Highlight reels and your actions
In a world of highlight reels and happy photos, you get misled into thinking that the world is rosy all the time. Or rather, it sucks for you but for everyone else, it seems to be honeymoon time all around.
That's untrue. You are one of those people with your highlight reels that others are looking at and thinking "They have it perfect!" And since you know shit ain't perfect at your front, guess what the real deal is everywhere.
Social media is a tool and a great window into the parts of people that we don't see. But it is a window into ONE part and not the whole. It is watching Test cricket but the 30-minute highlights at the end of the day - only the fun bits. But it is the mundane that makes everything amazing (life and Test cricket.)
In our day-to-day interactions, the internal conversations that go on in our heads seem to carry a similar story. If the person next to you is lifting more than you are, they have it easy. They are so darn dedicated. And they have great genes. Or whatever it is you think they have that you do not. Likewise, when your friend is making it to the gym with crazy regularity but you are not. Their job is "oh so stress-free", they have a great cook, and they have zero fires in their house.
As someone who went from not knowing what the gym was to spending a lot of time in there and working on my health and fitness, I know that the above is not true. We all know it when we anchor ourselves in our story - that it is mundane and nothing magical. On how we got from that place to where we are at currently.
That's pretty much the same all around. I've had the opportunity to speak with a lot of our students who make this transformation in their lives. And one thing comes up. No one has it easy. The ones that make it look so have their priorities and logistics sorted out, and their brains sorted out. Everyone has good days and bad days, our ups and our downs. We do not advertise it, especially the downs.
Some people have it hard - taking care of a dependent person at home, battling a mental/physical illness that they don't advertise about, a personal crisis that you don't see, a business that is in the red and they are fighting to save. But coz they show up at the gym, or post photos of eating healthy food, we assume that they have it sorted. And they have it easy.
No one has it easy. You can read the Tiger Woods story, or Wayne Rooney's latest admission about his drinking to deal with the pressures of playing football at the highest level.
The best part is everyone has it as great and as sucky as you do.
The worst part is everyone has it as great as you do and as sucky as you do.
This means if you aren't getting towards your goals, it all comes down to your actions.