it's, I'm just angry. Trent: Yeah. Adam Everett: And that's kind of the right emotion to say, I'm just, pissed off right now, man. And it's like, well, no, that's not actually a feeling. That's a symptom or that's Trent: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Adam Everett: a cause of what is going on inside. What is actually going on? Trent: Yeah, like a bright product. Right. Adam Everett: And you have to sit with yourself to be able to say, man, I'm actually feeling pretty sad. I'm actually feeling... you know, whatever it may be, but to actually get down to the level of the deep waters, I would say, you know, there's a proverb that says that it takes insight from a man who knows the deep waters. And so we have to seek out other people's wisdom in order to really pull that out. And so, you know, it's it's it's a hard thing. And so we need people around us. We need the right people around us. And we need the right voices, a council of wisdom. in order to pull out the deep waters of our soul, and in order for us to really know ourselves the best. And that's really Trent: No, for sure. Adam Everett: the path of what we're trying to seek is be the best version of yourself. Well, it takes sitting with your thoughts, and it takes a counsel of other people that are wiser, that are beyond your years to be able to speak into your life in a very gentle and graceful way. Trent: Yeah, and it's like having conversations like this, right? You're two friends sitting around talking and it's like you have your beliefs, right? And I'm just, I'm a very spiritual person, right? Like I believe there's something out there. Don't know what it is, but you know, like whatever it is, it's done a lot of things, right? And has put everything in my path 150 % for a reason. It's like I started CrossFit to end up where I'm at. to marry my fiance because that's how I met her, right? Like for sure, because we are going to do like, we're already doing really cool things. Like I feel like being the personal trainer and like remote coaching and stuff, like I get to help people daily, but like it is like in my blood, right? That is what I am meant to do, right? And my fiance, she also coaches, you met Chelsea, she's dope. And Adam Everett: Yeah, dude. Trent: like I... She helped me in one of my darkest times and I helped her in one of her darkest times. It wasn't like trauma bonding. It was just like, yo, we're doing this. I got your back, you have my back, and we're just gonna get through it. So it's super, super helpful having the right people around you. And what's crazy, Adam Everett: Absolutely. Trent: especially you being a prior gym owner, which we're gonna get into, is you can tell who is right for you and who is wrong for you in your gym. So it's like, if you have 200, how many members do you guys have before you sold them? Adam Everett: We had a close to 300. Trent: Okay, so like that is a huge, huge, huge population in a gym, right? And the community gets pushed in so many different ways, right? So like I have ran gyms that have had 25 people and I've had ran gyms that have 220 people. And there's certain numbers where things change and it's like, oh, this, this click is over here and they're doing whatever they're doing. And then this click is over here and they're causing drama and then drama with this team. It's just, it gets to be a nightmare, right? And then you kind of get to a place where you're like, this isn't for me. Right, so like when I don't ride it, there was plenty of times where I'm just like, I need to be done with this. And it turns out I needed to be done with it and we're in a much better spot and it just happened the way it was supposed to and it worked out perfectly. So I want to get into what got you into fitness and how you ended up. owning a gym and ultimately making Desert City so big because I competed there this last year and let me tell you man like I've competed at waterpalooza I've completed at uh North Cal Classic and yours hands down best run competition I've ever been to 100 % yeah Adam Everett: Wow. Well, that's thank you for that. That's that's huge praise and very honored to serve the community in this aspect. You know, it's something that I never thought that in a million years, never thought I would own a CrossFit competition. Trent: Yeah. Adam Everett: But, know, when we saw a need, it was just simply meet a need. And I think that's how I've really just served in my life is see a need, meet a need. Trent: Okay. Adam Everett: And that's, you know, from background in being a pastor, being in ministry for so many years, being in nonprofit work. You see a need, you meet a need. And there's so many aspects of that. There's how we continue to live our lives. We live our lives for the service of others. At the end of day, that's how we're built. We're built for, you kind of talked a little bit about this. the tipping point of bodies or people in communities. And there very much is, we weren't designed to have hundreds of thousands of people in one space, right? We are very tribal in nature and tribes ran lower than 150. And so when you get to a place where it's larger than that, there is a little disruption that happened Trent: Right. Adam Everett: and there's a little bit of uncomfortable. this that happens and there's a little bit unnatural aspects of it. And so for us at the gym, started, we actually moved here to plant a church. So we moved to Mesa, Arizona, plant a church, and it was in the midst of COVID. 2020 happened and it really disrupted everything. And so we were in the midst of that trying to figure out what exactly we were going to do. And CrossFit was kind of the, and fitness was really the grounding for me. That really originated, I mean, it's, for me, it's always been a part of my life ever since I can remember. I saw my mom lead aerobics in my living room as a kid. Trent: Awesome. Adam Everett: She went to the church and led aerobics classes there. So I always saw her working out and she really, she led our family in that way. My dad didn't really work out. He was a golfer and. You know, wasn't until later on in my life he quit smoking and kind of started getting more into fitness. But my mom as a kid, she really was the driver in that. And so I saw her and then she would help me with like, you know, she got me like the, I can't remember the magazines, but muscle and fitness magazines and stuff like that. When Trent: Nice. Adam Everett: I was a kid, hey, here's some dudes that are really ripped. And so was like, man, I want to be like that. Trent: Exactly. Adam Everett: So that was really the crux of it. I was always into sports, so I played college basketball, so I would work out on a regular basis. then after college, after I kind of hung the sneakers up, it was like, okay, what do do now? And I found CrossFit, it really like, it scratched that competitive itch that I had. And it was cool to be able to go in and compete not only against myself, but against other people, and have this sort of this community that I was so accustomed to with. a team, you know, like I was so accustomed to that growing up of, hey, we're going to do some really hard stuff together. And we're going to go out there and we're going to go, we're going to, you know, take, give it our all, you know, blood, sweat and tears for this game. And so it kind of resembled that aspect within the CrossFit gym. I was hooked immediately, right? Trent: Oh yeah, I felt the same way. Yeah, like as soon as I found out I was like, cause I played hockey growing up, right? And I was on a bunch of traveling teams and I loved it, but I burned myself out on it, right? then Adam Everett: Absolutely. Trent: partied my ass off and I was in a band and made all Adam Everett: You Trent: sorts of bad decisions and all those fun things. And I realized it's like, hey, I need to get my shit together. And then I did and I found CrossFit and I was like, oh, wow, that's the thing I've been missing the whole time, right? And yeah, it's same thing. Adam Everett: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so I know I'm bouncing around a bit, but yeah, the origins of this was my mom, you know, and then I continue on. And then when I was about 29 years old, my wife gave me for my birthday, pregnancy test that was positive. So we were expecting our first child. I was Trent: Nice. Adam Everett: 29 and I had like the dad bod was going, you know, and I was not, not. and a shape that I was proud of. And Trent: Okay. Adam Everett: I definitely was not healthy. And I was like, man, I really want to be this for my kids. And I want to be a good example for them, not only spiritually as I'm leading, but also I want to be healthy physically. And so that was really my one, two punch of like, want to be a spiritual leader, but I also want to be somebody that takes up the mantle of taking care of their body and really is attuned to that. And so really got into CrossFit in 2013, 2014. Trent: Okay. Adam Everett: And then I was a part of a great community, Midwestern built in Joplin, Missouri. And I saw Jason Ansley, he's a good friend of mine and saw him lead well, lead his gym well, lead his community well, build a community around mind, body and soul. So it really just drove me to want that more and more for my own life. Being a pastor, being in ministry, I saw the dichotomy of people taking care of their spiritual life, but not taking care of their physical life. And the two go hand in hand. And I saw lot Trent: for sure. Adam Everett: of depression, a lot of anxiety. not to say that's not totally associated with taking care of your physical life, but it does help when you get out. You move your body, you get sunlight. You start to understand when you're going through those bouts of depression or anxiety, what you need. And often what you need is to move. And often what you need is to lift some weights or to be around people. And so often what you want to do is you want to recluse or you want to get into those negative thoughts or feelings. And for me, I never realized how much I was battling depression and anxiety. until I was going through it, until I was Trent: yeah. Adam Everett: really in the midst of it. And that season of expecting a child, going through a hard bout of ministry and responsibilities and all those things, my career is like not knowing, turning 30, not understanding what I was gonna do next. I was like, man, I'm more messed up than what I thought I was. And so CrossFit really and the community really took me out of that. and gave me kind of a new life and new perspective on faith and family and fitness and all those things. And so I knew from right there, I was like, I don't know what I'm going to do with my career in ministry, but I knew that fitness was going to always be a part of it. so moving here in 2019, COVID hit, we had an opportunity to buy into the gym. And I was like, man, this is it. This is the... sort of the mold that I've been crafting for this whole time and building was I wanted something like this. And so we took it an opportunity and dove in and that's where Desert City started and all those things. Trent: Dude, I love that so much. It is like an inspiring story, right? So it's like... Fitness kind of brings everybody together in a way, right? So like where it's at now, right? Not necessarily like going to global gyms and things like that, but like I wouldn't know you if it wasn't for CrossFit, right? There's Adam Everett: Absolutely. Trent: plenty of people in the world that I wouldn't know if it wasn't for CrossFit. Like my best friend Stacey, I wouldn't know him. John, who did all of our competition photos, he's going to be coming up to shoot our wedding, right? And he's a good friend of mine now. And it's like those things, like those little things are super, super important, but having that same community. Everywhere is like that's where it's at man. You know, it's like drop in somewhere cuz like I dropped it at your gym and it was because I was down here for I was down in Mesa for Adam Everett: conference I Trent: Yeah, it was a big little gyms comfort conference and Just dropped in cuz I wanted to work out and it's like met you chipped we taught forever And then it was like, okay, this is this is the thing, you know, it stayed in contact and all that so When you Adam Everett: I love that. Trent: started desert city How small was it and how did you get it to grow? the reason I wanna talk about this specifically is because most people wouldn't take on the initiative to make it get bigger and bigger and bigger because as it gets bigger, it gets harder to run. And it gets hard, there's so many more obstacles to climb. So let's talk about what led up to it and what led to you being all in and full time on it, essentially. Adam Everett: Yeah, so it started actually prior to us owning the gym. It started with the Granite Games Throwdowns. I was actually just talking with Matt O'Keefe about this because he was leading Loud and Live at that time and they had acquired Granite Games and they started doing these Granite Games Throwdowns, these regional throwdowns and we were picked. We were nominated for that. We put in CrossFit Insight did and so I was just a volunteer at that time. I was running the, we just launched our church. was, I was a full-time pastor there and we just wanted to give back to the community. So we actually sponsored, we were one of the sponsors for the Granite Games Throwdown and the first, what was called DC Slam. Trent: Okay. Adam Everett: And we just sponsored it. And so I took care of the volunteers, our team did. We built a team around that. Cause we know the heartbeat behind competitions and the lifeblood of of the community is volunteers. And so that was a big part of what we did and doing and helping out the gym and helping out the community in that way. And at that time it was like, I don't know, around 60 to 80 athletes. And it really sustained that for a couple years. And then after COVID, when we bought into the gym, we really had this, man, what do we do with this? know, it was DC slam. We were in the gym. Can we make it bigger? Our gym was, you know, what, 35, 100 square feet in the black mat space. So it was really small in regards to, you know, what we could do. And so we started, you know, my friend Jason, who I mentioned runs Monster Games, started talking with him about what could we do, how could we do it. And so we actually drove up to, we had a couple of guys drove up to Monster Games in Joplin, Missouri. grab their rig, the competition rig that they use, drive it back down to Mesa. And so we set up at a church parking lot. Trent: Mm-hmm. Adam Everett: So a church that was just outside of CrossFit Insight. So we Trent: Okay. Adam Everett: had a competition floor inside and then a competition floor outside. And that year we went from, I don't know, 80 athletes to a little over a hundred, about 120 athletes. And I was like, oh man, this is really cool. And we had a bunch of photographers come in and we had... know, MC come in, Tony Phillips, who's been MCs for, you know, a bunch of different syndicate and he's going be down at Wadapalooza. So we just tried to make it more professional, you know, and feel like, man, this is, this is like a games like experience for the average athlete. And everybody loved it. And so after that year, we were like, man, I think we need to move out of, I think we're outgrowing our space. Let's look for another space. And so we looked at, I looked around all around. Mesa and the Valley area, Phoenix area. We couldn't find anything that, because we didn't want to go into a convention center. There's no knocking competitions that go into convention center, there is a lot of, it's just a building, a shell, and there's only so much you could do. We wanted to have a pool aspect, we wanted to have a field aspect, we wanted have inside, outside, but we wanted to have it all in one place. And so we found ASU, Arizona State University, said, hey, I think this spot will really work well with you. We're actually looking at a different site and we got connected with the guys who oversee the Sun Devil Fitness Complex, which is a student Trent: Okay. Adam Everett: center at ASU. And so we went over there, we looked at it and was like, man, this is perfect. 15 lanes for swimming. We have two indoor areas for competition floors. And then we have this seven acre field outside to do pretty much whatever we want. Trent: you Adam Everett: And so we made the call, we said, okay, let's put the posit down. Trent: Mm-hmm. Adam Everett: Not knowing, I mean, to even just break even, we needed over 300 athletes. So we needed to triple what we did Trent: when you're with that. Adam Everett: the last year and we had no clue what we were doing. And that Trent: You Adam Everett: first year at ASU, we had over 400 athletes. We actually, our team, so we own this with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law. So my wife and I co-own it with my brother and sister-in-law. We invited them to come and be a part of it. And he has experience in judging. He's been kind of like a head judge or a judge in the circuit for a long time and has a heart for the community and has a heart for the competition side and just has an incredible mind of. making it all work and putting a team together to make it seamless. And so knew that we wanted to do it with them. And him and I in a team, small team, we did not sleep for 24 hours and putting this thing together. Cause that's all we had was 24 hours, you know, from Thursday to first thing Friday, our first year at ASU, we put the whole thing together in 24 hours and it was about killed us. But it was Trent: That's wild. Adam Everett: absolutely a It was a high man for us. It's just like seeing the community come together, seeing people come out, seeing all the states that were represented. Trent: Yeah. Adam Everett: And then obviously quadrupling in size from just over 100 athletes, over 400 in that Trent: Yeah. Adam Everett: first year span was just incredible and has really nothing to do with us and everything to do with the heart of the community, especially here in the Valley, just wanting Trent: Mm. Adam Everett: something bigger and wanting to be a part of something bigger. That to us was just, you cast the vision, if you build it, they will come. And Trent: Bye. Adam Everett: that was really it, man. It was like, hey, we're gonna build this. And we just invited everybody to be a part of it. And they showed up and really showed out for that first year. Trent: That's awesome dude. So what year was the first year at ASU? Adam Everett: First year ASU was 2022. Yeah, this is the fourth year. Trent: 2022. Okay, so you went up to 400 athletes. And so like you still didn't did you have like all the signage and everything that you have now? I mean, I know it's grown over time and all that stuff. But like, was it just like bare bones the first year? Adam Everett: Yeah, we knew we needed the big, this huge 30 foot by 70 foot banner that we have. Yeah, so we got that. We got minimal things. I mean, we're really riding a shoestring budget for sure. Trent: Yeah. Adam Everett: You know, takes, that's what people don't really understand is the sheer amount of money that it takes to put an event on like that and that capacity and that size, it's it's a lot of expense. Trent: yeah. Adam Everett: and you're constantly evaluating and getting sponsors to donate things or give things for equipment and things like that. we had Giant Lifting was an equipment sponsor that year. We borrowed a, let's see, what did we do? That first year at ASU, they actually built a rig for us. So Giant Trent: nice. Adam Everett: built a rig. and then end up selling us the rig after that year. Because they originally thought they were going to be in the competition business and kind of do that more on a frequent basis. And they were like, man, this is a lot of work. So they're like, here, we'll sell Trent: For sure. Adam Everett: you the rig. we've designed the rig for the space. They sold us the rig. And then we had just kind of hodgepodge equipment together and made it work. And that was Trent: Yeah. Nice. Adam Everett: kind of... The realization for us was, this is a lot more than what we were experiencing in the gym. You going from having all the equipment there in the gym, you know, using and utilizing the equipment that you had in the gym versus now not having the gym as a scapegoat for or a safeguard for, you know, acquiring all those equipment to now you have to get it all yourself. And that was a huge undertaking. Trent: Yeah, I could only imagine. Adam Everett: Yeah, man. Trent: so when I know there's there had to be decisions in a lot of talks like, okay, do we keep this going? Do we try to make it bigger and all that stuff? So when did you decide to step away from the gym and go all in on Desert City? Adam Everett: Yeah, that year, so 2022, I misspoke. So 2022 is the first year in ASU. Trent: Okay. Adam Everett: 23, so 2022, made it happen. No, sorry. 2022 is the last year at the gym. 2023, we're getting ready to ramp up. So there's a lot of work that needed to happen in that year to really make November happen. I was working my tail off. Working, you we bought into the gym. We're trying to make that a viable business where it would pay us a decent salary. We're redoing, you know, a lot of things. Membership pricing, know, membership pricing is all the board. So we're aligning that. I mean, all of those things are really make it a viable business and to be able to, you know, kind of feed our family. And my wife and I were co-owning that. So we're leading. together in that and I was also doing my ministry job traveling a lot and So obviously when I was traveling I was out and that's the thing about the gym You had to be there in order to make it work And so she took the brunt of a lot of the changes and shifts that we're making in order to make it a viable business You know, obviously people Had a hard time with that, you know, we all have a hard time with change and that word is you know Kind of a curse word if you will Trent: Thank Adam Everett: when you know things happen and things are going on, like people don't like it. People don't like to be disrupted or uncomfortable in that regard. So she took a brunt of that. And there was months of us just going back and forth and we were constantly at each other's throats. And our life, you know, what I thought was going to be this alignment and this huge crescendo of man, faith and fitness coming together and we were discipling and we're baptizing people and people are coming to faith and all of these things were incredibly good, but my home life was a disaster. And I would say more so than anything, my internal life was an absolute wreck. My emotional life was out of whack. You know, my spiritual life was completely bare and it was just, I was not well. And my wife knew it. I would say probably my closest people knew it, but they couldn't quite put a finger on it and call me out on it. But my wife, some point, you know, between So November of us doing the last desert DC slam was what it was called. And we started rebranding and really trying to ramp up for desert city classic. So got the venue, made the deposit, you know, we're all in with next year being really, really big, which meant a lot of work. And so I was doing essentially three different jobs that were full time and expected full time from me. And I was, I was a disaster and My wife looked at me and it was April, 2023. I made some of the worst decisions of my life. And at that point, not knowing where to go or what to do, I was making a call to basically run away from everything. Trent: So. Adam Everett: I wanted to get out of ministry. I wanted to get out of our marriage. I wanted to get out of owning the gym and I wanted just to escape. I wanted to run. because I didn't know how to handle it. And I went to essentially do all of those things, quit my job and ministry and all of that. And I had a great group and mentor and friends that came alongside and said, we're not giving up on you and you're not giving up on yourself. Trent: Yeah. Yeah. Adam Everett: And they really came around and restored myself. I went through counseling, coaching. My wife and I did intensive counseling and really brought our marriage back together. And at that point, we decided what needs to go. You know, Trent: Mm-hmm. Adam Everett: we have to say no to some things in order to say yes to the best things that life has to offer us and how we can show up and be our best selves. And so as much as I hated it, the gym was a, we got to say no to this right now. And so Trent: Yeah, for sure. Adam Everett: we said no to the gym. We sold it to one of our coaches and we walked through the hardest, most difficult five, six months of my life. Trent: probably I can't imagine that. Adam Everett: I, man, there were so many doubts, so many sleepless nights, so many nights where I didn't sleep in our bed or I slept at with another friend's house or just trying to get my life together. So many counseling sessions. you know, so many dark nights of the soul is what I call it. And it was only through enduring that pain and that suffering that I actually got to a place where I found myself again and, you know, found this light of and this renewed passion and fervor for, for God and for my, my faith and, then obviously for my marriage and my, my kids and all of those things. And so, I say this, you know, desert city, really was a big part of that. Trent: Mm-hmm. Adam Everett: It was a huge part of that, is like creating something and doing something with such a purpose and for a community that I really loved and cherished. That didn't have, you it was just different from the gym, but I was still a part of it. And so it was really our life's mission to be able to pour into that and to see it be successful in a way that that so few people will ever understand, you know? And, Trent: for sure. Adam Everett: because to me it's more than just a competition. I say this a lot, but desert, desert, the desert city or desert, we almost called it desert culture, but you know, desert city is a, is really going after Matthew three, where Jesus was sent into the desert. It says like, he just got baptized. And then he was sent into the desert. And it says in the message version, says for the test. And that was where he was, he went through 40 days of fasting where he was tempted by Satan. And you know, he comes out of that and into this renewed, not necessarily renewed, but a focused on what he was called to do. And that was to go to the cross and die for our sins so that we could have life and life to the fullest through him. You know, I just look at that where for us, for all of us, there is a test and there is a desert time that we're going through. You know, exactly what your title of this podcast is, you know, it Trent: For sure. Adam Everett: is going to happen, but it's a matter of what you're going to do when it happens that makes the world a difference. How are Trent: absolutely. Adam Everett: you going to go through it? And to me, that's really where the turning point was for for Desert City, that was really the turning point part for ministry for me. That was the turning point part for my life and marriage and family was going through that hard time and that hardship and that hard season. Trent: Yeah. Adam Everett: And to see the fruit of that going through it, was incredible. Trent: And dude, thanks for sharing that. Like that's not easy to talk about, Like it's always easy for people that are struggling with whatever, you know, just to be like, we're fine. We're going to get through it, you know, and like not really addressing all the things, right? So it sounds like, you know, you hit it head on, right? I mean, yeah, there's dark times. There's... so many decisions that need to be made and like are you making the decisions like how are you going about it right like are you doing are you taking the best steps to go forward right you're figuring out all the things you need to figure out so it doesn't come up as a problem later on and um honestly it looked it sounds like everything that you did was the thing that you needed to do and i'm super super stoked that that that's the case man like you yeah and i can tell you being an athlete and like I mean I've been seeing you do this I met you in 2023 right and it's like I've seen Desert City Grow right and I've seen all of this and it's pretty incredible to see how much effort, love, and passion you put into it, right? Because like I'm telling you, dub's competition I've ever been to and it's like it shows like from the top down like it's like all the details are there, the vibes are good, nobody's like it's not like a normal competition, you know what I mean? Everything's smooth, everything it's just really great and it shows how much you care about it man. That's really really awesome. Adam Everett: I appreciate that, Trent: Yeah, for sure. Of course. Like, you should hear that all the time. Honestly. Adam Everett: Me as well. Trent: So, here's a question. If... What would you say that sets apart a high performer? Like what type of mindset does it take to be a high performer? Like to like endure things that aren't thrown your way instead of just being like, it's fine. What does it take Adam Everett: Yeah. Trent: to like strive? Adam Everett: Yeah. Yeah, man. I've had to wrestle with this because I think just in my nature, I'm ultra competitive and I want to win. Trent: Thank Adam Everett: so I would say before I would say, well, you do, you do whatever it takes at all costs to, you know, to get ahead, to win, to, you know, and I think that this word ambition or driven often gets highlighted or gets elevated within our society. Ah-may, so driven, he's so ambitious, those types of terms and words. And not often that's where we associate high performers in that regard. And we put them on pedestals, but the reality is those pedestals are uneven or unstable at best a lot of times. And we've seen so many falls and so many devastations. within those high performers, their marriages or their friendships. Oftentimes they're isolated or alone, they're lonely, Trent: Mm-hmm. Adam Everett: their families are not healthy and we don't see that side of things. We just see the performance side. And I talk about that being the tip of the iceberg. Performance is like what's on top of the water, right? It's what we see. But what the reality is is 90 % of the mass of the iceberg is what is underneath the water. And so we have to go down those layers and to really see the deep waters of our soul. And that to me is the indicator of a high performer and their health is exactly that. Those who examine the deepest waters of their emotions, of their friendships and relationships. Trent: Mm-hmm. Adam Everett: of their, call it God or call it a higher power, whatever you want to call it, but if they have some semblance of a true north and their identity is wrapped not just in their performance and what they do, because the reality is you're always going to find somebody that's better, that's done it longer, that's more successful, and you will never achieve greatness or success if you're always going after that. But you will. if you have wins that are in alignment with your vision, mission, and values of not of your business, but who you are as a person. And I think, you know, so many high performers, have vision statements and mission statements and values for their company, but they don't actually have that for their lives. And so what would it look like to have that alignment and that awareness of who you are and what you're actually called to and your capacity to do it. If you looked inward more than you looked outward. And if we also praise what's happening inside people versus Trent: Mm-hmm. Adam Everett: what they do for us. And I think that's just, it's such a disruption within our society because we don't think or talk like that. But the reality is we need people that are healthy inward, not just outward. So I would say, man, that's Trent: Thank Adam Everett: a high performer is looking inside, being healthy emotionally, being healthy relationally, and then ultimately being completely undone and surrendered. to a higher power. I mean, if somebody can come into a room and say, I'm not chasing ego or I'm not trying to win approval. I just, I'm completely comfortable with who I am and who God, what I believe is who God has designed me to be. Man, dude, that's somebody I wanna be like, right? It's like, you can sense that. When you walk into a room, you Trent: Obvious. Adam Everett: have a leader that lives their life that way. You're like, I wanna be like that. And I think we need to be able to praise people more for what they're doing, the work that they're doing inside versus their accolades and their performance on the outside. Because one is indicative of a healthy model of leadership and the other is just performance driven that ultimately it's either like you're on the bus or you're off it or you're getting hit by it, right? And so Trent: for sure. Adam Everett: there's so many things that we praise. with demonstrative leadership that is no room for a healthy community or healthy society. And I think we need to really dig a little bit further into what it means to be holistically healthy heart, soul and strength. Trent: Yeah, dude, you nailed it. on the, the, that's like my version of it, right? It's so hard for people to like put... I'll be happy when I get to this thing or I'll be happy if this thing goes this way or right. It's like you can't put happiness on the other side of the thing, but you also can't put happiness on the on your successes, right? Like celebrate them for sure. But I think too many people fall into the fact like, I had a snatch PR. Now I immediately want another PR and it's like, just live in it for a second, right? Like. You know, if you have goals, that's great. Have goals, but like live in your successes, share your successes, right? And as long as you're like doing it for the right reasons, everything should be good, you know? And like, Adam Everett: Absolutely. Trent: I want, I think more people should be higher performing, like when it comes to things like that, right? Like celebrating their wins and taking care of people. you know, when it comes down to it, like... leave your ego at the door. Nobody likes it. It's terrible and it doesn't even look good, right? So it's like, it's one of those things and that's, Adam Everett: Absolutely. Trent: it's one of those, it's just one of, it's a tough thing, right? All right, I got a question for you. What is the biggest mindset win you've had in the last year? Adam Everett: Man, last year a mindset win. I mean, I think a lot of it has to do with what we're just talking about. know, Trent: Okay? Adam Everett: it's about, for me, there's so many things that my mindset was, well, I'll say this. My mindset was, it's never good enough. Trent: Okay. Adam Everett: That was what I thought was my edge, was it's never good enough. You're always striving for some semblance of perfection. obviously doesn't exist, right? Trent: Right. Adam Everett: And I always thought that about myself as like, oh man, you can always be better. look, you know, I looked in the mirror and I always think, man, Adam, this flaw, that flaw, this is not, you're not doing well here. You can do better here. And it could always be better, you know? And that served me to a point. It's brought me great, success maybe or people will praise me for, man, you're such a hard worker or man, look what you did here and here and here. And yet it was never satisfying. It was never, again, was never enough. And I thought I was just saying it from the standpoint of being objective, like, this is never enough. But what I realized, my mindset was actually, I'm not enough. And so I had to, go ahead. Trent: Okay. Why do you think that was like so ingrained? And how did you shift it away from that? Because I used to be the same way, right? Like I never thought I'd be good enough for anything, anyone, right? It was just like, I'm just going to kind of fly through life. And now it's like, I'm me, this is who I am. I have a lot to offer. And it's like, I'm completely comfortable with knowing that like... I give my best effort every single day. So Adam Everett: Absolutely. Trent: how can you, how was it to switch that and where did it come from? Adam Everett: Well, you know, I think it's exactly what we're talking about Trent and that is I everything was a performance. You know, I was in musicals as as a kid. I was on, you know, stages. I was also in athletics. So I was on a quote unquote stage, whether it be a court or a field or track. And everything was everything was objectively teet, right? You didn't go fast enough to win. So this person beat you. You didn't do this good enough to score as many points or whatever it may be. You lost the game. And I think that's a lot of times is why we love sports is there's a, if you do this, there's, and there's a formula to it. If you do this, you'll get this type of outcome. And it's very objective. You either win or you lose. And life is not like that. It's not quite like that in the sense of there's a scoreboard hanging over your head and there's an indicator of you lost this match, whether it be a conversation with your wife or a disagreement that you have or trying to parent your kids or whatever it may be. But so often we actually do that, right? That's why we don't shut our mouths and listen to our wives or significant others or our friends when they're talking. we just talk over them or we just, we wanna win the argument because we believe that there's a scoreboard right over us. And if we don't double down, and I see this all the time with some of my friends or even with myself, I'll get this like, this feeling inside me is like, man, I'm gonna win this. I could be completely wrong and oftentimes I am completely wrong, but you know what? I'm gonna double down and I'm Trent: Right. Adam Everett: going to win this argument. I'm doing this with my seven year old. You know, it's like, Trent: All Adam Everett: What am I doing right now? Like, this is not a game. This is not for me to win. This is for me to understand, you know, a lot about them, a lot about myself, ask for forgiveness, all those types of things. And that's the N-word, you know, dialogue that often we don't go to. And we're understanding what we feel, how we feel, and how other people feel in order to really understand what's the outcome that we're trying to get here. Because the outcome we're trying to get here is I want to be the best version of myself. I want you to be the best version of yourself. and we want to partner together. And my definition of partnership is a shared vision and equal sacrifice. So what's Trent: Okay. Adam Everett: the vision for our friendship? You know, if we're partners in this, we're truly friends, like we should draft up a vision for our friendship and we should have a semblance or a sense of a shared sacrifice that's going to get us to that destination. Trent: Okay. Adam Everett: And so often we just don't think like that, man. And for me, going back to I'm not good enough was I was constantly measuring myself against other people. And so was constantly competing. I was constantly fearful or it had Trent: Okay. Adam Everett: insecurities, right? I would let other people's insecurities make me insecure. So we all have insecurities, right? So you're portraying your insecurities on me. You're putting your insecurities on me. Well, guess what that's doing for me? That's gonna make me even more insecure, right? And so then we do this to ourselves and each other and we do this in all kinds of different relationships in different ways. But I think it really has to do with like the incorrect view of self and an incorrect view of what is success and outcomes that we're trying to accomplish and do with our life. And when we're constantly measuring up, we're constantly evaluating relationships based off of what can I get or what can I do to seek praise or seek some reward? Man, that is a shitty way to live. It just is Trent: Absolutely. Adam Everett: dude. And so, and that kind of wraps into, man, I'm not good enough. Like I see this person over here doing this, this and this. Like I could do more. Man, if anybody can do it, I can do it. And then it's constantly striving for that next thing with, you know, no end in sight at all. Because never, you know, the reality check for me was guess what Adam, it's never going to be good enough, but guess what? You have a God that loves you exactly where you are and loves you so much to not keep you where you are. He wants to make you like his son Jesus, who was perfect and lived a perfect life so that you can have a model to achieve not greatness for yourself, but greatness for the world, right? Because Trent: Right. Adam Everett: the world needs me to be the best version of me. know, Adam is here. Trent: I mean the best person that you it helps everybody else right because like having Adam Everett: Absolutely. Trent: shitty version of me does no good for anyone at all if Adam Everett: Absolutely. Trent: I'm in a shit mood it doesn't help my relationship it doesn't help my dog it doesn't help the people at the gym you know what I mean it's like what is the point and it's like there's a lot of days like so I had like it specifically today I had to wake up 4 30 to go coach the 5 3 a.m. class I'm not morning person right and I'll be the first to admit it but I have to have like 20 minutes where I don't speak a word except for to my dog. I get to eat a bowl of cereal or whatever I'm gonna have and I just get to like before the day decides how I'm gonna act I get to just be myself, right? Which is great and I love that. And yeah, you're nailing it. This is why we're friends because we think a lot alike. This is great. So I want to get into what Endure is, man. Adam Everett: Yeah, so I mean, it came out of the dark night of the soul. It came out of the that period of in 2023 where I didn't know what was what was up or what I was doing with my life. you know, what, you know, like I said, even if I wanted to be a part of a ministry or, you know, fitness or my marriage or anything like that, I had to really seek some inward stability and health and my emotional. I realized I was emotionally immature. you know, hints all the it's not good enough, you're never good enough, all those things. But also just how I viewed myself. And I realized when I started talking about it, all these guys were like, yeah, me too. You know, me too, me too, me too. And it was just a band of brothers that felt the same way. And I wasn't alone. And, know, I kicked myself with, you know, for this, but it's like, man, I wish I would have shared this sooner. And I saw all these stats about men and loneliness and there's like 80 % of men don't have one person in their life that they seek out for counsel or some form of mentorship. Most men don't have a mentor, never have had a mentor in their life. Somebody that's been ahead of them, that's gone before them, that can redirect them or guide them in any way. That's sort of not a part of most men's lives. Most men don't have a community or friendships. So there's just a lot of things that I started reading and looking into that like this has to change, man. Like we have to, know, men, especially there's a stat that I used to use when I was in church, but it was this whole idea of like most, most times women are the ones that are seeking spiritual guidance and direction. And most men are like, that's not for me. I often say like men need a challenge. They need some form of counseling or coaching and they need a connection. They need connection with other men. And so Trent: I agree. Adam Everett: how can I design something, an environment where that produces that type of fruit? Trent: Yeah. Adam Everett: And so we started a men's group that of guys that just get together every Thursday and we just talk about life. We talk about what's going on and we're able to openly share and I've seen so many men get sober, restore their relationships, know, their marriages, come to faith. All those things have been reflected in our men's group and I'm super grateful for the guys that have been a part of that. In fact, we just went on our annual snowboarding trip that we do every year. had 17 dudes. go on a snowboarding Trent: Nice. Adam Everett: trip and we just get away and just get together and just able to have a really good time with each other. And it's an important part of men's health overall. so, yeah, so that's kind of how it started. And I was like, man, maybe I could do something with the ministry world that I've been in and the CrossFit world that I've been in. And let's kind of infuse those together. And this word endure has just been a huge part of my vocabulary over the last three years. It comes from James Wan. James was Jesus's brother. He wrote the epistle or the book of James and he says, consider it pure joy when you face trials or tests of many kinds. So consider it joy when you face those trials because testing of your faith, and I say this a lot, the testing of anything, the testing of your marriage, the testing of your parenting. the testing of your fitness. If it's not tested, it can't be trusted, right? If Trent: That's true. Adam Everett: it's always comfortable, if it's always going right, man, something's going on, right? And so the testing of your faith produces, and this word is endurance. It produces endurance or perseverance. It produces this idea of you have to go through the hardship. You have to go through the pain and the suffering and the hard times in order to, and James ends it this way. He says, in order to be fully mature, complete, and lack nothing. And I don't know about you, bro, but like when I read that last part of like, man, this is what endurance will get you is to be fully mature, complete and lack nothing. Like there's nothing else I want in this life to be Trent: Right. Adam Everett: fully mature, complete and lack nothing because often we live our lives with this idea of a hole that we're trying to fill and we're constantly filling it. And so we're lacking everything and Jesus is promising this life. to the fullest and that is lacking nothing. And so man, I want that and I want other people to experience that. So we started this nonprofit called Endure, where we focus on men and men's health and having challenges. And so we're doing Rim to Rim to Rim, which is the Grand Canyon hike in May. So we'll do a challenge every year. We'll have some form of connection where we do events and things like that, retreats, Trent: Hmm. Adam Everett: just getting men together to be able to be men and come with a shared vision. a purpose behind it. And then, you know, I also had a heart for gym owners. And so a part of Endura is meeting gym owners where they are and creating a culture that really is healthy, not just physically, but I believe again, mentally, emotionally and spiritually as well. So how do you create that culture that's holistic and that's really taking care of the gym owner? You know, so many people are not taking care of them and they don't know what to do. And so we are coming alongside to say, Hey, We want to take care of you as you take care of other people. And how can we do this together? So that's kind of the one-two punch of Endure. Trent: Dude, that's absolutely amazing. And I like, Adam Everett: Yeah. Trent: that hits home on so many different levels, right? Cause like, when it comes to like, everybody thinks that we need to be the rock all the time, right? And it's not okay to be not okay. And it's, it's, I wish so long ago that I would have just admitted that I wasn't okay, right? Like I would be, I'm right where I need to be. Don't get me wrong. But like, If I would have addressed the issues that I had so long ago, it would have set me up to be so much better of a person. It just took me a long time to get to here, right? And there are so many people out there that don't have health and they don't have community. They don't have somebody to reach out to and just talk with, just bullshit and be like, hey man, you know, I don't feel like I'm ready today, you know? And it sucks because that connection is like what we all strive for, you know? And I think there's a lot of dudes out there that could benefit. benefit from what you're doing just because they don't have somebody to talk to, right? They don't have a community, right? So I want to get all the contact info and everything like for Enduro and if you do, you do like, you know, virtual hangs and everything like that. Adam Everett: Yeah, we're going to start that here soon. Right now what we do is we have cohorts that for gym owners specifically. So gym owners or communities within gyms that want to establish a what I call is just a kingdom culture or a holistic culture. It's faith based. So obviously people that have a vision and values that center around faith is exactly what we're looking to. to try to help that and come alongside. But certainly it's anybody, know, for that matter to be able to have a faith driven or I would say value driven community. You know, we definitely want to come alongside. So we do cohorts within those and we just ask that gym owners create a team of people that have those and share those same values. And then it's a seven week cohort that we walk through identity, responsibility and celebration. it goes through who we are and exactly what we just talked about. It really stems from having awareness of who you are and then what is your responsibility and what is not. Because there's a lot of times we take on the weight of the world and it's not ours to carry. And so it's really discerning what is our responsibility and what's not our responsibility. And I think the biggest thing with it is creating a team because you cannot do it alone. If you want to go, that whole adage of you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go further, go together and that's really the crux of what we're trying to put together. And then, you know, what are the right metrics to celebrate? You know, so often we get caught up in so many other things. You have to take care of your business, obviously. And there's clear metrics in which to do that. But we also need some metrics and wins around the people and the community aspect of it, because that is a large part of what we do in the CrossFit world. And so often we minimize it or We just discard it altogether. And like Trent: For sure. Adam Everett: I said before, if we don't maintain it or excel it, I wouldn't even say maintain, because maintain is obviously going the wrong direction. But if we don't care for it, right? If we don't Trent: Right. Yeah. Adam Everett: care for it and grow it, it will disrupt in a big way your whole business model, because it is Trent: that's... Adam Everett: the crux of why we do what we do, and as the center of the CrossFit community is the community itself. So we really put some metrics behind that. Let's start celebrating the right things. Let's create a culture that celebrates the right things. And so that's a big part of it as well, just giving people some frameworks for that. So we're doing that. then later this year, we'll start really creating men's cohorts. We launched our men's, I would call it a ministry, but really a focus, a group here in Phoenix. We have another one that we're coming alongside in Pennsylvania. So we're super excited about that. And so really just giving men tools to be able to create the community that we've created within their context as well. So we're launching that as well. Trent: That's amazing, man. I love that. So if somebody's listening to this and they're like, man, I'm kind of lost. How can they get a hold of you? Adam Everett: Yeah, Adam Everett, Adam Everett on Instagram or Endure Project, N-D-U-R-E, project on Instagram as well. So follow us there. We're doing a lot of different things, challenges throughout the year. Currently we're doing a Lent challenge. I'm calling it Ruck and Reflect, where Trent: Okay. Adam Everett: we can reflect on a scripture and rock together for a mile. And so we're doing that. But yeah, I mean, any of those would be great. Trent: Awesome. I love that, I dude, it's always good talking to you. I love getting to hang out, even though it's like we're however many miles away. Adam Everett: You Trent: But yeah, we definitely need to keep in touch more often. And I Adam Everett: Absolutely. Trent: cannot thank you enough for coming on the show. This was really, really great. And yeah, I'm gonna Adam Everett: I appreciate it, man. It's an honor. Trent: I'm gonna shoot some people your way for sure. And yeah, we'll chat about a little bit more coming up. Cool. All right, Adam Everett: Absolutely. Appreciate you. Trent: guys. Thanks for tuning in. Adam, thanks for being here. All right. Adam Everett: Thank you, peace.