How to Ensure Success in Any Training Program

Take responsibility for your decisions.  Take ownership of your actions. 

Nothing more.  Nothing less.

It seems to me that it's all too common for people to place the blame for their failures on somebody else.  And, ironically, many others fail to give themselves credit for a job well done.

If you habitually show up late for training sessions; if you refuse to follow the nutritional guidelines that have been suggested; if you only give a half-hearted effort when you walk into the gym, you're going to fall short of your expectations.  Don't place the blame on your training partner, friends, or family.  The problem is your failure to fully commit.  The problem is your inaction.  It's not the fault of those around you.

In the same regard, if you're achieving great results -- recognize the work you've done and acknowledge it.  Absorb it into your soul.  Don't blow it off as "I did it because of my friends, . . . " or "My trainer is the one that got me here."  Sure, you had support, but that support wasn't sweating and picking up the heavy iron for you.  That support wasn't making the final choices about what to put into your mouth.  You did it.  By choice.  You didn't give up.  You were the proverbial star.

This isn't to say that the people and environment around you don't have an effect on your overall performance.  Poor advice and bad influence can knock you down as easily as supportive family, friends and co-workers will help carry you to your greatest achievements.  But in the end, despite the influences around you, failure or success is the result of the decisions and actions of the person you see when you look in the mirror.

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Walk into almost any gym across the country, and, at one time or another you'll hear the phrase "It's all you (man)!" bouncing off the walls.  These words are often served as a source of encouragement to somebody grinding out the last reps of a tough set. 

As it turns out, "It's all you" might just be the perfect reminder that ultimate success (or failure) for any of us oftentimes rests in our own lap.