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News of the Week

This week was HARD AF.

Not necessarily physically.

But Mentally.

The kind of hard where you get home after a full day of work...

And your brain feels like it's got absolutely nothing left to give.

You know those weeks?

Where everyone needs something from you.

Every decision seems urgent.

Every problem somehow becomes YOUR problem.

And you spend the entire day trying to keep a hundred different things moving forward.

Yeah.

That was my week...

For those who don't know, I work as a surveyor in construction.

And right now, we're operating on a seriously under-resourced site.

Which means the demands are relentless.

Contractors need something.

Engineers need something.

QA needs something.

Foremen need something.

And somehow, I'm trying to service all of them.

All while spending full days out in the field.

Making decisions.

Solving problems.

Staying accurate.

Keeping things moving.

And carrying the mental pressure that comes with knowing people are relying on you to get things right.

By the end of most days...

I was fuckin cooked.

And I'll be honest.

I felt OFF this week.

Not myself.

Mentally drained.

Short on energy.

And when it came to my usual training?

I managed just one run.

One.

That's it.

Now, if you'd told a younger version of me that I'd only run once during an entire week...

I'd probably have felt like I'd failed.

Like I wasn't disciplined enough.

Like I needed to push harder.

Do more.

Find a way.

Because that's what we're supposed to do, right?

Keep grinding.

Keep achieving.

Keep pushing.

No excuses.

But I've learned something over the years.

Sometimes pushing harder isn't what you need.

Sometimes you need to get better at recognising what the week is actually asking of you.

This week, my biggest challenge wasn't building physical fitness.

It was protecting my mental capacity.

Because I still needed to show up... especially for my family!

For Nadine.

For Carter and Cassius.

For my community.

At work.

For my team.

But mostly for myself.

And I couldn't afford to spend every last bit of energy at work...

Then come home with absolutely nothing left for the people I love.

So I made a decision.

Instead of measuring my discipline by how many workouts I could squeeze in...

I measured it by how intentionally I looked after myself.

And this week?

That looked like three simple things.

Prayer.

Before the noise of the day started, I made time to connect with God.

Right after my alarm goes off, I lay with a prayer for 5mins...

To acknowledge what was weighing on me.

To ask for wisdom.

Patience.

Strength.

And the ability to carry my responsibilities well.

Not to make the pressure magically disappear.

But to remind myself that I didn't have to carry it all in my own strength.

Meditation.

A few quiet moments to slow everything down, 10-15min

To stop reacting to the hundred things competing for my attention.

To breathe.

To create a little space between the pressure around me...

And how I responded to it.

Morning stretching.

Nothing heroic, just a quick 5-7min stretch.

Nothing that would look impressive on Instagram.

Just getting my body moving.

Easing into the day.

Taking care of myself before I started taking care of everyone else's problems.

Small things.

But they mattered.

And here's what I've been thinking about...

You can't keep demanding more from yourself while giving yourself less to work with.

Think about that.

We want to perform at work.

Build successful careers.

Earn more money.

Be better partners.

Be patient parents.

Chase goals.

Provide for our families.

Be present.

Lead.

Achieve.

Build something meaningful.

But how often do we treat the very things making all of that possible...

Our bodies and our minds...

Like they're optional?

We skip movement because we're busy.

Sacrifice sleep because there's too much to do.

Ignore stress because other people need us.

Push our own needs further down the list.

And tell ourselves:

"I'll get back to looking after myself when things settle down."

But what if they don't?

What if this is the season you're in?

What if life doesn't suddenly become less demanding?

I spent the first 2 years of being a dad believing that being productive meant squeezing more into every day.

More work.

More responsibilities.

More goals.

More achievements.

More hats to wear.

And don't get me wrong.

I'm proud of what I've built.

But looking back...

I sometimes wonder how much better I could have handled those demanding seasons if I'd started taking my physical and mental health seriously earlier.

Not just for performance.

For capacity.

The capacity to think clearly under pressure.

To respond instead of react.

To be patient when I'm tired.

To make better decisions.

To keep my word.

To come home and still have something left for my family.

Because what good is building a successful career...

If you're too exhausted to enjoy the life you're working so hard to provide?

And that's why I keep coming back to this:

Fitness is the foundation.

Not because everyone needs to run marathons.

Or train six days a week.

Or have visible abs.

But because taking care of your body and mind gives you a better chance of handling the demands of a meaningful life.

And some weeks, that means training hard.

Challenging yourself.

Building strength.

Pushing your limits.

Other weeks?

It means slowing down.

Recovering.

Praying.

Breathing.

Moving gently.

Getting enough sleep.

Protecting the capacity you've already built.

Both require discipline.

The mistake is believing only one of them counts.

Here's something else I've realised.

You wouldn't expect a machine to operate at full capacity indefinitely without maintenance.

Eventually, something would give.

Yet we expect exactly that from ourselves.

Full days.

Constant pressure.

Poor sleep.

No movement.

No recovery.

No time to think.

Then wonder why we're exhausted...

Irritable...

Distracted...

And struggling to show up the way we want to.

You can't expect championship performance from a machine you refuse to maintain.

And unlike a machine...

You aren't replaceable to the people who love you.

Your kids don't need a perfectly productive dad.

They need a dad who's got enough left in him to be present.

Your partner doesn't need someone who never gets tired.

They need someone who takes responsibility for their wellbeing instead of ignoring it until everything falls apart.

And YOU deserve a life where your health isn't always the first thing sacrificed.

So if you're reading this after a brutal week...

And you're feeling guilty because you didn't train enough...

Or didn't hit every goal...

Or didn't perform at the level you expected...

I want you to ask yourself something.

Did I abandon my health this week?

Or did I need to support it differently?

Because those are two very different things.

Maybe you genuinely need rest.

Maybe you need to get outside and walk.

Maybe you need to put your phone away earlier.

Maybe you need to talk to someone.

Maybe you need to pray.

Maybe you need ten quiet minutes before the house wakes up.

Or maybe you do need to stop negotiating with yourself and get that workout done.

Only you can honestly assess what you need.

But don't confuse taking care of yourself with always doing more.

I ran once this week.

And I'm okay with that.

Because this week wasn't about chasing kilometres.

It was about maintaining the mental and physical capacity to carry the responsibilities in front of me.

And I know there'll be weeks when I can train harder again.

There'll also be weeks when life kicks my ass.

That's fuckin life.

The goal isn't to perform perfectly every week.

It's to keep taking care of the person who has to show up for all of them.

So here's my challenge for you this week.

Before you start planning everything you need to DO...

Ask yourself:

What do I need to protect so I can keep showing up well?

Your sleep?

Your training?

Your peace?

Your prayer time?

Your mental health?

Your family time?

Pick something.

Make space for it.

And stop treating your wellbeing like something you'll get around to when everyone else is finished with you.

Because there will always be another deadline.

Another problem.

Another responsibility.

Another person who needs something.

But there's only one you.

And the people you love need you well.

Not perfect.

Not superhuman.

Well.

Fitness as the foundation.

Presence as the reward.

This November I celebrate 5 years of pursuing this calling, and for a limited time, my community for busy professional parents will be $5, if you know anyone that could benefit from a community of like minded parents, please share this with them.

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​Quote of the Week

Recipe of the Week

RED PESTO, AVOCADO & SOFT EGG TOAST

Serves 2

4 eggs

2 slices whole wheat bread,

toasted

4 tbsp. red pesto

1 avocado, sliced

What you need to do

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the eggs, cover and continue to boil for six minutes (or longer, depending on how you

like your eggs cooked).

After six minutes, remove the eggs from the pot and run them under cold water until they are cool enough to handle and peel.

Toast the bread and spread each slice with 2 tablespoons of the red pesto, then top with the sliced avocado and eggs.

Question of the Week

How can you be gentler with yourself during tough moments?

If you got any value from this newsletter...

​Let me know what you think of it please?

Your Coach,

P.S. Sometimes the strongest thing you can do isn't another workout. It's recognising you're running low and doing something about it before the people you love get what's left of you.

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