THE JUGGERNAUT
MY STORY
Act I: The Great Decision (a.k.a. The “Screw It” Moment)
It’s 2010...
I’m in my high school graduation gown—looking like a slightly melted ice cream cone! We go onstage, get our diploma, & we all say goodbye. Sad, happy, excited about the future, hoping that we'll all stay in touch over summer.
Me & the fam all meet up at the post graduation dinner. Im happy because the food is calling my name, but so is the miserable realization that the only thing bigger than my waistline is my fear of change. College is precisely two months away, and while everyone’s talking about “new beginnings,” I’m here feeling scared out of my mind (the overthinker of me, at that time).
I remember going home, lying down that night, & wondering what I'm going to do, will I make friends in college, will me & my best friend still be as close as we've always been (answer: YES! that's my brother right there & brothers stick together no matter how much things change)...
Sorry, I love that dude NOO HOMOOOOOOOOO!!
Anyway, I'm thinking of the future, thinking of the past, romanticizing shit, as a hopeless romantic such as myself does.
I was nervous.
A few days go by & I remember thinking to myself "Idk what I want to do in my future, but I know I don't want to feel the way I feel right now" (unconfident, ugly, self deprecating).
Then it suddenly hit me like a fkn bolt of electricity! & the next thing I'm about to say is going to sound like some super cliche shit but I swear to you it's exactly what happened...
My life literally changed at that exact moment. I realized, If I want to make a change, I guess the best place to start is with my body! I told myself that if I could lose weight, Maybe it could help me be perceived as a new individual.
This is how that exact afternoon played out:
1. My older sister comes into my room to say she's going to the store with my mom...
2. I tell her "hey we should start a diet & lose some weight, you down?"
3. She say's "yes dude I was just thinking I should do that as well"
4. I tell her I'm going to look online and read a few articles & find a plan for us!
Then I came across a trailer for a book that changed my whole entire life. The 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferris. The trailer was so cool & made a bunch of overhyped promises of running faster, gaining muscle, holding your breath longer, losing 20lbs in 30 days, & becoming superhuman...
Honestly, the trailer was cool AF! I txt my sister & asked her if she could ask my mom to buy it & I would give her the money! My stupid, lazy ass didn't even know how much books cost! I was expecting it to be like 50 bucks or something.
My mom found the book at target, they brought it home, & little did I know...I had just found the book that was going to alter my whole life.
Act II: The Transformation (Or How I Became a Gym Disciple)
In retrospect, My first attempt at this transformation thing was, let’s say, “hardcore.”
I treated the 4 Hour Body like the holy grail of fitness knowledge. Never mind some of the bold claims & outdated fat loss advice. I followed every instruction with the kind of zeal usually reserved for cults. I was too ignorant to know what was & wasn't possible...so I just believed everything was (not a bad problem to have!!!).
The results came fast—40 pounds gone in 8 weeks. I wasn’t just losing weight; I was slowly realizing that there’s a person underneath all the fluff who was actually worth something. Sure, I was still clueless most of the time, but I was successfully executing a plan, and the confidence that came with that was like an awakening to my soul.
Then I hit a wall—not literally, though that would’ve been on-brand. I’d made progress, but there was only so far I could go on blind enthusiasm and outdated workout advice. So, I hired an online coach who, I kid you not, I never even met. It was all emails and spreadsheets, like some kind of weird pen-pal fitness arrangement. But it worked. I got into the best shape of my life by following this guy’s instructions like I was learning dark arts from a wizard.
Outstanding
Eventually, the fitness gains weren’t enough. I wanted to tackle business like I’d tackled my deadlifts, but guess what? Reading every book on Amazon about entrepreneurship doesn’t make you a mogul—just a nerd with a massive bookshelf. So, I kept finding mentors, pouring money into knowledge like I was at a knowledge casino: sometimes I hit the jackpot, sometimes I learned “what not to do” (also valuable, but much less fun).
Now here I am, somewhere on the mountain, looking back at all the different versions of myself that I’ve left in the dust. The kid from high school? He’s just a footnote. The guy who fumbled through his first squats? He’s still here, just with better technique.
Here’s the deal: self-improvement isn’t some epic quest where you reach a peak and the universe hands you a medal. It’s more like an endless hike where you occasionally stop, look around, and think, “Wow, at least I’m not at the bottom anymore.” So if you’re staring at your own crossroads, wondering if it’s worth it, take it from me—just say “Screw it” and start moving.
Laugh at yourself when you stumble, roll your eyes when you fall for the latest fitness fad, but keep climbing. There’s no “Overman” waiting for you at the summit, just a better version of you who still doesn’t have it all figured out but is definitely enjoying the view a bit more.
COME TRY OUT A FREE WORKOUT ON THE HOUSE!
(It's not actually on the house, it's inside...working out on the roof is a bit too dangerous, even for us)
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