Taking Right Action… How Too Much Information Has Ruined a Generation
This is a big problem that I constantly see in the self-improvement community and I’m proud that Strength by Sonny differs from the pack in this regard. A lot of guys become obsessed with obtaining as much information as possible on what they want to learn more about and become successful at. However, this often leads to confusion and a definite lack of concentrated action taking. Guys simple forget the importance of taking right action.
Look online. Any area of life that guys want to improve, you will see an endless stream of rookies going on forums and asking every little question you can imagine. They essentially bite off more than they can chew because the information overload and resulting confusion leads to cloudy execution. There is no purpose behind it.
Pick any area of self-improvement. Health and fitness. Women. Career.
Go on bodybuilding.com. You will find plenty of new guys going on there and asking all these questions because they want to get everything right. What’s the best protein to take? What’s the best workout to do? Listen, if you’re a 140 lb. dude who has never touched a weight before, you don’t need to be asking unnecessary questions about the best protein or when you should bulk or cut. And you certainly don’t need to be asking questions about the right amount of calories, macros or any of that nonsense. No, what you need to be doing is consistently busting your ass in the gym and getting high quality protein and carbs in your body so you can grow. Simple.
This is quite common in the pick-up community where guys try to learn how to get successful with women. A lot of guys try to get their hands on every piece of information, whether its books, scientific articles, or collection of Internet forum posts… whatever. The point is many never truly get the success they want because they make things way too complicated. They flood their minds with way too much information and do not focus the majority of their efforts on taking right action… in that case getting better at talking to girls, maximizing all of the stuff that will make them more attractive to women (creating overall sex appeal), and just learning to become more comfortable interacting with people in general.
The same things applies to actually setting up a workout routine in the gym. A lot of people hinder their success in the gym (especially when they first start out) by trying to get way too much into the science/theory aspect of health and fitness. I think a big reason for this has to do with people’s general obsession with comfort and PERFECTION. People want everything to go just right and everything to fall into place. With regard to the gym, anytime I have given advice to someone, I notice that they always ask unnecessary questions. “What’s the best routine?” “What’s the best protein?” “What’s the best number of reps and sets for each exercise?” “If I do this this or that will I get the best results?”
Since there is no definite answer to any of these questions, this ambiguity often prevents people from fully dedicating themselves to the learning process and embracing the journey.
That all sounds great and I love people’s initial ambition but that’s not how success at anything works. You don’t get success by simply picking up every book you can find on the topic and studying your ass off. Absolutely not. You must be dedicating your time to whatever it is you want to be successful at by DOING IT. Doing it and learning along the way is taking right action.
Other examples: You don’t get good at basketball by spending hours a day watching instructional videos. You get good by getting on the court and actually playing. You don’t get good at hitting a baseball by watching film of Miguel Cabrera or Albert Pujols… You get good by picking up a bat and actually hitting. You don’t get good at starting a business by reading a bunch of books by guys who started a business. You get good by starting your own business and learning from experience along the way. This applies to everything.
If you want to put on muscle, you must put your time in the gym. You must be trying out different exercises and routines. You will have many small successes. Most importantly, YOU WILL HAVE MANY SMALL FAILURES.
Failure is a big part of success… it’s a part of life. You learn from your failures and they ultimately make you stronger. We all know this. However, most people simply do not want to embrace it because of their fixation on wanting everything to be “just right.”
By focusing exclusively on theory and not dedicating yourself to right action, you are essentially letting the fear of failure hold you back in your quest for success.
Bodybuilding is the one sport where you want failure. Failure produces growth. When you are able to take your muscles to failure and push yourself even beyond that… that my friends is where success lies. We all have rep goals that we count out in our heads when lifting. Well, from my personal experience, if you are constantly hitting your target number of reps… something is wrong. You are not pushing yourself enough. If you seriously want to play the iron game, you need to expect that there will be a lot of failure. There will be times that you start a set focused on getting 12 reps and you end up barely getting 5… It’s all part of the journey.
When I first started working out, I had a lot of failures (especially in my chest workouts). But I kept pushing and was constantly taking action. I wasn’t spending hours upon hours reading many books or studying Internet forums. My learning took place in the gym. I spent very little time taking bits and pieces from various sources.
Bottom Line: Spend more time doing rather than studying. You will fail much more doing and taking action… but this is what you want (especially in the gym.) Failure is growth. Trust yourself and always keep in mind that success in the gym is a journey. It’s not some test that you cram for and hope to pass. It is part of a lifestyle that entails constant learning by doing.
Sonny
17 Comments
“Spend more time doing rather than studying.” This is one of the best articles I’ve ever seen on this subject, it reminds me of Boy Toy’s article “Stop THINKING, start DOING”. I wish I discovered these two articles years ago because I was particularly bad for this. In 2008 I discovered pickup at a young age, but did I actually go out there and meet girls? No. In 2009 I read endlessly about language learning from forums and blogs. Did I actually learn another language? Nope. Just last year I read everything I could about bodybuilding, but did I spend that much time working out? You’ve guessed it… Now, I am committed to taking action. I’m committed to approaching 100 women a month, I’m committed to learning five new French words a day, I’m committed to working out for thirty minutes a day. The result is I am now actually DOING rather than STUDYING.
Thanks man. Yea definitely apply this to your time in the gym. That’s is how you will become a true an expert on your physique
Yep, couldn’t agree more. The internet is great but has made us confused and lazy.. take action, and correct your course as you proceed
Absolutely. The Internet (especially forums) has made it so that kids think that they can go through life without making a mistake…. that’s just not how learning is done.
It has also made kids very unsure of themselves and afraid to rely on their own instinct and JUST DO IT.
I can’t tell how many “Should I text this girl this?” or “Is squatting bad for you?” threads I have seen over the years.
Yeah, This state of over-analysing a situation is definitively a trap! Especially that 90% of informations on internet is actually bullshit marketing. You end-up being brainwashed and confused, worst it brings you in a situation where action is never taken! Nothing can beat real world experience! Like you said …. JUST DO IT!
Exactly. You see this all the time on forums where kids firmly stand behind advice that they think based off of what others who follow the same gameplan.
ex. pick-up forums… dudes who don’t bang hot girls teaching dudes who don’t bang hot girls the theory on how to bang hot girls
bodybuilding forums… dudes who aren’t jacked teaching dudes who aren’t jacked everything they need to know on how to build muscle
That’s why so many kids get fucked up by spending too much time on forums
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Great article! I am fired up to start taking actions. Best snippets in this article would be: “My learning took place in the gym”.
So fuck wasting time anymore if you want girls, your learning will take place outside your home, your learning will take place when you fail,
your learning will take place when you push yourself, your learning will take place when you man the fuck up. Period.
Yea man. Can’t go through life without fucking up from time to time… that’s how you truly learn.
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Man you’re a beast. It would Be great to meet you one day!
as Fellow alpha speaking here. My dad is also a true alpha as well. Not many of them around though. But even he is starting to become liberal.
Thanks bro!