I didn't feel like training today.
In fact, that feeling comes up pretty regularly. I have accumulated a fair bit of wear and tear over my 27 years of training, and the body doesn't always feel like co-operating. Some cold mornings the knees are a little stiffer than others, and most days the only way I really want my steak prepared is minced up, grilled, and served on a bun with extra cheese. I might be a coach, mentor, and a lifetime trainee, but I am as normal as it gets when it comes to being susceptible to the good old 'cant be f**ked' syndrome.
The problem, however, is that I still have goals that I want to achieve. I still have body composition goals, I still have strength goals, and I know that even though those goals have evolved and changed over the years. They do now, and have always existed at the forefront of my mind. My ultra competitive nature dictates that I am constantly battling between my own natural laziness and my inherent drive to improve. Every day I have to make a decision as to which one is going to win.
For me personally, this has really given me a different perspective on time, and what time means as it relates to what we are trying to achieve physically (plus mentally and emotionally). Last time I wrote about how maintenance doesn't exist, and spoke about how merely staying in the same spot while time elapses means that you're effectively going backwards. Well that means that every single day, I have to be PROACTIVE about my progress. Nothing is going to change or improve unless I take active steps to improve it. Every movement, every meal, every decision I make is to either go forwards, or backwards, and I know that as long as I choose more forward steps than backwards ones, then I'm always moving closer to my goals. I am acutely aware that nothing just 'happens' automatically. I have tried that approach many times and every single time failed miserably.
These need to be active and conscious decisions to contribute to my own progress.
Every single day is an OPPORTUNITY to improve. The thing that keeps me most accountable when I'm feeling like a lazy shit, is that I refuse to waste today's opportunity to push myself closer to my training goals. That means that even though I don't feel like training today, I would rather suffer through it for a small portion of the day, than have to deal with unending guilt that comes with having wasted an opportunity. There are a fair few sessions over the years that I have gotten through not because I wanted to, but merely because something inside me told me that I HAD to.
I don't say all these things because I consider myself unique. I don't think that my mindset or my attitude is special. But I have got a few runs on the board, and I wanted to share with you that even your coach, even someone who has dedicated his whole life to learning about these physical endeavors, has off days, the same as everyone else. It's what you choose to do on those days that will determine your end result.
I'm gonna drag my ass away from my desk now, and get some work done in the gym.
I'll see you there.
Dan