The Highly Effective Man
Welcome to "The Highly Effective Man", where we focus on helping busy men unlock their full potential through mindset, fitness, and nutrition. Hosted by a 13-year Navy SEAL veteran, former college football player, firefighter, life and fitness coach, and competitive jiu-jitsu athlete, this podcast delivers no-nonsense strategies for men looking to excel in all areas of life.
Whether you’re balancing work, family, or just looking to break through your fitness plateaus, each episode provides practical, actionable advice to build self-discipline, master your health, and achieve success. From personalized workout plans to overcoming mental barriers, we dive deep into what it takes to become the best version of yourself—mentally, physically, and emotionally.
Get ready to tap into the mindset of high performers and take your health journey to the next level. Stay strong, stay focused, and become the highly effective man you were meant to be.
The Highly Effective Man
How To Do Hard Things — The 7-Step System That Makes Success Inevitable
Most men repeat the same year of life over and over—same habits, same frustrations, same results. That ends when you choose a goal that scares you a little and build the discipline to chase it.
In this episode, Navy SEAL veteran, firefighter, and coach JP Bolwahnn breaks down the exact 7-step system he’s used—from surviving BUD/S to playing college football in his 30s—to make hard goals non-negotiable.
You’ll learn how to:
- Build an unshakable why that fuels discipline
- Choose goals that actually create growth
- Break them down into simple milestones
- Follow a proven plan instead of winging it
- Surround yourself with men who refuse to quit
- Show up when motivation is gone
- Ask better questions that keep you moving forward
This is more than goal-setting—it’s about building the identity of a man who does hard things and wins because of it.
If you’re ready for a program, a plan, and a brotherhood that will hold you accountable, join JP inside The Highly Effective Man Inner Circle.
DM "HEMAN" on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehighlyeffectiveman/
Welcome to the Highly Effective Man podcast, hosted by former Navy SEAL Turned Life and Fitness Coaches. I'm your host, JP Bolwan. This podcast is your resource for unlocking the healthiest, most productive, highly effective man within you. Let's go. Most men, when they reach a certain age, they just drift through life. Right? They repeat the same year of their life over and over, doing the same routines, the same habits, same frustrations. They're just a year older. All of that changes the moment you choose a goal that scares you a little. And then you build the discipline that's required to chase it. So today I'm going to share with you guys my exact seven-step system that I've used from Navy SEAL training to playing college football in my 30s. And that's to make hard goals a non-negotiable. Welcome back to the Highly Effective Man podcast, where we build elite fitness, master our mindset, and lead with purpose. I'm JP Bolwan, former Navy SEAL, firefighter, and a coach. And in this episode, we're going to talk about one of the most important or one of the most powerful forces in a man's life, and that's hard goals. And I'm not talking about like I want to lose five pounds or 10 pounds or something like that. I'm talking about the kind that make you nervous to say out loud, the kind that you're not sure if you can do it. The kind that would force you to level up physically, mentally, and emotionally. Because confidence doesn't come from motivation. It comes from doing hard things repeatedly. Now, when I was 18 in high school, I decided I was become I was going to become a Navy SEAL, right? I told people what I was going to do. And some people supported me. Some people didn't really care or didn't know. I, you know, to be honest, like I didn't really know as much as I should have known what a Navy SEAL is. And some people didn't care. You know, but one guy in my high school, who's actually on my football team, he actually laughed. He's like, ha, JP's gonna go become a Navy SEAL. Like, yeah, right. And he straight up laughed. And I'll be honest, it pissed me off. Not because he doubted me, because in that moment I realized that most people they can't believe something that is possible because they don't believe in themselves that they can do it. Right? So they can't believe in anybody, in anybody else being able to do it. And so that became fuel, right? It it lit me up. It was my fire. And later, when things got hard, the cold water, the brutal workouts, the sleep deprivation, that voice was still there, right? Prove them wrong. Prove all those people wrong. Prove yourself right. Don't quit, right? And here's what I learned. All right, confidence is it's not something you start with. Confidence is what you earn by doing hard things. So today, I'm going to teach you the seven-step system that makes hard goals possible. So let's go. Number one, you got to start with the why, right? If your why for doing the hard thing is weak, you're gonna quit the moment it gets uncomfortable. A strong why sounds like I want to be able to play with my kids without getting winded. I want my wife to look at me like a man who leads. I want to live a long enough, I want to live long enough to meet my grandkids, and I want to be able to play soccer with my grandkids. Or I'm tired of feeling average. Those are strong whys. A weak why might be like, I just want to lose weight. Yeah, I should probably exercise. Or it'd be nice to get in shape. Emotion beats logic, right? And when you have emotion behind your why, that's gonna give you the fuel to accomplish it. The why has to have meaning now. Step two is to pick something hard because soft goals, they don't change you, right? Like losing five pounds, okay, big deal. Right? It's not gonna change you. Losing 50 pounds, yeah. You're gonna have to put in some work, right? If you're a type two diabetic coming off medication, that's gonna take work. It's gonna take some changes, right? And if your goal doesn't make you a little bit nervous to say out loud, it's not big enough. Examples could be I'm gonna run a marathon, uh, I'm gonna lose 50 pounds, I'm gonna start jujitsu or get my first jujitsu stripe. I'm gonna do a high rocks race or a Spartan race. I'm gonna do 20 pull-ups, I'm broken. Maybe I'm gonna start a business. I'm gonna quit drinking. I'm gonna get a six-pack and get ripped, even though I'm 40 or 50 years old. A real goal forces you to change your habits and your identity. And the harder it is, the more confidence you'll build when you finish. Once you've got that goal set up, you got to break it down, right? And a lot of guys will just fail because they feel like the goal is too big or just too far away, right? That's your guiding star, right? Your north star. That's what the goal is. So just break it down into milestones, right? Like, what am I gonna do in the next 48 hours from making this goal? Well, I'm going to commit, I'm gonna choose a program, and I'm gonna make sure that my environment matches what it needs to to accomplish it. Maybe in the first two weeks, I just focus on building consistency, not necessarily intensity. And then in the first two months, now I can start measuring progress, see how I'm doing. And then at the end of the 12 months, that's like my capstone, right? The result. Right? So let's say my goal is 20 pull-ups. What am I gonna do in the first 48 hours? Well, if I don't have a pull-up bar, I'm gonna find a pull-up bar. Then I'm gonna test my max set. Maybe I install a pull-up bar at my house. Two weeks, what am I gonna do in the first two weeks? Well, I'm gonna at least do three training days a week. And then in the first two months, maybe I get my first 10 reps, right? Starting to measure progress. And then at the 12-month mark, maybe I'm doing 20 dead hang pull-ups, right? Small wins eventually will lead to big wins. And step four is to follow a plan, right? I'm not winging it. Winging it is what you've done over the last 10 years, but success leaves a trail. Right? Follow a proven program. Hire a coach that's already done what you're trying to do. Find a system. You don't you don't really need motivation, you just need a roadmap. Somebody that's been there before, right? And then just follow that plan. And then step five is find your tribe, right? Find other guys that maybe are on the same mission as you. Because you're gonna rise or fall to the level of the men that are around you. So you want to surround yourself with men who show up, men who train hard, maybe they log their workouts, they take action. They don't negotiate with discipline. It's almost impossible to fail when you're surrounded by men who refuse to let you disappear. And then number six is the show up. That's the separator, right? You can have the plan, you can have the brotherhood, you can have, you know, the why. But if you don't show up, nothing's gonna happen. The winners are not the men who just feel motivated. They are the men that who they do the work even when they're tired, even when they're busy or stressed or unmotivated, or even uncomfortable, right? Ask yourself, you know, thinking about like my goal of becoming a black belt in jujitsu, right? It's like a question I can ask myself is like, what would a black belt do right now? Right? Well, they'd show up, even if they're tired or they're sore, they're busy, you know, showing up even at 60% will get you further than the guy that waits till I feel like it. And then step seven is to ask better questions. When we ask ourselves questions that serve us, it helps lead us in the direction that we want to go. Bad questions might be like, man, why is this so hard? Why can't I stay consistent? Why do I screw up? And as you can see, when I ask those questions, you're only gonna get answers that tell you why it's so hard. Or why you can't stay consistent, or why you always screwed things up. Better questions would be like How can I move the needle forward today? What would the disciplined version of me do? What's one thing I can knock out in ten minutes? Right? Better questions will lead to better actions. They will give you the answers of where you want to go. Don't use age as an excuse. Right? You're not too old, you're not past your prime. That's a lie. There's men in their 40s, their 50s, they're running like sub-six, you know, minute miles, deadlifting 500 pounds, earning black belts, building businesses, and becoming the strongest version of themselves. You can't help it. You're gonna get older, right? It's it's not possible. You're going to get older. But getting weaker, that's optional. And that's a choice that you can make. So here's my challenge to you pick one hard goal for the next 12 months. Just one. Something that's gonna force you to grow, something that's gonna require discipline, something that'll make you proud to say, like, yeah, I did that. Right? And start today. Not Monday, not January, not someday, today. Start today. And if you want to plan a coach or a brotherhood of men who show up just like this, then I really want to encourage you guys to join me in the highly effective man inner circle. I mean, this is where busy men who are, you know, 30, 40, 50, they get lean, strong, disciplined, and unstoppable. We cover workouts, nutrition, weekly coaching, accountability, and it's a tribe of men who are not going to let you quit. Right? Just go DM me, He-Man, on Instagram, and it's the highly effective man on Instagram, and just DM me He-Man and take action. Become the man that you said you would be. Thanks for listening to the Highly Effective Man podcast. If you got value, please share this episode with another man who needs to hear it. And make sure you subscribe so you don't miss the next one. I'll see you on the next episode. Let's go. Thank you for listening to the Highly Effective Man podcast. If you enjoyed or learned something on this episode, do me a favor and share this with somebody who you think needs to hear it. And one last thing, if you want to work with me as your coach to help you get fit, be more productive, and in general, just be the most effective version of yourself, head over to my site, highlevelcoaching.co. Once again, that's highlevelcoaching.co and schedule follows me there. Thank you again. Let's get it.