I Quit...

My body and mind had been neglected for several months. I was experiencing depression like no other time in my life. I knew I was doing it but didn’t care to fix things.

I woke up on January 1… Disgusted.

I looked in the mirror and only 4 words came to my mind

“THIS IS NOT IT”

I am not a New Year's resolution guy but something hit me hard that morning. I saw a trajectory that I was not willing to accept. A change was happening today regardless of my feelings about it.

I started 75 hard that morning.

2 workouts per day (no more than 3 hours apart), 4 liters of water, no alcohol, clean diet, 10 pages of reading per day. Every day for 75 days.

The first workout felt exhausting. Like I had lost all of my muscle mass and could barely benchpress 100lbs. Drinking a gallon of water was probably the hardest. I had built a pattern of consuming 1 liter of water every 2-3 days (super unhealthy, I know). My bladder felt like it was going to explode at evert moment that day.

The workouts got easier and so did the water.

I reached 45 days quite easily but then the injuries and exhaustion started setting in. My toe and knee have been giving me problems for the past 8 months and they were in a constant state of swollen and pain. Then I got sick from exhaustion. I missed 2 workouts but no big deal.

Today is day 55 and I have to throw in the towel. I have missed 6 workouts in total (104/110 ain't bad) but I am unwilling to let my injuries worsen. I told my accountability group and they were awesome about it. I kinda feel like shit for quitting.

But it makes me think a lot about how we tackle big challenges as solopreneurs.

How often do we continue doing things that hurt us (time, energy, motivation, financially) just because we announced that we were going to do it?

It’s like we are waiting for some secret permission to let go of things that do not serve us. Waiting for the support group to give us their acceptance.

But what if you don’t have a support group? A mastermind, coach, mentor, peer community? How long will you hold onto bad habits and actions that work against you? (sometimes without even knowing).

I have certainly been guilty of keeping customers that sucked, maintaining services that felt draining, offering custom solutions to each person who entered my ecosystem, and committing to projects and events that clearly didn't serve me.

I don’t care if you hire me for that support (obviously something that I can help with) but make sure you have the right support in your corner. Building a solo business is hard and you will never be great at everything. There are just too many daily decisions to get there on your own.

p.s. I am feeling a lot better and have my support team around me

p.p.s. If you are interested in my help, here is what that looks like. Reply to the email if interested. I have a new coaching program launching on March 15.