Do or do not; there is no try.

Fairly certain it’s a Yoda quote, but wowzers in my European-style trousers, how powerful is that!?

I had a conversation with my cab driver on the way to the airport as I was heading back to Saranac Lake for Christmas. After noticing his 26RR Fitness hoodie, I learned he was close friends with Ryan Rhodes who owns the boxing gym I’ve been training at. He went on to explain that he’s given up training recently and hasn’t found the motivation to lose weight. He explained that sitting in a car all day isn’t great for his health and that he’s gained considerable weight since he began. He wants to get back in the gym and I’m empathetic with his self-image. Perhaps it came across that I was being a dickhead, but I genuinely tried to help (tough love?) in sharing “do or do not, there is no try.” I told him he’ll either get back into shape or he won’t; it’s entirely up to him.

After sharing a bit about what I do for work and the travel I have planned over the next thirty days he commented, “how do you find time to work out?” I’ve found that early mornings are the best for me. The gym has a 7:15AM session, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with a 9AM Saturday morning class. I’ve been trying to do all of these and a weekly 1-2-1 technique/sparring session.

We tend to overcomplicate things but the reality is that most everything is binary. Yes or no, do or don’t, live or die, etc. The choice is ours and excuses often creep in when we start to justify why we can’t, don’t, or won’t get it done.

I’m not happy with the way my body looks but I’m not complaining. It’s a constant pursuit to be healthy and improve my conditioning and athleticism. What I won’t do is make excuses. I have the power within and know that the consequences of NOT going to the gym will only throw me further off-course.

Do you.