Nothing feels better than completing a hard workout, closing out a deep meditation session, or accomplishing a challenging task. ...That is, until nothing changes beyond a temporary feeling post workout/meditation.

For some reason the world of fitness has moved away from meaningful metrics related to performance and has glorified 'effort' and the glorious ‘burn.’ And never have more people struggled with obesity, pain, general fatigue, and health issues. Correlation?

Yes.

If you’ve been training. High Five! If you haven’t… Low Five!
But this isn’t just about training. It’s not just about showing up. You’ve got wisdom in your DNA, the likes of which could empower you to hunt, climb, fight, love deeply, become super aware and empathic, and perceive with your whole being. You’ve got the DNA of a powerful animal.

Animals don’t workout.

They strive. And they play.

Well, maybe not your house cat, they only play. But name your wild omnivore or carnivore. They strive. They fight. They go after what they want, what they need, to survive… to thrive. And is that by means of constant, steady state cardio in their fat burning range? No, its a balls-out sprint to the tilt. It's in the testing of their deepest capacities.

You and I are different. Growing up in our modern era has removed the need for externally motivated drive, cause we ain't gonna die if we fuck-off most of the time. It’s given us an opportunity to lower our standards in a variety of domains if we so choose, and live in a variety of ways – from an olympic athlete to a hermetic gamer surviving on Pringles and Mountain Dew.

Here’s the rub: Both of those characters have drive… they just have different standards.

How you feel about yourself when you look in the mirror, how much mental chatter and anxiety you experience throughout the day, are not (only) reflections of your drive. They are reflections of your standards.

They represent what you can accept about yourself, how much you can live with – and that’s the most powerful motivator or disempowering narrative there is. You might want a lean body. You might want a clear, fearless mind, full of hope and optimism. But if you don’t currently have them, here’s the hard truth:

You don’t really care that much.

If you did, you’d accept nothing less. You’d feel angry when those realities present themselves, and you’d turn undefined efforts to improve them into daily routines that ensure them.

Take a minute today to self-reflect on last year, on the things you've accepted, and on whether or not they truly reflect the kind of standards you want to define 2020 and beyond.

And if they don't, something's gotta shift. Cause we're in this now!

And if your standards shift – not in a superficial, positive self pep-talk sense, but in a deep, visceral sense, watch out. Your world is about to change.

I’ll pop in tomorrow to share my thoughts on how routines, or rituals, might reflect your true priorities and/or guarantee your standards.

Until then, if you're considering change this year and feeling that call to commit to a serious change process, a friendly reminder to peruse The Weightlessness Process details in the link below.

Be weightless my peeps,

Tom Fazio

The Weightlessness Process | 12-Week Mind-Body Transformation Program