I love my journey.
The other night I saw back-to-back commercials for travel companies (1). In the first commercial, there was a teacher in a classroom looking run down and miserable… basically hating life. The children in the classroom were running around, making a mess, and throwing things across the room. The point of the commercial was that she wanted to get away…she had to get away.
The next commercial showed a young family of four with two young children. On what seemed to be a normal weekday morning, they were preparing breakfast and getting ready for the day, looking run down, bored, and unhappy. The message? They need to get away. The mother gave a sly smile and before you could say, “instant gratification and dopamine satisfying distractions,” they were at a beautiful resort! They were having a great time, laughing and loving being together. Images of water slides, gourmet restaurants, lounge chairs by the pool, fireworks, and an EDM rave (not really) crossed the screen. You name it, they were doing it.
Instead of making me feel happy and warm inside (or envious or jealous), it made me upset. Is it wrong for a family to go on vacation and enjoy each other? Of course not. The problem arises when it becomes a necessary get away to escape life. It made me realize that it’s all too common for people to dislike their day-to-days. I think that’s why there are so many distractions and escapes from the present moment, like reality TV, social media, extravagant vacations, and trying to read a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence (2).
When talking about bodybuilding, people ask me all the time, “Don’t you ever have a cheat day on your diet? Don’t you ever just not feel like going to the gym? Wow! You have such willpower to be that dedicated and consistent.” NO! (3) It would take willpower to keep me away from those things. Having a cheat day or not training would take willpower because I love the food that I eat and I love training. Why would I want to take a break or find an escape from what I love? Part of that comes from making a program that is sustainable, which includes rest days, proper recovery, and de-loads. Avoid crazy unsustainable training or crash diets. It becomes a lifestyle. If you create a training and nutrition program that you love and can stick to for the rest of your life, there’s no need for a break. If it can’t be sustained for life, what is the purpose of sustaining it for a few weeks?
This is similar to how I view my profession as a physical therapist. I don’t like taking vacation days. I work with the greatest people and help people get better every day. I love going to work. Why would I want to stop that? Why would I want to take a break from being around great people and helping improve the lives of my patients?
Think of it like a marriage. I’ve been married for less than 10 months at the time of this writing, so my infinite wisdom on marriage should be taken with a grain of salt. When you choose a spouse or significant other, you choose someone that you’re passionate about and is “sustainable” for life. Would you ever want to take a break or vacation or escape from your spouse or significant other? Of course not! I don’t want to “get away” from my wife because I’m passionate about our relationship and am consumed by her. I love her. Do I have envious willpower because I don’t feel the need to have a cheat day on my wife? NO! It’s effortless to stay consistent in my marriage, just like it’s effortless to stay consistent in my training, nutrition, and profession. If we don’t feel the need to have cheat days or take vacations from our spouses, why do we feel the need to have cheat days and take breaks from our training, nutrition, and professions? If we put so much time, effort, and heart into finding a spouse or significant other that we’re going to love unconditionally for the rest of our lives, why don’t we do the same in all aspects of our lives?
We don’t rush and marry the first opportunity that crosses our path when we graduate college, so why do we jump at the first job opportunity that comes our way? Yea, yea. Loans, bills, etc. We take that first or second job opportunity and say, “Well, it’s not ideal, but at least it’s work.” Or, “Well it’s not in a field that I’m interested in, but it’s money.” Or, “I don’t see myself doing this kind of work forever, but it’s good for now.” We wouldn’t say, “Well, she’s not too great of a person, but hey, she’s a wife.” Or, “I don’t see myself married to her forever, but it’s a good move for now.”
Find your passion, pursue it, and make it your life. Love your journey. If you like catching butterflies or collecting rocks, gather great people, lead them, help others, and make it into something great. Do something that effortlessly makes you happy, every day.
I don’t have much experience in this whole life thing. I’m 27 years old and, as mentioned above, have been married for less than 10 months. That being said, I do know this. I love my day-to-day. I love my training. I love my nutrition. I love my job. I love the people around me. I love my family and I love my wife and I definitely don’t want to take a break, vacation, or escape from any of those things anytime soon. My life goal is to help everyone find that feeling.