I’ve been working out with weights since I was 12 years old. I’ve been collecting home gym equipment for almost two decades at this point. It started with a weight rack and some weights I got at the only Black Friday sale I’ve ever attended. Then it got bigger every year as I found stuff at garage sales, on facebook marketplace, etc.
This isn’t a post about how to build your own home gym (although please ask if you’re interested). It’s a post about my One Thing.
In Gary Keller’s book “The One Thing”, he asks the question, “what is the one thing that I can do in my life, such that by doing it everything will be easier or unnecessary?”
I used to think about that question only with respect to what I did for work. And the answer for several years was to “lead generate” (for non-realtors, essentially work more). That’s definitely a key to success in my job, but I don’t think it answers Gary’s question completely. So lately I’ve been realizing something that I’ve probably known without saying for years.
My one thing is my gym. It’s exercise.
When I look back at on my life, those times where it has gone well have been those times when I’m exercising regularly. When I have struggled, most of the time I have fallen off the workout wagon.
Going to the gym just fills my cup like nothing else does. It gives me energy. It’s stress relief. It allows me to be better for my family. And deadlifting now is just as fun as it was 20 years ago. Maybe even more fun because now I have “old man strength”.
Before this realization I may have looked to several strategies to fix my issues in life. I’m stessed out? Maybe meditate. It’s slow at work? Work harder.
Now, my solution to any question is “did you work out today?” I focus on my fitness and knock out my workout of the day. Everything else just flows from there.
This doesn’t mean that, if you’re not a gym rat, that you have to become one. One of my friends gets their strength from their faith. Another gets it from meditation.
There’s likely something in your life that is so deep and meaningful that fills you up and gives you unlimited energy. I would hazard a guess that’s your thing. If you stop complicating your life and focus on that each day, I bet you’ll have a pretty amazing life.