Mindset Management, pt. 2 "HOW THE ROCK WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE"

This picture will make much more sense later. Hang in there.

WHAT’S UP Y’ALL?!? So, last time we “spoke” I was telling our dear friend Susan how she can change-up her mindset in order to get to the gym more consistently and improve her life. The gist of it was to make your goals a priority so that you can roll with the punches in life, and get that ish done! If you missed the first part of this article, then go ahead and scroll down, catch up, and make yourself more awesome!

All caught up? Good. Let’s continue...

Now, I hear ya Susan, “Sean, that’s all well and good, but life is tough and I can’t find the motivation to change my whole world around!”

Here’s the ticket, it doesn’t happen all at once. You don’t hit the target as soon as you push the launch button. The secret-sauce is knowing that eventually the missile will get there.

This is what I meant when I told Good Ol’ Poppa T to “make it a mantra”. Just have the intention and mindset in place. Hold it there. Keep it in your mind as you go throughout your day. Make notes to yourself as reminders. Repeat that mantra in your head, and slowly you will find opportunities to change your life. It changes it from, “I didn’t workout today, I have failed,” to “I didn’t get to workout today. How can I auto-correct and assure that I make tomorrow work and achieve my goal of health and fitness?” or “ I didn’t get to the gym, but I can still hit some push-ups and go for a run before bed!”

STORY TIME! When I attended Rutgers University, I had the blessing of being lectured by Professor Michael Leyton. In his Psych 101 class he always used to ecstatically shout, “You need to BELIEVE to ACHIEVE!” He gave us the advice of, everyday, writing down your goals and intentions. He taught that this will keep it present in our mind, and allow us to achieve. This isn’t “The Secret”. This is real. The difference here is, not just sitting in front of a list of personal affirmations you wrote down, but also being willing to do the work. I’ll share one last story I heard that sums it up perfectly.

There was a great flood that left a man stranded on his roof. Unflinching, the man began praying to his god (we’ll call him The Rock) to save him. While praying, a rowboat came by and offered to save him. “No thanks, The Rock will save me.” Then a cruise ship went by offering help. “No thanks, The Rock will save me”. Then Eddie Van Halen came riding down a rainbow atop a chariot of light and offered help. “No thanks Eddie, The Rock will save me.”

Eventually, the flood rose above the man’s head, and he drowned. In the afterlife, the man approached The Rock in a huff and shouted, “What the heck dude?!? I did nothing but pray to you and you never saved me!” The Rock gave him a firm back-hand to the face, because you don’t talk to The Rock that way, and then he replied, “ I sent you a rowboat, a cruise ship, and Eddie Van Halen to save you! What more could you want?”

The drowned-man’s mindset was that of a train on tracks. If he had the missile mindset, he’d be alive and, ideally, partying with The Rock and Eddie Van Halen on a cruise ship somewhere.

So there you have it Susan. A whole BUNCH of words all saying the same thing. You have to BELIEVE to ACHIEVE, and you also have to put in your own work even when obstacles are presented.

Hope this helps someone change their thinking to achieve their goals.

Love you pops, thanks for the inspiration.

MOVEMENT IS MOTIVATION

We all lose our motivation from time to time. To deny that means you are lying to yourself. We lose motivation for any number of reasons, including loss of interest, stagnation, injury, life stressors, poor lifestyle habits, the absence of achievable goals, etc.

Acknowledging the fact that your motivation is lacking is important. In order to find your groove again, first you need to get honest with yourself about what’s holding you back. What are your hurdles? What are the benefits you are withholding from yourself by stopping at the excuses?

For myself, I know for sure that if I didn’t workout on a regular basis that I would be a grumpy sack of shit 100 percent of the time and make everyone around me miserable. I would also be upset with myself for not taking the necessary steps to take care of my mental and physical well-being and my lack of follow-through would then compound on my already irritable self. There I’d go, down a negative spiral impacting other important areas of my life.

Now, I don’t know about you, but that possible outcome is enough to at least get me in my truck to start driving to the gym. And, as many of you can probably attest, getting your physical body to the physical gym is often a major obstacle.

I had this exact discussion with one of our members the other day. I told her that if she can just get here (TCS), it all gets better. She agreed.

If you are still stuck behind a wavering motivation, another valuable tool you could implement is a “pros & cons” list. Simply list all the positive things about a specific decision, as well as the negative. Most likely, your “pros” list will overflow with the many benefits that stem from working out. Your “cons” side of “I just don’t want to” won’t work, my friend.

Look, if you can find  a compelling reason (by being real with yourself) to get your ass in the driver’s seat of your car and drive to the gym, 80 percent of the work is done! Listen to some kickass music on the way and try to enjoy the commute. The next step is simply to walk onto the black mats. From there, gyms like TCS take the wheel and tell you what to do next. If you notice that you’re still in a shit mood, GET MOVING!

I don’t care what you do. Just start moving. Don’t waste time filling up your water bottle or doing some super complicated band stretches - JUST MOVE!

Why is this so important? With movement comes motivation.

Think about it. When you leave the gym, are you in a better state of mind than when you came in? I can almost guarantee that you said yes.

When you  start to work your body you increase blood flow, heart rate and respiratory rate. Your body releases endorphins and produces more dopamine and serotonin, which are some pretty potent hormones that stimulate positive actions and states in the body.

There is a lot of science behind this, but the science doesn’t really matter in this case. Results matter.

So when I say movement is motivation, you can see that by simply moving as soon as you step foot in the gym, you start a chain reaction of positivity that will ultimately result in a great workout.

Get moving.

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE - 2

Yet again, an old commencement speech delivers a powerful message. This one was delivered by Admiral William H. McRaven, Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. In his speech, McRaven shares the lessons he learned while becoming a Navy SEAL.

This video is 20 minutes long. I know, that's soooooo long! Make it happen! Find the time! You need to hear this!

---

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

I often find myself spinning down a rabbit hole on YouTube. Sometimes it is meaningless junk that just jumps out at me for no particular reason. While at other times, something I watch provides a message that seems to be just what I needed to hear in that moment. Funny how that works.

I was watching commencement speeches (weird, I know) and stumbled across Jim Carrey's speech that I'm sure some of you have seen/heard. I watched the entire 26 minutes of it and found myself devouring the information that he was sharing with the graduating class of 2014. 

This entire trip down the rabbit hole got me thinking....

If I find value from these messages and lessons, surely others will too.

So, below you will find the tail end of Jim Carrey's speech. I realize that y'all probably don't have 26 minutes to *hopefully* receive a meaningful message from a YouTube video, but if you can open up to the idea and watch the last 5 minutes provided below, I think you'll get something valuable from it. At least that is my intention with this post.

And if this one doesn't do it for you, maybe the next one will, as I think this may become a regular thing for Sunday mornings. We'll see.

---

ASHTON KUTCHER IS MY NEW GURU

MAN! It's weird getting back to the keyboard after such a long hiatus, but it needed to happen! I saw a quick video that got me super fired up about working hard and the possibilities that open up when someone is willing to push harder. So while I was knocking out some of the chores around the gym this afternoon, I was attempting to script this post out in some form or fashion so that it would come across as a worthy topic that brings y'all some value.

The logical place to start would be to share with y'all the video that has inspired this post. Boom!

I know what you're probably thinking.....WTF?!? Ashton Kutcher?!?! It's OK, I thought the same thing. Nothing against him, as I really don't know anything about him, but this tiny glimpse shows some pretty impressive qualities that I respect immensely.

All of the points that he hits on are GOLDEN. I don't think there's anyone out there that can deny that the message he's sending has some serious value - especially when you consider who he speaking to in this case. Everyone needs to hear this shit, but young people need it more now than ever, as widespread entitlement has seemingly swept over our population, which, in my opinion, is incredibly dangerous.

What really hit me was his first point of OPPORTUNITY. He states that, "opportunity looks a lot like hard work." 

WHOA! Take that in for a second.

It is way too easy to forget this. No one owes you shit. You are NOT entitled to all the shiny things in this world. You must WORK for everything. That hard work then opens new doors and new opportunities for success and fulfillment. 

Another Kutcher-ism that I really, really like is when he proudly states, "I'VE NEVER HAD A JOB THAT I WAS BETTER THAN." 

That shit is awesome. Period. 

If you think you are "too good" for this or that, you will most likely find yourself waiting for hand-outs wondering why you're in the situation your in. Respect is earned and dues must be paid. These are simple laws of life. Choose to ignore these and life will chew your ass up and leave you wondering WTF happened.

WHAT'S YOUR WHY? - Tyler

Your WHY doesn't have to be bigger muscles, less fat, more weight lifted. In fact, I would say that, although there's nothing wrong with those goals, I hope that people dig a little deeper. 

In this edition of "What's Your Why?", Tyler says with us what he's discovered while training at TCS. 

Ps. This one gave me chills so I won't waste any more time.

Attention to Detail

I had several instances yesterday that have spurred this post....so I thought I would share.

I'm sure we've all heard the saying, "The Devil's in the details". It's absolutely true, in my opinion. The little things really do matter. The so-called "little things" are in fact the building blocks upon which the "big things" are built.

As in any type of construction project - whether it's a physical structure or the development of a new habit or skill - the foundation that you lay is critical to your success in building a strong _______(fill in the blank).

Each brick must be laid in such a way so as to avoid misalignment, which could eventually lead to failure or collapse. 

Your attention to detail will undoubtedly set you up for a much stronger life. Lay those bricks as perfectly as a brick can be laid!

I'll leave you with this.....A video of Will Smith sharing his views on how to live a strong life. The entire video is outstanding, but if you're short on time, go to minute 3 and watch from there. Enjoy!

Don't Over Think It

It's funny how many parallels I find between this blogging thing and the methods I prefer to utilize for myself and my athletes...

As the title implies, this is all about keeping things simple and straight forward.  

It took me 20 minutes of pondering to figure out that I was trying too hard to come up with the perfect post with life-changing content.  It finally dawned on me that the small mental struggle I was going through was a perfect example of over thinking something to the point of paralysis.

Again, I find that this issue is something that often makes unwelcome appearances in the training realm as well.  You sit and think about what the next step is in your training progression.

What squat cycle should I do next?

Should I do an AMRAP or an EMOM?

What protein should I take?

WHO GIVES A F*CK?!

I can tell you one thing that's 100% accurate (Science).....You won't get any better by sitting on your ass thinking about your next move.  JUST MAKE YOUR MOVE and adjust on the fly.  

Momentum may be hard to gain in the beginning, but once you've got it, it's simply a matter of making small adjustments in order to maintain a steady heading.  

And look!  The completion of this blog is an example of making a move - whether perfect or not - and building momentum until you've rolled right over that obstacle and you're on to the next one.

Now it's your turn!

Taking Action

I'm sitting in sweat-soaked clothes as I type this because I've reached a breaking point.  It's become so apparent to me that I have been a lazy bag of shit in regards to blogging on a fairly regular basis.  This is unacceptable. 

It's not that I think I have an immense amount of information that MUST be acknowledged by others, but rather the fact that I really enjoy writing.  In fact, despite my uncertainty of what punctuation goes where and when, I love to write.  I always have.  I find that it's my way of getting what's in my head out.  Not to mention the fact that I have been playing in this strength game for some time now, and I do have some (In my opinion) valuable information that may help others succeed.

So, as I drove home from the gym after getting annihilated by one of Coach Nick Mounce's "The Grind" workouts, I realized that I have to get back to writing - for me, for the biz, and for the enjoyment of it.  I guess it may have been all of those endorphins rushing through my system after getting my face kicked in by the AirDyne, but I knew I had to walk right in and type something, anything and post it.

You see, two of the most valuable lessons I have ever learned apply to this scenario and to many others that you and I will undoubtedly face in our lifetime:

1. People tend to do more to avoid pain than they will to achieve pleasure.

2. If you set a goal, you never leave the site of that decision without taking MASSIVE ACTION.

Pretty important shit right there.

Let's recap, shall we?

I was so fed up with my laziness (Pain) that I had to change something, fast!  On the drive home I decided that I must get back on this (Goal was set).  I knew that if I was going to be successful I had to type this out ASAP (Take Massive Action).

I hope this isn't too much too soon, but it had to happen.  I think that this is something that will not only help me get my ass in to gear, but it's something that could assist you with getting you on the right track towards the successful accomplishment of some of your goals and/or areas that cause you pain.

In any case, for better or worse, you can expect to see more content flowing from out of my head and on to your screen.....that is if you can stand my punctuation free-for-all.