Greetings from H.O.T Phoenix, AZ.
Holy Hell, I’ve only been to Phoenix when passing through the airport. Everyone that I talked to said that it’s amazing weather this time of year. Okay maybe if you like the feeling of burning skin….
I’ll take my New England fall temps any day.
But enough about the weather. I’m out here for a Marketing conference and it’s been a very cool experience. We’re breaking down our businesses and really looking in depth at each portion. Okay are you falling asleep yet?
The cool part about this conference is that they’re breaking up the day with some really amazing and inspiring speakers. Yesterday I got to see Lou Ferrigno speak. Now that was cool. The original Hulk.
Lou is mostly known for being a professional bodybuilder, an actor and of course playing The Hulk for 5 years.
He has been a personal trainer for over 30 years and one little known fact is that he was actually Michael Jackson’s personal trainer for 20 years. Michael wanted to keep it a total secret so he used to come to Lou’s house at 10pm and train until midnight, arriving in the dark and all of Lou’s family had to stay upstairs.
Lou had some really funny stories about Michael and about his own life in general. The inspiring part was that he had battled some major hearing loss due to ear infections as a kid. Back in those days (he’s 60 years old now) it was considered a severe handicap and he didn’t get much support. Most people thought he couldn’t get anywhere in life, including his own father.
Lou worked hard, using training and weight lifting as his outlet for all of his anger. He said that he just loved the feeling of the resistance of the weights and the way his body felt during the workout and especially after.
Lou also worked extremely hard on his speech. He had to endure years of speech therapy and now he’s doing awesome stuff like acting and public speaking which was unheard of for someone with his situation.
We got a chance to ask Lou some questions and he told us his four keys to success in life and in training. I wanted to share those with you today because I think although simple, they are really something you can apply.
Plus if the freakin’ Hulk says it, you listen…..
1. Motivation:
This seems like a no-brainer but without motivation, nothing really happens. No one can make you better, you’ve got to want the result. No matter what that result is, big or small, it starts with you. Find a really short term goal and hit that, then move to the next and continue down that path. Little goals and milestones every week will add up to amazing success and some pretty bad ass confidence.
2. Consistency
Lou talked about this specifically in terms of training but it can apply to life as well. From the training aspect we all know that you can’t just train 1-2 times per week and expect results. You’ve gotta go after it 3,4,5 days per week and be a freakin’ beast about it. Make that 45 minute workout “your” time and not only enjoy it, but bust it out and make it worth it. Before you know it, you’re looking for that feeling and as long as you’re chipping away at those short term goals I talked about above, you’re gonna stick with it.
3. Persistance
This goes along with consistency but the persistence comes in when things get tough. Did you have a bad week of eating? Did you skip a workout? Who cares. Get back at it. So many people fall off the wagon and quit because of a bad few days. I already screwed it up so what’s the point now?
Have you said that? I bet you have. The key to really developing a lifestyle is managing the ups and downs. If you’re feeling shitty about not training or not eating right, just take that little bit of action and you’ll feel so much better.
Action alleviates anxiety.
4. Belief in Yourself
Lou went through his whole life with not a lot of people believing in him. They thought he was too dumb, couldn’t hear, not strong enough, whatever. But he knew he could do it. He had a burning desire that was fueled by his love for training and he channeled that into every aspect of his life.
His workouts gave him confidence. I know that I can personally relate to that and I challenge you to find something that gives you the confidence and the fire to make your life the way you want it. Don’t sit around and let life happen to you.
Here’s me with the Hulk….I look like a dork but who cares….
Let me know if you enjoyed this post and just give it a little “Like” at the top of the page to share with some friends 🙂