Quite motivational... from CrazyRanger blog: Stop Doing Your Best | CRAZY RANGER
Yeah. Stop trying to do your best. I said it. The picture? Those are pansies. Let’s talk about pansies, and why pansies suck as leaders. And while we’re at it, let’s also talk about people who are doing their best, especially when they’re failing so hard.
But wait, Mr. The Ranger- you’re going to offend people!! Yeah. I’m counting on it. But I’m also completely guilty of everything I’m talking about, and it is really offensive. I promise it will make sense though. But first, a story…
When I was in Ranger Battalion, when you failed at a task, you might have been stupid enough to try to excuse yourself by explaining that you were just doing the best that you could, and perhaps you could cement your fate by additionally whining that the task was either unfair, too hard, or obsolete. This would only result in the leadership making everyone involved do mountain climbers, burpees, and/or star bursts until there was a good pool of vomit in the dirt deep enough for everyone to crawl through before they allowed forced you to try again, in your vomit-soaked clothing. And you would typically succeed the second time, covered in your comrades’ vomit, with less than happy emotions toward your leadership. In fact, I still don’t like my first Squad Leader, incidentally. If I ever see him again, I’ll probably buy him a beer (perhaps vomit on him again just for old time’s sake) and then walk out, because there’s still a misunderstanding between us. [twitch] But I digress…..
My second and third Squad Leaders had a bit less to prove, and didn’t quite enjoy watching me fail as much (and didn’t nearly get knocked-the-eff-out during Boxing Training, either), but instead enjoyed watching me grow. Which still came through a lot of failure on my part, and through yet more vomit PT, but I learned what I’m sharing with you right now from them, and I’m perpetually in debt to them for it. Even that first Squad Leader guy. I guess. [twitch]
But you don’t have a Squad Leader following you around, waiting for you to screw up to force you into puke bubble-ups. So listen up, daffodil.
Now if you’re really at rock bottom, and can’t handle one more thing- just hang on, this too shall pass. I’ve been there, completely alone and lonely, every bridge burned, no hope in sight with no one around who could reasonably comprehend the things I faced, and my heart really goes out to you. You’re not who needs this post: you just need to hang onto whatever positive things you can find to get through what you’re fighting. Feel free to ping me on Facebook.
But statistically, the rest of you are just coasting. And by coasting, I mean- you’re fat, you have more payments than paycheck, your marriage is failing, and your kids are rude, loudmouthed little turds. You’re faking it so hard your excuses have excuses, and I’m sick of your whiny crap. And all of you in between.
“But… I’m just doing the best I can…” Ah ha!! There it is!! Yeah, you are just doing the best you can; you’re pathetic, and you’re lying to yourself. You’ve plateaued, comfortably dying. And I’m completely tired of watching you die, remaining silent. So here it is.
You weren’t born to suck at life. Think about that. You aren’t designed to completely fail, and stay there. And most people don’t even realized they’ve failed, because they’re “doing the best they can.” Whether you think you were designed by a cosmic genetic selection of strengths or by the hand of God; you can’t possibly tell me, looking at the complexity, function and design of how everything in the world currently works, that where you’re at is where you’re meant to stay, much less that you are an accident or insignificant. You’re meant for more, and you’re important. Even if you’re at rock bottom right now, the only constant in the universe is change itself, and you won’t be sucking so hard soon. I promise.
Push. Force the envelope open, because once you do, you’ll see that the envelope doesn’t even exist. ”The envelope” is usually comprised of the people around you who are also “doing the best they can,” and when you start doing more, they’ll try to keep you back because you’re exposing their failures and laziness. You can really have whatever you set your mind to, if you work hard enough. Wanting, crying about, and sugar-coating things is what my 2-year old does. Working, truthfully evaluating, and enduring pain to forward a goal set is what my 9-year-old does. Where are you on the spectrum? Paint targets on the things that need to change, put your foot down, and break things loose.
Grow. Fill in the space you created from pushing and working hard with other things that allow you to achieve more. Maybe that’s help around the house, or someone to mow your yard, or a much-needed date night. It totally depends on what your goals are. But you don’t need to spend money to work harder, you just need to get off your butt. They only follow one way. If you need 8 hours of sleep a night, give yourself that rest. But no more. The rest of the day you need to be thinking or working as hard as you can to fil out the room you just created in your life, and create the strength to push again, to better your situation.
Repeat. I can do 71 pushups in one continuous set in roughly 1 minute. I didn’t get there by doing 20 pushups and stopping, because that was the best I could do. Which it actually was, for a decent portion of my life. I didn’t get there by doing 30 and stopping because everyone around me was doing 25. I got there by tearing the muscle off my bones, and going so hard I couldn’t shave the next morning, and doing it all over again anyway. And maxing the APFT may not be one of your goals if you’re reading this, but hear my point…
Stop doing your best, and start improving your best. Stop maintaining as hard as you can, and start growing as hard as you can. It isn’t fun. It hurts. There are often casualties, and you’ll lose friends. But it’s worth it. You are worth it. Just go for it, and enjoy where life takes you. There is nothing more fulfilling here on earth than earning and deserving your dreams, and when your push defines where you are, instead of your income or circle of friends, it will change everything about your outlook on life, and the happiness you experience here.
And when you catch fire, and start really pushing, others around you will notice. They will both gravitate toward you, and start pushing too. Pushing on different things, different goals; but you’re all united in the fact you’re all fighters. And you can change the world around you with even the smallest push, because eventually you aren’t even driving forward for yourself, you’re driving forward to help others succeed, and meet their goals.
And then you’re truly a leader. Now go forth and conquer…
-The Ranger, RLTW!!!
Yeah. Stop trying to do your best. I said it. The picture? Those are pansies. Let’s talk about pansies, and why pansies suck as leaders. And while we’re at it, let’s also talk about people who are doing their best, especially when they’re failing so hard.
But wait, Mr. The Ranger- you’re going to offend people!! Yeah. I’m counting on it. But I’m also completely guilty of everything I’m talking about, and it is really offensive. I promise it will make sense though. But first, a story…
When I was in Ranger Battalion, when you failed at a task, you might have been stupid enough to try to excuse yourself by explaining that you were just doing the best that you could, and perhaps you could cement your fate by additionally whining that the task was either unfair, too hard, or obsolete. This would only result in the leadership making everyone involved do mountain climbers, burpees, and/or star bursts until there was a good pool of vomit in the dirt deep enough for everyone to crawl through before they allowed forced you to try again, in your vomit-soaked clothing. And you would typically succeed the second time, covered in your comrades’ vomit, with less than happy emotions toward your leadership. In fact, I still don’t like my first Squad Leader, incidentally. If I ever see him again, I’ll probably buy him a beer (perhaps vomit on him again just for old time’s sake) and then walk out, because there’s still a misunderstanding between us. [twitch] But I digress…..
My second and third Squad Leaders had a bit less to prove, and didn’t quite enjoy watching me fail as much (and didn’t nearly get knocked-the-eff-out during Boxing Training, either), but instead enjoyed watching me grow. Which still came through a lot of failure on my part, and through yet more vomit PT, but I learned what I’m sharing with you right now from them, and I’m perpetually in debt to them for it. Even that first Squad Leader guy. I guess. [twitch]
But you don’t have a Squad Leader following you around, waiting for you to screw up to force you into puke bubble-ups. So listen up, daffodil.
Now if you’re really at rock bottom, and can’t handle one more thing- just hang on, this too shall pass. I’ve been there, completely alone and lonely, every bridge burned, no hope in sight with no one around who could reasonably comprehend the things I faced, and my heart really goes out to you. You’re not who needs this post: you just need to hang onto whatever positive things you can find to get through what you’re fighting. Feel free to ping me on Facebook.
But statistically, the rest of you are just coasting. And by coasting, I mean- you’re fat, you have more payments than paycheck, your marriage is failing, and your kids are rude, loudmouthed little turds. You’re faking it so hard your excuses have excuses, and I’m sick of your whiny crap. And all of you in between.
“But… I’m just doing the best I can…” Ah ha!! There it is!! Yeah, you are just doing the best you can; you’re pathetic, and you’re lying to yourself. You’ve plateaued, comfortably dying. And I’m completely tired of watching you die, remaining silent. So here it is.
You weren’t born to suck at life. Think about that. You aren’t designed to completely fail, and stay there. And most people don’t even realized they’ve failed, because they’re “doing the best they can.” Whether you think you were designed by a cosmic genetic selection of strengths or by the hand of God; you can’t possibly tell me, looking at the complexity, function and design of how everything in the world currently works, that where you’re at is where you’re meant to stay, much less that you are an accident or insignificant. You’re meant for more, and you’re important. Even if you’re at rock bottom right now, the only constant in the universe is change itself, and you won’t be sucking so hard soon. I promise.
Push. Force the envelope open, because once you do, you’ll see that the envelope doesn’t even exist. ”The envelope” is usually comprised of the people around you who are also “doing the best they can,” and when you start doing more, they’ll try to keep you back because you’re exposing their failures and laziness. You can really have whatever you set your mind to, if you work hard enough. Wanting, crying about, and sugar-coating things is what my 2-year old does. Working, truthfully evaluating, and enduring pain to forward a goal set is what my 9-year-old does. Where are you on the spectrum? Paint targets on the things that need to change, put your foot down, and break things loose.
Grow. Fill in the space you created from pushing and working hard with other things that allow you to achieve more. Maybe that’s help around the house, or someone to mow your yard, or a much-needed date night. It totally depends on what your goals are. But you don’t need to spend money to work harder, you just need to get off your butt. They only follow one way. If you need 8 hours of sleep a night, give yourself that rest. But no more. The rest of the day you need to be thinking or working as hard as you can to fil out the room you just created in your life, and create the strength to push again, to better your situation.
Repeat. I can do 71 pushups in one continuous set in roughly 1 minute. I didn’t get there by doing 20 pushups and stopping, because that was the best I could do. Which it actually was, for a decent portion of my life. I didn’t get there by doing 30 and stopping because everyone around me was doing 25. I got there by tearing the muscle off my bones, and going so hard I couldn’t shave the next morning, and doing it all over again anyway. And maxing the APFT may not be one of your goals if you’re reading this, but hear my point…
Stop doing your best, and start improving your best. Stop maintaining as hard as you can, and start growing as hard as you can. It isn’t fun. It hurts. There are often casualties, and you’ll lose friends. But it’s worth it. You are worth it. Just go for it, and enjoy where life takes you. There is nothing more fulfilling here on earth than earning and deserving your dreams, and when your push defines where you are, instead of your income or circle of friends, it will change everything about your outlook on life, and the happiness you experience here.
And when you catch fire, and start really pushing, others around you will notice. They will both gravitate toward you, and start pushing too. Pushing on different things, different goals; but you’re all united in the fact you’re all fighters. And you can change the world around you with even the smallest push, because eventually you aren’t even driving forward for yourself, you’re driving forward to help others succeed, and meet their goals.
And then you’re truly a leader. Now go forth and conquer…
-The Ranger, RLTW!!!
