I need you to ask yourself a question: how bad do you really want to be great?
Not just good but great. The best of all time at what you do?
But I want you to look yourself in the mirror when you answer this question. There are many people who say ‘it’ but don’t mean it. And as someone who throws the weights around, you need to use each and every training session to develop your mental fortitude and mental toughness. It’s about more than just increasing your bench numbers.
I was reading something recently in which the author said, “Really successful people appear to almost have a social disorder…” I caught myself laughing out loud because I thought about every super successful person I've ever known or talked to, and they all fit the criteria. These people wake up in the middle of the night to work. They miss social events and often go months without seeing their friends. Their spouses often have to ask them what is wrong because they can see the wheels turning in their head.
Sketch by Dustin George
I'm more of a Michael Jordan fan than I am a Kobe fan, but today’s generation only knows Kobe. He is undoubtedly today’s fiercest competitor in the NBA. Kobe rarely goes out on the social scene in Los Angeles. Instead, he stays in to watch film. When he was coming up, he didn’t just watch old game film for entertainment. He watched to study the most minute details of the greats. He studied how Michael Jordan talked in press conferences, chewed his gum, and ran up the court.
Kobe had the talent at that level. They all have the talent. But Kobe is willing to train six hours per day to catch Jordan. I have no doubt that Kobe will continue to play until he wins at least one more championship, possibly two, because he is chasing the ghost of Jordan. You don’t think Kobe hears the haters who say that he will never be as good as Jordan? I know there are a lot of you. Heck, I'm one of them myself. But it drives him, it consumes him, to become better and to not rest on his laurels.
One of my favorite Arnold quotes is when he talked about giving a seminar back in the day. Arnold asked the guys why they wanted to compete in bodybuilding. One guy stood up and said, “I want to compete because if I work hard, maybe I can be a champion.” Arnold immediately said, “Sit down because with that attitude you will never be a champion.”
Sketch by Dustin George
At the age of fourteen, Arnold made up his mind that he would become the best bodybuilder of all time, he would be the number one cinema action star of all time, and he would go into American politics. He told his friends this before he ever came to America and before he could even speak English, but he believed it in his mind and soul. Arnold didn’t believe he could fail, and he didn’t. Arnold dedicated his life to bodybuilding. When he was competing, nothing else existed. Arnold was seen as a freak to much of the world, but he conquered his goals. He trained himself for life success in the gym. He learned that those reps, the ones that hurt (the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth reps), were the ones that would make him a champion. He made the connection to all aspects of his life.
Although the simple minded peons see guys like these as having social disorders, you recognize their drive and greatness. Don’t settle for less than you have. Man up.