FRLN102: Body Wisdom, Identity Crisis, Balance By Design
All in all, the last 3.5 weeks have been humbling.
I’ve been fighting off a minor cold. Nothing dramatic. But it has lingered. Sinus pressure. Body fatigue. Low energy. The kind of sickness that isn’t bad enough to stop you… but bad enough to remind you you’re not at 100%.
I was doing all the “right” things:
Sleeping 10–11 hours a night.
Eating well.
Taking supplements.
Resting more than usual.
And yet… for the first 3 weeks, I kept playing pickleball.
I stopped lifting, but fully resting? That is hard.
Sitting at home all day with my obsessive, movement-loving personality felt almost unbearable.
Movement is where so much of my joy, expression, and identity lives.
I was mostly feeling better last Sunday, but then I went hard at pickleball for 4 hours.
On Monday, I felt I had backtracked, but I still went out and played pickleball.
Then again on Tuesday.
By Wednesday, my body said "no more."
So I took the last three full days completely off — no gym, no pickleball.
I took a 15-minute walk in the sun on days 2 and 3.
I'm feeling a lot better, but still not quite there.
Which brings me to this week’s lesson.
FIT — Your Body Is Always Speaking
My body had been asking me to slow down for a while.
I just didn’t want to listen.
This summer I went buck wild:
Pickleball 6–7 days a week.
Strength training 5–6 days a week.
Often double days.
For months.
It was fun. It was exhilarating. It was also unsustainable.
As summer turned into fall and winter, my body started whispering:
“Hey… let’s ease up.”
I ignored it.
I pushed through a tweaked achilles.
I pushed through an ankle injury.
I pushed through fatigue.
So my body did what bodies eventually do when we don’t listen:
It forced me to stop.
This lingering illness wasn’t random. It was feedback.
The lesson for me (again):
Your body always communicates — first quietly, then loudly.
If you don’t listen early, you’ll be forced to listen later.
And when a big part of your identity is your physical fitness, that lesson can be especially humbling (and hard).
RICH — Who Are You Without Your Job or Income?
This week, I was featured on the Mile High FI, where we did a deep dive into my identity crisis after being laid off in March 2024.
I knew it was coming.
The company was being acquired.
Sales teams are often the first to go.
Still — it rocked me.
Even though I reached financial independence around age 38…
Even though I already had coaching, a podcast, and a brand…
I still struggled deeply with questions like:
Who am I if I’m not making $400k–$600k a year?
Who am I if I’m not the top-performing salesperson at a Stanford-founded, YC-backed Bay Area tech company?
I wrestled with purpose and identity for a solid year.
What helped?
Cultivating community.
Discovering pickleball.
Joining a new gym.
Building IRL relationships here in Santa Cruz.
Tapping into competition, play, and connection.
Eventually, finding a business partner for the next chapter.
If you’ve struggled with identity after leaving a job — whether through early retirement, a sabbatical, or an unexpected layoff — this conversation will resonate deeply.
LIFE — You Repeat Lessons Until You Learn Them
Balance is a lesson life keeps handing me.
And honestly?
I’m still learning it.
I tend to go all-in.
Push hard.
Ignore limits.
Then crash and burn.
This recent health struggle is just the latest reminder.
One metaphor that helps me think about balance comes from yoga.
In a balancing pose, you’re not relaxed.
Opposing muscles are actively pulling against each other to create stability.
Life works the same way.
Your fitness pursuits.
Your work.
Your relationships.
Your rest and recovery.
They’re all opposing forces.
If one area pulls too hard — work or fitness, for example — without an equal counterbalance of rest and rejuvenation, things break down.
The opportunity for me right now is this:
To take my obsessive personality… and become obsessive about creating balance.
That means fewer pickleball hours.
More rest days.
Listening sooner instead of later.
I’m about 80% better today — not fully there — which means I still need to move more slowly, be more intentional, and respect my body’s signals.
This is the practice.
This is the work.
And apparently… this is still one of my life lessons.
ACTION — Practice Balance
Pick one and implement it this week:
• FIT — Listen before you push.
Use this week as a check-in with your body. Notice your energy, sleep, soreness, and motivation before each workout. Adjust volume, intensity, or rest based on what your body is asking for — not what your ego wants.
• RICH — Audit your identity.
Before chasing your next goal or income stream, pause and ask: Who am I when I’m not producing? Separate your self-worth from your output and let money serve your life — not define it.
• LIFE — Design your counterbalance.
Identify one area where you’ve been pushing too hard. Add an equal and opposite force: rest, a full day off, fewer sessions, or more margin. Balance doesn’t happen accidentally — it’s scheduled.
Your Fit Rich Life isn’t built in a single breakthrough.
It’s built by the small, intelligent decisions you make consistently — the ones that align your body, money, and identity for the long game.
Here’s to living your Fit Rich Life with steady energy, clear identity, and full presence.
— Justin David Carl