How Do We Make Our Lives More Successful? The Answer Is Muscular.

To begin, let’s look at professional athletics for our model, specifically the nitty-gritty of training. How do you make muscles grow? The answer is that you work them against resistance, i.e., weights or bands. If you lift weights, but don’t lift enough weight to really test your muscles, they won’t grow and your muscle building will “plateau.” In order to build a muscular body, you need a challenging amount of resistance. If you make things too easy for your body, your body will stay the same and you will be wasting your time. This simply explains the cause and effect/the mechanics of muscle growth.

Athletics is also about what’s between the ears. Great athletes also have super human mindsets. They have an intensity, a tenacity, a will to keep performing at a higher level, and some are very meticulous about their process. And they also have the ability to let failures go and move on. Great athletes have the benefit of mentors and coaches that feed them the right balance of positive messages and critical feedback to help their athletic minds grow.

The professional athletics model informs us that we’ll need a) physical resistance and b) a superior mindset to be physically and mentally muscular. The same principles can be applied to non-athletic lives lived off of the literal playing field.

How do you, as a non-athlete – an entrepreneur, a Joe or Jane Worker Bee, salesperson, designer, real estate agent, banker, baker, or widget maker – make your life more successful? You challenge yourself. Challenging yourself is the equivalent of adding more weights in the gym. If you don’t challenge yourself, you will not grow. There’s a saying, “you are where you, because of who you are.” If you don’t like where you are, challenge yourself to get to a better place. Then you’ll have to put in time at the gym – meaning that you’ll need to put the action in your Action Plan. And by doing that, you’ll put your destiny in your hands. The answer is simple, but the day-to-day implementation of challenging yourself, that’s where you’ll need the mental toughness of a professional athlete. And let’s be honest, you should consider yourself very lucky if you have a team of coaches around you propping you up when you are down or inspiring you to go for more when you need to push yourself. You will do well to know yourself well enough to be your own coach and cheerleader.

How to challenge yourself: + Be ambitious. Set long-term and short-term goals that will be difficult to attain. + Be courageous. Branch out and try things out of your comfort zone. + Be honest with yourself. Humbly assess your weaknesses and address turning them into strengths.

How to support yourself: + Be patient. Don’t be afraid to fall flat on your face more than a few times. + Be focused. Learn to eliminate distractions and develop a working intensity. + Be your own guide. Learn to mentor and coach your development.

How to grease the wheel: + Love what you do. Passion makes everything easier. If you don’t love it, the day-to-day will be tough.

The recipe is simple, live a life where you are taking on new challenges and your life will grow bigger. The difficulty is sticking to it. Like diets and working out, most people quit. And specifically with weight-training, many people stop too soon, they stop when their muscles begin to feel the twinge of being tested. You have to extend yourself just a bit to grow. People who are high-achievers aren’t afraid to sweat.

Most importantly, don’t quit on yourself. Have the mindset that you are always in the process of achieving your goals and challenging yourself. Focus on the process more than focusing on the results to begin. The results will come in time. Think about the professional athlete model. No matter what job you have, find the professional athlete within yourself to fulfill your challenge.