“They have a 0.1% chance of winning going into the 4th quarter.”
“No team has come back from a 25-point deficit in Super Bowl history.”
Going into halftime of the Patriots-Falcons Super Bowl, I was riding high. Patriots fans were quiet for once and the underdog Falcons were kicking ass and taking names. Patriot Nation had chalked this one up in the loss column. Times were good.
Then the second half started and I got an uneasy feeling. It could have been the substance loosely categorized as cheese that drenched my nachos or it could be the fact that the Patriots resembled the team I’ve despised since 2001. And that’s when shit hit the fan for the Falcons, the city of Atlanta and me.
We all know the rest of the story.
Looking back at that travesty of a game, something popped out at me. Everyone had written off the Pats…but the Pats. Sure they looked pissed being down 25, but they never quit – even in the face of a historical certainty.
They never let the fact that they should lose derail them from consistently doing the little things right in the second half.
They never let the negative thoughts take over the game – I’m sure they had some but they didn’t make excuses. They took responsibility, stayed positive and worked their way back.
How many of us would have that type of resolve in our lives? How many times have you given up because it seemed like the odds were against you?
I don’t have time to go to the gym; I have kids.
I don’t have time to cook a healthy meal; I’m tired.
I’ll never be able to lose weight; I’m just big boned.
Why do we make these assumptions that we can’t do something? We’re just being run by negative thoughts.
Instead of giving up (which I wish the Pats did) why don’t we stay positive, embrace the difficulty and find a way to make it work for us – like how the Pats did in the second half. There are people in much worse situations doing the same exact things that we want to do.
So how do we stay positive when the possibility of success looks minimal? This is where I come in.
HOW TO WIN WITH A 0.1% CHANCE OF SUCCESS
The hardest part of hitting a goal whether it be winning a Super Bowl or losing weight is staying positive after the motivation wears off. Sometimes we encounter unforeseen obstacles and other times it’s a lot harder than we anticipated.
Staying positive through the rough times is the only way we can keep moving forward. Otherwise, negativity takes over and we revert back to our comfort zone.
There is no secret that I’ve had some dark moments. Here are a few things that help me when it seems like success will never happen.
THINGS COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE
Whenever something bad happens to you there is always something worse happening to someone else in the world.
Some d-bag cut you off in traffic? Someone across the world just got into a car accident.
Did you lose your job? Someone else has been living in the streets for a year.
Have 20 pounds to lose? Someone has 50.
It sounds kind of crappy I’ll admit but it puts things in perspective. Bad things will happen, but it could always be worse. Be happy it didn’t.
FIND THE SILVER LINING
I firmly believe there is a silver lining in all bad things that happen. I could list off a bunch of clichés here but I don’t want to be that type of website. Whenever something bad happens I like to run a post-game analysis of what went wrong and how I can prevent that in the future.
I’ll give a quick example of one of my screw-up with this website.
I put out a post where I asked some of the fitness industries biggest names what motivates them. One high profile person was gracious enough to respond right away and send me an amazing response from him directly (I talked to a lot of assistants). Well his response needed some proof reading before publishing – which I didn’t do. I didn’t realize it and published his words exactly. I emailed him all proud of myself hoping he would share my post with all his high profile friends and I’d be an instant hit. What I got was a series of emails from him more or less telling me that I suck at my job (which I did). Needless to say I don’t think he’ll be giving me any more responses.
Silver lining: I now have a proof reading process before I publish posts. It probably set me back in success an unforeseen amount but I learned a very valuable lesson.
WRITE ABOUT A POSITIVE FUTURE
This sounds a little hokey but it has been shown to work. Take 5-10 minutes and write down, in detail, what you want your future to look like.
Did you finally drop that weight?
Live somewhere it’s not freezing for half the year?
What are you doing for work?
Do you even work?
What do your family and friends look like?
Writing it down makes it more real and it will help you make decisions in the direction you want rather than going where ever the wind takes you.
PRACTICE GRATITUDE
Making someone else happy is a surefire way to make yourself happy.
Send an email to someone you admire and tell them that.
Say thank you to your parents for providing for you when you were a kid.
Tell a friend that you admire one of their characteristics.
Making someone’s day with a little gratitude goes a lot further than telling yourself how awesome you think you are.
WILL THIS MATTER IN A YEAR?
I’ve started this recently and I’m shocked at how well it calms me down. When something bad happens just ask yourself “Will this matter in 6 months?”
Odds are it won’t and it something stupid and not worth the aggravation.
Mad because you skipped Monday’s workout? Will it really matter if you go the rest of the week? Nope move on.
DROP ALL OR NOTHING THINKING
Did you cheat on your diet at lunch? Does it mean the rest of your day is in the crapper? NO!
So you screwed up your diet for one meal, make it up at the next one. There is no need to put a ridiculously high bar of success only to clothesline yourself all the time. Give yourself some wiggle room.
If you do screw up do a post-game analysis, find the silver lining and move on.
STICK WITH POSITIVITY
You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Like it or not we are all chameleons. We absorb and display the characteristics of the people we hang around with.
Give yourself a fighting chance and hang around people that are positive and are doing things with their life. It will greatly help you in the long run.
If you are looking to start getting in shape find people that are on the same journey as you or are already there. The Aesthetic Physiques community is filled with both.
START YOUR DAY POSITIVE
I know a guy that wrote something about morning habits. Start your day on the right side of the bed and it makes the rest of the day so much easier.
Take time for yourself. That extra 15 minutes of sleep won’t do anything in the long run. Get your ass up and make yourself happy.
Last but certainly not least….
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
If you take nothing else from this post, take this.
The reason you are in the situation is no one’s fault but your own. You made the decisions that got you there.
You shoved the extra plate of food in your mouth.
You decided you were too tired to go to the gym.
You decided to stop for fast food 4 times this week.
The sooner you can take responsibility for your actions the sooner you can find solutions.
YOUR TURN
My ask of you is to start something today. Learn a new language. Start reading a book. Start working out.
You might not start where it’s ideal or have the optimal situation but start something. Show up consistently, stay positive and find a way to make it work for you. Just like those freaking Patriots did in the second half.
What are some of the ways you stay positive?
What is something you are going to start working on today?
Comment below.
If you got something from this or it made you give a little chuckle share it. The people it helps will thank you.
Dave
