In my previous article, I wrote about how I came to bodybuilding and how I
progressed during my first year.
Success Factors
In this article, I am going to talk about
what I perceive as necessary "Success Factors" that helped to guide me to
achieving my ultimate goal, winning an overall championship!
Commitment:
Commitment was my first success factor. To me, it is important to decide
what you want and commit to settling for nothing less. I decided, shortly
after my father passed, to give as much effort as possible to achieving my
goals (at the time).
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This is the most difficult phase for most people.
Making the conscious decision to compete in bodybuilding is a terrifying
thought. You doubt your physical appearance and wonder if you have the
nerve to stand in front of hundreds of people in skimpy posing trunks.
You open the bodybuilding magazines and see how huge and ripped the pros are and get even more intimidated. During this phase, you must visualize a
picture of how "YOU" want to look. Don't concern yourself with how everyone
else looks. This will strengthen your commitment.
Positive Energy:
Positive Energy was my next success factor. After I committed myself to
being my best. I had to actually believe I could be my best. I needed to
surround myself with positive energy.
This means, if you have a workout partner with different goals, find a new workout partner or do as much as
possible on your own.
You cannot afford to allow anything to deter you.
Not to say the workout partner is should not be your friend.
You must realize that to train for bodybuilding requires focus, desire, drive, and
determination day in and day out. Few people can maintain this type of
commitment for very long if at all. I have removed myself of many workout
partners who use the gym as a social Mecca, or don't come to the gym when
it rains or snows, or complains during hard workout sessions.
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They have all continued to remain my friends and fortunately were able to realize
how much it means to have positive energy. You must also realize that
there will be plenty of negative energy trying to counter-act your positive
surroundings.
Many people who can't commit will be envious and sometimes
even jealous. I affectionately call these people "haters". They will see
you progress and will be envious or jealous of you. To make
themselves feel better they will try to inject their negative energy into your
positive surroundings.
To give an example, during my last training cycle,
a rumor was started that I was using steroids. It angered me at first but
I managed to suppress the anger and re-direct it into higher intensity
training.
In the end, I was featured in publications that mentioned the
fact that the Governor's Cup was a drug-tested event. Many of my "haters"
have seen the article. It was the best feeling in the world! Just remember
to focus on being positive in every situation and no matter what you will
feel good in the end!
Determination:
Determination is another of my key success factors. Determination is what
made me do that "one last rep" when my body wanted to "quit". It is what
kept me at the gym to do abdominal and cardio-vascular work when I was ready
to go home. It is what kept me competing when I didn't place where I
wanted.
Without having enough determination in bodybuilding, you will quit
after the first time a judge critiques you and you don't agree. You must have an open mind and be determined to improve each and every time. I always tell anyone
who is new to competing to talk with the judges after a competition.
Find out where you need to improve. Who will know better than the judges? Have
an open mind and take the criticisms to heart and be determined to improve
the next time. Believe me, they will notice how determined you are!
Dedication:
Your dedication is a prime factor. What I mean by this is that dedication
is what will make you head to the gym when your boys are heading to "happy
hour". It will make you eat the "proper meal" and stick to your diet
instead of grabbing a more convenient burger at McDonalds.
Your dedication will be
visible to everyone the day you stand on the stage with other competitors.
Your dedication is what the judges will score. Your dedication will make the
difference between winning and losing. With dedication you can realize
success in any field of human endeavor.
Conclusion
These are four of several of my personal success factors and I will write
about others in subsequent articles. Hope some of you (my peers) find value
in these.
"Never underestimate your ability no matter how intimidating
the competition may seem: Amateurs built the Ark. Experts
built the Titanic."
Thanks,
wnbfprofessional@aol.com
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