Thoughts As I Enter My 36th Year

A few thoughts as I enter my 36th year on this floating rock.

A year ago, I crashed and burned out of Corporate America. I left my comfortable 8-5.

That was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done in my life.

But you know what was even scarier?

Being stuck. The crippling anxiety I faced every morning when I woke up. Not being valued. Not allowing myself to be happy.

Accepting that I didn’t control my own future – that my well being and success depended on someone that has never even met me and didn’t see me (or anyone) as a person with hopes, dreams, and aspirations. That was scary.

What was scary was that I was just a number on a piece of paper. Disposable in every sense. Have an opinion that goes against the grain?

Congrats, you just ensured you will never move up. Speak out against unfair treatment and unrealistic expectations? Speak out against not having work life balance?

Congrats, they are now bringing in overseas contractors that are more than happy to fall in line and be a yes man.

We promise we’ll make it right, Matt. We promise we will bring in more help. We promise we will move you onto more exciting projects and get you into a leadership role. We promise things will get better. If they don’t, you can call me an asshole and leave.

For more than a year, I waited for things to get better. I did as was asked of me. I was an obedient worker and yes man.

Here’s a tip: An employer has zero incentive to improve things for you. They aren’t here to help you. They are here to improve their bottom line.

Blah, blah, blah. I left. Broken promises. At every opportunity. Oh, we’ll get you help? Things will improve? Here’s more work. Be grateful you have a job when so many others are losing theirs.

If I had listened to, well, pretty much ANYONE – I would have stayed in that 9-5 (more like 24/7 since we were always on call and performing the job of multiple people).

What about your family, Matt? What about insurance? You’ll never make enough money to support yourself. What about job security? How can you make money with personal training?

Fuck. That. None of those things are worth your mental wellbeing.

So, I quit my 9-5 to work 24/7 and build something that I’m proud of. I risked it all. Nice salary, benefits, PTO.

And it was the best decision I could have made.

I have learned a tremendous number of lessons in this past year.

I always knew I was destined to be a leader of some sort. I am learning more about leadership daily and I welcome the challenge. I’m a firm believer in leading by example. Far too often we see “leaders” preach one thing and do another. Hypocrites. All of ‘em.

I made a promise to myself to always put people first. I will never put money before people. That certainly leads to some stressful times worry about financials. It would be so easy to say screw morals and ethics.

In the past year, I have grown my business to a team of 6. I have helped hundreds of thousands of people improve their health. I have live streamed nutrition classes to 38,000 people at once. I have grown a podcast to be a consistent performer. I have helped thousands of clients improve their mental and physical health.

I have improved my mental health. I have improved my physical health. I have nurtured friendships ( I still struggle with this but I am working on it). I have mentored dozens of coaches and aspiring coaches.

It isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. I’m a firm believer in transparency.

I have had months where I didn’t pay myself so that the business wouldn’t have to dip into reserves. I have had lots of bad mental health days when being attacked on social media. I have far too much anxiety about succeeding with my business.

Being a small business owner is fucking tough. Most small businesses fail within the first few years. I’ve been running this business officially for more than 3 years now. I would like to say I’m out of the clear, but I know I’m not. Anything can happen.

I know one thing for sure. I won’t let that happen. Failure is not an option. Even in failure, we can learn something. And I know that by putting people FIRST – I will always be successful.

I am happy. I am growing. I am thriving. I have freedom. Because of that, I will always be successful. Failure is not possible when you have those things. And guess what? No one can take that away from you.

It’s time to do things for you. You can do hard, scary things. Maybe no one else believes in you – but I do. More importantly, if you believe in yourself, you can do anything you want in life.

Go chase that shit down. Be true to yourself. The rest will fall in place.

No one is going to save you. No one is going to solve your problems. You have to do it yourself. No one is more important than you. Your livelihood, your kids, everything – it all comes down to you.

Be the change you want to see in the world. It’s your life. You only get one of them. Make the most of it.