When I was in my late teens and early twenties I was quite a fitness fanatic, but as I got older and matured somewhat I found that I cared less about being anything but just above mediocre. Why? Firstly because I over did it, got sick and had to start from scratch. But also I really lost the desire to ‘push’ myself anymore, partly out of fear of overdoing it again, and partly because I felt it was a selfish endeavour. I studied Sports Science as a Bachelors and was surrounded by arrogant, selfish individuals who only wanted to prove themselves with physical feats. This really took a toll on my own motivation, occassionally I might get back into it but eventually I just couldn’t justify the time and effort on myself. I was not unfit, I just wasn’t where I could be.

A few years ago I started to get educated about the Living Values concepts that Jack teaches. During this time something interesting occured that I would like to share. I realized that although I was doing enough fitness to keep myself from being a health burden on anyone, I certainly wasn’t anywhere near fit enough to protect others easily. I started to switch from thinking about how my effort would benefit me, to how my effort could potentially benefit others. Suddenly those fears of ego-centric motivation are balanced out by a more generic motivation of self and others. This didn’t happen over night, but the more I think about it, the more it ‘unblocks’ me from moving forwards with fitness goals.

All the best,
Craig Gray
http://www.roninuniverse.ning.com