This Doodle Got Me Fired

When I was 23 years old, I was working at a moving company. It wasn’t my dream job—it was just a paycheck. One day, while I was supposed to be focused on work, I found myself doodling on the side of the moving truck. But it wasn’t just any doodle. I drew a bodybuilder.

That little sketch got me fired.

At first, I was embarrassed. But looking back, that doodle told the truth about me: my mind wasn’t on trucks, or schedules, or moving. My mind was on bodybuilding. I had already discovered my passion two years earlier, at 21. From the moment I walked into a gym and started flipping through bodybuilding magazines, I knew. That was it. Bodybuilding wasn’t just a hobby—it was the thing I wanted to spend my life on.

And that’s what this blog is about—goal setting, visualizing, and discovering your real passion. If you’re 16–23 years old and serious about sports or fitness, pay attention. Because right now is the window where you figure out if you’re just playing around or if you’re ready to put in the work to chase something real.

Passion Isn’t a Daydream

A lot of young athletes say they want to “go pro.” Baseball, football, basketball, track—you name it. But here’s the test:

• Do you still work on your skills after practice is over?
• Do you fuel your body the right way when nobody’s watching?
• Do you enjoy the grind of training, even when it hurts?

If the answer is “no” to those questions, then you may not be as passionate as you think. Passion doesn’t stay in the locker room. Passion follows you home, keeps you up at night, makes you pick up a ball, a bat, or a barbell when you could be scrolling on your phone.

When I discovered bodybuilding, I couldn’t get enough. I bought every muscle magazine I could find. I still have stacks of them today. I’d read about Arnold, Haney, and Gaspari until the pages were worn. The day after the Mr. Olympia contest, I’d call Gold’s Gym in California just to find out who won. This was the late 1980s—no internet, no Instagram updates. Just pure obsession.

That’s passion. It grabs you and doesn’t let go.

Visualization Creates Direction

Once you find something you love, the next step is to see yourself in it. I wasn’t just lifting weights—I was picturing myself on stage, competing. I was imagining being a coach, a trainer, an entrepreneur in the fitness world. That vision gave me energy when I was tired, focus when distractions showed up, and resilience when things got hard. I was surrounded by others who were more interested in partying and staying up late.

Visualization works the same way for athletes in any sport. Before you ever step on the field, court, or platform, you’ve got to see yourself performing at your best. Not once, but every day. Mental reps are just as real as physical ones.

Goals Make Passion Practical

Passion and visualization are powerful, but without goals they’re just fuel without an engine. If you want to play at the next level, set concrete goals:

• Improve your vertical jump by 4 inches in six months.
• Add 20 pounds to your squat in 8 weeks.
• Spend 30 minutes every day on skill drills.

These goals give you checkpoints on the journey. They’re reminders that progress isn’t just about dreaming big—it’s about taking consistent, small steps forward.

The Bottom Line

If you say you love something but never put in the work, then maybe it’s not really your passion. And that’s okay—sometimes it takes trying a lot of things before you discover what sticks. But once you find it, once you feel that fire where you can’t stop thinking about it, then the real question is: are you willing to back it up with effort?

I got fired from that moving company because I doodled a bodybuilder instead of doing my job. At the time, it looked like a mistake. But in reality, it was a sign. Bodybuilding was already in my head, in my hands, in everything I did. And that’s how I knew it was the right path.

So, if you’re serious about being an athlete, find that thing you can’t stop thinking about. Visualize it every day. Set goals that force you to level up. And then—do the work when nobody’s watching.

Because your future won’t come from what you say you want. It will come from what you actually do.

Scott