Chances are, you’re going through some shit. Aren’t we all?

Let’s fix that through some gym-rat heuristic reasoning - buckle the fuck up.

The good 'ole gym; one of my favorite topics. If you’ve ever been around me (or follow me), you know this already.

But, today I want to talk about how not using the gym as a tool to grow yourself professionally is keeping you on a hamster wheel of depression and non-achievement.

P.S. When I say “grow yourself professionally”, I don’t just mean in business / career. I mean “professionally” in the sense that you should be a professional in the art of personal development and growth.

You should be a professional in being the best human you can be, whatever that means to you. Ok, let’s get into it.

I’ve always been a regular gym-goer since middle

school.

Initially it was for athletics, but it has since transcended to something much bigger than that. It has slowly but surely become a part of my life that I cannot live without.

Not just for the physical benefits, but primarily for the mental. Looking back on times in my life where I wasn’t going to the gym regularly, fallen out of shape, and begun indulging in extremely unhealthy habits, I was at my worst place mentally not caring about what was happening around me, not willing to do anything uncomfortable, hating what I looked like in the mirror, extremely unconfident & shy, etc.

Contrast that to the times in my life where I was the most dialed, the difference is night and day. When I’m sticking to my routine, I was at peak mental capacity I was over-performing at work, able to convince myself to do whatever I wanted to do, looked fucking great, super confident, etc. All due to one simple thing sticking to a consistent gym schedule.

For me, it’s not necessarily about having the greatest workout every single time I go to the gym. The sheer act of having a time in the day where I dedicate an hour or two to nothing but the gym leads to nothing but positive things.

If I force myself to go when I don’t want to go, I prove to myself that I can do shit I don’t really want to do. If I go when I’m super excited to go, I usually have the greatest workout of the week not a bad thing either.

Whichever way I’m feeling, the outcome is net positive nothing can go wrong from me going.

Sure it’s uncomfortable when I don’t want to and I mentally bitch and moan a bit, but I understand that it’s a net positive event on the other side of it.

I just finished reading this book by Epictetus called Discourses. It’s about psychology, stoicism, and emotional regulation in general. In it, he said “Counter temptation by remembering how much better will be the knowledge that you resisted”.

This is perfectly applicable here. I can counter the thought of not wanting to go by realizing how good I will feel after the gym.

No matter what my mind is telling me, I know for a fact that I’ll either have a great workout and be happy about that, or I’ll prove to myself that I can do shit I don’t want to do and be happy about that. Where’s the loss there?

For a little over 6 months, I have been going to the gym every single day of the week, 7 days a week.

Some weeks, I’m unable just due to traveling or other excuses I make for myself, but I strive for 7 full days in the gym, no matter how I’m feeling.

That may seem crazy, you may tell me I’m “overtraining” and that I need rest days, but I wholeheartedly disagree we don’t have the same end vision in mind.

I don’t do it for optimal muscle hypertrophy.

I don’t do it to get as shredded or jacked as possible.

I don’t do it because I’m following some strict “cutting” summer workout plan.

I simply do it because I want to.

I thoroughly enjoy the gym and the benefits (both mentally and physically) it gives me. I’m already pretty big (look on my Instagram), so I don’t need to completely optimize all aspects of building muscle.

If I eat enough and train hard, I’ll keep my shape and/or continue to grow. Not worried about that. The mental benefits of going 7 days a week, however, blow every other benefit out of the water. If you’ve never tried it before, 10/10 highly recommend. If you’re into testing different things and seeing what works out best for you (as you all should be), try it out and let me know how it goes for you.

Everyone nowadays seems to think that working out is just for the sake of vanity. People go to get bigger arms, a fatter ass, and post it on social media. While you aren’t entirely wrong, this is simply the wrong way of looking at it.

Fitness as a whole is a very complicated and complex topic. With this point of view, you’re barely scratching the surface of what the entire idea of fitness is.

Sure, having a great body is a driving factor that keeps people in the gym, but there’s much, much more than your bias is hiding from you.

Also, if you think that you’re going to get “too big” by going to the gym, fucking try it. I promise you it doesn’t happen by accident. I’ve been working out consistently for like half my damn life and still can’t seem to get big enough.

This is just your brain sheltering you from doing something uncomfortable. It’s sheltering you from the thought that you’ll walk into the gym and be laughed at. It’s sheltering you from the thought that you’ll be judged for being “the new guy/gal”.

These are all simply false pretenses. Your mind is pre-programmed to keep you safe, so it will do anything to keep you from ever doing something that will make you uncomfortable or out of the ordinary.

I promise that when you walk into the gym, the music won’t stop and people won’t point and laugh. They’ll often help if you ask. Realize that your brain is simply throwing resistance at you to keep you in homeostasis.

If you’re having any degree of mental trouble right now, you aren’t where you want to be in life, everything you do seems to go wrong, and you feel like you’re spinning you wheels, access your life - do you have an outlet to some degree?

How healthy is that outlet for you?

Is your outlet going out Thursday - Saturday hoping to feel some sort of satisfaction from life?

Is your outlet laying in your room and smoking weed?

Is your outlet running? Yoga? The gym?

I’m a firm believer in the fact that however healthy the “outlets” in your life are is directly correlated to how mentally calloused your mind is.

Ultimately, you know that going to the gym is healthy for you. You understand that having some degree of workout routine is something you should have. But, if you’re over the age of 18 and you don’t, you’re just lazy. You make excuses for yourself and you’re lazy.

That’s it.

I promise you have time, I promise you aren’t too tired, I promise you can do it. The richest people in the world have a training program to stay in shape.

Have you seen Bezos recently? Look at this dude.