I read “Some Thoughts on Hard Work” over on the World’s Strongest Librarian the other day (fantastic blog by the way, check it out).
It really got me thinking about life and fitness. There are so many varying levels of ‘success’ and ‘happiness’ depending on your goals and how much time you can dedicate to achieving them. Fitness, a particular video game, your job, whatever…you get to decide what you want to accomplish – the sky is the limit. You also get to decide how hard you’re willing to get what you want.
If you’re 15 pounds overweight, you can just be “pretty good” for most of the time, work out occasionally, eat right for most of the week, and you can get to a satisfactory level of fitness rather quickly. However, if you want to look like Gerard Butler or Ryan Reynolds, you’re going to need to dedicate your life for a considerable amount of time to get there. If you want to win Ninja Warrior, you’re going to have to drop everything you’re doing and start hanging out with Makoto Nagano, my hero and one of only 2 guys out of thousands to EVER complete the obstacle course.
There’s no magic bullet, no “Hawaii chair” that will give you six pack abs, no acai-berry pill that will cause you to drop 30 pounds. It takes hard work, which is why 2/3rds of the country is overweight and new infomercials show up daily to announce the next get-fit-quick solution. Essentially we have a country full of people who want to look great but are either too lazy or too busy (a cop out) to put in the time to get there. Don’t be one of those people. Join the side where self-accountability and pride reign supreme. You want to feel better about yourself, you want to be around to see your great-grandchildren grow up, and you are willing to work for it.
You need to decide what you’re after, and how you’re going to get there.
Every time I go into my gym I see people half-assing it on a treadmill, doing the same exercises with the same weights, and walking out of there with a smile on their face and not a drop of sweat on them. As they say in Office Space, “what exactly would you say…YOU DO HERE?” If you’re serious about bettering yourself as a person and getting stronger and healthier, you should be walking into that gym with a clear cut game plan and walking out of there with a shirt drenched in sweat and wobbly legs from pushing yourself to the limit. I don’t care if you’re 300 pounds overweight and your limit is walking a quarter of a mile. That’s FINE! Whatever your limit is, whatever your comfort zone is, find a way to go 1% farther, lift 1% more, and move 1% faster each time. You’ll soon find your comfort zone and level of strength is so much more than it used to be because you held yourself accountable and stayed motivated.
Let’s say you just accomplished a big goal of yours. Is THAT the time to get complacent? Nope. Give yourself a pat on the back, and then find a way to reach even further.
-Steve
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