It’s about to be my third straight year in the gym and here are my thoughts.
My elbow hurts.”
Another ‘injury’ I suppose. Yes, it’s bothering me. Yes, it’s affecting my workouts.
Like always, people tell me to stop. Ease up. Slow down. Chill out. Relax.
I had another injury for 8 months – 8 months too long. Because I never stopped.
I just knew that I couldn’t stop. So I didn’t.
A lot of people back then told me to stop. They may have been right, but I’ll tell you one thing.
The people who told me to stop haven’t gotten as far as I have. Period.
They haven’t come from the place I came from and they haven’t done what I have.
Those same people would see me, they would get excited. They would start working out. Maybe trying to keep pace, who knows.
Friends, family, acquaintances, coworkers – all had a fleeting interest in actually getting their body to a point where they can look in the mirror with pride, instead of disgust, disappointment and sorrow.
I’ve seen people start and stop and start again. I stayed consistent.
Consistency trumps everything.
I am to the point where I am constantly complimented on my physique or at the very least it becomes the topic of discussion once per day. Meanwhile, I feel like I’m not even going that hard. Like I am not really giving it all in the gym. But like I said, consistency trumps everything and i am consistent as hell. I may not have the best diet, the best workout plan or the most optimized protein delivery timing, but it just doesn’t matter.
There are 2 things I am diligent about. Hitting my meals and hitting my workouts. That’s it.
Breakfast lunch and dinner are the same damn thing EVERY DAY. The workout schedule is the same EVERY WEEK. Easier said than done.
But if it was that simple, everyone would be ripped.
Before you ever get your body right, you have to get your mindset right. Generally speaking, most people treat food as rewards and exercise as punishment. I do neither. Food is fuel and workouts are necessary. They are just things to be done during the day. I don’t really feel any particular way about them, they just get done.
A long time ago, I watched an Elliot Hulse video where he said “Focus on 3 days, then 3 months and then 3 years.” That is why I knew I could not stop. With three years under my belt, I am looking towards 3 decades and nothing less.
But before all that, I believed. I said to myself “I am a person who goes to the gym, that is just what I do.” That was on day 2 where it was far from true. But I had the vision that I could achieve greatness, so I acted accordingly. Three years later – it is who I am. Now I don’t have to say it to anyone. It is self evident. What was in me, is now out for the world to see. That level of expression feels phenomenal.
Only now do people see it. They couldn’t comprehend two-a-days. They couldn’t comprehend 5am wake ups or parking lot pushups. They couldn’t comprehend doing everything in my power to get where I wanted to be. They couldn’t see, because they don’t have vision. When you decide something, you cut off all other options. There is only that thing which you decided and most do not understand that. I am currently facing that with my financial goals. People don’t see now, but they will see later.
I can’t even begin to count the times where I could have easily just ‘not gone’ and no one would have blamed me.
I’ve been broke, injured, distraught, sick, stressed, angry – you name it. I’ve been jobless with $2 to my name. One time I was washing dishes and shattered a glass with my hand in it and sliced it wide open, right before I had to go to the gym. I wrapped it and went on my way. I’ve had doctors telling me it was possible I had a life-threatening illness and I still went right after the blood tests. I hiked 18 miles in New Zealand, still found a gym and paid $40 for a day pass just to go lift. I’ve worked out in sketchy gyms and had equipment break while I was using it. One time a homeless guy broke into the gym I went to and the whole place smelt like shit and I STILL worked out in that nasty-ass place. So forgive me if I show you no sympathy because you are ‘tired’ from a ‘long day.’
No one would fault me for taking a day off any of those days. Not a soul on this planet. But those are defining moments.
Those moments define your character and your ability. They test you to see “just how bad do you want it?”
What you need to be successful here, or anywhere in life is a “Who’s going to stop me?” mentality.
Nothing more, nothing less.
WHO’S GOING TO STOP ME?
One day, the gym was closed on a day I thought it was going to be open. I knocked on the door. No one answered. Knocked again. No answer. I knew people were there. So I knocked… and knocked and knocked. For fifteen minutes straight.
Someone answered.
I convinced him to let me in and get a workout real quick and I busted my ass for the next 30 minutes.
You see, I did not let any of those big things stop me. But most people will not work out simply because they are tired or a little under the weather. That’s it. That’s their breaking point. Anything tougher than that happens to them? They fall off.
So if you’re still with me, you need to decide right now. What’s it worth to you?