I don't know how long ago it was but someone gave me a powerful piece of advice regarding life and work, but mostly life....
He was telling me about the day that he looked forward to having X amount of dollars in the bank and then he can say "F**K You" to anyone.
It immediately got me thinking that I NEVER wanted to be in a situation where I HAD to be in a relationship of any sort with someone. I ALWAYS wanted to be able to say "F**K You" not so much to people, but to any circumstance that pushed heavy negative vibes through my mind, body and soul.
My integrity spoke to me. I remembered how depressing it was my 5th year of teaching when I voluntarily transferred to teach at the middle school. It sucked BIG time. I hated Sundays and lived for Friday. That was the worst feeling. To be stuck, hating what I was doing. Hate is a strong word and this was a time in my life that I sucked at turning negative into positive.
Forgive me if this is a bit of a ramble, I fell asleep around 11 PM and woke up at 1 AM. This is the 2nd night in a row that I woke up like this and I don't have any plans on staring at the ceiling for 4 hours.
So I woke up and checked in on the forum of Underground Inner Circle.
I came across some heavy duty journaling from one of the recent Underground Strength Coaches.
I'm gonna share one of the entries below because it should inspire you to get the balls to NOT conform to what other people consider normal or consider the right thing to do.
Trusting your gut instincts is one of the most powerful, animal instincts we have. Deny those instincts and you almost always pay the price in a negative manner.
Check out the first part of Logan's journal....
The Hero's Journey - My Life Experiment
![Logan Transforms from 250 lbs to 211 lbs following The Renegade Diet](https://zacheven-esh.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Logan-Underground-Strength-Coach.png)
Better sit down for this post, it is a long, overly detailed post. So I'll start with the cliff notes and let you decide if you'd like to read.
Cliffs:
- Graduated last year with engineering degree while playing baseball
- Worked for my fathers company with a direct path to success in the corporate world.
- Quit my job in Houston, sold almost all my stuff, moved to Austin with no job
- Bounced around from gym to gym while discovering myself
- Put in my 60 days notice so I can buy an RV and travel the United States going from gym to gym
- Starting this off with a bang by doing a 7 day water only fast
So here I am, 60 days until I am homeless, about to start a 7 day water only fast, selling everything I own, moving into an RV, to travel the United States to see the most BADASS gyms across the US in order to become a master of my trade in doing so.
This is my journey, and I'd like to keep myself on the right path with support to do the right thing. I'll be posting daily updates on where I am in my superhuman quest. Let me introduce myself first.
My name is Logan Brunkenhoefer, and I'm off on my "Hero's Journey".
It truly began one year ago. I had just graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Mechanical Engineering degree while playing division 1 baseball. A sentiment that most would be proud of. But for me, I just played baseball because I was good at it (boring a*s sport to watch). I looked forward and obsessed over off season training, my true passion. That was my love, making myself the most badass human being as possible.
You would think that I would have chosen a major related to that passion, but I choose mechanical engineering instead. Granted, I loved engineering, but my heart, my passion, everything I loved, was involved in training and life optimization.
I choose the safe route though, the safe route that engineering provided for my future. So I graduated, with a good degree, an incredible resume, and a false sense of pride in what I had "accomplished".
During this graduation time frame, I transitioned from CrossFit, to calisthenics to powerlifting.
The powerlifting phase changed my life. I graduated at 250 lbs (see picture above) while being heavily involved in powerlifting. I was a freak, a MACHINE! I could waddle up to that squat rack with 550+ pounds and squat with the most atrocious form you have seen. It looked more like an incredible good morning.
I deadlifted 675 pounds in a meet with a round back that would make you cringe, thinking my vertebra was about to pop out. My gut was bacteria infested, my joints ached, my skin was red and ashy.
So I went into my career with my achy joints, mucus filled sinuses, and your typical robotic mindset of living.
I then found Zach, Jason Ferruggia, Elliott Hulse and Joe Rogan. They all opened my eyes. Opened my eyes that everything I have lived thus far, my ENTIRE life has been lived as a lie. All the bullshit I had done.
I looked around in my cubicle. Felt it crushing in on my soul, and said what in the f**k am I doing. I looked over at my fellow employees, guts hanging over, greasy jack in the box bag on his desk, ghostly pale, a saddening appearance. They were covered in a very the finest clothing (company with LOTS of money), the fancy watch, the highest thread count tie, the classy shoes.
I looked down at myself, I looked down at myself to take notice of fancy clothes, looked at all the SHIT I was shoving down my throat, looked up to see my three little walls. I constantly looked at the clock, constantly looked forward to the weekend, and damn near would splurge myself the few times I would get a glance at an attractive woman.
I had the 3 vehicles at 23 years old that I had so called "worked" for. But on the inside, my soul, my body, and my mind were deteriorating at an astonishing rate. The combination of the hatred towards my job, the concrete jungle of a city that Houston was, and my physical being pushed me to the brink. My journey had began.
I cleaned it all up. I changed my diet, my lifting, my life. I followed intermittent fasting (which gave me FREAKISH results), began meditating, and I began this entire process or purging.
I sold my diesel truck amongst many other things, broke up with my girlfriend, quit my corporate job, giving up my fathers' legacy and my security. Then proceeded to move to Austin. Unemployed, no idea what my life would consist of.
I arrived in the glorious place of Austin, Texas and started looking for gyms. I first began in a warehouse gym. I thought this was perfect. Exactly what I was looking for. I was wrong. I interned there for a little more than a week and left. Went and became USC certified with Zach in New Jersey.
I was still missing something. I moved to another gym. An athletic training facility. It was nice to get back to my athletic background, but the people there were PUSSIES. I worked there for two weeks and quit. I bounced around to MMA gyms and calisthenics but couldn't find what I was looking for. I had this vision of owning my own little warehouse gym with a different training philosophy, but couldn't find anyone that had a similar vision.
A little lost and confused, I decided to smoke a fat joint, use holosync, and mediate. I did this for a few days, all in combination with crazy experiences in float tanks and breaking up my body with some of Elliott Hulse's crazy implements. Through all of the above, all my input in the form of articles/podcasts, and reading many books, I had finally figured it out.
My passion was going to different gyms and learning about their philosophies on training and life. I found each different implement of training so interesting, whether it be functional training, athletic training, bodybuilding, powerlifting, olympic lifting, CrossFit, yoga, MMA, strength and conditioning, Underground Strength, parkour, etc..
I loved how they are all connected. During my internships, I felt a little wrong. I felt as though I needed to truly develop my training philosophy. I had a broad range of knowledge from each realm of fitness, but needed to further this.
I looked at it from a 3rd person perspective. After seeing my experience in Austin, I realized what I HAD to do. I love traveling, seeing different scenery, talking to PASSIONATE people, training in all forms. and I am in this process of minimizing my life in every way.
It hit me. My plan, my purpose, and my future. It finally felt right. When I ask myself now, it is a YES!! Not a umm, maybe. So my plan is this: sell everything I own except the essential items, buy an RV, and travel from gym to gym across the United States. Living full time in an RV, meeting incredible people, enjoying food from around the world, and following whatever my heart says to. So I put in my 60 day notice for my apartment.
So here I am, 60 days from being homeless with just enough money to scrap by, unemployed, selling everything non-essential, fasting for 7 days, building my online business, and following my heart. I like to think of my life as a movie. I am my own super hero. I like to think as though I have a casting crew following me and my crazy experiences.
_________________
Hey, guys. I'm back. There are daily journal entries on our forum so the above is Logan's first entry. I'm gonna share some thoughts on the above.
Some Important Notes I'd Like to Follow Up On:
- I shared this journal because regardless of your age, there are important lessons to be learned here. This is not about "is he doing the right thing?", it's about cultivating the inner strength to dare something worthy, to be adventurous and to face some of your fears and go for it.
Regardless of your age, Getting Comfortable Being UN-comfortable is always something we need to implement, even at the smallest level.
- I don't recommend you or anyone else go out and quit your job without a plan that is already aggressively in action, unless your job is truly putting you on the verge of a dangerous freak out (You can see some crazy office freak outs on youtube).
- When I was a teacher and had that life changing moment when my friend told me, "I think you were put on this earth to make people strong....", I began working furiously to achieve my goal of open The Underground Strength Gym and changing the lives of weak athletes. I woke up early and worked before going to work as a teacher, I worked on my lunch break while others went out for lunch, I worked until midnight, 1 AM, 2 AM and sometimes later.... ALL to LIVE my dreams and avoid Dreaming my Life.
- Work towards what you want, everyday. If you don't like your job, your life, where you live, etc do NOT be a complainer. Be a DO-er. The BIGGEST step you can make towards your success is to listen and TRUST your gut instincts. MOST people waste inordinate amounts of time following people to see how others live their lives, how others run their business, what others think, etc.
- STOP being a copycat and STOP being a follower. The answers are inside of YOU.
- For the young guys (and girls) out there reading this.... before you have a family, own a house, etc, you have a TON more flexibility to do what Logan is doing. Can I get up and travel around the country with my wife, my kids and my dogs? Sure. But it would NOT be what is best for my family. I am driven to do what is best for my family AND to help change the lives of people around the world through STRENGTH.
- You also have the freedom, regardless of your age, (Hustle is FREE) to learn how to start your own business doing things online, traveling to teach (experts get paid for what they do) and overall flexibility to create almost anything.
If you're stuck somewhere.... stuck in a place where you can't say "F**K YOU!".....
Then you must take aggressive action to NEVER be stuck in such a place. Because that "place" is the MOST dangerous place to live. In that "place", ironically, you are NOT living.
I speak from experience. I spent time in my life depressed and spent time in my life where I was not exposed and simply did NOT know how to get out of that place.
As a Teacher, my goal is to help you avoid that prison.
Do what your heart is telling you to do. Follow your gut instincts.
Live The Code 365
--Z--
4 Responses
Best of luck to Logan on his journey! Glad he found it before he was too tied down. Great post Z.
The Truth. And almost everybody falls into this “doing what others do” “copying what others seem to be happy with” etc. I’m thankful for everything I read, everytime I’m reminded of that circumstance.
Great post Zach and I appreciate your 2 cents regarding those who have families who must also do what’s right by them. We all have the ability to take a life changing journey whether it be across the country or across your town.
Yep, too many pieces of “wisdom” being forced upon others out there given by people who are single or have no family to care for first and foremost.