10 Things You Must Accept on Your Journey of Strength

1. You must dedicate yourself to your own journey.

For many of you, it will only be you on your path. Sure, it’s nice to have a friend along on your journey, but you can’t rely on other people to guarantee your success.

It’s hard to be alone, doing your own things, but understand you are the only one who wants their own dreams to come true. No one else wants it as bad as you do.

2. Consistency is more important than the details. People want to argue with me about protein and cardio but they haven’t even gone to the gym in the past two weeks.

Shut up and hustle. Then focus on the details, but never focus on the details before the hustle.

3. Getting your body in peak condition might make you hungry for other goals in your life.

Starting to change my body has made me aware of the other limitations I have in my head. It has forced me to set my goals even higher and in turn make me hungry for new horizons.

I don’t view it as a bad thing, but just be ready for possibly wanting to change your entire life once you realize what you are truly capable of.

4. You must trust in the process.

You can’t go from out of shape to ripped with abs in a weekend. There is a process that you must follow. Trust in this. Put in the work and show up, even if the results are slow.

You’re still lapping everyone on the couch.

5. Commit to the lifelong process.

This requires finding your deep “why”. What really gets you in the gym? Why do you really want this goal?

When I was going to the gym for aesthetic purposes, it never lasted long. A few weeks at best.

When I found myself at rock bottom, I realized that changing my body had more to do with creating a stronger foundation to rebuild the foundation for my entire life, well, I haven’t missed a gym day yet. Each rep now stood for a better future instead of just doing it because I felt like I “should”.

There will be times when the gym hurts. When you don’t want to be there. There will be times when you’re exhausted. What will keep you going back?

I want to find out what my body is truly capable of. I want to push it as far as it can go.

No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable” – Socrates

6. Setbacks are normal.

You only fail when you quit forever. If you keep starting again, you are never truly a failure. If you get injured, skip a week, cheat on your diet, who cares?

I know, I know, I just said consistency is important and to burn all the bridges on your way to your goal, but we are just humans. We will always have setbacks.

Just a few weeks ago, I was on a diet, but I allowed myself a girls night out and while I was only supposed to have a small meal and two drinks, I instead had all kinds of food and eight drinks.

It wasn’t in the plan, but the next day I just got back right on the horse with my diet and exercise. It was worth the break, and considering I only go big or go home a few times a year with my diet, why not?

I’m committed to the long-term process and know that this is a lifetime journey.

Always just get back on the horse.

7. Take advice from people who walk the walk.

There is a quote I heard a long time ago that I never forgot:

Only take advice from people who have what you want.

There are thousands of people out there who want to tell you what to do when it comes to diet and exercise. Only about 1% of them actually follow their own advice.

I follow programs from Jim Stoppani because he has his PhD in this and is ridiculously fit.
I absorb all the articles from Chad Howse because he’s walking the walk every day not just in fitness but in life. He just went on a spontaneous trip to Italy, a great reminder of how important it is to take action and to not just dream.
I follow Elliott Hulse (and his strengthcamp channel) because not only is he fit, but his blending of the body with psychology is exactly what I want in life.

“An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

If I don’t have what you want, don’t listen to me. Find someone who is living a life you want and has the body you want.

8. Real food matters.

Learn how to cook a good meal. Cook all your meals on the weekend. Be prepared! Stop being weak to your food cravings. Sure, a cheat meal can be great for your mind and for a break, but if you find yourself having a cheat meal three or four times a week, you’re not preparing well.

Learn where your food comes from. Grow a garden if you can. Stop eating so much processed crap.

9. This journey is about who you become.

Fitness will build your character in ways you never expected. The commitment and dedication will pour into all areas of your life.

You are becoming a stronger person internally every time you go to the gym. Keep going.

10. It will hurt.

Sore muscles, exhaustion, that last rep that burns… None of it is easy.

This isn’t a fact that most people want to accept, but life is pain. Life is about being uncomfortable, but everyone is searching for comfort.

A couch is comfortable, but it won’t get you closer to your goals.

It’s uncomfortable to pitch a new client, to ask someone out, to ask for a raise, to get in shape, to try a new diet, to learn a new hobby… The best things in life are surrounded by pain and discomfort. You have to cut through it to get to the good part.

Embrace the pain and discomfort and you will have all those things you always wanted.

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Planning Your Week For Greatness

Intentions are worthless without a plan and follow through.

It is one thing to wish for greatness, and it is another to set the plan and make it happen.

Some of my biggest mistakes came from a time when I was mentally, emotionally, and physiologically weak. I was easily pushed around and I lived within everyone else’s schedules. You know what I accomplished during those periods of my life? Jack shit. Don’t make the mistake I did.

You can’t accidentally stumble upon greatness. You plan for it. You make it a habit.

Most people aren’t in control of their weeks. They let the people around them dictate their lives and then blame them for the boring, tedious lives they lead.

I am only harsh because I needed to hear this years ago, but no one around to tell me.

99% of our problems are the same ones week after week. The problems around us are so predictable, but we act like they’re not. Minus the big life-changing problems, our boss is the same, our spouse, our friends, etc.

If your boss loads your plate every Monday morning, why are you shocked every single Monday when it happens?

Then most people just throw their dreams and goals away for the whole week because “my stupid boss” “my husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend is sick” “I’m too tired for the gym”… The list goes on and on. You know your excuses are bullshit.

If you think your excuses are legitimate, this site isn’t going to help you. Find another site to coddle you. Go read The Secret and visualize your dream body without going to the gym.

We see it all the time. “I want to get in shape but I can’t afford the gym/I have kids/etc.” and they get in their own way before even thinking of how they could get around these problems.

If the president can find the time to exercise during the week, you have no excuse.

Become the master of your time, even if it means you have to shake up the people and the world around you. They won’t like it. Who cares? If there are goals you want, you can’t hesitate.

Greatness requires sacrifice, even for the things that are good.

Eric Thomas always talks about how sometimes you have to give up the good to get to the great.

Sometimes it’s not just about cutting out the bad things, it’s also cutting out the things you really enjoy so you can get something better.

Here are some tips for scheduling in your own greatness:

1. Block time in your week for your three biggest priorities.

My biggest priorities are writing, working out, and my business. These three bring the biggest joy and return on my time. Any week that passes without these three priorities always feels like a wasted week and I usually pay for it down the line.

Schedule them in and make a plan b for when they get sidetracked. If something gets in the way of the time you’re supposed to be at the gym, where can you move it to?

2. Schedule in the next tier of priorities.

This is where you schedule in your clients, work, walking your dog, etc. The things that are important, but if they move around it’s not as big of a deal compared to finishing your big goals. These are also the goals that are for other people. Your own goals must go in first. This is how you maintain control of your own life.

3. The best planning strategy: plan for detours.

I know I already mentioned this in step 1, but it is this important it has to be mentioned twice.

You don’t have to make all new plans, you just have to set a general plan and then make adjustments as you go. Life will always throw new things at you, and you have to stay ahead of the game.

In my current lifting routine, I only need to lift four times a week, with sometimes one extra day of cardio. While I plan to finish them between Monday and Thursday, that is rarely the case but I’m PREPARED for distractions. No matter what I get my four lifts in every week. Some nights have to work all night, but I don’t throw in the towel when the distraction comes. I just lift later that night or the next day.

Stay ruthless. Get it done.

Changing Your Internal Identity

When it comes to getting fit, most people think that the hardest part is sticking to a routine, eating healthy, and lifting heavy weights.

Sure, those are hard.

BUT the hardest thing we encounter when it comes to getting fit is battling our own minds.

When I worked as a personal trainer, 99% of the failures happened because they mentally got in their own way.

Besides all of our own internal issues with self-worth, the most common way we sabotage ourselves is not personally identifying with the new person we are trying to create.

They don’t see themselves as an athlete, a fit person, a warrior.

These barriers are put in place by our own minds and by the people around us.

If you have always been the nerd, everyone around you wants to keep you in that box, including yourself.

If you saw yourself as an athlete/warrior, how would you change your daily routine? If you personally identified with those archetypes, what would you change?

Every time I found myself in a completely new environment surrounded by all new people, I saw the potential to create a new identity. New people have no idea who you are. You could be anyone you want to be.

This is why it is so important to not only find new friends, but to hang around them and see the choices they make. To bring these new characteristics into your own personality.

When I first started lifting heavy, I thought protein shakes were absolutely ridiculous. I thought they were really “bro” and obnoxious. I was an athlete in high school, but I had never gotten fully into weight lifting.

Then when I started to seriously weight train in college, it didn’t go so well. I knew how to be fast, but I didn’t know how to be strong. It wasn’t until I started working at a gym, surrounded by other trainers and weight lifters, that I learned how to bring this new identity into my personality. I saw the choices they made and I understood why they were important.

As I would spend more time with them, they started to see me as a weight lifter. We would lift together, we would eat our chicken and broccoli together, we would all foam roll between work shifts.

Look at your own life.

Are you trying to lose weight? Do you identify as a fit person? What mental barriers do you have about your life?

When you identify with the traits of the life you are trying to build, you will see different choices. Instead of fueling your body with fast food, you will know that your inner athlete needs real foods.

You can create a new life at any given moment.

You do not have to stay in the box you have created.

How To Get What You Want In Life

If you wanted to learn how to play soccer, would you learn from someone who only plays soccer video games?

Sure, they understand the theory. They know how plays should go. They might know a few things about the game. The problem is they don’t actually play soccer.

Lots and lots of people who don’t actually have any experience in a field want to impose all of their ideas into your brain. They think they know something because they read a few articles or watch videos about it.

I got this piece of advice years ago and I am reminded constantly of its truth:

Only take advice from people who have what you want.

Sure, maybe the person with six-pack abs doesn’t know every in and out of physiology, but they definitely know how to get abs. So why are you taking advice from your neighbor who can’t even run around the block?

This kind of crap is all throughout the business and writing industry too. People who are in debt are teaching other people how to generate wealth. People who have never published an article are telling others how to build a writing career.

If you aren’t reaching your goals it’s time to step back and look at who/what you are getting your advice from. Do they actually have what you want? Are you positive they know what they’re talking about?

Only take advice from people who have been in the trenches. Academics are great, and the knowledge they build is important, but if all of their experience is only from books, they don’t know shit.

Why do you think they make doctors do years and years of hands on work before becoming full MD’s? Because even the best book in the world doesn’t beat hands on knowledge.

As you go throughout your week, focus on where your information is coming from. Learn from the ones who have proof. You will reach your goals a hundred times faster if you get rid of the false information.

Get it, warriors.

Life IS Resistance

Modern society teaches us to hide away from anything hard.

We order things online to avoid the long line in the store.
We play on our phones to avoid conversation with the people around us.
We drive across town because walking is apparently too difficult.
We use any kind of substance to avoid life and our own thoughts.

Sure, there are benefits to the advancements of technology, but far too many people don’t use it to create a better life, they use it to escape from life.

I don’t know how we have gotten into the mindset that life should be easy. That life is avoidance of pain.

Life is pain.

In the gym, you need resistance to grow your muscles. As you grow your muscles, you can handle more weight. You get stronger. You can’t start out at the heaviest weight think you can start lifting that right away.

Life is the exact same way although we don’t treat it that way.

The harder things are, the stronger you are becoming in life. The more resistance you are adding to your life, the more you can handle. This is how you create the life you have always dreamed of having.

Running from pain doesn’t make you stronger. In fact it creates the opposite. Life will not give you what you want if you can’t handle the simple things in life. If you can’t manage the money you make now, it won’t give you millions. If you can’t lift the light weights, you won’t ever be able to lift the heavy ones. If you can’t keep a relationship to last past a few months, you absolutely won’t last in a marriage.

Life is all about dominating the small things in life. Handling the small pain and building your resistance as you go.

Once you stop running from pain, you never stop running from pain. Then these are the people who 20 years down the line get divorced because they can’t function as an adult and deal with their problems. The kids, mortgage, car payments, work, and repressed dreams all build up until they simply run.

Rarely do we ever praise the people who hold it together, become stronger, and ultimately chase the path of becoming the best versions of themselves.

If you’re going through something hard, just embrace it.

Accept it.

Understand that staying standing on your two feet and meeting this challenge head on will bring a better life. You’ll be able to handle more. You’ll be able to grow.

Run from it and you will always be weak. You’ll be that adult who is still stuck in their teenage years mentally. Life won’t grant those people anything special, and if it does, they will ruin it immediately.

Be stronger than that. Go through life as a warrior. Welcome pain. Embrace it.

Like the quote goes: When life knocks you down, calmly get back up, smile, and politely say, “You hit like a bitch.”