Entrepreneurship Health Risks & How to Avoid Them
As a young business owner, this is the story of how I let my health go…and how I got it back.
As an entrepreneur, a large amount of my friends are also entrepreneurs. Some of them sell products, some of them have tech startups, and others own restaurants. One thing 95% of my peers share in common…poor health habits.
As an entrepreneur, it is almost a requirement to drink beer, eat pizza and stay up late solving problems. Only to follow up the next day with an early morning and gallons of coffee.
At first, this lifestyle is attractive. You are making your way, paving your own path! Sleep? Who needs sleep?! We have a mission to accomplish! Exercise? Ain’t nobody got time for that!
Well as someone who lived a very healthy lifestyle, became “victim” to the trendy entrepreneurship lifestyle and bounced back again…I can tell you from experience your health should be your first priority if you want to execute at a high level!
If health is not your first priority, eventually…as they say…the chickens will come home to roost.
Before I became a full-time entrepreneur at my first (and current) startup KingFit, I gained experience as a college strength & conditioning coach, personal trainer and nutritionist. Working these jobs made it easy to live a healthy lifestyle. All of my colleagues lived healthy lifestyles and we literally lived in the gym!
Working out 2–3x a day was a regular thing. If you wanted to eat junk food, you did so knowing that everyone would judge you (that’s no fun). We passed around healthy snacks and protein shakes on daily basis. The environment made it easy to be healthy.
In the summer of 2016 (2 Years Ago), I officially became a full-time entrepreneur! I was excited to leave my job as a nutrition program director and give 100% of my effort to my dreams. One thing I did not quite prepare for was the impact that this decision would make on every aspect of my life.
The first 18 months of my entrepreneurship journey went sort of like this…
5am — 6am: Wake Up & Drink Coffee…Maaaybe Workout
7am — 7pm: Work, Work, Work & Eat Something Fast and Easy (More Coffee)
7pm — 8pm: Take a Quick Break, Maybe Hang w/ My Girlfriend (Now Fiancé)
8pm — 12am: Back to the Office for Work, Coffee and Pizza!
On many of these days my fellow hustlers and myself would treat ourselves to a few beers while we worked…and worked…and worked.
This was what it meant to be an entrepreneur! To live the hustle lifestyle. To do what no one else was willing to do to be successful! This was a mistake.
By the end of 2017, I spent a good amount of time reflecting on my experience from my first 18 months. I was forced to do so because I felt my consciousness slipping into a fog. I NEEDED fast food, I NEEDED coffee…and those were two things that I knew could only lead to disaster.
Not to mention I couldn’t see my abs for the first time in 15 years…
In January (2018) I made the massive shift to my lifestyle.
New year, new me.
With 18 months of full-time experience under my belt, I understood what worked and what made me feel like crap. I decided I would no longer work 16 hour days, stay up late, drink coffee like its water or drink alcohol multiple nights a week.
Instead, I would focus on creating “Masterpiece Days”. To hit my masterpiece days I created the following checklist.
- Morning Meditation & Gratitude
- Fasting Daily
- Plant-Based Diet
- Daily Exercise
- 8 Hours of DEEP Work
- 2 Hours of DEEP Learning
Oddly enough, I quickly began getting more done at a higher level with less time spent on work!
I LOVE living a healthy lifestyle. For awhile, I forgot this fact as I pursued the cliche “hustler” lifestyle. I wanted to work harder than anyone else but this work was destroying my wellbeing.
As I regained my health, I realized that I perform at a much higher level by accomplishing my masterpiece days. I didn’t create a goal to live healthier, I created daily systems to follow that overtime will lead to optimal health.
This is a public service announcement to my fellow entrepreneurs, business professionals, aspiring students, anyone who is putting their health on the back burner for their career. You will accomplish significantly more if you put your health first!
I could write another 30 minute post on the science behind these statements but I figured real life experience is more convincing. Take it from the health professional who turned hustler just to go back to health professional…your health is your true wealth!
