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Oh yeah! Burpee-pullups, pistol squats, and water ball clean and presses. . . I’m a freak like that.

How do you get freaky with your workouts? Share your craziest training methods in the comments below.

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Man, I still get choked up when I watch that video.

It makes me think of how easy I’ve had it. Despite military service.  Despite bankruptcy.  Despite any and all of the ups and downs of life. . . I’ve never missed a meal and I’ve never not had a roof over my head except for those awesome (sarcasm noted) Army field training exercises.

So what are you willing to do?

When things get tough and I question my path, one of the things I do is watch the above video.  We can find motivation in a variety of places.  Maybe it’s your favorite book (Fight Club for me!).  Maybe it’s a childhood memory of watching your grandfather work at peace in his garden. . .

And maybe it’s a video about a fictional boxer who will do anything to make his dream a reality.

In a similar vein, recently my friend Joel Runyon asked on Twitter. . .

So what’s your price? A “steady” paycheck?  The assumption of stability?  The appeasement of fear?

If you haven’t found that memory, that book, that YouTube video that pushes you over the edge. . .

Find it.

If you haven’t calculated the exact price that you are letting your dreams slip by for, break out the calculator and DO IT!

And then ask yourself. . .

What are you willing to do?

As always, I appreciate your thoughts in the comments below.  And for email updates on future posts, go here.

The video above was shown to at the World Domination Summit I attended in Portland, Oregon this weekend.  In fact I’m still in Portland as I post this. . .

I have a new blog post on creating habits coming Thursday.  Thanks!

“Don’t dwell in the past. . .”

The above statement reminds us to keep pushing forward as opposed to slipping into stagnation.  No one wants to be the former high school quarterback who still wears his old letterman jacket with his receding hairline and beer gut.  But to say there is not value in the past is short sighted.  The past holds triumphs we can return to that bolster confidence.  It holds failures that we can evaluate as we plot a course to future success.  With no past, there is no experience.  And I’ll take experience over theory any day of the week.

But what is confidence?

Confidence is nothing more than a belief that you will succeed at a task or event in the future based upon results you have previously achieved.

Sometimes this belief is based on an apples-to-apples comparison: I tied my shoes yesterday, so I believe I can tie them today. In this case, repetition (often called practice) fortifies the belief of success.

Sometimes confidence is based on an apples-to-oranges comparison: I learned how to play the piano, so I believe I can learn how to work on automobile engines. Here both are intricate skills (like both apples and oranges are fruits), but the knowledge and dexterity required for the respective activities does not transfer from one to the other.

And sometimes confidence is based on an apple sauce to apples comparison: I made a mess of things before, but now I see how to avoid the previous mistakes and understand the path to success. Mistakes and “apple sauce” are often unavoidable, and it’s usually best to get them out of the way as soon as possible and fail faster to success.

Regardless of the fruit combination, artifacts from the past such as old pictures, diplomas, and even rejection letters can give us the surety that only comes from a been-there-done-that path.

Two years ago, I got into the best shape of my life.  A year ago, I slipped out of shape as I allowed my self discipline to wane under financial and relationship pressures.  Now I’m back on the path of being in top shape, and it is the pictures and videos from two years ago that are driving me on to success today.  In reviewing these old pics and videos, I ask myself, “How much better I can I be this time?”

Although my “Failure” video tends to get the most attention, it is the video below that I return to when I need a little extra fortification in my belief of success:

Reviewing the past is different that getting stuck there.  It is practice, comparable experience, and mistakes that forge confidence and blaze the trail to future success.

How do you build confidence?  Do you reflect on symbols or records of the past to bolster your belief in future success?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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I looked over my shoulder, put the car in reverse, and began to slalom through the cones to demonstrate my parallel parking prowess.  Or lack there of…  I knocked over one of the cones.  And then I drove on the wrong side of the road. I failed my driver’s test.

After four years of night school, weeks of expensive and time consuming review classes, and sitting in a room packed with hundreds of other recent law school grads for three days straight – I opened my letter from the Supreme Court of Ohio.   The letter stated I was four points shy of being a licensed attorney.  I failed the Ohio bar exam.

I gasped for breath and reached for the edge of the pool.  After swimming in full gear and combat boots for 25 meters while holding a rubber rifle out of the water I was exhausted and couldn’t tread water for the required five minutes.  I failed the Army water survival test.

Six years of sixteen-hour days and mountains of debt eventually buried my dream martial arts and fitness business.  I closed the doors for good and filed bankruptcy in March of 2010.  I failed at business.

Each of the failed “tests” were passed on the second try.  I’ve had a valid driver’s license for well over twenty years.  I practiced law in Ohio for nearly four years.  I trained with a Special Forces team for two weeks in the swamps of Louisiana on the execution of water borne missions.  And I’ve helped more people improve their health and fitness in the last year via the internet than I could have in twenty years with my storefront gym.  I needed the experience clothed in failure to adjust my tactics and strategies so that I could succeed on the next attempt.

My experience with finding success out of failure is not unique.  I’m sure you can reflect on examples from your own experiences where set-backs and obstacles proved to be necessary for eventual victory.  Great minds throughout history have reflected on the power of failure and I have included many failure quotes in the video below:

I will gladly take the bumps and bruises of failure as a crash course to success.  It may be the only real formula for success: Risk.  Fail.  Adjust.  Repeat until successful.

What are your thoughts on failure and success?  What experiences have you had where set-backs and obstacles proved necessary for eventual victory?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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