Monday, September 6, 2010

The Mind is a Powerful Thing


I'm into the last bulking phase now before my diet and I have to be honest I am itching to get back onstage. I am still busting ass trying to make more improvements before it is time to shred it down and dawn the posing trunks. That being said it really feels like each day is a lesson in patience and consistency.
I have made improvements and I really want to get contest ready to be able to see them! The challenge comes in knowing that your competition is still working hard at putting on more and more muscle and still improving. That means I have to keep at it regardless of how impatient I have become about this. Its just 8 more weeks and it will go fast but just not fast enough I guess. I'm grinding out each day, each, meal, each set, each rep just trying to keep my eye on the ultimate goal....bringing the biggest, hardest package to date to the ASC stage.
My weight is holding steady at around 285lbs but I feel like I am getting leaner and leaner at this weight so that is always a good sign. I have begun thinking about posing music and going through the motions in my mind of what it will look like the day of the show under the bright lights.
I have even begun looking at new posing trunks..lol...believe it or not I am a little superstitious about my trunks. I wear the same ones for every shows prejudge and I feel like I need new trunks for every big show I enter. Not sure if any of you do this but its just something that I noticed I do recently and I'm not even conscious of it.
I have really begun to incorporate time in each of my days to really focus on what I am doing. To really visualize the day, how it will look, who will be there, what people will be in the audience, the music in the background. It has started to be that detailed as I envision the day and how it will go. Of course in my mind I am winning so only time will tell if the vision in my mind will come true or not.
I think training the mind to think through negativity and to be strong in the face of bad attitudes is a major part of becoming a champion. A great physique can take a turn for the worst in a hurry if the person can't control how he/she feels inside. Personally at one show I did in 2007, I looked great but after a couple bad attitudes were able to get into my head my physique really took a turn for the worst.
Battling through adversity is not only about not caring about exterior things that happen in your life. Its also about battling the negative thoughts and bad feelings that are always trying to hold you back. Some people let that get the better of them, some people use those thoughts for fuel in their attempt to drive thru them....which person are you?
I know this really seems like a lot of fluff but in all honesty, a great body is useless without a great mind. Take the time in your day to stop, sit down and just think. Envision how you are going to do things, what the final outcome will look like. The more you do this the clearer the vision will become and as time goes on you will begin to see it happening....just remember its not always overnight.
I'll leave you with this story. In high school I was often board in class and would find myself doodling in my notebooks (whatever I wasn't an academic). I was a car nut so I would always doodle a Ford Mustang GT (the 96-04 style). I did this over and over again, all the while driving a piece of crap car but it didn't stop me from doodling that Mustang and dreaming about it. I did this all through high school and most of University all the while driving crappy cars. Until one day I was washing my new car and realized...OMG....all that doodling left an imprint in my mind and that day I was washing the car I had envisioned myself in for years! I was washing my brand new Ford Mustang GT, it took me years to get but who cares, I got it! Just remember this simple rule, if you can't see it in your mind, you will never see it in real life!

Sacrifice Without Regret,
Fouad 'Hoss' Abiad