Wait until you're my age

Just wait until you're my age..

I'll never forget the first time I heard that statement from an older guy at the gym. 

It was the first gym I joined and I had been making steady progress for about six months or so. 

People started to notice my body was changing. Muscles were forming. My shape was getting more defined. I was beginning to show that "V taper".

Fast-forward another 10 years. I heard that same phrase- just wait until you're my age. 

At age 20, 30 and even 40 I heard that condescending tone. But as each year passes it becomes less of a factor. Now at age 45 I haven't heard anyone say just wait until you're my age in years.

I love it when people talk that kind of shit though. It just adds fuel to my fire. I will never be like the person who says that. That attitude is weak. The body will age, we will all die.. but I'll be damned if I give in and give up to the voices of lame, lazy, weak, common men. 

The world being what it is nowadays, if you are strong and fit and ready to tackle life at any moment, you are a rare one. 

You can be motivated by what you want to become and ALSO what you do NOT want to become. 

Both together can be powerful. 

So I train daily. Have for a long while now. It's not a big deal. It's who I am. What I do. 

But it wasn't always that way. 
There were times I only made it to the gym twice a week. There were times that my training was not up to the highest standard. 

At one point after I made my initial big time improvements and transformation, I hit a wall. I was still training every week but I wasn't making much progress.

This was when I somehow came upon the idea of using an external force as a push. I thought of this person who I used to be friends with. We got into an argument on a trip once and didn't speak for years. 

I started to use the anger I felt towards that situation in my workouts. When I would feel like quitting on a set I would imagine scenarios and how I needed the extra strength and power to crush my opponent. 

It worked. 

My training took on a new intensity. A new ferocity. 

If I thought I had no more reps in the tank, I'd always find at least one more..this was a great teaching moment for me. 

I didn't use this for too long but I knew it was an effective short-term burst of energy if I never needed it again. I found another tool for the mindset toolbox. It didn't need to be that particular person. It could be anything that pissed me off. 

You can try it. Harness the energies of life into something productive. Something of your own choice. Not just being pushed and pulled by the so-called negative emotions we all feel. 

Put them to use in a way that is empowering for you. 

It's fascinating when you see what you are capable of with just a shift of your perspective. You need a tiny bit of distance between you and whatever it is that is upsetting you. 

But if you can find distance, and breathe for a moment, then use that energy, channel it to push yourself to greater strength, focus, intensity, urgency.. 

You hear some of the best professional athletes use similar tactics. They have a chip on their shoulder. They may have been the tenth pick in the draft. But they are angry at those other nine teams that passed over them. They use this to propel them in moments of doubt or weakness..

If you want more ideas like this to implement into your training check out my book STRENGTH FOR LIFE- A Collection of 4 Strength Essentials books in one. 

Go beyond motivation and find ways to to achieve the body you truly desire.