Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Motivation Monday: Fight Resistance Now or Hate Yourself Later

Episode Date: September 4, 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 to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter! Click here: www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

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 of 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. People have been suggesting that I start these Motivation Monday podcasts with quotes that I like, and I thought that's a good idea. So let's kick it off with a quote that I like. Quote, in this age, which believes that there is a shortcut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is in the long run, the easiest. And that is from Henry Miller. I'm really going to stick to my exercise and diet programs, and I'm going to completely change my body. People say every day followed by, Oh, and I just need to tweet about

this before I forget. Twitter's loaded, 140 characters are carefully crafted, and the announcement is sent out for the world to marvel at. Oh, and I should probably write a quick blog post about it too, he realizes. So a few hours later, a few thousand words are posted and a few minutes are spent basking in the sense of accomplishment. I can't wait, he says. I'm going to get so ripped. I mean, I should probably start looking at how I'm going to revamp my wardrobe. And then a disembodied voice booms, enough. The man snaps to attention. What the hell was that? And the reply is only three words. Do the work. What? He wonders. Do the work. You see people, they share their health and fitness goals with me all the time. They have

pretty spreadsheets. They have fancy workout plans, carefully cultivated motivation boards on Pinterest and dreamy visions of turning heads at the beach and posing in underwear ads. And my reply is always the same. I say, that sounds pretty good. It looks like it's time to do the work. And this is usually followed by an awkward silence, which they usually break with something like, well, yeah, I mean, I've been reading a bit more to make sure that I haven't missed anything. You mean, I've been reading a bit more to make sure that I haven't missed anything. You know, I've picked up some really good tips. I'm also meeting with a couple of trainers to see, you know, maybe I'll get some professional help. I'm just working on

my workout plan. I want to see if I can make it any better, but it's looking pretty good here. Let me show you. And then I just cut them off. No, no, I think you misunderstood me. It sounds like it's time to do the real work, the hard work, the work that you don't want to do. And then there's another awkward silence because they don't get it, or maybe they don't want to get it. My point is they aren't doing the work and they won't succeed regardless of how busy they keep themselves with not doing it. And what's going on here is very simple. These people, they're getting whipped in the war against resistance. Resistance with a capital R. This resistance is invisible. It's insidious. It's impersonal. You know, you can't see it, but it's in you right now and you can feel it every single day. It'll tell you anything to

keep you from doing the work. It will lie. It will argue, bluster, seduce, and bully you to get its way. It will say anything to strike a deal and then stab you in the back. It doesn't care who you are. It doesn't care what you want to do. It has no conscience. And you know what kind of things resistance hates most? Any creative artistic action, any type of entrepreneurial venture, any new diet or fitness regimen, any method of spiritual advancement, any type of education, anything that's courageous. In short, resistance hates anything that requires you to forego immediate gratification in search of long-term growth or fulfillment. Resistance hates doing the work and it wants you to be just like him. 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 MuscleForLifeFitness, Twitter at MuscleForLife, and Facebook at MuscleForLifeFitness. Now, in his brilliant book, The War of Art, Steven Pressfield reveals that resistance's Achilles heel lies in the fact that it will only fight that which is truly important in your life. It wants to kill your deepest purposes, your deepest desires, your true calling, your true gifts. And yes, I really mean

that. It wants to kill them. By the same token, however, resistance also shows you what work you must do. Your very personal path to profound fulfillment, happiness, and success. Resistance dares you to meet it in pitched battle. And when you do anything but the work, it sneers at you because it's playing you like a marionette. When you do the work, though, it shrieks in horror. Anything but the work, it cries. It counterattacks by invading your mind and flashing shiny distractions, television, video games, movies, friends, anything but the work. So make no mistake, the fight against resistance is a war to the death. It's going to tell you that you're too weak to kill it, that you're too stupid,

too lazy, but you're not. Ironically, resistance depends on your obedience for its strength. It can only win if you choose to give in and it can really only get stronger if you let it win. If you defiantly do the work instead though resistance withers Every bit of work that you do it strikes at its core Do enough work and eventually its armor crumbles its power fades and all that's left is a whispering ghost Do more work and it even stops whispering So if you're trying to create a healthy strong vital body a business, a business, a career, a relationship, or anything else positive in your life, realize that you are a warrior and your primary enemy is resistance.

Remember this when you're going for the snooze button, when you are procrastinating in the parking lot, waiting for your pre-workout to kick in. And when you are struggling through a tough workout, Remember it when getting up into the gym is the last thing that you want to do when you are just groping for an excuse to skip because that's often a sign that it's exactly what you should do. And also remember that future you is depending on present you. Every day you are faced with one of two decisions. You can either sell yourself a little further down the river or you can do the work and realize your potential. If you put it

off today, then you're just going to be more likely to procrastinate tomorrow. But if you get into action right now, tomorrow will be easier. So don't give into the siren song of fair weather fitness. Put in the work even when it's hard and you are going to be rewarded with something far better than fleeting comfort. Something that nobody else can give you. Something you can't buy, borrow, or steal. Satisfaction. The satisfaction of knowing that you're closing the day a little closer to your goals, that you are living up to your standards, and that you have what it takes and can do what it takes. All this is why you are not going to enjoy every workout, but you are always going to enjoy having worked out. Every day that you show up to grunt, groan, and grind is yet another day on the front lines in the battle against resistance. And with every rep set in session, you gain a little more ground and you earn a little more

of your stripes. Fight that battle anew every day. And there's really no telling who you might be able to become and what you might be able to do. Ionathletics.com, L-E-G-I-O-N-athletics.com, because I've published over a million words of free articles on the blogs on those websites on all types of things related to building muscle, losing fat, and getting healthy. New articles go up every week on both sites as well. So if you like what you read, then definitely hop on my mailing list and you will be notified when new stuff goes live. My email subscribers also get exclusive deals on my products and services and other goodies. So there's that too. Thanks again for listening to this episode and I will see you in the next one.

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then you want to pick up The Shredded Chef today, which you can find on all major online retailers like Audible. Yes, there are audiobook cookbooks. It is a thing. Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play. All right, so that's it for the advertising. Let's get to the show.