Purpose Project

S1E6: I Don't Believe in Wasted Time with Coach Mike Sutton

September 17, 2024 • Leslie Pagel • Season 1 • Episode 6

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In this episode of Purpose Project, Leslie Pagel sits down with ex-NFL and professional football player Coach Mike Sutton to discuss his journey, purpose, and passion for helping others. Coach Sutton shares insights on wellness, the challenges and rewards of coaching, and his dedication to fostering a supportive and competitive gym environment. He emphasizes the importance of perseverance, defining failure, and maintaining a balance between life's goals and personal well-being. Tune in to hear Coach Sutton's inspiring stories and practical advice for discovering and pursuing your own purpose.

00:00 Introduction to the Purpose Project

00:26 Meet Coach Mike Sutton

01:12 The Dungeon: A Unique Training Environment

04:23 Understanding Purpose and Wellness

08:07 Discovering Purpose Through Coaching

16:04 Balancing Purpose and Personal Life

22:52 Achieving Breakthroughs and Reaching Goals

23:27 Emotional Investment in Clients' Success

24:07 The Rewards and Challenges of Coaching

25:20 The Dungeon Forge Mentality

27:10 Supporting Female Athletes

30:13 Long-Term Impact and Success Stories

32:57 Advice for Aspiring Coaches and Entrepreneurs

36:32 Balancing Goals and Life

38:51 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

 

Follow Coach Sutton on Instagram:  @dungeonforged_sc 

Email Coach Sutton: bedungeonforged@gmail.com

Purpose Project is a research study on the topic of life's purpose. You can follow along in the making of Purpose Project:
Instagram: @purpose.project
LinkedIn: @purposeproject-media
TikTok: @purpose.project

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I love to work out. I love to be in the gym. And because of that, I have spent time around athletic people, but there's just something different that happens when you sit side by side. With someone who has achieved the highest level within their sport. And that is what you and I are going to do today. Hi, my name is Leslie Pagel, and I am so glad that you are here on Purpose Project with me because today we've got coach Mike Sutton on the show. Coach Sutton is an ex NFL and ex pro. Professional football player. He has achieved the highest level within his sport and he's on the show talking about his purpose and his passions and what drives them every day and how he defines failure. Get ready because it's an amazing show.

Leslie:

Thank you so much, Mike, for being here today. I am looking forward to talking with you. And this is the first time. I've been on location with someone. So thanks for having me here.

Coach Sutton:

Anytime. Welcome to the Dungeon.

Leslie:

I love it. Love it. Can't wait to learn more about it too.

Coach Sutton:

Yeah.

Leslie:

Yeah. Before we dive into, the topic of interest purpose, I would love to just get to know you a little bit better. Who's Mike, who is coach Mike Sutton?

Coach Sutton:

Uh, let's see if I can describe myself and be humble about it. Uh, I am a God fearing, hardworking guy who likes to help others.

Leslie:

Okay. Yeah. I think that's

Coach Sutton:

real simple without getting too technical.

Leslie:

Okay. I like it. God fearing, hard worker, just, um, helper out there and empowering people and lifting them up.

Coach Sutton:

That's right. I'm, uh, very motivating to my clients and my athletes and, uh, they seem to respect me very, very much for that aspect. Yeah.

Leslie:

Yeah. Yeah. Could you, share a little bit about who your clients are and who your athletes are?

Coach Sutton:

Well, the way we look at it in here is everybody's an athlete.

Leslie:

Okay.

Coach Sutton:

So, and this doesn't sound harsh. I have my younger athletes and my older athletes. Okay. So I consider an older athlete, somebody that was an athlete in the past. So we always train to be an athlete, you know, and uh, we do that with, uh, being smart and, uh, knowing limitations, but still pushing ourselves to the limit. Um, the one thing I remember that I miss about playing professionally was competing every day. So I always harp on my younger athletes. Look, man. You're lucky because you get to compete every day.

Leslie:

Yeah. You

Coach Sutton:

know, I don't have people with me when I go to the gym to compete with me. It's me versus me. And I know that's a meme and that sounds great, but it's the hardest thing ever when it's you versus you.

Leslie:

Yeah. Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

But when you have somebody else that may be working harder than you and be like, Oh, I'm about to come get him and stuff like that. It just gives you an extra push, you know? So when the younger athletes are in, I love when they compete against each other. When the older athletes are in, I love when they compete against each other. And I mean, it gets hot in here. We know we don't, we don't have AC, so it gets warm and it gets intense. And, uh, some of my guys yell and some of the ladies be looking and I'm like, you can yell too,

Leslie:

you

Coach Sutton:

know? So, so, you know, it's a great atmosphere in here in the mornings and, you know, it's a great atmosphere. It's fun.

Leslie:

Yeah. Yeah. And

Coach Sutton:

that's important to me, you know, laughing, having fun, cracking jokes. I'm a big kid, so I'm always doing something to make you feel more comfortable and laugh.

Leslie:

Love it. Love it. All right. So gym here for any athlete, we're all athletes. Yes. Young and old. Correct. A place where you get to compete, to grow and have fun and have fun doing that. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So, I would love to dig in to the topic of purpose and, would love if you could share what you found to be your life's purpose.

Coach Sutton:

Well, I think, um, When I was growing up, I had a high school coach who helped me. And my purpose has been to help others as much as I can. And, uh, sometimes, you know, you try to help people, but you know, you got, you got to have a person who wants to help themselves also, which makes it easier, but then sometimes they don't. So you have to get technical. It makes it, so it makes it a little harder. Um, my purpose as an, as a trainer and a strength coaches, wellness. Okay. You know, trying to make sure everybody is healthy enough to do the things that they want to do in life, whether that is hiking, biking, running, swimming, carrying the groceries to the house in one try, being able to reach into a cabinet without straining something, balance. When it's snow, it's snowy outside. You can, Have good balance to walk to your car without falling. And things like that. So Again, and above that my purpose is just giving someone a place where they can kind of be themselves

Leslie:

Okay,

Coach Sutton:

have fun. I mean, we're all we're like a locker room here.

Leslie:

Oh,

Coach Sutton:

so You know you and sometimes when it's just me and another We have personal conversations, you know, so it's, it's more of a, I'm a friend. Some people consider me as a family member. I call everybody brother. So it's, uh, it's. It's like a big locker room,

Leslie:

you know,

Coach Sutton:

it's my teammates and I'm the head coach,

Leslie:

you know, and I

Coach Sutton:

treat everybody that way like that.

Leslie:

Yeah. Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

Yes.

Leslie:

So you've talked about a couple different aspects of your purpose. One being helpful and you, you talked about, a coach that helped you back when you were younger. Yes. Yes. And instilling that in you, which I'd love to dive into. You also talked about helping with wellness. and what I heard there is, that wellness means a lot of different things to people. And, in order to help with wellness, you've got to know people on an individual basis and understand what they're looking for and what wellness means for them. And you've created this awesome environment

Coach Sutton:

to

Leslie:

do that, this locker room mentality.

Coach Sutton:

See, and that's, that's important to me. that if you were in here, you could push, uh, Michelle or Julie because they trust you. They trust that what you are doing is to benefit, help them get better. And we're all, we're friends here. We're friends outside of here. You know, I get invited to a lot of stuff, but I'm a homebody. So I, you know, but. important to me.

Leslie:

It's

Coach Sutton:

important to me that they're close, you know, they're close at yoga, you know, and I hear the, I don't, you know, I hear the stories from yoga and we have a new yoga instructor and she's great. They love her. And you know, just listening to them in the morning when they, when they come in for the training, we had to do that and they showing me the poses. I just think that's fun. Right. You know, at the, so, So you're a teammate at, in your fifties, you have that locker room mentality as in I can crack this joke and it's, it's not going to harm, hurt anybody's feelings,

Leslie:

right. Right. You know, I

Coach Sutton:

love that atmosphere.

Leslie:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm always curious how people discover their purpose. And you mentioned a coach was helpful to you but, when you think about your purpose of being helpful and with wellness, how did you discover that?

Coach Sutton:

Well, uh, I was lucky enough, the coach that helped me, he hired me as a coach. So I learned from him. He kind of took me from an atmosphere that I could have went the wrong way, if that makes sense, you know. I could have been into the wrong things and he pushed me towards the right things, kept me off the fence, kept me involved, kept me working hard, showed me what I could become and what I could receive from what I became. Right. And so when he, he retired, And I played ball and this, that, and the other. And I remember he got back into coaching and I was the second person he called.

Leslie:

Really?

Coach Sutton:

Yes. He told, he said, I called last year, who was a friend of mine and you were the second person I called. I heard you were, moving back. So what's going on? And I was like, coach, I can't coach. You know, you know, I like,

Leslie:

How old were you? Like, when was this in your. That

Coach Sutton:

was 2015.

Leslie:

Okay.

Coach Sutton:

So, 14. So, probably 11 years ago. Yeah. So, I was 46. 37.

Leslie:

Okay. So mid thirties. Yes. Okay. You were already into a career or yeah. What were you? I was,

Coach Sutton:

well, I actually opened, had opened my first gym

Leslie:

and

Coach Sutton:

it was successful. And my daughter was a freshman in high school and, uh, she wanted, she basically wanted me to help with her career as a softball player. And she, she wanted to become a college softball player. And she was, she was starting to ask dad about how, what do I have to do to do? I want this. I want this. And so they, they had, you know, she was in Louisiana. I was here. And I was like, if you tell me you're going to do everything I ask you to do, I'll close the gym down and I'll come home. Right. So, She did. I did that. Wow. I was fortunate enough to have both of my daughters at the same school. I was their coach.

Leslie:

Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

You know, I was their strength coach. I coached basketball, football, and track. So they saw me every day. I think one of the, that was one of the best moves I had ever made as a father and as a coach, because coaching with Bill, I mean, it was, and if you know, coaching coaches change mentalities as they get older. Okay. You know, so I had a young Bill. I had a get in your face Bill, not take any mess Bill, you know? And so I was coaching with the older coming out of retirement Bill. Okay. So he kind of put it on me to discipline, So

Leslie:

you were the younger Bill when he brought you in.

Coach Sutton:

Yes. And he, he made it. So I had, and the athletes have changed. It's just like kids change. You have a different generation of kid that don't know what hard work is until you show it to them or have, have them work through things. And so, I mean, it was one of, it was a great moment in my life coaching with him,

Leslie:

you

Coach Sutton:

know, because I was like, you didn't let me do that. You didn't, you know, I was like, wait a minute, that's not how it went. You know, so, and he helped me understand better. So as, as a person, it helped me understand people better, you know, get, get, get what they can do. Best and use what they can do best to help

Leslie:

win. So he, when he called you, is this when you were with your girls helping them? Yes. Okay. It was

Coach Sutton:

at the same time.

Leslie:

And so did you leave that or were you able to do it from where you were? Oh, I

Coach Sutton:

left here and went back to the south. Okay.

Leslie:

To take this job and to help your kids. Okay. Got it. Okay. So you're working with him as a coach. You're seeing that. Now, you're playing this role of young Bill,

Coach Sutton:

and you know, that's what helped me find my purpose as in, it actually made me become a better coach here because of what I learned from, you know, because before I got into coaching, my mentality was, there's only one way to get fit

Leslie:

and

Coach Sutton:

that's through grind, grind, grind.

Leslie:

Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

he helped me realize that there's many ways to do it. Yeah. It's just, you have to find a way that benefits the person. Okay. You know? Yeah. And that helped me become a better coach here. Right. You know, after I stopped coaching in, uh, high school and being a strength coach and I started developing programs that work for my older athletes, and they enjoyed them, and they had fun with them, and I mean, that's what we do now. You know, because before I was just training them all like a professional football player. Or, if you play this, this is how we're gonna do it. You know, it's all the same, it's just, you gotta take pieces out of it.

Leslie:

Exactly.

Coach Sutton:

That's what one purpose was the coaching in Louisiana that helped me find purpose and being a better coach for my client.

Leslie:

Right, right. And adapting it to them. Cause you're learning that everyone's different and to motivate them. I've got to get to know them.

Coach Sutton:

Yes. I have to find you, you, you come across a lot of injuries as kids. get older that they've had in the past, maybe from working out somewhere else. So we have to get that fixed first. I learned that too. So let's fix that first. Let's make that stronger. Then we jump to phase two, you know, and uh, it takes, sometimes it takes longer than you want it to take, but And sometimes you don't see results at first,

Leslie:

but when

Coach Sutton:

you start to see the results and when Peggy Sue says, Oh my God, you look great. You start to, Oh my, he was right.

Leslie:

Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

You know, I, well, it's hard to see it in yourself because you see yourself every day.

Leslie:

But

Coach Sutton:

when somebody who hasn't seen you in a month, you're like, Oh, wow.

Leslie:

Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

You know, what are you doing? And, you know, so, and, uh, It's I always say it's like painting a picture, you know, you start with a nice flat color. Then we add some brighter colors.

Leslie:

Yeah. Then

Coach Sutton:

we add some dull colors again. Then we add, and then next thing you know, your Picasso, you got a picture of a bridge, I guess. I don't know.

Leslie:

Love

Coach Sutton:

it. So

Leslie:

you're building Picassos over here. That's right. That's right. I love it. So a lot, it sounds like a large part of your discovery of purpose is saying yes, you know, you said yes to your kids. You said yes to the coach. Yes. You you're inspired through others. And in doing that, it helps you kind of shape. This is what I'm going to do. And this is how I'm going to do it.

Coach Sutton:

Yes. And that's a, that's a probably another problem I have. I say yes too much. I need to learn to say no, you know, and uh, I'm working on that part too. I've been working on that for two, two, two new year's resolutions. Same. I'm going to say no this year. You know, but it's still there.

Leslie:

Okay. I'd love to dig into this because Saying yes brought you here, but it sounds like it's getting in the way, too. Oh, how does it, how does saying yes impact you?

Coach Sutton:

I don't take enough time off because I, if I am in control of your health, it's up to me to do my part. And because I've been on a professional level, my part's going to be way higher than yours. You know, I'm on this mantle. And if I am in control of it, then it's going to get done. So I have to be willing to sacrifice some things to get you where you want to be. Yes. And if I'm the captain, I take all the stress. Like if they're, if they're coming after us, they're coming after me first. They'll never get to you. So I'm trying to learn to balance work because the thing with me is I always want to be better because of what I've done in my past. Like I played on the highest level. I can play share

Leslie:

that. Share a little bit of your past. Yeah. What, what is the highest level?

Coach Sutton:

Well, I played at, uh, I was an All American coming outta high school. I went to LSU.

Leslie:

Okay. Uh, I

Coach Sutton:

played at LSU three years. I then left and went and played in the NFLI was in the NFL five six years. Uh, then I played in Canada after that. I had a stint in Canada. I played in the XFL. After the XFL, I played arena for almost, I played arena for five years. So I've had, uh, years of professional playing. So every year to me, I had to be a better version of Mike Sutton. Okay. So that's cause I was in control of who Mike Sutton was. I have the same mentality with the Dungeon. If you work out at the Dungeon and I am in control of your health. I have to be 10 times on a level more than you. Because if I'm not there, you'd never going to get five times on that level. Which is more than zero. You know, so, and that, and I never say no. Yeah. You know. days off on Saturday. Can I come in on Saturday? I was supposed to, you know what, come on. You know, so it's kind of like, I've, I've recently said no to some things and I've taken more days off, but even when I'm taking a day off, I'm listening to a podcast of a strength coach that I follow. You know, like I don't believe in wasted time. I just don't believe like the only time I waste is sleep and I, it's important to me to get seven, eight hours. So I'm going to bed. That's what's going to get me that time. But that's when I rest. If I'm up, I'm doing something that's going to better this place or me. You know, because you don't, you never know when, It's your time. So utilize your time when you have it. You know, I say it all the time. Look, I don't believe in wasted time. and if I don't believe in wasting time, don't waste mine. Right. You know, if you're going to be here at seven 30, be here at seven 30. You get here at seven 40, there's 10 minutes that you wasted of my time. Not yours. Mine. So, and I, that's, I'm speaking of my younger athletes. That seemed to think, uh, 7 30. Oh, well, I just, yeah, no traffic don't count. Uh, getting a sandwich before working out. Don't count. You still late, you know what I'm saying? Like, and I, I was raised in the league. So if you're late in the NFL, It was$3,000. Really? So, to me, now time is money. There was a consequence to it. Yeah, like, time is money. So, do you like money? Cause, you know, and it's just, you know, I didn't grow up with much. So, I'm not going to give someone free money for something I can control. And that's an attitude you have to develop. When you start to have a mentality of wanting to be great.

Leslie:

Right. Okay. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So I want to go back to the, the saying yes. Cause what I heard there is when a large part of your purpose is focused on others. Yes. Sometimes you might give up part of self.

Coach Sutton:

Yes. You, well, yes. If you want them to be as successful As you were or on a level that they can achieve, you're going to say yes because you care, you know, you care about their wellbeing, you know, and some of my clients may miss a workout because of work or something came up, but they need that workout for their mental, and I think about that a lot because I know how my workout is for my mental. So, I said, yeah, come on in Saturday. I'll be here at 730. Now, I do do it early so I can have the rest of my day. It's still on your time. Yeah. So I can have the rest of the day to finish my things, you know. Right. Right. And I'm a very schedule oriented person because I don't believe in wasted time. So I'm going to, at nine 30, I'm here at 11 o'clock. I'm here at 1230. I'm napping. Don't, you know, so, and, uh, I guess it's because of when I was a rookie, they gave me a folder that had an itinerary. When I was in LSU, On game day, this is your itinerary. You had to follow it. And I've still did the same thing. I made my own itinerary and I just follow it. And do I get off of it sometimes? Yes, but very rarely.

Leslie:

You

Coach Sutton:

know, I like structure.

Leslie:

Yeah. Yeah. So I'm hearing, cause one of the things I'm very interested in is understanding how our purpose benefits us, but also the challenges that it brings. And I, I've heard a little bit of the challenge of, I just, you know, I say yes too much and I'm working on that. Yes. you talked though about how, structure helps you scheduling helps you when you say yes, I'm still making it on your terms, as ways of coping with that for those who might be dealing with the same, you know, challenge of saying yes too much. What are some of the things that your purpose brings that aren't challenges, but are positives to your life?

Coach Sutton:

Well, when anyone has a successful break, I had a kid text me last night. He had his first offer

Leslie:

from a college. Nice.

Coach Sutton:

That's that would be a successful

Leslie:

break. Yes. Okay. You know,

Coach Sutton:

uh, somebody reaching a goal. Somebody, I had a kid last week did the most she ever did and power cleans,

Leslie:

you

Coach Sutton:

know, I got it. I got more excited than she did. And I was proving a point, like,

Leslie:

you

Coach Sutton:

know, you, you got to put blinders on, stop looking at the weight and just do the technique. You know, it's just one of those things. And, you know, of course I was excited because I'm responsible for her strength. Um, what else is good for me? How does that

Leslie:

make you feel? You said excited. So these breakthroughs come through yes,

Coach Sutton:

I, I, some. Um, some people may say I, I am, uh, where are my feelings on my sleeve person because when I can't fix the problem, it weighs on me, but that's the part of having a business too. You know, I mean, when, uh, when you have a client who just, it just wasn't working for you. I'm saying like, why did it, like, how, how did it happen? I have to figure out why that didn't work for so and so. Right. Right. You know, so that's one of the negative things of it. But when it does work and 95 percent of the time it does, if everybody's doing their part, it's very rewarding for me. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So. That is the positives of doing this. I mean, you ain't going to do this to get rich. That's for sure. I mean, a lot of people say they are and it's not, but come on. If, and if you are, it's not just you. See, this is just me. You walk into me, you leave from me, you know, there's no other body. There's no other coach in here but me. So now when you go into a place that has nine different coaches, yeah, of course, you know, cause that's, you know, your bigger places, they all sharing the load. This, this load is mine. You know, distress is mine. You know,

Leslie:

and so you're not doing it for the money it sounds like.

Coach Sutton:

No, no. I, when you do things you'll love, when you do things you'll love, you're not gonna get paid for the love.

Leslie:

Okay.

Coach Sutton:

That's, I love that. Yeah. I mean, that's just. Call it. You, you, you get paid for the love you get from the others.

Leslie:

Uhhuh, Yeah. You know Right. The purpose

Coach Sutton:

you give them,

Leslie:

right? Yeah. The feeling

Coach Sutton:

that you get. Yeah, exactly. My kids know that the, the mentality is the, the Dungeon Forge mentality is the mentality. Uhhuh When you walk in that door, I don't care what happened outside of that door. I don't care if Sue didn't text you last night. I don't care if you know now. I'm trying to raise good men. I'm trying to raise respectful men and women, and I'm trying to give them the attitude and the mentality that I can fix everything if I just work hard, you know, and that's the, that's one of the Dungeon Forged mentality things. So that part is the love that you get when. That kid gets that offer when he signs to a college, or when he gets to starting position, when she wins state. I had four state championships, or four state champions, sorry, was it four, one, two, three, four. I have four state champions in here. And I don't brag, I don't brag a lot. And I didn't brag about that, but that's something I could brag about, but I'm not a, it's just, that's what we do. Right. Yeah. That is expected of me. You know, so I'm not going to brag on something that's expected of me now. So that's the love and I enjoy that, you know, and I, and one day I had all, I had three girls that were state champions that were in here together and I made a video. You know, it was the hardest working group.

Leslie:

In

Coach Sutton:

the summer, you know, like they were getting after

Leslie:

it

Coach Sutton:

and I love that.

Leslie:

Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

I love it. Where can we

Leslie:

go find that video? Cause people are going to want to see that video. Oh,

Coach Sutton:

uh, on my Instagram.

Leslie:

Okay.

Coach Sutton:

dungeonforged_sc.

Leslie:

Okay. I'll put that in the show notes as well. So people can, can get to your Instagram. So,

Coach Sutton:

and, uh, I, I have girls, so I'm harder on my girls than I am my, well, let me not say that. Okay. I am harder on my females because they have more to accomplish or they have more to go through than the guys.

Leslie:

Okay, why is that? Well,

Coach Sutton:

with female sports, sometimes you can't get a full scholarship. Sometimes you have to share this, share that. Uh, Just recently are female sports getting the respect they deserve, you know, and I was just talking with the three girls that were in here. I was like, look, there, there is no gray area. It's either kill to be killed, right? You have to come in here with the attitude. Look, I'm fighting behind the eight ball and it's whoever's coming for me, I'm coming for them. And with that attitude, you'll be successful. Not just your sport, but life like, you know, you have a bad day. Jimmy breaks up with you. Okay, let's go. You know, and that's, that's what I'm trying to, you know, that's what I taught my daughters to be, you know, so what? Oh, well, I should get a shirt made that say, Oh, well, cause that's my favorite, you know, let's go, you know? So, and I mean, because I have daughters, the girls are special to

Leslie:

me. Okay. Yes. Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

So it's just. And, and I'm harder, I'm hard on the guys, but I have a soft, a little soft spot, but I'm still hard on the girls.

Leslie:

Like, and

Coach Sutton:

they know my look.

Leslie:

They don't get a pass. No,

Coach Sutton:

I give them that. What is that? That's not how I say it, but I can't say that on camera, you know, and cause I expect, I expect more, like, if I expect more from you. You have to give me more than that. You know. So, you need to work on that. And, I've had these girls since the 7th, 8th grade. And they respect me, and they trust me. And I wish I could do it before, I don't do before and after. But The state champion thing, man, that was, that was just like, I loved it

Leslie:

and

Coach Sutton:

I didn't brag on it, but I should have, but

Leslie:

it

Coach Sutton:

was just a special moment.

Leslie:

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's the, it's what you get in watching them succeed because it's, it's your success. Their success is your success.

Coach Sutton:

Yeah. Yeah. They won't admit that,

Leslie:

but

Coach Sutton:

it's true. When they have a person say, man, what are you doing? You're so different. You're so quicker. You're so stronger. They're not going to say, Oh, it's coach Sutton. They're just going to say, I just, I've been working out more, you know, I don't get the credit in front of the microphone, but I'm on the bottom somewhere, you

Leslie:

know, coming back to where you started. The credit could be 20 years from now. True. And that is true. You know, you never know.

Coach Sutton:

And now that I think about it, something that excites me every, on my birthday, I get texts from kids that I've coached. that are now lawyers, doctors, nurses, CEOs.

Leslie:

You're still on happy birthday coach. Yeah. Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

I love it. Do you remember when you fussed that, you know, and we let you know, I'll say what's up young man. Thank you for that. I pre happy father's day. Right. Happy birthday. Right. Merry Christmas. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm not going to say his name. He texts me every. It's any event. Right. This, this kid texts me, you know, and it just makes me feel good because I know I had an impact on his life. Right. Right. You know, and uh, I remember a kid, he went into the military and he's now successful in the military. And he said that when he remembered telling people he was going to, the Navy or Army. I forget where it is. And they kind of like, why do you want to do that? He was like, but when you told, when I told you, you announced it to the whole class. Like I want y'all to, you know, and, and because I'm like, if that's what you wanted to do, dude, it was my job to make sure you went in with a full head of steam with the most support you can get. You know, because that ain't an easy feat. You know, being in the military ain't easy. I don't care what nobody say. You know, and now he's like high up in the military and they, him and another girl that I trained just got married, had a kid. So, I mean, and that's, I, I love that.

Leslie:

Right. Yeah. You

Coach Sutton:

know, cause I know I had a little purpose. In his life.

Leslie:

Right, absolutely that shaped his life.

Coach Sutton:

I don't know, I think that was what he always wanted to do. But him telling me, you know, everybody was like, well, I was wondering! And I mean, he was a all he was a 4. 0 student. He could have went to college. He was on a degree, you know, You know, and I was, it hyped me up, you know, like, I'm like, you know, and another thing what excites me is when my kids do go to college, they're like, coach, your workouts got me ready for this. This is like, yes. And that's another thing that, that, That makes me feel good because that's my job. My job is to put you somewhere and you're ready to go, not put you somewhere and you have to get ready to go.

Leslie:

Exactly. Yeah. Yes. So I imagine there are people watching us here and thinking about someone like you who's pursuing their purpose and perhaps sitting there saying, I don't know what to do. I don't know how to get started. I want to, I want to do something similar, but what any advice that you have.

Coach Sutton:

Well, I mean, when you want to do something, quit thinking about it, just get out there and do it.

Leslie:

Okay.

Coach Sutton:

Take, take the first step. Uh huh. Then lead it to the second step. Right. And to the third step, to the fourth step. Now you're there. You know, and then, uh, decide if it's what you really want to do, then put forth the effort.

Leslie:

Mm

Coach Sutton:

hmm. You know, I have a friend who's trying to, start a new business and she gets a wrinkle every now and then, but you know, she gets up and she goes right back at it. And big, big, that's how it works. Right. You know, you're going to fail more than you succeed, but once you succeed, you succeeded.

Leslie:

Yeah. Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

You know, and that's, that's, that's my advice.

Leslie:

This you're going to fail more than succeed. How do you get yourself out of a failure. How do you, how do you motivate yourself to keep going?

Coach Sutton:

I just, if I fail at something, it's not a failure. And if I don't, unless I don't try it again.

Leslie:

Okay.

Coach Sutton:

Because if I fail at something and I tried the next day and I move an inch further, Or I get a better time or I lift at that time, then I'm moving on. I may fail the next time. I'm moving on. Okay. You know, you have to keep trying to succeed. It's not failure until you stop. Okay. So if you want to try a hundred times, a hundred and one, you may win. You know, so keep going. Keep going. You know, as long as it's not affecting your life in a negative way, uh huh. Why not?

Leslie:

Right. Try again. Why not? Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

No.

Leslie:

Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

Keep rolling.

Leslie:

Yes. I love that. Okay. So don't, it's how you define failure. Really? Yes.

Coach Sutton:

It's, it's, and everybody has a different definition of failure.

Leslie:

Uh huh.

Coach Sutton:

You know,

Leslie:

yours is when you stop, whatever

Coach Sutton:

you don't do it again, you fail. If you haven't, if you set a goal and you go and you don't get that the first time, you don't get it the second time. Finally you get it. you've succeeded,

Leslie:

right? Yeah, but

Coach Sutton:

if you man, I'm not I'm gonna bring this down. That's a failure

Leslie:

Okay. Yep to me. Yeah,

Coach Sutton:

but everybody has a different definition of it. Yeah,

Leslie:

I like I

Coach Sutton:

mean nobody tries I mean you try one time and you failed and Right. I mean why why don't you try it all yeah, you know and I believe that Goals are meant, you should set goals that you're not going to get the first time. That's not really a goal if you get it the first try. Yeah, yeah. You know. But, and sometimes some people get lucky. You know, you want to be a millionaire, you're not going to get that the first year.

Leslie:

Right, right. I don't care how,

Coach Sutton:

you know, you got to keep going to get the million, you know, so.

Leslie:

Yeah. Yeah. Keep going. When you stop, it's failure. Or when you bring your goal down,

Coach Sutton:

don't bring your goal, your goal should be high enough that you cannot get it the first time, because what are you building at first? You learning how to handle adversity, which is what going to help you in the long run of life. So that can't be a failure. I'm learning to deal with adversity. Every time I fail and I don't go back, I've let adversity win. You know?

Leslie:

Yes. Yes. Yes. All right. Love it. We have talked about your purpose, how you discovered it, how you live it out, the benefits, the challenges, your advice. Is there anything left unsaid in this topic?

Coach Sutton:

Uh, the one thing I would say to people, my athletes, my younger and older athletes, and just people in general, is, life and have a great balance. That's the, that's the hardest thing for somebody that's have high goals. Okay. Finding a balance between living your life and chasing that goal.

Leslie:

Okay.

Coach Sutton:

You know, if you can find that balance, you're winning 90 percent of the world,

Leslie:

you

Coach Sutton:

know, and it's hard, but, uh, if you get, Of a passing grade and finding that balance and living your life. Uhhuh, you're happy.

Leslie:

Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

You know?

Leslie:

So is a part of that saying don't let your goal consume your life? Is that

Coach Sutton:

in a sense? Okay. You have to find a ba. The goal is the goal. But I have to find a balance to getting there. And you have to realize you have more time than you think. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? It don't have to be done in 30 days. It could take you 45. As long as it gets done. But then when it gets done, you're on to another goal. That's going to be, you know what I'm saying? That's life. You know, so. Yes. Yeah. That's how it is.

Leslie:

Yes. And balance your goals with your life.

Coach Sutton:

Yes. But don't make them easy. Because some people are like, well, yeah, I'm gonna do that. That's cheating. That seems like cheating to me. If it's an easy goal. Well, it's easy. Yeah. Oh, I, I, six, uh, three days I've finished it. Yes. What's the next one? It is a little easier. Oh, okay.

Leslie:

Yeah. You

Coach Sutton:

know, I mean, if you look at memes about climbing a mountain and then there's a, a little divot, you gotta climb, fall down and climb up this a little higher. That's how life is, dude. Exactly. And if it's easy.

Leslie:

Uh huh.

Coach Sutton:

Everybody have a rewarding life, but you know,

Leslie:

well, it feels like if it's easy, it also takes the joy away when you accomplish it. You know, it's not, nobody remembers

Coach Sutton:

the easy stuff.

Leslie:

Yeah. Yeah.

Coach Sutton:

Only the hard thing, you know, you try to lose 30 pounds and you remember eating a Uh, a rabbit salad for a whole month. You remember that, you know, while you sit and eat your salad and somebody's enjoying a nice steak and some potato and you like, I remember that. I remember that struggle. Everybody remembers the struggle. Nobody remember how easy it was.

Leslie:

Well, thank you so much for being on Purpose Project and sharing your story and inspiring others. How can people reach you? We, we talked about Instagram.

Coach Sutton:

Yes. Uh, Instagram. I am dungeon sc My email is bedungeonforged@gmail.com.

Leslie:

Okay. Are they okay to email? Yeah. I'll let me, okay. I'll put it on the show notes. Yeah. For those that are interested.

Coach Sutton:

Yeah. And, uh, I'll probably share this with a lot of people say, I wanna see it. So

Leslie:

yeah,

Coach Sutton:

we'll throw it out there.

Leslie:

Absolutely. Awesome. Thank you so much for talking with me today. Anytime. Thank you, coach Sutton. And thanks to all of you for tuning in. Wasn't that incredible? Couldn't you feel the energy that he exudes? It's an energy of excellence. I found myself reflecting on this conversation with Coach Sutton and I found myself thinking specifically about Failure and I have set some big goals here for Purpose Project. They're big and they're scary. And I have found myself in moments thinking, Ooh, what if I just pull that down a little bit, pull that goal back a little bit. And then I have Coach Sutton in the back of my head saying, Nope, once you pull that goal down, you failed. And let me tell you, I don't want to fail and I know you don't either. So let's keep our goals. Let's go for it. We can make our dreams come true. Thank you all for tuning in. Purpose project is brought to you for education and for entertainment purposes. This podcast is not intended to replace the advice that you would receive from a licensed therapist or doctor or any other qualified professional.

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Leslie Pagel

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