By Charles Staley, B.Sc,
MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
Tough Love From Coach Staley
Do you think that motivation is a
fundamental issue when it comes to successful exercise or athletic
training programs?
I don’t. In fact, I KNOW it isn’t!
How can I say this? Easily, often,
without hesitation, and with supreme confidence.
Look: You
are exactly where you want to be right now. You’ve
already taken the steps necessary to achieve your station in life,
and not one bit more. And you’re completely satisfied with
that station in life. Even if you know you could be much leaner,
stronger, faster (or whatever trait or quality that applies most
to you) than you are.
Now you might say "Well, that’s
not true - I know someone who is 100 pounds overweight and he’s
miserable!"
To which I say, no, he’s satisfied.
Clearly, the benefit he’s deriving from his behaviors still
outweighs the drawbacks, or else he’d
change those behaviors!
OK, let’s use me as an example.
I’m reasonably lean and my goals revolve around physical capacity
- strength, speed, and so on. And I’ve got a particular affection
for the power clean - probably because I’m fairly good at it
relative to other lifts. Anyway, I sometimes catch myself telling
someone that I’d love to be able to power clean
315 pounds (my current best is 275 pounds).
But whenever
I say that, I’m lying. Why? Because, quite simply,
if I REALLY wanted a 315 power clean, I would have already taken
the steps necessary to accomplish that particular feat!
Now, if I wanted to find excuses for
my inability to clean 315, I could probably find them. I’m
44 years old. I’ve had several very serious knee surgeries.
I’m ectomorphic. I don’t use performance-enhancing drugs.
I got picked on a lot when I was in elementary school. Come to think
of it, this could end up being a pretty big list!
I’m not really interested in
excuses though. The fact is, I’m healthy, knowledgeable, athletic,
my profession provides me with ample time and energy to train, I
know lots of great Olympic weightlifters and coaches, I have a great
gym right in my home….OK, this can potentially be a bigger
list than the excuses list!
Which leads me to the following conclusion:
I don’t really
want to have a 315 power clean.
Man, that really hurt. But you know
what? It’s absolutely true. I simply cannot escape the plain
fact that I have not done what it takes to achieve a 315 clean.
Perhaps, someday I will, but for now, it’s obvious to me that
the enjoyment I get from not having to train in a way that would
permit me to clean 315 outweighs the enjoyment from being able to
actually do a 315 clean.
And that’s OK! And there’s
a great lesson here: maybe some of your goals aren’t appropriate
for you, because they don’t really mean enough for you to take
action.
Question:
What’s your #1 goal? Right now. Do you have one?
Statistically, you probably don’t. But if you do, here’s
what I’d like to have you consider: how important is that goal
to you? Have you arranged your entire life in a way that supports
your accomplishment of that goal?
I certainly haven’t (in the case
of the 315 pound power clean).
This article is primarily meant to
inspire some self-analysis - not to provide hard and fast answers.
However, if you’d like some avenues to pursue some serious
reflection, here are a few:
1. Develop self-reliant behavior
- create the mindset that all of your limitations are self-imposed
(because they almost certainly are)
2. Get out of your comfort zone,
and find a way to enjoy it. When your stomach is growling because
you’re hungry, think "Perfect! This is what I need to
experience if I’m going to drop that extra bodyfat!"
3. Find out what works, and then
do more of it. Find out what’s derailing your efforts,
and do less of that.
4. Cultivate dissatisfaction.
After all, that’s why you’re where you are now - you’re
satisfied with it
5. Seek out and cultivate empowering
personal relationships. The people you spend the most time with
have a profound effect on your life. Make sure it’s a profoundly
POSITIVE effect.
I hope this article has been instructive
for you.
Perhaps you’re thinking that
the psychology of motivation is a lot more involved than the way
I’ve presented it here. Of course, people who are excuse-makers
always think that way. As long as you’ve got enough reasons
why you can’t succeed, you never will.
Want More “Tough Love”?
There are currently a few spots available in Charles’ Private
Coaching Group - Team Staley. For more information, CLICK
HERE.
About The Author
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His colleagues call him an iconoclast,
a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The
Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches
miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled
in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’
methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious
results. His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing
demeanor have lead to appearances on NBC’s The TODAY
Show and The CBS Early Show.
Currently, Charles competes
in Olympic-style weightlifting on the master’s circuit,
with a 3-year goal of qualifying for the 2009 Master’s
World Championships.
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Learn More
About
EDT Training!
Charles Staley’s
training package "The Complete
Video Guide To Escalating Density Training" is available
now!
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here to learn more
and get your copy today!
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