Having a Plan
I wanted to share another email Jason wrote to his team. He sends these out to his team almost everyday and they are all very well written and well thought out. Enjoy!
Muhammad Ali, “The Greatest,” has served as an inspiration for millions of people around the world for many reasons. Like most boxers, Ali was pretty rough around the edges and a pretty controversial man of his time. It may be hard for some (for obvious moral and ethical reasons) to be inspired by boxers. But, like all the great boxers, his exploits in the ring absolutely inspire me. If you ever make it into the gym with me, you’ll often seeing me wear one of my several Muhammad Ali shirts. This is often a part of my pre-workout routine. I gear up for battle. Remember, 20% of this is mental and getting yourself into the ideal state of mind helps me. It works for me. What do you do?
Another great boxer of his time was Mike Tyson. Like Ali, Tyson had a tough upbringing (arguably much more twisted). He speaks about this in a very raw and honest form in his HBO one-man stage show, “Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth.” If you haven’t watched this – you should. It’s not only inspiring, but Tyson is pretty hilarious.
Of all the famous quotes from Mike Tyson my favorite is: "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
"People were asking me [before a fight], 'What’s going to happen?,' " Tyson said. "They were talking about his style. 'He's going to give you a lot of lateral movement. He's going to move, he's going to dance. He's going to do this, do that.' I said, "Everybody has a plan until they get hit. Then, like a rat, they stop in fear and freeze.' "
It's how you react to that adversity that defines you, not the adversity itself. Tyson said, "If you’re good and your plan is working, somewhere during the duration of that, the outcome of that event you're involved in, you're going to get the wrath, the bad end of the stick. Let's see how you deal with it. Normally people don’t deal with it that well."
There's another lesson in this quote. How much can you endure? I talked about personal comfort in a previous e-mail. This challenge isn’t about a sprint to the finish. It’s about endurance.
So, today, think about your plan. Think about how you are going to react when things don’t go your way. Life is going to get in the way at times. Work, running errands, getting kids to sporting events, accidently missing your supplements or timing, not being fully prepared with your meals… It’s going to happen. How are you going to react? We’re in week one of the challenge. How are you feeling? Are you mentally preparing yourself to endure discomfort? Dominating life doesn’t happen in a week folks. This takes commitment and endurance to win the marathon – it’s not a sprint.
I know you have what it takes to do this! You’re going to get punched in the mouth. No doubt, it’s going to happen. Fight back – YOU ARE WORTH IT!
