Fit For Life: What Kind of HO Are You?

Sunday, January 14, 2018
Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

That’s right, I called you a HO, and you can be categorized three different ways:  

High Overachiever: You are the type that not only gets things done on a daily basis, but you go above and beyond what is expected from you. You are the first one to come in the morning, and the last one to leave at night. You climb the ladder of success faster than everyone around you on all levels in life, from fitness to business, and you accomplish things without ever being asked. This is who you are, and you are not this way to impress anyone else or to seek acknowledgement, you just do it for self-gratification. You never blame others, complain or spend your time doing useless things such as gossiping or mindlessly surfing the internet or social media. You live a structured life, and practice levels of discipline that go far beyond being “good enough”. You take care of yourself by working out daily, eating High Octane food and getting enough sleep. These things in your life are non-negotiable and part of your daily routine. You focus on the things that are going to solve problems and never dwell, react irrationally, or let trivial bullshit hold you back. You have goals and are on a mission to conquer them by planning your strategy for attack. You are responsible, and hold yourself accountable for your own mistakes and victories. You have great self-esteem, don’t feel threatened by others, so you go out of your way to help people become successful with you. You tell yourself that you will never peak, and the best is yet to come.

Happily Ordinary: This category is the majority of the population. Joe Walsh wrote the song “average ordinary guy” for this group. You are happy working a 9-5 job, and leaving the responsibility to someone else. You do what is required to get by and just enough to keep your job. You have no interest in climbing the corporate ladder or excelling to higher levels within your company. You show up with the standard lunch of two ham sandwiches on white bread, a bag of chips and a juice box to wash it down. Your schedule is the same every day, and you would rather take blood pressure medication than spend extra money on quality food. Fitness is for those health nuts, and you look “good enough” that you feel belonging to a gym is a waste of time, money, and totally unnecessary. The fact that you get an income tax return every year, have a basic pension plan, and make just enough to pay your bills makes you feel like you are at your peak, and there is no reason to push any harder. There is nothing wrong with these people or type of lifestyle. Their stress and anxiety levels are lower than the high over achiever, because their expectations are low. They feel like success is for others, and as Henry Hill put it in Good Fellas they are happy living like an average schnook.

Heavy Obstacles: These are the folks that get in your way. They always find reasons why things can’t be done. They find fault with everything, and their lack of success is because of everyone else. They never get a break and its always “poor me, I have the worst luck”. They have menial jobs because they are poor employees. They do less than what is expected, and are always trying to work the system. If they can find an easy way out, they will. These are the people that feel entitled, and will file a lawsuit or workers compensation claim because they lifted a box at work and their back mysteriously hurt the next day. They blame society because they are sick and always at the doctor’s office, but don’t hesitate to get the 84oz soda because it’s a “better deal”. They look terrible, feel terrible, and want to bring you down with them. They consider, those who work hard work and have it better than them, are just self-absorbed and obnoxious people.  These are the haters, and people that get jealous because they aren’t successful. They are this way because they have no drive or ambition to better themselves, and rely or expect assistance to get by. Now some people were truly dealt a bad hand, and have it worse than most of us. Some really can’t help their situation due to different circumstances, but I am not talking about those folks. I am talking about the people that have the same opportunities but make zero effort to capitalize on them. They would rather wallow in self-pity than do something about their situation.

I heard a saying that stuck with me a long time ago. “How you do anything is how you do everything,” and I truly believe it. If you overachieve at one thing, you will probably overachieve at everything. If you treat yourself poorly and lack respect for yourself, you will lack respect for everything that touches your life. If you are happy being mediocre than that’s what you will be on every level. It’s all a mindset. When you program your mind to be a certain way, you will do what it takes to reach your goals in life.

So, I ask again, what kind of HO are you, and more importantly what kind of HO would you like to be?

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of Fitness Profiles, a one on one, and small group personal training company, as well as Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, located at 1284 North Main St., on the Providence/Pawtucket line. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one.