Death by monotony. Death by theories and statistical wisdom. I.e. death without a trace.

You feel it coming that’s why you search the internet, scour for articles, watch the videos. Maybe even pay to watch someone in a panel or on the podium, hoping that their words will somehow stain you a little longer, seep into your life a little better, into your abilities, activities.

A month-old into the new year and a lot of people are still “motivated.” But just as water and food, this mental and emotional diet, if not nourished, will deplete. And this is why people will always wonder why they are always starving, deprived and depressed.

Online clickbait “secrets” will often try to sell you on some sort of system, “a way of thinking,” that will change your life. But this is only true if you have accepted the true necessary equation of “the secret,” prioritizing a way of doing instead of the passive, a way of thinking.

Blood + Sweat + Time = Chance

And such an equation will forever remain a secret simply because it is not easy. It is hard. In fact it will take everything you got. It will require you to give up your self right now, your life as you know it. But in return you will get another life—the true non-metaphorical heaven, something you don’t have to wait for in the afterlife, something you can see and get in the now—the life you’ve always dreamed of.

Then again it’s not for everybody. For some people giving up their current selves is not worth the chance. Because that’s the only guarantee you’re ever going to get: a chance (and as many failures it takes to get that chance). Some people just want the next new diet, the next new book, the next new show, song or gadget, and not necessarily new selves.

I’ve realized long ago (just as I discovered erection) that I cannot just “be myself.” I mean, what does that even mean? Should I be content with who I am right now relative to my monthly bank statement, how I look in the mirror, how other people see me, or how I think about myself before I go to sleep at night? Or is there so much more? Something I cannot see. Something I cannot talk about. Something only I can feel.

Fuck it!

At least that’s what everybody says. But “fuck it” in the yolo-to-the-sunset type of way. Often times when you hit a plateau (whether in physical training, your love life or your career) everything in your being tells you to stop what you are doing, sit down and quit. Eventually this act of sitting down becomes a habit. Because the truth is you’ve been preconditioned to sit down for the most part of your life. You’re asked to sit down in school. You’re asked to sit down when you drive to work. You’re asked to sit down at work. Asked to sit down when you drive home through traffic. Sit down when you eat dinner. Sit down when you watch TV. And after all that sitting down, it’s now time to go to bed. Life will always ask you to sit down in moments when you should be standing up.

Your plateaus are your limits—limits to everything that you are right now—your physical capabilities, your mental capacity, your emotional belief. You’ve never gone past these plateaus because every time you hit your limit, every time you felt the pain and didn’t see results, every time you are reminded of how long and how much it will take, you sat down and quit. You know, like a little bitch. And this is why you are exactly where you are today because that is where you left yourself last time.

Most people look for the moments in life when they can just sigh into the wind and take a long deep breath, forgetting the moments when life takes their breath away. Muhammad Ali used to say, “I don’t count my situps. I only start counting when it starts hurting, when I feel pain,” because that’s when it really matters. Not when you’re fresh, mentally stable, or “prepared.” 

New beginnings are always hard because you’ve never been there before. But just as Elon Musk said in his rocket ship analogy, you will burn 90% of your fuel just to escape the Earth’s atmosphere, but once you break through 10% is enough to reach for the stars and come back.

They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. But does it really matter how long it will take? What you’ve always wanted is at the other end, everything you could ever dream of. But the question is: how bad do you really want it? Unfortunately such a question cannot be answered with words. And the only way to say “yes” is to do do whatever it takes, to stand up, start and don’t stop.

Break your patterns and habits. Break your weaknesses. Break your limits.