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Mar 31

Be Perfect Today: Part II – The Challenge Is From Within

Picture Grace took of meOne of the signs in my gym says, “The Challenge Is From Within; The Opponent Is Yourself; The Reward Is Private; The Victory Is Having Met The Challenge”  I absolutely, positively LOVE this quote.  It’s been one of my favorites for close to 20 years. What this means to me is simple – it’s not about anyone else, it’s about me.  It’s about what I’ll do today. Yesterday is done and over with. Tomorrow isn’t here yet. So, as Oprah and so many others have said time and time again, it’s about living in the NOW.  What will I do RIGHT NOW to make me better?

A friend and former client at my old facility gave me a great quote over 10 years ago – another favorite.  “Find out what is necessary, and do the necessary well!”  Sometimes we don’t quite know what to do to become better.  We might have a general idea, but not a specific plan-of-action.  That’s where your Competition Coach comes in.  Notice I said COMPETITION COACH, not Personal Trainer.  Big difference.  Learn the difference otherwise you’ll have wasted several weeks or months of your life (not to mention a lot of money) for little to no results. And when you get that Competition Coach, check him or her out.  Ask questions.  “How many shows have you done?”  How did you do in those shows?”  How many people have you put in shows?”  “How did THEY do?” “What’s your philosophy on cheat meals?” “Are you a proponent of HIIT, HISS, or LISS?” “Do you have a standard timeline for dialing people down or do you individualize them?” “Do you do cookie-cutter programs or customized plans?”  These questions and more should be asked.  If your potential coach can’t or won’t answer, kindly thank him or her for their time, get up, and start your search again.

headerOnce you’ve found the right coach (and there’s lots of good ones out there, and just as many bad ones…), then your coach will help define your plan. But please remember that your coach is simply a tool…a means to an end result.  The work is completely and totally up to you! The work I’m referring to is you being perfect. Some would argue that perfection is an impossibility – we can’t achieve it.  I disagree.  I WILL say that lifetime ‘perfection’ is an illusion, but time and time again, too many great athletes have proven that one can be perfect for a period of time. Personally, I’ve done it.  Perfect for 12 weeks.  Nothing went in my mouth that wasn’t supposed to.  Not one cardio or weight training session was missed. I added nothing to the plan.  I took nothing away from the plan.  And guess what?  I stepped onstage with my best look ever, so I KNOW that being perfect CAN BE DONE.  The question becomes, will you get out of your own way to allow perfection to happen for the next 6 weeks?

Man on mountain“The man on top of the mountain didn’t accidently fall there” (author unknown).  Perfection doesn’t happen by accident.  Perfection happens by choice. You CHOOSE to be perfect or imperfect. Life will get in the way of every single one of us, but how we react to ‘life’ will define us. If you have to awaken at 3 am to get your first cardio session to maintain your perfection, then that’s what you do.  If you have to put in 90 to 120 minutes straight to maintain your perfection (not recommended, by the way), then that’s what you do. Being excellent is what we do during the off-season to build muscle and improve our shape and symmetry. Being perfect is what we do during contest prep to achieve our best look ever. Do you want your best look ever?  It’s simple, really.  Be perfect today.

See ya’ll tomorrow…

Doc

As always, if you liked what you read or think this will help others, please hit those ‘share’ buttons and spread the love.  Much appreciated…

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