6:21 p.m. The gym is empty.
I’m the last man standing.
After a weekend packed with conferences, school visits, and late-night basketball, everyone else is wiped out. Some teachers crashed at 8 p.m. Others lost their temper from exhaustion.
I get it. It happens.
But here’s the thing—resting when you’re tired isn’t a sign of weakness. And pushing through isn’t always strength.
The real difference? Knowing when to lift and when to let go.
Stop Grinding, Start Growing
Some people believe success is about pushing harder, working longer, and suffering more.
That’s a lie.
You don’t grow by breaking yourself—you grow by breaking limits.
The gym doesn’t reward the person who lifts the most weight once. It rewards the person who keeps showing up. Leadership is the same.
It’s not about grinding harder. It’s about knowing when to push and when to pause.
Most leaders fail not because they didn’t work hard enough.
They fail because they didn’t know when to step back.
Lift Heavy. But Don’t Carry Forever.
There’s something beautiful about lifting weights. You struggle. You push. You fight against the resistance.
And then—you put the weight down.
But in life? People lift stress, failure, and frustration—and never put them down.
They walk into meetings still carrying last week’s problems.
They go home still holding onto workplace stress.
They live every day still clinging to things they should have let go of years ago.
Lifting builds strength. Carrying everything forever breaks you.
The best leaders? They lift. They let go.
The Wake-Up Call That Changed Everything
In 2016, I attended a function with my wife and our eldest son, Aden.
She carried him for three hours straight.
I tried to carry him for 30 minutes—and failed.
I felt ashamed.
This was the woman who carried him for nine months, went through labor, and I couldn’t even hold my own son for half an hour?
That day, I made a decision.
I needed to get stronger.
Not for fitness. Not for ego. But because leadership isn’t about being the strongest—it’s about being strong enough for others.
Growth Isn’t About Adding More—It’s About Letting Go
Most people think leaders do more.
But real leaders learn to do less.
The best CEOs don’t make every decision—they create teams who can.
The best parents don’t control everything—they prepare their kids to take control.
The best athletes don’t just train harder—they recover better.
It’s not about how much you can carry.
It’s about how much you can release.
Are You Training for Strength or Just for Struggle?
Some people avoid the gym because it’s uncomfortable.
Some avoid leadership, business, or growth for the same reason.
But here’s the truth:
The strongest people aren’t the ones who take on the most pain.
They’re the ones who know which pain is worth taking.
You don’t have to carry every battle.
You don’t have to fix everything yourself.
You don’t have to hold on to every mistake.
Lift it. Then let it go.
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