“ The sooner a man begins to verify all he hears the better it is for him… Accept nothing you cannot verify for yourself.” -G.I. Gurdjieff

The fires rage and burn. People like to go down with their dogma, all flames and gnashing of teeth. But personal experience is earned. Simply parroting what someone else says doesn’t make it right and doesn’t mean it applies to you.

If you are not an athlete why would you train like one? Don’t get me wrong, those at the cutting edge can share their hard won findings and some of that stuff applies. But we are fixated on the achievements of others. It’s great to watch those who have dedicated their lives to excellence in a given field. But they are not barometers for our success. Athletes live on a  knife edge, they measure success in millimetres and micro seconds. They walk a path between peak performance and injury. That is the price of sporting excellence. For those of us in the real world the rules of engagement are not the same.

The sacrifice involved to perform at the highest level is simply beyond the scope of the average person. And if that average person is looking for exceptional results, training like Lance or GSP or Federer wont improve their game.

You need to work hard and smart, you need to  work with what you’ve got, consistently.

The next time someone offers you the 5 best ways to do something, the number One thing you are not doing that will help you succeed, or the top seven things everyone should do if they want to achieve…you know the stuff I am talking about, ask what’s behind the quick fix. Chances are they are only telling you what you want to hear just long enough to sell you something.

Sit back and ask some questions of your own.

Success leaves clues, it also leaves great big whopping billboards.

Just get on with it. Stop listing everything, making notes and re-arranging your training schedule. Stop itemising your life. Stop believing that the perfect program, diet or system is just around the corner. Focus on the things you need to do to get the results you want. I bet that list is damn short.

The Yale University Class of 1953 study, you know the one, how 3% of students with written goals for the future had accumulated more personal financial wealth than the other 97% of the class combined. It’s a myth. Never happened. Nice idea perhaps but simply not true. Someone wanted us to believe in the fairy tale. Make a wish. Sure, make a wish but do it whilst pushing half your body weight over your head.

Why do I mention this? Because you can write out your goal list as often as you want, but if that list is incongruent with your actions then you might as well cross your fingers, close your eyes and wait for the Ab fairy to come.

Question everything, including the feel good stories designed to shield us from the reality of simply being and doing.

100 Reps starting now…

5 x Pull ups, 20 x push ups for four rounds. A simple start to getting things done…