I am happy to say that I do - for years, I did not. To some extent, I need to tow the lines of the two women who I have my three children with, but I am almost completely content with their expectations. Generally, providing that I carry my weight financially, and providing that I am responsible with the children on the days that I am with them, the mommies are both pleased.
I need $3,000 a month to pay the mommies child support, an additional $2,200 to live a modest income at home, and another $800 or more that I spend on the kids on the days that I have them. Right now I just rent houses with the focus on spending $6,000 a month to live as described above, with all extra rent revenue going towards future rentals. It seems like every year the banks are willing to lend me more money for more rentals - it's kind of sad how, as my friend put it, in order to get a loan from the bank you need to first prove that you don't need one.
Meanwhile, if you have money, the bank will lend you multiple times more than what you have.
Everyone should probably invest in Bitcoin. Just buy a fraction of a coin for $500. It will almost for sure be worth $600 or more by January.
In any case, I would say that I largely live my life on my own terms. If I had a problem giving the money that I do to the two mothers of my children, then perhaps I would be bitter or angry, but frankly - I am quite happy with my arrangements for my life as a father.
So what does living life on my own terms mean? It previously meant going to numerous expos in a year and covering the bodybuilding scene via social media - the last out-of-town expo that I went to was the 2014 Toronto Pro. At that point, I realized that I missed my kids far too much to be away from them for so many days in a row. They were ages four and five at the time, and they started becoming extremely active around two years earlier, at ages two and three. It was funny timing because it was only three months later in 2014 that my son started Junior Kindergarten. Suddenly I had a lot of free time during the day, and during the school year in general - and it would have been a good time to go to the expos. So it's kind of funny how my exodus from the pro bodybuilding scene began. It was nice being able to meet some great champions in my days covering expos:
I wanted to sort of do for bodybuilding what Bill Margold does for pornography - act as somewhat of a liaison who participates in the culture somewhat myself (making me not an armchair critic or schmoe), but who is there in a supportive role for competitors. Consider Craig Golias above - it's sad to say this, but he clearly has some sort of mental issues, like body dysmorphia, driving his quest to gain so much size - a quest which full well could kill him.
It was nice to meet bodybuilders and sort of get to know the real people behind these bodies. The same goes for the women in the industry. Take Kyla McGrath for example - she is now 40, and always looked much younger than she was. Here she is at 36:
Anyway, since leaving the expo scene, I mainly just like waking up, going to the gym for a workout, hanging out with my kids, then going home to read Getbig or watch Unsolved Mysteries. Honestly, I just want a nice, simple, modest life. Nothing more.
In this sense, I live my life much like Rich Piana did - the difference is, as far as I am aware, I am not doing body-destroying things. Is it worth it to live your life on your own terms if doing so means you will not live to 50?
I would think maybe if you hit 60, you could justify it - maybe. But under 50? Rich Piana, as well as Greg Kovacs, Art Atwood and others, arguably cut their lifespans in half due to their abuse of steroids and other substances. I believe both of Greg Kovacs' parents were still alive at the time that Greg died. I can't fathom burying a child.
Yet I see this video, and it's obvious Rich led a life that he loved. It's just that, again, is all of this worth a lifespan less than 50 years long?:
Look at this - beautiful house, constant free product, his own clothing line to basically wear new clothes every day:
Rich was a man who did what he want when he wanted - it's just sad that what he wanted was a lifestyle that is not correlated with longevity.
I just noticed that Rich has 971,000 subscribers. Imagine having a small army of adoring fans, and being able to do what you want when you want. He was flying around the world, shaking hands and holding babies at expos, and just living life the way he wanted to.
But, again...46 years old.
I have made the decision that no matter how great it is to live life on my terms, there are certain things that I will not do - that being, things that may well shorten my lifespan massively. I make sure that I workout - even though I have not been doing that much lately - eat a healthy diet, get adequate rest, and spend time with the people that I love. Given my current quality of life, I hope to live as long as I can. I live the quaintest and most modest/minimalist lifestyle imaginable - and I love it.
So how about everyone else on Getbig? Are you guys mostly living life on your own terms? Are there parameters you put in place to ensure your quality of life stays high while you do this?
