From Evolution to Revolution

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From Evolution to Revolution-DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training

I’m creeping up on 40, yea, my wife tells me it isn’t here yet, but I can see my 40th birthday itching closer and closer (38 now!) While I don’t consider 40 old in any way, I often wish the me of now could have a little conversation with the me of 18 or 21. I am sure I am not alone in this regard, how many times have you wanted to offer wisdom that you have now on a younger version of yourself? There are so many things I wish I could tell the younger me! It is HIGHLY debatable if the younger me would actually listen to the me of now, but I think these lessons are much more universal, what do you think? 

Don’t Blindly Follow the Flock

It is human nature to want to belong. In fact, I encourage people to find groups of people that they have a lot in common with and can help motivate and inspire them. However, blindly following your pack just because “everyone else is doing it” still doesn’t work for me. Just as important it is to belong, I think it is also good to be challenged. Believe it or not there is A LOT of debates amongst our DVRT Masters on what is the right way to do things. From exercises, programs, progressions, etc. I LOVE IT! Being surrounded by a bunch of yes people makes you stale, keeps you from growing and progressing no matter what you are striving to become better at.

If you aren’t asking questions, if you aren’t challenging the status quo I suggest you step back and ask a simple question, “why?” That “why” goes to not just getting a deeper meaning to what you are doing, but why you do or do not feel comfortable asking more questions, seeing new ideas, and seeing if there is more.

How many times does your group say, “this is the way it has always been done.” If they do, you may need a new group as they will hold you back. 

Don’t become just another sheep in the flock!

Evolve 

It may surprise some to hear that I really do know that I am not always right. Shhh, don’t tell my wife! In fact, if I look back at what I was doing five years ago, I have mixed feelings. On one hand I am proud to see the thought processes that were forming, on the other I scratch my head wondering WHAT I was doing in some regards. Evolving is a tricky thing, it makes people VERY uncomfortable. Many people think they should be embarrassed of what they have done in the past. Unless it was a really silly moment caught on social media, you shouldn’t as for forgiveness for what you USE to do. That is part of life, growing, evolving, learning more. I would say that if you haven’t changed in some significant way in the past five years then THAT might be more of a cause to feel embarrassed than knowing maybe you didn’t do the right thing before.

People still have a hard time with us doing DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training. There was a recent post by a gentleman that said, “bags of sand, how revolutionary of you!” That’s okay, I’ll be honest, DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training didn’t start in a very sophisticated manner. What I did in the very beginning is a lot of stuff I wouldn’t do today. That is growth in my opinion, what we have now is something so significantly better than ten years ago. Not only in our Ultimate Sandbag, but in our concepts and programs as well. We evolved an old idea into something revolutionary that is changing how people are seeing and using fitness. If I didn’t have the experiences of the past, there is no way we could be where we are at today.

How have you made positive strides to evolve in the person you are today? 

Don’t Worry About the Critics

 This past month Duke Basketball Coach, Mike Krzyzewski, became the highest winning coach in Men’s Basketball. So what?! One of the most legendary coaches in college basketball almost didn’t make it at Duke. After his third season there was talk of possibly firing him because of a disappointing start. If Duke had listened to the critics they would have ended up firing one of the most respected coaches of all time. 

My point? Doing something different and not expecting to have critics is naive of all of us. The scariest thing for all people to do is change. Whether that is physically, or in their thoughts processes. Making the decision to change how something is done is going to draw people out of the wood work, wanting you to fail. Why? It makes them uncomfortable! If YOU succeed, they have no excuses, they will think they were wrong, their worlds sometimes feel like they are falling apart because they may have put so much on those belief systems. 

Don’t do it, don’t cave to other’s insecurities when you try to change yourself, or something you believe in. It will be easy to focus on the nay sayers, but in doing so you will probably ignore those that are cheerleading you the hardest. Focus on those people, they are the one’s most important to you!

I remember a few years ago sitting with a young fitness professional. He communicated to me how frustrated he was he couldn’t get acknowledgement from his mentors. His wife jumped in though and said, “but your clients love you!” Unfortunately, he seemed to shrug off her supporting comment. I asked him why it was more important to have the approval of those that really didn’t know him rather than the overwhelming support and love of those he impacted every day? 

We all do it, we all sometimes focus on the WRONG thing in our lives. Just by shifting his focus from what he wasn’t getting to what he was getting this young fitness professional could transform himself from seeing a failure to a HUGE success! When it comes to our critics, sometimes you have to silence the ones in our own head! 

What makes me someone you want to listen to? Nothing! I’ve tried to pride myself on not worrying about making mistakes, but about repeating them. I have experienced all of these things many times over and want I strive for is changing how I react and grow from them. In doing so, it has not only allowed me to build a successful business, but help so many people and find happiness in my own life. Ultimately that is what I hope we can be a small part in your life. Changing the impossible to possible, giving you the willingness not to listen to others, but to what works. The excitement of actually finding and achieving things that are meaningful to YOU and not others. That is what I hope DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training can be for you!

BTW, if you see the younger version of yourself wondering around aimlessly, I hope some of this advice gives you inspiration to help them grow into who you really want to become! It is NEVER too late!