Being Suprahuman

When John Madsen was younger, he had the dream that millions of boys cherish but few achieve: to be a professional athlete.

Most dreams such as these die when boys are teenagers. For sixteen-year-old John, that dream could have died when he endured the embarrassment of being unable to bench press 95 pounds in front of his peers, and for his spotter to pull the bar off of him.

It didn’t – it spurred him to transform his body.

Or it could have died after failing to earn a scholarship to play college basketball. It didn’t – it challenged him to walk-on at a junior college where he was able to convince the football coach for a chance to be on the team.

A year later, it could have died when his friends told him he was crazy to drive to the University of Utah to talk to Urban Meyer for a chance to walk-on to the football team the next fall. It didn’t – he was given the shot to play that next fall to earn a spot on the team.

The dream might have even died after a great senior season at Utah where John caught a touchdown pass in the Fiesta Bowl and was projected to be a first-round draft pick – but instead, he was met with the brutal luck of breaking his leg before the NFL Draft, where he went undrafted.

It didn’t. The next year, he earned a tryout for the Oakland Raiders. That would be competitive enough – but of course, it wasn’t that simple; he was asked to learn a new position of tight end and pack on weight and muscle commensurate with the role.

He defied the odds and the boyhood dream became a reality as he made the team, and went on to play three seasons in the National Football League.

Today, John has a different dream: with Suprahuman, his fitness coaching program, he is changing the industry; while online health programs may be a dime a dozen, what sets Suprahuman apart is that at its core, it is not really a fitness program. It is an excellence program.

The reason I know so much about John and his story is that I am a client of Suprahuman. While the point of this piece is to provide Monday motivation as opposed to selling a program, I will 100% recommend Suprahuman to anyone looking to take their fitness sand mindset up a notch.

In addition to the skills I have learned in my own transformation the past fifteen months, I have dozens of lessons from John and my coach, Ryan McEwan, in the time I have been a client. Honoring the theme of health, here is a six-pack of what it means to Suprhuman to kick off your Monday that should leave you feeling fired up for the week (as opposed to bloated or hungover from that other six-pack).

1.????Imagination is your Greatest Tool.

When you’re stagnating, it’s easy to get stuck in the quicksand of all your perceived obstacles. In looking ahead, a lot of times the natural reaction is “I don’t want ________ anymore,” or, “I want to stop feeling like ____________.” Although that is natural, one lesson John has helped me reinforce is to spend time – quiet, focused time – being specific about what you DO want. If it is health, picture specifically what you want to look and feel like. If it is career, craft the vision of what it will feel like to walk into a room of your peers celebrating the achievement of a shared goal. When you spend time focusing on what you want – as opposed to what you don’t – you are more likely to take action and do the work to create those realities in your life.

2.????The Decision to Win is Made Daily

In thinking about my own health journey, this was a major learning for me. I always have had this vision of health as something that can be achieved, like finishing a marathon. Once you cross the finish line, you are good for life. I have grown to realize that in most things that count in life: health, career, marriage, parenting - being successful is not a one-time thing. Just because I have reached a certain level of fitness doesn’t mean I can pound donuts and pizza every day. Just because I said my vows sixteen years ago doesn’t mean I get a pass now on being an equal partner each day. Just because my kids are almost thirteen doesn’t mean my parenting job is over. It requires daily effort to live a certain way - not to just to maintain a certain level, but to continue to achieve consistent progress, which I believe is the key to life.

3.????Champions are Willing to Lose

I think that a lot of winners hate losing as much as they enjoy winning. One lesson I was reminded of in working with John is that in order to grow, we are required to take risks. We may stumble at certain points, and at others, we may completely fall flat on our faces in the pursuit of excellence. That is the courage required to be a man or woman in the arena: to be willing to fail in the pursuit of success. As Teddy Roosevelt once said that in this pursuit, we shall never be “…with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

4.????What Can I Learn from This?

I have concluded that when you have a setback, this is the most important question to continue to ask if you want to continue to grow. Having read Can’t Hurt Me recently by David Goggins, this reminds me a lot of the After-Action-Review tactic. John and his team specifically helped remind me that negative emotions are going to show up – a lot. If we have the self-awareness to stop and recognize these emotions, then we have the opportunity to ask the key question: What Can I Learn from This? The answers are your guide to your next level.

5.????One Foot on the Gas, One Foot on the Brake

This is a great metaphor for holding conflicting goals. For example, you want to be in elite shape; at the same time, you value being the good-time guy or gal, which means you take it upon yourself to be the life of every party. Or perhaps you are a sales-person who wants to be number one on their team, but you also value being well-liked by everyone. Sometimes we set up these complex equivalencies that don’t serve us, and once we figure them out and remove our self-imposed blockers, we can unlock our next level of performance.

6.????Give Yourself Permission to Win

This is the #1 principle of Suprahuman – which is why I saved it for last.

I think that in life, we are looking for safe harbor from difficulty. As a result, we built necessary safety nets, some of those being a community of people we love. It’s great to have positive people who can and will support you – but only you can truly give yourself permission to pursue, succeed, and win.

If you are not where you want to be, perhaps it is because you have not yet given yourself permission to win. Stop waiting for other people to tap you with a magic wand – you have the ability to grant this to yourself!

Thank you, John Madsen and to my Suprahuman coach, Ryan McEwan, for these invaluable lessons across the last fifteen months. For everyone reading this message, I hope you grant yourself the permission to pursue your goals and dreams – and to achieve them!