NO JOURNEY IS PERFECT!

[Geardepot]

I'm a perfectionist. When I want something done, I want it done right. I want to pour all of my focused effort into it until it's perfect and without flaws.
When something goes wrong, I get frustrated. I'll still be willing to work hard at it, but when things don't go exactly as planned it can drive me crazy.
After years and years of serious and consistent training in the gym, I've realized that this way of thinking can be disastrous for a bodybuilder.
If you're serious about achieving a strong, muscular physique, leave your perfectionist attitude at the door. Perfectionism does not exist in bodybuilding. Bodybuilding is not a project that you work hard on for a set amount of time, finish, and then sit back and admire.
Bodybuilding is an ongoing, lifelong process filled with ups and downs, triumphs and setbacks, peaks and recessions. You're never finished working. There is no point B. It takes hard, focused effort to build muscle, and it takes hard, focused effort to maintain it.
Hard work in the gym and dedication to your eating plan is a continual price you must pay in exchange for the dream body you want to build or maintain.
So if you're getting ready to begin a bodybuilding program or have been training for some time now, you must sit back and make some realizations about your awaiting/continuing journey.
You must realize that no journey is perfect.
If you're expecting to eat and train consistently without any problems or setbacks, you're in for a huge disappointment. Those who expect perfection from their programs are doomed for frustration, because a perfect program does not exist.
This is one of the fine lines that separates the champions from the wannabes; the line that separates those who experience long term success from those who die and fall off along the way. You must treat your setbacks as an inevitable part of the entire muscle-building process.
Sometimes you'll be at your peak and will be marching your way to new grounds of success, and other times your progress will be receding and moving backwards because of various factors, many of which will be beyond your control.
All kinds of bumps in the road will present themselves along the way…
There will be times when you catch a cold or flu and lose 10 pounds.
There will be times when you go on vacation and have limited access to a gym or to proper bodybuilding foods.
There will be times where you are struck down with an injury and will have to take time away from the gym.
There will be times where you skip meals.
There will be times where you skip workouts.
There will be times when you give in to temptations that will harm your bodybuilding progress.
There will be times when your motivation dips down and you'll question your entire purpose and whether or not the whole bodybuilding thing is even worth it.
This is the reality of it all, and as a serious bodybuilder for many years I can say with certainty that all of the above scenarios have presented themselves to me on many, many occasions.
The difference between a successful bodybuilder and an unsuccessful one is in the way that they handle adversity.
Both your progress and motivation will rise and fall along the way, but will you make a stand and accept these swings for what they are, and continue training hard despite them? Or will you piss and pout and toss in the towel when things don't go your way?
You must accept that no journey is perfect. You are a human being, and you will make blunders along the way.
Whether or not you choose to accept and implement this way of thinking will make the difference between long term success and failure.
Successful lifters get thrown into holes and dig themselves out. Unsuccessful lifters get discouraged and remain buried.
After years and years of training, I've seen more people come and go in the gym than I could possibly begin to count. But despite this, I'm still here.
Will you be?
GD