Professional Development Ideas from My Fitness Journey

A Business Lesson I Learned from Getting Into the Best Shape of My Life

There I was, 6 months into a crazy intense workout regimen, feeling exhausted, beat, and on the verge of giving up.

I found myself asking questions like “why am I even doing this?”, “is this even worth it?”, “am I even seeing results?” 

We’ve all reached this point, not just in fitness, but in professional development, personal growth, relationships, friendships, and every other aspect of our lives.

Even if you aren’t a fitness fanatic (I sure am not), this will resonate with you. Why? Because it’s what we learn from the lesson that matters, not the lesson itself. Stick around and hear me out, because by the end of this you will get your answer to “why am I even doing this [reading this freakin’ blog post]”!

Professional Development Ideas #1: Your Biggest Opponent 

Up until that point, I had already been lightly training for 2 years. In the beginning, my goal was more oriented toward building endurance rather than going ‘all out’. Then I caught the ‘fitness bug’ and became determined to get into the best shape of my life… and I succeeded!

What that low point showed me was that I was only halfway through an epic battle within. The greatest fights you’ll ever fight aren’t with anyone or anything except yourself.

Isn’t it funny how hard it is to give up on something external, but man – the moment the thing you’re giving up on is for YOU, It’s so easy to give up! Why the hell is that? 

There’s something seriously backward about this concept. 

I had already succeeded at implementing my insane and extreme diet, where I cut down to 1200 calories a day eating only 3 “ingredients” for 3 months straight. It was nuts. I went from 210 to 170 in 3 months.

I had hit all my initial goals but was hungry for more (I love how that works). So I kept going, and set my goal even higher. “I want to hit 10% body fat” (I was at 13%). It seemed so easy, “I already did the hardest thing of all the last 3 months – I can do anything for 3 more months!” I told myself.

That day in my home gym I had a realization – 

“It never gets easier, just heavier.”

This isn’t meant to be a downer, it’s meant to be reality. Here’s the thing – that’s how life should be! This is why so many people give up early on, they think that the harder they work the easier everything will get.

You know you’ve been there in your younger years thinking things like “when I just hit 6 figures, oh man – everything will be perfect!!” Then you hit 6 figures and realize that it’s not enough. So you shoot for $250k, finally hit it, and still the process of getting there doesn’t get easier. In fact, it gets harder!

But here’s what you need to realize about things getting harder – it’s a blessing in disguise.

Here’s why:

• When things get harder, the herd thins out, leaving more room for you to swing your arms in joy as you sprint on by
• Challenges push the weak to give up and move aside because it didn’t get easier
• New problems are godsends.

Professional Development Ideas #2: Love New Problems

Take 2 scenarios from my story (I asked myself this nonstop):

• I could be overweight, not be able to keep up with my (at the time) newborn, and get tired running up the stairs

OR

• I could work my ass off in the gym, eat an insane diet for a few months, get into the best shape of my life, be strong AF, lift heavy things and feel GREAT about myself

It’s about choosing your hard.

I’ll take #2 all day long. Pushing myself introduces new problems for me. Instead of wondering how I fix feeling so tired as I run upstairs, I need to figure out how to fit a great workout into a crazy workday (hint: wake up at 5am and make it happen). 

You need to apply this same mentality to your business, personal life, and professional life… ASAP. Create new problems for yourself.

My example from a year and a half ago: “I can’t hire employees, they’ll cost me too much money and I can’t afford that right now”. Big ass problem.

Better way to look at it: “I need to hire employees so I can grow my business so I can demand more revenue by closing more sales to pay the employees I just hired!”

Also, indirect realization: Employees MAKE you money. If they COST you money, you hired the wrong employees.

Now we have the problem of: “We have so much freakin’ work, I NEED to find more employees to hire, but my standards are so high that it takes me a lot more time and effort to find the perfect ones”.

Hell yea! That’s an AWESOME problem to have!!

Line ‘em up and I’ll knock ‘em out of the park. 

Because guess what – the moment you climb that big ass mountain you’ve been climbing the past few months, get to the top and then battle your own version of a boss battle, you’ll celebrate – as you should. Then when the confetti settles, you’ll open your eyes and see the next peak a few miles out – it’s taller, more challenging, exciting. 

I HAVE TO CLIMB THAT you say to yourself.

And you will. With a gusto!

Because for people like us – enough is never enough. The top of that peak is not the end of your game. 

Professional Development Ideas #3: The More You do, the More you Realize you Can Do

Go ahead, prove me wrong.

Because guess what? I hit 10% body fat. Hell yeah. It was hard, but all the greatest accomplishments I’ve ever had and you’ve ever had were freakin’ hard AF. You know they were!! 

If it wasn’t hard, you weren’t pushing yourself to your limits. True insane success happens in the HARD. 

Your personal health and fitness is one of the best metaphors I’ve experienced when it comes to personal and professional growth and scaling your business to new heights. Where will you go? How hard are you willing to fight to get there?

Ditch the gurus that say it’s easy because it’s not and never will be. You’re going to be exhausted – probably nonstop. You’re going to question everything at least once a day. You will find yourself asking those same questions, “why am I even doing this?”, “is this even worth it?”, “am I even seeing results?”

It never gets easier, just heavier.

But hey, this is the life we signed up for. Would you give up on what you want just to make life easier? Or are you all in on reaching your true potential?

I know my answer. I’ll be sure to give you a high five while we pass each other on our 14-hour work days.

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