I'm not as fit as could be right now.

I mean, I'm not out of shape per se … I still exercise every day of the week and eat pretty well.

But could I be fitter if I weren't so obsessed with building my publishing business and escaping commuter life permanently?

Absolutely.

Before I became an entrepreneur, I had a lot more mental and physical capital to spend on working out.

And the further I get into this journey, the more I realize how much being overstressed or overworked can affect anyone's fitness … even if your job is being fit.

Even the GOAT feels work stress

These thoughts crossed my mind when I happened upon an article this week describing how the greatest NFL quarterback of all time (and a huge fitness guru), Tom Brady, actually lost 10 pounds after ending his professional football career.

Now, everyone handles big life changes differently.

I've been around a lot of ex-pro athletes, and they typically all gain a lot of weight after quitting:

• Some are really used to the high caloric intake required for their jobs and don't adjust afterwards.
• Others are just so sick and tired of working out after doing it in such an intense and regimented way for so many years.

Not so for Brady.

As he told a podcast interviewer recently about his health following football:

"I'm actually very fit right now.

"I haven't had the stress that I had while I was playing, so that's allowed me to focus a little bit more on my physical health.

"You could prioritize a lot of other things — career, kids, relationships, family, greater good, community.

"But at the end of the day, physical and mental health should sit at the top of the pyramid because if we don't have that, we have nothing."

Not only was Brady winning Super Bowls during his career, he was also building his TB12 brand and doing all kinds of marketing and spokesperson work.

I can see how Brady could let career stress get to him a little bit.

You'd never know it from watching him — he always seemed cool as a cucumber — but another factor is that a lot of the top, top, highest performers in their fields are so restless and so obsessed with excellence that other stuff kind of falls by the wayside.

It reminds me of a piece I wrote recently about another GOAT — the YouTuber MrBeast.

The biggest, richest, most successful independent content creator on the planet lost a ton of weight recently.

The reason he did so was, that after reaching the peak of his craft, he looked in the mirror and saw someone he didn't recognize:

"I was just so laser-focused on the channel, and I just realized one day, I was like 'I have not been working out or taking care of myself or anything.'"

I feel the same way sometimes.

As I wrote in the same piece:

"I've experienced this myself in my first year of real entrepreneurship.

"In addition to trying to build a business from the ground up, I have a full-time job, a family, and what feels like a million responsibilities.

"But sacrificing exercise for these activities is completely counter-productive — it reduces your energy and lowers your mood for literally everything else.

This is something I'm trying to get a handle on right now, because ultimately I think we want the best of both worlds, right?

And making excuses won't solve anything, and I'm a very solutions-oriented person.

Would I be fitter if I worked less?

Yeah, probably, but life is about finding balance between all the things that are important to you.

I truly believe that, if I work hard enough, I can find efficiencies and productivity tools to let me do more with the same amount of time.

Most people have way more time than they'll even admit, too.

If you watch TV, you have time.

If you go on social media, you have time.

Sorry.

So for next week, I've committed to editing my schedule and my diet to see if I can squeeze a bit more workout time in.

I don't know if it'll work, but as with anything, all we can do is hypothesize, test, and adjust accordingly.

And then get a little better every day.

Have you let work or stress get in the way of your fitness? Have any tricks you use to overcome it? Let me know in the comments!

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