Make Mistakes And Persevere To Be Successful by Mike Mahler

"Fall seven times, stand up eight."
- Japanese Proverb

When many of us start our weight loss journey, we really think that we are going to be flawless with our program, and we are going to lose the weight just as predicted. Yeah right! You and I both wished that we had that much control over our bodies.

No, that's just being unrealistic. Along your journey, you are going to make mistakes. That's not the problem. What are you going to do with the mistakes you make is what causes many people to give up. You eat a big slice of cake or two, and you've ruined your program, and the world is coming to an end because you can't lose the weight, and that negative voice takes over once again. Listen guys, please stop with all the emotional panic attacks because there is another way to view a mistake.

You can view a mistake as simply a lesson. Does this mean that you'll never make that same mistake again, no not necessarily. But, once you no longer make that same mistake, then you can confidently say that you've learned that lesson and move on to the next one. Yes, the next one. Do you really think that life's not full of challenges and lessons for you to learn?

OK, before I get into today's strength and conditioning coach's re-post, I want to thank you guys for answering the current poll. It's going to be up for a few more weeks, so I can get a better idea of who my readers are, or, more specifically, are you Mr. Obese, Mr. Overweight, or Mr. Normal Body Fat.

Also, if you are interested in my 12 day experience on Lyle McDonald's The Rapid Fatloss Handbook diet protocol, please check out my training blog. I'm going to post everyday of my flavor-less journey, which started today! Please go to my training blog for more details, such as my menus, workouts, etc.

Alright, today's re-post is actually an article that can be found at Mike Mahler's site. Mike is not only a cool guy, but one of the most known Kettlebell instructors; he is known for his online fitness consulting, DVDs, and ebooks on topics such as using KBs for fat loss, strength training, and gaining size. Mike's in your face style really resonates with me, and the mentality I had to develop on my weight loss journey.

In the article below, he explains how you should view mistakes as opportunities to grow, excel, and progress that much further to reaching your goals! Enjoy ...

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Make Mistakes And Persevere To Be Successful

By Mike Mahler

"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." – Christopher Reeve

I had a great conversation with my friend David Weck this past weekend on what it takes to be successful. Dave is the creator of the BOSU www.bosu.com which is one of the hottest fitness products around. I literally see the BOSU everywhere and unlike some other lame fitness products, the BOSU is an incredible training tool that I recommend highly. Anyway lets get back to my conversation with Dave. Similar to most successful people, Dave worked his ass off to achieve his immense success. He had tons of roadblocks on the way and there were many moments in which he thought he was done. No one gave him a roadmap to success. He simply had to act, fail a lot, persevere, and eventually achieve immense success.

This is a common path that most successful people have been through. What separates Dave from most people is he was not afraid to make mistakes. He made plenty and still does. However, he also hits home runs from time to time and they more than make up for all of the mistakes. Remember, in professional baseball if you hit the ball three times out of every ten at bats, you are a superstar! This means you are missing the ball 70% of the time! a 30% average is an F in school. Get over the illusion of having A+ results in the real world. If you are closing 90% of the deals you go after then you are either a liar or do not have enough deals. The more at bats you take the more misses you will have. However, do enough at bats and you hit a few balls as well. The key is to keep going for the hits and forget about the misses. Only losers get beaten down by mistakes. Winners take them in stride and are too busy pushing forward to give up.

Now that Dave is highly successful, he gets people coming to him all of the time for his secrets to success. These people are looking for a seamless path to success and hope that Dave has all of the answers. While it is great to get ideas from successful people on how to make it, you are kidding yourself if you think you can avoid suffering and failure on the way to success. If you are not prepared to get your hands dirty and put it all on the line, then do not bother starting. Moreover, do not bother wasting Dave's time or any other successful persons time. You have to get out there and learn how to be successful. You have to read the books, try plans out, fail miserably many times and still have the courage to persevere. You have to be able to persevere through being defeated day after day, month after month, and even year after year. You have to wake up the next day after being kicked around and do it all over again. You have to be able to get your ass kicked, recover and come back for more. Yes it is a fight and you need to be able to go all twelve rounds and then twelve more. Few have what it takes which is great for those of us that do as it means less competition, ha ha.

Most people will not even make it past the first set back. They get rejected once or do not have immediate success and it is all over. Pathetic to say the least. Such people do not deserve success as they do not value their lives. Especially if they are in America which is the equivalent to winning a lottery ticket. Making it here is much less easier than elsewhere. Unfortunately, people that are born in America rarely value the gift. Study successful people and I challenge you to find one person that had an easy road to success. Interesting people are people that persevered through rough times. You cannot have personal growth without tough experiences. No personal growth equals a very boring life and a very boring person.

Why do so many people give up at the first sign of failure? Why do others do whatever is necessary to make it? Who knows. It is one of the great mysteries of the universe. Regardless, I have a theory. People that give up easily are simply people that are nor prepared for success. They are nor prepared to do what needs to be done and suffer accordingly.

Without hard work, set backs, suffering, frustrations, and problems you will never enjoy the successes when you finally make it. You can apply whatever excuse you want. Maybe they had mean parents. Maybe they grew up in the inner city. While all of these are extremely influential factors, eventually you have to take responsibility for your life. You have to face your inner demons, crush them, and make your life what you want it to be. The arduous process is what reveals the inner diamonds. There is a difference between being a millionaire and having a million dollars. People that were given a million dollars did not have to work for it like the people who earned it through hard work, problem solving, and working smart. People that achieve their fitness goals through proper training, restoration, and nutrition are always more empowered than people that get cosmetic surgery.

People that are afraid to get their hands dirty are afraid of change. They really do not want to change or they would be busy working instead of applying delaying tactic methods. Yes eventually all talk has to stop and you have to act. Getting excited about an idea is easy. People do it all of the time. Every January 1, millions of people get excited about working out and getting in great shape. By January 15th, 50% of those people have given up. By March 1 the other 49% have as well. The final 1% get their hands dirty and finish what they start.

The only question left is are you part of the 1% club?

Live Life Aggressively!

Mike Mahler