The topic of resolve. I had to think of the topic quite a bit before deciding on resolve as the word of choice. There are lots of words or short phrases that could fit the concept, i.e. will, decide, focus, wanting "it," choose, determined, bent (on or upon), bound, decisive, do-or-die, firm, hell-bent (on or upon), intent, out, purposeful, determined, resolved, set, single-minded. You get the idea.
This first came up when I posted on our main blog page a video of Chuck V. from Westside Barbell doing a deadlift of 835# on his way to a total of 2,565 lbs. The total is the combined total of a squat, bench press, and deadlift. The comments that started to come in were things like, I don't want to look like him, to, what's his Karen time? I get it and while I agree with the commentators here, I'm not saying they are wrong, just that they missed the point. The point of my posting Chuck lift an amazing amount of weight is to understand that, he among other things, is supremely resolute about his goals. There is no wavering for Chuck, there couldn't be, or he'd never have been able to do what he has done. That's the nature of success. It demands ALL. He is a man, who made the choice(s) to sacrifice ANYTHING that compromised his goal of lifting more weight in a powerlifting meet. That's what being elite is all about. The black belt is elite, the white belt is not.
The second was a post by our friend Chaz. She posted a video of a guy talking to a group of people about what it takes to be successful, his example was monetary, but it transcends the object. He told a story about a man who went to the guru and said,"I want to be successful and wealthy like you." To which the wealthy man said, "ok, meet me at the beach at 4am." The young man shows up eager and ready to learn how to be rich, and the old man says "follow me into the water." They get about shoulder deep and the old man suddenly grabs the young man by the throat and violently shoves the young man's head underwater. The old man holds him there while the young man struggle. After a moment he says to the young man, "what were you thinking about when I was holding your head under the water?" The young man says without hesitation, "I wanted to breath more than anything." The old man smiles and says, "when you want to be wealthy (and here you can fill in the blank) as much as you wanted to breath, you will have it, and you don't need me.
Here is the video if you want to watch it.
I love this story. I heard it in a different form years ago, but the idea is all still there and the presenter, Sean is a good story teller.
This reminded me of another, one about a samurai. The story goes, a young man asked a samurai, "what does it take to be a samurai?" The Samurai responds, "you must be willing to cut down anything that stand opposed to you, even the gods." Or something like that. Most people focus on the wrong part. Cut down the gods? What does that mean? It means, NOTHING, even the most powerful of oppositions, will NOT stop me from exerting my will.
Burn the bridge. Nuke the foundation. Back yourself up against a wall. Have an opinion one way or the other, get off the fence and rip it up. Cut yourself off so there is no going back. Once you're committed the truth will come out. You ask about security? What you need is uncertainty. What you need is confusion; something that forces you to reinvent yourself, a whip to drive you harder.
"I never try anything - I just do it. Want to try me?
White Zombie, "Thunder Kiss"
Quote from Gymjones.comDeclare war, on yourself, on your thoughts, on your inner-demons. Cut away all distractions. Place yourself on "deathground," where your back is against the wall and you have to fight like hell to get out or die.
Learn something new. Do something different. Test yourself. Confront your true capacities. Instill dedication by threatening yourself with a penalty for failure. Take away the safety net to compel better performance. One of Brad Lewis' mentors suggested it is, "better to work without a net, or a saw guard. The intensity [is] greater, more concentration, total commitment, better results." This is the ideal of the solo climber, and the man with his back is against the wall, with nothing to lose.Here's the deal. In the end, there is a finite amount of "greatness" available in you. How are you going to spend it? You can spend it any way you want, but you have to sleep in the bed you make. You get to look at yourself in the mirror each day and live with your own consequences. Are you going to spend it on your job? Being the best parent? Being the best student? Being the best powerlifter in the world? Or, you can always chose to be pretty good at a lot of stuff, and spread all the potential around to a lot of things. But know that you are in-fact doing that. What I'm saying is that if you spend your potential on things you don't want to be really good at, stop. Resolve. Decide, and cut yourself off from the alternatives and focus your efforts. You want to compete in the CF Games? EVERYTHING you do should be directed towards that effort. Vegas trips don't matter, the amount of time you have to ice your body to make sure it's ready for tomorrow doesn't matter, there is no question about what to eat, what to drink, there is no question. Do you want it bad enough, like the young man wanted to breath, like the samurai willing to cut down the gods if they stand the way of his goals? You can't be scattered to reach elite.
You have to be willing to bite off more than you can chew, to overdose, and to fail. If you won't risk the answer you won't ask the question. If you lack the will to ask then consciousness will not unite with muscle and bone. I criticize such a lack of will (especially in myself) and ask, "What's the worst that can happen?" The fearful part of me replies, "I may fall short of my expectations. I may not be who I pretend to others. My perception of self may be proven wrong, very wrong." The confident part of me says, "So what ... only after breaking myself apart may rebuilding begin." So go ahead, break stuff. Break yourself on the once-hard edges of yourself. And recycle the debris into the foundation of your future. From Gymjones.com
