A bit of context first – it’s the first time in two months that I’ve worked out more than once in a week, and I feel a bit cocky at the moment.
With that established, I’ve been thinking more and more about my lapse in fitness motivation, and the larger issue of my work ethic deteriorating into something to quite honestly be ashamed of (taking 5 hours to finish one Spanish Oral script is not impressive and NO, it’s not because I’m a perfectionist or other bull shit excuses that I tell myself.
The point that I want to come to is the idea that I’m currently in this position where I’m on the defensive – constantly defending my work ethic, my results (both in the literal academic sense, as well as general progression towards goals such as fitness), my entire behavior as a whole and I’m sick of it. I’m irritated by my ability to constantly string together these eloquent excuses to cover up the fact that no shit gets done – UWC and Model United Nations has taught me far too well …
The danger in this, the danger in being able to sell to others (and more importantly to yourself) lies that go along the lines of “I’m doing enough work as it’s more than my friends” or “it’s okay to just relax during the holidays because I’ve done enough work during the school term” is that it threatens complacency – mediocracy. Yes, doing more work than the average person will allow someone to become above average, but that doesn’t mean that you are going to excel. You’re just going to be slightly better than others (which isn’t enough for me to succeed in any of the lofty ambitions I have of myself – absolutely unrealistic given the current mindset that I have).
Grit. Grit and resilience are what you need to be able to break through this barrier. Powering through the myriad of excuses and fancy bullshit you have prepared to ‘defend why what you are currently doing enough’ is the only way you can really challenge yourself, and do the work you need to do. And it’s a lot more difficult to do then it sounds because it isn’t this one herculean task that you complete one time. No, it’s something you have to do every day – actively tell yourself not to skip the gym for the day because you have an injury and can get some more ‘work’ done (aka end your day earlier and watch more tv). Sit down and do a CAS reflection after the gym (as opposed to just staying in the shower for hours).
I want to end this thought that I had. I’ve recently been getting more involved in the youtube fitness community, and amongst the many coaches and trainers on the platform, Jeff from athleanX stands out. An incredibly well-respected strength and PT coach, where he differs from the crowd (besides the incredible content that he puts out) is that he never has to defend himself. Other fitness YouTubers are often challenged and critiqued (whether it be promoting bad form or pseudoscience) – forcing them to defend themselves and their channels. In Jeff’s case, however, whenever a YouTuber attempts to criticize him, as opposed to Jeff responding, other respected professionals in the community defend JEFF (always using content directly from AthleanX as evidence against the critique).
His work speaks for itself.
**The following pictures show some of the progress I’ve made prior to this point (from the start of grade 11). I went from 26.2% to 22.5% body fat and went from 52.8kg to 53.6kg lean muscle mass**
