Do You Really Want Success?

Do You Really Want Success?

Do you really want success? Man this is a question that I have pondered a lot lately. Before we tackle this question, let’s define success. Really this is where most people differ. I have come to know success as the pinnacle in one’s field. It comes in steps though:

Weightlifter Example

·      Beginner to Qualifying Nationally

·      Qualifying Nationally to Top 10

·      Top 10 to Podium

·      Podium to making an International Team

·      International Team to becoming an Olympian

·      Olympian to Medalist

·      Medalist to Gold

Football Player

·      Middle School to JV

·      JV to Varsity in High School

·      High School to College Football

·      College Football to earning playing time

·      Earning Playing Time to becoming a Starter

·      Starter to All-Conference

·      All-Conference to All-American

·      All-American to NFL

·      NFL to Starter

·      Starter to All-Pro

Politician Example

·      College Student to Law School or MBA

·      Law School/MBA to Practicing law or Growing a successful business

·      Practicing Law/Successful Business to Involvement in local politics and groups

·      Involvement in local politics to being elected for a city/county office

·      City/County Office to House of Rep

·      House of Rep to Senate or Governor

·      Senate or Governor to President of the United States

You get the picture. I know a lot of people that begin such steps for various fields, but rarely do I meet someone who completes a pathway. Each step requires a more focus, dedication, and commitment. With each step more and more people drop off until only the cream is left. Let’s take a look at weightlifters to understand this a bit better.

Over the last four years, I’ve witnessed well over one hundred athletes come to my gym or MuscleDriver USA and start working on their dream of making a World Team and the Olympics. Now remember a lot of these people were already Nationally Ranked lifters, so most of these one hundred athletes had already passed step one. A lot of them made it to that Top 10 spot. However it was that Top 10 to podium stage that lost several of them. That’s a big step to take. Normally the top three are significantly higher than the rest of the pack. Maybe a few of you can take this step without a lot of attention to detail, but a lot of you will need to start putting in the work on the mundane things like:

·      Recovery

·      Nutrition

·      Mobility

·      Extra sessions for technique work

·      Dialed in accessory work to address muscular weaknesses and imbalances

·      Quality sleep and extra sleep

You will probably need to make a few decisions that are against the grain. You’ll skip a few parties, or at least go home a bit earlier than normal. Your friends will start to notice the changes, but hopefully they’re supportive.

Here’s where it can get a bit hard for some people because your actions and decisions will be a bit different than other people. I’ve had so many people come to me and say that they want to be an Olympian, but all I hear now is blah, blah, blah. The proof is in the actions of the athlete. It’s funny because I have watched groups of men and women start with me around the same time and slowly people drop off each stage along the road. The saddest part is when athletes unwilling to make those hard choices get mad at athletes that are doing exactly what it takes to be successful.

This is the feeling that makes it all worth it!

Look I get it. It’s hard man. That’s why I don’t get mad at athletes when they sway from the path. It’s hard to put your whole life on hold for a dream that might never happen. I remember ruining a relationship forever because I decided to skip a funeral because it interfered with my training for the World Championships. It wasn’t anything personal. I was simply trying to be the best powerlifter in the world.

Hunter Elam is a great example of someone that has taken several of these steps. She started working with me early this year. At that point, she had never medaled at a Senior National competition. She started making better decisions with her nutrition and recovery, and boom; she earned her first medal at Senior Nationals. That’s all it took for her to go all in.

We made a decision to drop down a weight class and work harder than ever to hopefully earn a spot on the World Team. Most of her teammates on our own team doubted her and were quite vocal about it. Well Hunter dialed in her nutrition, perfected her recovery, worked on her mental game, started sleeping ten hours per night, dialed in her technique, and worked harder than anyone I’ve ever seen.

The result was shocking the weightlifting world with a 5kg Lifetime Total PR in a weight class down. It shocked everyone on our team as well as the weightlifting community around the country. Her story spread throughout the world. So did she chill out and take it easy? Hahahaha, nope!

Now she is more committed than ever. A lot of her friends are having a hard time with her lifestyle. She’s absolutely unwilling to deviate one-inch from her daily routine. She goes to bed at the same time each day. She gets up at the same time each day. She now trains nine times per week.

I get it. To some it might seem that she isn’t being a good friend because she isn’t willing to vary from her schedule. However as her coach she is doing exactly what it takes. Look I am going to say this once, and I want all of you that want to do something great to listen to me:

“Every decision that you make either gets you closer to your goals or not.”

The people that will never be great will also never understand that statement. I believe that they hear me saying that, but they must believe that it’s just lip service. Guys that statement is real. You can either go to bed and get 10 hours sleep, or you can go to a party. You can either stay on your diet, or you can go to that restaurant. You can work on mobility first thing in the morning, or you can sit on the couch. You can either live way below your means to work the least so you can focus on training, or you can buy new cars, go out to eat a lot, and go on vacations requiring you to work a full-time job killing your training time.

This is for all of you weightlifters out there right now that think you want to message me about joining our team. Look, don’t lie to me! Don’t tell me that you want to make the Olympic Team, and then move here and start partying every week. Your actions aren’t matching your lip service. However, if you want to do pretty well, then sure do whatever you want. I hope that athletes on my team read this article because so many of them are wasting their time right now.

If you aren’t going to go all in, then I recommend getting a job, going to school, or doing something that will improve you as a person for the future. If you’re putting school on hold or a career on hold for your dream of the Olympics, you owe it to yourself to go all in. Hunter is doing just that.

Several of my athletes are working lots of hours, studying for college, learning a trade, and focusing on other aspects of their life. They’re still training because they love being strong, and they love weightlifting. I think that this is awesome as well. A lot of my former athletes have gone on to do amazing things outside of weightlifting like Adee Zukier, Hayden Bowe, Jared Enderton, Jon North, and Greg Nuckols. I am just as proud of them as I am of my World Team Members.

This blog is simply to clarify exactly what it takes. For all of you out there right now that are dreaming that Olympic Dream, this is what it takes. So either train for fun while working on yourself as a person, or go all in. It’s your choice! Let’s just support one another no matter what we each decide to do. I look at my athletes as family. Therefore none of them have to think or act like me for me to love them.

So one last time, if you want to be an Olympian:

1. Obviously you have to train harder than everyone else.

2. You have to be a true master of the mundane. (Nutrition, recovery, sleep, mobility, accessory work, muscular balance, work capacity, and extra technique work).

3. Every decision that you make will either bring you closer to your goal or not, so make your decisions carefully.

From now on, if you want to join my team, this blog is required reading!

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