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Before I get into today’s show I want to share something that I’m very excited about. After months and months in the making, We’ve finally opened up our private membership program called the Fit Dad Nation Inner Circle. This is something I’m very proud of and is a hub and community for dads looking to reclaim their health and fitness.

As you know, the fitness industry is filled with idiots, fake coaches, scammers, and people looking to make a quick buck by selling you bullshit and I absolutely hate that. This program cuts through all that and is totally interactive with monthly (and even weekly) challenges, live q&a’s, workout programs, tutorials, and even quarterly transformation challenges (with prizes). If this sounds interesting to you and you’re looking for a tribe of like minded dads working towards the same things, take a look at this program.

At the Fit Dad Nation, we talk about men’s health. And in my opinion, mental health is every bit as important as physical health and isn’t talked about nearly enough.

So today’s show is about something that has so much meaning to me on a personal level and I see men everywhere suffering from it. It’s the struggle to live a fulfilling life and do meaningful work.

I recently came across something I had written when I was working in finance; a career I worked hard to have but hated every minute of it. This was posted on Jan 28, 2011:

“As I sit here staring at my computer screen for the eighth straight hour while thinking of ways to kill myself with my hole punch, I have to ask myself, what am I doing here? Why do I continue to torture myself every Monday through Friday? And most importantly, when is it going to END?

Doing shit you hate isn’t good for you or anyone else. I was a miserable SOB and not the best husband or dad I could have been.

Why?

My job sucked the life right out of me and I didn’t see a way out. I felt trapped and almost hopeless. That’s a recipe for a stress induced heart attack. Life doesn’t have to be hard yet most think it needs to be and that suffering is part of the process. It’s not. We don’t need to sacrifice our happiness for the sake of a paycheck and I proved that by leaving my career after 11.5 years and starting an online business doing what I love.

I have to wonder a few things. Like why are we waiting for the end of our lives for the reward of retirement? What’s this pot of gold that justifies us spending the best years of our lives hoping for happiness in the last?

It makes no sense to me and I believe our system is flawed. Get good grades in school to get into college. Then get good grades in college to get an entry level job in a big company. Then spend 40 years working for someone else in order to get a gold watch and hopefully a decent retirement savings.

And so we do it. Millions of us. But how many of us are happy or fulfilled with what we do over the course of 90,000 working hours in our lifetime? Very few.

I believe 100% that we don’t need to suffer because that’s what society tells us we should do. Working a meaningless, boring job that robs us of our happiness isn’t what we were meant to do.

What is a career anyways? It’s doing the same thing for 8 hours a day for years on end until we have enough money to stop or get so sick of it, we choose to do something else.

Yet the fact is that most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty because change is scary and most aren’t willing to take the “risk” of trying something new. And I’ll argue that the real risk is spending your most precious commodity, your time, doing shit you hate.

It’s not worth the sacrifice. I want you to ask yourself what it’s costing you to put off pursuing your passions; mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Then ask yourself what you’re waiting for.

I’m not telling you to quit your job tomorrow. You have financial obligations. But you DO need to start working on it ASAP. Your procrastination will turn a month into a decade before you know it. It took me 5 years of side hustling to make it happen for myself and it hasn’t been an easy road. But it’s been worth every moment and I’d do it over 100 out of 100 times.

Links mentioned:

Fit Dad Basecamp
Join The Inner Circle