Have you ever heard a chihuahua squeal? Well, you're about to in this video — and you're probably not going to like it. The thing is, the sound of a squealing chihuahua should bother you much less than the actual presence of chihuahuas in your life, but you probably allow them to stick around anyway. And no, we're not talking about dogs anymore.
In this video from the Strong(er) Business: elitefts Fitness Professional Summit, Rachel Balkovec introduces her presentation, The Laws of My Twenties, in which she shares things she wishes she knew when she was 22 years old.
Among the many lessons she would share with her younger self, Rachel discusses her rule of no chihuahuas. If you're not sure who the chihuahuas in your life are, take a look at the people you surround yourself with who drag you down. These are your chihuahuas. These are the people you have to pick up and carry around because their legs are so short that they can't run fast enough to keep up with you and where you're going in life. These are the people that will slow you down, hold you back, and limit your potential if you let them.
Identify these individuals and distance yourself from them. Is it your boyfriend? Your girlfriend? A family member? A business partner? It doesn't matter who it is — if they're a chihuahua, they've gotta go. Don't let them hang around yipping at your heels.
To demonstrate how this lesson has changed her own life, Rachel shares the story of a conversation she had with Chris Frankel years ago, in which he advised her where she could find the best strength and conditioning internship in the country. Once he told her the best place she could go, she pursued it relentlessly, despite negativity from others. Similarly, when she was presented with the opportunity to attend graduate school at LSU, she had to wait a year and then move to enter the program. More negativity. She had a chihuahua she had to cut loose: a boyfriend who discouraged her from her internship and graduate school plans.
Rachel was willing to move anywhere in the world to progress in her career, and that's exactly what she did. Identifying a common characteristic of each presenter at the elitefts Fitness Professional Summit, Rachel points out that a lot of successful people were once broke, living in their car, with no money and nowhere to go. They sacrificed to make it where they are today.
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