The Be Your Own Hero Spotlight Series on AthleticCapital.com is a new, monthly feature that showcases the biographies and stories of real-life “Heroes” — men and women who, while brandishing a defiantly positive and determined mindset, are pursuing their dreams in spite of criticism, cynicism, and being misunderstood by those around them. The individuals showcased in this series have different beliefs, goals, and mantras for how to live life, however, they provide valuable lessons in unlocking your inner potential. I am very blessed to have had these “heroes” come into my life and I hope their stories can help in your own personal journey.
he·ro 1. a man or woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his/her brave deeds and noble qualities. 2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal:
*This series was inspired by a close friend, Dave Ursillo. He is another hero that has greatly helped me realize my full potential. Please be sure to check out his site at www.daveursillo.com
Nate Miyaki is a hero. A life long athlete and fitness enthusiast, Nate has never backed down from pursuing his dreams. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Nate has succeeded in a variety of different pursuits, including (to name a few); winning a natural bodybuilding championship, becoming a successful fitness model, wrestling the Great Khali of the WWE, serving as co-owner of www.fatamericafitamerica.com, and recently being named as a feature writer for www.T-Nation.com. For many, what Nate has accomplished would take a few lifetimes, however, his no fear attitude and positive nature has allowed him to achieve a great deal at a young age. Nate’s journey like many success stories has had its share of ups and downs, the difference has been his inability to give up. Be Your Own Hero!
1. What are some short and long-term goals that you are pursuing?
Nate Miyaki: As the Joker said to Harvey Two-Face in the Dark Night, ” Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it.” I just kind of do stuff you know what I mean? And then I see what happens and roll with it. That’s how I ended up with the whole professional wrestler/trainer/natural bodybuilder/fitness writer journey.
I’m just kidding around. I have a ton of goals. In fact, I think constantly setting and pursuing (and hopefully achieving) goals is the best way to get the most out of oneself. The times when I’ve been the most “on” in my life, and have achieved a lot for a naturally lazy, California beach dude, are the times when I set immediate goals, and kept them in the forefront of my mind at all times.
Otherwise you are just wandering without a purpose. Weeks, months, and years can go by with nothing to show for it. You end up the guy who is always talking about his great ideas or plans, but never implements any of them. And unfortunately, I’ve done a lot of that too.
Listen, human beings are naturally lazy creatures. But I think the real key is linking your goals to your passions. If you do that, you’ll never be lazy again (except maybe after a couple of whiskey shots).
Short-”termers”
My wife and I started a new health & fitness blog. My immediate, short-term goal is to get that up and running, and get it out there so people know it exists. It’s a content driven site, so there is a lot of work that goes into making sure we keep up with everything we want to provide for our family, friends, and new friends we hope to make along the way — regular articles, q and a’s, interviews, videos, etc. So I have to set weekly goals to make sure I keep up with all of that.
There are a lot of myths and misinformation out there in the fitness industry. We are trying to provide an unbiased resource where people can learn from our formal educations and experiences as athletes and coaches. I know not everyone can afford private training. I certainly couldn’t when I was a bright-eyed kid growing up trying to learn about the fitness game. But I believe everyone deserves access to free, top quality information. This is what we are trying to provide. We want to show people what we think is an efficient way, its up to them to take that information and do something with it.
And at some point I’d like to put the ‘ol posing panties back on this year. Why? I don’t know. It’s ridiculous when you really think about it. Go out there with a fake tan, twirl around, and pose to some music. Nevertheless, I enjoy it — more so the discipline and training leading up to the show than the actual show itself, but you can’t have one without the other. I guess it makes me feel like I’m still some kind of an athlete. I’m shooting for the end of the year — Musclemania America & World Championships — because I have way too much going on with the writing and website throughout the spring. But to be truly happy, I’m the type of guy who needs to balance intellectual and career pursuits with athletic ones, or else I just go insane.
Long “termers”
The long-term goals are very much related to the short-term goals — which I think is important — they are just on a larger scale.
I’ve been running a private training business for 10 years now. It’s been great. I’ve had a lot of fun, learned a lot of invaluable in-the-trenches lessons that you just can’t learn in the lab or classroom alone (and that I can now take with me to my next endeavor), and I’ve helped a few people along the way. But I feel like its time for something bigger you know? You can only reach so many people when you are running a one-on-one service-based business. I’d like to branch out and reach more people, because I think I have the write combination of skills and passion necessary to truly help people.So the long-term goal is to transition more into writing in the industry. I’ve planted some seeds with that: our website, I have a regular column with T-Nation, and I’ve contributed to other sites like bodybuilding.com and musclemania.com. Hopefully, those seeds blossom into fruitful trees — Money Trees!
But seriously, I think I communicate and teach people best through writing — and I really enjoy it. So the end goal is to find a way to make some kind of a living through writing in the health & fitness industry, and maybe creating other related products (such as books and dvd’s for example) — cross your fingers for me bro.
Beyond that, I’d like to take over the world at some point, but I’d settle for a beachfront condo in Hawaii. Wake up, get some Kona coffee, go to the gym and train, work on some writing projects, go to the beach, eat some fish, walk the Waikiki strip under the tiki torches at night, and call it a day. That’s all I need man. And now that I’m saying it out loud (or writing it on paper to be more accurate), it doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility. Lets get this thing rolling.
2. What has pursuing your dreams taught you about yourself? about others? about life?
NM: So I left out one thing in my crazy bio. I was a back-up drummer and singer in my brother’s rock band for two years. We wrote this song called Dreamchasers. It was my favorite. Want to hear some of the lyrics? Not really? Well, I’m going to tell you anyways, because I can’t think of anything that sums it up better:
“So much hope within your eyes
So much pain along the way
But your dreams keep you alive
And they get you through the day
They feel so far away
But they’re closer then they seem
You can’t stop now baby
Keep chasing your dreams
Been knocked down before
But you’re back up on your feet
You feel so alive baby
When you’re chasing your dreams
I can’t follow the crowd
And sleepwalk through this life
I got to take my chances now
Cause I’m a dreamer, with big dreams”
But don’t ask me to sing it for you. I was a horrible singer. I guess that’s why I don’t have any interesting groupie stories to tell you about.
The lyrics basically sum up my thoughts on dreams — they’re everything. If you don’t have dreams, you’re not really living. You’re just going through the motions waiting for the next life. Even the most successful people I know, who seemingly have achieved almost everything in life, are still chasing something, some new dream. It’s probably because they know the dream is always better than the reality right? In other words, the anticipation of something is always greater than the actual achievement of it, although both can be awesome.
One more thing I learned about dreams. No one is going to believe in you more than you believe in yourself. So you better start believing in yourself. If you don’t, why should anyone else believe in you? And trust me, you’re going to need others to believe in you, because you’re going to need help along the way.
3. Do you have special methods or practices that help you along the way? What are your sources of inspiration?
NM: I went to Cal Berkeley. Unfortunately, I guess the hippies subconsciously rubbed off on me a little bit — and you better tell me if they literally did and I smell like patchouli oil or whatever it is that they use. The end result is that I’m all into philosophy and whatnot. But I’m not necessarily talking about traditional philosophy like Plato or Socrates or anything like that — old “thinkers” talking abstractly about life — what’s the point? That’s boring and useless to me. As an athlete and entrepreneur, I want the perspectives of “doers”, information you can actually apply in real life to get stuff done.
I’m into warrior cultures and martial arts cultures, because at least they were out there in the real world applying what they were saying. If their principles didn’t work, they either got their butts kicked or heads cut off. I guess those consequences made them cut through a lot of the theoretical B.S. right there. The biggest sources of inspiration to me have been the works of Miyamoto Musashi (a samurai warrior, the greatest samurai warrior), and Bruce Lee (who was a great philosopher in addition to being a great martial artist).
Danny, you need to reel me in bro. I’m rambling off into nonsense about my own philosophical/spiritual approach. Let me actually answer your original question, about methods I’ve used along the way to help me. Lets give your readers something they can practically apply, something that I think can help them with their own journey.
Kaizen is a Japanese word that literally translates to “improvement” or “change for the better”. But Kaizen is more than just a word. It is a lifestyle philosophy incorporating a focused effort to strive for constant and continual improvement in all areas of life. Both Musashi and Lee talked about this:
Make at least one definitive move daily toward your goal. Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable; however, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable — Bruce Lee
If you constantly try to improve, if you make one definitive step toward your goals every day, and if you can honestly answer why you are better or further along today than you were yesterday (at least on most days), I think you’ll do great in life — whatever your chosen path may be.
4. You spent a great deal of time and energy completing a physical therapy degree at Cal Berkeley and San Francisco State only to find that the profession was not for you. How did you overcome this common problem to lead a life that is authentic to who you are?
NM: First off, I don’t want to misrepresent my credentials. I don’t have a PT degree. I actually graduated with a degree in film, but completed the pre-physical therapy/pre-med curriculum as electives, with the intent of pursuing graduate studies. After a couple of internships, I decided the physical therapy route wasn’t for me.
During that same time I was opening my private training business, so I decided to complete some post-baccalaureate studies in Kinesiology to further my knowledge. After a year or two, I got bored, and was looking for more ways to expand my knowledge base.
I applied and was accepted into a master’s program in nutrition, but after reviewing the curriculum, which I think is outdated and definitely not what I believe is the most beneficial recommendations, I decided not to attend the program. I instead pursued more self-education through personal research. Talk about a lost soul trying to find his way huh?
I guess the best lesson I learned from this journey is that life is not a race. Sometimes it takes a little while, and a few wrong turns, to find the road you were meant to travel down. Sometimes it’s highly valuable to make a few mistakes and discover what you don’t want to be doing in life.
And besides, what’s more important in the long run? Impressing others, or finding what is truly valuable to you?
5. What advice would you provide to people who have fallen into the same trap? What would you recommend to people who hate what they do but are struggling to get by?
NM: Well, the easy answer is to say just quit, go out there and chase your dreams, and live happily ever after. That’s cool for the movies bro, but unfortunately, I’m a practical, realist too. Life doesn’t stop just because all of a sudden you decide its time for a change. You still have to keep up with the bills, life’s responsibilities and obligations, etc.
I’ll tell you what I’ve been doing, and it seems to be working so far. It might not be the right path for everyone, it might not even be the best way, but I can’t comment on other ways of going about it because I’ve never done those other ways — like throwing caution to the wind, dropping everything in an instant, and just starting over — although I do admire the people who have the courage to do just that. I wish I had “cajones” that big!
For me, I would recommend a more conservative approach. I would say keep working your day job, but start planting the seeds to transition into what you really want to be doing. Maybe that means taking a class at night or making contact with people who are in the industry you want to be in, or even just reading a good how-to book.
For me it meant all of that, and it also meant just starting to write. Once you start making a real, sincere effort towards pursuing your goals, I bet you’ll be surprised at how quickly things can snowball. When you have another boat within striking distance, then you can jump ship.
But a word of caution: unless you get lucky, when you are starting out, sometimes there is a lot of effort that must go into the pursuit of your goals without a lot of return. That’s why it has to be something you are passionate about. If you are doing something just to make a quick buck, unless that buck comes quickly (and we always hear about the one-in-a-million success story), you won’t last.
To be honest, after discovering how much I enjoy writing about health & fitness, I’d continue to write even if I was the only one reading it (yes, I am that impressed with myself). The fact that others are enjoying it and finding it helpful, and that I’ve even gotten paid a few times, is a bonus.
And don’t give me this B.S. about not having enough time. If something truly is important enough to you, you’ll find the time. Either that, or you can just keep going through the motions like a zombie, and sit on your butt every night watching the Not-So-Real Housewives bicker about nonsense. What’s more important to you?
6. I saw that you became a professional wrestler for a short while following the completion of your studies. What did you learn from this experience?
NM: A 175lb guy getting slammed by a 400lbs guy sucks!!!! I came up with a guy who is now known in the WWE as the Great Khali. Listen man, the show is scripted, but the impact of the stunts is very real. Trust me, although it’s cheesy unless you’re a 15-year-old kid (and to be honest I have the maturity level of a 15-year-old kid), those guys are still real athletes.
What did I learn about myself? I’ll try anything in life. If something sounds interesting to me and I really want to try it, I’m going to do it, not just talk about it. I don’t want to be an old man sitting around saying, “would of, could of, or should of.” I want to be an old man sitting around saying, “Remember that? Damn that was dumb. What was I thinking then?”
What did I learn about others? People can be happy doing virtually anything in life if they stop worrying about what others think, or what society says equals success, or what both determine is the “right path” for everyone, everywhere.
There was a guy in our promotion I used to wrestle with. Man, this guy had a crappy day job, lived in a crappy apartment, and drove around in a crappy car. But he loved pro wrestling. He knew everything about its history and evolution. Every night, he got to come down and train at the facility. And when we performed at shows, he transformed into his character like no one else, and lived for the reactions of the crowd.
Wrestling in the independent circuit is a lot like playing triple A-baseball. You get paid next to nothing, but most guys are in it with the hope of getting a shot at the big time. Not my buddy. He knew he didn’t have the skills or physique to make it to the big time. He just loved wrestling, loved performing. I’ll tell you what, that guy was happier with his life than many of the highly successful, millionaire corporate professionals I’ve trained.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying all successful professionals or millionaires are unhappy. The hippies didn’t rub off on me that much. There are many who are very happy — they love building businesses, or outsmarting the competition, or the thrill of watching an investment return 10-fold, living the high life, etc. But it’s not for everyone you know? Just as performing on the professional wrestling circuit is not for everyone either.The moral of the story is that the key to happiness is finding the path that is right for you, whether it is a more traditional route, or a not-so traditional one. From my experiences, I’ve seen there are people who are happy and unhappy in every walk of life. The ones who are happy are the ones who really want to be where they’re currently at in life. The ones who are unhappy are the ones who just think they should and/or need to be where they’re at.
Of course, I don’t really know man. I could be talking straight outta my A$@. I’m still trying to figure it all out myself.
7 . At this point in your life, if you could teach a child one thing what would it be?
NM: Well first off if you’re a kid, don’t listen to me. I don’t know what I’m talking about. Listen to Danny, he seems as if he’s got a good head on his shoulders. Me? I’m a looney-tune.
But if I must — BE AUTHENTIC.
In the way you treat people, in the choices that you make, in the life that you lead — be authentic.
Don’t just do things to try and fit in or to appease someone or because that’s what society says you are supposed or to “keep up with the Joneses” or because you think a short cut will advance your life or career in some way. Stay true to yourself and what you believe in, even if it’s not the most popular opinion. At the end of the day, if you can look yourself in the mirror, you’re doing alright.
Sure, I’ve made mistakes in my life. I wish I would have made some different choices or certain things would have turned out differently. But the only regrets I have are when I did something that wasn’t truly “me”. I was trying to fit into the mold of what someone else wanted for, or of me. You see the difference? My mistakes have been many, my regrets few.
You can follow Nate Miyaki on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateMiyaki or through his website, www.fatamericafitamerica.com. I highly recommend utilitizing his services and insight before his celebrity status explodes! Be Your Own Hero!
