From Pain to Purpose: The Story Behind “Training Over Trying”

Here’s a picture of me from about fifteen years ago that I’ve never forgotten. I was dressed in a suit, preparing to attend a funeral. At first glance, you might assume the pain in my eyes was grief over the person we were laying to rest. But that wasn’t it. That day, I was mourning something deeper, my own condition. I weighed 253 pounds. My mobility was so compromised that I walked with a cane, sometimes even a walker. I lived in constant pain, physical, emotional, and spiritual. What people didn’t see behind that image was the man I really was in that moment: broken, overwhelmed, stuck.

My diet at the time was whatever I wanted, whenever I thought about it. Fast food, sugar, processed junk, eating was more about soothing my emotions than nourishing my body. I didn’t have a plan or any real awareness of what my body needed. I was an emotional eater, carrying the weight of trauma and years of unresolved pain, including post-traumatic stress disorder. I was surviving, not living, and the heaviness wasn’t just on my body, it was in my spirit.

People look at me today and talk about discipline, consistency, and strength. But they didn’t see that version of me. They didn’t see the nights I could barely sleep from the pain, or the days when even getting out of bed felt like climbing a mountain. They see the now, but not the “before.” That’s why I’m sharing this image and this story, because I want people to understand that my transformation didn’t come from a quick fix. It came from obedience. It came from surrender. It came from God.

For years, I tried. I tried different diets. I tried to pray more. I tried to eat better. I tried to be more consistent. But trying only took me in circles. It was fueled by desperation, not discipline. It left me exhausted, not empowered. Every time something didn’t work, I blamed myself. I thought I was too weak, too far gone. But what I was really lacking wasn’t motivation, it was training.

The turning point came when God began to speak to me, not through some external program or health guru, but through His Word. There was no clear blueprint. I didn’t have a mapped-out strategy. I had moments, divine whispers that nudged me toward change. I felt the Holy Spirit showing me how to honor my body, guiding me to stop relying on my emotions and start walking in spiritual discipline. He began to reframe how I saw wellness, not as a punishment, but as stewardship. Not as control, but as surrender.

So, I obeyed. Slowly. Intentionally. And everything began to shift.

I began to train my life instead of trying to fix it. I trained my mornings through prayer and stillness. I trained my body through mindful eating and gradual movement. I trained my thoughts through journaling and self-reflection. I trained my habits by building small rhythms, drinking more water, honoring rest, planning my meals. These weren’t dramatic overnight changes. They were small bricks laid daily with the help of God, and over time they built the foundation for a new life.

This was the beginning of what would become my entire philosophy: Trying produces exhaustion. Training builds endurance. That wasn’t just a catchy line for a book or a brand. That was my testimony.

The healing that took place in me birthed Zholistic Life. Everything I now coach, write, teach, and practice started with what God did in my own body, mind, and spirit. I became certified, studied deeper, and took the pain I once lived with and transformed it into a purpose that fuels every product, every plan, every supplement, and every journal I’ve created. I didn’t invent the concept of training over trying in a classroom, it was developed in the trenches of my own transformation. My lowest points became my training ground.

I look back on that photo now, and I don’t see shame. I see the beginning. I see the man God didn’t give up on. I see the seed of a calling that would grow into the life I live now. I’m not who I was in that picture, but I honor him, because that broken man had the courage to say yes to healing. Yes, to change. Yes, to God’s process.

Today, my life is built on rhythm. I still train, physically, mentally, and spiritually. I journal, I eat intentionally, I pray, and I move. It’s not about perfection. It’s about persistence. I still face challenges, but I no longer live in cycles of trying and failing. I live in systems of training and growing. And that’s the life I want others to experience, too.

If you’re in that place right now, hurting, overwhelmed, ashamed of where you are, I want you to know you’re not broken, you’re just untrained. And that’s good news, because training is something you can begin today. It’s not too late. God is still speaking. He’s still guiding. The same way He took my hand and walked me into wholeness, He can do the same for you.

You don’t have to try harder. You just need to surrender. You need to be trained.

And I would be honored to help you walk that journey, not just as a coach, but as someone who has lived it.

– Zho