The secret.
That’s what everyone wants, right? That’s the headline that commercials use to sell you something that will, supposedly, grant you your greatest wish.
You want to be skinny, take this pill. You want abs, buy this device. You want muscles, do this program for just 15 minutes a day.
I believe that they’re selling something else that’s much worse. I believe that all of these products are designed to make you feel like less. People want to sell you a feeling of inadequacy so that you’ll give them your money to feel better.
Frankly, that shit pisses me off.
This man spits truth
Everyone is capable of living a healthy life without buying into a bunch of bullshit. I looked in a mirror one day and decided I didn’t like what I saw so I decided to do something about it. You know what special stuff I bought?
Spinach. Chicken. Turkey. Almonds. An abbreviated list for sure, but you get my point.
Everything else was sweat and, spoiler alert, you don’t have to pay anyone to work up a sweat.
That being said, I did realize something at the gym this morning.
Okay, yeah, I pay for the gym. I’m a hypocrite. But I didn’t pay for a gym until over a year into my “get healthy” kick. I digress…
I wasn’t completely feeling it when I got to the gym. It was one of those days where I walked in and just wasn’t focused. I did a decent warm up and decided to go down to the punching bags to see if I could get into a groove. They help me focus and cut out distractions.
I still got distracted, but in the best possible way.
There are pull-up bars at the bunching bags and I figured I might as well knock a few out. As I got to the top of the first one, I felt good.
Second one, still good.
Third one, I pause at the top and look down at the bar.
Fourth one, I pause again to look at the bar.
It wasn’t that long ago that I couldn’t do pull-ups. I was that kid in P.E. that dreaded the physical fitness tests because the pull-ups were the one damn thing I couldn’t do. Granted, I wasn’t the only one, but it was still embarrassing to me.
I dropped down from the bar and I looked up at it and started laughing. The poor guy doing air squats a few feet away looked slightly alarmed, so I checked myself and got back to pulling. From that moment on, I was on fire. I was all over the place in the gym and my shirt was drenched by the end of it. I ignored everyone else and did my own thing. I was focused.
Cue “Eye of the Tiger” or “Danger Zone”. Whatever you prefer for the mental montage I just painted in your brain.
I had fallen back in love with the process all over again.
That’s the secret. Not just to getting in shape, but to pretty much everything.
I’ve talked here and there about my music playing. I was never a natural and had friends that were. I played soccer and learned how to be a pretty decent goalie, but I was never a natural like my friends who seemingly channeled Pele at times. I was incredibly jealous of people who just “got it.” People who could just pick something up and do it. I was never that guy.
The fact that I was never a natural at anything is my greatest gift. Anything I’ve ever wanted to be good at or improve at I have had to work for. I’ve had to pour everything I’ve got into making even a measly inch of progress. My buddy has watched me land flat on my back learning how to properly kick the punching bag. He pointed out, though, that I popped back up and tried it again.
(Full disclosure: both my pride and ass were sore that day. Such is life.)
For all of those things, the common denominator is falling in love with making progress; however small it may be. That’s the real secret. Sure, I’ve spouted off about hard work and consistency hundreds of times, but those things pale in comparison to simply enjoying what it is you’re doing.
Don’t pay somebody so that you can feel like less. You’ve got this.
-Moody
Relentless 