Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Motivation Monday: The Danger of Thinking Big

Episode Date: April 9, 2018

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/

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, specifically my 100% natural greens supplement, Genesis. Now, Genesis is a very unique combination of greens, superfoods, adaptogens, herbs, and other phytonutrients that have been proven to increase immunity, heart and circulatory health, energy levels, libido, mood, and more. Genesis is also naturally sweetened in flavors and contains no artificial food dyes, fillers, or other unnecessary junk. And all that is why it has over 200 reviews on Amazon with a four-star average and another 150 plus on my website, also with a four-star average.

So if you want to be healthier, feel better, train harder, and increase your immunity and longevity, then you want to head over to www.legionathletics.com and pick up a bottle of Genesis today. And just to show how much I appreciate my podcast peeps, use the coupon code podcast at checkout and you will save 10% on your entire order. And lastly, you should also know that I have a very simple 100% money back guarantee that works like this. You either love my stuff or you get your money back, period. You don't have to return the products. You don't have to fill out forms. You don't have to jump through any other hoops or go through any other shenanigans. So you really can't lose here. Head over to www.lesionathletics.com now, place your order and see for yourself why my supplements

have thousands of rave reviews all over the internet. And if for whatever reason, they're just not for you, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the spot. All righty, that is enough shameless plugging for now at least. Let's get to the show. Hey, it is Monday. I am Mike. This is the Most Full Life Podcast and it's time for another Motivation Monday. Let's start with a quote. This week's quote comes from the Quarry Workers' Creed, and it goes like this, We who cut mere stones must always be envisioning cathedrals. And this week, I want to talk about goals and big goals in particular, the idea of setting big goals, the cliche of, you know, daring to set these big, hairy, audacious goals for ourselves, which is, of course,

what we are told to do in every self-help book that hits the bookshelves and every commencement speech uttered. We're told that great achievements start with great imagination. We're told that you have to hitch your wagon to a star just to reach the top of the trees and that we should imagine our beautiful future down to the most minute details, and then we'll be well on our way to making all of that a reality, yada, yada, yada. Now, I myself, I am all for thinking big. I read and actually liked the book, The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz, but I think that these types of platitudes can set people up for failure just as much as they can propel them towards success. I think that there is a dangerous side to thinking big, especially when you really mean it, when you're not just indulging in playful daydreaming or fantasy, but actually drumming up real desire.

drumming up real desire. And that danger is that big goals require big effort. They require big courage. They require big sacrifice, much, much bigger than many people think. Many people don't realize just how much work and how much struggle and how much sacrifice it takes to do big things, to do extraordinary things. In my experience, most people really have no clue how many thousands of hours of practice comes before that Carnegie Hall performance or how much thankless toil comes before that bestselling book or how many hours of sleep are lost building that big company, how many risks must be taken, how many failures must be experienced along the way, how many distractions life throws in the road, how many justifications for giving up you can invent and how tantalizing and how tempting they can be, and just how many times

you have nobody but yourself for consolation and support. Now, this might sound kind of cynical, but I don't think that thinking big is for everyone. I honestly think that some people just aren't cut out for it, at least the way that they are. They would have to dramatically and fundamentally change to really be up to the task. I look around and I see a lot of dreamers that really aren't making much real tangible progress toward making those dreams a reality, not boasts of what could or will be, but actual results. And I suspect that you know quite a few of these people as well. Well, why is this? Are they just not thinking big enough? Did they just forget to picture the wheel color of the Lamborghini on their imaginary dream board or maybe the number of cents in their phantasmal Swiss bank account? No, of course not. Thinking better thoughts,

thinking bigger thoughts, thinking more vivid thoughts, having bigger dreams will have absolutely no bearing on these people's circumstances. See, what they don't realize is big goals demand respect. And it's probably not unreasonable to say that big goals should probably inspire a bit of fear in you as well. These are things that you trifle with at your own peril because big goals can break you. They can split you open and lay bare your every weakness, your every insecurity, your every inability. Some people's spirits just never recover from their disastrous encounters with big goals. When you step into the ring with big goals, you find out what you're made of. All your talk doesn't matter. All your swagger doesn't matter.

find out what you're made of? All your talk doesn't matter. All your swagger doesn't matter. All your bravado doesn't matter. Can you put up? Can you make things happen? Can you steam through obstacles? Can you make things go right? In this way, big goals challenge you in a very personal way. They challenge your self-identity. They challenge your values. They challenge every decision that you've made that has brought you up to this point. Is it enough? Are you enough? And if you fail, no matter what you tell yourself, no matter how you might try to shift the blame, you know that what you've really learned is that you are not enough. And that's hard. And I understand that can be a rough realization. And that's why I've told many people who have come to me with big ideas, big thinks, but not really had much in the way of excitement or assuredness or optimism

and nothing in the way of sobriety or humility or apprehension. I've told these people straight up, I honestly think you're going to fail. I would not pull up that anchor just yet. I don't think you're ready because I think that if you are not ready to sacrifice damn near everything in your life on the altar of big think, you know, your weekends, your social life, your social media accounts, your hobbies, your TV shows, your video games, just turn back. You're not ready. just turn back. You're not ready. But if you can confidently stand in the shadow of a big monolithic goal, if you can steal your gaze, if you can harden your jaw, if you can begin what you know is going to be a long, hard march through treacherous, hostile lands, then you probably do have what it takes to survive the journey and see it through. So the moral of this podcast is to choose your goals carefully. Be ruthlessly realistic with

yourself before you get into something. What are you really getting into? What will it really entail? What are you willing to pay? What price are you willing to pay? Are you ready for that? That is more important than whether or not you believe in your abilities. Whatever you do, do not put on the rose-colored glasses. Yes, you need to plan for success, but don't let optimism bias take hold. I do believe that many people can achieve many big things. You're probably one of them. But I also believe that those big things are probably going to take a lot more effort, time, and sacrifice than many people think. Now, if you can sit comfortably with that idea, if you can meditate on that

comfortably, then you're probably ready to begin. 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 want to 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 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, specifically my 100% natural greens supplement Genesis. Now Genesis is a very unique combination of greens, superfoods, adaptogens, herbs, and other phytonutrients that have been proven to increase immunity, heart and circulatory health, energy levels, libido, mood, and more. Genesis is also naturally sweetened in flavors and contains no artificial food dyes, fillers, or other unnecessary junk. And all that is why it has

over 200 reviews on Amazon with a four star average and another 150 plus on my website also with a four star average. So if you want to be healthier, feel better, train harder, and increase your immunity and longevity, then you want to head over to www.legionathletics.com and pick up a bottle of Genesis today. And just to show how much I appreciate my podcast peeps, use the coupon code podcast at checkout and you will save 10% on your entire order. And lastly, you should also know that I have a very simple 100% money back guarantee that works like this. You either love my stuff or you get your money back, period. You don't have to return the products. You don't

have to fill out forms. You don't have to jump through any other hoops or go through any other shenanigans. So you really can't lose here. Head over to www.legionathletics.com now, place your order and see for yourself why my supplements have thousands of rave reviews all over the internet. And if for whatever reason, they're just not for you, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the spot.