I receive a number of emails almost weekly from people asking me how I have been able to do the things in my life that I have done.  Although I do not consider myself any smarter or any more gifted than anyone else out there, I tell people that I have used great discipline while following a number of simple formulas that have served me well in getting what I wanted.  I am going to start this blog off with a riddle that I use with most of my athletes at one time or another to lead us in to one such formula:

There are three warriors standing at the edge of a river.  Two of the warriors decide to jump into the water.  The question is, "How many warriors are now standing at the edge of the river?"   

Many of my athletes immediately answer that there is only one warrior left on the riverbank.  This is not only the wrong answer, but it clues me in a bit on how the athletes that answer incorrectly think.

The answer  is "3".  Just because a someone has made a decision does not mean that he has taken any action to do anything about it!  All too often we "decide" to go on a diet or lose some body fat yet dont get any thinner.  We commonly "decide" that it is time to get back into the gym or onto the mats, but never end up getting there.  We "decide" what our New Year's resolutions are going to be only to break them days later.  What was the missing ingredient to getting what you want?  The "action" that goes along with the decision!  Is it really that simple?  Yes, I am here to tell all you warriors that it really is.

Here is a great formula to remember:  D-A=0  (Decision minus Action equals Zero)

Now although the part of action may seem critical here (and it is), I have often found that people also commonly lack the ability to even make a decision about what it is they really want in the first place!  So, I am here to remind all of you that you cant get what you want if you have never decided what that is in the first place!   Now although that may sound crazy on the surface, ask yourself if you have really figured out your life's purpose and have also really sat down and spent time figuring what it really is that you want (and I am not talking about "I want money", "I want to be fit", or "I want a nice house or car", I am talking about specifics!)

If you havent really ever sat down and come up with your definitive list of wants from life, my mental warrior challenge this week is to spend one hour each day this week doing just that.  Although you may think that 5-7 hours focused on your wants is crazy, I believe it is simply the best investment in time you could make.  You must also write these down each night and watch how they change and get deeper as you better start to understand what it is you are really searching for.

The second challenge is to be performed next week and that is breaking down each want into the smallest action step you can to move toward that goal and then take that step!  I promise that if you follow through on these two challenges you will be much closer to getting what you want than if you choose to ignore them.

 Decision plus Action is a simple formula.  What I am writing to remind you warriors is that the formula works only as long as you work the formula!  Now get to work.