Ignore the Noise and Stay on the Righteous Path
The other day, I was sitting on the couch with friends, and looking at my shoes, and the sweats I was wearing. Then I noticed that we were pretty much all wearing gym gear, a lot of it the same kind of stuff. The row of nanos propped up on the coffee table led me to thinking about how much we are shaped by the things we do. Much of what we think, wear, eat, and do is shaped by our lives in the gym.
“You are what you eat”
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If you put negative shit into your life, that’s what you will put out. Bottom line. Think about that for a second. Thoughts become actions, so what’s shaping your thoughts? The smallest things we hear and read stick in our minds. People talking smack on videos of awesome lifts, watching drunk people fight in a fast food restaurant, and political nonsense could pretty much sum up a day in the life of any social media account. These are the things you are taking in to your brain on a daily basis. You see it, read it, and talk about these things. Remember that thoughts can become actions and beliefs pretty quickly. It’s easy to see that why there’s so much negativity on the internet. It’s what we are exposed to the most- we take it in, chew it, and put it back out into the world.
Life is a choose your own adventure story that WE get to write ourselves. If we get to write our own adventure, why would we let douchebags be in it?
Learn to be immune to the haters. It helps to understand WHY the trolls do what they do. WHY would someone want to be negative, and put bad vibes out into the world? The simple answer is that it gives them comfort. When someone posts a video of a 600# squat, there are always a lot of comments. Let’s dissect a couple of lame ones:
Here’s one typical comment I call “The Softy”: “why would someone want to squat that much weight? That’s not healthy.” By saying this, they have just comforted themselves by never having to work hard enough to get there, on the premise that it’s just not healthy. Maybe they’ll have a smoothie instead and feel superior.
This one I call “The Uncle Rico”: “Yeah,I did that back in High School my senior year.” This guy probably believes 100% that he did squat six bills 33 years ago and since he’s “done it once” he never has to do it again. If he says it enough, he probably believes his own bullshit. He is comforted by the fact that he was once hella studly, but these days he’s got a yard to mow.
In short, all it takes is a few sentences to truly believe exactly how and why you can’t. You write some bullshit comment on a video and you get instant comfort! Who doesn’t love to be comfortable?
Take a step back and look at how you spend your time on social media. Part of training yourself to be immune to haters is to stop doing it yourself. This is much harder than it sounds. Several times I’ve typed a reply to some asshat that said a squat doesn’t count if you drop it in the floor after your PR. I’ve sat there, wanting to press enter so bad. Instead I deleted it. I keep deleting it. Train yourself to only put positive stuff out there (unless it’s about Planet Fitness, that’s fair game.) Think to yourself daily : How are you using your social media? Are you spreading the things you love, and building others up? Are you trolling comment sections to find idiots to get mad at? We are all guilty of that, but the more we do these things, the more it affects our thinking, and the more power we give the idiots. Keep asking yourself these questions until it’s just habit.
So WHY are you still reading these comments, or giving them second thoughts? Remember, you are what you eat. If your day is hijacked by bullshit comments on videos, you are doing it wrong. Instead of reading comments, go make your own videos. Inspire your friends. Put more of what you love out into the world. Build other people up. Help people do what you love to do, and help shape a better human experience. Fill your day with love of your sport, so that you are immersed in what makes you your best.
Remember that what goes in must come out, and what you put out goes in, to someone, somewhere. Make it rad.
