WHY do we compete?
Obviously, we all compete because we have dreams of dominating our obscure sport, getting 1M followers and booking an appearance on Rogan. I mean, we all have dreams of being the next big thing, the GOAT, the person on the Wheaties box.
But what if I were to take you aside and tell you the depressing truth: that you, reader, have almost no chance of setting a world record or even winning a competition at a high level. It’s not because I carefully evaluated your genetics and environment and upbringing and determined that you just don’t have the stuff…. and it’s not because I don’t like you.
It’s just a numbers game. It’s part and parcel of the definition of ‘competition’. For there to be one winner, there has to be a lot of losers. And you all can’t be winners because that would mean that there’s literally no losers…. and I’ve read your comments…..
5% of you are going to be devastated by this sad truth and say “I’m out”. And I would say good riddance.
The people who bail when they realize victory isn’t guaranteed are spineless poor sports and are a net negative on their respective culture. They are the same type of people who farm clout by making the grand proclamations on IG that get them attention but require no actual investment or risk .
Every gym has one; the guy who rounds his maxes up to the nearest 50lbs and who writes long Mea Culpas on Instagram about how they ‘let everyone down’ by placing 9th in the novice division. They won’t continue on without a ton of engagement and support, they require praise every time they take a shit in the gym and they put the biggest strain on every training group they interact with.
As an aside: this is the same group of people that pro bodybuilders and powerlifting world champions are supposedly abusing with their supplement sponsorship by setting ‘unrealistic expectations’. Rational people are well aware that taking Cell-Tech isn’t going to make you look like Jonnie-Fucking-Jackson, just like eating Wheaties won’t endow you with Olympic potential and Paris Hilton won’t do this if you eat a Bacon Western Cheeseburger.
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