This is taken from Seth Godin’s blog, one of the most popular blogs on the internet. Even though his blog’s topic is different from mine, I find this particular post to be very relevant to this blog.

First, here is my thought on this:

For ectormophs, training for a great physique is WORK. Tough tough work. Not only will you have to work hard at the gym, you also have to eat properly, rest properly, sleep amply, all the while finish school work and all kinds of other commitments. Thus, it’s no surprise that every once in a while, you don’t feel like doing any of it.

Of course I feel that way some times. Especially these days. I’ve got papers to write, math and computer science problem sets every week, campus job, training every day, and job applications to fill out. Everyday is filled up with work even before I open my eyes.

I just DON’T think about it. I don’t think: “Oh my god, I have so much work.” I don’t complain about it to anyone. I don’t waste time sitting there and feel bad about the whole situation. There’s no use. I’ve set my goals clear, and these are the works to be done to get there. Feelings are irrelevant. It doesn’t matter how you feel. Works are there. You either do it, or you don’t.

Just do what you’re supposed to do; don’t think too much about it.

And here’s Seth’s post:

“I don’t feel like it:

What’s it?

Why do you need to feel like something in order to do the work? They call it work because it’s difficult, not because it’s something you need to feel like.

Very few people wake up in the morning and feel like taking big risks or feel like digging deep for something that has eluded them. People don’t usually feel like pushing themselves harder than they’ve pushed before or having conversations that might be uncomfortable.

Of course, your feelings are irrelevant to whether or not the market expects great work. Do the work. Ignore the feelings part and the work will follow.”

From Seth Godin’s blog

According to this great post by Chris Cameron Weekend Reading: The Dip by Seth Godin:

“‘The Dip,’ as Godin defines it, is valley between initial luck and long-term success. When learning any skill, the very beginning is fun and exciting as we quickly grasp new information and abilities. But at some point shortly after, the long, slow and difficult climb toward mastery makes us want to give up.”

In other words, most people, after going to the gym for a few months, quickly found themselves in this dip. Especially for us ectomorphs, 99% never manage to get out of it.

It takes hard work to get out of the dip. I recommend putting aside at least three months when training is your number 1 priority in life. Once you are out of that dip, it takes significantly less effort to keep progressing.

This book The Dip by Seth Godin gives you more instructions on how to get yourself out of the dips of any other area of your life. Read this post Weekend Reading: The Dip by Seth Godin to have a better idea of what this book is all about.

Here are three other related posts you should really check out too: Are you a quitter?, Interesting Post III, and How many goals should you have beside your training goal?

Still hesitate whether you should dedicate so much time, money, and energy to training? (It should be your top 1 or at most top 2 priority in life for at least 3 months; here’s why). Don’t hesitate. Don’t ask what if. Life = risk. If you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived.

Fortunately, you don’t have to remember or understand everything mentioned in these books immediately. It is a long process. The most important thing to do now is to start immediately, even if you think you’re not ready yet. Just do it, and you will figure things out along the way.

Don’t expect to find a perfect program or meal plan to rigidly stick to till the end. That’s not how things go. Listen to what Bruce Lee had to say about this:

“In developing the martial art of Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee worked hard to quantify and formulate a philosophy for self-defense and personal growth. His formula was:            1) Research your own experience, 2) Absorb what is useful, 3) Reject what is useless, and 4) Add what is specifically your own.

“Formulas can only inhibit freedom,” said Lee, “They are externally dictated prescriptions that only squelch creativity and assure mediocrity. Learning is definitely not mere imitation, nor is it the ability to accumulate and regurgitate fixed knowledge. Learning is a constant process of discovery – a process without end.””

(This excerpt is taken from Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle—one of the three books I recommend you to read).

“Motivation guru Anthony Robbins once told the story of a man at a seminar who was extremely frustrated with his lack of results in his business. The befuddled businessman said he had tried “everything” but nothing worked. Here is the exchange that went on between the two of them:

Robbins: “You’ve tried EVERYTHING???” Attendee: “Yes, I’ve tried absolutely everything!” Robbins: “Tell me the last HUNDRED things you tried,”

Attendee: ” I haven’t tried a hundred things.” Robbins: “OK, then just tell me the last FIFTY things you tried.” Attendee: “I haven’t tried fifty things.”

Robbins: “Alright then tell me the last DOZEN things you tried.” Attendee: (getting somewhat embarrassed) “Well, I haven’t tried a dozen things.” Robbins: “I thought you said you tried EVERYTHING! So tell me then, how many things HAVE you tried? Attendee: (shrinking back into his seat, embarrassed), “Two or three.”

Now ask yourself – and be honest – have you quit prematurely? How long have you been working at losing body fat? How persistent have you been? How many different training and nutrition strategies have you tried?”

It’s a very inspirational story. I always thought success came to Stallone easy. After all, he is one of the few most popular actors in the world. This story confirms again the fact that people get what they want in life because they have a burning desire to get it. They possess unrelenting determination to reach their goal. They focus a hundred and ten percents on their goal, and they are willing to sacrifice many things in life to get there.

Ectomorphs people, if you want to get big, prepare to work hard.

Are you willing to work hard until you get big, no matter what?

BELIEVE WHILE OTHERS…

BELIEVE while others are doubting.

PLAN while others are playing.

STUDY while others are sleeping.

DECIDE while others are delaying.

PREPARE while others are daydreaming.

BEGIN while others are procrastinating.

WORK while others are wishing.

SAVE while others are wasting.

LISTEN while others are talking.

SMILE while others are frowning.

COMMEND while others are criticizing.

PERSIST while others are quitting.

By William Arthur Ward

Here is something that follows this poem very nicely. It is a quote from my friend’s favorite English teacher:

“Swim against the tide of acceleration. Be unconventional, even eccentric. Purge your diary. Dump your cell phone. Stop going to meetings or events that bore you. Reclaim yourself and the people you care about.”

For ectomorphs, to dare to get big means to accept going against the flow, taking on more challenges, and sacrificing a lot of little things in life. I hope the short poem and the quote help prove to you that it is NOT because you are an ectomorph that you have to go through all these troubles. It’s because YOU want to do something EXTRAORDINARY. And that is great. After all, who wants to live a conventional life with a conventional dream?

Read this post too: What you’re supposed to do.

Anyway, here is a great excerpt from the book that I really want to share with you all:

There is no such thing as failure – only feedback; only results.

Price Pritchett, the author of 25 books including “The Quantum Leap Strategy,” emphasizes that failure is a sign of progress:

“Everything looks like a failure in the middle. You can’t bake a cake without getting the kitchen messy. Halfway through surgery it looks like there’s been a murder in the operating room. If you send a rocket toward the moon, about ninety percent of the time it’s off course – it “fails” its way to the moon by continually making mistakes and correcting them.”

Just because you have not been able to gain muscles does not mean you have failed. It simply means that based on your performance, that is the result/feedback you’ve got. Now, you can either throw in the towel and give up; or you can stay positive and learn from the experience. The battle is not over until you say it’s over.

Remember,

“A quitter never wins. A winner never quits.”

Instead, I am trying to make every single post in this blog more interesting and easier-to-digest. I have been inserting more photos/images into all the post currently on this blog to help illustrate my point better. I am also looking into embedding relevant and inspirational clips to as many posts as possible. One more thing that I am considering is to embed a slideshow to every single post on the blog. The more media in a post, the easier it is to digest the content.

Anyway, enough with that. Here is a great clip from the movie “The pursuit of Happyness.” I like Will Smith (not just because he transform his skinny body from the Fresh Prince of Bel-air to Ali) and I think his movies are all great. This movie is among his better ones. If there were one thing I remember from this movie (it’s not true), this moment in the movie would be it:

This clip is shorter and more to the point, but it lacks the context. Either way, watch them both.

However, the few times that I actually surf through bodybuilding.com, I always manage to find something interesting. Here are a few great posts that I am sure you will be very interested in and impressed with:

• To start off, here is absolutely among the most amazing transformations that I have ever witnessed in my life. This guy is a true ectomorph. Yet, look at him now! Could you have told that he is an ectomorph?

• A Bodybuilder is Born is an interesting story of a typical guy aiming to transform his body. I particularly like this story because I completely agree with Ron Harris (the author) on so many of his teachings. At the same time, for people who have never trained hard and made any progress, these teachings seem absurd and even a bit too extreme (exactly how the young protege of Harris felt on so many occasions). Read the story. It may be too wild for you now, but in times, as you read more and more, you will soon appreciate all of his teachings. Also, feel free to shoot me any question you may have.