Complacency

com·pla·cen·cy

[kuhm-pley-suhn-see]

noun, plural com·pla·cen·cies.

a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.

For those who don't know, motorcycles are a big passion of mine, especially dirt bikes. Usually, my dad and I sign up for a half a dozen or so Enduro (cross country) races every summer.

At the time of the original writing of this chapter my dad was waiting for surgery, so my riding partner was out of commission for the summer. No big deal, it happens.  I signed up anyways without him and headed to the race. I got 2nd place in the race, and it was race number 1 of a 6 race circuit so I wanted to keep going. Off to the next race.

Race number 2 of 6. This race was timed to take 4 laps. I'm coming around to the check point for my first lap and would you look at that, first place so far. If I can avoid a spill and keep the pressure on I can keep that spot and get the first place ranking, and I like the sound of that.

A few corners later I hammer on the gas and the world ended. From 1st place to DNF (did not finish) because of a blown engine. As much as it’s part of the sport, it sucks!

Two days later, I took the engine out and set it on my work desk, leaving the bike gutted waiting for a newly rebuilt engine to be put back in.

About 5 weeks passes, and guess what it still looks like? The same! I haven't touched it. Once the engine hit my work desk, I lost all drive, all motivation to fix it and it's been sitting on my desk collecting dust.

With my riding partner out for the summer, my bike not running, and parts not available until one week after my 3rd race of 6, meaning I'd miss one race while waiting for the part, I lost sight of my goals.

Without goals and without dreams, people perish. I hadn’t adjusted my goals to meet my new situation, so I had no pressure to fix my bike. Yes, I knew HOW to fix my bike, it would actually be quite easy, it was just a matter of actually DOING it, and once I lost sight of my goals, once I let “de-motivation” set in, I had no desire to work towards my goal.

This happens in ALL AREAS of life, including health and fitness.

People think I'm being over simplistic when I tell them they MUST set goals, they must review them daily and when they are nearing their goal it is ESSENTIAL to set the next one, even while striving to achieve this one. Time and time again I see people lose weight, take a break to "celebrate" their success, which for the record I have no problem with, but they almost all make  one CRITICAL mistake... they don't set their next goal BEFORE taking their much deserved celebration.

And we all know what happens next... I write chapters about you!

To finish my story...

On Monday my Dad messaged me, inviting me to go biking with him. My bike is still in pieces, but he has two bikes so he said I could just use one of his.

At first, I hesitated purely because I know my Dad, and the last thing I want is to have to go peel him off of a tree because he couldn't pull the bar to the right with his injured arm (We we’re still waiting for his shoulder surgery! He’s just stubborn like that.) I knew he'd end up going either way, and I'd rather at least be there than have him go alone - so I went.

Surprisingly enough I was quite impressed. For the first time in my life, I watched my old man slow down. I remember the first time I took him riding, he had never been on any type of motorcycle before, so I was taking my time getting ready, next thing I know he takes off and disappears down the trail!

Needless to say it was a nice easy ride, we took our time and went for a nice one hour ride. In fact, he even let me ride his bike up a hill for him at one point. I've never done that before, and he would never have let me! In the beginning of our riding passions, we had spent hours at the bottom of big hills trying to make it up refusing to let someone else ride our bikes up.

Since we were going slow, my mind was wandering. Why haven't I just fixed my own darn bike yet? I mean, I LOVE riding. When I train to race I ride for 2 hours every single day. I don't miss a day. Heck, if I just finished my riding/training and someone calls me or messages me inviting me to go riding, I unload my stuff and go right back out riding again!

To me riding is everything, and having my whole family involved is the best part.

So, why didn't I just fix the bike and continue to do what I love to do? Probably for the same reason as to why people just don’t workout when they know they want to be fit and healthy.

I found myself complacent, I was settling.

And if you settle for a little while, we get numb to the pain, but the sad part is is that it slowly eats away at us. My heart goes out to folks who aren't where they want to be, because I know there's pain deep inside from years of settling.

Settling is death. Settling steals dreams. Settling messes with the mind.

Listen, the reason you are not where you want to be (your goal) is right between your ears.

On my way to work this morning I was listening to an interview between Darren Hardy and T. Harv Eker and they said a classic Jim Rohn quote I hadn't heard for quite a while.

“People's income seldom exceeds their personal development”, and I thought wow, it's the same for fitness.

Every day I meet people who are overweight yet have never took the time to work on their self-discipline. Fact is, self-discipline is a SKILL. Those of you that tell me "I have no self-discipline" it's just because that muscle, the self-discipline muscle, is weak from barely being used! If you don't use it you lose it. And guess what, self-discipline is self-development.

People KNOW they want to lose weight, get fit and healthy, but we become complacent with where we are. We settle, we become content, we become comfortable and we lose our drive to step out and grow.

I've said it before: Life HAPPENS outside of the comfort zone. Look yourself square in the eye and say "enough is enough I deserve better. I'm sick of selling myself short. I'm changing my life today!" and you’ll find that stepping out of your comfort zone and stepping up will CHANGE your life.

If you want something tomorrow, you need to make a change today. Want to know what the NEXT 5 years of your life will look like? Look at the LAST 5. Unless you make a change TODAY, you will get the SAME results tomorrow.

Don't settle, you’re better than that. Step up. Make the change. RAISE YOUR STANDARDS.

Settling is for the weak, but the fact that you are reading this book tells me that you are NOT weak.

You CAN do it. Make it happen. I believe in you.

To your success, 

Al