- I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
- I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
- I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
- I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
- I wish that I had let myself be happier.
— The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, a book written by palliative care nurse Bronnie Ware. Excellent topics for self-reflection.
Just to clarify, #2 has nothing to do with the gym. One of my regrets looks like the opposite of #2: I wish I had started working hard in the gym at a younger age; it’s so damn much fun (#5).
Most people who attempt to build a good deal of muscle fail. Sure, almost everyone is able to gain a small amount of muscle, but many never get beyond a slight level of development, despite focused efforts, years in the gym, supplementation, adequate diet, and—not least among these—an abundance of desire. There are reasons for the widespread failure, the most common being the plain, simple, and unfortunate fact that the majority of weight trainers don’t know what they’re doing. The exceedingly rudimentary nature of the undertaking suggests that an equally simple approach will suffice: Just lift weights many think to themselves as they hit the gym and unleash a furious, nonsensical workout. Just lift weights and good things will happen. The muscles will grow. Work a little harder and they’ll grow a little more. The idea is intuitive and simple. The act couldn’t be simpler. Many think this way, and many fail.
— “The Problem”, chapter 1 of Gordon Lavalle’s book Training for Mass.
