Carl Simpson Coaching

5 years ago I decided to leave the military at probably the “worst” time. 

Leaving the safety of having a career with so many perks that many take for granted. 

Free medical care, cheap accommodation, free gym membership, free dental, half decent pension. 

People thought I was mental leaving all that behind to set up my own business being a Personal Trainer

Especially with the volatility of gyms opening and closing. 

Fast forward to today, I am now a multiple business owner and franchisor, celebrating the opening of our 7th location with My Fit Pod Crewe this weekend. 

If I had stayed in the military and took the safe option, none of this would have happened.

My point?

There is always a reason NOT to do something.

You will NEVER feel ready.

It will NEVER be the “right” time.

But if there is one thing nature can teach us and is a fundamental law of life….

There is always BALANCE.

So instead of focusing on the downsides….

Focus on the reason why you SHOULD do something.

“It’s better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved before”

What is the one thing you have been putting off because of FEAR?

Most people don’t criticise you because you’re wrong.

They criticise you because you’re moving.

Growth makes insecure people uncomfortable.

Discipline exposes their lack of it.

Standards remind them of their low ones

Don’t shrink to protect someone else’s ego.

If you’re building something, getting fitter, thinking bigger- expect insecure people's push back

Your job isn’t to be liked.

It’s to execute.

Unpopular opinion- but if your weekend doesn’t recharge you, it’s part of the problem.

If you spend your weekend carrying out habits that drain your energy:

Boozing.

Eating like s**t.

Staying up late.

These might seem like escape, but they are actually making things worse!

Then Sunday comes along and the Monday morning fear starts to creep in.

One of the cornerstone exercises I do with my clients is the “Drains and Charges” Exercise.

I get them to right down a list of activities that:

1- Drain the life force out of them and impacts their lives negatively.

2- Charges their soul and impacts their life positively.

Then highlight the Drains that they can control and reduce or eliminate.

Look I get it.

You have more responsibilities than you need and you feel like your head is going to fall off.

You have people to support and serve.

But here is the thing…..

If you don’t put your own oxygen mask on first, you won’t be able to show up for those you serve the way they deserve.

You may think you are being selfless but when you break because you are burnt out (and you will eventually).

That is selfish.

Nothing changes unless YOU change.

How are you spending your weekend? Let me know in the comments. 👇

Time is something we can't get back.

But the "Hustle" mentality that got you to where you are now is not going to help you stay there.

If your energy is depleted and you mind is clouded by the pressure you are under, everything takes longer and you are living on borrowed time.

Exercise (movement), when done correctly will generate a huge ROI.

Contrary to what story you have made up in your head, you don't need to sacrifice a huge amount of time to exercise to get results.

Stop listening to the fake gurus that don't understand what its like to preform under sustained fire from multiple different responsibilities.

That's why I created the 2-2-2 training method.

2- Exercises per body part (with two HARD working sets)

2- Minutes rest between sets.

2- Times a week.

This isn't about "Self-Care"

This is about regaining that performance edge mentally and physically.

Share this with someone who is time poor.

"I could do with 36 hours in a day and 10 days to a week."

How many of us feel like this? It's a common problem with high performers.

Malcolm is a HCPC-registered paramedic, managing director, mentor, and inventor.

When he came to me, he didn't think he had a focus problem.

But when I asked him to map his week, he couldn't tell me what actually mattered.

Malcolm wasn't struggling with motivation. He was struggling with cognitive load.

He was juggling:

Full-time paramedic shifts (four on, four off)

His medical equipment company

Mentoring student paramedics

Expert witness work writing legal reports

His response to everything? "I'll just do it there and then."

20 years as a paramedic trained him to react instantly. But that same reflex was bleeding him dry as a business owner.

Here's what we did using The STRIP Framework:

S – Step back. We mapped everything Malcolm was doing. Not what he thought he should do—what he was actually doing.

T – Targets. We set 90-day checkpoints tied to making his business self-sustaining.

R – Run the filter. Every task got one question: Does this move Malcolm toward leaving the ambulance service?

I – Isolate priorities. We locked his highest-leverage work. Everything else got marked for elimination.

P – Purge. We deleted tasks. Delegated others. Cut the cognitive load.
No hacks. No morning routines. Just evidence-based prioritization under real-world stress.

After 12 weeks, Malcolm said:

"I found it life changing. Carl allowed me to excel my businesses and become more focused — something I thought I was already good at."

Malcolm didn't become a different person.

He stopped trying to do everything instantly and started doing what mattered systematically.

If everything feels urgent and important, then nothing is important.

Repost ♻️ if you found this useful.