Video summary
Jesse James West recounts his early experiences in high school when he began pursuing fitness and content creation, launching a brand called Jesse James Fitness around ages 15 to 17. At that time, starting a YouTube channel was not common for teenagers, especially without the presence of platforms like TikTok, making him an outlier among his peers. Despite having good genetics inherited from his parents and already possessing a physique that qualified him as legitimate rather than just another "wannabe," he faced significant judgment from classmates who viewed his ambitions with skepticism or mockery. He describes specific scenarios where students would chant his brand name during school events like tug-of-war competitions, creating moments of intense social pressure where he felt compelled to maintain a poker face while internally panicking about dating prospects and friendships at stake. The hostility escalated when another student dressed up as him for Halloween wearing a muscle suit labeled "Jesse James Fitness," an act that West describes as crossing into a new level of humiliation. Although he was not typically a partyer due to his daily lacrosse commitments, witnessing this costume while sitting alone in his room created lasting emotional impact. Rather than letting these incidents break him, West adopted a mindset where such trauma became fuel for motivation; he decided that if anyone could control or diminish him through ridicule, it would only prove how much more he needed to succeed and defeat those critics. This reaction was deeply personal, driven by the belief that enduring hardship meant he deserved his goals even more so than others who did not face similar obstacles. A crucial factor in West's resilience was the unconditional support and high expectations instilled in him by his mother from a young age. She consistently believed in him before he could believe in himself, providing a psychological backbone that allowed him to dismiss external negativity as irrelevant noise affecting only his own perception. His mother taught him that holding onto grudges or letting others' actions affect one's progress was self-sabotage, reinforcing the idea that no one else sees what hurts you except yourself unless it is acknowledged internally. This upbringing led West to develop an unusual level of confidence in areas where he might not objectively excel, such as music, demonstrating how deep-seated belief systems can override objective limitations or societal perceptions regarding talent and ability. West emphasizes a core philosophy that genuine self-belief constitutes approximately 75% of achieving any goal, with the remaining portion dependent on consistent work ethic. He argues that if one truly believes in their own potential, success becomes inevitable provided effort is applied diligently. This perspective helped him navigate years of criticism from what he termed "entitled kids" or peers who held power over social dynamics within his high school hierarchy. Over time, even former antagonists reached out to express admiration for his later achievements, such as a collaboration with fighter Michael Chandler, illustrating the cyclical nature of human relationships where past grievances often fade in light of realized success and mutual respect. Ultimately, West concludes that while childhood wounds from bullying or mockery can sting deeply and linger for years, they do not define one's future trajectory if met with internal strength rather than resentment. He acknowledges that much of what peers perceive as malicious intent is simply "kids being kids," yet the emotional weight felt by the victim often exceeds the actual severity of the event thrown at them. By reframing doubt and judgment as energy to drive forward, West transformed his high school struggles into a foundation for building a sustainable career in fitness media, proving that overcoming internal barriers rooted in past trauma is essential for reaching one's full potential.
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I remember you saying that when you
started doing something a little bit
different your high school became very
judgy and they weren't exactly super
supportive but as a young
person how do you overcome the Judgment
of other if you don't have the
supportive people around you yeah so I
have like so many scenarios in my head
of like sort of screwed up things that
people would do or say or they were I'll
explain them so when I was let's just
say 15 to 17 I don't exactly remember
what exactly what age but I started my
Fitness page which is now my Instagram
and it was called Jesse James Fitness
you know it has a little ring to it you
know it's like it's clearly not my just
name it's like oh this brand that I'm
trying to do you know sell t-shirts
workout programs whatever it might be
and obviously I said I had aspirations
of being a YouTuber and all that stuff
and as you're in high school at least in
my high school back then also
additionally it was not as normal to try
to start a YouTube but there was no Tik
Tok like Instagram and stuff and they
see this and they see me trying to do it
I have a good physique at this point
like there's no it's not even like I
have no no physique no no nothing total
wannabe Fitness yeah it's not even like
I'm really just trying to be a wnab I I
genuinely could already be in the in the
industry in my opinion I I have good
genetics thank you Mom and Dad um and at
this point uh I have like a few thousand
maybe followers and honestly a lot of
them are probably just from lacrosse and
I go to the pep rally of like freshman
sophomore junior seniors everybody's at
their own bleacher there's doing tug OFW
doing challenges Battle of the class as
it was called um and I'm I'm a freshman
at this time I remembering now or soft
like whatever and the seniors all chant
Jessie James
Fitness Jesse James Fitness and I'm
standing there and I'm like [ __ ] okay I
can do two things here I can look down
and just like admit defeat and like let
them win and I'm not like that at all
and or you know I can keep my chin up I
can look at them I can double bicep flex
and say what do you want what do you
want so we were going out for tug ofar
and that's when they were doing it and I
just look at them and I'm like and I
flex in my head my soul I'm like I'm
panicking I'm uncomfortable I'm embar
I'm so embarrassed like there's the
girls behind you that you want to date
the friends that you you know you're
making and all this stuff and like I'm
trying to be cool and and whatnot but
I'm like I can't let them see that like
it's a it's a poker face that I got to
keep on because at least at least I can
win that and I feel like I kept doing
that for so long I really did like
partially not give a [ __ ] but also
you'll always give a [ __ ] I still give a
[ __ ] I get a hate comment out if I get
enough of them I'm still GNA give a [ __ ]
I'm never not going to give a [ __ ] if
you if you don't care that's just
because you don't have a desire in this
anymore and I remember I I do the flex
we do the tug-of war whatever and then
in the hallways they'd be like Jesse in
Fitness what's up man and I just be like
like what's up bro what's up like you
know what I'm on phas I don't care and I
feel like people really started to pick
up on that and like they were like damn
this this this mfer is like not breaking
and these were like the the junior or
the gr above me or whatever uh they're
the cool kids I called them the entitled
kids they very much were no hate against
them now everyone no big deal it made me
who I was but another time was um a kid
for Halloween I and he might even be
watching this I forgive you it's okay uh
he dressed up as me
hey no kid he dressed up as me and I I
remember seeing this and I was like this
is this is a this is a new level I have
to accept like this is [ __ ] and
honestly like I'll get into a more so he
he dresses up at me he has a [ __ ]
muscle suit on at a party we're probably
16 17 he was one of the kids that would
like go drink with his friends I I drank
a little when I was in high school
whatever I wasn't really a partyer I
didn't have time I was playing lacrosse
every day and I was like I'm sitting at
home seeing on my on my Instagram and
I'm like wow this [ __ ] is dressing up
as me right now it says Jesse James
Fitness and like those things just like
stick with you as like a a driving
motivation of like why I want to make it
even more it's almost like a a trauma a
trauma reaction like I was traumatized
my reaction is I'm gonna I'm gonna win
you're not goingon to you're not going
to control me I'm going to defeat you
and everything in front of me you're
just a wall that I have to break through
you know and if I can't handle this I
don't deserve what I want like if you
that that was my mindset and I saw that
I remember and and you know what's crazy
is that
now year probably a few months ago he me
I'm not I would never name him but he
messages me about my Michael Chandler
collab and he's like dude saw the
Chandler collab so sick great job and I
was like huh weren't you and I was like
honestly thank you it's one of those
weird things about having a chip on your
shoulder about stuff that happened in
your past
that maybe some kids knew or in
reflection realized how much it might
have impacted you mhm uh but a lot of
the time it's just kids being kids I
know and that's very strange right
because the impact of something is so
much greater than the uh like estimate
of it it hurts way more than what was
thrown if that makes sense and um that's
a really strange thing I think for
people it's Circle for them to square MH
how how can it be the case that this
person doesn't deserve for me to still
bear a grudge against them they that
that hurt and I remember you still
remember it now you know need 10 years
later it's crazy it definitely stung for
a while but it's also like one of the
things that for some reason and I'm
going to assume that it's from my mom
the way she raised me and always like
hyped me up in a way where she she
believed in me before I believed in me
and she believed in me so much that I
ended up believing in myself in
everything I am I I weirdly believe in
myself for things I shouldn't believe in
myself for I'm like I could be I could
be a musician if I want Wanted let's be
real Jesse you're a little tone deaf but
like you know what I mean like I have
that mindset that's ingrained in me and
from a young age so seeing those things
happen and then she would kind of be
she'd be like the backbone she'd be like
you can't let this affect you like in in
reality this is not doing anything it's
really not doing anything the only thing
I could do is hurt you and then you're
just stopping yourself from doing
anything because it it's in your head
like no one else is seeing that and
going you know what I'm I'm not going to
support Jesse cuz that kid wore a muscle
suit like like that [ __ ] doesn't exist
it's all how we perceive it so having
that like backbone and belief in my body
that my mom instilled me from a young
age I feel like is one of the reasons
that I am in the position I am where I
have so much unconditional belief in
myself that I tell people that if you
believe in yourself like you actually
believe not just like oh I I believe in
myself because I was told by Chris and
Jesse on a podcast too like if you
genuinely believe in yourself you are
75% already there towards your goals
like you will you will accomplish them
if you believe yourself put in the work
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