When I was in my late teens and early 20s, I was pretty lost and directionless.
I was working jobs I didn’t enjoy in grey, rainy, cold London.
I’d sit and fantasize about living in Thailand.
I’d tell myself when the time was right I’d make that change.
After some time I realized that permission was never coming.
It’d always be ‘one day’ and then I’d be 30, 35, 40, still waiting…
I knew I needed to make a change.
So I went down the path of hitting the gym, self-improvement, studying, working,unlocking peak performance, and travel.
Now I’m 26. I run my own business. I live in Thailand. I train Muay Thai. I coach martial artists to perform at their best — all while developing my relationships, protecting my mental health, and nurturing my interests.
I’m not telling you this to brag.
This would have been impossible if I hadn’t learned and implemented the 4 protocols I’m going to share with you in this letter.
Without further ado, let’s jump in.
1) Goals That Actually Move You Forward
If you want to achieve anything meaningful in your life, you need to think big. The larger your imagination, the greater your surface area for success.
If someone has done it then you can too.
And if someone hasn’t done it, there’s a gap for you to explore.
You may have a goal that is large, and a path that’s unknow.
This is where your goal-striving mechanism comes in.
Once you program a clear goal, your subconscious starts silently working in your favour.
You get random shower insights about your next moves.
You receive a sudden burst of clarity when you’re walking.
It’s your brain solving for the goal in the background.
For me, that goal was: “Build a business that generates $5-10K/month, has a positive impact on the world and lets me live in Thailand training Muay Thai”.
This was uncomfortable. I didn’t know how to build a business. How to create content. How to attract my ideal clients. But I knew what I wanted, and had agency to achieve that.
The test for your goal:
Does it make you uncomfortable because you have no idea how to achieve it, but excited because you can’t stop thinking about it?
If not, the goal isn’t compelling enough. It’s either too safe (you already know how to do it) or too vague (your brain can’t lock onto it).
If you’re on a path that everyone else is on, how large and profound a thing is it that you’re really doing?
2) Time Blocks & Deep Work
You shouldn’t copy most peoples routines.
You’re not Alex Hormozi. You’re not Dan Koe. You’re not even Buakaw.
To achieve great things, you must protect and use your best cognitive hours and initiate that lock-in mode.
My favourite way to start the day is to mediate, take a slow walk, drink a coffee and sit at my desk to work while ‘psychic entropy’ is low.
Before emails, notifications, and other people hijack my attention.
Then I hit 3 90-minute work blocks with breaks:
- 90 min: Hardest task of the day
- 15 min walk (no phone, just walking)
- 90 min: Second hardest task
- Break (maybe eat, walk, or just stare at the wall)
- 60 min: Admin, lighter work, studying
By 1pm, the most important work is done. The rest of the day is training, recovery, relationships, etc.
I protect 4 hours and get more done than people who grind 12-hours a day.
Your version may look different.
Maybe you have kids and mornings are chaos.
Maybe you work a 9-5 and have protect 6am-7:30am, or 6pm-8pm for your creative work.
The only question that matters:
“When are my best 2-3 hours, and what am I currently letting interrupt them?”
For most people, it’s social media, email, news, etc.
Protecting my time is how I’ve been able to work on my business, train as an athlete, and grow in multiple areas.
3) Periodisation & Smart Recovery
We all know someone who goes 100% for 2 weeks, then burns out and disappears for 1 month.
If you’re doing 4 hours of deep work, training Muay Thai hard in the evening, AND trying to run 10km every morning, your nervous system is fried and your recovery will suffer.
This isn’t sustainable in the long term.
This is where periodization comes in:
Strategically cycling intensity so you’re always developing something (power, endurance, skill) while maintaining everything else, without running yourself into the ground.
For me right now:
- Muay Thai: 5 days/week
- Strength & mobility training: 3 days/week
- Walking: Daily, 8K+ steps
Some weeks I push training volume higher.
Other weeks I pull back training and may push harder on business projects.
You can’t peak everything at once.
This is why my clients get exceptional results.
I build everything around performing at their best in accordance to their constraints, their goals, and their potential.
4) Saying No To Almost Everything
“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”
You can be excellent at 2-3 things if you’re strategic.
You can be good at 4-5 if you’re okay with “good enough.”
But if you try to master Muay Thai, business, relationships, language learning, BJJ, guitar, cooking, and photography at the same time
You’ll be mediocre at all of them….
Ask yourself:
- What do I want to be doing at 40?
- What am I doing now that doesn’t serve that vision?
- What would I regret NOT pursuing?
If you say yes to something new, you’re inadvertently saying no to something you’re already committed to…
Clear priorities mean you’re not wasting energy on things that don’t matter.
You don’t need to be robotic or 100% perfect 365 days a year.
You need a strong default that, when life happens (and it will), you know what to return to.
If you’re a martial artist dealing with pain, stiffness, or physical limitations that are keeping you from training the way you want…
That’s exactly what I help people solve.
I’ve help fighters unlock movement they thought was impossible. Not through more stretching or generic flexibility programs, but through the same strategic, sustainable approach I used to build this life.
Mobility that lets you train harder, longer, without your body breaking down.
Movement that unlocks techniques you couldn’t access before.
Recovery that keeps you consistent month after month, year after year.
Click here to apply and we’ll figure out what’s actually limiting you.
Whether you work with me or not, stop waiting and start building your dream life with these 4 protocols.
Thank you for reading,
Matthew.