Getting into the best shape with the busiest schedule: how Robbie Francis did it. He's making millions and not slowing down any time soon.

Today I’m joined by my client Robbie Francis, an entrepreneur who describes what life looked like before: crowbarring himself out of bed, dragging through mornings, grinding through work, and slowly losing the edge he used to have in his 40s.

He wasn’t just uncomfortable in his body, he was getting stressed by small things, and it was affecting how he showed up at home and in business.

Robbie shares the turning point that made everything finally stick after years of failed “get fit fast” attempts: changing the time horizon.

Instead of trying to overhaul his life in six to eight weeks, he commits to building a fit and healthy lifestyle over years - and that's when it "just happened and it feels like cheating"

We unpack how habits compound into autopilot, why it starts to feel effortless, and how he lost 15 kilos (32 pounds) while gaining energy, confidence, and the ability to handle more pressure again with the stamina of his 20-year old self.

More focus, less wasted work, and a stronger engine to carry the mission.

Subscribe for more real transformation stories, share this with a friend who’s been stuck, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway: what’s one small habit you’re ready to compound for the next 10 years?

Transcript

Focus On What You Control

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey guys and welcome back to another episode of Change Wired Podcast. My name is Angela Shorina. I'm your host, I'm your partner in change, in personal and collective transformation, in learning how to feel, think and do our best to live more, give more, enjoy more, take on more, achieve more, learn more about our potential, how we can unlock and use more of it with the purpose to live the most extraordinary lives that we are capable of, creating more positive impact, contributing to building the most amazing world that we possibly can build, even with all the AI and wars and crazy unstable political situation and so many things changing and shifting. Yes, guys, I just wanna acknowledge that it's all happening. But guess what? I found in my life that there is no use of me ruminating on things that can go wrong, or whether I don't know, AI gonna take over the world and we're all gonna die or not, or what's gonna happen to my job if I have a job. Like I find it incredibly not useful to ruminate on all of those things, and incredibly useful to put all of my attention, energy, and focus into things that I can control, that I can influence, that I can improve, improving myself, taking action, helping other people to improve and do better, expanding the scope of my possibilities by taking action towards bettering myself and improving, uh helping other people to improve and do better, right? Increasing my chances to succeed in this world. That's what the most useful place to be is. Because you know, if not that, then what else is out there? Like what's the alternative? Focus on things that can go wrong, and then there is no point in doing anything. Well, we might as well just, you know, lay down and die. Yeah. So think about that. What is useful thinking, doing, where you spend your focus and attention and go and do that? Because ultimately the rest is not to us to control.

Meet Roby And His Transformation

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Today, guys, it is an unusual episode. You're gonna learn, well, you're gonna learn a lot of things, but you're gonna hear our conversation with a client of mine who I had a chance. I was lucky to get working with for the past couple of years. And Roby, Roby Francis, the guest in today's podcast, is just an incredible human who's built himself from I don't know if from zero, but from a lesser state of uh wealth and health and well-being to quite an incredible human who is making millions literally in USD dollars, maybe now in other more expensive currencies as well, and to uh moving from one country to another, uh figuring out his vision, his purpose, getting into the fittest self of his life in his mid-40s, and building that capacity to just not slow down, but instead take on more, achieve more, and live more, and give more, and enjoy more, just developing, never stopping that development and that question, what else can I be? On this podcast, you're gonna learn how Roby went from uh not being fit at all, seeing, looking at himself in the mirror, and it's like, this is not who I think I am, like, not my best self, and yet here he is staring back at me, that's exactly where I am, realizing that his actions did not align with his aspirations, and realizing that something has to be done differently, that's how we ended up working together, but also you're gonna learn so much about what Robby thought about health and fitness and being his best self and what it actually was and where he needed adjustment, that it was more about his mindset, specific kind of mindset, not about his discipline and willpower, and how actually, in his own words, he now feels like he's cheating because he's getting to feel look his best, lost 15 kilos, 32 pounds, and he's working on getting even bitter and stronger, and truly his best in his body, not just his business and in his mind, right? How he got to that and he and it feels like cheating in his own words, and how that happened and what it contributes to, and how you can also tap into the same sort of systematic and approach to change, to overcoming personal challenges, whether that's on the health and fitness side, on the business side, that it doesn't feel like work at all, and yet you're moving forward, you're making progress, and you are getting into the bad shape of your life mentally, physically, business-wise. What's inside coaching today? You're gonna learn from someone who's been in it, a client of mine who's been working for two years, and this guy just keeps on going, not just making millions, but cultivating that state of being where he feels on million bucks inside, and that I believe is the most important part. So, without further ado, to my conversation with my dear friend and client, and just an amazing human, Robbie Franz.

The Old Routine And Burnout

SPEAKER_00 5:50

Cool. Okay, so let's start. Take me to take me back to when we first started, and maybe a little bit before. What was a typical day like before our work together? Energy, food, sleep, exercise, like how you felt.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Yeah, I mean, honestly, I used to crowbar myself out of bed. It was like my alarm would go off. I would feel like like absolute rubbish. And I just I would I I I felt I felt like I had no energy, and like trying to get out of bed was just the biggest task in the world. I'd eventually like crowbar myself out of bed, drag myself to the office or to my desk and just start cranking again. You know, it took a few hours to warm up and then and then get going and and just you know, kind of do as much as I can in a day. And it was a it was just a treadmill. I mean, that was the reality. It was just this grind, you know. And I was just trying to try to figure out what how I was going to get away from it. Um and I think there was a combination of things. Number one is, you know, like most people, I'd had you know, business was challenged over COVID. I'm in hospitality, so it probably hit our business, you know, somewhat worse. I mean, there were probably people way worse off than us, but you know, hospitality was was absolutely destroyed. I remember the COVID period, which took its toll on me and and and the business, to be fair. Um, although the business ended up better off as an outcome long term. And that that in combination with me turning 40, 41, 42 in the kind of the preceding years, where that zest of life just couldn't carry you through those tough times anymore. And actually, like just the the vitality you have when you're young starts to fade. And yeah, I was just I was just at a loss. I was like, oh, oh crap, now what? Uh at that point.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Yeah, so thank you so much for you know sharing that. And um obviously you could have continued as you were, you probably wouldn't, you know, die at that time. So, what made you uh shift? What made you say, you know, all right, that's now time to change and invest into things like uh health and fitness and nutrition and sleep and all of that?

Why Short Sprints Kept Failing

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Yeah, well, I mean, so so there was a number like I tried previously and I had managed when I was 30 to get fit and healthy again. And between you know 30 and and 40, let's say, you know, growing a young business at the time, and it was it was the the hustle. And like most people, between 30 and 40, you know, you work more hours than you have in the day in reality. And I'd I'd tried periodically between the ages of you know after 30 when I when I when I when I got unfit again to try and get back to getting fit. And I just never cracked it. I never managed to like find the what the best version of myself looked like. And there was always like these short sprints or these very small windows where I'd be like, yeah, okay, this is what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna do it. And ultimately, you know, I would run out of steam and those those, you know, the the the initial energy would dissipate and I'd be back to square one. So it was you know, it was pretty, it was pretty frustrating. So when I got to, I think it was we we met two 18 months, two years ago, I was probably 105 kilos. So not that weight is everything, but you know, I was uncomfortable in my own body. Um I didn't look look or didn't like what I what I saw in the mirror. It wasn't representative of who I felt I was, but uh the reality was it was who I was at the point in time. So, you know, not looking after myself mentally, physically, felt tired all the time. Everything was just a lot of hard work. And I think one of the one of the things that hit me the most is that I would have like I'd never I'm you know, I've been a duck underwater. Like most entrepreneurs, I could just take whatever stress is thrown at me. It didn't didn't didn't, you know, it didn't really, didn't really matter. And I found that, you know, when I was you know 41, 42, 43, that actually I was getting very, very stressed about small things. And that was, you know, that was affecting my home life and how you know how I showed up for my family. And I knew at that point that you know something needed to change. And and I kind of felt like it was grounded in my physical health. Um hence, you know, hence kind of you know, looking for how that could

The Long Horizon And Sleep First

SPEAKER_01 10:35

change. But what I knew different for this time, given that I've had many failures previously in getting fit, is that I needed to I needed to start with a much longer time frame. And as most you know, ambitious entrepreneurs, you know, I'm like, okay, well, we're gonna do this in three weeks or five weeks. And I decided that that was where my failures were. And rather than looking at you know, becoming fit and healthy as a you know, a six-month goal, I decided I was gonna figure out how to live a fit and healthy lifestyle. And my goal was to be, you know, the strongest 70-year-old I could be, so a long time window, and then I was committed to educating myself over years, if not decades, to become that person. Um so I think that kind of set me up on a different mindset from the outset, and I was really focused on the primitives of what a healthy person, you know, looks like in terms of their lifestyle and choices, etc. And rather than you know the impossible, I'm gonna start waking up at five o'clock every morning and hitting the gym and you know, become the best version of myself, that would just destroy anyone. The reality is, you know, fires if if you remember, working together at the start was, you know, we started with the real basic stuff, and that is, you know, can I can I literally get go to sleep and get eight hours of sleep every night? Like it's as simple as that. And then layering on all of the other healthy habits over years to get to a position where, you know, like yes, I can get up at five o'clock every morning and go to the gym and feel amazing about it and get my eight hours sleep and and and and and but there's a whole host of things that we needed to solve in order to get to that point. And that was only possible with like a long multi-year mindset, I think. And I'm you know, I'm not not where I want to be yet, but I'm definitely I'm definitely 80% of the way there, but the the other 20% will probably take another 20 years.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Um well, uh, I don't know, you know, also uh they say like as as people and entrepreneurs specifically, we keep also moving our goalposts, so that's also very often happened. Like what you think or what you thought was not possible, very unrealistic, all of a sudden becomes possible. And you're like, okay, that is the next thing. Um, but you know what you reminded me really well. Like I remember this Donald Trump's quote. He said, There are no unrealistic goals, only unrealistic time frames. Whether that's business, life, or fitness, anything we decide to pursue, actually, almost all of our goals are possible if we just choose the right time frame. And what I also loved about what you just mentioned is knowing that what is realistic for you and grounding your action plan in that versus trying to think about, I don't know, a perfect version of self that gets to handle all of the balls in life, business, family, and fitness, and to the like sort of hardest version of that. And very often, you know, that is not really realistic, not reality. And just what what I guess I'm getting is is your self-awareness of okay, I tried that, that didn't work. Maybe let's try something that has better chances.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Uh yeah, well, you know, that that was back then.

Stress Resilience And Health On Autopilot

SPEAKER_00 14:26

And where are you now in terms of your energy levels, in terms of how you feel, what's shifted in in your life, like personal life, business life, like what are the things that you can speak to that you noticed?

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Yeah, I mean so uh there's there's a there's a there's a well, I mean, yeah, starting starting with the outcome. My I mean, yeah, I've got loads of energy now. The biggest thing, which was you know, probably the driver for it all, is like I'm just able to handle stress again like I was when I was 20 or 30. That I don't have these wild swings in you know in my emotional capacity or my ability to handle very stressful situations or even min tiny, you know, uh tiny bumps in the road. So so that's that's great. Obviously, that has a compounding effect, right? In terms of better sleep, because now you don't get stressed, you don't have that high cortisol, means you sleep better. If you sleep better, it means that you can get up at five o'clock in the morning and go to gym. If you go to gym, it means that you're protecting your body against those cortisol spikes, and you know, and then you can take more stress and yeah, like so. I probably compounded all the bad over over many years. You know, the rug was taken out of from under my feet in terms of you know getting older and and that the zest of life you have when you're young. And now I've been repaying those debts and getting myself fit to the point that yeah, I mean, today I'm I'm I'm operating uh at close to the best version I could possibly think of myself. I mean, we've done a lot of work recently, like you know, eking out the last minuscules of improvement and really analyzing where I'm spending time, how much time I'm spending, going back and you know, measuring food and trying to understand, like, you know, as I you know, like are those those KPIs that we set up you know 18 months ago, like are we hitting them now? And yeah, just like I think all of the skills that I've learned, I'm just applying without thinking now, which make the whole process of being and staying fit and healthy effectively autopilot. And I think that's that's that's the real unlock because when previously I tried to get fit and healthy, it was always consciously trying to think about what do I need to do to maintain this week after week. And like now, and I think I've said this to you previously, it like feels like I'm cheating. Because like, no, I'm just eating whatever I want. I'm just you know, like just living my life exactly how I want. But because of all the change that we've made and all those healthy habits we've compounded over, you know, over the course of two years, that that yeah, I'm I'm eat I'm I'm able to live a different version of my life where whereby I it feels like I'm cheating all the time, but it's just so it's that easy that I'm making gains, but yeah, you know, not even trying.

Identity Shift That Makes It Easy

SPEAKER_00 17:51

Yeah. It's like you said, um well, first of all, it it's the when you form the habits, it it feels starts feeling like no work at all, right? But then also what you're I think speaking towards is this identity shift, meaning what used to feel like I don't know, something foreign or additional effort, like you know, eating certain things, not eating other things, exercising, sleeping, what felt like maybe not you, something that you had to do on top of being you, now it feels like that's you know just who you are and what you do every day. It doesn't feel any different.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

And you know, in terms of also like impact in the outside world, uh have you, I don't know, noticed, or other people maybe noticed you showing up differently, or like any difference in terms of like I don't know, how you show up, like of your energy, your decisions, productivity. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

I I I mean across all of those. I think one of the one of the interesting things is you know, I think people are very inquisitive when they see somebody who's you know kind of radically changed their lifestyle. And you know, not that I was like big and fat, you know, but I was clearly very unhealthy. Like I think you could just see that in my eyes and bags under my eyes, and the you know, the the way I showed up my energy, etc. And for those people who know me and have seen that change, and even if they you know hadn't seen me for a few months at a time. I think for them it's always interesting because when you you know when you see those people again and they see how you're showing up and they're like, holy Moses, tell me more, right? That's that's basically what you get. It's like what have you done, how have you done it, right? Uh so so yeah, so that's you know, that's been interesting and encouraging because it just shows that you know the the way you show up, physically, mentally, emotionally, and and and from an energy perspective, I suppose covers all of those. You know, when when you when you arrive, that like that is kind of you know, that presence is felt. And yeah, I think it's it's definitely recognized and it attracts a lot of people in terms of like wanting to come and talk to you and be inquisitive about you know what have you done and how have you done it. Yeah, and yeah, I think it's got got really positive effects from that perspective.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Hmm.

Confidence, Presence, And Self-Respect

SPEAKER_00 20:26

I'm I'm also you know curious, and I'm not sure like what the answer is. A lot of people who go on this journey, you know, in transformation, taking care of themselves, for a lot of people, the motivation is showing up for like family, showing up for I don't know, your kids, showing up for your business and people and people who depend on it. Like, was it a part of the equation for you to maybe approach this transformation as well?

SPEAKER_01 20:52

You know, I I'll I'll I'll be honest, maybe it was somewhat selfish for me. I just despise the person that I was looking at, you know, to the to the point that I just wanted to prove it to myself. So so yeah, that that was my motivation. Um and yeah, I think I think going back to you know the the the the the benefits that I that I that I sought absolutely you know came to fruition. So those were the ability to take on a lot more stress um or not get stressed at all by you know big events and or small events for that matter. And that was like my my kind of core objective. But what I found in getting to that point was you know, a whole bunch of other really beneficial things around you know living a really more substantial life, I think. Um certainly from my own measures, that'll be different for everyone. But yes, it was it was for me more than anything, or or anyone for that matter.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

And um, you know, you mentioned also like you know your body weight that yeah it might be uh important you know to things like I don't know how you show up or your confidence. Like did did it change things for you when you were able to you know go take your body through this transformation? Did it change your I don't know confidence or energy, other things, the way you show up? Like I often hear from people, and I'm one of those people as well, like when you feel like the best in your body, you sort of like start radiating that, and it is so much easier to take on stuff, and you don't take a lot of you know negative comments as personally, like I'll get through it. Like was it was it part of the journey for you as well, or like how did that affect sort of like your your life, how you approach things in life, what you take on, how you handle things?

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Yeah, I uh I yeah, I mean I mean, you know, maybe maybe this is largely mental, but like like I've certainly felt having spent a lot of time doing physical things, so you know, whether it's that in the gym or like the you know, classes and those F45 high rocks or anything like that, those kind of physic, those physical exercises like manifest a lot of that manifestation for me feels like it's in my stature. And and and and I don't I don't I don't think that's that's actually necessarily that true, but but it it feels like that when you walk into the room you're standing, you know, up more upright. I just think it's more like more inviting, and it's probably around more so than the physicality, it's probably more around your your mental attitude towards your your physicality and how you see yourself. So when you you know when you do show up the self-reflection, the you know the the the the outer self looking in has more respect for you and therefore you take yourself more seriously, and and that outwardly comes from you believe people are taking you more seriously, which means that you have more self-belief because you have more respect from others, and that could be all totally incorrect, but it's actually just because that you've got fitter and stronger, so you're able to appear, you know, kind of yeah, more more confident.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Yeah, I guess you know, also what's it changing your mental state, it changes your brain literally, like the emotions you experience, that confidence, that dopamine, you know, that gives you that sort of boost of like just energy and confidence and self-assurance. And because of that, you act differently, you stand differently, and because of that, obviously people read into that and also will uh treat you differently and read different kinds of energy. And plus, of course, if you look strong, people usually tend to think like you you are strong, you can take things on, you are capable, right? And all of that things sort of and it's all true, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:10

That's the great that that's the reality, it's grounded in truth.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

Yes, exactly.

Advice For Busy Entrepreneurs

SPEAKER_00 25:16

I I I guess the you know, the last couple of questions are if other entrepreneur and business owner, you know, watching this and they're thinking about uh maybe going on a similar journey, what would you say to them? And maybe what would what did you need to hear at that time at the beginning, maybe to get you over this last edge or friction to actually start something like this?

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Yeah, I think I think I think the the thing that put me off the most, which which was which which I overcame by looking at over a longer time frame, was the where I was going wrong personally, was like, this is gonna be intense. I need to get fit in six to eight weeks, which was you know, all-encompassing. It took like so much of your energy. And as an entrepreneur, like I could never commit that amount of energy to any one thing because quite frankly, you know, my business came first. Um and when you're growing, when you're growing a, you know, and and are trying to strive towards growing a massive business, that is just the cost. And I think what I what I decided on was that I could not continue neglecting my body because ultimately it would have a negative impact on me reaching my goal. So looking after my engine, what was required, and and really the mental shift that took that took place, which is something which I wish I'd known about before and I would have started my journey earlier, is that all it needed for me was to change my time horizon and say, okay, well, I can't commit 10 hours a week to this or 15, whatever, like whether it's just your mental capacity or otherwise, and going on a journey where it's like, okay, I'm gonna spend the next 10 years getting better. And if that means I only achieve like one thing this quarter, that means that I only, you know, like and however small it is, like if that's going for a walk once, you know, like twice a week, if that's like if that's an improvement, great. And I think you know, there have been times where I've been improving faster and times when I've improved slower. And I think one of the one of those things is just recognizing that you you you can only you've only got you know one that of energy and you need to choose where to spend it. And for me, I've only had to spend a little bit, but it but I've been spending it every day consistently in terms of getting better and coming, you know, kind of coming back and reframing it. And that's what like our sessions are about, is like reframing the importance, making sure that I keep spending the time and energy towards it and going back to the why is critical. So it doesn't actually take a huge amount of energy and time and commitment. What it takes is consistency and you spend what you have. So sometimes the business will take priority, you know, but yeah, just keep improving. I think I think that's that's the one lesson I've learned.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Yes, you know, thank you for sharing that. Because as you mentioned, you know, for entrepreneurs, a lot of times business takes priority, and it's just, you know, if you make your time horizon longer, then there is a lot you can still do, and then you can compound your progress and your results, and it just keeps growing, just like ROI on your, I don't know, investment, right? The longer you you take, like this, even the smaller contribution matters a lot more and delivers great results and great returns. And the last but not least, I think a very important question that you already touched upon on like for entrepreneurs, for business owners who are always worried about like you know, time commitment and the energy that it's gonna take away from business, from other things important in life, like family. Like can you speak maybe towards this

Time Investment That Pays You Back

SPEAKER_00 29:15

challenge? What did you learn from your experience? Like again, the um the time, the energy, like uh how how was it for you through this experience?

SPEAKER_01 29:24

Um I mean, yeah, I I mean the the the the reality is that that there's there's a net benefit to this ultimately, even even in the shorter term. So, you know, the fact that I've got more energy and actually I can come more focused and actually do more during the day means that I spend less time working, you know, and not being efficient. So yes, there's there's like getting used to the change and and and doing and kind of pitching up week on week takes takes some time and energy, but the return the returns happen pretty quickly in terms of like your your output can just you know get much better. So so yeah, I don't it it wasn't it wasn't laborious for me at all. Ultimately, I I mean in the process, I've just you know I I just I'm prioritizing where I'm spending my time better, but also kind of you know realizing the benefits of that that has in other places of my life. So maybe I'm not you know spending time till 12 o'clock at night watching some rubbish on TV, going to bed at 10 so I can get up at you know five and go to the gym. But those you know, that didn't happen overnight. It took a long time to get to that point where that became easy, and there's a lot of things that needed to change, whether it be work habits, drinking, etc. But yeah, ultimately, yeah, I I it's it's no commitment at all.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

Yeah, yeah, you know what I'm hearing also a couple of things. Most of us find the time to waste on other things, no matter what, you know, yeah, I don't matter how efficient we we say we want to be or we are, and maybe distributing that time to something that actually is an investment and gives you energy and gives you better capability and gives you better quality of life, is you know, a lot better uh way to approach things and approach things like time management versus thinking that if you don't exercise, you're just gonna be working uh all the time. But anyhow, thank you so much, uh Robbie, for sharing your experience and your advice. Um thank you so much. Is there anything that you'd like to add to your message?

SPEAKER_01 31:48

No, thank you for sharing your experience and advice.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

Yeah, thank you. And yeah, well, till next time.