I'd like to shed light on a particular point that presented itself this weekend during a conversation held between my coach and I; something extremely important that should stimulate motivation and furthermore bring you to a true realization of how to identify cause and effect accurately without disregarding the timeline.
When you speak of a champion, it's very common to justify the things they do and how they train as a result of their accomplishments. For example, Lance Armstrong can train 6 hours straight in the saddle each day because he's a champion. Although many will agree that this statement is true, I firmly disagree. The problem here is that the statement is backwards, thus defining Lance's ability to train the way he does and moreover validating his drive as a result of him being a champion, which obviously is incorrect. After all, he did not start off being what he is; there was always a very direct cause in his quest to effectively becoming a champion.
"Wow, that's how a champion trains." This statement is one I've heard time and time again, and up until this weekend, I've never really given it a whole lot of thought. I don't train the way i do and have the motivation i have because I'm a World Champion, I'm a World Champion as a result of my training and motivation. You must never forget this, and more importantly, you must never use it as an excuse. I think some athletes say, "How can I train like that, I'm not a World Champion like him," or something to that effect, and I can assure you that it will stay that way if you keep that frame of mind.
Think about this, once an athlete retires from competition and no longer seeks victory, they relax and ease off the the training. If they worked as hard as they did because of their accomplishments, then this would never happen. The actuality of the matter is that the cause is hard work with motivation and the effect is victory.
To this end, don't let the work ethic of a champion discourage you and surely do not try to use it as an excuse of why you cannot follow suit. No one starts off being a champion, thus, no one has any kind of advantage over you on your path to victory. The weak will make excuses and justifications, while the strong blindly beat their bodies down and love every single minute of it. The weak will fail when the odds are stacked against them, while the strong will never surrender despite the ammount of sweat in their eyes or dirt on their hands; Impossible for the weak is merely difficult for the strong. The weak will be overtaken by fear and break down without a bruise or scratch, cowardly saying they cannot train like a champion, the strong do any and everything necessary to become THAT champion.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Need vs. Want pt 2
After reading some of the comments and debating against the topic myself for a while, i decided to revisit the idea, in hopes to shed light for those who just can't seem to grasp the concept.
First, my motivation for writing what i wrote came from the fact that most people long for independence. Sure, people want to be able to count on others for certain things, but no one wants to really live their entire life needing someone or something. Now, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that humans need things to survive, such as food, air, water, sleep, etc. However, without these necessities, you inevitably will pass away... thus my reasoning for needing nothing other than to die.
Now, this blog is based upon a mental trick i learned to be quite helpful in gaining motivation. Because nature gears us to be independent, i believe the mind acts differently when you think you "need" to do something. Not to mention, if you have any kind of rebellious side to you, it will probably come out under the same circumstances, possibly hindering motivation even more. As stated in the previous post, remove the word need from your vocabulary and use words that appropriately apply, such as:
want
will
going to
All in all, the words want and need basically have the same definition on paper, however, the true meaning is how the mind perceives it. In my personal experiences, i've had a negative vibe or attitude when this word was used in certain situations, which is why i chose to no longer use it. So, do what you want; critique my way of writing if that makes you happy, look for things that you don't agree with and post them on message boards, tell everyone how off the wall my way of thinking is, do whatever you WANT, but at least try to realize the underlying message behind what i say... That's what i want.
First, my motivation for writing what i wrote came from the fact that most people long for independence. Sure, people want to be able to count on others for certain things, but no one wants to really live their entire life needing someone or something. Now, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that humans need things to survive, such as food, air, water, sleep, etc. However, without these necessities, you inevitably will pass away... thus my reasoning for needing nothing other than to die.
Now, this blog is based upon a mental trick i learned to be quite helpful in gaining motivation. Because nature gears us to be independent, i believe the mind acts differently when you think you "need" to do something. Not to mention, if you have any kind of rebellious side to you, it will probably come out under the same circumstances, possibly hindering motivation even more. As stated in the previous post, remove the word need from your vocabulary and use words that appropriately apply, such as:
want
will
going to
All in all, the words want and need basically have the same definition on paper, however, the true meaning is how the mind perceives it. In my personal experiences, i've had a negative vibe or attitude when this word was used in certain situations, which is why i chose to no longer use it. So, do what you want; critique my way of writing if that makes you happy, look for things that you don't agree with and post them on message boards, tell everyone how off the wall my way of thinking is, do whatever you WANT, but at least try to realize the underlying message behind what i say... That's what i want.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Need To Die, Need To Want. Period.
The dictionary defines the word need as a requirement, necessary duty, or obligation.
Many make an enormous mistake in using the word need instead of want. 'I need to get a job' or 'I need to get a sponsor' or 'I need to go to practice'. When you really sit back and think about the reality of life, the only thing you honestly need to do is to die inevitably, beyond that, it's simply a matter of wants. It's amazing the power that a simple word can have over you when you genuinely apply it and believe in it.
By far the greatest factor separating these two is motivation. Generally, when someone tells you that you need to do something, or even if you tell yourself you need to do something, there usually isn't a whole lot of inspiration to get up and get it done right away. When you actually break it down, you're only doing it because you want something, whether that be something good to happen, or something bad not to. The power of want trumps the power of need 10 fold.
The next thing you will notice when you really want something, it's so much easier to make necessary sacrifices. Those who constantly linger on the essence of needing to go to practice to get faster, find it much more difficult to put down the video game controller, as opposed to those who genuinely WANT to go to practice to get faster.
What it all boils down to is that to become more successful in what you do, just want it. This doesn't mean you can just say you want it, after all, simple words are one of the easiest things to produce; you must eat it, drink it, beleive it, dream it, live it. 'Want' will make everything you do on your path to success so much easier, becuase it insures you're chasing your goals for the right reasons. No one can tell you what you want... they can only tell you what they think you need and if they say anything other than 'to kick the bucket and to want', they're wrong. I challenge you to remove the word 'need' from your vocabulary and only use the word 'want' when it truly applies. I think you'll find yourself learning what you truly want in life.
(please dont take the need to die thing the wrong way, obviously it IS a fact that you MUST cease to live at some point, that being said, what else do you absolutely, without a doubt have to do?)
Many make an enormous mistake in using the word need instead of want. 'I need to get a job' or 'I need to get a sponsor' or 'I need to go to practice'. When you really sit back and think about the reality of life, the only thing you honestly need to do is to die inevitably, beyond that, it's simply a matter of wants. It's amazing the power that a simple word can have over you when you genuinely apply it and believe in it.
By far the greatest factor separating these two is motivation. Generally, when someone tells you that you need to do something, or even if you tell yourself you need to do something, there usually isn't a whole lot of inspiration to get up and get it done right away. When you actually break it down, you're only doing it because you want something, whether that be something good to happen, or something bad not to. The power of want trumps the power of need 10 fold.
The next thing you will notice when you really want something, it's so much easier to make necessary sacrifices. Those who constantly linger on the essence of needing to go to practice to get faster, find it much more difficult to put down the video game controller, as opposed to those who genuinely WANT to go to practice to get faster.
What it all boils down to is that to become more successful in what you do, just want it. This doesn't mean you can just say you want it, after all, simple words are one of the easiest things to produce; you must eat it, drink it, beleive it, dream it, live it. 'Want' will make everything you do on your path to success so much easier, becuase it insures you're chasing your goals for the right reasons. No one can tell you what you want... they can only tell you what they think you need and if they say anything other than 'to kick the bucket and to want', they're wrong. I challenge you to remove the word 'need' from your vocabulary and only use the word 'want' when it truly applies. I think you'll find yourself learning what you truly want in life.
(please dont take the need to die thing the wrong way, obviously it IS a fact that you MUST cease to live at some point, that being said, what else do you absolutely, without a doubt have to do?)
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