"No One Will Ever Know"

Some of you may know that I've been on a bit of self discovery journey the last year or so. As you can imagine it's had its ups and its downs and there's been a lot of reflection involved. The one common denominator that I keep coming back to is that regardless of how things look to other people...I'm the one responsible for all things that happen to me.

Let me share some details of a program I'm involved in that calls out accountability, integrity, grit, honesty and determination.

It's called 75Hard. It's so much more than a for 30 or 75 days program to get in shape. This more of a mental challenge than anything. And don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the benefits of being in shape at 51 years old. But the program has become a lifestyle and that lifestyle has taught me, or should I say has reinforced the fact, that the statement "No one will ever know"...has such a deeper meaning now.

You might be thinking...soooo, what is this deeper meaning?

Glad you asked...I'm sure at some point in each of our lives we have skirted a job assignment, short changed an effort, made an excuse, stopped short of a task, didn't finish all the reps or the laps or just quit on something that caused us to look around and say..."No one will ever know."

And the truth is, no one might ever know. No one except you!

Heres my point, this program I'm on requires that I fulfill a promise to myself to complete many little tasks every day for the duration or term of the program. Those tasks include things like, two 45 minute workouts a day (in which one HAS to be outside), drink a gallon of water, read 10 pages of a non-fiction book, take a progress pic daily, no alcohol, no cheat meals, etc. Well here's the kicker, if I miss any one of those little items on any particular day I am supposed to go back to day one and start again. Yup, that's right...If I don't finish drinking my water, if I forget to take a pic or if I mistakenly sip some alcohol or eat a french fry...back to day one. Trust me, it sucks...I was ten days into Phase 1 of 30 days and forget to take my pic so I had to go back and start Phase 1 all over.

Ahhhhh, see I just heard you say it...."Well, no one would ever know Rob it was just a picture!!??" But if it's just a picture today, then what's my excuse tomorrow. Or what happens when it's something perhaps of greater significance?

I've developed a mindset that the things I do when no one is looking, those are the things that matter most. It's easy in this digital social age to "showcase" all the fun, great things we do to get "likes". But what are you doing when the attention isn't on you, when it's 11 o'clock at night, when practice is over and people are leaving, when it's -30 outside and its dark and no one is around and you have to get your outside workout in?

Those are the moments that define us. Those are the moments that we create a level of mental toughness. This is when your true colors come through. Do Not Compromise or that compromise WILL compound and it will be easier to say those words next time.

Take a moment now and erase "No one will ever know" from your mind. Replace it with "I WILL"