Weight Vest Training, Don't Blow Up Your Money, Breakdown To Breakthrough | FRLN 118
Your body gets stronger when you add resistance.
Your money continues to grow when you avoid getting knocked out of the game.
And your relationships deepen when you learn how to turn breakdowns into breakthroughs.
This week, I want to share one fitness tool I’ve loved for years, one wealth principle I think more people need to hear, and one relationship mindset that has helped my marriage again and again.
FIT — The Power of the Weighted Vest
One of the most underrated fitness tools I’ve used over the last six years is a weighted vest.
I first got into weighted vest training back in 2020 when COVID hit and all the gyms shut down. I got super into gymnastics rings training in my garage, and eventually, I hit the point where bodyweight alone was no longer enough. I needed more resistance.
So I added weight.
The result? I got absolutely ripped and shredded.
Since then, my weighted vest has become a staple in my life. I’ve used it for walks, hikes, pull-ups, push-ups, dips, ring work, and all kinds of weighted calisthenics. It has made my body dramatically stronger.
The funny part is, I did NOT buy some fancy, high-end vest. I found one on Facebook Marketplace for around $100. It goes all the way up to 50 pounds in 2.5-pound increments. It’s bulky (looks like I'm carrying gun ammo), but it’s been amazing.
Recently, my wife even got a weighted vest of her own and has been wearing it while doing chores around the house, which I think is awesome.
One of my friends just showed me a newer weight vest that’s much more form-fitting, which has me considering adding a second one to my fitness toolbox.
Mine works great, but I can definitely see the appeal of having one that’s much easier to wear while hiking, running, or maybe even playing pickleball.
If you’ve never trained with a weighted vest, I highly recommend adding one to your toolbox. It’s simple. It’s effective. And it’s one of those tools that can make ordinary movement a whole lot more powerful.
Plus, they will last a lifetime if you get a high-quality one.
RICH — Don't Get Knocked Out Of The Game
A core part of my wealth philosophy is this:
Don’t die. Don’t blow up. Don’t get knocked out of the game.
What I mean is this: never put yourself in a position where all your money, all your wealth, or your entire future depends on one thing working out.
Too many people get seduced by the all-in story.
It makes for a great movie.
It makes for a great headline.
It makes for a great podcast interview.
But what we don’t see are all the people who went all in… and lost everything.
The media loves the romantic story of the entrepreneur or investor who bet it all and won. What it rarely shows is the graveyard of people who bet it all and got wiped out.
That’s one of the reasons I’m such a big believer in index funds as the predominant holding in a portfolio.
Why?
Because individual companies can go to zero. Index funds are built to survive.
As my good friend and mentor, JL Collins, likes to say, index funds are self-cleansing. If one company in the S&P 500 goes bankrupt, the index doesn’t become the S&P 499. That company gets replaced by the next largest one, and the perpetual-money-making-machine keeps working.
I know a lot of people have been talking over the last few years about beating the market by picking individual stocks. Good for them. But doing that consistently over 10, 20, 30, or 40 years is incredibly rare.
Warren Buffett, one of the greatest investors of all time, made a million-dollar bet that a low-cost S&P 500 index fund would outperform professional hedge fund managers over 10 years. He won the bet.
To think that you, as a part-time non-professional investor, can outperform an index fund for 10-30+ years is just crazy.
That’s why I love the mindset behind broad-market index investing. You don’t need to be a hero. You don’t need to be brilliant. You just need to avoid blowing yourself up.
Now, to be clear, I have no problem with someone putting 10% or even 20% of their portfolio into individual stocks.
But that should be money you can afford to lose.
As in: if it goes to zero, you’re still okay.
Because the key to building long-term wealth is not maximizing excitement. It’s staying in the game long enough for compounding to work its magic.
If your portfolio drops 50% in a massive market crash, that hurts. But that is very different from going to zero.
If you’re invested in something broad like an index fund and you don’t panic-sell, the market has historically recovered and gone on to make new highs.
And it will continue to go on to new all-time highs, and you will be the benefactor if you stay in the game long enough.
LIFE — Breakdowns Lead To Breakthroughs
One of the most helpful relationship ideas I’ve ever learned is this:
Breakdowns lead to breakthroughs.
I first learned this in a transformational workshop many years ago, and it has been a lifeline in my marriage.
Because in any healthy relationship, there are going to be breakdowns.
There will be conflict.
There will be friction.
There will be moments where things feel like they are falling apart.
And honestly, if there aren’t, that might not be a sign of health. It might just mean one person is constantly suppressing themselves to keep the peace.
Conflict is not the problem.
The way you navigate conflict is what determines the quality and longevity of the relationship.
My wife and I have been together for 12 years, and in July we’ll celebrate five years of marriage. We’ve absolutely had breakdowns. In fact, we had one just this past weekend.
And in the middle of those moments, I often say something that I know can be a little annoying in real time:
“Breakdowns lead to breakthroughs.”
Even when my wife probably wants to punch me in the face when I say it, she knows it’s true. Because when you remember that the breakdown can lead somewhere good, it changes the energy.
Instead of seeing the conflict as proof that something is wrong, you start asking better questions:
How can this make us stronger?
What is this showing us that we couldn’t see before?
What do we need to understand more clearly?
How can we communicate better next time?
That mindset has helped us turn hard moments into gold.
A breakdown can deepen intimacy.
It can reveal unmet needs.
It can clarify expectations.
It can help you become a better partner.
That doesn’t mean breakdowns are fun. It means they can be useful.
And over time, if you keep using conflict as a catalyst for growth, your relationship becomes stronger, wiser, and more resilient.
ACTION — Keep Growing
Pick one and implement it this week:
• FIT — Add resistance to ordinary movement.
Try using a weighted vest for a walk, hike, or bodyweight workout this week. You do not need to do anything extreme. Start light, move well, and notice how adding resistance can make simple movements more powerful and help build a stronger body over time.
• RICH — Don’t get knocked out of the game.
Look at your financial life and ask yourself: Where am I taking risks that could blow me up? The goal is not to be flashy. The goal is to stay in the game. Build your wealth on a foundation that can survive setbacks, downturns, and mistakes.
• LIFE — Turn breakdowns into breakthroughs.
The next time conflict shows up in your relationship, pause and ask: What is the breakthrough trying to reveal? Instead of seeing the breakdown as failure, use it as an opportunity to build better communication, deeper intimacy, and a stronger relationship.
Strength does not come from avoiding challenge.
Wealth does not come from gambling everything.
And deeper relationships do not come from avoiding hard conversations.
They come from meeting life well.
Over time, those choices compound into something powerful:
A stronger, more dynamic body.
A richer and more resilient financial life.
A deeper and more connected relationship.
That’s the foundation of a Fit Rich Life.
To your health, wealth, and happiness,
— Justin David Carl