Inspiration close to home
Ran into Jack today. He’s a couple of years younger than me. And he’s getting after it. He told me what he’s working on. Trying to combine his love for cars and business to make a living. He’s not there yet though. But he told me how he plans to get there. I believed them. He’s working a part-time job to support himself, his little girl and directing the rest of the funds into growing his business.
Jack’s a powerlifter. He’s one of the strongest guys I know. I say one of because I know some strong guys. Real strong guys. Being a gym rat for a number of years I’ve got a few brothers in iron. But after some self-assessment, Jack found out his time at the gym, training hard, deadlifting, squatting, 2-3 hours per day was taking away from other aspects of his life. It strained his relationship, prevented him from working on his own business. So what did he do? He adjusted. Started waking up earlier. I don’t miss the gym any day he told me. He started with 7am, then 6am, 5am, 4am. Now he’s getting up at 2:45am. I’m home by 5:30am he said. I go to bed really early. When he told me, I was in shock. If anyone else told me, I wouldn’t believe them. But not Jack. He’s a man of his word. The iron doesn’t lie and neither does he.
After hearing this, all of what he’s got going on, it inspired me. I made sure to tell him. You should do the same if someone inspires you. You never know how far it’ll go. I told Jack I’m going to wake up a little earlier tomorrow. I’ll test it out. I’m not a 5-6 hour man, I’m more of a 7-9 hours man. 2:45am won’t be happening anytime soon. Jack laughed. Said, it’s all about working out what’s right for you, said that’s what he’s doing now. Working out what works for him. Jack’s the type of person you want to surround yourself with. The ones who get after it. Whatever ‘it’ is.
Inspiration doesn’t have to be from someone far away. It can be from anyone. It could be from your younger brother, it could be from your older sister, it could be from your mother who took care of you whilst you were sick when you were younger despite being tired herself. It could from a past version of yourself. You’ve got this far, what’s holding you back? It could be from a Jack you know. Jack’s got his own back. He told me when things get too easy, he starts to figure out how he can make them harder on purpose. Why? So if they did get hard, real hard, he’d be ready.
As we parted ways, I thanked him. Said I’ll get out of bed a little earlier tomorrow again and not to forget to enjoy the short-term. Plan for the long-term whilst enjoying the short-term, whatever it is.