A Tale Of Motivation: Why I Am Risking My Entire Net Worth

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“Mom, sign this contract!”

At 19 years old, young Mike desperately wanted six pack abs.

But, there was a problem: our skinny-fat protagonist couldn’t stop binge eating chocolate chip cookies and apple crisp over Christmas vacation.

So, he devised a strategy.

 

The Bet (2005)

If I eat any “dessert food” from Jan 1, 2006 to March 31, 2006, I will give Susan Kae Vacanti $100

My mom gave me a you’re so weird look as she signed the 9×11 sheet of computer paper that I deemed our “official contract.”

The bet worked.

I didn’t touch cookies, cakes, or brownies all winter long. And I entered summer ’06 with that previously elusive six pack.

 

Manufacture Your Own Motivation

Ten years later, we have another problem.

Maybe you can relate.

I lack the self discipline to do 1-2 small things each day that will lead to my grand vision.

I push today’s work to tomorrow’s to-do list.

Short term comfort yanks me from Facebook to Seinfeld to Tinder like an impatient and insensitive dog owner tugging a short leash.

I lack a single morsel of self-discipline.

 

What I Want Right Now:

important: follow me on snapchat @mikevacanti

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Comfort beats my grand vision (gv).

Let me prove it, here is my average Tuesday evening:

  • re-watch Dom Mazzetti videos from 2014
  • clean an innocuous possession, like tennis shoes, for a false sense of productivity
  • sleep ten hours

I basically suck.

This wasn’t always the case…

I have accomplished things in my life.

And when I did, something beat comfort.

Let’s look at the ’05 quest for a six pack.

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So I bet my mom:

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I cared about not losing money more than I did being comfortable.

You need to create a motivator that you care about more than your own comfort.

And the motivator (not binging desserts) must be aligned with your grand vision (have a six pack).

snapchat: @mikevacanti

Example: Quit Your Job

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In 2010, I worked a cushy desk job.

  • A nice paycheck
  • A nice condo
  • A nice $40 per day travel stipend
  • And of course, a constant stream of such-a-good-boy head tilts & smiles from my parents’ friends when I told them what a responsible and safe accounting gig I had

It was all very… comfortable.

And those sweet comforts lulled the monster inside me until my grand vision (work for myself) was in a stone cold coma.

Luckily, the world manufactured me some motivation soon thereafter:

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A bad breakup, a corrupt federal government, and a slew of insufferable accountants gave me what I needed to drown comfort.

Anger, pain, hate, and injustice.

It worked.

I cut personal disposable spending to $0 until I could quit my job with 22 months runway.

And OTR, LLC is still kicking.

But here we are in 2016, where comfort reigns over my grand vision.

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I need a new motivator.

Today’s version of the $100 bet.

I need something that will put my ass in a chair and write words.

 

How I Might Lose All My Money

Preface: You are going to think I am weird as hell, if you somehow don’t already.

2016 Grand Vision: To actually be a writer, traveling the world beginning post-Gary.

How to get there:

  • Actually write
  • Have fixed revenue streams

The Bet (2016):

If I don’t publish (1) one blog post per week until 7/7/2016 and (2) create a product before 7/7/2016, I will give all of my money to my biological father (who I hate).

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A quick 411, since the Mike Vacanti family tree doesn’t exist on the internet:

My biological father left my mom when I was born. I have never met him.

He doesn’t reply to voicemails or texts or so much as show an eyeball through the blinds during raps on his front door. I fucking hate that guy. So naturally, I’d rather shoot myself in the dick than give him a single dollar.

I haven’t expressed this publicly to date because I fear it will undermine the immense gratitude I feel for my dad, the man who adopted me before my earliest memories, the one who has loved me every single day, the greatest of all time.

But sometimes you gotta let your grand vision trump fear of offending someone.

 

One Article Per Week? Seems Easy.

You might be thinking, do we really need this silly dramatic challenge?

Clearly, we do.

Because it sounds like you haven’t been paying much attention to the piss poor state of this website over the last 18 months.

Let me recap it here:

Mike spends maybe 1-2 hours/week writing until he slobs enough shit together to hit publish mayyybe 1x/month.

 

Why Writing?

Because I’m a writer.

When someone tells me:

“Mike, I lost 100 pounds because of you…

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Mike, my six and eight year old kids like to exercise with me now…

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Mike, you helped me teach my parents about nutrition so they can live longer…

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Mike, you saved my life…

It always ends with:

because of your blog.

Not because of your videos.

Not because of your snapchat.

Not because you’ve maintained that six pack you achieved in the spring of 2006.

It’s because of your blog.

And I am acting like a half-ass waste of talent hack.

Not anymore.

 

Why A Product?

I love coaching clients.

But I need the option of not coaching if I want time off.

So I am going to sell some kind of product. Don’t worry, there won’t be OTR Fat Loss Tea Extract floating around the affiliate circles any time soon.

I will probably sell training programs in the $20-$40 range. Or I might finish the half-written book saved on my desktop and self-publish.

I am also completely crippled by selling, so I am effectively making future Mike do it.

 

Two Ways Out

This can end in two ways… I wrap up with GV flat broke and sick to my stomach.

Or, I set off on a journey around the world.

Game on.

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Ps I am fucking terrified right now.

Pps future posts won’t be whiny, self-indulgent, over-sharing, and written in the first-person like this one.. Expect fitness stuff, made for us normal people, of course 😉

ppss you should seriously consider following me on snapchat! @mikevacanti – lots of energy, nutrition info, and daily vlog stuff! Plus, I reply to every single snap.

 

 

Caveat (so I don’t lose on a technicality)

“Publish” means anywhere. If the internet becomes illegal, I will be pinning blog posts to bulliten boards in coffee shops. But I plan on “publishing” to www.ontheregimen.com 



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