A key to maximizing your success is to aim to be the best or to give your best effort in your endeavors.
I don’t know what you are in the iron game.
You might be a bodybuilder.
Maybe you are a powerlifter.
Perhaps you are a coach.
I don’t know what you are in the athletics game.
You might be a sprinter.
Maybe you are a quarterback.
Perhaps you are a point guard.
I don’t know what you are in life.
You might be a dentist.
Maybe you are a singer.
Perhaps you are even a fitness professional like me.
Regardless of what you do and who you are, you need to aim to be the best or to give your best effort.
Why You Should Aim To Be The Best
If you aim to be average your ceiling is going to be set very low.
You will struggle to attain real success in your chosen field because you are not aiming high.
Now aiming to be the best does not guarantee that you will become the best.
I wanted to be the best sprinter at West Chester University, but it didn’t happen.
I wanted to be the best natural bodybuilder at Mr. Natural Philadelphia, but it didn’t happen (yet).
I wanted to be the best trainer at the Men’s Health Next Top Trainer competition, but it didn’t happen.
I wasn’t the best in those endeavors, but aiming to be the best allowed me to maximize my abilities at the time.
On the other hand, the worst feeling in the world is knowing that you did not give it your all. That’s called fake hustle.
Striving to be the best version of yourself will take you significantly further than just trying to be average.
I have always lifted with guys who can lift more total weight than me on most upper body exercises.
I’ll probably never bench over 300lbs like some of my training partners. But in my mind I have to keep striving to catch them because that mindset allows me to keep making progress.
That chase to be the best has allowed me to build more strength and muscle in my upper body than I ever thought was possible when I was younger.
The easiest way to go nowhere fast is to aim to be in the middle-of-the-pack. Some examples of this would be:
Prospective bodybuilder: “Oh, I’m just looking to get on stage.”
Prospective athlete: “Oh, I’m just looking to make the team.”
Aspiring businessman/woman: “Oh, I’m just looking to barely get by every month.”
This might be good enough for some people. But for the people who want a lot more out of their endeavors, just showing up or just getting by will never be enough.
Because none of these folks are aiming high, they will inevitably fall way short.
Mike Wasn’t Always The Best
Most casual fans of basketball assume that Michael Jordan was always the best baller.
But what they do not know is that there was an extended period of time when he was not the unquestioned alpha lion.
Michael Jordan was not the best basketball player in the world when he entered the NBA in 1984.
At this point in time, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were the top alpha lions. They were winning championships, MVPs, and garnering the vast majority of the notoriety in the NBA.
Jordan, being who he is, did not allow this to continue. By the late 1980s, Jordan was completely dominating the NBA and had become the league’s best individual player.
But there was one thing Jordan did not have: an NBA championship.
The “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons were in the way, and they kept Jordan and the Bulls out of the NBA Finals for three consecutive seasons.
As brilliant as Mike was individually, he truly could not be considered the best until his team won a championship.
Finally, in 1991, the Bulls, led by Jordan and Scottie Pippen, dethroned the Pistons and started winning championships.
The two, three-peat title runs (1991-93, 1996-98) cemented his status in basketball as the GOAT for the majority of experts and pundits (including this author).
The NBA title was not given to him. He and his team had to earn it through hard work, determination, and an unwavering belief in their ability to succeed.
What Are You Striving For?
My goal in the fitness game is to be the best.
I am striving to be the best trainer and have the top gym. Period.
I have made great strides in these areas throughout my career, and I continue to work towards this goal daily.
I look at the great coaches in history and how their impact is still felt today. Some of the great coaches and gyms that have inspired me during my career are:
Vince Gironda: Bodybuilding
Charlie Francis: Track And Field (Sprinting)
Charles Poliquin: Strength And Conditioning
Strength Camp: Gym
Westside Barbell: Gym
These are just some of the great trainers who I have learned from over the years. They have more experience and knowledge in the game than I do.
I respect them.
But should that stop me in my goal to eventually try to surpass them and become the best? Absolutely not.
Maybe I will be better than them, and maybe I won’t. But if I don’t aim higher, it’s guaranteed that I’ll have no chance to be considered one of the greats.
Your Mindset
When you wake up in the morning, your mindset must be that you want to aim to be the best in what you do.
Are you a sprinter? Be the best sprinter that you can be.
Are you a singer? Be the best singer that you can be.
Are you a teacher? Be the best teacher that you can be.
Remember it all starts in the mind as there is a high probability (99 percent) right now that someone is better than you at what you do.
Usain Bolt was blown away at the 2004 Olympics in Greece. There were multiple sprinters in his heats (some relatively unknown) who smoked him in Athens.
Asafa Powell, Justin Gatlin, and Shawn Crawford were the showrunners of the sprint game at that time.
Those crushing losses in 2004 flipped a switch in his mind. Bolt had the potential to be the greatest, but he was nowhere near the top sprinter in the world at that time.
Over the next few years, he began to train harder and fully commit himself to sprinting. Once he got focused, he became the best.
From 2008-2016, Bolt put on a show that we have never seen before in sprinting. Yet, if he never strived to be the best, we would have never seen that phenomenal show.
Conclusion
The choice for what you do is 100 percent up to you.
You can either strive to become the best or be content with being average.
You cannot be the best in everything that you do. But I challenge you to find one thing in your life where you can strive to be elite.
Average is good enough for most people, but it’s not good enough for anyone who wants to unleash their inner greatness.
Work to be your best and massive success will come to you.
I’ll holla at you next time,
The People’s Trainer
Fitman
