Being the youngest of five kids, growing up in the quintessential blue-collar family, and spending a lot of time on construction sites with my dad and siblings taught me a lot about the importance of working hard and being competitive.

As the youngest sibling, I was always trying to keep up with my older siblings. I would try to carry more lumber than they did or race them around job sites. Everything became a contest for us. Even when I lost (I lost a lot), I never gave up. Losing just made me want to try harder.

Being competitive has served me well over the years (even though it may have driven my family, friends and teammates nuts at times.) While you may not have a competitive bone in your body, I do encourage you to compete with yourself every day. Push yourself to be a little healthier, stronger, faster, and happier!

It doesn’t matter whether you are 16 or 86, every morning you have an opportunity to make your life better than it was the day before. If you only worked out for 20 minutes the day before, push for 30 today. If you only ate 2 servings of veggies yesterday, push for 3 today. The only person standing in your way from becoming a fitter, healthier you, is you.

*image by Shanti Knapp

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