Several years ago I worked for an IT outsourcing company. At the time I was a pretty big piece of shit, my dietary habit was cigarette coffee breakfast and hitting the drive through when I realized I was hungry. I was probably an alcoholic since I'm the kind of guy that can spend the evening polishing off a fifth of shitty vodka and not even know what a hang over is.

This is where I met Jim, he's about 6'6", mid 40s but could pass for mid 30s. That's about where it ends for his positive traits. Given his height he probably weighed in around 500 pounds. I can eat but Jim would put down amounts of fast food on a regular basis that could give him entry to a circus side show.

Jim was married to his second wife but clearly wasn't over his first wife from his 20s, he must have spent a good 18 years stuffing his face thinking about "what could have been". He was the only person that regularly got chewed out by customers, his work performance was piss poor but it was "never his fault". Jim would go through four weeks of PTO by April because of his bad health, he couldn't connect his weight and diet to his back problems and sleep apnea. His life was externalizing everything and not taking responsibility and he paid for it.

I remember one day walking in to work and Jim has this distraught look on his face, he went home early from work the other day and caught his wife in bed with someone else. Apparently this wasn't the first time it happened. "Did you send her packing?" I asked. He told her "I'm not getting married again". He outright gave her permission to continue the behavior. "Well, why keep her around? is she loaded? or is it because you have a kid?". She works part time fast food and the kid is hers from another relationship. Jim sleeps in the bed he made by not understanding or knowing or wanting to take care of himself.

I've had some rock bottom experiences but working with someone like this was a big part in making changes. I quit drinking, quit smoking, only drank water and tea, only ate food that was not processed. I started hitting the gym regularly you know what? At the beginning I fucking hated it. That's something no one tells you, we aren't wired to remember the bad things. It's temporary and positive habit is reinforced by positive behavior.

I'll never forget looking in the mirror one day and thinking "Shit I look good, I look younger, I feel younger". No one can describe that feeling, it's the best feeling in the world. If I went back a couple years before that and told myself a personal trainer at my gym would approach me because his clients wanted to know what I was doing I would call bullshit.

Get rid of your vices if you have any and hate it for the short period of time you will. Satisfaction trumps happiness. In Allen Carr's book "The easy way to stop smoking" he talks about an open bet he has where if a smoker pays him $2500 dollars he will buy their cigarettes for the rest of their life, no one has taken him up yet. Apply that concept to whatever is holding you back, short term happiness is nothing compared to working for yourself and seeing the results. The only thing holding you back is yourself, if you don't have something you are striving for follow Adam Carolla's advice "Don't do your best, do my best" because you won't believe how much your life will improve when you're pushing yourself to be a better person.