Life isn’t fair. You’ve heard this time and time again.

Some people have all the advantages. Others have all the talent. A select few have both. Chances are you don’t fall into any of these categories, and that’s a frustrating place to be.

But that doesn’t mean you aren’t able to achieve a high level of success.

Success is possible, even probable, once you accept inequity as a part of life. Once you own your shortcomings, stop making excuses, stop complaining and start doing. Especially in the health and fitness realm.

It begins with embracing these basic truths about yourself and others.

Talent is unevenly distributed

I have a friend. Let’s call him Dan.

Dan is made out of steel.

Dan played baseball, soccer and basketball growing up. No injuries. He’ll go on a running bender and cruise for twelve, fourteen, twenty miles at a time for weeks at a time. No injuries. He’ll randomly start lifting again, throwing around weights that are way too heavy with form that’s way too shitty. No injuries.

Dan is a physical anomaly. And all he did was “choose” good parents. It’s just the way the cookie crumbled for him.

Most of us don’t share Dan’s innate level of talent. I sure don’t. We have to work twice as hard for twice as long to achieve half the results. Sorry Charlie, it’s a fact.

Don’t let this piss you off. Don’t curse the heavens for not making you this, that or the other thing. You are you. Accept it and move on. There is zero utility in measuring yourself by the Dan’s of the world. All you’ll find is failure and frustration.

Your only competition should be yourself. How are you progressing month over month, year over year? Are you getting stronger? Are you getting faster? Are you becoming more resilient? These are the types of metrics you should track. Metrics where you control the outcome.

Talent is not evenly distributed. It’s a bummer, but it’s as real as gravity.

Get over it.

Resources are unevenly distributed

Some of us are born into better circumstances than others. This dramatically affects our access to quality resources.

A major component of fitness is diet. The healthier we eat, the better our fitness. It’s a truism old as time.

Problem is, not everyone has the same ability to maintain a healthy diet.

Perhaps monetary limitations hold you back. Quality food is expensive. It’s costly to produce, package and ship and those costs are passed on to the consumer. Or geography may be the issue. Depending on where you live, accessing clean, healthy foods might be next to impossible.

Geography may also determine what sorts of fitness facilities and equipment are available. In large urban centers, which tend to have higher standards of living, you have your pick of the litter as far as gyms, studios and niche fitness centers. In more remote, rural areas these facilities are much fewer and far between.

Like with innate talent, work as best you can with what you have. Be real about your circumstances and maximize them as much as possible. It does you no good to complain how good things could be (“if I only had this or if I just had that”). This results in you spinning your wheels and not making any real progress.

Some people have more than you. Others less. Don’t worry about them. Worry about you.

Effort is the way through

Back to Dan.

Yes he’s a physical specimen. But he’s also lazy, unfocused and unmotivated.

Dan’s talent is his own worst enemy. He never had to work to be the best athlete. He never developed determination and grit from rehabbing an injury. He never refined the necessary skills that build internal fortitude. As such he puts forth little effort, backing down at the first sign of adversity.

Effort is the one thing you have 100% control over.

You control whether you work hard or not. If you stick to your fitness plan or not. If you adhere to your diet or not. If you get enough sleep or not. It’s all up to you.

You aren’t able to out-maneuver poor genetics or less than ideal circumstances. But you are able to work your ass off to find success in spite of what’s in the way.

It just takes honesty with what you’re working with.

In Fitness And In Health

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