The X Factor

I am psyched by all the feedback I got from the last Blog on kickin' ass in life AND lifting, of course, I had my fair share of cry babies e mail me, but that's fine, come's with the territory.

Remember, you can't make everyone happy. If your goal is trying to please everyone you are likely holding back and playing it safe. What I do and what I speak about is NOT for everyone, it is for a select group of people who want to challenge themselves BIG time while growing both mentally and physically.

Those who don't agree with my intensity or my methods can go eat the FREE pizza they give away at Retro Fitness. Or is that some other gym? Heck, what kind of gyms are being built nowadays? Sirens going off for people grunting, dumbbells no heavier than 50 lbs?

Sounds like a conspiracy to build a weaker country, that just ain't cool.

Something I wanna speak about today is the X Factor.

I mean.... THE X Factor.

The X Factor simply comes down to mental toughness.

Much of my success in life today I attribute to what I learned and experienced through wrestling and training for wrestling.

I learned to train through pain. I learned that pain was good, and, soon enough, how to block out pain and ignore it. I learned to do what others would not do. I learned that I did NOT have to like everything I was doing, regardless, if I wanted to become better, I still had to do it.

I learned to find a way to enjoy a 4 - 5 mile run every other night in the 20 something degree weather. I knew others were NOT doing it so I made sure to do the work others refused to do or made excuses for not doing them.

I learned that after a short time, those who had talent and no work ethic could not compete against someone with some talent but a TON of work ethic.

The same applies to my success in business and strength training.

I have to get LOTS of work done for my business. This often means waking up early and / or staying up late to meet deadlines and climb my own personal mountain of success. To become stronger and to continue making gains in training, even after 22 years of training, I need to remain committed no matter how tired or exhausted I may be.

At age 35, being conditioned is WAY tougher than I was in my early 20s. NO excuses, it must be done, so, I get it done, no matter what it takes.

Now, I am not a special forces BEAST, not even 1% close to those men, but, compared to the people I come across daily, sometimes I feel like I am quite far removed from these people and that bothers me quite a lot.

I find myself being a rarity rather than the norm and I don't think this is a good thing. When I look at adults AND today's generation of teenagers, I see that things are REALLY getting out of hand.

TOO many excuses, TOO much weakness in mind AND body, TOO many people asking for handouts when they ARE capable of getting things done themselves

There is too much BS and I hear it ALL the time:

- Crying over lack of sleep, "I'm so tired I didn't sleep enough last night. I went to bed soooo late."

The Answer: Shut the hell up, suck it up and charge through your day. If you can't handle being tired then demonstrate discipline and get to bed early. Remove the crap in your life that keeps you up so late.

- "I didn't have my coffee yet, I can't function without my coffee."

The Answer: Shut the hell up and deal with it. If missing your coffee is the make or break factor in how successful your day is then you have a MAJOR issue.

Learn to go through your day with challenges, it's the REAL world. This means you need to be able to perform at high levels if you missed breakfast, if you slept very little, if you missed your coffee, if the weather is bad, etc.

The only thing holding you back is YOU, not your coffee, lack of sleep, shitty weather or the dark clouds.

- "Is there any way you can give me a discount?"

The Answer: In life, there are NO hand outs or discounts. You are capable of getting what you want, but, by capacity you choose to bed a mental midget and an excuse maker. You want something? Go F**IN' GET IT!!!

Earn what you want and then you will GET "it".

I've done "Free" for LOTS of poeple and 99.999999% of them NEVER respect what they were given because they did NOT earn it. They take advantage of it and show NO respect towards it.

I am not kidding around when I see how not only today's generation is getting soft and weak, but also the adults of today.

Everyone wants "it" for Fr-ee or reduced price because they deserve a special discount. Everyone wants it "my way".

I remember when I taught at the middle school, in the beginning of the year, if a student didn't get along with you he / she would tell mommy and daddy and they would write a note to the counselor to be switched out of class.

"Boo Hoo, my teacher made me do work, transfer me to an easier class." How lame is that!? The schools are encouraging AND enabling laziness, weakness and dishonesty.

If you are lacking in mental toughness you seriously need to go back to my motto:

Get comfortable being UNcomfortable.

Train in ways you are not used to:

- Don't like to run? Go and hit hill sprints and trail runs, or, hit a sprint in between every set of every exercise you do.

- Train in uncomfortable environments. Train outdoors in the cold or heat. NO more air conditioning and stop training in your comfortable shorts and t shirt in your posh gym. Sometimes this shit has to hurt, sorry, that's the TRUTH.

- Always training with light weights and circuits?

Slap some heavy freaking weight on the bar and move heavy weight till you feel like your spine is about to get ripped out of your body. NOW you can go see your chiropractor.

Here's the bottom line:

There is NO FREE. There is NO Easy.

If you REALLY want something, It has to be earned and it has to be worked for.

That's the straight up truth. Perhaps the truth does not suit you.

Your want easy, cheap and fr-ee, then expect the results and the journey to be lame at best.

Start training the mind as I always encourage, if you're not training for mental toughness you're contributing
to the pussification of the entire world, not just America.

Get busy kickin' ass or get the hell out of the way.

NO place for weakness.

In Strength,

--Z--

Recommended Resources:

Lone Survivor

Underground Strength Coach Cert

Gladiator Experiment