[quote]Alpha wrote:
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
So… how many bars have you bent by now 
But what I’m really interested is how on earth did you build up such an insane work capacity? I mean your doing short runs, sprints, metabolic and strength circuits, different martial arts, training for strongman, and you eat somewhat strict too. Many of these seem to be competing goals too. How do you do it!?[/quote]
hahaha thanks man. I’m not really sure how to answer such a question without sounding like a complete douchebag, but here is a shot…
Well, I have been on this spinning rock for 33 Years now and the only thing I have figured out is that I definitely don’t see the world the same as many other people.
I have always been told that if you are big and muscular, than your stamina will suck. If you are lean and small, than you are weak. That you can’t gain muscle and lose fat at the same time…I just chose not to believe it. I was taught growing up that if you work hard enough, than anything is possible. Most people just choose to steer away from hard things.
I remember being very young in the woods with my best friend (Still is) and we would come to a section of stickers or a stream crossing and we would always chose to take the hardest path possible, no matter the consequences. Not because we were trying to be tough, but we would ask ourselves, "Which way would (Fill in the blank with who ever our idols were at the time)“they” take? The answer was always the hardest, so that is what we did.
Fast forward to today, I still talk to myself constantly…“Is eating that going to take me closer or further away from my goals?” “Are you quitting that set because you truly can’t do it, or are you making up some lame excuse in your head?” - That kind of stuff.
I am finally deciding to compete regularly, not for the fame, money or a trophy. It is simply because competing scares the hell out of me. But every time I do it, I learn something about myself and that fear and it becomes a little less scary.
It is easy to be the strongest guy in the gym and live in the glory of that little pond, but when a cage slams shut behind you with another individual hell bent on doing you as much bodily harm as possible – or you are standing in front of your friends and family on a platform ready to lift something you have never lifted before and failure feels like the end of the world, you see the world a little bit differently.
I have competed off and on in many avenues over the years but it was always few and far between because of the anxiety and fear it caused me. But every day, I attempt to do something that scares me so that I can get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I figure, If I can do that, the world will bend.
That said, I CHOOSE not to believe people when they tell me that my goals are conflicting. I CHOOSE to not let their reality infect my own, and every single day, I wake up, look at what is in front of me and make a choice. I can choose to listen to all of the bs that weaker minded individuals say and agree with them…quit all of this, lift like a normal person, stop getting punched in the face and arm barred every day, quit my running and gunning job, get a 9-5er, drink scotch every night and die…ooorrrr I can attack it. I choose to attack it.
If you look at the top echelon in anything you will find that their MINDSET is what separates them. Not their genetics, not their skill, not their God given talents…They are the ones who do the grind. They were willing to do the work and keep moving forward when everyone else turned away because of (Fill in lame excuse here) and blamed the world for their failure instead of looking at themselves and where THEY quit.
People like feeling safe, secure and happy. Everyone does, I do too. But greatness does not occur in the world of “safe and secure”.
I’m done preaching now.
If you want the short answer of “how do you do it?”
it’s because I choose to.
[/quote]
