Health

The other week on The School of Greatness, I met one of the hardest working, smartest, and most talented people I’ve ever met. And he feels like my Italian brother.

Fabio Viviani is an incredibly successful and accomplished chef who is also a restaurant owner (of many amazing restaurants), a New York Times best-selling author, an entrepreneur, and a star of Bravo’s Top Chef. He has so many awards and amazing projects he’s working on that I could list them for days.

But what I love most about Fabio aren’t his accomplishments — it’s his incredible work ethic, hustle,   and heart. Everything he says about how he has created his success is in line with what I believe.

To top it all off, he even taught me how to make incredible homemade pasta in my own kitchen (see the video of this here — it’s hilarious).

I was so impressed with Fabio’s energy — especially after hearing the insane hours and work he put into his businesses starting at 11 years old — that I had to ask him how he stays so healthy and vibrant in such a grueling industry.

Fabio admitted to late nights and long hours, which is the norm for working in restaurants. And he admitted that the culture of working in kitchens tends to revolve around alcohol use and late-night eating.

So how does he stay healthy and focused amid all the temptations and long days? He gets up at 5 a.m. every day so that he can get a couple hours of focused work in before the rest of the world wakes up. He makes sure to do some push-ups every morning and hops on the treadmill for 10 minutes, and he keeps moving throughout the day to keep his blood flow going and his energy up. He eats organic, clean, whole foods, and he passes on heavy drinking.

Fabio loves the industry he works in — and has made his passion his business. This is what he says makes his Monday mornings better than his Friday nights.

Regardless of how demanding your job may be, follow Fabio’s example to keep healthy habits in place and you can have...