Not a lot of people are going to like this post…. I strongly suggest you pay attention, I strongly suggest you share this, I strongly suggest you don’t take it personally, but you take action from it. Bottom line is, and I don’t care who you are, what you believe, as an entrepreneur, people take you more seriously if you’re somewhat in shape, if you’re taking care of yourself. I’m not saying you can’t enjoy yourself, I’m not saying you need to be 6% body fat, but here’s the reality. People who are in shape are able to demonstrate a level of discipline, mental toughness, consistency, self care, self love, self respect that can only be seen by taking care of your physical appearance, okay? If you were going in and trying to find a wealth advisor and they showed up in a fucking Corolla and they get out and they’re in JNCO jeans and some Vans, you’re probably not going to give that person $1 million of your money to manage. No different in entrepreneurship, especially, especially if you are somebody who wants to be publicly recognized as a person of value, interest, and influence.
Look, if you want to sit behind a desk and you don’t care what people think about you, and you don’t care about going out there and building an audience and you don’t care about what or how people are going to know, like, and trust you, if you don’t care about growing your company, if you don’t care about being on stages, if you don’t care about building a social presence, fine, be fat. I don’t care. But if you are somebody who is trying to level up and be the top of the top, if you’re somebody who’s trying to stand out from the 1%, if you’re somebody who’s trying to be on stages, if you’re somebody who’s trying to grow your team, if you’re somebody who’s trying to grow their influence, if you’re somebody who’s trying to grow their wealth, if you’re somebody who gives a shit at all, start by giving a shit about you. Start by giving a shit about yourself. Start by being disciplined and consistent in what you do with your time and how you work out and what clothes you wear and how you brush your teeth and how you diet.
People say, “Man, Mike, it’s hard when you’re traveling and stuff.” I know it’s hard. That’s what makes it cool. That’s what makes you stand out because people know it’s hard to stay in shape. People know it’s hard to eat right when you’re traveling. People know it’s difficult to be consistent day in and day out and day in and day out and year after year after year. That’s what makes being in shape so powerful.
Look, I am not 5% body fat, chiseled abs. I also am working on this, but I will tell you, every time people see me, I’m in a little bit better shape. Right now I’m bulking, so people see me and say, “Fuck, Mike’s talking about bulking and I see him and shit, it’s working. He’s doing it. Mike does what he says he’s going to do. Mike has discipline. Mike has mental toughness. Mike has fortitude. Mike has grit. Mike has self-care. Mike has self-love. Mike is somebody that I can look up to and trust because Mike is doing something that I don’t believe I can or I can’t or whatever it is.” But especially if you want to be on stage, you want to build an audience, you want to build a YouTube channel, you want to build a podcast, even though you can’t see me, I promise you, if you’re somebody who’s not taking care of themselves, you are not being taken with as much sincerity as possible.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s just a me thing. Maybe I just struggle with this because I struggle with my own self-image and I struggle with my own self body challenges, but I am very confident. I am very confident that if you look at people who are on stages right now, look at the top 50 speakers list. These are the top 50 speakers in the world. None of them are overweight. They’re in different levels of fitness, they’re in different levels of self care, but I’ll tell you right now, they care about themselves. They put themselves first. They have discipline. They have mental toughness, and that’s why they get on these stages. They don’t get on stages and then get that shit. You’re not going to just show up on stage one day and be fit as fuck and mentally tough and think you’re just going to own the room. Or you may not even know if the opportunity’s going to present itself and you can’t just get ready to be on stage in a week or two if someone gives you an opportunity. You can’t be like, “Oh, my clothes don’t fit right, right now. Oh, I don’t like the way I look right now. Oh, I wish I would’ve dieted, but I wish I had more time to get ready.” Fuck that getting ready, stay ready.
I had to up my shirts. Extra larges don’t fit me anymore. I don’t love that. I’ve spent my majority of my adult life trying to lose weight. Here I am trying to gain it. It’s weird. It’s a mental fuck. But I’m going to get on stages, I’m going to be proud because I know the work I’m putting in. At the end of the year when this whole thing comes together and it all pays off, and I am proud of what I’ve built, people won’t be able to take that from you. I did that. People can’t take it from you when your mental toughness is where it’s supposed to be and your confidence level’s through the roof because you committed to being in shape or you committed to get in shape, or you committed to staying in shape or whatever it is.
I don’t think I’m alone in this. I don’t think I’m the only person out there that respects people who respects themselves first at a much higher level. If you right now are not respecting yourself, if you’re not taking care of yourself, I promise you, other people are not going to respect you and take care of you and help you and help you accomplish things you want to accomplish because it’s hard to help people that don’t want to help themselves. If you can’t be consistent for you, why would I trust you to be consistent for me? If I can’t trust you to put yourself first, how can I trust you to put me where I belong in that equation?
Get yourself in shape.
Be proud of who you are.
Be proud of what you look like.
If you’re proud of how you look, fine, I’m not judging you, but I know for a fact most people aren’t. Most people are not proud, and that’s why they get up on stage when they have an opportunity or they get an audience, whether that’s in person, online, whatever, and they lack their confidence. They lack the ability to get up there and be proud of who they are.
I beg you, I’m challenging you even, go get your ass in shape and tell me that your opportunities don’t grow and that your influence doesn’t grow and your confidence doesn’t grow.
It’s the championship mindset.
It’s about staying ready, not getting ready, go make it happen!
