194: 5 Ways I Used My 20s to Have Success in My 30s

Nick Bare (0:00)

Hey guys, before we dive in to today's episode, I want to remind you that we have a Subscribe and Save program at BPN Subs. So if you go on our website and you sign up for a subscription, you save 25% off, which is significant. And you don't have to remember every month to go to the website to repurchase and reorder. It shows up consistently on a schedule that you set, and you're saving money. So next time you go to bpnsubs.com, sign up for a subscription, save 25% off, which is, like I said, significant. And stick to a consistent and committed schedule to optimize your health and performance. Now into today's episode.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Today's topic is five things I did in my 20s to set myself up for success in my 30s. And I want to note prior to going into these topics, the way that I work, the way that I approach work, my life in my 30s, it looks different than it did in my 20s. But it only looks different now in my 30s, I'm 36 years old now, because of what I did in my 20s. And I'm going to share that with you. And I did a lot of reflection on this, and I really put a lot of thought behind what did I, what did I do? How did I approach work? How did I structure my life in my days? To build, to improve, to succeed, to win. So that now in my 30s, it's not that I don't work less, I just work differently. I can focus my time on different areas of focus. I can work on the business. I can work on projects as opposed to directly in the business, in projects, managing the day-to-day, turning dials, screwing on screws and gears and trinkets and doing all the things. I can focus bigger picture, strategy, vision, only because of what I did in my 20s to set myself up for success in my 30s. I used my 20s to absolutely just grind and work and invest as much time, energy, money into setting up my 30s to be able to do what I'm doing right now. And I'm very grateful for that. So the first thing I'm going to talk about, the first thing I did in my 20s to set myself up for my 30s, I started asking myself the question, what if?

If you're not familiar with Seth Godin, he has a blog. And on December 17th, 2019, he said, what if today, just for today, we didn't settle? What if we saw precisely the change we saw to make and sacrificed to make that change? What if we set aside urgencies and focus simply on what's important instead? What if we did the work that matters?

When I started my company, when I started BPN in 2012, it all started, it was initiated. There was a catalyst because I asked myself the question, what if, what if I started this company that I've been dreaming about? Yeah, you know, I shared this story many times before, but I got to college in 2009, and those first couple years in college, I was obsessed with the bodybuilding industry, the gym, I was mixing up my own supplements. And there was this thought of, could I do this? Could I build my own supplement company? What if I actually did it? What if I sourced a manufacturer? What if I took my formulas to that manufacturing partner? What if I applied for the loan that I needed to start this thing? What could it become? What if I actually did the things I said I wanted to do? What if I did the things that were required to become the person I said I wanted to be?

I started asking myself the question, what if? And then I did it. I put action behind the what if. The what if was a thought. We have these thoughts on a frequent daily basis. I'm sure many of you do. I do. What if I did this? What if I tried this differently? What if I stop doing X, so then I could do more of Y?

I asked myself these questions early on, and it changed the trajectory of my life. If I wouldn't have asked myself these questions, and then had taken action on those questions, I wouldn't be sitting here doing what I'm doing right now. I don't know where I would be, to be honest. But taking action on the what ifs has changed my life forever, in very meaningful ways. What if I spent the last $500 to my name, bought a camera, and started documenting my life online? I asked myself that question in 2014, and then I did it. What if I signed up to run my first marathon? I asked myself that question in 2017, and then I did it in 2018 What if I trained for a sub-three-hour marathon? I did it. What if I ran 100 miles to the Rocky Mountains of Leadville, Colorado? What if I trained for an Ironman triathlon? What if we ran BPN like it was already worth $100 million? What if we asked ourselves, I asked myself those questions, and then I went and did it. I took action on the what ifs.