Feb 17, 2021
Big Stud Podcast: Episode 72
Welcome to the new version of the big stud podcast—sharing stories and situations so you can see what it takes to become an accomplished stud and studette.
In this episode, featuring Apex Executive coach Burton Hughes who represents everything you picture when you think of a “stud”.
A quick summary of Burton: he grew up poor, and came from basically nothing. He eventually relocated on a whim to Dallas. Before that, he was the guy on A&F bags, on the cover 100s of books and magazines, led fitness IFBB pro—accomplished the epitome of fitness success, and then decided he wanted to sell roofs.
He’s been super successful—close to 7 figures in sales. But also has something we all have felt—self-doubt.
Mike and Burton discuss taking on how it’s not just about how you accomplish great success but maintaining it as well.
Burton shares how he grew up with a lot of violence, and experienced a lot of pain. But always felt like a “dreamer”.
He always had a positive outlook and mindset and just needed to find the vehicle to get him where he needed to be. He had big plans for himself and set out to achieve them.
He recalls a memory when he was 5 years old, when he had a dirt bike magazine, cut out the pictures, and glued a collage. Then he went door to door to try and sell the art he created. People loved his entrepreneurial spirit, so even though he made nothing from his collages, he made an impact on those who spoke to him.
In high school, he worked at a golf course and was bored one morning flipping through a magazine promoting jets, yachts, etc., and saw that a lot of those who made money to afford luxury things like that were salespeople. That’s when he realized he could become successful in sales.
As things progressed in his life, fitness became a focus to create a regimented routine and get the confidence he always lacked.
He started winning fitness shows, turned pro, and chalks it up to staying immensely disciplined and doing it for himself to get control of his life.
Mike shares how you can’t let outside perspectives impact your decision-making. You also can’t always be peddled to the medal or you’ll break the machine. He accomplishes this by creating time blocks so he makes time for his family and personal life, outside of his business.
Burton handles everything very systematically. He wrote a book called Align Your Empire this year to help people create the right mindset and get everything pointed in the right direction.
For managing his time, Burton created non-negotiables for his schedule including breakfast and dinner with his family, and working out 2X a day. He goes on to say “You have to get on offense with your time…and don’t settle when it comes to your time.” You have to have your “why”—and do it for yourself. He wants to help other people who feel stuck with managing their time.
A takeaway is there is no end to the work. Even with all Mike and Burton have accomplished, they still put in the work every day. They’re always working at life.
The motivation behind Burton writing his book was wanting to provide his unadulterated truth of the highs and lows in his life.
Burton explains how when he checked all the boxes of being successful, he still felt hollow, became depressed, and experienced some very rough moments. It took a lot for him to pull himself out of that, and get to where he is today.
A closing thought from Burton: “Don’t live small….you deserve everything you want.”
You can follow Burton on Instagram: @Burton_Hughes_Official