Training vs. BMX

I’ve grown to love training over the years and recently was sharing why I love it so much beyond just the health benefits.

Training vs. bmx when your mind isn’t right is safer to me. Training has less risk than bmx. Both of them push me mentally and physically but if I’m not 100% feeling like riding, or am in a bad mode for whatever reason, I’d rather train.

I enjoy the aspect of pushing myself mentally and physically with both bmx and training. It’s just different with bmx if you’re not all in it because you can get fucked up.

I’m not competitively power lifting so the risk factor for my training is nothing compared to my level of risk riding as a professional bmx athlete, but I can still push my body and mind. 💚✌️

Why do you train?

-Josh P.

Success Is Not A Destination

Success is where we all strive to be and even though it says “success” this doesn’t mean stopping there and setting up camp.

I don’t believe in a destination for success. I believe in loving the process and continuing to grow and progress. This is when we can reflect on the changes we made and the benefits that have taken place.

When success is viewed as a final destination, it’s more than likely going to be left behind as success is a continuous pursuit of evolution and obstacles.

You have likely heard “that was worth it” or something along those lines or “the struggle yesterday made me stronger today”. It’s times of adversity that we sort out who we truly are and our inner strength to move forward. Only when our Vision is clear can we move forward, leave the “victim” mentality behind, and manifest true success in our lives. 💚✌️

What does success mean to you?

-Josh P.

3 Keys To Success – Mindset, Nutrition, & Fitness

I believe the single most important factor leading to success is prioritizing your mindset. The mindset was the final piece for me, but I learned that it was the most important piece that should have come first, with nutrition and fitness not far behind. They all play a unique role in strengthening one another, but ultimately it’s the mindset that determines the rate at which you manifest success and if you believe you can.

In terms of setting goals of any nature, understanding the purpose of those goals, or the WHY to those goals is so crucial to determining how we choose to move forward in life, which manifests in a success or “failure”.

When we foster a powerful mindset, optimize our nutrition, adopt a healthy practice of fitness combine it with a Vision, Commitment, a Plan, & the Tenacity to NEVER give up, success is inevitable.

When we neglect our nutrition and fitness, our mind suffers because our brain suffers. Same as when we neglect of mind’s health, we make poor choices within nutrition, fitness, and life overall.

Close behind, if not right there with the mindset, comes your Nutrition. This sets the tone for your gut, which directly correlates to the health and function of your brain and what it’s going to activate or suppress within the body in terms of hormones, inflammation, neurotransmitters, epigenetics (gene expression), mitochondrial biogenesis (growth of new mitochondria- energy powerhouses of every single cell in the body), neuroplasticity (the ability to have a resilient brain), and so much more.
The third key to success with your health, but very much elsewhere like the business and personal life, is fitness. Most people, like myself, in the beginning, think this means muscles and “bulk”, which can’t be further from the truth- if done correctly while corresponding with the mind and nutrition. Exercise is more effective than meds for depression (fact, look it up!), produces the “feel good” hormones, slows down aging, stimulates the growth of new mitochondria, increases insulin sensitivity (leading to burning stored and consumed energy), positively stresses the body to grow stronger, and so much more.
I’ve been training consistently for 4 years with these last 2 year the most focused and educated I’ve ever been thanks to Jackie Lauricella (licensed athletic trainer)walking me through ACL prehab for surgery and then recovery/rehab along with Matt Hunter (performance coach) from Athletic Lab in Cary, NC working with me on my goals with Max Aerobic Heart Rate Training, Injury Prevention, and Strength on and off the bike both in the body and mind. I also owe a lot of what I have learned and coach to Mark Sission and his work on the topic of fitness and becoming fat-adaptive.
That being said, I’ve lost size on my waist but stayed about the same weight while gaining a few pounds. I look leaner at the same time, feel lighter and stronger, have a very confident and positive mindset, my digestive system has never been better, my energy levels are very high and stable rather than like a roller coaster of ups and downs, and my performance on and off the bike has gone through the roof.
You may ask “how?”.
  1. muscle weighs more than fat and helps burn fat.
  2. strength doesn’t mean bulk or more muscles. Just means strength in the body and mind. End of story, if done correctly.
  3. Mindset and nutrition are two of the biggest factors in determining if you actually take action towards your goals (fitness, health, business, or personal), the motivation and “willpower” you possess, and how well you feel, perform, prevent illness and disease, make decisions, and think.

The value of implementing all of this into your life is priceless and is a bulletproof plan to success as long as you commit and don’t give up when times get tough. That being said, there is also a thing called the “Emotional Cycle of Change” (ECOC) we all go through when making changes. I believe this is important to note, which in short goes as follows:

  1. Uniformed OptimismThis is when your emotional response to an idea or goal takes over and you feel very optimistic and see no downsides to that idea or goal.
  2. Informed PessimismWhen you learn more about the change that idea or goal requires, you start forming negative emotions and beliefs. The idea or goal doesn’t seem possible and you question if the change is worth it.
  3. Valley of DespairThis is where most of us give up. All the pain of the change gets to us and the idea or goal seems to be further and furtherer away. This leads us to think there must be a quick and easy way to end the pain and discomfort- back to where we started. It is important to have clarity on our goals and our WHY so we can ensure we do not give up or think that success is not for us.
  4. Informed OptimismVision is very important for the Valley of Dispair because it is that Vision that keeps you moving forward while not giving up. That “I will do whatever it takes to accomplish” a goal is fueled by the Vision along with a commitment to not give up and the tools like mindset, nutrition, and fitness. In the informed optimism area, you are back in the positive emotional state and success is much more likely to manifest. The benefits of taking action towards a change for the desired goal is starting to manifest more and more and keeps you going. This is when you must continue and not settle!
  5. Success & FulfillmentSuccess is where we all strive to be and even though it says “success” this doesn’t mean stopping there. I don’t believe in a destination. I believe in loving the process and continuing to grow and progress. This is when we can reflect on the changes we made and the benefits that have taken place. You have likely heard “that was worth it” or something along those lines or “the struggle yesterday made me stronger today”. It’s times of adversity that we sort out who we truly are and our inner strength to move forward. Only when our Vision is clear can we move forward, leave the “victim” mentality behind, and manifest true success in our lives.

To conclude, take care of your body and mind as they work in a uniform reactive relationship to one another. Be pro-active when it comes to your health and goals with your life. Don’t settle for the status quo and then react to negatives. Do what you can to prevent a negative from occurring in the first place. It’s never too early to take action towards your goals and your health. It also never too late if you are reading this.

-Josh P.

Do What You Love Every Day

Don’t make it about money. Don’t make it about “success” or “failure”. Don’t make it about fear. Don’t make it about “what you’re supposed to do”.

Make it about YOU and your true desire. I believe true success comes when we are happy and fulfilled with every aspect of our lives. Not about money, materials, titles/accomplishments, and so on.

If that was the case, why is it so many we see as successful, defined by having money, materials, and titles/accomplishments are unhappy and/or sick? They live a life they don’t believe in or that aligns with their in we desires but we’re told to lead by parents or society.

Although it’s possible to manifest success in your life by doing what others “expect” you to, it’s a hell of a lot easier to lead a life you believe in while maintaining that life.

Nothing is guaranteed so you may as well take a risk on what you dream of. 💚✌️

-Josh P.

Motivation

As a pro #bmx athlete & brain tumor survivor, I’ve gone through many challenges in life. #Motivation has always been the determining factor at overcoming each challenge. I believe this to be true for any person.

What helps?

  1. A Clear Vision for your life with a strong Goal, WHY, or Purpose.
  2. Health: Mindset, Nutrition & Fitness.
  3. Music.

My Cape Cod brother, Tommy Rowland’s music motivates me each and every day. His story and affirmations in his music inspire me to reach further and further for greatness.

Shit is going to happen in life and that’s just reality. What separates people that reach greatness from the norm is motivation to continue when times get time.

I challenge you all to foster a new perspective next time you come across a challenge or hardship. At the end of the day, there are no failures. Just opportunities to learn how to succeed moving forward. That is, if we CHOOSE to see if that way. 💚✌️

-Josh P.

“See lately I’ve been talking shit like two commas is light. And lately the shit I’m talking manifests in my life. Lately I hear they words and it’s a cry of neglection. I never bragged the way I do when it wasn’t the truth.” – Rowlan

📸 @jciake

Alive

Hi! My name is Josh Perry, and I’m a pro BMX athlete living with 4 brain tumors and coaching people to make life changing choices in their lives to optimize their brain and enhance their life.

BMX is what’s me feel most alive. It’s not only shown me the world, kept me out of trouble, taught me valuable life lessons, and gave me amazing experiences and relationships, it saved my life in March of 2010.

That is the beginning of my journey with a braintumor that lead to me living with 4 today. It’s also what put me on the path to holistic health. It doesn’t stop me, it fuels me.

I’m thankful for brands like Kevita Drinks and their mission to provide health beverages that taste great and make you feel amazing and ALIVE. 🙏🏼💚

Comment or DM me to connect and share stories. ☺️✌️

-JoshP.

No Pain, No Gain?

Pushing your body and mind is very important to building resilience and strength. That said, too often as a society do we push our bodies and mind too high, too frequently, and unnecessarily.

Stress is a very important human biological response important for survival and strength. But, in personal and business life, we have introduced too many false stressors in our days like “I have to get this done”, “what will they think of me”, “I don’t want to fail”, “I’m going to be late”, etc. which is a made up stress yet still has the detrimental affects of stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol).

As athletes, we are told to train harder, train through the pain, no pain no gain, etc. I ignorantly fell into this category for many years. Because of an immense passion to educate myself with an open mind, I’ve come to realize there are so many things we can do with our diet, fitness, mindset, and lifestyle choices to reduces the activity in the parts of the brain that trigger stress hormones.

Over the last few years, I have built and continue to work on building up an aerobic heart rate base for optimized oxygen intake and fat oxidation, which reduces excess free-radical damage, inflammation, and oxidative stress. I’ve worked hard to build up, and continue to build, strength, mobility, technique, explosiveness, and recovery while focusing 💯 on my nutrition and mindset to eliminate excess stress to my brain and body. Finally, I allow myself to rest when my body tells me it needs it. I’d rather have fewer days at 💯 than more days less than my full potential.

Rather than not training, like the old me, or training too frequently when not feeling 💯, I train hard 3 days a week, go all out 1 day a week, have 2 active recovery/aerobic and gymnastic ring days, and take a full day off when need be, while riding 4-5 days a week.

The benefits and improvements I’ve seen with my energy, body composition, strength on and off my bike, mindset, recovery, digestion, and mental focus were in fathomable at the beginning but now I’m a believer. 💚✌️

-Josh P.

Neurotransmitters Start in the Gut

This is why what you eat is so important, especially if you experience any kind of symptom with anxiety, depression, ADD/ADHD, anger, lack of “will power”, brain fog, etc. It starts in the gut then the brian goes to work setting off other chain reactions in the body. Thanks, Dr Mark Hyman and Dr David Perlmutter, for all you do.

It Must Be Nice

“For all the times when I was down, well now I’m on my way. For everybody that was doubting, well not I’m on my way. For the ones who ain’t believing, well now I’m on my way. For the ones who question everything, well now I’m on my way.” -@rowlan

It must be nice was a common phrase I used and that I hear all the time. I said this until I stopped making excuses for the lack within my life, took my life into my control, and held myself accountable for the reality in which I lived in on a daily basis.

People don’t just have things pop into their reality out of thin air. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. I’ve seen success manifest in my BMX career when I put in the work that followed a belief that it was possible. I’ve learned many things from BMX and one was that anything you set your mind to, believe wholeheartedly in, and take action towards without giving up is possible.

It’s only a dream until it happens to you.The difference between those who make dreams their reality and those who say “it must be nice” is taking action, an underlying belief it’s possible, and pushing through when times get tough.

I’ve been there when times were tough many times over my lifetime. Sometimes I gave up and other times I pushed through. Either way, it’s all just a learning opportunity. I call it collecting data.

Shit happens and you can either fall victim to the times you fell or you can be a survivor and push through with the new information at hand.

I choose to push through, no matter how terrible a time may be, and find a way to make my dreams a reality-because, why not?

I know I’ll be better for it coming out and that greatness is on the other side of any hardship in life.

Are you a victim or a survivor?

-Josh P.

Guild Mortgage Leadership Summit

What an honor to coach the EVP of the county’s top private mortgage company, Guild Mortgage, and his fellow staff and family leading to their annual leadership summit in San Diego, CA. The successes and experiences they have shared with me from us working together is priceless. It’s what I am most passionate about in life and being able to combine my childhood dream of being a pro bmx athlete is even better.

This was one special event for me to be able to perform in front of my family along with the top 700+ earners within Guild Mortgage, especially after coaching Barry (EVP, on the left in this photo) and the others leading up to the event. Greg Woodruff (pictured on the right) was an amazing production manager with Gary Musick Productions and put on an event that topped what I had imagined. Oh, and Greg is enrolled in my Be The Change YOU Want To See health coaching program now too as well as a good friend and collaborative partner of mine.

Barry, Greg, and the whole attendance have such amazing personalities and welcomed Jackie and myself with loving open arms full of support for what we believe in and how to help us all succeed in health and happiness. I am grateful for moments like these and for Jill Transki of All Wheel Sports to have me apart of the performance, which led to an amazing opportunity to share my passion for brian health and optimization. 🙌🏼💚❤️💯

📸 @jciake

-JoshP.