Accountability Challenge Week 36: “Choose Love Not Discipline”.
I was reading a Globe and Mail newspaper and came across an article on former NHL hockey player, Gary Roberts that intrigued me greatly. Mr. Roberts, who hails from the Toronto area, played 21 years in the NHL, including several with the home town Toronto Maple Leafs. If you follow hockey at all, then you may be aware that Roberts has become known as the health and fitness guru among his fellow professional athletes.
After a serious neck injury Roberts was forced to retire before he was thirty years old. At this time he made a commitment to return to hockey, but to do so he realized that he needed to make a dramatic change in his personal health & fitness routines. One of the people that he turned to for advice was renowned strength & fitness specialist Charles Poliquin.
Upon implementation of the advice he received from Charles Poliquin and other trusted advisors as well as his own arduous study Roberts went on to play professional hockey at an extremely high and “super fit” level until he was 43 years old.
My own curiosity in this ultra-important area of our lives, led me to find out a little bit more about Gary’s mentor, and my search led me to his highly informative and content rich website www.charlespoliquin.com.
I realize you may not be a professional athlete, (I sometimes still dream of being one ☺) however if you are serious about taking your health and fitness to a higher level, then you will be well served by much of the information and articles on his website.
We have heard all through our lives that if we want to be successful then we must have lots of DISCIPLINE… And it’s true to be successful we must be properly disciplined in our thoughts and actions. However, for many people the word discipline also carries with it a negative connotation. Thoughts of punishment, pain, sacrifice, and self-denial spring to mind to name a few.
It’s no wonder so many people have trouble achieving lasting success in their lives. It takes just too darn much disciple, or does it?
I found the following article on the fore-mentioned website of Mr.Poliquin and found his perspective to be quite refreshing and also transformative. Remember, he is strength and conditioning expert, so some of the terminology may not apply to your specific health and fitness goals, but the general concept and message still holds true.
Enjoy,
Coach Mark
The Myth of Discipline by Charles Poliquin
There is no such thing as discipline. There is only love. Love is the most powerful creative force in the universe. You are the result of what you love most. You either love finely etched muscular abs more than donuts or you love donuts more than wash board abs you could do your laundry on. It is as simple as that. Don’t beat yourself up that you have no discipline or further drown yourself in a sea of refined carbs. Admit that you like crappy food more than you love strength. Or ask yourself this, what do you really love? Self-esteem is the reflection of self-judgment. One of the best ways to raise self-esteem is to make truly loving choices that lead to increased strength of body and mind. For example, if you truly love yourself in the gym, you choose the full squat with chains over the leg extension machine. At the restaurant, if you truly love yourself, you pass on the heavenly smelling basket of bread and creamy butter, and ask for some more limes for the water. Limes alkalize your body which in turn helps your bones, muscles and your ability to deal with stress. When you are faced with difficult choices, ask yourself, in context of course, what would a loving expert recommend? For example, when working chest, would a loving strength coach recommend the pec deck, or full range dumbbell presses. When choosing desserts, would the loving nutritionist recommend a bowl of berries or the triple decker brownie submerged under melting vanilla ice cream? How to free yourself from the outdated concept of discipline:
- Accept that all your choices are reflections of what you truly love.
- Love is the greatest creative force of the Universe. Use it wisely.
- Choose to love yourself more than external things.
- Treating yourself well accelerates the growth of your self-esteem.
- When people comment on your results and say things like “Wow you have a lot disciple” answer “No, I just make loving choices for myself”. Reinforcing your own positive behavior will help you grow in strength.
- What you appreciate appreciates. Whenever you make a truly loving choice, say to yourself ‘Thank you for taking care of me in a loving way”. The more you talk to yourself like a loving parent, the faster you will grow. Let’s say, for example, you just did a single on the squat with a load you didn’t feel like doing. Say: “Wow! I am impressed with your strength of mind, that’s why you are a champion”. By documenting and rewarding your successes, they will grow in magnitude and frequency. Whenever I meet a goal, I reward myself with positive things like a vacation or a new piece of equipment. When I get something better, I make the choice of giving away the old piece to someone who will appreciate it. Living a clutter free life allows for more growth.
- The more you believe in yourself, the more objectively you will be able to take the advice of authority figures.
- “Use your faults” was French singer Edith Piaf’s motto. I don’t like to stretch athletes. It is too time consuming and requires too much energy. Using that fault, I developed the Poliquin Instant Muscle Strengthening Technique (P.I.M.S.T.), which is a system that uses a myriad of body work techniques such as acupressure points that instantly give increases in flexibility. No wonder it’s always the fastest selling course we offer in the PICP!
There is an old Hindu saying: “The World is as we are”. Are you tired of seeing the condition of the world around you? Start by changing yourself- be the change you want to see in the world.
Expect Success,
Mark,
Thought for the week:
“Choose love, not discipline”
Expect Success,
Mark,
Mark Hudon, CFP™, CCS™
Financial Fitness Coach, Certified Cash Flow Specialist™
Creator of The Core Conditioning Program™
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