When I was younger I, like many others, had an over-inflated sense of my capacity, especially my athletic abilities. I was out of touch with what it took to develop excellence in anything I tried. I was one of those boys described in the book Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax. The truth is I didn't achieve excellence in anything because I did so little to develop any natural talent I had. In my head, however, I knew that if I just cared I'd be great. It's a difficult mindset to explain so I'll give an example:
In college, I saw a video of a climber doing several one-arm pullups on a climbing wall. I specifically recall thinking that I could do that. What?!? Where did that confidence come from? Why did I think I could come even close to that achieving that feat? And why didn't I just go do it if it was so easy?
I can't explain the psychology behind that assumption of mine but I can tell you that I now know (at least a little better) how much time and training that feat required. In order to achieve that level of pulling strength I was going to have to change so many things I was doing at that time. And guess what: change is NOT easy. It just isn't.
Here is a short(ish) list of traits I've had to accept in order to help me to realize change:
Discipline. I found that no matter how passionate I am about a goal, there are days and sometimes weeks wherein I do not want to train. My motivation will wane and I just won't feel like getting my workout in. I have to be disciplined. I have to do my scheduled workout, even when I don't feel like it. Progress does not come from dreams alone. You have to get the work in according to your plan.
Effort. And speaking of work, you cannot overcome your current level of ability without effort. Muscles, tendons, ligaments, and the like all respond to stress. This response strengthens muscles and other tissues. Even just maintaining strength and skills requires ongoing effort. You will simply atrophy and regress without work. When you see success, you must understand the total amount of work needed to achieve it was substantial. Nothing overcomes inertia in our increasingly quick-fix society like action.
Consistency. Closely linked to the first two traits is consistency. Consistency, like discipline, shows commitment. It can be easy to follow through on some desire for a week or two. The real progress in attaining a goal is in the day in and day out effort accumulated over a long period of time. It seems that with training, the results are often not linear, like a set of stairs. Often we experience plateaus followed by surges. The only way to reach those surges, which can bring exponential results, is by constantly exposing yourself to stress. This repeated effort over time strengthens your base and allows you to reach higher heights, bursting through the plateau. As I've said before, even a poor program can yield great results if the training is done consistently.
Tenacity. If you can be 100% consistent with no failures of any sort, I applaud you. I am not that way. Sometimes I'll slip and make an excuse. Sometimes I'll keep rationalizing and justifying for some time. Tenacity is the ability to pick yourself back up and get going again. It's persistence in the face of obstacles. I have to teach myself to show stubborn doggedness to work through those slips and excuses and hopefully, in time, avoid them altogether. It's also showing grit in tough times, like during a particularly grueling workout, showing a determination to finish what you've set out to do. I fall short, early and often. But I look to work to make that less and less true of myself.
Patience. One aspect of training that used to irritate me to no end is that, as obsessive as I am and have been about exercise, there are so many people, much less engrossed than I, who are stronger, more skilled and generally fitter. Sometimes it seems as if even people with less total training time under their belt than I have develop capacities with relative ease. I have since worked to develop my patience and realize that I'm not competing against these people. I'm competing against myself. Mastery takes time, longer for some than for others. Developing tendon strength is slower than developing muscular strength. Mobility is improved centimeters at a time. There is great wisdom in Aesop's fable "The Tortoise and the Hare."
Humility. Check your ego at the door. At Mushin Academy, where I do my martial arts training, this principle is critical to your continued success. You must learn to appreciate fundamental drilling, realizing that you likely have NOT mastered the most basic of moves. This strikes at the heart of my above mentioned issues. I often think I'm right and the best no matter the question. It has taken several instances of being shown I was wrong and inferior for me to start to lower my over-developed self-assurance. The more humble I try to be, the faster I learn and the more I learn.
In some ways, all of these traits are saying the same thing using different words. I may be long-winded but make no mistake: Change is NOT easy. It can be downright demotivating to learn that. But action will help you overcome these obstacles. Change things one at a time. Apply discipline, consistent effort. Be patient with yourself. Be tenacious. Change will come over time if you keep after it. Let this be the time you DO follow through and, ultimately, achieve your goal.
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