The Missing Piece

Ever seen a Rocky movie? My guess is that as long as you dont live in Tibet, you probably have. I would say most people think of the training mantages in those movies first (who could forget Rocky climbing an enormous mountain in Siberia with just his bare hands!) There's a very obvious common theme in all of those movies aside from bad music: HARD WORK! In today's fast-paced world, everything needs to be done by yesterday, and any spare time needs to be devoted to tweeting. Everyone wants their goals to be attained faster than Usain Bolt's 100m time, and this must be why so many people jump at the chance to spend $29.95 on whatever the newest infomercial product is. Well I'll share the secret with you, the best thing for acheiving your fitness goals was invented a few million years ago: Hard Work! People these days are afraid to get their hands dirty, to feel uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable is the only way your body can adapt and get better, a.k.a. change. And isn't that the goal of anyone starting a fitness program, to change his or her body?

So, you have to embrace the uncomfortability. It's the only way you'll improve yourself. It's about overcoming challenge and adversity. And then you know what happens? What once was tough and grueling becomes easy and commonplace. Then you must bring it to the next level and make yourself uncomfortable again. My boss and mentor Zach Even-Esh (http://undergroundstrengthcoach.com/) often talks about the "Pussification of America." He's referring to people being afraid of being uncomfortable, and he's absolutely right. Let's try to reverse this trend. Let's try to once again be a nation (a world) of pioneering people not afraid of hard work, because hard work is exactly what went into making this country what it is today.

Unfortunately, hard work doesn't produce an instantaneous change. Things just don't work that way. The other piece of the puzzle is the one most forgotten: time. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is the ideal physique. It could take 6 months for someone to get the results he or she wants, or it could take 6 years! The point is that you must be in it for the long haul. You must learn to enjoy the process, enjoy being uncomfortable. When you can do that, you'll never be satisfied, and you never should be! Always try to improve, always try to go that extra mile. Hard Work + Time = Results. A simple equation, but certainly not easy. Learn to embrace the process, and know that what you're doing is making you better not only physically, but better as a human being also.