In this solo episode of the No Days Off podcast, host Brian Gubernick shares a personal insight he calls the "inverse relationship" – the fewer cars in a parking lot, the higher the intensity of his workout. He uses this simple observation as a metaphor for achieving high performance in health, business, and relationships. Brian argues that true high performers operate at the extremes, doing things differently from the majority, whether that means training in the hottest part of the day, arriving at the office before anyone else, staying later, or scheduling unconventional date nights. He emphasizes that early‑career success especially depends on hard work and showing up when others are not, but cautions against staying in the “red” (extreme) too long to avoid burnout. Throughout, he encourages listeners to identify the moments in their own lives where the "parking lot" is lightest and to deliberately act then, making tasks harder and more rewarding. The episode ends with a call to reflect on where one can apply this principle across health, work, and personal life.
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Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Let's get into it. Today I want to talk about something that's been on my mind for at least a month, and I thought I'd share it with my audience because my guest is this message, this experience that I've been having will resonate with many of you. I like physical training. I like to push my, my body physically. So I will, I will run, I will hike, I will train at a level that I think is a little more intense than most. And one thing I really like doing is driving a mile or two from my house parking in this parking lot that's at the base of this small mountain. And right around that small mountain, the desert opens up and I could trail run, I could hike, I could rock, I could do all different sorts of things. And there are many times that maybe all of the time that I try to pick a point in the day that makes that workout even more challenging. Maybe it's the heat in Phoenix where I'm at, it's pretty darn hot right now. So if I go more in the middle of the day versus early or late, the heat is a bit more intense, or maybe I take a path or a trail that's a little bit more strenuous, or maybe I'm carrying, you know, a rucksack that's got some heavier weight in it. Whatever it may be, I try to increase the intensity safely, of course, right? And so what I've realized though, about a month ago, as I was starting off on a hike at about 2 or 3 o'clock during the day, when it's, when it's really at its hottest point, when, when really there's nobody else out there. And I'm looking at the parking lot and only my car is in this parking lot. And I recognized at that moment that there is an inverse relationship between the number of cars in the parking lot and the difficulty and intensity of that workout. The fewer the cars in the lot, the harder the workout's going to be. Now again, maybe those cars aren't there because it's time of day. Maybe it's the heat associated with that time of day. Maybe for you it's not heat, but maybe it's cold. You know, if you were picking a time of day that's colder than other times of day, fewer people are out there. Maybe it's the actual workout itself. Maybe if you didn't have as many options in terms of the trail like I do, maybe there's only one trail and it's straight up. There's going to be fewer cars in that parking lot. Or if you're not going out in the desert like I'm doing, maybe you're going to the gym. How many cars are at that gym at 5:00 AM versus 5:00 PM? Just something I've been thinking about as I've been looking at that parking lot and realizing that when there's lots of cars there, when everybody else is willing and able to go do that workout, to me— now I know I'm a little crazy around this stuff, but I start to think, well, gosh, I could make this a lot harder. If I want to have different results than everyone else around me, which is what we strive to do at No Days Off, why am I doing this at the same time everybody else is doing it? If I want to be a high performer, which all of us at No Days Off want to be, by definition, like, when you grade out what is considered a high performer, that would be the upper percentile. Not everybody can be in the upper percentile just by definition. If you look at a bell curve, right, there can only be a certain percentage at the top. And the percentage at the top in health, in business, in life, they tend to do things a little differently than everybody else around them. That's why they're at the top. So I'll bring this back to the workout. I've recognized that there's an inverse relationship between the number of cars in the parking lot and the intensity of the workout. Now, I'm not saying I have to live this way every day, but I did recognize at that moment I have to get more workouts when there's fewer cars in the lot than when there are cars in the lot, because that would mean I'm just like everyone else. Now, as I'm going down this path and thinking this through, I also think it applies very much in business. When is everybody else lead generating? If you're in sales, when is everyone else showing up in the office? When is everyone else leaving the office? What are people doing in the office on average? See, I'm not, I'm not advocating that you have to be the first one in and the last one to leave, but I'll tell you, especially early on in your career, you can't make an argument against hard work. When you pull up to that office and there's no cars in the lot except yours, and you're getting in work during those unseen hours, I would bet, I would bet you have a chance, a higher chance to be more successful. Again, especially early in your career, there's no substitute for hard work. Now, when everyone's leaving and you're staying an extra 20, 30, maybe an hour, Maybe you get a little bit more done than everybody else around you. And again, you want to be a high performer. You've got to do things differently than, than the way everyone else around you does them. How about in your relationships? Everybody, you know, if they're going to have a date night or whatever it may be, it's Friday, it's Saturday, it's movies, it's whatever it may be. But what about you? What have you had your date night? On Tuesday, and it was something different and it was creative. I'm not saying that's the key to a successful relationship, date nights on Tuesday. I'm just simply wondering, if you're going to have more success than everybody else around you, then you got to do things differently than everyone else. Where are there fewer cars in the parking lot? Is the question I'm asking. So in business and in life and in health, what I know is this. Success oftentimes is only had at the extremes. In other words, as a mentor of mine has taught for many, many years, there's no such thing as a balanced life. Success is had at the extremes. Now, when you go out to those extremes, you can't stay in the red for too long, but the extremes would be you putting in work different than everybody else around you. When is the parking lot at its lightest? When are the fewest cars in that lot? In your health, in your business, in your relationships. That's the time you should be getting into action. So again, I want to be a high performer. And by definition, there's only so many that can be considered at the top. So you have to do things differently than everyone else around you. And the success is had at extremes. Now, again, you can't run that way nonstop. I can't go out at 2:30 at the hottest point of the day every day. The wear and tear on my body would just be too much. That's why success is out of the extremes, but you can't run in the red for too long. But can I get out there a little bit more often? Can I be getting up a little earlier? Can I be staying at the office a little later? Can I be doing focused activity during the time that everybody else is chatting it up at the water cooler? Just something to be thinking about. And it's one that I've been thinking about quite a bit, and I'm asking myself, When am I showing up? When am I showing up and how many cars are in the lot? So the focusing question for you, where might this principle apply to your world? If you're thinking about health, right? And you want to do hard things, right? Because I'm a big fan of doing hard things, not just for the sake of doing something hard, but because of the sense of accomplishment. The fact that I know that others are not doing the same sort of thing. That excites me. Now that may not be you, but if you believe in doing hard things and you have a motivation, well, how do you make it hard? I can assure you this, going to that gym at 5 o'clock when everyone else is there, I mean, you're just playing the same game everybody else is playing. So maybe it sounds sick and twisted to some of you, and I can respect that, but I would tell you, how do you make it a little bit more challenging? Not always physically, maybe mentally. How do you push it a little bit more? How do you get that edge? Study the best of the best. And they're taking, they're taking, you know, steps to do things a bit differently. So the focusing question, where could you be showing up with fewer cars in the lot? Where in your life does that principle apply? If you've been rather consistent in your health and your business and your relationships, I want you to look at the parking lot. And I want to use that as a metaphor here. I want you to look at the parking lot and ask yourself, how many cars are there? And if I were to show up when there are fewer cars, what might that look like? I don't know. Maybe this is a little extreme, but I've been thinking about it a lot and it's shaping the way I'm approaching different aspects of my life. And I've got some work to do here, but I think this thought is maybe one you can, you can kick around a bit and see how it applies in your world. That's all we have for today. The No Days Off podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.
