RANT: How “Good Enough” & Mediocrity Is Ruining This Country!

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RayJaz-Wrestling

WARNING: RANT TIME.

I'm about to unleash some fury on all the things pissing me off.

Sensitive people should go elsewhere.

You can view these rants as a complaint or as truth.

I feel like we're in a war against mediocrity and I have MANY stories to prove it.

What brings me to ranting is a recent situation that happened and then ironically I came across an article I wrote in 2010, The Pussification of America.

We're in a world where people are FRAUDS - they TALK about excellence but truly only want and accept mediocrity.

The recent scenario that happened really tipped me off.

This Video explains ......

When I was outside digging, my son came outside to say hi to me, he told me he loves me.

I told him when he grows up and has a job, ANY job, that if he makes a mistake, he has to fix it, period. Even if it's NOT your fault. You fix it.

If I owned that fence company I would have driven to the house, seen the mistake (whether it was mine or not) and found a way to make it right.

I spent 2 days on the phone and digging here, there and everywhere until I found a reputable company. My bill was small, 196 dollars or something. For that fence company, they wipe their ass with that money but now I will have NO hesitation when people ask me about them, telling them they don't OWN their mistakes.

That is called being WEAK.

Here's a Short List of WEAK shyt happening in this world.

  • Notice in the profile of Coaches on twitter, they always have the little weak phrase, "opinions are my own". What this REALLY means is that their school is scared of someone who is gonna say something that offends others. For example, let's say a Coach says something like this: "The 6 AM group needs more intensity if they want to win!"

The administration of the school FEARS someone getting butt hurt which leads to law suits.

I know someone who recently retired from being Superintendent of Schools. He told me gets 4 - 8 phone calls EVERY DAY from complaining parents. That is every day. He said this is what he used to get every year!

Times are changing, we can't deny it. And, when people say 'It's this generation" it's really NOT that simple. It's the parents. It's the adults who were supposedly raised in "tougher times" that have more excuses than a grocery list.

I tell kids straight up, "If I lie to you and tell you what an animal you are when you really are NOT, am I helping you?"

I recently was asked to speak to a team and I saw 1 of the kids who used to train with us. I told this athlete he was an embarrassment to the team. I told him I remember him telling me he woke up at 12 noon and all he ate that day was a bowl of cereal and it was 6 PM. He smirked and almost laughed. I told him it's NOT funny, it's an embarrassment to himself and the team. I told him to NEVER show up at my gym again. NO amount of money can't buy you out of your laziness or rudeness.

Many would take the money. But that behavior sickens me. Kids like this NEED to hear the truth. The earlier they learn this lesson, the better.

Now, if I was a teacher, I'd be in court for saying what I said, getting sued for this student being butt hurt. The TRUTH is what these kids need to hear. Lying to them only hurts them NOW and in the Future.

  • A Coach at a well known prep school brought me to his school last year to see if I could help his team. He showed me the weight room which was OLD, it still had the 1980 Universal Machine but damn, I LOVED it. I KNEW I could build monsters in that dungeon.But...... That Coach told me athletics have taken a back seat the past 10 years because administration doesn't want to deal with the back lash of parents complaining.
    I knew I was in the wrong place when he introduced me to a parent who told me he didn't want his kid to get bulky and slow lifting weights. His son was 5' 8" and 150 lbs. I thought people only said that stupid line in the 80s.
  • Do you see the problem here? Parents and kids are delusional because we fear telling them the truth. Bulky and slow at 150 lbs on a Basketball? WTF!?!?!

    - Another prep school brought me in to discuss running strength & conditioning for athletes. Their Football team had a losing record BUT they go to a performance facility because they "get a deal". WTF is everyone doing looking for cheaper rather than better? How about that losing record year after year? Saved money doesn't help make the kids any better.

  • While in the same meeting, the AD introduced me to the Physical Education Dept Chair and said they're considering having me there to train the kids. The Dept Chair said, "Ohhhhh, is the weight room gonna be clean?" I said to the AD, "That is a WEAK excuse. This is about helping the kids and we're worried about me wiping down equipment and putting weights away?"I saw right then and there that this school was NOT Living for The Relentless Pursuit of Excellence.

    The AD told me he hates walking through the weight room and he showed me why.

    The weight room had barbells on the floor loaded up and NOT returned. This means there is NO leadership, organization or TOUGHNESS in the weight room. There is NO winning culture.

    Squat racks were stuffed in a corner so only 1 side could serve for plate storage. It was a complete shit show. Mediocrity wins! They said they're concerned they can't afford me. I told them They can't afford to NOT to have me there. THAT's the truth.

    - Another school had me invited up for several visits. Yes, not 1 visit, several visits. They talked a big game and wanted to change their losing record across several sports.

    After a few meetings they didn't even reply to e mails. Nor did they say, "Thanks for taking time out of your schedule, we appreciate it." People are ungrateful. It's WEAK when you can't even reply to an e mail and say "thank you".

    Isn't it amazing that in this world people don't say thank you and those who do a GREAT job, or perhaps a good job, they get fired. These Coaches are called "mean". Nowadays, hard work is equated with being mean.

    THAT weak attitude is killing this country.

    - A kid we used to train told me one day that his neck was hurting because his workouts in the High School weight room required squats, but, they ran out of squat racks. So, the Coaches told guys to partner up and lift the bars up and put them on his back. Well, they DROPPED the f--ing bar on this kids neck!

    If you're in the know, you've heard of lifters who had SERIOUS injuries due to bars dropping on their necks! Well, this kids Dad e mailed us 2 weeks later saying he's too busy to train with us because "they're lifting at school". Also, this kid was on a team discount.

  • So, here we have a parent whose son could have broken his neck, BUT, he wants the free training over world class coaching. Am I the only person who sees this as stupid on the simplest of levels?
    Thanks to incidents like this one, Coaches know, I NEVER do team discounts because of how parents disrespect you as a Coach when you discount your services. They think this is some groupon bull shit and treat you like shyt.Groupon is for people who don't believe in what they do so they try to compete on price. WEAK.

    I've had parents in BMWs, Cadillac Trucks and Range Rovers asking about discounts. WEAK.

  • What's more important? The car you drive to impress the fake people in your town or your child's success?

I opened the first warehouse space for The Underground Strength Gym in June of 2007.

Edison-Underground-StrengthGym-2015

I've NEVER had an issue with billing or refunding people.

In fact, if I ever remove an athlete from the gym and they trained half the month, I refund ALL their money. I don't want anyone's money who doesn't believe in what we do. That is what I call "dirty money".

Now, a few weeks ago, I received a notice in the mail for a charge back. I called the CC company and they said someone was billed at the gym and said they didn't recognize the payment AND did not authorize the payment.

I was confused because this NEVER happened to me. NEVER in my life did I receive a gym charge back. I made some phone calls to the Credit Card company to dig up the information and got the name of the person who claimed it was not authorized.

Here's what REALLY happened.

A father called me and spoke on the phone with me at least 3 times, perhaps even 4 or 5 times. We spoke often and I clearly remember this because I do NOT speak with people on the phone./

We also exchanged e mails and text messages.

I normally NEVER answer my phone because people are LAZY. They want to ask me about the gym, the pricing, etc, ALL of which is on the web site that they're too lazy to read. It's ALL there. It's an automatic red flag when someone calls me instead of reading the web site.

I learned this and now I tell people straight forward, ONLY e mail me AFTER you have Thoroughly read the gym web site, top to bottom. People cry like they can't spend 10 minutes to read about something for their OWN kids!

Anyway, this parent and I had multiple conversations on the phone and a few text messages.

His son attended a free trial so they were even IN the gym.

He called me and signed his son up for the 12 month training, NOT the monthly training, the ALL in 12 months I am fully dedicated training package. Then, after 2 weeks of NOT showing up, our system sends e mails to check in.

I texted the father 2 or 3 x checking in as well.

So, after all these phone calls and e mails AND showing up AT the gym to train, THIS father calls his credit card company and claims don't recognize the bill, THAT is called being WEAK.

And, why don't I want that money? Again..... THAT is what I call "dirty money". It's money coming from sneaky people who always lie and sneak their way around the truth and the work.

Also, THESE people actually WIN the case. They DO get their money back.

I have ZERO tolerance for that BS. Those people get punished merely by their own existence. And, unfortunately they teach their kids to be sneaky and weak. The WEAK society continues to be built upon ore weakness, thanks to this unethical, weak lifestyle.

This list of weak mediocrity can go on and on and on......

The truth is this: People SAY they want excellence but excellence is HARD work. It's an ALL the time thing NOT a once in a while thing.

Why are Coaches at high schools who lose 75 - 95% of the time NEVER fired? Because Admin LIKES them. They like the Coach who lays low and doesn't make waves.

A local wrestling coach told me his team loses because they don't have their own wrestling room. How pathetic of an excuse.

I've known plenty of Top teams who have POOR facilities. Coaches who are LEADERS builds more LEADERS. Leaders build winning teams both in sports AND in life.

So, how do I deal with the weak people who have weak ethics and weak work ethic?

I just put my head down and keep charging.

I KNOW that it's NOT about how much money I make or how many athletes I train, it's HOW we do what we do. It's the passion and commitment of my OWN that I can control.

A gym that is soft, cozy and holds mediocre standards will be pumping with members! Why? Because hard work is hated b many.

I say CHASE the work, Love it! Look for the tough workouts.

But this is not what people want in this world. Even if it means NO results, in their mind they're saying, "FK this, all this work sucks."

I find the beauty in the challenge while others cower under the challenge and give up.

When I go to the grave, there will be NO ONE at my funeral talking about how I was a chicken shyt. NO ONE stating how I lacked passion, ethics, work ethic, etc.

My soul will have NO place among The sneaky people, the thieves, the complainers, the mediocre and those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Man-Arena-Roosevelt

What lessons can be learned here?

Honestly, I don't know...... I just RANTED to get that shyt off my chest.

HOPEFULLY, some weak person WILL read this blog and try to change themselves for the better.

Am I preaching to the choir here?

Are all the right people reading this while those weak, unethical, sneaky people are out there, sitting on the couch contemplating their next short cut? I don't know.

But for me.

Here's what I will do NOW.

It's 90 + degrees outside. I'll go and Deadlift in my garage. I will farmer walk Kettlebells up and down the street. I'll crank out push ups and I will CHASE the pain while the weak people who love mediocrity and laziness will sit on the couch and accept mediocrity on their best day and pat themselves on the back.

Good for you for sucking.

FUCK MEDIOCRITY.

Success Takes NO Vacation.

Live The Code 365.

For Those Who Live For The Relentless Pursuit of Excellence

Details HERE

UndergroundStrengthAcademy1 UndergroundStrengthAcademy2

12 Responses

  1. Jim Thompson says:

    I love the way you deal with these assholes! Thanks for the insight. This will be my modus operandi from now on.! People in Montana better get ready!

  2. Spot on. I coached a youth basketball team a couple years back. They weren’t pushovers, we won a lot of games and competed with the best in AAU. However, when we lost and I’d explain how we should have won and how they should be disappointed that they couldn’t pull out the win, the parents freaked out because I hurt some feelings. I’m tired of this new age sissy complex that so many people have!

  3. I needed to hear this today! Thanks Zach! I was just thinking about how I can’t stand the fact that I seem to care more about some one elses success than they do! Why do I work so hard, just so they can settle for mediocrity! It’s exhausting! But I will put my head and keep doing work! Thanks again Zach for the reminder!!!!

    1. Yes, the quitters piss us off so much, they cause us to quit on them.

      Ask John Welbourn, this is WHY he sold his gym. HE CARED MORE than the members cared for themselves.

  4. Jim Waldron says:

    Read top to bottom and as usual you inspire and motivate to never fall into this weak Pathetic pussification lifestyle

  5. About Fucking Time Someone Has the Balls to Speak on the Shitty Ass Weak Little Bitches and Whiners Out there!!! I do it daily, cause it needs to be done… Fuck Political Correctness!!!

  6. Gary Larrison says:

    Zach, spot on! I have been fired up since the day I took your Cert back in 2012. This rant reminds me of the fire you had in your belly when you taught that Cert. in Austin. I look back on that and remember how I thought I couldn’t learn much at that point because I had been coaching for several years.
    Wrong!! I was taught as much about character in that Cert. than anything else, you reminded me of why I got in this business and why you are a leader in what we do for passion way more than money!

  7. Anthony B says:

    Success takes no vacation

  8. Nicolas Davila says:

    Being a teacher for the last 3 years has made me realize that their is very little grit that still exists. It saddens me because my students don’t want to try. They tell me they don’t want to try because it is too hard.
    I was rolling the other day with 3 different Bjj black belts at the gym I train at. I was getting my ass handed to me for each 6 min round. I was tapped numerous times and fought for my life. I finished rolling with other guys at the gym and did about 9 rounds in total with different guys. I beat some ass, and I got my ass kicked over the course of my training. I walked out refreshed and smiling because I didn’t buckle under pressure or stop when it got tough. I didn’t leave when it was hard and focus on guys I can beat up. I think back to you as my coach for wrestling, basic training for Military Police School, and Sergeant school. These moments Instilled grit into me. I searched for it as a boy, and continue to search for it as a man. I would love to coach wrestling at the high school level, but sadly I can’t stomach the weakness. I can’t accept a kid walking during running drills because his legs are burning. I just hope I can raise my kids to have the grit the my students are lacking. Great post!

    1. Nic – the key, my man, is never losing your edge.

      Find a way to challenge the kids and take ownership.

      We need teachers like you going ALL in.

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