How do I change my life? Let's talk about it!

About 5 months ago I left my corporate job to start my own business. This new landscape has forced me into a vastly different lifestyle. Today, I would like to share some of that story, how it’s impacted me, and the philosophies that are associated. The concepts discussed here are not just relevant to entrepreneurs, but anyone looking to make meaningful lifestyle changes. I hope to provide some insight into how to start thinking about change and some of the challenges that you might face. The inspiration for this article came from a well-known coach in the industry, Logan Dubé. We'll be breaking down a few ideas that Logan presented at a recent conference. So without further ado, let's get into it!

• What got you here, won’t get you there.

I was a personal trainer at a corporation for three and a half years. At this company, all I had to focus on was my own was providing the best service possible to my clients. If I did that, I would have a fully stacked client roster and a solid paycheque at the end of the week (with benefits). The company handled all the “business” for me, marketing, accounting, security, etc, and during this time I had the amazing opportunity to be face-to-face with hundreds of new people looking to change their lives for the better. So, once I left, I had to face the facts. I was no longer going to be provided with all of this support. The few tasks that I performed in the past have now grown exponentially. If I continued to only prioritize my own services, I would not survive as an entrepreneur. This is a relevant truth that anyone looking to make a change in their life needs to face. If you want to lose weight, make more money, or start a family, you need to understand that what you have been doing in the past will most likely need to change. Once you understand this, you can lay it all out in front of you and start to change your approach. I am no longer just a personal trainer, I am now both a personal trainer and entrepreneur. That changes everything. 

• Face your stuff, the things you fall back on. 

Once you start to pursue your new journey, filled with new priorities, you will quickly realize that there are some things you like to fall back on. These don’t have to be vice’s, they can also be things that you’re really good at. For example: let’s say that I’m very good at coaching in person because that’s all I did at my previous job. If I continued to only train people in person, I would leave out a completely untapped market of online training. In addition, I would never improve my skillset in online training. It’s easy for me to recommend to someone why training with me in person is the better option, but what if it’s not affordable for them? What if I can improve my skillset online to the point that it’s as good as in-person training? Logan gave a similar example during their speech on how they moved into a management role. Whenever things would get hectic they would just revert back to training clients and pushing everything else away. Leaving other management duties to resort back to what is comfortable led to a negative impact on their colleagues and their own role as supervisor. So, it’s important to face your stuff, not only for yourself but also for those around you. If you’re making the choice to change something in your life, you need to take responsibility for the things that you lean on too much. Get out of your comfort zone and start improving the new skills that your new lifestyle requires. 

• External change requires internal change. 

When choosing to make considerable changes in your life there will usually be some level of trade-off associated. Here’s what I mean by this: if you want to become an athlete in a particular sport but your diet isn’t dialed in, your sleep schedule is a mess and you haven’t trained in 5 years, then you’re going to have to make some sacrifices to your current lifestyle. These changes won’t just happen externally, you will also need to change part of who you are at your core. The goal of an athlete isn’t just an external identity but also an internal one. In order for you to become an athlete that will win the gold medal you will need to reshape your life and your priorities. Therefore, what’s important to you changes, what you spend your time on changes and basically, you become an entirely different person. This is a scary idea to wrap your head around because it means that you need to accept change before you can even make it. Yes, it’s possible to change without ever accepting it. But if you want to improve the process and dedicate yourself to it fully, you better buckle up and be ready to leave who you were in the past. I did this when I went from being a video game nerd who played for 8 hours a day to becoming a full-time personal trainer dedicated to helping others. I did this when I left my corporate job and became an entrepreneur as well. I will continue to make internal changes to reach external goals that better my life and fulfill me. In order to accomplish this I will always need to be making changes to my internal beliefs, priorities, and ideals. 

For my visual people, here is a graph depicting this philosophy:

Your previous lifestyle becomes less important over time and so it comes to an end. Most people get stuck in the neutral zone, never fully internalizing how important this change is and what that requires, so they continue coasting and never actually reach their new beginning. Finally, those who endeavor new beginnings learn to internalize the importance of this change and are able to dedicate more time to it. To summarize: if you want to make considerable change in your life, you need to look within and understand how important that is. Identify what trade-offs may occur with your new life and how your priorities may shift. 

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to behavior change. Either way, I hope there was some value in this for you and I appreciate that you made it this far. I would like to thank Logan Dubé for their amazing talk at the Evolve Strength coaching conference and for these fascinating ideas. If you would like to learn more about Logan, you can find them on Instagram @logan.3dfit. Logan is a well-renowned coach and instructor in the fitness industry, working with PPSC to provide people with pain-free methods of training. If you enjoyed this article, make sure to sign up for my newsletter to stay up to date with future blog posts! 

Have a great day,

Marc Calado