Apparently there are a lot of guys here that bust their asses for a living and do not mind. At age 9 I was mowing the neighbor's lawns for $5. I lied about my age and started working when I was 13 doing dishes by hand in a greasy spoon restaurant. When I say by hand, I mean by hand, not loading some industrial sized dishwasher and unloading it. I'd mop the floors and clean the shitters at closing. I'd work 6 hours nightly after school for $15 cash. On the weekends I'd be there at 4AM and peeling potatoes by hand until 6AM. From 6AM to 7PM I'd do more dishes, change the fryer grease, mop, clean shitters, etc for $50 cash. I did this until I was 16 and got a job in a grocery store. By the time I had graduated high school I had been working 20-40 hrs/wk for 5 yrs in addition to getting good grades in school. I'd only work 20 hrs a week or so during football and wrestling seasons though.
My parents seemed to think instilling a good work ethic in me from a very young age would be a good thing when in fact it did the opposite. When I started training seriously at age 19, I read in Muscle & Fitness that to be a great bodybuilder you must have a job that allows you to eat throughout the day. It also talked about how job related stress increased cortisol levels and hindered gains. I also read that manual labor jobs were not the jobs of choice for bodybuilders because eating was difficult and much of your training energy is consumed working so hard. This is when I became a bouncer and started working "watch the clock" styled desk jobs at gyms. I was so much happier being bored as fuck than busting my ass. It didn't even feel like work because I was pretty much standing around getting paid for being me. I knew that from then on I would spend my life working smart as opposed to hard.
Eventually my gym desk job turned into training people during the day and continuing to bounce at night. After getting to be 25 yrs old I was able to make it by training people alone w/o getting beer bottles busted over my head and cue balls thrown at me as a bouncer. I still made more $$$ than most guys my age with full time labor jobs and entry level post college white collar jobs by working part time. I took pride in the fact I rarely busted a sweat outside of the gym. This lifestyle choice I made was a huge contributing factor to winning the contests I have in the past. The coolest part was that I rarely ever dreaded work like many people do daily when there alarm clock goes off. As an adult I made some transitional moves where I'd occasionally work 40+ hours, but this lead to me running a business that pretty much ran itself. I can't remember the last time I woke up to an alarm clock. I think it's been around 15 years??? I also haven't had a paycheck signed by anyone but myself for about 15 years either. So I even eliminated the emotional stress of being fired for not kissing the boss's ass or outsourced like many working class people do everyday. People often get very jealous when I say these things because they've been lead to believe that they had no other choice than to take the paths in life that they have. After seeing Drs and lawyers bust their asses in school for 8-12 years only to work 80 hrs a week, I realized that many are miserable fucks that are aging twice as quickly as I am. Sure, they have every material thing they could ever want, but very little time to spend enjoying them. They also have little time for their wives and children because they have a lifestyle overhead that eats up their income rather quickly.
Thankfully as an adult I've made the right decisions in life that have allowed me to make a living doing something I'm passionate about. At the very least I've always had the time to do the things that I love most. Now that I no longer compete I even have plenty of time for hanging out with my dogs at the pool, riding my sportbike, and watching movies. I get to do these things daily. Compared to most people's days lives I'm on vacation 24/7. When the weekend comes I don't even give a shit, as everyday is the same for me. Sure, I'll hit a few bumps in the road now and then, but probably much less than most people in a month than most do in any given week.
2 days ago my monthly paying personal training client quit working out with me with no notice. His boss was flipping him shit and he was in fear of being fired. Therefore his luxury expense of having a trainer got put on the back burner. My $650 monthly gym rent was due today and I had to dip into my bank account to cover it because he backed out. I didn't like doing this, but it's about as stressful as my week can get.
Now I'd like to ask you guys that work labor jobs or $60K+/yr white collar jobs who has a better day to day life? Me? Or you? Be honest. Some may truly be happy with where they are at, how much they make, and what they do. I think that's awesome, but hardly the norm.
Life is all about choices and being able to objectively determine what makes you happy. It's unfortunate that many sheeple have bought into this ideal of working their asses of and being slaves to their own careers. With some forethought and objectivity anyone can have the life that they always wanted. Although I will say I owe a great deal of gratitude to my parents for providing me with an abusive and overworked childhood that gave me the strength to think outside of the box. Without my shitty upbringing I doubt I've had the balls to take the road less traveled. I have absolutely no regrets.
Remember guys, it's never too late to take charge of your lives and make the necessary changes that will enhance your life from day to day. If I can do it, anyone can. Like the ad says, "Life is short. Play hard!!!"
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