NO PAIN NO GAIN (English Version)

NO PAIN NO GAIN

Thinking about your training should put a smile on your face. (Summer Sanders)

As cliché as it sounds, you are worth all the time and energy you invest in developing and training yourself or not?

It was 1993, I was a student at American Senior High in Florida US and also an assiduous practitioner of weight training (not in vain I earned the nickname of “Big Arms” at University), I remember this writing this blog because right in the middle of the weight room, in the spot no one could avoid seeing there was a sign that read “NO PAIN NO GAIN”; that was the philosophy, and still is for those who Today practice the “new” version of weight training known as CrossFit, such philosophy can be misinterpreted or even questioned if such misinterpretation is made, given the fact that it actually is far from the principle that I “must suffer to achieve things” because the pain which the phrase refers to is that kind of pain that generates satisfaction, that kind of pain you long to feel, that kind of pain the precisely puts a smile on your face.

That is exactly what SHOULD happen with your personal and professional training and development, it is not possible to achieve high levels of knowledge and/or consciousness without that process of “pain” through which in our brain bridges are created and broken between neurons to absorb and discover new ideas, concepts, processes and even aspects of our own live we′ve ignored or obviated.

Like Tom Hopkins states "you are your main asset, therefore put all your time, effort and money into training, grooming and empowering your main asset"; I couldn′t be more in agreement with this statement from Tom, given the fact that it reflects our reality, even more so, it is the ONLY factor that reflects the same reality for ALL human beings in the planet regardless where we come from, each one of us as I′ve indicated in other publications is destined to something SO BIG that sometimes we cannot understand it; as I have mentioned before there is nothing clearer to me than the fact that ALL of us have come to this world to #TRANSCEND, but in order to do so we MUST #wake up first to then enter the path of growth and personal/professional development with #CONSCIOUSNESS.

However, “it is not possible to act consciously unless you FIRST define the future you want to create, and acknowledge that it won’t come true unless you make it happen " (Fred Kofman, VP at LinkedIn)

I am completely certain than in more than one occasion your manager has asked you the typical question associated to growth, succession and professional progress: “where do you see yourself in five years?"; I am also certain that in at least one of these occasions you answered: “really, this question?”, or maybe if you showed security and confidence you responded “I see myself in your position doing YOUR Job!”.

Has it happened to you?

I want you to close your eyes for a moment and transport yourself to that moment in your mind, and if you have never experienced that situation then picture your manager asking you that “silly” question and observe yourself responding to it, allow yourself to feel what your answer delivers when you think and say: “I see myself doing YOUR JOB!”

Now ask yourself: Do I really want that Job?, would that job bring me satisfaction or stress?, would it allow me to get where I want to be?, would that job allow me to take a step towards or reach relevance?

If you cannot answer that question because you have not defined or discover yet what satisfaction, transcendence or relevance mean to you,  you then to start right there, by searching for the development path that will allow you to #wakeup and acquire the consciousness needed to take the next step.

If you were able to answer the question and your response was NO, I invite you then to start the search for the right path for you to achieve what you are looking for, and if your response was YES I invite you then to perform an analysis to determine what competencies, knowledge and recognitions you lack in order to perform “that JOB” with excellence.

There are many tools out there that will allow to identify the competencies and knowledge needed according with the professional profile you want to develop, and there is also an infinite supply of training for you to reach your goals, just remember that NOT EVERYTHING that people sell to you is true, that the easy way usually does not create or allows to reach REAL results, that your training will or should require effort, commitments and time from your end; when you are looking for the place where you will develop yourself ask yourself the following question, “do they follow the No Pain No Gain philosophy in this place or are they offering me the quick and easy way to “success”?, remember that NO ONE has ever won an Olympic medal without training and training and training.

Taking on the wise words from my good friend Alvaro Merino Coach expert to high performance athletes and Executives, “in the world of sports we train 90% of the time and compete 10% of the time, whilst in the business world we compete 90% of the time but only train 10% of it”, so start by changing the equation around and get into training mode, only then will you be able to achieve what Kofman mentions and what Mike Dooley recognizes as true brilliance, which is “understanding that your order, logic and spirituality are what created your world. And therefore feel that we are always capable of changing EVERYTHING”

So go ahead!! Start Training but make sure you are SMILING in the process!!