The best way I know to unlock the hidden potential we all have within us is very simple, yet so few do it. The answer, do hard things. Challenging yourself forces you to push yourself physically, come up with solutions to complex problems, and tests your ability to adapt to and overcome adversity. Being an entrepreneur and owning a business is a form of challenging yourself. Lifting weights and doing physical activity is a way of challenging yourself. At the end of the day, you should always be looking for new ways, both mentally and physically, to challenge yourself and push your limits. The minute you step outside of your comfort zone is the minute you begin to experience growth.
The marathon
Throughout my life, I’ve always played sports and been a weight lifter. At 5’9″, I’ve usually been between the bulky weight of 225 lbs and 235 lbs. I never liked to run and I enjoy lifting heavy weights. I’ve always heard of entrepreneurs doing difficult things such as marathons and different types of physical tests during their rise to fortune. A lot of the people I saw on social media that were constantly improving were engaged in some sort of extreme physical activity. This made me think, “What do I hate that I know would make me grow if I did it?” The answer was running and the hardest thing I could think of was marathon. This was in October of 2022. Very gradually, I began to run on the treadmill and watch more of the foods I put into my body. After a few months of running on the treadmill, at first barely being able to do 2 miles, I was running 15 miles with relative ease. I knew it was time to take off the training wheels and begin to run outside where the concrete and asphalt I’d be running on would be far less forgiving than the padded shock absorbing treadmill. Recently, I started to run outside and am working my way up little by little. Last week, I signed up officially for my first marathon which I will run in July in Pennsylvania. I’m both nervous and excited about it. I’m actually feeling the butterflies just writing this now!
On March 20th, I officially begin a 16 week formal prep with a small community of runners and entrepreneurs. The goal of the group is to hold each other accountable to our goals and responsibilities necessary to reach them. To sum it up in two words, the group and program as a whole is all about one thing, extreme accountability. That means no matter what you feel like doing, where you are, who you’re with, or anything else, it is your responsibility to do what you need to do to remain accountable to yourself and the others in the program. During this physical test, I know I will learn so much about myself and my ability to push through adversity. I can only imagine what else I’ll unlock during this time. Doing this is not only going to affect me in the physical realm, it will challenge me mentally as well. I’m ready for the challenge and the growth that comes with it. You should be too!
The business
Entrepreneurship of any sort is a risk, just as any other decision you decide to make or not make throughout your life. Regardless of the industry you choose to create your business in, you will face much adversity and choosing the path of least resistance is not always the best solution to these issues. For over a year I made it a lot harder on myself than I knew I had to trying over and over again to make things stick and become a successful buy and hold real estate investor full-time. I wasn’t going to give that up and take the easier path of least resistance such as sticking with my realtor gig or getting a regular 9-5. I recognize that during this process, I’ve been fortunate to have some of the privileges I’ve had with the support of my family, but it doesn’t make the process of trying to put all the pieces together any easier. If anything, it makes things harder because you don’t want people to lose faith in you and you don’t want to disappoint the people you love and care about.
What finally did it for me was just talking to enough people, having a vision and an idea of what I wanted to do in terms of direction, and letting the pieces fall where they did. Was some of this luck? Yes, but the funny thing about luck is the more you try and fail, eventually, the luckier you get. The universe has a funny way of helping you put it all together so long as you go through and endure the struggle and learning curve you will face along the way. I’ve gotten myself into some very challenging situations on the brink of losing money, both my own and other people’s, and trying to figure out ways to keep that from happening. In some cases, it did happen, and I was face to face with the pressure of getting it back in a timely fashion. For that adversity and pressure I am truly grateful. For without that challenge, I would not be the investor or man I am today. On your journey just know struggle doesn’t always mean failure is afoot and failure doesn’t always mean it’s the end of the story. Everything you face in your journey is a test for you to learn and grow from and how you choose to handle that test will be reflected in your future. Challenge yourself, embrace challenge, conquer challenge, and look for more challenges to overcome. This is the cycle that drives success.