Let me share with you how I was able to transform my health and life:

Part 1:

When I was 27 years old, a friend gave me a book called “Never Eat Alone”.

Full disclose, up until 27-years-old, I thought the Subway footlong I ate every day for lunch was healthy and business was merely about transactions. I was stumbling through life, not happy with my appearance or career, and then this colleague insisted that if I implemented the principles in this book and started sharing my meals with people whom I looked up to, my life would begin to change with regard to my confidence, my values, my actions, and my goals.

Over the next 5 years, I started every day with a coffee meeting at 7:00 a.m., which got me out of the house. Then, I trained for 60 minutes, either running or biking to get ready for Ironman competition. No excuses, no matter the day. Over lunch, I scheduled a business meeting. It didn’t matter who it was, or what business they were in, we met anyway and I learned. At 6:00 p.m. I trained again, whatever I didn’t do in the morning or swimming, and then followed that with another dinner meeting. Pretty much everyone I met, I have done business with at some point over the past 15 years—and we have been able to provide value to each other in ways we couldn’t see that day.

Part 2:

This was my life for 5 years.

Not a couple days.

Not a month.

Five full years. The person looking back in the mirror began to change. The person looking back began to develop confidence that only comes from keeping your word to yourself. The person looking back began to recognize which relationships were no longer serving him and started to develop new friendships with people who were on a similar path.

I continued with my health journey, continued to meet people for every single meal, and continued to learn about habits, business, and life.

Part 3:
Eventually, my self-awareness grew, and I was able to articulate my weakness’s.

In the beginning, I hated meeting new people. My hands would get clammy, and my head would start beading with sweat the moment I walked into a restaurant. Still, I forced myself to meet with one person at every meal. Sometimes, I would spark a relationship instantly with my new friend. Other times I wouldn’t, and I had to fight my way through more than a few awkward, one-sided conversations. Overtime, however, my self-confidence developed and the anxiety I had before meeting new people began to subside. Eventually, it went away altogether

To this day, I share many of my meals.

With friends. With business partners. With loved ones.

Meals have become where I do a considerable amount of business and are an activity that I now look forward to. It helps to surround yourself with people on a similar path with shared values, and I’ve learned that people bring incredible amounts energy, ingenuity, and excitement into life.  

This was my path to transforming my life, and yours probably won’t look the same. Figure out what areas you need to grow, what changes you need to make, and what habits you need to develop to make this happen.

I wish I had someone to tell me two things:

1. A transformation like this is possible.

2. And that it starts with small, incremental changes.

The path to changing your life is not direct and often things don’t make sense when they are happening in real time. Know the journey will not be easy. But nothing worth having in life is free. No matter where you are today, every transformation begins the same way. With a single decision. So, if you’re ready to start living the life you know you are capable of, start today. Commit right now. And keep your word to yourself.

It will not be easy, there will be difficult days, and progress will not be linear.

Accept that.

 And that the hardest part is fully committing to creating the change you want to see in your life.

Hold yourself accountable, not once or twice, but consistently, and your life will change.