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The Person You Become When Nobody Is Watching

The Eternal Ascent — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 21:18:16 GMT

Phase I

The Becoming

Change doesn’t come when everyone is watching.

It comes in the hours invested into a craft and into yourself when nobody is watching.

Who are you when nobody is praising you for what you do?

The person you become when nobody is watching isn’t to satisfy everyone else, but to satisfy yourself.

The moment you decide to leave behind your old identity and to feed the new one, the evidence starts to pile up.

But, here are two paths to becoming.

Will you become someone greater, or will you become a lesser man?

Control your environment, or it will end up shaping your habits and your identity.

The choice is yours…

I know it’s not easy when it comes to distractions and frying your brain with cheap stimulation.

But, inside of you there is a burning desire to be more than a consumer.

You have ideas and goals you want to bring to life, but you rely on motivation to get the ball rolling.

This idea will fall flat on its face when you have no system or framework to support it.

I know this, I have had moments of being highly motivated to make a change.

I limited my time wasted on non-essentials.

I quit the job.

But I got too comfortable.

Why?

Because I hadn’t replaced the distractions with something meaningful to build on.

I lacked solid foundations and it became easier to do less.

Your system and desires aren’t visible to the public.

They’re unique to you.

They’re what drive the change you make when nobody is watching.

You need to know who you want to be and how much you are willing to devote yourself to this new identity.

That is when you finally say f*ck you to your old identity and f*ck you to the people who don’t support your change.

When I decided that I no longer wanted to be the skinny kid, I had to not only put in the work in the gym, but I had to train my mind to start acting like the person that I have become.

I was fed up with t-shirts hanging loose on me.

I wanted to feel confident with my body.

People were seeing what I was doing in the gym.

But they were unaware of the battle waging on in my mind.

They didn’t see the approach to my diet and recovery.

They were oblivious to the struggle of being the skinny kid.

But I knew I was changing when nobody was looking.

It took me years to achieve this.

Finally, I realised that it wasn’t just about building muscle.

I was feeding a new identity and starving the old one.

Eventually, this system became the Skinny Guy Protocol.

Motivation Is Not A Building Block

I used to think that motivation was going to change me.

But motivation is only a by-product of the thought, action and the end goal.

My motivation would run out of gas when I relied upon it solely.

Motivation can add more fuel to the fire.

But it shouldn’t be the foundation and core of your life.

Desire needs a path to follow.

It needs a fundamental purpose behind it because motivation alone isn’t enough.

People will see the results of your actions.

But, they will be unaware of the discipline, the purpose and the evidence that has been accumulating behind the scenes.

The Environment Paradox

Here’s the truth…

You are who you hang with.

Your environment shapes who you’ll become.

Your mannerisms.

Your habits.

Your thought processes.

Your interests.

The way you speak.

It all accumulates to an identity.

Many people do not realise who they are due to the environment that they are in.

Tell me this, have you ever gone silent or stopped seeing people you used to see near enough everyday, and then bump into them again one day and they say you’re a different person?

I’ve done it.

I didn’t like the interests and actions of the people I was hanging with.

I saw myself becoming someone who I always vowed I would not become.

The pain was that it had become subconscious.

I remember hearing myself speak on a video and in that moment my heart dropped.

I couldn’t believe what I sounded like.

The realisation was that my environment had transformed me.

I hated that I let it happen.

I knew that I had to completely change my environment to reverse the change.

If I wanted to fit in like everyone else, then I could’ve stayed within that environment.

Without changing my music, interests, speech, habits and identity then my environment would have always pulled me back into an old identity.

Standards To Set Yourself

Take yourself seriously enough to change, but (here is the key part) not so seriously that you forget how to live.

Your standards are the boundaries between the person you’re becoming and the old identity you’ll fall back into if you fail to stick by them.

The question is, what are you willing to tolerate?

What will you decide to no longer consume?

Your standards are to be followed, but don’t be afraid to break them every so often.

You are your greatest experiment.

To become the person that becomes unrecognisable to people, you need to identify the actions of the person who you will eventually become.

Your Evidence Matters

Good or bad, the evidence is a portrayal of who you are becoming.

Writing consistently - you become a writer.

Scrolling through social media all day - you’re a consumer.

Playing football every day - you’re a footballer.

You get the picture.

You are what you repeatedly do, and the sooner you recognise this then the better.

Here’s the thing…

Just because you finally make a declaration to do something, that then doesn’t make it physical evidence.

It’s a thought without any action (yet).

The person who you become is shown through an accumulation of evidence.

Every time that you make a promise to yourself, is like carving history into stone. You’re now thinking towards the person that you’re becoming.

But, your promises need to be followed up by action, consistent action that supports the person that you’ll become.

I knew that I wanted to do something with writing.

It was all good me telling myself that, but I wasn’t supporting this because I wasn’t acting upon it.

It wasn’t until I started publishing consistently that I could then call myself a writer.

Wanting to become a writer → Being a writer

Wanting to be more muscular → Being more muscular

Wanting to be more confident → Being confident

The same goes with leaving behind the skinny kid identity.

The Battle Begins In The Mind

When was the last time you were truly honest with yourself?

When did you last take accountability?

Do you still make excuses as to why you can’t start yet?

Your reflection must take place internally, a brutal discussion with yourself about where you currently are and where you want to be.

Excuses are comfortable, they’re easy to revert to to hide our shame and to take things easy.

The greatest lesson I want you to take away is this:

NO ONE ELSE IS GOING TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU. ONLY YOU CAN DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.

The sooner you realise this, the sooner you can change your environment and the sooner you can finally identify the person that you will become.

What goes on internally, in your mind, is reflected onto how you are viewed externally.

You control what you feel and what you express.

You control what enters and what leaves.

I used to be afraid of approaching an attractive girl or even just sparking up a conversation with someone.

I wrote about this in a previous post that I made:

That was the day when I had over an hour to approach a table with some attractive women, and the hour was spent in my head.

A battle that never truly existed.

Thinking of every possible outcome.

I lacked the action and it killed me.

I was distraught and I knew that I had let myself down because I knew what I wanted to do but I was waiting for the perfect opportunity.

The advice from my Nan is what shaped me.

After that moment my outlook and approach changed.

I finally grabbed my mind by the horns and got it to dance to the tune that I wanted.

Once we decide to act, the fear begins to shrink.

The battle begins in the mind.

Train your mind just as much as your body.

Phase II

The Commitment

Make Yourself A Promise

Stop telling yourself what “you’re going to do”.

Start acting now and watch how your behaviour changes.

Every promise that you make to yourself needs to have a reason behind it, your actions reflect the person you’re becoming.

Now, what I am going to tell you next is something that not only changed my outlook of life and myself, but it also changed who I am and the way in which I think.

Words, and the way in which you speak, are more powerful than you can imagine.

This comes in the form of speaking out loud when you’re around other people and just as importantly, how you speak to yourself internally with your inner voice.

The work that you put into yourself away from others, the promises you make and the words in which you use all accumulate and enforce the person that you’re becoming.

How?

Outline what it is that you truly want (this has to be absolute)
Understand why you want it - the end goal
Alter your behaviours, habits and system to bend to the outcome you want.
Constantly think about the success as if you have achieved it in this very moment (consciously & subconsciously)
Support the outcome with specific actions
Accumulate all the evidence so that the change in undeniable

Don’t just make yourself a promise, these can often be weak and can lack any foundations.

Think of the person you want to become, formulate the habits that will take you there.

It’s important to establish the foundations because even if you fall away from the path momentarily, you still have the foundations and the system in place to get you back on track.

This is all about how much you are willing to sacrifice to become the person you want to be.

Train Your New Identity

The more that you repeat a behaviour, the more that the behaviour feeds into the identity you are creating.

The more that I began to write posts and to publish them, the more I cemented the idea of being a writer.

The more that I began to behave and train like I was no longer the skinny kid, the more I left behind that identity with every action that I took.

That’s what became the Skinny Guy Protocol.

Eventually, people will believe that you magically changed overnight, but they never saw what you were doing whilst the spotlight was not on you.

The goal isn’t to train to meet the needs of someone else, but to meet the needs of the people you’re going to become.

I knew that I had to change the way that I spoke and thought because I wanted out of my previous environment.

Therefore I had to train and to set the standards for the identity that I wanted to construct.

Listen, you don’t need another motivational speech to get you on track.

You need rules.

You need to make a promise.

You need a foundation to build from.

These are the foundations you'll be building from.

Not whilst everyone is watching.

But away from the light where your greatest obstacle to overcome is yourself.

The question is, how can you build the behaviours that create a new identity?

Behaviours That Create An Identity

Thinking alone will not change you.

But the behaviour must support it.

Every action that you repeat is evidence.

But this poses a question…

What behaviours should you be repeating if you want to become unrecognisable, to reconstruct yourself and to forge a new identity?

Knowing that you need to change is one thing.

But knowing what to do differently and how to execute it is another thing.

I have spent years experimenting with this.

I experimented with my training, writing, my environment, fear, self talk to escape a life that I didn’t want to be apart of.

This has led me to forge what I have learnt into the Seven Codes.

Phase III

The Execution

The 7 Codes Of A New Identity

The seven codes are for the person you’re becoming.

The more that you break these rules, the more your old identity continues to control you.

But, if you follow the rules you won’t only starve your old identity, but you’ll be building the evidence of your new identity.

Your Breath Is A Weapon. Learn How To Use It.

The Eternal Ascent — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 19:16:13 GMT

I didn’t realise the amount of tension that I was carrying until someone taught me how to breath.

One Sunday afternoon I took a trip down to the driving range to practise.

But this Sunday turned into a day I will never forget.

As I got down there there were two blokes practising.

One younger fella who is really good accompanied by an older head.

I was trying to focus on myself but I couldn’t help but overhear their interaction.

The older fella was giving some useful tips.

He was someone who you could listen to all day with the way that he speaks.

He was someone who you would make time for and someone who enjoys helping others.

But it wasn’t just the tips, it was the way he was explaining them.

The younger fella was blown away to which I tried to implement what I heard.

It didn’t work the way I had hoped.

So I waited until the younger lad departed and I went over to the old timer.

I said to him; “Excuse me mate, I saw that you were giving that other lad some very good tips and I need some help with getting better and being more consistent.”

To which he willingly decided to help me.

After some tips on my swing and ball striking, he then said to me,

“Right, before you strike that ball I want you to breath in and to take a big breath out through your mouth.”

“You’re letting go of all the tension in your body.”

So, I concentrated properly, the tension in my shoulders began to fall away from me like meat from a bone.

My grip was less tight.

Instead of rushing I was more fluid.

I felt completely relaxed after my exhale.

I couldn’t believe the results.

The swing felt effortless.

I was producing consistent shots as the ball flew higher & further.

I was hitting more than 5 clean shots, not entirely perfect, but the basis was there.

To me it seemed like a fluke at first, so I tried it again, again and again with his supervision and it turns out it wasn’t a fluke at all.

Eventually I realised that the power wasn’t directly coming from forcing power into the swing. It was coming from letting go and believing in myself.

I was pinging balls down the range like no tomorrow.

This wasn’t just about golf.

I realised that I had been carrying the same tension into nearly everything that I was doing.

The previous occasions when I tried to use my breath to release the tension it didn’t work.

Why? Because I wasn’t thinking about releasing the tension and thinking about my next action.

I was too tense through various scenarios,

In the gym.

When talking to women.

When writing.

At work.

During conversations with strangers.

I was trying to perform but I was carrying the tension with everything that I did.

The old fella said to me, “We hold a lot of tension within us. Just because you messed up once, don’t beat yourself up.”

I was honest and I told him, “I always end up doing this to myself.”

So I began to realise that the breath becomes the reset.

Exhale - Release the tension - Forget the previous mistake - Concentrate on the next outcome.

The Mistake Isn’t The Problem

Imagine completing a task or an action where your self-talk is negative.

Negative self talk changes the outcome of your actions.

You hit a poor shot.

The shot has now gone.

Instead of letting go, you keep on replaying it.

You criticise yourself and beat yourself up for it.

Your grip tightens.

This feeling then continued into your next shot.

You begin to over think your next shot and you start think of everything that can go wrong.

The mistake is history.

Now you’re carrying the tension that was created by the mistake.

Our words, similar to our breath, also carry a similar power.

Words carry the weight on the meaning whether positive or negative, so why are you speaking down upon yourself?

If you tell yourself constantly that you will fail, then you’re next action will mimic this very feeling as you are carrying the weight of expected failure.

The old fella told me, “Everyone now and then we hit a bad shot, everyone does it.”

And he is absolutely right.

What matters is how you bounce back and perform after a mistake.

This is where you have to once again focus on the breath and releasing all the tension built up inside of you.

I can’t think of the amount of times where I have been tense in different situations which has led to me completely fluff the action.

I would try to think of the best possible scenario, but these visions were eventually clouded out by the worst case scenarios that I used to feed constantly.

How I Changed

I changed by focusing on the way I spoke (about myself), controlling my breath and acting instead of waiting for permission.

Within a few weeks, I was able to completely alter my thoughts and what I wanted by believing whole-heartedly in the outcome and by adding evidence every week through consistent actions.

A year ago I would never have thought that I would have been a writer, producer and creator all moulded into one.

Finally, I stopped waiting and I decided to act before motivation kicked in and whilst the tension was still looming.

I didn’t think that I would publish my own articles, I didn’t believe in bringing my thoughts to life in the form of writing.

I would always second guess publishing my posts.

Every time that I decided to act before I felt ready, was another blow was dealt to my old identity.

I starved my old identity my new one could take its place.

People want shortcuts without putting in any effort.

I know this because I wanted easy ways to avoid my struggles, I wanted to utilise shortcuts so I could bypass the years of building, learning, failing and succeeding.

The truth is there is no shortcut.

You have to give your new identity a reason to exist.

And this is what my breath taught me.

Your breath is powerful because it gives you control over how you respond to the pressure.

Don’t be afraid of the pressure.

Don’t shy away from difficulty.

Stop waiting for the perfect moment.

Use the pressure as a tool.

Take the breath.

Exhale.

Let go.

Now perform.

If you’re sick & tired of being the skinny kid,

Then this is where that story ends,

And where your new identity begins.

Get access to the Skinny Guy Protocol here 👇

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I’ll see you on the other side.

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Why I Created The Skinny Guy Protocol

The Eternal Ascent — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:38:11 GMT

I genuinely thought that I would be the skinny kid forever.

I feared I would never grow out of the identity of being the skinny kid.

I thought of quitting multiple times because I wasn’t changing.

Every progression photo looked the same, and after every one I promised myself that the next photo would be different.

I spent years following advice aimlessly.

Mistake after mistake.

My commitment was there, but I lacked the right application.

But I knew that something had to change.

After my years of trial and error, I was finally able to build a system that would change my mind & body.

I didn’t just chase the aesthetics, I started to chase total body performance.

Why Advice Failed Me

Every video I watched told me something different.

Every influencer had a secret as to how they built muscle and put on weight effortlessly.

I thought that the more I watched then eventually the answer would be revealed to me.

Implementation after implementation, exercise after exercise, meal after meal, the more I consumed the more confused I became.

Who is it for?

The guy who has no problem with working hard.

The guy who avoids wearing short sleeve t-shirts.

The guy who has trained hard for months on end with not much to show for it.

The guy who is sick of being known as the skinny kid.

Why I made it

I created the system that I wish someone had shown to me years ago.

Why it exists?

I didn’t build this because I have all the answers.

I built it because I spent years failing to make the change that I wanted.

It exists so that you don’t have to spend years making the same mistakes that I did.

Inside the protocol you’ll find the training principles, systems, habits, frameworks, and a weekly schedule that helped me to leave behind the identity of the skinny kid.

If you’re sick & tired of being the skinny kid,

Then this is where that story ends,

And where your new identity begins.

P.S. Everything inside if built from years of experimenting, failing, succeeding, discovery, and remaining true with what worked for me - it’s not just about building muscle, it’s about building a new identity, confidence and the life you used to believe was out of reach.

If you’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to stop being the skinny guy,

Then this is it.

Thanks for reading Between Sword & Silence! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Why Most Men Never Reinvent Themselves

The Eternal Ascent — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 20:23:18 GMT

I would spend hours in a virtual world not questioning where my life was heading.

I eventually thought it would fade away, but I was glued.

My escape became my prison.

Every day was a repeat of the previous day.

I thought I had an idea about what I was talking about or what I believed in.

I thought I knew not only myself, but God (which I rejected for so long) and life itself - I was so drawn in to what I already knew that I didn’t expand my mind elsewhere - doing this became a big turning point for me.

All this changed when I was exposed to what I used to believe in.

Which got me thinking… Who do men never question who they truly are? Why is it that men envy those who decided to reinvent themselves?

You’re left wishing that you had done things differently and that you broke out of your old habits.

And the problem is that these habits reinforce an impenetrable system built on comfort and laziness.

A Lack Of Devotion

Comfort is like a fire extinguisher.

I know this, I would play my PlayStation for hours on end, doom scrolling with no end in sight, I was avoiding life and I never once looked at myself from a third person perspective to see what I was becoming.

Yes, I was becoming the very thing that I feared.

I would say to myself, “Alright, one more video.”, “I’ll stop at 7 o’clock.”

But I would still carry on.

It was easy to do those things.

It didn’t require much movement.

For years I was lost, I was spiritually dead.

I let comfort kill my action.

I was like a car without an engine.

And this is what men struggle with today.

A Look Into The Future

I saw what I was becoming.

But as well as this, I had some hard truths come home from certain people.

I didn’t want to believe it at first, but after I began to question who I was, my reality became clear and it was the reality that I wanted to avoid.

How did I get sucked into a life that I wanted to avoid?

I would dread the evenings, pretending everything was fine and that my life would eventually change.

I didn’t have many stories to tell.

I lacked devotion towards a cause.

I was like every other man who drifts through life without a cause to fight and to die for.

My 9-5’s used to stop me from reinventing myself because I was willingly accepting my situation.

I knew I needed to change my reality but I lacked the f*cking balls to do so.

A look towards my future was like looking into the reflection that you wanted to avoid.

But the reflection reveals the truth both internally & externally.

Your Lack Of Effort Is Visible

Excuses can make you weak.

Delaying the start for the perfect moment.

It’s as if you’re removing the engine from your car.

Alcohol or cheap distractions only numb the pain.

But the pain will always remain unless action takes the bull by its horns.

However, there is always something that can help to save a man.

Writing Saved Me

Through the endless hours of doom scrolling and indulging in cheap dopamine, I needed an escape.

I needed to bring my thoughts to life.

The matter of reinvention was something that I had to do, but I was unsure how to do it.

I had a vision of what I wanted to achieve.

I wanted to create my own thing, I wanted control over my own life.

My passion for writing could not be ignored.

The idea of living the life I wanted to live, to approach the girl even though I was nervous, to be the man that I wanted to be.

This all changed during that one train journey to work and when someone who I knew called me “boring”.

I remember him saying it to me over the phone and it was always on my mind.

Eventually I met him in person and I brought it up in conversation.

I explained about how it came across, but his response wasn’t what I expected.

He told me that I have a lot going for me and I could have a lot more if I pulled my finger out.

He didn’t want to see me waste my life not doing anything.

I finally got the kick up the back side that I needed.

That moment still sticks with me, it was even brought up again weeks down the line and the conversation went the same way again.

I knew that I needed to reinvent myself.

My focus on what needed to change took place, I didn’t just write it down, I embodied it and continue to do so.

I didn’t just make myself believe, I made all those close to me and people I meet along the way believe in what I am going to achieve.

I bought the notebooks, picked up the pen and started to write with no end in sight that the light at the end of the tunnel began to shine ever brighter.

When I finally put pen to paper and fingers to keyboard, I felt a sense of freedom that I hadn’t felt before.

The thoughts on the pages came to life.

I was attracting the life I wanted to live.

Instead of existing, I began to be.

Just writing this post out makes me feel alive, I am not just having a conversation with myself…but with you, the reader.

Fight Or Flight

Modern distractions meant that I never took myself seriously.

I avoided my thoughts.

Action eliminates fear and this is what my writing done for me.

I was hesitant to change my writing style & topics.

I didn’t feel qualified enough and I thought they wouldn’t be a success.

By the 5th post, my evidence of reinvention has began to show.

From originally thinking twice about publishing to going all in and writing whatever the f*ck I want, I finally emerged to the surface after drowning in my thoughts for so long.

After my 5th post of my new style, I wasn’t different there and then.

But the evidence was building itself up.

I was aligning myself with my desires.

I stopped waiting to feel ready and decided to take life by the horns and guide it the way I wanted it to go.

I knew that if I didn’t reinvent myself then I too would also fall down this hole.

But I always knew that I was meant for more, I was just too distracted to make the change.

If this post resonated with you, share it with someone who will find it useful.

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The Identity That Kept Me Skinny

The Eternal Ascent — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 22:00:22 GMT

I remember constantly eating chocolate chip muffins because an influencer on YouTube said that I needed the calories from the muffins.

It seemed logical at first, but it didn’t take long for me to hate every bite.

I was inflamed, but I continued to ignore it for the sake of putting on weight.

I got heavier, but I still resembled the skinny kid.

Every mirror was reminding me that I was still the skinny kid.

I was embarrassed to take my shirt off knowing that I still looked the same.

I knew I wanted the change badly, but I just had no idea how.

So I took on advice that would either make me or break me.

The Cost Of Your Diet

Being skinny and ballooning up to a heavier weight took its toll on me.

I tried going through various methods of eating and training, some working but a majority of them leading me right back to where I started.

I would dirty bulk by eating blueberry or chocolate chip muffins, creating protein smoothies filled with processed protein powder; frozen fruits, milk, peanut butter and oats.

My obsession with counting calories was causing me unnecessary stress.

All I was looking to do was to put on weight as I was sick of being the skinny kid, but what I didn’t realise was that the foods that I was consuming were doing more harm than good to me.

The thing is I wasn’t even that big, but I felt horrible, kidding myself that what I was doing was correct and that it would work.

Every meal had a lot of weight placed upon it… Failure to improve the numbers on the scales made me think that I was failing.

I was constantly force feeding myself, foods I didn’t enjoy, kidding myself to carry on with what I was doing as long as I was putting on weight.

Every meal left me completely bloated and my stomach would feel tight, but I carried on eating because I was afraid of not putting on the weight.

Eventually I would sit down wishing for the pain to go away and telling myself that I wouldn’t do it again… But then dinner time came around the next day.

If only my younger self knew of the problems that he would face.

Whilst I was battling with food,

I was also battling with comparisons.

The Silent Death From Comparisons

I used to avoid the changing rooms and the mirrors.

I felt physically small, whilst others were flexing and expressing their vanity, I would make sure that I avoided the mirrors.

There were brief moments when the changing rooms were completely empty and I would finally look into the mirror without anyone else about and look at my minor improvements.

But I was too cautious about other people seeing me that these moments always felt like life or death to me.

I would look around the gym and see someone who had joined months after me already bigger and adding more weight to the bar than I was.

I knew a lad from school who was roughly around the same weight as me, a few years down the line and he had managed to put on 30-40kg in weight whilst I was still struggling with my skinny identity.

I thought that I was cursed.

I was constantly comparing myself to other people, and what made it worse was the skinny guys joining the gym and becoming bigger and stronger than me.

I would say to myself; “Why me?”

“Will I ever change?”

“How come they’re getting bigger but I’m not?”

It was demoralising.

Constantly comparing myself to others was like a dagger through the heart to the identity that I was trying to build.

However, the attribute that became one of my best weapons ended up being my downfall.

The Failure That Led To The Success

I thought that more volume was the answer.

6 days a week. Push-Pull-Legs split. Repeat.

I thought this was going to be my saving grace.

My diet improved, but I was still eating for the sake of it.

But what I neglected ended up being my downfall.

Recovery.

An injury halted nearly all of my progress.

I tried to train through it but the pain became worse.

My lack of recovery had finally caught up with me.

The 90-minute sessions and lack of carbs hit me.

The goals/numbers I wanted to achieve seemed ever further away.

I felt let down, I wanted to be angry at something else but I could only be angry with myself.

The thought of losing all of the gains was killing me.

This sorrow dragged on for months.

But, this came as a blessing.

As eager as I was to continue, every movement that spiked the pain was telling me to think differently.

The endless months of pain finally revealed something to me that changed my mind and body for good.

I changed my approach from volume to intensity.

I built a system that changed my life.

Less Is More

If I told the skinny kid (the old me), that cutting down to 2-4 sessions a week whilst only completing 3-5 exercises per session with a maximum of 2-3 sets per session would get him the best results, I’m certain that he would say “Alright whatever.”

I finally stopped trying to do everything at once.

I trained fewer movements but with greater effort.

For once I had more time to myself and I was more muscular.

The mirror was no longer my enemy, but it was evidence of the man that I had become.

The younger me would never have imagined himself filling out fitted t-shirts or feeling comfortable wearing shorts to the gym.

None of this would have been possible if I hadn’t remained consistent and devoted myself to my cause.

Ditching the processed foods for whole, nourishing foods was one of the best investments I have ever made to my health.

More volume isn’t always better.

But effort trumps volume every day.

For years, every mirror was reminding me of the skinny kid identity that I thought I couldn’t escape.

Today these mirrors are evidence of what consistency and devotion can build.

I spent years looking for the perfect workout split.

But, what finally brought about the change wasn’t the workout at all.

It was the system that I built.

This is the system that I have installed into the Skinny Guy Protocol.

The protocol I wish I had when I was trying to change my identity whilst avoiding mirrors and obsessing over calorie counting.

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I Spent Years Solving The Wrong Problem

The Eternal Ascent — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 17:49:07 GMT

I spent years waiting to feel confident again.

But the confidence I was searching for never came.

So I had to act before the confidence was guaranteed.

Approaching girls that I thought were attractive.

Publishing articles that expressed my thoughts.

But, comfort stops any growth that was made.

I saw someone that I wanted to approach, but the battle was lost before it had even begun.

My mind would be racing.

A few drinks down, the confidence from the alcohol was running through me.

I pointed towards the dance floor in the local boozer, headed towards it and I decided to put myself in the mix.

I knew that if I wanted to overcome my fears and to be myself, I needed to start acting.

I wasn’t trying to impress anyone, I was simply living in the moment and being myself.

I danced because I stopped giving a sh*it about what other people were thinking.

And you know what, it worked.

The girl I had seen earlier that evening was eyeing me up, and her friend was eyeing me up too.

But now I had to follow through, instead of just dancing I needed to speak to her and to establish more.

I carried on dancing and the time was ticking.

I said to myself in my head, “Just do it now! Stop waiting.”

Eventually I just put my hand out, spun her around and I felt the pressure ease off of me.

[These emotions just hit me again]

It didn’t work out the next day.

But I enjoyed a high that the old me could only have dreamed of.

I spent years solving the wrong problem.

Confidence Isn’t The Problem

I realised that I was blaming the wrong thing.

It wasn’t confidence.

It was fear.

My fear stopped me from living.

It became clear to me that fear wasn’t something that I could think my way out of.

In fact, the more I lived inside myself then the greater the fear became.

Before approaching a girl you could see my nerves, my heart would drop and I would be so close to visually shaking - teeth chattering the lot.

The revelation was this…

After approaching, all of this went away and I was left thinking, “What was I worrying about?”

This makes the next time easier.

Instead of pondering on it, I gave myself a few seconds, made the decision and followed through with it.

Action produces evidence that eliminates the fear inside your head.

My life shifted when I started to act before relying on motivation or for confidence to arrive out of thin air.

What Scares You?

I knew that I wanted to talk with people and I couldn’t rely on them to approach me.

I knew I wanted to become a writer and to publish my own work, no one else was going to do this for me.

I was anxious with all of these, I wanted to do them but I lacked the confidence to do so.

But, once I was able to overcome my fears and what scared me, it felt like the weight had finally been lifted off of my shoulders.

I was afraid to approach, I was afraid to click publish, and I would not have gained the confidence if I didn’t lead with the action first.

Who Are You?

You reflect who you are.

If you’re afraid to live then you will forever be wondering who you are.

My writing was breaking down the walls to get to the centre of who I am.

I went deeper with every article to bring to life the thoughts I was avoiding.

Writing wasn’t just an escape.

My writing made me honest.

Every article and every sentence made me put my money where my mouth is.

It was freedom.

It was expression through self-discovery.

I realised that I was answering my own questions and my path became clearer.

You’re not going to want to look back at yourself in 10 years’ time regretting that you never took the leap.

You don’t just discover who you are when thinking about life.

Every fear that you challenge reveals more about the person you will become.

The person who you want to be isn’t waiting for the perfect moment, they’re waiting on the other side of your fears.

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The Skinny Kid Who Avoided His Reflection.

The Eternal Ascent — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 21:03:40 GMT

The life of the skinny kid hurts in ways that people will never see.

Yes, I was the skinny kid who avoided looking at himself in mirrors.

No presence. No confidence. Constantly waiting for my body to start developing.

I had always been skinny, in primary school I was the lightest kid. The same theme carried onto into secondary school, in fact, it even remained after this period too.

Being kicked about like a football. Weightless, might as well have been like f*cking air to everyone else.

People would take the p*ss out of how skinny I was.

To everyone else it was a joke, they hadn’t experienced it, but to me, after the dust settled, the realisation would always hit…

Will I ever put on weight and gain muscle?

Will I be like this forever?

For someone who was weightless, the weight of the world was sure felt upon my weak and non-existent shoulders.

I would see other people at my school developing, growing. But me, nothing was changing.

My family would either tell me…

“You’re a bag of bones.”

Or, they would say,

“You’re getting there, I can see you’re putting a bit on”

Some of this would have been encouragement for me to believe in myself, or the fact that I may have put a little bit of weight on.

Yet, nothing was really changing.

When I finally decided to start going to gym I thought to myself; “This is it, this is where I change, this is where I put on weight and muscle.”

And again, I made some progress, but in reality, it wasn’t much.

I wasn’t training correctly (in my eyes), my nutrition and lifestyle was poor, I was lost.

I used to train six days a week.

I would skip breakfast.

My sessions would last over 90 minutes.

I would leave the gym feeling exhausted because I had done far too much.

I thought what I was doing was right - more = more.

And this continued for far too long.

But, something had to give.

After looking at where I stood, I knew that something was missing, I was doing more but achieving less, I wasn’t enjoying the process.

I wanted more, I knew that I could achieve more.

This is where the great change happened.

I used to think that building muscle alone would give me confidence.

But it wasn’t the muscle.

It was the promises I made to myself, but more importantly it was the consistent action that got me excited for what was to come.

Just writing this gave me the same f*cking feeling.

My mind wasn’t being trained like how I trained in the gym.

I was training my body, but I wasn’t training my mind.

And this is where big changes occurred.

Instead of filling my brain and youtube feed with endless exercises and workouts to try, I decided to simplify what I was doing.

I decided to question whether “I could train less but achieve more.”

Along my quest to achieve more, I discovered the philosophy of Mike Mentzer.

I was finally able to see a great change in what I was doing.

Your Action Is Your Evidence

My notebook was half of my evidence.

My body was the other half.

Every session was cementing the new identity I was forging.

Every belief and thought was backed up by action.

I was changing, and in the process, I was leaving behind the skinny boy identity.

I labelled it…

The Iron Temple.

If only what I had now discovered, was there to serve me, the former skinny boy, back during his ventures towards a greater self. But this is part of the journey.

Remaining consistent over the years makes the impossible, possible.

The day when I finally received compliments from other people who weren’t my family was when I knew that my devotion paid off.

When people would compliment me:

“I can see that you have put on some size.”

At first I didn’t believe it so I just laughed it off because I didn’t see myself any other way, but as I looked at myself in the mirror, I then realised that I had changed.

You know, there is something important that my transformation taught me…

I wasted hours in the gym to get a good physique, but when I spent less time in the gym, I was able to maintain and achieve more.

There is much more to life than existing within the gym. Get in, get out, job done.

What Does Your Reflection Say?

I still remember the skinny kid that I was who couldn’t bear his own reflection.

And you know what… I’m thankful.

Because without the old me,

None of this would have existed.

Now I catch my reflection and I’m reminded of my journey.

I smile, not because my journey has finished.

But because I know that I am on the right path.

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The Hardest Thing To Escape Is Yourself

The Eternal Ascent — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 20:07:41 GMT

I spent years outrunning a life that existed within me.

My physical escape meant nothing because the internal war waged on.

Running away from life itself won’t solve your problems.

Killing your old identity and your fears is what will release you.

I spent too much time imagining various scenarios that would never happen. I was chasing distractions to feel “free” and I would always wonder why nothing changed, why I wasn’t living the life that I wanted to live.

I chose comfort over struggle because comfort felt safer.

Everyday felt the same, my happiness would only exist in short bursts.

The rest of the time was spent living in regret and distracting myself with cheap dopamine.

I wanted to change, but I was too loyal to a life I didn’t want.

It wasn’t until I realised that I can change my life by simply altering my energy and the way I think.

Why is it that people wish that they were someone else?

Why do we wish that things were different?

You Are What You Consume

What you let in affects your actions.

Once I shifted my focus onto things that I truly wanted, I was able to see the change before my eyes.

My writing took off, more people were reading what I had to say.

I felt an opening was finally presenting itself to me.

I have taken pictures of the comments that remind me to carry on what I am doing. Something that money cannot buy.

As a result, my system changed, my habits altered.

I started living, enjoying the journey itself.

I stopped running and started dancing.

My brief spell away taught me that the mind attracts what you truly want - an accumulation of thoughts and actions over days and weeks come to fruition.

Finally I was drawn to things that made me frustrated when I was engaging with them.

I Stopped Waiting To Feel Ready

Thoughts only ever remain as thoughts if they’re not followed up by action.

Hobbies or activities you’ve always wanted to do.

The girl you want to approach.

Whatever it is, think less and act more.

Whenever I would engage in one of the listed instances, I would always wonder what I should do and what I should say, and this was killing me before I had done anything.

Just sitting here in the coffee shop has got my stomach going all over the place, experiencing once again the things I finally acted upon and the things that get me excited

I never would of thought that my writing would take off.

Just that one moment of bringing my thoughts to life, hitting publish and people liking what I produced gave me something that living in my head never would.

People are afraid of failure and rejection just as much as they are death.

You can change your consciousness whenever you choose.

The longer you wait to change, the less likely you are to be the new you.

I quit the job.

I spoke to people to improve my interactions and to give them a sense of joy.

I remained consistent with my publishing.

I was finally doing things that aligned with the life I wanted to live.

Stop Running. Start Living

Life isn’t something to avoid, but it is something for you to explore and to be present with.

I used to run away from my thoughts.

I was only existing.

The more you try to run away from life, the less excitement you have.

I stopped running away from the life I wanted.

And the moment I stopped running was when I finally found something to dance towards.

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Less Is More. Here Is Why.

The Eternal Ascent — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 19:09:08 GMT

I built my best physique when I stopped trying to do more.

Most people believe that more training will produce better results.

More exercises, more reps, more sets and more hours spent in the gym.

I used to believe this.

My own experience showed me that more volume doesn’t necessarily lead to better results.

I realised that this principle also exists outside of the gym.

The mind must be trained just as much as the body.

A few years ago, I would train 6 days a week and the sessions would last for about 70-90 mins, sometimes longer.

Eventually my progress stalled as I picked up an injury.

This forced me to question my training & lifestyle and whether doing more training meant more results.

That’s when I decided to take a different path.

A strong body is useful both aesthetically and functionally.

For example, my current exercises for my chest are dips and push ups, nothing more than these two movements.

When I’m doing bodyweight or weighted dips, I will complete just 2-4 sets.

By reducing the amount of sets, I am able to put in maximum effort into each one without the build-up of unnecessary fatigue.

If you finish your dips and then go straight into bench press, then cable flies and eventually a machine press, I believe you’re doing more than you need to do. Your chest has already received enough stimulus after the dips and even the bench press. Beyond that point, you’re adding more fatigue rather than a productive session.

If you’re someone who works a physically demanding 9-5, then less is actually more.

You’ve already spent eight hours doing physical work.

The last thing you’ll need is a two-hour gym session putting further stress on your muscles.

The Power Of The Mind

The same principles also apply to the mind.

The more we overthink, the less we act.

Endless thinking does not equal progress.

The mind should be trained just like the body.

Focus your attention on what truly matters to you.

Observe yet do not absorb everything.

It reminds me of Fight Club: to finally be free from external substances that own us.

Removing unnecessary distractions brings about more clarity, a clearer and cleaner space to operate from whilst only having the necessities.

Here Is What Changed Everything For Me

Training less.

I trained less and I got better results. 2-3 days a week, sometimes one day (depending on schedule and availability, and work in general). Less volume but a higher and more purpose driven intensity.

More recovery.

I now take much more time to recover between my training days.

Hard training requires proper recovery.

Recovery is just as important as training.

I put a cap on the movements I utilise - Not overcomplicating what I believe I need to train.

The staples for me are as follows; Dips, Pull Ups/Chin Ups, Neck Crunches, Kettlebell Swings, with various calisthenic/bodyweight movements such as Push Ups, Bodyweight Squats, L-Sit, Leg Raises and other movements of this ilk.

3-5 movements. Ideally, this is the maximum. Nothing more than this.

I put maximum intensity into these movements, then I give myself enough time to recover before doing it all again.

Progressive overload. Try and go one better every session, or more if you have the mental fortitude for it.

Whole foods. Ditch the fake plastic foods and ultra-processed garbage immediately. I only consume foods that are nutrient dense, they have minimal ingredients and that they are a natural food source. Seasonal eating as well.

Less garbage, more nutrients.

Think less.

I aim to not overthink especially when it comes to creating false problems that do not exist.

Think more about what truly matters to you. I have found that this reduces my stress and anxiety.

Train the mind to detach from things that we do not need, but to focus on more of what we truly need.

Stop living according to someone else’s opinion. Constantly seeking approval puts a limit on who you can become.

Focus on what you can control - provide for yourself and those closest to you.

Doing less isn’t about doing the minimum.

It’s removing everything that doesn’t matter so you can give yourself to what truly matters.

You want to look better, to think better, to feel better, to be better?

Good, this is what the Iron Temple is designed for.

The Iron Temple exists for people who want to build a body and mind of iron - overcoming your limitations, facing your fears and to leave behind your old identity and start living like the new you.

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The skinny to muscular crisis and how I fixed my problem

Afraid To Go To The Gym? Read This First

The Eternal Ascent — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 08:38:03 GMT

Do you feel afraid to work out? The gym turning into one of your biggest fears.

Constantly surveilling of the people in the gym.

No confidence in what you are doing, the effort doesn’t even exist.

You count down the minutes until you leave.

You do not even know where to start.

Your friends do not actually help you and progress is a pipe dream.

Do any of these resonate with you?

This has been the beginning of the story for many people, myself included, until eventually, all these problems fade away, and what are you left with? The Iron Temple…

My first day in the gym was daunting.

I wore a jumper and tracksuit bottoms to cover up my physique.

I didn’t know where to start.

I was lifting some of the lightest weights in the gym, whilst the people I was with were taking the p*ss out of and doing someone of the movements with one arms and lifting at least 3x more than me.

But my turning points didn’t come there, it came when I looked at photos and saw than I wasn’t changing.

And that’s when I took a different approach.

Iron Temple

The skinny boy problem, I’ve been there, as thin as a twig, no confidence, the mere fact of joining a gym is daunting, mocked by peers for our size, it’s horrible. We know we need to make a change, yet we are unsure how to. From my personal experience, I have made this change possible, and I still continue to grow. I am not going to be the 80kg ripped t…

5 months ago · 15 likes · 2 comments · The Eternal Ascent

The first steps in your fitness journey are very daunting, this is the start of a test, a test to see whether you will crash & burn, turning your back on what you could become., or will you start building your new identity, acting before waiting for motivation to get you moving.

Everyone was in your shoes once, they were feeling the same way that you do.

The big revelation is this:

You are not overcoming everyone else, you are overcoming yourself.

We put limiting beliefs on ourselves, riddled with fear and having no confidence to attempt actions outside of your comfort zone.

Anxiety becoming a daily occurrence, fearing what is unknown, the eyes of the world staring at you from every direction, no escape, frozen in time without the ability to act.

But… there is a way out - this is the reason for the creation of the Iron Temple.

It took me some time, but I eventually learnt this…

Ignore everyone else, their conceptions of you exist only in their minds, making it non-existent if you will.

If they were genuine they would give you some advice (I was fortunate with this), they are probably focusing more on themselves (vanity). Overtime you will grow both your mind and your iron, consistency is key, apply the correct mindset every time you workout.

Do not just prove other people wrong, prove yourself wrong.

Failure is the key to success.

You need to focus on yourself - your growth/change is a necessity to become the greatest version of yourself.

A war wages within you, residing in your comfort and not exploring outside of yourself vs wanting to venture outwards and seeing who you truly are.

Eventually people will become envious, those that may have viewed you in a different light may even look to conversate with you and may want to learn a thing or to.

This is a sign of your growth.

In the instance of overcoming your fears and anxiety, no one else matters, only you matter, ignore everyone else, see what you are made of, understand why you feel the way you feel, dumb every opposing thought and belief down to it’s core - understanding what triggers these thoughts & feelings.

You are capable of more than you could imagine. You will overcome your fears, you will grow, the Iron Temple will serve as a mandate to you to help you on your journey to self discovery and forging your iron will.

A strong mind and flesh shall be forged.

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Every Decision Directs Your Fire

The Eternal Ascent — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 16:24:08 GMT

I almost abandoned the one thing that makes me feel alive.

Other people’s opinions were becoming louder and were clouding my judgment.

I knew what I wanted, but there was a slight hint of doubt.

For the first time I felt like I knew exactly what I was trying to build.

I remember sitting down one day and writing like a storm.

I was determined to write until my fingers started cramping up.

I was eager to publish the work I had been working on.

It felt right, I knew which direction I was heading in.

I had finally found my purpose.

But this was halted on numerous occasions by not only myself, but outside noise that challenged my belief.

I quit the job I hated, I went all in on myself, I knew what I wanted to do, but other people’s opinions were clouding my judgment;

“Are you going to get a job?”

“What you’re doing is wrong.”

“Go back to your old job.”

I began to question myself… “Did I make the right choice? Do I have to throw all my hard work away? Have I made a big mistake?”

My new identity was being challenged.

But this didn’t stop here…

The Test

A job interview came to me, I went for it, but something didn’t feel right.

Before the interview I knew I didn’t want it.

Why? Because I was lying to myself, I knew what I wanted and what I was being offered didn’t align with me.

I ended up doing the interview, and my answers became very clear.

I was honest, but I also shot the heart of my new identity. Some of my answers felt like I was betraying what I had built.

I sat in the office before moving elsewhere, and I knew at that moment I couldn’t return to an environment like that.

I knew that I didn’t belong, I could’ve kidded myself and pretended that I did, but eventually the filter had been removed within the first few seconds.

They wanted me to sell myself, like I could belong.

I couldn’t.

My old ways crept back in, the lack of confidence was peeking back through.

What made it worse was they seemed to think I was lying about the things I recorded and what I had done.

They challenged my experience, they questioned who I was, every question was skeptical.

They thought my history was fake.

I answered and they gave a look that didn’t believe what I said. They even tested me on what I had written down.

I felt like I had been swallowed up and spat back out to be a piece of sh*t on the floor.

It only lasted for 10 - 15 minutes, but it felt like 30 minutes.

I left with relief, but something didn’t feel right - I noticed my old ways were resurfacing, and this is where the very low moments and outside opinions were dampening my fire.

I went back to my car with the interview playing over and over again on my journey home.

I felt relieved to be out, but I also felt embarrassed with my old ways showing once again and choking on some of my words.

The Realisation

I walked for over an hour and I sat down to slow everything down.

I was replaying the interview over and over again.

I replayed what other people were telling me to do.

But then I realised something…

Nobody was changing my direction.

It was me.

Every time someone questioned my decisions, I would question them too.

I already knew the answers, but I was second guessing myself.

These instances were testing whether I was still feeding my old identity.

The moment I realised my actions either extinguish my fire or direct it, I rediscovered my assurance and I continued the next day like I was reborn.

The next day, my Dad told me something that would stick with me for the rest of my life;

“You have things that I never had. I learn from you. You have the nucleus for discipline. Prove us all wrong.”

Action Directs Your Fire

The next morning I knew what I needed to do.

I knew I couldn’t fall into a rut, or worse, to quit.

I wrote out a checklist of everything that I needed to do.

Nobody was going to change their opinions, and no one was going to do the work for me.

I chose to act for the life that I wanted to live.

I didn’t ask for permission to continue.

One by one the checklist was being ticked off.

By the fifth check, I had returned like I had never left.

My new system and my purpose pulled me back onto the path I briefly drifted away from.

If I never started to question not only myself, but societal norms and life itself, then I would not be here writing out this post to you.

If I never hit publish on the posts that the old me would never have dared to write & publish, then I would still be dominated by my fears and my thoughts would only ever remain as thoughts.

That afternoon I continued to work on my new release (protocol out soon).

I didn’t wait for the doubt to disappear.

I knew there was work to be done and only I could do it.

Without action, ”I can’t” will always have a strong grip upon you.

Comparisons Extinguish Your Fire

Comparisons weren’t making me work harder.

They were making me hesitate.

Do you compare yourself to others who:

Have achieved more than you
Operate within a different field
Measure yourself compared to someone who may be similar
Compare yourself to people who lie about what they have done and what they achieved

I would be worried if you said no. Do you know why?

Because we have all done it.

These comparisons alone are dream killers.

These comparisons are like applying a fire extinguisher to your fire, and the crazy thing is that you’re the one who is putting out the fire.

I’ve been there, comparing myself to what someone else has achieved and then immediately thinking that it’s impossible for me to achieve something successful.

Those moments after my interview and the hours following it, I felt like I was hitting rock bottom.

I wrote down how I was feeling, brutal and honest, but I could barely concentrate.

I was questioning all the writing I had done.

I thought that what I was working towards was a big mistake.

How To Direct Your Fire

When was the last time you truly felt alive, in the pursuit of something that you not only treasure, but it brings you to life like nothing else would?

Why should you have to suppress your fire for the sake of something that means far less?

Your fire should be used like tunnel vision.

Knowing of your purpose, your passion, your desires and relentlessly striding towards it.

Motivation will only take you so far.

Action eliminates fear.

Build the system that is powered by your fire.

Form the habits and feed your new identity.

No one will truly understand your aspirations and what drives you.

The interview was never going to give me the career I wanted.

It reminded me of the life I left behind and the dangers of feeding my old identity.

I almost abandoned the one thing that made me feel alive like nothing else has.

Not because I lacked the passion for it.

But because I let other people influence where I should be aiming.

Every decision that you make is either directing your fire…

Or you’re putting it out.

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The Skinny Boy Manifesto

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Rejection Hurts Less Than Regret

The Eternal Ascent — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 17:01:48 GMT

I waited for over an hour for the perfect opportunity.

To face my fears.

But that hour was wasted fighting a battle in my head.

I knew I didn’t escape my problems, I just delayed facing them so I didn’t have to face my fears.

And when those problems return, they hit you harder than before.

So what do you look to do?

Run again.

To bury it once again in the back of your mind.

I’ll tell you this…

Creating a system and remaining disciplined worked, but in reality it was my escape.

My escape from life, afraid to live, going out and speaking to others felt like I was being strangled by myself.

I feared not being good enough, worrying about what other people thought.

The problems grew over time because I neglected them, and that still torments me.

Those rock bottom moments left me drowning in my own thoughts.

My dreams and visions were fading as I sank deeper & deeper.

I was trying to create my new identity, but I always heard the crushing sound of the waves as they followed me wherever I went.

I sat there staring at my screen, doom scrolling, wondering whether I should delete it all and quit.

My problems finally caught up with me.

It was me.

I was the problem.

The only person stopping me was me.

The truth hurt more than rejection.

One failed action led to another.

Beating myself up because I didn’t have the courage to approach someone.

I wanted to approach a group, but I wanted some help.

I knew that if I could just approach them, then I would be overcoming my fears. I wanted to do it so badly.

I decided to drink to give me confidence.

I sat there thinking over and over again of what I should say and what could happen.

I was eager to prove myself wrong.

But the last thing I wanted to happen happened.

As I felt like I was going to go over there, they got up and left.

I felt like a f*cking moron. A big waste of time.

I wanted to be angry at them for leaving, but who was I kidding.

I was angry and disappointed in myself for waiting an hour instead of acting.

That hour was spent thinking of made-up scenarios, waiting for someone else to go over there with me.

The thing is it felt like they wanted me to go over there, their body language seemed to reveal it. They never had to say anything, but you could just tell. Waiting for me to make the move.

But I delayed the action with negative thoughts, the days that followed haunted me with thinking of what could have been.

I thought it was all over.

But it was my beautiful Nan that told me something;

“Keep your head up, walk around with your head held high.”

“Next time you will not fail because you know what you must do next time.”

“Don’t over think things, it will come naturally.”

“Enjoy life.”

Those 30 minutes that I spoke to my Nan were golden.

I stopped beating myself up and I looked into what I could do better next time.

I felt reassured.

I pondered on this for a few days.

Running the words over in my head and looking back on the failed scenarios.

I looked at myself, and so I thought;

“If I want to be the person who I want to become, then I need to act like this person. I cannot simply give up without a fight. I am not looking to please everyone, I’m not creating something for the people who don’t care, I’m doing this for those that do”

I realised that fear was eliminating my action.

The Escape That Turns Into Nightmares

I created a system built for discipline.

The system worked.

I was dedicated towards my health and the gym.

I stayed away from things that I knew would make me weaker.

But this system I built ended up becoming a nightmare coated in safety.

I believed that what I was doing was the correct formula.

Instead I was simply shelling up even more.

My confidence wasn’t getting any better.

I was so dedicated to my system that I couldn’t see the danger.

I was losing time without ever realising it.

I knew I wanted to improve myself, my body improved, but my mind was neglected.

I was only living for the gym.

The gym was never going to help me to talk to that group.

I crafted my physique, but I forgot to craft my mind.

I was disciplined.

I had structure.

But I would struggle to spark up a conversation with someone else.

I built a wall around me to defend myself from my problems, but my problems eventually broke down my wall and revealed it all to me again.

My escape was my nightmare.

It’s You vs YOU

People gave me advice, and I would rely on the advice alone to change me.

But I soon realised that I needed to act upon it.

I watched a video, a few words uttered in it pierced directly through me:

“Action eliminates fear.”

I knew this was true because I had done it and experienced it.

However, failure to keep up with the action can bring about the doubts and problems once again.

The blueprint is there for us all.

We are our own worst enemies.

Overthinking and running away from our problems.

The more we panic the quicker we sink.

The problems that you’re avoiding today will be waiting for you tomorrow, and the next day and the day after that and so on until you finally decide to act.

That moment when I sat there waiting for the perfect moment, I was fighting with myself and no one else.

Fear was created by fake stories I kept telling myself.

What if they reject me?

What if I fail?

What if I don’t know what to say?

The longer and longer I waited, the worse the fear became.

Fear grows from inactivity.

Action starves the fear.

Every time I decided to act despite being fearful, I walked away stronger and clearer than before.

I proved to myself that I could do it.

Action comes before confidence.

Confidence is built from action.

One step leads into another step.

Action beats fear every time.

Rejection hurts less than regret.

I learnt that the hard way.

What action will you take before the day is over?

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Burn Your Old Identity. Build The New One.

The Eternal Ascent — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:54:17 GMT

Most people today will never achieve their dream life because they’re too loyal to a version of themselves that no longer serves them.

Does the mirror reflect the person who you think you are?

To change your life, you must kill your old identity.

You have a burning desire within you, something that you want to achieve, but there is one thing that is holding you back… YOU.

Your mind runs free like a wild horse, untameable.

You have little control over your thoughts, negativity rules your mind leaving you to drown amongst these thoughts.

For years you have most likely waited for the perfect opportunity to come, to finally make the change you have always wanted.

I know this because it happened to me.

I waited for years to take action.

I would wait for the perfect moment than never arrived.

The truth? The perfect moment was never going to arrive.

I wanted to leave my 9-5 but I didn’t have the balls to say; “I quit.”

Year after year, I would dream of the life I wanted, the person I wanted to be. Year after year my dream only remained a dream and nothing more.

When I finally decided to take action it only lasted so long. I didn’t believe in myself, I would think of excuses as to why I couldn’t bring my dream to life.

I was too busy looking at what other people had done with their lives and neglected taking action with my own life.

I told myself that I would do some research followed by actionable steps, but instead I spent hours watching entertainment videos without producing anything.

One evening I decided to make a post that reflected where I was heading. I was sick of waiting around for another year for the perfect moment. I clicked publish and went asleep not expecting too much. The next day when I got home from my 9-5 was where it all changed, I decided to ride the wave of excitement and to pursue what was unfolding before my eyes. And from that day I didn’t look back.

The day I decided to put fingers to a keyboard and my world began to open. This was only the beginning, a post that kick-started it all, the day the light at the end of the tunnel began to grow bigger, the day where I finally grabbed onto the opportunity of life.

I followed these three habits every evening; writing, learning & publishing which burnt my old identity and formed my new one.

At first nothing seemed to change.

But I started to think and act differently.

I didn’t just become a writer, I became a producer, a creator, an author all rolled into one.

I was creating my own album.

I stopped seeing myself as someone who always wanted a better future.

I started creating it in the present moment.

The habits themselves weren’t difficult (writing, learning, publishing), I just decided to stick them.

I wrote about them in more detail:

Burn It All

Stop the behaviours that keep you tied down to a relationship that you don’t want to be in.

Stop the habits that reinforce these behaviours.

Consciously think about the decisions you are making and the actions that follow. Keep what is necessary and burn what isn’t.

Build The New

Form the new habits that you will follow daily.

Write down what you want to become but write it as if it is already exists within this present moment.

Repeat this daily.

Alexander The Great didn’t wait for someone else to fail whilst taming the horse that couldn’t be tamed. He took his opportunity and done what everyone else failed to do.

He didn’t wait for permission, he seized his opportunity in that moment and took.

Repeated action everyday leads to success. Alexander was more than prepared to tame the horse because he believed in himself which was backed up back his actions every single day.

Tame your mind then you will be able to see the bigger picture.

Water Your Plant

What happens when you don’t water the plant and give it the correct amount of light? It dies.

A plant that is neglected doesn’t just die overnight.

It dies day after day from repeated neglect.

Your dreams and ambitions work the same.

Everyday that you avoid taking action - everyday you starve yourself of building the new you. Your future self is waiting for your arrival, but you’re still stuck in your old ways.

The post that kick started it all, if I didn’t continue to water the plant, then I wouldn’t be here writing out this post.

If your plant is dying in a certain environment, then you have no choice but to move it other wise it will perish. SO WHY DON’T YOU APPLY THE CONCEPT TO YOURSELF.

I’ve seen men hate their job but have no to choice but to go to their 9-5 because they decided to not take themselves seriously in their younger years. Now they’re paying the price and are counting down the days until they retire.

If I didn’t decide to burn my old identity, then I know that I would be working a job that I hated.

Comfort is your worst enemy.

Who Will You Be 1 Year From Now?

Commit and don’t look back.

From the post that changed it all, I am no longer the same person prior to that post.

I took inspiration from Alexander The Great. The horse that no one could tame. Everyone who tried failed miserably. At first I wouldn’t even try because I was afraid of failure.

But those moments when I did try and noticed something.

I noticed that I was getting progressively better each time.

I was beginning to understand my mind and the way it thought.

So, I did the impossible.

I tamed by mind.

I burnt the my old self full of limitations and a fearful life.

Now I ride the once wild horse towards the sun excited for what is to come.

All of this was achieved within a few months, not even a year.

Don’t put limitations of yourself. Think about turning your dreams into a reality.

No one is going to complete your change for you, only you can do this.

Throw away old clothes that remind of the person who you know longer want to be.

Write down on a piece of paper of all things that you are leaving behind and burn it.

Throw away the mask that you used as a false identity. You’re no longer trying to fit in.

The clock is ticking, time waits for no man.

Your old identity still has both hands on the steering wheel, telling you where you should go.

The horse still runs wild.

The horse contains your problems and your solutions.

Now it’s your turn to take control of your operations.

Discovering The Hidden Behaviours Keeping You Trapped

Most people never change because they continue to feed their old identity whilst relying on motivation to get them out of trouble.

When I finally decided to change my life, I wasn’t only thinking differently.

The habits weren’t the first thing that changed.

Before I could build my new identity, I had to identify the hidden behaviours that were keeping my old identity alive.

These were the five identity killers that kept me trapped for years.

Become Impossible To Categorise

The Eternal Ascent — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 12:55:00 GMT

Every week felt the same, early morning rises, overthinking what to do, doing something that I hated.

It all became so predictable.

Falling within the category of existing and never living.

A category isn’t just a job title, it’s a predictable identity with a set of routines and a mind that is never questioned.

I have been there, stuck within a system that I never questioned. My old system felt safe, but in reality it made me worse.

I didn’t want my life to become predictable so that someone could write down and describe the next ten years on my life in a single sentence.

Society wants categories.

Some people don’t choose a category.

They inherit a category that they never knew they were a part of, subconsciously.

Years will pass and the category becomes stronger.

Everything remains the same, the goals, the routines and the systems.

It’s not because they’re not capable of changing, but because they never once stopped to question the person they’re becoming.

They’re living a story that someone else has scripted for them.

I realised that I would drift this way if I didn’t start wiring my own system.

I would tell myself that I was different, but in the back of mind I would still listen to the external noise and I would wonder whether I was ever going to escape.

The realisation came when I decided to question everything.

I sat there and realised that I wasn’t questioning what was put in front of me, I wasn’t thinking for myself and I felt like I was being told what I should think and who I should be.

I had waited too long to escape the category that I never wanted to be a part of.

By beginning to question life, I began to develop independent thought. The old me was afraid to think for himself.

Instead of simply consuming, I finally decided to create something.

I had desires to fulfil and I knew that wasn’t going to fulfil them if I thought like everyone else.

For years I was lost in the world, no path to forge, no creation, I was existing.

But the one principle that I stuck by from one I was a little lad continued to inspire me:

“I will end up doing something that I love even if I earn less money than something that I could earn more money with but I hated.”

I stopped obeying the system of my old life and I started to bring life the life I desired into the present moment.

The great change began when I decided to take myself seriously.

I decided to follow my curiosity as I fell out of line with what was described as normal.

Curiosity was like my escape route.

I wasn’t interested with what I was taught back in school.

I decided to use my curiosity as a tool to teach myself.

As the curiosity grew, I felt the friction of my old life, my old category looking to pull be back in, but the great change had already gained momentum.

My curiosity led me here, unwilling to rest on something when I knew that there was more to find.

I had ideas of what I wanted, but they were always unclear. Being curious made my visions more clearer.

The more curious I became the harder I became to categorise. It was my way of finally using the pen.

Interests that led into other interests.

Questions led me to unexpected answers.

Locked doors were beginning to open.

New ideas were challenging the stories I had been told.

I was viewed as someone who wasn’t normal.

This all came about because I finally decided to ask what genuinely interests me and how I could finally live the life that I wanted to live.

I decided to stop living a life that wasn’t mine.

This all came about because I finally decided to ask “what interests me?” and how I could finally live the life that I wanted to live.

I decided to stop living a life that wasn’t mine.

Action Over Regret

I originally lacked the belief in myself, the life I desired seemed impossible.

I was becoming predictable, regretting decisions that I never made.

But I realised something…

What are people doing to be able to live the life they want?

How are they operating from their own category?

It’s simple. They finally decided to act.

They took themselves seriously - their dreams and visions no longer remained as something within their heads, they brought them to life.

I was finally breaking away from the category that held me down to a life I always looked to escape.

The category of existing rather than living haunted me, I knew I could no longer regret not taking the leap.

Self Authorship

School tells you the person who they want you to become.

Work helps to reinforce this.

Before long, people find themselves living a life they never consciously chose but they cannot escape from this life as they are now that life.

I was able to break away from this by questioning everything.

Becoming too fond within a category becomes dangerous.

You’re simply referred to as another member of a category you aren’t aware that you’re a part of.

The goal at first was to remain open minded, searching beyond what is currently known.

Over time, these interests that stick are honed in on.

The moment I stopped following the script, I finally felt more free.

I finally decided to stop following people whose ideas did not align with mine.

The music altered, my speech changed, my movement changed, my mindset was being born anew.

People didn’t necessarily agree with where I was heading or with my beliefs, but the new me didn’t care about this.

I was breaking away from the category I no longer wanted to be a part of, I was bringing my thoughts into action, I am publishing posts that I would think twice about posting.

I stopped relying on others, I stopped relying on change to work its way towards me.

Society wants you to fit in with their mandatory categories, to accept with hesitation.

By agreeing to the waver, you sign the rest of your life off for someone else to control your programming.

Don’t let someone else write your life out for you.

The goal was never to become different for the sake of being different.

The goal was to be curious enough that I became unpredictable with what I’m going to do, to stop living a life that wasn’t mine.

Curiosity taught me to question.

Action taught me to commit and to overcome my fears.

I wasn’t trying to stand out.

I was trying to take command of my life.

I have been told that I’m not normal, and it puts a smile on my face every time.

I finally decided to hold the pen myself.

If this post resonated with you, share it with someone who will find it useful.

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You’re next reads…

Tomorrow Never Came

The Eternal Ascent — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 16:20:28 GMT

I remember taking a hard look at myself without standing in front of a mirror.

I promised that I would change, that tomorrow would be a new day.

But tomorrow never came.

My comfort was so strong that I would be nervous to go out and to speak to people.

People would tell me that I was becoming a hermit, that I needed to get out more and to do stuff.

But the 4 walls in my room became my safe haven.

I became addicted to a life of cheap dopamine, easy pleasures and constantly telling myself that I couldn’t achieve the life that I wanted to live.

I had imprisoned myself and I couldn’t escape the thoughts that would haunt me.

The day I finally decided to throw away the TV and to stay away from computer games wasn’t the day that I broke my addiction.

I finally made a decision that I followed through with.

After months and years of questioning where I wanted to go, I finally had an idea, but my surroundings and my mind were keeping me pinned back.

I was too addicted to the comfort and the distractions that kept me docile. I knew I wanted to get rid of the TV and the PlayStation, but I kept putting it off, giving myself a date to be rid of them, but the day of escape was always pushed back.

But when I finally held myself accountable and saw the life I wanted to live move further and further away from me, when I finally put a stop to my lost time, I felt a sense of being free.

Looking back, I struggled to see my addiction because it was ingrained into my life and it became a normality.

My eyes were glued to a virtual world, while the person who I wanted to become was locked behind a soundproof cell, shouting to try and wake me up.

The Cycle Of Regret

Day after day, the addiction remained.

Your system has become so strong that breaking away from it feels like a death sentence.

That was the day I wrote down everything that I wanted to leave behind - the habits & excuses, the emotions that kept me locked in my cell.

At night I went outside and I burnt this piece of paper, as a symbol to live like the new me.

I finally decided to break away from my long serving system.

I stopped waiting for a specific day.

There were times where I would try to break free, but I would return back to my old ways within the next day.

I would suffer internally, pleading to God to help me, I was sick and tired of falling after every hurdle.

Every afternoon and evening I regretted wasting the day.

Yet, every morning I repeated the same old habits.

I was trapped everyday because I chose the cage that was familiar to me, the cage of safety.

The Escape Route

The 8 hour gaming sessions that the young me would cherish were thrown away.

The guilt of not creating something still haunted me, until I decided to take action.

The TV to be given to someone else, the PlayStation collecting dust in the loft. At first I wondered what I would do with my time, I felt a bit lost, but this changed when I found my calling.

The hours wasted playing games was spent writing, learning and creating something that I wanted to build, something that I was originally afraid of publishing.

I still had to conquer my mind and to overcome my addiction. At times I was still too comfortable and lazy, my old habits were still lingering.

The difficulty was staying away from the old system that I was loyal to, I knew I wanted to put in the work but the life of comfort made me a passenger.

Even when you burn your old habits on that piece of paper, the work still needs to be done.

Your future you continues to call out to you from the soundproof cell, you’ll have to start acting like this person in order to free yourself from your old habits, your old life.

The worst part was that I knew that I was trapped.

I always wanted an escape but I was unsure of where to start.

Tomorrow.

Next week.

Next month.

New year’s resolution.

It came to a point where I thought I would never climb out of the cage.

The cell I built could be broken out of, if I am capable of building the habits then I am capable of tearing them down.

The escape wasn’t hidden, it was there in plain sight.

The cell was forged from my addiction and habits, not steel.

I finally stopped waiting.

I started to climb the stairs when I stopped waiting for the perfect opportunity.

The future me was finally released from the soundproof cell.

If this post resonated with you, share it with someone who will find it useful.

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Death To The Old Self: 7 Ways To Build Unshakable Confidence

You’re next reads…

Iron Temple

I want to ask you something and you must be honest with yourself… How many decisions have you made this year whilst being afraid of what other people may think? (Be honest with yourself…

3 months ago · 2 likes · The Eternal Ascent

Stop Being Loyal to the Person You're Trying to Outgrow

The Eternal Ascent — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 19:38:48 GMT

What if the life you’re chasing isn’t 5 years down the line from now?

What if it’s waiting for you to become the person who is capable of living it now?

Everyone else who wanted to make a change realised this.

They knew what they wanted, they weren’t going to achieve their dreams by not bringing about the required change.

I fell into this trap, wanting to change but not knowing where to start or how to execute a plan.

I thought I would never grow out of the 4:45am alarm and the train journeys at 6 in the morning .

It came to a point where I thought I would never find my purpose.

People were creating the lives that they wanted to live.

But me… I remained glued to a life that I didn’t want.

Every time I tried to break free, something didn’t feel right.

The old me was calling me back, dragging me back down to the depths of the ocean just so I could drown in negative self-talk.

I remember sitting in silence the week after I quit my job.

No alarm to wake up to.

No train journey.

No work colleague trying to manage me.

It was just me, my notebook, sticky notes, a laptop and the realisation that I was no longer chasing the life I wanted.

I had already stepped into it.

I finally found my confidence again, dancing around a shop without a care in the world. The old me would have cringed at the sight of this.

You probably wait for the perfect moment to finally act upon a decision, don’t you?

You think about more than one outcome which leads you to overthinking and never following through with what you originally planned.

I know this, I’ve been there.

You not only lack actionable steps to follow, you lack the belief and confidence in yourself.

Living Your Life Through Someone Else’s Filter

I changed when I finally quit my job and left behind the 6am train journeys that robbed me of my life.

After I quit my job the pen and my keyboard helped me to bring to life the life I desired.

I became obsessed with creating my brand, everyday I sat down and put thought to paper.

Some of my work didn’t do so well, but some of it resonated with people.

For the first time in my life I was finally building towards something that I always wanted to create.

I never want to return to those 6am train journeys, so I left myself no choice but to become the person who I wanted to be.

Everyday I become more and more like the person who I want to be.

The more and more I acted like this person, the chains holding me down from my old identity have been unlocked by the key I had all this time yet never decided to use.

Your Thoughts Only Ever Remain As Thoughts (This is a worry)

When was the last time you had a crazy thought, something that made you feel alive?

And how quickly did you shoot down this thought or never decide to act on it?

Without action change cannot occur. You will still sing to the tune of your old life.

If I only kept this publication as a thought then I wouldn’t be here living the life that I want to live.

It wasn’t until I started to live in the end goal/state that I realised…

The life I want to live already exists, I always sought out permission to live it, but I never needed the permission to do so.

I didn’t just publish for the sake of it, I thought more deeply about what I was producing.

I began to pour in more personal and meaningful stories that reflected my thoughts. I spoke with more assurance within myself with the utmost belief in what I am creating.

I no longer had to wake up to an alarm. I woke up knowing that something great would happen to me, the small win everyday was knowing that I get to wake up and work on my purpose.

Those 6am train journeys taught me something…

If I wanted an escape, then my thoughts could never remain as thoughts.

My thoughts needed to turn into action

I never wanted to return to the train journeys that made me dread 7am-3:30pm.

Find your why? What gets you excited to come home from work?

If you never act upon your creative thoughts then the life you want will forever be too far for you to reach.

Don’t neglect yourself.

You Won’t Know Until You Try (Try & fail, try & succeed)

Everyone fails, and this is the point.

You won’t succeed on your first try, but that isn’t the time to give up.

Failure is the path towards success.

My production changed with this post:

The principles of what I wanted to achieve stayed the same, but the work produced altered to something that fell into place naturally.

I didn’t know that this post and the others posts that followed would have done as well as what they did.

I failed in order to succeed. And this is where the BIG change occurred.

Practice makes perfect. Repetition after repetition.

If you don’t talk to the girl who you saw across the bar, how are you supposed to know whether you will hit it off or not. (This happened to me recently and I still beat myself up over it, but life is a learning curve)

If you don’t try to create something for yourself then how will you know whether it will be a success or not.

I was always the kid with no confidence, I was too afraid to try things because I was afraid of other people’s perceptions. And this haunted me for years which led me to being too comfortable.

It wasn’t until I decided to do things that the old me would never dare to do that I was able to regain my confidence.

Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

I had to get myself to speak to people.

I decided to bring to life my ideas and my creation that I was always too afraid to do.

Don’t put your life on hold because you’re afraid of failure.

Ask yourself:

“What is stopping me from succeeding?”

“What are my fears and how can I overcome them?”

Break The Laws Of Your Old Identity

Your new life begins when you stop being loyal to your old identity.

Don’t operate on someone else’s terms… operate on your terms.

You want a sense of freedom, you want to be able to work on your terms?

Then start enforcing this.

People will not like it at first, but you’re simply putting down some ground rules.

Uncontrollable but assured.

Here’s the thing, if you do not programme your mind then someone else will do it for you - The problem? They will wire it so that you work on their terms, not your own terms.

Don’t look back at your life when you’re 50 and realise that you never once decided to take action.

The hardest part isn’t building the life you want to live.

It’s letting go of your old self and the laws that keep you tied down to your old identity.

The life you want to live already exists.

The question is… are you ready to stop being loyal to your old self that tells you that you can’t have it?

If this post resonated with you, share it with someone who will find it useful.

Thanks for reading Between Sword & Silence! This post is public so feel free to share it.

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I’ll see you on the other side.

The Skinny Boy Manifesto

The FREE manifesto for men who are stuck and are looking to reinvent themselves physically, mentally and creatively.

It’s here👇

One Train Journey Forced Me To Change My Life

The Eternal Ascent — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:28:17 GMT

When was the last time you actually looked at yourself in the mirror and decided to change what you see?

“I’ll do it tomorrow.” “I’ll do it next week…”

Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.

The longer you put off action, the more resentment you grow towards it.

I was the kid who would hide from the actions I needed to do in order to change.

I was comfortable sitting all day playing my playstation. This put me into a spiral of a cheap addiction which was no longer escapism.

Every time I would say to myself, “right, I’m going to change.” but I fell at the first hurdle every time, I couldn’t escape the cheap pleasures and the life that held me ransom.

I wanted to create something, to be something, but fear would always put a gun to my head and tell me that I couldn’t be more than what I was.

Every time I let fear control me was a life where I would constantly lie to myself, imposing more and more limitations and thinking that I couldn’t do anything.

Every year I would attempt to make a change.

January would mark the beginning, by March I had already failed.

The 9-5 That Almost Killed Me

Slaving away, whether that was behind a screen or labouring for someone else, I always longed for an escape yet I never had the confidence to do so.

The office job that I escaped, free at last, but the sense of freedom only lasted for so long.

The damage had been done years prior to this, I used to rehearse conversations in my head before speaking, the world was my oyster yet I couldn’t come to terms with believing in myself.

It was as if I was stuck in quick sand, no where to move, no one to help, I thought I escaped my suffering but it still continued just behind another mask.

But, the labour job dealt the final blow.

Everyday my eyes felt heavy, waking up at silly o’clock to go to a job that I hated.

I knew I didn’t want to be a part of it. I was looking to finally escape the maze.

My energy would plummet at work, you could visibly see that I didn’t want to be there. People would tell me, “Cheer up, you’re only young.” yet I was growing older and older by simply being somewhere that made me feel like sh*t.

I overstayed my welcome, I was always watching the clock counting down the hours until I was finally free.

I wanted to take control of my life.

I wanted out.

The best part of my days was flying down the stairs to go home, so much so that the people I worked with notably said that “I’ve never seen you move so quickly.”

That one afternoon, after I had flown down the stairs, I boarded the train and I was stuck shoulder to shoulder amongst every Tom, Dick & Harry, and it was at this moment I knew that I needed to escape, I needed to start creating.

I was building something in silence, I had something to go home to. I am creating something to give me a sense of freedom away from a career that I will forever label as the false life.

Every evening after work I would follow the same routine. Three habits helped to change my life: writing, learning & publishing. It became my ritual and I stuck by it.

My writing forced me to unravel my thoughts in my brain and bring them to life. I forced myself to think on the spot and to produce something before 21:15pm, I set myself a deadline and I had to meet it.

Learning helped me to focus on what I wanted to create. It replaced the mindless consumption with ways to improve my writing and my thinking.

Publishing forced me to produce regardless of what other people thought. For many years I would avoid doing this, many ideas scrapped because of my own limiting beliefs. I would publish consistently day after day for extended periods, I was finally discovering who I was.

You see, this is the point…

If I didn’t decide to take action by looking at myself in the mirror and decided that change was inevitable, I would never have quit the 9-5 that almost killed me. Heck, I would still be there.

I didn’t wait until the end of the year to change, I took immediate action, I found my purpose and I dove straight into it. I AM ALL IN…

I worked on it every single day and I continue to do so now. From the person who I was last year to the person that I am now, I am not the same person.

What I realised throughout all this was that, if I wanted it badly enough then I’ll do it because no one else will do the work for me.

Some people do not understand your determination and your ambition because you decided to act where they decided to remain glued to the sofa. It makes them question their own choices and it all hits them at once, the time they cannot get back. I know this because I would see other people creating the life they wanted to live, whilst I was too busy consuming their content.

You’re not your 9-5, the people who think like this never escape the false life.

Many people become so attached to their 9-5 that they forget that they exist outside of it.

Don’t fall into this trap.

The Trap Of Fitting In

That day on the train, I realised that I was simply fitting in like everyone else.

I looked around and I realised that I was becoming too comfortable with accepting my fate, I was living the life I never wanted.

I didn’t want to stare at my phone like everyone else, I observed my surroundings and I knew that I was meant for more.

Everyday I would dread returning to work, the same train journey everyday, my only saving grace was reading my book on the train to escape the journey itself.

I used to try and fit in with people by listening to the same music, watching similar videos and subconsciously speaking and operating in a similar fashion.

The videos that showed me of who I was becoming reignited the fire within me, I knew I needed to change immediately, so I consciously thought about how I spoke, moved and thought everyday for months. And yes, I was able to reverse the damage and fears that plagued me for too long.

I escaped. The light was beginning to return.

The Art Of Reinvention

Don’t do what I did, don’t wait for the perfect moment to change.

You have until the end of this year, now make it happen.

You’re not content with where you are, you shoot down your ideas before you even give them a chance to walk. You don’t believe in yourself and are willing to sacrifice your life for a pay check.

You can become unrecognisable within a year’s time, but you must commit to yourself.

I decided that I didn’t want to be the skinny boy who wore loose tops and had no confidence to speak with people.

I wanted to feel confident, I wanted to be able to walk around with total assurance within myself, I wanted to build a body that I had always dreamt of.

My posture changed, my demeanour changed, I changed the way I walk, my reality shifted. I finally said no to opportunities that the old me would have accepted without a thought. I felt anxious to say no, but the difference is that I stuck with my decision and carried on as if it never happened.

I decided to speak for myself, I began to bring this future version of myself to life in the present moment. I mustered up the courage to publish something that I would never of thought of publishing:

Publishing it made me feel uneasy, I showed a side to myself that I hadn’t revealed to anyone before, but I pressed publish anyway.

I discovered my passion, I envisioned the life I want to live, the person I want to be, I gave myself a make over that stays eternally.

Grab a blank canvas and draw the person who you want to become. This part is CRUCIAL…

Whilst you are drawing this person who you want to be, think of how you feel whilst doing this, what would this future version of yourself be thinking. Now, hold onto this feeling, and just as importantly, live as if this future version of yourself exists now, right in this present moment.

You’re not only dreaming, you are bringing it to life as if it already exists.

Walk around with total confidence and assurance in yourself.

Walk around as if you are already a success.

It’s delusional, but it is also real.

You have until the end of this year to reinvent yourself, and don’t tell yourself it’s impossible, if I can do it in an even shorter time, then so can you.

Don’t question yourself, dive in head first.

Be the director, actor, camera-man and the script writer

Write your script.

Cast yourself as the main actor.

Be the camera-man who captures the unfolding of your life.

Direct the flow of your story.

All of this is yours to command.

Failure to do so will lead to other people doing it all for you and spoiler alert, you’re not going to like it.

You have a deadline, 31st December 2026.

Don’t think to yourself that the year went quickly.

Ask yourself whether you became the person you vowed to become by the end of the year.

The life you want isn’t going to wait for you.

It’s being built by what you do in the present.

No one else can bring to life your vision other than you.

That journey home on the train sparked a revelation in me… NO ONE WAS COMING TO SAVE ME.

Not next week.

Not next year.

And certainly not when I felt ready for the perfect opportunity.

I wanted to live the life that my dreams told me was a possibility. I knew that I would have to build it myself.

You have until the end of this year?

So tell me, what are you going to do with your time?

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