I want to be rich.

I’m not a big fan of material items – so my idea of rich may differ from your idea of rich.

If I were rich, I would likely keep my car. My 2002 Honda Accord with over 150,000 miles on it does the trick nicely. I work 2 miles away from home, I fill up my tank once every two months, and I couldn’t care less about nicks, dings, and scratches.

If I were rich, I would likely keep my watch. It’s a Citizen – it’s on the lower end of “nice watch” territory. It does exactly what it is supposed to do – it tells time.

If I were rich, I would even keep my house. I might upgrade my basement and buy the fanciest massage chair ever. But my house is merely where I live. I don’t see a need to move now, especially when my girls are young and need stability.

If I were rich, I would have a lot more experiences, though. More vacations, more fine dinners, more massages, and more front row concerts/sporting events. You can’t beat experiences.

So, how do I go about being rich?

Simple – I constantly strive to find additional sources of income. I am always looking for ways to cut costs, or keep my lifestyle the same as I earn more. I put as much as I can into my retirement accounts. I pay down debt with every additional penny I have.

I am not rich today. But I will be rich one day.

I cannot rush the process of becoming rich.

I do not buy lottery tickets, I don’t beg wealthy family members for money, and I don’t show desperation with finances.

Acting like this would do nothing but cause me headache, heartache, and anxiety.

You can’t “rush” wealth accumulation. Not if you want to stay sane, at least.

And the exact same thing is true of your fitness journey as well.

The Biggest Mistake You Can Make

Rushing to achieve your goals is the biggest mistake you can make.

Whether you are talking about money, fitness, relationships, or any other endeavor you might encounter.

Ever try to “rush” a relationship with a significant other before it had time to properly blossom?

Have you ever said, “I love you” after your second date?

Ever tried to go in for a goodbye kiss when the time was obviously wrong?

Ever try to “rush” properly grilling a t-bone steak? You flipped it too fast, and took it off the grill without checking it. Good luck biting through that chunk of meat – it may just “moo” right back at you.

Ever try to “rush” a sale? You come off as desperate instead of confident. Scared money don’t make money, in case you didn’t know.

A scarcity mindset is a difficult mindset to conquer. We all have “scarcity” mindsets from time to time. A “scarcity” mindset tells us we need to “get there” faster, when in reality, we likely need to slow down a bit and take our time.

Ever meet someone who ate like their food was going to get off their plate and walk down the road? That “someone” is me, by the way. I still do eat like this at times.

Trust me, it’s never a good look.

Relaxing and enjoying the process is integral to your long-term success and your overall happiness and enjoyment.

Your Fitness Application

I recently polled my email list about their biggest frustration in the game of fitness.

About 75% of the (many) responses listed inconsistency.

A direct quote from one of them:

Hey, Jason.

My biggest frustration is everything I do is like one, big cycle.

When I diet, I diet too hard, it’s unsustainable, and I fall off the wagon.

I decide I need to train 6 days per week, and do yoga on the 7th day. I do cardio every day. I weight train for 90 minutes. And I eat 1,000 calories under maintenance.

By the third week, I’m DYING of starvation and I’m tired as hell. I generally crack, and blame my willpower and lack of motivation.

I get so pissed off at myself that I quit altogether, and gain back all the weight I’ve lost over the next week.

And I’m right back where I started.

We’ve all been there.

Our desire to be “done” gets in the way of our rational thinking side. We want to get to our goal NOW instead of worrying about (and maximizing) the process which will help us achieve our goal.

In short, we try to rush the process.

When we try to rush the process, bad things start to happen.

When we try to rush fat loss, we end up looking for the maximum tolerable dose rather than the minimum effective dose. There may be some merits to ordering up the maximum tolerable dose when going for muscular gain, but in fat loss phases, and ESPECIALLY when dieting, the minimum effective dose generally works better.

When you’re dieting, you need to be sure you aren’t going to quit on yourself. You want to minimize stressors as much as possible. And you also want to be able to “add” more to your calorie deficit should your metabolism decrease due to prolonged dieting.

If you start “all in”, you have nothing left in the reservoir from which to pull from. If you need to adjust, you’re screwed.

When dieting, you want to eat as much as you can and still lose fat. This will make the experience much more pleasant – and tolerable.

When you try to rush muscle building, you can easily end up gaining too much body fat.

You will likely be able to add 1-2 pounds per month of lean body mass. Any more than that would be considered a genetic outlier, regardless of training history.

If you’re gaining 6 or more pounds per month, there’s almost a 100% chance it’s more than half fat.

Take it from a guy who has been there before – that “dirty bulk” you’re taking on is just an excuse to eat too much. You’ll be sloppy and need to cut the fat before too long. Don’t end up having to cut for nearly a year. Cutting is no fun – I doubt I have to tell you that.

How To Stop Rushing Life

I wish there was an easy, step-by-step guide on how to stop rushing life and enjoy the ride.

The fact is, there isn’t.

There are, however, a few “best practices” you can employ to make sure you see your world through the proper lens.

Meditate

Take time out of your day to relax.

However you wish to relax is up to you. Do you enjoy listening to soothing music? Detaching and lying down with your eyes closed? Taking a warm bath or shower at the end of a long day? Or just breathing deeply and focusing on your surroundings?

Sitting for 5-10 minutes in total silence a few times per day can help you feel grounded and alive.

Be Present

Be aware of the world around you. Turn off your smartphone. Look around your environment. See the world for what it is.

When you are driving, be driving. When you are making dinner, be making dinner. When you’re having a conversation with your kids, stop what you are doing and look at them right in their eyes.

For extra points, smile at them. They love that.

Reflect

Keep a journal and jot down your thoughts about your current situation. What have you been doing in order to reach the goals you have set for yourself?

What daily activities have you engaged in to make yourself more successful?

What has been working? What hasn’t been working? What should you eliminate, change, or tinker with?

Rate certain items – rate your mood, your sleep, your contentedness, and the difficulty of the tasks you are currently doing. Can you turn things up a notch, or do you think you may burn out soon?

Being mindful and reflecting on your current situation can take you from “FOMO-land” to “happy town”.

Stop Multi-tasking

Do one thing at a time.

Set yourself a rigid schedule if you need to – and stick to the schedule religiously. During certain times of the day, only allow yourself to do certain items.

This will not only stop you from feeling “rushed”, it will also make you much more efficient and productive, as Pareto’s Law will allow you to get more done in a smaller time frame.

Accept Yourself

In the world of physical self-improvement, you will never be “done”. It’s impossible. The greatest physique architects on the planet are still trying to make improvements.

This isn’t the problem – the self-loathing which accompanies the desire for self-improvement is the problem. Just because you wish to improve your lagging calves doesn’t mean you should put on full pants until you achieve your goal.

You are a work in progress. Accept this as fact and enjoy the work you put into your body.

You cannot control the outputs of life.

You can only control your inputs.

If you begin to enjoy the process, rushing your progress will be a thing of the past.

-Jason