Episode 135: How Habits Can Create Our Future Success w/ Jeff Wickersham

In this episode of the Prereal Podcast, we have prepared a special edit of a past interview with an outstanding guest: Jeff Wickersham. Jeff is a sought after accountability and peak performance coach who helps guide clients to intentionally step into the best versions of themselves and unlock that inner hero waiting to be unleashed. Jeff’s a #1 best-selling author, Tony Robbins award winner, podcast host, speaker and creator of the 4-step Morning Fire Methodology. He recently completed his second David Goggins 4x4x48 Mile run, has meditated for 1,707 straight days and taken an ice bath or cold shower 1,362 straight days. If you have that itch that you can be more, do more, want more, Jeff can help get you there!
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folks on the pre-real podcast this week
we talked with Jeff Wickersham
um we really dive into some difficult
personal things that me and the family
have gone through recently uh Jeff is a
best-selling author of Rise fight love
repeat ignite the morning fire
he's a Tony Robbins Award winner uh
podcast host uh speaker and creator of
the four-step
morning fire methodology uh he is on a
current streak of like 1800 straight
days taking ice baths 15 or 1600
straight days of meditating he's
completed the David Goggins 4x4 by 48
mile run twice
this is a real real leader a real Coach

um don't miss this episode it's it's
emotional it's powerful it's impactful
and he offers a 20-minute free session
on there so check it out pre-real
podcast Jeff wickasham this week are you
ready to bring your real estate game to
the next level my name is James
Prendamano I'm the CEO and founder of
free
25 years I've closed over a billion
dollars in transactional real estate
each week a meeting with outstanding
investors High performing individuals
and Visionaries operating in the real
estate space these are the people that
are actually out there in the real
estate game right now getting it done
this podcast aims at bringing anyone's
game to the
this is the pre-real podcast
thank you so much for taking the time to
join us today I'm so excited to have
this conversation and James thanks for
uh thanks for having me and I'm excited
as well
so you don't wake up and just become a
mental toughness and Peak Performance
coach right uh everybody has a story
everybody has a journey uh your story
hit home for me
um on a personal level and I was
wondering if if we could start this
absolutely and
it was nearly eight years ago where I
watched my mom take her last breath
right so she battled breast cancer on
and off for 17 years it came back a
couple of times and when you watch the
woman that brought you into this world
leave this world it fundamentally
changes your right the fragility of Life
smacks you upside the head with that
that two by four processing that that
deep searing pain something that loss
that I I just never had experienced at
that depth and with such a ferociousness
right of of losing my mother not being
able to give her a kiss or give her a
hug any longer and you know that that
was the Catalyst Looking Back Now for
the change and I was tested right after
she passed and I didn't know it then but
looking back now I definitely was after
she passed she passed on a Sunday
and we got the second hand crew of the
funeral home service it was a couple
gentlemen in their late 70s early 80s
I'm the oldest of three kids I've got a
younger brother younger sister and I was
kind of thrust into that lead right
calling people letting them know that my
mom had passed and then I saw concern on
these two older gentlemen's faces and I
asked them what was going on and they
said we don't know if we can carry him
Carry Your Mother down the steps
right they were preparing her I said I
got it just let me ask my brother so
that night after she passed I was
already tested would I stand up and
would I lead and that night my brother
and I carried my mom down the steps in
the body bag and and put her there and
you know that was the the moment I pull
power from now and pull that energy from
but it was a deep deep dark period in my
life for sure
so
so many of us have these moments
um
not necessarily as impactful or personal
or profound as that specific experience
you described but we all have our
um baggage our emotions the things that
we're dealing with every day and there
are a lot of systems and platforms and
um programs and apps and you name it
right that talk about taking that step
to uh turn things around and and to get
on the the right path and unlock that
Beast inside if you will
um
but
I feel like you can you can take all the
systems in the world and if you don't
put them on a proper Foundation if you
don't if you're not right here
none of it matters I mean literally
almost none of it matters so
how do you
address that piece and does your program
work at getting this piece right to take
the next steps or is your program
starting at once you've gotten right
between the ears now here's how you
become an elite performer where does
your program start and stop I guess
yeah it starts with the foundation and I
feel the the foundation is bookending
your days right what's that last 30
minutes of the day look like how do you
prepare for success and then what's that
first 30 minutes of the day look like if
you can control your bookends you have
some semblance of control in an
otherwise chaotic world right and and
let's not kid ourselves that six inches
in between our ears the battle in our
mind it's never ending it's always going
to be there and we we can stack good
days after good days but we're going to
have days where we have dips and and if
you can control those bookends that last
30 minutes first 30 minutes you have
some semblance of control and you feel
less depressed less anxious less
stressed because you know hey everything
in the middle I can take care of because
I've got this Foundation of what I do to
prepare for a great night's sleep and
then how do I stack wins gain momentum
and progress in the morning
so how do you how do you do that like
what's the what's the first set of steps
so
um
depending on who
you know your citing and what study
you're reading they say that creating a
habit takes anywhere from a few weeks to
60 70 days right somewhere in between
there
um and breaking a habit and then
replacing it with a new habit those are
two separate instances from from uh what
I I understand there's not breaking a
habit and replacing the Habit you can't
meld them together these are two
separate and distinct things and I I
feel like we're in a a world where covid
um
hope it did a lot of things that not
many folks are talking about right like
the they broke the old habits some of
them were good habits Jeff right like a
lot of us were in a routine and we were
getting up in the morning and we were
you know doing the things we needed to
do to get ready to go hit the day and
and there was there's a benefit to to
there's a immense benefit to that in my
opinion and
it it went on so long that
they then created new habits for us that
were kind of thrust upon us that I don't
think we recognized in the moment what
what was happening and now that this
stuff is rolling back there's a lot of
confusion there's a lot of fear people
feel lost and they don't quite
understand why they can't get up and
just return to work and get back in that
pattern and go it there this is a
process right what are your thoughts on
that yeah I would agree with you 100 I
mean I remember when Covid hit and
people kept asking me are you still
getting up at 5am and doing your your
morning fire routine I said absolutely
they said why why you could sleep in I
said it's a slippery slope when you
start down that path and to your point
James A lot of people
started getting away from those things
that
lit them up physically mentally
emotionally spiritually and then two
years went by and now they're trying to
dig out of it and it's it takes so much
willpower it takes so much energy it
takes so much Focus to get moving once
you've fallen off that proverbial cliff
and and now you got to climb back up
that mountain it's it's very difficult
so you know that's why I have a saying
that I say never miss twice right you
can miss one day but never miss twice
because if you miss once that that train
is still rolling down the tracks right
there's still momentum you can hop back
on and get going but you missed two days
two becomes four becomes a week becomes
a month a year two years with covid and
then you
you don't even know where to start and
begin because there's such a mountain
tall mountain for you to climb
can you speak a little bit about your
meditation streak and your ice bath or

cold plunge streak
yeah so I've uh meditation it's it's now
1807 straight days so almost five years
with 10 minutes a day and I do it every
every morning and that's one of the
Staples that three things I do every day
regardless if I'm traveling on vacation
or camping with the family it's drinking
water exercise and meditation those
three things I get those three things
when I'm getting up in the morning I'm
gonna have a fantastic day right I have
some semblance of control and I have
three wins so uh that's one is is the
meditation and I always thought
meditation was very woo-wooish right a
bald Bonk sitting on the side of a
mountain with snow coming down he's
there for three days no it's it's just
sitting there and it's breathing it's
focusing on your breath I mean you can
count in six count I love to count in
six counts
two second hold and seven seconds out
that's 15 seconds you do that four times
you got a minute of meditation and
you're counting so you're actually
focused on the breath and you're not
focused on something else external so
that's been a game changer it's given me
some some control of of my mind and you
pair that then with the other thing you
had alluded to ice baths cold showers I
I it's winter time now in the Northeast
where I'm going to be getting out and
doing some cold walks where I go hat
gloves shorts and just shoes nothing
else and it it it's my system you know
invigorated getting into the cold
getting out of that comfort that we're
in so many times each day that 67 is 73
degrees you talk about a mental rep
right we we hit the physical gym many
times we never hit that mindset Jim
stepping into that cold when your mind's
telling you you are a freaking nut what
are you doing no way and you can say
mind we're going you're either with us
or you're not when you start to wield
and consistently tell your mind hey this
is what's happening
help me don't stop me then there's some
some amazing power to to get those
mindset reps in each day
now
is there Grace afforded for
yeah what if you're sick what if you
have the flu right the excuses start to
stack up as as I think about something
like this
um how do you account for those
anomalies
I don't listen to them and I don't I
don't just give them any space in my
mind right I I uh my wife the the family
my two sons were sick a couple weeks ago
and
she asked me and not so many words I'll
keep it PG she's like how are you
feeling I said I don't freaking get sick
kind of laughed and I haven't gotten
sick in quite some time
that mindset right that mind-body
connection
hey okay I'm not feeling that great I go
into the cold that boosts your immunity
right there's these little things that
we can do that we can sprinkle into our
daily daily routines that create this
energy physically mentally
our health there are small little things
that we can do that so many times people
aren't tapping into getting into the
cold it boosts your immune system right
you get you get uh you know your veins
constrict and then they expand you're
almost giving your veins a workout it
helps with your skin it helps with your
circulation all these things that people
hear you get you you take cold showers
yeah why not I want to live the best
version of Jeff that I possibly can then
I got to push myself out out of that
comfort zone that cold is one way to to
do that and I will say when you put that
natural stress on yourself
you actually step into it you're then
more equipped to handle the stress that
comes your way from life right and you
you pair that meditation with the cold
things that come up hey I'm I'm calm I
can deal with it right I've my I've
triggered my body into fight or flight
and I've breathed through it right I've
remained calm in the cold I've remained
calm through meditation so those are
just two powerful practices that I love
to stay consistent and have given me you
know a lot of a lot of mental power
power and Clarity to to operate from I
would I would think that this becomes
habitual I would think that it's a
learned behavior and it's it's conscious
initially but then I would think it
becomes part of the subconscious that
your brain is like oh this ain't
like I I ran for 30 minutes today in 12
degree weather with the hat and gloves
on like a nut I could certainly handle
this right is that part of how this
evolves yes then then you're pulling
from your past experiences right your
past strength and that's a habit to get
into pulling from your past strengths
right how many times do we beat
ourselves up with a hammer right over
and over again for what we didn't do or
didn't do yesterday where imagine if you
flip that and say wait a second
I watched my mom pass I carried her body
down the steps in a butt like I can get
through that today are you kidding
me that's a joke let's go like step into
it bring it on and have that mentality
it's it's it's changing that mindset of
strength courage confidence versus holy
crap this is another thing I got to do
today I'm a victim I'm I'm I can't do it
so you feed that positive dog you do
things to get out of your comfort zone
all of a sudden you have this this
incredible energy and you can you can
push through those those bad times or
those difficult times and you said it
James we're all going to have them the
key is how quickly can you bounce back
and so many times people stay in that
rut for days weeks months where if you
had something all of a sudden you pulled
from some strength maybe you change your
state move the body got into the cold
and you were back within 10 minutes
imagine how much better life would be
for you what can someone expect
um
at the morning fire well what is it that
that you know I I could expect for for
example if I wanted to take this step
what what would my experience look like
three main things that I bring to every
coaching Arrangement relationship that I
have energy accountability consistency
you add those three things into each and
every day there is going to be such
a rise in your performance personally
and professionally you're going to step
into that greatest version of you you're
going to close that gap between your
potential and and where you're at like
right now right and that's the game is
is just closing that Gap we'll never get
there to our true potential right and
and that's so hard for people to
actually realize and it was a struggle
for me for years after I left corporate
America's just thinking I'll get there
and to your point it'll be a white sandy
beach and my toes will be in this
Crystal Blue Ocean
and I won't have to do anything that's
not the case right you'll never be
exonerated from the work
you're going to have pain in life
there's gonna be uncertainty but when
you have someone or you have a guy to
coach a mentor a cheerleader that's
saying hey James get up attack the day
every single day you have somebody in
your corner it's amazingly powerful I
always say you know as adults we're
we're always guided we're mentored as
we're younger with parents teachers
coaches and then we leave college and
it's like you're released to the Wild
and you don't have anything and people
no wonder why people drift getting the
stupid listen I have my life it's
it's been painful financially it's been
painful and relationships personally
but energy consistency and
accountability bring in your your best
energy to every single day people always
struggle with time the amount of time
they have well if you're given shitty
energy if your energy level is at a five
between 10 being the best and and one
yeah you're going to struggle with time
because you're not putting enough energy
into what you're looking to accomplish
so that's number one dialing that in to
consistency doing it day in and day out
right consistency is that
gross multiplier you can have Focus you
can have time you can have energy in the
underneath in between those parentheses
and outside is consistency doing it over
and over again the issue is and I love
Simon sinek right consistency is more
important than intensity but we don't
stay consistent because we don't know
when we'll be successful but if you
continue to be consistent you'd
eventually get there we're just wired
with this so I gotta have six pack abs
in six minutes mentality right so
consistency and then accountability
how many times
if you're listening to this podcast if
you said you're going to do something
and you didn't freaking do it
I still struggle with it personally from
time to time
but how many times if that's a habit
that you just say you're going to do
something and then you don't maybe it's
self-doubt maybe it's fear maybe it's
uncertainty that accountability of
having somebody else say hey James get
this done today let's go check in
when you got it that's very powerful to
get that momentum get that progress and
get that you know truly stepping into to
who you want to be it I think I have my
moment here you know it's easy
and part of what's come out of the Covid
thing is everybody is a coach
everybody is is you know and and I'm I'm
working hard with my team to find the
people who are doing what they're saying
not just saying it right because that is
uh equally if not more dangerous when
you're advising people and you haven't
been there yourself and you haven't done
it yourself you can really really do
damage to someone who's vulnerable
um and looking for leadership and and
the fact that you've done these 1800
days of of uh the ice baths and 15 or 16
or whatever the number was now of of
meditation and you've done the four by
four by 48 and you're you're actually
living it
um
timing is everything uh I was looking
forward to this episode and recent
events had just put a giant Spotlight on
it uh Jeff I can't thank you enough this
was uh this was a great chat and you
know you're gonna find me on that that
portal login in for my free 20. there
you go love it James man I I appreciate
your vulnerability and uh it was amazing
amazing discussion my man I really
appreciate it uh Jeff Wickersham
everybody as always please stay safe