For anyone who's too scared to get started in fitness because they don’t know how to…

This was me. ~10 years ago.

I remember having a friend to take some pictures of me for a project. She took many pictures and this exact shot is when I distinctly felt disconnected and unconfident of my body. I felt ashamed, like I had abandoned its potential. It was a terrible feeling and the skinniest I had ever been, I weighed ~50kg.

I knew more about toggling WASD keys than I did about moving my own body. At this point, I've been a professional benchwarmer and officially logged >10,000 hours on video games. True story: at my lowest, I used to game 10 hours a day consecutively, for years.

Society's been pressuring me to niche down. "Linus just pick a lane," they say. "It's anime fans, creative friends or the gamer gang — you can't relate to all of them."

Except, I can. I grew up as the weird kid who loves to read, spends too much time designing game textures and the remainder gaming or watching anime. Yet I used to be ashamed of it, until I started fitness.

I'm embarrassed to say that a misconception I had was that fitness was for the genetically gifted or athletic from youth. Neither of which were in my favour, I used it as my excuse to avoid taking action. Things were great till they weren't.

It took a heartbreak, a death and a flight to realise that I had 2 choices. I could stay the same, and continue numbing the pain with video games. Or, I could get off my sorry ass and rebuild my self-esteem.

A decade later, here I am.

It's not a fair comparison, I'm up against myself from years ago and the lighting is great. But that's the thing — it's you vs you, and always will be.

Some of my peers call it attention-seeking. Thirst traps, they say. It's true, but if that's what it takes to help those willing to change, then that's all the motivation I need to keep sharing. Because this habit has changed my life and I see you out there trying to do the same.

I just want you to know this:

It's possible, and I get it.

It can and will be a long and lonely path, especially if you aren't surrounded by the right people. That's why I'm gonna be here for you, because I wish someone was there for me.

And it's why I see content creation the same way I see bodybuilding. People will laugh at your efforts until they see results. Especially when you're not built for it, but if it scares you, then it's what you need to do.

"Where your fear is, there your task is."
— Carl Jung