Discouragement and disappointment in large or small doses affect everyone in every area of life. These negative conditions, if they are severe and recurrent, can lead to depression. And depression can be more than a temporary misery; it can become a chronic and crushing disease. We then confront the Triple Ds: discouragement, disappointment, and depression. For our purposes, we’re specifically talking about situations relating to muscle building, fat loss, and getting in shape—where many of us experience more disappointment and discouragement than fulfillment and success. Here’s where the strong are separated from the weak: press on or pull back.
THE LOWEST PIT
I don’t care if it’s leap year, NASCAR tryouts, Thursday night with the girls at the Bowl-O-Rama, or you’re just hungry and pooped—random gorging is trouble. Are you willing to pay that price? Think about it. At some point you will feel weak, fat, and stupid. Guilt is a mean companion, unrelenting, almost sadistic. You want to get in shape, you want to build muscle, and you want to be strong. But you lack discipline and are unable to deny yourself for a day. Excuses have no place in the life of a lifter. Fact is, you ate pizza and drank beer while you sat on the couch and watched the tube. You did it before, and you’ll do it again and that’s the way it works.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
A true seeker of muscle and might cannot omit a training session. Unmotivated imposters miss workouts. Hapless wimps and doodlers let their workouts slide, but not men and women of steel. The next time the urge to skip a workout arises, will you regard it as an opportunity to exhibit strength or a moment before a catastrophe? Will you submit to the moment or fight it with all your strength? If you choose the former, you lose. Choose the catastrophe and you become one. The solution I offer is composed of 10 two-word commands. We have too much to live for to be grounded and weak, so fight for might.
