Relentless Strength

I recently watched an Olympic weightlifting video with coach Anders Lindsjo from the Swedish national team. In the video he was watching/instructing an accomplished exerciser on the snatch lift. After each set, he asks the lifter if it is “good enough”.

That’s a powerful question, isn’t it? Good enough? See, many of us are satisfied with good enough. It gets the job done, right? We are able to tell ourselves that the work is good, and that we’ve accomplished something. But what is “good enough”? Who decides?

The question is mentally challenging, and draining. Because we should, ideally, never be satisfied.

“Show me a man who is satisfied and I’ll show you a failure.” – Thomas Edison

Can you continue to accept “good enough”? Do you want to? Are you content with “just ok” Or do you want greatness?

There is certainly nothing wrong with failing. In fact, it is a great teacher. But settling on “good enough” is simply not good enough. Challenge yourself daily. Whether it is with exercise, like in the video below, or with your diet, or with your job. Why not be the best?

What, for you, is no longer good enough?

On to the next one.

We cannot allow our expectations, or standards to drop. As a coach, I must have high expectations for my athletes to meet, or be in the process of attaining. If I allow my expectations for them to drop, even slightly, than the most I can reasonably expect from them is that lower bar. Most will only achieve to the heights that I have set for them. True, a few will have a very high bar for themselves, therefore achieving greater than my expectations.

Lowering the bar for my athletes, dropping my standards of excellence will make the athletes comfortable, make things easy. And the athletes will reach them with regularity. And I understand that may give them confidence, but it won’t show them that there is a next level that could have been reached. They will be less prepared for future challenges.

The best coaches, of which I am not, and the best players, of which I was not, set extremely high standards for their athletes and themselves. They are never satisfied with their place in life. They recognize how hard they have to work to get to that bar, but as soon as they get closer, either they, or they their coach, pushes that bar even higher. Knowing that they haven’t reached their potential just yet.

We all need to do the same in our lives. myself included. We need to raise our expectations for our job performance, family life, spiritual life, and as physical beings. Why do we settle for “good enough” expectations? We need to coach ourselves to achieve more.

Where is you bar set? How high can you raise it?

On to the next one.

Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, google him if you’ve not heard of his greatness, took the stairs over the elevators. Okay, I don’t know that for sure, but maybe.

What I mean though, is that there is almost always, in any situation, an easy way out. You could quit, you could cheat, whatever it may be. That option is there, and is usually readily available. But for the people who want to be successful, they know the hard work is necessary. For them, there is no elevator, or easy way to the top. Even if they were to get to the top with the elevator, I doubt they would be satisfied, because they invested so little in the achievement. But the ones who take the stairs, know the value of hard work, know that they have achieved something worthwhile.

Jordan said about returning to basketball after a brief baseball hiatus; “I forgot how to take the stairs.” He was talking about putting in the required hours to be the best. He had, maybe unknowingly, relaxed a little in his efforts to be the best basketball player he could be. He had, after all, just won his third straight NBA title. Maybe he was content with his ability and his effort. But baseball changed that for him. He was once again a beginner. I pretty athletic beginner, but still someone wh had something to prove. He knew if he was to succeed with baseball, he was going to have to take the stairs. There was no elevator to the Big Leagues. He would have to take it one stair at a time, put in the work.

I absolutely believe that this fundamental change in mindset for him was a major reason why he won three more championships when he returned to basketball. He wasn’t going to take the elevator. He still had work to do, still had skills to improve upon. Still had something to prove.

Think about that for a minute, the best basketball player in the world, still needing to prove something. Still taking the stairs.

What if we all had that mindset? That we weren’t done yet, that we still had to prove ourselves. What if we still took the stairs?

What steps are you taking?

On to the next one.

Generally speaking, it is easy for a person to define what their goal is, and can usually create some sort of road map in order to achieve that goal. For example, say I want to lose ten pounds by Christmas, this is the “what”. And I will achieve this by doing circuit training with weights three times per week and running two times per week. That’s the “how”.

Many people can get this far with their goals, the “what” and “how”. Remember New Year’s resolutions? Most people have a “what” they want to accomplish and most of them have a “how”.

But consider how often those resolutions fail. Or ask yourself, how many times have you made the same resolution over and over…

Goals are great, and often needed. But many people fail to define arguably the most important factor in achieving the goal. THat is called their “why”.

Why do you want that goal? Seriously ask yourself this question when setting goals. You may need to ask this question multiple times.

For the above example of losing ten pounds:

Why?

Because I want to be healthier.

Why?

So I can live longer.

Why do you want to live longer?

So I can play with my future grandchildren.

There you go, find the true, underlying reason WHY you have set that as a goal. When you have a clear reason as to WHY that goal is important, than you can, and will, attack that goal with more desire. If you don’t have a “why”, than your “what” and your “how” are much less meaningful, and are less likely to be realized.

So ask yourself, “What’s my why”.

Below is a great video on the subject of “why”, presented by Simon Sinek. Eighteen worthwhile minutes.

On to the next one.

On the topic of today’s youth being lazy, I’d like to point out a few things, not necessarily point fingers, just highlight.

Most people, and kids are people, tend to do as they see done. Kids that are around athletics tend towards playing sports. Kids that are around people who do a lot of sitting, tend to sit. But it’s not limited to their peers, it’s who, and what, they are around at home as well.

So, parents, what do you do when you get home from work? (and let me say this, kids are at “:work” for 7 hours a day too. We call it school, but they go in order to create a better life for themselves, just like you do with your job.) So if you get home and sit on the couch with your chips and stare at a TV for the remaining 4 hours of the day because you “deserve” it for all your hard work, then that is exactly what your kids will do. They’ll follow the example set. Why are they considered lazy, if you do the same..?

My suggestion is to put down the smart phone, turn off the TV, and get up and play with your kids. Take a family walk or bike ride. Go to the park, play catch, kick a ball, dance, wrestle, whatever. Your kids will benefit from a health standpoint, as will you. Wouldn’t hurt you anyway, considering the typical  job requires sitting in front of a computer for 8 hours.

Play with you kids, be the example that they need.

On to the next one.

Are confident people more successful? Or are they confident because they are successful?

In the gym, it is usually very easy to spot the successful ones. Their posture is better, they walk with a certain swagger, and everyone else’s eyes gravitate towards them.

It is also quite easy to recognize the confident souls. They look around too much, constantly wondering who is judging them.

But one of the great things about being in the gym training; is seeing that person completely reinvent themself through the weights.

When a person gains strength physically, they gain more than muscle – its mental. When they start seeing results, whether it’s losing 20 pounds, abs start to peek out of their soft shell, they increase their squat 20 pounds. They become more confident in themselves, because they, no one else, put in the work to accomplish it.

I’m not sure there is a better confidence booster than your local training facility. The hardest part is walking in that first day.

I’d encourage you to show up. Find that strength. Believe in yourself.

Time to get that swagger back.

On to the next one.

When I was young, elementary school mostly, I dreamed of playing basketball in the NBA. Get paid to play basketball? That’s me, sign me up.

By the time I reached middle school, I realized that wasn’t going to happen. Why? Well I wasn’t very good, too short, too white, but mostly because I wasn’t working on my game like I should have.

My biggest regret, however, is that I allowed myself to give up on that dream. What could have happened if I had relentlessly attacked my goals? If I had been unrelenting in my efforts to chase that dream? Would I have played for the Bulls? Most likely not. College ball? Maybe, maybe not.

Would that have been the end of the world if I had worked and not gotten there? absolutely, not.

What would have happened is that I would have realized the value of hard work. I would have greatly improved my skill. I would have learned about resiliency, and never giving up.

I hope that I have learned from my 12 year-old self that you should never give up chasing your dreams. There is work involved, and it can be painful. But if it’s really worth it, find a way.

On to the next one.

They are always with you, every step on your life’s journey. Sometimes you are aware, other times they go unnoticed. But they are there.

Shadows, however, are rarely in the present. Shadows remind, they haunt. We look down at them and see the same shadow we saw on the playground as kids. Those same shadows follow us, reminding us that we were once superheroes, doctors, firefighters, pilots. The shadows remind us we were once destined for greatness, to be special.

Now, that shadow shows us we are not always what we once saw in ourselves. Our shadows weren’t about our bank account, or being power-hungry.

Dare to be that superhero again. Dare to be great again. It’s not too late to be who you thought you’d be.

Be great.

Attack the Day,

TG

It’s important to have, and regularly set goals for yourself. But the mistake people make is going “all in”. When it comes to health, people set their goal as “I am going to stop eating junk, no fast food, skip desserts, and exercise 5 times/week.”

Great goals. Phenomenal, really. Talk to me on Thursday, let’s see how it’s working…

What would I suggest? Pick one small thing when you are just starting out and make it a habit. Habits can be formed in three weeks. Do that new thing everyday, or whatever your times-per-week is for those three weeks. After that, it has become your habit.

For instance, say your goal is to eat healthy, but you currently skip breakfast most of the week. Your first step, or habit to form, is to commit to eating breakfast everyday. Yes, it matters what that food is, but initially get in the habit of consuming in something in the morning. Your body needs that fuel to charge your day and power your activities. After that habit is formed, then you can focus on eating nutritious foods at fueling times.

If your goal is to exercise more, but you haven;t done anything for a long (long, long…) time, then you need to start small. Maybe that means walking around the block a few times a week. And by the way, don’t think you are too good to simply walk. The goal is progress, not the olympics.

Start with small goals, high aspirations, form the necessary habits. Knock that first domino over, and it will make the next one more attainable.

Attack the Day,

TG