Albert K. Park

              

                    Another phone call from my friend across the world, via Skype, has put things into perspective. I am truly a fan of Skype now. It is so easy to become comfortable with life. With work, finances, your “situation”, and even training. Without a doubt, becoming comfortable is the first step before you start falling backwards. Have you noticed this red flag in your life?

            A couple of months ago, I received an opportunity to speak with a pretty successful entrepreneur through the mastermind networking group I am a part of. www.Young-Masterminds.blogspot.com He talked for a long time and I listened for a long time trying desperately not to stare at the Glock 9mm attached to his hip. The one thing he emphasized that was burned into my mind was the simple advice of “Grow or Die!”

            Sure this may have been a little extreme in reference to training but I love that about the quote. If you’re not continually improving or striving for goals all you are doing is maintaining. In the world of fitness, it is so easy to stop or give up. We come across new clients that start off so excited to reach their goals only to give up and quit after 1 or 2 months because they settle for the results they worked for. What usually happens is that they come back to us 2 months later with twice as much weight to lose. Maintaining is not enough. When you reach your goals, give yourself a pat on the back and make new ones to achieve.

              In the book “A Fighter’s Heart”, the writer finds an opportunity to train with the Militech MMA camp in Iowa. This is an elite MMA gym home to fighters like Tim Sylvia, Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver, and Robbie Lawler. He goes there to train to fight because of an innate drive for combat but also goes as a writer. In a short conversation with Jens “Little Evil” Pulver they quickly distinguish the definition of “Drive”. The author mentions that he understands he needs to be hungry in order to become a fighter. Jens simply responds “Hungry? You need to be fu*king starving!”

            This definitely puts things into perspective. Sometimes you need to be starving for your fitness goals. Willing to sacrifice and put in the hard work. Ronnie Coleman says it pretty well too, “Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder but nobody wants to lift some heavy ass weight!”. Yeah everybody wants to be in shape but nobody wants to put in the work at the gym or more importantly eat right.

            With the start of summer only a couple weeks away there is no more time for excuses. There is no more trying; only doing. No more excuses. If you want to achieve those goals, you can’t become comfortable with what you are maintaining. You need to strive for more.

            Thank you to my bro across the world for the enlightening conversation, thank you to the entrepreneur for motivating me, and thank you to Sam Sheridan’s “A Fighter’s Heart” for inspiring me. Remember you are either the Lion or Hyena!