Starting Again, Starting Fresh
What up world. What up world. What up world. Here we are again—day eight of the burpee challenge. It’s Monday, August twenty-fifth. I’ll be honest with you: my numbers have been all messed up in my videos these past couple of days. Editing the footage, staying consistent, keeping everything lined up—it’s harder than actually doing the burpees. And that’s saying something.
But here’s the thing: this challenge was never about perfection. It’s about movement. It’s about showing up. The idea is simple—just do ten. If you can’t do ten, do five. If you can’t do five, do one. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl. If you can’t crawl, move something. Just do ten.
That principle echoes the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s not about how fast you move or how perfect your journey looks. It’s about moving forward—one rep, one step, one breath at a time.
Mental Health Matters — and the Eight Dimensions of Well-Being
One of the reasons I dedicated day eight of this challenge to mental health is because of the eight dimensions of well-being. True health is not just about physical fitness—it’s about living in balance across all parts of our lives.
- Emotional — Coping effectively with life, building resilience, and nurturing positive relationships.
- Environmental — Living in harmony with your surroundings and taking responsibility for the health of the planet.
- Financial — Managing resources to reduce stress and plan for stability.
- Intellectual — Engaging in lifelong learning, curiosity, and creativity.
- Occupational — Finding satisfaction and enrichment through work or service.
- Physical — Caring for your body through activity, nutrition, rest, and medical care.
- Social — Building healthy, supportive connections with others.
- Spiritual — Seeking purpose, meaning, and values that guide your life.
For a deeper dive, read my earlier article: The Eight Dimensions of Holistic Well-Being.
When I talk about just doing ten—whether it’s burpees, pushups, or simply taking that first step—it’s about aligning with these dimensions. Movement is not just physical; it touches your emotional resilience, your social connections, your spiritual growth, and so much more.
Brothers in the Journey
Once upon a time, in West Central Los Angeles, there was a red brick building. That building was home to a community center where some of the most important mentors and coaches in my life poured into me—people like Coach MJ and Dr. Walker.
Dr. Walker was the innovator—the creator of paradigm-shifting models of advanced life coaching. Coach MJ, Madelyn Young, took it to the next level, integrating those principles with higher levels of self-mastery and spiritual understanding. The essence of what they taught us was simple but powerful: keep moving.
And that’s where the overlap with burpees comes in. The advanced life coaching principle is the same as the fitness principle—movement matters. When you set a project, choose a goal, and keep moving toward it day by day, you work yourself out of depression. You work yourself out of anxiety. You build self-mastery. It doesn’t happen overnight. But it does happen.
At that old center, I walked miles across Los Angeles with two brothers who shaped me deeply:
- M-Dubbs (Michael) — My guy with the E-car genius, an electric-car-certified visionary. He’s one of those people who makes you believe the future is already here. He was there pushing me to keep moving, keep striving, keep doing ten.
- Cedric Wells — A man of discipline and consistency. Twice he’s run the Los Angeles Marathon for mental health awareness. Twice he’s laced up, hit the streets, and run twenty-six point two miles to knock down the stigma. That’s not easy, but Cedric is about it, bout it.
These brothers remind me what it looks like to embody “just do ten” in everyday life. They show up. They put in the work. They fight for mental health and resilience—not just for themselves, but for their communities.
The Burpees, the Football Analogy, and Self-Mastery
When I talk about life coaching, I often come back to football. Football teaches you about moving the ball forward, play after play. You may get sacked; you may lose yardage; but if you keep showing up, keep grinding, you’ll advance toward the goal.
Burpees are the same. You get down. You get up. You move again. Each rep is a first down. Each set is another drive. Eventually, consistency wins.
If you want a quick breakdown of my “football mindset” for life and goals, peep this post and clip I shared: TikTok: Life Coaching & the Football Analogy.
