Time spent learning in the real world is the most valuable education that exists
“To build something valuable, you have to put in the time. Real time.
There are no shortcuts. You have to go the long way.
But during this time that is spent taking the long way, you get to learn.
It’s real world education that you’ll never get sitting at a desk.
Embrace it.”
-Ray Zingler on X
I am currently in Week 800 of owning & operating my business Zingler Strength & Conditioning (and it’s affiliates) and I remember Week 1, like it was yesterday.
I remember that first session, training an athlete by myself (my father was my mentor) and it was the most liberating feeling in the world.
I was an 18-year-old bright eyed bushy tailed strength coach who had all the answers.
I knew everything there was to know about athletic development, sprints, jumps, squats, and all.
I studied Louie Simmons, Joe DeFranco, Dave Tate, & Zach Even-Esh like nobody else in the world.
I was READY.
And while the above statements are full of satire being 700+ weeks removed from “starting”, the truth is that is how I truly felt when I first started my journey.
And I think that blissful ignorance and blind belief in myself is the reason I’m sitting here 15 years later, writing this article.
When I first started, I didn’t know who I was, what I wanted to do, or who I wanted to be.
I was a meathead obsessed with training and thought I was going to do a couple sessions per week training people for some side college beer money.
15 years later I’ve never had another job in my life.
I’ve never filled out a single job application in 34 years of life. I don’t even know what they look like.
And as I think back on those days of “doing things suboptimally” I laugh now knowing how I could have more effectively optimized.
I see how jank my systems were and how I could have optimized billing to reduce headaches.
Basic stuff that any “online business course” will teach you.
But the part that online businesses courses don’t tell you was that those jank systems I had, were how I learned.
I had to learn how to advocate for myself, have uncomfortable discussions about outstanding balances, I had to really learn how to work with people.
I don’t care what industry you’re in. If you’re in the service industry, you’re in the people business.
And you don’t learn how to work with people in a classroom, you don’t get to fast track that.
You must LIVE IT, for years.
