There were two men who signed up for the same fitness trainer one Winter. They both had the same goal: to become a 10x version of themselves.
They both started out strong. The excitement was intoxicating. After the first week, the training became harder. The trainer required more intense workouts. This continued each week. For three weeks, they showed up at the same time and did the same workout. The workouts began to feel less challenging as their bodies began to grow stronger.
During the fourth week, the first man woke up late, and decided to skip his training session. The next day, the trainer approached the first man and asked him about his missed session. The first man began to internally search for a response. "I was tired", he said. All of these workouts are hard. I just needed some rest.
The trainer lifted his eyebrows. "I see... he said. "You know a very important lesson that I learned in my life is that 'You can have reasons or you can have results, but you cannot have both'."
As the man left the gym, he began to think about the words that his trainer had said. Despite the fact that the trainer had done the work to achieve the results of the same healthy, fit physique that he wanted, the first man found himself thinking, "He doesn't know what he's talking about."
The story began to grow in his mind, of the poor coaching skills the trainer had. "I'm paying him", he thought, "He should be helping me, not making me feel bad."
The next day, the first man decided that he wanted to have control over his own life, so he slept in again, this time for seven days in a row. When he showed up to the gym the following week, the trainer asked what happened.
"We'll I'm here now, isn't that what counts??" the man said to the trainer.
"I suppose we will see today, won't we?" the trainer replied.
As they began, the trainer noticed that the first man was struggling with the basic warmup, the same way he was when he first began. As the two men ran on the treadmill together, the trainer stood behind them.
"How is your workout today??" he thundered at the men, one noticeably energized, the other breathless.
"It feels great", said the second man, "I feel like I could keep going another 5 miles!
The first man was too out of breath, trying to keep up with the other man, to speak.
"Miss your workout one day, and you notice it", the trainer announced. "Miss TWO days... and everyone else notices it. You've got work to do just to keep up with where you were last week!"
That day, the first man decided the trainer was not for him. He began peeling back all of the layers of reasons why he should quit. He built the story up so much in his mind that he never walked into another training session. Instead, he created his own workouts, 2-3 days per week, which consisted of low intensity, comfortable workouts. Whenever the workout would become a challenge, he would simply allow himself to dial his workout down and slow the pace. These workouts gave him the false sense that he was achieving his results, when in reality, they were keeping him in his comfort zone.
"At least", he thought, "I'm showing up."
At LEAST.
The following Winter, the first man ran into the second man in the gym. The second man was lean, strong, and looked like a 10x version of himself. The first man glanced down at his own flimsy arms, beer belly, and definition-less legs.
"Wow, you look amazing", said the first man to the second man, "Teach me your secret!"
"Thanks, man! I feel amazing. I owe it all to my trainer. I wanted to quit so many times in the beginning of last year, but my trainer would always say something that would challenge me. It wasn't always what I wanted to hear, and it surely stung at times, but over the last year, I've come to learn that when I drop the story I create in my mind, and commit to the process, anything is possible. Challenge is what got me here. You take care, brother", the second man said, as he got his green juice and walked out of the gym with a bounce in his step.
The first man walked to his car with his gymbag in tote, and contemplated for a moment.
"I wonder if the challenges that the trainer had given me, could have changed everything and created a 10x version of ME, if I'd let it... but I guess we'll never know." And he continued on his away.
-Christina Sciarretta is the CEO and Chief Content Creator of Rockstar Real Estate & Media Group. Her mission and passion is to connect, support, and empower the women and girls of the Jersey Shore.
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