I quit believing in myself [Man Camp Hawaii Disaster]

There is nothing quite as sad as a man who no longer believes in himself.

I know because I wanted to disappear from the earth after a big failure called "Man Camp Hawaii". 

Wish I could tell you this was the last time I lost faith in myself but it wasn't. 

That said... this was a fucking whopper. 

This was back in 2015 or so...

It was my first attempt at hosting a 5-Day Self-Development trip.

And we had planned, sold, and we to host two of them back to back. 

2 Groups.

10-Days of In-Person Coaching and Navy SEAL led missions that were designed to make or break men. 

As the head coach and organizer...

I was to participate in all of the grueling challenges, lead, and coach the men through this recreation of Hell Week. 

Can't ask others to do what you aren't willing to do yourself.

I spent months preparing.

Traveled to Molokai, Hawaii to secure the rental property and scout our course locations. 

Met with local hunting, fishing, tracking, and cooking experts and placed deposits for their services.

Spent weeks training my co-coaches (including my Navy SEAL cousin).

We were all set to go and then all of the sudden I got a phone call from a buddy…

“Bryce! Your Man Camp Hawaii article has gone viral in a bad way. Here I will text you the link.”

They say... "Man Makes Plans and God Laughs."

Yep!

This grand vision blew up in my face.

I received death threats by phone.

Thousands of hateful comments. 

It cost me $1000s of dollars and hundreds of hours.

And I wanted to curl up and die by the time the dust settled.

My dream had turned into a nightmare in an instant.

I had to reroute and replan the entire trip in less than 2-Weeks or call it off.

Our guys had already booked plane flights and taken time off of work.

I don't like disappointing people and going back on my word as a leader so... 

I worked my ass off to replan the whole thing and make it happen on a different island.

I lost money on the trip and I was dead broke at the time so ended up in debt.

After 100's of hours of planning, I had to work 16-hr days for an additional 2-weeks to make it happen... and I was already exhausted from planning the first iteration.

By the time we got to Hawaii...

I was stressed out of my mind, and I could barely think, let alone lead, but some how I was going to have to pull myself together deliver a good experience for our guys. 

And despite, the multitude of problems it created for me...

It changed some lives which was the point. 

So it was a success in that regard.

And I felt great about that.

But it ripped some holes in my confidence, my wallet, my coaching practice, and my life.

I also learned a valuable lesson about coaching and fathers can relate...

If you constantly put everyone's needs before your own and you have nothing left as a result: poor health, no money, no energy...

You will eventually burn out, go broke, get sick, and eventually die metaphorically or perhaps even physically. 

That's why the airlines, teach you to put your oxygen mask on first before you help others.

In life, we suffer many disappointments.

Some really fuck you up.

This was one of those.

If you are a Dad.

Or a boss.

Or a leader. 

You are fighting a million silent battles. 

No matter how fucked up and down you feel, you still have to show up for your people.

For many of you putting your families needs before your own has cost you your health.

This trip cost me a little bit of everything.

Took me a while to recover both mentally and financially.

For a while I stopped thinking big and taking risks, because I had stopped believing in myself.

Having coached 1000’s of men in weight loss now…

I know that failing time and time again at your fitness goals hurts your confidence.

But as long as you do not quit, you cannot lose.

You have not lost.

Don’t give up.

If you want to learn more about my Man Camp Hawaii disaster…

The Molokai Dispatch interviewed me and the article is still online > click here.

And you can see how insecure, shook and fucked up I was in the video above…

But, I never gave up on coaching despite this massive failure.

My confidence came back little by little.

I launched GUTLESS and because I took another chance on myself...

And as a result, I have helped 1000's of men lose 1000's of pounds and reclaim their power. 

So if you are down and out right now…

Keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Things will get better like they did for me...

Even though I thought I was finished at the time. 

I believe in you.

P.S. The trip did change lives and I just got an impassioned email about this article from one of our Man Camp attendees after posting it...

"Bro,