Video I edited for gymjunkies.com. . .
I’m not a big fan of gray areas. Fence sitting is not my style. Either it is or it isn’t. Give me the green light or the red light but please don’t give me the damned yellow. Drawing distinct lines allows for a clear indication of victory. And necessarily invokes the possibility of failure.
Failing means that a decision was made, a course of action was selected, the action was taken, and a result was achieved. An undesired result was achieved in the case of failure, but a result none-the-less. Results, desired or undesired, provide evidence of efforts that can be consulted when selecting the next course of action. In my opinion (and experience) a “ready, fire, aim” approach will beat paralysis-by-analysis every time.
I failed my driver’s test the first time I took it. I failed the bar exam the first time I took it. I failed the Army water survival test the first time I took it. All of these “tests” were passed on my second try. I needed the experience clothed in failure to adjust my tactics and strategies so that I could succeed on the next attempt.
One of the surest paths to success, is to fail faster.
So you want to be a black belt. Or a lawyer. Or in the best shape of your life. Whatever your training goals, it is highly likely that someone with similar, if not nearly identical, situation has already accomplished what you are seeking.
If you are a 30-something white-collar cubicle dweller who wants to train for his first cage fight, someone else has already done it. If you feel stuck in your day job and want to start your own business, someone has already done it. If you’re a single mother with two kids who wants to become a black belt, someone has already done it.
The “been there done that” thing is good, not bad. It means someone else has blazed the trail. Someone else knows the formula. They hold the recipe to the secret sauce. One of the basic tenets of being successful is to find someone who has already accomplished what you want to do and model what they did. Simple. But simple does not mean easy.
What the trail blazer really holds is the truth. And as I’m fond of saying, the truth hurts. The truth is that they worked. The truth is that they sacrificed. The truth is that they didn’t drink a twelve pack of beer every weekend.
So find that trail blazer, mentor, coach, or guardian angel and take a good hard look at what they did. And then look at yourself in the mirror and be painfully honest about whether or not you have the commitment to do what it really takes to get what you want.
What’s your answer?
Burn the boats. Take a stand. And do not dishonor the trail blazer by being wishy-washy about it. A true trail blazer accomplished their goal through trial, error, and tenacity. You will have an easier path because of them. Pay homage accordingly by giving it your all and not half-stepping.
And then help those who come after you. The best way to learn, is to teach.
“First you have to know. . . know, not fear, that some day you’re going to die.”
- Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club.
I’m a huge fan of the movie Fight Club 
One of the pervasive themes of the movie is that everyone should have a sense of urgency in finding - and fulfilling - their life purpose. This sense of urgency is created by a simple universal fact - we are all going to die. And there’s a very real chance that our time will come unpredictably.
This unpredictability of the end fuels my ambition and drives my “ready, fire, aim” approach to my business and often my life. I have made some aggressive moves that were not always prudent and sacrificed much to fulfill my life purpose of being a professional martial arts instructor. And I wouldn’t trade any of the resulting temporary pain and loss for my previous life as a government lawyer. It’s not that being a lawyer is a bad thing - it just wasn’t my life purpose.
I firmly believe that it is better to regret what you have done that what you haven’t. Waiting for conditions to be ideal before setting off to do what you were meant to do is waiting for a day that will never come. Telling yourself “it just doesn’t seem like the right time” is almost always telling yourself that you are making fear-based decisions. So, with many people still kicking around New Year’s resolutions, I have a few to suggest:
Risk.
Fail.
Adjust.
Repeat.
It’s too easy to get lulled to sleep with 500 channels and the mute gray of cubicle walls. Life is short. Unfortunately most of us are not blessed with a near-death experience to understand that fact.
Thought: I want to be in the best physical shape of my life.
Current Action: Sporadic physical training. Diet driven by poor habits.
Congruent Action: Consistent physical training. Consciously choosing what I put into my body.
I own a martial arts and fitness business. And in many ways, my product is myself. For better or worse, by business necessitates that I be in top condition at all times. What has really brought this to light recently, is the great traffic we’ve been getting at GymJunkies.com. I am the “face” of GymJunkies, and the haters have appeared. . .
So to silence the criticism, I need to get in top condition. But that is the superficial ego driven reason for my quest to get in the best shape of my life.
The bottom line reason is because nothing can be enjoyed without your health being tip top. Without our health, we really have nothing. So it’s time to get the health back in order. I’ll miss the beer. I’ll miss the pizza. And damn will I miss the ice cream.
To keep myself on track, I will publicly post my daily diet and exercise on this site. Just click on the tab at the top labeled “My Diet And Training” and you’ll see exactly what I’m doing in the gym and exactly what I’m putting in my body. I promise to be honest and to give an accurate report - good, bad, and ugly. Sign up for the RSS feed at the top, or be sure to bookmark this site.
