Valentin’s Secret Weapon
I am handing you my "secret" process to unlocking any achievement
I wrote this article in romanian in September 2023 and after one month of writing on Substack.
It became one of my most appreciated posts.
Please bear with me till the end.
I was incapable of writing compositions back when I was in school. Everyone used to say I don’t like learning.
But somehow, I pulled together and got a 9,87 out of 10 on my graduation exam.
Today I’m writing my first book.
✅ A LAZY-BONES
Because I was very lazy, I lost 40 kg so I could take PE on my final exam, instead of a subject I would actually have to study for.
When I was in my senior year, around January, I weighed 125 kg.
In summer, right before my PE exam, I weighed in at exactly 85 kg (while 1.85m tall).
How did I manage to get to 125 kg? I underwent 2 operations and ate like a pig.
First one: getting some bolts and screws pulled out of my right knee after having destroyed it over the years of sports.
Second operation: having a titanium rod inserted into my clavicle.
This is what happens when you do a lot of exercise while being overweight.
✅ YES, A LAZY-BONES
I admit it: this is what they used to say about me. That I was lazy.
But wasn’t laziness that prompted the invention of the remote control, the dishwashing machine, remote controls, diapers and Uber?
You’ll maybe say that they were invented in order to make our life easier. And you are right.
Going back to my final exam, to tell you the truth: I wasn’t willing to just cram so I could spill out all that information, like a parrot, on the day.
The truth is I never excelled in anything and I am just an average person. I never invented anything in my life.
My road through this world was prompted by laziness and based on logic.
The processes I developed were based on math, physics and engineering.
After 4 years of STEM in high school and 6 more years in engineering university (I studied in German language) I became even more incapable of writing.
But, like any engineer, I was an expert in explaining complex systems in a easy way using a whiteboard. 😁
✅ 2ND JOB
10 years after my highschool weightloss in 2010 I was once again obese.
I got mad, lost the weight and kept it off since.
After 3 years of maintaining my weight, while also pushed from behind by friends and colleagues who had lost a lot of weight, I made my decision.
Body Engineering would become my 2nd official job.
I got a certificate as a nutrition expert, I created a website and a Facebook page.
And now what?
✅ FEAR
11 years ago, I was not only unaware of what and how I should write, but moreover, I was AFRAID to write anything on Facebook.
The fear of being ridiculed, wrong… Of course, I had also accumulated anxiety and frustrations about the tens of malicious comments.
You know, nutrition is like a religion.
You can’t just say that vegan food lacks some nutrients – you’ll be buried under a mound of negative reviews.
You can’t just say that cereal and milk is what they feed pigs with – and that it’s not the healthy breakfast for children we all knew and loved.
You can’t just say that “natural” sugar fruits is also sugar or that honey is only sugar.
All the mommies online out there will bury you in negative comments.
✅ 100% SATISFACTION
What I noticed over the years was that no matter what I wrote…
…I couldn’t please all my readers. Never 100%.
If I recommended eating fish daily: “no, it contains heavy metals”
If I recommended eating 1.2 kilos of vegetables every day: “no – they contain pesticides, and besides, who can eat that many vegetables anyway?
If I recommended eating eggs daily: “no – you’ll get hepatitis and heart disease”
You get the gist of it.
✅ I DECIDED
If there is something that I learned until my 40s is that is I HATE LIVING IN FEAR.
Everything came to an end on the day I DECIDED to step out of my comfort zone and give up being afraid.
I don’t even know what came over me one day and I decided I will write every day.
Whether I am on vacation, whether it’s Christmas, New Year's Eve, a Sunday or my birthday, I write. Every day. Even a little.
✅ POWER LIES IN HAVING A TEAM
As the years went by, our team grew.
One of our colleagues used to have a “gift” for writing. So I asked him to correct my writing.
We ping-ponged over it for a few months and then I took off.
It was like attending driving school: I took my classes, listened to my instructor, got my license, I then drove by myself.
✅ AFTER 10 YEARS
Just like when it comes to driving.
You know you can’t call yourself a real driver if you simply have a license in your hand.
You become a real driver after 10 years of driving. Just like anything else in life.
The fact that today I can write is (at least for me) the absolute proof that all you need in order to achieve excellence is to practice repetition.
Don’t think I became conceited. It’s not like I see myself as a big writer or something. My vocabulary is still in the “engineering” area. 🤭
I don’t compare myself to anyone.
I’m just happy and pleased that I have a new skill that helps me communicate better with you all.
✅ NOT MY BUSINESS
It’s not my business what each and every individual person thinks of my writing.
Some think my writing is bad, some think my writing is great. 🤷♂️
I was surprised many times when I received compliments on my communication campaign.
I was surprised when I was asked what agency I am working with.
All I want each and every day is to be a little bit better than yesterday.
I enjoy every single comment like “this is your best post yet”. It literally gives me wings.
I learned that I cannot please everyone, no matter what I do or what I write.
There is always someone out there who’s going to criticize me.
✅ THE BEST REVENGE IS TO LIVE WELL
So there is only one thing left to do. Do and write what I want with only one objective: keep myself happy.
Today I AM PLEASED about my writing and that’s the most important thing for me.
More importantly: my fear and anxiety related to writing are gone.
I started from a mental block and in 10 years I have grown to love writing.
I almost feel a bit empty inside if I don’t write every day.
✅ KEY TO SUCCESS
This writing thing is another success amony many others that have shown me that you don’t necessarily need a high IQ in order to succeed.
What you need is daily practice. Daily repetition.
I have come to believe that REPETITION is key. What you repeat daily you become.
I don’t think it gets any simpler than this.
✅ EXAMPLE 1
Remember how I told you the story of my senior year when I weighed 125 kg and I lost 40 kilos until my final exams?
You know what I used to do then? I went on a diet.
I used my existing knowledge back then. I used to go out running every day.
At first, I ran for 5 minutes. Then I ran for 10 minutes. And so on.
As the weight melted away, I ran more and more.
But I did it every day.
From the early days of the year until the day I had my PE exam.
I kept running for 10 more years until I got a double hernia. But that’a story for another day.
✅ EXAMPLE 2
At a certain point I realized that I was afraid to speak in front of a camera. But then I made the decision.
I got myself a tripod and for a few months I filmed dozens of video modules using my phone. I uploaded those on YouTube.
I did it every day.
Now I am OK with speaking in front of a camera. I’m not yet fully pleased with myself about this, but in a few short years, I will be.
If the repetition model didn’t happen for the hundreds of takes I filmed with my phone, I definitely wouldn’t have been prepared to film the 50 video modules in the Weightless program.
The videos look amazing and I am happy with my new skill.
Check one out below.
The romanian publication Programul Body Engineering with 50 video modules it`s ranked 18 in the Top 25 Health & Wellness Substacks: CLICK
✅ MAGIC
Now I know that IF I set an objective, it’s only a matter of time until the dream becomes a reality.
When you learn that DAILY REPETITION (not IQ) is the bridge between your dream and turning it into reality, then something magic happens:
IF becomes WHEN
Meaning, the discussion in your head doesn’t revolve around “if” your dream becomes reality.
It simply becomes a matter of time.
✅ GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS
I strongly believe that daily repetition is the guarantee of success in any project.
CERTAINTY – isn’t that what we all want?
I just repeat the small stuff that changed my life 15 years ago. That`s it.
✅ GLUTEUS MAXIMUS
You maybe are aware that your glutes don’t grow when running marathons, but when you do specific gymnastics routines, squats, deadlifts, etc.
One day, I made the decision to augment my glutes.
I simply did 3 exercises a week (30 minutes).
Week after week, for 5 years in a row.
Today, my objective is 80% achieved.
All that needs to happen now is for time to pass so I can be 100% satisfied.
✅ PULL-UPS
Ever since I was very young I wanted to do pull-ups. I started 4 years ago with 1 pull-up.
Today, if I got proper food and proper rest, I can do around 10 pull-ups.
The form is not perfect, but I know for sure that in 4-5 years I will reach that stage.
Repetition has taught me that everything is possible.
When it comes to pull-ups, all I do is 3-4 sets a week. That’s it.
It only takes 7 minutes, including breaks.
I do them at home, in my balcony, while the kids are playing or in the park.
✅ SLEEP
It’s one thing to read books and clinical studies, another thing to see it with your own eyes.
Our statistics show that women in our program who go to sleep at 9 PM tend to lose weight 2 times faster than those who go to sleep around 11 PM or midnight.
I saw this with my own eyes so I made the decision to go to sleep earlier.
Dare to believe that nowadays I go to sleep between 8.30 and 10 PM in 80% of days.
I have come to the stage where I wake up at the time most people go to bed.
There are mornings when I start writing at 3.30 AM.
Right now, as I am writing this here text, my watch shows 4.47 AM.
Continue reading about the crucial importance of sleep.
I used to be a night owl: I used to study during the night, I used to be the guy who cannot go to bed early.
This is how I used to verbalize my mental limitations.
Daily repetition changes habits. Habits change identity. Identity builds your future.
✅ ZERO FEAR
I have no more fear or anxiety related to writing / “dieting” / walking / going to sleep early / exercising / waking up early.
I have grown to love all these. How I managed to do it?
I simply didn’t stay complacent.
✅ LAYERS
I sought areas of improvement.
I took one of those areas I wanted to improve. JUST ONE.
I took repeated action daily until the new approach came natural.
I repeated what needed to be done until this conscious effort became an unconscious one.
I have consolidated this new habit.
✅ DRIVING SCHOOL
You know how it goes: when attending driving school, the conscious effort is colossal in the beginning.
Rear view mirrors, pedals, shifting gears, the clutch, traffic signs, directions.
10 years later: “Hold my (metaphorical) beer, let me light my (metaphorical) cigarette, the fries are falling out of my hand”.
10 years later, you’re driving while eating, drinking and speaking on the phone at the same time. (Naturally, something we don’t recommend).
Zero conscious effort. Everything runs on autopilot. It’s just the power of repetition.
🏆 PRO Tip: I then simply looked for another area for self-improvement and applied the same strategy.
Layer over layer.
✅ BUT VALENTIN, ...
„...How can you hold on to your diet and go to sleep early and do your daily exercise, day after day, year after year? How come you could keep your figure for 15 years?”
Can you believe me when I say I do it effortlessly? It’s like brushing my teeth or taking a shower.
I do not rely on feeleings, motivation, excitement.
I just execute my routine.
Everything is on autopilot. Everything works with repetition.
I could provide endless examples.
I wanted to control my cold exposure. Said and done. For 5 years I walked around in a T-shirt and shorts, no matter of the weather.
Then I took ice baths daily for 2 years.
Do you now recognize the model? Daily repetition.
I went on 3 mountain expeditions with Wim Hof (“The Ice Man”), I took hundreds of ice baths, I attended his academy, I was a Wim Hof instructor and conducted hundreds of workshops.
Soon to come: articles on brown fat, cold exposure, etc.
3-4 years ago, people kept telling me I need to be active on Instagram.
I used to tell them I don’t have a good enough grasp of Facebook in order to jump on another platform.
I couldn’t understand how Instagram works, it looked difficult.
I realized I was getting that familiar feeling of fear and anxiety.
When I “smell” fear, I make a DECISION.
All experts say you have to have a marketing guide, a content plan, a schedule plan.
I chose to ignore the specialists. I followed the Body Engineering philosophy.
Every post, no matter where you are, must be able to teach your audience something new.
The content should always be honest, authentic, educational and, let’s face it, a bit funny.
Said and done – within 18 months, I grew my following from 1000 to 13k with no ads.
✅ SUBSTACK (UPDATE)
In August 2023 I have taken the Substack platform by storm.
I started writing on the 2nd of August 2023 and in just 3 weeks I was already a Bestseller.
What I did? I wrote and published daily.
It took me 5 more months to become a bestseller again.
I just wrote and published like a madman daily.
Yeah, it took me 6 hours on average daily. Sometimes even 12 hours a day.
Guess what I did? I continued to write daily.
It has nothing to do with feelings, motivation, enthousiasm blah.
It`s just about daily repetition.
As I edit this post:
In 468 consecutive days I published 473 articles in the original Romanian original publication;
as of today I have close to 2M views (15 months).
And you know what else I have learned in the meantime?
You learn by doing, not just contemplating.
✅ TL:DR
In order to succeed at anything in life, you need two things:
make a decision;
practice, repeat daily;
You don’t need hours of practice every day: 5-10 minutes per day is enough in the beginning.
Then you’ll get the taste of it and keep doing.
Some objectives are achieved in months, some in years while the most valuable are reached over DECADES.
Choose something you want to improve in yourself. Even something small. Apply the strategy above.
With every small gain, your self-confidence will grow a little bit.
Bit by bit, until one day you’ll start feeling lie you can do anything.
This is how you conquer your fears and yourself.
✅ YOU CAN DO ANYTHING
Let me tell you a secret.
You really CAN do anything you set your mind to.
I repeat, I don’t excel at anything.
I am completely mediocre and I have come to peace with that.
You don’t even need to be self-confident, that’s not the way it works.
✅ MY SECRET WEAPON
Today, I am handing you my secret weapon.
Trust daily repetition.
Daily repetition will take you to your desired destination.
You will thank me in a few years. You will thank yourself for the decision you made to act.
Remember: nothing is supernatural.
Everything is trivial – it’s just repetition.
It’s like riding a bike, driving a car, brushing your teeth.
✅ AS A GENERAL IDEA
As a general idea, this text is about 13k characters with spaces, the equivalent of 7-8 book pages. I wrote it all between 3.30 AM and 6.30 AM.
I actually believe this could be perfect as the final chapter of the book I am writing.
Today, it’s not about “whether” I am writing the book, it’s about how quickly it will be ready.
Certainty is here because of daily repetition over the past 10 years.
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🔥 15 MONTHS LATER EDIT
Guess what happened after 15 months of daily repetition (writing)?
I climbed the charts and I have 2 publications featured in the Top 25 Substack Health & Wellness category.
Check it out here: CLICK
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