Latest / Veteran Wellness Podcast / Life After Special Forces: You're More Than Your Past | Travis Ernst

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Life After Special Forces: You're More Than Your Past | Travis Ernst · Veteran Wellness Podcast

• Travis Ernst: Yeah, or they get tied into that, well, I was an operator and that's all I'll ever ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: be. Back in the day, I did this and this. I'm like, that's great. Don't forget that stuff, ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Yeah. Travis Ernst: but you gotta move into the next chapter. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, if we were still saying that, Travis, we would have a problem. 'Cause it's been a long time. Travis Ernst: Yeah, ERIK LAWRENCE: Travis Ernst, how the hell are you? Yeah, I haven't Travis Ernst: Doing well. Doing well. ERIK LAWRENCE: seen you in a long time, buddy. It's been too long for sure. Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, a few texts, a few calls, some emails, but yeah, we ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: have not connected like this in a while. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, for a combo guy I'm pretty bad at it. they didn't teach the social part of communications. I I would r much rather make a satcom shot, you know, than call somebody sometimes. But yeah, we've been neglect on that. But we'll fix that, you know. since I look so good I should probably be on film much much more often. Yeah, I don't know about you but Travis Ernst: You probably should. You probably should. I mean, after this, you may be getting calls from some studios to do some camions. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, my dog does, I don't. Yeah, he'll be in the new movie with Brad Pitt or something. So But Trav we met long time ago contracting, probably twenty Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: some years ago. Travis Ernst: Yeah, I think it's 03. Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Twenty three years ago. Yeah, twenty three years ago. I don't feel that old. I'm sure you do, but Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, I can't because I've got a nine-year-old daughter and a 16 year old son so both you know one makes you feel old and one makes me I can't I can't be old so ERIK LAWRENCE: Well, Jake is twenty eight, Traff. Travis Ernst: That doesn't seem ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: possible either. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, we'll put up a picture of him. Yeah, it's it's it makes no sense to me. Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: And he's covered in tattoos, which just drives me crazy. Hence why he's doing it, I assume. But the Travis Ernst: Right. ERIK LAWRENCE: the little rebel hemp. But yeah, we met in O three, but let's talk about what you where you grew up and what you did prior to that. Travis Ernst: Yeah, I grew up in Iowa on a farm. So grew up working day-to-day stuff was pretty normal. 18, I joined the army because I didn't know what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to serve. I knew I wanted to go join the army. But what I was going to do after that, I didn't know. So kind of left it open. So yeah, a couple of weeks after graduation, recruiter packs me up and off to basic training and off to see the world. So yeah, I did the. the PSY ops thing for a little bit and then got tired of that and said, I think working with an SF team would be a lot cooler, a lot better, a lot more fun. So that's where I ended up going through the SFQ course and all that as a medic. And I did a bunch of time out at first group. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, first group. So you're at Lewis or Okie? Travis Ernst: Yep. Yep. Lewis did. We did a couple of trips through Oki, but it was mainly mainly out of Lewis. So, yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. I liked Lewis. Lewis was a good base, but now it's beautiful. You need to go back and visit the group area. You'll Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: sit and cry, dude. They got the Thor Fitness System, they've got indoor ranges, they've got team rooms that you can put a team box through the door that'll it'll fit, you know? yeah. everything. Travis Ernst: Yeah, all the stuff that we wanted back in the day. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. No, you'd be amazed. you you can pull your vehicle in to pack it and drive it out. It's like, excuse me? I had a wall locker, dude. I mean Travis Ernst: Man, yeah. Yeah, no, I have not been out to the Pacific Northwest in many years. I got a family I'd love to go, so. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, I would love to organize a a first group trip. i it was stunning to me. It was stunning. And Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: but that's where, you know, when we talk about health and wellness, you know, the units are much better off. But you've always been healthy and you've always been fit and I've always been Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: jealous. I blame it on your genes, you know, so I don't feel bad exactly. Travis Ernst: Yep, I don't do anything. I just eat burgers and fries and sit here. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, I know better. y you you were always quite the fit guy. when we were contracting, I remember you were doing that O course and you ripped the palms off your hands and it I was like, Okay, that's gonna slow him down. Nah, didn't slow you down. You know, y your calluses Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, I had to. ERIK LAWRENCE: came off and I'm like, medic. Wait, he is the medic. Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yep. wait, that's me. And some of those nearby hills that we would run up or run ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: until you couldn't do anything more but walk. Yeah. The lung burners. Yeah. No, fitness is, yeah, go ahead. can say ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, but he'll No, you go. I mean go. Travis Ernst: fitness has just been part of, I don't know, high school sports probably started it. And then, you know, knowing I didn't want to be the the slowest work, know, out of shape guy in the army. So I wanted, you know, it's the mentality that I've talked to guys who were getting ready to go in as like, there's two types that I've seen in the military. got the, you got the, what's the bare minimum and what's the maximum. And it's like, if you don't have the mentality of going in as what is my maximum, what's the max? How can I max this PT test or whatever, whatever it is. So that, if you have that mentality, it's going to serve you well in the military. And then if you could just maintain that. once you get out, doing whatever you're doing. I guess for the physical fitness, that's just what I've always had in the back of my mind is, how do I max this? ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, and I like your point that it's not just when you're in. There's no excuse you don't do it when you're out. You Travis Ernst: Right. ERIK LAWRENCE: know, and a lot of guys gotta go through the fat boy phase before Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: they realize that again to go, Holy shit, what have I done? What have I let myself do? I mean, I've been there. You probably haven't, I know, but I have for you. And you you gotta go, I gotta stop this. Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, well. Yeah, I know I know that feeling. Yeah, I've because I'm you know mid 50 or early. What am I 5053? And ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: metabolism changes obviously as you get older and you ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: hit your 50s and like all right, what what do need to do differently now? What should I keep doing? What should I stop doing? And it to me there's four. I mentioned this right before we started here. There's four simple things we all know that I was like, this is just, I just need to write it down so I can see it. And it's eat better, move more, hydrate and unplug. I just four simple concepts of eating better. know we're supposed to eat. We know we're not supposed to eat. If you can eat ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: more of the right stuff than the wrong stuff, especially as you get older, metabolism is slowing down. I don't just eat cheeseburgers, pizza and... and put your feet up and don't do anything. You gotta eat better. And we know, it's no secret. There's no magic pill. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, I know, but it's discipline. Yeah, and and if and if it's in your house you'll eat it. You know. My rule is don't buy it, you know. My where Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: I have to watch myself is when I'm out. And like, hey, Travis Ernst: yeah, I know. ERIK LAWRENCE: this is available. eighty twenty, yeah, yeah. My I inverted my eighty twenty, but it's it's twenty eighty and you know, we have to maintain that. Travis Ernst: Yeah, I think that where you get your food, the type of food, eating as close to the ground as you can. So if ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: it's on the hoof, fill your freezer with venison, grow your own as much as you can. If you can do it, if you have a space to put ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: a garden in, but the processed stuff is getting worse and worse. ERIK LAWRENCE: Dude, you've seen it. I mean we we walk by people every day and you're like, How the fuck is that possible? But then you're like, I know, you know, high fructose corn syrup, processed Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, it's, ERIK LAWRENCE: flour and wheat and Yeah, it's a Travis Ernst: It's cheap. ERIK LAWRENCE: no brain. The body can't process it. Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, it's quick and easy and cheaper than the healthy stuff. ERIK LAWRENCE: s at the time it's cheaper, not later. Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, no, you're right. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, yeah, you're paying one way or another. But you know, Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: I I'm gonna be a good looking corpse if I have a chance, you know. They're Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: gonna go, damn, he's pretty fit, but he's dead, you know. 'cause you feel better. You can handle stress Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah. And then, yes. ERIK LAWRENCE: better, you can carry yourself better, people treat you better. You know, it's it's just it's all around, why wouldn't you do that? Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. If you feel better about yourself, you're also treating other people better for the most part. I think you said ERIK LAWRENCE: Correct. Yeah. Travis Ernst: just the mindset is different. So if you're eating better and you're moving, moving more, I mean, it's so easy to sit and not do anything all day. I'm behind a computer doing what I do. But if I'm not up in the morning working out, it's probably not going to happen for me by the time I get done with work. It's just, there's too many other things to pull me in another direction. But even if it's getting out and walking. I mean, it's moving. And the more I've read about what to do when you get older is, know, leg strength is very important. some, either just doing bodyweight squats or deadlifts. ERIK LAWRENCE: Body weight, yeah. Well I remember your your workouts you used to have back, you know, when we you know, you worked with me at BHI there in West Virginia. A lot of that was body weight, body weight and kettlebell, you know. Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. Yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: We had a nice gym but You know, there's different things you can do that you don't have to go to the gym to do it. I do a lot of squats and push ups and body weight stuff and then there's no excuse. You're like, I don't want to go to the gym. Well the worst thing you can do is go to the gym sometimes. You know. it's better just to do it. Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you just you mentioned earlier, I mean, you went out walking and you got to be in a place to go walking. So that helps. But getting outside and moving, I mean, a huge benefit. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, I walk every morning. I got that Malamwalk and some bitch will be standing on your chest on in the bed if Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: you don't get up and go. I mean he's not he's not gonna lay down and go, just be lazy. no. No, no, no. yeah, no touche. Yeah. Yeah. And he's Travis Ernst: Yeah. So you got, you got a built in accountability partner. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: about four or five miles a morning kind of guy. Then he wants to play, and I'm like No, no, we're good. You you eat, you rest, your little tummy. Yeah. I'll be over Travis Ernst: You take a nap, ERIK LAWRENCE: here in the in the sauna, you know. Travis Ernst: Yep. Yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: that's another thing I'm still doing like back in B. H. I time was the sauna, the cold plunge, the you know, the the things that flush the detox. when I went out to Azzolino Clinic and San Fran and I I was I was, you know, found out I had Lyme, which w we all should have known. Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: when I was killing that lime off you would have to detox so hard to keep up with it or you would get sick because Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: of of everything you've killed. So it was, you know, getting that lymph to move and that's that sauna, cold plunge, you know, rebounding or inversion table or something like that. And people I don't know, you're a medic, you're an 18 D I mean did they teach much about the lymph system? I know. It it's how much Travis Ernst: No, there might've been a couple lessons on it, I mean, yeah, that was, yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: It's insane to me. Because as an SF medic and you're out in the middle of nowhere, everything you fight off is via your lymph system. Every every peasant you help or G you help, you if you can help the lymph system, it's gonna keep them healthier. And there's like three or four times the amount of lymph fluid as there is blood. And I'd rem remember seeing a cut and it'd be clear and you're like, what the hell? Why is it clear? Now I know, no, it's a lymph, but that's your sewer system, you know. Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. Yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: I I'm I'm not shocked they didn't do that, but they really should have, because all your medicine is austere. So hm. Travis Ernst: Right. Yeah. Yeah, I think the sound I grew up, my mom is Finnish, so we had a sounder growing up. Every Saturday it was like fired up, we ERIK LAWRENCE: Yep. Yep. Travis Ernst: ended up finding one of those barrel sounders, so that's what I've got on the place here now. So couple times a week it's like ERIK LAWRENCE: good. I'm glad you're doing that. Travis Ernst: crank it up to 190 to 210 depending on who wants to be in there. But ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: yeah, it is good stuff. ERIK LAWRENCE: Well I remember Corey. Corey's from Minnesota and they're Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: all fans. So the first time I visited him and his family, we came in asana and there's like three generations of naked labrassers in there. And I'm like, Alrighty then. this is this is new to me. Look at the time. And then they would go out rolling the snow. And then Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. How you doing? Yeah, it's good. Yeah. Roll. Yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: come back in. I'm like, what the fuck is going on here? Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: And I'm like, it's brilliant, actually. Yeah, it's contrast. Travis Ernst: Yeah, gets the blood, that is... I don't have the cold plunge. I haven't gotten into that. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: I do, yeah. Every time I saw it, I I'll sit a couple of minutes in like three minutes, big deal. Anything after that's diminished and return. But it it does help calm the system down and and boy it wakes you up. It Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we do roll in the snow when we have snow here. That is, yeah, you can't beat it. Can't beat it. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, yeah, same thing. Yeah. Well, I mean, that is the flushing of the lymph. It's compression, you know. And the lymph doesn't have a a pump. It doesn't have a heart. So it either Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: has to use muscles or gravity. So you either gotta be upside down or 'cause they're all one way valves. You know that. You know all this doctor stuff. Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: to me it's all new. But to you you understand Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: that. But if we can keep that moving, that keeps you from getting sick. I mean, during COVID Travis Ernst: Yep. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: I used to laugh. I'm like, come on. It's the flu, man, for one. How do you get rid of the flu? You know? Sauna, Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: cold plunge, sunlight, healthy air. Don't lay on your back for eighteen hours. Yeah, yeah. I went to MBC school, buddy. I I know what a micron is. Travis Ernst: Yeah, stuff every. It's the common sense, though that mask that mask is going to going to prevent it. man. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: And I'm like, this ain't gonna work. You know? It can go in your ear, it can go in your a Travis Ernst: No, Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: cut, it can go through, yeah, it's like Travis Ernst: It made some people feel better. ERIK LAWRENCE: This is such a psyop, man. Yeah, but they never change It's like how dirt how dirty is that? And Travis Ernst: Yeah. Right. ERIK LAWRENCE: how much are you breathing? Your own shit and your own carbon monoxide. I'm like Travis Ernst: Yeah. Then you have to lift the mask up to eat and then put the mask back down. ERIK LAWRENCE: Ha ha Travis Ernst: like, ERIK LAWRENCE: That was one of the dumbest times we've ever lived through, buddy. But it put people in Travis Ernst: Yeah, that was yeah glad we're well past that. ERIK LAWRENCE: the lines of they should be. And you you need to remember where they were. Cause Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: that's that's like nineteen thirties Germany shit there. You need to know who said okay and who said no. Travis Ernst: Yep. Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, that was funny though. Well what do you do now? What's what's since Travis Ernst: Yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: we left BHL, we didn't we didn't go over that at all, but I own Blackheart International. Travis was my Travis Ernst: Right. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: operations guy, which kept me from being totally insane with all my bad ideas and knee Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: knee-jerk reactions. And then we sold it. We did our own and A. We did Travis Ernst: Yep. Yes. We did. ERIK LAWRENCE: we learned OJT on how not to do it. And then Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: now you teach people how to do it correctly. Travis Ernst: Yeah, I went from, it is ERIK LAWRENCE: I think that's a great full circle. Travis Ernst: some hard lessons ERIK LAWRENCE: A Travis Ernst: about how not to sell a business. I work with business that we help business owners who are looking to transition to the next chapter, the next thing. Usually it's business owners doing two to 20 million in sales, lot of manufacturing, a lot of B2B services, and they need help. They need help, one, are they ready to exit? Do they know what they're gonna do? ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: Is their business even ready? And we kind of do a whole prep process and valuation and survey the market. And if it's all online, we go out and find buyers. we bring in, ideally we have four or five offers at the table. And now we can go side by side and go, all right, this is a good fit. It's a lower price, but it's a better fit, better chance of closing. You pick the buyer and then run a closing process. A lot of moving pieces, but. I think the thing that resonates with these business owners is I've been there and I've been part of the sale of a business and then the buyer didn't come through with all that they said they were gonna do. really turned ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, I remember that part. Travis Ernst: a long painful process. But my whole goal is to help business owners prevent the same mistakes that we made. And they're like, really? ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Yeah, and that's where I think it it w it was a sucky one, but it worked out for everybody in the end, you know. wow. Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, I've been doing this for 12 years now. I just hit my work anniversary was like this week. So, and I wouldn't be doing this now if I hadn't gone through that whole learning process of, Yeah, yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: I like how you phrase that. Yeah. W w I'll call it a fiasco. But yeah. No, I and that in you know, we were learning everything on the on the fly anyhow. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: there wasn't AI, there wasn't a lot of you know, a Travis Ernst: Great. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: lot of representative like, you know, what your Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: service is would be would have been greatly helpful if not, you know, we we would have said, no, we're not doing that or, hey, let's do it this way and it might work, you know. So but Travis Ernst: Yeah. Right. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: you know, we're we're a J V, but big deal. But we learned from it. Travis Ernst: Yeah. But it's also, mean, it is a standard army practice doing after action review. You know, it's like, all ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: right, what did we do? What did we do? Right? What did we do wrong? We probably did more wrong than right, but we didn't know. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: But you know, you could take that and just be depressed and hate life and be like, I'm miserable. What just happened? You know, the whole iteration of that process could have wrecked you for life. Or you go, ERIK LAWRENCE: yeah. Travis Ernst: all right, I can learn from that and I can apply those lessons to what I'm doing now. And I think guys getting out of the military, guys who spent time in, you learn a lot. I've told guys going in the Army, you're going to learn more, sometimes learn more from a bad leader than a good leader. You know, you can get beat down ERIK LAWRENCE: Yes, sadly. Travis Ernst: and stay there or, you know, brush yourself off, learn the lessons, apply them and move forward to the next thing, whatever that is. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: and and do better. A and that's where, you know, our experience, I have helped a Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: lot of other young entrepreneurs not go down that road. some of that I'm gonna be interviewing soon are doing phenomenal because they actually listened and Travis Ernst: Yeah, that's great. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: at the time I I knew better for them than I knew for me at the time. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: You know what I mean? So passing that generational ignorance along. Yeah. yeah. No, they applied it. Yeah. Yeah. Travis Ernst: And if they listen, it sounds like they're listening, so that's good. if I can talk to an early start owner about, right, so you're five years in. Well, if you want to sell your business, the business will transition at some point. You either can kind of control what that looks ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, of course. Travis Ernst: like in 10 years, five years, 15 years, whatever it is. But the sooner I can sit down and just have a conversation with them about this is how buyers are to look at your business. If you have that mindset, this is an asset, this isn't my complete identity, I can ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: leave, I can move on to the next thing and somebody else can take it and grow it. Man, that superpower is then gonna be applied to the sale, the eventual sale. ERIK LAWRENCE: True. Yeah, and I struggled with that a little bit for a little while 'cause it was quite my identity, 'cause I I knew they couldn't do well without me. Be because, you know, people only called us because they knew who I was, you know. Travis Ernst: Right. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: it wasn't really good on, you know, advertising and marketing out of the blue. It was it was very much who you knew. Travis Ernst: Yeah. Right. ERIK LAWRENCE: but with that that that brings up like life chapters, you know, where Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: You n you're saying that in a in a way that, you know, you you finish that one chapter and do the next so your book's not over. You know, you can't just Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: stop at at whatever has caused you an inconvenience or a stressor or you know, a cataclysmic issue in your life and go, That's the that's the period. You know, we we've gotta Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, I mean it. ERIK LAWRENCE: quantify that, put it away and start again. Travis Ernst: Yeah, that makes a good story. Attention in the stores, it makes, you know, somebody want to read a book because there's tension in it. You know, you've got, you got the ERIK LAWRENCE: True. Yeah. Travis Ernst: highs and lows and yeah, if we get stuck in a chapter, I mean, yeah, your book can end right there and that's, that's not what we want to do. That's talking to business owners. They, you know, they sometimes they just can't let go. They're like, well, this is who I am and I can't see myself doing anything else. Like, well then we got to step back and you got to work through this. because there is the next chapter. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, and that's and that makes you like a counselor more than an advisor, you know, because if they believe that there's more work that's gotta be done and it's not about the business. It it's about their their management of ego and identity. Which Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: a lot of the guys tie that to military service and once they get out they they don't do another fucking thing to any e excellent like level, you know, and they think mediocre's okay, I already did hard stuff. I don't have to do anything hard anymore. It's like, I don't Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. Or they... ERIK LAWRENCE: know, man. Th those guys don't do well. Travis Ernst: Yeah, or they get tied into that, well, I was an operator and that's all I'll ever be. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: Back in the day, I did this and this. I'm like, that's great. Don't forget that stuff, ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Yeah. Travis Ernst: but you gotta move into the next chapter. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, if we were still saying that, Travis, we would have a problem. 'Cause it's been a long time. Travis Ernst: Yeah, it has. It's fun to reminisce. It's fun to, you ERIK LAWRENCE: Yes. Travis Ernst: know, we pulled some pictures and like, man, what were we doing? We're idiots. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Well, I'm mad we didn't take more pictures. 'cause I've seen some of the boys that took too many pictures and they're Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: all over. And I'm like, how where I was there. I don't remember Travis Ernst: Right. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: him taking a picture. so I'm like, hmm, Travis Ernst: Hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: note to self. in my next life I will have more photographs. Yeah. Travis Ernst: Right, take more, take more pictures, yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, no kidding. It maybe just of landscapes. I don't know. But Travis Ernst: Right. ERIK LAWRENCE: you've got to let that stuff go. And yes, I would still love to be doing it, and I'm sure you would too. But Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: we're here to do a bunch of different things, you know, and as we get older, Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: I think part of our job as as former SF guys is to lead the younger and teach Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: them the lessons learned that we learned the hard way and or apply technology to it to make it easier. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: imagine running BHI with AI and JSON. Travis Ernst: Yeah, that'd be. ERIK LAWRENCE: my lord. Travis Ernst: Yeah. Let me. ERIK LAWRENCE: I still well I work with Jason every day still. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: But I cuss him. I'm like, dude, if you would have had AI back in the day, we wouldn't be here right now. Travis Ernst: Yeah, right No, Jason's good ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. So yeah, we he's I he's doing great, man. He he visited actually up here a couple of weeks ago. We had a good time. He same old Jason, you know, just just workaholic, you know. Travis Ernst: Okay, yeah, yep, yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: but AI helps him now. So a website only takes like a couple of days versus, you know, who knows how long. but Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, they got it down to a couple hours now, I think, if you do the right prompts. ERIK LAWRENCE: it's amazing, dude. Amazing. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: And that's where, you know, we have no excuse not to know something anymore. You know, if Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: you're stuck somewhere in your life and you you you need, I don't know, counsel or advice or something, there's people to call, there's help computers to call, there's whatever. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: There's a million we have more data than ever available. You Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: have to have the initiative to use it. Travis Ernst: That's it, that's it. Because if you get stuck in that loop, mean, talking about just the eat ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, a loop. Travis Ernst: better move more, we know what we need to do. It's like, what's the catalyst to get somebody to go, I need help, I need to make a phone call. I think isolation has... ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Well there's friends of there's friends of ours that you and I know that are are having problems today, you know, and I talk Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: to and I'm like, Come on, we gotta get out of that. I've been in that cycle, you know. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: And y you sometimes cannot pull yourself out of it. You know, your Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: friends have to help you or something has to help you, a doctor or something. Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: it's gotta give you that breath of fresh air and that you know, some f that's why I called the book fire support, for God's sakes. Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: You know, 'cause when you need fire support, do you ever call that when you're really not in trouble? Let's Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: just bring some artillery in for the hell of it. No, no, we actually need it now. There's it's immediate suppression over. Yeah. Yeah. Travis Ernst: Right. Yeah. And you expect it to show up. You're not like, man, hopefully they answered the call. It's like, no, you... ERIK LAWRENCE: well, hey, you know our old comms plan. Yeah. Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, get the cellphone out and wake somebody up to go to the SACOM. Like, hey, we're playing army, can you help? Travis Ernst: get the hard cell phone. Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: yeah, don't get me started. But Travis Ernst: Yeah, but no your point we need you know one you're not alone You've got ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: buddies to your left and right you just have to sometimes go either either call them or the buddies need to go Hey, you need you need help. We need to do something ERIK LAWRENCE: Both ways. Travis Ernst: and be humble enough to to accept it and That's that can be hard to get hard-headed Yeah ERIK LAWRENCE: Well, and and not feel bad accepting it. And not feel lesser, you know what I mean? There's a you're gonna help the same guy two years later probably, you know. It's just your turn, you know, so i if Travis Ernst: Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: it hadn't hit, you know, you're you're fortunate, but you know, most most guys relapse quite often, you know, Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: because they'll slack off on their nutrition or they'll start drinking, or I hate to say drugs would be introduced. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: or a family stressor, you know, if something triggers, whatever the trigger is, and you have Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: to learn your triggers because they're not all the same. I Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: have different triggers and I I I watch like a hawk 'cause I Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: know how devastating they are once I step on that on that charge. because it Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I know everybody's got different outlets or different ways to work through hard times. For me, it's been my faith. It's been ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: trusting in a sovereign God to go, right, I don't understand this. don't agree with this. It's not what I want, but trusting that God's in control. For me, ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: it's given that peace through stuff, like in the middle of of BHI, 2014, 2015, post-sale. the legal stuff that was going around. like, this is out of my control. can't do anything ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: about it. How much wood I split in the summer of 2014? ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: A lot of prayer, a lot of wood splitting. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: it didn't take the problem away. It didn't solve it immediately, but it gave me peace through knowing ERIK LAWRENCE: It'll sort out. Travis Ernst: it'll sort out. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Yeah, and it's one of the guys I was talking to the other day, he he was like, you know, when you're talking PTSD versus PTS, you know, disorders like it ruins your life constantly. PTS, we all have PTS of some type. You know, we've all seen something something that wasn't good. But it's how quick you can come back to normal that keeps it from being a disorder, you know. how you can come down from your stressors, and and how you have a plan for that. You don't wait for it to happen. You kinda, you know, we we well n we're not SEALs, you know. We're what'd they say? why plan? We're going anyhow. You remember that day? I'm like, no, we're we're going to plan. I know, Travis Ernst: Right. Try not to remember that day. ERIK LAWRENCE: I know, but I'm like, that's no no no no no. I that stuck with me. Travis Ernst: It's in a book, I'm sure it's in one of the books that's been written since then. ERIK LAWRENCE: I'm sure, yeah, no shit. Yeah. I missed it. But you you plan for contact. Well, we're gonna have these life's up and downs. How do we plan for that, you know? And Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: if we slack on our PT, if we slack on our nutrition, if we shut ourselves off from everybody, i Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: how can we expect it to get better? I mean, there's just no fucking way. You know, it's gonna Travis Ernst: Right. ERIK LAWRENCE: get worse. but you know Travis Ernst: Do you think between the PTS and PTSD, because I haven't ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: heard that described that way before. It's kind of, it's a reality. It's a true statement. Do you think there are times where guys get hung up on, have a disorder. So that is the label that's on me now, because I've ERIK LAWRENCE: Yes. Victim. Travis Ernst: been labeled I have a disorder, but that's not your identity. I think it's ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: easy to have that placard hanging over ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: your neck going, Yeah, I guess this is the way it is. it's like, take that thing off. You know, ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Yeah. Travis Ernst: that's just a label somebody else has put on you or you put on yourself because, well, that's an excuse to do X, Y, and Z. I don't know, just thinking that one through is like, maybe there's a reality of this is a label that this isn't, this does not define who I am. How do I address this? Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Correct. Yeah, the victim mentality. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and some play that, you'll see that. 'Cause they get f trips and they get, you know, this and that, you know, and it's like, yeah, it's not healthy, but Travis Ernst: Yeah, but I think those labels are getting put on, I mean, not just former vets or in the military. kids are getting these labels so early. And well, you have this disorder. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Yeah. Travis Ernst: So this is your lot in life now. I ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, no, I don't believe it. Travis Ernst: don't want to, yeah, it's dangerous to just settle for that. There are legitimate disorders. I'm not trying to take away from documented, there are medical conditions that ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: are that are very real, but I think sometimes they may be too easy to put a disorder on somebody. ERIK LAWRENCE: Well, it makes it too easy to stay in it, Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: you know, instead of going, How do I how do I change this? You know, and Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: now with this, you know, we mentioned it earlier, not well pre pre show, but TBIs, man. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: I attribute a lot of my old angry times, you may remember or may not remember, to Travis Ernst: Yeah, you remember some of those. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: after seeing my brain scans, I'm like, well yeah, no kidding, you know? Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: classic TBIs, you know, that Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: causes mood disruptions and hormone disruptions and this and that. And it's like but back then we didn't have any idea. No idea. Travis Ernst: No, no, not the long term or short term impact of breach after breach after ERIK LAWRENCE: No, no idea. Travis Ernst: breach. like. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, and I don't know how many we would do a day, but Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: I mean it's quite a few, you know, and then and then when they're for real and you're sucking up on it's like, well, it it may not matter. Yeah, that might be the least of my worries. Yeah. Travis Ernst: Yeah, right. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah. So what have you done to kind of reset that? Because that's what we're talking about a little bit is like, how do you ERIK LAWRENCE: my god. Yeah. Travis Ernst: rewire what's been damaged and scrambled? ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, Trav, that's that's that's a whole book in itself there. I I started remember I was working up in Montana at that ranch. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: And one of the principals there, she's like, Hey Eric, you're not okay. I'm like, I'm fine. She goes, You're not fine. Go to my Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: doctor in San Fran. So she sent me down to Dr. Azzalino at Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: the Azzalino Clinic, who works on concussions, TBIs, Lyme disease, everything I had pretty much. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: And it took me a year of going there for one week every month. to chelate Travis Ernst: Hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: the heavy metals out of my blood. Those were outrageous traff. Our Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: blood work was a breachers nightmare. But I had to do that. I had to do all the neurological reprogramming. You know, like like Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: like you're in a car wreck or something, you Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: know, with center of gravity, focus, you know, latency in your eyes where you couldn't just you know, everything was slowed down. And Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: the biggest thing was remember I used to slur my words a lot, or I couldn't find the word to say in a sentence because the the connections weren't there. They were disrupted. Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: And it took a year of that. But he has several different modalities that are are space aged, because he's usually doing like professional athletes, you know, so they get Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: a better contract, you know, for reflexes and and rebuilding injured players. Well, all that applies to us when we have a concussion issue. Every jump we do, every car wreck we do, every everything we do is concussive to Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: a point. So we actually have thousands of either Real or sub concussions. you remember when that rifle blew up on me that one time? I mean that that Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: guarantee you that cracked my skull. So Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: and the office still doesn't believe that one. But it took over a year, and that was just to get me level. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: And then I started to, you know, having some more issues that I I went down to Mexico to that ambio and did the Ibicaine. That Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: was very reparative to the brain and nervous system. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: The psychedelics really work on your nervous system. I've done ayahuasca, got rid of a lot of past traumas, violently, you know, there was some purging. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: But afterwards you felt like a new person. I stopped my anxiety medication the next day. Never touched it again. It's that powerful. Travis Ernst: Well, man, yeah, better living through pharmacology is one of the biggest lies that we've been fed for years. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, the natural stuff you you cannot argue. And it's a and it's a penny versus a pound. Travis Ernst: Right. ERIK LAWRENCE: y it doesn't take much. And I've just maintained that. When I when I start to have an issue, I go back to my protocol. Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: I go back to detoxing, I go back to nutrition, I go back to hydration, I go back to exercise, Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: and you know, maybe some mushrooms or something microdosing, and it levels back out. It Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: it it you can maintain it, but you have to be cognizant of your triggers and what causes you to kinda go go loopy. And somebody, Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, I think it's important. ERIK LAWRENCE: you know, a friend can go, Hey dude, you need to tighten your shit up Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: and you go, that's right. Travis Ernst: Yeah, I mean that goes back a couple of things. One, accountability to your buddies. The guys you know, if they start veering off, I ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: would expect somebody to yank me aside and go, hey man, what's wrong? What do you have going on right now? We gotta be accountable to each other. yeah, there's a path forward for guys who are ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: not knowing where they can go or if they're in that downward spiral. Don't hang out with guys who are in that downward spiral as well. I've ERIK LAWRENCE: Correct. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Travis Ernst: been there and it's easy to do. It just gets worse and worse and worse and it's lot easier to go down than up. So you can check that knowing there's treatment and it doesn't have to be, I think to be able to do what you're able to do to go get that full scan and that treatment is great. But there's options out there. ERIK LAWRENCE: there's a lot of options. I mean there is a an immense amount of there's almost too many Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: because guys don't know where to start. And that's where Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: I I've I wrote that book, Fire Support, as a reference book, not as a how to book. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: So you could look up the different modalities and go, well that's what that is and Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: then when somebody goes, You need to go to that, you know, you're not ignorant of it. So it's kinda like a triage. Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, it can be overwhelming to go where, yeah. Like you said, where do I start? ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. And the problem with a lot of the foundations are that one foundation may only do one thing and it's not the thing you need. So you go to and you're like, Well, that didn't fucking help. Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, ERIK LAWRENCE: You know? Then you're like, Now what do I do? You know, and I've seen Travis Ernst: yeah, right. ERIK LAWRENCE: that a lot. So, Jason and I are actually we formed a a foundation so we can we can redirect our own donations to Travis Ernst: Hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: triage a guy to pay to send him to the one he needs to go to, not the one we like. 'Cause a lot of the Travis Ernst: Yeah, right. ERIK LAWRENCE: foundations are that way. They they it's kinda like a self licking ice cream cone. Travis Ernst: Yeah, right. ERIK LAWRENCE: Which they're doing good things, but if the guy doesn't need what that is, it's it's Mox Nicks, you know, and he you know, he Travis Ernst: Yeah, right. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: he goes down the wrong road. 'cause it's happening everyday traffic. I I I get calls every week of a nightmare situation. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Nightmare. Travis Ernst: Yeah, it's. ERIK LAWRENCE: And and you can see it coming quite often. Travis Ernst: Yep, yeah, yeah. One of the things that we, the other thing we talked about was unplugging and how important ERIK LAWRENCE: Yes. Travis Ernst: it is to go put the doom scroll away, put ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: the, news feed you have that you're just waiting for the next thing, waiting for the next thing. I it is important to just go, all right, I don't, my life isn't gonna change drastically if I step away from my phone for 30 minutes. And unplugging ERIK LAWRENCE: No. Travis Ernst: is such a healthy thing to do also. ERIK LAWRENCE: But remember when we used to not have any of those distractions? Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: What would you go do? You would go do something, you know, fix Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: something, clean something, sit down, not do anything, go for a walk, go fishing. my gosh, go fishing. What a concept. Yeah, Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, put some wood. tell you that is. ERIK LAWRENCE: cut some wood. I just split a whole shitload of wood, man. It's very Travis Ernst: That's. ERIK LAWRENCE: active meditation therapeutic, I think. Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: and and very physically challenging. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Which most people probably couldn't do anymore, but they should be able to. Travis Ernst: Right. not the, let me just push a lever and split the... That's enjoyable. That can't be enjoyable, but not the same as ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Yeah, the hydraulics. Well, I did some of that too. But I I I like my mall. Yeah. Yeah. Travis Ernst: swinging the axe. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, but if it's dry enough, there's nothing like you know swinging the mall, you know, break that shit loose and Travis Ernst: Yep. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: yeah. No, I'm with you there. But also, you know, you have to be capable yourself so you can help other people. You know. Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: I I mean w we we've seen every thing known to man where fitness and intelligence comes into solving the problem that somebody else can't do. Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: You know, that's S F one one. But y you see it everywhere. And Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Joe Civilian, I I feel pity for actually, 'cause they couldn't get over a three link three foot chain link fence, you know, Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: if they if their life depended on it. So Travis Ernst: Well, everybody's so offended so quickly and easily now. mean, it's like you ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. yeah. Travis Ernst: say the wrong thing and that people are melting down. like, you know, I try and teach ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: my kids one. You can do hard things. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yes. Travis Ernst: You have to, you can do the hard thing that you don't think you can do and your, and your body can do a lot more than you, than it, it feels like it can. and that is right. Yeah. Yeah. Confrontation. We've had some. ERIK LAWRENCE: And don't melt when somebody says something. Yeah. Yeah. Travis Ernst: some good lessons in healthy confrontation because so many people are like, I don't want to, no, I don't, just going to avoid that altogether. It's like, no, put it on the table. Learn how to talk about it. Yeah, ERIK LAWRENCE: No. Mm mm. Yeah. Yeah. Travis Ernst: don't melt. Yeah, that's a good one. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Yeah, no, I yeah, I've had to go through that recently. But you know, Jake's a good example. He doesn't melt. He he can handle some heat, you know. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: And he used to cuss me for it when he was little, but now he's like, Yeah, yeah. Okay, okay, yeah. I'm like, Uh-huh, yeah, compared to your peers, you kick ass. I don't wanna hear it. He Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: goes, Yeah, I know. I'm like, huh. That's what a little Blackheart Youth program Travis Ernst: It's nice when they come back and go, yeah, you were right. I know. I do. That's what my oldest. ERIK LAWRENCE: It takes a long time, buddy. You'll you got a while. You got ten more years. Yeah, you got ten more. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, touche. Yeah. S Sammy's a little full of herself still too. She's fifteen, you know, so it's Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: like brilliant. You know, just ask. But Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: she's she's quite the individual. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: But I don't know, we've we've kind of been all over the place, Trap, but you know, you've Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: been very fortunate. You don't have a a a a boatload of injuries, you know. You're always the guy fixing people, you know. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: when they shoot themselves in the foot and yell Sniper. Travis Ernst: Yeah ERIK LAWRENCE: I still see that in my mind of like, Sniper? That was your buddy with his flashlight. Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, too funny. But, you know, y I'm not saying you lucked out, it's just you've had a great system, you know. You were trying Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: to teach Jake years ago, six packs are made in the kitchen, you know. That was twenty years ago. Well, fifteen years ago, so Travis Ernst: Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That I feel like I've said that recently, maybe to myself. Because it takes discipline. For me, if I don't get up and get the workout in in the morning, and I'm not out in the gym two hours every morning, it's three days ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Yeah. Travis Ernst: a week is my target right now. And I don't ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, me too. Travis Ernst: always hit it. I mean, there's flexibility, there's grace. But knowing that's just Get it done in the morning because once the day starts, like it's not going to happen after we have to work. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. No, I always say I'm gone too and then best case I take a dog walk, you Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: know, and I call that a a like a a bonus plan. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: 'cause you just wore down. Then the time of year too. You know, summertime you got a little more light, but now Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: it's starting to drop quick and you're like, shit, you know, excuses come out. Travis Ernst: Yep, yep, he missed the window. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Well give me some salient points for people that need to help right now. 'Cause there's some guys that just need Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: to hear something. Travis Ernst: Yeah, I would say I think the chapter, you know, whatever, whatever chapter ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: you're in is not the last. It's not the end of it. Don't get don't get stuck in whatever chapter you're in. You got to you got to learn. You got to take from that and don't be afraid to start something new. I guess that's that's one is the you get there's more to the story and don't get stuck in the last chapter. I think another one is you're not alone and more people care about you than you think. Reach out for help. And there's the accountability that we talked about before as well. If you know somebody, if you've got a buddy that you know, don't be afraid to say something. Because I think you're going to wish. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. I wish we would have did that a long time ago, Trav. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: I know somebody needed jerked you know, by the ear, you're talking to him. But we didn't know any better back then, man. You know? Just No. Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. No, no. And there's no there's no shame in it. It's not like I'm too proud for help. like, no, you're too stubborn for help. But ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: if you need help, ask for it. There's guys who are willing to pour in and go, all right, what do need to do? It's not going to fix it. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Travis Ernst: I remember how was it? don't know. Somebody was talking about this overnight success and the guy who was like the overnight ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: success started 10 years ago. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Yeah. Travis Ernst: And now all you see now is his overnight success. He's like, that's not real. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: So it takes work, takes consistency, diligence, discipline, and a team more often than not. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, but you know, constant learning, you know, we've learned this, you know, and and The you know, I don't remember a lot from NCO courses and stuff, but one was no self and seek self improvement. I'm Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: like, that's a pretty good one. Even though the Army said it, I'll listen to it, you know. 'Cause I usually was the opposite. It was whatever the Army said, I'd do one eighty. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: But that one I'm like, yeah, we need to constantly do that. 'Cause that's part of my you know, your short list. I have a ten ten point list Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: and one of is continual education. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: There's no excuse. YouTube books, you go to Goodwill and get a book for three dollars, man. Travis Ernst: Yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: You can get a college textbook, Travis, for Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: three dollars at freaking Goodwill. I have a Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: garage full of college course books that I paid three dollars. You know, so there's no excuse. my gosh. Yes. Travis Ernst: Yeah, Thrift Books is our friend. That's where we get, maybe homeschool. So it's like, yep, we're going there. Yeah, there's, I remember, it was probably back when I was first stationed at Fort Bragg, there was just this, the three things that I kind of tried to live by back then was improve the mind, improve the body, improve the soul. And the mind was like, trying to do a crossword puzzle, read a book, do something to stimulate the mind. Obviously the body is the workouts and the soul for me was a it's a spiritual development piece of it that is important. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, that's smart. That's the only three things you have to do. I mean it really drills down to that. Everything's Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: a subcomponent of that. But I like Travis Ernst: Right. ERIK LAWRENCE: that point. I'm probably gonna steal that Travis Ernst: All right. ERIK LAWRENCE: and make it sound like I thought of it. Travis Ernst: It's a great idea, Eric. I haven't heard that before. yeah. So improve the mind, improve the body, and improve the soul. Let's write that down. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it, Travis. I I know I know you notice my genius, my body and soul. Hm. Note to self. Jason, note that. Yeah. No, I'm doing the second book, Fire Mission. It's kinda Travis Ernst: Okay. ERIK LAWRENCE: like on the how to from the definition book. You know, 'cause I was writing the other one first and I'm like, Travis Ernst: Okay. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: everything I'm explaining, I have to explain what it is. So I'm like, Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: pull it out, make it a reference book, and Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: then write the book I really want to write, referring to that so they know terminology and and specifics and then Travis Ernst: Right. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: it doesn't clog up the second book. I can just say Ebo and they know what Eboo is, you know, or or contrast therapy. They'll know what that is. Correct. Travis Ernst: Yeah, right. Yeah. It's the application, right? You got the definitions and now here's the application of it. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I always used to put the terminology as the first chapter of my books. 'Cause if you why would you put it in the back? You know? I want you to know the terminology Travis Ernst: Yeah. Right. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: that I'm using to transfer knowledge up front, not Travis Ernst: Yep. ERIK LAWRENCE: you, well, what's that word mean? You look in the back. No, I make you read it up front. So the problem Travis Ernst: Yeah. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: is this this one ended up being four hundred pages, you know. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: So I'm like, Okay, whatever, man. So Travis Ernst: You're right in a tome. ERIK LAWRENCE: I know man, but you know, I get on a tangent and it just just flows, man. And when I fast, holy shit I can write, man. The brain that fasting's another thing, Trev. Travis Ernst: Yeah, what's your fast? Yeah, what's your fasting process? ERIK LAWRENCE: I do one day a week, which is usually like thirty six hours, not really twenty four, since how you start Travis Ernst: You OK? ERIK LAWRENCE: and finish. You do a Sunday or something. Once Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: a month three days. Once a year, ten days. And Travis Ernst: Is that the 10 days, are you doing bone broth or are you just water? ERIK LAWRENCE: Water Water and salt. The brain goes hyperactive, productive after day three. Incredibly. And Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: you're not hungry at all. It is weird. You're bored. Because Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: you you have no idea how much time is wasted during the day buying, prepping, cleaning, cooking, eating. you're just like Travis Ernst: prepping food and eating food. Yeah. How is your physical capacity after three or four days of only water and salt? ERIK LAWRENCE: You're fine. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: You're burning ketones like it's free. You actually don't sleep as much. Your brain's too active. 'Cause think about it, if you if you were hungry back in caveman days and you went to sleep, you died. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: You know, the body keeps you active during, you know, the lack of nutrition. But I do all my detoxing during it and man you clean out like crazy. You know, Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: you do do an IV or two, do colonics and enemas, coffee enemas, do a liver cleanse. Dude, man, that's why I look so youthful. Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm Yeah, I have to start I to try I'm able to do that I fast from about when I go to bed 11 till I get breakfast about 630 ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, that's not fasting, Travis. No. No, it but think about this is something you're a medic, you know, you're a smart guy. You know, if we have if you're fasting, your autophagy is eating anything that's unneeded in your body, like scar Travis Ernst: you ERIK LAWRENCE: tissue, damaged cells, well what's breacher's brain? Travis Ernst: You okay? Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: That's what's Alzheimer's? what's dementia. That's placking of the brain. That's Travis Ernst: Mm. ERIK LAWRENCE: lack of you know, that's a culative issue. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: So I'm thinking, you know, if you're doing current breaching, you need to be doing fasting too. Cause you Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: know, back when you're as fit as you can be and you're low body fat, you're not gonna be eating the fat up, you're gonna be eating the unneeded tissues. So I'm thinking Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: it has to help the brain. I have no Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: scientific, you know, proof on this, but it just is logical to me. 'cause my brain function, yeah, it it doesn't hurt. And the one Travis Ernst: can't hurt might help, right? Yeah, yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: guy I I talked to, Michael Yon, he's on YouTube, he's a big political guy. He's on day twelve. 29 dude and he's running like a top. He's run Travis Ernst: Hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: he's an old SF guy. but he's like a war correspondent or something. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: But yeah, he's on day twenty nine today. And I talked to him the other day and he's like, dude, I feel supercharged. he's just burning butter because he's having a kid. You know, he wants the kid to see Green Beret, you know, not Chubby Dad. So Yeah. Travis Ernst: OK. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going have look into that three days a month and 10 days, 10 day fast. I just have to figure out the right time. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, try it one, try it. You'll like it. I mean you will. Your body'll your body's already cranking, but Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: no, it just think about you know, it's giving your body a rest Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: and it's allowing you to eliminate toxins and debris that you don't need without something else being introduced on top of them. Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: So it's like changing your oil filter, you know. Travis Ernst: Yeah. You see a lot about the, not social media fast, but technology fast, which would include the social media. And I think there's ERIK LAWRENCE: Yes. totally. Travis Ernst: the dopamine that takes what, three days to kind of correct before that ERIK LAWRENCE: Yes, sir. Travis Ernst: thing starts to, your brain starts functioning a little more normal. But man, we're hooked on that. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. No, I th that would be beautiful. Travis Ernst: We're hooked on that hard, the younger generations. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Well, it's bent to be it's d designed to be. I mean they're they're brilliant in how they create addictive algorithms and and visuals and colors and Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, they're not on our side, Trev, for sure. Travis Ernst: Nope. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Well, that was a good Travis Ernst: you ERIK LAWRENCE: one, but I wouldn't like to if you want to do it fast, I'll do it with ya. You know me? And we'll track Travis Ernst: Okay. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: it. You'll it'll be you'll you'll be giggly. You're like, Why didn't I do this sooner? Travis Ernst: Yeah, now the three day or the 10 day? I may have to start with it. Yeah, three day sounds easy. 10 day sounds like a challenge. ERIK LAWRENCE: I don't care. Doesn't matter to me, man. I'll do either. Yeah. The problem with three is Trev, is three's the hard days. After day three, it's all downhill. You Travis Ernst: Yeah, it gets... Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: know, and I've got my theory, it's it's the parasites in you dying and not wanting to die, wanting to make you hungry, you Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: know. But once them bastards are dead Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: and I'm telling you, when you take your deuce You will need a cat hole deeper than six inches, okay? Travis Ernst: Ha ha ha. ERIK LAWRENCE: Because what comes out of you is not what normally is coming out of you. It is shit that shouldn't be in you. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: A and you will rewrite records. So that's why I Travis Ernst: Hmm. What? ERIK LAWRENCE: always advocate clonics. Travis Ernst: What day is that expected? Day three is the... ERIK LAWRENCE: Day three. Day three, day four. Vile. Vile. Yes. Yes. Go to someone else's house. Travis Ernst: Good to know. Good for that. Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: you know, don't don't do your own house. But that to me is proof that you're Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: getting rid of things that you normally could not get rid of. And Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: no one can argue with me. And you go to any colonic service and they'll tell you. The th Travis Ernst: Mm-hmm. ERIK LAWRENCE: they that's what they do every day. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: And they will tell you who's healthy and who's not and why. So yeah. Yeah, yeah. I've done it all. Travis Ernst: Hmm Interesting yeah, I'm in I just forgot that the time the time frame to do it ERIK LAWRENCE: Well, you just tell me when, man. I'll start the day you start. It doesn't matter to me. Travis Ernst: Yeah, might be after deer camp November 15th heading up for a ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. Travis Ernst: 14th or opening. Be up there for four days. ERIK LAWRENCE: dude, I I saw like eight elk bulls this morning and I don't have a tag. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: It it was just like that's the definition of torture. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah. I was I could have shot, I don't know, like four of easy. But no no tag. I'm like, this is criminal man. But say Lovey. Yeah. Travis Ernst: Yeah, yeah, we got the white tails up north, so that's what we're going after again. ERIK LAWRENCE: Yeah, I saw some of them too, but when there's an elk Travis Ernst: Yeah, I know, I know. No, they don't count then. ERIK LAWRENCE: There's no deer. It's not even funny. No, not at all. Well, thanks for your time today, Trap. And Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: let's you know, keep in touch better. It's your fault, but you know, I'll let you t hang that and keep your Travis Ernst: Yeah, yep, we'll do it Well if you're talking to guys who want to talk to somebody else or you know anybody I'm open to connecting talking whatever whatever it is ERIK LAWRENCE: I love it. Yeah, I will. And it helps. And Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: and Trav, it's some of our buddies, dude. I mean Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: you you you won't be shocked, but you'll be shocked. Travis Ernst: Yeah. ERIK LAWRENCE: And they they want to hear from us instead of somebody they don't know. So I'll do that. I'll connect you. Okie dokie. Thanks, Trap. Yeah, see you buddy. Travis Ernst: Yep. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Okay. All right. Thanks a lot, Eric. Yep. See you. ERIK LAWRENCE: Bye.