My biggest struggle in the army, by far, was working with the people who didn’t try.

Not people who were bad at their jobs, but very specifically: people who didn’t CARE to be good at their jobs.

When I first joined, I didn’t know how to shoot a gun. And I signed up for the Infantry. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, right? But I learned VERY quickly in basic training that I wasn’t naturally good at it, so it was going to require a ton of work. I didn’t like that feeling, so I put in the work to become a better shot, and eventually qualified as an expert. 

My first couple years in the army, I didn’t take physical fitness very seriously. I met the minimums, but that was about it. I had an experience on my second deployment to Iraq that made it VERY obvious that I needed to change that, so I did. I found fitness and ensured I’d never be out of shape again. 

I joined the army at 18 years old. I was an immature little kid, with no idea what I was doing. I was given my first leadership position at 19 years old. Then my next one at 20. Then my next one at 22. I wasn’t sure if anyone else could see what was going on, but I could: I still had no idea what I was doing. But I recognized that other grown men were now relying on me, so I put in the effort to learn how to become a better leader.

Here’s the thing: I’m not special.

I’m not a natural athlete, I don’t have the kind of upbringing that should’ve made me a leader, and I’m DEFINITELY not a natural shot… haha.

I just try. REALLY hard. All the time. 

I think this is why fitness, and specifically coaching, has been something I dove into so hard. 

fitness doesn’t reward you for natural ability without the hard work. Ask all the “naturally” strong guys who try to snatch heavy on day one.

Coaching doesn’t reward you for barely trying. Everyone is VERY aware when you have a coach who’s mailing it in. 

I love what I do now, because I’m surrounded by people who just wanna try REALLY hard, ALL the time, and the results are outstanding. They push me to try even harder, and push me to accomplish even more.

Maybe it was cool in high school to be the guy sitting in the back of the class, not paying attention to the teacher, but I’ll take the one up front, busting their ass, doing their best all the time.