Devolving Strength: The Lost Meaning Of Earning
There is a raging fire within some of us. Some of us have a desire to push and to discover what we can do with our minds and bodies in different scenarios. The essential trait for nurturing such a spirit, or desire is patience and persistence. Patience and persistence are dying traits in today’s world…and at the same time so is the characteristic of quality. When it comes to strength this is certainly the case.
The Observation…
Having been in the iron game while also having witnessed our society drastically change over the past 15 years has been something that reminds me a bit of a horror movie. Because of what I do for a living I know that I can be more in tune to how people move, more in tune to their proprioceptive awareness in their relative surroundings, and also notice the general decay of relative problem solving ability…and deeper understanding of life as it concerns many individuals.
There is a concrete reason for this devolving strength of society and the reason is because society has been dumbed down by an overwhelming dependency on technology combined with a wrecked education system. Everything today is about immediate gratification. Everything is about immediate “on the surface” information. Everything is about immediate results.
The truth is that anything that has to do with true quality is NOT immediate. Information that is readily immediate isn’t necessarily quality information. Likewise results from a magical pill for your training is not a quality sustainable approach to getting stronger, or for getting fitter.
Quality can only come from digging deeper. Quality only comes from earning and in order to earn something you must be able and willing to express patience and persistence. This is where strength has devolved in our society.
The Meaning Of Earning
To earn means that you are to receive in return for quality effort. The prize comes when you have proven yourself valuable for the prize, or payment. Today this seems to be a lost meaning as many think they should be given payment, accolades, or power based upon status, or particular societal pressures. The focus has been shifted to rewarding what is wrongly perceived as fair instead of rewarding based upon one’s merit.
Sadly for many these days the concept of earning has been replaced by an entitlement mindset of being given payment, or reward simply because life isn’t fair. Life not being fair is just a reality, but many people want to live in the “should be” make believe world…rather than the real world.
When it comes to encouraging the progression of strength for an individual this lost meaning of earning type of mindset directly contradicts everything that the BRF brand and voice stands for. What kind of coach would I be if I promoted half ass effort and rewarded half ass results? As crazy as this sounds I would like to think that I would not be in business.
The Fallacy
As I pointed out in the video the mindset of receiving reward without effort, or the “cool” factor behind it is something that is even celebrated on athletic attire these days. I mean I understand the humor factor behind such statements, but I also know that there is a significant portion of the population that does NOT understand the humor that such statements as I’ve described here are meant to portray. Sadly it’s actually an accepted belief even though it’s a huge fallacy.
I mean it’s been my experience that there is a very real culture of such laziness and soft mindedness that exist in this way. Many kids today buy into this by constantly being fed those 10 to 15 second highlight reels on the YouTubes with the final result of some athlete pulling off some circus feat of a move in some crazy physical scenario.
Perception to the casual viewer is that such ability is the norm and that they can achieve the same level of performance without grinding through those early mornings, staying late evenings, and working through the weekends. The concept of starting and having to sacrifice and earn through a healthy progression is so frequently a blind concept to many people in today’s society. This misguided belief is very real in today’s culture.
In Closing
The point is that I am constantly hearing people that are hung up in this type of culture (the lost meaning of earning culture) talk about how everyone else should get caught up to modern times. No, that’s complete bullshit. The reality is that these people need to wake up and face the real world.
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Real life doesn’t change simply because you deem it to be unfair. It also doesn’t change because for some reason you believe society is somehow more advanced these days simply because there are more technological gadgets to dumb everybody down. If that’s advancement then what is devolving?
The bottom line is that anything of quality will take time, patience, and persistence. There is no substitute for effort, specifically quality effort.
Stay strong. Be better. Train smart.
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Totally agree. Success only comes through continuous, well planned effort. In my field, GYROTONIC, I’m well thought of within the community of trainers and yet I feel like I don’t work hard enough, like I should be putting more effort into improving as a trainer & practitioner. I’ve known some true and genuine masters in different movement arts and I know I haven’t reached their level of dedication, persistence & diligence.
Anything that’s been “handed” to you can just as easily be taken away. What you’ve genuinely earned can never be taken away from you.
This is true Mike. It’s true from the coach’s role, but most importantly should be a mindset that is adopted by everyone regardless of their endeavor. As a strength and conditioning coach I have had experiences where athletes/trainees were just simply NOT coachable. This was because they had not adopted a mindset that was necessary for pursuing strength. You are spot on with continuing to push and to achieve, but you have adopted that mindset. This is the key to growing strength. Thanks so much for the feedback!