About Today’s Episode:
Man, are you guys in for a TREAT today!
I have my friend, Cavan Valance, on the show and I wanted to get Cavan on because not only did he go through an amazing transformation of his own—once weighing 300lbs—but he has also overcome alcoholism, drug addiction, and built a 7-figure coaching business on top of it all.
Cavan has so many incredible stories to tell and, just from hearing about his journey, I know you will pick up some practical takeaways that will help you change your lives forever.
Let’s get into it!
TIMESTAMPS
02:01 Our Sponsors
07:25 Cavan’s Journey
29:22 Keeping Your Success
50:35 What’s Next for Cavan
Transcript (click to expand)
Cavan’s Journey:
Cavan grew up in a small town on Long Island, doing everything from music to sports. His favorite sport—and personal identity—was lacrosse, but Cavan ended up quitting his high school lacrosse team due to a problem with the coach.
After quitting lacrosse, Cavan leaned into music. He enjoyed playing music and going to concerts, and eventually, when it was time for college, he was accepted into a music conservatory school.
Unfortunately, he ended up falling in with the wrong crowd and didn’t end up finishing his music degree.
Cavan was directionless. He was working at a Ruby Tuesday’s, living in his parent’s basement, and he spent his free time going to band practice and drinking or doing drugs.
He didn’t know who he was.
Cavan’s wake-up call came on Thanksgiving in 2008. He was, of course, drunk when he got into an argument with his Dad. He ended up running outside in a hissy fit and punched a hole through his car window.
When he pulled his bloody arm from the wreckage—he broke down.
That’s when his Aunt told him, “We’ve all fucked up before, too, and you’re at a point where you need to make a decision for yourself—because it’s only up to you.”
Cavan immediately realized he needed to figure out what he was going to do with his life—he needed to work toward something important.
He wanted to make his life better, he wanted to look and feel good, and he didn’t want to embarrass the people he cared about. Those were Cavan’s ‘why’s’ in the beginning.
His ‘why’ has evolved over the years—to now, where he wants to help as many people as possible. In the beginning, though, he really just didn’t want to be a fuck up anymore.
Cavan was presented with the opportunity to play college lacrosse at a small school provided his grades improved and he lost weight, which he did. He ended up graduating with honors a few years later.
Later on, Cavan worked for (and helped build) New York City’s largest CrossFit gym, but was furloughed during the pandemic.
After being furloughed, Cavan decided to go all-in on Hidden Summit, a coaching business that he had started with his brother.
Hidden Summit now has a staff of nearly 30 people and a client roster of approximately 450 people worldwide.
Cavan has come to realize that everything that happened in his life affected him emotionally, and he held on to it. However, if you’re able to push through the dissonance—and not let the things happening around you affect you—you can change your thoughts about who you are and what type of life you can live.
Cavan is the type that likes to push himself and he performs best when his back is against the wall.
He admits that this style is definitely not for everyone, but he is an advocate for taking personal responsibility when it comes to changing your life.
People find reasons to either push themselves or hold themselves back.
Keeping Your Success:
Cavan first makes the point that, “this never ends. Achieving your goal is not the end, it’s an infinite game.”
He says to start slow and pivot as you go because, “if we’re not growing, we’re dying—and if we’re not learning, we’re losing.”
At the age of 22, Cavan just wanted to not weigh 300lbs and not wear 40” pants. Now, he is 36 and his goals have changed considerably—he is running a business and helping other achieve their goals.
Cavan likes to ask his clients what season they are in and as they approach the goal for that season, he has them start to think about where they want to go next so they can plan for that along the way.
Secondly, Cavan says you need to know your ‘why’. He says the ‘why’ is selfish—and that’s okay. He believes that to be selfless you have to be selfish and hold onto your ‘why’.
Cavan helps people do this in two ways—first, it’s organizing your day, creating a ‘Power List’, and figuring out what you can do for yourself today. This doesn’t have to be a huge task.
Next, you have to figure out what’s important to you.
For Cavan, his health, his relationships, his business, and being flexible are all important to him.
Cavan believes that you have to take care of your foundation to maintain success. Your goals can evolve, but to maintain success you need that solid foundation—figuring out your ‘why’, the how, and identifying what’s most important in your life.
Quitting Is Not An Option:
Jared and Cavan both find that many people leave quitting as an option on the table.
For Cavan, as a business owner, quitting is not an option. He does get emotional sometimes—and logic is not the first place his mind goes—but something that has helped him is having a ‘no problems, only solutions’ mindset.
There are a million paths to get to the same destination and, for Cavan, zooming out and looking at his life and thinking about what he can do to move forward in the areas that are important to him is immensely helpful.
Just because you don’t have the answers today, doesn’t mean you won't be able to figure them out.
Cavan says if you want to quit and you “don’t want to do it anymore,” you need to ask yourself why.
Write it out and think through it.
Then, you can go view it through the logical side of your brain—you can see the benefit or downfall of those reasons.
If you do find that it’s something catastrophic, you can find peace and realize that it’s okay.
Cavan recently had an experience in his own life where this process helped him.
A 10-year relationship was ended by his then-fiancée, but through reflection, he was able to realize that they had not been moving forward together, that he had been through more challenging times, and that he was going to be okay.
Jared finds that thinking and reflecting the way that Cavan does is extremely important for personal development, but most people are quick to believe whatever they think—without reflecting on and examining those thoughts.
Cavan says this reflection is a habit—like working out or hitting your protein every day.
Through life, you have the ability to learn that you create your thoughts—good or bad—and ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is a reflection of how you see the world. Nothing is ‘good’ or ‘bad’, it just is.
To change a belief, you have to change your thoughts. It’s more than just affirmations—you have to take action.
If you aren't where you want to be, you have to think about where you want to be, how the person you want to be acts, what they do, and then you have to act.
Cavan leans on gratitude. When he has a hard day, instead of thinking, “How am I going to do this today?” He frames it as, “I get to do this today.”
What’s Next for Cavan:
Cavan is restructuring the team behind Hidden Summit. There has been a lot of growth in the last two years and, currently, Hidden Summit is looking to do what it does even better.
They will also be having a Hidden Summit seminar. This will be the first of many future big events for Hidden Summit.
On a personal note, he will also be traveling with Lacy, his significant other, in addition to training for the next year’s CrossFit Games.
CONNECT WITH CAVAN:
‣ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cavantv_
‣ Website: https://www.hiddensummitgroup.com
‣ Hidden Summit Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hiddensummit_
‣ All Other Links: https://stan.store/hiddensummit
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© 2023 Jared Hamilton
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