Saturday, October 04, 2008

In Chuck's Words

In my previous post I talked about the incredible Team BeachBody business opportunity. This time I want to share a post from the Team BeachBody message boards from coach Chuck Waterman. Chuck has made great strides with his health and fitness and is now building his business. Chuck's words below reveal what happens when a man decides to become a better man.

T. Horton


Those that believe they can, and those that believe they cannot, are both right.
- Henry Ford

I have really had to read this quote a few times to grasp what it was trying to say to me. One can look at this quote very superficially and come to an easy conclusion about positive though and its impression on the human psyche. I do not think it ends there. I believe, at least for me, that it goes much deeper than that. To me, it comes down to being a loser or a failure.

I can say with all sincerity that I have failed far more than I have succeeded in my life. I am cool with it, not damaged a darn bit. However, when I looked back there was more than one occasion when I was nothing but a loser. And yes, one of those times was right around January of 2007. I was at my heaviest weight, depressed, irritable and physically and mentally inept. Now those things alone did not make me a loser nor does it anyone else. What made me a loser was my lack of belief that change could happen and that my circumstances were everyone else?s fault.

Not one damn person stuffed that garbage into my mouth repeatedly. Nobody ever told me that I was headed down a very bad path health-wise. It is not their job and it is not their life. Losers make excuses. Losers hold others accountable for their own actions. Losers look for a remedy without a journey or a plan. Losers use their environment as a crutch to lean on. They have a very egocentric view that they are owed something on the basis of who they are. Sound harsh? Well it is, because losers don't face facts they turn their backs on them. How do I know? I know because I have done it...ALL OF IT!! I am a recovering loser! There I admitted it... Hello, my name is Chuck and I used to be a loser.

Hi, Chuck.., the loser support group shouts.

People always relate failure to being a loser. As if failing is a negative thing. Do not misunderstand me if you fail to realize that climbing Everest is dangerous, that can quickly turn into a negative. On the other hand, failing to do the same number of pushups as your intended goal is NOT a negative thing. I have said it before, if you are not failing in your exercise program you are not setting your goals high enough. Failure is a great thing to have. You learn, you grow, you accept the things you cannot change for that moment in time. Failure leads to a belief that eventually you will overcome.

Think about your goals for whatever program you are on. For example, Joe Smith says he wants to lose 30 pounds and run a 9 minute mile. Joe Smith on day one is a failure... he's no lighter than the day before and he?s running at only a 15 minute pace. What makes him not be a loser is that he pushed play that day. He ran as hard as he could for that workout. He supplied his body with the best fuel he could manage to find for that day. He examines the failure as a positive thing and moves forward because he has a belief that eventually he can. Losers give up, eat crappy food anyway because it doesn?t really matter. Losers think that his 9 minute mile is just a pipe dream and it would take forever to lose 30 pounds. People that are failures have no deadlines, no end game in sight. The finish line is always in the future and always just out of reach to make way for something better. People with a loser mentality a begging for the last day to arrive. Once they hit that, they can stop and relax. Losers miss the point. They are waiting for the chance to hold up for just a second. As Tony Horton so eloquently puts it, There is no just a second.

All I can keep saying is embrace your failures. I think you are awesome because you fail!! For the simple reason, that you keep showing up. You are a believer that you can change. You are not a loser, no matter what others may think. You have decided to make changes that sometimes lead to failure. How bold are you for just doing that?!! You have laid it all out on the line and are willing to accept ANYTHING that might happen...losers don?t do that. Losers believe they never will. Failures believe they could not for that moment but eventually will overcome. I believe in you and this community believes in you. There is no time limit and there are no ordinary moments. Step by step and failure by failure you will become, through belief, anything you set you mind too.

All my very best,
Chuck

Chuck Waterman
Team Beachbody Emerald Coach
cwaterman@ymail.com
www.beachbodycoach.com/cwaterman

9 comments:

Rae said...

Well said. As a CPA, I'm looking at what's been happening lately in the economy and thinking on the fact that the rationale laid out here, applies to everywhere in life. Holding yourself accountable for your own actions, whether it is fitness, relationships, how you utilize what God has given you (your body, your mind, your soul, your resources, all of it), is the hallmark of an extraordinary human being. The tendency to settle for "good enough" and live just for today instead of striving for the BEST you can be over the course of time has honestly ruined far more than people's health, it has rotted at the bedrock of what makes this nation what it is.

I'll get off the soapbox and make my point. My point, is that with the people here encouraging each other to keep striving, to keep pushing play, to keep holding yourself and others accountable (in a fun and friendly way) for their health (in all aspects) is a strong and growing counterpoint to not only the obesity epidemic, but the far more insiduous "blame game" epidemic where the focus is on who gets the glory or the shame, instead of ACHIEVING RESULTS.

The failure is in staying down. Thank you to the community here for helping people get back up.

Anonymous said...

As Frank always sang,Ive been up and down and over and out....THATS LIFE! And yes thats life... The inportant thing is what did you learn by your mistakes?? Thats why we are here; to learn! None of us are perfect.. and we make bad eating choices and bad choices about our health among other things...Well all continue to make mistakes..Its what we struggle to learn thats the real story. BRING IT! CATHY FROM COLORADO

Anonymous said...

Tony,

thanks for sharing this truly inspirational article with us. It was an eye opener.

peace,

Amit

Kevin J. Kane MD, The Fit Doc said...

Great post, Chuck! Thank you!

Kevin

Anonymous said...

Tony,

Super motivational commentary by Mr. Waterman. I can clearly see why he's an Emerald Coach!

There's a news story I heard on the radio this morning while shaving that I'd like to share.

In the everlasting fight against obesity here in New York City, the Transit Authority has embarked on an advertising campaign in all subways and buses that features poster pictures of buns, cookies, cakes, burgers, fries and other various fast-food delicacies. Each picture is captioned with its respective calorie amount. It's a well-designed effort to make the general public aware of what they're actually stuffing down their pie holes every single day, and the unhealthy after-effects. Anyway, this reporter on the radio starts asking a few guys on the street what they think about the new program. Safe to say, most responses were very negative. One guy started to laugh, another said that he's "gonna do what he wants anyway, so furgetta 'bout it!" What a loser! I thought to myself. Have we all been reduced to this deadly same-old, same-old fatalism? We have the power of change through choice, and when we ourselves deny that choice, we might as well be dead.

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Go get it!
Nick

Bo said...

Tony, Chuck's post hits it right on the head. I think people need to realize that even the ultra-fit people aren't perfect. People have their ups and downs, and as long as you roll with it, you'll end up on top.

I've been a fan of the beachbody community, and specifically you and your programs, for a little over a year... and have recently started to read your blog. I have to say: great work you do. P90X helped me lose weight for my wedding, and now that I have a job with a normal schedule (as opposed to my old rotating shift schedule), I hope that it will take me to a lifetime of fitness.

Maybe when I'm a little more fit, I'll seek out one of your camps when you're in the DC area (or close).

Take care Tony.

-Bo

Anonymous said...

Tony,

Thanks for this -
I had started the summer great by not just quitting ch3ch3o2 but the dreaded cigarette - joined the most amazing gym in the entire world and put nearly 500 miles on my new bike in 5 weeks...
then, I realized I was "over training" and needed to just give myself a little break - uhg, and guess what, those rotten cigarettes creeped back in again which i need to re-quit...
so, yeah, today I realized just how badly I felt for letting those evil things back into my lungs... and not getting right back into that groove...
I needed to see this today... great timing...
... and as someone else said, the only real failure is failing to get back up again...

Jim

Anonymous said...

Wow what a wodnerful article thanks a lot for posting that Tony.

Chris Rogers
www.ourfitnessjourney.com

Unknown said...

I'm a loser then and it sucks. I've got a lot of thinking to do.