It is one of the greatest maxims of life. It’s sort of like the old saying, “Birds of a Feather Flock Together.” I must be around people who have big dreams and big plans to possess those dreams. These champions of vision have taught me that in order to have something you have to be able to focus on that thing that we seek. This focus must mature to the point of obsession and a firm conviction to not retreat in the face of difficulties of failures.
When you go to the gym pick your friends and training partners carefully. Select them because they are going somewhere. Don’t ask to be their friend, just become their friend. Integrate yourself in a very unobtrusive way into their training regimen. Show them that you are serious about your goals. Train as hard as they do within your own limits. Keep setting the bar on your own goals higher and higher in their presence. Most of all, learn from your cohorts. Pick their brains to get them to guide you and to give up some of their best advice. Try to catch their vision and see how that vision can influence you to be better than you are.
I personally have tried to train in the presence of the best guys in our gym. I don’t like to interrupt their workouts so I reserve my face-to-face conversations for times when training is not underway. By doing this I am respecting their space and their training time. I have a particular training partner that I hook up with a few times per week to train. His name is Josh and of course he is much younger than me. We laugh when we see each other about stupid things, then we get down to work. He is always talking in my ear admonishing me to keep going for more reps or to go higher with the weights. He pushes me hard because he himself is a competitor and knows where he is going and intuitively knows my goals.
Another resource that I pull on is my coach, Justin Dees. He has taken a guy who knows very little about bodybuilding and has been my partner in moving me along to each new level. He provides training goals, diet advice, supplementation guide, and show prep coach. This is one of the best people in the world to be their as I progress. I started competing later in life so I am very far behind the vast majority of my foes on stage. However, Justin has been patient as I learn the fine art of prepping for competitions and gaining the necessary body that is required to win.
These are just a couple of the great people that have surrounded me with the will to continue and excel. These partners provide the motivation I need to attack my goals each and every day. Justin can see things that I can’t. He sees my potential in ways that I can only imagine. He pushes me to be better always. He is my coach and sometimes being my coach means that he needs to treat me like a child who has to be taught. Other times I am a colleague with whom he shares the “tricks of the trade” in order to bring out the best in me.
The key is to befriend the best so you can be the best ever. The ones that are not going in your direction or seem to not have the fire required to win should be treated much differently than the great ones that you bring into your sphere. If you choose your partners well you will have armed yourself with the great ones who think and act bigger than yourself who will, in turn show you the way to your goals by their words and their example. These champions are worth their weight in gold to you. Not to mention, they will become close friends forever.
In closing, surround yourself with people who possess a god-like iron will that they use to accomplish their goals. By being in their midst you will also learn and attain that same persistence to win.
Until next time, I remain, Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM
Six Pack and Senior 