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Polymath Story: Corey Lawson of Claw Athletics

Corey has been a long-time Polymath, since starting with the Polymath Planner he has scaled his business to replace his full-time job, created a thriving community of health and fitness-minded athletes, and still finds time to show up for the people he cares about. Check him out on InstagramTwitter, or visit his Website!

Describe the moment you realized what your calling was? How did you come to this realization?

Corey Lawson: 

Fitness was neversupposedto be my calling. By 2019, fitness coaching had moved from hobby to source of side income. But it was supposed tostop there. Because in those days, I was passionately climbing the Corporate ladder. That was the goal! Until it wasn’t. And I experienced that epiphany around 6am, on a rainy morning in 2020.

That’s right, 6am. Back when I was an entrepreneur at 6am, then a Corporate manager at 9am, then an entrepreneur again at 6pm. 

But a funny thing happened that morning. 

I checked the clock. 8:30am. Time for (corporate) work. 

And I felt… deflated.

The drive. The office. The small talk. The calls. The projects. I wanted no part of it. 

But at that moment, I knew… if needed, I could’ve worked on fitness programs for another 12 hours. Easily. 

And that sparked a scary thought.MaybeI’d spent 5 years lying to myself about my dreams & passions.MaybeI’d attended business school for the wrong reasons.Maybeit was time to bet on myself. 

That’s when I knew. My life’s mission would be to buildClaw Athletics & change lives. I quit Corporate America less than a year later, and never looked back. 

How have you designed your life to have it play to your strengths?

Corey Lawson:

Great teams have one thing in common - everyone knows their role, and that role is suited totheirunique strengths. As I built theClaw Athletics team, I wanted to mirror that philosophy. 

claw athletics bootcamp polymath interview

 

Which sounds easy… until you have to ask yourself a series of brutal questions, “What do I suck at? What will I never be thebestat? Where do I perpetually procrastinate?” 

But I’m an optimist. So I asked the opposite questions first. 

And I found two primary strengths:

1). An obsessive, ongoing mastery of the human body.

2). My ability to connect with and/or coach other people.

Ever since then, my goal has been simple - how do I spend more time inthoseareas!? 

That’s why I hiredAmanda Ortiz (Admin & Marketing Director).

That’s why I hiredZach Bosier (Bootcamp Head Coach). 

Because they broughtdifferentskills to the table. 

Amanda is brilliant in all-things-creativity. 

Zach is a vocal commander of groups.

And havingbothskills covered has allowed me to play tomystrengths on a daily basis. 

But it started with a series of brutal questions. 

So maybe that’s the key. Letting go. Because the best entrepreneurs accept a simple truth - the founder can’t be the best ateverythingwithin their business.

How has the planner enabled you to create more and consume less? How has the planner enabled you to create more and consume less? 

Corey Lawson:

As a workaholic & Polymath subscriber since 2019, the Polymath forces me to slow down & be strategic. 

How could last week have been better? 

What are my priorities this week? 

When does my energy peak? 

What am I grateful for?

What brings me joy? 

Because busyness does not equal productivity. 

And left to my own devices… I’d fill my day with 12 different tasks, none of which being absolute priorities. That’s where the Polymath comes into play. It helps me identify the greatest ROI’s - which business tasks bring the revenue? Which people bring me joy? Which topics make me come alive? 

In a crazy world, Polymath gives me control overmylife.

So yeah. I’m sure the Polymath inspires others to take action. 

But for me, it’s more about slowing down, creating awareness, and attacking lifestrategically.

What is your favorite quote? Explain it and why it has an effect on you.

Corey Lawson:

“I’d rather die enormous than live dormant, that’s how we’re on it.” - Sean “JayZ” Carter 

My Father died in 2001. He was 36 years old. 

But amidst the mourning & sorrow, I learned something about Calvin Lawson.His36 years were greater than most people’s 70 years. Because I remember his funeral.

Irememberthe faces. 

Irememberthe stories. 

Irememberthe impact. 

And at the ripe age of 7, I knew… I wanted a life like THAT. 

Not the boring, forgettable, unfulfilled life which spreads across 70 years. 

NO.

Let my impact beenormous. Then let me die.

Teach us something about your craft.

Corey Lawson:

In fitness, people often view Aesthetics & Functionality as polar opposite goals. The (false) belief is you can train for functionality or you can train for looks, but you can’t train for both. 

But here’s the good news - functionality actuallyhelpsyou achieve your aesthetic goals. Let’s take your Glutes for example. 

We know the Gluteus Maximus has a primaryfunctionof hip extension. 

claw athletics movement polymath interview

 

What does this mean? It means your glutes will benefit from… you guessed it - hip extension.

Which sounds great… unless your hip is displayingdysfunctionand can’t achieve full hip extension. An example of this would be Anterior Pelvic Tilt: 

claw athletics good posture polymath interview

In this example, the person with APT can do a million squats, but they’ll never maximize their Glute development until they fix their hip functionality. 

 

And while we discussed Glutes today… the truth is, this logic applies to every muscle group.

1). Pick the muscle you care about. 

2). Identify its primary function(s). 

3). Improve functionality in the surrounding joints, therebyallowingthat muscle to fully perform its function. 


Q.E.D.

 

Why fitness? What drives you to learn more?

Corey Lawson:

I could state the obvious… That health equals wealth. That fitness begets confidence & longevity. But you already know this. Boring. 

Instead, let’s go deeper. 

Because the truth is, Fitness saved my life. 

corey lawson claw athletics polymath interview polymath planner

In 2001, I was a confused little boy who’d just seen his Father in a casket. From that day onward, my life could’ve… You know what? Let’s just examine thefacts

  • Fatherless kids are more likely to go to prison 
  • Fatherless kids are 4x more likely to live in poverty  
  • Fatherless kids are 7x more likely to become pregnancy as a teenager 
  • Fatherless kids are more likely to abuse drugs & alcohol

So yeah. My life could’ve gone a million different ways. But it didn’t. 

YesI was angry at the world, but football gave me a place to unleash. 

YesI was lacking male role models, but sports gave me coaches. 

YesI was emotionally broken, but every game was a 2-hour escape.

Sportssavedme. 

And while I no longer play sports, I’ve simply replaced that savior with fitness. 

Because no matter what happens, no matter how difficult life gets… I can always turn to exercise, and escape life for a bit. 

SoThatis why I love fitness.Thatis why I’m hungry to learn more. 
Because if health changedmylife, then it is my duty to change the lives of others.

What is one aspect of Claw that you want us to know?

 

Corey Lawson:

Everybody thinks we’re (just) a workout group. They see the slamballs, the speed ladders, the sprints, and they think. “Workout group”. 

What theydon’tsee is the social bonds. 

They don’t see the “team” dinners.

They don’t see the friendships that extend beyond the fields. 

They don’t see it. 

And if this sounds familiar, well, it should. 

Because we wanted Claw Athletics to harken back to your childhood.

Whether you played sports, or marched in the band, or simply had a close-knit family… you had atribe. 

But then you grow up.

You graduate college, you enter your mid-20’s, and you realize your tribe is gone.

You have no team. Your parents live in a different city. And let’s be honest, you don’tloveandtrustyour coworkers. 

We wanted to change that. 

So if there’s one aspect to know about Claw Athletics... Know that we’re a tribe. 

Our veterans all know each other. We socialize outside of the workouts. 

We are atribe.And if you’re missing that feeling... Then come on home. 

We’ll welcome you with open arms.

 

What is your greatest weakness? How have you overcome it?

Corey Lawson:

If taken to an extreme, every strength becomes a weakness.

For me, I’ve always had a hyperfocus on thenextgoal, thenextevent, thenextopportunity. And truthfully, I owe a LOT of my success to that mindset. It prevents complacency, and allows for continued success. 

But I’m also an extremist. And that “win the next one” attitude comes with its downsides. 

It comes with crippling nostalgia.. Over a past that you never stopped to enjoy. 

It comes with painful losses but emotionless victories. 

It comes with a lot of bullshit.

But it also comes with winning. Soyesit’s something to work on, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. 

And that’s why I’ve adopted the 12-hour rule. 

After any victory, I give myself the next 12 hours tofullyrelax & enjoy it. 

After that, it’s back to work. There’s a new day to win. 

Because in the end, you are what you are.

What is something that really interests you outside of fitness and entrepreneurship?

Corey Lawson:

My biggest “side” interest is sports, but not in the traditional sense. 

I don’t have a favorite team. 

I don’t have a favorite athlete. 

I don’t really care who wins or loses. 

What Icareabout… is the coaches. 

Once I find a successful coach, I will study that person relentlessly. Every book they’ve written, every public speech they’ve delivered, every documentary they’ve conducted. I want to knoweverything

How did he become a legend? 

What was her leadership style? 

What were their organizational principles? 

Because in the end, I want to use their principles to improve my own life. 

For example, my favorite coach is Nick Saban. His Alabama program popularized the Process Mindset, where he tells players to “ignore the scoreboard, and play thenextplay like it has a life & history of its own.” 

Over the years, I’ve carried the sameProcess Mindset into entrepreneurship. It doesn’tmatterthat we closed a deal last week. We’re entering anewweek, and if we don’t prepare well, then we’re going to lose. Period. Every week has a life & history of its own. That’s the Process Mindset, and I wouldn’t have adopted that mindset if I hadn’t studied Nick Saban. 

He’s one of many coaches that I’ve studied. I want to know how the Greats became great. Because success leaves clues.

Who is your favorite Polymath? How has their example challenged you?

Corey Lawson:

A Polymath leads a passionate, creative pursuit of knowledge & experience across multiple dimensions. 

Nobody embodies that more than Donald Glover. 

Many know him as Childish Gambino, the rapper sent from 3005. 

But did you know that he’s an actor? Did you know that he writes screenplays? Did you know that he’s a director? Did you know that he’s a singer? 

We’re often told to specialize, to focus on one specific talent. 

But what if we haven’t discovered our favorite talent yet? 

What if we have multiple passions? 

What if our passions & talents work as a collective, not independent of each other? 

What if we don’t want to be boxed in? 

His journey forces me to ask these questions, and when you dig deeper, you realize that our careers aren’tthatdifferent.  

His overarching passion (i.e. Creativity) can be broken into various subcategories (i.e. music, acting, writing). 

My overarching passion (i.e. Human Body) canalsobe broken into various subcategories (i.e. strength, mobility, aesthetics). 

But in both cases… Pursuing collective subcategories is agoodthing. 

His experience in writing will make him a better actor. 

My experience in strength coaching will make me a better aesthetics coach.

And that’s the point. Besides, at such young ages (both under 40), why put ourselves into a box before we have to? 

“I don’t consider myself a rapper; I don’t think I’m a rapper. I can rap, but I want to do a bunch of (other) stuff.” -Donald Glover

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