Gina Loveless

By 12, he was riding a dirt bike. "It was beat up and needed tons of work, but my dad was just as excited as I was," Maronese said. Riding that bike became a passion for Maronese. It made him feel alive.

Fast-forward to five weeks before Canadas motocross nationals in 2015. Maronese, now 21, had fought long and hard to be in his second motocross nationals.

But before the event, he crashed and found himself in the hospital with a <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/health/a26280348/non-opioid-treatment-chronic-pain/" id="986882de-3ea7-3c6c-a162-4e24e82ad874"> fractured </a> wrist. He told himself, "I didnt train all year to not attend this thing." So he went to nationals anywaylearning to ignore the <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/health/a19542692/7-pains-you-should-never-ignore/" id="2175ca50-d2bf-3867-a6c9-203df038b066"> pain </a> and landed in the top 30.

But after the race, he couldnt get himself to bet back on the bike. In fact, in 2016, Maronese decided to leave his whole life behind and move to Toronto.

Two years went by, and the itch to pump adrenaline came back. He decided to try boxing. "Lifting weights wasnt cutting it, and I was sick of being limited, so I bit my tongue and punched lightlystill thinking it was all soft tissue and ligament damage." He got back on a bike that same year, too.

In January 2018, Maronese sees a wrist specialist. "She asked me, 'How long have you been living this way?'" I said, "Three years."

She responded by saying that 30 percent of his scaphoid bone was gone. They wanted to schedule a surgery to rebuild his wrist with a bone graph and a screw.

But Maroneses mind was made: Hed ridden on a fractured wrist, and hed been riding through the pain for all these years. The surgery wasnt scheduled until June, so he went got back on his bike and kept riding.

Before his surgery came, he lost control of the throttle on his bike and it pulled him going more than 12 miles an hourstraight into a wall of trees.

He was in a cast for 12 weeks. "The bone hadnt fully healed, and the surgeon told me the risk is quite high that it wont ever heal, and necrosis will likely set in and eventually well have to fuse your wrist to save it. I was scared out of my skin," he says.

Maroneses life was at his lowest at that pointliving in a basement, jobless, away from his familyand now this.

In a move that for anyone else would seem too soon, Maroneses cast came off in January of 2019 and one month later he joined a 90-day fight camp at his boxing gym.

"The coaches at United Boxing Club tailored my sessions to do what I could with the pain and limitations of my hand, breaking years of scar tissue," he says.

He also used techniques hed learned at a conference in Vegas years before to strengthen his mind over matter. "I meditated every day for 20 minutes, envisioning my hand being mobile and strong again," he says.

Follow-ups came and went, and the doctor told him the gap in his wrist was closing. "But its like I already knew she would tell me that because to my core Ive believed I could do it," Maronese says.

In June 2019, Maronese was the main event for his club's boxing show. In downtown Toronto in front of 400 people, Maronese won his fight.

"You have to seek the mindset and the awareness to get to the path that youre on so you can feel confidence with every step that you take. That you know how to take care of you," he says. "The only person that you should be comparing and measuring yourself to is you."

Now, Maronese is training for a national championship and the 2024 Paris Olympics. "Life will beat you to the ground if you dont fight back," he says. "But your life is always in your hands."

An Injury Led This Extreme Athlete to Boxing

Collin Maronese has been an adrenaline junkie since he could walk. He rode with his dad on a snowmobile when Maronese was two. At six years old, he rode on his own.

A Dirt-Bike Injury Sidelined His Sports Career. Then He Found Boxing.

He had deaf parents, but he wasn't deaf himself, so Timms says he was "stuck between two very different worlds and never feel like I fit in anywhere."

Timms learned British sign language, but his dyslexia made school difficult. He was bullied, too, but never told anyone, fearing that he'd worry his parents and teachers. Processing all of these emotions materialized in self harm. Timms says he was seven years old when he first cut himself with razor blades.

When Timms was 10, his father discovered that he had a disease that would make him blind. His mother turned to alcohol. About two years later Timms' father tried to hang himself, but was unsuccessful.

To cope with all this stress, Timms started drinking. During the next few decades, he says his alcoholism grew, as did his drug use, eating disorders, and sex addiction. He attempted suicide multiple times.

Then in 2011, Timms' mother died of a heart attack and his father, unable to handle his emotions after finding her body, died by suicide.

"It broke me that I never really sorted things out with them, but my feelings and emotions were switched off," says Timms.

It took Timms seven more years before he had his first stint in rehab. He was 42. After rehab, Timms says he was okay with himself, but he wasnt happy with how he looked. "I had put on a lot of weight from self-isolating and drinking before I had gone to rehab," he said.

So Timms says he started walking 10 to 15 miles a day, and eventually lost 70 pounds. But without the alcohol hed used to "deal" with his problems, his mental health became a rollercoaster and affected the progress he made with his weight. "I would starve myself as a way of punishing myself," he said. "It became a coping mechanism."

And then, in September of last year, Timms relapsed. In December, another suicide attempt landed him in a mental health unit.

Timms was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. "With that diagnosis, I suddenly had answers to why I had struggled for most of my life," he says.

Timms says he realized that time, things had to be different. His first step to make that possible was joining a gym. This time, the exercise helped with his mental health.

He also found intermittent fasting gave him a healthy control over his food and gave him the best results. A typical day for Timms includes porridge for breakfast, chicken and rice for lunch, and salmon and sweet potatoes for dinner. He also says he makes sure to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables.

"It took 12 weeks to transform my body," he says. "I worked bloody hard. Personally I could feel and see a difference after the first week."

Though even though he could see results, it was others who made Timms feel like he wasnt doing well. "At times I felt like shit, because they would say, 'Mark you look too skinny. You need to eat more.' I wouldnt dream of telling someone that because you never know what they may be going through."

But he says his self-confidence started to increase, and as it improved, so did his mental and physical health.

Now, Timms says he knows it's going to be a constant check-in with himself to stay sober and healthy. It's been made tougher, recently, by the coronavirus, but Timms can see that it just means an adjustment, not a derailing point.

"I'm going back to basics," he says. "I'm training at home in isolation using bodyweight exercises and resistance bands. I still feel very challenged by it and am motivated."

The Gym Helped This Struggling Addict Stay Alive

For Mark Timms, life was difficult starting the day he was born.

He Struggled With Addiction for Decades. Then the Gym Rebuilt His Mind and Body.

"I just thought sometimes my stomach hurt really, really bad to the point where I was doubled over," Sampson says. "I had no idea it was connected to my nervous system."

At 18, Sampson moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, but it wasnt a smooth transition. "My old therapist used to say, 'The four most stressful things in life are a death in the family, a breakup, financial problems, and moving,'" he says. Sampson checked all the boxes except death. "It really exacerbated my mental health."

One way of coping with his anxiety was to retreat. "I would do my best to distance myself from the person who triggered it. If I was in a conflict with my mom I would be like, 'Mom, youre not going to hear from me for a while, this is too stressful.'"

Another way Sampson coped was more destructive. "Some people have alcohol that they turn to or substance abuse. I would just really need to have sex."

As the years went by, Sampson says his symptoms became significantly worse and he started to develop ulcers. One day, when he was 21, Sampsons "insides were twisting for 12 hours." He went to the hospital, where a series of doctors told him the culprit was stress and anxiety.

"You only need to send me to the hospital once to get my attention," he says.

At first, Sampson says he avoided therapy, because hed had bad experiences with it as a child. Instead, he tried to change the other problematic aspects of his life.

"There were periods of it where I would say 'Im going to be celibate and that will take care of it.' I went a whole year one time. But it didnt ever address the issue. And so, the anxiety got worse."

When Sampson was about 25, he started connecting that the way he was engaging in sex was tied to his anxiety, and he sought therapy.

Now, at 32, Sampson manages his anxiety by going to therapy every week and getting outside as often as he can. But he knows not everyone has access to the same resources he does, and thats something he wants to change. Thats where <a href="https://bldpwr.com" id="8804531a-50c9-3333-a2b0-4a5ab8907211"> BLD PWR </a> (pronounced "build power"), Sampsons non-profit, comes in.

Launched in March 2019, "BLD PWR was created to perpetuate liberation culture," Sampson says. They do that by teaching people about activism. One example of that is educating people about existing legislation. Another is connecting people with organizations they may not be aware of, like <a href="https://www.instagram.com/moms4housing/" id="87e80d4e-0985-3cfc-ab2e-d5db31d68c13"> Moms4Housing </a> , which works towards housing reform, or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/justicelanow/" id="e3fc3aae-1bf5-3317-acf6-34280a26781e"> JusticeLA </a> s grassroots incarceration work.

Sampsons advocacy work also helps him keep control of his mental health. "When we feel like we cant do anything, it adds to our anxiety," he says. "When were a part of the solution and seeking out the best solutions, it actually helps."

Right now, Sampson wants to be part of the solution for those in jail. "Weve been working on reducing the prison population. Most people who are going to be released in the next year, why not just release them now? he says.

By releasing prisoners early, Sampson and others hope it will help mitigate the number of prisoners who catch COVID-19. As of April 20, 2020, the Federal Bureau of Prisons <a href="https://www.bop.gov/coronavirus/" id="c87824ce-4727-3c17-a5bf-ede44040979f"> reports </a> that nearly 500 federal inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus.

"We dont want to empty out beds and reduce the prison population, only to exponentially fill it back up with people who have mental illnesses," he says.

For those Insecure fans, Sampson says that his past has helped informed his character, Nathan, who he's played throughout season three of the show.

SPOILER ALERT: In the season three finale, Nathan met up with Issa (played by Issa Rae) to explain why hed ghosted her. He tried to be vulnerable by talking around his mental health, saying sometimes he gets "really down and kind of negative." It was clear he was a little hesitant, and a little embarrassed, but also maybe confused.

"In that moment, Nathan is trying to work through whats happened to him," says Sampson. "But men are taught not to talk about their feelings. Add the many layers of being a black mangenerational trauma and PTSDthat contribute to poor mental health, and how were taught to not show any sign of weakness."

If mirroring Nathans admission or keeping up on your own mental health feels like too much, Sampson has some advice: "Things are abnormally stressful right now, so we have to be kind to ourselves. Keep striving to reach goals that keep you productive without being harmful and hard on yourself and beatings yourself up. Because the government and COVID-19 are doing that enough for us."

Before 'Insecure,' Kendrick Sampson Fought Anxiety

Before actor and activist Kendrick Sampson, of HBOs Insecure, spoke with certainty about his <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/health/a26815316/anxiety-symptoms-in-men/" id="fff2ba34-98a2-3295-af05-3fdae1f39472"> anxiety </a> , all he knew was that he had intense stomach pain.

Before 'Insecure,' Kendrick Sampson Battled His Own Severe Anxiety

Chavez says he was always a reserved kid. At 13, starting middle school, he had trouble making friends and talking to new peopleespecially girls.

Even teachers and older peers were critical of me for not being outspoken and keeping to myself," Chavez says. "When it seems the entire school labels you, you start to believe it.

But what no one understood was how much anxiety Chavez was experiencing, even at 13 years old. I stressed over assignments and presentations and was terrified I would get called on in class. I felt like I couldn't breathe and would be gasping for air.

Battling Self-Esteem Issues, This Guy Transformed

That anxiety applied to his self-image as well. I didnt feel confident or comfortable with my body image. I would never take off my shirt at a pool or beach because I felt weak. Once on a vacation to South Padre Island, he wore a long sleeve compression shirt the entire vacation, not wanting anyone to see his body.

His school announced at the beginning of sixth grade that it would host a physical education test tied in with a year-end pool party, it was pretty much a double whammy of fear provoking events for Chavez.

Instead of letting his anxiety take over, Chavez used it as a motivator. He decided he wanted to be in shape in time for the end of school events.

At first, everything he tried didnt work. He couldnt get a gym membership because he was too young. He tried researching getting fit for his age, but he didnt find much. So he took his situation into his own hands.

His food situation wasnt an easy overhaul. Chavez wanted to change his diet, but his family wasnt supportive. They were used to eating fast food three times a week, and they saw it as a fun thing we would do as a family, he says.

But he convinced them their meals needed to change, and Chavez took charge of grocery shopping and meal planning. His first big change was going vegetarian and staying hydrated. Id plan protein packed salads and carried a gallon of water with me everywhere.

Fitness became an integral part of his plan, too For three months, I exercised daily. My routine consisted of sets of pushups, sit ups, and pull ups. I even asked my family to buy me a pull up bar and a tire I could flip in my backyard.

His friends, inspired by all he was doing, joined him. We started an unofficial workout club sort of as a joke, but eventually it became a way of life. We would run in the mornings, train at school, and complete our workouts we didn't finish after school.

Even though hed started this transformation with a clear end goal, Chavez realized fitness became a way for him to express himself in a way school hadnt. All my stress and insecurities were let out during my workout.

He was also able to reflect that maybe he didnt have to be so quiet. I realized that my being shy kid in school was just their perception of me.

At the end of the year, when the test came, Chavez blew it out of the water. I beat the school record by doing 120 pushups. The old record for the it was only 60, he says. I was so proud of myself. It was then that I realized I had been limiting myself as to who and what I could become. I was empowered with a newfound belief in myself.

And he never forgot that feeling. It drove him to work with obese teens with low self-esteem. Its what led <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXepy5wgQMY&amp;t=1s" id="1080bb07-4529-3762-aeed-a37531c629e3"> his TedX talk </a> , The Power of Being A Teenager. Its what he talks about in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Millennial-Momentum-Smash-your-Goals/dp/1980695431" id="78ffa52c-4921-3df6-a849-e6e04309b74a"> his book </a> , Millennial Momentum: How To Smash Your Goals.

And 10 years later, Chavez is still using that feeling to inspire other kids through his program <a href="https://www.instagram.com/1iftedfit/" id="ac81ed6f-d569-31b0-a5e5-c9ca37add763"> 1ifted </a> . He partners with gyms and city recreation departments to lead Teen Workouts program for kids. He also created an online platform with workouts led by teens for teens.

I am motivated now more than ever, he says. I strive to keep encouraging other kids to empower themselves through fitness.

Kendrick Chavez, 23, says he uses his past experience as a shy, overweight kid to motivate those very same kinds of teens now. But he had to overcome challenges to get there.

This Guy Wouldn't Take His Shirt Off at the Beach. Now He's a Fitness Coach.

"A lot of people would turn to me for life and relationship advice, to vent, or to break down," Keheler says.

But it wasnt just people he knew that found themselves opening up to him. "I can't even count the number of times Im with a stranger and found myself comforting someone who is pouring their heart out to me," he says.

Once, after spending just 15 minutes with him, a Los Angeles County Sheriff started tearing up and could barely speak about his especially rough day, says Keheler.

Over the years, however, Keheler says he started to hear warning signs from within someone else: himself.

Unlike all the friends, family members, and random people he met, Keheler says he didn't share his feelings of anxiety and depression. He internalized them. And then the problems began to snowball.

He'd push off everyday to-do items. Procrastination led to more stress. He'd stay in instead of hanging out with friends. He skipped exercising.

Eventually, when Keheler was about 27, his girlfriend called him out on his behaviors. "By not opening up and talking about how I was feeling, it was hurting her," he says.

Keheler says he didnt even realize he was withholding his emotions. "I'd been everyone else's rock for so long that my own mental well-being became a bit of an afterthought."

"Keeping her in the dark led to her feeling doubt and jealousy, because I wasnt being as open with her as she was with me," he says. "I realized that I would lose the one person in my life that mattered the most if I didnt make a change."

"I eventually realized that 'help' can take many shapes and forms," Keheler says. "For me, its about being mindful of my own actions and thoughts. I know now the stressors that set me off, and the best ways I have of fighting back."

The immediate way Keheler fought back was to talk to the friends and family that had turned to him for all those years.

The big change came through how he communicated with his girlfriend (now fiance). Instead of trying to take care of whatever was triggering his anxiety, hed talk through it with her.

Keheler knows he was lucky to have friends and family to support him, and it made him wonder about people who didnt have systems like that in place. "That's when the troubling rise in police suicides in recent years caught my attention," he says.

<a href="https://bluehelp.org" id="2b4a53e7-c54f-31e6-af9c-844b101abed5"> Blue H.E.L.P </a> a non-profit that brings awareness to law enforcements deaths by suicide <a href="https://www.policeforum.org/assets/PreventOfficerSuicide.pdf" id="24213015-8332-3707-a338-06c8bfa4c2dc"> recorded </a> more than 600 officer suicides between January 2016 and August 2019.

Keheler has been working on the CBS show S.W.A.T. since 2017, and became a writers assistant for the third season. When he brought up covering this difficult subject on the show, everyone in the room supported it, he says.

"We came to realize that we were uniquely positioned to not only tell a responsible story about suicidal ideation among police officers, but also about the importance of mental health awareness," he says.

That discussion turned into the episode of S.W.A.T. that airs tonight, at 10:00 pm (EST) on CBS, which Keheler wrote, and was created with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Tonights episode, called "Stigma", starts with the S.W.A.T. team concerned about Bucks (Louis Ferreira) mental health and fear the worst when he goes missing.

This Writer Is De-Stigmatizing Depression

The episode is about the warning signs of suicidal ideation, Keheler says: "The psychological traumas that play into it, and the ways to reach out and help loved ones who may be at risk of taking their own life."

Its also about de-stigmatizing the discussion of mental health.

"Every active S.W.A.T. member appears onscreen and speaks openly with a therapist about their feelings, struggles, fears, and more," Keheler says. "We wanted to show that not only is it okay to be vulnerable and openit is normal and essential."

For Keheler, this was an important episode for him to write, he says.

"Having battled depression myself, I know how easy it is to get trapped in that spiral of hopelessness. Without a support system in place, without an outlet ... you can see how many people find themselves venturing down that path."

If you youre having thoughts of suicide, call 1-800-273-8255, T <a href="https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org" id="53f3c2cf-175b-353a-afa6-46783e0e7843"> he National Suicide Prevention Lifeline </a> s 24/7, toll-free hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.

Long before Ryan Keheler was a writer on the the CBS law enforcement drama <a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/swat/" id="9f07c816-ceb5-34e3-a08c-2127229d1f88"> S.W.A.T. </a> he was the go-to confidant for all his friends problems in high school.

This Guy Struggled With Mental Health. Then He Wrote a TV Show About It.

My dad tried to kill me by drowning me in a tub of hot water," Nash says. "I went into an orphanage at the age of five, then into my first foster home at eight.

Foster care didnt stop the abuse. I was beat a lot in my foster home. I got hit with extension cords and broom sticks," he says.

Nash was very skinny (90 pounds on a good day) for most of his childhood, and hed get picked on for being small and for being a foster kid. I wished I was bigger, then nobody would pick on me or abuse me," he says.

School was where many of the fights broke out. But school was difficult for him (even if the kids had been nice) because of his ADHD.

At age 15, lifeand bullieshad beat him down to the point where Nash overdosed on Prozac and entered a mental hospital. When I got out, I went into an independent living home. My social worker told me that high school was not an option for me. I had to get my GED and a job because they were letting me go at 18, and I was too far behind in school.

When Nash was 21, working as the retail manager at a local gym, a woman approached him, asking if hed be interested in modeling. There was a scouting event in town, and Nash decided to check it out.

The modeling school (Barbizon) was interested in him, but he couldnt afford the classes. Considering I had been struggling all my life trying to survive since the system just let me go at my 18th birthdayand I had no help from family since I had noneit just cost too much money.

But when the school heard Nashs story, they helped him out. And their first advice was to get in shape. Nash was skinny fit but they wanted him to work with a personal trainer. He went to the gym he worked at, and a personal trainer took him under his wing.

The first thing Nash did was change his diet. Nash had been a big fast food eater, taking down 10 tacos from Taco Bell with a cinnamon twist, or a whole 16-inch pizza with breadsticks, by himself. He switched to focusing on lean meats and eggs, oatmeal, and lots of vegetables.

With the help of his personal trainer, Nash changed his fitness routine. They worked on compound movements and calisthenics like benchpress, squats, deadlifts, and overhead presses.

Nash started to realize that even when he wasnt in the gym, his life outside the gym was effecting his results. I stopped going to a lot of get togethers and parties with friends, because I had to wake up and do cardio.

The gym became a place for him to battle mental health, in addition to physical goals. Exercising has been my therapy. Growing up the way I did caused a lot of trauma in my life. Exercising and having good mentors has been the only that has saved it.

And as a foster kid, who didnt have a family growing up, the gym provided that for him, too. My clients and friends at the gym became my family, and also my mentors became my family.

After a year, Nash saw results, and after years he was impressed with his progress. People commented on his physique, which helped grow his confidence.

Nash modeled in Detroit, Chicago, New York, and Fresno, California, doing print ads and non-speaking commercials.

Eventually, Nash became a personal trainer himself. And one day, a fellow church member saw him training people outdoors. They offered up a warehouse space they owned, so he could start his own gym.

I was able to open my own gym in Clovis, CA called Playground Training Academy LLC, where we do personal training, bootcamps, calisthenics, ninja warrior, and parkour.

At 41, Nash started competing in bodybuilding competitions, and at 43, he won first place in his age category at the 2017 Fresno Classic. Nash recognizes hes come a long way since his traumatic beginnings, and he wants to give back to kids who are just like him. I have a fund that I started up called Overcomers, through a non-profit called City Without Orphans. I want to help kids who grew up in the foster care get through their trauma like I did: by exercising.

He Survived Childhood Trauma. Now He's Giving Back

Before he even entered middle school, Lamont Nash had gone through the most terrifying event hed ever experience.

This Guy Survived Childhood Trauma, Got Fit, and Is Giving Back to Kids in Need

But, at 27 years old, between class, prep for teaching, grading, and <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/trending-news/a19545762/how-to-land-dream-job/" id="ad533b31-bdfe-3fe0-a856-b41d6631618c"> applying for jobs </a> , he was working around 60+ hours a week, and it took a toll. I don't think I was aware how <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/health/a19527045/15-easy-ways-to-bust-work-stress/" id="b8f058b8-adea-3901-a7cf-635b153a921a"> stressed </a> I really was because that was just the norm for everyone in my life."

Despite his busy schedule, Alexander made time for the gym to help with his mental health. I came to depend on the endorphins from the gym in order to keep my head above water when I started experiencing depression and anxiety. At that point I wasn't taking antidepressants or anti-anxiety meds of any sort, so it fit that need.

After completing his Ph.D. at 29, Alexander applied for numerous positions, and he landed a one-year visiting professorship in Lexington, VA.

It was in Lexington that Kaelin started training smarter, rather than harder. I really became much more intentional. I found better resources for understanding how nutrition and fitness actually work. I really approached the gym like a librarian, even if I wasn't one yet at that point.

Before moving to Virginia, Alexander had dropped some weightlanding at 150 lbs. But over the course of his year at the college, he put on 25 pounds of muscle. But while his physical changes had continued to evolve, his career was not taking off the way hed hoped.

After his year long position was up, Kaelin applied for more professor positions, but struck out left and right. The rejection really weighed on him.

The first few times [you get a rejection] you think, Well, that's surprising, but that quickly becomes this weekly ritual of getting rejection letters, for years. Theyd go out on Friday nights, and then Id really feel awful going into the weekend.

Alexander moved to Denver in 2017, hoping to shake his depression and anxiety. His plan was to leave academia, and head there with his partner. At first, he worked in a coffee shop.

But part of the plan to leave academia was to get administrative jobs at colleges, which eventually happened when he picked up a data entry position in a university admissions office, and later a communications position. Instead of doing something new and sustaining, I just threw myself right back into academia, but in this totally different, very silly way. It was very much a kind of Stockholm Syndrome in retrospect.

In early 2018, Alexander went to see a career counselor, as well as a therapist. Going to the career counselor helped him realize that at that point, I was never going to get what I needed from a life in academia, and that academia really didn't need anything from me except to exploit my labor. So, I knew I needed to get out.

His therapist helped him realize that anxiety wasn't necessary and that it was okay to need help, he says. He went on medication, which helped him feel like life could be a little easier.

Then, Alexander started volunteering at a local Friends Meeting for First Day School (imagine a really secular Sunday School he says), and at the local science museum, and made a crucial connection about his next career path. Thats when I started to recognize that it was the education in the abstract, and not any particular knowledge, that really motivated me.

He decided to apply for jobs in libraries, because they supported that interest in helping people learn. In April 2018, when Alexander was 33, he landed his first library job, despite thinking it wasnt going to happen. I thought that I could never be a librarian because all the librarians I knew were hyper-competent, focused people, and I definitely feltespecially in 2018that I was very scattered and that my career was incoherent.

How Therapy Helped This Guy Find a Great Job

Alexander is still in the library field, as a Branch Library Specialist, and lives in Denver, CO. Healso married the partner he moved there with, who he credits as being a big motivator. I'm grateful that meeting him gave me the push I needed to find my value outside of academia. Loving him, and moving across the country, were the first real choices I made after deciding to leave academia.

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thelibrorian/" id="282fd509-5167-3d44-abe0-afe59f9be609"> His fitness </a> is still an important part of his life too, as he goes back and forth between weight lifting and being a cyclist. Last year I went from 200 pounds after a very dirty bulk down to 165 in about four months. The tradeoff for that was the I got down to 7.7% body fat and became a very solid cyclist.

But Alexander also finds his transformations to be pretty cyclical.

In the fall of 2018, he went from 180 to 200 pounds in four months. Then he had to cut to get a cycling weight of 160. Then he was back up to 180, to his new PRs.

My husband and I took [the phrase] We Learn and We Grow" as something like our House Words when we first met. Sometimes that's very literalmaking #gainzand sometimes it's about finding ways to do fulfilling work. But, as a result I'm really not that invested in particular outcomes so much as I am in doing the work and making progress.

Kaelin Alexander had hopes of being a professor. Its how he ended up in Ithaca, NY, pursuing a Ph.D. at Cornell University, teaching and working on his dissertation.

This Guy Couldn’t Get a Job. So He Got Jacked, Switched Fields, and Found Success.

Mizoguchi says he was about 27, living in Japan, when he first started working in tech. He moved up the corporate ladder, eventually becoming a project manager and then a consultant.

It wasn't that Mizoguchi was unhappy, but I somehow always felt disconnected with the career that I was pursuing. I felt like I was pushing myself towards something I couldnt be the best at or even feel passionate about. But Mizoguchi stuck it out, believing it was the only way for him to make a living.

At 31, after having his first child with his then-wife, Mizoguchi and his family headed to the United States because Japans high work ethic and expectations had turned his life into nothing but work. I knew that people [in the U.S.] cared way more about work/life balance, and are generally more open to career changes," he says.

Despite hoping things would be easier, it was difficult for Mizoguchi to get settled. Until you move to a completely different country, you never really realize the luxury of having small, familiar things in daily life like having your favorite grocery stores nearby," he says. "So in the first year [in a new country], you put all your energy into just to being able to feel like you're a normal person again.

But over time, things started to change. The best example of that was his ability to start creating and sharing his passion for music.

In the early 10s, when he was about 35 years old, Mizoguchi found SoundCloud. Digital music streaming services made it possible for artists like me to independently post music, and connect with fans directly, without having to belong to a record label. He uploaded his musicelectronic music infused with hip-hop, R&amp;B, soul, jazz, rock, and popunder the moniker starRo.

Mizoguchi used the streaming website to reach out to other artists, and create his own musical community. He still didnt know many people in Los Angeles, outside of his tech job. So he connected with artists from all over the world.

It allowed me to be a part of a new ecosystem of young upcoming artists across the world, many of which made it to the mainstream. Its how he connected with Chance The Rapper, Anderson Paak, Bryson Tiller, and Gold Link.

His energy into building community worked. Over two years, he grew his followers from about a hundred to 5,000. Thats when Mizoguchi caught the attention of music labels and management firms.

Mizoguchi started making money from music production, touring, and DJing. Two years later, he was still working his tech job, ran a small music-related business, and making money from his own music.

He was the only source of income for his family (now with three kids), and had to make sure his music would pay as much as his day job had. At 39, he fully committed to music.

While it was a dream come true for him to be creating music day in and day out, he says the transition from stable jobs wasnt easy. As an artist, you have no constant income flowing into your bank account from your employer. You need to be way more disciplined about how you manage your time, because you can easily end up doing nothing, and yet nobody will warn you.

There were times when Mizoguchi felt mentally exhausted, too, having to continue to make music when he thought he was out of inspiration.

But Mizoguchi credits these hardships as shaping him: They helped make me mentally and spiritually stronger than ever."

And it paid off. At 41 years old, he received a Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording for Heavy Star Movin (starRo Remix)

Now, with 65,0000 followers on SoundCloud, and a Grammy nom to his name, Mizoguchis goals are simple: I just want to keep making music for the rest of my life, because thats what makes me happy.

Shinya Mizoguchi spent the first decade of his <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/trending-news/a19545762/how-to-land-dream-job/" id="d8144254-2c8b-3f0e-ab21-df549258280d"> professional career </a> in the <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a30469242/ces-2020-best-health-fitness/" id="288d01f6-14d5-3207-ad94-d95ed4617ed1"> tech industry, </a> but something always felt off to him.

How This Guy Turned a Dead-End Job into a Grammy-Worthy Music Career

For Nathaniel Young, it felt like he had an eight-pronged candle that was constantly on fire.

I was trying to work through childhood and teenage traumas while simultaneously working two jobs, establishing my own business, moving out of my parents house for the first time, <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/style/a27312994/wedding-attire-for-men/" id="4a4de433-c032-3d5e-a530-97ebbeb869d8"> planning a wedding </a> with my then-fianc, training for a <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/bodybuilding/" id="3a0f45b1-c8b4-3821-a047-eef876fa30c6"> bodybuilding </a> show, and replacing my car with a more reliable one, he says.

What prompted Young to handle so much at once? During his childhood, he experienced a lot of anxiety from body image issues and trying to please his parents. At 14, Young started bodybuilding as a coping mechanism.

At 22, he thought that filling his life with more money, a better relationship, and other seemingly positive things would allow him to let go of the disappointment he still carried.

But not long after Young turned 23, while he was trying to juggle everything, he started experiencing manic episodes.

A doctor prescribed him medication to help him cope with depression, which was his initial diagnosis. I didnt realize until it was too late that the medication I was taking actually enhanced my manic episodes, panic attacks, and anxiety.

The breaking point for me was when I was hospitalized for a week in 2017 for having manic and suicidal episodes as a result of taking myself off my medication without consulting my doctor, he says. During that week, Young realized that he needed to make a change, because his way of handling his life was not working.

Young didnt make the change right away. Four months after his hospitalization, Young was at his heaviest, at 50 pounds overweight (weighing in at 230 pounds). He was spending his money erratically, like putting non-refundable deposits on his wedding without consulting his ex-fianc and spending hundreds of dollars on designer colognes.

Then, the realization that hed made in the hospitalthat he needed to make a changereally set in. He started consistently going to therapy and he ended his engagement with his fianc. Theyd both come to the realization that they were just not meant to be together, especially after the stress hed felt he put on the relationship with his previously deteriorating mental state.

I also began to train as if I had a bodybuilding competition lined up, he says. Young ran around his neighborhood in the mornings, and lifted weights in the evenings. He returned to the gym hed gone to when he was 16 to start his own training business.

Fitness and Therapy Helped This Guy Drop 50 Pounds

Over the course of the next year he lost the entire 50 pounds hed gained, he placed in the top 5 of his division in a body building competition, and he quickly built his training business.

What kept me motivated was that I had completely severed my ties to my past life. I was making a fresh start and I was determined to create a life for myself I never had. As a result, I started living my life like I had everything to live for as opposed to living like I have nothing to lose.

By working on his mental healththrough therapy and at by transforming his overall health through fitnessYoung feels like hes now living his best life.

I have much more confidence in myself and what I am doing with my life. I can walk with my truth, proudly knowing that what I have done does not define who I am, and that I am bigger than my mistakes.

Ever struggle to balance two or three important things at the same time?

Bodybuilding and Therapy Helped This Guy Drop 50 Pounds

My dad suffered from a breakdown when I was young, and I think that may have contributed to my anxiety," he says.

Parker graduated from college at 21 with a degree in hospitality management and started working at restaurants and bars. He enjoyed the work in the beginning, but years later, his mental health got in the way. Even though I liked my work, my anxiety and lack of confidence meant that I could never push myself further, Parker says.

Eventually, when he was 28, Parker says, I realized I didnt like my job anymore but had no idea how I could get out of it.

Even though hed been dealing with anxiety for a long time, he says his job, plus being in an unhealthy relationship, making his mental health really hard to handle.

I was so low at this point I had very dark thoughts and didn't care about my personal hygiene or myself in general, he says. During this low point, Parks says he struggled with showering and brushing his teeth. Even getting out of bed was a chore.

Adam Parker says he had <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/health/a26815316/anxiety-symptoms-in-men/" id="fff2ba34-98a2-3295-af05-3fdae1f39472"> anxiety </a> for as long as he can remember, but the whole time he was coping with it, rather than taking care of it.

Gina Loveless

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