“I started working in finance. I did that for about 2 years. I’m not really made for that corporate life, where you sit behind the desk all day. I wanted to start my own business.”
Before Marco began building his now multi-6 figure fitness coaching business..
He already knew he didn’t want to sit behind a desk all day in an office building..
Because, deep down, he wanted to start his own business.
So, why did Marco settle for working a corporate job for 2 years?
He moved from the Netherlands to San Francisco to do his final year of university…
Financially struggling to survive in a big, expensive city like San Francisco…
So, after he graduated, he had to take a job at a big finance firm in LA.
“My only reason for staying in the US was building my business. However, businesses don’t pay the bills right away so I had to take a job.”
This allowed him to make money to survive – paying for rent and food.
After 2 years of working in corporate life, he saw how competitive and fast-paced US business culture was.
He saw co-workers work their faces off and obsess over their careers.
“People in that environment are so obsessed with their careers, they’re destroying their health.”
“They live for their job, they work non-stop. Building their career is their biggest priority in life.
But, as a result of that, their health declines, their fitness is being neglected. Their nutrition is completely off. They’re getting sick because of all the stress.”
And that’s what drove Marco to quit his finance job 2 years later.
His goal and purpose in life was to start a business.
And his passion was fitness.
So, he combined the two to start his online fitness coaching business.
Now, he helps busy business men transform their bodies…
And build life-long habits that allow them to sustain a healthy, fit body and lifestyle.
So, if you have a strong work ethic, you’re obsessed with building your career and business…
But, your health and work performance is suffering, read on to learn how you can take your career and business to the next level without sacrificing your health.
2 Ways Businessmen Can Integrate Fitness Into their Busy Lives
- Integration
“We don’t want your work performance to suffer from you focusing on fitness. But, we also don’t want your health to suffer from focusing on work so much.”
How do we find that balance?
Finding time to exercise and eat healthy is the biggest struggle for business men.
You’ve probably found yourself making the “I don’t have time to workout” excuse.
But, is there really not enough time in the day to exercise?
Marco’s approach to making time to workout and exercise is to slowly integrate it into your schedule.
“We’re not going from not working out at all to 7 workouts per week. We’re gonna take it slow. So, we’re slowly gonna build habits, slowly integrating fitness into your life in a way that’s realistic.”
And in this process, Marco builds a structure that allows you to still:
- Perform at work
- Spend time with family and friends
- Eat healthy
- And getting regular workouts in.
“The first step is about integration. And the good thing about that first phase is that people usually start to get results.”
- Prioritize Your Health
“I work with people who work 15 hours per day and they’re still able to get their workouts in. They’re still eating according to the plan. They’re still getting results even though they’re working 15 hours a day.”
How many hours a day are you working on your business?
13 hours? 10 hours? 9 hours?
If Marco works with people who work 15 hours per day and they have time for their health & fitness…
What’s the difference between Marco’s clients and the typical business man who works just as much but doesn’t look after their health?
Marco has found that when people change their beliefs and mindset around health & fitness…
It becomes effortless to get their workouts in and eat healthy…
Because it’s not a “lack of time”, it’s a lack of prioritizing their health & fitness.
“It’s all about priorities. We first have to change the beliefs that they have about fitness, that they have about health.
Because once we change that, then priorities will change and time management is gonna be much easier as well.”
Which brings me to the next point…
Break Down Your Time So You Can Prioritize Health & Fitness Into Your Schedule
You and I know that everyone, even the busiest business men on this planet have the exact same 24 hours in a day.
Guys like Grant Cardone, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Jeff Bezos prioritize their health & fitness.
If they can make time to workout, you can too.
Here’s a breakdown of how much time people typically spend in a day:
- 9 hours of working
- 1 hour to commute
- 8 hours of sleeping
- 2 hours to spend with family and friends
- 1 hour to cook your meals
- 1 hour to scroll social media
Scrolling on social media shouldn’t be on that list, but most people actually spend this much time on social media without realizing it.
That’s a total of 22 hours spent on the daily tasks.
So, where’s the other 2 hours of the day being spent?
That 2 hours can be blocked off to hit the gym.
Most workouts typically last about 30 minutes to 90 minutes…
So, it’s not an excuse of “I don’t have time to workout”, it’s a matter of prioritizing gym time in your schedule.
How Marco Overcame the 2 Biggest Challenges Many People Face In Their Fitness Journey
- “My biggest challenge was gaining weight.”
“I was extremely skinny at the time. I wasn’t happy about the way I looked. Everybody was joking about it. I felt like it hurt my masculinity.”
Can you relate?
Many people talk about how hard it is to lose weight, but gaining weight is also a challenge.
Like many people, Marco started off by watching fitness YouTubers for advice on how to get big.
He tried stuffing himself with food, eating thousands of calories…
But, with no results to show for it.
So, he started educating himself on how nutrition actually worked.
Based on how he looks today, educating himself helped him transform his body.
- “Motivation doesn’t come on it’s own, it needs to be triggered.”
Motivation is a topic that’s been talked about for decades now.
Yet, many people still struggle with it.
“Too many people sit on the couch and they’re waiting for motivation to come. That’s just not how it works. The way it works is to actually take action.
Get out there. Wake up the motivation yourself.”
Motivation fluctuates, it comes and it goes.
Nobody is motivated all the time.
But, you can trigger motivation by taking action.
And the more consistent you are with showing up to the gym and eating healthy…
Over a span of a few weeks, you’ll see changes in your body.
And the process becomes a lot easier for you because you’ll physically see your hard work paying off.
What To Do When You Feel Like Quitting (Or Skipping Workouts)
“I’ve had those moments. For me, what really helped is, I know how I feel when I don’t workout. And I also know how I feel when I do workout. When I focus on my training and nutrition, I’m just a completely different person.”
Maybe you feel like a completely different person after you workout?
You’re more positive, you have more energy, and you’re more fun to be around.
So, if you feel like quitting on your fitness journey…
Or you keep skipping workouts…
Remind yourself of how you feel when you’re tired and sluggish.
Do high performing business men do their best work when they feel tired and sluggish?
Working out makes you feel better mentally, emotionally, and physically.
If ultra successful entrepreneurs like Grant Cardone, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Jeff Bezos workout, it might make sense to consistently workout too.
Final Words From Marco
What I love about Marco’s story is that he did whatever it took to survive living in an expensive city like San Francisco to starting his online fitness coaching business 2 years later…
And now he’s changing the lives of businessmen who work with him.
So, here are Marco’s parting words from our interview:
“Take that first step, it sounds very cliche. But, that is really what matters.
I know what it’s like to work in an office for those kinds of hours. I know what it’s like to be in that corporate culture.”
“Once you’re in the process, a couple months from now I’m 100% sure you’re gonna be very very thankful you took that first step.”
If you’d like to learn more about Marco, you can go to his Instagram page here.
