9 years. That's how long I trained with real authentic meat-heads, 5-6 days per week in my late 20's to late 30's. They became dear friends. We spent an insane amount of time together, pulling ourselves apart and trying to put ourselves back together. Along the way, we swapped stories, kicked around theories of life, handed out nicknames like candy, and came up with ridiculous ideas about how to test our limits. We had all sorts of nonsense sayings that made complete sense to us. One of them has been tumbling around my mind recently. 'It's not the peat, IT'S THE REPEAT that will get you.'
It's total meat-head jargon at first glance, but there's some wisdom there. Let's dissect it real quick. We would often bark that mumbo jumbo AFTER we had just accomplished some very challenging task. For example, sometimes we would perform an exercise with a weight that we could complete 8-10 repetitions with, but we would go crazy and do it 20 times. Typically, muscles and lungs feel like they are on fire at the end. Awesome! In an attempt to squash ego and test limits, one of us would occasionally drop the 'it's not the peat, it's the repeat that will get you.' We all knew what that meant. We were going to do it again. Crap.
Why? What's the point? It's done. We did it. It's over with. We survived. Why would we try it again?!?! We had all trained together enough to know that one-time 'gut-wrenching' effort was fool's gold. It meant you harnessed some ego, adrenaline, and false bravado for about 60 seconds. It didn't mean you were are actually strong or tough. And here comes the big transition to anyone that has no interest in physical fitness...
Real strength and mental toughness was demonstrated in the ability to repeat gut-wrenching effort. That's where real progress was made and validated. I could stop the entire post there and let you apply it to any area of your life. I'll keep going and give you three quick ideas on the importance of consistency. The ability to repeat something is where the most important things in life will be developed and strengthened.
REPEAT 1 - If it is really important, do it all the time. Build your day around the really important things. We spend an inordinate amount of time doing things that do not matter. The biggest consequence of this is the years slip by and we realize we aren't living very fulfilling lives.
REPEAT 2 - If it is really important, do it at the same time. A good way to look at this is to 'flip' you perspective on your daily time. Know the times of your day that you simply can NOT spend time doing important things because urgent things are the priority or things that others make you do have to be attended to. I'm guessing that 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. is a bad time for a lot of personal pursuits. Do not
REPEAT 3 - If it is really important, you'll do repeat 1 and 2. This is where you have to be very honest with yourself. There are things in life that are important, but they are just not important to us. Physical health is just not that important to some people. Family relationships are just not that important to some people. Following God in faith is just not that important to some people. Mark Manson's book, 'The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F--k' is a rough title for a punch in the face book. There's a lot in that book that I don't agree with. The parts that I do agree with I REALLY AGREE WITH. I'll close with a quote from that book. 'Your life will be defined by what you made yourself do.' I'll add to that, if you didn't make yourself do it then you didn't think it was very important.
Why? What's the point? It's done. We did it. It's over with. We survived. Why would we try it again?!?! We had all trained together enough to know that one-time 'gut-wrenching' effort was fool's gold. It meant you harnessed some ego, adrenaline, and false bravado for about 60 seconds. It didn't mean you were are actually strong or tough. And here comes the big transition to anyone that has no interest in physical fitness...
Real strength and mental toughness was demonstrated in the ability to repeat gut-wrenching effort. That's where real progress was made and validated. I could stop the entire post there and let you apply it to any area of your life. I'll keep going and give you three quick ideas on the importance of consistency. The ability to repeat something is where the most important things in life will be developed and strengthened.
REPEAT 1 - If it is really important, do it all the time. Build your day around the really important things. We spend an inordinate amount of time doing things that do not matter. The biggest consequence of this is the years slip by and we realize we aren't living very fulfilling lives.
REPEAT 2 - If it is really important, do it at the same time. A good way to look at this is to 'flip' you perspective on your daily time. Know the times of your day that you simply can NOT spend time doing important things because urgent things are the priority or things that others make you do have to be attended to. I'm guessing that 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. is a bad time for a lot of personal pursuits. Do not
REPEAT 3 - If it is really important, you'll do repeat 1 and 2. This is where you have to be very honest with yourself. There are things in life that are important, but they are just not important to us. Physical health is just not that important to some people. Family relationships are just not that important to some people. Following God in faith is just not that important to some people. Mark Manson's book, 'The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F--k' is a rough title for a punch in the face book. There's a lot in that book that I don't agree with. The parts that I do agree with I REALLY AGREE WITH. I'll close with a quote from that book. 'Your life will be defined by what you made yourself do.' I'll add to that, if you didn't make yourself do it then you didn't think it was very important.
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on
being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read
about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader and Director
of Athletics at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. He’s earned a few
degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school
sweetheart and they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated
most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter
for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
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