Extraordinary doesn’t happen by accident!

You can’t become extraordinary by staying just as you are. You have to do something extra. Stands to reason that you need to keep looking for ways to exceed your own expectations. Greatness will not come to you as a gift for just sticking with the old routine.

Are you truly amazing? Of course you are, I always knew it. But you have to prove it – not to me, to yourself. You won’t fully appreciate how amazing you really are if you always have just the same results to show for your efforts. You know you’re great! But you need to see the evidence of it, the proof of what you’ve always known. And the only way you’ll see that is to go the extra mile, and do what others will not do.

If you’re trying to make a success of your business, or get promotion at work, then you need to do more than just be like everyone else. Don’t settle for being just another space filler at work – be extraordinary! Look for ways to become indispensable. Do things others won’t or can’t do. Make yourself ultra-valuable to the company. And if you work for yourself, make more progress and more money this month than you’ve ever made in a month before. Make that your target! If it means making more calls than ever before, or sending more emails, or working an hour extra every day, then so be it. It’s your business … don’t cheat yourself out of the type of incredible results that will convince you of your own remarkable ability.

To be extraordinary, you have to do the unusual

If you’re training, and you want to experience your true amazing nature, then do things others won’t do, or can’t do. When other people do three sets of ten, do much, much more than that. Okay, you might not be able to do that time and time again, or on successive days, or targeting the same muscle groups, so use your common sense. Of course, take precautions. Be sensible.

But sometimes, at least sometimes, do maybe eight or even ten sets, instead of three or four. And as for reps, why stop at ten? Or twelve? If your life depended on it you wouldn’t stop at ten or even fifteen. Maybe you’d be in the zone of really terrible pain by 16 or 17, but you’d do it. Because so much depended on it. You would find it within you to venture further into that pain zone, come what may.

The truth is, you can do it. The only thing stopping you … is you! You allow yourself to have an easy ride. And that’s why you’re not as well-developed as you want to be. If you really want impressive arms, or amazing chest development, or lats that make people’s jaws drop, you have to do something extra special, something unusual, something even your own body doesn’t expect, and has never experienced. You have to literally shock it into growth! And you can do it! You can if you think about it first and decide that you will do it, no matter what. And if you vow to yourself that this is a commitment that you will keep, no matter what. A commitment that you will not break!

The battle takes place in your mind!

This is where the battle is won! Before you’ve lifted a dumbbell, or hoisted a bar. And the battlefield is between your ears. This is where your future is decided, nowhere else. Win or lose, grow or stagnate, soar … or coast. It’s all decided in your mind, and long before you’ve even got your shirt off, or sat at your desk, or made a phone call. Right there, on that battleground, in the depths of your mind, your future is decided and laid out for you. And the deciding factor is your attitude, and your commitment.

Don’t cheat yourself of success! Don’t train hard, only to see moderate gains when you could be seeing extraordinary results. Don’t settle for a moderately successful business when you could experience the kind of success that all men dream of, but few ever experience. Don’t settle for less that you can have!

You can be great! You can be shockingly well-developed. You can be outstandingly successful in business. You can have companies lining up to offer you the kind of mouth-watering deals that dreams are made of, simply by making yourself so outstanding that you are literally indispensable to them, and worth your weight in gold.

And you can become as amazingly well-developed as a champion bodybuilder, if you’re prepared to push on when others quit. If you’re determined, and ready to enter the pain zone, and stay there, rep after painful rep, when every other sensible person has replaced their weights on the rack.

The pain is the price you pay!

The pain is real, make no mistake … very real. It defeats most people, even before they’ve picked up the dumbbells or the bar. You can take it, and you can relish it, because you can be prepared for it, and you can make the commitment to fight through it. The pain you undergo is the price you pay for excellence. Fighting through it is your mission. Putting up with it is your joy. Yes, in a weird sort of way, you have to welcome the pain, and force your mind and body to embrace it, and thereby force your muscles to adapt the only way they know how … by growing!

You can do this! Always keep this in mind … the pain is temporary, but the results are long lasting. Pain comes and goes. A great physique is not a fleeting thing. It is not cheaply bought, or gained overnight. It takes time and patience and steely resolve. And lots and lots of pain. Excruciating pain! But that’s what separates you from the crowd. You are ready, and prepared, to suffer that pain, knowing that it is buying you the outstanding results that you have in mind.

What you must do to become extraordinary

Most people will never be extraordinary, obviously (otherwise it would become the new ordinary!). But you’re not most people, are you? You are truly amazing! You know, deep inside, that you were meant for more than just being like everyone else. You’re special! And becoming extraordinary is one way of demonstrating just how special you are.

All you have to do is come to terms with the fact that you are indeed extraordinary, and then commit to doing what you have to do, no matter what. Don’t overcomplicate things – keep it simple! Here’s what it boils down to:

• realise that you truly are extraordinary
• accept that you were not made to just be one of the crowd
• commit to doing what others fear
• get used to venturing outside your comfort zone
• learn to love the pain!
• accept it as the price you must pay for excellence
• stick to your routine doggedly, no matter what
• make every rep count!
• visualise your future, as you are creating it
• make sure your diet is appropriate
• stay well hydrated
• get plenty of sleep
• stay motivated

Keep these guidelines in mind and you’re on your way!

You created your pain ‘barrier’ … now smash it!

Be motivated to smash your way through the pain ‘barrier’ on each and every set. It’s only a self-imposed limitation you set by default; take control and consign it to history! And add variation to stave off staleness in your training. If you’re doing overhead press, for example, either with a barbell or dumbbells, don’t feel restricted to doing strict, full reps on every set. Sometimes settle for partials, which will allow you to do many, many more. And because of this you’ll find you can do sets of 15-25 instead of 8-10, and when you do that you will see, and feel, explosive growth taking place in your muscles.

Same goes for press-ups; sometimes do shorter ones, neither going all the way down or back up, but that looser style buys you the chance to do maybe double the number of reps, and you’ll be rewarded by feeling unusual growth taking place, and an unusual but welcome pump in your muscles.

You want to show how extraordinary you really are? Then you have to do unusual and extreme things. You have to go the extra mile, perform extra sets, keep going and hit high numbers of reps, and above all, enter that hallowed area, the pain zone, and stay there for an uncomfortably long time. That might only translate, in real world terms, into extra seconds, but it will feel much, much longer, and the pain will be fierce. But that pain is what will promote the growth that you’re looking for, and you’ve been working towards for so long. Accept it, embrace it … enjoy it! It’s your ticket to phenomenal results, and though fierce, that pain is fleeting. Those results are there for keeps!