This post was inspired by a podcast I recently listened to by 3DMJ on motivation throughout decades of training in the gym and dieting to get beyond lean. What does it take? One of the 3DMJ coaches mentioned that you find your grind and you love every bit of it.
We can competitively attack our own weak nature. Life can and should be good fun, and yes we are all in this together, but god damn I love to win a battle that I sign up for, and I think there is a bigger picture mentality there.
Yes I am a naturally stubborn, self-perfectionist kind of person. I generally don’t care about what others are doing in the grand scheme of things. Sure, other people do great works and I appreciate and respect that, but man when I wake up I get to MY grind, my battle and my focus—not someone else’s. How did this come to be? Or, maybe the larger question is: How does this become a day-to-day experience and where is the constant source of inspiration? Let me break that down and save your lives.
Where did my military-like inspiration come from and why is fitness, eating clean, becoming better, learning constantly and learning how to master myself a part of my daily grind? There is not one exact place this fire comes from, it is spread out in multiple sources. To list a few:
- Death. The fact that this body is temporary gives my constant cause to reflect on the bigger picture and not sweating the small petty shit life throws at you.
- Hurt and pain. Eventually I decided to rise up because I was in a low, low spot in my mind and body. Reaching rock-bottom was one of the best things that ever happened to me.
- Others. Since I am constantly surrounded by people I eventually began to help others by just being an awesome person. People around me get more fit, lighten up, laugh more and generally feel more accepted—all because I stick to my grind and ask for nothing in return.
- Meditation. I have been a meditator for about 15 years and still learning a lot. I practice for one hour every single day, no excuses. In the morning, before bed, mid-day—if I miss my allotted morning routine then I make up for it, period. There is a deeper meaning to life and a deeper part of us, meditation is seeking union with that and the rest is the reaction to our practice.
- Internal High Standards. For some reason I have a high standard for myself, I am my own biggest critic and IDGAF about what someone else thinks I’m doing obsessively. Getting too lean? Exercising too much? Focusing on self-perfection too much? Ya, I am, get lost. I set my own bar of what is too much and chances are no one can ever know what that feels like until they succeed at their own passion. I’m ok with perfecting something I’m proud of and mastering the art of whatever-the-hell-I-want.
- MGTOW. I do not seek approval from the opposite sex. I am living my own life and deciding what happens next.
I embrace the suck, love the grind and know for a fact that each and every time I conquer my lower, weaker, instinctive mind, I rise up even more powerful than before. The more will I use, the more I have in the end.
How does this become a day-to-day experience? You love it. After a while you need to find another challenge because cold showers or running a faster mile or getting to 8% body fat already happened. Nothing is out of reach and once you set your mind on goals you need to get after it. Soon enough they get accomplished, you reevaluate and set more. It is a cycle that needs constant attention. We don’t just set a plan and let the years pass. Check-in with yourself once a week if you have too and assess where you are in the mission and what the next plan of attack is. Don’t get content, ever.
My constant source of inspiration is the small successes I repeatedly go through. That earlier part of regular reassessment I talked about pours over into making sure this remains a part of the rest of your life. Just because you set a goal doesn’t mean you are done. Eventually that goal is met or you get closer to its end and have a little more time and mental real estate for the next thing—there always needs to be a next thing. The nature of the mind and this earth is that there is endless variety and experience. Getting complacent with progress and just becoming “happy with where you are” is all fine and dandy, but usually doesn’t work for long-term success. The man that can reach to a new height is not the kind of person to then stand still when that height is met. He usually thinks, “How can I achieve that faster? Better? More efficiently?” The key phrase you need to use is, “What’s Next.”
We want long-term goals with short-term points of victory. Don’t get caught up in a miss here or there, remember that there is a larger concept in mind and never stop reaching. Enjoy your progress and love what you can create, but don’t let that one victory turn into halting progress for the next aspect of your being.