When was the last time you worked hard for something that paid back 10-fold? Are you willing to work hard and struggle for a promotion at work, your dream relationship, or the physique of your dreams? This is the question we must ask ourselves when starting out on the path of anything large: be it weight loss, physique change, a new career or relationship, what are you willing to struggle for the results and progress you want in your life?
The question we must ask ourselves when setting out and staying the course with our desires is, what pain and discomfort are we willing to experience to get there?
There is a reason people achieve great success: if you like working 60 hours a week and grinding the corporate game, you’re likely successful in your industry, promoted and given pay raises.
If you spend disciplined, intentionally intense time in the gym sculpting your body, you’ll likely achieve the physique you desire.
People want to be healthy and have great physiques.
Wanting to be healthy isn’t enough: we can’t just want something into existence.
We can’t simply picture the end result (a carved physique, a smaller dress size, strong muscles, etc) and check out of the process of what it takes to achieve the outcome.
So the question is what are you willing to struggle for?
Are we really willing to feel the discomfort in the gym that prompts growth, change and real results?
Growth happens outside our comfort zones.
Sure, we all want to be happy and feel good. But with pleasure comes pain, right?
When we truly face and lean into our pain points, is when we experience growth. emergence. expansion.
Take for example a break up.
Oftentimes breakups are emotionally challenging, draining, painful, etc. Breakups can release a rushing wall of water in terms of negative emotions.
Once we learn to navigate the negative emotions, and once we move THROUGH them, aren’t we ALWAYS better for it? Isn’t this where the relief of pain happens: when we surrender to our broken hearts?
There’s an old saying that rings true here: the only way to get over pain is to get through it. We actually have to lean into the discomfort and walk through some painful, sticky moments before we come out the other end.
Think about all the challenges we face in our lives.
Aren’t those challenging moments also some of the most rewarding?
I’m not saying we need to be suffering through our lives.
What I am saying is that pain is inherit in our lives. It is inevitable.
Passionate romantic relationships require us to weather the sometimes turbulent storms that come with them. You can’t win in the game of love if you don’t play.
The same is true for the dream physique/body/health.
You don’t end up with an amazing physique and with great health without legitimately working on that shit: in the gym, in the kitchen and in your life.
Some of the hardest workouts and programs I’ve struggled through have produced the greatest physique changes that I enjoy.
So, I’ll ask it again. What are you willing to struggle for? What discomfort are you willing to experience here and now, in the moment, for the betterment of the journey?
