Lessons in GRIT #8
Jayson Hopper and becoming the Fittest Man on Earth!
GRIT: Having passion and perseverance to keep moving forward when things don’t go your way.
Last week, I listened to Jayson Hopper speak with Cam Hanes on The Keep Hammering Collective Podcast.
It was an interesting story that exemplified the grit it always takes to stay on the path doing something you love when it seems you’ll never reach your goal.
From football dreams to becoming the Fittest Man on Earth, please listen to the remarkable story of Jayson Hopper.
Jayson was born on September 3, 1997, in Lexington, South Carolina, and attended Lexington High School.
Jayson graduated from High School with the singular goal of becoming a wide receiver in the NFL.
Despite receiving offers from other schools, including Appalachian State, he chose to join Clemson University as a preferred walk-on.
Jason received the same offer from Clemson that I received from UCONN at the end of my high school football career.
Jayson hoped for a full-ride scholarship to Clemson, but believed playing at Clemson would give him the best opportunity of making it to the NFL.
But because Jayson didn’t have the SAT score to be admitted academically to Clemson, and he wasn’t getting an athletic scholarship, he was forced to take a year off to earn the grades required to get into Clemson University.
Being forced to take that year off was the turning point in Jayson’s life that even he didn’t realize was happening.
After losing access to the campus gym, Jayson started training at a local CrossFit gym in 2017.
In Jayson’s own words, “I loved CrossFit from the jump.”
Jayson made the Clemson football team and played as a wide receiver.
However, he shocked everyone around him when he quit the team in 2018 to focus on CrossFit with the intention of becoming a pastor.
Jayson realized he didn’t have what it took to compete with the 5-star receivers who were his size at Clemson but ran 4.3 40-yard dashes.
Much to Jayson’s credit, he quit football and pivoted to CrossFit.
He loved the competition and knew he had the physical ability and the grit to outwork others to become great at this new sport.
Kudos to Jayson.
When I quit the football team, instead of following the path I loved, a path to becoming a football coach, I went back to engineering school.
I made the biggest mistake of my life.
Jayson kept on a personal path of self-fulfillment, doing something he loved.
Jayson competed in the 2017 CrossFit Open. Still, he didn’t make a name for himself until 2021, when he reached the semifinals at the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge in Knoxville, Tennessee, and won the men’s division.
He made his debut at the 2021 CrossFit Games and finished 19th.
After the 2021 CrossFit Games, Jayson joined the HWPO team to train under Mat Fraser, the only CrossFit competitor to win the CrossFit Games consecutively for 5 years, from 2016 to 2020.
At the 2022 CrossFit Games, Jayson improved on his 2021 result, finishing 7th.
At the 2023 CrossFit Games, he struggled in some events and was cut early, finishing in 31st place.
CrossFit suddenly wasn’t going the way Jayson expected.
Just like Clemson football.
But instead of quitting, Jayson rebuilt.
New training, based more on intensity and less on volume.
New mindset. New fire.
At the 2024 CrossFit Games, Jayson’s performance improved, and he finished just off the podium in 4th place. 3rd place at the Rogue Invitational.
2024 was another turning point for Jayson.
He was just getting started.
Think of that.
After seven years of competing, Jayson had finally made it on the podium on one of CrossFit’s largest stages.
In late 2024, Jayson left HWPO and joined a new training camp, Brute.
After three years of training with the best CrossFit male athlete in the world, Mat Fraser, Jayson shocked the world again by changing camps.
Jayson knew deep down that he needed a change if he was ever going to win the Games.
At the 2025 CrossFit Games, Jayson took the lead after Event 5, held it throughout the competition, and won by just 14 points over Ricky Garard.
Eight years after quitting Clemson football and competing in his very first CrossFit Open, Jayson Hopper won the CrossFit Games and was crowned the Fittest Man on Earth.
This type of success and personal fulfillment doesn’t come from following Society’s straight-and-narrow path and trying your best to climb some corporate ladder.
Measuring success by how big your house is and what type of car you drive.
I know people with $10 million-dollar homes who drive Ferraris, and I know I live a much more fulfilling life.
This type of success comes from knowing what gives you goosebumps, knowing what gets your blood pumping, and taking steps in that direction.
Once you figure out the path that allows you to be you truly, you need to persevere.
Success eventually goes to the people who refuse to quit.
Because the path to an authentic life is full of twists and turns.
Things change. Goals change.
But who you authentically are doesn’t.
A little. But not much.
You can’t listen to Society and jump back on the straight and narrow path with everyone else.
You need to have GRIT.
Do you have the GRIT to keep moving forward when things don’t go your way?
If you enjoy this newsletter, the best compliment I could receive would be for you to share it with a friend or restack it.
Until next week, remember the function of Freedom is to free someone else!
If you’d like a detailed plan on how to find your Freedom, you can purchase my book by clicking on the link below: