The Tyranny of Desire

"Don't let what you want now get in the way of what you want most."

You are an incredibly bad predictor of what will make you happy.  There, I said it.  It's true too.  In spite of that, you (and I) tend to live mindlessly under the tyranny of desire.  What is the tyranny of desire?  It is being ruled by your short term appetites.  It is living without being aware of what is around you, simply looking forward to the next thing that you think will make you happy, successful, strong, good-looking, etc.  The tyranny of desire is the plague of the fitness world.  I'll paraphrase how it usually tumbles out of the mouth of an unthinking trainee, "What program should I be doing since I want to get in shape now?"

This is the same trainee who has done 2 weeks out of about eleven different muscle magazine programs without ever finishing one.  He has probably tried at least as many diets, for about 6 days.  Why?  Because that next program looks new, shiny, and fun!  At it's root, the problem is an ill-defined set of goals.  If the goal is simply to be doing something, then anything you do is good enough.  Where does that lead?  Go in most globo-gyms and see.  Lots of guys and gals who have been spinning their wheels for a decade.  No change in weight on the bar, no change in body composition, no change in real measures of output like VO2 max or stroke volume.  It is a vicious cycle of continually being led astray by their own desire for the next best thing.

How do you know if you're living under the tyranny of desire?

Do you know what you're doing in the gym?  Do you know why you're doing it?  No... you're probably just doing whatever you want when you go to the gym.  If you go to the gym at all.

Do you know what you are eating?  Do you catch yourself chewing something you unconsciously put in your mouth?  Are you eating because you're bored?  Yep... tyranny of desire.

Have you changed fitness programs more times than there have been months this year?  Do you have a program at all?  Once again... shackled to the ever changing winds of your desire.

Do you randomly buy stuff you don't need or want to impress people you don't like?  Carry a huge debt load as a result?  You've been imprisoned under the tyranny of desire.

What do all of these problems have in common?  Typically we're all looking for the next best thing that we believe will make us happier than what we are doing now.

What is better than the next best thing?

Setting solid, measurable goals and knocking them down one by one.  When you have real goals, it is very easy to hold on to what you want most.  You have spent some time deciding what is important to you, and can now devote your time, energy, and resources towards achieving those goals.  It helps to have blinders on when you go to the gym, the grocery store, and other places full of goal diverting land mines.  Don't do what everyone else is doing.  Have a plan when you arrive at the gym, work your plan, and go home.  Head to the store with a grocery list (it doesn't include fitness magazines at the checkout line), buy real food, and go home.  Don't give yourself time to wander around the store buying chocobombs and frosted cardboard.

Setting measurable performance goals gives you a reason to train hard, eat well, and recover intelligently.  If you need some help with setting goals in the gym, stay tuned.  There will be several posts coming soon based around conversations I have all the time in the gym.  If you'd like a little help assessing life and gym goals to see if you're living under the tyranny of desire feel free to comment below or email at disruptivefitness@gmail.com.