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I’m still receiving feedback from the survey I sent out earlier in the week.
One thing was for sure:
Everyone who responded saw and acknowledged the need to train / workout.
However…
Three of the most common things people were frustrated with and needed help with - and this may or may not be you, {first_name} - I don’t know, because the survey was anonymous…
Was “consistency” or “staying consistent.”
Another was “discipline”.
And yet another was “motivation.”
Before I get to what they all have in common, have you ever experienced the following?
“Invisible pressure,” like some kind of specter, that “pushes back” against you when it’s time to train / workout?
Maybe it’s the feeling of having too much work left to do.
Or spending time with your kids.
Or being tired, having very little energy, or the most common -
Not “feeling like it.”
I know I have.
What does this “Specter of Invisible Pressure” have to do with consistency, discipline, and motivation?
When you have a clear, well-defined, emotionally compelling goal, the motivation, discipline, and consistency are “baked in.”
Here, let me give you an example
When I was 16, and a junior in high school, I broke my arm wrestling, 6 days before the championship tournament.
I love wrestling so much that I vowed I would do whatever it took to win the next year, my senior, and last year wrestling.
So, the day I got my arm out of the cast, I started weight training - trying to hold my school backpack with just one book in it.
I failed.
The bag yanked my arm straight down through a range of motion it hadn’t used in 12 weeks. The back fell on the floor and I let out a holler that echoed down the hallway! That hurt!
Did I quit, give up, say I must not be meant to do this because I had no strength in my arm?
Absolutely not.
I just kept going and executed my plan.
I spent the summer in the weight room to build my strength and gained 15 pounds.
I ran cross-country to build my aerobic system and provide a conditioning base for wrestling.
I worked all summer long - bagging groceries - double shifts - at the base commissary for cash, so I could go eat chicken sandwiches and pizza to fuel my workouts.
I got up early, and left the house at 600 or 630am with my Dad as he went to work. And he would pick me up from the commissary after we were both done with work.
The result?
I won.
The reason?
I had a meaningful, emotionally compelling goal.
I’m sure you have a similar story or stories you can look back on in your life.
Revisit them.
Use them to build new meaningful goals and commitments.
Here’s one of mine:
I want to be a strong, capable, and fun Dad, able to keep up with my kids.
As a result, I train daily - be it with kettlebells, bodyweight, a barbell… strength, conditioning, mobility… It’s all in there.
Why?
Because my Dad was always unhealthy and sick.
He and I stopped “rough-housing” when I was 9. He was too tired and didn’t have the energy.
My son is about to be 13, currently competes in gymnastics, has done BJJ since he was 5, and boxing/kickboxing since about 7, and he and I were just wrestling in the living room the other night before bed.
(Every dad knows that wrestling before bed is the “perfect” time to wrestle or play “tickles” with his kids. Helps them sleep better - said no mother ever. ;-] )
He’s strong as a young bull, so this “Old Bull” has to stay ahead of him because one day, that Young Bull will probably really want to test his mettle against this Old Bull…
Plus, as a former wrestler, Olympic lifter, and college strength coach, I know the exercises, the strength, and the endurance I need to be able to do that.
So, that’s WHY I do what I do.
Being “capable” for my kids is my EMOTIONALLY COMPELLING goal.
It’s what keeps me going. Or at least one of the things.
Many times, you need something you’re “running from” just as much, if not more than something you’re “running towards.”
For me, I’m “running from” my family history of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and an early death.
I plan on going until 120. I still have over half a lifetime to go, so I need to take care of “the machine” and keep it in good working order.
What is it that you’re “running from?”
So, here are some action steps for you:
[1] Take 30 minutes or go for a walk and figure out what you’re “running from” is.
Then write that down on a 3x5 index card and put it somewhere you can see it.
[2] Do the same thing with “running towards” - what is it you want to accomplish.
Then write that down and put it somewhere you can see it. Preferably on the same 3x5 index card.
[3] Decide on the minimum amount of time you can afford to spend achieving your goals.
Credit: “Gladiator,” Dreamworks Pictures, 2000.
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