We face the wrath of quitting on ourselves every minute of every day. Like somebody said, “99% of our effort is getting ourselves into the right frame of mind or mood to win”. As a consequence, I/we are always wondering whether we can or will attack, stay on the path and win. Each time we put on our gym clothes and head for the gym we have to dig deep and re establish the reason why we do what we do. As a consequence we want it all “right now.” We think that if we are going to be our best we have to get their fast, make refinements and press on. But, in the real world nothing comes to us fast — if it’s worth having. We have to buy into the idea that in order to be great we have to pay the price, walk the path, and never look back. The reality that quitting is never an option has to burn itself into our hearts and minds. There seems to be a notion that if we “take a break” and reduce our efforts to “just maintaining” we will come roaring back with new energy, focus, motivation and drive. But it never happens that way. Slowing down to “take a break to maintain” is usually a euphemism for quitting. It is a pretext for surrender and personal failure. Don’t do it!
Bodybuilding and life both teach us that pursuing a passion and a goal takes all of us. We may do things differently or change our approach but we know intuitively that forgetting what it takes reduces us to the world of quitting. No rapid “DO OVER” will make it happen faster. It will only be a down payment on our quitting and our eventual failure.
Bottom Line: Don’t lie to yourself! Keep going. No stopping. No resting. No restructuring while stopping your pursuit of excellence. It’s a slow process but causing a slowdown in order to go faster is absurd. Stay the course even when it’s slow, boring, and seemingly meaningless. Finish what you started —-don’t quit!
Six Pack and Senior 