Everything I know I learned at Fight Club

(Note: This is the first post from Rannoch Donald.  Rannoch is a kettlebell expert from Scotland, and the newest Gym Junkies blogger along with John)

“On a large enough time line, the survival rate for everyone will drop to zero”

We need to get this one out of the way first. The longer you stick around, the shorter the odds, so you might as well get in shape for the trip, however long (or short) it might be.

“This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time”

Yup, one minute at a time. This leads on from the last quote. Remember, your next excuse might be your last. We get better, improve, one second at a time. So what is it going to be? What are you more interested in? TV or your T-Levels?

“If I could wake up in a different place, at a different time, could I wake up as a different person?”

Today you will have numerous opportunities to deliver. You have these every day but time and time again we’d rather not take the risk. We are so scared of looking stupid, making fools of ourselves. If you want things to be different, do things differently!

“One minute was enough, Tyler said, a person had to work hard for it, but a minute of perfection was worth the effort”

What you put in is what you get out. The sublime effort to get it right, to flirt at the outer reaches of your ability. Just now and again, just often enough to experience that fleeting moment of perfection.

“If you don’t know what you want,” the doorman said, “you end up with a lot you don’t.”

Everytime you train, everytime you practice, you are on a journey. If you have a ton of experience under your belt then you can freestyle for sure. But if you are like the vast majority of folk, far from your potential, you need to think about where your training is taking you. Get a plan, stick with it long enough to see the difference it can make. Training doesn’t need to be a leisure activity. Make it count.

“May I never be complete. May I never be content. May I never be perfect”

And then you need to realise that it’s a life’s work. There is always something to improve on. Something to do. And that is what makes it at the very least, interesting and at it’s best, exhilarating.

“I just don’t want to die without a few scars”

This really doesn’t need much explanation…does it? the following tell you why…

“After a night in fight club, everything in the real world gets the volume turned down”

You can escape into that last set. You know the one. It would be easier to pack up and go home. But if you hang in there, when the mind wants to walk but the body is still capable, you will be better person for it. Stressed? Go lift. Can’t sleep? Drop and do fifty. Had enough? Crank out those pull ups. A little intensity goes a long way.

“The gyms you go to are crowded with guys trying to look like men, as if being a man means looking the way a sculptor or an art director says”

It’s perhaps ironic that the film spawned a generation of men who wanted to look like Brad Pitt, weighing in at around 160lbs at Six feet. Work with what you’ve got. Don’t worry about the guys training next to you, work with who you are.

“At the time, my life just seemed too complete, and maybe we have to break everything to make something better out of ourselves”

For a generation for whome luxuries have become neccessities and everything exists in abundance, we’ve lost sight of the value really living. Can you ditch it all and get back to basics? No t-shirt, running shoe or hot new gadget will make you train any harder. Which is another way of saying…

“It’s only after you’ve lost everything,” Tyler says, “that you’re free to do anything.”

Pick three moves, a push, a pull and a squat. Work them back to back til you know your done. No pen and paper required. Simple.

“You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else”

The upside is we are all in the same boat. Everyone starts somewhere. The trick is to start.

“You’re not your job. You’re not your family, and you’re not who you tell yourself…. You’re not your name…. You’re not your problems…. You’re not your age…”

In the current climate it’s easy to feel the odds are stacked. Kettlebell swings, 30 seconds on 30 seconds off for 10 minutes are a great leveller. Want to switch off the monkey mind for a while? Who says meditation can’t involve sweat…Go swing.

“The best way to waste your life, … is by taking notes. The easiest way to avoid living is to just watch. Look for the details. Report. Don’t participate.”

Humble thanks to Chuck Palaniuk. If you have not read the book do so. It’s not about fighting, it about being alive. Check it out…

http://chuckpalahniuk.net/

- Rannoch