Jas Mathur Of Limitless X: Getting An Upgrade; How Anyone Can Build Habits For Optimal Wellness, Performance, & Focus
Don’t let people steal your energy. Identify those who either purposely or subconsciously are drawing you away from your goals.
As a part of our series about “How Anyone Can Build Habits For Optimal Wellness, Performance, & Focus”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jas Mathur.
Jas Mathur is an entrepreneur and investor who has developed several multi-million-dollar brands in the marketing, health and wellness spaces. The digital marketing and branding firm he founded, Limitless X, has launched numerous fast-growing products in the Dietary Supplements, Beauty, Skincare and CBD spaces. He is a trendsetter, with more than 7.1 million Instagram followers and frequently collaborates with leaders in the sports and entertainment industries.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
As a young kid, like a lot of other kids in the late 90s, I was really into computers and wrestling. Probably unlike a lot of other kids, however I found a way to combine those two passions by developing websites based around the professional wrestling industry. It was cutting-edge stuff for the time, so I was able to first sell advertising on those pages, and then ultimately sold the whole thing off to a major media company, which really kickstarted my entire career. From there everything snowballed and now I use the web to launch and sell brands in the wellness space. It is amazing to look back on how I used the web then and compare it to now to see how much has changed, but also how several of the fundamentals about branding and communications really have remained the same.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
What inspired my desire to move into the health and wellness space was the fact that as I started to achieve professional success building websites, I let my weight get completely away from me. I ballooned up to 450 pounds, all because I thought I needed to put aside my personal concerns to chase my professional ones. It was then I realized that it’s not a matter of choosing between one or the other. In fact, you must take care of both if you want to succeed long term.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?
My father of course was a huge supporter of me as a young man, but I also owe a lot to my friend’s father as well who showed me from a young age that I could commodify my skill in website design. He was big into hobby tech like ham radios, so he had me do a lot of graphic and webpage design for him so that he could have forums and other places to discuss the projects he was interested in with people around the world. Again, this was at a time when these types of online destinations weren’t as easily accessible as they are now. From there it grew to working on other projects for him and it was a crucial foundation point for my career.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
I always found myself in a rush trying to satisfy others and making quick decisions along the way just for the sake of making quick decisions. This type of mentality fosters a number of bad habits, especially if you are trying to launch your own business. I’ve always found that rushing leads to two things — loss of time and loss of money.
The road to success is hard and requires tremendous dedication. This question is obviously a big one, but what advice would you give to a young person who aspires to follow in your footsteps and emulate your success?
It’s important to understand upfront that there are no shortcuts or secrets or hacks out there. You can get lucky, sure, but really you need to sit down and map out both long- and short-term plans that point to your goals. You can’t forget about your own personal wellness along the way. You can’t succeed professionally if you aren’t on top of your game personally.
Also, it is really important to note that you can’t just emulate someone’s success. You have to emulate the habits they used to get there in the first place!
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
I don’t really read books for professional development purposes. I prefer to talk to people one-on-one so that I can interact with their point of view in real-time.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?
It’s less of a quote and more of a mantra, but for me, it is the phrase “Live to Inspire.” For someone who works in the health and wellness industry, you really must be passionate about helping people help themselves. It isn’t about selling some magic pill and walking away. It’s about giving them the tools and inspiration to take ALL the steps necessary to start a personal wellness journey.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
We are working hard on expanding and enhancing our overall brand messaging in a way that doesn’t just convert a sale but inspires people to live a better life. A lot of work goes into finding that next level of messaging, but the reward is so great because you are helping people take that next step.
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. This will be intuitive to you but it will be helpful to spell this out directly. Can you help explain a few reasons why it is so important to create good habits? Can you share a story or give some examples?
If I didn’t have good habits, there is no way I would have been successful for very long in my life. Sometimes people, and this has happened to me, achieve some level of success quickly and think that it can be endlessly replicated. But without good habits, you don’t develop good business and personal fundamentals and without that solid base, you are always just one mistake away from total collapse. Because I didn’t have good health habits, I gained a tremendous amount of weight. Even though I was professionally successful at the time, I was one major health event away from being put completely out of commission and losing it all.
How have habits played a role in your success? Can you share some success habits that have helped you in your journey?
They help in both big and small ways. For example, because I have a steady workout routine, I’m typically up early in the morning, which also means I’m also more available to get work done or deal with any crisis that pops up. Because I take care of my body, I have more energy, my mind is sharper and I’m more aware of what is going on around me. Because I don’t rush into decisions, I have cultivated a more steady and thoughtful work environment that spreads throughout my entire team.
Speaking in general, what is the best way to develop good habits? Conversely, how can one stop bad habits?
A habit is something you do somewhat subconsciously, but the only way to get there is going through a really extended period of conscious decisions. Whether it is starting a good habit, or eliminating a bad one, the person has to actually want to do it. We aren’t therapists, we aren’t doctors, we can’t change the chemical makeup of your brain. There has to be a lot of days of making clear conscious decisions before you can turn a “choice” into a “habit.”
Let’s talk about creating good habits in three areas, Wellness, Performance, and Focus. Can you share three good habits that can lead to optimum wellness. Please share a story or example for each.
For wellness, it starts with waking up early. I’m up early every day and it means by the time others are just waking up, my mind and body already has a full head of steam behind it. By waking up early and getting your body right, whether it’s a full workout or just a morning walk, you are preparing yourself to be ready for the most important part of the day if you are a CEO or business leader. Our teams look to us first thing in the morning to set the tone for what is getting done that day.
Next is controlling what goes in your body. People who mindlessly eat or who mindlessly neglect to get the right nutrition are missing out on a ton of energy your body could be providing you.
Finally, you must balance your time between work and pleasure. Part of being in tune with your personal self is knowing when your brain needs a break and when your mind needs to recharge by being around people you like or doing things that are enriching.
Can you help explain some practices that can be used to develop those habits?
Keep a journal about not just what you are supposed to be doing each day but track how it makes you feel. That way you can see if some habits are truly helping or not.
Can you share three good habits that can lead to optimal performance at work or sport? Please share a story or example for each.
Exercise every morning. Whether it’s a big workout or just something short and sweet, it sets a tone. You know that no matter what happens, the first thing you did that day was to better yourself and you are going to do it again tomorrow.
Drink a lot of water. It is something everyone recommends but is so easily forgotten. It’s amazing to think about how many minor ailments like headaches and cramping can be alleviated by being well hydrated. It also sets you up to be more resilient if you get sick.
Engage with inspiring people. We talked before about emulating the habits and traits of successful people and this falls into that category. Seek out those that have hit the milestones you want to hit and chat them up. They don’t have to be Olympic champions or Fortune 500 CEOs. They can just be someone who is maybe a year or two ahead of you on a similar journey.
Can you help explain some practices that can be used to develop those habits?
Repetition is key. You have to be willing to make the commitment to doing these types of things over and over again until it just becomes second nature. You also have to be willing to understand that this process could take months or years. There are no shortcuts.
Can you share three good habits that can lead to optimal focus? Please share a story or example for each.
Surround yourself with people who have the same goals as you do. It’s hard to focus on one thing when your team is pointing their efforts in different directions.
Don’t let people steal your energy. Identify those who either purposely or subconsciously are drawing you away from your goals.
Be your biggest fan. Understand that with every decision you make you are essentially gambling on yourself. It’s hard to be confident in making decisions if you feel like you are a bad bet.
Can you help explain some practices that can be used to develop those habits?
Be thoughtful and methodical when making decisions. Sit down and write out the chain of impacts if you need to visualize how a decision can have long-lasting ramifications.
As a leader, you likely experience times when you are in a state of Flow. Flow has been described as a pleasurable mental state that occurs when you do something that you are skilled at, that is challenging, and that is meaningful. Can you share some ideas from your experience about how we can achieve a state of Flow more often in our lives?
The most important thing to do is to eliminate distractions so that you can really begin to focus. So much of what we have talked about here is pulling distractions out of your field of view. Another great thing about waking up early every day is it allows you to tackle some of those nagging distractions that would otherwise be buzzing in your ear all day. Paying bills, making reservations etc.… It’s also important to recognize when you are in a state of flow so that you can share it with your team. Your team follows your cues every day. If they see you are locked in and making moves, they’ll want to follow. If you are distracted, then it tells them it’s ok for them to be distracted as well.
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I want people to realize it is healthy and productive to take time to live in the moment and focus on themselves. We’ve allowed social media to pull us out of our own point of view and reward following others, which in turn leads us to worrying about others more than ourselves. We should be using social media and similar tools to facilitate communication with the understanding that this is meant to be a light touch world that in no way can replace crucial real-life encounters. Instead people are getting so lost in the sauce of social media that they are missing out on so much personal and professional development opportunities.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)
I know it sounds strange, but I am not comfortable disclosing my real answer and I would hate to lie to you.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
My instagram account is the best place to see everything I am doing all in one spot — https://www.instagram.com/limitless/
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.
