How to Go from Worn-Down to Winner
A path of training for the ultimate life
It’s a beautiful but rainy Friday afternoon. The day is winding down, and so am I. The feeling of being worn down from the week’s repetitive nature, trying to maintain a fast-paced sprint in a marathon just won’t cut it.
I used to regularly feel dog-tired, seemingly only holding it all together by a thread. It was a repeated lifestyle that brought me little joy and hardly any self-discovery except feeling emasculated and frail.
Today, I’d like to offer advice on how I flipped my script and, instead of burning my candle from both ends, ended up directing my focus toward one goal — To be more Rugged!
Ha! That’s at least what I thought the original solution was. What a joke! I had heard it many times, “oh, I must just be feeling sorry for myself, and I need to toughen up.”
I can see how complaining about what we are doing does us no good and does not produce the desired result. But it does point to the fact that I am not totally satisfied. It isn’t so much that I need to work harder but more that I need to find what I want to do!
I spent so many years rolling around in circles, trying lots of different careers, relationships, and towns, only to realize that I was running from my inherent dissatisfaction with myself.
I was tired of looking “out there” for somebody else or something to make me feel whole. So much chasing led me to feel like a hopeless, fragile, and sensitive little boy. Not a man who takes responsibility for his thoughts and feelings.
I was living a life suited for my stepdad, uncles, and society but not true to me. I was run-down and weak because I drifted to the next best thing, a bigger paycheck, more acres, always looking for more and better.
It wasn’t until I decided to risk it for the biscuit, bet on myself, that my life became sweet. Truly sweet. And bitter. Because that meant all of my shortcomings, screw-ups, and lacking in areas of life fell right on my head.
I had to seriously nut up and realize what a little understanding I had of living a truly authentic life of integrity. To become a better person, I had first to accept and love who I already was. Everything. All the flaws, all the awkwardness, the phoniness, and the sissiness that would show up at the worst time.
I also thought I was a brave dude doing stunts when I was a kid, and I had no idea how much courage it took to be yourself and not hide behind masks, walls, or judgments as an adult.
I knew from the start that I would have to put myself through some pretty uncomfortable and demanding situations for me to grow. This is part of the warrior training I wanted to instill in myself, and I had to push myself and test myself to develop a strong and resilient mind and body.
To get at the root of some of my tenacious training sessions, I’d let out some powerful bursts of deep-bellied roars that honestly scared me at first, like a cub’s squeal needing practice to become the king of the jungle.
My whole philosophy was I no longer wanted to be a sheep in the herd, so I had to get tough and rugged. I trained with a new mentality (one that I will share and keep developing over the next few decades).
Being hardy and strong felt great, but it still didn’t fill that emptiness in my soul… That came when I practiced gratitude and compassion.
No matter how much discipline, how many sets of pull-ups, or how hard I pushed it, it was never enough. Not until I became so profoundly grateful for what is, what I have, and who I am.
That was the secret to finding more meaning and fulfillment in life because that was the start, and I could build a foundation on a deeply rooted satisfaction and acceptance of myself.
That is just the start. Because it is in our human nature to want to grow and expand. The more complexities we experience and our worldview evolves, so does our understanding of ourselves.
The most difficult yet enjoyable training of all time is life. Life can be our teacher, adversary, friend, or all the above. It is how we look at it that determines what it is, and it is how we look at ourselves to define our role, character, and direction.
If there is one thing I recommend training for, that is the complete acceptance of yourself. This can be amplified by knowing that you can withstand massive amounts of pain and suffering — enter Physical and Mental Fitness. I’ll explain more in my next post.
If you want a custom workout plan to strengthen your mind and body, please email me at tyler@mind2musclefitness.com.
In the meantime, keep getting up, my friend!
Tyler D.
