Control the Controllables
You can wake up and say: “Oh, hell. I’ve got to train.”
Or you can say: “Hell yeah. I get to train.”
It’s the same alarm clock, same early morning, same weather outside, but a different reaction, and that reaction makes all the difference.
Most people waste their lives trying to control things they can’t control. Weather, schedule, traffic, and the opinions of others.
Those things are uncontrollable
What is controllable? Your response.
That’s the foundation of Stoicism. It’s the discipline of looking at the world as it is, not as you wish it were, and then deciding who the hell you are going to be inside of it.
You don’t control the storm, but you control whether you step out into it.
You don’t control the hill, but you control whether you climb it.
You don’t control whether the ruck feels heavier than normal. You control whether you shoulder it.
Training shouldn’t be punishment. It’s a privilege. It’s daily proof that you are still in the fight, still dangerous, and still controlling what you can control.
A soft man waits for conditions to improve. A hard man improves his conditions and his conditioning.
That doesn’t mean ignoring reality. It means shaping your reality.
Because every time you choose your reaction, you sharpen the only weapon you actually carry everywhere. Your mind.
And as General Patton said:
"If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do… the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."
- General George S. Patton
So tomorrow morning, when the alarm goes off, and that punk-ass voice says, “Oh, hell, I’ve got to train,” answer it immediately:
“Hell yeah. I get to train.” Then get up and get after it, and control the controllables.
RTFU.
John
Life is Hard. Be Harder.
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Hell, yeah! I tell the dog each morning, “We get to do it again” and then get PT gear on for the plan of the day
One of my favorite mottos, especially when I’m in a tough spot, is “control what you can.” You’ve outlined exactly why in this piece 👊🏻