Its interesting to me that progress and success is all determined by such a small illusion. Again, on the opposing side, failure, or the illusion of such is all deemed by such a small fraction of time. A mere moment in time. A mere fraction of the entire picture.
Goals and Dreams aren’t made or created in a day. Or even a month. Some goals towards dreams take months, sometimes even years. It is so easy for us to judge people as a mere fraction of time. Or where we enter their story. Are we truly defined by what moment we are in right this second? If so, are we happy with what the judgement will be? Does where you sit, at this very second, define your entire being?
It gives us all something to think about. I’m adding a picture I saw today which made me think.
I can use myself as an example. Last year, I hit a HUGE personal goal. I took 1st place in a NPC Bikini Competition in Los Angeles, California. It took place in one day. Pre Judging, I was on stage maybe an entire 10 minutes total. At the night show, I was on stage for maybe another 10 minutes total. So the entire day I spent a total of 20 minutes on stage.
So am I defined by this one moment? If I was you’d have to assume I just woke up and just decided to get on stage to be judged that very day. You’d have to assume my genetics are so amazing that no effort went into this. Now, you and I both can see how ridiculous this sounds. But, how accurate are we in using this same mentality to judge others? Daily we make rash judgements on people based solely on where they are in that very moment. Its something isn’t it?
Now if success is truly an Iceberg, which I believe is an amazing illustration on how I believe life truly goes. We must look under the surface and see how much work and effort goes into that one moment of “Success”.
Again, using myself as an example:
WHAT PEOPLE DON’T SEE
Dedication: It took me a very long prep to get to my second NPC show where I claimed the #1 spot. I began my prep in October 2015. I dropped cough* 60 lbs total. This is not an easy task. It took until July 2017 to go to L.A to get my first place metal.
Hard Work: I busted my ass in the gym, sometimes 6x a week. Doing cardio 6 times a week, sometimes 2x a day. At my most I did cardio twice a day, an hour each time. So that’s 2 hours of cardio a day, 6 days a week, plus weight training daily, posing sessions, meal prep, getting my sleep in, being a mom, Single mom for a lot of this. You get the idea.
Good Habits: I had to develop better eating habits. Better sleeping habits, had to learn to walk in 5 inch heels. I had to learn how to lift heavy without tearing my muscles down so much that I’d be useless the next training day. I had to learn to balance my cardio so I didn’t burn muscle. I had to learn the importance of fasted cardio. I had to learn the importance of stress management so my cortisol levels stayed low. It’s not just about that 10 minute on stage moment.
Disappointment: I learned the hard way a lot of times. Bodies aren’t always the same and what works for someone else, may not work for you. Two hours of cardio a day for me burned so much muscle and took away from a lot of muscle growth I spent time building up. I learned that you have to sacrifice a lot of time away from your family to train hard enough to bring your best package. Balancing fitness and real life isn’t easy.
Sacrifice: To bring your best package, you have to sacrifice. On all levels. Time from family and friends it huge. You sacrifice the foods you love to eat. You will bring your own food to BBQs and dinners with friends. You eat chicken and green beans while everyone else eats steak and loaded potatoes. You sacrifice desserts too. You sacrifice movie marathons and some extra curricular activities. You cant risk getting injured before a show. You sacrifice money, shows and prep cost a lot of money.
I’m not saying this isn’t worth it but I promise you, there is a lot of sacrificing going on for an athlete in show prep.
Failure: Every athlete has experience failure in one form or another. Failure in learning the hard way what works for your body and what doesn’t. Carb cycling works for some people while Keto works for others. I learned the hard way how important it is to have a custom suit made. I waited too long for my first show and settled on what was available and this was a huge mistake.
During show prep you set yourself mini goals. Athletes can feel failure even if they dont get their set cardio in for the day. We can be very hard on ourselves.
Persistence: Like the old saying goes, “Slow and steady wins the race”. Not saying us athletes doing anything slow, but being persistent, and not giving up is a huge factor in success. If you dont succeed today, there is always tomorrow. Don’t give up.
This analogy can work for anyone in any situation. Our life is a continuous journey and we all have moments of struggle. We all have that one thing that we feel will define us or what we measure success in. I truly believe we are amazing people who spend a life time perfecting what’s under the surface. I pray for better understanding on this entire process every day. I am not any better than anyone else on this life’s journey. I struggle myself on keeping the big picture in check.
We aren’t just defined by one moment. If we were, off season would kill athletes. We would have unrealistic expectations as to what we should look like at any given moment. Our ten minutes of “Fame” on stage shouldn’t be the “Norm” standard. We all logically know this but do we feel it inside? I struggle with this concept.