Can anyone go from scooping popcorn to making $65,000 a year?

What does it take to change your life?

Me, staring at my feet, dreading the next set.

I just read an amazing story about Chris. His job was scooping popcorn five years ago and now he’s a full-time Programmer. He went from $8.50 per hour to $65,000 annually. He said this:

I’m more of a determined person, than I am a smart person

I’ve run a school for six years now and with every one of our student success stories, there is a consistent theme: determination.

My mission in life is to make our students successful so they can change their lives, so I obsess over this question: how do you install determination into a person if it’s not there already?

I’ve managed to transform my body and become fit and I think there are some parallels …

My whole life I told myself that I couldn’t be strong and big. I was always the tall skinny guy. It was like a demon on my back. One day, I just said “Fuck that. I’m going to get control of what I eat and how strong I am.”

I had one nice thing: a Breitling watch. I sold it, put the cash in an envelope, found a fitness trainer, told him that I wanted to get fit in three months and I would pay him in cash from my envelope.

Here’s what happened next:

1. He measured my body fat percentage (24%)
2. He gave me a new diet with healthy macronutrient ratios (fat vs carbs vs protein)
3. He started me on a do-able workout regime three times per week
4. He measured my body fat percentage two weeks later (22% — an improvement of 2%!)
5. I continued to workout, change my diet and see my body fat % decrease

So where does determination come from?

Looking back on my fitness story, I still haven’t identified what caused me to take that first difficult step.

I believe seeing consistent small progress every 14 days is what kept me going, once I got started. I believe this is what kept Chris going as he went through the tough battle of learning how to code.

Seeing progress is key to not giving up.

But what causes the initial spark? Why does a person go from inaction, to action? Unfortunately I still feel like I don’t have the definitive answer.

I’d like to hear from you

I have a lot of ideas, but I’d love to hear what you think. What has motivated you to start a big, hard project? Please share your experiences and opinions in the comments below. Thank you!

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On a side note, one of the ways I continue to motivate myself to get up early and workout are four things:

1. Measuring and seeing consistent progress with my strength and body composition
2. Watching the below videos before I workout
3. Listening to music I love while I workout
4. Using Pact to penalize myself financially if I miss a workout