Matthew Merryman on Health, Body and Growth

Wendy & Rich 0:01
Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios Hartford County living presents conversations with rich Bennett. 

Matthew Merryman 0:29
I 

Rich Bennett 0:31
get this gentleman on head I got to tell the story behind this I screwed up because he scheduled the recording and I come time for a recording I'm like who the hell is this 

Matthew Merryman 0:46
guy 

Rich Bennett 0:47
I couldn't find any information on that and it's like the hell well then my guess I had on email me later so yeah he said you can't so I like okay I don't remember him and she sent me the information guys I was like oh shit it's like oh yeah 

Matthew Merryman 1:03
was 

Rich Bennett 1:03
okay now I remember Dona 

Matthew Merryman 1:06
Thompson 

Rich Bennett 1:06
been the I'm going to say the monark butterfly 

Matthew Merryman 1:09
butterfly lady 

Rich Bennett 1:10
recommended this this guy and you know anytime I get to talk to not just another veteran but a Marine me being a Marine is like yeah I'm I'm 

Matthew Merryman 1:21
that 

Rich Bennett 1:21
all so I have you got my matter Matthew 

Matthew Merryman 1:24
I'll answer to either okay go got him so I'll answer to Adam too because I'm most of my 

Rich Bennett 1:29
go 

Matthew Merryman 1:30
life 

Rich Bennett 1:30
so I have Matthew on his marine but also a wellness coach 

Matthew Merryman 1:37
and life coach wellness coach life coach personal trainer nutrition coach 

Rich Bennett 1:40
what don't you 

Matthew Merryman 1:41
do 

Rich Bennett 1:42
that's the easiest way you say have you written a book 

Matthew Merryman 1:44
yet no 

Rich Bennett 1:45
not 

Matthew Merryman 1:46
no 

Rich Bennett 1:47
yet 

Matthew Merryman 1:47
not yet 

Rich Bennett 1:48
not yet not yet we all in collaboration the stories we both have from you know time served I mean I'm sure we could call it with something that would yeah 

Matthew Merryman 1:54
one dude at 3 p. m. my guy Ralph I 

Rich Bennett 1:56
from 

Matthew Merryman 1:56
trained 

Rich Bennett 1:57
yeah 330 

Matthew Merryman 1:58
he's a former Marine 

Rich Bennett 1:59
oh really 

Matthew Merryman 1:59
60 61 62 so he's like before my time but all our session is his bullshit in 30 minutes everything stories and I go to his work which is in a warehouse down to like Aberdeen so it's like we're not in a gym where there's 

Rich Bennett 2:12
people 

Matthew Merryman 2:12
other 

Rich Bennett 2:12
right 

Matthew Merryman 2:13
on that get all offended and we just go off and it is one of my 

Rich Bennett 2:17
weight 

Matthew Merryman 2:17
favorite parts of the whole friggin 

Rich Bennett 2:19
because 

Matthew Merryman 2:19
it's like you know when you get out you try to tell stories and you think it's funny or hell and people 

Rich Bennett 2:23
yeah 

Matthew Merryman 2:24
do you need to talk someone is everything okay 

Rich Bennett 2:27
it's 

Matthew Merryman 2:28
like no that was a joke that's 

Rich Bennett 2:30
I just 

Matthew Merryman 2:31
nice sometimes just let it out please a little 

Rich Bennett 2:34
bit oh my 

Matthew Merryman 2:35
god 

Rich Bennett 2:36
how many veterans do you do you work with 

Matthew Merryman 2:38
well now it's not as many when 

Rich Bennett 2:40
okay 

Matthew Merryman 2:40
I first got at well I guess you wouldn't call him better when I first got out I did a little niche of like training young men and women who were going cuz I'm like I just got out I know what the standards are 

Rich Bennett 2:51
right 

Matthew Merryman 2:51
I know what they're doing so I made that a little niche for a little bit like you're gonna need to do this you're gonna need to do that you're needing to run three miles and blah blah blah blah here or some like mental and emotional exercises you may want to do 

Rich Bennett 3:05
definitely the 

Matthew Merryman 3:05
cuz 

Rich Bennett 3:05
mental ones 

Matthew Merryman 3:06
I'll tell you right now anybody that that is looking to go into the Marine Core specifically it's gonna be physically challenging and it's going to be mentally challenging if you struggle with both you're probably gonna fail 

Rich Bennett 3:17
right 

Matthew Merryman 3:17
I personally did not struggle that much physically like there were stuff that was tired but it wasn't a point physically where I'm 

Rich Bennett 3:24
like right 

Matthew Merryman 3:24
shit on it but like mentally and emotionally they broke 

Rich Bennett 3:27
couple 

Matthew Merryman 3:28
me a 

Rich Bennett 3:28
some serious mind 

Matthew Merryman 3:29
mean it was some crazy serious stuff and I noticed the people who didn't it struggle with both 

Rich Bennett 3:36
yeah I 

Matthew Merryman 3:37
yeah even the people that physically were like you know I don't or or mentally like sound like it's just if if you struggle with one you seem to be good but if you weren't in physical shape and you weren't strong mentally and emotionally it was just like they chews you up and spit you 

Rich Bennett 3:52
yeah and they have to and this 

Matthew Merryman 3:54
out 

Rich Bennett 3:54
is 

Matthew Merryman 3:54
yeah 

Rich Bennett 3:54
it's 

Matthew Merryman 3:55
yeah 

Rich Bennett 3:55
funny because you have 

Matthew Merryman 3:56
people 

Rich Bennett 3:56
some playing all the training is they shouldn't be doing that okay if and then it happens 

if you're getting taken hostage who's ever taking you hostage ain't gonna give a shit 

Matthew Merryman 4:11
Hmm 

Rich Bennett 4:12
they're gonna do everything they can to you and you got to be able to whistle 

Matthew Merryman 4:17
or how 

Rich Bennett 4:18
you but don't realize 

Matthew Merryman 4:19
that right well in the other piece to it like I didn't get it then but like part of what my area of study is like behavioral psychology behavioral change right because that was the thing I work for a trainer for years and years and years and I know the science my degree is an exercise science like I know the ins and outs of the science of exercise and I'm doing the things but my clients weren't seeing the results I'm like, well, what the- like what's happening? And then that's when I realized how important the mental and emotional and the behavioral thing and the nutrition and the sleep and the stress management is. And in the Marine Corps and recruit training specifically, trying to change your behavioral patterns. Because as a civilian, as like an 18-year-old civilian, you are conditioned and you act a certain way in our 

Rich Bennett 5:03
they're 

Matthew Merryman 5:03
country. That's not useful. So need to that first month, is they gotta break it, right? It's like the neuroplasticity thing, right? We gotta break down that neural- neuro pathway. 

Rich Bennett 5:14
Yep. 

Matthew Merryman 5:15
And then we are gonna create new ones. And it's crazy, like if you ever get a chance to go to like a Paris island to see it, watch the first phaser crew, watch the third phaser crew, and it's only in a three month time span. It's amazing where it's the instantaneous, just obedience to orders. And I remember very vividly when it happened, I think it was a hand sign, like the freeze. There was no thought process that went through my head at that point of stopping. It just happened. Yep. And 

Rich Bennett 5:46
Yep. 

Matthew Merryman 5:46
I remember like a second, I was like, holy shit. It worked. Like they're doing it. I'm just reacting to these things. And that's what you need. 

Rich Bennett 5:54
The funny 

Matthew Merryman 5:55
thing is 

Rich Bennett 5:56
to begin your right, when everybody, when you first get there, you step on the mellow footprints, everybody's different. Mindset and Ray, everything is different. But when you graduate, it's like one giant person. Everybody's the same. 

Matthew Merryman 6:13
My brother still talks about that, the ceremony. he's five years younger than me. He went and saw it. And he was telling me not that long ago, he's like, I still think about that. 

Rich Bennett 6:21
Because 

Matthew Merryman 6:21
Like when you all marched out, and you did the thing at the same time, he's like, to this day, I've never seen anything like that. Like to be honest with you, brother, neither have I up into this point. It's crazy. 

Rich Bennett 6:32
Those of you 

Matthew Merryman 6:32
listening, 

Rich Bennett 6:33
you 

Matthew Merryman 6:33
if 

Rich Bennett 6:33
ever get a chance, Washington, go to the 

Matthew Merryman 6:36
the 

Rich Bennett 6:36
Marine 

Matthew Merryman 6:36
Marine 

Rich Bennett 6:37
Corps 

Matthew Merryman 6:37
Corps 

Rich Bennett 6:37
barracks 

Matthew Merryman 6:37
barracks 

Rich Bennett 6:37
in Washington, DC, eighth and I, and to see the silent platoon. You'll know what we're talking 

Matthew Merryman 6:43
about. Yeah, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 6:43
I think they even do it at Arlington, I 

Matthew Merryman 6:45
do. At least I think certain days. 

Rich Bennett 6:47
Yeah. But that is it's the same way, man. It's a tight knit group, and it's got to be. You can't have just one straggler messing it up. 

Matthew Merryman 6:59
But you know, that's what got me into, you know, being infantry, 

Rich Bennett 7:03
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 7:04
Marines, the played sports and crap like that before I've always been physically active, right? That's one of the reasons I got in the personal training when I got out. I understand the importance of it. 

Rich Bennett 7:12
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 7:13
Like we talked about, you know, I got out. I had all these addiction issues. I was gaining weight. I was having all these problems. I'm still working out. I'm still going to the gym. I'm running. You know, I do Brazilian jujitsu, and I would notice. So I would go like, for instance, I go to my jiu jitsu class 6 30 AM to 7 30 AM and I feel good. Awesome. I'm ready to take one. 

Rich Bennett 7:32
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 7:33
I'm going home and I'm chugging down a pine avaca right afterwards, 

Rich Bennett 7:36
Oh, 

Matthew Merryman 7:36
and I'm like, 

Rich Bennett 7:36
damn. 

Matthew Merryman 7:37
why the fuck can't I like like what's happening? Like I'm 

Rich Bennett 7:40
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 7:40
doing the physical things. And it was my mind. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 7:43
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 7:43
And it was like that was a component. The Marine Corps did with us, but didn't teach us. Like we to change your thought patterns. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 7:51
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 7:51
You think right now, like an 18 year old civilian, that's not useful to us. 

Rich Bennett 7:55
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 7:55
We need you to think like a Marine, right? And they changed your thinking pattern to do it. That's why when I was 24, I got out and I went to Towson to get my degree. And I'm here with these 18 year olds. And I think they thought I was absolutely out of my fucking mind. 

Rich Bennett 8:11
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 8:13
I mean, I'm fresh. Out of there, dude, like 

Rich Bennett 8:15
out. 

Matthew Merryman 8:16
fresh things I'm stringing. Fuck words. Like it's a comma everywhere. I remember doing like my first group project and the dude didn't do one of the parts. I'm like what the fuck is wrong with you, the chain? And he's like tearing up. And my brother was like, Matthew, you can't yell at people out here. Like that's not how it works, dude. I'm like, 

Rich Bennett 8:36
All right. 

Matthew Merryman 8:36
I'm like, I don't. I'm like, it was effective. Like he went and did the thing. Like he won't talk to me anymore. Now nobody will be my partner, but it worked. 

Rich Bennett 8:44
But that's one of the I don't think any branch T when they do brainwash you, but they don't transition you to my 

Matthew Merryman 8:55
thing is. was a rifleman. I was a three 11 rifleman. All right. So I go to Paris Island for three months. You get trained to be a basic Marine. Then you go to school of infantry, which is two months. You get trained to be a basic and 

Rich Bennett 9:06
I 

Matthew Merryman 9:06
free. 

Rich Bennett 9:07
He went. 

Matthew Merryman 9:08
Penalton. 

Rich Bennett 9:08
Yeah. Camp Anelton. Yup. 

Matthew Merryman 9:09
Camp giggles. 

Rich Bennett 9:10
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 9:12
And then you go to the fleet where I trained for almost another year with one nine before redeployed. That's a lot of training before you're in it for real. And then they're like, "Hey, you're getting out. You're going to go to this eight hour class for the next three days, steps and taps. Good luck." And it's basically like, you know, don't rape anybody, don't shoot anybody, don't, you know, whatever. 

Rich Bennett 9:37
And I don't think they had that for us. 

Matthew Merryman 9:39
Three days called "Seps and Taps" if I remember. And I'm not going to lie to you, I didn't go to one of the days, so I'm the three mandatory days. I'm like, they do a random roll call, I bet they won't call my name, they just didn't go. 

Rich Bennett 9:52
Maybe 

Matthew Merryman 9:53
a 

Rich Bennett 9:53
it was 

Matthew Merryman 9:53
thing, I don't 

Rich Bennett 9:54
but 

Matthew Merryman 9:54
think, 

Rich Bennett 9:54
yeah, I know I didn't go if it 

Matthew Merryman 9:56
But 

Rich Bennett 9:56
was. 

Matthew Merryman 9:56
it wasn't, and that's a part of what got me into, like, behavioral psychology. 

Rich Bennett 10:01
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 10:01
So the thing is, how do I unfuck my mind, you know? Because I've got all of these things, like, my wife, when I told my wife, it went something like, and I'll be honest with you, I still do this to some extent. But the thing is, like, you go to a restaurant, you go to a place, I know where the exit is, I know where the door is. 

Rich Bennett 10:20
You 

Matthew Merryman 10:21
are cordial, and you are polite, and you are respectful to everybody you meet. You also have a plan to kill every single person in the room. 

Rich Bennett 10:27
You never sit with your back, 

Matthew Merryman 10:28
and you never sit, yes, and 

Rich Bennett 10:30
you 

Matthew Merryman 10:30
it's just like that's still like ingrained in my head, and my wife is still like, that's crazy. 

Rich Bennett 10:35
know, I'm 

Matthew Merryman 10:35
I have some 

Rich Bennett 10:35
the 

Matthew Merryman 10:35
shit 

Rich Bennett 10:35
same 

Matthew Merryman 10:35
in 

Rich Bennett 10:36
way, 

Matthew Merryman 10:36
there. 

Rich Bennett 10:36
Never take this, never take the same path to wherever you're going all the time, yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 10:41
But you know what it taught me is how effective that is in creating neurological patterns in your brain, like roads. You know, like a road versus a wooden path, right? One is just easier, when we have a thought, fires off an electrical signal in our 

Rich Bennett 10:57
yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 10:57
brain, that electrical signal wants to travel down the best path, like you want to drive down a road to get to where you're going, you want to drive through the woods. Brains the same way, right? But what we can do over time is we can kind of close off that road, put the brush over there, clear out another road that we want to do, but it's the repetition, 

Rich Bennett 11:16
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 11:16
right? You gotta have that thought pattern, repetition, repetition, repetition. That's a part of what got me into the wellness coaching piece is the realization that it's not just the exercise and the nutrition. It's a big part of it, 

Rich Bennett 11:29
right, 

Matthew Merryman 11:29
right? Because you know, if I eat, people think I'm crazy sometimes at the gym, but it's like, I don't eat sugar during the weeks, right? And it's not just because you know, gain weight or whatever, I meditate a lot. That's 

Rich Bennett 11:40
good, 

Matthew Merryman 11:41
my, that is my, I don't want to say religion, but that's like my thing. That's my 

Rich Bennett 11:45
yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 11:45
everyday thing is I meditate, I do focus based meditation, I do death, contemplation, meditation. I do all sorts of cause it helps my mind. And I notice when I eat sugar, the thoughts that are radical and around in that little brain of mine, get different. too. 

Rich Bennett 12:01
Even if it's 

Matthew Merryman 12:02
No, no, no, no, that's, I'm talking more like additive 

Rich Bennett 12:05
not, 

Matthew Merryman 12:05
sugar sugar. 

Rich Bennett 12:06
okay, 

Matthew Merryman 12:06
That's a great question. No, I eat the shit out of fruits. I eat it 

Rich Bennett 12:09
yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 12:09
every 

Rich Bennett 12:09
me 

Matthew Merryman 12:09
day. But it's like that. Like if I eat some ice cream or a piece of 

Rich Bennett 12:13
something. 

Matthew Merryman 12:13
cake or 

Rich Bennett 12:13
Oh, 

Matthew Merryman 12:13
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 12:13
yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 12:14
that I notice the quality of my thoughts change, we're not talking about that. Nobody really ever talks about that. That it's like, hey, what you're putting into you has a direct reflection on you, man. 

Rich Bennett 12:25
We just talked about this. I think of me. I mentioned Dennis Pazito. 

Matthew Merryman 12:29
Yeah, yeah, 

Rich Bennett 12:30
I 

Matthew Merryman 12:30
yeah. 

Rich Bennett 12:30
think he's a one to say, he said, you actually are what 

Matthew Merryman 12:33
eat 

Rich Bennett 12:33
you 

Matthew Merryman 12:33
with those gut 

Rich Bennett 12:34
or 

Matthew Merryman 12:34
bugs 

Rich Bennett 12:35
Mike. Yes. 

Matthew Merryman 12:35
aware whatever the hell it is right now. And that because that's all the bacteria in your gut, there's a shit ton of science right now showing that that microbiome in your stomach is having a reflection on your thought. It's triggering signals into your brain, which is like part of the reason why I like this big dinner and I'm full, but then I have a bite of dessert and all of a sudden I get like super hungry. 

Rich Bennett 12:57
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 12:57
Like 

Rich Bennett 12:57
I'm 

Matthew Merryman 12:57
it's those gut bugs triggering your brain and saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you got room. Let's eat a little bit more 

Rich Bennett 13:02
show. 

Matthew Merryman 13:02
of that 

Rich Bennett 13:03
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 13:03
Like it's trying to get it. It's an addiction. 

Rich Bennett 13:06
How much water do you drink a day? 

Matthew Merryman 13:08
I drink as much as I can, 

Rich Bennett 13:09
Okay. 

Matthew Merryman 13:09
man. I mean, I'm taking a piss, probably every 45 minutes. 

No, I mean, there's days where it's different, but I'll tell you, my stupid trick. Is that Stanley mug thing right there? It's like 50 bucks? 

Rich Bennett 13:21
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 13:21
Serred to be it's absurd that a water bottle costs that much money. But if I spend money on a water bottle, I'm going to drink it and I carry it around with me every 

Rich Bennett 13:30
way, right? 

Matthew Merryman 13:30
Because it's like the like in the Marine Corps, you want to stay out of sight out of mind. If you don't want to get in a working party and pick up cigarette butts the rest of the day in the parking lot, 

Rich Bennett 13:38
stay 

Matthew Merryman 13:39
out of sight and you'll be out of mind. Same thing with that. I keep that thing in my view. I'll sip water throughout. 

Rich Bennett 13:46
I love to refill 

Matthew Merryman 13:48
it. Probably two, three times 

Rich Bennett 13:49
a 

Matthew Merryman 13:49
day. It depends on the day, like if I'm doing like a workout or something like that, it might be a little bit more. But I try to get at least two, two to three of those a 

Rich Bennett 13:57
Because 

Matthew Merryman 13:57
day. 

Rich Bennett 13:57
I know a lot of water makes a big difference, 

Matthew Merryman 14:00
It 

Rich Bennett 14:00
too. 

Matthew Merryman 14:00
does, 

Rich Bennett 14:00
it does. I try to drink at least a gallon a day. 

Matthew Merryman 14:03
Well, you know, it's crazy men as we have this, uh, I call it the fancy scale and one of the gyms I'm at. It's called an in-body machine. 

Rich Bennett 14:09
Okay, 

Matthew Merryman 14:09
and it sends, um, bilectrical impulses through your water cells and what it does is it gives me your weight, right? So whatever your weight is, but then it's going to tell me how much is water, how much is muscle, how much is dry lean mass, how much is your bones, how much is fat. It's cool. It's not the gold 

Rich Bennett 14:24
right, 

Matthew Merryman 14:24
standard of, like, body mass, but it's okay. It's like a good tracker. But I always like, and I'm, I have a new client, and I'm taking them through that. I'm like, I want you to see it because you know I'm a trainer. I'm going to say things like water and protein. but I want you to see if you're like 150 pounds, you know, like whatever 87 of that is water. 

Rich Bennett 14:44
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 14:44
So 

Rich Bennett 14:44
times, 

Matthew Merryman 14:44
it's like when I'm saying like, you need to drink water, you need to drink water because you're a water-based being. Most of you is water. Yeah. That's why if you get dehydrated, everything starts to change in a negative way. 

Rich Bennett 14:57
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 14:57
Right? You can go like, what is it, a month, without food or something like that? It's like 20, 30 days, you know, like three days of that one. And you die. That's 

Rich Bennett 15:05
important. 

Matthew Merryman 15:05
pretty 

Rich Bennett 15:06
A 

Matthew Merryman 15:06
lot of 

Rich Bennett 15:07
times, you know, you hear if you're hungry, drink some 

Matthew Merryman 15:11
for 

Rich Bennett 15:11
water 

Matthew Merryman 15:11
food. Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 15:12
That's probably gonna, 

Matthew Merryman 15:14
And I'm saying, man, from like a professional point of view, probably seven times out of 10, that's the case. 

Rich Bennett 15:19
yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 15:19
Where your body is just sending you a signal I need something. And it's like, water is the thing you're gonna need more times than food. 

Rich Bennett 15:27
Right? 

Matthew Merryman 15:27
And again, it's like, if we're if our body is made up to go like a month without chloric intake, do you think you really need to eat every two to three hours? Like, that's not always necessary. 

Rich Bennett 15:39
How important is it because I think I've had wellness coaches on life coaches, business coaches, but I don't think I've ever had 

Matthew Merryman 15:51
a 

Rich Bennett 15:52
Not that I can remember right off hand. A wellness 

Matthew Merryman 15:55
wellness 

Rich Bennett 15:55
coach, personal trainer, it's also 

Matthew Merryman 15:57
coach. 

Rich Bennett 15:57
a nutritional coach. 

Matthew Merryman 15:57
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 15:58
How important is it? 

Matthew Merryman 16:00
Very important 

Rich Bennett 16:00
to combine. I mean, it's 

Matthew Merryman 16:01
cute. Well, that's what my business is called unity through 

Rich Bennett 16:05
wellness. Right. 

Matthew Merryman 16:05
What made me want to create that? 

Rich Bennett 16:07
With the number four, right? Or is it just unity 

Matthew Merryman 16:10
through wellness, T. H. R. U. Through? I got the name to be honest with you is I was studying yoga for a while. 

Rich Bennett 16:17
It's 

Matthew Merryman 16:18
part what I teach is yoga. And I never knew. Anyway, I read through all the, the big, the Dhamma pada, the bava geeta, the apanashad, like all of the big spiritual texts. 

Rich Bennett 16:27
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 16:28
Part of what I do to, I'm a raky practitioner and meditation teacher so I bring that into it. But I got the name because I never knew that yoga meant unity or to yoke, to unify something together. And I believe in our side of the world, we practice traditional. I think it's called Hawthra yoga, 

Rich Bennett 16:46
Okay. 

Matthew Merryman 16:46
which stands for unity through movement. Right. You have different ones like Karma yoga, which is creating unity through action or there's unity through meditation. 

Rich Bennett 16:55
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 16:56
That's right. Got my name is to unify or unity through wellness, right? 

Rich Bennett 17:01
Okay. 

Matthew Merryman 17:01
Because the wellness approach is all of it. Right. the exercise. 

Rich Bennett 17:05
Mm-hmm. 

Matthew Merryman 17:05
It's the movement, not exercise or movement, but exercise and movement. 

Rich Bennett 17:09
Movement. 

Matthew Merryman 17:09
10,000 steps days actually a magic number. Getting proper nutrition, doing things for your mental and emotional well-being. Sleep. You know, we pride ourselves in this country. I only sleep four hours a night and I do everything. It's like, well, you're going to die of probably some horrific cancer in a few years because your body needs sleep. 

Rich Bennett 17:27
Yes. 

Matthew Merryman 17:28
Like, it's something like, I think less than 2% of people in the world can function off six hours of sleep. Everybody else within a particular age graphic is like eight to nine or seven to nine. 

Rich Bennett 17:40
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 17:40
I think the last thing was, so I don't know, you need eight to seven to nine hours of sleep tonight. People don't do it. 

Rich Bennett 17:47
No. 

Matthew Merryman 17:47
So I think that it's everything and that's one of the reasons I really wanted to come on here and to have a conversation with you too, is the importance of that, right? We're living in a world of instantaneous gratification where I had a client once who had high blood pressure and he came and talked to me and the reason he was there was because his wife was making him. And you know, I'm going through all this. I'm like, here's the deal, man, and I'm passionate. Like, I do believe that this is what I'm supposed to do with 

Rich Bennett 18:13
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 18:13
my life. So I'm very passionate about the shit that I do and I'm like, here's what we got to do, man. Like, I got the program, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like I'm going through all the things. Like, this is, this is what we are going to need to do over the next three to six months that will lower your blood pressure. And I said this whole thing to him and he just sits and he's blatantly this and he goes, Matt. Or I can just take a pill. 

Rich Bennett 18:35
What? 

Matthew Merryman 18:36
Like, why don't I just take a pill? It'll lower my blood pressure. And then I don't have to do any of this shit. 

Rich Bennett 18:41
on, Jesus. 

Matthew Merryman 18:41
I'm 

Rich Bennett 18:42
I'm 

Matthew Merryman 18:42
like, 

Rich Bennett 18:42
like, 

Matthew Merryman 18:42
come 

Rich Bennett 18:42
pills have side effects. 

Matthew Merryman 18:43
Pills have side effects. And it's like, do you really want to be reliant on something? Like, that's another thing with me is like, I don't...independence is a huge huge, my mentor for years as a man named Jack Skane. The guy is a crazy life. And he was a client of mine, but now he is a success coach for these crazy Fortune 500 companies and stuff 

Rich Bennett 19:06
Okay. 

Matthew Merryman 19:07
like. And he was the one that taught me, if you want to thrive in life, right, not survive, not tread water, not just exist, but you want to thrive. There's four steps to do that. And the first step is you have to claim your independence. Like Jordan Peterson says, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything you 

Rich Bennett 19:25
Nope. 

Matthew Merryman 19:25
say in doing life. I don't want to take a pill. If my lifestyle is causing my blood pressure to be high, whether or not it's a genetic issue or not, I am going to change my lifestyle and my approach to it to lower my blood pressure. I don't want to be dependent on 

Rich Bennett 19:39
No. 

Matthew Merryman 19:40
medication. Now, there's times, right, where you're gonna have to like, whatever the medication is, like it just is what it is. But I don't think it's as high as the percentages we see now, 

Rich Bennett 19:50
I 

Matthew Merryman 19:50
man. 

Rich Bennett 19:50
don't think it is either. I think a...too many...to me is an easy way 

Matthew Merryman 19:55
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 19:55
out. 

Matthew Merryman 19:55
sure. 

Rich Bennett 19:56
I know for the longest time my blood pressure 

Matthew Merryman 19:59
was high, 

Rich Bennett 20:00
so told me to take a baby aspirin. 

Matthew Merryman 20:02
I 

Rich Bennett 20:02
was doing that. 

Matthew Merryman 20:05
That's pretty common, the 

Rich Bennett 20:05
aspirin. 

Matthew Merryman 20:06
baby 

Rich Bennett 20:06
Yeah. And the last time I went to my doctor, the new doctor probably, I want to say maybe, four years ago, five years ago. He said, "Why are you taking a baby aspirin?" As well, I was told to a wife. He said, "You don't need to take any more." My blood pressure normally is like, right around between...I want to say 117, 125, over like 70 something. 

Matthew Merryman 20:33
That's good. 

Rich Bennett 20:35
perfect, which is perfect. 

Matthew Merryman 20:36
It's 

Rich Bennett 20:36
My relaxed heart rate has been like right around a 60 mark. 

Matthew Merryman 20:40
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 20:40
And...because 

my doctor now, he said, "What are you doing?" I said, "I changed my lifestyle." 

Matthew Merryman 20:47
He 

Rich Bennett 20:47
said, "I meditate. I'm doing everything better. The easiest way to say it and you'll probably agree with me. I love myself." 

Matthew Merryman 20:58
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 20:59
And a lot of people don't and that's why when you rely on all these other things, you know, you're not loving 

Matthew Merryman 21:06
We're 

Rich Bennett 21:06
yourself. 

Matthew Merryman 21:06
not even taking the time for 

Rich Bennett 21:08
it. No. 

Matthew Merryman 21:08
That's the thing. 

Rich Bennett 21:10
No. 

Matthew Merryman 21:10
There was one of my teachers said once, like if I asked you to write a list down of all the things you love, how long would it take for you to write down yourself? And she said, "I do that with some of my clients." And they look at me like a deer in the headlights, like, "What 

Rich Bennett 21:22
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 21:22
the hell are you talking about?" But it... 

Rich Bennett 21:24
It should be the first thing. 

Matthew Merryman 21:25
It 

Rich Bennett 21:25
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 21:25
should be the first thing. You got to take care of yourself, too. You know, and it's not easy, but it's daily practices. You have the responsibility to do that. And that's where, like, meditation. I think it might have been...I study a lot of different religions because I think that they're all... They're all leading...the thing is, man, is they're all leading. And this is...we're getting into my little opinions. 

Rich Bennett 21:47
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 21:48
But I always see so many common things 

Rich Bennett 21:51
Mm-hmm. 

Matthew Merryman 21:51
when... and then I go over here to Jesus, and then I'm over here with Krishnan, and then this thing. And it's like it's all leading to the same damn place, 

Rich Bennett 21:58
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 21:59
but we're just taking some different roads to go there. But 

Rich Bennett 22:01
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 22:01
you 

Rich Bennett 22:02
Buddha, 

Matthew Merryman 22:02
get these different kernels. And I think it was Buddhism talks about how, you have to have right understanding, to lead to right thought, to lead to right speech, to lead to right action. 

Rich Bennett 22:13
Okay. 

Matthew Merryman 22:13
So, I tell my clients, like I've talked to Don about this, too. So, okay, there's an action that we're doing that we don't like. We can't change the action. We got to backtrack that damn thing, right? We've got to go all the way to understanding. Like, I think specifically we're talking about eating. Okay. 

Rich Bennett 22:29
Okay. 

Matthew Merryman 22:30
I know that when I eat this stuff, I feel good. I know when I eat this stuff, I feel bad. Yet I still 

Rich Bennett 22:36
eat 

Matthew Merryman 22:36
this stuff. That's the action. Well, now we have to go to the understanding. Why? Why do you still eat that stuff? And that's personal. You sit with that. You journal with that. You don't have to answer me. But you've got to have an understanding of why is that behavior in place? Then we got to tweak the thought. We've got, again, that neurological changing of the pathways. We've got 

Rich Bennett 22:56
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 22:56
to close that road, open that road to have a different thought about it. And then speech isn't necessarily like you and I are speaking to each other right now. Like, what do you say to yourself? You say a lot of shit to yourself during the day. 

Rich Bennett 23:06
Yeah. You 

Matthew Merryman 23:07
Like, 

Rich Bennett 23:07
do. 

Matthew Merryman 23:07
there's an absurd maybe even borderline insane amount of self talk that I do with myself. I talked to myself, probably more than anybody else in the world. But you got to, what are you saying to yourself? Just like, what are you thinking? What is the quality of your thoughts? We have junk food. They're sure as hell junk thoughts that we have during 

Rich Bennett 23:24
the very true. 

Matthew Merryman 23:26
What are your junk thoughts? What are you saying to yourself? You fix those that action will fix itself. But you got a backtrack to those. 

There ain't no pill that I can give you that's going to change your understanding, but it's having that understanding of why. 

Rich Bennett 23:45
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 23:46
You know, I love the story, man. I read a wild back, some monk somewhere. There was a reporter who got into the monastery and he was doing these interviews and he asked this monk. In your opinion, what's wrong with the world? Like, what's the issue? Like, we're all fighting and we're having a problem. Like, you look at the world today. It's like, there's a lot of chaos and hate and all this 

Rich Bennett 24:05
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 24:05
stuff, like separation. What's going on? And the monk was like, why am I going to answer your question with a question? Who are you? And the reporter was like, the Matthew Maryman, and he goes, no, no, no, that's, that's a name that was given to you at birth by two people. It's a sound we make to identify a physical form. What are you? And you always went back and forth, like, I'm a reporter. I'm a 37 year old male. I'm a father. I'm a husband. I'm this. Then he's like, no, that's a title. No, that's this. No, that's that. That's a profession. And finally, a reporter just sitting there goes, I don't know who the hell I am. And the monk is that's exactly the problem that the world has. Nobody knows who the deeper self is within them. And so of course, we're going to be confused and we're going to not be loving and caring for ourselves because we don't even know who the fuck ourselves 

Rich Bennett 24:53
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 24:53
is. Let alone to take care of them. Right. If you don't know you have a child somewhere on the world, you're not going to take care of the child, you don't know they exist. 

Rich Bennett 25:00
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 25:01
If you don't go into the deeper works of like meditation, spirituality, religion, any of that stuff and discover the deeper part of yourself, of course, you're not going to take care of it. You don't know it exists. You're just existing. 

Rich Bennett 25:15
Wow. I've got a lot of homework to do, don't I? 

Matthew Merryman 25:19
We all do, man. 

Rich Bennett 25:20
all do. But we all do. Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 25:21
We 

Rich Bennett 25:21
you're right. 

Matthew Merryman 25:21
That's the thing. And that's the point of it. Is it supposed to be like an ongoing journey with 

Rich Bennett 25:27
it? Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 25:28
Right? It's you never want to stop seeking. Right? Because that's the cool inner work. 

Rich Bennett 25:34
Why do you feel people are afraid to do that though? 

Matthew Merryman 25:37
Because it's fucking terrifying, dude. When you dig into some of your trauma and understand yourself, like it's not my joke, I say with my dollars, I get all ain't sunshine and unicorn or we fart sweetie. Like there's, there's some dark, deep-ass shit that you got to go into like trauma, being military and just not even military 

Rich Bennett 25:56
childhood, 

Matthew Merryman 25:57
childhood and shit like that. Like you got to dig into that man. Like you got to go deep into that and you got to understand it and that's where healing comes from. I love the story of, there's a story of Jesus when he's, there's a, I think they call him lame in the Bible, like couldn't walk the dude couldn't walk and he wanted to go get water from the well or whatever it was. And Jesus came over and the guy I guess knew who Jesus was or whatever and he was like, Jesus basically said I'm like, do you want to be healed? And the guy's like, well, you know, I just, I can't stand up and I want to go get the water, but this guy's in my way and she won't let me in and they're always taking this. And Jesus, I'm not interested in your excuses, brother. 

Rich Bennett 26:37
right. 

Matthew Merryman 26:37
I'm asking you, do you want to be healed? And it's an interesting question where we'll to somebody like do you want to drop the weight? Do you want to lower your broad push? Do you want to be healed? And you're going to start to make all these different excuses of, 

Rich Bennett 26:52
uh, 

Matthew Merryman 26:53
why this that and the other? It's like, that's not what I'm asking. Do you want to go through the process to be healed? Because it's not going to always be awesome. 

Rich Bennett 27:02
yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 27:02
It's going to be a bumpy road. You're going to have to do it. My meditation teacher once told me, Matthew, if you're not crying at least two or three times a week during your meditation, you're not going deep enough. Like you got to 

Rich Bennett 27:13
it. Wow. 

Matthew Merryman 27:13
dig You got to dig into it. where you got to go deep in there and understand that understanding again. 

Rich Bennett 27:20
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 27:20
I'm having these thoughts. Why? What? My daughter is three and a half. We're going through the why phase right now where she's getting curious. 

Rich Bennett 27:29
everything 

Matthew Merryman 27:29
Everything's why? Why? Why? Why? And let me tell you something, dude, one of the greatest teachers I've had in my life has been daughter. You know, like, there is a 

Rich Bennett 27:36
date is this kids can teach you a lot wonder. 

Matthew Merryman 27:38
dude, there was one more. I'm fucking pissed and I'm like, this client's canceled and I've got this email and I got all this and 

Rich Bennett 27:43
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 27:43
I'm trying to take her for a walk outside before I head out. And she's not moving. I'm like, Lear, like, come on, we got and she's looking at this leaf on a tree and she goes, daddy. Wow. And I stopped in my tracks, man, humble telling I'm like, shit, you're right, baby. Like I'm over here playing a game. Like it's like it's the greatest thing in the world like there's an infinite of time that exists before me. There's an infinite of time that's going to exist after me. Like this is just some fun little game that we're playing at right now. Like and I'm taking it way too seriously. You're right. Wow, to that leaf. But her thing with why? It's teaching me. 

Rich Bennett 28:23
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 28:24
Why? All I have this thought about this. Why I do this thing very regularly. Why? Why? They're constantly asking 

Rich Bennett 28:32
questions. 

Matthew Merryman 28:32
Why? Why? Why? Go in deeper and deeper and deeper. That's that journey. That's that growth. And that's where I noticed the biggest change I've ever had. Now, I do think when you have an addiction to 

Rich Bennett 28:46
something, 

Matthew Merryman 28:47
things like alcohol and automics and the cardics, the cardics, or not, any of those groups, I do believe in them. I think they are great. I did not personally do them myself. 

Rich Bennett 28:57
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 28:58
But I think the reason is because I went into this inner work. I went and understood it. I went and studied it. 

Rich Bennett 29:04
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 29:04
I studied my mind. I am a big fan of psilocybin mushrooms, not for recreational use, but John Hopkins right now is doing studies on them for veterans with PTSD to increase neuroplasticity. I experimented with that. I actually ate some of those and then I laid naked in a sensory deprivation tank and I went, okay, let's see what the fuck happens here. And it was wild, scared the shit out of me, but I got all out out of it. I understood the depths of myself and my mind and how the whole thing works. It was sort of this going from a religious belief to more of a spiritual understanding point in my life. It was wild, but it was a part that helped heal me. 

Rich Bennett 29:50
Did you 

Matthew Merryman 29:50
all 

Rich Bennett 29:50
all say 

Matthew Merryman 29:50
say try to take 

Rich Bennett 29:51
try 

Matthew Merryman 29:51
Oh, yeah, I did tell you. That's what I did at first. 

Rich Bennett 29:54
with that 

Matthew Merryman 29:54
I 

Rich Bennett 29:54
doing? What? 

Matthew Merryman 29:54
was 

Rich Bennett 29:54
Okay. 

Matthew Merryman 29:54
like, I ain't doing this first experience until I know what I'm getting into. 

Rich Bennett 29:57
Did you 

Matthew Merryman 29:58
It's wild experience. 

Rich Bennett 29:58
Where do you first of all? Where do you find? 

Matthew Merryman 30:00
Well, the, where, 

Rich Bennett 30:02
Like, 

Matthew Merryman 30:02
where I did was, it's called truth mind and body, which is intimonium. I was 

Rich Bennett 30:06
okay. 

Matthew Merryman 30:07
working at a place in Timonium at the time. And that's actually where I met my then future rakey master. 

Rich Bennett 30:13
Okay. 

Matthew Merryman 30:13
because I read a book about it. I got interested in it. She did it and she ended up teaching me it, but there is a place called the vine in Forest 

Rich Bennett 30:20
Yes. 

Matthew Merryman 30:21
Hill. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 30:21
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 30:22
They have them. They call them 

Rich Bennett 30:23
Oh, 

Matthew Merryman 30:23
float tanks. 

Rich Bennett 30:24
Okay. 

Matthew Merryman 30:24
I don't think they call them sensory deprivation tanks, just because when I say something like that, people are kind of like, what the hell 

Rich Bennett 30:31
is that I've been wanting to try 

Matthew Merryman 30:32
Yeah. They're pretty cool. Man, I would highly recommend them for sure. 

Rich Bennett 30:36
it. 

Matthew Merryman 30:36
Like if you meditate sensory deprivation tanks are awesome for meditation because when you meditate, right, if I'm doing like a focus based, I gotta get through levels. I gotta get to the physical level first, right? I'm twitching, I'm moving around, no, whatever, right, I gotta do that. Then I gotta get through the mind. I got these thoughts bouncing around. I got these emotions going all 

Rich Bennett 30:57
yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 30:57
through my body. I gotta get through that next where it's like that tank. It's almost like a shortcut because you're floating, it's salt. You're just floating in this thing. All the lights turn off. Your senses are just, I'm not hearing stuff. There's nothing to see. It doesn't smell or taste anything. You don't really even feel yourself floating after a few minutes. So your senses are gone. So you're almost immediately left with your thoughts and your feelings, like from the gecko. That's something that takes me 20, 30 minutes to get to. 

Rich Bennett 31:29
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 31:29
But it's like you're there and then you can kind of sift around that and it's sort of like, um, Like if there's a pond and you're throwing rocks in it, it gets all cloudy. But then it settles back down and it's just clear water. It's like once your thoughts and your emotions settle and there's that clear water, you can really experience the depths of your being within yourself. 

Rich Bennett 31:50
right. 

Matthew Merryman 31:50
But Jesus teaches us that the kingdom of heaven is within you. 

Rich Bennett 31:53
What 

Matthew Merryman 31:54
does that mean? How do you experience that? How do you get to that place? It's a pretty cool. It's a pretty cool device, a tool to. 

Rich Bennett 32:04
Wow. I didn't realize the vine had 

Matthew Merryman 32:08
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 32:08
had one. 

Matthew Merryman 32:08
I think they call them float tanks. I mean, I've seen at least one in there. I know they have. 

Rich Bennett 32:12
And what's the other thing? There's another thing, some type of chamber? I forget what they call that. 

Matthew Merryman 32:18
I don't know. 

Rich Bennett 32:18
That might be for hospitals. 

Matthew Merryman 32:20
Yeah. I don't. 

Rich Bennett 32:21
Yeah. It's like 

Matthew Merryman 32:22
I don't know if I would go into chamber, dude. 

Rich Bennett 32:24
I can't look. I don't even like to do that. What do you call that thing? 

Matthew Merryman 32:28
The MRI thing. Yeah, I've not had the pleasure of that. Yeah, but my wife has had a 

Rich Bennett 32:34
of 

Matthew Merryman 32:34
couple 

Rich Bennett 32:35
says 

Matthew Merryman 32:35
it's a horrific. 

Rich Bennett 32:36
It is. So when I messed up my back, I did one. 

Matthew Merryman 32:42
Then 

Rich Bennett 32:43
when I got the bones, birds in my neck, 

Matthew Merryman 32:45
I 

Rich Bennett 32:46
went to do it. But then they clamped down your head, and I started freaking out. No, no, no, no, no, even after two valium, they said, "Well, here, take this." 

Matthew Merryman 32:57
When there's a bunch of noise and stuff like that, right? 

Rich Bennett 32:59
Yeah, but they can give you ear buds, but still, it's because... and keep in mind, at the time, I was a lot heavier. So they're putting you, it's like being in a freaking casket, man. And no, uh, I don't like that. I want to be able to, I don't want to have to rely on a freakin' table sliding out for me to get out. If I don't like it, my ass wants to jump up and get the hell out. I would bet uh, whatever you call it, the brain head doctor's, um, spine, spine, whatever doctor, young guy, and I tell him I see 

Matthew Merryman 33:37
you and see you, and see what you 

Rich Bennett 33:37
do. I can't do nothing. 

Matthew Merryman 33:39
I was 

Rich Bennett 33:39
like, what about open 

Matthew Merryman 33:40
my 

Rich Bennett 33:40
He 

Matthew Merryman 33:40
eyes? 

Rich Bennett 33:40
said, 

Matthew Merryman 33:40
remember 

Rich Bennett 33:41
no, I don't 

Matthew Merryman 33:41
all of them. 

Rich Bennett 33:42
I'm like, alright, goodbye. 

Matthew Merryman 33:44
My way to 

Rich Bennett 33:45
Yeah. It's like, fuck that, man. If I can't do, no way. 

Matthew Merryman 33:49
highway. 

Rich Bennett 33:49
And I never did get it done. Never got it done. And like, my new doctor, uh, looked at the X-rays. That's how he found out about the Bones-Bers. And he just recommended the chiropractor. I'd rather try, man, I've learned so much stuff, especially since I started doing, when I was doing the DDP 

Matthew Merryman 34:08
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 34:08
yoga. 

Matthew Merryman 34:10
yeah, 

Rich Bennett 34:10
yeah. I would, I'd rather try anything holistic 

Matthew Merryman 34:13
first. Same. 

Rich Bennett 34:14
Before you give me anything else. 

Matthew Merryman 34:17
and that's a part of what I really want to bring to that table. 

Rich Bennett 34:20
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 34:20
Is that other? Like I'm, again, I'm not like against medicine or anything like that, but it's like that shouldn't be number one. And I like that new doctor to where it's that's one of the coolest parts or at least that's one of the parts I love about what I do is

Rich Bennett 34:36
you're listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. We'll be right back. 

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Matthew Merryman 36:02
It's not a dictatorship when I get. what partnership. 

Rich Bennett 36:05
Yes, 

Matthew Merryman 36:05
Yes, what works for you. Like what do you want to do? Like I want to hear your opinions. because me telling you what to do is I'm going to do shit. You know, if you want to get in better shape and I'm telling you to lift weights, but you hate lifting weights, it's never going to work. 

Rich Bennett 36:18
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 36:19
Yeah, like we got to find what works for you and I love that I think that's great that there are doctors out there that are kind of doing the same. Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 36:25
yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 36:25
this is what's going on in my professional opinion ICX Y and Z. What do you think? Like, because I think you could do this or maybe do that or maybe do this. What's one of those approaches do you like? It's conversation. 

Rich Bennett 36:36
Yeah, I mean I love I haven't touched the tool. One of the things I have gotten and you may know her or not. Yeah, I think she's a Ricky master Aubrey Rose. 

Matthew Merryman 36:46
Yeah, I heard the name. 

Rich Bennett 36:47
Yeah, okay. She did a video a while ago of a vibration board. 

Matthew Merryman 36:51
Yeah, I've heard of these 

Rich Bennett 36:52
and as it's a Christmas time cave, we do this, whatever you call it, the 

way you know. Whatever it's called. 

Matthew Merryman 37:01
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 37:01
and somebody had gotten one and my son ended up stealing it, and he kept it. So we try them like, okay, I got to get me one of these 

Matthew Merryman 37:11
things 

Rich Bennett 37:13
freaking love it. 

Matthew Merryman 37:14
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 37:14
And now I went to the chiropractor, I asked her I said, would you think it be a good idea? Cause I love using the tubes. 

Matthew Merryman 37:22
Yeah. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 37:23
I said the resistance to you. Do you think it be a good idea if I use them while doing the vibration board? Cause I'm like, yeah, I was like, Oh, okay. Just remember, if it started hurting. 

Matthew Merryman 37:35
About it, man, I mean, this isn't like woo, woo, kind of crap. Like if you look at physics, everything in the world is vibration. 

Rich Bennett 37:43
Yes, a 

Matthew Merryman 37:44
variant frequency. There's a guy Dr. Joe dispensia. I think it's his name. He talks If you want to change what's going on in your life, you change your vibrations. 

Rich Bennett 37:57
about. 

Matthew Merryman 37:57
How do you change it? What is a thought? A thought is an electrical signal that's created by the brain. That electrical signal creates a chemical response. We 

Rich Bennett 38:05
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 38:05
call that chemical response an emotion. That charge, that electromagnetic or whatever signal creates a frequency. If you have particular frequencies, it's going to match with other varying frequencies that are in the world. That's why you see people that are very angry, fearful, and negative. Typically, things come into their life that are very 

Rich Bennett 38:27
concise. 

Matthew Merryman 38:28
That frequency is kind of matching up. Similarly to people who are very positive and happy and stuff like that, like typically. It's again, there you go back to Frickin Christ. When he says to those who have everything more will be given, and to those who have nothing, everything will be taken away. Again, he's just explaining that same damn thing. Like it's about the quality of your thoughts and your understanding. But it's all vibration. It's like everything's vibrating, so you find the correct frequency of vibration. You're going to help yourself out because you're vibrating anyway. 

Rich Bennett 38:58
Oh, I love that thing. 

Matthew Merryman 38:59
It's cool, man. 

Rich Bennett 39:00
It is. 

Matthew Merryman 39:01
Very, very cool. 

Rich Bennett 39:02
Yes, because I thought it first you just stand on 

Matthew Merryman 39:05
it. 

Rich Bennett 39:06
I'm 

like, I haven't tried sitting on it yet. I don't know, but it's 

Matthew Merryman 39:14
a little intense. 

Rich Bennett 39:15
Yeah, I don't know if I could do that 

Matthew Merryman 39:17
yet. 

Rich Bennett 39:19
But I am going to, I'm this probably next or probably this week. 

Yeah, starting soon. I'm going to start doing the resistance tubes. 

Matthew Merryman 39:28
Yeah, good 

Rich Bennett 39:28
I'll 

Matthew Merryman 39:28
on you. 

Rich Bennett 39:29
do it and try that because I love the tubes. But that's my operation board. Neighbors probably think I'm nuts because I set it up in front of them. I'm looking out the window at the bird feed. it's in a way it's like my medicine, one of my other ways of meditating. Just focus on the birds that 

Matthew Merryman 39:48
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 39:48
are out there to bird feeders and just sit there. 

My body's shaking. Hey, my neighbors looking to buy the window door like, what the hell is wrong with it? These things are figuring electrical suckers. 

Matthew Merryman 40:06
What else do you do for meditation? 

Rich Bennett 40:08
I always meditate 

Matthew Merryman 40:09
go 

Rich Bennett 40:09
when I 

Matthew Merryman 40:10
to bed. Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 40:12
I'll just lay down. I always see the pleated Tibetan bowls. I just lay there and just I got to do deep meditation. I 

Matthew Merryman 40:23
And 

Rich Bennett 40:23
haven't tried that. I'll just focus on those bowls and just relax. It's like nothing. I hear nothing. 

Matthew Merryman 40:31
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 40:32
and then when I get up in the morning, a lot of times I get 

Matthew Merryman 40:36
my office. 

Rich Bennett 40:37
I just sit in my office chair and I'll just sit there 

Matthew Merryman 40:41
and 

Rich Bennett 40:41
then focus for about five minutes on. Usually the birds outside because my window's right 

Matthew Merryman 40:47
That's 

Rich Bennett 40:47
there. 

Matthew Merryman 40:47
great. 

Rich Bennett 40:48
Yeah, nature. Just something about hearing nature, especially the bird. Learn to enjoy things a lot more and look at things differently. outside. 

Matthew Merryman 41:00
Oh, you're 

Rich Bennett 41:00
Even figurines mom, my wife thinks we. 

She was setting up stuff for Christmas and she put out a figurine. And I'm just looking at it, she goes. What's better? No, I'm just. I have to figure it out. So just. It's amazing. She goes, what's amazing about it? It's a figurine. No, but just look at all the work on it and just enjoy it every 

Matthew Merryman 41:24
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 41:25
little detail. 

Matthew Merryman 41:26
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 41:26
And all she said, you're weird. I'm 

Matthew Merryman 41:29
But 

Rich Bennett 41:29
like, what? 

Matthew Merryman 41:29
it's a good point to that. 

Rich Bennett 41:30
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 41:31
It's like as as. 

Rich Bennett 41:32
Enjoying 

Matthew Merryman 41:33
Indeed. 

Rich Bennett 41:33
like. 

Matthew Merryman 41:33
Yeah. Because we're just all over the place from the phone all the time. 

Rich Bennett 41:37
Yeah. Oh. 

Matthew Merryman 41:39
Yeah. We're just like slowing down a little bit more. Enjoying life a little bit more. 

Rich Bennett 41:43
Mm 

Matthew Merryman 41:44
Right. 

Rich Bennett 41:44
hmm. 

Matthew Merryman 41:44
I think we're at a weird crossroads in our civilization right now. We're going either off the cliff over here with all this tech and stuff. 

Rich Bennett 41:53
Oh. 

Matthew Merryman 41:54
Or we sit back. We maybe get a little bit nicer to one another and enjoy the show a little bit. 

Rich Bennett 42:00
Yeah. 

I mean, it's kind of like I'm sort of sitting in the talks with people all the times, especially about AI. 

Matthew Merryman 42:06
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 42:07
Yeah. Is there how worried they are? Like embrace it, man. It's been here since the 50s. Embrace 

Matthew Merryman 42:13
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 42:13
it. Learn how to use it. It's been in your house for God knows how long. 

Matthew Merryman 42:17
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 42:17
this. They might, I mean, it's. But however 

Matthew Merryman 42:21
Like 

Rich Bennett 42:21
like this thing here, those cell phones. 

Matthew Merryman 42:23
Mm hmm. 

Rich Bennett 42:24
Yeah. And I keep trying to my wife and my daughter don't get on it before you go to bed. 

Matthew Merryman 42:30
Oh, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 42:31
We don't have a TV. I 

Matthew Merryman 42:32
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 42:33
won't put one in there. I used to. But say no, you don't need all these blue rays. 

Matthew Merryman 42:38
It's the blue rays. 

Rich Bennett 42:41
Uh, yes, yeah, I had 

Matthew Merryman 42:44
another 

Rich Bennett 42:45
guy on 

Matthew Merryman 42:46
and 

Rich Bennett 42:48
we were talking, talking about similarly what we're talking about now, but one of the things he talked about was how to sleep better. 

Matthew Merryman 42:53
Yeah. 

Sleep socks? 

Rich Bennett 43:07
Greater bed 

Matthew Merryman 43:08
No 

Rich Bennett 43:08
wearing. 

Matthew Merryman 43:09
shit, 

Rich Bennett 43:09
sleep socks. Yeah. And a mask, 

a sleep mask. Dude, let me tell you something, I've been sleeping a hell of a lot better. 

Matthew Merryman 43:18
mask. Sleep socks and a 

Rich Bennett 43:21
Sleep 

Matthew Merryman 43:21
sleep mask. Huh. 

Rich Bennett 43:21
Just the mask just lacks out everything and yeah, I'll still, yes, now my wife does type that in balls so I yes, Lexi is play weight noise. 

Matthew Merryman 43:32
I put that 

Rich Bennett 43:32
on, 

Matthew Merryman 43:33
mask 

Rich Bennett 43:33
it's going into socks and I'm out of new time. 

Matthew Merryman 43:36
That's incredible. 

Rich Bennett 43:37
Unless my daughter decides to walk into the bedroom and tell us about the hockey games. Then it'll wait me up and throw it back. 

Matthew Merryman 43:48
But in that such a simple solution. 

Rich Bennett 43:50
Yeah, it's 

Matthew Merryman 43:51
Taking 

Rich Bennett 43:51
amazing. 

Matthew Merryman 43:51
a whatever to do 

Rich Bennett 43:52
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 43:53
what. 

Rich Bennett 43:53
I'm getting playing. I mean, I'll go to bed. My everybody laughs because I'm a bit of at a clock. 

Matthew Merryman 43:59
Good 

Rich Bennett 43:59
I 

Matthew Merryman 43:59
one. 

Rich Bennett 43:59
don't fall asleep till about nine, but I get it up anywhere between four and five thirty. 

Matthew Merryman 44:06
Did you have to sleep rituals? 

Rich Bennett 44:08
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 44:08
yeah, parent for bed. 

Rich Bennett 44:09
yes. 

Matthew Merryman 44:10
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 44:10
Yeah, it makes a big difference. Breakfast smoothie every morning. Then I'll have an apple between breakfast 

Matthew Merryman 44:19
and lunch, 

Rich Bennett 44:20
lunch, eleven thirty. Dinner, I always try it because I'm waiting for my wife and I'm the cook. So, depending on whether she's working from home or at the office, usually six. 

Matthew Merryman 44:33
And 

Rich Bennett 44:34
as far as a late night snack, there is no such thing in here. I don't and I will 

Matthew Merryman 44:40
not 

Rich Bennett 44:41
eat anything after seven, seven o'clock. I can't. 

Matthew Merryman 44:46
Yeah, especially if you're going to sleep by like nine. 

Rich Bennett 44:48
Oh, yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 44:49
I give you something like that two 

Rich Bennett 44:50
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 44:50
hour period. And we go 

Rich Bennett 44:51
went out 

Matthew Merryman 44:51
out. 

Rich Bennett 44:52
and it's a late dinner. So I ain't going to bed early in the night. 

Matthew Merryman 44:56
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 44:56
I 

Matthew Merryman 44:56
I 

Rich Bennett 44:56
won't be able to. Yeah, again, I found that out the hard week, as I was getting. 

Matthew Merryman 45:01
Mm-hmm. Ajita, a grandma used to call it. 

Rich Bennett 45:05
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 45:06
But it's 

Rich Bennett 45:06
heart. 

Matthew Merryman 45:07
like exercise. 

Rich Bennett 45:08
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 45:09
You know, just what most of the time you don't walk into a gym and just start doing stuff. Like you warm up, rather 

Rich Bennett 45:15
yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 45:15
treadmill, stretching, whatever you do. Sleep is pretty similar. 

Rich Bennett 45:18
Mm-hmm. 

Matthew Merryman 45:18
You prepare for sleep. That's part of like with wellness coaching clients that I have like we talk a lot about sleep. What are you doing before sleep? And it amazes me like a lot of the people who are like my head's just racing. Like I can't fall to sleep because my mind just won't stop. Where it's like, okay, well, let's backtrack. What are you doing like this and that 

Rich Bennett 45:36
to get a racing? 

Matthew Merryman 45:37
Nine times out of 10 men. It's either watching TV. A lot of the news. 

Rich Bennett 45:41
I 

Matthew Merryman 45:41
It's 

Rich Bennett 45:41
have 

Matthew Merryman 45:41
a lot of 

Rich Bennett 45:42
not 

Matthew Merryman 45:42
watching 

Rich Bennett 45:42
watched 

Matthew Merryman 45:42
the news. 

Rich Bennett 45:43
more 

Matthew Merryman 45:43
I'm like, don't even watch it anymore. It's like, at this point, it's like a poorly written show. Like just 

Rich Bennett 45:50
exactly. 

Matthew Merryman 45:51
don't even 

Rich Bennett 45:53
Don't put 

Matthew Merryman 45:53
go with that. 

Rich Bennett 45:53
in you thoughts. 

Matthew Merryman 45:55
Yeah, because it's not doing you any good. Like that was one of the things that helped me after the Marines was. I went into more philosophy than I did for religion for a time and I fell in love with Marcus Aurelius and stoicism. Right? So learning how to be a stoic and a part of what they have is what's known as the dichotomy of control. So identifying what is in my control? What is not in my control? If it's not in my control. Psh. Out of your head. Get it out of there. I ain't going to sit here and freaking bitch and complain that it's raining a little bit outside because it doesn't do 

Rich Bennett 46:30
You 

Matthew Merryman 46:30
anything. 

Rich Bennett 46:30
can't 

Matthew Merryman 46:30
I can't eat and 

Rich Bennett 46:31
stop. 

Matthew Merryman 46:31
I can 

Rich Bennett 46:31
Because 

Matthew Merryman 46:31
do about it. Right? But if, you know, I got a client at 12, I need to leave here by a certain time. Like that, I can control. Like I'm not necessarily going to worry about it. But I'm going to be aware of it. 

Rich Bennett 46:41
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 46:42
You need to know what it is so I can control this thing. But it's so much it seems like of what we're worrying about is show out of our control. It's like, dude, we're spinning our wheels here. And we're wasting valuable resources and energy on shit that doesn't matter. 

Rich Bennett 46:56
And time. 

Matthew Merryman 46:57
God, a 

Rich Bennett 46:59
it's 

Matthew Merryman 46:59
lot of time. 

Rich Bennett 47:01
Be scary. You think about it. If you could get back all the time you will. Probably another freaking life in there. 

Matthew Merryman 47:09
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 47:11
And we, 

Matthew Merryman 47:11
and we all do it. We 

Rich Bennett 47:13
all do it. 

Matthew Merryman 47:13
Still 

Rich Bennett 47:14
do it. I mean, I think I said, I don't watch the news. But I will, unfortunately, because I got to be on social media a lot because of the business. 

Matthew Merryman 47:23
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear 

Rich Bennett 47:25
you. They feed you the stupid ass news 

Matthew Merryman 47:28
time out. You 

Rich Bennett 47:29
feed. 

Matthew Merryman 47:29
know, I, 

Rich Bennett 47:29
Does 

Matthew Merryman 47:30
I learned something recently. You've heard of, like, the Trinity, right? 

Rich Bennett 47:32
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 47:33
The Holy Trinity. So I, I heard this recently in it. One of those things that really resonated with me where this guy talks about, uh, the Trinity is explained in the first, like, ten words of the book, Genesis. So immediately I pick up, like, what the hell is this guy talking about? And it goes, so in the beginning, in the beginning, right? So beginning, there's your first Trinity. Time. So time was created in the beginning. God created heaven. There's your second Trinity space, right? Cause it could be the inner space, the outer, whatever. God created heaven and earth, earth being the third Trinity matter. So there is, in a sense, your Holy Trinity, time, space, and matter. We call the combination of time, space, and matter, reality. 

Rich Bennett 48:17
Right, 

Matthew Merryman 48:17
but it's interesting where it's like, if you're thinking of what is the holiest of holies for us as humans, and this is just getting into my thoughts. 

Rich Bennett 48:24
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 48:26
Time is sacred. 

Rich Bennett 48:27
Oh, yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 48:27
Time is like a sacred frickin thing. Like, that's why one of the meditations I do is contemplating death, like thinking about, like, not on a morbid kind of, oh, I'm going to die today. 

Rich Bennett 48:37
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 48:37
I'm like, all right, look, dude, you're 37 years old. Still pretty young, but I'm also not that young. And also like my joke to a lot of clients is I've dedicated my life to health and wellness, but just as likely to get it run over by a bus today, it's anybody else 

Rich Bennett 48:51
That's 

Matthew Merryman 48:51
away 

Rich Bennett 48:51
true. 

Matthew Merryman 48:51
outta here, but you should look at that. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 48:54
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 48:54
Like you should contemplate that fact and understand how sacred each and every bit of time, cause I always talked to, you know, my wife thinks it's not that much. She's a accountant, kind 

Rich Bennett 49:04
Okay, 

Matthew Merryman 49:04
of. but I'm like, it's just money care. We'll make more of it tomorrow. I don't get more time back. yeah, like I don't get more time. That was a dolly llama, I believe, when asked what surprised him the most about the world is our culture, rather here in the west, as he goes, what surprised me the most is how it seems like Americans live each and every day as if they're never going to die. And then they die, haven't never truly lived. And that really like hits something in me because again, you go back to your why you're understanding, well what, what does it mean to live? What does that mean? 

Rich Bennett 49:38
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 49:38
Parts beating up alive. But am I living or am I just on autopilot, consuming food, shit and 

how many people are stuck in that loop? 

Rich Bennett 49:51
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 49:51
right where it's we're not having that that again, who are you? Like that deeper thing, who are you? And how do you thrive in life? How do you feel alive? 

Rich Bennett 50:00
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 50:01
because you can make money. Shit, you can win the lottery, maybe. Who knows? It's not likely, but you can do it. But you're never going to win a time lottery. No one's ever going to say, hey, you're 10 years back. Go 

Rich Bennett 50:11
I 

Matthew Merryman 50:11
for it. 

Rich Bennett 50:11
think I'd rather have a time 

Matthew Merryman 50:13
lottery that I wish, man, 

Rich Bennett 50:14
look at how many of these people that win 

Matthew Merryman 50:16
the lottery wish. 

Rich Bennett 50:16
Become millionaires and end up either, you know, just like, 

Matthew Merryman 50:22
all the 

Rich Bennett 50:23
charged with the charged with depression, anxiety, go broke, go bankrupt. 

Matthew Merryman 50:27
think there is like a connection of some sort to that man. There was you know Kevin O'Leary 

Rich Bennett 50:31
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 50:31
is he's from Shark Tank. 

Rich Bennett 50:33
I 

Matthew Merryman 50:33
He said once that it was like he had a mentor when he was real young 20s. And his mentor said, all right, I want to know your goal. And he's like, I want to make $3 million in next three years. Something like that poll not numbers. And he goes, all right. And and Kevin O'Leary, it's basically like he's explaining his process. And he goes basically, like, I don't care about the money. He goes to $3 million is useless. $3 million doesn't want to know what you need to do to become 

Rich Bennett 51:00
matter. 

Matthew Merryman 51:00
worth 

Rich Bennett 51:00
I 

Matthew Merryman 51:01
$3 million. And I do that the same thing with like a client like I'm not worried about you losing 25 pounds. That's arbitrary. I don't care about that. I want to know is what does the version of you that weighs 25 pound less. What do you think? What do you feel like? What do you say to yourself? What do you do? That's why it's like again, this is Matt's little opinions over here. Why certain things like medication, which in some cases maybe needed, it doesn't work because you're getting a weight loss, but you're not establishing the behavioral patterns that come with the weight 

Rich Bennett 51:34
loss. Right, 

Matthew Merryman 51:36
there's nothing you could take to be a marine. You had to go through the thing to change that mindset to become that. And it takes that work. And again, the weight loss or the muscle gain or the results. It's a good outcome, but it's secondary. becoming that character. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 51:55
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 51:55
And if you're familiar with Joseph Campbell and his hero of a thousand faces of heroes, journey, whatever the hero to book this guy, Joseph Campbell's like 60s or 70s, I think. But it's like any movie you watch, 

Rich Bennett 52:07
it's 

Matthew Merryman 52:07
there is certain stages called the hero's journey. 

Rich Bennett 52:09
Right 

Matthew Merryman 52:10
right? There's the familiar world they cross the threshold, they meet the old mentor, the trials, intercave, blah, blah, blah, blah, all these different things. But the hero always finds the elixir of life and then they come back into the ordinary world once again. And what we get from that is that it's about the journey, right? You always hear it's not the journey or it's not the destination, but it's the journey that matters. That's what makes you who you're going to be, because it's not about, I want to lose 25 pounds. It's about, I want to be the person who is 25 pounds less and they keep that 25 pounds off, because I've changed who I am. I've changed my behaviors and shit like, 

Rich Bennett 52:54
wow. 

shit. Maybe that's why a lot of these diets don't work. 

Matthew Merryman 52:59
I 

Rich Bennett 52:59
I got to change your lifestyle. 

Matthew Merryman 53:01
really think that's a part of it, which is why my ears perked up. I've never used noob, but I know what it is. I don't know, that's a part of what it's doing. That's 

Rich Bennett 53:09
Oh 

Matthew Merryman 53:09
like 

Rich Bennett 53:09
yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 53:09
what I do is a wellness coach is guide you to these different patterns and then repetition, repetition, 

Rich Bennett 53:17
I 

Matthew Merryman 53:17
repetition, until you don't need my voice telling you what to do. It's just become an internal thing that now we're doing. 

Rich Bennett 53:24
It's automatic. 

Matthew Merryman 53:25
It's automatic. And that's like with Donna, one of the first things we went over self 

Rich Bennett 53:31
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 53:31
love. Who are you doing this for? Are you doing this to a person? Are you doing this to validate that person? Or is this an act of self love for you? Are you doing this for you? You know, Donna's a mother. 

Rich Bennett 53:44
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 53:44
She got kids. She's got grandkids. She got a husband. She was a nurse 

Rich Bennett 53:48
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 53:48
for God's sake. Right. Caregiving is like a thing. That's like her automatic. But I'll tell you, man, some of the most fucked up people physically I've ever worked with, nurses, because there's 

Rich Bennett 54:00
fucking all this shit they see. 

Matthew Merryman 54:01
Yeah. Well, yet would they see, but they don't care for themselves. They care for everybody else, but 

Rich Bennett 54:08
Oh, yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 54:08
they're bucket fillers. Where then at the end of the day, they filled everybody else's bucket, but there's nothing left for them. And you know, after 20, 30 years of doing that, that's just like I care for everybody else. That's what, like even Donna's been retired for a while. 

Rich Bennett 54:23
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 54:23
And you can see it, like she's, like she was in Pennsylvania the other day helping these Amish people because they needed a ride to the hospital because the wipes haven't had a hard issues. She's helping them drive into the hospital, staying at the hospital, helping facilitate things, but that's what she does, dude. And even with the butterfly thing, she's told me outright, I don't give a fucking shit about Yeah. But they're in 

Rich Bennett 54:45
butterfly, 

Matthew Merryman 54:45
trouble. 

Rich Bennett 54:46
right. 

Matthew Merryman 54:46
They're in trouble. So I'm going to help. That's what she does. But then it's always like my job. Well, what's left for you at the end of the day? Is there anything left in your bucket at this point? Like what are we doing for Donna? 

Rich Bennett 55:00
Wow. 

Matthew Merryman 55:00
But it's not, uh, it's not automatic yet. Helping others is the automatic process that she has. But then at the end of the day, she forgets about Donna. 

Rich Bennett 55:11
yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 55:11
A lot of people are like that. That's not, 

Rich Bennett 55:13
yeah. That's true. A lot of, yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 55:14
A lot of you. Parents are special. 

Rich Bennett 55:16
Oh, 

Matthew Merryman 55:16
parents are special in that. Yeah, I can see it. 

Rich Bennett 55:20
Well, I mean, you look at, today it's like, and it ain't just today, it has been the case for a long time. People that are constantly working. 

Matthew Merryman 55:29
Mm-hmm, 

Rich Bennett 55:30
Constance, now if you work from home, that's because 

Matthew Merryman 55:32
mm-hmm, 

Rich Bennett 55:32
you can 

Matthew Merryman 55:32
mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 55:32
still, but I mean, just constantly, working. You're focused on work. And then a lot of these ones that, um, I'm, I'm right now thinking of a friend of mine, you know, he's constantly working, comes home. And then he's either coaching, 

Matthew Merryman 55:50
hmm, 

Rich Bennett 55:50
you know, a little league, or he sits on all these different boards, it's like, when the hell do you have time for yourself? 

Matthew Merryman 55:58
yeah, 

Rich Bennett 55:58
He said, well, I have time with the family. He's like, yep, when do you have time for yourself? Time with the family is important, but you have to have time for yourself. 

Matthew Merryman 56:05
Mm-hmm, 

Rich Bennett 56:06
you have to. It's, it's necessary and you want to stay healthy. And that's one of the reasons of what, another reason I started losing weight. I said, I refuse to have diabetes. I see what my brothers, 

Matthew Merryman 56:19
grandpa died 

Rich Bennett 56:20
my 

Matthew Merryman 56:20
of that. 

Rich Bennett 56:21
I saw that. Oh, yeah, it's, it's, I don't want it. And every, all my, both my brothers and my sister having, I'm like, I don't know. 

Matthew Merryman 56:29
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 56:30
And, um, it's one of the things, it's like, okay, I have a goal in life. My goal is to be a hundred years old 

Matthew Merryman 56:38
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 56:38
and still doing this. 

Matthew Merryman 56:39
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 56:40
I want to make it, I'm not, I want, I'm going to make it to at least one hundred. What was it at the Orioles game yesterday? I think they just had, they got it throughout the first, the first picture was 109. 

Matthew Merryman 56:51
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm 

Rich Bennett 56:53
like, and Wendy and I, who I spoke about earlier, other co-hooves, we had a young lady on 101 years old. 

Matthew Merryman 57:01
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 57:01
She still has a trainer. still has a trainer at 100 and 1. That just tells me age is nothing but a number man. 

Matthew Merryman 57:12
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 57:13
look at Dick Van Dyke. 

Matthew Merryman 57:14
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 57:15
he's what 99 maybe 

Matthew Merryman 57:16
I 

Rich Bennett 57:16
100. 

Matthew Merryman 57:16
think you just hit 100 

Rich Bennett 57:18
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 57:18
recently. If I'm not mistaken, 

Rich Bennett 57:19
but still out there dancing and having a good old 

Matthew Merryman 57:21
but 

Rich Bennett 57:21
time. 

Matthew Merryman 57:21
that's what he said is his secret. He's like, I just keep doing shit. Like I'm 

Rich Bennett 57:24
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 57:25
enjoying life. I move around. I do stuff. I just don't hold down the couch. 

Rich Bennett 57:29
And yeah, stare 

Matthew Merryman 57:30
at this thing like because I think that's what's killing us over time. 

Rich Bennett 57:33
Oh it is. 

Matthew Merryman 57:33
Like moderation. That's a stoicism principle. There's like four values or whatever for the stoics and one of them is temperance. Like it's not know whatever but temperance, moderation, like do a little bit of it. Like have a little cake have a little ice cream. Don't 

Rich Bennett 57:48
eat the whole thing. 

Matthew Merryman 57:49
Don't eat the whole thing for God's 

Rich Bennett 57:51
Yeah, that's why I didn't eat that whole jar of check recovered Oreos and one 

Matthew Merryman 57:55
sake. 

Rich Bennett 57:56
sitting at Christmas. Like I did 

Matthew Merryman 57:58
down the road from Bloom's Broome ice cream. Like, shoot, if it was up to me, I'd be there every, oh my 

Rich Bennett 58:03
God, 

Matthew Merryman 58:03
God. 

Rich Bennett 58:03
my 

Matthew Merryman 58:04
Best Damn like. 

Rich Bennett 58:04
Yeah, I that's the funny. Since I started losing this way, I really not a big fan of ice cream anymore. 

Matthew Merryman 58:11
Yeah, well, you start to lose it. That's that that gut bug thing where it's like you have that value of like I know if I eat this, I'm feeling sure. 

Rich Bennett 58:19
Yeah, yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 58:20
I'm feeling good. Like I'm feeling good and I've consistently felt good now for a while months years, whatever it is. Like I don't do that because I know I'm going to feel like shit. I don't like feeling like shit. 

Rich Bennett 58:30
No. 

Matthew Merryman 58:30
Like, I'm going to keep I'm going to eat an apple. I'm going to eat whatever because like that sweet, it's delicious, but it makes you feel good. Doesn't 

Rich Bennett 58:37
and it's good for you. 

Matthew Merryman 58:38
I mean, it's good for you. It's got value. 

Rich Bennett 58:41
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 58:41
It's like another thing is like looking at something. I do this with my nutrition clients. Some of them like, what's the nutrition value in this? Why are we eating that? An enjoyment is an okay answer if it's in moderation. 

Rich Bennett 58:52
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 58:53
Right. Or if it's a cultural thing. That's an okay answer in moderation, but it should be something when you're about to put something in your mouth. Why? 

Rich Bennett 59:03
To 

Matthew Merryman 59:04
Why? My kid. 

Rich Bennett 59:04
that 

Matthew Merryman 59:05
Why? 

Rich Bennett 59:05
why. Yep. 

Matthew Merryman 59:06
Why am I putting this in my mouth right now? Is it nutritional value? Is it? I've had a stressful day? We don't ask that. 

Rich Bennett 59:14
No. We don't. We need to. All right. So it's something very important. 

Matthew Merryman 59:19
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 59:19
What's your website? How can people find you? 

Matthew Merryman 59:21
Website is just our name Unity through wellness dot 

Rich Bennett 59:24
What 

Matthew Merryman 59:25
com. 

Rich Bennett 59:25
is THRU? 

Matthew Merryman 59:26
It's THRU unity, through THRU wellness dot com. That's got all our information on their stories. I do personal training program designs wellness coaching, nutrition coaching, a teaching meditation, I do rakey or people. It just depends what you're looking for. But it's my vision was a one-stop shop for a holistic wellness approach, right? 

Rich Bennett 59:50
I love that. 

Matthew Merryman 59:52
You got to be certified in all these things. Unfortunately, well, maybe not unfortunately. Fortunately, you got to be certified so you know you have some sort of credential with it. So it's like, you can find a wellness coach, but they can't write you an exercise program, Because you got to be a certified 

Rich Bennett 1:00:05
right? 

Matthew Merryman 1:00:05
professional trainer. You can get a certified personal trainer, but they can't coach you in nutrition and mental and emotional wellbeing. You got to be a wellness coach. It's my figured, I'm going to go through all of them. So legally, we can do that. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:16
Right? Now, do you 

Matthew Merryman 1:00:18
go 

Rich Bennett 1:00:19
to visit the people or do they come to a website? 

Matthew Merryman 1:00:23
I do it all. I'm starting to switch to more remote actually in on May 18th. I'm packing up the family and we're driving out moving to Nevada for about a year or so. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:34
What? 

Matthew Merryman 1:00:34
Yeah, yeah, we're going to do a little bit of a move and a change. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:38
Wow, 

Matthew Merryman 1:00:39
we're saving up for a house. And it's just right now. It's kind of the best. And why not? I don't think anybody has. I mean, I don't, I don't like to talk absolutes. I don't think anybody has ever died and gone, shit, I wish I saw less of a world. I don't think that maybe, but why the hell not the kids three? Oh, dude, we're going to we're ending at the Grand Canyon. And then we're going to head up into Nevada to again, live there for about a year or so. But the point is I'm trying to go more remote for a time. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:10
So I can 

Matthew Merryman 1:01:11
and I do I prefer in person, but I like to remote. I got clients in Colorado. I got clients 

Rich Bennett 1:01:17
yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 1:01:17
in California. Like I mean, I can, I can do anything. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:20
I think I forgot for COVID and people aren't having the Zoom 

Matthew Merryman 1:01:22
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 1:01:22
right? 

Matthew Merryman 1:01:23
shit, man. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:23
I don't 

Matthew Merryman 1:01:24
want to frigging laptop 

Rich Bennett 1:01:25
know. 

Matthew Merryman 1:01:25
before I didn't That a button it even was. But now I do the Zoom, I have the whole, I use an app called Trainerize that I pay for so my clients don't have to, but 

Rich Bennett 1:01:37
Okay. 

Matthew Merryman 1:01:37
you can log your food, I can put your programs into there. Like, it's, you just click a button and all the shifts right there and I can put it all into there. Like it's, it's what we used to call Grunt Proof. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:48
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 1:01:48
Like, you can't, you can't fuck this. Oh, like, 

Rich Bennett 1:01:51
it's great because a lot of the people I get on, they do a lot of their training is virtual. 

Matthew Merryman 1:01:57
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:58
And this way, they're helping people through the world. I mean, how cool is it? You could be in Nevada or you could be here and you could be working with somebody in Jordan, that's a sniper. You know, I've 

Matthew Merryman 1:02:09
got my, my books are filled with clients, but, you know, I've been telling them all like, here's what's going on, here's what's happening. We're good. We're going to keep going. We'll do the same damn time, at least for you. And we'll just go, we'll just take it remote. Got it all done. They know the drill and they're all like, cool, good to go. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:25
And those of you listening, I probably just drew you for a loop when I said that he could be working with somebody in Jordan, that's a sniper. I real, I just, after I said that I realized I didn't never 

Matthew Merryman 1:02:35
Why? record it that part recording or any 

Rich Bennett 1:02:37
I didn't record that part. So in the marine, when, when, when Matt was in the Marines, that's one of 

Matthew Merryman 1:02:43
the things 

Rich Bennett 1:02:44
He did. He was in 

Matthew Merryman 1:02:45
he 

Rich Bennett 1:02:45
Jordan 

Matthew Merryman 1:02:45
did. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:45
and worked with a sniper. That's why I said that, but 

Matthew Merryman 1:02:49
like a 60 

Rich Bennett 1:02:50
old. 

Matthew Merryman 1:02:50
something year 

Rich Bennett 1:02:51
Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 1:02:51
or this dude was, we, we called him Larry. That wasn't his name. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:56
Could have 

Matthew Merryman 1:02:57
pronounced. We couldn't pronounce his name, but we called him Larry and he was one of the most badass, 

Rich Bennett 1:03:00
oh man, man. Yeah, that's, see, this is why I'm going to have to get you on again 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:06
Oh, yeah, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:06
to tell 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:07
So I 

Rich Bennett 1:03:07
those 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:07
enjoyed 

Rich Bennett 1:03:07
stories. 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:08
this 

Rich Bennett 1:03:08
much. 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:08
very 

Rich Bennett 1:03:08
So is anything you like that before I get to my last question? 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:12
No, I think I'm pretty much good here, man. I appreciate you giving me time too. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:16
Pick a number of between and one hundred. 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:18
I'm going to go 

Rich Bennett 1:03:20
74, 74, why 74? I have 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:22
my old football number. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:23
Oh, okay. 74. We got 70. 

All right, 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:34
You 

Rich Bennett 1:03:34
dude. 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:34
may not do it. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:35
There's people that that have listened to the podcast. No, this I have a hundred different questions. 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:39
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 1:03:40
somehow or another, it seems like, and I always ask the guests to pick a number. 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:45
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 1:03:45
somehow or another, it seems like the question aligns with what we've been talking 

Matthew Merryman 1:03:49
about. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:50
And this is number 74. And so you so you don't I'll let you read the question. So you know, I'm not full of shit at the lines of what 

Matthew Merryman 1:04:01
talking 

Rich Bennett 1:04:01
we've been 

Matthew Merryman 1:04:01
about. Hmm, that's freaking crazy, man. What does it mean to live with purpose? I think that's really beautiful. Yeah, I wish that's a question. Honestly, most of us asked ourselves almost 

Rich Bennett 1:04:15
every day. Yeah, 

Matthew Merryman 1:04:16
what I think it means to live with purpose is you first take time to identify what your gifts are. Cause everybody's got gifts. Every single person is good at something. And they have gifts, right? My gifts, I noticed, I'm good at talking to people. I'm good at communication. I'm good at relationship building. I'm good at empathy, understanding other people, right? That's part of my gift is, is communication. Alright? And then I think on the other end, you take time and you figure out what your interests are. What do you, what do you interested in? Right? Cause I might have say a gift in math. I don't have a gift in math, but I could have a gift in math, but I don't give a shit about it. Right? 

Rich Bennett 1:04:56
right 

Matthew Merryman 1:04:56
I'm not interested in it. So you find your gifts, your God given gifts, if you want to call them, and then you find your interests. And you try to find that cross section like an ex of where my gifts and my interests align. And then I can live with purpose, not that you know, there's not going to be a grind some days, right? 

Rich Bennett 1:05:17
Right. 

Matthew Merryman 1:05:18
My interests are an exercise. My interests are in spirituality. My interests are in mental and emotional wellbeing. And my gifts are in communication. Well, shit, maybe I should talk to people every day about faith and spirituality and health and exercise and wellness and nutrition and all of these things, right? That's my intersection. That's how I can live with purpose every day is that I'm doing something that it's like when I lay down, I never have a problem going to sleep at night because I did something today. My worst effing day, I helped somebody exercise. That's a good day. I somebody that wouldn't exercise alone exercise today. 

Rich Bennett 1:06:02
Yeah. 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:02
I did that. That was me. Yeah, they're paying me to do it, but I'm a professional. Right? You get professionals get paid for their services and their times. But I helped somebody today and I used my gifts to do it. And I think that's what living with purpose is. Is your identify your gifts, your natural gifts. 

Rich Bennett 1:06:18
Figure 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:18
out what your interests are and you align them together to create a purpose filled 

Rich Bennett 1:06:25
Great answer 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:26
Thank you. 

Rich Bennett 1:06:27
man. That was good. Matt, I want to thank 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:29
you. No, no, thank 

Rich Bennett 1:06:30
you. The uh, make sure look when you move into Nevada. 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:33
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:06:33
I know you don't like to turn on computers. 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:35
No, no, it's my business 

Rich Bennett 1:06:36
sure. 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:36
man. So 

Rich Bennett 1:06:37
Okay, I 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:37
I 

Rich Bennett 1:06:37
was 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:37
get, 

Rich Bennett 1:06:37
going to say, make sure you have the proper setup microphone headphones every day because you're going to be on a lot more. 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:43
no, I'm 

Rich Bennett 1:06:43
Even 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:43
pretty 

Rich Bennett 1:06:44
living out in 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:44
it. 

Rich Bennett 1:06:44
Nevada. 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:45
Yeah, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:06:45
See 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:45
I'm going with that. My wife that's what today was. She's like, I don't know, you were going there. 

Rich Bennett 1:06:50
Oh, really? 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:51
She's going to be ready to clear out of the house with the kid. 

Rich Bennett 1:06:53
Oh, 

five 

Matthew Merryman 1:06:55
minutes. I got to go down to frickin chopper or whatever. Cause shit, I thought you were doing this all virtual. 

Rich Bennett 1:07:00
No, that would be, that would be the next 

Matthew Merryman 1:07:02
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 1:07:02
time. 

Matthew Merryman 1:07:02
that'd 

Rich Bennett 1:07:02
of 

Matthew Merryman 1:07:02
be, 

Rich Bennett 1:07:03
it. 

Matthew Merryman 1:07:03
that would be part 

Rich Bennett 1:07:03
That would be the next time. 

Matthew Merryman 1:07:04
Well, thank you, Rich. 

Rich Bennett 1:07:04
All right, thank you, man. Semper five brother. One of the things I love most about conversations like this is when they start in one place and end up somewhere completely different in the best possible way. And what started as a conversation about wellness and fitness turned into something much deeper. We talked about mindset, meditation, purpose, discipline, self-love, trauma, habits, even slowing down, and even asking ourselves the hard question of, why? And honestly, I think that's something that a lot of us need right now. You know, Matt shared something during this conversation that really stuck with real wellness is not just about losing weight going to the gym or even eating better. It's about understanding yourself. It's about changing the way you think, the way you speak to yourself and the way you live day to day. I think too many people spend their lives surviving instead of truly living. So maybe after listening to this episode, take a little time for yourself, put the phone down, step outside, sit in silence for a few minutes, ask yourself some deeper questions, figure out what fills your bucket instead of constantly empty in it for everyone else. And if this conversation connected with you, make sure you reach out to Matt and check out Unity through wellness. I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of the impact he's going to make. Matt, brother, thank you for your service. Thank you for your honesty, and thank you for sharing your journey with us. And to all of you listening, thank you for joining the conversation. Until next time, take care of yourself, take care of each other, and remember, conversations can change lives.