You Can't Wait Until You Think You're Ready..

“How do you know you're ready? Let me tell you something... You don't. 

As I'm lying here in the dark, alone in the gym and thinking about the next 18 weeks, I know this... You won't find answers anywhere. It's not written in any book. There's no guide. Nobody's gonna tell you it's time. Only one person will know... You. You just got to want it bad enough. Maybe one day you'll wake up and you'll know today's the day and you start your own journey. Just remember this... Making the decision to venture into the unknown, into uncharted territory—that's the hard part. You get over that, and your future will open up. Destiny will be within your grasp. That doesn't mean things will get any easier. Fuck no, they won't. But just getting to the edge, being able to look over–that's why I'm here.

Listen, you can't wait until you think you're ready. I got news for you—you'll never be ready. You'll never be big enough. You'll never be lean enough. Your lagging parts will never catch up quick enough. So if you waited for that time when you thought you might be ready, you'd never step up. And if you don't step up, you're not in the game. I'm in the game. I'm gonna look and see what's on the other side...”

–Wrath.

I love that quote – from Animal’s 'The Journey'.  It’s a good read for any competitor, but more than that it’s a good read for anyone at all.  It’s about hard work, dedication, motivation – about knowing what your priorities are and sticking to them.  About chasing your dreams and not letting anything stand in your way.

I used to read this over and over when I was competing – I had print-outs hanging on my wall, my fridge, basically everywhere.  But after my last show it fell to the back of my mind and I kind of forgot about it.  I’m not sure what reminded me today, but I’m glad it did.  I am not competing in July, due to a lot of really exciting and at the same time kind of scary life changes that are coming this summer – I’m not really at liberty to say much right now, but I will when I can.

That doesn’t matter though, I’m glad I read this as a non-competitor.  It made me think about a lot, made me remember my passion and my drive.  Life is too short not to chase your dreams – and I urge you all to do the same.

Competitor or not, if you have some free time (it’s not long, I promise) check out The Journey.  Let me know what you think.  What are your biggest, scariest dreams? And are you doing everything in your power to make them come true?