About a year ago, I decided to make some big changes to this newsletter you’re reading right now.
Actually, from 2020 to 2023, I wasn’t very motivated at work.
This is amazing. I was able to take full control and create Nerd Fitness, essentially. I built my job.
I’ve spent years trying to become the person I thought I was, but Nerd Fitness and the community need Instead of doing what I’m actually good at (writing interesting things in a fun way and helping people level up), it makes me want to be.
Why am I in this unwanted place?
It was a series of small decisions that slowly piled up over the years.
I picked projects I hated and kept forcing myself to do them, but justified it by telling myself, “I have to get this done until the end.” [arbitrary goal or date]and I can finish.”
The problem, of course, is that I didn’t reach my arbitrary goal, or either my goals changed, or the world changed, or the business changed.
In the end, I spent every day doing things I didn’t want to do and never got anything in return.
I tried this year, And I burned myself out.
rear Lots of TherapiesAfter long walks, soul searching, and many failed attempts, I finally asked the important question: What would I change if I never got there?
I realized Had It’s about changing how you spend your time and how you set goals.
Instead of doing things I don’t love and hoping they’ll pay off in the end, I restructured my day around why I started Nerd Fitness in the first place.
I read widely on random topics that intrigue me and then share my excited thoughts on those topics with a bunch of geeks (yes, you!).
Since then, I’ve written dozens of newsletters about weird topics, hobbies, life, philosophy, and just about everything else.
Now, over 130,000 people receive the newsletter every week, further strengthening my resolve to stop focusing on the destination and get back to finding ways to enjoy the journey.
This newsletter is Decades I’m excited about the opportunity to bring you something weird every week from now on in your inbox.
Now I ask you the same question.
What if you can’t “get there”?
A few years ago, I stumbled across someone on Reddit asking what the worst thing about being overweight was.
One answer broke my heart.
“You tell yourself that you’ll start living again once you lose the weight, and you put your whole life on hold. Then you’re not consistent with your weight loss journey and basically… you’re not really living.”
Every day I see people trying to do exercises they hate or go on diets they don’t enjoy in order to reach some arbitrary number on the scale that they believe will make them happy.
Most people can’t stick to a diet or training regimen for more than a few weeks, get discouraged and give up.
Some people succeed in losing weight, only to realize that the number on the scale going down didn’t magically solve all their problems. They decide that the daily suffering just isn’t worth it.
It’s time to reverse the scenario and give up!
We can never get there, because it is not a place we can actually reach – it is a state of mind.
This should change the way we think about the workouts and diets we choose, the goals we design our lives for, and the expectations we set for ourselves.
My goal with this newsletter and for my coaching clients is to help people realize the following:
discovery How to enjoy exerciseand make Effortless dietary changesit’s the only way forward. Even better, this will get you to your goals faster than chasing a trend or strategy you don’t like.
I’m reminded of this quote from philosopher Sam Harris:
“Most of life is a process of solving problems.
We can never, and never will, rest on our laurels in a state where there are no problems. There is always something to be done.”
Author Mark Manson puts it more succinctly:
““Don’t wish for a life without problems, wish for a life with better problems.”
What would you try to change?
As Albert Camus explains: Sisyphus pushing a rock up a hillThere is a beautiful freedom that comes from accepting that you will never “get there.”
Sisyphus is “liberated” from any hope of success; he accepts his fate as one he will never win and is able to find meaning in pushing the rock, watching it roll away, and trying again.
None of us are going to get out of this alive. Today is our only guarantee.
If you I knew You will never “get there.”
What would you like to change?
what would you do:
I’d love to hear what changes it makes on your daily travels.
Reply back and let me know, I’m here pushing this rock up a hill.
-Steve
