[00:00:00] Cyrus Rustom: I was lying on the floor in the desert. I realized that I was in pretty bad shape. People gathered around me saying things. I couldn't speak because my jaw was completely messed up, but I knew something really bad had happened and I thought that my life was going to be taken from me [00:00:14] Stephen Licciardello: Today we're talking to Cyrus Rustom, a former Royal Marines Commando, who faced a near death experience in the desert during a deployment. This event became the catalyst for radical personal growth and led to founding a thriving [00:00:30] fitness business. [00:00:30] Sharlene Licciardello: Learn how you can adopt Cyrus's mindset of no plan B, but don't worry, no near death experience is required. We are confident his journey will ignite your passion to start making even the smallest changes in your life, such as persisting towards goals despite obstacles or reframing failures as lessons learned. [00:00:46] Stephen Licciardello: Join us whether you are recovering from a near fatal accident or need more clarity on how you can start a business or side hustle. Stick around until the very end and cultivate a purpose driven existence with the courage to start rewriting your story. [00:00:59] Stephen Licciardello: Let's [00:01:00] dive in. [00:01:00] ​ [00:01:00] ​​ [00:01:10] [00:01:15] Stephen Licciardello: [00:01:30] We've got Cyrus all the way from Dubai, Originally from the UK, and I'm just, can't wait to dive straight in. So Cyrus, welcome. [00:01:46] Stephen Licciardello: Welcome [00:01:47] Cyrus Rustom: Cyrus. Thank you so much. Really happy to be here. [00:01:50] Stephen Licciardello: But take us right from the beginning where your journey started. [00:01:53] Cyrus Rustom: My story really started when I was a young [00:02:00] teenager and my parents went through a divorce. [00:02:03] Cyrus Rustom: And I found myself living with my dad, my two sisters and brother went with my mom and they moved to the opposite side of the country. So I completely lost contact with them I built up a couple of beliefs as someone would at that age to kind of protect themselves. [00:02:19] Cyrus Rustom: One is that I'm actually really strong and one is that relationships don't work. And I was, I started going down the wrong path a little bit from that point. I was smoking weed, drinking alcohol, [00:02:30] getting arrested, not going to school. And it all changed one day when a friend of mine walked into school with a photo. [00:02:38] Cyrus Rustom: And he showed me this photo, which was his older brother. And he just happened to be a Royal Marines Commando. Did a commando greenberry on, he was in the uniform, and he was on exercise somewhere. And I knew immediately that that was my escape out of this, life that I was in, that I wanted to get out of. [00:02:56] Cyrus Rustom: It was joining the military. And because I saw that photo, it was [00:03:00] specifically, I want to become a Royal Marines commando. So at the age, like 12, 13, I started training obsessively. with fitness in order to get fit enough so I can become a commando. And the Royal Marines commando training is one of the [00:03:14] longest, [00:03:15] Cyrus Rustom: hardest military training courses in the world, from civilian into military. [00:03:18] Cyrus Rustom: So I walked into the recruitment office when I was 15 and nine months old on the day, because you had to be 15 and nine months old to apply to join. The guy laughed at me and said, no, you're too [00:03:30] young. So no, I'm not 15 and nine months old. And, they let me in, and, and training going through commando training, that young age wasn't easy because I was so young, I was underdeveloped. [00:03:40] Cyrus Rustom: The pass rate for, young teens is, is very small and I kind of had no other option. There was no plan B and this was a big lesson for me. Going through training at such a young age, it was, it wasn't easy. I failed multiple times in the training itself. It took longer than what it needed to be. [00:04:00] I got injuries. [00:04:01] Cyrus Rustom: I got a massive infection in my leg. I failed the commando tests at the end of training three times before I eventually passed. And that taught me a valuable lesson that if you set no plan B in your life, and you really either do or die. You'll eventually get what you want and it's not going to be easy, you're going to, you're going to find a lot of, a lot of barriers in your way, but at that young age as a, as a 16 year old experiencing all that, it stayed with me and I try not [00:04:30] to set a plan B, as much as possible now, because I realized those lessons, in 2006, I went to Afghanistan. And this is kind of a big story in my life. [00:04:40] Cyrus Rustom: This is one of the, one of the biggest, kind of learning moments in my whole life. I got hit by a truck, And I sustained some injuries. Now, in the moment, I didn't know what had happened. I just thought, okay, head's been hit. [00:04:54] Cyrus Rustom: Fine. Turns out I completely crushed my right eye socket. I broke my jaw in three [00:05:00] places and I, I broke my skull all over. Basically my head had been crushed in between two trucks and. I was lying on the floor in the desert. I realized that I was in pretty bad shape. Blood, you know, dripping out of my eyes, ears, nose, mouth. [00:05:14] Cyrus Rustom: People gathered around me saying things. I couldn't speak because my jaw was completely messed up, but I knew something really bad had happened and I thought that my life was going to be taken from me. And I didn't, wasn't in any pain, but I was screaming out of frustration because I was like, 21, this is it, you get a [00:05:30] dream clarity when your life's about to be taken from you. [00:05:32] Cyrus Rustom: Extreme clarity, no ego, just, this is it. What have you done? It's time to go. They, they took me to the hospital, figured out that I had these injuries through some scans. Put me to sleep and I fell into a coma. So at this point in the military, when this happens, they have to tell the parents that you're, or the next of kin, basically, if it's your wife, husband, parents, whatever, at the time it was my, it was my dad, I have to tell them that. [00:05:59] Cyrus Rustom: You know, they're going [00:06:00] to die or they've died. So, that, that whole thing happened. They, they said we're going to fly you out there. He's in a bad, he's in a bad way. I actually woke up from the coma and they said, Oh, he's well, he's awake now. He's not going to die immediately. So, they didn't fly my dad out to see me in Afghanistan. [00:06:13] Cyrus Rustom: But, and I'm glad they didn't. [00:06:15] Like, [00:06:15] Cyrus Rustom: looking back, you'd think, Oh, just fly the damn dad out there to see the guy. He's in, you know, he's in a bad way. But, I'm glad they didn't. Because This is where things get interesting. I'm in hospital. I'm in intensive care for two weeks. They're keeping me alive, they're doing [00:06:30] multiple head operations. [00:06:31] Cyrus Rustom: It was all a bit of a blur because I had my head smashed in, I wasn't thinking too straight, I couldn't see properly, I couldn't hear properly, I had tubes down my throat, they tied my arms down because I was trying to yank the tube out of my throat. So they tied me down. I was just there, you know, and I was sleeping for a lot of the time. [00:06:48] Cyrus Rustom: Actually, it's crazy what your body does in extreme, you know, trauma like that. It just wants to heal. I was sleeping maybe 23 hours a day. On the second operation, a little bit of a funny story. I [00:07:00] woke up from the operation and this is the first time I felt pain since the incident. This is maybe like Eight days after, I'm still in intensive care. [00:07:08] Cyrus Rustom: Still got all the tubes and everything coming out of me. I woke up from the operation on the operating table. All of the nurses and doctors and everything are still around me. I'm supposed to be awake. I didn't just wake up, you know, when they were operating on me. They'd finished the operation. I was completely naked, lying on a aluminium kind of operating table. [00:07:25] Cyrus Rustom: And I had this pain in my head, like extreme pain and a ringing. And I said to [00:07:30] myself, okay, I understand why I've got a headache. I've just operated on my face. I understand why I've got this ringing in my head, but Jesus Christ, I'm cold. Can someone give me a blanket? I am shivering. I was shivering, like shaking, vibrating. [00:07:45] Cyrus Rustom: And like, can no one see that I'm like dying here? Put a blanket on me and turn the AC off or something. they eventually got me stable and they moved me to another hospital. It was an old military hospital where I was to recover. And I spent the best part of six weeks in [00:08:00] this hospital. [00:08:00] Cyrus Rustom: It was two weeks intensive care, six weeks recovering before I could fly home. Now, up until this point, I had a very. strong belief that I was strong, okay, that it was from my parents divorcing. I kind of woke up the next day and I was like, huh, mom's just left, sisters and brother have gone, but I'm fine. [00:08:17] Cyrus Rustom: So I carried that belief and through commando training when I was failing and I was going for all this stuff, I was mentally off. I always told myself I have the ability to see through these hard times and know that it's going to [00:08:30] get better eventually. So I actually got an award in commando training. [00:08:33] Cyrus Rustom: It's called a diamond award. They give it to a couple of recruits in each group that show the best recruits, basically they're the leaders. I got one when I was that young, it's nothing to do with leadership. I had no leadership at that age, but I had the ability to keep my chin up and smile and try and lift up the morale of the rest, the rest of the group. [00:08:52] Cyrus Rustom: When we were the coldest, the tightest, the wettest, the most miserable, I would keep a smile on my face because I knew. In a few days or weeks, we're going to be [00:09:00] back on camp. We're going to be warm. We're going to be eating food, laughing about how tough this was. But in hospital, I'd lost that ability. Then my face was like, my head was massive. [00:09:11] Cyrus Rustom: It was completely black, it was all screwed up, it operated on me, I didn't know if I was going to look the same, I didn't know if I was going to see properly, all my vision was doubled, I couldn't hear properly, couldn't really think straight, I was feeling sorry for myself. Now in my, in the room that I was in, there was one other guy that was in [00:09:30] a bed, it was a big room, it was about 20 was only one other guy in there, he was clearly disabled, and he was clearly in distress. [00:09:37] Cyrus Rustom: And this elderly guy would walk into the hospital every day. He would come to my bed and ask me if I was okay. He was a very pleasant, older man. He was smiling. How are you? I had my jaw wired shut at this point, so I couldn't talk. But I would just make some noises and he would go and see this guy. After like five days of this, like, this guy across from me, he was, he had no control of, he couldn't feed himself. [00:09:58] Cyrus Rustom: He couldn't go to the [00:10:00] bathroom himself. He was making noises. He was trying to bite himself constantly. So I, I got intrigued and I wrote on my piece of paper what to the nurse, you know, what's the deal with the guy? And she said oh he's He was involved in an incident a few months back and he was driving a car with his mom and his sister in the car It was quite a serious accident. [00:10:20] Cyrus Rustom: His mom and sister died. He's lost all function of his body. However, his mind is still clear. The reason why he keeps trying to bite himself is [00:10:30] he's trying to kill himself because he's guilty that he killed his mum and sister. And the older gentleman that comes to see him every day is his dad. And I was like, whoa, hold on a minute. [00:10:41] Cyrus Rustom: This kind, looked happy, old man that was coming to my bed with a smile on his face and asking me if I was okay. I'd just lost his wife, his daughter, and his son was disabled for life. And I, I couldn't process that. I just didn't understand it. And then I [00:11:00] immediately stopped feeling sorry for myself. And I was like, wow, this is insane. [00:11:04] Cyrus Rustom: I can't believe these two humans are going through this. I've got a little scratch on my head and I'm feeling sorry for myself. So that immediately got me out of my fog. And what else it did was I managed to, instead of playing the victim in all this, I managed to kind of step outside myself and see that, okay, you've been through this event, but you will get over it, like you get over, like everyone gets over everything else. [00:11:26] Cyrus Rustom: And the incident was running through my head, like, [00:11:30] repeat. It was running through my head every second of the day I was going through this incident. And I believe it was happening. It would have happened anyway. I believe that when you go through something that traumatic, it's probably looping in your brain somehow, right? [00:11:41] Cyrus Rustom: Physically, there's some kind of loop there, but also I believe that I was trying to get, the universe was trying to give me a lesson. It was like, you've been through all this for a reason, learn the damn lesson that I'm trying to teach you. And I had not got it yet because I was feeling sorry for myself, I was playing victim. [00:11:55] Cyrus Rustom: But when I could take myself out of the situation and kind of go through it, I ran through [00:12:00] the incident again a few days later in my mind, and I realized that when I was lying on the desert floor, I was screaming out of frustration. I did not live my life. I was 21. I've been to school, been in the military, hadn't really done anything. [00:12:13] Cyrus Rustom: So my life was over and I was just devastated, completely devastated, regretful, but like, Oh my God, I haven't done anything. So I realized like, Oh, that moment when I'm about to die. is going to happen again, and I don't want to feel like that. So from now on, [00:12:30] I better start doing something, because I don't want to feel this massive regret again when the time comes that I'm actually going to die. [00:12:39] Cyrus Rustom: So I got a unique perspective on life from almost dying. If they would have left me there in the desert after the injury, I'm sure an hour or so I would have been brown bread, you know. And so this long period of recovery, started after that, but the, the lesson stayed with me and when I think I'm going [00:13:00] through something challenging, when I think the universe is out to get me and why is this happening or a bang my toe or whatever it is, emails, financial situations, whatever. [00:13:09] Cyrus Rustom: I always think back to that guy in the hospital bed. I think he's out there somewhere, right? So, I've got nothing to be angry about. And I'm not saying I'm this, like, holy guy that floats around, not getting frustrated at life. I get frustrated. I have my Moments of doubt. I think the universe is against me sometimes when I know it's [00:13:30] not, but it kind of stays with me, you know, that, that moment. [00:13:33] Cyrus Rustom: Well, [00:13:34] Stephen Licciardello: that's a very powerful story and very heart wrenching as well. There's, there's so many questions and so much we can. Unpack with that. What, can I ask what, how long was that healing process? I guess the physical healing process is one thing, but there's also the mental healing process. [00:13:55] Cyrus Rustom: Yeah, it was about eight months. [00:13:56] Cyrus Rustom: Eight months. Eight months after it, when I started feeling normal again. [00:14:00] Yeah. Wow. Physical and mental. Yeah. Yeah. [00:14:03] Stephen Licciardello: Yeah. Okay. And obviously you were discharged or you left at that time the, the Marines. Well, [00:14:10] Cyrus Rustom: funny story. I had already put my notice into leave because I wanted to travel around the world. I actually had my interview in Afghanistan, a few weeks before the incident with the commanding officer. [00:14:22] Cyrus Rustom: And it's a leaving interview. When you put your notice into leave, the commanding officer interviews you. And I said, I want to leave. He's like, what'd you want to do? I said, I want to travel the [00:14:30] world. So how are you going to travel the world? I don't know, but I just want to see the world not in uniform. [00:14:34] Cyrus Rustom: I'll figure it out. He said, I think you're making a big mistake. Well, I'll make the mistake. I was young, I literally wanted to go around and, and party and whatever else, right? Meet people and just get out there. The incident happened and one of the vehicles that hit me wasn't supposed to be on the road. [00:14:50] Cyrus Rustom: It wasn't supposed to be used. It was broken. when I went through all my healing, I sought legal advice. and the lawyer told me, absolutely, you have a [00:15:00] case because this was avoidable. You weren't supposed to have your head smashed in. If the vehicle was working properly, you wouldn't have been in that situation. [00:15:07] Cyrus Rustom: So, I got a payout from the military. And that payout allowed me to travel the world for four and a half years and not worry about money. So again, the, the incident happened for me. There's no way I would have been able to afford all that. And I got out of it quite luckily. I mean, I can still see double if I look to my far left. [00:15:28] Cyrus Rustom: And, you [00:15:30] know, my brain went through all that. There's a risk of meningitis, I believe, when I, when I get older, because of all that. But for the most part, I'm fine. I've got a few scars and my jaw sticks out a little bit. But for the most part, I'm okay. So, it was a blessing in disguise. Absolutely. [00:15:44] Stephen Licciardello: You know, from, from your traveling and, and obviously, you know, that probably paid a lot, a big part in the healing process as well. [00:15:52] Stephen Licciardello: And in your mental health, you also spent some time in Thailand and you learned, [00:16:00] Muay Thai. Is that correct? Muay Thai? Yeah. Muay Thai. Yeah. Yeah. Muay Thai. Tell us about that experience and embracing that different culture. [00:16:09] Cyrus Rustom: Muay Thai was something, to be honest, that I did because one of my best friends had been doing Muay Thai. [00:16:14] Cyrus Rustom: And he was very good at it. He was tall, got long legs, long arms. He's built perfectly for it. And I had said enough of seeing all his photos and videos. And I said, damn, I need to do that. So I'm not tall. I don't have long arms and long legs. I'm not built for Muay Thai. Although there's [00:16:30] guys that don't have long arms and long legs that are good at Muay Thai, I just didn't fit it. [00:16:34] Cyrus Rustom: And I had a few fights. And on the second fight against an American guy, he severely broke my nose. If I showed you the photo, you'd laugh. Like, the nose was, was literally here. And I said, you know what? Considering everything I've been through, this isn't for me. I need to stop this. I just kept doing what I, what I loved, which was fitness. [00:16:53] Cyrus Rustom: I always loved the challenge, and it was a great experience. And going in the ring, And fighting another man, you [00:17:00] know, toe to toe is an incredible experience for someone. and I, and I do believe there's a lot of benefits to doing that. But yeah, I had my, I had my, I had my experience and I wouldn't do it again. [00:17:11] Cyrus Rustom: like you learned your lesson. Yeah. Yeah. [00:17:14] Stephen Licciardello: Earlier on when you were telling your story, and you mentioned that you then saw your Family on the other side of the UK after 20 years. [00:17:24] Cyrus Rustom: Yes. So, there was a handful of times where we connected, but basically from the divorce. Mom left with [00:17:30] two sisters and brother to the opposite side of the country Other than literally a handful of times. [00:17:35] Cyrus Rustom: I didn't want anything to do with my mom and I guess I didn't want to have anything to do with my sisters and brother because it brought up the Feelings of the divorce that I'd not really dealt with I'm guessing [00:17:46] Cyrus Rustom: My, my wife told me when we got married that I'm not going to marry you unless your family is invited. So we invited them and that was one of the handful of times I met them. And we spoke and stuff, but I wasn't interested. I was like, no, I'm going to take [00:18:00] minimum to the now. years later, my, my marriage started to unravel. [00:18:04] Cyrus Rustom: There was a big difference between me and my wife. We were,having fights all the time. It got to the point where we were probably about to get divorced. I had multiple opportunities to leave after fights and stuff, I didn't know what the issue was. The issue was me. I didn't know the issue was me, but,something kept me with her because I loved her. [00:18:22] Cyrus Rustom: I thought she's an amazing woman, but I had this voice in my head. It was literally a voice. And it was a thought of divorce. It [00:18:30] was like, leave the wife, leave the wife. And I was thinking, but how can I do it? And I run through it in my mind every day. Like, how am I going to do it? What am I going to say? [00:18:37] Cyrus Rustom: What's going to happen? It was on repeat I was reading a business book at the time and it was actually the founder of Lululemon. The founder that wrote this book, I was obsessed with business books at the time. And he said he will always look at his life as before the landmark forum and after the landmark forum. [00:18:55] Cyrus Rustom: Have you guys heard of the landmark forum? Yeah. Have you done it? No, but [00:18:59] Stephen Licciardello: we've [00:19:00] got many friends that have done it. Yeah. [00:19:02] Cyrus Rustom: Right. So you're familiar. This is perfect. You two are the first people ever. And I've told so many people about this that have actually even heard of it, which is great because you understand. [00:19:11] Cyrus Rustom: Two of [00:19:11] Stephen Licciardello: our closest mentors have gone and they're out. They speak into our lives. they've gone, right through the Landmall forum and, and have spoken a lot into our lives. [00:19:23] Cyrus Rustom: I'll tell you, it's nothing to do with business, by the way. [00:19:26] Cyrus Rustom: I mean, this guy says in his book that it was one of the reasons [00:19:30] why Lululemon was so successful. So I went online and I said, damn, it's really that good? In two weeks time. The landmark forum was in Dubai, the first ever, I paid for the thing without even blinking. I didn't even read the information. I just went, yeah, I'm going, carried on reading the book, right? [00:19:46] Cyrus Rustom: So I show up on day one and I realized immediately, it's like, there's nothing to do with business. What the hell is this guy talking about? And they were telling us some information. You're not allowed to take notes. You're not allowed to eat that much, really. They don't give you much time. [00:20:00] You're just sat in a freezing cold room, listening to one human speak. [00:20:03] Cyrus Rustom: You are not bored. But I got home after the first day. It was okay, but I don't know if I might, I don't know if I'm going to go back. You know, it's not really what I wanted. But something inside me was like, you need to go back. Like this is, you don't necessarily want this information. You need it. Did the second day. [00:20:17] Cyrus Rustom: On the second day, they said, if you don't have a relationship with your parents, you got to call them. You got to make it up. Like you can't live life. Without having that relationship, if they're still alive, if they're dead and you're, and you, and you still had some like grudges or [00:20:30] whatever, when they die, close your eyes, speak to them and finish it. [00:20:34] Cyrus Rustom: Like just squash it and move forward with your life. I didn't call anyone. I was like, Hey, no way. I'm calling my mom. What are you talking about? No way. Carried on with my day. Went to the third day. Now this is where things get interesting. They said, you're going to have the biggest realization you've ever had in your life. [00:20:49] Cyrus Rustom: Like 4 PM or something. It's like, okay. Going through the information. We're doing some stuff. Things are getting heated. I'm not feeling anything, like zero, like nothing. It's like an [00:21:00] hour to four. It's like 3 p. m. I'm like, there's no way I'm getting this realization. It's not gonna happen. Kept telling myself that at p. [00:21:06] Cyrus Rustom: m. on the minute, on the second. I don't know what stuff they did, but it was like a bullet hitting me in the head. I was just like, completely just. Knocked back and it's hard to explain, but it's like they showed you a mirror and you saw yourself why your personality is the way it is. Why are you the way you are? [00:21:29] Cyrus Rustom: It's [00:21:30] because of all the stuff, all the experiences of your childhood and your, and you and being an adult and you've adapted the stories, these processes, these beliefs around your experience. And you don't need to carry it with you if you don't want to. You can drop the baggage and be whoever the hell you want to be moving forward. [00:21:46] Cyrus Rustom: Now it was like that in a feeling. It's hard to, hard to really explain. I learned on the forum that the voice inside your head is not you. So I'm like, okay. So I'm driving away and I'm listening to the voice in my head and I'm like, [00:22:00] shocked. how negative this voice is. I'm like, how have I not noticed this voice in my head before? [00:22:04] Cyrus Rustom: This is insane. It's just like this negative, consistent voice in my head. And I was like, Oh my God, this has been ruining my whole experience of life, I guess. So then I put two and two together and I was like, Okay, well, then this voice telling me to leave my wife is not me. Why is it happening still was not able to fully grasp that I had the problem was me, right? [00:22:26] Cyrus Rustom: It was my wife. My wife was the problem, not me. so I went to [00:22:30] therapy and therapist, he took me through like eight, nine sessions. And we had like one or two sessions left. And the answer was like at the tip of my tongue, but I still couldn't say it was like my ego was having the last like, no. And he was You know, he was, he was being very kind, let's say, and he says, Cyrus, do you get it yet? [00:22:49] Cyrus Rustom: I was like, yeah, okay. And then literally from that moment, I never got a single word, a single voice, a single thought ever again about the divorce of [00:23:00] my wife. It was literally like gone, like magic. And now me and my wife have the best relationship ever. We have a son, and that never would have happened if I didn't sort my shit out, basically. [00:23:12] Cyrus Rustom: and now I tell everyone to go on the Landmark Forum. Nobody listens to me because they don't believe how good it is, but seriously, they do some stuff. It's been going since the 70s. Two and a half million people have done it, and still nobody, and most people don't know what it is. [00:23:24] Stephen Licciardello: Yeah. it's really interesting that you mentioned the landmark. [00:23:27] Stephen Licciardello: We, as I said, we know a lot of people that have [00:23:30] done it. yeah. And we took a different path with neuro linguistic programming and hypnosis and all that. But I know it's done some great work with a lot of people. So thank you for sharing your experience. Did you manage to call [00:23:43] Cyrus Rustom: your mother? Yeah, after I got the realization. [00:23:46] Cyrus Rustom: Driving home, I called her and the way they told you to, handle the conversation was you don't expect anything back from them. You just say, I'm sorry, I want to build a relationship moving forward. And that was what I [00:24:00] said. And it was a, it was a massive weight off my shoulders in that moment. It was like, boom, gone. [00:24:04] Cyrus Rustom: And I have a relationship with my mom now. It's probably not as strong as someone, because it was so many years, right? We were apart. It's probably not as strong as someone that's been with them for that time. But it's a relationship. She comes to see me in Dubai sometimes. We talk. So, it's, it's good. [00:24:22] Stephen Licciardello: That's so good. You in your bio, when we got to know you, talk about a trip to uh, Amsterdam? Yeah. Amsterdam. [00:24:30] It was Amsterdam, yeah. Yeah, I'm very excited about this trip. Tell, tell us about this trip. [00:24:34] Cyrus Rustom: Yeah. So, have you guys tried psilocybin? No. Okay. [00:24:39] Stephen Licciardello: Good. We wanna hear all about your experience. [00:24:42] Cyrus Rustom: Right. Well, I've done the Landmark Forum and I've done some of the seminars and things around the world because I like to, I feel like every time I do something outside of my normal routine, I get so many insights and I realize a lot about my life. It happens a lot on planes as well, by the way. I get on a plane, long haul, and it's just like downloads, [00:25:00] you know? [00:25:00] Cyrus Rustom: so I decided, I was hearing a lot about psilocybin retreats. And I hadn't really, I didn't really have anything that I needed to go there for, apart from like, I just want to try this thing, like I'm hearing so much about it, I'm watching the documentaries. I don't take drugs or anything like that. I don't drink alcohol, right? [00:25:16] Cyrus Rustom: I'm a thick guy. So, I go on this retreat. I find a, a company called Kiyumi and it's like a full experience, right? It's not just go there and take the thing. It's like, you do this, you go there, you meet everyone and do all [00:25:30] these, activities. that make you feel a bit silly. And it's all just to make you feel comfortable around everyone in the group, right? [00:25:36] Cyrus Rustom: You do all these dances and everything stuff. I never, I never do this kind of stuff, right? I had to stare at a stranger in the eyes for like five minutes straight. That's the hardest thing ever. You think, yeah, easy. No, no, no, no. It's not easy. Like after like a minute of staring this stranger in the eyes, you start feeling like going red and embarrassed and all kinds of things. [00:25:55] Cyrus Rustom: Well, on the day of. you take the, you take the [00:26:00] psilocybin and, wow, just so, so much that I could tell you. but the feeling, it's like, you've just got like love flowing through your veins. At least that's how I was feeling initially, pure love. I was dancing and. I had all these feelings and I was, I was having these visuals as well as having the feelings. [00:26:21] Cyrus Rustom: I was humming to the music and the hum had turned into this, this thing that I could see and all these like things were coming off it. [00:26:30] Well, there was, one particular moment where the concept of Cyrus. It's like Cyrus was there and I understood what Cyrus was. It was me and all my experiences, my personality just went boop. [00:26:41] Cyrus Rustom: And I was like, I was confused. I was like, what? And I've heard of this happening. People say ego death, right? That people like die sometimes. They fall off cliffs a lot. For me, it just slipped away. Like Cyrus just went whoosh. And I was so confused for about five minutes. And I was trying to remember. I'm like, I'm sure I know what Cyrus is. [00:26:59] Cyrus Rustom: I [00:27:00] forgot everything. I forgot that I was a human on earth, that I was just this like energy, and I was flying through the universe completely free. And one of the facilitators tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I needed more, needed more of the psilocybin. Because they want you to have no foot in reality. [00:27:19] Cyrus Rustom: That's the whole point. It's a therapeutic dose. It's a heroic dose. I was away in the universe flying around somewhere, it felt like she was pulling me back to earth with this tapping and I [00:27:30] remember coming back and I still didn't know who I was, what I was, where I was, I couldn't remember, but I remember saying, do you need more? [00:27:35] Cyrus Rustom: And I was like, no, no, no, I don't need more, blew back off into the universe. And then, I ended up being me looking at my son and I was also in my son looking at me. And to the, to the next to me, it was me as a baby, remembering what it's like to be a baby. And I was looking at my mom and I was also in my mom looking at me. [00:27:59] Cyrus Rustom: So I was [00:28:00] in all four bodies. I was in me, my son in me as a baby. the realization I got was, don't forget how much you used to love your mom. You were a baby at one point, you know how much you love your son. That's how much your mom loves you. And you remember what it's like to be a baby, loving your mom. [00:28:22] Cyrus Rustom: And I was also in my son looking at me. So it was like this. It was just showing me like, hey, don't forget you were a little baby once looking at your mom like your [00:28:30] son looks at you. And,another kind of prominent bit of the experience was I felt like I was a warrior. [00:28:37] Cyrus Rustom: It's like a tribal warrior, I had a spear and this was after the initial, universal flying around thing. I'd kind of like come back to earth and I remembered where I was and what I was doing, but I was sat at the end of the bed and I had this feeling that you can do anything you want. You're a warrior, just pick whatever thing you want to do in life, go for it and you can do it. [00:28:58] Cyrus Rustom: So those are the probably the two biggest [00:29:00] takeaways from the experience and I highly recommend it because after it, it's kind of like It's clean out of your mind. You've emptied everything out and you can start fresh, kind of like a forum, almost. highly recommend it if you're thinking about doing it. [00:29:15] Stephen Licciardello: Thank you for sharing because it's, it's such a controversial thing here in Australia. there's so many mixed reviews. And and so I'm really glad that you've shared it and and actually I've spoken to my yoga instructor about it as well [00:29:30] who's had a very similar experience on I'm liking the fact that you're confirming her experience as well. [00:29:36] Stephen Licciardello: So, and what she experienced as well. Cyrus, This has all happened. But in the meantime, you're living in Dubai, you've moved to Dubai, and you become a successful fitness coach and have a successful fitness business. And Jim, tell us [00:29:50] Cyrus Rustom: about that. Yeah, well, I moved to Dubai, and I was working as a personal trainer, earning 1500 US dollars a month. [00:29:58] Cyrus Rustom: And I had [00:30:00] this feeling that I wanted to do something, but I'd not yet, I wasn't yet doing it, I was just bumming around, I had this job, I wasn't really doing much personal training, I was going to the beach whenever I had a spare minute, I wasn't acting towards my goal, and I moved to Dubai from Thailand because I wanted more in life. [00:30:17] Cyrus Rustom: I met my wife. She was earning massive amounts more money than me. She's good looking. She's confident. And I was like, okay, this doesn't feel right. Like, this is my, this is my kick up the ass to do [00:30:30] something. So I started a business. And it's been almost a 10 year journey now. I started my first business and I got thrown into from being this like, I was a, I was a Royal Marines commando, but I was also a beach bum for four and a half years, right? [00:30:45] Cyrus Rustom: So I hadn't really worked. And then this, I got thrown into this, situation where I was now running my own gym. So I got to learn. By doing everything about business, how to speak to people, customer service, marketing systems, hiring, [00:31:00] firing, the full thing that come to an end after three and a half years. [00:31:04] Cyrus Rustom: And I was. Thinking what else to do? I was in London with a client. I actually work for the royal family here as well. Very lucky and privileged to have this role. I was in London with my client and I found a gym, a concept that I thought, Oh, this, this would be good in Dubai. So then I approached one of my friends who's one of the most successful people I know, or the most successful person I knew at the time. [00:31:28] Cyrus Rustom: And he was advising me, [00:31:30] go and do some more research, gather data, go and do more classes. And eventually on, on that journey of research, he decided like, you know what, Cyrus is really passionate about this. I'm going to go in with him. And he told me, mate, instead of getting investors, you just come up with half the cash, I'll come up with half the cash and we'll jump in together. [00:31:47] Cyrus Rustom: Okay, cool. I didn't have all the cash. I borrowed a bit, got a bit, you know, eventually got the money. We'd invested some, COVID hit, boom, locked down and. I remember standing outside of [00:32:00] the works that was going on, right, the fit out and my business partner telling me, look, we're going to have to go into this thing called lockdown. [00:32:06] Cyrus Rustom: And I was like, are you crazy? But I was also worried because 99 percent of the time if Lee says something, it comes true. So sure enough, a few weeks later, we're in lockdown. And I remember transferring money from my personal account into the business account. Thinking, I am never going to see this money again. [00:32:23] Cyrus Rustom: I'm going to have to pay all these people back that I borrowed from some other way because this business is not going to make [00:32:30] it. We opened a week after lockdown was lifted. And so the first year of business for us was tough. But about six months in, kind of knew we were onto something because we were getting good feedback from people. [00:32:41] Cyrus Rustom: And it's a boxing and fitness class was our first concept that we opened. People kept saying, this is my therapy because we've just been through remember the mindset that we were in right back then. Yeah, they would come in, they would do fitness, they would punch the punching bag, they would leave with a smile on their face. [00:32:57] Cyrus Rustom: I actually changed the tagline. Of the [00:33:00] business to boxing is therapy because that's what people kept telling me since then we've grown Into three more spaces in the same building. We have a cafe All these different concepts we have 600 members. We're doing way over a million dollars in revenue a year and we're actually on the verge of Hopefully signing a deal where we can expand into other locations in the middle east and around dubai So it turned out well, but it was not [00:33:30] easy. [00:33:30] Cyrus Rustom: It was tough. It's business, I guess, all business. [00:33:33] Stephen Licciardello: What,well, success comes at a price. So what are some of the sacrifices, the personal sacrifices that you've had to make to [00:33:40] Cyrus Rustom: make this work? Time is,obviously the, the one that sticks out the most. from this. I got married to my wife. We didn't go on a honeymoon. [00:33:47] Cyrus Rustom: We actually, married in Sri Lanka, and then flew directly back to Dubai to work on my first gym. And it's a lot of time, in the beginning stages of business. So that's probably the main one. But I'm glad I've done it. I think [00:34:00] it's worth it in the end, you know? So the only thing I'm battling with now, I mean, I've got a quite a good balance. [00:34:04] Cyrus Rustom: I see my son a couple of times a day, spend the weekend with him, feel like. As a man, our job and our, commitment to our family is to provide. So I can't sit with my son all the time, but I was having this conversation with a, a client this morning. He's a successful business owner. I feel like all men have this pool work. [00:34:25] Cyrus Rustom: Kids work kids. We need to provide for our family. We also need to be [00:34:30] there for our family. it's a fine balancing act that if you tilt one way more than the other. If you're not earning the money to provide for your family, then your whole family suffers. But if you're not around to see your kids, then the relationship suffers and I feel like it's, it's this, and I'm playing this as well. [00:34:46] Cyrus Rustom: I'm doing it all the time when I'm working. I feel like, Oh, I want to go and see him when I'm with him. Sometimes I'm like, okay, I've got all this stuff to do. So it's just a constant evolving. learning for me. but ultimately, my [00:35:00] financial goals are important to me, but they're not even close to time with my son, you know, so I feel like I've got a good balance at the minute. [00:35:08] Cyrus Rustom: Awesome. [00:35:09] Stephen Licciardello: Thank you so much. [00:35:10] Cyrus Rustom: How do you actually manage that mindful state when you're With each part. So when you're with your business, obviously a lot of people will be, like you said, in the business and thinking of their family, they want to be with the family, but then when they're with their family, they want to be, they've got all the stuff they've got to do. [00:35:27] Cyrus Rustom: How do you manage that mindful state? [00:35:29] Cyrus Rustom: [00:35:30] it's exactly not doing that. It's when I'm at work, my wife sometimes will send me videos on WhatsApp of what she's doing with him. And I won't look at the videos. Because I'm like, nah, that's, that's, that's not, that's going to make me feel bad and it's going to make me want to go home. [00:35:44] Cyrus Rustom: Now I'm quite lucky my business is close to my house, right? So it's like a 10 minute drive, so I can pop back anytime. But the trick for me has been, when I'm with my son, Try not to have your phone with you, be in the moment with him, and you'll be surprised what little [00:36:00] time it takes to really just have that connection and that, that moment with him. [00:36:05] Cyrus Rustom: So as long as I'm present, and I'm with him, and I've got my phone with me, you know, you don't need, as a man, five, six, seven hours. You can do an hour of quality and hearts full for the day, you know, so I just try and see him every day, at least once or twice. Be present with him. And when I'm at work, try and be focused on that. [00:36:26] Cyrus Rustom: And one thing I heard recently, I went to see a [00:36:30] doctor actually, who said something that really hit me. I can't remember his exact words. I wrote it down in my notebook somewhere. But it was like, The price of you procrastinating and not being productive is actually a price on your family. [00:36:44] Cyrus Rustom: Because the times you're not being productive in work, it's time away from your family. So you're actually taking, especially on your, you know, you're taking that time away from your family. And then when he said that, I realized so much about myself. I'm like, Oh my God, I waste so much time in a [00:37:00] day just doing mindless stuff. [00:37:02] Cyrus Rustom: And for the rest of the lecture, I was just thinking about that one line he said. I was like, Oh my God, I need to change. And that was like two weeks ago. And I've tried to be more, try to have more intent with what I'm doing since then. I'm like. Do I need to be doing this right now? Is it important? If not, I need to be doing something else. [00:37:20] Cyrus Rustom: So it's like when I'm working, I need to be fully focused on the business and working and getting stuff done. Or I need to drive home and be with my son [00:37:30] because there's no point just sitting here like spinning my wheels, not doing important work. So another thing I read recently was like, write down your top three priorities each day. [00:37:38] Cyrus Rustom: Just like one, two, three. once you've done those three priorities for the day, everything else is a bonus or learn something or relax, you know, don't just do stuff for the sake of doing it. [00:37:47] Stephen Licciardello: much. That's great advice. Cyrus, your, your journey is so full. It's like you've lived many lifetimes Thank you so much for sharing with us. [00:37:56] Cyrus Rustom: Cyrus, we usually like to end off with a couple of really, deep, hard [00:38:00] hitting questions. And one of those is what advice would you give to someone who wanted to start to rewrite their life story? [00:38:06] Cyrus Rustom: I was lucky because I listened to the signs from the universe that I needed to change, you know, I was obsessed with business books and starting a business. So, so the universe popped into, popped a book on my lap that spoke about the landmark forum. Yeah. And a lot of people that I speak to men particularly, I don't know why, find it hard to see. [00:38:29] Cyrus Rustom: The [00:38:30] faults in themselves, I guess, or the issues or the traumas or whatever they have going on. So my advice to someone would be try and take a step back and feel and look at the signs that the universe has given you. If you think maybe that you have an issue, you've got one and it will be worth your time unraveling that a little bit, maybe feeling some Uncomfortable, emotions from whatever it is, but it's trying to just be self aware, right? [00:38:57] Cyrus Rustom: I wasn't self aware, but I was [00:39:00] lucky because the universe had masked it as something else, right? So I would encourage everyone to take a step back and it's like I was speaking with a client this morning and he said, I always knew that I needed to do therapy, but it's just one of those things that I kept like, Oh, I'm busy. [00:39:15] Cyrus Rustom: Or he kept not prioritizing it. And six months have passed and he's still not done it. Now he was going through this extremely challenging time because he hadn't dealt with the underlying issue. So I would just say whatever work is that you need to do, get it [00:39:30] done now so you can move forward and progress in life. [00:39:33] Cyrus Rustom: Right. That's really powerful. So basically what you're saying is don't wait until life hits you, like a ton of breaks to do. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, sweeping the issues under the mats, not rectifying the underlying issues. Yeah. I believe the only way you can rewrite your story and move forward and progress and live your goals and dreams and whatever it is, you're not going to do that carrying all that heavy baggage that you picked up [00:40:00] from childhood or whatever it is. [00:40:02] Cyrus Rustom: Like, go back, feel the pain, do what you need to do, and then move forward. Right. That's really good advice. Thank you so much, Cyrus. And if you could go back now and rewrite your life story, what would that look like? I wouldn't change a thing. I would not change a thing. I would go back and experience absolutely everything that I went through, exactly the same. [00:40:21] Cyrus Rustom: If I could be on the desert in front of those two trucks again, I would put my head in front of them and go through the same thing. It had to happen to me. I need it to happen to me. And that's another thing, [00:40:30] right? When what I've learned from going through these issues is that we always play victim initially, right? [00:40:37] Cyrus Rustom: It's a natural response. Why is this happening to me? But I believe that the universe again, I've said the universe a lot in this podcast, because I do believe. strongly that everything happens for a reason. And I do believe that when we are given challenges to overcome, it's for our own benefit when we're going through it in the moment, it doesn't feel like that, [00:41:00] but you have a vision of what you want to achieve in your life. [00:41:03] Cyrus Rustom: Okay. In order to reach that, you need to change. You need to become a different person. You need to grow, overcome challenges. So those. Issues, those challenges, whatever you want to call them that the life is giving you are opportunities to grow. They're not setbacks. That's a key mindset shift when something happens. [00:41:22] Cyrus Rustom: Like I'm going, I'm going through, everyone goes through some stuff, right? You have the issues that come in, whatever. Just change your mindset on that. Not, Oh my God, this is happening to [00:41:30] me. Why is it happening to me? No, okay. Feel like that initially, but then take a deep breath and think, okay. This is something I need to overcome and better myself so I can reach my goals, right? [00:41:39] Cyrus Rustom: And become the person I need to be in order to achieve whatever you want to be, right? So that's key and that's something that took me a long time to get and And it's definitely advice I would, I would give others. That's wonderful. Thank you so [00:41:54] Stephen Licciardello: much. Cyrus. Thank you for being so open and honest and sharing your story. [00:41:58] Stephen Licciardello: You really have been an [00:42:00] open book and vulnerable. So thank you so much. And if you want to know more about Cyrus and what he does and also his business in Dubai, follow him on at Coach Cyrus and we'll have that link in the show notes. As well, Cyrus, once again, thank you so much. [00:42:15] Cyrus Rustom: Thanks for having me, guys. Really appreciate it. [00:42:30]