Intensity, Health, and Passion

  

Years ago when I was in college, I read about everything I could get my hands on that had to do with self-improvement. Yea, I admit it; I was a Tony Robbins, and Steven Covey junkie. I know I am not the only one either. Many of you out there probably have read the same self-help books as I have. Even today, I still read their material for reminders. I make no apologies for reading and studying the exceptional minds of these gurus. They are great people that have done great things.  

This is not about Self Improvement gurus however.  

I remember one of the books I was reading asked the reader to write down the top 10 or 20 most valuable traits to live your life by. Examples were things like Love, Commitment, Intelligence, Faith, Caring, Vitality, Health, etc… My list at the time however, was much different. The first word on my list was INTENSITY. I followed that with HEALTH/FITNESS, and the third was PASSION. The rest of the list had things like hard work, intelligence, awareness, fun, playfulness, etc… When I revisited this list again about 5 years later, again, I found myself listing INTENSITY, HEALTH and PASSION at the top of the list once again.  

I have always been attracted to intense things. Intense music, movies, people, animals, training sessions, etc. are my favorite things in life. If a song is intense, I am all over it and it will be in my IPOD immediately. If a person lives with intensity and passion, chances are they will be my friend. Passion has been something I was always drawn to as well. I love passionate people that do things for passionate reasons. People with passion in their soul are people that I find myself being attracted to. Finally, health and fitness are extremely important to me. Everything in my life revolves around health and fitness in one way or another.

 

I realize too that I like training and working with people that have one or all three of these traits. I love people that are intense during their workouts and go full out when training. I think the world of people that are passionate about working out, and people who value their health and fitness and make sure it is a priority in their life are fun and easy to train. If you have all three traits you are my absolute favorite kind of person to workout with and train, and this kind of person will see the most results in the quickest amount of time.  

Personally, when I train, I turn up the intensity before I even walk into the gym. I make sure that I am listening to the most intense music I can find while I am training, and I have the most intense look on my face as I start moving. I go at it as hard as I can, and I am passionate about leaving it all at the gym. Passion is what keeps me in the gym until I finish everything, and train until I almost cannot walk out of the door without throwing up sometimes. It is my intense passion for health and fitness that keeps me ahead of the game in the gym, at my job and in life.  

Discipline is necessary, but to me it is a byproduct, and nothing I need to think about much. If you have passion, you will be disciplined. If you have intensity, you do not have to worry about hard work, it is a byproduct. If you value your health and fitness, you will make it a priority and just find a way to take care of yourself, no excuses.  

Those three words have always been a part of who I am. Everybody has their own list and there is nothing wrong with not having those three words at the top, but I do believe that they need to be on the list, at least somewhere. When you bring passion into your life, everything changes. You will stop at nothing to get what you want, be the best and keep going no matter what gets in your way. When have intensity, you will work hard all of the time, you will always be on your game and you will live life at the highest level at all times. When you value your health and fitness then you value one of the best gifts you have. Without health, you have nothing.  

If you are not fit, you will not be able to enjoy your life, as you should. Find someone that lives with chronic pain and ask them how they feel. Find someone that is more than 20 pounds overweight and ask them if they feel healthy and fit and look the way they really want to. Ask these people if they can live the life they really want to live. Ask these people if they are where they want to be as far as their health and fitness go.  

People who do not reach their fitness goals do not have the passion in my opinion to get it done. The information is out there. There are more books and articles out there to help people with every single need possible, and there are people out there to help watch over every move someone makes. Find a system and stick to it. Find your “guru” and follow their lead. The rest, as they say, is up to you. People need to find their passion and go at it with complete intensity and they will make it. No doubt about it.  

I am far from perfect, and never claimed to be. I have much to learn, and much still to do. I have a long journey left in front of me in this life. However, no matter what I do, where I am or how old I get, I will always have Intensity, Passion and Health/fitness in my life.  

I try to train for life as much as I can, and do so in the weight room each time I walk in those doors. I train with passion and intensity and for my health and fitness at all times. I try to carry that practice into my life whenever possible. I work with passion, and intensity at all times. I live for my health and fitness as much as possible and shape my life around it.  

If your life lacks intensity or passion, find some now. Get into the gym, and train hard and with intensity and passion, the rest will take care if itself. If you are not taking time out each day to meet the most basic needs for your health and fitness, change your habits and start doing so now. I promise that you life will only get better.