I love this old saying “Not My Circus. ?Not My Monkeys” because it makes me laugh and it makes me remember that I don’t always have to care what everybody thinks about me. ? And I don’t always have to take everything so seriously. ?I also love the the similar saying from the song “ONE MONKEY DON’T STOP NO SHOW!” ?It gives me that same feeling. ?Sometimes I need to be reminded that if you aren’t my cheerleader, it’s OK. ?I don’t need you to be. ?I can actually do it on my own.

I have a lot of people come to me who are struggling with motivation problems and struggles about getting into the gym and getting back into the gym. ?These are common issues for a lot of guys. ?Often, we are trying to measure ourselves up to the biggest guys in the gym or the people who are lifting a lot more weight than we are and we feel less than. ?We forget that everybody is at a point in their process and they may have gotten started long before we did and put in a lot of work. ?Our head often doesn’t seem to processthis piece of information and we want to be there now.

If you know me or you’ve ever worked out with me you will know that there are a lot of people I do not like in the gym. ?Even though that’s about me. ?I don’t like people who do not re-wrack their weights or leave the equipment all over the place and it really pisses me off. ?I don’t like it when people hog the equipment. ?I don’t like it when dudes purposely slam the weights down to be loud or just come across with dudeish loud cocky attitudes strutting around making a big presence just for the sake showing what big men they are.

But the truth is all of that is none of my business. ?And I have acquired the skill of shutting out what I don’t like that’s going on around me in the gym so I can do the job I came to do and just take care of business. ?This is a skill that I am now so grateful to have because I didn’t have it before. ?Don’t get me wrong. ?I’m not the Zen master in the gym levitating while I lift not bothered by anything. ?I still can’t stand it when a bunch of monkeys flood in the gym at the wrong time and gets in my way. ?But I have certainly reached the point where I do not let concerns about other people in the gym keep me away.

We can overcome our insecurities. ?We can learn to stop comparing ourselves to anybody but ourselves and create success in our lifting. ?We can create the VISION of the Goal Body we want and work to it knowing we will achieve it if we all of the tools at our disposal. ?We can let go of the thoughts and even fears about what other people in the gym might be thinking of me and realize, for the most part, their too busy just living their own lives to think about us. ?We have the tools to change your mind. ? Change your body. ?Change your Life.

And I can get the Monkeys out of my head — which are the real problem.