A while back, I told you about one of my favorite mid-session motivational techniques. I told you that I sometimes pretend like my heroes are watching me.
Well, tomorrow they will be!
No I’m not sending them a video of my lift. There will be no editing, no hiding the stuff you don’t want them to see.
Nope.
I’ll be IN THE GYM and UNDER THE BAR with 2 GIANTS of the strength world tomorrow at 10AM.
In a gym with no air conditioning. During a 100 degree heat wave. Training legs to the brink of collapsing.
HELL &^$@ing YEAH!!
No doubt, it will be an experience to remember for the rest of my life.
I can remember back in college spending hours every day reading, studying and learning as much as I could. Not about my classes or my actual schoolwork. No, I was studying the iron, how to lift, how to eat, how to become a badass in the weight room AND in life!
I can remember how badly I wanted to be like those guys writing the articles and helping others achieve their dreams. I wanted to be a part of their society. I wanted to be huge and jacked and ripped just so they would accept me into their “club”. I thought the only way I’d ever be able to attain “success” would be to gain their acceptance and approval.
But, longer I lifted, the more I realized I wasn’t doing this for them. If they never accepted me, or never even learned my name, I was still going to do what I do.
I forgot about impressing people who didn’t even know I existed. I stopped worrying about them. I started working on ME. And most importantly, I started HELPING others. I started helping YOU.
Whether those guys ever know it or not has no bearing on my success or failure. That is a major life lesson I have stumbled upon through the iron. Success has nothing to do with external factors. Not money, not fame, not fortune, no material good can match the fulfillment and satisfaction of true success.
And that is my message to you. It has 2 parts:
- Do it for you. Nobody else. Don’t do it for the fame, the fortune, or the notoriety. Michael Jordan didn’t play basketball for YOU. He played for himself. The rest followed.
- Help others. Every day. Be humble and be grateful. Share the knowledge you have. Lend a hand, an ear, whatever. Cultivate and grow the relationships that mean the most to you. Do this by growing as a person and continuing to help other do the same.
And now, I’m grateful that I get help YOU every day. I get to train clients and athletes in my own business. I get to change, mold, and improve lives everyday. And it doesn’t matter who knows about it.
Only when I adopted that attitude did I start to move forward. And now people are noticing. Tomorrow I’ll shake a few of their hands and we’ll all share our passion for strength in what promises to be one hell of a training session!
I hate to disappoint the 21-24 year-old version of myself, but I’m not walking into tomorrow looking for acceptance or approval. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to enjoy every minute of tomorrow! I’ll be starstruck for a moment. But then I’ll remember these guys are no longer on that unattainable pedestal. Not because I think any less of them. In fact I have MORE respect for them now that I have gained perspective over the years. But I also realize they are human just like you and me. And no other man is the gatekeeper to my success. Only I can control whether or not I cross that threshold.
Challenging myself day in and day out, “under the bar” and in the kitchen has brought me to this point in my life. And I know it can do the same for you.
I want you to live the happiest, most satisfying, and fulfilled life possible. Based on my experience, I believe there is no better “prep course” for life than the weight room.
I’m sharing this with YOU in hopes that this will serve as living proof that dreams can and DO come true. The 21 year old version of myself would have sold my soul to make this happen. But he wasn’t ready. As the Buddhist proverb says, “When the student is ready, the master will appear”.
Find peace and truth in your heart. Develop an insane work ethic. Realize your capable of 20X more than you do now. Get outside your comfort zone and push yourself. Learn everything you possibly can about your passion. Don’t let someone tell you what you can or can’t do. Follow your heart and chase your dream with everything you’ve got!
Take control of your life.
When your old and gray, chillin’ on your rocking chair watching the sun set on your life, what will you see? What will you remember?
Time to go get it my friend!
P.S. Stay tuned. I’ll tell you all about it on Monday…