By David Tepera, January 14, 2021

I’m sure there’s plenty of you who are not happy with some choices you’ve made in the past. Just remember, life is not about who you once were, it’s about who you are now.

I still shake my head over some of the decisions I made way in the past. I look back and realize the immaturity of my thoughts and actions. Even though it took some time, I’m just glad I woke up and stopped making the same dumb mistakes.

Recently, I was talking to a good friend of mine, and we were expressing how glad we were that cell phones weren’t around when we were being idiots.

But listen, mistakes of the past don’t define who you are now. There’s nothing you can do about it, so let it go and make sure you learned from it.

It’s interesting as you get older, it’s easier to love people and let go of unnecessary hatred.

Now that we are into the new year, don’t let the setbacks of 2020 define you. We are all trying to create and accomplish new goals to make us better than before.

Since Tina and I are professional athletes, we take the last few months of the year to gain as much muscle as possible. Of course, this will include some extra fat as well. Now that January is upon us, we started a three-month fat loss program to be competition lean by the end of March. We do this every year, and our bodies are accustomed to it.

What type of program have you started? Are you on pace to be healthier this year? Remember, one or two bad meals doesn’t make you fat. It’s a consistency of bad dieting that does it.

Just like getting in shape doesn’t happen in a few days. It takes months to be a healthier you. This process is a marathon, not a sprint, so don’t get discouraged.

Each morning you get another opportunity to start over. Forget failures and yesterday’s bad decisions and make this a better day.

For me, I start my mornings with a little prayer to give thanks for having a loving family, incredible wife, having my health and for guidance to be a better person today.

So, remember, you’re not defined by who you were yesterday, it’s who you are now.