Never Stray From The Way

You did what they told you to do.

You followed their advice to a letter, but you look nothing like your idols. In the face of defeat, you start second-guessing yourself, your diet, your training program. You start wondering if it’s all worth it.

In The Face of Defeat

“To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence.” – Sun Tzu

You will fail.

That is not the question. The question is what are you going to do about it? Will you fold or will you dominate? Because one thing I can assure you; it’s not always going to be sunshine and lollipops. Expect plenty of road bumps along the way. Expect to be challenged frequently and violently on your path to a better body, a better life.

Do you know how many abysmal workouts I’ve had in the last decade? Too many to count. But none of those sessions were wasted or meaningless. Far from it. The bad days were the best ones. The days where I wasn’t sure if I should do another set or just pack up my stuff and leave. The days were my warm-ups felt like my work sets. The days where I felt like the new guy at the gym.

Those days made me.

Bad days mercilessly uncover the holes in your game. Bad days demand more. Bad days demand nothing but your best. In the face of defeat, your true nature will shine through. Rise to the challenge or get crushed under the weight.

Onward to Victory

Take a long, hard, brutally honest look at yourself. Are you doing everything in your power to win? Are you eating according to your goals? Are you getting adequate rest? Are you following a state-of-the-art training program or are you still listening to the industry noise?

Blame yourself for your failures.

Take full responsibility. Assess the situation objectively, without dwelling on wasted opportunities, correct your course and keep marching onward. Never let the pain of defeat detract from your mission. As the greatest swordsman in history, Miyamoto Musashi said: “Never stray from the way”.

It’s not about figuring everything out. It’s not about knowing every little detail. It’s about finding your way out of the maze. The goal is not to do everything by the book or to learn everything there is to learn. The goal is simply to keep moving forward.

A champion always takes ownership, always looks for ways to improve and always keeps moving forward. The weak-minded fool will blame his substandard genetics or upbringing for his failures. He will find ways to delegate his responsibilities, to take himself out of the equation and to crawl back into his hole. The champion will keep going, keep moving forward no matter the odds.

Be a champion.

 

Thank you for reading

Victor