Anyone that has an ounce of desire to get better knows that it is not an easy road to get to the top. In fact, that road may be the loneliest, coldest, harshest road one may ever travel. There will always be obstacles in your way, regardless of your goal. Finding a great mentor or coach, honing your skills, sacrificing certain amenities and freedoms, ignoring those people and things that do not align with your current goals are some of the hardships one must endure along the journey to self improvement.
Most people never make change until they get so frustrated with their current situation that the only option is drastic change through brutally honest, and usually ugly, self evaluation. They must find out where they are now, what is wrong with it, and what needs to be done to fix it. This is not, however, a self help article. It is simply advice on gaining more power in life by using your weapon of choice. We all have the option to do, or not to do. Sometimes we simply are not motivated to do the thing that needs to be done. Nobody cares. Really, nobody cares about your intentions, they only care about what you have done and how it can potentially help them. Actually, a lot of people care if it hurts you, only because they like to see others suffer like them. When you're not highly motivated to rise to the challenge to make change, it really doesn't matter if you have discipline.
The disciplined are not necessarily motivated to go to work everyday, but they do it because they know it needs to get done. Do it or die, in a sense, get fired, starve, be hassled with the annoyance of finding another job, etc. Where do I get my discipline? Strength. Strength is my weapon of choice for being disciplined, and taking charge of my life. Strength offers me peace and stability. And this does not come free of charge. Hard work and consistency are imperative to maintaining a strong body and peace of mind. Instead of trading hours for dollars, I trade hours for improvement in strength. If I feel my body getting weaker, I feel my thoughts getting dull in the process. A rolling stone gathers no moss, so they say, and the hardest part is getting that big boulder moving in the first place. I get it, its hard, but nobody cares, just get started.
Building physical strength is probably the most important and underrated aspect of living a high quality life. The stronger you are, mentally and physically, the more you have to offer the world. A stronger person creates a bolder presence, and a bigger platform to be heard by the world. Changing your thoughts, beliefs and behaviors for the better and helping to influence others to make positive change can be the most dramatic and constructive affect you can make in your life. The stronger you are, the stronger you can help others to be.
Most people have two similar issues that they wish were better, finance and fitness. Lets look at the average person who wants to get in better shape. No real plan, just want to lose some weight. Very common, right? No plan of action, no deadline, no ultimate goal. Just "wanna lose some weight." From the beginning this goal is weak and will have a low rate of success. A better plan would be "lose 20 pounds by January 20 by hitting the gym 4 times a week and following Matt's advice to learn how to properly train with kettlebells and bodyweight." Now all you have to do is follow the plan that you made for yourself, and were smart enough to find someone knowledgeable to help you achieve your goal. This plan that you created is your blueprint to success. But everybody makes a wrong turn eventually. So after a few days of high energy, you seem to get tired and do not feel like hitting the gym, so you skip a day, then two days and then suddenly you are not following your plan.
How do you follow the plan, even when it is hard and you don't feel like doing it? Change your mindset and put yourself in a state of urgency where all of your actions are BOTH highly rewarded and severely punished. I got this from Alwyn Cosgrove. Most people skip hard labor when they know it can be made up tomorrow, but what if there were no tomorrow? In reality, we know the following will not happen, but if you make believe it can and WILL happen, it will be impossible to fail, if you are human. Following the plan you have made for yourself, "gym four times a week, etc." you are told that every session you complete satisfactorily you will be rewarded with not only your achieved goal, but a ten million dollar bonus and eternal bliss for you and your loved ones. You picture this before every training session, or whatever event it is planned for your goal that you must complete. Ultimate pleasure, success and reward, just for doing what you already planned to do. On the other hand, if something comes up and you fail to meet the obligations set forth by yourself, whether it be an unsuccessful training session, lack of money, time, motivation, injury, or any other of the endless excuses we make on a daily basis, you will not only be punished by not achieving your goals, but a gang of terrorist will find you, your family and anyone else you care about and rape, pillage and murder every one of you in the most horrific, violent fashion possible. Make this a reality in your head. You are motivated on one hand to be rewarded with everything you ever wanted by just taking daily action, and on the other hand if you fail to abide by the rules, then you will be punished in the worst way possible. I guarantee you, no amount of tiredness, sickness, money problem, time issue, or anything else will keep you from doing that thing that will either make you or break you that instant. But our rewards are not paid in millions and our goals are not achieved in a day. Reality does not work like this, because if we skip the gym today, nobody is raping and killing your daughter tonight and shooting you in the face, but the positive change you wanted for yourself will continue to elude you. The daily rewards are only seen in a sweaty shirt, and blistering palms. No pot of gold, no dozen virgins.
Strength will keep you on your path to success. It will help keep your inner peace and harmony. I am not only talking of 800 pound deadlifts here, as awesome as that is, I am talking of the strength to persevere hardship, and the strength to maintain productivity in a stressful and conflicting environment. Use strength as an instrument of peace. If you can only be productive when everything is perfect, don't even fuckin bother. Shit is gonna happen and you are going to have to make adjustments to overcome and prevail. No excuses will be acceptable. Weak people are dangerous and chaotic. Weak people have no control. They have no plan and accept mediocrity. You should never accept mediocrity, good enough is NOT good enough anymore. Always strive to get better.
The Consummate Athlete is a place where dedicated people expect hard work, get support, and take action to avoid being the average guy that others have neither anything good, nor bad to say about. I can't think of anything worse than being insignificant. It's time to step up and make serious change, my friends. Take a plunge, get fired up, and check out The Consummate Athlete FREE for one week and see if this is the place for you. After that it is only $9.95 a month and your support comes as strong as your desire. If you do not participate, you don't get shit out of life. If you get in the game and take action, your skills will flourish, you will be more productive in life, and your general level of happiness just gets better everyday. You got nothing to lose, check it out.
I will also be going to Jersey In February to cohost a training seminar with one of the coolest dudes and badass gyms on the east coast. More details on that really soon! Post comments about the article and also let me know if you're interested in attending the event in February in Jersey!
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