One of the worst things that you can do in life is to give up on your dreams.
Many lifters and trainees will easily quit working out if they are not making the progress they think they should be making. But the worst part about it is that they quit without even acknowledging their role in not reaching their goals. Trust me, a deep inspection into their workout and eating habits would reveal the truth.
I have quit before in my younger days and let me tell you I am still haunted by some of those experiences today. Not haunted by fear, but haunted by the possibilities I let walk out the door like a thief in the night.
There are 3 principles that apply to why you should never give up on your dreams.
1) Option A Is Much Harder But Infinitely Better Than Option B
Option A is hard. It requires you to fight and endure.
Option B is easy. It only requires you to quit.
Let’s say you have been a bit inconsistent in the gym. One day you look in the mirror after all that time you have spent in the gym and you don’t look or feel any different. You think to yourself “Everyone else gets results except me! I’m done with this so-called fitness life!” But this time you spend looking in the mirror is actually the moment of truth.
We have all been at this point but consider your options. Whereas Option A is a hard path that will require accountability, it pays off with a better quality of physical/mental well-being. By quitting and choosing Option B, you are setting yourself up for significant health issues down the line. Your health is your wealth and once it fades so does your quality of life.
No matter how hard option A may seem at the moment, it is the right option. You don’t know how much success you can attain until you develop a blueprint for success and then execute it.
2) No Plan Is Perfect
Let’s say you think you have found the perfect training plan. And on top of that you think you have found the perfect nutrition plan.
You think you are going to build the perfect body except for the fact that you forgot that there is no perfect. But regardless of what program you choose to use, you will suffer a setback at some point. I’ve been there.
You will fall a rep short. Your nutrition plan will become mundane after a while, and you will not see the same progress in the mirror. But this does not mean that it is time to give up. This means it is time to reevaluate what you are doing and make the necessary changes.
Think about Floyd Mayweather Jr. when he fought Sugar Shane Mosley. Sugar Shane hit Mayweather with a big-time right cross in the second round that actually caught him clean. Mayweather looked wobbly at the moment! Most fans of the sport, including me had never seen Mayweather hit hard let alone visibly folded.
What if Mayweather had quit at the moment when he got rocked? When he got to his corner, he made adjustments, and he absolutely dominated Mosley the rest of the way.
When you get hit in the face, it is not the time to give up, but it is simply time to make adjustments.
3) Whether You Move Forward An Inch Or A Mile You Are Moving Forward
A beginner trainee who just started lifting can see supreme gains with relative ease.
Because a beginner is new to training, they will experience faster adaptations to training than a veteran trainee.
I have had new male clients who walk in off the street who can deadlift 315lbs within 3 months. This is after struggling with 135lbs on day 1. I have had female clients who walk in off the street who can barely hip thrust 95lbs on day 1 and within a few short months are hip thrusting over 315lbs.
The progress is so fast because the lifter is so new. Their body is not used to training, and therefore they make fast gains. Meanwhile, a veteran lifter will not be adding 100lbs of weight on to his or her lifts in just mere months. He or she may only be able to add 20lbs to their squat or deadlift over the course of a year.
Veterans do not get angry at this fact because they trust the process. The veteran knows that if they average a 20lb increase on a lift each year that it would be a 100lb increase over 5 years. Even if they averaged a 10lb increase per year, they would add 50lbs over 5 years. Don’t you think your legs would look different if your squat numbers were higher?
Progress comes in baby steps, but those baby steps add up over time.
Conclusion
Regardless of your situation, you can never give up on your dreams. Because if you give up on your dreams, you are guaranteeing they will never become a reality.
I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer,
Fitman
