Fit for Life: Born to Lose…
Saturday, November 25, 2023
I took my 18-year-old nephew for his first tattoo a couple of weeks ago, and he selected a quote used by the band Motor Head, a heavy metal band from back in the day.
The logo is the Ace of Spades (a title to one of the band's songs) with the words "Born to Lose" on top and "Live to Win" on the bottom.
At first, I interpreted the quote as negative, as born to lose doesn't have a lot of positive overtones, but after thinking and analyzing, I realized the quote contains true meaning in life.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe true meaning of "born to lose" is accurate in every species on Earth. Especially humans.
Think about it. From birth, life is a struggle.
We are all born weak, vulnerable, and dependent on someone else to take care of and nurture us.
If we are not fed the proper nutrients physically and mentally, we will lose.
Let's break that down to analyze what born to lose looks like.
Many kids are born in less than favorable situations.
They may be neglected, fed poorly, live in undesirable conditions, and, in some of the worst cases, get abused.
They go to school and can't focus or function due to a lack of nutrition and proper care at home, which leads to academic failure. This is where the cycle starts and can go downhill from there.
On the other hand, some are much more fortunate and have the proper resources at their disposal, which gives them a better chance at winning in life; however, at birth, we are all born to lose due to our vulnerable state.
The born-to-lose statement is violable with every species, from sea turtles to lions.
I watch the Discovery Channel and realize that every living thing is born with a disadvantage, and the likelihood of survival is far from guaranteed. From insects to elephants, they face predators and other circumstances that make surviving the first year of life difficult. (We need 18 years to develop, but most species only need a year)
So now that we know we were all born to lose let's look at some things we can do to "Live to win."
For years, I have been telling my nephew and the high school football team I coach that what happens to you in life isn't your fault until you reach the age of 18.
Until then, you need to work with the cards you were dealt, and someone is holding the pen that writes your life story. I tell them that once you turn 18, you need to take the pen back and start writing your life story.
If we want to win in life, we need to create our own vision of what winning looks like, then start to reverse engineer the steps required to achieve our vision. When we do this, we write our own story and become independent of others.
Do you want to own your own business or work for someone else? Do you want to stay in the same neighborhood or live somewhere else? Do you want to be average, or do you try to exceed expectations with whatever you decide to do?
As far as your own health and fitness goes, are you satisfied with where you are? Are you happy not being the best version of yourself and constantly losing the same 20 lbs. repeatedly? Are you okay with being a health risk and a liability to yourself and your family? That's not winning at life; that's surviving.
If we want to be winning, the first thing is to take care of ourselves by incorporating a good nutrition and training program. If you are sick, overweight, and lack energy, motivation, and self-esteem, it's more challenging to win.
Taking care of yourself starts the domino effect. You look better, feel better, perform better, and focus better, and those feelings morph into living a better, more functional life, which will put you in a position to win.
This is a simple process, but it takes discipline, desire, and drive to be a winner. It takes true grit and determination to win at anything we do in life. In other words, it's simple but not easy, and that's why so few people succeed in life.
When we create the habits needed to excel in our health and fitness, those habits morph into every area of our lives, and we start doing EVERYTHING BETTER!!
I heard a great quote from one of my coaching groups, so I will leave you with this:
Are you organizing your life to approach success or to avoid failure?
In other words, are you living to win or playing it safe to avoid losing?
If you ever need any help winning the health and fitness battle, my team at Providence Fit Body Boot Camp and I are always here!!
Committed to your success,
Coach Matt
