Six Pack and Senior

I find that once I’ve decided on what I am going to the hardest thing is to “IGNORE THE NOISE.” Let me explain. distracting or discouraging “NOISE” comes at you in in waves and mostly when you’re trying to think through what’s required and what it means. Take for instance when you are laying out a plan to develop giant arms. You intellectually know what’s needed and so you write it down. You put together a targeted program aimed at giving you much bigger arms. Then it comes time to execute the plan. You attack with a vengeance. You get it done and your arms are screaming with pain. Later in the week it’s time to do it again. This time you have less enthusiasm as you recall the pain that the effort demands. Each time you work your arms there is a hesitancy to do it for the same reasons. Soon, you are questioning whether you should even continue this training for obvious reasons.

In the meantime, your buddies are starting to say things like, “It doesn’t seem like your new program is having much of an effect!” OUCH! In our zeal to grow and to get rid of our critics we modify our training to suit the opinions of others. Much to our undoing. We instead start listening the “NOISE” these detractors are uttering.

Believe me! It is hard to focus on our goals when we are listening to the “noise” that critics are dishing out. Sometimes, they don’t have to say a thing. Their body language provides the same “noise.”

It is here that we must “FOCUS ON OUR GOALS” and block out any and all “NOISE” that takes our attention off reaching our goal. The “NOISE” has to be overcome. There is no other way to “FOCUS” if we relent and allow the “NOISE” to drown our our “FOCUS.”

In closing: Let me urge each of us to learn the discipline of blunting that “NOISE” which so often besets us and prevent us from winning. Stay the course even when it’s seemingly too hard to keep going. Never look back. Never settle. You will always win if you do. Learn to quiet the doubting heart and the harsh words of those who want you to fail.

I’ve been preaching this gospel of immediacy for about 3 years now. It kinda goes like this, “All we have is today and we have tons of potential!” A friend of mine, Doug Andrewski who is the Chief Kahuna of the Titan Classic Bodybuilding Championships in Wisconsin put this to me. I’d lamented that I wish I had started bodybuilding when I was much younger. Doug turned to me and gave me this life changing quote, “All we have is today and we have tons of potential!” Instantly, today became “my time.” I stopped looking back with regret. I stopped wishing I could be today like I was when I was young. My focus went to two time frames, 1.) Today. 2.) The future.

This is “OUR” time! We have to unload all our previous glory days and failures and regrets. We now must focus on today so we can prepare for our futures. Today is loaded with work that is undergirded by dreams and plans and NO regrets. Tomorrow is where we are headed after we do the work today.

Key thought for me is that we are loaded with potential no matter how young or old we are. Now! Since this is “OUR TIME,” we must tap this potential and bring it to life and operationalize it.

In bodybuilding, we can’t ever be intimidated or afraid of anything. The only opponent is ourselves. We have to overcome any and all limitations we self impose. Do more reps. Do more sets. TODAY! TOMORROW is where we are headed so set the bar very high and don’t look back.

You dear friends and I are living “OUR TIME!” This is it! Unlock the potential that has been residing in you for so long and turn it loose. Nothing is stopping you but you.

In closing. Our time is now……think about what that means and do something about it.

The word “NO” has many origins and has many reasons to be uttered to us. Most of the time “NO” is in response to a simple functional question so we comply because it’s the only answer. However, when we launch ourselves in a given direction with a worthy goal “NO” is never the answer nor do we comply.

If the object of pursuing that which we want is to get it and win then “NO” is a ridiculous response. Even as we look inward we have to decide that an all out effort is required and that the end game is worth everything. Even here we will be tempted to succumb to the word “NO”-–and it will keep sticking it’s head up. Each time we have to evaluate what we are doing. If the answer is still to keep going then “NO” is never the answer.

“GRIT AND STICKING TO OUR GUNS” is a noble and very personal thing to do. We understand what’s at stake and nothing but forward progress will suffice. There can be no backing down. “NO” has no power over us. “STICKING TO OUR GUNS” to the end is the only action worth considering. If we give in to “NO” we will have condemned ourselves to a defeat. The big risk is that this defeat will stop our progress altogether.

There is no magic. There is only “GRIT AND OUR COMMITMENT TO STICK TO OUR GUNS.” As the Mandelorian would say, “THIS IS THE WAY!”

Bodybuilding causes us to face this dilemma each and every morning when our eyes flicker open for the day. We scan the horizon for the win. We are aware of the reasons why we should push forward. When we hit the gym, we in effect have invoked “GRIT” to get the job done.

Never forget that “NO” is self eliminating. Sticking to our path is noble. Hit the stage knowing that you belong there because of your “GRIT” and because you did not abandon “YOUR GUNS.” Remember! You can’t win if you don’t show up!

The Best to all Warriors everywhere who need the “GRIT” and persistence to “STICK TO YOUR GUNS” no matter who utters the word “NO.”

In bodybuilding there are NO short cuts. Often the journey will take us down roads that we never dreamed of and they are usually very unpleasant. They are usually unpleasant and hard because we don’t believe it will do any good, or we are afraid of change, or we are stubborn and just don’t want to do it. Even when we know the hard road is necessary we fight doing it.

I hated being told by my coach, Justin Dees that I don’t listen and I’m constantly going rogue on him even after him giving me very clear instructions. He was right! I thought I knew enough to skate by and be successful. Boy! I was wrong. I was consistently under performing and it had everything to do with my attitude. Justin got me aside and took me into his office and told me, “I don’t know why you pay me! You don’t ever do what I tell you.” That wasn’t a wake up call, it was a call to duty and a severe warning! That was about as close to crying by a grown man as you will ever see. Times changed pronto! This was the “WORST”—Now, in order to get to the best things I had to perform under the ultimatum. I learned and it was painful! I just finished my 21st contest.

When my son was diagnosed with Acute T-Cell Leukemia at age 11 things got very bad very fast. He was sick and I was working hard to be a normal dad for him. When things got real bad his Pediatric Oncologist told us what was decided for his treatment. But! his next few words set the course for us and my son’s treatment. He said, “In order to get to a better place we have to go down into a very bad place. There was no other way.” Nathan, was going to get very sick and he might die but we have no other recourse. This was the way to the best and it promised to be the worst of journeys. We did it! We suffered and Nathan nearly died but he is alive and in permanent remission.

In each of the above stories the kernel of wisdom is to grasp the truth of the journey, face it, get on with it and don’t look back and don’t give up. The BEST is up ahead but we have to PATIENTLY execute the plan and endure when it seems better to quit!

Bottom Line: THE “WORST” ALWAYS BEGETS THE “BEST”

This quote is soooo true! How often do we fantasize about something wonderful that we want to possess. We want it so badly it’s all we think about. We imagine how it’s going to feel in our hands or how it will look on our bodies. In our minds we twirl it, touch it, run our hands along the exterior, and it becomes part of us. Its better than “Ralphy’s Red Ryder Air Rifle”—and we know the rest of the Christmas Story.

Now Ralphy did not do anything to get the “Red Ryder Air Rifle,” he just wanted it so badly that it occupied his mind, heart, and life as he anticipated getting his hands on it. This is where the story of “WANT” ends and reality takes over.

The greatest truth we will ever face is that if we “WANT” something we have to earn it, not just pine for it. As we work for that which we “WANT” it slowly becomes within reach and one day it is ours. The transition from “WANT” to “DESERVE” has just been made. Nobody can take it away. We earned it and we “DESERVE” it. Perspective is everything.

In bodybuilding, as it is in life, we want the body and the trophies because that’s the currency we traffic in as competitors. The first thing we learn from our coaches (in my case, Justin Dees) is that we have to put in the effort to first get the body and then pound it into a presentable and potentially a champion physique. There is no just “WANTING” a great body, it must be earned through consistent, daily, hard work and discipline. It’s a lonely road but it has to be traveled by you and me. Nobody will do it for us and no amount of “WANTING” can substitute for the focus, planning, effort and pain.

The next time somebody says they “WANT” something, do some counseling in the kindest voice to guide them to the tools required so that they attain what they “DESERVE.” This is where our experience can save a person from their own “DELUSIONAL THOUGHTS AND DESIRES.” The sense that you have helped another to be better is the feeling you “DESERVE.” This is our calling to give back.

There are so many things in life that have to be learned and integrated for our self improvement and in many cases for our own personal survival. My wife and I talk much about the hardest of lessons we learn and how it happened. Christine, often tells me a story that her father, Congressman, David King of Utah, told her about the greatest lessons that he learned. Each of the great lessons is put into place during the hardest circumstances imaginable. These lessons often become part of the fabric of our belief systems that forms the foundation that we rest our lives on. It could be the death of a family member, a severe illness, the loss of a marriage, a wayward son or daughter, or the loss of a career. What ever the trauma that threatens to end our very beings we have to face these things squarely and figure out a way to go on. How we respond to our really bad “THING” will determine whether we learned anything and can push on to a victory or whether we missed the point and we are beaten.

In bodybuilding we are faced with injury, sickness, medical conditions, psychological burnout, or a loss of our way forward or the loss of our “REASON WHY.” Again, how we respond to our REALLY BAD THING will determine whether we retrench and figure out another way tp live and redoubling our efforts or whether we will let the “BAD THING” cause “self-elimination.”

Life, family, or bodybuilding requires us to face the hardest of challenges. We will be forced to stare defeat in the face and yet win. In doing so, we will discover what we are really made of. What sort of character do we possess? Ultimately, we are either quitters or conquerors. This determination will only come to the surface when we face our darkest moments. Pray that God will help us to the next level when we have been devastated.

All of us who have competed as athletes can recall a time or two when we faced off with our opponent (wrestling or track or football) and we got a quick glance at his/her eyes. We could tell instantly whether they were afraid, determined, or unsure of themselves. In a micro millisecond we had the situation sized up. Conversely, our opponent also gets a look at our “inner warrior” directly through our eyes. My only comment here is that we had better be able to flash furry back at him/her. They have to be placed on notice that we own this turf and they will have to kill me to take it.

In bodybuilding there is a tendency to make training a repetitive and emotionless process. We grind, sweat, grunt, flex, pose but in the end we have just gone through the motions. In order to change things from the mundane and get to the next level of effort and excitement we have to have decided where we want to go AND what it will take to get there. Without this mental and soul searching work we will slow down and quit.

Personally, I go to the gym with a chip on my shoulder. I determine to see my workout as a necessary thing to take me to the podium. My first principle is to be quiet. Stay focused. Think about where I want to go and what I want to look like. I talk very little during training (as taught by my recent coach Justin Dees). I think only about the work at hand.

In the end, I have developed an iron will to get what I want. I’m not unpleasant, I am focused and inside my head. Blocking everything else out. At this point if you want to know how bad I want this next show, all you have to do is look deeply into my eyes. Nobody’s home except this soon to be crowned champion. As it says on my site, “You can look good at any age,—-but you got to want it!” My eyes and my face will tell you the rest of the story without words. So shall it be with all of us who want to win more than anything else. Put fire in your soul that your eyes reveal. Ignite a great big pile of “want to” and the rest is history. Now show me how badly you want it!

This is a journey of faith if there ever was one. We all know “THE EVERY MAN’S STORY” and how it’s supposed to end with the man who left home to seek fame and fortune returning with the twins, “FAME AND FORTUNE” accomplished and in tow. But, in the real world we rarely if ever know what the end game looks like. Often, we move forward without even knowing what direction to travel or why. This is reality “on the half shell.”

In bodybuilding as in life we set goals and objectives both in the short run and the long run based on what we currently know. So, we make our selection and off we go. We must remember that there are two phases that I just alluded to. !.) Short term and 2.) Long term.

Short term goals are mostly related to survival and the betterment of our current situation, (food, lodging, clothes, job, family, God etc.). Long term goals focus more on what we want to become ultimately. I consider this phase to be more closely akin to the application of wisdom. Phase one is very hard and is a constant struggle. Phase two requires a real searching of our souls to establish. It’s here that we become the “WHO” that we seek to become.

In bodybuilding it has to do with what we can imagine that is then translated into an image in our minds. Then, we translate all this down to the base level to be constantly on “THE HUNT” for that image. We apply the daily effort to get there and possess that which we seek.

The key to all this is to never quit, be constantly on the hunt for that person we seek. The gym is the crucible. The training is the engine. We must be able to imagine the kind of athlete we want to become. The “HUNT” is a forever activity. Without if we will quit and there is nothing worse than stopping short of becoming the best “WHO” we can become.

Once accomplished: Nobody can take that person “WHO” we become away from us. He/she belongs to us.

To review this little lesson we have to revert back to the days of adolescence when we stood outside the ring or beautiful people. This small band of self appointed entitled brats seemed to always have more of everything. Just name the items we lacked and all that they possessed. More than that, the “in crowd” seemed hell bent on destroying anybody that could not compete with them. We seemed to always be in their cross hairs as targets of derision and scorn. But, the worst is when you became the butt of their jokes and they were glad to see you stumble so they could make fun of you.

But, this was a long time ago. In this world of bodybuilding, especially as we get older some new opponents have arisen. Let’s just call them “the crowd that wants but won’t.”

When you start training there is so much to learn and no results ever show up quickly enough. So, we labor in obscurity trying not to be detected. Then, slowly the body starts to change in new and wonderful ways. It’s no longer so easy to hide the transformation. Schizophrenia takes over. We want to talk about it and wear those cool new clothes and look better. The other side of you says, “hide so I do not get judged.”

The most common comment or refrain from close friends and family goes something like this, “Be careful. We don’t want you to get hurt.” or another one that crashes on the deck of our new boat is, “I don’t know why you need to do that any way?” or the best one is, “You’re always trying to big things so maybe people will like you better.”

Just remember that in a rough and tumble world the green eye monsters of jealousy and envy will be ever present. These monsters, if you listen to them, can derail all that you set out to do. Just be aware and wary.

Finally, know that when you step into the lime light of transformational change in the arena of bodybuilding “the crowd that wants but won’t” are just waiting for you to fail so they can trumpet the words, “I TOLD YOU SO!” This is our time to disappoint their self-projected prediction of your failure. This is our time, not theirs. Disappointment belongs to the critics who possess jealousy and envy as their calling cards.

Take great care of yourselves. Until next time!……Doug

Of course tomorrow is coming and I’ll get around to preparing for tomorrow later. But, how much later? It’s self evident that if you want a different tomorrow you must change what we are doing today. This speak directly to the bodybuilding mindset for sure.

First principles are that we have to decide what we want out of bodybuilding and, by extension, Life. The next step is to make a plan to get us from where we are to where we want to go. The last step is to execute the plan. Everything falls along a continuum and a very rational set of rules. None of this is new nor is it “Rocket Science.”

When we see what is possible for us to become our dreams, aspirations, hopes, and directions change. We have to grasp a basic truth that is right in front of us. “YOU CAN’T BE DIFFERENT AND ATTAIN THAT WHICH WE DESIRE WITHOUT CHANGING WHAT WE ARE AND WHO WE ARE.” As my wife says, “It’s so easy to do but also so easy not to do.” This truth should drive us forward like nothing else. We cannot stay where we are and get that which we desire.

This article is not a “how to article.” It’s an exercise in seeing the obvious.

Bottom Line: IF WE WANT SOMETHING WE CANNOT STAY WHERE WE ARE! WE HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT WE WANT, MAKE A PLAN TO GET IT, EXECUTE. And! in the process, the person we are now will change and match that person we want to become. These steps will move us to the next level of success and winning.

SO TAKE STOCK! AND GET GOING!