by Matt Weik
Some of you might be asking, “who the hell is Matt Weik?” And I’m totally fine with that. It goes along with a funny article I wrote last year called, “The Quiet Life of a Fitness Writer.” The fact of the matter is, I’ve been in the industry for over 15 years, yet my name doesn’t ring a bell with most. Why? Because I stay behind the scenes. To be honest, I’m an introvert, despite what those close to me may think. I’m not the type of guy who goes out and is the life of the party or does crazy things to get attention. I’m the guy who sits behind a desk late at night and types content until his finger start to cramp up – and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
You never knew you knew me
When you read something online, do you remember the author or writer? Or, do you simply remember the content? More times than not, I’m willing to bet you don’t even look at the author’s name and skip right over it in order to get to the article itself. My writing career started over at Bodybuilding.com. Since, then I’ve been in nearly 100 magazines, over 2,000 websites, published several books (both as a ghostwriter and under my own name), and my work has been viewed over five million times (probably way more, but it’s hard these days to keep track with everyone sharing my articles and content). I’m not saying you know me, but I’ll willing to bet you’ve read something of mine over the past 15+ years.
Why do I write so many articles each year?
A better question would be, “Why not?” To be honest, I want to put out information that people can use to better their lives. There’s way too much BS on the internet these days with people writing their opinions on subjects rather than gathering facts. This misinformation can be costly if people start buying into it. For me, I enjoy helping people. I grew up when the internet was only first coming around with the likes of AOL and snail-speed dial-up connections. The internet wasn’t flooded with information like it is today.
I wish I had all the information that’s out there today back when I was a kid. It would have saved me a ton of time and headaches. For that reason, it’s my way of giving back to society. I enjoy the fact that people are reading my work and taking something from it to create a better, healthier life for themselves – even if they didn’t see my name in the article. The most humbling thing I’ve experienced through it all is the number of emails I get every week from people who read my work and applied it and are saying thanks for changing their life. Many of them had the desire to live a healthier life, but never knew how to put one foot in front of the other and make it a reality.
And due to the fact that I’m perfectly fine staying home and working 24/7, it’s a great way for me to get my thoughts out there and add value to people’s lives. Sure, I have a podcast and I can speak in front of thousands of people without a problem, I just choose to stay below the radar. You don’t see me at conventions. You don’t see me at expos. And when I do travel to them for meetings, outside of the meeting itself, I’m locked up in my hotel room working. I don’t party. I don’t go out and socialize a whole heck of a lot unless my wife drags me out of the house. Honestly, I just love what I do too damn much to want to waste my time doing something that I feel has no benefit to me in the long run.
How many lives can you change before you die?
I’m not the type of person to go online and show off fancy and flashy things. Personally, I could care less. In my opinion, the people who go online and show off their expensive watches in every post, or their $100+ thousand-dollar cars bring no true value to anyone. It’s not a dick-measuring contest. To me, those people are worthless. What can you learn from them? They aren’t posting anything worth reading, and most of the time it’s just an image of their Rolex or Lambo. There’s nothing about what they do for a living. How they make money. How you too can make money. Advice. Insight. Nothing. So, other than a fancy lavish image, there’s no takeaway.
If people are going to follow me and my work, I’d rather bring them tremendous value than hide behind some Instagram profile and act like some fake millionaire. Nine times out of ten, those people showing off those types of images are stealing the photos from other people to make it look like it’s their own lifestyle when really, they are just a fraud.
I want to change lives. I want to be able to make a difference. I want to leave a legacy when I die. I’m not worried about materialistic possessions that no one will remember after I’m dead and gone. I want to leave something that’s evergreen and never goes away. That people 100 years from now can read and take something away from it. A stupid photo on Instagram will never do that. In fact, when you die, so do your social media platforms.
I encourage every one of you to create your own legacy. If you see an area where you can make a difference, go for it. Knowing you’re helping people is worth way more than the materialistic things that will lose value over time. Whether people remember my name or not does not concern me. But if my work can change lives and create healthy habits and lifestyles, then my time banging away on this keyboard was worth every second.
