Put Your Horse Blinders On

In this climate that we live in currently.

I think it’s an understatement to say that we are so biased towards instant gratification, that obediently pursuing the long game is a radical concept.

However, as much as attention spans are down...

as much as we are marketed quick fixes...

and as much as we demand results faster than we can say “Now”...

I think that if we were REALLY honest with ourselves, we still believe in hard work and sacrifice.

Hopefully, for you and me at least.

Alright story time!

Just a couple of weeks back, when I was on holiday in Spain, I saw horses trotting around right below my Airbnb in Malaga.

I stopped to take a couple of shots for my coach who has this saying about how he puts his horse blinders on and just fucking goes.

He means this in the context of his relentless ability to put out content creation, pursue continued education and growth as a coach, while running his business, and all that.

Honestly, no matter what you apply this to, the lessons buried in this phrase is game-changing.

1. Be willing to work your fucking ass off

2. Focus on yourself alone

1. Be willing to work your fucking ass off

I don’t care what your goal is. If it is to help as many people as possible (like me) or if you want to transform your physique, the ability to stay aggressively patient is going to be utterly life-changing.

What do I mean by that?

I mean that you gotta find that place where you are able to so aggressively committed and dialled-in to the short term, daily actions…

and at the same time…

to be patient as heck that you will do this as long as you can until you succeed.

To be willing to put in the work day-in day-out, consistently, and still accept that great change is gonna take time to manifest.

This may look like going for your walks and hitting your step count daily, crushing your macros every single day, showing up and giving it your all in training, recovering and resting, and...

Being so patient that if I told you you had to do this for 15 years (will save this story for another blog post) you would say yes mam and show up with 100% effort tomorrow.

That's the commitment I'm talking about.

2. Focus on yourself alone

This one is simple, not easy, but simple.

As humans, we are prone to comparison, I get it.

The number of times I get clients showing me a picture of their favorite celebrity's bodies that they want is countless.

I honestly think comparison is O-K, it's so in built in us that its not something I think we need to try to stop, or can stop even.

I also think gaining a little inspiration from others is fine too, if that lights a fire under our butt to do something, that works out for the good right?

But where it becomes grey and troubling is when it starts to get in the way of your own progress, action, effort, mindset, and peace.

When it comes to achieving the body that you want, it is TOTALLY normal to look around you and compare yourself to maybe your friend Meghan Markle (*disclaimer: names stated here are mere coincidences, and for illustration purposes only, I have no idea what their workout/nutrition routines are like), she eats what she wants and doesn’t even workout yet has a bikini-ready body year-round. What gives?

Or you compare yourself to Gal Gadot, who is lifting heavy barbells, can rep out her pull-ups, run a sub 6 min mile. Looking lean af and still managing to go out to eat many meals with her friends throughout the week. Urgh.

But here’s where you don’t see

1. The work behind the scenes that they are putting in, maybe how dialed into their training, nutrition, sleep, daily habits that they actually are

2. The sheer number of years and struggle that has gone into building the base that they are now working off

3. The genetic differences- some people are just made to look good, no matter how it baffles us

4. The emotional headspace they are in, trust me, they probably have someone else they envy just like how you are envying them

5. The state of their relationships. As much as we want to think it’s just about looks, a successful life runs deeper than that. How are they as a person? How do they treat others? Do they have good friends that actually care?

See where this is so messed up?

So, instead of spending time and energy worrying about what others are doing, head down, eyes forward, and focus on what’s in front of you.

Now I say all that to bring it back to this one point, if you struggle with comparison, remember it’s you vs you.

That’s all that matters.

That’s all that you can control anyway.

This is the mindset shift you need to succeed and tough it out.

Time to put our horse blinders on and get to work.

- Darsh