Behind Mountains are More Mountains

     The great thing about this world my friends is that it’s always going to be spinning.  Round and round it goes and no matter how many obstacles we break through another will surely pop right back up.  There is an old Haitian proverb that says it another way: “Behind mountains are more mountains.”  So with each and every obstacle we conquer another one will be there waiting, but that’s what makes life exciting.  It’s those obstacles, the journey associated with each and every one that will harden us a little more, that will teach us a little more, that will make us a little stronger, that will make us a little more resilient.  And the cumulative effect of the obstacles we’ll encounter in life will lead us to a more perfect version of ourselves.  That’s why we keep moving, that’s why we don’t even think about standing still, because the next big challenge is coming, it’s waiting for us, to crush us, but it can’t, we can’t allow it.  Like the proverb, it’s the climb up those mountains that’s worth it.  That’s the struggle.  Embrace it, enjoy it.  That’s the fight that we’re all in, in different ways, but we’re all still in it.  So work on changing your perspective and get used to climbing to the top of the mountain knowing full well that soon you’ll be standing in the valley climbing up another one.  

     It’s cliché to say that life is a marathon, not a sprint, but it’s true.  Don’t waste your energy on things that you can’t control, or living in the past, be in the moment, knowing that this is the exact place that you are meant to be right at this very second.  Learn from every climb you make and if you fail, if you fall down that mountain, stand back up, dust yourself off and start back up that mountain or pick another mountain to climb.  That’s ok too, just keep moving forward and keep moving up.  If we all can work at this, if we all are deliberate with each and every step we take, we won’t be filled with the fear of change.   We’ll be able to embrace it, to look forward to it.  Keep pouring yourself into the challenges this world is going to throw at you.  And be excited for that next opportunity to be back climbing, to be back in the fight, looking forward to the next round and the next round and the round after that.  So when you find yourself down in that valley between two peaks, don’t look back, don’t feel sorry for yourself, enjoy the journey that the next mountain is about to take you on.  Embrace the journey my friends, I'll be waiting for you at the top.

G

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Taking ACTION

     No one ever hopes to be weak, poor or underprivileged.  No one hopes to have the deck so totally stacked against them.  No one hopes for anything negative to happen to them.  No one wants obstacle after gigantic obstacle placed right in their path, blocking where they are trying to go.  However, all of these situations, no matter how dire they seem, aren’t immune to doing something about them, to you taking action.  Truly, that’s the only way these things can respond positively for you.  You don’t have to be excited and happy about these situations, you can be pissed, get mad, be frustrated, but don’t let these thoughts consume you.  Cause they will try.  They will fight to make you quit, take the easy road out, fold your hand and walk away.  This is that moment.  The point that all great things typically come out of, the place in time where you could’ve given up, you could’ve quit, could’ve walked away head held down, but you didn’t.  You rolled up your sleeves, you laid out your plan, and you put it into action immediately.  With every obstacle that we conquer we learn, we get stronger, we get smarter, and we now are more prepared for the next obstacle that comes our way.  Because they’ll be another, big or small, they come all life long, but it’s you that controls how you react to them.  It’s on you.  It’s only on you to make it happen.

     Get going.  Life can be difficult, it can knock us down, drag us through the mud and leave us there to loathe in our self-doubt/pity.  Most people can list all the problems that are afflicting them.  Most people can even list what they need to do to fix their current situation.  But we typically allow ourselves to get filled with fear.  We now are the obstacle in our life.  That’s the worst place to be.  We will sit and wait for something to change…but it won’t.  We’ll fear making a change because maybe it’s too risky, or we feel inexperienced, or that it just isn’t the right time, or that it might not work.  You know how it won’t work?  By doing nothing.  FACT.  Sadly we commonly find ourselves in this very situation time and time again.  It’s easier said than done, but you can’t hit a home run if you never swing your bat.  Maybe you strike out, maybe you get hit with the ball, but at least you took a swing. 

     Don’t stop moving toward your goals, ever.  Keep moving, always be moving.  Be determined, be willing to work-hard, be aggressive, be patient, be human and fight for it.  Don’t even think about complaining or sitting still when you don’t have what you had hoped for.  Hope isn’t going to help you.  Of course the obstacle won’t budge; you haven’t even tried to do anything about it yet.  Momentum doesn’t start without movement.  Start moving.  Go out and go after what you want.  Momentum loves company.  Stay moving friends.

“We must all either wear out or rust out, every one of us.  My choice is to wear out.” – T.Roosevelt

I’m with you Teddy.

G

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The 3 P’s to Success

PASSION: an intense desire or enthusiasm for something.  

PATIENCE: the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.  
PERSISTENCE: firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.

Saturday I was able to spend the day at a seminar covering Olympic Weightlifting technique, which is one item I am very passionate about.  The first P.  My most common fault in one of the lifts, the Snatch, is my patience during the lift. Which was totally exposed yesterday.  The second P.  Once that was exposed over and over and over again, it reached a point where I had to persist through my continued failures if I had any hope for success. The third P. 

I was a few missed lifts away from being disappointed; I just kept rushing through the positions and no matter what the coach was saying I couldn’t slow myself down.  Rep after rep, became, miss after miss. But then I missed a Snatch unlike how I’ve ever missed one, behind me, I never do that, ever.  But that miss felt different, because I knew I was patient on that rep, it finally felt right.  The coach working with me said, “You got it now.  Get back on the bar and go.”  So I did.  And I hit one, and she said “Go again.”  Hit, “Again.” Hit, “Now prove that it wasn’t a fluke.” Hit.  That was seriously an enjoyable experience to fail over and over and over, but with each failure learning, getting better, but still failing, but pushing on and then boom, success.  Pretty cool to me.

Ask yourself what are you passionate about? To the point you’ll give up some sleep or sacrifice some time with friends to follow it, to pursue it, to fight for it, willing to be uncomfortable for it.  That’s passion in my mind. Someone else who is a prime example of those 3 P’s is someone everyone knows, Thomas Edison.  Back when Tommy Eds was 31, he had a passion to illuminate the world.  Pretty bold, but he wasn’t the only one trying to improve incandescent lights.  However, he was the only one willing to pour his entirety of his energy into it, never getting weary or giving up and being patient because he knew he could do it.  He had to test some 6000+ different filaments before he finally found it.  Have you ever failed 5,999 times at anything and still had the persistence to give number 6,000 a shot?  I just learned this about him the other day.  That’s pretty awesome, especially because he was willing to try anything to succeed, any material, no matter how crazy it sounded, he even used beard hair, pretty sure if he had a strand of my beard it would’ve worked a lot sooner…I’m just saying.

Everyone wants everything right NOW.  Where did all the patience go?  The world we live in now is 100% like that.  A kid graduates college and wants that $100,000/year job day 1.  Ha, good luck kid.  It’s reached a point where everyone feels they deserve a hand out and they don’t need to work for it any more.  What happened?  Where did that blue collar mentality go?  That, if you want something, you got to go out and get it, roll those sleeves up, get dirty, break a sweat and earn it.  An analogy I heard referenced once, that I now use rather frequently is, “No one wants to be a white-belt anymore.”  People want that black belt right now.  If that’s the case, just go buy one, heck buy two.  It doesn’t mean anything if you don’t earn it. 

So be patient, it’s ok to be a white-belt the goal is the black-belt, but that takes time, that takes failing over and over and over again.  Persistence will get you wherever you want to go, persist, resist, and fight for your passion.  Saturday I wasn't setting any records with my lifting, but I was having fun, enjoying the process, enjoying the road, enjoying the journey, because at the end of this journey that I’m on  I’ll have the success I’m looking for if I continue to be patient and persist.

Failure is knowledge gained my friends.  And that is The Tank Up Way.

G

What is "The Tank Up Way"?

#TankUp: To have GRIT; to PUSH THROUGH no matter the OBSTACLES; to NOT COMPLAIN or QUIT; to just WORK HARDER when the majority wouldn't.

If that isn't enough, it's a way to live your life to it's fullest, to train to your maximum potential, to give 100% no matter what you do and when an obstacle is put in your way, you don't see it as the end but as an opportunity to push and lean on that obstacle until it disappears.  

Now this isn't easy, it's hard to do, it takes work, hard work.  I work at it daily.  But if you embrace this, if you put yourself into this approach you'll finally control your future and not be filled with worry.  Because no matter what life throws at you, you can see an opportunity and not an obstacle, that's your decision. 

It's never too late to accomplish great things.  #TankUp if you're in and dare to be great!

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G