You are what you repeatedly do every day…so if excellence is something you are striving for…then its not an accident…it’s a habit. – Greg Plitt

Isn’t that a profound idea? That what we do each and every day creates us into the person we are right now at this very moment. The flip side holds true, in that if we want to become something, it really just comes down to repetition…to trying over and over again.

I don’t hate running. I hate starting to get back into running. Your knees hurt, your calves cramp, you feel like your running in concrete boots and every step of the way feels like you are pounding your way into the depths of hell. Okay,  that might have been a little bit of an overstatement. But now that I have been running for almost two weeks, I am over that feeling of impending doom every time I put my running shoes on. I guess today is really about finding barriers, finding the limits…and doing what it takes to go past them.

It has been a long time since I have written about the gym. Primarily because I had to take two weeks off because my left shoulder was a hot mess. But today I got right back in there, implemented my stretching routine which my chiropractor suggested and promised to initiate functional but significant amounts of pain on my IT bands if I didn’t follow through…and got after it. I think there are times when you have to take some mental breaks from the things you are doing. They can often get repetitive. I had been lifting since last August without a break. And while I made significant gains in strength and overall fitness, I burnt out. I needed a mental break. These past couple of weeks were perfect for that.

The mental side of things is probably the most important task you will ever undertake in your entire life. Commit yourself to making your mind stronger in one way each and every day. In fact, the more that I think about this, two hundred and thirty-seven posts ago, I decided that was exactly what I was going to do. You can pick something, and work on it all day. Something that I have been working on is being okay with knowing less. There used to be a time where I would ask and ask until someone would tell me really what was on their mind, but over the past few months, if I ask and they don’t want to talk about it, then I just let it go. I think what is really more important  than talking about it is having them know I am there when they are ready…if that time ever comes.

Get into the waters you are unfamiliar with. While it is scary at first, you will eventually find it within yourself to start swimming.

Evan Sanders
The Better Man Project