Personal Gain - A Journey, Not a Destination

It was January 2011, and I had just had a hernia operation. I was sick and tired of looking myself in the mirror and seeing this scrawny 24 year old guy who looked no older than 17!

I decided I had to make a change. I needed to make a change in my life. I decided that once I was better, I would join a gym.

What started off as a way to get in shape and change my body soon became a daily regimen. Whether I went at 11 am or 11 pm, I made sure I went to the gym five days a week.

I started off at 135 pounds on that fateful month of February 2011. Today, I am constantly between 150-155 pounds.

It became readily obvious that my body would never be an "Arnold Swartzenegger" or a "Lou Ferrigno" but I wanted to be able to be happy with myself as a person.

When my buddy, Jaret started this site in 2009, he always preached "personal gain and satisfaction" and it never really resonated with me. I would resort to calling him a "meathead" and he would respond back as "poindexter" to signify how easy it is to categorize someone just by appearance. Both of those monikers symbolize societal stereotypes that are not reflective of any person. I then realized how important exercising was to improve your mental attitude. It's not just transforming yourself physically, but the gym is a platform for life, where you can inherit the right psychology. You need to put yourself and your own goals first. If you don't like something, change it. It won't happen overnight, but always set goals and seek to break those goals on a personal level. Whether you're in the gym, at your job, or in school, setting realistic goals is what it is about. It may not be in my genetic blueprint to ever be able to bench 250 pounds no matter how hard I try, but I can make sure that I increase my personal best day by day.

I wrote this article for that very reason. Everyday we see people that bigger, smarter, stronger, or faster. The goal is to not beat them, but to beat ourselves. Today, I'm still a scrawny, poindexter, but I'm happy with my personal gain and continuing on my journey of personal enrichment.