FRLN98: Fit For Life, Rich Get Richer Effect, Overcoming Your Upper Limit
Every week I sit down to write this newsletter, I feel a mix of gratitude and disbelief.
We’re just two issues away from #100.
That’s wild.
What started as a simple way to share what I was learning about fitness, money, and life has become a rhythm in my week — a ritual that keeps me grounded in what matters most.
This week, I kept coming back to one theme: long-term thinking
In fitness & health
In money & wealth
In your relationship with growth
Everyone wants quick results. But every transformation worth having — a strong body, real wealth, deep confidence — is the result of years of consistent action.
When you zoom out to a 10-year lens, everything gets simpler.
Here’s what I mean:
FIT — Commit to a Decade
Most people try to get fit in 30, 60, or 90 days.
Crash diets. Unsustainable routines.
“All-in” followed by “all-off.”
But if you want to be genuinely, reliably fit year-round — the kind of fit where your body feels like a high-performance machine — you have to shift the question.
Not: “How fast can I make progress?”
But: “What lifestyle habits can I build & sustain for the next 10 years?”
When you build decade-proof habits, the results become inevitable.
The people who stay fit for life do four things exceptionally well:
They eat like athletes.
Mostly whole food that fuels their body (in just the right amount).They sleep like their life depends on it.
Because without proper sleep, high-level fitness is impossible.They follow an actual workout program.
Not random workouts. Programs that utilize progressive overload.They move a lot — all day.
Every super-fit person I know gets 10,000–20,000 steps daily.
The average American gets 3,000–4,000.
The average American is overweight.
A new client asked me this week how fast he could lose body fat.
I told him the truth: the timeline doesn’t matter.
The lifestyle does.
Build the habits that will make you incredibly fit 10 years from now — and you’ll stay fit for life.
RICH — The Rich Get Richer Effect
There’s a strange thing about wealth:
Once you have some, it gets easier to get more.
This is the Matthew Effect in action — “the rich get richer.”
Not because of luck…
But because:
Your investments compound
New opportunities open up
You see possibilities you couldn’t see when you were stressed
You take bolder action because you feel safe & have a cushion
That’s why the hardest part of the journey is simply getting to your first $100K.
Then your first $1M.
From a net worth of zero, hitting your first million is usually a 7–10 year game.
You speed it up by:
Growing your income relentlessly
Keeping housing costs as low as possible
Driving a reliable, inexpensive, paid-off car
Keeping food expenses low (but quality high)
Saving and investing (for years)
Frugality isn’t a personality.
It’s a temporary superpower.
I was hyper-frugal for 3-4 years — cheapest rental my wife could stand, sold my Range Rover, got a 2012 Toyota Prius, cut restaurants entirely for 3 years.
That season allowed me to get to my first $100K, then my first $1M, and now to multi-millionaire status.
Today?
I spend lavishly on health and fitness.
I eat out at restaurants 1-3x per week.
I live in a beautiful modern home.
And I stay frugal in areas I don’t care about — like cars. I'm still driving the same 2012 Toyota Prius.
AND — here’s the part most people forget:
The “rich get richer” effect also applies to fitness.
It takes a ton of effort to get lean, muscular, and in peak shape.
But once you’re there?
Maintenance is easy.
You build momentum in both health and wealth.
And that momentum keeps compounding for the rest of your life.
LIFE — The Upper Limit Problem (Why You Self-Sabotage)
There’s one concept every human needs to understand if they want to grow:
The Upper Limit Problem.
From Gay Hendricks’ book The Big Leap.
Here’s how it works:
When you make progress — in fitness, money, relationships, purpose — your psyche freaks out because it’s not used to being at this new level.
So it creates “problems” to bring you back down to your old baseline.
You start a new workout routine → you get sick.
You commit to saving $$$ → your car breaks down.
Land new clients → you suddenly feel overwhelmed.
It’s not the Universe working against you.
It’s the mind trying to go back to what feels familiar.
Growth feels uncomfortable because new levels are unfamiliar territory.
The solution?
Recognize the pattern.
“Ah — this isn’t ‘bad luck.’ I’m upper limiting.”Affirm your expansion.
Tell yourself:
“I am safe expanding into more health, wealth, and happiness.”Stay in motion (and zoom out).
Even if you feel like you took two steps back, you’re still one or more steps ahead of where you started.Normalize discomfort.
Your new level becomes your new baseline by staying there long enough.
Every client I coach hits their upper limit.
I hit mine. You will hit yours, too.
The key is to make breaking through your upper limit a lifestyle.
One breakthrough at a time.
One new level at a time.
That’s how you build a life you’re proud of.
ACTION — Build Your Next Decade
Pick one and implement it this week:
• FIT — Choose one lifestyle habit you can sustain for 10 years — a daily step goal, a consistent sleep routine, or a structured strength program — and commit to it for the next 100 days.
• RICH — Reduce one major expense category (housing, car, food) by 10–20% and redirect the savings into investing. Train your future millionaire self to see the gap and seize it.
• LIFE — Notice where you’re upper limiting. When discomfort shows up, pause and say: “I am safe expanding into more health, wealth, and happiness.” Remind your nervous system that this new level is where you belong.
Your Fit Rich Life isn’t built in a sprint.
It’s built in the long game — the habits you can sustain, the money you consistently invest, and the willingness to break through your upper limit again and again.
Here’s to living your Fit Rich Life — a decade mindset, compounding momentum, and full presence.
— Justin David Carl
P.S. If this resonated, forward it to a friend who would benefit and check out the newsletter archive for more tips, tools, and strategies to level up your fitness, money, and life.