Right Fuel. Right Fire.
by Charlie Carroll, author of “Eat Like an Entrepreneur“
Have you ever started a fire? Most of us have, and we know that fire needs wood to burn. But wait, you might say, you can throw lots of things in a fire and they will burn. Sure, that’s true. Fire burns paper, cardboard, fabric — lots of things. But did you ever notice that the fire burns right through those things super quickly? Then you have to find more items to feed the fire, or the flames die down.
Did you ever throw anything in a fire that burned, but didn’t burn well? Perhaps it only left some nasty, charbroiled detritus among the ashes. Have you ever piled on too much wood, paper, or cardboard way too quickly? Did you see that the fire couldn’t handle it and it actually burned down instead of burning higher?
Our bodies work the same way. Your cells are like tiny fires in your body, and your body can’t function if the fires go out.
Luckily, you have thirty trillion fires in your body. If some go out, you can still get through your day, but definitely not at full speed or capability. It’s most ideal to have all your fires burning, but not just flaring or smoldering. You want those fires burning bright, hot, strong, and long.
For that to be the case, you need the right fuel for your fires. You need some “oak” in that fire pit of your body — not tissues and paper bags that will flare fast and hot but be gone in a matter of minutes, leaving the flames desperate for something else to burn. While it’s true that even wood burns out eventually, it burns clean and hot, allowing the fire to last a long time. Then you can add more wood at the right time and keep the fire raging all day. When you get a good fire going, it burns through its fuel efficiently and wants more of it. That’s what we’re going for here when we talk about eating like an entrepreneur.
What is good fuel for your body, and what’s not? Fat is the best fuel for your body’s fires. Glucose (a.k.a sugar) is the paper bags and pizza boxes we often use to fuel our bodies. Most of us run on less-efficient fuels like this that make our bodies weak, prone to breaking down and leading to premature death, one cell at a time. By limiting your sugar intake and feeding your body healthy fats, the fire in your cells burns in all the right ways and produces clean fuel, giving you an introduction to a whole new way of living and being.
Out of Gas
To explain it another way, let me tell you a story. I was a high school freshman at my Christian school and had just sat down at my desk when my teacher opened the class by asking if anyone had a prayer request. I nervously raised my hand, feeling like my heart was going to explode.
“Charlie!” The teacher called on me excitedly.
I went on to share my request with the class.
“I would like to pray for my family. This past weekend, my dad was cleaning out the carburettor when he heard a lapping noise. Quickly sliding out from under the car, he saw that it was one of our big dogs, a Great Pyrenees named Sam, lapping up the gas my dad had just drained in order to work on the car.”
I could feel the collective bated breath in the room. Although I started to get emotional, I continued telling the story.
“My dad stood up super fast and started chasing Sam. Unfortunately, Sam thought Dad was playing and started running from him. So there they were, my dad chasing Sam in circles around the car — and that’s when it happened.”
I took a deep breath and paused for a moment, preparing myself to get the words out.
“He just fell over!” I exclaimed.
“What?” my teacher asked with deep concern.
“Yeah! All of a sudden, Sam just fell over!” About to burst, I had to put my head down to avoid making eye contact with anyone in the room. My teacher, searching for a response, finally filled the silence in the room.
“Did he die?” My teacher asked, slowly enough to express his deep concern.
With a straight face, I picked my head up slowly. “No,” I paused. “He ran out of gas!”
The whole class burst into a fit of laughter. It took minutes for the room to recover; to his credit, even the teacher had to laugh.
Most of us can understand the idea of running out of gas. Chronic exhaustion, aches, and sickness all have a common denominator: too much of the toxic, inefficient fuel entering our bodies, with the hope it will be able to fuel us.
Your life is all about your energy, and your energy is all about your individual cells. Think of your body as a mosaic, a whole person composed of thirty trillion individual pieces. Although we see those pieces working together throughout your body, signaling pain in general areas such as our lower back or hamstrings, life is actually happening as a whole as it’s connected on a cellular level. To unlock our potential, we have to unlock every cell’s potential. But before we reach those bolts, we have to open up our mitochondria.
*excerpted from the first two chapters within Part 2: Core Habits of Eat Like an Entrepreneur, written by Charlie Carroll
Charlie Carroll, a third-generation entrepreneur, has launched over 50 businesses and holds multiple patents. He offers business coaching to share his decades of experience and deep understanding of where real value lies. To discover solutions that are as precise as they are powerful visit: https://charliecarroll.com/.