Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Motivation Monday: 5 Keys to Success That Show You How to Win

Episode Date: October 30, 2017

This episode is part of a weekly series that I have dubbed “Motivation Monday.” (Yes, I know, very creative of me. What can I say, I’m a genius…) Seriously though, the idea here is simple: Every Monday morning, I’m going to post a short and punchy episode that I hope gets you fired up to tackle the workouts, work, and everything else that you have planned for the week ahead. As we all know, it’s one thing to know what you want to do, but it’s something else altogether to actually make yourself do it, and I hope that this series gives you a jolt of inspiration, energy, and encouragement to get at it. So, if you like what you hear, then make sure to check back every Monday morning for the latest and greatest installment. --- Want free workout and meal plans? Download my science-based diet and training templates for men and women: https://legionathletics.com/text-sign-up/

Don't ever think that you know it all. Instead, assume that you never know enough and that the things that you don't know are, in fact, probably a lot more important than what you do know. Hey, this is Mike from Muscle for Life, and welcome to another episode of my podcast. This episode is part of a weekly series that I have dubbed Motivation Monday. Yes, I know, so creative of me. What can I say? I'm just a genius. Seriously, though, the idea here is simple. Every Monday morning, I am going to post a short and punchy episode that I hope gets you fired up to tackle the workouts, work, and everything else that you have planned

for the week ahead. Because it's one thing to know what you want to do, but it's something else altogether to actually make yourself do it. And I hope that this series gives you a jolt of energy and encouragement to go ahead and do all those things that you want to do. So if you like what you hear, then make sure to check back every Monday morning for the latest and greatest installment. Okay, so let's start with this week's quote, and it is from Arthur Schopenhauer. And he said, quote,

In this world where the game is played with loaded dice, a man must have a temper of iron with armor proof to the blows of fate and weapons to make his way against men. Life is one long battle. We have to fight at every step. is one long battle. We have to fight at every step. And Voltaire very rightly says that if we succeed, it is at the point of the sword and that we die with the weapon in our hand. And that may sound a little grim or possibly even morbid to you, but I chose the quote because I myself have found it to be more true than untrue, at least in my limited experiences so far trying to make my way in the world and make a life for myself. It also kind of sets the tone for this week's episode, and let's dive right into it.

Now, there are more tips for success out there than souls on this earth and cliches and platitudes abound. But I would like to share five things in particular that have served me so well that I've kind of internalized them at this point as a creed of sorts, I guess you could say. No matter what I'm striving toward, whether it's building a business or learning a hobby or building a relationship or whatever, I really try to embody these five behaviors. And the better I do embody them, the better I do in my endeavors. So when I'm not sure what to do next or when things get rough or just don't go as planned,

and even when I feel like maybe I should just give up, I come back to this code and it has seen me through every time. And I think it might be able to do the same for you. So let's start with the first point here. And that is success leaves clues. Find and follow them. So no matter how difficult your goals might seem or how lonely your path might appear, I think that you can take solace in a very simple fact that thousands or maybe even tens or hundreds of thousands or possibly even millions of people that are no smarter or stronger of mind or body than you with no better opportunities or connections and no guarantees of success have already done what you want to do. They have already successfully made the journey that you want to make. The question then to ask yourself is if they can do it, why not you? And it gets even better too, because many of these people left clues on exactly how they did it and in many cases actually left explicit instructions and directions in the way of books and articles and podcasts and videos and so

forth. And knowing that every insight and every piece of knowledge that you need to make it is just out there lying around waiting for someone to pick them up and play with them can be very encouraging and motivating. The key then is knowing how to find them. And the way to win at this treasure hunt, so to speak, is complete immersion. So step one, buy and read 15 highly rated books on the subject and highlight everything that's interesting. Take copious notes, really study. Write down important questions that occur to you along the way and then go searching for answers and add and subtract questions as new ones rise and others are resolved. You should also watch out for people that make whatever you're trying to do, whatever you're trying to learn

complicated because they probably don't know it as well as you think or they're just bad teachers. Simple is better. Almost always simple is better. Now, in between those book reading sessions, go and participate in online forums or subreddits or other communities, blogs, whatever. Absorb everything you can

and add to your list of questions, modify questions, resolve them as you get answers. Look for things that are self-evident to you. Look for commonalities. As you move your way around online, add the best sources of information to your bookmarks, to your feedly, to your Instapaper and jettison the bad ones. Save everything of interest to your Google Drive or Evernote, quotes, tips, ideas, musings, whatever. Don't discriminate, don't edit because you just never know when some little tidbit will serve a purpose. And then once you've gotten through this initial phase of research, you've gotten through your books and spent a lot of time online, again, participating in forums, asking questions, answering questions, reading everything you can get your hands on. Buy a block of time from someone

that has achieved success in the endeavor and ask him or her about the things that you haven't been able to get an answer on yet. A good website for this, if you don't know about it, is clarity.fm. So go on Clarity, find someone to talk to, record the call, get it transcribed, dissect it, you know, really get maximum value from it. From there, you can then turn to the bibliographies of your favorite of the 15 books that you've read and start in on those books to find your next 15 to read. At this point, you'll know a fair amount.

And if you are getting into action, which you should along the way, you will be getting some results, but you should along the way, you will be getting some results, but don't ever think that you know it all. Instead, assume that you never know enough and that the things that you don't know are in fact, probably a lot more important than what you do know. And so every unread page might contain a gem that you can add to your arsenal of tools and wisdom. This then is really a never-ending process where you continue your hunt, you continue reading, you continue asking questions, you continue participating in discussions, and you continue building your

collection of interesting and useful information. You just have to know that this is what people at the top of their games do, one for one. If you don't believe me, just start reading some biographies of high performers, all of them. They never stop studying. They never stop learning. They never stop practicing. They never stop pushing their boundaries and trying to improve. Hey, quickly, before we carry on, if you are liking my podcast, would you please help spread the word about it? Because no amount of marketing or advertising gimmicks can match the power of word of mouth. So if you are enjoying this episode and you think of someone else who might enjoy it as well, please do tell them about it. It really

helps me. And if you are going to post about it on social media, definitely tag me so I can say thank you. You can find me on Instagram at Muscle for Life Fitness, Twitter at MuscleForLife, and Facebook at MuscleForLifeFitness. Okay, moving on to the second point here, and that is get the flywheel turning. Now, Aristotle said that life was defined by movement. What has speed and mobility has life, and what doesn't move is dead. I think there's a lot of truth in that. I think that we should never underestimate the power and importance of building and sustaining momentum. In fact, it should be our first priority, and especially when we're getting into something new. I like the flywheel metaphor for this point because a flywheel is a big, heavy, revolving

wheel in a machine that's used to increase the machine's momentum. It takes a tremendous amount of oomph to get it spinning, but if you keep pushing, it eventually starts adding to the motion and has the power to also sustain the tempo even when the energy going into the machine is lower. And the point here is that the beginning of anything is always the hardest. is lower. And the point here is that the beginning of anything is always the hardest. You know, you throw yourself against the wheel and give it everything you've got and it barely even budges, but it moved. And that's encouraging because any forward progress, no matter how minor or how much effort it costs, helps spin the wheel faster. So who cares how hard it was to get it moving? It worked. It moved. So keep going. Continue. Make it move more. And as you do, you will inevitably find that some efforts work better than others in speeding the flywheel up. And the more you strengthen those

and the quicker you abandon the less effective methods, the faster and faster you go. The third one is pretty cliche, especially in the fitness space, I will admit, but it has to be said, and that is learning to love the process. The process, just that word has come to annoy me mainly because of how many velociraptors use it on Instagram. But anyways, the point here is you got to know where you're going, but if you worry too much about the big picture, you are going to have a much harder time of getting there. When you really sit down to contemplate the enormity of the mountain that you're going to have to climb, it's much more likely to just intimidate you than inspire you. So instead,

likely to just intimidate you than inspire you. So instead, just stay focused on the next mile of the track, not the summit. If you've done a good job with step number one, if you've done your due diligence, you've really immersed yourself, you've really educated yourself, you've laid out a plan based on good evidence and good reasoning, then trust the plan, trust the path, trust your instincts, and just keep marching. Lean on routine, daily routine actions that are going to get you to where you want to be, not inspiration. Remember that what you do every day matters so much more than what you do every once in a while. The next point here is whatever it is, expect it to require way more work and way more time than you think going into it. The unfortunate truth here is most people are absolutely awful at estimating the sheer amount of

time and focused action and hard work it takes to do something, anything well, let alone masterfully. I don't know if it's just naive optimism or mere laziness, but it is what it is. It's even been studied quite a bit in psychological research, planning bias, for example. Look that up if you want to read a bit about it. So whatever it is that you want to do, I want you to consider how hard you think that project or goal is going to be. How much work do you think it's going to take? Try to be specific, maybe in number of hours or number of days, weeks, months, or whatever. And once you have that, multiply it by, let's say at least five, but probably 10, and you'll be somewhere closer to reality. And not only is it going to take a lot more effort and work than you probably think,

it's also going to require that you do a lot of the work that you don't want to do because the paths of least resistance are always dead ends. They're not highways. So just stop looking for them. Instead, go in the other direction. Look for the stuff that people just don't want to do, the hard stuff, the stuff that isn't fun, that doesn't really offer any instant gratification, the long game stuff. Those are the types of things that produce great long-term results. And if you really want to ready yourself for what lies ahead, then I would also recommend that you just abandon all hopes of lucky breaks and fast tracks and hidden shortcuts.

Some of the most unsuccessful people I know, and in some cases, people that I think actually have great potential for success, just unrealized, have completely run their ships aground on the rocks of unwarranted hope and delusional optimism. So instead of that, I would recommend, and I personally have taken to heart the advice of one of the great samurai generals in history, Lord Naoshigi, and he said that common sense will not accomplish great things, simply become insane and desperate. And I may record an episode on that concept alone, because I think it's incredibly powerful when correctly understood and applied. All right. The fifth and final point is don't take yourself and your work too seriously.

And this one is one of the tougher ones for me, actually, because I don't take myself too seriously, but sometimes I will take my work a bit too seriously and allow it to become all-consuming. Now, the humbling reality is that our lives and human history as a whole, with all of its crimes, follies, and misfortunes, are mere spots in space. A hunk of rock might fly one day too close to the earth and send us back to the Stone Age, or maybe a cosmic lash from the smiling sun might blink over our world and end all of our grief and suffering. And my point here is I don't think it's productive to morbidly meditate on our mortality, but I think it is healthy to spend our time here modestly. According to the second law of thermodynamics, things just fall apart. This is

the natural entropy of the universe, right? Structures disintegrate, including everything that we will do and everyone that we will know. Remember that even the richest man in the world is still just an ant scurrying about the planet, which Carl Sagan aptly described as a mode of dust suspended in a sunbeam. So the code that I myself try to live by, pretty simple. I try to work diligently, live boldly and with integrity, love deeply and walk softly because in the end, I think those are the things that really matter. Hey there, it is Mike again. I hope you enjoyed this episode and found it interesting and helpful.

And if you did and don't mind doing me a favor and wanna help me make this the most popular health and fitness podcast on the internet, then please leave a quick review of it on iTunes or wherever you're listening from. This not only convinces people that they should check the show out, it also increases its search visibility and thus helps more people find their way to me and learn how to build their best bodies ever too. And of course, if you want to be

notified when the next episode goes live, then just subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any of the new goodies. Lastly, if you didn't like something about the show, then definitely shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com and share your thoughts on how you think it could be better. I read everything myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback, so please do reach out. All right, that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode and I hope to hear from you soon. And lastly, this episode is brought to you by me. Seriously though, I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead I'm going to just quickly tell you about something of mine.

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