CHAPTER 1


WHY IS THIS BOOK IMPORTANT TO YOU?
Living in The City, hustling in your job, going to client lunches and dinners, meeting loads of people, having fun and boozing every now and then, all of these have a major effect on your body, so this book is for you if your lifestyle leaves you tired, your body doesn’t look the way you want and you’re not feeling that healthy as a result. Now in case you skipped the introduction there are 3 major points I want to make with this book. There is a reason why you want to work on your body, you need to see fitness from the perspective of your core values and you need to take a unique approach as you work and live in The City. That’s why this book holds the ultimate key to fitness success within a busy environment. The information this book contains has helped various people from CEOs to VCs who have transformed their bodies and as a result their lives and it will allow you to reach your maximum potential for both your body and your mind too. It is meant to psych you up for your training and healthy eating because only those who are highly motivated will ever manage to have a fit and healthy looking body leading to high performance levels in all areas of their lives. The testimonial to this sentence are all the people mentioned in this book who transformed their bodies because they were consistently working on themselves and investing their time in their health and appearance while keeping their mindset on the absolute top level. In all their cases their whole lives improved together with their bodies. And it wasn’t because of the tools that I gave them because the tools are never going to do it for you, only you are, and for that you need to be psyched up. And that's what I'm trying to accomplish with this book.

FITNESS ECONOMICS 101

Before I say anything else there is one absolutely crucial thing we need to establish. While you might think you're saving yourself time and energy for doing things you deem more important by not training and not eating properly, the truth is that training and proper eating will raise your performance to the top level. And we all know the City is all about hustling so your performance level is important. Now, you work in the City as a business person so what I’m talking about is that taking care of your body so you can perform on a higher level and perhaps experience some sort of a breakthrough somewhere else as well, is the same as spending 2 hours with a client for lunch because of the potential deal coming out of the good relationship. I’m talking about some solid progress with your body that so few people actually manage to achieve consistently, because if you’re like most of the people then your progress is probably very slow or non-existent. And that’s bad because you need to keep your hustle on. Look, if you’ve made no progress lately then you’re missing out big time. What you’re missing on I don’t know. But this book will help you discover it together with your absolute pay-off for keeping your body making solid progress and taking a great care of it. So let’s get into the juicy stuff.

JASON’S STORY

Jason’s lost 9kg of bodyweight in 35 days and it all starts with him saying he hates exercise. Quite a bizarre statement for such a success but he’s got his reasons and that’s clearly one of the most important things on this journey. He’s already had 3 different PT’s but not too much progress, which is a shame because he’s been putting the time into it. So why has he made such a killing now and hardly any progress before? He’s a CEO of a publicly traded company so his ability has never been the problem. What’s the difference then? What’s going on in his mind? What has made him work out regularly, push himself really hard, be disciplined with his food and do it every single day for a month, two or more? The answer lies in this book and the answer to this is the answer to you making a difference in whatever you want to do with your body. And it’s not about knowing what to do. Most of the people know what to do and they don’t do it anyway. It’s also not about being weak-minded. All my clients work in the City, which is basically a collection of some of the smartest and most determined people in the whole world so ability is definitely not the problem. Understanding what to do and being disciplined and performing on a high level are common factors here. Being able to do this for your fitness and your body seems to be a mystery for whatever reason though. If it sounds familiar and you feel like you’re a part of it most of the time, welcome to the City of London.

FITNESS LIFE IN THE CITY OF LONDON

People come to work in the City for one reason. They want to make a killing and they want to play their lives on a top level. High performance work environment, high social life expectations and the desire to do more are all in their DNA. And the chances are that you’re a part of it too. Working long hours, running client meetings, spending lot of time on the phone, chasing deals, shaking hands, following your vision and let’s not forget about your social life, family life and personal goals as well. Quite a demand. Fortunately enough, most of the people now understand that your mental performance is directly linked to your fitness and wellbeing and so they make some effort to come to the gym and do something with their bodies. Having an optimal hormonal balance, stabilised blood sugar levels, proper blood flow, improved self-image, increased confidence and imposing a top standard perception when meeting people face-to-face are some of the things that determine the outcome of your micro-situations like meetings, decision-making, simple work tasks or anything else in your life, whether it’s dating, going on a new adventure, setting up a new business or expanding your circle of influence. Just imagine interacting with people in your top potential body. Do you think it would make any difference? Without realising it a lot of these outcomes and events are influenced by what’s going on with and inside your body, and by influencing it you can tip the odds of you becoming a superstar in whatever you do in your life to your side. And that’s what I want to accomplish with this book. It gets quite deep.

UNLOCKING YOUR ACHIEVEMENT POTENTIAL

The purpose of this book is to get you into your zone. Imagine things being effortless. When was the last time you felt like that? What made you feel like it? How did it affect everything you did at that time? How did it affect people around you? Think about it. As a professional working in the City you might not see your body as one of the priorities. But it can definitely get you to the state of maximum performance and affect all your priorities on a very profound level. You might be focused on your earning potential, personal growth, family, friends or leisure pursuits but if you’re not working on your body you won’t be fully able to get what might seemingly be within your reach. It affects everything and I’ve seen it too many times now for it not to be true. People getting promoted, starting new businesses, starting new relationships, expanding their family, reaching some new personal goals and so on. Just because they got to the top of their game with their body and started making progress. And it spreads out. You’re not just working on your body and pleasing your ego. You’re literally unlocking doors to some unknown territories and expanding to a new space like never before. Your plans are already crafted in the back of your mind. You just need something to enable yourself to go and get it all.

MY STORY

I came to the City in early 2014 and my main goal was to establish my network with people of high ambition through body coaching and positive mindset maintenance. I imagined this to be the highway to my personal wealth and 2 years later now I know it was one of the best decisions I could have made because I’ve managed to surround myself with the people of high consciousness, high ambition, high expectations and high standards, which in turn stimulates my mind to grow in many new ways. Moreover, when I first came here I came with an expertise and insights into body transformation only but what I perfected over time is the ability to understand all the motivations of people in the City and can comfortably say that I’m now not only able to change people’s bodies but also to create a massive impact on other areas of their lives as a result of the ripple effect of my coaching. And that’s infectious. Your mind stays charged up for such a long time that the outcomes all around you are, not surprisingly, very positive. And that’s what I do in the City.

WHY SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO ME?

The main core of what I do is coaching, which means I facilitate behavioural change. I’ve delivered over 1500 hours of coaching with individual clients who are all City professionals in a little less than 2 years bringing them absolutely top results in the industry. I’ve been able to make people follow through on their promises through busy times they faced in their business or personal lives and I’ve been able to keep people accountable to themselves when they experienced some setbacks and managed to do all of this consistently. Now the reason I’m saying that, is that I want to make sure you know everything in this book has been tested repeatedly and is not just a theory but an observation of many real life cases which I’ve been able to prove with my clients.

WHO DO I NORMALLY WORK WITH?

If you’ve never met any of my clients it’s not too hard to imagine them. They’re normally brokers, vice-presidents, CEOs, top executives, entrepreneurs, VCs, sales people, business analysts, doctors, lawyers, consultants and technology people between 25 and 55 years old, with most of them being around 30. They’re all great to hang out with and understand the importance of their bodies. More importantly, they also now understand the depth of their bodies’ influence on everything they do in life. And that’s how they treat it as well. For them, it’s not about lifting weights and running or cycling with some high intensity training sessions so they could get defined or look incredibly fit. That’s a given. For them it’s about directly going after what they know they should be going after because that’s who they are. Not only when it comes to their bodies but everything. They’re all in touch with their inner selves and experience an increased sense of self-worth.

THE DRIVE

They understand their game. And if you want to improve your body then you might want to tighten up yours too. Have you ever wondered why people come to the gym and work hard on themselves? Do they just want to look and feel better and is that why they come and that’s it? Or is there a deeper incentive behind that? What do you think drives everyone? Everyone’s got their own game in their head. While some people come to gym to get into shape, experience improved health and get rid of their insecurities, some people are on that level already and got more advanced goals and incentives like optimising their hormones for improved performance or reaching the best shape of their lives for whatever reason they define. It’s all individual. Lots of times people don’t even know what drives them because it’s all driven subconsciously and they‘ve never thought about it so they can’t define it properly. Everyone’s trying to reach something more valuable than just a change in their body. Everyone’s stepping their game up. So let’s try to step yours up too.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE?

The first question I ask when I consult people is what they want to achieve. This is the one thing that needs to be defined well because this is how you measure your progress. And progress equals happiness. About 80% of people focus mainly on their looks while the rest care mostly about their fitness and wellbeing. Which one do you focus on? What’s important to you? Make sure you define it properly. Sometimes people tell me they want to get fitter, we talk for 5 minutes and I actually find out they want to look sharp in meetings so they want to get into proper shape. There’s nothing wrong about wanting to look great. It’s what the most of us in the City of London want anyway. Just be aware of it. Most people keep coming to the gym stuck in a routine on autopilot not being mindful about what they’re doing. And that’s when you’re done. So ask yourself a question. What do you want to achieve with your body?

HOW HAS YOUR PROGRESS BEEN LATELY?

If you’re like most people then probably very slow or non-existent. But again, if you’ve made no progress at all then you’re missing out big time. I had a client who crafted a sound business plan for a very niche market at the time of his fastest progress and also bought another company into his portfolio but then when we stopped training and his goals became more vague, his progress gradually slowed down and he also slowly let go of the plan for his new company and perhaps missed out on a great business opportunity as well. If you’re making progress in the gym you’re most likely to be making progress somewhere else as well because your game is strong. If you’re not making any progress though and your mind is not there either I guarantee you you’re missing out on some big things outside of the gym because of the lack of your hormonal support, the strength of your vision, or whatever training brings with it. You’re simply not as hungry as you could potentially be and spending the best years of your life hustling in the City without being hungry could as well be spent enjoying yourself somewhere else.

HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS TO YOU?

“I’m getting married in a few months so it’s really important to me.” And I’ve never seen the guy in the gym again… I still remember the look in his eyes. They reflected the way he really felt about changing his body. Moving to London 2 years before meeting me, getting straight into the busy City life, finding the girl of his dreams and putting on so much weight that his health was in danger now, his eyes reflected a deep desire to change something but at the same time a fear saying it was never going to happen. He must have felt the price to pay was way too high compared to his expectations. He expected to change something but to still stay in his comfort zone. Imagine the pain of looking at his wedding pictures a few years from now. If you know you owe something to your body, then do it. Don’t make your next promotion the highest priority. It will come. Your improved hormonal balance will get you there anyway. Invest in your body instead. If staying in your comfort zone is what you want, then you might not reach your next promotion anyway and you won’t even be fitter or better looking either. The only way you can change your body is by making it a priority. It doesn’t need to be the number one priority if you can communicate it to yourself from the perspective of your actual priorities but it needs to have a firm place on your agenda.

DO YOU BELIEVE YOUR CHANGE IS POSSIBLE?

I’ve once been told by one of my clients that he actually didn’t initially believe he could change anything about his body. And he said it after going from 76kg to 70kg and reducing his body fat by 5%. Quite a surprising statement as I see people transforming their bodies very often as it’s my job but I get it. Lots of people decide to go and change something about their bodies and fail. Lack of knowledge or lack of discipline or they just don’t follow through. Then you get 5 people you know talking about their failures and the generalization is out. What’s important though is what you take out of it. You’re a City professional. You’re not working in the City by chance. You’re next level. You understand the rules. Give something first and you get something back. It never fails. So do you believe it’s possible for you to change your body? Can you see yourself in your best shape? It’s so important to be able to do that. Stretch your imagination. See yourself in your new body. I hope you can see it because next I want you to think about your environment. Are you making more money as well? Maybe a different social circle? Surrounded by opportunities? Is your partner proud of you? Or your dating just got to another level? The more you can use your imagination the more you’ll see the connection between transforming your body and excelling in whatever you want to.

HOW ACHIEVABLE IS YOUR CHANGE?

I once met this middle-aged accountant who was really interested in working out with me and so we set up a session and worked out together for half an hour. Paul loved it so we sat down to see if it could work for him and his long-term goal, which was to lose his beer belly and work on rotational movements to improve his game in golf. I found out what he was about and what he wanted and proposed a plan. He said he was really interested - until he learned he would need to cut down on boozing. You should have seen the smile on his face. Priceless. He said he was having 10 pints a day, at least 4 days a week, and there was no way he would stop doing it right now. It was a choice he made. I’ve seen people losing weight while drinking although drinking only at certain times so it wouldn’t stop their progress. In Paul’s case though, the change was not achievable. Not because of his ability but because of his desire to stay in his comfort zone. The power of choice is a serious thing. If you set your goal properly your change is always achievable. The question is how much of that change you will allow through your mindset.

A QUESTION OF INTEGRITY

The last thing I want to ask you is this. How important is it for you to actually do something about something that's important to you? Think about it. A second ago you defined what you wanted to achieve with your body. Now follow up on it. You’re making decisions like these every day in different areas of your life. Make the same choice with fitness as well. Your body is not the last thing to take care of but the first. I know you’re travelling for business, commuting to work, doing client entertainment, working long hours, having a busy social life and hustling all the time. But find 3 to 5 hours a week for one of the most important things you possess – your body. Otherwise you’re missing out, not maximising. Your body comes first. A fit body makes you feel more energetic and confident and that influences a great deal of things. It gives you an edge. You know what you need to do with your body so do it. This book is about you doing what you know you should do and not turning yourself against yourself. There are way too many people who do that already because it’s comfortable and easy. You’re not one of them. Otherwise you wouldn’t be working here. This is the next level. The second chapter will prove it as well. It will help you find your reason and perhaps put you into the rabbit hole as you’ll start realising what the real reason your body needs attention actually is.


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stars-5“If you don’t feel like running to the gym to work out after reading this book, I don’t know what will.”
Eric Bayle,
Head of Payments & Cash Management at Societe Generale

stars-5 “Vlad’s writing is like his training. Succinct. Focussed. Motivational. I heartily recommend both.”
Jason Starr,
CEO at Dillistone Group Plc

stars-5  “Really impressive. Well constructed and cogently argued case for connecting personal drivers to body respect.”
Perry Noble,
Partner at Hermes Infrastructure