Showing Up

     ½ of this life is just showing up.  You can turn anything in life into something if you just keep showing up.  Eventually you’ll get where you’re going or accomplish what you want to accomplish.    You just got to be willing to keep showing up.  No matter how simple or complicated something may seem, keep showing up.  We must be willing to take that roll of the dice and be willing to lose.  But show up again.  And again.  And again.  Prepare for none of what you are doing to work at the end of the day.  But show up tomorrow and try again.  You will never fail as long as you don’t quit.  Keep showing up, be patient, takes the small steps, set a smaller goal, whatever it may be just keep moving toward the big goal.  Granted sometimes you have to go South to go North, but that’s the journey, that’s where you really find your worth, yourself.  That’s the type of person people want to be around.

     There has to be this thing that is inside of us that helps to make the sweat, blood, pain, tears, all ok.  It allows us to continue to show up and work day after day toward our goal while expecting nothing in return.  Problems will arise daily, big, small it doesn’t matter, but when they do that’s the opportunity to show up again and do your best.  Be the person you wish you were, be the person you hoped to be.  It’s possible.  It’s not easy but it’s possible. 

     It takes you being willing to pour 100% of yourself in.  Not 110% or 150%.  Those are myths when it comes to effort.  There are plenty of people that we hear constantly say they give 110%, not possible.  It appears possible but it isn’t.  Too many people give 80, 75, 90% consistently and all of a sudden their perspective gets schewed as to what 100% is.  So on those days where they finally put in an honest 100% it appears to them and others that they just gave 120%.  People want the easy way.  People would rather be comfortable; everyone is scared of the hard way, because it is just that, it’s hard.  Though it will be a struggle, we’ll come out on the other side that much better, that much more able to handle a stressful situation because we’ve been through the ringer and are still standing.  And probably standing a lot taller.

     Most of us get stuck behind a computer sitting in this modern life.  But that isn’t life.  We’re animals.  We we’re built to move.  We should run, jump, climb, lift, throw and dance.  I’ll leave you with this, exercise is single handedly the most potent defense against life’s internal struggles…stress, anxiety, depression, obesity, you name it, those are just a few, this list could go on for an entire page.  We have the power to make the changes, no more excuses, now is the time.  Find those 30 mins in your day and get moving, trust me, your days will feel that much easier.

G

PS: We still have #TankUp T-shirts available, email thetankupway@gmail.com before they’re all gone!

Be sure to follow on:

Twitter: @thetankupway

Instagram: @thetankupway

Facebook : The Tank Up Way

Blog: thetankupway.blogspot.com

Our Life's Spirit

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

-Jim Rohn

I was inspired recently by an article I read in regards to positive training environments and it made me think long and hard how applicable it is to life.  We have many responsibilities throughout our lives, but one that is significantly important and that can affect the entirety of your life is to protect your life’s spirit.  It’s vital that you can keep it strong and positive.  And like the quote, its starts with those around you.

It’s the cumulative factors of the people, work, friendships, enthusiasm, energy, work ethic, passion, selflessness associated with your life.  We all have come across someone in this life that we wished we had more time with.  Someone that infected us with a feeling that we couldn’t necessarily explain at the time, but something that lifted us up.  That had us hold our head higher, work harder, be a better person, you name it they brought it out in us.  Some people surround themselves with nothing but those types of people, and you know what?  They and those close to them are better off because of that.  You can see it almost instantly at times throughout your life, and as you get older it becomes that much more noticeable.

That’s who we should work to surround ourselves with, because if we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with, we sure better be surrounding ourselves with awesome people.  Can you think of the five people you spend the most time with?  If you want your life to be great, it can be and it’s up to you to go out and make the changes necessary for it to be great. It’s not easy, but it sure is worth it. It’s time to take that life inventory and see what’s lacking.

Now, here is where we have to make some decisions.  This means we can’t let some dysfunctional people come into our lives and bring us down to a lower quality.  Eliminate the drama, the complainers, the attention seekers, the problems, the lazy.  It certainly can be a tight rope walk to try and be patient to help those people that could be great if they could just adjust their prospective and get on board with what we want.  Yes, it’s uncomfortable to tell someone what you want, but it’s truly the only way someone can know beyond a shadow of a doubt.  Everyone deserves a chance, but if it comes time to cut someone out of our lives than that’s what we have to do, we can’t keep tolerating mediocrity if were after greatness.  This life can be fantastic for us and everyone around us, but it’s our job to make it that way.

If we can all strive to be great at what we do and love the people in our life, we’re all going to be awesome.  It’s on us to fight for it and protect it at all costs.  This might require us to make some cuts every now and then, but that’s life.  It’s going to be hard, but at the end of the day it will pay dividends.  If the vast majority of those you surround yourself with are awesome and contribute to our lives just as positively as we to theirs, we’re going to be alright.  This is our life; it’s up to us and only us to make it great. 

“If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions.” – Carlson Gracie

G

Be sure to follow on:

Twitter: @thetankupway

Instagram: @thetankupway

Facebook : The Tank Up Way

Email: thetankupway@gmail.com

Blog: thetankupway.blogspot.com

Fearlessness vs Courage

“The hero and the coward both feel the same thing.  But the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent.  While the coward runs.  It’s the same thing FEAR, but it’s what you do with it that matters.” - Cus D'Amato

     Everyone feels fear, not one person is immune to it.  It’s a primitive response that is ingrained in all of us.  All sorts of fears arise in our lives, be it heights, snakes, public speaking, failure, success, whatever it may be.  We feel it both psychologically and mentally.  Some people will freeze while others with be called to action.  We also have a biological response to it that will dump adrenaline into our blood stream that will put us in a heightened state of alert.  But again, some freeze while others act.  It’s these moments that people confuse with fearlessness.  It’s the fear that they are able to harness that presents itself as courage.  Courage is our ability and willingness to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation and act against those items.  Courage comes from those moments where you look fear in the eye and go for it.  It doesn’t matter if it’s on a field of play, battle or taking a leap on your own into a new business venture or job.  But you’re willing to push through, fueling yourself with that fear that would crumble others. Embracing the uncomfortable feeling of fear that is in all of us to act, it’s your choice.  It’s that fear that lets you know truly how alive you are.

     That all being said, fearlessness is a myth.  I said it.  Didn’t mean to burst any bubbles there, but it is.  It is something that we as outsiders perceive to be true.  But it truly isn’t real.  No one person is without fear.  It’s just those that are able to harness that fear and use it to their advantage are the ones that give off an appearance of fearlessness.  People that act in the face of fear show their true courage.  Fear can be an extremely tricky thing; it can cause action or the opposite and prevent action.  Fear would be widely considered as a negative in society.  But if you take a step back and objectively look at what fear can cause, it’s hard not to see how important having fear in our life is. 

Do you have fear in your life right now?  Because if fear is absent, then there is nothing that requires any bit of courage.  Can anything be considered challenging if there is nothing to fear?  Anything that stirs up even the littlest bit of fear, gives us another opportunity to excel, another chance to be courageous in the face of adversity, and that's greatness.  If you do not fear something then you surely won’t need any courage, and if you don’t need a little courage when taking a calculated risk, then what ever you are doing certainly won’t make you any better and probably won't be worth it.  

     Practically speaking, courage is a choice that you control.  You.  It’s up to us to utilize the fear to our advantage.  Cement our wills and determination in these moments to change our view of fear and not cower, but stand with delight and see the opportunity to be courageous.  This is something that requires us to act upon, and it’s our acting upon these opportunities over and over again that will make us stronger.  That will cement our courageousness. Whether or not someone is a soldier, fire fighter, police office, fighter, mom, dad, entrepreneur, athlete, fear comes at us everyday no matter how big or small no matter whatever our walk in life may be.  And those that act on that fear are far more admirable than those that use it as an excuse to leave their current path and quit.  Don’t quit.  Don’t ever quit.  Don’t even let that thought come in your mind.

 

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, go be courageous and seize it.

G

Be sure to follow on:

Twitter: @thetankupway

Instagram: @thetankupway

Facebook : The Tank Up Way

Blog: thetankupway.blogspot.com

Email: thetankupway@gmail.com

Dream Big, Start Small

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine.  It’s not just in some of us; it's in all of us.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”  

Pretty powerful quote that I felt impelled to share with all of you.  I certainly believe that it speaks the truth to the vast majority.  With that being said, have you become comfortable with where you are in this world?  Have you decided to throw in the towel and just go through the motions for the rest of your days?  Why?  Was your dream to far away, was it going to be too much of a struggle, too much of grind, too much of a sacrifice?  This is your life; it belongs to no one else.  This is your opportunity; if you want something bad enough, if you feel like life is empty without it, don’t stop just because it gets hard.  The biggest enemy to all of us is ourselves.  We stop ourselves from doing great things on a daily basis.  We habitually have been ingrained to be afraid of failure, to be scared to make a mistake.  But realize that you don’t need to be perfect in this life to be great, to inspire others, to be invincible, to be who you want, to do what you want, to get what you want.  There is never going to be a “perfect” time to do something.  You have to create the perfect time, the perfect opportunity, the perfect situation.  But realize that’s not how they start.  You just have to start.  Start now.

In this life the easiest thing you can do is stay at the bottom.  You certainly don’t need to put any effort into to being a loser, to stay down at a low level.  You don’t need any motivation, you definitely don’t need any drive.  What takes all of you, what takes your drive, what forces you to harness your will is to say you’re going to challenge yourself.  Today is the most important day of your life.  What you did yesterday doesn’t matter anymore, today is what cements who you are.  This life has given us the opportunity of a life time.  But it means absolutely nothing when you we don’t take advantage of it in the lifetime of this opportunity.  Greatness is a lot of small things done well repeatedly.  Day after day, workout after workout. 

You’ve got to make every single second count.  Look into the future and return to the present and start taking those small steps to making your dreams come true.  Think big, dream big, but start small.  Start where you are with what you have because what you have is plenty.  If you want something bad enough go out and fight for it, to work day and night for it, to give up your peace and your sleep for it.  Say yes to your life, to your dreams, to your unfolding future. 

Leave no dream behind.  Rise and grind and leave this earth on E.

G

Be sure to follow on:

Twitter: @thetankupway

Instagram: @thetankupway

Facebook : The Tank Up Way

Blog: thetankupway.blogspot.com

Harnessing Your Will

How’s your will?  You know, that inner power that we all possess, which has the potential to stand and hold firm no matter how the outside world tries to influence it with our diligence and practice.  We can control it, the world can’t influence it if we have dedicated ourselves to gaining the power, we just have to reach inside of ourselves and grow it.  We are responsible to work at harnessing it, to harden it, to make it like iron to withstand any obstacle.    

The world moves fast and with how fast technology has advanced over the past few decades there is this looming feeling that we all can control the world around us.  We can’t control the uncontrollable, but we feel like we are now capable of it.  We’re convinced of it.  And we’ll do everything in our power to prevent something bad from happening and you know what?  At some point something "bad" will happen.  But that’s what this life is filled with.  This is where we have the power to make the best of a bad situation, to impose our will, to take it on the chin with a smile, wipe the blood away and learn from it, grow from it, and harden that will from it.  Because if we have the will to withstand anything this life will throw at us we’ll have the power to be happy no matter the situation.

Once we are able to realize that we can’t control other people or control the events that take place in this life we can live a happier life.  We can control our perceptions.  And controlling our perceptions is far easier than even thinking of being able to control people or things.  This is our will.  Our will allows us the opportunity to have us a punchers chance in this life to flourish no matter the situation and be glad when we encounter a punch to the face that stuns us, that fills our mouth with blood.   That’s the point where we really learn what we’re worth, where we get staggered, have to take a step back, gather our thoughts and charge back full force into this life.  That’s how are will gets tested.  Always remember that just because the world knocks you down, doesn't mean that it’s got you beat.  Just get up, refuse to stay down, keep getting back up, always get up, you owe it to no one but yourself to get up.

There is a point to the saying, prepare for the worst and hope for the best.  If you always prepare for times to be hard, when they become hard (which they will at some point) you’re ready for it.  And you’ll be the one shining while others weather away.  Certain things we can’t ever change or control in this life, know that, live that, so when one of those things happens, we are able to look at it objectively, know that we did our best to try and stop it, but we were unable to stop it and know that everything happens for a reason.  Again this is another great opportunity to shine where others will lose themselves and not be able to persevere.  Because that’s what we do, we already made the commitment to keep moving forward, to keep getting back up, so we’ll persevere off of our ability to get back up and get back in the fight. 

And what lies behind mountains?  That’s right more mountains friends.  Keep climbing.

Keep Calm and Tank Up.

G

Be sure to follow on:

Twitter: @thetankupway

Instagram: @thetankupway

Facebook : The Tank Up Way

Blog: thetankupway.blogspot.com

**Be sure to subscribe to the blog by entering your email above!**