I often have people comment that my results aren’t typical. Most are impressed and say something along the lines of “great job”, “inspiring”, “I’m going to dust off my set of DVD’s and push play”, etc.
Others are annoying jerks and say something like “you must have done steroids”, “you are still bald”, or “your abs aren’t even”.
And then there are the third type of people whose comments commend me for my efforts but also show their underlying assumption that others can’t do what I did. Their comments are something like:
“Great job. You clearly have superb genetics.”
“You did a nice job but you were clearly already in awesome shape on Day 1.”
“You already had all that muscle, but you just needed to lose some weight.”
I always appreciate the kind words of encouragement from the first group of people. They keep me motivated to push harder. The comments of the second group (the annoying jerks) don’t bother me because I know it for what it is – these are pathetic losers who like to insult others rather than do something to better themselves. I shrug them off without a second thought.
The comments from the third group of people do bother me though because in those comments I see something dangerous – “I can’t”. If these are people wanting to get in the best shape of their lives, they’ve already decided they can’t. They can’t because they don’t have the same “superb genetics” that I magically got somewhere between Day 1 and Day 90. They can’t because they aren’t “already in the awesome Day 1 shape” that I was in after 14 years of being lazy and packing 23% body fat. They can’t because they don’t have “all that muscle” that I must have had from my strenuous day job sitting in a chair all day. These people have already condemned themselves to never living up to their potential because surely my results are not attainable for them.
And what’s worse, they make others believe it as well. They don’t want others to dare dream that they can reach their full potential, make their fitness goals a reality, and inspire others. That would be tragic to let others dream big dreams, so these folks make sure they give them a dose of “reality” before they get too excited.
The problem though, is that these “I can’t” folks are exactly right! If they believe they can’t, then they can’t. It wasn’t easy for me to stay 100% committed every hour of every day for 90 days … 180 days … never once straying on my diet, never once skipping a workout. That’s why my results aren’t typical. It’s because my effort and commitment were anything but typical. They were EXTRAORDINARY. And thus my results were extraordinary. If I had set out saying “I can’t get ripped like Josh Spencer” (my coach) then I never would have. But that’s not what I said. I said, “If Josh can do it, then I can do it. I will outwork everyone else and prove it!”. And that’s what I did.
If you want to call it genetics, go ahead. I have the right genetics to get ripped IF I give 100% effort in every way to my workouts, supplements, and nutrition. But guess what? So does everyone! We all have the genetics. We all have muscle and fat (in different proportions for sure, but we all have both). We all have the tools. The question, though, is do you have the WILL to make your dreams a reality?
Vince Lombardi, the famous Hall of Fame football coach of the Green Bay Packers, said, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.” Do you have the WILL to set yourself apart from the rest?
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
