I’ve written about what you can learn from being in the gym before and I think what happened last night was a perfect confirmation of something I was taught a long time ago. The title of today’s post is Always +1 because in any  frame of life, we must try to beat our best with every new opportunity we have.

Every single set is an opportunity to break through the boundaries that had been set before in the previous set. You have a chance to regain your strength, catch your breath, wipe the sweat off your face, and try it again but do better. You have the opportunity to push through the pain to hit the number you set in your mind. And when you burn it out in the gym, you give yourself the rock solid mentality that you need to go out into the real world and achieve great things as well.

Putting on more weight isn’t simply putting on more weight. It’s not what the weight is…but what the weight says to your mind. “Oh man I haven’t done this before but I’m going to give it a shot.” That right there is entirely relevant to the gas pedal we can all press down on when it comes time to perform in our jobs, our friendships, our relationships etc. If we can teach ourselves how to challenge our minds and our body every chance we get, when it comes time to answer the call we do it instinctively. That’s what I have learned in the gym: the ability to constantly challenge myself, and if I can’t do it…then I try it next week.  Your physical body is a result of your mental strength, not the other way around.

Always get 1 more. In life, in the gym, in your efforts. You will be amazed at what you can create.

– Evan Sanders