What are You Willing to Give Up

Success is not a mistake.

I decided today to write about something that I wouldn’t normally mention in this blog, but if you know me, you know it is one of the biggest parts of my life. I am a gym rat! Outside of finance and tech, all I talk about is exercise. Even worse I hangout in a Crossfit gym with other gym rats that are just as obsessed with exercise as me.

The reason I love working out actually has nothing to do with health benefits, or getting “jacked.” It’s all about the pushing yourself until you break all in the name of ensuring that you wake up stronger tomorrow.

The gym I hang out in has more extreme Type A people than the Trade Floor had at BMO. The people there have dedicated their lives to getting bigger, stronger and faster. The best part of being surrounded by these people is that you learn some pretty incredible things that you can apply to other areas of your life and generally be more successful.

It is easy to make fun of the guy whose goal is to deadlift 600lbs or the girl who wants to squat 300lbs. We tell ourselves: “well sure if I went to the gym every day, and took steroids, I’m sure I could do that too”. I guarantee that 99% of people who say this could never, even with the help of steroids, accomplish these tasks.

Go ask the girl who just crushed a 300lb squat how often she trains. She will probably tell you something like 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. Seems easy. Now ask her how she eats, when she eats, how much does she eat at each meal, when she sleeps, what she did Friday night and what is on her mind right now. Every aspect of her life has been dedicated to perfecting her fitness game. It’s not an accident that she is incredibly strong, it’s because she has followed a plan, worked her ass off and did everything she had to along the way.

That is why I love the gym. I get to observe the attitude, dedication and pain people go through to get what they want. Training this hard isn’t fun, it is gruelling.

Unsurprisingly what makes you successful in the gym, is the same recipe that will make you successful in anything else. Whether it is finance, working in tech or being an entrepreneur. I am confident that if you ask Larry Page or Jamie Dimon, about their path to success they will tell you it wasn’t always fun and at times it was gruelling.

One of the greatest lessons I ever learned in life was from what most people would call a “meathead” at the gym. I asked him how he got so big, so strong, so lean and what I needed to do so I could get the same results. He looked at me and said: “Its’ not what I did, it’s what I gave up.” He asked me: “what are you willing to give up to be the best?”

Next time you are wondering what someone did to become CEO, found a billion-dollar startup or change the world you should ask them what they had to give up in the process. Incredible success requires incredible sacrifice.

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