There was a version of me that chased money and lost almost everything that mattered. I said it out loud this week, and I’m not taking it back: “I was chasing money before and lost my weight, my strength, almost myself — but now I’m an adapted version of both worlds.”
Both worlds means exactly what it says. World one is the warehouse — the overnight shifts, the paycheck that keeps a roof up and family supported. World two is the platform — the 80kg class, the log press, War at the Warehouse IV in March. The old version of me let world one eat world two alive. The adapted version feeds both.
Why I stopped chasing their approval
Early on at the warehouse, I asked multiple times to be a Learning Ambassador. Leadership said they wanted me for it. Then nothing happened — never got the chance. That’s the backstory to everything you read about me now. I stopped chasing company approval that day and changed my whole game plan: work smart, not hard. My standard, not their applause.
Here’s what replaced it. My creed, in my words: “I clock in early, do my job, I am respectful, I help my team, and I leave respectful — I don’t waste the company’s time or mine.” Early in, early out. I don’t even look at the clock when I get to work — I’m focused. And when VTO is offered, I read it as the volume signal: use what the company gives u, stay when there’s no VTO. Offered means the floor doesn’t need me — leaving is clean, and it cuts management a headache too. Not offered means the work needs hands — so I stay and give the full shift. A company man builds someone else’s dream. I have my own life, and my own purpose.
The training adapted too
The same adaptation hit the gym. I used to think work days meant no training days. That rule is retired. The machine era is short, light post-work sessions straight after the shift: a top single, some arms, and I’m gone — deliberately not destroyed. Bench 255, biceps, triceps, out the door in my work uniform.
And I’m adding days on top of that. Not more intensity — more frequency, kept light on purpose so recovery doesn’t climb. The job gets my reliable hours. The training gets the rest of me. Both worlds, every week.
The adapted version of me isn’t trying to escape the job or worship the hours. The job funds the mission. The mission stays the mission. Protect the body that produces the money — and let the money feed the dream, not eat it.