How Telling My Story Unlocked the Life I Always Wanted | #642

I didn’t start The Man That Can Project because I had it all figured out. I started it because I couldn’t ignore the feeling that something had to change.

In this podcast, I share how telling my story raw, real, and unpolished transformed my life, created connection, and opened doors I never saw coming.


Whether you’re chasing purpose, rebuilding identity, or just feeling stuck… this one’s for you.


➡️ Download the free 15-Day Starter Kit: https://lachlan-stuart-tmtcp.kit.com/7b31975f56

📸 Instagram: @lachlanstuart

Chapters

• 0:00 Birth of the Man That Can Project
• 2:10 From Network Marketing to Men's Circles
• 5:50 Learning Focus Through 58 Marathons
• 7:30 Focusing on Impact Through Speaking
• 9:20 Success vs. Connection: The Missing Piece
• 10:22 Building a Lifestyle Business

Transcript

Lachlan Stuart: 0:00

I didn't just start the man that Can Project because I had it all figured out. I was making strides in my career, I was starting to do really well as a personal trainer, and I was also doing a lot of growth and development in my own life. I was documenting it on Instagram and social media and I was learning to write. I was learning to create content, but, to be honest, I was just genuinely pumped with my outlook on life. I've created so many videos over the last decade talking about building a life that you're proud of, something that gets you to jump out of bed every day, something that makes the man that you are right now have to become better, not because who you are isn't enough, but it gives you an opportunity to continue growing. And that doesn't just mean financially. It could mean't just mean financially. It could mean getting better at communication. It could mean creating a YouTube channel. It could mean building an audience. It could mean being the most incredible father or the most incredible husband, or doing adventures like the 58 marathons that I recently did. It doesn't matter what it is, but I believe in creating a life's vision and something that is so compelling for you, and that is what led me to create and found the man that Can project.

Lachlan Stuart: 1:10

2017 was a pretty exciting year. From 2014 to 2017, I had been dabbling in multiple things. I was doing network marketing, and part of the brilliant I guess the benefit of that which I really enjoyed and I really loved was I was building a sales team. I was getting better at sales. I was building a team sorry, so leadership was improving and I was starting to be invited to speak at events, which helped with my communication. But I was also running my own events, which taught me about creating an audience and developing and creating events that provide value to people. All of those experiences were there because I was building towards one goal, which was to create financial freedom, but over the years, things changed. But if you're just tuning in for the first time, my name is Lachlan Stewart. I'm a speaker, a coach and the founder of the man that Can Project, and today I want to take you back to where it all began, not from stage, but from a feeling that I could not ignore.

Lachlan Stuart: 2:05

So 2017, right gave you that period from 2014 to 2016. I was doing the network marketing. I then was driving Uber, because I lost interest in that and I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I was getting back into personal training, which led me to 2017. And I decided I was going to start a podcast. I came across an app called Anchor, which I think has actually been purchased by Spotify now I think it's actually the Spotify platform. So well done to Anchor. But I was just recording from my phone for free and telling stories, but also little key learning points, much like this, much like what you're listening to right now, and I was growing, but something still felt off.

Lachlan Stuart: 2:47

I started coaching men one-to-one outside of personal training, because I had people asking me how I found my purpose or how I was communicating on social media, how I improved my health and how I improved my relationship and all of these things. I was getting asked questions and what that told me was that people one I'm not alone with the problems that I have, because people are reaching out, much like you're watching this, meaning they are aware that they have problems and they want a solution. I became pretty aware early on that, hey, how good would it be to be able to do what you love, get paid to do what you love and what you're doing anyway, to provide solutions for people, and that's where the one-on-one coaching came in, and it started early on, and I wasn't doing it for high performers like I am now, just guys like me and women I was working with at the time as well, trying to figure out who they are, how to feel worthy and how to become more than the labels that they've put on themselves, how to feel worthy and how to become more than the labels that they've put on themselves. And for those who are just new as well, I work with men now and I get asked why don't you work with women as well? I know the messages that I talk about, the events that we run women could definitely be at, but one thing that I've known is I don't think I would have been in a space where I would have been as vulnerable and open if there were women in the room, because back when I was single or in a different period, I would have been worried about judgment. I would have been focused on trying to impress them and that would have just ruined my own development. So for me, I have just chosen to do that, because that's what I needed when I wanted to change, and I believe the men that choose to work with me. Maybe that's you understand how important that space is as well to be able to grow. So that was important, but, as I was saying, from 2017, I was wanting to grow.

Lachlan Stuart: 4:30

Not only was I coaching men, I was wanting to learn from men, and that gave me the idea of running men's circles, because I was getting asked a lot of questions and I thought to myself something that's missing in my life is having access to men from all walks of life who were going to be able to share things that worked well for them, challenges that they were experiencing and what it's actually like to walk in their shoes. The cool thing about that was that I saw doctors, I saw bricklayers, I saw taxi drivers, uber drivers like me. I saw men from all industries letting their guard down and really connecting. It was one of the most incredible times of my life being in those rooms and I learned so much Off the back of that. I started recognizing that, hey, I'm not the only one experiencing these problems. So many others are as well. What's the next solution? And we started running a foundations workshop, which was our initial workshop that we ran an immersive experience which was unbelievable, and we will bring those back in the future, but for the moment we're not. We then moved to an online academy because I realized there were people who were following me on social media who didn't have access to anything like this. This was back when men's groups and men's circles weren't cool, so we started offering that and the community continued to grow along with the podcast, and it was an incredible experience.

Lachlan Stuart: 5:49

The challenge for myself was I spread myself so thin. I was trying to offer so many solutions and products or services, sorry that a lot of them weren't doing as well as they could have. And it wasn't really until 2025, literally this year as I'm recording this, where I set out to run 58 marathons in 58 days across all 50 states of America and all eight states and territories of Australia that I realized how important it is to have focus, what you can achieve with clarity and what you can achieve when you go all in, and that made me realize and do a lot of reflection after completing that, which leads me to now into this video. When you have a skill set and all of us do, all of us have something that we're really good at. If you were to go all in on that, you can change not only your life, but you can change the lives of those around you and, upon reflection, I thought about what are the things that I enjoy, what do I want to achieve over the next decade, where are my interests and what do I need to go all in on to fulfill the mission that I'm working towards, which is helping men set their identities, build the confidence to become more than they originally thought and live an incredible life?

Lachlan Stuart: 6:53

That led me back to keynote speaking One, because I don't have to speak directly to men. I can speak to all audiences, which can inspire, but it can also have men go hey, that really landed with me, and we're working on a book, we're working on a documentary and I'll be out soon. But also for the ladies, they'll be able to go hey, maybe my son, maybe my husband, maybe my brother, maybe my father could benefit from listening to this talk or could benefit from listening to the podcast. And that's what we want to do is continue growing the reach, because I am so committed now to really being able to motivate and inspire people from stage. The other thing that I'm focusing on with the speaking, which will be the ripple effect and it's very limited is the one-to-one coaching and currently, as I'm doing this, I'm in a very fortunate position where that is full up.

Lachlan Stuart: 7:41

I'm currently in Paris, which is amazing, which brought on a lot of this reflection. I'm living an incredible life. I get to travel, I'm married, I'm super fit and healthy and I just love what I do. I'm also extremely busy, and when I say busy, I'm full to the brim with clients and I'm looking to maximize my impact, but also maximize my earning potential, which I don't not want to talk about, because I think it's important to share what you honestly want, and that's what we're working on.

Lachlan Stuart: 8:12

So one of the biggest takeaways upon this reflection for me and I'm about to wrap up, and I believe this is something that's going to be extremely valuable for you is most high-performing men aren't missing success, and I don't believe most people are at all. They're missing connection, not only with themselves, but with other men who get it. If you're listening to this and you have found success in your life, or you feel like your life is fulfilling, but something is missing, could it be the connection with other men, where you get to not only learn the challenges but the upsides to what it's like to walk in their shoes. Learning from other men has changed my life. It has allowed me to get to know people who are extremely successful, who have multiple, seven, multiple, eight-figure businesses, and learn the sacrifices, learn their challenges because they still have challenges learn their fears, learn their doubts, and it's enabled me to make better decisions for my own quality of life, like do I really want that? Am I prepared to do what they have done in order to get that? And that has made me content in my life and for me. I'm building a lifestyle business because not only do I want to do what I love on a daily basis and that's from a work perspective but also a lifestyle perspective. I want to have the finances and, I guess, something to build towards every day as well, which is what this gives me.

Lachlan Stuart: 9:33

So when we stop performing for approval and start reconnecting with who we really are, everything changes. And I want you to know that and whether you're in a position to work one-on-one with me, whether you're fortunate enough to go to one of the keynotes that I'm doing, we have the 15-day man that can starter kit, which is literally just an email every day for 15 days, giving you one prompt a day. The purpose of the prompt is to get you thinking. It'll ask you a question, it'll explain why that question could be beneficial, and all I want you to do is write, whether it's on your phone or in your notebook, and just start thinking, because from those thoughts you may trigger new actions, and those new actions may completely change the course of your life, which is what we want to do.

Lachlan Stuart: 10:22

I want to inspire you to live a better life, but my name is Lachlan Stewart. That is why I started the man that Can Project. It is something that I've been working on for almost a decade, something that still has me jumping out of bed, and I hope that you can find the thing that helps you jump out of bed every day. I'm signing out from Paris. I'm actually going to go for a run around the city now. Check out the Eiffel Tower, check out the Louvre and find some cheese and maybe a cheeky glass of champagne.