I woke up earlier than normal today.

It was tempting to stay in bed, shut off my alarm and just wait until my kids jumped on my bed to wake me up. The temptation lasted all but a few seconds.

The thought of even considering to hit the snooze button fired me up and so I got out of bed immediately. The mind often tells you one thing and the body another. You must remember, the mind drives the body. Your habits can make or break you.

If I slept in, it would have eaten at me all day and I would have questioned my edge, and if I'm losing "it".

I understand the need to Get Comfortable Being UNcomfortable. It's something that was drilled into me as a high school wrestler. 

Of course, this phrase is thrown around quite often nowadays. People on Instagram, etc love catchy quotes but who cares about Instagram. Do it for YOU. Understand that comfort is the enemy.

Embracing discomfort is the Key to much of my success. 

It's also the key to many other people's success.

Success comes from Struggle. Read that again....

It got me thinking about "What it Takes" and so I wanted to share my thoughts, or, a little rant with you. Hopefully you will read this article, get fired up and do something about it.

I often tell the athletes I train, You will NOT get strong until you're tired of being weak!

You have to get pissed off for Greatness!

When an athlete struggles to do push ups for months on end, I tell him, You do NOT need a Strength Coach to get better at Push Ups. 

Strength begins in the mind. You must WILL yourself into being STRONG. If you don't care about it, you will not achieve it. I also see that if you have NO threats in your life, then you don't chase Strength. When I was a kid, there were bullies everywhere. Someone always was waiting to steal your bike, beat you up in front of your friends, etc.

If you looked skinny and weak, you were a target where I grew up. I started training for life, NOT for sports.

Successful people in business are doing what they love because at some point in time they had to deal with a lot of tough times, down times, overcoming mountains in the process and often times doing what others would NOT dare do.

I don't follow someone else's rules or their creed, I follow my own creed, and create my own path. If it doesn't agree with me in my heart, I am NOT doing it, regardless of the money.

I'd rather lose money or go out of business than do something that does not agree with my heart. What doesn't agree with my heart? Lazy people. Excuse makers. Those who accept mediocrity make me vomit in my mouth.

At The Underground Strength Gym, if an athlete is not following through on the work OUTSIDE of the gym or interrupting the focus of the gym, that athlete is removed from the gym and their money is refunded. I Refund their money, even if they trained with us that entire month.

You see, I do NOT want to be owned by anyone. I also do not want to OWE anyone anything. I describe this as  being painted in a corner with no options. I do NOT run The Underground Strength Gym by NEEDING the money for rent, bills, etc. I have other facets of my business to grow my income so the gym will never rely on accepting the wrong people.

"Weakness a Crime. Don't be a Criminal."

I can see myself eventually returning to my roots of the garage gym days and going fully private again, much like Dr. Ken Leistner did.

Each passing year, society grows more attached to comfort and convenience. These 2 things are the very things that work against strength. Strength requires struggle!

Many people thought it would be impossible for me to be as strong since I was natural and took drugs. Many also doubted my ability to be as successful as I am in business, especially back when I first began running my business because The Underground was the complete opposite of all the fancy BS. They laughed at me, talked behind my back and hoped I would fail.

As the weakest kid on the sports team, I was fired UP to get stronger. My fire led me to train 7 days a week, sometimes twice a day. Partying on the weekends? NO. My best friend was a track athlete, so on the weekends we went running. That was our idea of "having fun"!

I remember on Saturday nights we hopped the fence and ran on the Rutgers Football field after the game was over. We would run laps, sprint the stadium stairs and do push ups at midnight on the field.

In my mid and late teenage years, I was accused of being on steroids once I began to surpass others. It's funny how people accuse others of steroids or cheating as if being strong and getting jacked can only happen through steroids. I have NO time for that weak mindset.

Often times, these people who pass judgement are simply lazy and have ZERO clue regarding what it takes to push beyond average and normal.

Prepare for the haters to come out of the wood works when you begin to achieve any amount of success, whether it's life or business, the haters are always there.

Others laughed at me when I was talking of opening a unique gym where members could only be invited and would have to do a "Trial Workout" to be accepted ala Fight Club Style.

When it comes to the training, my business and life in general, I focus on attacking and getting things done. I forge ahead and get up every time I fall down. And trust me, I DO stumble and fall. This what happens when you're pushing the envelope in LIFE.

Gone are the days of being stopped by others.Who cares what other say about you? Are you going to allow drama and words to slow you down, let alone stop you? Come on, THAT is weak.

When you're 70 years old are you going to be OK with the fact that you gave up? Accepting of the fact that you let other people's judgement on you be the very thing that held you back?

I have no special skills, other than the fact that I know how to be a work horse and I believe in myself. I am highly motivated to WIN at everything I do. Others are a laundromat full of excuses.

You want to WIN? Everyone says they want to win, far and few between are willing to do the work it takes to win. Winning means doing the work that others will NOT do in business, the gym and life.

Success is a choice, as is mediocrity.

I don't fear the painful workouts, or getting under heavy loads, or wondering if I'll throw up during a workout or not. Instead, I chase the WORK.

I don't lose sleep when some internet guru talks down on me or how I train, because I know in the REAL World those "talkers" could never hang with me during a workout. They only feel strong when they put others down. THAT right there is a sign of their weakness. Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength. I do not need to talk down on others to lift myself up. Drama and Gossip is the language of the weak.

This is why I believe in training the mind and the muscle together, through HARD workouts. Training for me is not just physical, it is mental and physical, always.

Because you are reading this, I am committed to YOUR success. I get fired up to work with the action takers.

I don't want you to experience my painful past..... whether it be in life, training and / or business. This is why I create so many videos, write articles, create podcasts, etc in an effort to help others, but only those who have integrity, honesty, commitment and work ethic. That's what I call "Living The Code".

These are the 4 BIG traits I look for when working with people, I call it Living The Code:

1) Honesty

2) Integrity

3) Commitment

4) Work Ethic

If you want to dominate in life AND lifting, then you're in the right place. But.... being here alone doesn't mean a thing. It's when you begin DOING and BELIEVING that things begin to add up.

Lead from the Front & Live the Code 365.

--Z--

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