Want to know the reason? The way most people do it, it’s boring as hell.

Let me ask you this: are you strapping yourself onto the same machine as the day before, hitting the same buttons you did the day before, and doing the same workout you did the day before? And where did this workout come from?

I’ll bet you it came from one of these three sources:

• an article in a magazine,
• it’s what the person behind the desk showed you on your tour when you signed up, or
• it’s what everyone else is doing.

Most people copy others because they have no idea what to do, and figure that if it’s good for the gander, it’ll be good enough to get their goose in gear, too.

We progress when we learn...

The problem with this is obvious.

How many of the people on the elliptical machines at your gym look and perform the way you wish you could? Not many, at my gym.

At the gym I work out at, between two and ten people inhabit the ellipticals, treadmills, and step-bike-contraptions every morning… and then there’s me, over in the free weight area. Alone.

And you know how much better those two to ten people look today, compared to when I joined, a year and a half ago? None. Some even look worse.

But, I’ve lost 15 20 pounds, and I’m strong as two of my former selves put together. I barely recognize my own muscles in the mirror. Oh, I’m not going to win any contests, and I rarely even turn a head these days (blame it on being “follicularly challenged”, 38 years old, and not particularly broad-shouldered), but I’ll be damned if I don’t have muscles in places I never knew I could.

Now, am I particularly gifted? Special? Is my uncle Jack LaLanne or something? Heck no… I’m a reformed fat kid from a sedentary family who’s had to work at it all my life. But, I’ve got one thing that many people don’t display much of, at least when it comes to the gym: a willingness to learn.

You Gotta Keep On Stepping

I got fascinated by the human body, and what it’s capable of, when I was fifteen years old. Maybe it was because I resembled a human jello mold, and athletes are just so… athletic… but I was hooked. I read everything I could get a hold of in the pre-information age, which meant I read Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding from cover to cover three times a week.

I knew when I was 16 that I wanted to open a gym someday. I went to college, not really knowing what I was doing there, but lucky for me, UC San Diego had a small Physical Education department in those days, and I was able to squeak out a minor in PhysEd before the department got budget-cut. Somewhere along the line I talked myself out of the gym-ownership idea, but stayed active (after losing 35 pounds my senior year of high school, I bounced around a few collegiate sports, like water polo and rowing, and then played a few sports recreationally and exercised solo after that), and kept studying.

I took some amazing classes, read some amazing books, and tried some amazing (and not so amazing) workout routines, until finally landing on CrossFit.com in October of 2007. I’ve been glued to the CF community ever since, and I still feel like a rank beginner at times. (And yes, my goal of opening my own gym is back on. Look out, baby.)

To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping. — Chinese proverb 

Sheeple no more!

Bottom line: You’ve got to take responsibility for your progress, or lack thereof.

In any aspect of your life, be it fitness, business, relationships, or whatever, if you aren’t learning, you’re standing still. Now, if you’re happy with the level you’ve reached, that’s fine… but if you recognize that your journey isn’t over yet, then it’s time to get busy.

Whenever you think you’ve stopped learning, it’s all over; remember that! — James Fitzgerald, aka OPT

If there’s anything I want you to take away from this post, it’s this: You are capable of much more than you think you are. What does that mean, practically speaking? It means that if you aren’t happy with your bodyfat percentage, or your current vocation, or the way you speak to your kids, then do something about it!

Start reading. Subscribe to feeds, newsletters, and podcasts. Take a class. Interview someone who knows what you want to know (it has been my experience that most people are glad to share what they know, if you only ask). Volunteer.

And if you come up to me at the gym and ask me how to squat, I’ll grin wider than a giraffe and be happy to teach you. I guarantee it’ll be fun, as well as hard… although I’ll probably talk your ear off, too, about why the elliptical machine sucks, so be ready.

Image (of my friend Amie!) by greg westfall

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments

I’m always learning something — right now, I’ve got a stack of four books from the library on my desk, and two more in the living room, plus all the ChangeThis manifestos I still need to read, and the myriad of blogs in my Google Reader that are patiently awaiting my attention.

In fact, one of the aspects of the blogosphere that makes it really easy for me to spend way too much surfing is the amount of wonderful information and personal perspectives that are out there. New learnings are just a click away.

So, here’s my challenge to you, and my invitation:

Challenge: If you’re not currently pushing the envelope of your intellectual horizons… or if you’re feeling a staleness in your life that you wouldn’t mind giving the ol’ heave-ho to… then I invite you to pick something that you’ve always been curious about, and dive into it with all the passion of a two-year-old on a playground.

Invitiation: Write a post about your “learning edge” and what you’re into these days. Feel free to mention any books you’re reading, classes you’re taking, people you’re learning from or collaborating with, etc. Tell us about the gems you’re picking up, the fun you’re having, etc., especially if they’re shifting the way you look at what you do.

If you link back to this post when you write yours, I’ll compile the topics everyone is learning about, and link back to your post with it.

And, of course, feel free to tag a bunch of people you know as well…

My hope for this project is two-fold:

1. That you’ll get a chance to expand your horizons by seeing what other people are learning about. I know there are lots of subjects that have been out there for years, but they often take a while to make it to me (or me to them, whichever way it goes). This just may speed up the process a bit…
2. You’ll get a chance to not only hear about a subject, but get some personal insight and recommendations as well. I’ve always benefitted when a trusted friend turns me on to something that’s lighting their fires, and this could be a great way to get some first-hand accounts of some very interesting subjects.

And if we share some link-love, and grow our community, how much better can this be?

Okay, I’ll start:
I’m risking feeling a bit ‘behind-the-times’ by saying this, but my Edge right now is the Law of Attraction. I know it has been around a long time, but I got turned off from it by some comments made by people I trusted, a long time ago, and I’ve steered away from it ever since.

But having seen (and read) The Secret, and then reading material from the teachers in it, like James Ray, Denis Waitley, Mike Dooley, Bob Doyle, Laurel Langemeier, John Assaraf, including the ‘wowser’ program by Bob Proctor and Jack Canfield, I’ve seen so many similarities between what I’m learning from them, books like “Ask and It Is Given” by Esther Hicks, my new friend Edward Mills, and my experiences with Sufism, that I’m really excited by it all. More soon, I’m sure.

And since I’m kicking this project off, I’ll tag Tony Clark, Edward Mills, Wendy Piersall, Phil Gerbyshak, Ben Yoskowitz, Dawud Miracle, Tshombe Brown, and the Communicatrix, Colleen Wainwright.

And everyone else, feel free to write your own post and keep the learning going!

(you’re welcome to grab the image above, or this one here.)

Image by me, and I’m putting it under a Creative Commons license, natch.

And thanks to all who have commented on the previous post so far: Lee Riddell, Jean Browman, Dawud Miracle

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2007. | Permalink | 52 comments