Fit Rich Life

Newsletter #33

Weekly Tips, Tools & Strategies to Alchemize your Fitness, Money & Life
Newsletter Archive

“Slowing down is sometimes the best way to speed up.”
— Mike Vance, Motivational Speaker

Greetings Fit Rich Fam!

In 20+ years I've never had an exercise machine break on me mid-set until the other week. Watch my funny BLOOPER & have a good laugh at my expense. Fortunately, I walked away injury-free.

Last week I did another solo podcast episode (62) & dived deeper into my Strategies for Optimizing a Fat Loss Phase or Cut, in addition to some of my favorite credit cards I use to give myself a $10,000 raise every year. 

Without further ado, let's proactively build your Fit Rich Life—FRL! Your weekly dose of actionable tips, tools & strategies to alchemize your Fitness, Money & Life to the Next Level.

FITNESS: Activate the mind-muscle connection for enhanced gains.
One of the big differences between people who have fit, muscular & sculpted bodies versus those who don't is the attention (or lack of attention) placed upon the mind-muscle connection during a workout.

In my estimation, most people I see at the gym are trying to mentally escape the effort they are going through in any given exercise they are doing while working out.

Don't do this.

Instead, dive deeper into your mental awareness of exactly what muscles are being utilized to perform the movement.

Lean into the effort.

There are a few tricks I like to use to accomplish an increased mind-muscle connection. Here they are:

(1) Before each set take a few seconds to mentally connect with the muscles that will be utilized in order to perform the movement.
(2) Visualize those muscles activating in connection with your mind during the movement.
(3) Before and/or during the set touch the muscle that you are trying to activate & grow. For example: if you are doing a single-arm bicep curl use your non-lifting hand to gently touch or tap the bicep that you are using. This increases the sensory connection to the muscle being used during the movement. Alternatively, if you are working out with a partner you can have them touch/tap the muscles that you are aiming to utilize & grow throughout the set.

Bonus 1: Slow down on the second half of the rep. Meaning if you're doing a bicep curl, aim to powerfully explode to the top of the rep, then very slowly lower the weight back towards the ground. You can do this with just about every exercise as there are usually two parts to each movement--the contraction to the top of the movement and the return to the beginning of the movement.

Bonus 2: Pause and forcefully contract at the peak of the movement. For biceps, this would be at the top of the curl where you pause and flex your biceps for a second or two as hard as possible before returning the weight slowly back toward the starting position.

One other powerful thing I like to do is visualize my mind being inside of the muscle(s) that I am using & visualizing them literally growing larger/stronger as I move through the reps.

This powerful mind-body connection type of workout takes significantly more concentration and if you're trying to listen to a podcast or audiobook during your weightlifting session this mind-body connection will be all but impossible if you're paying attention to the words in your audio program.

My suggestion is that you save your podcasts & audiobooks for repetitive cardio sessions, cleaning, cooking, yard work, walks & other types of activities that you can do without the need of a deep mind-muscle connection.

This is also the reason that a majority of the music I listen to during workouts usually has little-to-no words or is music with lyrics that are empowering and/or cause intense emotions that I can harness to push my body to the next level.

During my lifting, I don't listen to songs that send me down rabbit holes of thinking about other things unrelated to the growth I'm working to achieve in each strength-training session.

Related Side Note: I no longer listen to music with negative lyrics as you are what you consume. Some food for thought as you work to proactively elevate your consciousness.
 

MONEY: Improve your credit utilization to improve your credit score.
Your credit utilization ratio, or how much credit you are using versus how much credit you have, is one of the most important factors in your Credit Score.

For example: if you have only one credit card with a spending limit of $10,000 and you are carrying a $5,000 balance on that credit card your credit utilization ratio would be 50% (total current credit used divided by total credit available).

Aiming for a credit utilization of 30% or lower across all your credit cards (in aggregate) will put you in good shape. This is the maximum utilization ratio you will want to carry at any time if you are optimizing for the best Credit Score possible.

For my Fit Rich Life Coaching Clients I recommend a 5%-20% utilization ratio to achieve the highest Credit Score possible

Please note that having a 0% utilization ratio is NOT good either as credit card companies want customers who actually use their credit cards.

However, the nuance is that you can have your monthly bill payments set up for automatic minimum balance payment so you never actually get charged any interest.

Here are a few ways you can improve your utilization ratio to strategically & proactively attain a better Credit Score:

(1) Pay down your balances until you are at 30% or below. This one is obvious.

(2) Either call your credit card company and ask them to increase your spending limit OR apply for another credit card that once approved will increase your total available credit line. Either option will increase your total available credit & lower your utilization rate without having to pay down anything but be careful not to apply for credit cards that require a higher credit score than you currently have or else you will be denied and this will temporarily lower your credit score. You can usually Google search what the needed credit score is for any particular card in order to be approved. Do this before applying to ensure you will be approved for the new credit card.

(3) Have your partner, parent, grandparent, or family member add you to their credit card as an authorized user as their credit line will be added to yours. BE SUPER CAREFUL with this strategy though. You do not want to be added to someone else's credit card who does not have stellar credit or misses payments. You also want to be mindful that if the person who adds you to their credit card account passes away you may be liable for any debt carried on the card should they pass away. I consider this an advanced strategy that should only be used after attempting to use strategies 1 & 2 and should be thoroughly thought-through & well-vetted before proceeding.

LIFE: Entrepreneurship = Personal Growth.
You can bet your ass that all of your sh*t is going to come up as you pursue an entrepreneurial endeavor. It will seriously amplify all of the areas of your life that need attention, healing & evolution.

Nonetheless, I think entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful, rapid & fun vehicles that will foster massive personal growth if done with the right mindset, intention, & support (along with regular mindful reflection).

For anyone with an inkling of an entrepreneurial spirit it is worth it whether or not your entrepreneurial endeavor succeeds because the journey of life is all about never-ending ongoing learning, healing, growing, transformation & transcendence. 

My recommendation is that you ensure you have the right support to ensure your entrepreneurial transformation journey leads to many breakthroughs as there will be many breakdowns in all areas of your life as you go down the entrepreneurial path.

Breakdowns are inevitable.

Breakthroughs are optional & require serious intention along with the right support.

Support means having your family onboard for the wild journey while also getting extra support through mentors, coaching, masterminds, courses & even therapy.

You must also program regular time into your schedule for reflection so you can actually see where you are stuck, where you are, where you are going, and where you need additional support, learning, healing, and/or evolution.

This means having weekends off to reflect on the workweek and taking a 1-3 week vacation each quarter to disconnect & zoom out.

You cannot work on your business if you are too enmeshed in your business.

Too many entrepreneurs destroy their mental & physical health, ruin their marriages, & f*ck up their families by being so focused on financial growth at all costs that they go bankrupt in other areas of their life.

I'm not a fan of this approach nor do I partake in it.

Hustle-Culture is not my jam & don't think it's the optimal path to success.

The antidote to the Burned-Out Entrepreneur is the Conscious Entrepreneur who strategically & proactively utilizes daily meditation & weekly, biweekly, or monthly coaching, therapy & mastermind groups to ensure they don't get mentally, emotionally & spiritually crushed by the entrepreneurial endeavor.

My firm belief is that regular rest & rejuvenation with ongoing intentional support is the basis of a successful endeavor that significantly empowers one's overall life journey -- mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, AND financially.

In my own life & business, I use this approach and it is what I call the path of the Fit Rich Entrepreneur.

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I am sending you all lots of Energy & plenty of Dragon Magic!

Your Fitness, Money & Life Coach,

Justin David Carl

P.S. Below is the YouTube version of Fit Rich Life Podcast Episode 61. Also available on Spotify, Apple & wherever you enjoy your podcast entertainment.

Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. I run a custom-tailored 1-1 & group mastermind coaching program that will you empower you to achieve your dream body, master your money & live your best life. Yup, it's a proven Fitness, Money & Life Coaching Program unlike anything else out there. You can book a free consultation with me here or just drop me a note on Instagram to find a time to connect.

2. If you work in an office introduce me to whoever handles your office snacks, catering & employee experience to take your work wellbeing to the next level. I'm a founding member of Garten, a tech-empowered employee experience & wellbeing platform that top companies utilize to power their most important asset (their people). Email me at >>justin@garten.co<< to set up a meeting.