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 Making
It in the Difficult World of Bodybuilding Takes Persistence!
Are you having trouble keeping
positive mental attitude because of the disappointments you’ve experienced
while trying to build your physique? I feel you pain! No matter how difficult
the journey toward achieving your bodybuilding goals may seem at times, keep the
faith. No matter how it may appear, we’ve all been there before. It’s how
you handle those inevitable disappointments along the way that will determine
your ultimate destiny. Any devastating “failure” you experience can be
transformed into an amazing victory—if you have the right attitude and
perspective.
There's No Such Thing As Failure—As Long
As You Learn Something
Some of the
biggest victories I've experienced in my bodybuilding career have come as a
direct result of what may have appeared to be failures. In 1993, after coming in
second place at the Musclemania Natural Bodybuilding Championships when I was
certain I was going to win left me devastated. The pain I experienced, however,
ignited a hunger and drive inside of me that helped me capture the overall title
the following year. That victory, because of all the international television
exposure on ESPN, launched my career and heightened my publicity and
marketability as an international bodybuilder.
When the giant
supplement company TWINLAB decided to go "all natural" with their
advertising campaign and magazine a couple of years later, I was the very first
bodybuilder they signed to an endorsement contract. They created a television
commercial centered around me that played at least 1,000 times over a yearlong
stretch. TWINLAB also gave me the opportunity to write up to four articles a
month for Muscular Development.
That incredible
exposure and the chance to improve my skills as a bodybuilding writer, coach,
and teacher have played crucial roles in making me what I am today. Obviously,
no matter how disappointed I was at the time, coming in second place at the
inaugural Musclemania can in no way be considered a failure because of the
events that have spawn from the experience.
Did I have an
easy road ahead of me from that point on? No way!
The awesome rewards life has to offer all of us
always appear in the journey—not in any destination, things, or end results.
This amazing journey called life is a totally enthralling process! The good
times must be thoroughly enjoyed. The bad times must be weathered
through—and give us greater appreciation for the good times.
When TWINLAB
decided not to renew my contract in 1998, I was potentially without an
endorsement contract and a magazine to share my philosophies. I heard throughout
the "grapevine" that many of my peers thought I was at the end of my
career. To be totally honest, I often questioned if I was done myself after
suffering that blow.
That
“obvious” setback actually served as a call-to-action that landed me a
better deal with limitless opportunities with AST Sports Science. At the same
time, I negotiated a position as a regular contributing editor and feature
article writer for Ironman magazine. Ironman gives me free reign
to write whatever it is I am most passionate about, plasters a considerable
number of photos of me throughout most issues, and even gave me my first
official magazine cover.
Creating
mutually beneficially situations with both AST Sports Science and Ironman have
helped me contribute to bodybuilders all over the world on a massive scale. I
have been able to share my bodybuilding and training strategies at a level far
greater than what I would have been able to do with TWINLAB and Muscular
Development. Being "dumped" by TWINLAB turned out to be no failure
at all—just a launching pad toward greater success!
My biggest
failure-to-success story is undoubtedly my 1998 NPC Team Universe overall win.
That victory came just 12 months after an embarrassing 5th-place finished at the
same show. The level of conditioning I achieved in '98 still has not been
matched since by a drug-free competitor. Failure fueled my fire to diet for over
nine months and put in tons of hours of cardiovascular training. And don't think
for a moment that being presented the overall trophy by a TWINLAB
representative, the same company that terminated my endorsement contract just
two months earlier didn't make that victory even sweeter.
I can think of
at least a dozen more victories that occurred as a direct result of what others
would perceive as failures in my bodybuilding career.
I want to
stress upon you it isn't that champions never experience failure—no way. In
fact, the champions you admire most more than likely go through (or have gone
through at one time) the very same challenges that keep you from achieving your
own dreams right now.
Champions are
not so great that they never experience failure. What makes a champion is what
he does (or does not do) when those inevitable failures occur. Hey! If you never
fail then there is no way you can be pushing yourself hard enough!
Who you are at
this very moment in time is the direct result of all your victories--and your
failures as well. You should embrace them both.
The challenges
we face in life serve as "tests" or "gut-checks" to see what
we are really made of. I have had so many references of turnarounds in my life
that I actually get excited when a setback happens. I know me. I know how
I'll respond.
You, too, can
develop this sense of certainty and confidence when a so-called failure occurs
during your journey as well. You’ll need some faith and you’ll need some
courage.
I want to stress upon you it isn't that champions
never experience failure—no way. In fact, the champions you admire most more
than likely go through (or have gone through at one time) the very same
challenges that keep you from achieving your own dreams right now.
The awesome
rewards life has to offer all of us always appear in the journey—not in any
destination, things, or end results. This amazing journey called life is a
totally enthralling process! The good times must be thoroughly enjoyed. The bad
times must be weathered through—and give us greater appreciation for the good
times.
I am confident
any less-than-outstanding outcome I experience in the future will cause me to
dig deep within myself and take my training, physique, and bodybuilding career
to an even higher level. How about you? Do you have the ability inside of you to
create the confidence needed come back from your own disappointments?
There's no such
thing as failure—as long as you learn something. What failure does is give you
the opportunity to learn a way to eventually succeed.
Actually, There's No Such Thing As Failure
As Long As You Learn Something—and Are Persistent Enough to Use What You've
Learned!
I would be
remiss if I didn't stress the need for persistence in order for you to create
failure-to-success turnarounds. You see, a failure can be just a failure—if
you are not persistent enough to use what you've learned while you were not
getting the outcome you wanted.
Persistence is
what makes champions. Persistence takes courage. Persistence requires faith.
Sometimes, persistence even takes being a little naive to the chances of failing
again and again.
Will your next
attempt be the one that helps you achieve your dreams? Will your next attempt be
another failure that "breaks your back" and convinces to quit? No one
knows for sure. What is certain is that you have absolutely no chance of success
if you do not muster up the courage to try just one more time—or one
hundred-and-one more times if that's what's required.
You must also
have enough faith that you'll eventually be rewarded for your dedication and
effort—even if the payoff is a couple of years down the road. Without faith,
there's is no way you'll tap into 100 percent of your physical, mental, and
emotional resources—no matter how hard you think you are working at the time.
It's simply not possible.
You may have to
be a little naive to the incredible odds you are up against in your quest to
reach your goals. Being realistic doesn't create an amazing life.
Sometimes,
you must be unrealistic—just like many of the great champions you admire today
were at one point in their journeys.
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