Look at Your Career Just Like a Professional Athlete Would

I guess I should start with the disclaimer, I'm not in a position to lecture anybody about anything, as I start to write I feel I'm having a Jerry Maguire moment but hopefully there would be no ironic claps and this won't get me fired. I was, however, as many of us, caught (more than once) on that vicious cycle of working more and more hours, feeling less and less productive, and increasingly second-guessing myself. Here are some thoughts on how I overcome this.

I never had many talents for football or any other "ball" sport, I was never that fast or liked running, I would most likely drown in a pool, and my track record with a bicycle was mainly in spinning classes. My thing is martial arts and even though I was never a first-level athlete I do know the routine and feeling of training six days a week, preparing for competition, and building momentum.

Over the years I quickly realized that when I apply all the old training routines for my work week things would dramatically change for the better, now I truly believe that when anyone says, you need to work really hard to be successful, it's meant to be work on yourself as well.

How do I break a bad cycle?

Set goals, bigger or small but please set goals that really mean something to you, and tell everybody, create commitment. Those goals will be your regional, national, and world championships, now there's no escape you are going to compete.

Now, food, pay attention to what you're giving your body as fuel. If you just cut things that give you comfort it won't last, you need to replace one thing for another. Food is a great medication for when we feel stressed, upset, anxious, all the typical bad stuff running in our head, if you take something you need to replace that, and it does not have to be for different food, it could be for a different sport, hobby, course.

Always remember to keep the balance in the force. Other than that, yes, lots of fruit and vegetables, regular sugar is terrible for you, I prefer to have less carb and enjoy a second piece of protein, that keeps me light and awake. Try to avoid that feeling of almost falling asleep one hour after lunch.

Exercise, I would guess that you brush your teeth and take a shower every day, right?!

So, exercising should not be optional, it is just something that you do, start small and scale but do it. Find the right fit for you, you will do it harder and happier, if don't like anything then just suck it up, I promise that shower after the workout is worth it. The more intense your work becomes, the more you need to be disciplined about exercising, it is a great way to deal with high cortisol levels.

Remember, not taking care of you means you will have lower performance, there goes that promotion and the extra diamond on your girl's ring. Ladies, for guys it's a PS5, you're welcome.

Take your rest seriously, we know that we can operate with just 5.5 hours of sleep, but you're just gonna be slower, have no patience for the extra questions from your colleague, go to bed early. It is probably the less talked part in any athlete routine but crucial, you need to be rested to perform well. If you have that extra important task to complete, try to wake up earlier than staying late, it will take you half of the time to finish.

Things will improve but here's the real challenge.

I'm a huge fan of Mike Tyson, I listen to his interviews all the time, I love the way he deals with the struggle of staying mentally healthy, especially after a crazy life of becoming the youngest boxing heavy-weight champion of the world and what came with that. Often he says "confidence breeds success and success breeds confidence", the universe will test you, the more you become disciplined and start to feel good the bigger will be the test.

Stay focus, as you get better, more healthy, more productive, better shape, people will make fun of you, some will say that you became arrogant, that's ok, as you create a better version of yourself you will be also creating a bigger gap with many people around you. Look for the ones that are genuinely happy for you.

Every day is a struggle, some more than others, but every day I take care of myself, my house, my family it's a win, I might lose sometimes but it's my responsibility to make sure that overall, I'm ahead on the scoreboard.

Ruben