The Difference Between What You Do And Think

Last Monday I talked about Arnold Schwarzenegger, and how his mindset was his real secret to success in his lifting, acting and political career. Today I want to talk about how to develop the same kind of winning mindset.

I already alluded to this a couple of weeks ago when I said that changing your habits is easier than changing your thinking. There’s what you do on a day to day basis, and then there’s the way you think.

The overwhelming majority of self-improvement and success books focus on the thinking. Common advice is to think positive, think abundance, think confident and similar utter nonsense. Now I’m all about positive thinking and I hate crabs and whiners, but I’m also a pragmatic – I do what works.

It’s like the guy who is kinda shy with women and who gets the advice “just be confident”. Well duh, if he knew how to be confident, he would already be doing it. Even worse is if the guy now starts faking it, trying to be James Bond.

Most methods to gain confidence and success focus on this – the thinking. But after helping thousands of guys to gain muscle and strength, and going myself from a skinny-fat 120lbs who couldn’t do a single Push-up (I was so weak I even lost at armwrestling to a girl) to a muscular 170lbs with a 400lbs Squat, I’ve concluded that it’s really the doing that matters.

It’s not rocket science – when you dramatically transform your physique and skyrocket your strength, people will notice. You will get compliments and gain respect. This positive feedback combined with the courage you develop from overcoming your fears daily in the gym, is where true confidence comes from.

The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character.

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

In fact, several of my StrongLifts Members have confided to me that they used to be shy around women and/or with people before they started SL5x5, but that this radically changed once their strength started to increase, almost always very quickly. Heck, often the women are now shy around them!

Meanwhile those self-help gurus will tell you to just sit at home, think confident and visualize your goals. To the guy who is too lazy to go the gym 3x/week and who doesn’t understand that the way life works is that you get what you put into it, this blather is cocaine. And it’s at least as dangerous.

You should think positive and I’m a firm proponent of visualizations, but you do have to take action to get somewhere. And when you take consistent action towards your goals, the thinking will automatically take care of itself. Fact is, increased competence boosts confidence, and it does it amazingly fast.

I’ll talk more about taking action next time.

Email This • Get Free Updates• Print

9 Responses to “”Mannix says: December 1, 2010 at 2:44 pm

“God helps those who helps themselves first.”

That is what comes to mind after I read this blog.

View the Original article

One Thing All Successful Guys Share

Wednesday I talked about the difference between what you do and what you think. Today I want to talk more about the doing – taking action.

The most important action you should take to develop a winner’s mindset, is to look for guys who have achieved your goal, study them, and then copy. Forget about the way they think, focus on their behavior and mimic it.

Think about it – why does every top athlete have a coach or mentor? Tiger Woods and David Beckam have one. So does almost every Olympian. Arnold Schwarzenegger also had a mentor – Reg Park, 3x Mr Universe. Even I had a mentor when I started lifting and who introduced me to Squats.

Notice how the apprentice often becomes more successful than his teacher. Arnold won more titles than Park, yet that doesn’t make Park a know-nothing. I also got stronger than my mentor, but he was no know nothing either.

The guys who look at successful people like Arnold Schwarzenegger and claim that “it’s all about steroids” they miss on key lessons like these. Again – why do you think all successful people have a coach or mentor? I’m not trying to sell you my coaching program here – I’m full until next year. I want you to think really good about why the heck these guys choose to have a coach or mentor.

Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed in his autobiography “The Education of a Bodybuilder“, that he did heavy Squats and Deadlifts from the start because Reg Park could Squat 600lbs and Deadlift 700lbs. Arnold looked for a guy who had achieved what he wanted, studied him and then copied Park’s 5×5 method.

Inside my StrongLifts Community I have long noticed that my most accomplished Members follow the training logs of other SL Members who are in most cases stronger than them. They subscribe to their logs to automatically get updates, examine what they do, and then copy. This is the closest thing to mentorship.

The true benefit is of course the thinking that you acquire by hanging out with these Members. Most guys’ biggest stumbling block is their own thinking – what they believe they can and cannot do. There’s no better way to eliminate those limiting beliefs than by seeing a guy with your age and body type doing it. And that’s one key ingredient of that winning mindset I referred to – no limitations.

Who are you studying?

Email This • Get Free Updates• Print

4 Responses to “”Maslow says: December 3, 2010 at 3:36 pm

I’ve got a mentor. He was my professor in college. I noticed he was super jacked so one day I asked what he did when he worked out. He invited me to “train” with him. The first time I did so I puked 20 minutes in, which earned me a high five and slap on the back from him. He taught me to workout with extreme intensity. He played football in college and then moved on to Olympic lifting, eventually training with the Canadian National team. He’s an adherent to the squats and milk, old school training methods. He knows that gains are made when you push your limits, and he’s taught me that. His grandfather was a “strongman” with the circus, so I suppose it’s in his family and blood to go all out and get brutally strong. He lives far away now but being able to ask him the occassional question and seek advice is incredibly helpful, and motivating since in the back of my mind I want to prove to him that I have what it takes. The simple social pressure of having a log and updating friends on training really helps when I’m debating doing that last squat set because I know it’s going to suck. He and I have plans to compete together in a USAPL meet next spring.

Vivek says: December 3, 2010 at 3:37 pm

I am studying the weight on my bar and you.

Ken says: December 3, 2010 at 5:01 pm

I have observed through the years that successful guys, no matter what their endeavor is, is that they share at least4 traits; 1. Drive- Successful people are driven people. They are driven to achieve their goals no matter what happens. 2…. Goals- Successful people that I try to emulate don’t do things haphazardly, they write down both immediate, and long range goals.

3. Discipline- they forego immediate gratification for long term success. 4 Knowledge- they study their endeavor, their opposition, and themselves- Always striving to improve.

Jamie says: December 3, 2010 at 6:47 pm

My biggest inspirations around here are SL Members maroon, tyrone, and bluestreak. Those are the guys who are where I want to be at.

Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply.

Your First Name (required)

Your Email (will not be published) (required)

Get my FREE eBook Discover how to gain muscle and strength WHILE losing fat in only 3 workouts per week. Click here to get my book.

View the Original article

Here’s The Deal

Author, lecturer and strength coach Jim Smith CSCS USAW has just released his brand new AMD 2.0 System. And to celebrate that, you can claim your copy for 20% OFF until midnight Friday December 10th 2010.

Click here to grab your copy at a special 20% discount.

I’ve written a  review of Smitty’s new muscle building program which you can read by going here. You can also discover the full details about the AMD 2.0 System on his website by clicking here (pay attention to the success stories).

Try AMD 2.0 Risk-free for 20% Off and Get 6 Free Bonuses. On top of the 20% discount, Smitty is also giving away the next 6 free fast-action bonuses when you claim your copy of his new AMD 2.0 System today…

BONUS #1: Deadlift Fundamentals Manual – 200 pages manual about my favorite exercise – the Deadlift. Technique, shoes, belts, grip, variations (like sumo) and assistance exercises are all shown here.BONUS #2: Deadlift Instructional Video – step-by-step video that shows you how to master the Deadlift technique in real time – this video is quite frankly worth the price of the entire package alone.BONUS #3: AMD Top 5 Fat Loss Strategies – discover how to shred stubborn fat off permanently (without spending hours on the treadmill) so you get the body you’ve always wanted once and for all.BONUS #4: AMD Explosive Upper Body Muscular Growth. Real-time video of an AMD workout so you can see for yourself how quickly you can get an effective muscle building workout in less than 35mins.BONUS #5: AMD Explosive Lower Body Muscular Growth. This is the same type of real-time video of an actual AMD Workout, but this one is aimed at your lower body (how to put muscle size on your legs).BONUS #6: Premier AMD Videos Youtube Channel. Smitty will show you how to master the technique of all the most common and advanced exercises, not just the ones of AMD but also of StrongLifts 5×5.

That’s really lot of stuff that you get for free when you try Smitty’s brand-new AMD 2.0 System for 20% off. To claim your copy today at special discount before his offer expires click here right now.

Talk Soon,

View the Original article