I don’t think I have ever been this busy or stressed out in my entire life, but I’m weirdly okay with it.  Yesterday, I was so overwhelmed with stress my eyeballs physically hurt.  It’s not easy working a full time job while working on business school applications and examinations and teaching spinning and blogging and traveling.  It’s just not.  But this is where I am right now and I don’t want to give any of it up, so I am dealing with this somewhat difficult time.

What’s keeping me going?  When all is said and done, I am working hard for a goal in every aspect of my life.  Everything that I do, I am doing with purpose and intention and no matter what, I’m giving it my all.

Fortune favors action.

I read this quote while reading a book on the train into New York for a function and it resonated with me hard.  I have never been a lucky person.  Opportunities rarely if ever have presented themselves to me flat out and I’ve had to work for everything I’ve achieved in my adult life.

Leaving my undergraduate with a degree in Vocal Performance didn’t do me a lot of favors in terms of landing a job.  I went on countless interviews my senior year, only to be turned away because I didn’t “fit” with their organization. I knew they were wrong and I still know they are wrong, but I landed a job and I was determined to make that job proud that they hired me instead of dwell on those who didn’t.  And I worked my butt off.  I came in early everyday, I always ate lunch at my desk that I had pre-packed, I spent my time focused, driven, and tenacious in everything I did.  And I continued to work and work and work until I was no longer the most inexperienced person in the room and I could hold my weight in conversations and be influential on a company-wide level.  So now, I’m pursuing an MBA because I want to be able to bring even more to the table.

Maybe it’s that drive and tenacity that drove me to wanting more in my non-professional life as well.  My first few years out of school, I struggled managing a hefty commute with the stress of my first real job, so all time spent outside of work was spent watching Netflix, working out, and hanging out with friends.  When I made the decision to pack up and move across the country, my priorities outside of work changed.  There was always something in the back of my mind saying “Do More.”  So, I started adding on extra-curriculars that weren’t binge-watching based.  I started coaching for Girls on the Run, I started taking the steps to become a personal trainer, I started investing time in reading anything and everything I could find that was fitness related and I loved it.  I put weight into my education on a topic that interested me like no other and I never looked back.

Teaching Spinning was not really on my radar until I got injured.  A girl could only stationary bike and elliptical to keep her cardio endurance up so many times before she goes mad.  They didn’t offer any Spinning classes in the morning when I went to the gym, but I had taken my fair share in the past and decided to hop on the bike and see what I could do.  After a couple of months playing around, I decided to look into how I could make this serious.  In no time, I was reading through manuals and course material and learning all there was to know about this particular area of fitness and after a whirlwind 9 hour training session, I was a Certified Spinning Instructor.

But just having the certification does not a Spinning Instructor make.  No.  I had to find a place to do it.  I started googling, researching, diving in to any and all gyms in the area that had Spinning programs.  I crafted a fitness resume, I sent emails, I made phone calls, I scoured online job postings and Craigslist ads until I finally convinced a local gym to let me sub during the summer months.  So, for the past few months, I was on retainer until they needed me.  But I didn’t get complacent.  I kept pushing and searching for a gig that would allow me to teach my own classes.

But why?  Why go to all this trouble?  Because I genuinely enjoy it.  There is something about sitting down in front of a group of people and having the ability to move and shape everything that is about to happen in that room for 45 minutes.  I have to read what works and what doesn’t work for the attendees and make changes at the drop of a hat.  I have to come prepared because the last thing I want is for my students to see me sweat (not literally of course because that is absolutely 100% inevitable).  And I have to motivate them until the very end of class.  All of these traits that I have grown to love while teaching Spinning are traits that undoubtably will help me in my business pursuits further down the line, which is so funny to me.

Fortune favors action.

I didn’t wait for things to happen to me, I worked hard to make them happen for me.  There is still a lot I haven’t done that I would love to do, but I’ll be damned if I’m not proud of myself for how far I’ve come and how much I’ve grown since leaving college.  I’ve got a lot of work on my plate right now and a lot of balls in the air, but I’m going to keep going because I’m not the type to give up.  I’m doing what I’m doing because I am truly passionate about what is on my plate at this minute.  Does that mean life is going to be overwhelming and sucky for a little while? Yes.  But I am taking action and am doing the best I possibly can.

-sj