 Welcome to the 21 report. I'm Frank Pesci, and I'm here with Alexander Cortez aka Ajak Alexander is a personal trainer content creator and fitness entrepreneur Ajak. How are you? I don't Frank doing great Thanks for being here. Good to be here. Absolutely. So you spoke at the event this year. Yes. What's going on? What do you think? So this is my I think my fifth time speaking so I did three speeches talks You know my convention 22 convention then also the patriarch convention. So I became a dad Last year about three and a half months ago. Awesome. Awesome. Well, I've seen you at other conventions Just as we were talking in the pre-interview. I have taken things from you from your speeches I've applied them in my life, and it has become part of my regiment of Personal growth and development and just being a better version of myself. I know that you are a guy who's always pursuing Excellence, what are some of the habits of excellence that you apply these days in your life, and what do you promote to your fans? Yeah, as a Being a dad actually it didn't change a lot bit clarified a lot where It's very easy to tell them in like you have to be disciplined get to follow schedule Yeah, your life has to have structure to you don't have any structure You don't need discipline and any kind of recommendations are pretty much mute I could give you the best plan in the world. You know for fitness for anything else you know, but if waking up at the same time isn't something you do and if You know prioritizing your time and something you do that doesn't really mean anything but when you have kids I Wouldn't say that you have less time, but you have less time to be indecisive and You know when my son was born, I remember I was pretty tired. You know my wife Went to labor during the night sort of gave birth in the morning. It's very pretty much fast delivery But neither was it slept, but I still went to the gym the next day and I got the treadmill. I ran four miles It was as imagine like what my son think, you know if I sort of skipped the gym Right, you sort of have this question you become a dad of like what am I so where my son think he's watching me right now like in my actions And I became much more impatient in fact now that he's been born or just I do everything faster You know like the the rate of time the order of time slow time is accelerated that way And I've been telling can't my my following that now I've gotten much more I Pays place much more of an emphasis on your usage of time and being ultra decisive in the moment When you're younger when it's just when you're younger it's just yourself like you can kind of you can waste your moments You can spend time thinking about things you can waffle back and forth But then once you have kids you realize like Jesus like I wasted You know moments days, you know weeks, you know, we think about this don't think so much just act Action is clarifying So it's how in the message down I think that way Yeah, but is the habit of excellence? Consistency doing the same things but consistency is itself as a decision What I need to do to be consistent. You're just doing the same thing You know, it's something that grows over time. Nobody starts out in a state of greatness. We all start out shit If you're gonna the beginning of any process like you're an amateur, you don't know anything How do you get better you show up every day regardless of feeling regardless of emotionality regardless of motivation What role do archetypes play in You're the way that you think the way that you prosecute life I say that because I had spent time in one of your talks 2019 maybe where you did an amazing job of just tying together what it means to be a man to archetypes throughout the time of history Do you still think along those lines? I do I do it's a useful Framework for just understandings or what I call like depth and breadth of masculinity we've We've put up with about 20 30 years of what my friend Mike Cermich always calls it like boobs and butt and bacon kind of masculinity What are men into men like bacon men like tits? Men are into ass it's just like this very generic kind of like men men as beings for this like these sexual Amelistic beings like that's kind of it. Yeah, that's all we're supposed to be And that's not the case obviously like men have created the world and being a man has immense depth and breadth to it It's a complex complex experience. There's all different kinds of men in the world There's all different kinds of talents and what you can be good at what you can pursue The end archetypes is just a way of you know orienting yourself around you know certain kinds of roles and characters You know every man's inclined her different towards different things. You have men who are leaders You kind of King archetype, right? You have men who are very physical you know combative competitive, you know warrior archetype You have men who are very intellectual like that They have the mind you can call that sort of like the other wizard archetype an organizer Yeah, then you have men who are in fact like more emotional in the masculine way, you know They like to bond with people they have a softer touch, you know like they use love as sort of their conduit for a relation to the world You know when you you know and analyze yourself you're trying to better understand yourself Like what do you defer to and you're always going to be all all things at once? It's not that you pick something and you pick an identity and that's all that you are But you know organizing it that way especially as a younger guy, we're trying to figure out like who am I like? What am I into it's like, you know, what are my natural talents? What am I interests? You know, what do what kind of environment do I feel most comfortable in what am I good at and Hopefully gives you some clarity some clarification And you obviously archetyped you can sort of subdivide them out you can you try to combine them You can go liking them through personal evolutions like you maybe start off here You know when you're young you're very physical and over time you become more of an intellectual man You're maybe your guy who's really good with women. That's it's some guys. That's the only thing, right? It's just women and it's like okay. Well, I need to be more than just you know trying to be a lover boy You know or fuck boy What else is there? So I still reference that from time to time But you know once the past year especially once I got married and became a father I focus much more into the fatherhood. I guess archetype now. That's what's important. Yeah That's what you're encountered with. Yeah, so that's what becomes important to you You know and it's interesting sort of watching the mass beer evolve at the same time where yes I often reference this it started out as it being basically about getting women You know, how can I have successful relationships or just get sex? You know since for a lot of guys that's still their major frustration getting laid. It's okay. It's a real thing There's always gonna be that segment of dudes where they just struggle with girls, but then over time it's evolved into okay It's not just about women. It's you know, how do I be more effective in the world? Yeah, how do I pursue excellence? How to become more successful financially? Yeah, how do I you know? Patriot convention. How do I be better father? How do I be a better leader to people? Same scene the 21 convention evolved at the same time, but just it's cool to see Yeah, and you've evolved with it I mean from my perspective as somebody who sits in the audience and gets to watch these speeches and have Conversations like this. I've seen just everybody has just grown in different direction. He will have been unified seemingly under One spirit we might say in a lot of ways Five-time returning speaker. Yes What do you think of this event that Anthony put together this year as it compares to the others? This it's it's been an evolution since 2018 Yeah, this year was it's gotten older like in the subject matter Definitely like you know, whether this is Anthony's personal decision or that's just the state of the spear You know the subject matter, you know, even five years ago was very female oriented And now it's a sort of very man in the world accomplishment oriented Yet the majority of the I think the speeches that were given Which that's been cool to see and like the audience has gotten more serious Again, like you start out being about women largely and now it's just really about how can I be? Competent, how can I navigate sort of this chaotic world? How can I make sense of it? Hey on the sense-making factor has become a much more of a subject matter We're you know guys come here to serve listen to other men who they consider competent like how do you think about the world? What do you think of what's going on right now the kind of question and how can you help me think about it? And hopefully make better decisions. It becomes like a reality check for you guys For instance, we're content creators you get to meet other people who are also creating content who are influencing people Who are seeing things perhaps from a different perspective? Do you find yourself coming away from these conferences more equipped? Oh, yeah, I mean that's One of the unique positions when you're a content creator like when you're a personal brand Yeah, like I never expected to be doing this. Yeah, I've said this before like this is not my life Goal of like I'm gonna be a known figure, you know on the Internet That was not something I thought about 10 15 years ago when I was younger. You know, that's why I became right But yeah in regards to creating content and why really this one to be useful to your audience That's why I always think of myself like I want to be useful to people. Yeah, I'm not trying to create a cult of personality Just want to be a vessel. Yeah I don't it's not my aim that people are trying to imitate me I'm like I just want to share useful information useful advice useful models heuristics Instructions steps and hopefully you take that you apply to yourself and it allows you to find out who you are As your own man not trying to be me or someone else who are you and here's some tools to help you discover that I know that you have You know forums and and a faithful following of people that you know listens to you When you see those guys, do you see them trying to be like you or do you see them trying to be the best version of themselves? Because in essence you become the archetype that they look at they say I want to be like him How do you navigate that? What is your views on that? Yeah? I think I attract Independent-minded people like I've yeah, I had guys here that I was meeting for the first time They've been following me like five years Which I was like wow it's in like they've you know they start out maybe they're 25 now they're 30 or when they were 20 other 25 It's not an insignificant portion of their life By percentage But they always seem to skew towards being independent-minded. I don't know I've really met anybody where it's like oh this guy's trying to like sort of copy me It's more so like I found you and it's like more like a big brother figure. It's like you look up to your big brother You know he gives you good advice You know he's sort of living his life Yeah, maybe you're trying to sort of imitate what he's doing But he's also encouraging you like you need to go find your own way You know he's gonna push you into those kinds of situations, you know whether literally you're metaphorically figuratively You know, I've never gotten that vibe from people you never got a stand letter like Eminem got no I mean every once in a while you like I've had lots of weird interactions online But that's just the nature of being online once you have a large following I don't was compared to being like a list famous not that I'm being mobbed in public But just when you you're online you have a hundred thousand plus people that follow you You know cumulatively it's like maybe two hundred thousand You're gonna attract weirdos just kind of by default There's gonna be a percentage of not even your audience But it's presented to people where they find someone they fix it on them and because of their own pathologies They send you weird stuff or create weird scenarios. That's funny But I mean that's like a very overall like I say this often too like my my following I can start like a virtue is falling. It's a virtue cycle Yeah, I'm useful to people. I'm positive for them. I get that positivity back You know those negative interactions are not even maybe 1% of the overall breath interactions But you do remember them just because oftentimes is just they're almost comical. It's humorous. Yeah You know it stands out from the other stuff. So, okay You are content creator obviously what a big following you're doing it. You're enjoying it You said it wasn't necessarily what you set out to do, but you're doing it and doing well When I talk to young people generation Z people, they all want to be content creators, dude They all want to be injured Tate. They all want to do something where they make money online Like what would you say to them about the reality of being a content creator the work that goes into it? What's the lifestyle really like behind the scenes? It seems to me that so being a content creator now being a creator being an influencer Another word that was not a thing 10 years ago. Now it is I Think for young people. It's simply looking at what is most popular and wanting to be that popular person yeah, I remember growing up in 1990s and You know is very popular for young women then like they want to be a singer, you know Which I don't know if that's the case now But like at that time this is like pop culture This is sort of the Britney Spears era like being a singer was probably like the highest status thing you could be as Like a girl or at least be out by young moments perspective, you know as a young guy I remember 1990s as is when for whatever reason like I haven't traced it sociologically Like being like an astronaut was supposed to be like a cool thing like I want to be an astronaut Yeah, I don't hear anyone say they want to be an astronaut anymore But at that time being an astronaut was like that was cool. That was that somehow meant something important You know for kids don't have young people don't have you know extremely defined Logical objective reasons for why they think they want to be something. They're just existing in the world Their brains are still forming. They're young they're young the young people, right? So I can imagine which for 15 16 17 and the most popular coolest person You know as an online creator of some kind that you follow like I want to be like him The actual reality of it is I don't want to say that it's an unsustainable career But to have sustainability to last in this It goes back to my emphasis on usefulness on having utility You actually have to have useful knowledge and skills And you know advice you can give people in direction You can be an entertainer like you know sort of being an online based creator Sort of like being the new version of a comedian celebrity You could do an entertainment factor, but not most not everyone's entertaining. Most people are not entertaining Yet your odds of succeeding as a micro celebrity are probably pretty low It goes back to the popularity thing like people just want to be popular I've been doing this for a while and you know why am I successful at it? It's a brutal consistency Which she feels easy for me like I'm good at writing. I like being on camera. It's enjoyable But doing that every single day You know for one year two years three years four years five years You know my rate of production also has to match by consumption Now actually it's overlooked a lot like if you want to be consistently useful to people You have to be reading a lot you have to be watching content You have to you have to actually be studying and learning and improving your own knowledge base You know to stay up to date at least certainly in my field of fitness Yeah, is someone actually willing to do that or do they just want the supposed success of look this person got a lot of likes They look cool They're presenting this image and I want to feel cool. I want people to like me too So I question my own position at times like is this going to burn out eventually not myself But like is the creator sort of market going to eventually sort of have this rise and then sort of fall into a trough Of like okay, like we've seen people do this for a number of years They can't keep it up. You know maybe 10 years from now like who's still going to be doing this It's going to be the people who have some truly something to offer You know people quit doing this all the time. I've given out this format from I've given out the formula probably a thousand times to people like you I like I want to do what you do I want to work online. I want to I think I know things. I want to You know be my own personal brand. Okay. Like just pick a platform post every day do that for three years straight Like that's it. Like if you do that, you'll probably be successful if if your stuff isn't good But most people die after 30 days, you know, it's just it's discouraging Uh, you know, don't quit your day job at the same time. It might be a year before we really make money And you know, whatever your idea is So it's fair to say Not every tweet that you sent out you're in a moment of inspiration and glory and excitement Or I can't wait to share this with the world. No, no I mean like this is this with the way we consume media now Remember 20 30 years ago like people watch too much television the boom to yeah It was yeah, I was like this there's this big movement like television's the worst thing There's even 1950s for Fahrenheit 451 the idiot box. Yeah, yeah, like this television's destroying people's minds We're watching too much TV. This is terrible humans just like to consume things. It's just in our nature Yeah, like we can only be productive so much the majority of people They're just gonna want to sit and just watch something unfold and just we we like to be fed this way You know, it's it's romantic You know the internet kind of replaced television You know the same way like youtube kind of youtube and twitter and all these things replaced, you know You could say like newspapers and magazines or So that's a new form of consumption Some people can keep it up Some can't some people get driven crazy by it. Some don't Being a creator you're in this weird simultaneous role of being an educator entertainer Business person, you know entrepreneur like you have the ability to launch a thousand ships if you want You know, so what are you really going to do with it? You know, as I say, I always try to keep it useful for people You know, I don't want to be known as someone that's a clown, you know or a jester kind of character You know other people sort of fall into that because they don't know what else to do So it'd be interesting to see where it goes a matter of five six ten years Yeah, yeah, you're a brilliant dude, man I've definitely enjoyed any of the content that I've been able to consume of yours. I've enjoyed it I've always thought it's incredibly insightful I've done appreciate that that's gratifying to hear. Yeah, for sure That's why I like doing these events when I show up because it's like, okay Let's yeah, I get positive feedback a lot obviously written word emails People send stuff, but you meet people in person. It's like you've really helped me. I'm like, okay cool I'm doing good in the world. Yeah, right on. Do you think it's important for men to attend events like these in particular 21 summit? Definitely You have to make the internet real You know like it's it's you know, this is this has changed for the better the last few years, but You know when this serve like self-improvement spear first arose or the man of spear You know even the fitness fields first arose It's very easy to consume content online. We all do it You know, but it's it's you and you're into a relationship with basically your your phone or your laptop Um, you're not connecting with people You know loneliness has become a serious issue for young people A lot of people don't actually have friends. They don't have close connections Everyone they know is just literally just digital relationships. And that's not substitute for real life relationships I've I've met a lot of guys here that have become my friends who are the craters, you know fellow guys Over the last five years. I've also met attendees that become my friends or become people that you know live relationships with And I've seen them build relationships with each other. Yeah, maybe they move in together Maybe they realize live in the same town same state whatever they plant things together And it's just a way for you to probably make you know Using the internet's filtering mechanism where these events is a filtering mechanism It's a way to meet people that you know, you're probably very aligned with value eyes You probably have Similar mindsets of you're on the same mind about many things. So you'll probably have a lot in common Absolutely, absolutely. Well, where can people find you? To the usual places so twitter Because I supposed to look the camera on this whole time. We'll look at the end Or you can you can I think it's a good time. Yeah, so twitter obviously AJA underscore Cortez website Cortez dot site and then instagram as well AJ underscore Cortez and I'd like to think i'm somewhat known for having a really good newsletter So all of my long form of content that I consider the most helpful stuff the good stuff It's all in the newsletter. So go sign up for that Fantastic for the 21 report. I'm frank peshi with ajac. Thank you. Thank you, Frank