Story Time : Your Coach in His Twenties

    The purpose of this post is to get some stuff off my chest. I would like to let people know that I am NOT special, I am simply a guy with an above average IQ that likes to lift heavy stuff. What I have accomplished is attainable for anyone and everyone. 

    In my twenties, I was (in my words) a dipshit. I have always had a substance problem and an addictive personality. Whether it was booze, nicotine, or caffeine, I wanted it in large amounts. Every week was the same pattern: Work my buns off slanging pizzas for 40 hours, collects tips, and hit the bars on the weekends to blow those tips. At this time I was a believer, but one of those "believers in name only". I was not glorifying God with my reckless behavior. I was simply looking to get messed up as quickly as possible as soon as the weekends rolled around. 

    

    My friends and I would go down to our local dive, drink way to much, sing karaoke, smoke too many cigarettes and then head home to sleep it off and do it again the next day. I broke some hearts, had my heart broken, and proceeded to ruin and waste a decade of my life. 

    When I look back on these days, I do cringe quite a bit. While I made some life-long friends during this period, most of my friends were drinking buddies. This period of my life WAS a waste of time, but it molded me into the man I am today. I can empathize with clients that I work with because I was right there with them eating junk and drinking too much in order to fill an emotional hole in my heart with physical substances. 

    In my late twenties, I somehow found the motivation to get my personal training certification. I think it was because I had recently spent a night in the "drunk tank", and this was my rock bottom, sink or swim moment. Even though I spent close to $1000 on this cert, I still waited until the last second, and I even had to request an extension due to procrastination. But I did it, it turns out if you know your stuff already, you can get certified pretty quickly. THIS is the turning point in my life. Finally getting my cert meant that I could change careers, and that is when I got hired to work at Anytime Fitness Dupont, owned by Mark Ireland. He loved my story and thought I would be good fit for the team, and thank goodness he did because I was nervous as hell. People's health and wellness were now in my hands. 

    It turns out Mark was a positive and wonderful leader that took a chance on a borderline alcoholic trying to take the next step in his life (me). It was at this same time that I discovered the difference between "training" and simply "working out". I cut carbs, I ate more steak, and lifted heavy things 4-6 days per week. I proceeded to get into the best shape of my life and put a limit on my drinking (no more than 4 drinks EVER, and only on the weekends). I found a male role model on YouTube that brought me back into the arms of Christ and I found another that taught me how to train and how to train OTHERS. I met my wife soon after, and my "built-in" son, and they proceeded to change my life even more for the better as I put away selfish things and started working for others. 

    My 30's were (and are) a series of ups and downs: fat and thin, poor and rich, smart and dumb. But they have been light years more fun than my twenties. Instead of a drunken blur, I get to wake up energized and ready to kick ass everyday. Testosterone injections helped, but it wasn't until I quit drinking altogether and cut carbohydrates completely out of my life that the "fog" left me forever. When you are living this lifestyle, life is simply better in almost all measurable ways. In levels of happiness, contentment, love, and health. 

    What I am getting at is that, once again, I am not special. But what I do have is life experience, which is called WISDOM. Through the years, I have experimented with every single diet and training method so you don't have to. I wasted my twenties building a blueprint on how to transform your life for the better, and I am willing and happy to cut through the crap and give you that blueprint, because now I live a life of PURPOSE and my purpose is to change a million lives for the better. As soon as I discovered that purpose, my life got 10 times better almost overnight. If you feel like you are stuck in a rut or that you don't have the motivation to get the ball rolling, just contact me and we will build a gameplan together.