I was honored by Jaiya Figueras to write a guest post on Your Next Victory’s website called the Five Traits of a Warrior. This has been the cornerstone for Warrior Training in Costa Mesa, as well as a great reminder to the fans on Facebook, and the Warriors that are subscribed to The Warrior Wake-up Call.
I thought an expansion on each trait was necessary for my continued growth, and if there were some excellent stories to tell with it, as well as a few good pics, we might all gather something more from each trait!
Here is what I wrote on his site:
Tireless
The warrior has the physical, mental, and spiritual toughness that never quits, never-says-die, and never capitulates…
Not quitting when your day is hard is a start, but I am talking about persevering through insurmountable odds.
Take Jure Robic, a world-class endurance cyclist, who would push himself so hard that he would teeter on brink of sanity during a race. I am talking about the physical, mental, and spiritual toughness of a coffin nail!
A warrior looks to the most grueling obstacles, thinks up ways to make it harder, calls it training, and pushes forward to victory. When the warrior gets pummeled by life, he or she will STAND up, shake it off, and politely request another opportunity.
The day truly isn’t over unless he or she gets an opportunity to train tirelessness, and that is just preparation for what is better known trait selflessness. (End of Original.)
I have had countless people ask me how to train the mindset of tireless? Assuming everything we do physically starts in the mind, this would pose as a VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION.
If I divulged what went on in my mind in order to keep pushing, never giving up, never quitting, never saying die, most people would probably think I was insane (as I know most people thought Jure Robic was insane, at least during competition). So my short answer is imagination and discipline, but I’ll give a shot at the loooong answer.
First off, if you always give up, stop reading now. (I am sure most have already anyway) People that always give up, will never understand what I am about to say anyway. Choosing the path of least resistance is what they have always done, so it will be very uncomfortable to read what I have to say on the subject.
Assuming all the slackers have not continued (probably didn’t even start reading), I can continue with the REAL Warriors.
Good to have you with us!
First of all, discipline is both genetic and learned. Even those with the gift of discipline can squander it away in a fit of laziness, so if it is learned how do you get better at it? Easy. STICK TO THE PLAN! ALL THE WAY THROUGH! Do it every time. When life sucks, shut your mouth, suck it up, and drive through! Or as Meat says, “When life gives you lemons, throw them back!”
To learn it, you have to know it, and to know it you have to do it. Next time you set a goal, how about accomplishing it?!?! WOW! What a concept! We are such a “fast-food” society, that if we don’t get it in a second, we give up and say it can’t be done or it isn’t worth it…NEVER REALLY KNOWING THE TRUTH!
The truth is, there is ALWAYS GLORY IN THE END, but only the TRUE WARRIORS ever get to see it and experience it. There are those that DO, and there are those that are pathetically wishing it might become a little easier, so they can actually accomplish something.
Here is the truth. I often reach a point where the plan is NOT going to be followed, at least not if I leave my logic up to it. If I wake up one morning tired, how do I keep the trait of tirelessness? Discipline will have a ceiling if left to its own devices. That is where the imagination comes in…that is why some might call me psycho or at the very least “INTENSE.”
I have my FIRST PRIORITIES to keep me focused and disciplined, but when those discipline enabling motivations leave…God gifted all of us with an imagination, so I use it!
Everything I do, I do #1 for God #2 for Keri #3 for Family (including future, IR, and Warriors) and #4 for an example to others, so am I removing the reasons why I do things, if I imagine the Taliban is after me and they will cut my head off and put it on a stick? Or thinking I better get my ish together, because I don’t want to be the one with my thumb up my butt when society collapses? Or paperwork, numbers, and other mundane activities are really a game that I don’t want to lose?
NO!
I have been gifted with an imagination for a reason. If imagining those crazy scenarios helps me Serve and Praise The Lord, Love Keri, Provide for Family, and Be a Shining Example, I would say, I am stewarding my gifts very well.
Let’s recap tirelessness is the ability to go until you are done, which takes discipline, prioritization, motivation, and imagination…Let the Taliban go and see how far you push yourself. Just don’t give up and sit down…otherwise, you might get your head cut off and put on a stick!
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