Just Do It (Life Is Too Short) #626

What if embracing your fears could lead to the most transformative experiences of your life? As we close in on the end of 2024, I, Lachlan Stewart, invite you to explore this very possibility. Join me as I share personal stories of leaving behind a secure life and thriving business to chase growth and self-discovery in Nashville. This episode unravels a straightforward framework for success—rooted in understanding your "why," crafting adaptable plans, and breaking down audacious goals into bite-sized, daily tasks. Consistency over motivation is the mantra here, as small, steady steps can make a world of difference over time.

In the second chapter of our journey, hear about my audacious quest to run 58 marathons across 50 American states and Australia's eight states and territories. It's a testament to the power of bold actions and winning personal battles that might seem impossible at first glance. This episode is a rallying call to take that first step, to create a narrative that fills you with pride, and to inspire others along the way. By sharing my journey, I hope to ignite a spark within you—demonstrating that with determination and effort, anything is possible. Let’s spread the message far and wide; together, we can connect with a broader audience and reinforce that growth awaits those daring enough to act.

Chapters

• 0:00 Overcoming Fear and Taking Action
• 12:43 Running 58 Marathons Across Two Continents

Transcript

Lachlan Stuart: 0:00

Just do the thing. Welcome back to the man that Can with Lach art, and today or tonight, I'm very excited, as this week's episode has been inspired by a client that I was speaking with, and I wanna dive in and share some insights, some frameworks and some examples around how I have overcome fear and I've become really good at just doing the things that I know will deliver the results in my life, and I would love to pass this on to you now, full disclaimer. You can have all the frameworks and all the inspiration in the world, but if you don't take action, you're never going to get different results. So, regardless of how amped up you get from this or how simple you feel these frameworks are, you still have to do it. So let's dive in.

Lachlan Stuart: 0:48

We're six weeks out from 2024 being officially over and as the year wraps up, I find myself reflecting on the challenges, wins and the lessons of this chapter. It's a ritual that I encourage all of you guys to adopt, because reflection often uncovers what's holding us back and pushing us forward. Most people start the year with massive goals. I know I do. Maybe you had one, too, or a resolution to lose weight, to improve your relationships or to grow in your career or boost revenue, but, as life happens, those ambitions fade into the background, and it's not that we don't know what to do. It's the fear, the doubt and the overwhelm that keeps us from taking action.

Lachlan Stuart: 1:33

For me personally, 2024 started with a leap into the unknown, settling into Nashville, and if you follow me on Instagram you'll have seen I've had some highs and lows there. I love the place personally, but it's been a tough trough. Leaving behind a thriving business, a close-knit community and a comfortable life was one of the hardest decisions that I've ever had to make. Look, I moved to Europe or France when I was 21. Now doing it at 32, you're definitely in a different season of life, but there were plenty of moments when I doubted the move right, starting over with a place where I didn't have a network. It was so much harder than I'd imagined and, I guess, so much harder than the first time I really did it 10 years ago. After being so comfortable for so long, you almost forget what it takes to rebuild from scratch the discomfort, the patience, the daily grind. But those doubts remind me of an important lesson Success isn't about comfort. It's about leaning into the growth, no matter how messy it feels. So every meaningful achievement in my life has come from following a very simple framework.

Lachlan Stuart: 2:40

Now, at the time I didn't realize it was a framework. It wasn't until I stumbled across Simon Sinek's book Start With why that I was able to sort of piece it all together and break down things that I've achieved, and it made sense. And I'm sure that when you hear this, or if you've read Start With why, it will probably make sense to you as well. But the framework is this number one. You can probably guess it identify your why. So your why is the anchor that keeps you focused when things are tough.

Lachlan Stuart: 3:10

When I started getting messages from people about my mental health or about mental health, sorry from Instagram I realized that I could turn my passion for helping others into something more Well, at that moment I still remember when I was in Austria and I got that message I was like my why became very or almost crystal clear. To be honest, I wanted to create a life doing work that I loved, while making a difference, and I think really it's what a lot of us want. But we allow fear, or maybe we just get to a certain point in our life where we have a lot of responsibilities that restrict us and it's not saying that's the worst thing, because I don't believe that everyone can do what they love for a living, but I was very fortunate in that moment and I guess timing is such a beautiful thing to be able to act upon that. The second thing from that is creating a plan. So the plan doesn't have to be perfect and quite often, even if you think it's perfect, it's going to fucking change. It always does the amount of to get this podcast recorded earlier and the plans changed because other priorities have become, I guess, jumped in front of this one, because they were more important at the moment at that moment in time. Sorry, but the purpose of the plan is to give you a little bit of direction. When I wanted to play rugby overseas, I filmed myself training. I made a highlight reel and I sent it to. When I say every club as many clubs as I could find on the internet Most didn in reply, but eventually one did, and that changed everything. I'll talk about that a little bit more later.

Lachlan Stuart: 4:44

Thirdly, you've got to break it into manageable steps. Big goals can feel overwhelming. That's why they're called big goals. Anything that's huge is fucking overwhelming for sure, but breaking them down into daily actions or weekly targets makes things definitely a lot more manageable, and I like to call them daily deposits. Whether it's running, nurturing relationships or building my business, I show up every single day and people are blown away by consistency. But that in itself is a problem. If you're impressed by consistency, you need to break your goals down a little bit and just find some actions that you can stick to until you develop habits. Right, because you should not be impressed by consistency. That blows my mind that people are right, which is quite, quite incredible. I show up every day, even when the motivation is low. I stick to my schedule because I know the compound effect of those small efforts will pay off at some point. Sorry, I jumped a gun there. I jumped a step. So, number three break it into manageable steps. Big goals can feel overwhelming. Breaking them into daily actions makes them more achievable. Right, with rugby, this meant training during the day and sending emails at night. For the marathons, it's about hitting my training targets, fundraising and managing the logistics, which, I can tell you, is an absolute freaking nightmare, but it's one day at a time. Number four is working on a daily right Consistency.

Lachlan Stuart: 6:02

It blows my mind that people are impressed by consistency, the fact that people go. How do you continue to show up? It just is like in my mind. I feel like it's the most simple thing because you don't have to overcomplicate things. If I want to get fit, I go to the gym regularly. I eat better regularly. There doesn't need to be much variety, which makes it very easy, but people are blown away by that and I think that in itself is a problem. Consistency shouldn't be this superpower. It should just be. And in order to do that, we need to remove from our life. If you are struggling with consistency, you're doing too many things, in my opinion, and I feel when I struggled with consistency, it was because I was doing too many things, so small consistent actions add up. And I feel when I struggle with consistency, it was because I was doing too many things, so small consistent actions add up. And you know this. I call these my daily deposits. Whether it's running, nurturing relationships or building my business, I show up every day, even when the motivation is low. I stick to my schedule because I know the compound effect of these small efforts are going to pay off.

Lachlan Stuart: 7:03

Number five is hold yourself accountable or pay someone, because accountability is game-changing For rugby. My friends helped me film and they reminded me of my goals constantly. If they were investing their time to film me, I knew that I couldn't let them down. I had to hit my gym sessions. I had to continue sending my rugby CV out, because otherwise they're giving up their time for nothing. So with the marathon, my team and I ensures that I'm prepped. I'm raising funds and I'm sticking to the plan and because I'm documenting it on social media and through the podcast, I have to be doing the thing. So if you don't have someone to hold you accountable, pay for a bloody coach or join a community. It's that simple. If it's something that you struggle with, don't allow it to be the reason why you struggle. Just find a solution for that problem. But that framework has worked for me for so long.

Lachlan Stuart: 7:51

Fear is a constant companion on this journey. When you start recognizing you've got the goal, you've got the plan, but you're not achieving it, it's something in your head and generally it's fear, right, fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of isolation, many fears. When I announced the 58 marathons, doubt crept in straight away. Would people take me seriously? Would they think I was copying others who've done similar challenges, but I reminded myself that this isn't about comparison. It's about being authentic and doing what I'm called to do. Moments of doubt still come up every single day, even why I was prepping for this podcast while I was cooking dinner. Now I'm able to see them differently. Doubt is a sign that I'm growing, I'm pushing to something new, a new level of myself, which is what we need to continually do. It's how we're showing up. So when I was younger, doubt often stopped me, but now it fuels me and I hope it does for you as well.

Lachlan Stuart: 8:41

Look, starting over is never easy. When I moved to France to play rugby, I had to build a new life from scratch, a language that I didn't speak, people that I didn't know. So making new friends, learning that new language and figuring out how to thrive in a new environment. The same thing happened in Nashville. People had already had their routines, they had their social circles and I had to intentionally put myself out there to create that connection. And I believe it's a lot harder at 33 than it was at 21, because most people at 21, they're still partying, they're socializing a lot, they're just out exploring, trying new things At 33, some people have mortgages, families, they're in their careers, so they're very insular. They're not trying as many new things, which is probably a little tip there. If you're in that position where you're not trying new things and you want to keep life fun and you want to write great chapters for your life, get out there and do more things.

Lachlan Stuart: 9:33

The biggest lesson that I learned from this whole experience was loneliness makes everything harder. In France, I learned the importance of finding like-minded people quickly. That same lesson helped me settle into Nashville. Seeking out communities that shared my values made my transition feel less daunting. Most people aren't taking action because they feel stuck in fear.

Lachlan Stuart: 9:52

The whole analysis by paralysis and I saw a great video almost a decade ago by Preston Smiles, who I've played golf with once was pretty cool. I should actually get him on the podcast. Now that I'm thinking about that, I might reach out to him. But this whole analysis by paralysis, or not knowing where to start, it's overanalyzing things, and one thing that I have become great at, I believe, is when I have an idea, I action it and I figure it out along the way and now look, I don't just fully bare bones it and not make any plans, but I don't get so bogged down in the details that I have to spend the next five years planning that stuff out. So if that's you, here's my advice Less thinking, more doing. Find a small problem in your life, create a simple plan to solve it and then take that first step. It doesn't have to be perfect. Action brings clarity. Each small win builds confidence, and those wins compound over time.

Lachlan Stuart: 10:52

One of the reasons why I'm running 58 marathons is to prove that success doesn't have an age limit. Look, I'm 33 now, doing something I never thought was possible and, especially at this age, never thought was possible. I don't want to feel like I've missed out on my chance at a great life, and I don't want you to feel like that either. But the truth is, as we age, we gain resources, experiences and resilience. So, as much as we may lose youth and freedom and flexibility to a degree, we also gain that in other areas, and we need to be mindful of that. The perspective in which we view life is so freaking important. Plenty of small actions have brought me to this point. Each one has its daily deposit towards a massive goal, and it's not just about running. It's about inspiring others to take action within their own life, no matter where you're starting from.

Lachlan Stuart: 11:39

My friend and podcast guest, Jackson Tippett, passed away recently, and Jackson was authentic. He didn't care about what others thought and he always showed up for the people around him. His passing reminds me of how precious and how short life is. He would always shoot me a text message or comment on my stuff just to check in, just to see how I was going, and at the time I was like man this guy has a lot of time to message people, but now I'm just like he was just being him. He wasn't defined by his previous self and he was just so driven to help people get the most out of themselves and he was supporting people to do that, and that's a lesson that I've taken from him.

Lachlan Stuart: 12:15

We get one shot at life and I don't want my story to be a repetition of I went to work, came home and I did it all again. I want a story that inspires my kids and, more importantly, it inspires me a story of adventure, a story of growth and doing the things that truly matter to me. So let me ask you what's honestly holding you back? What do you enjoy doing? Why do you enjoy doing it. If you could get paid to do something you love, what would it be? Start small and identify your why.

Lachlan Stuart: 12:43

Create a plan and take one step today. Follow along with my journey to 58 marathons as I run all 50 states of America and all eight states and territories of Australia, and let it remind you that anything is possible when you just take some fucking action, win the battle, do the thing and write a story that you'll all be proud of. As always, do something today to be better for tomorrow. My name's Lachlan Stewart, and if you want to follow me on the 58 marathons or if you want to help in any way, the best way you can help me is share my content. Share it to help people know what's happening, know why it's happening. That is the best thing that you can do to support this journey right now. As always. Thank you guys for being here and we'll see you next week.