Storyliving

Pursue a bold and fun life. Tell magnetic stories. Change in the world.

We all have this deeper knowing in our soul that there is something we should be doing.

I am 100% certain that everybody already knows exactly what that thing is and not only would doing it change the world, but it would also lead to a more fun and purposeful life right now.

I bet something comes to your mind as you read this, probably with an emotional reaction like “oh fuck, he’s calling me out” or a deep knowing sigh, “yup… I know.”

It’s been there a while. Longer than you’d care to admit.

If you say you don’t know what it is, all you’d have to do to uncover it is ask the question, “what is my soul asking me to do?” and write the absolute truth. You can write “I don’t know!!” as many times as you’d like, you’ll eventually spit it out.

If you still can’t, then you are simply lying to yourself. And that’s okay! It is scary to look at. It will require you to release your current identities, break old patterns, transform your beliefs and step into your fear of judgement.

It’s a tall order.

But when you know it, no matter how big or small it seems, that is the thing you must do. Your soul won’t let up until you do.

I’m willing to bet you already know that. You can feel it. Like an itch that won’t go away until it is scratched. It’s borderline driving you insane.

Insane? Really?

Yes.

The pain in your life that you’ve convinced yourself is unrelated will be solved by doing this thing.

There is no day when you’ll feel more ready to do it. You must simply commit to the path your soul is begging you to walk, and start walking.

My first experience of this was in 2008. I was a freshman in college. I wasn’t having the experience the movies promised. Meeting my life long friends, drinking games and getting laid. I hated “business management” and all my classes. I was feeling alone and lost. But I loved working out so I found comfort in the gym.

I remember one day I was working out, getting a good pump on, when I went to put my dumbbell down and came face-to-face with myself in the mirror. I looked at myself and thought, “man, it’d be so cool to be a personal trainer, but that’s not a real career path.”

So I buried that idea, went on to switch majors and by 2012 I graduated with my bachelor’s in civil engineering.

In 2018, after 6 years of ~~dreaming of retirement~~ working as a civil engineering in NYC, I quit and moved to Colorado to be a personal trainer.

It took me 10 years!!!!

10 years to commit to the path my soul was begging me to walk.

I know why it took so long.

There is a study of neuroscience called Narrative Coherence which states that the better you understand the meaning of your life events and you can articulate it to other people (i.e. tell your story)—they literally have metrics that prove— you have a deeper understanding of self, you have stronger identities, and you can communication more effectively with others. (1)

What that tells me is that when you have Narrative Coherence, you deeply understand your mission here on earth. You understand who you are which gives you greater conviction to go pursue all of the things you love in life without worrying about the judgment of others.

I didn’t have Narrative Coherence in 2008 which means I didn’t understand my mission. Therefore, if I actually went to pursue my souls calling, I wasn’t convicted enough in who I was and what I stood for. I didn’t have the ability to articulate why it was so important that I be a personal trainer and the change I wanted to make in the world. So, if I were to go pursue my souls calling and people would say, “that’s crazy, don’t do it! It isn’t a real career path.” I would have collapsed.

If I had Narrative Coherence, then the world could say “you’re crazy, that’s dumb, don’t do it!” and I could simply be like, “that’s fine you don’t get it. I know who I am!”

When you have that clarity and conviction it becomes a lot easier to walk your souls path.

I first gained Narrative Coherence in 2015, three years before I moved to Colorado to become a personal trainer. I saw the truth of what the first 25 years of my life was and I had to take back control of it.

That lead me to riding my bike ride across America in 2016.

That soul journey gave me the clarity to continue to pursue what really mattered to me.

I didn’t just up and quit engineering in NYC and become a full time personal trainer in Colorado. That would be a crazy move!

That bike trip did give me even more Narrative Coherence which deepened my mission. I was committed to pursue the things that brought me joy.

I took my first CrossFit class in February of 2017 because my girlfriend said I would love it. So I listened and I fell in love which reignited my passion for working out.

5 months later the owners of the gym wanted to open a new location and needed extra coaches, so they made a Facebook post that said, “If any of our members love CrossFit and want to get their certification, we will mentor you!”

That’s when I thought, “Holy shit, the dream I had in 2008 is coming to life. This is my chance!”

So I listed my vintage John Mayer guitar on eBay which was the first guitar I bought myself with my own hard earned money. It was one of the most difficult decisions I had to make but, guitar was only a hobby, and this was a chance to pursue my greatest passion. So I sold it and used that money to pay for my CrossFit Level 1 certification.

With that certification I was able to coach 3 classes a week at CrossFit Outbreak in Brooklyn. Two on Thursday after work and one on Sunday. Most people who hate their corporate jobs refuse to give up their weekends for more “work,” but this was my soul’s calling!

I took more trainings and seminars and even recorded myself coaching a class so I could improve my teaching skills (watching that recording back was maximum cringe, but it helped me improve a lot—a practice took with me when I wanted to get better at sales).

Then I got my first personal training client and developed my own spreadsheets so this guy could track his workouts.

I learned so much, it helped me have the confidence to finally quit engineering in November of 2018 and go full time in Colorado.

You could say it was 1 year and 9 months in the making when I took that first CrossFit class. But you could also say it was 3 years in the making from the day I decided I wanted to ride my bike across America.

You could also say it was 10 years in the making from that day in the gym freshman year of college.

You could even say it was 14 years in the making since that day I was brave enough to step into the weight room as a 5’4” 120lb high school freshman to teach myself how to workout (barely strong enough to bench the 45 pound barbell).

One soul calling after another.

But it doesn’t end there.

Knowing who I am gave me the power to do all sorts of things like…

Shoot photos for the CrossFit media team at Wodapalooza

or run a 40 mile ultra marathon.

or co-author a book

or fly to Mallorca to play in a tennis tournament at the Rafa Nadal Academy with my brother and come in second place

or get up on stage and tell my story to 100 people.

or buzz my head and move to San Diego

The list goes on.

I hope you see I’m not just talking about finding your purpose and doing your “life’s work.”

Life is your work!

There is not a single part of your life that is separate from the rest.

Not walking the path is dehydrating your soul and your soul is infused in everything you do.

How much longer can you fake it at work when your soul has been begging you to get back into dancing? I’m not saying quit your job and become a dancer. I’m saying sign up for the class!!

But you have convinced yourself you don’t have time for that. It’s less important. One day, some day in the future… once I go viral, once I have enough money, once this thing works out.

I am here to argue that walking your soul’s path is the most important thing you could do… and WATCH IT ripple into every area of your life.

You see, you think you need to know how it all has to go, but you don’t. You have never known. When you look back at your life and connect all the dots, you could have never predicted it would go this way (as much as you may have tried to control it all).

So why keep trying so hard to control it?

The fact is, your soul knows exactly what you need.

Unfortunately it doesn’t magic logical sense so you shove it away.

However, if you begin walking the path of your soul, every cell of your body will be rehydrated.

If you are uncertain about your next step and the bold action you need to take it exists in your story (Narrative Coherence) and understanding your mission.

Which is in itself is a soul calling.

Your soul wants to tell your story.

I already explained the science behind the value of it, which your soul inherently knows. But that is also a major reason you put off taking the time to understand yourr story. Because deep down you know that when you look at it and you deeply understand it that you will truly know your mission. And it’s going to be big. And it may even be different than what they’re currently doing.

Once again, all that is scary. That comes with a lot of responsibility.

There’s no fucking around anymore.

Once you have the awareness on what you’re here to do and you are deeply convicted in who you are… now have to go for it.

There’s no putting Pandora back in the box.

You have to go send it on your big bold life.

It’s scary because what if you can’t live up to those expectations of the mission and the change you wanna make in this world? That means your best isn’t the best and that would be a hard pill to swallow. So you’ll play it safe to keep feeling safe.

But at some point the hardest pill to swallow is knowing you never truly went all in on what your soul was asking you to do. And when your 80 years old, that will be a far more difficult pill to swallow, because you can’t go back and try again.

And if you’re sitting there thinking, “I don’t have a good story to tell,” that is just another lie you tell yourself to remain safe. And that is okay… I did the same thing for a long time.

But here’s the fun part…

You are already somebody who knows all this. You feel the nudge. There’s no continuing to live life this way anymore and there’s no going back to the way life was.

You have to go forward into the bold unknown.

So now you get partake in the greatest gift of all: Storyliving.

Storyliving is being so convicted in the truth of your story that you trust what your soul is asking of you and you go out and embody that mission every single day. In the embodiment of that mission you tell the stories of your pursuit and it’s those stories change the world.

There is no more lying to yourself and there is no more lying to the world.

As the saying goes, “the truth shall set you free.”

With freedom comes the creation of your best work ever.

I am opening 1:1 coaching for the month of April only.

My mentorship is for someone who knows they are meant to change the world and knows their soul is asking more from them, but is hesitating to step onto the path.

You likely struggle telling your story (or are pretending you don’t have one to tell), knowing and owning your mission, and feel like you’re not creating your best work.

If that’s you, let’s get on a call and make sure this is the right fit for you.

​Click here to schedule your call.​

I look forward to seeing your application come through.

With love,

Matt

PS - My guarantee is If you aren’t creating your best work by the time our container is done, I will continue working with you until you are.