Why Top Agents Treat Their Health Like Their Business

Most agents pour everything into their business and treat their health as the thing they’ll get to later.

I spent years doing exactly that.

What changed my mind wasn’t a scare or a resolution; it was watching how much sharper and more consistent I became in my business once I started taking care of the person running it.

I recently sat in on a session with Alec and Shannon Cheplak, who coach top real estate leaders on health and fitness, and they broke it down so simply that I’ve already put it to work.

Here’s what stuck with me.

They frame lasting health around five pillars:

1. Mindset

2. Nutrition

3. Training

4. Recovery

5. Medically guided support (if needed)

The order matters, and it starts with your head.

Mindset is the foundation, and it runs on more than a why. If your mind isn’t in it, your diet and training fall apart. Real change, they stressed, is driven by a strong pleasure-or-pain association, not just a reason on paper. I think of a runner I met in Alaska years ago, well into his eighties and still logging marathons. His doctor had once told him he’d die if he didn’t lose weight, so he started running and never stopped. That’s the kind of stakes that make change stick.

Two practical shifts I took away:

• Speak in decisive sentences (“I work out five days a week,” not “I’ll try to”).
• Name the block on your calendar something that pulls you in.

Mine is literally titled “stay healthy,” twice a day, so every reminder asks a question I have to answer.

Nutrition is where most results are won or lost. The Cheplaks live by the 23:1 rule: your outcomes come from the other 23 hours, not the one you train. A bad diet beats a good workout every time. Their approach isn’t a list of foods you’re supposed to eat; it’s building a stable list of whole foods you actually enjoy, so healthy is the easy grab.

On the numbers, they shared general targets: roughly 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, carbs adjusted to your goal, and fats in a steady range.

I’ll be honest, a year ago I didn’t know what a macro was. I have a better handle now, but this is their expertise, not mine, and if you want it dialed in for your body, they’re the ones to talk to.

Training works best when you build it, not blitz it. The mistake is going all-in on January 1 and being too sore to move by the third. They recommend building frequency gradually, a few sessions a week for a month, then adding a day, then another, so the habit holds. Track your workouts, too, which is new for me, and apparently half the game.

Recovery is the pillar I was getting wrong. I “work out” seven days a week, but my so-called rest days still involved a 45-minute walk. The Cheplaks talk about truly taking rest days, letting your body recover, and being okay with it instead of feeling like you’re slacking. They push seven to nine hours of sleep a night and at least two real rest days a week. That reframe - that rest is part of the work, not a break from it - was the biggest shift for me.

The line that stayed with me most: health is a privilege. You get to choose it now, while you can, rather than being forced into it later. For anyone building a real estate business, that isn’t separate from your success; it’s underneath it.

The energy, focus, and discipline you build by taking care of yourself show up in every call, every appointment, and every hard week.

If this resonates and you want help building the business your health can fuel, that’s the work I do with agents every day. Call or text me at 517-343-1760, email me at jeff@jeffburkecoaching.com, or visit jeffburkecoaching.com.

And if you want the fitness and nutrition side coached the right way, reach out to Alec and Shannon at Cheplak Wellness. Let’s build something that lasts.