"Safety"

"A friend should look the same as an enemy. Both challenge. Both argue. Both make you better than before. Enemies don't help you get up, they knock you down. Friends, true friends, do the same thing. The difference is the enemy wants you to stay down, but the friend prays you get the %$#@ up."
-Josh Bunch



As I'm out of town from what I can gather the last two days have been rocking!! More and more people in Portsmouth and southern Ohio are abandoning fancy machines and air conditioning in favor for nasty heat, hard work, and the ability to be around amazing people who push each to greatness.

I'm very blessed to receive numerous emails throughout the day wanting to know more about what we do. One of the reoccuring themes is "I'm not in shape enough" or "I would die if I do that".

Here is my response... ..  NOW IS THE TIME. 

News Flash....You're dying already. When are you going to start living? Everyone always wants to be "safe". Yes, you'll never experience pain and discomfort if you slave yourself to a comfortable atmosphere where mediocrity is not only permitted it is encouraged. Yes you'll never risk being in any pain,  but you'll never see what you're capable of either..

To quote one of my mentors, Henry Rollins:

"I KISS MY FEAR ON THE MOUTH"

Why are you waiting? Why are you scared? Why do you continue to allow yourself to justify the fear?

When you stop being afraid...you will climb above your self limitations

The good part about being on travel is I have some much needed to think.....just me and my thoughts. I really wanted to produce a work of literary genius to inspire you guys. But the words escape me... for now...but the good news is I came across a fantasic article for you guys to really think about yourselves. It hit me just at the right time and I hope it does the same for you.

If you're ready to shed your former self...if you're ready to be mentally and physically strong, if you're ready to be around amazing people who will challenge you and who will pick you up...OUR DOORS ARE OPEN FOR YOU. 

NOW IS THE TIME....WEDNESDAY 5PM INTRO.  Hope to see you soon... enjoy the below article.

One of the places I go to read on a daily basis is called Practice Crossfit. The author/owner/coach is a guy named Josh Bunch, and he is a very talented man. Read below...

Cognitive dissonance is the act of holding conflicting ideas or performing conflicting actions simultaneously. Knowingly we do one thing we shouldn't and then reason why it's acceptable. Damn, that sounds familiar.



One may know smoking is bad, but they also know gaining weight is bad. While thinking that smoking is keeping them thin, they argue how giving up smoking is just as bad as the habit itself, so why stop? Or maybe one argues CrossFit to be dangerous. Better to remain "safe" and fat on the coach then to get fit, get hurt, and end up back on the couch and fat. What's the point?


There are few techniques humans have honed as much as Cognitive Dissonance. Few habits we have established to fit all of our bad behavior. Few tactics make us feel so good about being so wrong, so hypocritical, so common.


The CD Diet:


On our blog alone, there are countless tools provided to make one incredibly successful when it comes to eating. From supportive, fellow Paleo-ers to countless posts on disease elimination and life improvement to constant challenges, testimonials, and experiments. And after over 1,000 posts on our blog alone, and millions of others worldwide, some still choose the other path. The path of CD...blaming, justifying, denying.

Are we really so egotistical and selfish that we conjure up reasons why we should be allowed those three beers? That piece of cake? That slice of pizza? I'm not saying there are not places for them, but if you're slamming them down and then mind-%$#&ing yourself into thinking they should not pose a problem all the while whining to the person checking your body fat, or writing your time on the board, you're the worst kind of person. You're the kind of liar that knowing deceives everyone around you, and just like I have said before, it's never been about the food. It's always been about your mind. Once you stop mind-*#%$ing yourself stupid, you can finally start living without justification and, instead, with success.


The best and most painful thing you can hear today, every day, any day is that you have enormous power. You are the reason you will succeed. Neither I nor anyone can ever really help you without you first helping yourself. The only question is, will you direct your power toward achievement or toward glorious excuses about why you "should have," but didn't?


If It's Ok Here, It's Ok Everywhere:


I never wanted to blog about a stupid-ass recipe for some bullshit Paleo piece of chicken. Shit that's boring. Its still #$^&ing chicken. If you need that, cool, go find it, but it's not my style or my gift. I was blessed with a certain set of talents just as you were, and after we discover what our talents are we are required to use them to help others. I want to show you what I believe we can be as humans.


If you're riding the Cognitive Dissonance train when it comes to something as trivial as food, I guarantee you're justifying other decisions about your life that are much more important than last night's chicken. And recognizing, being disgusted with and fixing that is the true purpose behind this blog.


Do you really believe it's ok to stay at that shitty job because you're "safe"? How safe is it to go against the human grain of challenge and strength only to adopt an existence that earns you a paycheck? Surviving from vacation to vacation?


A weekly paycheck is simultaneously the greatest prison known to man. The prison of society...the illusion of freedom...is the best way to keep convicts docile. ,And, oh are we docile. Oh,, are we convicted, imprisoned, "safe". A paycheck is Cognitive Dissonance in it's rawest form. Sure, we need it to some degree just like we need food, but the what and the how of that paycheck are dictated by us. If you're manipulating your talent into some less-than-meaningful version of what you could be just so you can pump your 401k full of retirement money, there will be nothing worth retiring for. A nursing home always looks like shit no matter how much money you have when you get there.

Unfortunately, the highest levels of CD aren't found in relation to our profession, but to our relationships with others. This is where we justify bad choices the most. Personally, I believe the reason for this justification is entirely due to our beloved blessing of instinct. Instincts we put on the back burner. Instincts we argue to be pre-historic, or uncivilized. Our instincts tell us we should not have to work hard everyday for love's sake, yet we do. Our instincts demand we help others, yet we move aside and make excuses that never really help them or, in the worst cases, aid their illness.


Blowing smoke up your ass, and letting you get by with CD is not friendly or loving. We know this, but fear alone-ness more than anything. So, we call those people who give us a so-called "helping hand" when we fall friends, but they're not. They're co-dependents reinforcing bad behavior. Behavior that is in opposition to our instincts.


Nietzsche's definition of friendship surpasses all others. To him, a friend should look the same as an enemy. Both challenge. Both argue. Both make you better than before. Enemies don't help you get up, they knock you down. Friends, true friends, do the same thing. The difference is the enemy wants you to stay down, but the friend prays you get the %$#@ up.


Do you really believe your path? Or are you making excuses