A founder told me something on a call recently.

He was watching a show with his boys. There was a guy on screen wearing a t-shirt and jeans. He looked great. You could just see he had his shit together. Then he thought to himself, "What the fuck am I doing?" It planted a seed he couldn't ignore.

He's 44. Built a company. Pivoted the business, leads a team, moves fast on everything.

"I don't feel that my body is what it should be," he said.

"It's not representing your vision," I added.

"Yeah. Exactly."

He'd known this for years.

This is a guy who would pivot the whole company on a Tuesday if something wasn't working. Yet, he feels jiggly walking into meetings.

It's a type of mismatch you can't ignore. No matter what kind of mental gymnastics you apply to it.

Here's what's interesting though…

As he kept opening up, discipline was never his problem.

He just carried a belief where taking care of himself felt like vanity.

He's building a company, providing for his family, got employees' livelihoods at stake.

Dedicating time to get fit now would just feel like indulgence. Like it's something a guy with too much time would do.

He never thought of it in terms of "part of how I lead."

At the same time, he knew the way you carry yourself is part of the message. He said it himself - he wanted his body to represent his vision.

And that inner conflict just gets nastier with time.

Soon after our call, he started running a few miles first thing in the morning. Just to see how it affects things.

Then we spoke again.

"I'm standing taller," he said. "I'm just more there."

Same man. Same calendar. He just started treating his body as part of the building process.

P.S. If you're a former-athlete founder who keeps telling himself "after this next thing" - that next thing never comes. Here's a 30-minute call where we figure out what's actually going on: cal.com/bartcagara/discovery-call​