Bryan McAnulty [00:00:00]:

What if the reason your business isn't growing has nothing to do with your strategy and everything to do with your energy? Dylan Gemelli is living proof of that. He went from prison to building a personal brand with over 1.5 million followers, becoming one of the leading voices in biohacking, health and performance. And today, he hosts a top ranked podcast, interviews some of the biggest names in the industry, and helps people completely transform their lives by mastering the mind-body connection. But Dylan's journey didn't start with success. It started at rock bottom. And what he discovered along the way is what allowed him to rebuild not just his life, but his identity. So if you're a creator, an entrepreneur, or someone who wants more energy, more focus, and better results in your business, this episode is for you. Today we're going to break down how the mind-body connection actually impacts your performance and how you can use it to grow in your life and business.

Dylan Gemelli [00:00:49]:

You have to take calculated risks and assessments on what you do and come to the understanding that this is not always gonna work. It's not always gonna feel great. It's not always go warm and fuzzy. That's not reality. In fact, the most successful people in the world have failed way more than they've achieved. But they've hit it. And when they've hit it, they've hit it huge.

Bryan McAnulty [00:01:08]:

Welcome to the Creator's Adventure, where we interview creators from around the world, hearing their stories about growing a business. Hey, everyone, I'm Bryan McAnulty, the founder of Heights Platform. Let's get into it. Hey, Dylan. Welcome to the show.

Dylan Gemelli [00:01:26]:

Thanks for having me, brother. It's great to be here with you, man.

Bryan McAnulty [00:01:30]:

First question for you today is, what would you say is the biggest thing that either you did, you are doing that has helped you to achieve the freedom to do what you enjoy?

Dylan Gemelli [00:01:39]:

That's a loaded question, man. You know, really, I wouldn't be sitting here with you, I wouldn't be doing anything I'm doing if I didn't have to suffer. And let me tell you something, the suffering was my own doing. So I don't want to ever say, oh, I went through X, Y and Z without indicating I caused the suffering. But I was also in a lifestyle that I shouldn't have been in that wasn't meant for me and was falling into a pattern of behavior that wasn't congruent with my alignment with God and his purpose for me. So, you know, I was an actor and a model in my 20s and really on a horrific path of drugs and alcohol and partying and girls and money and basically everything that to some people sounds like the ultimate life and in reality is the ultimate wrong life. And I put myself into situations that cost me everything that I had, which was probably a good thing.

Dylan Gemelli [00:02:41]:

And, you know, my whole backstory that. And I know that the interview is not two hours, so I won't get into all of that. But essentially, you know, I've always made it very abundantly clear and I go speak on this to kids, adults, whoever needs it. On overcoming adversity. I went to prison. I had a 15 year prison sentence. And, you know, thankfully, the state I was in and my ability to change my ways and to do everything the right way got me out way early and got me, you know, a fresh start, basically.

Dylan Gemelli [00:03:14]:

Some people will look at it like, oh, you had to start from scratch. You lost everything. And I've said that, and honestly, until right now in this conversation, it just resonated with me. That wasn't. That was a fresh start. It wasn't, oh, I had to start over. That was an opportunity to right all the wrongs I was doing. And falling off the path I was intended to be on and get on this path that I'm on now.

Dylan Gemelli [00:03:37]:

So from that moment on, I'm 44 years old. Imagine that, 30 years old, living in your mom and dad's basement after you have, you know, gone to college, played college sports, built this career, had so many people invest time and money into you, and then, wow, it's like a blank slate, right? It's like the Men in Black pen. So everything started over. And, you know, that is why I'm here. That's what shaped me. That's what's made me accountable. That's what made me look in the mirror and take responsibility as opposed to making excuses. And that pain and that suffering, which there certainly is a ton of, humbled me to the point of understanding.

Dylan Gemelli [00:04:17]:

A, you can't buy back your time. When your time is gone, it is gone. You can't create it. You can't do anything. It's gone. And it's so precious and so small. And as you get a little bit older, you start to realize your mortality. And two, it put me into this mindset of, okay, let's really discern my purpose. And once I finally figured that out, which it's taken me another 12 or 13 years to figure out, now we're here, and now I'm as locked in as I ever could be. And now everything's taken a completely different path. But listen, this whole thing with life is a marathon. It's not a sprint, right? People, and this relates to people running a business. This relates to your diet. This relates to anything in life.

Dylan Gemelli [00:05:05]:

We all have this happen to us, me included. We want everything right now. You want it right now. And that is not how it works. And oftentimes when you try to do that, it will only cause you regression and really set you backwards. So I think that the adversities that we overcome, you have to look at them as a blessing and as a way of shaping what you're going to do and use it as a tool and as fuel to then progress the rest of your life.

Bryan McAnulty [00:05:34]:

Wow. Yeah, I really love that. I really resonate with that as well. As you're saying all this, I'm thinking to myself how one of the things I believe is this idea of radical responsibility, of taking responsibility for pretty much everything that happens to you. And if you're able to do that, I think you'll find more success in your life, but also more fulfillment in the things that you do. And that's one part. The second part is my kind of philosophy in how I approach things and what I choose to do has been. I'm still trying to distill what is the best way to define this. But the idea that, like, freedom comes first. And so whatever I'm doing in my business or in my life, I want it to be something that I'm enjoying. And instead of putting that off of later, figuring out what is the thing that I enjoy and can feel fulfilled by it.

Bryan McAnulty [00:06:35]:

And then like you said, it sounds like you absolutely have found that. And like you're all in. You have more energy and more like working towards everything with greater strength and focus than before. I think that's what that can give you. And yeah, the challenge is, yeah, we all want everything right away. And so you have to learn to become comfortable with not only potentially delaying that, but, like, be willing to believe that you will eventually reach that thing. And that's something that's like, uncomfortable because it's not there yet. So we have to believe it's going to come. If we continue to take these actions that we're trying to take, it's going to come, but it's not quite there yet.

Bryan McAnulty [00:07:17]:

Real quick, Bryan here. You know me as the host for this podcast, but what you might not know is I'm also the founder of Heights Platform. It's an all in one platform that over 10,000 creators have used to build their online courses, communities and digital product businesses. We recently added some awesome updates to Heights AI to help you turn your idea into a viable business. Heights AI can build entire product offers, review your content, and even coach you on how to grow. You can try it for free for 30 days. Links in the description. Now back to the podcast.

Dylan Gemelli [00:07:40]:

You know, one of the things that I've learned is embracing discomfort and making it something that is fun. And I look at it as okay, I like a challenge and I like to accomplish and achieve. Here, I'll give you an example. I sat here and mind you, I get criticized a lot from my wife and my mom. I guess not criticized, more concerned because at this point, I don't take any time for myself. Like literally everything revolves around all that I do with work and I try to spend my time in prayer and the things that revolve around what I do. And I never do anything for myself. Like literally, I just don't. And it's not healthy. It's not good. So I have this big wide Samsung screen in here. I mean, it's a TV on my desk and I put a gaming PC on my desk hooked into it because I work on a Mac and I sat here, I told my wife it was 9:45. I said, okay, I'm done, I'm taking a break. And I turned the gaming PC on and I played three hours and on one thing.

Dylan Gemelli [00:08:55]:

And I don't game or anything anymore. But my point in this is it took me that amount of time to beat one thing. But she's like, how is that even fun? And I said, because I like a challenge and I like to do this and overcome something. So even in my enjoyment time, it's like I'm practicing overcoming something, right? And I know it's crazy to use that as a video game, but that's my whole life is challenge and overcome, challenge and overcome. But that's what stimulates your way of working every day and it makes your life purposeful. I'm not saying that every single thing has to be this, I got to win this, I got to do that. But challenging yourself, not being so in this comfort zone all the time where you really don't achieve anything. And then you wonder why you feel empty and why you don't feel like you have any purpose in your life. Well, maybe it's because you're not challenging yourself.

Dylan Gemelli [00:09:40]:

Maybe it's because you're not stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something different. Listen, any entrepreneur, anybody that's trained, anybody that's done anything, knows that you have to try different things and it's not always going to work. In fact, the most successful people in the world have failed way more than they've achieved. But they've hit it. And when they've hit it, they've hit it huge. But you have to take calculated risks and assessments on what you do and come to the understanding that this is not always going to work. It's not always going to feel great, it's not always going to be warm and fuzzy. That's not reality at all.

Dylan Gemelli [00:10:18]:

And that brings in the accountability part of it. When you blame everybody else, when you have a built in excuse which is heavily societal based now, and I won't, I'll be careful with what I say. But there's this encouragement and this pushing towards making an excuse about everything that doesn't go your way. There are certainly bad people in the world that have hate and do things that aren't right. That is going to be forever. But always blaming it on other people in other situations and oh, it's woe is me, dude, I got followed home by a police officer not doing anything and you know, things like that. And I used to blame everybody else. And the fact is, is it happened, it happens to everybody and you have to deal with the cards you're dealt and you have to just, that's life.

Dylan Gemelli [00:11:03]:

You have to understand that and then you have to come back stronger from it. Excuses don't do you any good. Getting stressed, getting angry. You have to ask yourself this, and I still do it too. How did this help me solve this problem? Did this stress help or did it make it worse? Is it going to help anything that's going on? Is this anger? Is this over emotion? What did that do to help me get better or solve this problem or did it make it worse? And when you start looking at things like that and you start assessing, you're like, man, I'm doing a lot of things wrong that I don't need to do. And not to mention it wastes time. You know that timepiece we were talking about again.

Dylan Gemelli [00:11:47]:

So look, I'm only telling people things of all the mistakes that I have made and continue to make. I'm not a lecturer, I'm not somebody that looks down anybody. I'm telling you, I do this constantly and I know what separates success from failure, stress and anger from love and happiness and joy, and then that all reverts back into health and success.

Bryan McAnulty [00:12:08]:

Yeah, we saw that. You talk a lot about the mind-body connection. Is there like a moment in your life where that became more real for you and not just a theory?

Dylan Gemelli [00:12:18]:

Yeah. Okay, so it's funny, like. Well, I've spent so many years focusing on fitness and nutrition. That's been my backbone of, like, when I got out of prison, what my main focus was. And that's great because that's a huge aspect of health, for sure. And then I've always went to church and I've always been spiritual and faithful, but not to be where I'm like, prioritize God first in my life. So that's the start. Now this is how it started.

Dylan Gemelli [00:12:48]:

When I changed my life over and made God first for me. That was me not realizing that I was making a mind-body connection. That was me in, like, his training of getting me more spiritually intertwined and connected with what he wants for me and my purpose. So that was the start because I feel like that's the backbone of mind and body. But then we have to look at the neurological side, the neuroscience side. So I went to Harvard to study cellular biology and health in the evenings. Because my first big partner I signed with is called Timeline. And their product is Mitopure, which is a mitochondrial supporter type of supplement. Basically, it's stimulating mitophagy and we're able to clean up, you know, bad mitochondria and regenerate cellular production.

Dylan Gemelli [00:13:25]:

Well, then I started to work with Dr. Dave Rabin, who is a neuroscientist. And that's when I realized I've been missing a whole half piece of the equation in my lectures and my studies and everything that I do. Because you can't have total health alignment without a mind and body connection. Dude. Bryan, I can fix your diet, I can make you train all day, and you could be perfect in terms of everything. But if you're stressed, if your vagus nerve is off too. And what I mean by that is if you're stuck in, like, the sympathetic nervous state where you're constantly stressed, you have it's like fight or flight mode where people are stuck in it all the time, and then they're dependent on Xanax and zombie pills and everything else, which is not the answer.

Dylan Gemelli [00:14:04]:

So when we stimulate your vagus nerve and we correct this imbalance, then you're not stuck in fight or flight mode, then you're not so stressed, then you're not having loss of sleep and your inability to focus. So a lot of people will look for a supplement, a pill, something on their blood panel. And that's not always the answer, man. Like you have to be aligned all the way around. You got to think about this. If you're stressed and you're having any sort of mental imbalance or you're lacking clarity, brain fog, etc. And you're imbalanced there, it's going to have a drastic effect in everything you do. It's going to cause inflammation, it's going to cause your eating patterns to go off. You're not going to be able to train properly, you're not going to be able to communicate properly.

Dylan Gemelli [00:14:57]:

So when you look at it, in actuality, I have a more concern for people that aren't taking care of their mind first. Because if your mind's off, it's really hard to take care of your body, you know. And I don't want to say one is more important than the other because then I could flip it around and go, well, if you eat like crap and you don't train, you're going to have other problems. But I almost feel like it starts in the mind first. Now they're equally important. But if your mind is off, you can't do anything else. You just can't, you know? So when I piece it together and really grasp and understand, it's not just being an athlete or eating great or learning all of this, it's everything in total.

Dylan Gemelli [00:15:47]:

And it amps me up, it makes me happy to talk about it. You can see I'm smiling because I feel like when I put that together, that it was like that big light bulb that went off for me that I was missing all these years, you know? So that's it, man. That's it. You have to connect them both.

Bryan McAnulty [00:16:02]:

So well, how do you fix that then? So if you have, if you're always stuck in this fight or flight or the stress, what do you do to fix that? If it's not like directly just saying, oh, well, just get healthier through exercise.

Dylan Gemelli [00:16:17]:

Yeah, so like I said, stimulating the vagus nerve. So like, so for instance, I wear this. I'm not here to promote products, but I'm going to tell you how I do it. So this is called the Apollo Neuro. Now what this does is it sends, you wear it and it sends different types of vibrations through your body throughout the day, which then stimulate your vagus nerve. And so it takes you into different zones. So when I get up in the morning, I turn that on focus mode. A lot of people will turn it on wake mode. So you're kind of waking up. I just want to get focused right away, man. You know? But it has different types of waves that it sends through your body. There's other devices out there that do something similar. This is just the one that I use, but that's the start of it.

Dylan Gemelli [00:17:21]:

And then that helps you get more circadian rhythm, balance, more like regimented sleep patterns, which are key to getting out of that mode. And then once you develop that, and it's not just that you don't have to just do that. It comes with taking time to do breath work, to take time to get outside and take a walk and appreciate the environment. These are basic things. It's not some sort of secret sauce antidote where I came up with this big scientific breakthrough. But the basic things, the easiest things, are the ones that get the most overlooked, man, the stuff you don't appreciate. I just gave a speech at Biohackers World last week, and we were talking about the different supplements that we take throughout the day to help and do this. And I said, the best supplement that we are missing, you can't buy it, you can't eat it, you can't train it. It's called vitamin G. And that's gratitude.

Dylan Gemelli [00:17:57]:

And I am not saying this is some corny hippie or whatever gratitude. When you have that and appreciation for everything in life and everything surrounding you, that's how you get out of fight or flight mode. That's how you overcome traumas that you don't even realize are there. That's how you get past this. It's being someone that can forgive and forget and move on, someone that doesn't hold grudges, someone that doesn't get angry all the time, someone that becomes so secure with themselves that they don't have these problems. And that takes time alone. It takes peace and quiet.

Dylan Gemelli [00:18:37]:

It takes time away from screens, it takes time away from noise and stressors. I do it in prayer. That's not everybody's answer that. Some people don't like that. I'm not here to push that on people. I recommend it highly. But that would be, to me then if you don't want to do that, then I would at least at the minimum, do grounding. Take time outside and be at peace. Appreciate your surrounding. Meditate something to where you are in a calm state and you're alone and you have that alone time. It doesn't have to be hours a day, but. And, and also like the lack of vitamin D is so crucial. And we've been told to be scared of the sun.

Dylan Gemelli [00:19:27]:

And I'll preface this, dude, I'm not saying sit outside for two and three hours in the sun with no sunscreen and go crazy. And if you have a skin condition, no, don't do what I'm saying. Stay inside because you have a certain condition. But for most, sun is so healthy and we need it. And you need a little bit every day, 10, 15 minutes out there early. And it also gets you on a good circadian rhythm. Some of the things that we've been told are so nonsensical. And I'm not Mr. Conspiracy, I'm not Mr. Crazy. People know, my background, I keep it as real as it gets and I tell everybody the facts.

Dylan Gemelli [00:19:47]:

I don't get paid for telling you to go in the sun. You know, I'm not making money off of that. I'm being real, I'm being realistic. And I'm very confident in what I speak of because I have years of practice and observation on thousands of people. I work with some of the best people in the world. People will tell me, oh, you're so smart, you're brilliant. I am only smart because of the company I keep. That is why. And I pray for wisdom, which means I utilize the knowledge that I have in the right way. And that's why I'm giving it to you. Very simple, man. This stuff is not complicated like some people like to make it, some medical conditions are, and there's some science out there I can throw your way all day long, but man, over complication that'll cause you to be stuck in fight or flight mode, you know what I mean? Because it adds so much stress. So, you know, that's my spiel on that, I guess. It's simple facts, man. It is. It really is.

Bryan McAnulty [00:20:49]:

Yeah. Yeah, that's great. So you need some time in the sun, you need to do it. Sounds like something, whatever it is that fits for you to have some time alone. Whether that is meditation, like going for a walk, prayer, whatever makes sense for you to start. Besides that, would you say there's any other, like kind of non negotiable habits that would directly improve energy, focus or clarity?

Dylan Gemelli [00:21:13]:

Yeah, I mean a lot of things with exercise are so important that will keep you feeling clear. Right. I'm not saying you have to go train balls to the wall every day. But walking every day is so important. It really is 15, 20 minutes of a good, brisk walk to get you going, stimulate everything around you in your head and your mind and your body, and getting a good eating pattern. Not eating inflammatory foods and, you know, prioritizing what you eat is very important. I know it's expensive to eat healthy. I get it.

Dylan Gemelli [00:21:51]:

I sympathize with people in all regards. I have been there. I've had nothing. I understand what it's like to have no money, to be able to spend on good foods. But I will tell you this. You have to assess what you're spending money on and where it's going. And when it comes to what you ingest and put in your body, that should be priority number one, man. It should always be at the top of your list of where you're spending money. And that's a big, big thing that I think people overlook and don't take as serious as they should. And that's why disease is so prevalent now, more so than it's ever been. Why you see more young people getting sick, struggling, and being exposed to things that generally were never the case.

Dylan Gemelli [00:22:51]:

Why our country seems to have way more health issues than in Europe, for example. And I've been over there, and people are in such better position, and they're even smoking and. And, you know what I mean? And doing really bad habits. But their food that they're eating is not as contaminated as ours is. I'm privy to a lot of information on what goes into our foods because I work with a lot of people that are more in the know in that regard. I stay out of anything political or any of that. I don't. They invite me there all the time to speak, and I just. I don't want anything to do with any of them.

Dylan Gemelli [00:23:10]:

But I also get information, and I know what goes on our crops and our foods. And it's scary, man. It really is. And it breaks my heart. And that's why I go talk about it. I don't talk about things to be controversial or get clicks or be a. I don't. I don't care about any of that stuff, man. But I care about people knowing the truth. And so, unfortunately, it's more expensive to eat healthier. And the stuff that's more affordable is harming us, and it's harming us bad. It's really. It's really bad, man. And I've learned a lot about that. And so prioritizing what we eat should be at the top of the list to really get us on the right daily path.

Bryan McAnulty [00:23:53]:

Yeah, yeah, I mean, I completely agree with that. And I try to eat very healthy. My wife's on board with that as well. But she also tries to like be conscious and like saving us money and things and stuff like that. And so every once in a while she'll say like, oh, this thing's kind of expensive. And my response is generally like health as well, it's fine. And I would say to anybody who maybe is questioning that or feeling like they are, they're not sure about that. They're not sure if it's worth the investment. I would suggest to consider that, number one, if you're investing in your business and your life in other ways to try to help yourself perform better, this is a simple one.

Bryan McAnulty [00:24:29]:

But number two is, let's say, forget about caring about any of those things. It's probably a good investment not only for quality of life and everything, but to spend less money later on when you actually get all these problems because you've been eating junk for so long.

Dylan Gemelli [00:24:54]:

There you go. Long term investment. And that's one of the other things that I try to get younger people to do. And you know this man, like it's hard when you're young. I mean, I always say, I'm 44. I always say I wish I was 20 years younger so I could know everything again, you know what I mean? But it's like the long term thinking what you just said, you got to think about, well, this investment now, how much is it going to save me in the long run? I always tell people when you are at the store or when you're buying batteries or whatever else, and you always say, oh well, that one's X amount cheaper and sometimes the cheaper stuff's better, don't get me wrong. But a lot of times you're going to end up spending triple because the stuff's going to fall apart.

Dylan Gemelli [00:25:35]:

It's not going to last. You're going to hate it when you have it. So when you're investing in your health, man, let me tell you something. I've been in the hospital a couple times and when I've been in there and I've seen what's happened or people around me or how miserable you feel when you're just laying there, think about like people. We may be living longer right now, but the quality of life isn't there. We know how to keep people alive, but how are they living? You gotta ask yourself that. And when you're taking care of yourself early and being preventative, because I just, I discussed this yesterday with somebody. You get these narratives, oh, well, you're young. You don't need to worry about that right now. Bullshit.

Dylan Gemelli [00:26:15]:

That is when you need to be worried the most. And stopping things and setting patterns and being preventative now, because then you're going to wake up and be 40, which you're going to. And it happens very quick. And you're going to start seeing these problems when you actually go in and get blood work done and go, how did this happen? What happened? And then it's too late, or it's already progressed or you already got a big problem, you know, and so education and I try to teach people when they're younger, don't listen to that narrative. Do not fall into that trap.

Dylan Gemelli [00:26:51]:

And don't also say, well, I'm going to get old. And this, I only live once. I'm going to do whatever I want and then regret it later because it sounds great. When you're young, all of that stuff sounds great, and you feel invincible and, oh, I don't care about this. And then, sure enough, you're going to care about everything. You will, but you don't realize it at the time. You know, you just don't. I've been there, man. I get it. I get it better than anybody. With the stuff that's happened to me, trust me, I thought I was invincible too. We all do. Until stuff inevitably happens and you have to know what's gonna. So it's best to do everything you can to stop it before it starts.

Bryan McAnulty [00:27:31]:

Yeah, yeah, I completely agree. And I like your points about investing in the things and like certain things. Yeah, certain things. Sometimes the cheapest thing is the best thing, but other times it is better to go with a thing that's more expensive. And it is without a doubt a worthwhile investment. And for me, the example that I thought of right away is this chair that I'm sitting in right here. I bought this, like, I think 16 or so years ago now. And at the time, I mean, still today, it's an expensive chair. It's like a $2,000 chair.

Bryan McAnulty [00:27:54]:

But my thinking was I shouldn't buy the $2,000 chair after I, like, broken my back from sitting all day. You should buy it before that so that way you don't break your back from sitting all day and looking at it. Now, I've had this thing for 16 years. And that is potentially cheaper than like going to Staples and buying some like $200 thing that breaks every couple years.

Dylan Gemelli [00:28:28]:

There you go. There you go. So the Iowa State Fair, because I'm from Iowa, it's like the biggest event. It's one of the top state fairs in the United States. And when we moved back to Iowa years ago, and I don't live there now, thankfully, but I took my wife for the first time because it's a massive event. And we went to the tent where they have all of this stuff for sale. I mean, just like slews of stuff. So of course we're in there. And I got suckered in and bought a hot tub, right? And didn't know the cost of the electrical and everything. And then she got a skin thing in it and it was a terrible buy. And I regretted. I sold it, thankfully, got my money back.

Dylan Gemelli [00:28:57]:

The next year I went, I got suckered in again. But it was a massage chair and a very expensive one. But I was spending $150, $200 weekly at the massage place because I broke my back twice in sports. And so I have several issues and I train like a monster. Well, I bought the chair, so it was like a $7,500 chair. And they had a special. Anyway, by the time I knocked it down, it was like $3,500. And my mom was like, again, I use it every single day. So if you break down the cost of that per day over the past seven years, it's cost me like less than a penny a day. I mean, like a fraction of, a fraction of a fraction of a cent.

Dylan Gemelli [00:29:31]:

So when you look at it like that now, when I'm calculated, I don't just go waste money or fall into those traps, but I look at it and I'll think in my head what you just said and what I just said. Am I going to use this a lot? Am I going to buy a Gucci bag that I'm going to use one time a year that has no value, that does mean nothing? And what does it make me feel? Good? So someone gives me a compliment that I don't even know or the massage chair I use every day that serves a purpose? I'm going to, you know what I mean? I'm going to break it down and look at that and go, yeah, that's a good investment.

Dylan Gemelli [00:30:26]:

It's a very good investment. And a lot of people, when they first get money, don't think about that type of thing. They just start blowing it, and then they wonder, where the hell did all my money go? And then if something happens and it's all gone, you got nothing to show for it, you know? So I love that you said that, because that's how I think. And I think so many years I didn't do that and wondered where money went. I think it's helped me to be more successful the more. I don't want to say frugal, but wise that you are with your money and doesn't mean you have to be a cheapskate, not enjoy your life. What's the purpose of working? But also don't just buy stuff for the sake of buying it.

Dylan Gemelli [00:31:02]:

I mean, you know, the first time I ever made a lot of money, like, a lot, a lot of money, I didn't know what to do with it. And I went and bought out the Gucci store, man. And then I wondered where my whole month's paycheck went. And I kept buying stuff for, like, two years. And I have a beautiful wife, beautiful home. I had an arcade machine in my house, like, you know, cool things that everybody would want, and I was just miserable. I was just miserable, man. And I kept buying stuff to make myself feel good for a few minutes, and then I'd be miserable again. And I couldn't figure it out.

Dylan Gemelli [00:31:34]:

Well, it's because I was lacking God in my life, and I was basically worshiping stuff, and I stopped doing that, and I stopped caring about what anybody said or thought about my clothes or my shoe collection or my car. I want nice stuff, but I only want it because I want to enjoy it myself. When you stop worrying about what everybody else thinks or says and stop living for stuff and live for a purpose, you know, things change, man. I haven't felt as good in my life, and I've saved money, I've invested it, I've helped people, I've spent money back into what I do. My travel, my podcast, things that matter, giving money to people that need it, and helping causes that I know are using the money properly.

Dylan Gemelli [00:32:17]:

I'm a big animal guy, so, like, you know, stuff with animals and stuff that makes me feel like, man in my heart. Because, dude, we all know in our heart when something's right or wrong. I'm sorry, but we do. I feel good about what I see in the mirror now, and I didn't most of my life, man, only recently. And it's a good feeling it is. Aside from the gray in the beard and everything, I can't control. Otherwise, I'm pretty damn happy, you know, when I look back at what I see. So it took a long, long, long time to get there. But, man, we keep talking about health and everything. When you can look in the mirror and be happy, it's a key. It's a key, man.

Bryan McAnulty [00:32:58]:

That's awesome. Yeah, absolutely. So I want to talk a little bit about business now, so for everybody watching and listening, okay, you've heard some things about health, but you've also grown your social media to 1.5 million followers. And I'd like to hear from you if there is either like, a turning point or something specific that you would say, like, you've discovered that has helped you to, like, attribute to being able to grow.

Dylan Gemelli [00:33:30]:

I got really big, really fast on YouTube talking about anabolic steroids, and I discovered peptides and SARMS in 2012. Nobody even knew what the hell they were. And I didn't either when I found them, by the way. And I resonated with a lot of people because I had a very, very deep knowledge base of anabolic steroids, and everybody's fascinated with them. So I started training bodybuilders. Now, my goal was to try to get people to not take them, but to teach them how to take them without killing themselves, because so many people take them without understanding what they're doing, and they just destroy their lives.

Dylan Gemelli [00:34:06]:

The fact is that even taking them responsibly is not good. But I had myself convinced, man, you're doing such a good thing because you're helping people, which I was, you know, because my motive with a lot of people was trying to get them to not use it, but I was still given education on how to use it safer. And so they got me millions of followers very quickly. But it was also not what I was meant to do. I remember sitting there one time, and I told my wife, I said, you know, we go back and forth, and I make myself feel so good about myself. I'm doing such good work. And I said, but I have to be honest with you, babe. Like, A, I don't think my purpose was to talk to people about steroids, and B, I feel like the security guard at the bank that's telling the guy, well, I know you're going to rob the bank and you shouldn't do it, but here's the safe way to do it so you don't get killed, you know what I mean?

Dylan Gemelli [00:35:18]:

Like, that's how I started to feel. And a couple channels got shut down and then I came to the realization maybe that's because this isn't what I'm supposed to be doing. And I'm going right down the wrong path again. Once again, I have to start over. But it was a fresh start. So I said, you know what? Let's start to build Instagram and work on this. I'll still do some YouTube video, but I want to talk about some different stuff. Well, then peptides become more prevalent, which are far safer and for multitudes of benefits. And I start to get these opportunities and start speaking on different topics.

Dylan Gemelli [00:35:41]:

And I have a. What I believe is a personality that resonates. And I think it's because of authenticity and relation. I'm just a dude, man. I don't care if I have 20 million followers. I don't care if I make $20 million or make a dollar. You're going to get the same guy. And I think that actually, I know I. And I'm going to temper this because I have a lot of people I really like that I respect, but I don't like how they act in terms of they got a big following and it's impossible to get them on the phone or they want a million dollars to speak.

Dylan Gemelli [00:36:19]:

Now, I can get them on the phone, but I just don't like the attitude towards other people. I am, you, me, the next person. The next person, the guy that does electrical work, the guy that works at the car shop, the guy that is the biggest CEO in the world. We all serve a purpose, man, and it's a special one. And we need everybody, we need every single person. They all have a purpose. And I think that I relate with people because I know that. And I'm just. I always tell people because people will say to me, well, you take all your own calls and you do all this and you do all that. And I tell everybody, I'm not going to say exactly what I say because it got an F bomb in there. But I'm like, I don't deal with these effing people. I deal, you deal with me.

Dylan Gemelli [00:36:46]:

And if you're too good for that, then I guess you're too good for my show or to deal with me. And I think that resonates with people. And I think people like that, and I hope so, because that's how everybody should be. And I think that my authenticity and you know, when you come to me, I work for some companies, but I don't try to sell everybody anything under the sun. If I work with them, it's a long term thing where I believe in it so much. Like I told you, dude, I went to Harvard at night to study cellular biology and health because that's how serious I took it. I'm taking neuroscience at Arizona State right now because I'm working with a neuroscientist who does that. I'm not the influencer that gets online and reads something 30 seconds off a script and don't know my ass from a hole in the ground. I live it and I believe it.

Dylan Gemelli [00:37:14]:

And I think that the seriousness that I take that along with my podcast guests, you know, here last night I had two different guests come in to see me and the last guy had flown in from Tampa and I started the intro and I said, you know what I said, I'm just going to say this in the intro. You come and fly to see me cross country because I'm in Arizona. And podcast hosts take that for granted. They don't care when people come in to see them. I said, I just want to say how humbled I am that you even care to speak to me.

Dylan Gemelli [00:38:00]:

A, just like you, Bryan, that I'm humbled that you ever reached out to speak to me in any way. And B, that you value the conversation so much that we're taking the time here. I don't care if I got a million followers. I care that you care enough that what I have to say matters and that you see value and that you're here with the mindset. We're going to make a difference. That's what I care about. I don't care about all that other stuff. I care about making an impact when I say prayers. I don't pray that I'll have 20 million followers and that I'm going to make $5 million. You know what I pray for? That what I say is going to be heard and resonate and it's going to make an impact. That's what I want.

Dylan Gemelli [00:38:33]:

And I, you know, I can't teach people personalities. I can't teach people X, Y and Z because everybody asked me, well, tell me what you do or how you did it. You know, I don't have that answer. I don't. I turned it over to God and I listened to what he tells me to do. And that's the path I follow. And that's it. That's my answer, is I'm me and I'm real and I'm human. And then I treat everybody the same. That's it.

Bryan McAnulty [00:39:08]:

Yeah. That's great. Right? I have a couple kind of like quick fire questions for you. So, like something looking for like a. Yeah, I guess, like 10, 20 second answer. I'm sure you could go into more detail, but first, would you say, do you think hustle culture is helping people or hurting people?

Dylan Gemelli [00:39:28]:

I'm a hustler, so I always value that. But I do think that the term hustler gets misconstrued. People that are hustlers, that are like, go getters, that's the type of hustle I'm talking about. People that try to hustle people and do shady and do things that are just bad practice, bad marketing, don't care for that. But I also think it's important to take some time to train, to work out, to get some downtime. Like I said, there has to be a happy medium there. I'm still working on that myself, but I will encourage everybody for balance.

Dylan Gemelli [00:39:59]:

But I also tell people, if you want something, you got to go get it. And I'm not saying steal it, but I'm saying you have to do it. No one's going to do it for you. You have to do it the right way, but you have to do it. I'm a don't take no for an answer guy. That's how I do what I do. So I love parts of it. But there's balance and temperance.

Bryan McAnulty [00:40:20]:

Cool. Well, I think I agree with that. Definitely. So next is. What would you say is a healthy habit that people believe in that is actually overrated?

Dylan Gemelli [00:40:29]:

Over training, and I fall into this category. Sometimes you can't train your way out of things like training your way out of a bad diet. Oh, well, I can eat like crap and train all day and it's going to account for it. No, that's not how it works. Check blood panels. Look at what you're eating, how you feel. You can't out train a bad diet. You just can't do it. Just like you can't have a million dollar title with a $1 work ethic. You know what I mean? Like, these are the. You can't buy your way out of things or train your way out of things. And people think that. And that's not reality, and that's not how it works.

Bryan McAnulty [00:41:04]:

Yeah, that's great. All right, well, on the show, I'd like to have every guest also ask a question to the audience. So if you could ask our audience anything, whether kind of something you're curious about or want to get everybody thinking about, what would that be?

Dylan Gemelli [00:41:17]:

What we talked about earlier, it's very simple. Am I accountable? And that's a question that you don't say out loud, my man. You take yourself into the mirror and it's not crazy. And you look at yourself in the mirror and you ask yourself, am I accountable for everything that's going on in my life? And if something doesn't feel right or what, you ask yourself why? And be honest with yourself because you can lie to people, you can lie to yourself. You know, walking around or telling yourself in your head, it's not so easy when you look back at the person looking at you and ask yourself the question. Ask yourself that question, am I accountable? And you'll find a lot of answers in that little three word question.

Bryan McAnulty [00:42:00]:

Yeah. Thank you, Dylan. This is a great interview. Before we get going, where else can people find you online?

Dylan Gemelli [00:42:05]:

I keep it simple, man. Everything is at Dylan Gemelli Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. Just don't message me on TikTok because you won't get a response because I hate it. I only post there for work. And then Apple Dylan Gemelli Podcast and then Dylan Gemelli Biohacking on YouTube. There are my main spots, but you know, the best chance of ever getting me is on Instagram. And if people want to hire me for questions, the only way I do that anymore is through the Minec app. That's where I take questions. I can't. I don't have the bandwidth to do it or do it anymore. But that's where you can.

Bryan McAnulty [00:42:42]:

Awesome. All right, Dylan, thanks so much.

Dylan Gemelli [00:42:44]:

Absolutely, brother. Thank you.

Bryan McAnulty [00:42:46]:

I'd like to take a moment to invite you to join our free community of over 5,000 [email protected] if you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, check out The Heights Platform YouTube channel every Tuesday at 9am US Central. To get notified when new episodes release, join our [email protected]. Until then, keep learning and I'll see you in the next episode.