How I built 48 pounds of (mainly) muscle in 3 and a half years – and how this relates to marketing in today’s marketplace (digitally)
Over the course of three years and a few months, through hard work, sweat, tears, relentless effort and dedication to my goal of building the body of my dreams, I was able to lose thirty pounds of fat and build up lean muscle – to create a body I am proud of.
I went from 185 pounds (skinny fat and weak) to 150 pounds (lean and mean), and back up to 198 pounds (muscular, relatively lean and strong).
I went from being someone that most people made fun of for being out of shape – to a guy that random people come up to and ask to personally train them (in massive and popular gyms and with plenty of personal trainers right in front of them).
And, this fitness journey had lessons and parallels that helped me in my digital marketing pursuits. That is why I thought that I would share this journey with you all. Enjoy!
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Although some claim (and/or will claim after reading this) that my amazing transformation and muscle development and growth has to be from performance enhancement drugs like steroids (I never took steroids, creatine or any other supplements or drugs – except for flintstone multivitamins while at school)– or is due to my genetics (African – Nigerian to be specific) – it is not.
It is due to following success principles that are applicable in digital marketing – and in business.
Anyways, without further ado, here is how I gained 48 pounds of (mostly) muscle in under 4 years. And, here are the things I learned whilst putting on 48 pounds of (mainly) muscle in the gym.
1)The first thing I learned from working out that helped with digital marketing is – forget everything you thought you knew (you are not that smart) and go back to the basics (go back to the drawing board and create a real plan).
When I walked into the gym, I knew nothing about working out – but, I thought I did. So, I went about for months – doing exercises wrongly, not getting adequate sleep for muscle recovery and strength gains, not targeting specific parts of my body that I wanted to improve and not eating properly to support my efforts.
If you know anything about fitness, working out and healthy living – I broke every fundamental rule.
With no results to show for my perceived “great efforts”, one day, I finally decided to (at the time – shamefully and reluctantly) seek the help of my brothers.
They were both in very good shape – and I felt less embarrassed asking them than I did asking my mates. So, I asked them each to teach me (separately).
They both went about showing me their workouts and what they did every day to get to their goals over the course of a few months.
This little change and decision opened the floodgates.
By seeking the help of more knowledgeable individuals (my brothers), I unlocked the secrets to making significant progress in the gym and in any area (or field) of life. I learned about goal setting, focusing and targeting my efforts, and most importantly, how to create a plan for success.
After realizing I knew nothing and that the help of those better (or more experienced) than me was crucial, I went all in on seeking expert advice and knowledge.
I finally pieced together that knowledge is important when you have a goal or mission – you must know how you will get to where you are going (and you need experts to find this knowledge or channel it and use it properly).
I dug into the internet, social media, forums and other niche fitness resources to discover the secrets that everyday people like me used to build solid muscle quickly.
By doing this, I discovered intermittent fasting, reverse pyramid training, progressive overloading, calory tracking for weight loss or weight gain, high protein foods, the right foods, the right mentality (work hard – and enjoy the lift) and many more golden nuggets.
At the end of the day, by realizing and accepting that I did not know everything (or anything at all), I was able to learn everything I needed to achieve my goals (and truly succeed in my own viewpoint).
This story was very similar – with learning digital marketing. I came into the industry blindly – entering curiously as a middle schooler (little/young high schooler) and as SEO (money site content) article writer writing content for literal pennies.
I wrote 2000-word articles for $5. And, it took hours to complete one article (even after I had solid system going).
I was very content with what I was doing and making ($5 per 2000-word article) at the time.
However, out of curiosity, one day, I asked my best client (a client that accounted for 90 percent of my orders and work at the time) some questions.
Simple questions I had:
What do you do with all of this content you order?
Why do you buy content based on so many different topics?
Why do you not just write it yourself?
Why are you paying me to do this?
And some more burning questions and items of discussion.
After some more probing and realizing that I was no threat to his operation, he revealed the world of SEO to me. And, SEO introduced me to digital marketing and marketing.
By accepting that I knew nothing, I was introduced SEO. Ever since, I have found and discovered many different fields of marketing by simply listening to (and following) experts.
2) Secondly, I learned to keep things simple (simple to point where even your grandma can understand what is going on) – and I learned the added ingredient that’s makes simplicity beautiful and more effective.
You see, years of working out and seeing amazing results (over the course of time) taught me that there is no secret – that is the secret.
If you want to succeed at anything, what you need to do is simple and right in front of you.
You need to stick to doing the hard and difficult things (in my case – working out 6 times a week), follow a clear and simple plan (in this case – push/pull/legs split with progressive overloading on key movements/exercises) and stay disciplined.
That is it.
I made sure that I intermittent fasted and worked out fasted (as per my guiding pronciples) Monday to Saturday without fail (and regardless of circumstance) for three and a half years – and I did it all without really looking at just results (for the love of the game and for myself).
You might be surprised by this.
Do not be. Instead, channel it into your marketing strategy.
The lesson from this fitness journey realization is – always keep strategy and execution simple and disciplined. That is what I have always done – and I have achieved some cool results and things for clients over the past decade or so.
3) Thirdly, I learned to love what I do – just because. I learned to love working out for the sake of working out and not for the benefits or exterior advantages (a six pack 😉)
Perhaps, the most important lesson I learned from working out is to – love what you do for the sake of how you feel and because you enjoy it and not for the benefits it provides you.
Listen, yes, marketing to earn a dollar and earning profits are great – but impacting the lives of people and customers is really what this is all about (for me and my team here at Generation One).
That is what I love to use marketing for and why I do marketing – to impact people.
And, this internal motivation and guiding light has made all the difference in the results I have delivered clients (and for my growth in the industry).
If you want to talk about fitness, nutrition, working out, business, marketing, or just say hello, reach out to me and we can set something up.
Thank you for reading this. I hope you learned something. Please share this with a friend or a family member if you found it useful, motivational, or helpful – in any way.
