Ever since I was 15 years old I’ve strived to become successful. I was fortunate to be raised by two parents who both worked full time jobs. I say fortunate because watching how hard my parents worked installed a sickening work ethic in me from a young age. I was taught how to be independent. I was trained how to think outside the box. I was instructed how to remain disciplined. I was challenged to always go against the heard. I was prepared for the harsh realities of life.

In my opinion, a person is only truly successful if he or she is able to achieve (and maintain) a certain level of success in four specific areas of his or her life.

It’s not difficult to be successful in one or possibly two areas of life.

But to be successful in all four?

Is it even possible?

Exercise

To me, there is nothing more motivating and inspirational than seeing someone who is actively trying to take care of their health and fitness through regular exercise and physical activity. You don’t have to have a six pack or flawless glutes in order to be fit. In fact, you can have a bit of belly and perhaps some cellulite in those very same glutes and still be incredibly fit. Just the fact that you are putting in the time and effort to go to the gym or go for a run outside on a regular basis and work on yourself, is going to help improve your overall health dramatically. Resistance Training and Cardiovascular Training offer so many benefits to both our physical and mental health, that to neglect them due to being “too busy” or “too tired” is just reckless and irresponsible. Regardless of how busy I get, I always make sure to schedule time in my day for a 60 minute workout. This is and always will be non-negotiable when I’m planning out my daily work/life schedule.

Diet

Over the years, I’ve had to be very careful with my words when it comes to speaking about dietary nutrition. My goal has always been to assist my clients outside the gym with their diets by teaching them about the quality of the foods in which they are consuming. I try my best not to demonize certain foods, however I’ve always made my stance perfectly clear on so-called “snacks” that I feel have little to no place in one’s diet, or should at least come with a warning label slapped onto the package just like cigarettes do. Yes, I feel that it’s important to have a general understanding about macronutrients, but more importantly, from a health standpoint, I believe we also need to educate people more on the micronutrients that they are consuming.

With all that being said, no one (including myself) has a perfect diet. And that’s okay. I believe that as long as a person is making a conscious effort to fuel his or her body with the adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals and nutrients delivered from wholesome food sources at least 90% of the time, they will be successful on their nutritional plan

Finances

I am so glad that I am not a trust fund baby. As I mentioned at the beginning of this week’s blog, I’ve been working since I was 15 years old (legally that is). I was actually working at 6 years old helping my brother deliver newspapers at 5am, 7 days a week. I purchased my first condo at the age of 18 years old without borrowing a cent from anyone in my family. Yes, I had a mortgage, but I was able to pay that off within the first two years of owning my first home, and then just used the equity from that home to purchase my second home and then again my third home and so on.

When it comes to being financially fit, I’ve always believed that it’s important to have multiply streams of revenue coming in at any given time. This way when an emergency or catastrophe happens (such as a global pandemic, health issues, inflation, war, etc) and one stream dries up, you still have another two or three streams to rely on if needed.

I was taught the value of a dollar because I worked hard for every dollar that I earned. Nothing was ever given to me. And I believe I am incredibly fortunate because the experience of working from a young age taught me how to manage and invest my finances accordingly.

You don’t have to be a millionaire to be financially successful. I believe that as long as you’re able to take care of yourself and your loved ones, and not have to constantly borrow money from others, this success will be something you strive to maintain for a lifetime.

Relationships

Ah Relationships, the fourth area in which I feel is the final puzzle piece to establishing overall success in life. Unfortunately so many of us (including myself) tend to neglect and sacrifice meaningful relationships in order to achieve their career, fitness and financial goals. If I were to be honest, I would say that this is the one area in my life in which I have failed at quite miserably. With that being said, I’m not afraid to expose my weaknesses so that I can address them, and try to correct them to the best of my ability. When it comes to building and maintaining strong relationships, I’m definitely a work in progress.

As I become older, I realize more with each passing day, how short life truly is. And as much emphasis as I’ve always I put on the importance of being both physically, mentally and financially fit, all it of means very little if you have no one to share your life experiences with. This is why I believe that regardless of how wealthy and healthy a person might be, he or she has not achieved overall success if they are unable to build and establish meaningful relationships in their life.

The Truly Successful People

I have great admiration for those people that are able to balance their health, wealth, and personal/business relationships on a daily basis. These are the people that put an equal amount of time, effort and energy into all areas of their lives. I believe that we can all learn from these types of people. But in order to do this, I think we have to do some self-reflection and recognize the areas in our own lives that need repairing.

If you lack the motivation to go to the gym and exercise, then enlist in the services of a Personal Trainer/Coach that will help hold you accountable. If you cannot afford a Trainer, then join a Group Fitness Class or ask a friend to join you for your workouts each day.

If you lack the discipline to remain focused on following a healthier diet, then throw out the “junk foods” in your home and surround yourself with healthier choices. Start bringing your lunch with you to work, rather than constantly going to a food truck or restaurant. Forget Skip the Dishes and start putting some effort into the meals you create at home.

If you lack the knowledge needed to manage your finances, then take a budgeting course or learn online how to manage your finances accordingly. There are numerous templates and software available that can assist you with creating a weekly budget so that you are able to live within your means while saving and investing in your future.

And if you’re like me, and suck at building and maintaining relationships, don’t give up. Like anything you want to become successful at in life, I think we just need to keep putting in the time, effort and energy, and most importantly have a willingness to WANT our relationships to succeed and flourish. I believe if we keep at it, we too can become successful in this area of our lives.

“Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.”
Coco Chanel

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance