In my youth, I would often watch the ‘World’s Strongest Man’ competitions with my younger brother. I would often tell myself (and my family), that I would one day be in those competitions. That was my dream, and what I thought I wanted for my life. I took the steps to realize that dream. I began lifting weights around the age of fourteen, and moved on to competitive powerlifting through the remainder of my high school years. A series of injuries forced me to abandon this dream for the sake of my health (and the ability to use my shoulder), but I came away from this extended experience with a new sense of respect for the concept of Strength.

Obviously, strength plays a major part in the dream track that I had chosen for myself at that young age. To bench press a hundred pounds, your arms and back must be able to sustain the weight, and drive it forward. Two hundred pounds is a bit more challenging, requiring additional support muscles that are not as well developed as the ones you use day to day. Bench pressing three hundred pounds takes determination- weeks (if not months) of training to strengthen all of the core and support muscles throughout the arms, chest, and shoulders. Hitting four hundred pounds is a feat in and of itself, as it requires intense concentration on every muscle group throughout the torso (even the lower back) for years. Without taking the steps necessary to build up these minor and major muscle groups, it is impossible for most individuals to lift that kind of weight. Hurrying through training or ‘cheating’ will only lead to injury.

With all of the various schools of thought on the topic of success, we are often taught to expect it all right away. If we don’t know how to handle small amounts of success, how are we supposed to react when hundreds of millions of dollars are suddenly piled into our laps? Much like trying to lift too much weight too quickly, trying to grasp at too much success can get us hurt. Don’t get me wrong- there are plenty of ‘miracle’ success stories. There are also at least twice as many cases where individuals propelled into stardom or riches crash and burn.

Throughout the entire process of training to bench press that weight, your concept of Strength gradually changes. When I first started training, I had dreams of seeing more than one “45” lb plate on each side of the bar. Gradually I grew accustomed to seeing many more than that. I had thought I would consider myself ‘Strong’ after being able to leg press five hundred pounds. When I reached my max in that exercise (1470lbs), did I feel like I had finally reached my goal? Not really- I knew I gained levels of strength and accomplished my previous goals, but I still couldn’t completely walk around calling myself a ‘Strong’ man. If I had let myself be ruled by the mediocre goals that I had set at the beginning, I would never had proceeded past mediocrity. My dream of being one of the ‘World’s Strongest Men’ (the likelihood of which was next to none) kept me blowing past these mediocre goals and standards that I let myself set. I was able to reach heights (well, weights, technically) that I never would have dreamed of in those first days of sore muscles and tired limbs.

In our lives, we often set our sights on a certain level of wealth or accomplishment. For those of us that had to wash dishes, we couldn’t wait to get that thirty-cent raise. In our career life, we wait on that distant promotion, knowing that it will fill that void and make everything right. When we finally get to that point, are we as fulfilled as we thought we would be? In most cases, no. Just like with weight training and sports, we set these artificial indicators in our minds because we know that we can reach them. We shelter ourselves from the possibility of failure while telling ourselves that reaching these goals will give us what we need. If we keep allow our lives to follow this narrow track of small goals, at what point will we allow ourselves to feel ‘accomplished’ and relax in that relative mediocrity?

What is your dream? What is your ‘best case’ scenario? Is it a beach house and a surf board? Is it millions in the bank and a happy marriage? Or is it to climb the highest mountains and dive to the deepest depths of the ocean? No matter what you dream of, make sure that you don’t allow your focus to shift from that dream. Refuse to accept mediocrity. Keep your eye on the prize, and don’t be afraid to accept the small gains and accomplishments. Accept them, but don’t let them take the place of your wildest dreams!

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