Why Most Men Wait Until They Break | Matt Johnson #639

Would you leave your marriage, your career, and your entire identity… with just $3,000 and a broken heart?

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Matt Johnson was sitting in his attic with a shotgun in his lap. His marriage had ended. His military career was over. His identity? Shattered.

What happened next was the start of one of the most inspiring comebacks you’ll ever hear. From the trenches of trauma and divorce to building an elite coaching business, leading Jelly Roll’s run club, and running 1,300km across Texas Matt shares how he turned pain into purpose.

This isn’t just a conversation. It’s a blueprint for any man who’s ever felt lost.

If you are experiencing challenges with your mental health.
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Chapters

• 0:00 Meeting Matty in Austin
• 1:41 From Small Town to Rock Bottom
• 4:30 Being Your Authentic Self
• 11:42 Marriage Breakdown and Hitting Low
• 19:11 Finding a Path Forward
• 27:08 Why He Runs Extreme Distances
• 36:34 Faith, Purpose and Helping Others
• 43:14 Future Plans and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Matt Johnson: 0:00

Matty.

Lachlan Stuart: 0:01

I am very amped to have you on 6pm. I know you're a wanted man. You have been extremely busy in the last day and pretty much the last couple of years. We got to connect in Austin. When I was there. You were my tour guide. We went on a very scenic route for a marathon which was pretty gnarly.

Matt Johnson: 0:19

Yeah, that was probably your longest marathon you ever ran, but it was a hell of a tour.

Lachlan Stuart: 0:25

Dude, wasn't it? I think had you not been there, I would have just ran that river loop and not seen half of the cool stuff we got to see. But it obviously meant a lot to me that you came out. We connected via socials and then you were just like I'm going to come run 30 kilometers, which is I can't even remember how many miles that is now.

Matt Johnson: 0:45

I ran 20 because I remember I had that Achilles issue. Yeah, and then I had to go to PT.

Lachlan Stuart: 0:50

And you were weighing up dog and PT and or avoiding PT and then just ripping the rest. But obviously recovery is more important. We got to man. I got to learn so much more about you on that run. That was extremely inspiring, obviously for people who are just finding out about Matty now, especially the Australian audience, matty is, I guess, in the true sense of the word, someone who has been on his knees, really struggling to have the desire to keep going, to finding it within himself, to, I guess, grab life by the balls essentially and prove that he is capable of more. Where you're sitting at now is incredibly inspiring, but it wasn't always that way. Now, even just a couple of years ago, you'd gone through a bit of a rock bottom, but could you give my audience a bit of a rundown on who you are and where you're at in your life currently?

Matt Johnson: 1:41

Yeah. So I think the quick rundown is I was born in a small town, midwest United States, population maybe 1,000 people and we grew up super poor. It was just my mom and I, single mom, and I think my traumas that led me to ultra running. My mom got married when I was eight and we just were in a very mentally and physically abusive relationship with her ex-husband and my mom. Accidentally, you know, she was taking pills to kind of avoid life and you know, in that very bad, you know mentality that she was in and ended up ODing.

Matt Johnson: 2:19

I found her on the floor when I was 16, you know, and just so much trauma that led me, I think, to try to exit that situation. So I joined the military, 16, you know, and just so much trauma that led me, I think, to try to exit that situation. So I joined the military and, you know, spent 10 years in the military, got married myself super young and you know, as I think we got, you know we were together at 18 and 21, 22, and, you know, got married and just grew apart. You know nothing, nothing really wrong with that, but you know, grew apart. You know I would say that's when I, you know, really hit my hit, my low, and you know got to a point in 2020, this was in 2023 where you know I wanted to take my own life and you know I remember having a battle with myself in that process and you know we can dive back into this, trying to do the quick rundown here.

Matt Johnson: 3:06

But, you know, I decided in that moment that I wanted to leave and just try again. And I moved to Austin, texas, in 2023, got down here and, you know, had no idea what I was going to do. You know, didn't have the Instagram following I had. Okay, I had, you know, kind of, I think. You know I was at like 30K, I think 30,000, on Instagram and so, yeah, I definitely had the following and, you know, just wasn't sure. You know, I didn't know did I want to be an online coach, like what did I want to do? And, sure enough, you know, by the grace of God, and I'm here now. I don't know what the hell I am. I'm a jack of all trades, I think. But yeah, that's just the quick version rundown of where I am.

Lachlan Stuart: 3:47

I think what drew me to you even before we obviously met in person you took me to the 7-Eleven, which we'll dive into later on was you are just genuinely happy being you. I don't feel like you try to fit into specifically the running culture or any specific culture. You just do all the stuff that you want to do. I think there's a huge lesson in that and it's easier said than done. A lot of people say just be yourself and you know, the more you can allow people to see who you are, you know, the better quality of life you'll live.

Matt Johnson: 4:19

Yeah.

Lachlan Stuart: 4:19

But that's fucking hard man Like, because you can get torn to shreds and I'm sure you probably have one side of your audience who absolutely loves you and then there's another side who just despises you.

Matt Johnson: 4:30

Yeah, but the great thing is is they're both following along. Yeah, I think people have an easier time being them in real life, but then they try to get on social media and be someone else, and you know, that's that that's the real problem, I feel like, you know, in our normal life we can, you know, we have more. I guess, you know, you see people kind of you see people that are more fake on social media, and that's that's. That's the problem is that, you know. Then it sets up a conversation like this, right To where you're like, oh my gosh, like you're.

Matt Johnson: 5:02

You know you're an anomaly because you're actually you, you know, but it's created that perception right, because there's so many people out there that are just fake and I feel like you know that's that's the cool thing about. I feel like that's why I have so much growth is because I people. You know, the more that people meet me and the more that questions are asked of like yo, like what's he like, and everyone's like he's like exactly what he's like on the gram, you know, I mean, he's just crazy, you know. So, yeah, I mean, but you know, I feel like you know every time that someone, but that is the answer, just what you said, you know, just be you. That truly is the answer no-transcript.

Lachlan Stuart: 6:14

Very cool.

Matt Johnson: 6:16

It's kind of a there's a thing you know you have to kind of have the thing.

Lachlan Stuart: 6:20

Dude, I have to agree, because social media has been a tool that I've used for fucking 10 years and I've got what 25,000 followers or something like that, but probably 20% of that came from my wife's success a decade ago and everything like that. So it's just like it is a game, and it's probably something that I haven't, I guess, fully dove into and been like all right, this is something I'm going to excel in. It's more so like this is a tool that you know goes with my arsenal. So I wouldn't compare myself to you in regards to like oh fuck, matty's got hundreds of thousands of followers, whereas I've only got X amount.

Lachlan Stuart: 6:57

Why is that? Because you, you know we spoke a lot about it while we're running around things, that you're always testing stuff as well and you're gaining ideas and you're seeing what works, but you're obviously aligning it with who you are as a person, the message you want to share, and it's almost like a game. Yeah, and half the stuff you were saying to me I was like man, I haven't done that, I've never thought about it like that and it's got me curious to want to do it more. But I think there's still reservations with me because I have other things in my life that I'm focusing on, but I do love the idea of what it can be.

Matt Johnson: 7:31

Yeah, yeah, no, I agree, I agree a hundred percent. I think that you know, I think you can mold it into whatever you want it to be. But I think that, like you know, you have to have a special something in order to. You know you have to be a good storyteller. You know, like we talked about that right Telling stories Like you got to be a good storyteller. But you know, the cool thing is is that you know, I try to live my life like I don't. The cool, I mean here's the thing If Instagram crashes tomorrow, I have something I can go back to right, like I can go back to, you know, I go back to the military.

Matt Johnson: 8:03

I go into a trade. Like you know, I was a combat medic for a while. I was a truck driver. Like I, I know how to like do real things. So I pride myself in like being able to. You know, as well as like I built my business, I built my coaching business. I've built, you know, enough friendships with networks of you know being able to build up to. If Instagram crashes tomorrow, I know that I can go do something else because I've learned so much from it For sure.

Lachlan Stuart: 8:30

I think, as you said, like the storytelling, what that always comes back to me is like it's the life that you want to live allows you to tell the stories. A lot of people are trying to tell stories when they live a boring life, and that's true. Tell stories when they live a boring life, and that's true. So many people that I speak to are just blown away by.

Lachlan Stuart: 8:48

I live a very unique lifestyle with my wife. We travel a lot, similar to you, but as a result of that, there's a lot of risk involved. There's moments where we're like man, I would just rather take the safe option and do the nine to five and know that I'm getting a paycheck. But because we take the risk, we get the reward in the fact of it's not always money, but it's like wicked adventures and experiences which then become interesting stories to the average person, and that pays off in the long run.

Lachlan Stuart: 9:16

In regards to being able to tell cool stories, because people are just glued to their phones, wanting to watch cool shit that they wish they were doing. And, to your point, if Instagram goes down or if my business melts, I'm still going to do the cool shit anyway because I enjoy it. There's something to that that, for those who watch you, or for those who watch me, if you get inspired by it, the thing is like what aren't you doing that you would love to be doing, and how can you just take that one step to do it so you can start creating?

Matt Johnson: 9:46

Yeah, that's a good thing, as me, you know, 2021, 2020, late 2020 and 2021, I was doing the same shit I'm doing now, training-wise. I wasn't really racing because I didn't understand it yet, but I was still doing probably what people would think is freakish shit. Know like where I'm like?

Matt Johnson: 10:02

just going out and running, you know, 30 kilometers on absolutely no water, no carbs, no nothing, because I don't know and I'm just like, I'm just trying to figure it out, you know and like, and I'm like doing these like spartan events and I was doing these deca events and like yeah I was just doing crazy shit and then I just figured out that, you know, I started recording it, I started taking pictures of it and I started posting it and it was like slowly, slowly, slowly, and then I started to learn how to tell stories around it and be funny and like bring the funniness into this serious running culture, you know, while also at the same time being like a savage motherfucker. You know, like like being that person to. You know, that's the mold that I that I went into is like I am this. You know, I want to be in the same conversations as you know David Goggins and Cam Haines, and you know these tough dudes.

Matt Johnson: 10:54

But I want also, at the same time, to be like, yeah, like Matt'll go do that and then he'll go smoke a cig and have a beer, you know, and it's like people don't do that shit, or he'll smoke a cig while he does it. You know, like, just like just off the wall, shit. And you know, because that's how I was raised in the military, like it was just, you know, and I mean, yeah, I mean I, I say the sick thing, because I did that this morning on my, on my I don't know if you saw that reel or not.

Lachlan Stuart: 11:17

I did say yeah, yeah but like people.

Matt Johnson: 11:19

Then people think I'm like a, like a chain smoker, and i'm'm like no, I'm like. Anytime that you ever see me smoke a cigarette is like the one time that I'm actually doing it. So if it's on the gram then I'm doing it, but it's only been like three or four times. I posted it but people think I'll rip like packs of debt.

Lachlan Stuart: 11:35

Just absolute chain smoker. But even like before that conversation, well, this conversation was a possibility. Take us back to the marriage breakdown. You said well, not even a breakdown, you just grew apart. Obviously, you were young at that point. You still are young, but to have the maturity to understand that you're growing apart, a lot of people would just, I guess, grind the marriage out and become resentful, become miserable, but you and your ex-wife were just able to part ways. Can you run us through how you knew it was at the end?

Matt Johnson: 12:08

What toll it took on you as well. Yeah, to be honest, it was a lot of. I was wanting to travel a lot and I was wanting to go train and I wanted to train with other people. I was coming to Austin. I'd been to Austin once every couple of months to train for a week and I loved that lifestyle. While she wanted to stay back home and didn't really want to do that, she still trained on her own.

Matt Johnson: 12:38

I love the assets because I really haven't broke it down that much. I always just skip over it. But, to be completely honest with you, I got this, this taste of like, this whole different lifestyle and and having people having eyes on me and having people think, you know that I was cool as shit. Right, like I'm just a small town, small town kid who has no idea about anything. Right, and people think I'm cool, people think I'm, you know, and I was chasing that dopamine. You know I was chasing that dopamine of like me going and training with other people and like just demolishing them and these are like elite athletes and I'm destroying them. And people are like, dude, you're incredible, like you're great, you know, and I'm like, yeah, like I am right, you know, like just building it up and and and I think and I'm going to be honest with you Like I think that is what really kind of, you know, I think it was more on me that made us grow apart, because I was getting a taste of that. And then I was coming home and I wasn't being a good husband and I wasn't being a good man because I was so consumed in this false reality of Instagram right off the bat, and that was at like 15,000, 10,000 followers. That was way before 10,000 followers, like that was way before you know.

Matt Johnson: 13:44

So I think you know, and and and and that's kind of what started, you know, pulling us apart, and she was kind of, you know, going her way with training and I was wanting to go this way and and you know, we got to a point where, like we were just like you just said that you know, like we were miserable, like we were living a miserable life and I'm going to be honest here, like I would have never, why I hit that low, the lowest point of my life, like I can see it in my brain right now, like I'm watching it happen was because I would. I would have never made that decision. As a man, I would have lived in that she, she made the decision. She's the one that met me and was like we need to separate, because, as a man like I, would have just rather been miserable than to break apart.

Matt Johnson: 14:25

I think to like to feel like I failed, even though I'm going to like, even though, like I said, I, I mean I'm going to lie over it, even though it was probably mostly, it was mostly my fault, you know. And. But here's the thing when I say that, you know, people grow and people change, you know, as they're younger, I didn't like, like I look back at that person and I'm like that, like I'm disgusted at who that was, like it's not even me. And you know, she said, hey, like I want to separate, and she and she separated Like there was no thought, there was no second thought about it. Like she's like, hey, we're, it's over, I'm, I'm leaving.

Lachlan Stuart: 14:56

When you say disgusted like, what do you mean by that?

Matt Johnson: 15:00

Just because you know, like I look back at that person and I'm like that's not like, like that's a boy, you know, like, like, like that's just someone who didn't know, like I could have done so many things different.

Matt Johnson: 15:12

But also, you know, I believe in God's plan as well, and where I am today is where I need to be, and I would never have experienced any of this without having that. That you know that divorce happened. So, while, at the same time, I'm grateful that it did happen, like I look back at that person and I'm like you know, man, I, I, I just I would have done so many things differently or treated her a different way in this situation, or understood more what she was saying. So I think that the the lesson here is that you know, we're always growing and you know, I think that there also is a lesson there and to not get married young. Um, you know, if you are a young person listening to this, uh, you know, you, I don't feel like I had my shit together until I was 28, and I'm 30 now and I still don't feel like I have my shit together.

Lachlan Stuart: 15:56

I'm 35 and I'm confused.

Matt Johnson: 15:58

Yeah, so if you're, if you're, if you're 22 years old and you're thinking that you met the love of your life, just you, you can, you can love that person without a marriage. That is, you know, gonna involve a lot of things, um, but yeah, I mean that that led me, you know, to the lowest point where, like I felt like I was a failure as a man, like I felt like, as a man, like I was supposed to provide and I was supposed to be that person. And then when I was told like hey, it's over, it's done, you didn't do your job, Then, like that was when I hit my lowest point. You know, I remember sitting upstairs alone in my bedroom and I had a shotgun on my lap and I was just sobbing, like I was sitting up against my bed, like I can literally picture that moment and I was just sobbing and sobbing and just thinking that like there was no way out of it, like there was no way that it would ever be better. You know, like, like, like this was the end of the world in my brain at that moment and I don't know something, something pulled me out of it and and I had this idea that I had just got back from Austin.

Matt Johnson: 16:57

At the time, like she met me when I got back from Austin and was like, hey, like it ain't, this is over. And I had a friend, he was staying in an Airbnb down there and I knew that he had an extended stay and I just had an idea. I'm like I'm like I'm just going to drive back to Austin. I was like I'm just going to jump in the car, I'm gonna drive back to Austin and like I'm going to figure this out with a, and I left for Austin. I never came back. I like my goal. I had $3,000. I put that three grand into an Airbnb that I could afford for like 13 days and I was like my goal was to go back.

Matt Johnson: 17:37

But then, like once we hit like day 10, I realized, like it was, I just wasn't, I wasn't going to go back. And at that point I was like, okay, like I have no money, I have an Airbnb but no money. I'm like now I need to figure out. I need to figure it out. And you know that's when I started posting on Instagram and I was like, hey, I'm going to take online coaching clients, you know, if you want me to coach you, because at that point, you know, I had done the Leadville 100. I had ran a 40-mile race, I had won a trail race, I had done some things and signed five, six, seven athletes and made I don't know two, three grand and I was like, okay, I got two grand, that's going to come monthly. I'm like let's figure it out.

Lachlan Stuart: 18:19

It's such a relatable story in that you became Obviously let's use Instagram, but for everyone else listening, it might be your career where you become so obsessed or focused on the status and the growth in that position. As men as well, we want to be the protector, we want to be the provider, and our career is generally how we do that. And as we get more followers or we get the next promotion, it's like that pat on the back. We're doing the right thing, yet everything else is fracturing in our life. Our relationships are falling apart, our health's falling, our hobbies are disappearing and we just become one dimensional. And when that gets taken away from us, it's generally why we hit that rock bottom point, because it's like everything we thought was us is fucking gone At the same time was exiting them, like I had already made the choice to exit the military.

Matt Johnson: 19:07

So at that point, military's gone. Divorce, nothing like I had no job, I had no plan. Like like like I, I had, that was it. And it all happened at once. And that was, I think, what really sparked that, that rock bottom moment, just because, like you said, right, I'm like, well, now I'm fucked, now I have nothing, it's done. And yeah, but man, taking that leap of faith and just trusting in the process and just taking that one step forward, I feel like I can just be the poster child of like, holy fuck, it can really happen.

Lachlan Stuart: 19:46

I agree Because you also like. The cool thing that you touched on as well was you'd done a couple of. You know the Leadville, which is mental and it's on my bucket list, but you'd done things and anyone listening who's gone through shit, you've done things as well. You've done shit things. You've done brilliant things and when you can, I guess, allow yourself to you know there's a great quote when emotions are high, intellect's low. And obviously when you're feeling like the world's caving in on you, the emotions are fucking just like a volcano erupting. But if you can sit it out and wait it out long enough, logic is going to kick back in and you're going to recognize that there is a roadmap out. It may start with one step, it may start with the video, it may start with applying for a new job, moving towns, whatever it is.

Matt Johnson: 20:32

But that's when People get so caught up. I actually just had this conversation with literally my best girlfriend in the entire world. She's getting ready to move from Austin to and we were and she actually just moved from la to austin a year ago and now she's gonna go back. But like we have job opportunities. But we had this conversation where it was like I feel like people get so caught up in the like I am stuck, mindset. You know, it's like I like, like talking about someone who owns a business, right where you're like I'm stuck here, like or you know, not, not, not someone that owns a business, someone that is working somewhere else, right, they're like I'm stuck here, I have my paycheck, I have my bills, I need to pay my bills, I need to stay here, and they're stuck in a job that they hate and then they begin to hate their life. And I feel like what people don't realize enough is you're not chained. And here's the thing If you hate your job in finance, then it's okay to go find a completely different job. It's okay to go flip burgers. It's okay to go work in a hospital. It's okay to go work as a construction worker.

Matt Johnson: 21:42

If you're not fulfilled, you are not locked down and you don't need to suffer. You are a human being fulfilled. You are not locked down and you don't need to suffer. You are a human being. Oh, and it's like, and I feel like we just we think we have these chains on us, like to our income, to our job, to what we do, that we think that we are then stuck there forever and it's just. It's not true. You can exit at any time. Is it hard? Yes, are you going to take risks? Yes, but like you will not just one day wake up and be like man. I love my job again. If you are suffering in your life, you will not just and you keep doing the same thing over and, over and over again. You will not wake up one day and be like man. I'm back to loving life, baby. You need to make changes and you are not stuck, and I feel like that that's a big thing that people miss.

Lachlan Stuart: 22:29

Do you feel you learned that, like some of those skills, through the military?

Matt Johnson: 22:34

I feel like I learned the trait of you know, pack up and go and then plant and then pack up and go and plant and pack up and go and plant Right, like because you know we were. You know I never, never got the opportunity or never got the chance to deploy, but we were a forward readiness unit, which means we always had to be ready. We didn't get a. Usually in the military you get a couple months to pre-mob, which isa pre -mobilization, where you go and train before you deploy overseas. We didn't get that. We had to be ready within 10 days. So, like, if we got the call for a deployment, we had to be boots on the ground overseas in 10 days. So we were always training on how to quickly maneuver a situation and be ready and I feel like that is kind of what you know over the years of constantly training for that.

Matt Johnson: 23:26

I feel like that is kind of what has helped me understand that you're not always stuck, you know, but also I think it's it's also, you know, has some negatives in my life as well, to where, like you know, I've never stayed in a home for like over a year and a half because, like, I feel like I need to get, I need to move, and you know like I'm very like I need to get, I need to move, and you know like I'm very like I need to go. I need to always go and do the next thing. I can't keep in the same routine for too long, you know. So, yeah, but yeah, definitely, definitely stems everything in my life.

Matt Johnson: 23:59

Now that I'm getting older, I can, I can see where the military did that. I can see where I grabbed it from my 10 years in the service for sure, which is cool now, because back then I was like 18 to 22, I was like hell, yeah, blow shit up, let's go. And then, 22 to 26, I was like yo, fuck this, I hate this shit, get me out of here. So now it's cool to be able to look back and just appreciate all of it.

Lachlan Stuart: 24:28

Yeah, for sure, and it's been a wild ride for you. So, coming out of the say pick up, move, sit down, pack up, continue doing that. That obviously led you to Austin. After you decided you weren't going to keep the marriage alive, you're there with $3,000. You spend that on the Airbnb. Have decided you weren't going to keep the marriage alive. You're there with $3,000. You spend that on the Airbnb. You get a couple of clients, which is madness, but also freaking cool with how quickly you made that happen. Rather than going I'm screwed, you went to problem solving mode. What next? Because, once again, I think last time I checked your followers, you're 360K followers on Instagram alone. You're doing some crazy stuff. You're impacting literally millions of people around the world. You're working with Jelly Roll. You're having fun doing it. How do you go from a guy who's just packed up his life, gone through a divorce, was sitting in an attic with a shotgun to now where you're at?

Matt Johnson: 25:24

now. I don't think the answer to that is as complicated as people think it's going to be. The true answer to that is surrounding yourself with the correct people, and there was so much that happened in that moment of when I ran out of the money and I only had two weeks in Airbnb and then I went to. I was in five Airbnbs for 61 days, so like it was like jumping to all these different Airbnbs before I could get into a house. But like, if you want the short answer of how did I get from there to there is building a community where I'm at, and by building a community, I mean I said yes and did everything in Austin. Everything, like I went to every run club, I went to every meetup, I went to every fitness event, I went to soccer like these, like pickup soccer events.

Matt Johnson: 26:19

I did everything for probably a year and that led me to meeting this person, to meeting this person, to meeting this person, to meeting this person who learned about my story and wanted to do a photo shoot to write an article, who wrote the article and the article blew up and it allowed me to get more followers. And then I got more followers and from that came Jelly Rolls Chef, which is Ian, who hit me up and was like hey, I'm an ultra runner, I want you to coach me. So I started coaching him and then that turned into. Two years later he's like hey, we want to launch a run club. Jelly wants you to help lead it, jelly wants you to help train him.

Matt Johnson: 26:55

All of that came from these little tiny events of me, of me putting myself out there and not moving to a different city and being like okay, that's it, I'm locking down, I'm staying at home, I'm going to work on myself. No, like, I put in the extra hours to. Like you know, I was grinding on the computer trying to get clients, I was going places, I was going to different gyms, I was meeting people and it was the connection. It was the human connection, not the Instagram connection. It was the human connection that allowed me to get to where I am today.

Lachlan Stuart: 27:22

I think it still shows up like the fact that you came out and ran with me as well during that day as well, literally the day before. You're like yeah, yeah, I'll come for sure. Which was gnarly. And I feel a lot of people don't do that because of social anxiety or they're worried about judgment, or they just feel like they don't have time. But, as you said, it's like you just put in the extra work to make it a reality.

Matt Johnson: 27:44

I want to give you some flowers on that too, because it just shows you. I think that you had tagged me. I had seen later you had tagged me in like four or five stories leading up to that.

Matt Johnson: 27:57

And I had seen it a couple of times you know what I mean Like I had seen it, but then I had just moved on and I'd moved on and I'd moved on, you know, just scrolling through messages and and, and then I saw it again and I was like, oh, I was like this dude's doing what you know. So, like I think you know, I want to give you your flowers there on like, consistency of like, if you're doing something, you need to keep putting it out there because the right people will see it. But you know, coming back to me as well, right, like I'm like, oh, I see this dope dude who is doing this cool stuff from Australia, connected to people that I know, connected to brands that I know, and I'm like, yeah, I'm going to for sure go out there. And then you think of the butterfly effect that turned into who knows who's going to listen to this and be affected by it. That would have never happened if I would have never made the decision to go out there.

Matt Johnson: 28:45

So, like that is the you know this podcast. Like I'm not saying that, yeah, I'm saying this podcast would have never happened and people wouldn't be able to listen to it if I would have never, you know, seen it If you would have never tagged me in it multiple times. There's so much at play here and you know, if you say no, you're never going to know. And I feel like that is the biggest thing is yeah, I understand that life is busy and there's times for yeses and there's times for no, but if you say no, you will never know. That's it.

Matt Johnson: 29:18

Bam.

Lachlan Stuart: 29:20

That's it, but it's all. Yeah, it's the. If you're in a period of growth or you know you need to grow, that's where you need to be saying yes to the opportunities. If you're in a place where you're looking for a little bit of routine or you're content, it's like that's where you can you have the opportunity to say Because now I'm like, I'm in my routine, you know, like, like I know the goals that I have.

Matt Johnson: 29:43

I don't, you know I already have a community built. So it's like you know you need to take that Everything is in seasons or in, you know, relating it to books, it's in chapters, right, like you need to take that season, take that chapter, to have that yes man mentality, so that way you can build the community and then guess what, you don't need to do it later, you know, then later you can rest. And that is that is true, because if you only say yes once or twice, then next thing you know it's two years down the road and you're still saying yes once or twice. But if you just say yes a thousand times in a row and just get it out of the way, you will build a community and you will have time to relax later 100%, but the thing is as well.

Lachlan Stuart: 30:23

Off the back of that, you haven't stopped writing different chapters. I'm glad I got through in February or March whenever I was there. If you've closed the doors now. But for you to also be doing coaching people at an elite level, building obviously a brand on socials, and then finding time to still do hard shit things, that which in the social I guess realm you could fail. You chose to run across Texas, which I really enjoyed, but it also puts you out there to fail in front of a lot of people. Why do you still choose to do those things? How do you deal with the social weight? Because there's hundreds of thousands of people and, as we said earlier, there's probably half those people who are cheering you on and the other half people are watching and hoping you're going to fail. So how do you deal with that and what still drives you to do that stuff?

Matt Johnson: 31:16

Because I truly got to a point where I don't give a fuck what people think, and that is the truth. I do that for me. I don't do that for fucking social media gain. I don't, and I don't give a fuck what anybody says. I don't go race for social media gain. I don't go run across Texas for social media gain. I ran across Texas because I knew that that was what was going to get the most eyes on me, in order to raise money for veterans. And, like you know, this actually isn't even out there yet. Just today, I'm going to do the Tahoe 200 in a month, literally a month from today.

Lachlan Stuart: 31:56

Is that 200K or miles?

Matt Johnson: 31:58

200 miles around Lake Tahoe 320 kilometers.

Matt Johnson: 32:02

Yeah, but I've never done a 200. But I'm not doing it for, so I'm not even taking. Like like drew, my one of my best friends, is going to come out and crew me. He's going to bring his camera and take some pictures, but like I'm not fucking filming YouTube, I'm not fucking. You know, like like what I record is going to be what I don't.

Matt Johnson: 32:18

I do that for me because I need, I need in my, in my head. I lived my entire life with my back against the wall. I grew up in a double wide trailer. In my life, where my back isn't against the wall, I am doing very good, but that's not my norm. My norm is putting my back against the wall and I have to put my back against the wall in order to continuously grow as a man. And that's why I keep doing what I'm doing, because I don't want to get complacent with like, oh, life is good, life is great. I was raised in the struggle and I have to go struggle in order to like, continue, you know, just continue growing mentally and physically and spiritually as a man, because when I go out there and I do these events, I live a hundred lifetimes. I do, and it's just and that's why I do it, because it's just a reminder of like I already grew up in the struggle.

Matt Johnson: 33:28

This shit ain't fucking hard. Like does it suck? Hell yeah, but like I, I've done real life hard bro. Like 200 miles, 800 miles, you know 300, 400, 500, 1300 kilometers across texas. It's not fucking hard, man. It sucks but it's not hard hard. Hard is watching your mom not eat because you don't have enough food. So you're the one sitting there eating while she's in tears because there's no fucking food. That's fucking hard.

Matt Johnson: 33:55

This shit isn't hard. This shit is just a suffer fest because I'm fucked up mentally and I need to fuck it all. You know what I mean. Fuck, man. But that's it. My back's not against the wall and God has blessed me and I'm doing very well for myself. But that's not my norm. I still need some of my norm and I will continuously suffer, because that's what I love to do and I love to remind myself where I came from and going out there and getting into those deep, dark moments. It reminds me of shit that I have went through and I don't want to forget that because it built me to who I am today.

Lachlan Stuart: 34:32

There's a beauty in it as well, because it doesn't allow you to think you're better than you are when times are going well I heard this quote a couple of weeks ago and then, when times are going crap, you're not as bad as you think you are as well. So it's sort of like creating that balance point. And it's very easy when life gets good, because we're designed to chase comfort. That's what we're doing. We're always like more money will solve this problem, better relationships or more sex will solve that, more followers will solve that, and we're constantly doing that. But what we fail to recognize is every solution creates a new fucking problem.

Matt Johnson: 35:08

Yes, I just had this conversation today with a very, very wealthy friend and we were talking about just this right here and it was like, man, when I make my first $1,000 a month, life's going to be great, and then you get it. And then it's like when I make my first five grand a month, life's going to be even better, and then get it. Then it's 10K, 20k, 30k, 50k. You keep just chasing. It's not going to get better.

Matt Johnson: 35:36

What you need to do is what you love. That's the only thing that's going to make you whole. It's just doing what you need to do to feel like a human being. It's not about the money, it's not about the fucking, it's not about having more and more and more of things. It's about just doing what makes you feel whole and, in my opinion, having a relationship like having a good relationship with God because I promise I am a picture perfect part of that as well where I got back into my faith and started going back to church and my life freaking, changed man and yes, I say, fuck a lot, but it's okay. It's okay, cussing Christian.

Lachlan Stuart: 36:19

Can you, I guess, expand on that a little bit more? Because religion obviously I've lived in the States, lived here here, and religion is far more prominent in the States and people you know, a lot of my friends over in the States have a relationship with God. Here it's just like not a thing. So you spoke about the time where you didn't have the relationship with God and then you, obviously you now do what changed and what do you feel the benefits were for you, Like, if that makes sense changed and what do you feel the benefits were for you?

Matt Johnson: 36:49

Like, if that makes sense, no-transcript. If you're not sure, wouldn't you rather spend your life guessing on the right side than guessing on the wrong side? Right, like, I mean, wouldn't you rather believe that there might just be a chance of a heaven after all, rather than be completely wrong and you don't get to see it whatsoever? You know, like if there was a chance of you making a million dollars, I'm pretty sure that you would do everything you could if there was a slight chance that you could get it, rather than being like I ain't going to get it, so I ain't even going to try.

Lachlan Stuart: 37:28

That's my biggest thing that I like to say Makes sense, right, that for sure.

Matt Johnson: 37:35

That's the dumbed down version, but for me personally, what I have seen in my life and this is me I always say I don't preach to people, I'm not here to tell you I don't give a shit what you believe. I think you should and I hope that you do, but I'll love you either way. But for me, what changed was when I first started going. I started going back to church when I met Amanda, my girlfriend now, who is the most incredible human being in the world, and we started dating right Went on a couple of dates, you know, like staying over at her house, and she's like hey, like you want to go to church with me and I'm like I'll go where the fuck you want me to go. You know what I'm saying. You tell me, honey, I'm there, you know.

Matt Johnson: 38:17

But it allowed me to go back to church and it allowed me to. You know, what I think happened is, you know, allowed me to understand that. You know, god has a plan for your life and it kind of shifted my perspective and, like it's always been about me, me, me, me, me, like this is what I want at all times to you know, shifting my prayers and my perspective to you know what is the path that you want to put me on. And that right there is when kind of my idea of content changed, where I didn't, I kind of stopped chasing the following clout and really started chasing like how many people can I help, how many people can I, can I use this platform to assist people? And it also, I feel like, gave me a better heart in loving people and helping people and I feel like the more that I have loved and helped people, the more that has came back to me and there's just yeah, I mean that you know, yeah, it's that right there.

Matt Johnson: 39:10

It's just, it's just you know, when you, when you fully commit yourself to like what's the worst thing that can happen, you know, when you're like, all right, like you're, like, I'm going to do the prayer. Like Jesus, you're my Lord and Savior, thank you for everything you've done for me, amen. And then you go about your life believing what is the worst thing that could happen. It doesn't work. You live the same life Like I don't know.

Lachlan Stuart: 39:43

Yeah well, I think for me, listening to what you're saying, it just gives you that perspective as well. Right To look on the optimistic side of life. But also there's obviously a set of whether it's testaments or rules or standards that you guys have that you want to live up to, right which?

Matt Johnson: 39:52

I feel like everyone dives way too deep into because you want to know what it is. It's be a good fucking person.

Lachlan Stuart: 39:58

Yeah, simple.

Matt Johnson: 39:59

Don't, don't steal, don't rob, don't kill, don't rape, don't like. You know what I mean. Like, like, like, when you, when you. I feel like the problem is is that people look too much into Christianity and too much into to the Bible that they just do in faith, like, like, like, like. If you just truly pour your heart out to God and you just live your life being a good person and practicing the principles of Christianity, your life's only going to get better. And like, just try it, just try to be a good person, and then it will lead you in the right direction. And I feel like everyone gets so caught up in, like, you know, oh, the Bible says that we should, you know, stone women. And it's like, yeah, but I don't know, I believe my own, I have so much faith in God that, like, I don't know, I just I live by my own rules.

Lachlan Stuart: 40:55

I'm not a preacher, I'm just a dude, it's fair, though by my own, wilson, please, I'm not a preacher.

Matt Johnson: 40:57

I'm just a dude.

Lachlan Stuart: 40:58

It's fair, though. So, for the season of life you're in, what does a good life look like for you now? And I guess being a good man as well, because that's something that majority of my audience are males I think it's like 83% of listeners are blokes For you. In this season of your life where you're building a business, you're in a great relationship, what does that look like for you?

Matt Johnson: 41:20

I'm telling you I just said it Be a good person and help others. The more that I have went out of my way to help others, the more even if you don't want to believe in God and you want to believe in karma the more good that I have done, the more good that has came to me. And I feel like you know, if you are just a pissy fucking dude like, if you are just in a bad mood, 24 7, walk down the street and hand a stranger a five dollar bill, walk down the street and buy somebody a fucking coffee, like, like, like, like. You can't walk away from that angry we, we, as humans.

Matt Johnson: 42:00

I feel like, if you are a good human and you, you we are designed to give, we were designed to help each other, but people get so caught up in like me, me, me, me, me. You know, like, if you're having a bad day, I promise you walk down the street, look around, see someone that's having a bad day just like you, and go buy them a fucking coffee and then walk away and watch how your entire day changes. That's it. Right. There for me is just what can I do today to help somebody else?

Lachlan Stuart: 42:26

What can I do Makes me feel good thinking about it.

Matt Johnson: 42:29

Yeah, yeah. But that's the thing is, I'm like what can I do today to take time away from myself to help somebody else, to be there for somebody else, to answer questions for somebody else? Just because to me I mean and maybe it's just me, maybe it's just us, you know maybe I mean yeah, everyone's probably not like that, but I feel like the more, the more that you do to give to others, just the happier it's going to make you. And you know that's that I mean, if I'm having a bad day and I, you know, I'm pissed off at life and I, you know, have shit going wrong, like I drive down the road and look on the side of the road and you have someone sitting there in a wheelchair that has a you know sign up that says need food Right, like it can be fucking worse.

Lachlan Stuart: 43:16

For the rest of the year. What are you focused on doing? What's Matty crashing? You obviously said the 200-miler, which is going to be gnarly to watch. So that's from a physical standpoint.

Matt Johnson: 43:28

But holidays career, what do you got going on? So I was supposed to do the Leadville 100. So that's now off the table. Sorry, the dogs are just going bananas. They're excited.

Lachlan Stuart: 43:41

Knock it off.

Matt Johnson: 43:42

Yeah. So Leadbow 100's off the table because there's some stuff going on with Jelly that it's going to come out later. But I might need to kind of be available Prioritize.

Matt Johnson: 43:55

Yeah, so I might need to be available come July. Yeah, you know, I don't know. I don't know. I'm in this season now of life where you know, I got home and I told Amanda, I said I said you know this, this season, right now is a I don't know, but I'll let you know because I just I don't want to plan anything. You know, like like that's why I was like oh, I saw this 200 miler and I was like hell, yeah, I was like I'm going to go rip that because I'm available, but like I don't know if I'm going to be available in July. So if I don't, if I can't I've already been to Leadville once If I can't go to Leadville and I can't compete at the level that I want to compete, another Texas run that I'm eyeballing, which is the Texas 1000. So that's north to south.

Lachlan Stuart: 44:43

Shit.

Matt Johnson: 44:44

So I think that's what.

Lachlan Stuart: 44:46

Yeah, 1600, give or take 1600 kilometers.

Matt Johnson: 44:50

So I'm looking at that in October, which is going to be one year post Badass, across Texas. But yeah, I mean, or I told my manager this, I was talking to her yesterday on the phone I go, or I go to this 200. I break myself off and I'm like good, I told her the audience probably loved this. I was like maybe I'll just go there, I'll bust my nut for the year and then I'll be done. You know what?

Lachlan Stuart: 45:13

I mean.

Matt Johnson: 45:20

I'm like maybe, like maybe I'll just go there and I'll get my load off and then I'll just be like you know what? I'm satisfied.

Lachlan Stuart: 45:23

I was like I'm good, now Wash your hands and you're done.

Matt Johnson: 45:26

I haven't done anything since the run across Texas in October. It's been seven months, so I need to just do something again. And then I think that you asked me when I'm out there at the Tahoe 200, you asked me maybe you should call me at mile 100 and be like yo, what's next? I'm like not a damn thing, baby. Yeah, I don't know, we'll see. There's plenty on the horizon, this 200, possibly helping Jelly in July, and then maybe that will allow me to train August, september for this Texas run in October, or maybe I just don't do it at all. But those are the things. Tahoe 200, possible Texas run yes.

Lachlan Stuart: 46:07

There's something really refreshing and I want to let you go because it's late there but something really refreshing about hearing you say that. One thing that is always on my mind is I have to always be doing rather than being, and I feel, like when you just said, like you're in this season where it's just like let's just see what happens, yeah, and that scares the shit out of me, but I know it's also something that I need to allow myself to do, where it's just like.

Lachlan Stuart: 46:29

You have standards as a man, like for me, financially, from a health perspective but I'd love to be able to maintain those standards and if I want to do this off a whim, then go do that off a whim rather than being like I feel like a friend and I were talking about this the other day and I think this is important to talk about my neck hurts.

Matt Johnson: 46:46

Sorry, I'm falling apart over here. 30 years old, I feel like this is Done. I was like, as a man, personal opinion as a man, you should always be four months out from anything. I think you should be 120 days away from being ready for anything, so be in good enough shape that you can pick something four months away and train for it and go and demolish it, whether that's a marathon, whether that's a 100K, whether that's a 100 miler. You should always be four months away from anything. Because I find that there's some, there's some peace in that, because it still still makes you, if you keep that in your mind, like, or change it to three months or change it to two months. If you keep that in your mind, you always know that you need to train to be ready.

Matt Johnson: 47:32

And I read something the other day and it was talking about like the Spartans back in the day, that that they didn't wake up at three o'clock in the morning and put their face in ice water and go for a 10-mile run and then get in the sauna and then ground themselves and eat rum.

Matt Johnson: 47:53

They didn't do that right. They woke up and they did what they needed to do to always be prepared to do something, whether that was waking up and sprinting, whether that was waking up and rolling around with other guys, whether that was practicing their sword work. They spent their days making sure that they were always ready for battle, and I feel like that's something that we miss now in culture as men is that we just go about our lives and we're like oh, you know, I'm in this period of you know, I don't know what I want to do. That doesn't mean sit around and drink coffee and eat ho-hos all day, like you know. That still means that you should always be prepared for what is coming, and I feel like if you live your life that way, it fulfills you more as a man, because you always know that if you want to do, or if you have the capability to do around your schedule, you can.

Lachlan Stuart: 48:47

I love it. Matt Johnson, everyone, matty, where can people find you if they want to creep around Austin? No, I'm kidding Socials.

Matt Johnson: 48:55

Yeah, we're on Instagram, tiktokok, youtube, all that fun stuff you can at this point. You can google matt johnson runner and you will find everything. It's crazy, that's awesome. Yeah, it's really cool. So my, I found that out for my grandmother. Um, that was, yeah, that was the best part.

Lachlan Stuart: 49:11

She's like grandma's googling you. That's amazing yourself.

Matt Johnson: 49:14

I was like that's incredible, yeah, you know. But yeah, if you, you know you guys, if you don't, you know the. I won't spit off the instagram. That's matt johnson, with two underscores, pretty much on everything. But if you lose sight of that, if you just google matt johnson runner, it'll, it'll, it'll pop up somewhere. So probably take some foul shit from back in the day.

Lachlan Stuart: 49:32

Is there one final message you'd love to leave the listeners with? Otherwise we'll, we'll, let you go.

Matt Johnson: 49:37

Yeah, it's just your lowest lows or your highest highs never define who you are. It's everything that you do in the middle and as long as you, it doesn't matter what happens in your life, as long as you continue to. It doesn't matter how many times you get knocked down, as long as you just continue to take one step forward. I want to be the testament that it will get better and you can get to where you're going, even if you don't know where you want that to be. That's all I got.

Lachlan Stuart: 50:09

It's been a pleasure and truly for me. You've impacted my life, even though we've known each other for a very short period of time. Being able to spend three hours with you and just pick your brain and hear about all the adversity that you face and just how you have such an optimistic view on life left me. When I left out of Austin. I couldn't stop telling the boys how valuable it was. They're like well, you drove to Austin, which was 15 hours out of our way, when we could have ran in Amarillo, and there was one person running with you and I was like, trust me, boys, I could have paid Matty for his time with how valuable it was. So you're doing incredible things, mate. Honestly, you're such a valuable person to have on this planet and I'm very grateful for the friendship we've created.

Matt Johnson: 50:51

No, I appreciate that, bro, and I hope that the listeners can take something away from this and apply it to their life and change their own. I feel like there's definitely a reason why you drove 15 hours out of your way, and it's cool that it led to this podcast, so hopefully someone can take something away and apply it to their life and continue to grow.