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America, Michael Jordan, in his acceptance speech into the Basketball Hall of Fame, ended with “Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion!” Great line from arguably the greatest player to ever lace ‘em up. Many times WE place limits upon ourselves simply because of our fears. My questions to you today are, why CAN’T you compete? Why CAN’T you win? Why CAN’T you take the Overall? Are you placing limits upon yourself? One of my email signatures that I love the most says, “Tell me you will...tell me you won’t...but don’t tell me you can’t!” Someone is going to compete, correct? Why not you? Someone is going to win, right? Why can’t it be you? Someone is going to win the overall, right? How come it can’t be you? Granted, easier said than done, but all things being equal, the limiting factor in many a competitor is his or her mindset. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, when you step onstage, you have to go in with a winner’s mentality, not just a “I just wanna step onstage” mindset. Yea, yea...I’ve heard it all before...”I just wanna have fun and do my best.” So do I, America, but the reality is, I WANNA WIN! C’mon, be real – NOBODY wants to take dead last! I don’t know of anyone who willingly trains for months, diets like crazy, and does massive amounts of cardio to place middle-of-the-pack. But then again...maybe I’m wrong. Maybe some individuals are satisfied with just steppin’ onstage purely for the fun of it with absolutely no intention of ever winning a show, much less placing in the top 5. If so, then I’m probably not the blogger you want to be reading, because every time I step onstage, I come to win! I have a ‘serious fun’ mentality to this game, and that’s all it is, America – a game. You play it, and you play it well. Like basketball, football, tennis, and all the other sports, it’s simply a game.
If you’ve been watching the Australian Open the past two weeks, you’ve seen some real competitors. You’ve seen Venus Williams on the verge of an easy 2-set victory collapse and lose – perhaps we could surmise that her opponent, Li, rose to the challenge and won! You saw Serena Williams on the verge of losing in the second set rally and win! You could see the passion in both Li and Serena’s faces and eyes. You could read their body language. You could see the ‘swagger’ as they became more confident in themselves and their abilities. Even though I love me some Venus, I found myself cheering for Li because she was a warrior – a fighter. She wouldn’t give up. She didn’t quit when she was at her very worst moment in the match – 2 points away from elimination.
We can talk about Serena and how she came back, but I’d rather focus on Li. I can imagine her saying to herself, “C’mon baby girl...we can’t go out like this. I just can’t let Venus punk me like this. Pick it up, girl...you can do this..c’mon baby – push!” As you saw her win point after point after point, you saw Venus, who normally has the killer instinct, become the passive one. Venus’ head was down. She was shaking it. She had a defeatist look to her whereas Li now had the Spartan gladiator mindset. I found myself smiling and nodding approvingly at the end of the match, because I’d witnessed a person on the verge of extinction literally rise like the Phoenix from the ashes to win. She had that mindset, America. No one thought she had a chance, especially me. But SHE said, “I can win this – I can DO this! I’ve worked too hard. I’ve sacrificed too much. I’ve come too far to just step out here for a few minutes and go home. That’s not what I’m about anymore!” The mindset of a champion athlete, America – that’s what we ALL need to develop. Doesn’t guarantee victory, but it does guarantee that when it’s all said and done, you’ll feel good about yourself.
I’ve stepped onstage at the night show several times, America, knowing that I wasn’t at my best potential. When the MC called out my name and all I did was hit one stupid pose and then walked offstage to put my sweats on, I wasn’t hurt, I didn’t cry - I was mad! Mad at me for wasting my own time. Mad at me for not giving it my all. Mad at me for knowing that I should have eaten cleaner or did more cardio or harder cardio or whatever. I had no one else to blame. I know, America, that when I prepare myself to my best potential, at my level (and I’m smart enough to realize my own limitations...) I’m hard to beat. Doesn’t mean I don’t lose – I do - but I always feel good about me and I’m happy for my fellow competitors who placed ahead of me because I know that we all ‘brought it’ to the stage. That’s competition at its best!
As I’ve said before, I’ve overcome my fears of competing, posing, winning, and taking the overall. How did I do that? By believing in myself, first and foremost. That was something I learned years ago. I no longer see myself ‘hoping’ to do well. I see me winning. I see me taking 1st place, and the overall, and winning best poser...I see that. Doesn’t always work out that way, and I’m not disappointed when it doesn’t happen, but that’s what I see going into every single show. Even after my hip replacement my thought was to win, although in the far, far back reaches of my mind I knew it would be a snowball’s chance that I would. But even though I didn’t win, I placed no lower than 3rd in all the shows I competed in less than 15 months post hip-replacement. The mind IS a powerful tool, America! BTW...Elaine said that I’d had two knee replacements and a hip replacement...thanks Elaine, but I’m not that bionic yet. I’ve had a couple knee surgeries and a hip replacement, along with a shoulder surgery, elbow surgery...dang, maybe I AM bionic!
Hey America, I heard good feedback on The Philosophy of SO series, so that will continue as the all-wise one goes on a journey to...ahh, ahh, ahhhh...you’ll have to tune in next blog – same Bat channel, same Bat time – to read about it. I ain’t sayin’ nuthin, America...I’m just sayin’ what I’m sayin...peace!
The Dr.
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David “Dr. Buff” Patterson
Personal Training Systems | “There Are No Shortcuts!”
http://www.personaltrainingsystems.net
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If you’re scared to fail, you don’t deserve to be successful...
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Dr Buff
