UP.
down.
AlL OvEr ThE eFfInG pLaCe.
That seems to be the general theme of the past few months of my life. There are a lot of awesome things in store for me and Primal Fitness Pittsburgh, but there are a lot of obstacles to climb over to get to the awesome summit. Sometimes I rock my training, own my networking, and kick the living bejesus out of all the chaos in front of me. Sometimes I’m caught in a whirlwind of projects and try my darnedest to focus on the ones that need the most attention.
Sometimes I fall flat on my face from a very big fall.
I am forever thankful for finding the sport of climbing and obstacle racing. More and more, I am learning that life is one big rock to climb, or one giant obstacle to overcome. Your daily training helps you tackle the big stuff in front of you. Training won’t guarantee that you handle things perfectly, but it WILL keep you moving enough and often enough to get over the hurdles even if you fall-down-and-go-BOOM from time to time. My advice to you, dear reader, is to keep moving past that which lies in front of you.
My particular training method has lead me into a very unusual world. While the majority of my friends in my fitness hub are big into power-lifting, I have found myself climbing rocks and running through obstacles to test my mental fortitude. I had no idea kettlebells would make me good at these two things, not to mention good enough to have a foot in the door with a major television show (p.s. if you’re one of my closest of friends, watch your phone as Los Angeles or NYC is likely to call you this month on my behalf. This isn’t a joke ). But. . .I am not here today to talk shop on all things me. I like to kick things back to you, dear reader. I have a very important question to ask you today.
Read on.
I have had some of the most intense discussions of my life this past week. Some of these talks were inspiring beyond words. Some of these talks set the record straight for all that I am working on. Some of these talks were BIG kicks to my butt. All of these conversations had the same theme, or I suppose I should say they asked the very same question:
How bad do you want it?
Here in the land of Yinzerville, I am going through the development/ redevelopment of my personal brand(s) and training for not just one, but 2 major fitness events (positioned back to back of course, because why not?). There are a lot of heavy weights to bear right now, and I’ve dropped a number of them on my feet from not paying close enough attention. Perhaps the biggest wake up call of my life came just this week when a client told me on the phone that she has faith in me, lots of it, but that I need all the more faith in myself. Well then. . . . um. . .damn. I had nothing much else to say to that.
I had to ask myself a very difficult question that day: How bad do you want it?
It still blows my mind that I am a professional athlete. It seems like just yesterday that I was lying on my apartment floor in the South Side, crying my eyes out, wondering what the hell I was going to do with myself (you can read more on that by snagging a copy of Powerful Pressing ). Nevertheless, I was reminded of how bad I wanted this dream of mine to come full circle. I spent large amounts of adult dollars on certifications to start my career. I traveled the earth working with the best people in the field. It’s really no wonder how to all came about. Now as I sit on the verge of some truly epic shit, I am reminded of that hustle, that drive, that 110% certainty I had from way back when to keep moving across this bridge into an incredible new life.
A good friend of mine had put this entire process I have here in front of me in perspective.
“I used to rail against the messiness, and I AM ALL FOR FOCUSING on the things that create the most impact, AND I’ve started to find peace with the periods of redirect (and inevitable mess). What qualifies as worth the stress and hustle? That’s what to do more of.”
I know the answer to that question, do you?
Are you training for a certification?
How bad do you want it?
Are you about to launch your own fitness line?
How bad do you want it?
Thinking about writing a book?
How bad do you want it?
And when the going gets tough and the weights get heavier and the obstacles seem too challenging to overcome, ask yourself a very important question:
How bad do you want it?
Keep moving!
