Many people dream of entrepreneurial success, but not everyone has the discipline needed to build and sustain a business. For Tomo Marjanovic, founder and CEO of Aspire Rejuvenation Clinic, discipline is the cornerstone of entrepreneurship. He sharpened his own discipline in an unexpected place — the weight room.

Before he rose to prominence as an expert in hormone balance and holistic health, Marjanovic was building his physique and his business philosophy in the gym. “I would say that the only way I learned how to be successful and to be disciplined is through bodybuilding,” he says.

“Before I wanted to do business, I was an athlete,” Marjanovic explains. “I was a bodybuilder competitively for the NPC [National Physique Committee], so never technically professional, but I did compete in one IFBB [International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation] bodybuilding show.”

As many fitness athletes already know, building a balanced physique involves far more than just lifting weights.

“I had to be disciplined with my food, with my working out, with my health routine, with my sleep routine,” Marjanovic says. “Those things were the hack to get me to a success point where I’m making a bunch of money, I’m building businesses, I’m an entrepreneur. But it all started with first learning the discipline of being in shape.”

Most people looking for entrepreneurship hacks are hoping to find quick, easy shortcuts to wealth. Getting in shape might not be quick or easy, but for those who want to build a solid foundation for an entrepreneurial career, it works.

“If you want my number-one tip to be successful, get in the best shape of your life and use those lessons to go do everything else,” says Marjanovic.

Marjanovic took the discipline he learned as a bodybuilder and embarked on a career as an entrepreneur. In 2019, he founded Aspire Rejuvenation Clinic, a multimillion-dollar wellness enterprise. The clinic focuses on hormone therapy and regenerative medicine, with the aim of helping people live longer, healthier lives.

Through Aspire, Marjanovic has come full circle. He’s a firm believer that physical fitness is the ultimate foundation for success in life and business. Now, he’s built a company focused on getting clients into the best shape of their lives.

“I’m trying to change the health space, trying to change the health game,” he says. “So many of our clients are caught up in that mainstream medicine model where it turns and burns. You know, it’s a band-aid operation. So you say you have a rash? Here’s a rash cream. You say you have a headache? Here’s a pill for that. Big Pharma doesn’t want people to fix the cascade of issues that happen in later stages of life.”

“Our clinic looks at the underlying problem,” he continues. “So our clients are on bioidentical, real hormones that their body thrives on. And now they’re not taking any of these Big Pharma meds. We just disrupted the entire medical industry.”

Through his own journey and his work with clients, Marjanovic has discovered that the most important factor when it comes to getting in shape, improving hormone balance, or achieving any other goal is to look at the individual. He describes the challenges of trying to remedy age-related low testosterone through the traditional medical system.

“I figured out that at 18, 19, and 20, I was at 1,400 [ng/dL of testosterone]. When I tested in my early 30s, my testosterone came back in the mid-to-low 600s,” he says. “So I go to a normal doctor. And the doctor says, ‘You’re perfectly fine. You have normal testosterone.’ I mean, it doesn’t matter what my symptoms are. It doesn’t matter how I feel or anything else. All they look at is that chart.”

Marjanovic explains that despite his symptoms, which included fatigue, increased belly fat, anxiety, and depression, his doctor couldn’t treat him because he didn’t meet the FDA standard for low testosterone.

“Low is either under 300 or under 250, depending on what chart you look at,” he says. “So if I came in at 251, I’m considered normal. If I came in at 249, I’m considered to have low T.”

With Aspire Rejuvenation Clinic, Marjanovic strives to give his clients a better experience as they work toward total physical and mental wellness.

As he can tell you, achieving the right hormonal balance is important, but it’s just part of the picture. When you feel your best, it’s that much easier to reach success in the gym and beyond.

M&F and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.