Yesterday, after finishing my daily success routine that I go through each morning I walked down Main Street to Dogtown Coffee.
Along the way I checked the rent on a couple vacant spaces and nodded or said hello to everyone I made eye contact with.
In a world where social interaction seems to have been replaced by staring at your cell phone I always like to go out of my way to talk to people and try to make them smile.
Sometimes it just freaks them out but that’s fine too. That still brings a smile to my face and that’s all that really matters. I mean… what?
Anyway, I got down to Dogtown and after getting a hard sell for an organic smoothie placed my order for small, black, organic coffee. I promised Mike that I’d try the cacao-almond butter-banana smoothie another time and he guaranteed that I’d be blown away.
I grabbed a seat at the only empty table in the joint, right next to three girls in their mid twenties who were discussing their experiences online dating.
“He was telling me how he used to just eat plain foods like chicken and steak and rice but now he eats everything,” the girl with a Joan Jett thing going on explained.
Man, that guys got some game, I thought to myself. He’s gotta be pulling more tail than Brad Pitt with lines like that.
After I knocked off a few chapters of my book it was time to head back to finish up some work then get ready to train. As soon as I walked out of Dogtown my phone rang.
I could tell immediately from the tone that the caller on the other side was in quite an emotional state and I knew that the topic he wanted to discuss should never have been broached at that time. You’ll always make bad decisions in an emotional state and need to be sure you’re calm and focused before entering into important discussions or negotiations.
After a few minutes of being yelled at he hung up me in midsentence. When I looked down at my phone to be sure there was another one of my buddies contact info in my directory, staring back at me. I guess I had somehow pulled it up in my pocket. Because I’ve never attempted to figure out how to lock my keys stuff like this happens all the time.
I realized it had been too long since I’d told him how proud I was of how far he’s come and what an honor it was to be his friend. I knew he was probably spending Saturday with his family so I shot him a nice text instead of calling him.
And with that I was on my way back down Main Street, kissing babies and giving all the ladies a thrill.
“Nothing Matters & it Will All be Over Soon”
The way I reacted to getting yelled at and hung up on is how I react to everything these days.
Because I realize that, like my buddy Craig Ballantyne says, nothing matters and it will all be over soon.
When we say nothing matters it means that trivial bullshit like that doesn’t matter. It means that someone hanging up on you doesn’t matter. It means that someone calling you names on the internet doesn’t matter. Sure, your work, your family, your reputation and your word all matter. But most of the stuff people waste time on really and truly does not matter. You’ve gotta focus on what’s important.
Arguing about anything is almost always a waste of time. Unless you’re arguing to get a new life changing bill passed or may have found the cure for cancer and are trying to get that drug approved you absolutely CAN’T waste up precious minutes arguing. It’s nonsense.
Life’s too short to let negativity bring you down. I could have been all bitter and pissed off about that call and then gotten hit by a car at the next intersection I was crossing. In the words of Cypress Hill, I ain’t goin out like that.
If I got crushed by Jon Voight’s LeBaron after letting my friend know how proud I am of him it’d be a much more fitting end to my days.
Remember the Tiger Woods scandal or when Charlie Sheen went nuts or Andy Dick’s drunken, drug fueled stupors?
Look at them now, back in the spotlight. Heck, even Mel Gibson’s been seen all over awards shows lately.
People forget and move on. No one cares. It doesn’t matter.
You have to keep moving forward in a positive direction no matter what. Never let another human being control your emotional state.
And even if you do something stupid, apologize, fix it and forge ahead. It will be over soon.
Don’t waste time worrying about it.
A Decade of Wasted Workouts
One of the things my brother and I have discussed on more than one occasion is how we wish we could go back twenty years in our training knowing what we know now. All the wasted time, effort, frustration and injuries. It could have all been avoided.
When we’re honest with ourselves we come to realize that out of a quarter century of training ten years were a complete waste. An entire freaking decade. That’s pretty sick when you really think about it.
But like I said, you can’t dwell on the negative or live in the past. You’ve always gotta be moving onward and upward. To do anything else is a waste of time and life.
The sad thing is many of you guys are in the same boat right now. Hopefully you haven’t wasted quite as years as we did but I’m sure you’ve pissed away a few.
If you’ve been in the gym working hard and training consistently for more than two years and people aren’t at least commenting on your transformation or asking what you’re doing something’s wrong.
If you’ve been training more than five years and never once has anyone called you “big guy” that’s pretty sad.
But we all make mistakes and what’s in the past is done. You’ve just gotta make sure the future is different.
It’s a brand new week and time for a brand new start.
Make a change and don’t look back.
There’s no time to waste.
