elitefts™ Sunday Edition
The great Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
This is so true. There are hundreds of choices we make each and every day. Every choice we make can improve our trip towards excellence or move us away from excellence, and it is a choice to take the hard road that leads towards excellence. Someone may act with excellence for a short while, but true excellence will always show through with time.
It is easy to act the part because just about anyone can get geared up for a workout every once in a while. One can get psyched up to have someone new workout with him. Someone else can get geared up when he's in front of a crowd. Another may get revved up when there is simply a pretty girl in the room. These people will do assistance work that allows them to move big weights because they are good at them. In turn, these same people will only compete in smaller meets...but that's only because they will be the big fish in that small pond. This, however, is an act—this isn’t excellence.
Excellence is habitually choosing to do the right thing. Excellence is choosing to eat a chicken breast instead of a brownie sundae...excellence is choosing the Green Iced Tea over the Long Island Iced Tea on a Friday night...excellence is choosing to practice your skills instead of playing X-box...excellence is choosing to continue when the training grows painful...excellence is choosing the exercises that are needed to improve your lifts and total—not what you are good at doing...excellence is choosing to push beyond your limits... and excellence is choosing to spend your time getting sleep and recovering when your friends are partying. Excellence is choosing to be a champion.
When you think of excellence in powerlifting, who do you think of? Usually names such as Ed Coan, Steve Goggins, Kirk K., Chuck Vogelpohl, Louie, Mike Bridges, and Dan Austin come to mind. To these men, there was no "act." Instead, it was their habits that led them to becoming excellent.
I remember reading about how Kirk dropped down to the 242-pound weight class by being disciplined enough to eat small meals every hour on the hour in order to keep his metabolism racing, and most of these meals were straight protein. I have had the fortune (or misfortune) of sitting next to Chuck V. while watching a UFC fight, and he exuded the same intense aura that he does while sitting and waiting in the gym. In turn, Dan Austin trains every rep the same—regardless of weight. He goes hard when he can and knows when to back off, but he always has a goal in mind when training. And Louie? Say what you will about the man and his methods, but seriously, have you watched him train? He is always on in the weight room, and he is always thinking about training outside of it.
Anyone can do the right thing once. Anyone can make that good, right choice once in a while. However, one choice does not make a difference—it is being in the habit of making those choices that leads to excellence. It is not the workout that makes us strong, but the habits that we have while working out. And it’s not one session that builds a champion, but consistent good sessions over a long span of time that builds the champion.
The act of excellence is a flat, paved road that you can see extending for miles and miles. The habit of excellence is rocky terrain where you can’t see farther than the two steps in front of you. If the habit of excellence was easy, everyone would have pro totals. Everyone would be at the top of the game for decades. Everyone would be achieving their dreams.
If you want to achieve excellence, it requires habit. It requires time, dedication, intensity, and integrity. There are no short cuts, and there are no magic bullets. It is just a bunch of hard work. However, if you make that habit, then you can achieve your entire potential...and maybe even more. It is the habit of excellence, not the act, that makes you Strong(er).
