Question from Jason

Dave,

i would like to ask this question directed to you, because you really have that "freak mindset", when it comes to achieving goals and doing whatever it takes to get there.

Now relating to Powerlifting (i think you can imagine how i feel, that´s why i want your opinion): I am totally addicted to it. I think about Training pretty much ALL of my time, i hate off-days and am always trying to improve.

Now i love the sport (maybe to an unhealthy degree haha), but sometimes i feel i´m lacking of balance. When i think about it all the time, sometimes it´s even exhausting... i think if i would think about it less, i would be more successful.

Did you have such times in your Powerlifting career? I just remember reading one of your articles, where you were also describing your obsession a bit.

Looking forward to your answer,

Cheers

Jason

ANSWER:

Jason, Thank you for the question. Your answer is below...

Priorities?

I spent YEARS like this and many more looking for balance. In the book, Raising the Bar, I described my outlook as Blast and Dust. I am either all in or all out.

What it has taken me all my life to figure out is that priorities (for me) are not in outline format.

1. Family
a. safety
b. love
c. shelter
d. food

2. Work
a. vision
b. leadership
c. administration

3. Training
a. programing
b. execution
c. recovery
d. nutrition

I think you get the point.

This is how I always thought things should be and would try to rank things in my head based on what my biggest goal was at the time. If it was training related than it would move to the top. If it was family related it would move up to the top spot. This way of thinking worked to a certain degree, but it was also screwing up more things than it was helping.

I would get locked in to that #1 priority and all the rest suffered.

I have now found that priorities are not really priories but roles I serve. Some by choice, others by circumstance, but regardless, they are all part of who I am and what I do.

These roles are not supposed to be ranked, ordered, or judged as they are the essence of who I have been, am, and will become.

I have learned these roles are situational. What is most important is what I am doing now or at that specific moment.

Here are a few examples:

*If I am at work, then work needs to be my primary focus for several reasons:

First, it will increase the quality and standard of work I do.

Second, it will take me less time to do because my thoughts are not distracted. If I spend all day at work thinking about my training, then my work will not be my best work.

Third, it is how I make my living and is also how many others make their living as well. My actions and decisions extend deeper than just myself.

*If I am in the gym and in the middle of a set, the last thing I need to be doing is thinking about work or how I will pay for my kids braces. I need to be focused on the set and that's it. If not, I will miss the weight, tear something off, and make less-than optimal progress.

I go to the gym to train, but also to get away from the other roles I serve.

*If I am meeting with a staff member on a project, the result of that project will depend on my focus to the person who is explaining the concept to me. If my mind is stuck in another role, and I am not focused, then I could give feedback that is less-than optimal and the end result will not only look bad for me, but also for the company. More importantly, the staff member that asked for the advice in the first place could receive less-than optimal feedback.

*If I am at home with my family and my son wants to talk to me about minecraft or anything else, my role as father needs to be first. This includes NOT watching TV and half listening to what he is saying. This applies to my wife and any other family member as well.

I guess the point I am making is if you are looking to get things done and maintain a certain degree of happiness in your life, your priority has to be what you are doing in the moment.

Therefore, moments do not come in a list format.