Episode 191: You Set Limits, Not Society

Welcome to the Soul of Innovation podcast. I am Thomas Anglero, and let me ask you a question. When did it not become fashionable to be exhausted from working out? When did it become weird to be the weird person, to be the guy who's committed to training his body, his mind, to be better, to learn something, to get more muscle, to be healthier, to have a longer life, have a better quality of life. When the hell did that turn out to be weird? Well, it is now. Let me tell you a story. This weekend, all weekend long, I kept running into people who all they were talking about was the goal and point of life was to relax, to do nothing. To do absolutely nothing. Yesterday I was coming home from the gym. Yesterday I hit the weights and did upper body, did the legs. And so I walked home a little funny because my legs were hurting. Ran into a couple of neighbors, and the last one was the perfect example of what the hell I'm pissed off about, because she's walking her dog and she says to me, you look exhausted. And I said, I am. It's only 11 o'clock in the morning and I'm done. My body's fried, but I feel good. I'm proud of myself. I put in the work. I invested in me. I got up early, 7 AM in the morning on a Sunday, to get my butt to the gym and go do some hard-ass workout. She goes, you should be resting. You should, you should be doing nothing. All weekend long, people told me, and I'm watching people, and all their goal is to do is to sit down with some beer, or most importantly, a glass of wine in their hand. What about putting in the work? What about busting some butt? I've said many, many times Consistency. Being consistent every single day, putting in the work. After a few weeks, a few months, you will see results, not just in your body, but in your mind, in your status, in your income, in the number of friends you have, in your sex life, in your relationships, and the feeling about yourself. In your six-pack, in your dancing ability, your driving ability, your running ability, your ability to do better on an exam. You put in the consistent work and the results are always, always there. But the mindset of today is, I gotta relax. Let's meet at the cafe and have a coffee. The hell's this obsession with coffee? Why is everything about sitting around having a cup of coffee? And in the evenings, let's have a glass of wine. Everything's about sitting down. Young people today gaming like mad. And with this VR that's coming made by Apple, it's gonna take it to a next level. Never has this world we have more people obese and overweight, and we're sitting down more and more. Do not sit down. Do— don't do it. You have to put in the work. Looking in my neighbor's eyes, I understood that we are two completely different people. But I remember many years ago when I met her, she was training. She was always going out. Always moving. Now her goal is to sit. Don't sit. Do not let anybody set your standards for you. Just because the friends around you are sedentary, just because your friends around you don't have ambition, just because your colleagues around you are boring as hell does not mean you are. You are who you want to be. You are who your mind— who you and your mind decide you want to be. What you envision in your brain and see yourself tomorrow, next week, next month, next year— that is who you are. And you put in the work every single day. You could take a day off, but you're obsessing and you're thinking about, I can't wait to take the next day after day off so I could get back to work. This includes reading books. This includes learning a new language. This includes learning something. Anything. Includes ironing. Includes knitting. Keep working at yourself. All of society is getting sedentary. People are not moving. Do not let other people tell you what to do. And most importantly, don't let them make you feel guilty. Take a step back and look at them. Why are you letting this person who's overweight overweight, tell you about how to live a quality life. I'm done, man. I thought— I just remember when it was cool, when people were proud of people who worked out. People were proud of people who put in the work. People were proud of people who were ambitious, career-oriented, goal-oriented, people who had a dream and would do anything to fulfill that dream. I remember that, and that's the world I still live in, in my head. But yesterday I got slapped— sorry, this weekend I got slapped in my face and see that society, somebody gave them a different memo and I didn't get that memo. Don't let anyone give you a memo. You write your own memo. Go forth and spread beauty and light. If the people around you do not encourage you, do not cheer you on, and don't tell you that they look up to you, or they don't smile at you, the hell with them. You're not doing it for them. You're doing it for you. You're doing it for you. You're doing this so that you have a better quality of life, that you live long and healthy and happy without pains and diseases. You're doing this so that you feel proud of yourself. You're doing it so that maybe the generation after you, your kids, are proud of you. You're doing it for you. You're not doing it for anybody else. Be the lone duck. Be that lone person sitting at the table all by themselves in a huge cafeteria. You're that guy or that girl. Be that person. Be proud. Everybody else is just doing nothing. I'm, I'm so upset. You know what? I'm more than upset. I'm disappointed because we all have individual choice and this is where we're at. I'm your biggest fan. I want you to be proud when you get up early, you pick up that gym bag, or you pick up your school books and you go to school early. You go to the library just as it opens. You say good morning to the person who's opening up the library, and you're putting in the work. You're studying your butt off. You're opening up the gym with the person who's opening the gym, and you're putting in the work and you're busting your butt. I am so proud of you. That is who you are. You do not let anyone, anyone, what they're doing, what they're thinking does not guide you. You guide you. Your hunger for you guides you. That is who you are. Do not move from there. Do not budge from that vision. Do not let anyone, anyone, decide on who you are. Got it? Good. I'm Thomas Anglero, the president of your fan club. You need to hear this podcast again? Replay it back. I am the president of your fan club, and I am proud of you that you put in the work, that you got up early, that you went to bed late, that you bought that audio— what is it called— that audiobook, because you didn't have time to read a book, so you're listening to it. Good for you. Proud of you. Instead of taking the elevator, you took the steps. Good. I'm proud of you. Instead of eating the cookies, you had an orange or apple. Good. I'm proud of you. That is who you are. You define you. No one else defines you. You define you. You define you. Got it? Good. Great. Love you. Take care. Until the next time. Thank you for listening to that episode. If you want to contact me, you can contact me on my website at anglero.com, and you can also subscribe to the newsletter, or you can find me anywhere on social media with Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Thank you so much, and I hope to hear from you very soon.