This single lesson could possibly be the “breakthrough” secret that propels you into a whole new level of growth because you will learn to utilize the skills and strategies that are already producing successful results in other areas of your life and apply them to your endeavors in the gym. Learning to use the factors that you know already motivate you, instead of relying on someone else to “pump you up” or convince you why you should give your utmost effort, will obviously be more effective immediately and in the long run.
The key to using your mental and physical attributes fully is to associate yourself with why reaching your goals are important. Associating yourself means to think of different reasons why you must to accomplish your goals. Brainstorm the obvious reasons and the not so obvious, the short-term and long-term, the physical and the emotional, and so on. You may be already implementing this strategy and not even realize you are doing so. But if you can understand and appreciate exactly what you do in your own head that makes you successful, you will be able to call upon those skills any time you wish. Using those skills will be like “turning on a switch,” rather than just hoping they show up when you want them to.
I believe that bodybuilding can be a metaphor for life. If you can be successful with the intelligence, effort, consistency, and perseverance needed to build a quality physique, then you can surely be successful outside the gym also. Now, I am offering you the opposite of that theory to consider: If you can be successful in doing something outside the gym, then you can use that success as a reference to build a great body.
Here are examples of people I have met who are struggling in the gym, but have accomplished some admirable things in their regular lives:
I was training at the Gold’s Gym in Seattle when I met a young gentleman by the name of John. He was a very ambitious student who was just entering law school. John was absolutely overwhelmed with all the information presented to him in the areas of training, nutrition, and supplementation and passionately shared his frustration with me. He felt he would never be able to figure out how to use the information to help him build his body. Michelle, an energetic young lady who trains in the same gym as I do, believes finding a way to shed 10 extra pounds is impossible. She also happens to be an expert in repairing automobiles. Then there is Fred. Fred, a national-level bodybuilding competitor years ago, who chose to use drugs to build his physique. Unfortunately he achieved only moderate success. Fred thinks that anyone who believes I have built my physique without using any drugs is naive. Amazingly, Fred earned an incredible amount of money in his young lifetime. By the age of 28, he was grossing over $500,000 a year! If you make $250,000 a year in today’s economy you are considered in the top one percent in the entire world! Fred makes twice that and has not even reached the age of 30 – but believes building a good physique without drugs is impossible? How much sense does that make? I feel like saying to him, “You wanna trade beliefs?”
I am far from outstanding in many facets of my life, but I have spent a lot of time and energy focusing on and developing mental and physical strategies to build my body naturally. I have total respect for John, Michelle, and Fred. They have skills and abilities I would love to have. I am convinced that these individuals have the power within themselves to improve their bodies in a way that would make them happy. I am sure that when they are in their element, they walk and talk with confidence and certainty and are able to produce amazing results. But when they get into the gym, they totally lose confidence in themselves.
We all have some area in our life that we have worked harder on improving than other areas. Hopefully your efforts have produced some great results. What are you great at? How did you become great at it? Were you just born great or did you specifically do things to make yourself that way? What did you do to achieve such advanced development in this particular circumstance? What challenges did you overcome? How does your mental approach differ from that of people who have failed? You deserve special recognition for the great feats you have accomplished. Being able to achieve at that level took many outstanding qualities and attributes. The challenge now is to apply those same qualities and attributes to your training.
