5 Ways the Gym Trained Me for Startup Life

Work harder than last time

It’s funny when we start doing something we previously thought we’d never do. We choose to pay attention to what interests us at the moment. Everything else exists, but not in our world.

For example, I don’t give a flying ferret about gardening, but I know other people do. I occasionally see commercials and advertisements for garden and lawn supplies, but I never pay them any mind. It’s not because I’m not fond of nice yards. I frankly don’t care for gardening.

I won’t care until all of a sudden I do.

I may own a house one day and be too stingy to pay a gardener. I may take matters, or soil, into my own hands. I won’t know until I buy the house with the empty garden that needs a creative’s touch.

I used never to think I could be a vegetarian. I saw packaging that promoted the product inside, stating it is vegetarian. Yuck. Why would I eat that? I like eating meat! Damn it. I need to build muscle.

Now I eat at least one vegetarian meal a day.

You see, specific hobbies and interests may come into play when you least expect it. They’ll teach you lessons that, in many ways, translate to other aspects of your life. I learned how lifting weights at the gym prepared me for the role of a co-founder of a beverage startup.

It wasn’t the key to my company’s success, but it did help me bring the right mindset to the table at our weekly coffeeshop meetings.

Here’s how.

1. Dedication to the craft

When I first started lifting weights, I did it because I was supposed to. I wanted a spot on the football team in high school, so I did what all the other starters did.

I wasn’t dedicated; I was a sheep.

In college, I worked out to improve my physique. When I didn’t achieve my dream body, I figured I wasn’t working out enough or working out smart enough.

Dedication requires a combo of both.

When building a business, there’s a balance between quality and quantity. I worked an 8-hour day job and worked my startup. When I wasn’t working, I was in the coffee shop at meetings, or I was at home dedicating my time to the developing the business.

Startup life is precisely this: it’s one facet of your life.

Although I gave the business a quantity of time, I wasn’t fully dedicated. As a young entrepreneur, I didn’t know how to allot my time correctly.

Eventually, I learned a few tips :

• Being on the same page: My partner and I always knew what each other was working on, or we made sure to work toward the same goal. Organization prevented us from working on two different ideas and then scrapping one, ultimately wasting time.
• Being in two places at: Though my partner and I worked on the same projects, sometimes it was more efficient to split up. Instead of going to the same meeting, I would go to the meeting, and he would take care of another project.
• Moving on when ideas don’t work: When you own a business, it’s your baby. Nothing you create is initially going to look bad in your eyes. Test an idea to see if it works. If it doesn’t, it’s okay to start from scratch. You’re better off scrapping an idea for something else because it’ll save you time in the long run.

Ultimately, working as hard as we usually would, but as efficiently as possible, led to increased dedication from the startup members.

2. It helps to build a lifestyle around your business

I started lifting in high school because my football coaches made me. I didn’t know anything about the gym. I just threw some weights around because I knew the coaches liked it when we did. This was level one.

Level two: Years later, my opinions changed. Girls must like it when guys lift weights, right? I’m going to lift seven days a week and eat a ton of to make sure my muscles grow.

Spoiler alert: I ate too much and it wasn’t a good look.

Level three: Weightlifting is just one tool at my disposal in my fitness journey. Cardio, rest, and a balanced diet are just as important, if not more important, than lifting. I will prioritize rest days and listen to my body. As a result, I feel healthier and happier with my body.

The lesson:

Startup life is precisely this: it’s one facet of your life.

Life comes down to moments and realizing that you deserve expensive cups of coffee because you’ve had a tough day. When you dedicate large chunks of time to productive endeavors, you ultimately dull your critical thinking skills.

Balancing your life, and giving yourself a break from time to time, rejuvenates your mind and prepares you for the next time you have to work.

Naturally, it’s easy to give up on fitness goals because you never seem to accomplish your goal fast enough. It’ll seem like there’s no hope, but you’ll realize that you don’t have to work as hard as you thought.

Your version of success will change numerous times.

You create momentum in your life by taking care of your body and mind first. Everything else, like an upcoming business, is secondary.

3. What happens behind the scenes matters most

You are what you eat, so they say. If that were indeed the case, I’d be a protein bagel with peanut butter and banana slices.

I think it’s funny when I see a flashy video on social media with some new trendy product. The product itself seems fine, but the production put into making it look fantastic is what makes me think the most.

• Who did they hire to do this?
• How much did it cost?
• What do they think their ROI will be on this product spot?

I’m a creative. I love shooting photos and videos of products, but I’ve also been on the other side of an advertisement. There are countless hours of preparation for every 30 second Instagram ad. A brand is an iceberg. What we, the consumers see, is only a tiny portion of the work that goes into running a company.

The same goes for those you see with beach-ready bods at the gym. Really fit people look the way they do because of what they do in their own home. Minus steroids (no offense to those who take anything on the spectrum), the food people eat is truly what gives them the muscle mass and the lean looks.

“Abs are made in the kitchen,” you’ve probably heard. It’s true. A calorie deficit is a necessary prerequisite to getting shredded. It doesn’t matter how much weight you can toss around in the gym.

4. To be successful, you have to go harder than last time

Progress. Progress. Progressive overload.

As I get older, I’m constantly trying to compete with my past self. I want to make more money than last time. I want to run more miles in 2021. I want to read more books this month than I did last month.

In business, as in life, nothing gets easier. You might secure investment like you always dreamed of, but what’s the next step? You have to integrate staff for the first time. Investors pressure you to expand to new stores.

The list goes on. Your version of success will change numerous times.

If you became an entrepreneur to make your life easier, then you’ve got a harsh reality to deal with. Luckily, I was mentally ready for this because of my years pumping iron (sorry, not sorry for saying that).

For example, if you want to increase your max squat in the gym, you have to successfully lift a certain amount of weight and gradually increase your weight over time. In the Stronglifts routine, you might decide to squat three times a week. On the first day, you successfully squat five sets for five reps at 200 pounds. In a couple of days, you’ll come back and try to do the same 5 x 5, except with 205 pounds.

Time progresses naturally. To improve your startup, be prepared to sell, negotiate, and market harder than last time.

5. The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives

I would’ve never considered creating a startup unless my friend invited me to join his. Building a business is one of those things I never thought I’d do. Life still surprises me from time to time.

The point is he needed me. At a certain point, he needed help, and he couldn’t do everything on his own. I mean, how can anyone expect to build a business by themselves. Even Bill Gates needed Paul Allen to get Microsoft off the ground floor. Elon Musk didn’t build rockets with his bare hands. He put teams together to bring his visions to life.

Going into business with a friend is a meaningful way to build a startup, especially if you both work part-time jobs.

My friend built the skeleton, and I gave the business some skin. We hired designers and formulators to provide our body of a startup organs to function. We also brought in another founder to add a fancy suit so that people would take us seriously.

Like a good gym partner, it’s motivating when you work with others who are on the same page as you.

A team motivates you in ways you can’t motivate yourself.

• If they’re dedicated, you’re dedicated
• You’ll all revolve your lives around each other and the business
• It’s nice to know someone sees all your hard work
• Teammates push you to be your best self

Startups are a fickle endeavor. You never know if a global pandemic might come in and blow your business out of the water.

But whatever happens, happens. There’s more to life than money. Dreams never die, just the intellectual property you create. Setbacks in the gym and entrepreneurship are entirely natural.

What matters is how you bounce back and who you put in your corner.

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