Jane Erbacher: Hello and welcome to The Your Revolution Podcast. The Your Revolution Podcast is a collaboration between Revolution Personal and Performance Training in Melbourne and The Me Project. The purpose of the Your Revolution Podcast is to inspire you on your mission of betterment. Each week on the podcast you’ll meet game-changers who have created extraordinary lives and you’ll listen to stories and lessons to empower you to make the changes necessary to your life. The Your Revolution Podcast is committed to fitness, health, nutrition, mindset, community, education, empowerment and betterment and we hope that you can take what you learn here and apply it to your very own revolution.

  Lifting, jumping, and running. These movements define the modern functional athlete. The foundation of all of these movements are our feet, which means what we wear in our feet matters. The kind of training we do requires our shoes to have both stability and mobility. And let’s face it, if you’re like me, you’re in your active way all day and that means staying in your trainers all day too.

  Lalo Athletic are the first shoes I found that truly tick all the boxes. Stability for dead lifts, cushioning for running, cushioning for running, lightweight and flexible for jumping and agile movements. So what does this mean for you? For Your Revolution listeners, Lalo have an offer. Buy any athletic shoe on the Lalo website at 30% off by using the promo code BEBETTER30 at the checkout. As well as this. Lalo and I would love to give away some shoes. Simply share the podcast, any episode that you like on social and tag me in it @jane.erbacher then you’re going to the draw to win a pair. You have until September 22nd to enter.

  Are you trying to make an impact on people’s lives but you’re too busy? Stuck in the hamster wheel, barely making ends meet without the energy to do anything about it, and no idea where to start even if you did? Six months ago, I started working with entrepreneur and systems coach Jake Lunnis and the advice he gave me changed the way I do business and turned my life upside down.

Jake Lunnis: The reason I chose the fitness industry is that a coach saved my life. Since 2014, I started what we became a very successful business, and unfortunately the better my business did, the worse my health became. I gained 35 kilogrammes. I was on the fast track to dead at 50. A chance meeting with a coach called Mike Murphy turned that around and set my life on a totally different path.

  Unfortunately, fitness is a hard business to be in. It means early starts and late finishes. It means sacrificing your personal time for the time of others. It means constantly giving away your energy for other people. Too often it means struggling to make ends meet, prioritising others over yourself, and constantly chasing your tail but never getting anywhere.

  My way of giving back is to take everything I’ve learned over the years in business and use it to save the lives of fitness professionals to give you your time back and to let you live your life on your own terms and to make the money that you deserve.

Jane Erbacher: If you’re trying to make an impact but can’t get out of your own way, visit www.fitbusinessimpact.com and see how a systems coach can give you more time to do the things that you love.

  Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of The Your Revolution podcast. My name’s Jane Erbacher and I’m your host. So excited, I’m hearing … What do you call this room?

Bobby Maximus: This is the Church of Bobby Maximus.

Jane Erbacher: That’s it. I’m like, it’s not a garage. It’s the church of Bobby Maximus.

Bobby Maximus: No, it’s the church. You can’t park cars in here.

Jane Erbacher: I love it. The church looks a little different this year to last year because we’ve had a pretty key introduction into the world.

Bobby Maximus: Yes, we had a little baby.

Jane Erbacher: A little baby.

Bobby Maximus: Some now it’s filled with baby balls and he’s got a baby octagon.

Jane Erbacher: He has a place in the church. A very integral place I feel.

Bobby Maximus: Yeah.

Jane Erbacher: I’m here with the one and only, I will introduce to you as Bobby Maximus this year. The one and only Bobby Maximus.

Bobby Maximus: Not my government name.

Jane Erbacher: No, but it’s getting closer.

Bobby Maximus: Yes.

Jane Erbacher: I feel like every time I see you, there’s more thing that a Bobby Maximus. I call him Rob MacDonald. He’s one of my favourite people in the whole world. One of my absolute mentors, teachers, and I’m really happy to say that he’s one of my friends. One day, you will be a student of mine. I haven’t picked anything that I will be able to teach you in something yet. But we can think of something!

Bobby Maximus: Yeah.

Jane Erbacher: There might be something. I don’t know, maybe a top knot. Doing a top knot in your hair.

Bobby Maximus: You could teach me that. And, in fairness, you could probably teach me to roll and ski too.

Jane Erbacher: I don’t know. You’re a bit of a weapon.

Bobby Maximus: Just because I’m good at it doesn’t mean my technique’s flawless.

Jane Erbacher: That’s true. And see this is the attitude that I absolutely love from you. And it’s that we can always be better.

Bobby Maximus: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Jane Erbacher: And something that is my … That I’m just so in awe of is that you will never settle. You are not complacent at all. And I think that we live, both of us, you live here in the US and I live in Australia and we live in a society where so many people just rest on their laurels and get complacent and don’t keep learning. And you are always looking around at how you can be better in every single space. And I think that that’s amazing.

  So this is the second time I’ve had you on the podcast. The first time, I have to say, I was more nervous than this time. This time I feel like I’ve spoken to you so much and spent so much time with you that I really … You’re more my friend now than a … What’s the kind of word? Someone you put up there on a big pedestal. Which you kind of would hate anyway.

Bobby Maximus: Yah. I don’t like that.

Jane Erbacher: Because you just do your thing. And it’s funny because, last year, I remember I was really nervous and I was like, “I hope I ask the right questions.” And I’m like, “You know what? Today Bobby Maximus is going to answer my questions and he’s going to love every minute of it.”

Bobby Maximus: And I did.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah. You’re the best. Okay so for those of you who don’t know, you probably want to stop the podcast if you don’t know who he is and look him up. But Rob MacDonald, Bobby Maximum. We will talk about who you are and what you are in a second. But previously a UFC fighter. You’ve been a cop. You’ve been a teacher. And now you’re the general manager of Gym Jones, which is one of my favourite places in the whole world and organisations. We’re going to talk a lot about that today.

  But what I really want to say about you is that your work ethic is absolutely like nobody else that I’ve ever met. And it’s a point of conversation with so many people. And I’ve heard you on a lot of other podcasts and a lot of people talk about it because it’s not just in the gym that you work hard. And it’s not just that you’re big and strong and jacked. But you can breathe like nobody else. You were on my team for a ski relay the other day and I was amazed at how … The kind of intensity that you were skiing at and how quickly you recovered. So it’s not just that you can lift lots of weights and you’re strong and hold your own at Westside Barbell but you can really- you can breathe and you can move. Saw you jumping today. You can jump. Like, you’re amazing.

  But outside of the gym, you’re extremely focused on career. You’re an incredible dad. And you’ve got one of my favourite women in the world as your amazing wife. And so I want to talk about today, how you manage to balance all of that stuff. How you continue with that kind of work ethic. And kind of what’s driving you moving forward. So thank you so much for being on the podcast.

Bobby Maximus: Thank you for having me.

Jane Erbacher: My pleasure. And the podcast is called Your Revolution, like I said. And so I don’t want to talk about how you’ve changed the game in terms of your life and all the kind of turning points that you’ve had. So the very first thing I want to talk about is Bobby Maximum.

Bobby Maximus: Yup.

Jane Erbacher: So where did this idea of Bobby Maximus or where did Bobby Maximum himself come from?

Bobby Maximus: So, it kind of grew over time. And, to be honest with you, I’d like to tell you I had some master plan. ‘Cause it’s worked out really good. But that would be a lie. When I was wrestling in university, my nickname eventually just became Maximus.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Bobby Maximus: And then it became my fight name, so it was Rob Maximum MacDonald. That was my moniker, if you will. And I had an old website when I was fighting called Ultimate Maximum. And it never sounded great to me. Like it always seemed like it was missing something. But, honestly, at the time it was just to try and get a few sponsors for fighting.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Bobby Maximus: Fast forward a little bit and I was doing interviews for Men’s Health, interviews for Muscle and Fitness, interviews for some other publications. My name was starting to get out there and I realised, because I was into Googling myself to see where my rank was and all this other kind of stuff for business reasons, that Rob MacDonald’s a very vanilla, plain name.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Bobby Maximus: Like there … You’re from Melbourne. If you went and looked in the phone book, there’s 3000 of them.

Jane Erbacher: Yep.

Bobby Maximus: And so I was kind of harder to find than I should be for my popularity.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.Bobby Maximus: And there were people in my life at various points that had called me Bobby. And it’s somewhat of a softer name than Robert. You know Bobby sounds like a cute little boy’s name.

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: Kind of deal. And so I put Bobby Maximum together. The url was available so I bought www.bobbymaximus.com and then I got the Bobby Maximum Instagram. And then I started. And it’s something that at the time I didn’t realise what a good business move it would turn out to be.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: But now, most people know me by Bobby Maximum.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: And there’s no one else with that name.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: And so, if you’re ever talking, even to the point, just Bobby. Can you name another trainer named Bobby?

Jane Erbacher: No.

Bobby Maximus: Like, you can name … If I said Jillian, you’re probably going to say Jillian Michaels.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: If you said Bob, you’d probably think Bob Harper.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: But Bobby is kind of non-existent.

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: Rich Fronning from cross fit. Matt Fraser. Like Bobby’s just unique. So now even if people say, “Well, I was working out with a guy named Bobby,”

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: More often than not, people say, “Oh, Bobby Maximus.”

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: So it turned out to be a really good thing to differentiate myself. And also to start getting more publicity because publicity, I’ve learnt, is not just … Or popularity would be a better term of it. It’s something that doesn’t just happen to you. You’ve got to work for it. Especially in this industry. And so every tool you can give yourself to-

Jane Erbacher: Set yourself apart.

Bobby Maximus: Get further ahead. A unique name, a unique logo, a symbol, a podcast, you’ve got to do it.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah. Totally. I think it’s really interesting that you even brought that up because one of the main reasons I wanted to talk to you is, I have been analysing people around me for the last few months about likeability. And this whole concept of likability. And I think that there’s this perception that the term likeable means agreeable and passive. And I would have to say that you’re one of the most likeable people I’ve ever met. And you dispel that myth completely because you’re not passive. And you’re not necessarily agreeable. You’re on your own path. And I think something people don’t understand about likeability is it’s that you don’t sit on a fence and people like that about you. You stand for something.

  So I want to know … I really like that you’ve explained where Bobby Maximus came from. My dad’s name is Robert and every one in his life has a different name for him. There’s Rob, Bob, Bobby … Depending on how- at what point in his life they knew him. And to everybody that knew him when he was little, call him Bobby. So the idea that the term Bobby is like, it is a nice kind of un-intimidating name and then it’s followed by ultra masculine, which is Maximus. So I really like that you’ve…

Bobby Maximus: And I have to soft my image.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: Because the reality is is there’s things people don’t think about. So if I was to evaluate you and you said, “I want to buy the domain janeerbacher.com-

Jane Erbacher: Got it.

Bobby Maximus: People don’t know how to spell your last name.

Jane Erbacher: They don’t. It’s terrible.

Bobby Maximus: So why would you pick that?

Jane Erbacher: Exactly.

Bobby Maximus: That’s a … There’s actually a clothing company I was working with called Rhone Apparel.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: That wanted rhone.com because people didn’t know how to spell apparel.

Jane Erbacher: Yes.

Bobby Maximus: And so, even they had to switch. Nike doesn’t want Nike Shoes. They don’t want … Because it’s one more step people have to go to find their site.

Jane Erbacher: Yes. Totally.

Bobby Maximus: They want nike.com.

Jane Erbacher: That’s so interesting because Bobby Maximus, you can’t not spell that.

Bobby Maximus: No so here’s your name, right. So if you look at Jane Erbacher, you don’t want … Project Roll or Project Ski or … The theme I get was I used to tease you in college.

Jane Erbacher: I knew you would bring it up. Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: But whatever it is. But we talked about the confusion-

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: Between theme project and the me project. The way it was written before.

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: But the other thing you want to look at is how do you get your image out, I guess, to the masses.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: And whether people want to admit it or not, the insanely fit person. The… and if you were to name the top three fittest people in Australia, they might respect me on a colleague level-

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: And they might want to come train with me on a colleague level. But I’m never going to monetize off them.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Bobby Maximus: And so how do I make myself more relatable to the common person?

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: And if you see me with my shirt off flexing all the time-

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: 240 pounds, I’m not the most relatable person at face value.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Bobby Maximus: So by using something as simple as Bobby-

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: It’s more relatable. And every step that I can take like that, whether it’s a picture of my lovely wife, or my kids, or even… It’s really funny. On completely another tangent, I had posted a picture of me playing with Legos.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: And then another picture of me with Magic Gathering.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: And this person e-mailed me and said that’s the most inspirational type of post you have. And I was literally like, what the hell is this nut job thinking? Started reading on and he went on to say those posts let me know that we’re a lot more alike than I gave it credit for and that if you could do it, I could do it too.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Bobby Maximus: So now it’s become a regular part of my thing. And I don’t post things that are fake.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Bobby Maximus: But I post things about my life every so often now that let people know that I’m a real person.

Jane Erbacher: I absolutely love it.

Bobby Maximus: Whether it’s a TV show or a soft moment at home with my kids. Because it does make me more relatable.

Jane Erbacher: Yup. 100%. I absolutely love that somebody said that because I guess, from a branding perspective, you have done an incredible job with Bobby Maximum. It’s very clear, I think, from a branding perspective, how well you’ve done with that. But I do like this idea of relatability as well because one of my favourite things about you … When I met you first in Fundamentals, I was so amazed that you were so charismatic and so intelligent. And I don’t want that to come across as the wrong way, but I think that a lot of people don’t realise how seriously you actually take things that you do while you’re also having a great time with everything that you’re doing. Which makes you relatable. You do love Lego. You love comics. You love Game of Thrones. You tell funny stories. You’re a really normal guy who just works really, really hard. And I love that.

Bobby Maximus: Well and I don’t take offence to it because I realise like we’re actually … You guys can’t see at home, but in the garage there’s a bunch of pictures of me up.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: If I look at a Men’s Health article I’m looking at right now. I look like a meat head. Like if you see me walking across a gym-

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: Without a shirt, with a suffering-type look on my face, you’re going to have a certain image of me right away without getting to know me. And I realise, rather than be upset by that-

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: I’ve got to work to soften it.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: Or work to give people another avenue to relate to me with.

Jane Erbacher: Totally. But it works so well because it’s like, when I showed up for Fundamentals, I knew that I had to show up with a game. Like I was ready to like actually show up. I wasn’t just … Someone wasn’t just going to pat me on the shoulder and say good try. I had to bring it to there. And then it was really nice to be surprised with the fact that you were Rob MacDonald as well. You were a really nice guy but you weren’t going to let me get away with not performing to what I could do.

Bobby Maximus: No.

Jane Erbacher: And that leads me into something that I really like about you. And I’ve heard you talk about it a lot. But it’s the idea of a effort over result. And you said it the other day when we were doing the 2k ski for time at the event. And you said, “I would prefer you to hit a seven-oh-two and have done your absolute best. Not to be rolling around on the ground and being dramatic but hope to have done your best and to hit a six-fifty-eight and to not have tried.” And I want to know where that kind of drive has come from for you?

Bobby Maximus: You know, a lot of it is because that’s how I’ve gotten somewhere in my own life. I teach through experience. And the only way I’ve gotten here where I am is by working as hard as I can. Because I wasn’t inherently good at a lot of things. I mean I think I’ve always been bright and had a good head on my shoulders. But, in terms of wrestling, in terms of working out, in terms of business, I’ve had to work for everything. And I don’t have a business degree. I didn’t learn this stuff in school. So anything I’ve learnt about business, I’ve had to read, I’ve had to ask questions, I’ve had to… The same thing with training. I wasn’t an athletic kid and so I’ve always just had a great result from working as hard as I can.

  And it’s something that seems to be one of the universal truths. What ever movie you watch, whatever song you like, whatever book you read, there’s always a moral. And more often than not, it’s that if you work as hard as you can, good things will happen. There’s countless stories about that.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: And so that, for me, is the real journey with training. It’s not just the end result. Because most people are not going to be Olympic champions. It’s using training, I think, as a tool to further your life outside the gym. And the only way you can do that is by trying as hard as you can.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: If that makes sense at all.

Jane Erbacher: 100%.

Bobby Maximus: If kind of go in and coast, you don’t get the psychological effect I want from the workout, you’re not going to get life changing results. You’ve really got to work as hard as you can.

Jane Erbacher: 100%. And I really like that you are completely man made. Like you’ve created the life that you live now from hard work and perseverance and consistency. And no one can take that away from you and I know that recently you posted a picture of you with your shirt off, I’m pretty sure you did. And-

Bobby Maximus: I always have my shirt off.

Jane Erbacher: But you talked about how you’re proud of what you’ve achieved and that your body represents that. And it’s that you can’t cheat that kind of thing. And I think that what I love about that is how easily transferable that is to each area of your life. That fitness you can always be better at. But you should be proud of the work that you put in every single day, the time that you’ve set aside. And if people are hating on that, then they’re not proud of what they’re doing.

Bobby Maximus: We live in a society where people are somehow … It’s not okay to be proud.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: And, listen, it’s not okay to brag. It’s not okay to put other people down.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: But being proud of yourself, there’s nothing wrong with that.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: You know, I remember a scenario. I’ll actually tell you a funny story. I was out with some people and there was a UFC fight. And I was with a group of people. And one of them said, “You look like you had done a martial art or fought. Have you ever fought?” And I was just like, “No. I did martial arts as a kid but that was it and I just let it go.” Anyway, we were watching the UFC fight and during the fight someone in the bar came up to me and asked for my autograph. And then the whole table were like, “Why’s he asking for your autograph?”

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: I actually fought in the UFC. Then the questions started. When did you fight? What fights did you fight in? Why didn’t you tell us?

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Answered all their questions. I was polite. Well, it came out later, that I was bragging about being in the UFC. And my response was, “You motherfuckers should be mad at me that I lied to you.”

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: “That I tried to hide it. Nevermind I just cordially answered your questions.” And what I realised is it came down to their insecurity.

Jane Erbacher: 100%.

Bobby Maximus: So people have this thing where they want to shine a negative light on you to make themselves feel better.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm. Yup.

Bobby Maximus: There’s a quote I put up like blowing out somebody else’s candles.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: Not going to make yours shine any brighter.

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: And if you’re successful with your podcast.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: You’re going to hear things from people. You’re lucky. You had help.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm. Totally.

Bobby Maximus: You had money I didn’t have.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: People will put some reason on you. But if you’re proud of it and just answer their questions, they’ll also attack you for some character trait that’s unfair as well.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: Because they’re… It comes from an innate insecurity that they didn’t do the work themselves.

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: And so this is where I think this thing comes from where people do not like people that are proud of themselves.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: But it’s actually interesting. They don’t like a self-assured proud person.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: They hate that person more than they hate a cocky insecure person.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: Because they know that person’s insecure. And you’ve probably heard when someone’s kind of being cocky, people will give them a pass and say, “Oh, they’re just really insecure.”

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: When you’re self-assured and you love yourself-

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: People really find it uncomfortable.

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: And so it’s something people do when you’re generally proud. They try to put you down for it.

Jane Erbacher: Totally. It’s really interesting because I’ve done … I’ve spoken a lot about this the last couple of months because since being in the US, it’s become a lot more stark that … Culturally in Australia we have this tall puppy syndrome. So you’ve probably heard of it. So basically it’s based on this idea that if a puppy grows too tall in the field, the other puppies will cut its stem and bring it down to size. And it is every where in Australia. It’s like how dare you be successful? It’s like, and if I can hold you back, then that some how makes me better. And the interesting thing is that I definitely it less apparent in the US but still-

Bobby Maximus: Oh, it’s still there. The Japanese proverb for that is, the tallest blade of grass gets cut first.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: That’s the saying. And it does happen here. Where … But it’s only if you’re genuinely proud of yourself. That’s what people have a hard time with. And they’re actually not, it’s interesting, they’re actually not jealous of your podcast. They’re not jealous of Project Roller Ski. They’re not jealous that I run Gym Jones.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: They’re jealous that you have some form of happiness.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: That you seem content.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: So they could be equally jealous-

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: If you worked at Target and you loved your job. If you worked at Walmart and worked your job. If you were a mechanic and you loved your job.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: It doesn’t matter what roles … Or you’re just a stay at home mom and you loved your job.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: They’re jealous that you found happiness. Not jealous of what you actually have or you’ve done.

Jane Erbacher: How do you deal with that?

Bobby Maximus: Oh, I try to: A) Ignore it or B) Use it as motivation.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: So when people hate me for no reason-

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: I don’t let it work me up. Actually, I shouldn’t say that. There are times it does, if I’m being honest, it hurts my feelings.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: It bothers me. But I’ve learnt to either just ignore it or then use it as positive motivation.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: And I do take some delight in the fact that somebody hates me for doing well. And for me I use it as a measure of success.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: Because if somebody doesn’t hate you, you’re not successful enough.

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: And so, I actually had an incident where somebody made a fake account called Bobby Minimus. Made fun of me. Said all kinds of awful things. And a lot of people were like, “How does this not really upset you?” And I’m like, no. I’m at the point where I’ve got a fake profile and I’ve got a blue check mark on Instagram because they had to verify me because people were impersonating me. Like I finally reached a certain level of success. And there’s two ways to look at that.

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: And I think that, for everybody, it comes along with the job. So if you’re the best sports star in Australia and you’re making millions of dollars a year, there’s a certain something that goes along with that and you know that.

Jane Erbacher: Definitely.

Bobby Maximus: You signed up for it. It just means you’ve arrived.

Jane Erbacher: Totally. That’s, yeah. It’s interesting because that takes me back to my point on likeability is, what makes someone more likeable, I think, with true genuine likability is when they are self-assured and when they don’t let … Like other people don’t like them and they’re okay with it. Because it was funny, we had a really great conversation about this a couple of months ago. And you gave me some of the best business advice that I’ve ever had. And I’ve done a lot of work on business. And what you said to me was, show people how much you love your life. And that was it. And from that was born a lot of the things that I’ve now created. Because I do genuinely love my life.

  And the last couple of months, I spoke to you because I was like, I’m getting a bit of hate and I’m getting a bit of criticism. And part of me is kind of taking a little bit of delight in it because I’m like, if you can be bothered hating me than I’m obviously doing something that’s setting me apart. But I really respect that about you and I think that that’s what makes you more likeable and relatable too.

Bobby Maximus: Well, the other thing too is what are you going to do? Take it personally?

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: Like my self existence or my self-assuredness or my happiness shouldn’t be based on what other people think or what other people say.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Bobby Maximus: And I work with my sports psychologist, Brian Cain, a long time on this. The 10 most damaging words in the English language are what will other people say and what will other people think.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: ‘Cause at the end of the day, does it matter? Like as we look out the garage right now, does it really matter what those neighbours who I’ve never said more than five sentences to-

Jane Erbacher: No.

Bobby Maximus: Does it really matter whether they like my truck or not?

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: Whether they like my wife or not. Whether they hate that my garage opens up and there’s a gym inside. Or whether I’m lifting weights in the driveway, does it fundamentally alter my life? And it doesn’t because when the garage gets closed and I go inside, they’re non-existent.

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: And so, that’s not to be mean, but my value of self-worth isn’t based on what other people think. And I think that’s a really dangerous way to live.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: I think there are people who live that way and you’ll never be happy. Because there will always be somebody who doesn’t like you because you have red hair.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: Who doesn’t like you because your seminar is more successful than theirs.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: Or they just they don’t like your Australian accent.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: And there’s nothing you can do about it. Usually it’s a reflection on them, not you.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah. Totally. Absolutely love it. I want to know what Bobby Maximum stands for. Like what does he believe in? And this isn’t Rob, I want to know about Bobby. The steak eating, jacked dude.

Bobby Maximus: No, honestly Bobby Maximus is about working harder than everybody else. That’s all it is. It’s transforming yourself, your normal self, into something special. Into something unique. Reaching beyond your limits through hard work. So you can almost look at is as Rob MacDonald is somewhat shy, not athletic, not the most successful guy in all walks of life. But I almost, through the power of hard work, transform into Bobby Maximus.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm. Yup.

Bobby Maximus: And then that becomes my own personal super hero.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: Like I have my own logo.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: I have my own thing. And it’s almost like I believe that person can do anything. And I think everybody needs their own personal super hero.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: ‘Cause as kids, we all admired Batman, Wolverine, Superman, Spider-Man, growing up. And I think we lose that. And you can be your own super hero.

Jane Erbacher: Yup. I absolutely love it. What is Bobby Maximus’ main super power then? Just hard work?

Bobby Maximus: Hard work.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: Because that’s the best super power there is. And it’s funny where even in the comics book, whether it’s Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, there’s always some story about they lose their powers.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: And they have to work really hard or overcome their fears or you know, the obvious one is when Superman’s given kryptonite.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: And he becomes human. But then he still has to somehow-

Jane Erbacher: Save the world.

Bobby Maximus: Save the day or try. And they never up. And there’s always that lesson in these things.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: And I think that’s where it’s really at.

Jane Erbacher: Absolutely love it. I want to talk about Gym Jones.

Bobby Maximus: Yup.

Jane Erbacher: What is Gym Jones?

Bobby Maximus: Gym Jones it’s-

Jane Erbacher: I obviously know but-

Bobby Maximus: It’s evolved over the years, to be honest with you. But the real value in Gym Jones is it’s a community of like-minded individuals that have come together to make each other better. And it’s an online, worldwide community. And I say online but it’s more than online. Because obviously we have a more than an online relationship. And you and my wife have more than an online relationship-

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: And you and the other seminar instructors have more than an online relationship. But it’s this worldwide community where people can find inspiration in others, people can motivate others, people can lift each other up as opposed to tearing them down. And all for being better in real life. And so one of our big mandates is we’re not just training for training sake, we’re training to be better in the real world. And that does not mean that training’s secondary to your actually task or your real world goal, training actually is primary because it allows you to accomplish that real world goal. And so if you want to be a better father, I think training can help you do that.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: If you want to be a better mother, training can help you do that. You want to be a better business person? Training can help you do that.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: You want to be the best athlete in the world? Well obviously training can help you do that.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: And so we use training as a platform to build ourselves into more in a very supportive community.

Jane Erbacher: I love it. And who do you feel Gym Jones is for? Is it for incredible athletes? Is it for-

Bobby Maximus: No, it’s, honestly, it’s for everybody. And I say this with Gym Jones and I say this with my book, that if you were to get the philosophy section from my book or you would get the philosophy section from Gym Jones, I think it can apply to every body.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: You know, if you could distil it down into a children’s book, it would apply to a four year old.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: Because it’s all the same lessons.

Jane Erbacher: Yes.

Bobby Maximus: And so, I think everybody on the planet could benefit from it somehow.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: And I do think every one on the planet could also benefit from some exercise.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: You know they talk about active living. You don’t necessarily have to be a world class athlete but walking can change your life.

Jane Erbacher: 100%.

Bobby Maximus: Kids playing outside can change your life or mould it into a better future.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah. I came along to your Maximus Body, so the book that you’ve just released which is awesome. And I have copies for everybody. But I came along to your Maximus Body seminar, which I absolutely loved. And you talked about … I remember so much that you talked about that day. ‘Cause I went along thinking, oh I know a lot of things you’ll talk about. I’ve heard you speak before. And I was there taking notes. I was like, he’s still got more to tell me. But it was interesting.

  You talked about… One of my favourite things you said was about how if you walked for an hour a night with your wife or your husband, by the end of the year you will have done something like 50-

Bobby Maximus: 38 marathons.

Jane Erbacher: 38 marathons. And so what you just said then about Gym Jones and exercise being for every one is it’s so easy to adopt moving into your life. And you talked about the flow and effect of simply walking with your partner in the night time. You can spend time together. You can actually move. You won’t be sitting on the couch eating junk food. All these different kind of flow and effects that people don’t realise exercise can bring into their life.

  I want to talk about your book. What did you … What was your main goal with that book?

Bobby Maximus: My main goal was to try and educate people and, this is going to sound really corny, but I want to change the world somehow. I mean, we have a very short time on this planet.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: I really hope that I leave some type of legacy or some type of mark on people. And I lost my dad when I was 20. And it was incredible the turnout for his funeral. Almost everyone in town came. And the stories I heard about my dad were how he would go out and give lesser privileged people Christmas presents-

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: On Christmas morning. Because he was part of a charity. And he helped everybody and he was nice to everybody and kind to everybody. And everybody from all walks of life had a kind story about how my dad had affected them on a positive way. And it’s stuff I still here. And so I realised that, in a way, my dad kind of lives on through those stories and the way that he touched other people.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: And it’s something that I want to do. And not just give people something but really positively affect change in their life.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: And I realised that my dad did that on a small town level. That everyone in my small town loved my dad. And they actually said that when he died that there was a big hole left in the town. Like it just wasn’t the same.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm. Hm.

Bobby Maximus: I think there’s a lot of people like that across the world.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: But if you want to affect worldwide change, you need a platform. And so I want a book, I want a movie, I want a DVD, I want a series on Netflix, I want a YouTube channel. Because that way I can affect that many more people. And honestly, when I hear stories about … I actually recently got one from a woman who lost her husband in the way. And I guess her 10 year old son is a fan of mine. That now says, “I want to be a good dad like Bobby.”

Jane Erbacher: Woah.

Bobby Maximus: And so I’m like, holy shit. Like, okay wow. If that’s the only thing I ever do-

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: I’ve done something good.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: And then there’s people who e-mail and said, “I was in a depression. I found your book. It really helped me. I’m a better husband now.” That, to me, is worth more than anything.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: And so I want to, hopefully, have that affect on everyone-

Jane Erbacher: Mmm.

Bobby Maximus: To some level.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: And so the goal of the book was to help get word out there. Because I can’t just do it from this garage.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: Sorry, the church.

Bobby Maximus: I can’t just do it from the gym.

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: Because there’s only so many people I can reach or I can touch. And so I want to somehow transmit that to the entire world and the book is a start.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm (affirmative). 100%. And I think that it’s interesting. Because so many people talk about that as in they want to change the world, they want to impact change and make a difference. And it’s … They are sitting in their garage hoping for it. Like it’s … They are just talking about it.

Bobby Maximus: Hope doesn’t get you far. Like you can hope all you want but it’s not going to make your podcast get better.

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: Like go to bed every night-

Jane Erbacher: Totally.

Bobby Maximus: Get on your knees. Pray, I hope my podcast gets more downloads tomorrow.

Jane Erbacher: Yup.

Bobby Maximus: It doesn’t work.

Jane Erbacher: No. You gotta show up.

Bobby Maximus: And so you gotta show up. You gotta do the work. You gotta do these things. And so writing a book was a massive undertaking but it’s been worth it because now I can give you a copy of the book and you can give it to somebody and hopefully they are positively effected by it. And then that person recommends it to another person and another person and another person, and the result of that can be pretty tremendous.

Jane Erbacher: Totally. And I think that it’s amazing, having experience what you do in terms of educating and bringing out the best. I would say that what you do is you enable people to believe that they can do it in someway. And it’s something that is … Something that you can’t explain how you actually do it. But I remember when I came to Fundamentals and I was in a terrible business situation. I was carrying too much weight. I was extremely stressed. And the moment that it happened for me with you was the 60 second [bike 00:36:04]. Because you just looked at me and you just told me exactly what I needed to do. And the fact that you believed that I could do it when I didn’t and then I did it. I was like, oh my god, that was me. But you brought it out. So it’s an incredible thing to experience that firsthand with you and I’m really grateful for that.

  I want to talk, very briefly, now just about Rob MacDonald. And I want to talk about if you feel like there’s been any turning points in your life that have really set your life in a certain direction.

Bobby Maximus: Yeah, there’s been a few. One, honestly, would be when I got my collarbone broken when I was in grade 9 when I was beat up by some bullies. Because that got me into wrestling and wrestling really changed my life. I mean, if it wasn’t for wrestling, I don’t know if I would have ever gotten to weight training. I don’t know if I ever would have gotten to physical activity. So I wouldn’t be here.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: The death of my dad was a turning point. And it’s one of those things that if I could go back and change it, I would in a second.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: Because I miss my dad. He was my best friend. But I also don’t know how that would change how I am now.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: Because a lot of things that I fundamentally believe in were formed through that pain, through that-

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: What I went through with that.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: The birth of my son was a huge one. And I … Actually the birth of my 2 sons. Because when you have kids, your life changes, your perspective changes. Your responsible to something frankly much bigger than yourself. And I have 2 beautiful kids that matter more than me. And a lot of people say that you don’t know what love is ’til you have a kid. And you don’t. You can love your spouse. You can love your girlfriend. You can love your boyfriend. You can love your job. But you’d give your life for your kid in a heartbeat. And so kids are a turning point. And honestly meeting my wife Lisa.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm.

Bobby Maximus: That’s been a huge turning point for me too. To actually have a real partner.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: You know, somebody who supports me. Somebody who lifts me up. Somebody who challenges me on all my bullshit. Who doesn’t just settle for the status quo either. And so that’s been a major turning point. And you could look at my success in the last 3 years and that also correlated to the same time that she came into my life. That’s not a coincidence.

  And so those would be the main turning points in my life. And it’s funny because will often say they have one turning point. I don’t think that’s true. I think you have multiple turning points throughout your life and lessons that you either learn from or you don’t.

Jane Erbacher: Mm-hmm. Something I love is that you haven’t used any of those struggles or however you want to define it as a reason to hold you back. But each of them have been a reason to do better. And I’ve heard the story … Like I’ve heard that you were bullied in school. Which, since knowing you know, I’m like how did that even happen but that was an incredible drive for you to then use physicality and use fitness to make yourself more confident. And I also see what an incredible impact Lisa’s had on your life and how … One of my favourite things about you is how much you love her and how open you are about that. And I think that your dad … Losing your dad when you were 20 has been such an important reason to why you’re so involved in your kid’s lives. And you have to be one of the best dads I’ve ever seen.

Bobby Maximus: Thank you.

Jane Erbacher: And I love- no but you are. I love those kids so much. And I could just see how much they absolutely adore you. And it’s really cool to watch on. So that’s pretty much everything that I wanted to talk to you about.

Bobby Maximus: Good. We hammered that out.

Jane Erbacher: You were so great.

Bobby Maximus: Thank you.

Jane Erbacher: And I really appreciate it. And stay tuned every body because we’re going to be running some Fundamentals and Intermediate seminars for Gym Jones in Australia.

Bobby Maximus: Yeah, and actually for those of you who don’t know, Jane is one of our seminar instructors in Australia.

Jane Erbacher: Yeah.

Bobby Maximus: And so one of the things that we’ve struggled with is how to get this out because I want to help everybody in the world. How to get the message out and we have to find other great people to teach. And we named Jane and Nathan Tieppo to be our instructor team in Australia. And they’re people that if I had the choice to go to a Bobby Maximus seminar or their seminar, I would probably choose theirs because they’re people I respect and admire and that I’ve worked with otherwise I wouldn’t have named them seminar instructors.

Jane Erbacher: Thank you.

Bobby Maximus: And so I’m really looking forward