SebastianSkinner
Contributor
Hello all,
I have been a member of this forum since August 2020. I have read so many amazing stories from individuals on this forum who have provided fantastic value. Because of this, I feel that it's only fair that I try and provide some value to my fellow aspiring entrepreneurs by way of fitness and mindset, as this is something I believe I now have authority to speak on from my own transformation due to being asked this exact question by many friends and fellow gym goers
Start of change:
At the age of 28 after years of being reckless, unhappy and leading a "party" lifestyle filled with heavy drinking, smoking and recreational drug taking I had a breaking point. It was just after a bender over New Years while off work, I remember laying on the sofa with such a severe hangover, filled with anxiety and fear while thinking to myself "What the hell are you doing?" "You have all this big dreams and your acting like a complete idiot..."
As highlighted in MJ's Millionaire Fastlane book this was my FTE in terms of my health, wellness and mental wellbeing. I could no longer go on like this... I am embarrassed to post these photos below and was not going to post them due to embarrassment, however I think it's important to highlight the change.
The two photos below are of me 1. drunk and smoking and 2. on a trip to Vietnam while travelling (where travelling consisted of getting as drunk as possible in as many hostels as possible), where I thought it was a great idea with some other backpackers to grab a snap of me riding my motorbike naked (not quite sure the thinking behind that now!!). These photos were taken the year before I decided to make a change but highlight my starting point from a physiological and mindset perspective.
In terms of stats I am 6ft3" (193cm) and was weighing around 89kg (196 lbs) at this time.
1.
2.
Creating good habits. Trust the process:
At this point I was working in my corporate job at a fairly low level earning £28,000 per annum. Now this is far cry from where I wanted to be at the age of 28 while holding both an undergraduate and Masters degree. Outside of work I became dedicated to the gym, removing my self from toxic situation and "friends".
I still had a wave of ups and downs with both smoking and drinking. However, over the next 4 years I am happy to state that I am now smoke free and have been for 3 years and counting. In addition, I trialed a 15 month alcohol free streak which was fantastic. I now have a fundamentally different relationship with alocohol and rarely drink. At one point I was very anti any drinking at all, however now with a nice meal maybe once a month while out with my girlfriend I will enjoy 1 glass of red wine or something to that effect. The main difference being, I am now drinking the drink for its enjoyment rather than pounding them back to get as drunk as quickly as possible.
Over the past four years I have elevated my income in my job to £102,000. Now I know this is an entrepreneurship forum and a job does not constitute entrepreneurship! The reason I originally joined (and still is) is that I eventually want to start my own business, however, I needed to get my house in order first. Without a strong base mentally, physically and financially, I am certain that I would have failed at any endeavour.
During this time I have bought and renovated 2 properties myself outside of work in my spare time and have created a strong nest egg. At present I have a combined savings and equity in my house of c.£300k. Now this is not millions by any means, however, marks a large jump from ground zero a couple of years ago.
Transformation:
Now I just turned 32 yesterday and my goal was always to get bigger when training as I had historically been knocked and labelled as "gangly", "skinny", "rake" etc...
I am happy to state after staying consistent with my diet, training and general good lifestyle decisions I have reached a point whereby I feel I have achieved my initial goal physique. However, I now have new goals. The thing I love with the gym, training and exercise is that you will never arrive at a final goal. The goalpost will continuously move as you get better. The two photos below are taken without a pump last night before bed after stepping on the scale to log and track my progress.
New stats in comparison to above are 114.1kg (252 pounds). A whopping increase in weight of 25kg!!! Now I am by no means the leanest I've been during this journey (body fat percentage is probably around 15/16%) as I am bulking at present. However, I like how I look and feel at this weight and it is where I am feeling happy which is the most important thing!
Now, as this is always a common topic in regards to physique. I want to state that yes I am natural and not enhanced. Only supplements used have been creatine and protein powders alongside healthy eating, hard training and consistency. No LiverKing 2.0 here!
Looking forward:
I am now in a happy relationship for the past 1.5 years. Both me and my girlfriend want to push ourselves outside of our comfort zones in terms of careers and pursue something greater. We are gearing up to both quit out jobs early next year to travel for 6-12 months through South America and more of Europe while both working on our own projects This will be funded by a blend of savings (not all of it!) and income generated from my property being leased. The aim of this is to walk away from the comfort and golden handcuffs of my job and look to pursue something bigger and better, but most importantly on my terms. I am excited about this next chapter and will post an update in due course.
Now if you got this far and want some tips on generating change in your life and physique, I have listed some key ones that I believe have been of paramount importance to my own perceived success below.
How to generate change:
1. Change your environment. If you hang out with losers don't be surprised when you're one as well.
2. Perspiration will always beat inspiration. If I had money for all the times I didn't want to go to the gym but still did I would be a rich man.
3. Stay consistent. If you go on holiday or fall off the wagon for a week on your diet or training, guess what? You don't then say oh well, I'll start again next week, next month, next year. No. There is no better time than the present.
4. Don't be too critical on yourself. Balance is key. It's still ok to enjoy some ice cream or a cookie once in a while. However, this must be earned! The irony is, once you have worked out you will be craving healthy food, not bad food.
5. Food choices are won at the supermarket not at home. As MJ says in Unscripted , if it goes in the shopping kart you have already lost. Also, don't go food shopping while hungry, things that shouldn't be in your kart may end up in there...
6. Aim for 1-1.5g of protein per pound of body weight.
7. If the scale weight is not increasing, then you are not eating enough. The amount of times I want to slap someone in the face who says "they just can't eat enough and they have already eaten loads and their metabolism stops them from putting on weight." Guess what. Eat even more then, you're lying to yourself.
8. Find a workout regime and programme that works for you. What works for one person doesn't mean it will work for you. The most important thing is you enjoy it, if you don't, then you won't stick with it.
9. Diet and food choices. Find food you enjoy. You don't have to just eat chicken, broccoli and rice. Do research, experiment and find healthy foods that you find tasty and enjoyable. Similar to point 8, if you don't enjoy it, then you won't stick with it.
10. Trust the process. It won't happen over night but the biggest mistake is expecting to transform your body with a "12 week" body transformation or something to that effect. The word diet should be banned as it emphasises that it's temporary. Lifestyle changes and time will beat a fad or special diet every time.
If you got this far, thanks for reading! If you have any questions or if I can help provide any further value to anyone who has training questions etc, please just let me know.
For now, best wishes and KEEP ATTACKING!
Seb
I have been a member of this forum since August 2020. I have read so many amazing stories from individuals on this forum who have provided fantastic value. Because of this, I feel that it's only fair that I try and provide some value to my fellow aspiring entrepreneurs by way of fitness and mindset, as this is something I believe I now have authority to speak on from my own transformation due to being asked this exact question by many friends and fellow gym goers
Start of change:
At the age of 28 after years of being reckless, unhappy and leading a "party" lifestyle filled with heavy drinking, smoking and recreational drug taking I had a breaking point. It was just after a bender over New Years while off work, I remember laying on the sofa with such a severe hangover, filled with anxiety and fear while thinking to myself "What the hell are you doing?" "You have all this big dreams and your acting like a complete idiot..."
As highlighted in MJ's Millionaire Fastlane book this was my FTE in terms of my health, wellness and mental wellbeing. I could no longer go on like this... I am embarrassed to post these photos below and was not going to post them due to embarrassment, however I think it's important to highlight the change.
The two photos below are of me 1. drunk and smoking and 2. on a trip to Vietnam while travelling (where travelling consisted of getting as drunk as possible in as many hostels as possible), where I thought it was a great idea with some other backpackers to grab a snap of me riding my motorbike naked (not quite sure the thinking behind that now!!). These photos were taken the year before I decided to make a change but highlight my starting point from a physiological and mindset perspective.
In terms of stats I am 6ft3" (193cm) and was weighing around 89kg (196 lbs) at this time.
1.
2. Creating good habits. Trust the process:
At this point I was working in my corporate job at a fairly low level earning £28,000 per annum. Now this is far cry from where I wanted to be at the age of 28 while holding both an undergraduate and Masters degree. Outside of work I became dedicated to the gym, removing my self from toxic situation and "friends".
I still had a wave of ups and downs with both smoking and drinking. However, over the next 4 years I am happy to state that I am now smoke free and have been for 3 years and counting. In addition, I trialed a 15 month alcohol free streak which was fantastic. I now have a fundamentally different relationship with alocohol and rarely drink. At one point I was very anti any drinking at all, however now with a nice meal maybe once a month while out with my girlfriend I will enjoy 1 glass of red wine or something to that effect. The main difference being, I am now drinking the drink for its enjoyment rather than pounding them back to get as drunk as quickly as possible.
Over the past four years I have elevated my income in my job to £102,000. Now I know this is an entrepreneurship forum and a job does not constitute entrepreneurship! The reason I originally joined (and still is) is that I eventually want to start my own business, however, I needed to get my house in order first. Without a strong base mentally, physically and financially, I am certain that I would have failed at any endeavour.
During this time I have bought and renovated 2 properties myself outside of work in my spare time and have created a strong nest egg. At present I have a combined savings and equity in my house of c.£300k. Now this is not millions by any means, however, marks a large jump from ground zero a couple of years ago.
Transformation:
Now I just turned 32 yesterday and my goal was always to get bigger when training as I had historically been knocked and labelled as "gangly", "skinny", "rake" etc...
I am happy to state after staying consistent with my diet, training and general good lifestyle decisions I have reached a point whereby I feel I have achieved my initial goal physique. However, I now have new goals. The thing I love with the gym, training and exercise is that you will never arrive at a final goal. The goalpost will continuously move as you get better. The two photos below are taken without a pump last night before bed after stepping on the scale to log and track my progress.
New stats in comparison to above are 114.1kg (252 pounds). A whopping increase in weight of 25kg!!! Now I am by no means the leanest I've been during this journey (body fat percentage is probably around 15/16%) as I am bulking at present. However, I like how I look and feel at this weight and it is where I am feeling happy which is the most important thing!
Now, as this is always a common topic in regards to physique. I want to state that yes I am natural and not enhanced. Only supplements used have been creatine and protein powders alongside healthy eating, hard training and consistency. No LiverKing 2.0 here!
Looking forward:
I am now in a happy relationship for the past 1.5 years. Both me and my girlfriend want to push ourselves outside of our comfort zones in terms of careers and pursue something greater. We are gearing up to both quit out jobs early next year to travel for 6-12 months through South America and more of Europe while both working on our own projects This will be funded by a blend of savings (not all of it!) and income generated from my property being leased. The aim of this is to walk away from the comfort and golden handcuffs of my job and look to pursue something bigger and better, but most importantly on my terms. I am excited about this next chapter and will post an update in due course.
Now if you got this far and want some tips on generating change in your life and physique, I have listed some key ones that I believe have been of paramount importance to my own perceived success below.
How to generate change:
1. Change your environment. If you hang out with losers don't be surprised when you're one as well.
2. Perspiration will always beat inspiration. If I had money for all the times I didn't want to go to the gym but still did I would be a rich man.
3. Stay consistent. If you go on holiday or fall off the wagon for a week on your diet or training, guess what? You don't then say oh well, I'll start again next week, next month, next year. No. There is no better time than the present.
4. Don't be too critical on yourself. Balance is key. It's still ok to enjoy some ice cream or a cookie once in a while. However, this must be earned! The irony is, once you have worked out you will be craving healthy food, not bad food.
5. Food choices are won at the supermarket not at home. As MJ says in Unscripted , if it goes in the shopping kart you have already lost. Also, don't go food shopping while hungry, things that shouldn't be in your kart may end up in there...
6. Aim for 1-1.5g of protein per pound of body weight.
7. If the scale weight is not increasing, then you are not eating enough. The amount of times I want to slap someone in the face who says "they just can't eat enough and they have already eaten loads and their metabolism stops them from putting on weight." Guess what. Eat even more then, you're lying to yourself.
8. Find a workout regime and programme that works for you. What works for one person doesn't mean it will work for you. The most important thing is you enjoy it, if you don't, then you won't stick with it.
9. Diet and food choices. Find food you enjoy. You don't have to just eat chicken, broccoli and rice. Do research, experiment and find healthy foods that you find tasty and enjoyable. Similar to point 8, if you don't enjoy it, then you won't stick with it.
10. Trust the process. It won't happen over night but the biggest mistake is expecting to transform your body with a "12 week" body transformation or something to that effect. The word diet should be banned as it emphasises that it's temporary. Lifestyle changes and time will beat a fad or special diet every time.
If you got this far, thanks for reading! If you have any questions or if I can help provide any further value to anyone who has training questions etc, please just let me know.
For now, best wishes and KEEP ATTACKING!
Seb
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