I’ve been around a lot of different
gyms, in a bunch of places and I see a lot of people walk in everyday
chasing a new PR. It doesn’t matter where, they walk-in the gym and are looking
to have some number go shooting up. They
have this expectation that just by showing up PR’s will fall. They’re chasing it. But did they put the work in to justify it happening? A little bit of that “trophy
generation" mentality rearing it's ugly little head. in those situations It's a great thing having the ability to show up, and I appreciate the hell out of you for it, but now it’s time to put the work in. I love the enthusiasm and desire to get better, it's just starting to seem to me that most
people don’t want to put in the work consistently enough to get it. Question...Is it easy to PR when you first get started
doing anything? Yup, sure the hell
is. Does it stay easy? Hell no.
It’s a grind once you got sometime in.
Anyone can get better at anything with a little bit of time and
dedication to it.
Can I play the guitar?
Yes. Can I play it well? Sure can’t.
But man did I make some giant leaps when I first started. Then it got frustrating. Then it became hard to pick it up and keep
trying to play when I felt like a hamster spinning in it’s wheel going no
where. But to get masterful, to be
elite, that takes years, years of harnessing your craft or skill no matter
what. I had a whole new appreciation for
every musician I’ve ever met or seen.
Are some of them extremely gifted musically? 100%, but don’t get that twisted and think
they just picked it up and never had to work at it. Jimi Hendrix is arguably still one of the
greatest guitar players of all-time, but when he was growing up his guitar was
literally on him every possible minute of the day. "Time to get the mail Jim", guitar around his
shoulder. "Time to take the garbage out
Jim", guitar swung around onto his back.
It didn’t matter what he had to do, besides showering, rumor has it that
guitar was attached to him at all times. There isn’t
a chef out there that has earned a Michelin Star by just showing up and not
busting their ass to hunt for perfection. They most
likely started peeling potatoes and chopping onions,
working, grinding, stalking ever so slightly close to their goal. Go watch “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” on Netflix. You’ll get a whole new appreciation to
dedication to ones craft.
If you got time after the documentary, go watch greyhounds at
a racetrack. The gate lifts and they’re
off like a bullet flying out of gun.
Charging out of the gates, head down, ears back, eyes up on the mechanical
rabbit racing around the track. They’re
in full chase mode. Does it get them to
run faster? Yes. Will they ever catch it? No (baring equipment malfunction).
And that’s the point. The closer
they get the faster that rabbit goes.
And the dog will find another gear and pick it up just a little
more. And that’s what a dog will do,
it’ll run itself to death if you’d let it.
It’s the carrot dangling in front of the donkey carrying gear up a
mountainside. It doesn’t know any better,
it’s not smart enough to realize it’s the one making the carrot move. It thinks, “eventually I’ll get close enough
and that carrot is mine.” The dogs at
the racetrack are the same way, blindly giving chase.
Now go watch a lion or a tiger. Now what does a lion do? It hunts and stalks its prey. It will spend hours laying low waiting, then slowly begin gaining
ground on it’s unsuspecting prey. It
doesn’t rush. It doesn’t act hasty when
it’s getting close. It goes through the
steps necessary to be able to strike. The
lion will wait for that moment when it knows it’s close enough, it knows it’s
put in the work to be in the right position.
It didn’t jump from step 1 to step 9.
It slowly stalked its way in to position to give it the best possible
opportunity for success.
You probably are asking yourself, what do musicians, chefs, lions
and dogs have to do with me? Fair question. But you’re all of those things. What I’m suggesting is you go be a lion. Go stalk, go hunt and work methodically toward your
goal. Don’t chase it. Chasing to me just always has seemed like it
has a higher probability of failure.
Chasing implies a short duration of time to me. Know that you have to complete step 1 before
you can get to step 2 and so forth. Put
yourself in the position to get to the next step and then the next step. Every step won’t be the same size and every
step won’t come as easy as the last, and the higher you get up the harder it is
to get to the next step. But keep
working, keep climbing. You’ll get
there.
“We must strive to be more than we are. It is the struggle itself that is most
important. We must strive to be more
than we are. It doesn’t matter that we
will not reach our ultimate goal. The
effort itself yields its own reward.” - Data (Star Trek)
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