Skip to main content

Is Having a Positive Attitude Overrated?

Over the last few months, I've written a couple of articles for Mike Mahler that have appeared on his website—www.mikemahler.com—or in his "Aggressive Strength" magazine. In the past, I have enjoyed reading some of Mahler's articles on training—his stuff is not necessarily revolutionary but he is very good at assimilating ideas from great lifters both past and present. However, it was only recently—after reading a lot of his "Aggressive Strength Living" articles—that I came to appreciate just where Mahler's strength lies.

Perhaps it's Mahler's background in Eastern philosophies—Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism—that causes me to like him so much, but I think it's more of the fact that he's not your typical "self-help", "positive thinking" sort of writer (as the article below will clearly show).
I picked out the following article because it resonated with me, but I hope you will use it as a springboard to explore more of Mahler's "Aggressive Strength Living" articles.

Is Having a Positive Attitude Overrated?

By Mike Mahler

There were no self-help groups, personal coaching, cheerleading, or handholding. The philosophy was very basic. You know what you want. You know what you have to do. You know how to do it. Just do it. If you can’t then tough shit!

—Randy Roach, Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors

Self-help gurus often talk about the importance of having a positive attitude, claiming it's fundamental to the success of any and all endeavors. On the contrary: attitude is irrelevant. Couple the brightest of attitudes with a flawed plan and you'll create only failure, while taking that same action with an effective plan--even if your attitude is less than cheerful--will surely succeed. Quoting former Navy SEAL Team Six leader Richard Marcinko, you do not have to like it--you just have to do it. This is the critical factor in success: Doing what needs to be done even when it's the last thing you want to do.

If you're only capable of taking action when you're attitude is positive--then don't bother. If you require extrinsic motivation to make your move, you should just give up, now. If you only perform at a high level when you're feeling your best, then you are the exact opposite of a professional and destined to remain an amateur at life and everything else.

Not only is positive attitude beside the point, it can actually hindermeaningful change...and ensuing success. I'll share a personal example.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Feel free to leave us some feedback on the article or any topics you would like us to cover in the future! Much Appreciated!

Popular posts from this blog

The Pure Power Program

 Before we get started here, sorry for the delay in posts.  I have had some "personal issues" that have kept me away from writing and was on vacation all of last week.  However, I hope the following article - which I have been working on for the last few days - will more than make up for it.  Also, please look for regular posts the remainder of the month (and the year).  With that out of the way... An East-Meets-West Powerlifting Program for Out-of-this-World Strength Gains Here I am pulling over 500 pounds over twenty years ago. My Uncle Kirk - who can still deadlift 400 pounds at 74 years young - is in the red singlet in the background shouting me on.       The following program is one that I have been experimenting with for a few weeks.  So far, the results have been quite good—good enough that I decided it was time to write an article about it.  Typically I don’t write about a powerlifting program until I’ve had longer to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Muscle-Building Made Easy (No, Really!)

  Some Simple Methods and Workouts for Easy Mass Gains My son Garrett displays the kind of NATURAL physique that can be built using the methods in this article.      Modern lifters can often be quite confused about what makes for an effective, result-producing workout.  They think that if their training is “hard” or if it fatigues their whole body or if their muscles “burn” during a tough set or if their workouts made them sweat profusely—I could go on and on—then, surely, that must mean that their training is effective.  But this simply isn’t true.  Now, don’t get me wrong, it could very well be that a “good” workout program does contain some of the above “symptoms” but not necessarily.  Let me explain.      When lifters train under my personal direction—and this is especially true for any bodybuilders that I’ve worked with—they are often doubtful that what I have them doing will be effective.  Sometim...
Post a Comment
Read more

Get Big Quick

       If you have been involved in the iron game for even a little while, you probably know most of the “get big advice.”   Stuff such as “eat a lot of protein and calories,” “train heavy on the big lifts,” “get plenty of rest and recovery,” and other such “basic” advice can be found in any number of articles, YouTube videos, or Facebook posts.   And most of it is pretty good and fairly sound—I’ve written plenty of such articles covering similar material here on the blog and I will continue to do so.   But in this essay, I want to do something just a little bit different.   Here, I want to look at some various tips, training ideas, and nutritional hacks that are not your run-of-the-mill suggestions.   Most of these are not to be used long-term, but they can be quite useful when utilized over a short period of time, such as one training cycle or even over the course of only a few weeks.      Before we get starte...
Post a Comment
Read more