Dreaming
When I was a kid I dreamed BIG DREAMS! Even when I was not sleeping I would day dream. I dreamed about becoming a great athlete so that people would respect me. I especially dreamed about playing major league baseball. I wanted so badly to play with the “Big Guys” that were several years older than me. There was nothing that could deter or dampen my hearts desire to be great on the baseball field. All this thinking about being great pushed me to practice more, play more, analyze my play, and I would keep very careful statistics on myself to help me gauge my progress. Life because of my thought life was placed on the fast lane to the top.
Eventually, I played tons of baseball in highs school, Legion Baseball and a short stint with a Single A Farm Team of the Detroit Tigers. For some reason I stopped dreaming and all that I thought of all my life just went away. This single lack of keeping my dreams before my minds eye always became the weakness in my armor and it derailed me from attaining the thing I sought.
In bodybuilding it is very important to keep your body and the competition and the posing and the music routine ever present before your mind and your heart. I can talk to any committed bodybuilder and everyone of them will tell me a story about their thought life as they train and as they prepare for competition. The common thread in each story and my own story is that we cannot lose track of where we want to go and how we are going to get there. Nothing is more important to keep us on track in anything we do.
Do More Than Others Think is Possible
My Training mantra has 4 components:
1.) Never miss workouts
2.) Do not talk during training
3.) Work harder than anybody else in the gym
4.) When you leave the gym go with the attitude that “YOU OWN” this gym.
These 4 maxims for training are essential and I do my best to stay close to their demands. It is hard to train hard so you/I have to have little quotes and outlines that remind us that the road ahead is hard but going forward is the only way to the top. I admonish all bodybuilders to take care of our own stuff and we must push through the hard times and excel in the face of extreme pain and fatigue to be great. I love the quote I got from Flex Lewis the multi Olympian Champion Under 212 lbs “THE TROPHY IS WON THE HOURS WHEN NOBODY IS WATCHING.”
In closing let me encourage all of us to Dream big “ALWAYS” and never stop. Also, work harder and more consistent than anybody else. These two maxims will take good care of us when we apply ourselves to master them. Never give up!
Until next time I remain, Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM
Six Pack and Senior 