Greg: What is going on, everyone? It is Matt and Greg here from Project Unbroken.
So today we’re going to be talking about what is our hope for Project Unbroken. You know, some people have asked, you know, what’s your whole goal with this? What’s your hopes for this project? And what’s your hope for, Matt?
Matt: You know, I think, even when we started talking about this whole thing, there’s never been a set plan in place or a finish line for it. I think that at the very base of it, both of our idea or our hope for Project Unbroken is that, you know, maybe a frank conversation about our experiences, what Greg and I went through at being addicted to heroin, just substance abuse in general, our ups and downs, things that worked for us, things that didn’t work for us. Having a conversation about that kind of stuff that maybe people who are, you know, struggling with these issues now, or family members of people who are struggling with these issues. Hopefully, it’s a resource they can turn to and just say, “What did these people experience? What am I experiencing?” Or, again, for a family member or a loved one, somebody whose struggling with this, just a little bit of insight as to, like, “What are they thinking?” ‘Cause I know, talking to some of the people in my support system, they can’t comprehend the way I was acting. They still don’t get it. I still remember saying, like, “Why you would this or why you would do that?”
So, hopefully, you know, Project Unbroken can be a source for people to kind of turn to if they have any questions or they’re curious about something. Hopefully we can kind of talk about the subject a little bit, shine a little light on it, and not have there be such a negative stigma to something that a lot of people are struggling with.
Greg: Yeah, and you know, we started talking about our recovery together, I guess, about four and a half years ago, you know, where you said before, like we would say, “Hey, like I did this. That worked for me.
Matt: Yeah.
Greg: I did these types of things. That really set me back.” And we’d have these conversations throughout. I think it was about a year ago, we were like, “Man, like a lot of people ask us about this. Maybe we should do something with it.” And, literally, I mean, it’s been over a year now that we’ve planning out and kind of just seeing what people can get out of our experiences through addiction and where we are now, which is, you know, successful in business and health, and family and all that. So I think my hope for it is just kind of sharing my own experience. You know, there was plenty of people that, I think, come in, ask me and you like, you know, “When you were addicted, like, did you do this?” Or, you know, like, “Well, I think my child’s having problems. What did you do now?” Yeah, “This situation, how’d you approach this?
Even like with health, like a lot of people ask you, “You know, I’m kind of tired throughout the day and you give them great options, and I see you change a lot of people’s life through that.”
Matt: Yeah. Yeah.
Greg: So I think my hope is just kind of sharing our experience all the way from being, you know, how we got into addiction, what we were doing when we were addicted, how we got out of the addiction, and how we kind of continued through our recovery.
Matt: Yeah, there’s so many, and a lot of people do … I mean, Greg and I are both really open about what we’ve been through. I’m not ashamed of it. We got to talk before. I think there’s a lot of things that I … a lot of positive traits that I … gains or found out about myself through addiction, and I’ve been very open about that. So it’s been nice for people to be able to come to me and say, like, “Hey, I think my son’s going something.” Or, “My daughter is dealing with this or that.” And I think, you know, I don’t claim to have the answers to anything but, you know, I’m confident about telling people what my experiences were.
And one thing I tell everybody, it’s just there’s so many little components involved. I think people try to make it like a black or white issue, and it’s usually, that’s not the case. Everybody’s experience with addiction, it’s completely different. The way they got into it, the way they deal with it, the way they try to get out of it. Everybody’s going to have a different path, and it’s just, you have to look at the smaller components of what’s going on, I think.
And a lot of that is, that I found out later, you know, just what you’re doing, all these little decisions. You know, a lot of times, people pick up or, you know, catch a substance abuse problem because they don’t feel good because they’re not think … their brain’s not kind of working the way it’s supposed to be working. I don’t know if it’s, you know, not eating the stuff they should be eating or if they’re having problems sleeping, or whatever. Hormonal imbalance is very popular and nobody wants to feel like shit all day. You’re going to do what you can do to feel better and just, again, as humans, that’s how we’re going to operate.
So there’s a lot of little components that I think, you know, Greg and I have found out on our own that can really help, if not hopefully avoid the substance abuse problem right off the start. And if that’s not the case, we can hopefully help somebody find some ways to get out of it.
Greg: Yeah, like you said, you know, we don’t have all the answers. We know that, right? No one has all the answers. One thing I learned through business coaching is, you know, I’ve helped a lot of people start online businesses, or improve online businesses. I know you’ve helped a lot of people improve their health, and what I found through that is I learned a ton helping other people. Like, I learned a lot.
So that’s something I also hope to do is learn a lot. You know, learn more about how to improve myself and, you know, just kind of all around. So that’s another hope for me is that I can improve and which can help me help other people. So-
Matt: That’s the big picture, I think. You know, Greg and I have both been lucky enough to help people in different areas of their life. Like Greg, again, as you mentioned, has done a lot of business coaching and this mentorship kind of things, and I’ve kind of taken the route of being more of a health coach and help people with their diet and exercise programming.
Greg: It all comes together.
Matt: That’s … Yeah. It all comes together and I think that you start to see, ever you find a level of happiness or success or whatever you want to call it, that kind of plateaus, ’cause selfishly you’re like, “Let me make myself better or my life better,” which is awesome, and I think that’s very important ’cause … You know, I talk a lot about you can’t pour from an empty cup. You got to get yourself right. But then when you do, you see how beneficial it can be to continuing your growth as a person by helping other people.
Greg: Yeah, it’s like a lot of like parents to understand like, you know, maybe their child’s an addict, and they’re totally unhealthy because of that. But if they kind of make themself healthy, they can make better decisions on, you know, not enabling and stuff like that. But I mean, that’s a deeper path or just stuff like that is really important to understand, I think, as well.
Matt: Yeah. Well like, I mean, I guess that’s my basic hope for Project Unbroken is that our experience can help somebody else out there. Hopefully, you know, create a stronger community, maybe take away from kind of the stigma that is out there about addiction, and people can realize it’s not something to be ashamed of. It can happen to anybody. It’s, you know, it’s something easy to fall into, but there’s … you can get out of it. There is light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully we can shine a light on some of those things.
Greg: Yeah. So that’s our hopes. You know, we kind of had that questioning, a good bit where people were like, you know, “What’s your hope for this whole project? Where do you see it going?” It’s just, “We’ll share our experiences and then it’s kind of see where it goes.”
Matt: Yeah. Well, thanks for watching, guys. If you have any questions or topics that you’re curious about, especially dealing with addiction or substance abuse, or just struggling with anything really, leave us a comment. Hit us up on our contact section at www.projectunbroken.com
We’d love to go back and forth with you guys and, again, make this an interactive thing.
So thanks for watching, and we look forward to talking to you soon.
Greg: Have a good one.
