When I look at life, I look at it as a workout at the gym. It’s like being in the last quarter of your training, the point where you have to give it your all to get through it. This is when the reps get harder and harder and your mind starts telling you that you might be tired.
Now there are two types of people in this world: those who will take the easy way out, listen to their weak mind and not finish their reps or their workout because they feel "tired"; and those people that will simply say f*ck it, give it their all, push harder, get past the wall in front of them and finish strong because that is what they set out to do.
Unfortunately there’s only a small percentage of people who fall into the latter category: maybe 5 to 10%. The rest of the people will simply walk away, satisfied that they feel tired because they feel like they’ve done enough. They are appeased.
It’s funny because so many people are afraid of being average, yet they settle for the easy way out. They take what is in front of them and opt to do the least amount to achieve the bare minimum in their lives. In short, people are afraid of challenges, they have lost their courage and don't know how well they will deal with failure, so they step away and take the easiest route.
It’s quite simple: we love to do, what we love to do. We avoid what we hate. Even if these abhorred tasks toughen us, we avoid them. We do what we love first, give those areas of our lives the most attention, and procrastinate when it comes to the things that inconvenience us. We don’t like them, so we proffer them less importance. We rationalize their avoidance, and are supremely lazy when it comes to carrying them out.
I hate to break it to you, but this is the mindset of a child. What people currently lack in this world is mental toughness. With no mental toughness you begin to have a mindset of weakness, laziness and entitlement. By no means am I perfect, I fall victim to this same thing -- but the difference is that I catch myself before I fall into the trap and climb right out of it, pushing past the wall that my mind has created -- and that is exactly what you need to do.
Life is not meant to be easy and it will be tough. Why do you think there are so many more pedestrians compared to the elite who have made something out of their lives? What it has come down to is their mental toughness.
The pedestrians settled for the bullshit American dream and took the easy way out; the others promised to do everything in their power to make a stand in life and have a purpose -- and with mental toughness, they did, and they never gave up no matter what type of uncertainty or fear they had in their minds.
Your mind is always going to create a wall. It is naturally weak and it is waiting for you to strengthen it, so that it might get through anything no matter how tough it may seem. When you stop yourself because you are unsure or feel like there is an easier out, then you are cheating yourself of growth and improvement. Without progress and change you slip into the sedentariness of complacency. Are you stupid enough to really do that to yourself?
Pain is both the enemy and the ally. It is the gauge that determines your conditioning, but also the sensation you want to extend -- to push. When pain arrives it is a warning for some to stop – and for others, a challenge to continue to push their tolerance. Life is about sacrifice and truly giving it all you have got within every moment you are blessed with.
The saddest thing in the world is wasted talent, and there are many on that road because they are lazy and they cheat themselves from what they could possibly achieve in life. Be the one that has the courage not to do what is easy, because everyone can do that.
Set yourself apart from them; start thinking outside the box and go beyond any limit you have managed to falsely set in your head. By giving in to the easy road daily, we’re preparing ourselves for failure when the hard road inevitably comes.
Because no one, other than ourselves, is there to witness our moments of weakness, we are not driven to push beyond our boundaries. Quitting is easy without judgment. So you have to do it for you. Mental toughness, strength, power, being a man, or whatever you want to call it, is an internal battle. It’s a war that we need to force upon ourselves if we’re going to win at life. It’s too easy to quit when no one else is looking.
The biggest mistake that you can possibly make is confusing happiness with laziness. The true warriors in life are outnumbered by the cowards and the people who take the easy way out, who take the low hanging fruit. Do you know whom the low hanging fruit is left for in the jungle? The animals that never amount to anything and get bitched by the kings of the jungle their whole lives.
The rat race is a common term. It’s a large group of people doing all of the same things and striving for all of the same things. I used to go to college in downtown New York, everyday on my way to school I witnessed the rat race: empty suits running to get to work by 9am in bunches and I told myself I would never settle for that option in life because all of the rats have just taken the easy way out, being told what to do and they live their lives on other people’s terms.
It’s funny because the world sees people who don't conform as outcasts, but we know that’s because what they had over you was mental toughness and they kept pushing their boundaries while you were running in the rat race. The rat race has no finish line; the end is death and that is all anyone in it is working towards -- that is why all of their faces looked miserable everyday I walked by them to school.
Most people tend to crack under pressure, which is why they turn to sex, drugs and alcohol to help them vent all the wrong in their lives. But then, thankfully, there are those people who, when their world seemingly comes to an end, they see yet another opportunity to prove themselves. When you start realizing that the game of life is mostly played in your head -- that is when you will flourish.
Distractions are temptations and vehicles of laziness. The majority will see these as blessings from one angle: they make life easier. But what truly makes life easier is understanding what is important in and what is not. It’s making choices that are rational and benefit you rather than drinking until 5am on a Monday.
It’s about giving it all to be a better you, so that you can set yourself apart from all the rats. When you don't, that’s when you become one of them. And rats don't really have a positive connotation the last time I checked.
“Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone’s task is unique as his specific opportunity.” - Victor Frankl
Maybe. But as Dr. Frankl notes, we all have a mission in life. We have a reason for being here. That reason isn’t simply to ease through life doing what we want. There’s a greater possibility for each of us: something we can do, it’s just a matter of if we will do what’s necessary to do it. If you’re mentally tough, you can handle anything.
Preston Waters | Elite.
