November 2017 -

Week 10: The CANs and CAN’Ts

BACK TO LIFE: Stacey during one of her more high-spirited sessions this week

MY best friend and I, when we were much younger, used to play this game when things didn’t go according to plan. It was called “10 good things”.

How it went is that no matter how bad the situation or circumstance, we had to come up with 10 good things about it.

This game used to annoy the hell out of a girl I was seeing at the time. But in spite of the eye-rolling glances she used to give me, I’m grateful we discovered it. Yes, I could come up with 10 good reasons why!

It could be my friend’s influence or that game that’s helped me to see the proverbial cup more as half full than half empty.

Like anyone, I have my moments when the world seems bleak, but, thankfully, most of the time I’m optimistic rather than pessimistic, hopeful rather than in despair, searching for solutions rather than fixated with the problem.

The fact is that in life we’re going to be served with curve balls and sometimes demolition balls and we need to know how to deal with them. Avoiding or running away from them just isn’t always possible, realistic or even productive.

As I mentioned in my last blog on the Amazing 12 Chichester, Rich Evans suffered a knee injury in practically the last exercise he did during that week’s training at Core Results. He’s had surgery on the knee twice, first from when he played football over 20 years ago and then from playing tennis. He’s had to give up both.

Periodically, the knee has flared up and caused niggles here and there. But last week, as he started pushing the prowler, it ‘went’. He was stopped in his tracks and couldn’t continue, grimacing.

He had it checked out. It got better after a few days’ rest, but then Rich inadvertently caught his foot while walking and the sharp pain instantly returned. He felt as if he was back to square one.

TWISTS AND TURNS: injured Rich having to adapt

Determined as he is, Rich still came to train as week 10 commenced. We did what we could. He could barely bend the left knee or put much weight on it. That’s a massive limiting factor. So he and I had to adapt.

It would be easy – and understandable – to want to give up. Rich admitted those thoughts ran through his mind. He had a mini-slump, when he felt the world on his shoulders.

But Rich is a resourceful guy. He’s a creative rather than reactive man. So he quickly pulled himself together, contacted people who could help diagnose the problem and started mapping out a road to recovery.

BALANCING ACT: finding a way to continue getting fitter and stronger without worsening his injury

We continued training, modifying the program almost exclusively for the upper body. After his final session of the week, early in the morning on his 49th birthday, Rich said: “I actually feel really good after that. It was so good to know I could get a good workout without using my legs.”

The crux of the story is that we focus on what we CAN do rather than what we CANNOT. It’s the underlying thought that drives all these incredible athletes who compete in the Paralympics and events of that ilk. They can take on the role of victim or decide to make the best of what they have.

It’s like owning two pairs of glasses. Through one we see everything as impossible (can’t) and the other everything appears possible (can). The question is which glasses do we choose to wear.

Again, as I’ve written about a lot on this blog on the Amazing 12 Chichester, it’s a mindset thing. Yes, Rich’s injury is physical. But how we best cope with it is mental. Where we place our attention is mental.

WHERE THERE’S A WILL…early morning training this week

Rich’s injury looks like cartilage wear. Until we have a clearer idea to the extent of the injury, Rich will be training mostly upper body from here on. We have no option.

It wasn’t a smooth week for Stacey Satta either. At least not to begin with. Her lack of sleep has continued to plague her. She missed two days training on week 9 and still looked shattered at the beginning of this week. I had to scale back parts of the program to compensate for her lack of recovery, meaning she’s not progressing as well as she could.

For two weeks her weight or body fat percentage hadn’t shifted much. And while Stacey has made massive progress from day 1, those numbers not changing has bothered her. The data is not surprising when you consider an estimated 60 per cent of our fat-burning occurs when we sleep and Stacey barely sleeps.

LOADED: Stacey during warm-up for her squats

However, by the end of week 9 she was the same weight and body fat percentage as when she finished her first Amazing 12. The difference is that she’s much stronger. And that’s where she could place her attention.

Rich looks at her in amazement sometimes because shifting fat is his primary goal. However, as Dr Jade Teta, who specialises in knowing about metabolism, points out, women have an advantage. They burn 65 per cent more fat during exercise than men; they can process carbs by between 50-100 per cent times better than men and, finally, they produce almost double the fat-burning hormones than men do.

But Stacey’s fat-burning potential is reduced by (a) her lack of sleep and (b) potential to train optimally through being tired.

Nonetheless, just as we can focus what we can do rather than what we cannot, we can also reflect on what have HAVE achieved rather than what we HAVEN’T. Thus far, Stacey has accomplished a lot – in fact, an incredible amount considering her circumstances.

By the end of this week Stacey had rebounded from her slump. She admitted, “I’m really pleased with where I am so far, considering the sessions I’ve missed the the sleep problems.”

She put in two great sessions this week, in one back-squatting during a warm-up more weight for reps than she could manage as a maximum after the first Amazing 12! Then, when deadlifting, she topped what she achieved on the first Amazing 12 and, on a few occasions when she found her groove, looked at me in astonishment, saying, “that felt so easy.”

That was a lightbulb moment for Stacey – the realisation that with the right technique she could make deadlifting – or any other movement – feel simple and, because it appeared so effortless, she now knows her potential is much greater.

What we’re really talking about here is the difference between efficiency and inefficiency and the secret is to be consistently efficient.

In what was an up-and-down week for her, Stacey can either reflect on the tougher moments or her successes. I think I know which I’d go for.

Rich, for example, half-joked this week that when he said to me earlier in the program that his weight was going up, I replied that it was good as it signified he was putting on muscle. This week he said his weight was going down and I replied that it was good, because he was getting leaner.

HANGING IN THERE: often times you have to in order to see the gains

“How can it be good when it’s going up and good when it’s going down?” he said.

My answer is that it’s always good, meaning that you have to find the good (or the positive) in everything. It’s about feeding ourselves with information that’s going to nourish and grow our confidence and not deplete it. It’s also about receiving feedback and using that feedback to improve us, not destroy us.

I could see Rich’s spirit was lower than usual after the injury. That was understandable. He’d invested a lot in his training. And, sure, getting injured is annoying, especially at this stage. But it’s not the end.

You know I like a mountain analogy, so here’s another. Climbing a mountain, you hurt yourself as you near the peak. Do you turn back and return to base camp or find a way to reach the summit?

If you turn back, you face frustration and disappointment. If you soldier on, finding a way to safely continue, you achieve a sense of accomplishment and sometimes even a greater sense of accomplishment from having overcome an impediment.

Life is going to continually present us with hurdles and unexpected challenges and we have to be ready for them. We need to be trained for them. Every time we soldier on, we are teaching and reminding ourselves that we CAN. We’re strengthening our resolve. We’re creating a habit. That’s progress.

Yes, the Amazing 12 Chichester is primarily about physical change. It’s about gaining strength, developing fitness, creating an optimal physique, but in reality, as Rich and Stacey are discovering, it is more far-reaching if we recognise all the opportunities for growth that come on the path to completing a dedicated program like this.

Week 9: Lessons from the Blue Zones

FINISHER: Rich brings the week to a close, but hobbles off

BLUE Zones are areas of the world where people have lived healthy and long lives. These are locations – Loma Linda, California; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; highlands of Sardinia, Italy; north main island Okinawa, Japan – where people are measurably happier and can thrive beyond 100.

Dan Buettner has studied the Blue Zones for decades in his capacity as a journalist and author for the National Geographic.

So when I heard his fascinating interview on a podcast recently with ultra runner Rich Roll, it got me thinking along many lines. While I’m not fixated on longevity, I do think what matters more is quality of life.

As our health and well-being directly impacts the quality of our life, should it not be something we take seriously?

The premise of the Blue Zone data was that our health and wellness is very much shaped by our environment and lifestyles.

The people who live in the Blue Zones are active, eat healthily and mostly plant-based, belong to and form strong communities, enjoy the outdoors – all common factors in contributing to their vitality and happiness.

So how does this all tie in with the Amazing 12? For starters, the Amazing 12 promotes strength, movement and a wholefood way of eating. And everyone who does the Amazing 12 is seeking transformation. Transformation is change. Change, for many of us, is difficult. In many cases it requires us to break habits and habits, as I’ve written about many times previously, are sometimes hard-wired into us.

Therefore an important aspect is how we support change. Forcing change doesn’t often work. But what if by changing the smaller things in our lives we can impact the bigger issues?

Our environment is what surrounds us and this could mean the location of where you live and work, the size and style of your home, your streets, the people you share your time with and your support network etc.

For example, you probably have a greater chance of adopting a poor diet if you lived next door to McDonald’s than if your neighbour was a health food shop.

Someone with a garden is likely to be more active and spend time outdoors than someone who doesn’t have one.

An individual who needs more movement and fresh air in their life will possibly have more success if they don’t drive. They’d instead walk and be outdoors more. They’d probably save money and be much fitter as well. Conveniences, for all their benefits, make us lazier.

The Blue Zones tell me that we can do more to stack things in our favour. The people who live in the Blue Zones never go to a gym because they don’t have to. Most of us, though, don’t live that type of life.

ANTIDOTE: we need strengthening exercises to make up for the way we spend most of our days

Those of us who go to gyms often do so to make up for what our lifestyle doesn’t offer us. It can also be protection against what our lifestyle is doing to us.

I see the Amazing 12 as an effective means for accelerating the process of physical transformation (no matter what level you are at). It’s not super-quick, but it’s as quick as it can get without using harmful substances. It is by no means the end either, because there should be no end. If you value life, you should value your body. That means making it last.

If we take the same approach to training and movement as the people of the Blue Zones do to work and activity, we won’t stop until our dying day.

In the northern part of Okinawa, Japan, the word for “retirement’ doesn’t even exist in their vocabulary and a more commonly used word is one that translates to having a “reason for which to wake up in the morning”. A purpose.

COMFORTABLE: Stacey lifting beyond what she finished with on the first Amazing 12

On the Amazing 12 one has a purpose. It is to train five days a week in the gym, follow a healthy eating plan, get sufficient sleep in order to recover, sometimes do additional training outside of the gym sessions etc.

It requires dedication, commitment, organization, application and discipline. But how do we each create our own Blue Zones to make following a program easier?

As Colin Hudon, a physician of Traditional Chinese Medicine said, “Discipline is difficult only until it becomes a habit.”

When I coach people, I ask about lifestyle because I know it’s an obstacle. I’m invested in their results and success.

I’m writing about the findings of the Blue Zones because having the awareness of how much our environment can influence our behaviour is a critical starting point. Some of us probably haven’t ever considered its significance.

While going to the gym or working out (in the right way, of course) or playing sport is important for our health, what matters just as much, if not more, is how we spend the rest of our hours in the day. Is it sitting down? Is it under stress? Is it in a physically demanding setting? Is it indoors in artificial light? Is it facing a computer screen? Is it working endless hours? Is it commuting long distances? Is it doing something that brings us little joy or fulfilment?

Often, in order to get the most effective results, we need to combine the right activity with the right lifestyle. Does someone in a frenetic job require an intense form of exercise or something more calming? Usually, we seek out a form of movement or activity that either matches our personality or state of mind when, in all honesty, maybe the opposite is needed.

NEAR EMPTY: Stacey squatting well, but too tired to finish the week

The ongoing battle with Stacey, now nine weeks into the Amazing 12 Chichester alongside Rich, has been a lack of sleep. This week she was feeling more exhausted than normal. It reached a point when she pretty much could no longer function. Even though she wanted to work out, she was better off resting than training. She understood that.

For Rich, who had an excellent week of training and continued to make progress, it ended on a down note when he jarred his suspect knee (which has been operated on several times) near the end of the final session.

It was serious enough for us to cut the workout short. I’m hoping it’s not going to put him out of action.

The long-term answer for Stacey, though, is finding a solution to her sleepless nights so not only can she effectively recover from training, but massively improve her quality of life.

For anyone who struggles to sleep, the question is whether they’ve consistently laid the foundations to promote a good night’s rest.

It is made more challenging for Stacey because she has a young son. But she can still load the odds in her favour: black out her room; begin winding/calming down two hours before going to sleep; turn off electronic appliances one hour before sleep time; read a book; drink teas that help; use liquid magnesium; try meditation; wear an eye mask; create the right room temperature…

Buettner has proven how by changing the environment you can change the person. He has set up a company in the United States which, by invitation, facilitates the remodelling of cities where the health of the population is in urgent need of rescuing.

They, for example, created more parks, planted more trees, introduced more cycle paths, more restaurants with healthy options and provided access to fruits and vegetables at affordable prices.

In many of these cities people, without being told, began eating more healthily, moved more, spent a greater time outdoors and in natural surroundings. Consequently, the rates of disease began to fall and quite rapidly.

VALUES: Rich makes his training and diet a priority

Learning about the Blue Zones made me also think about Rich, because he rides his bike to the gym and back to every session (five days a week). This choice means he spends more time outdoors in the fresh air (unless stuck in traffic), gets added exercise (a good warm-up and warm-down for training) and saves on fuel and wear and tear for his car.

“Sometimes I’ll go months without driving,” says Rich, who also walks a lot, which is a trait of people who live in the Blue Zones.

Health and strength matters to him. He has created important cornerstones in his life that are in harmony with the goals he has for himself.

The crux of the information is that, even if we aren’t fortunate enough to live in a part of the world with a great year-round temperature or oceans or mountainscape or greenery, there’s still a lot we can do to increase our odds for success.

Ask yourself first how you want your life and health to be and then what choices you consistently make to bring them more in alignment with your aspirations.

Week 8: Over the hump

BREAKTHROUGH: progress comes with patience

SEVERAL weeks ago, almost at the beginning of the Amazing 12 Chichester and after Rich Evans had completed a set of back squats, I scribbled down a note that it was “challenging”.

Later, throughout weeks five, six and seven, Rich felt depleted, mentally and physically. Stacey Satta hit a wall during the same period.

We’re now at the end of week 8 at Core Results – three-quarters of the way through – and Rich and Stacey each appear to have gone over the hump.

How, you might ask, if the program is progressively more demanding, can they now feel better?

It’s called adaptation.

SKIP IN HER STEP: it’s amazing what Stacey can do with some sleep

Stacey even managed this week to get some sleep on successive nights – four hours or thereabouts – and it made the world of difference to her workout. For any normal person, that would be a crisis point. But for Stacey it was cause for celebration. She had bundles of energy.

Rich has had an added bounce to his step, too. When he did his squats, he looked as if he completed them more easily in week 8 than in week 2, when he felt it was testing. But now he has more weight on the bar. And there’s much more to come.

The signs of progress keep coming. Stacey has already equalled her deadlift weight from the first trip around the Amazing 12. In fact, when she did it in June, I recall the weight she is at now being significantly tougher. I remember how she couldn’t complete the workout as prescribed and we had to back-track to enable her to regain her confidence, which she quickly did.

Similarly, her back squat is now near to where she ended the first A12. Stacey can also walk lengths of the gym carrying a weight she once found difficult to deadlift for a single rep (on the first Amazing 12).

Stacey this week comfortably performed multiple Turkish Get-ups with a kettlebell she couldn’t complete a single rep with only a few weeks ago. And on one particular exercise she achieved a level beyond anyone I’ve previously taken through the program.

Yet by the final session of this week, with a few more sleepless nights thrown in and life being a little more stressful than usual away from the gym, Stacey was ready for some reprieve and much-needed recovery.

ENERGY: there was a noticeable difference in Rich

Rich, by contrast, was back to his normal self. “Generally, I feel so much better,” he said. He’d also dropped 5lbs in weight and was looking leaner. His recovery has improved. And, as someone who tracks everything, he observed how his heartrate had gone down, too – both when resting and training hard – indications his conditioning is getting better.

It’s always a nice feeling to get over the sticking points as they can cause a lot of self-doubt and knock confidence. But with experience, patience and know-how, you can break through.

FRIENDLY COMPETITION: bringing the best out of each other

As you go through a process like this, you come to understand just how magnificent the human body is and how limitless, when challenged intelligently, our potential for growth is.

Rich and Stacey have worked well alongside each other, too. You can see how one spurs on the other. Even though I don’t purposely make the Amazing 12 competitive, some personalities are that way inclined.

WORKING HARD: there’s a time and a place

If Rich achieves a certain amount of reps, Stacey will sometimes try to match or better it and vice versa. That’s all fine in my book, so long as quality of movement isn’t sacrificed. But it does reveal how our limitations are often a mental construct – that if training alone, perhaps Stacey or Rich, without a number to chase or standard to match, would possibly produce or settle for less.

As a coach, I’m always looking for the combination that brings out the best in people. If competition does that, I encourage it. If it doesn’t, I’ll say it doesn’t matter and to focus on themselves.

The conversations we have during training – when Rich and Stacey are resting (I don’t advocate talking while working) – are often on how much psychology plays a part in human performance. They’ve come to understand better that this is an area which requires as much attention as the training itself. And the same can be said for rest and recovery.

It’s easy to understand why the latter – the recovery – is underestimated and overlooked when the spotlight is always so brightly fixed on the training.

ADAPTING: getting used to his new rope

The emphasis these days is on the workout and the reps and the pain and the weight and the fancy gear or equipment that makes us look better. But none of it matters if our recovery isn’t sufficient to promote growth and repair. The adaptation happens when we stop training.

As respected and accomplished American strength and conditioning trainer Dan John said in his book Intervention, “We have this work ethic that somehow we are sinning unless we train at maximal effort each and every workout. That’s simply not how the body works.”

It’s not only about muscular recovery. Even when our muscles feel pain-free, continued stress from training coupled with a stressful lifestyle and poor food choices takes a wicked toll on the nervous system.

FOCUS: the TGU is a great way to slow down

The beauty of the Amazing 12 is that the program, when properly administered, has a defence system built into it. It’s designed in such a way that the participant often recovers at the rate needed in which to take on the next challenge.

It didn’t surprise me to see Rich and Stacey bounce back this week. And there may be another hump to navigate before the finish. But when all the boxes are ticked – training, rest, nutrition, stress, technique – it’s easier to succeed.

REFLECTION: finishing a more enduring workout

For some of us, the idea that physical success can be “easy” goes against what we’ve been led to believe or contradicts the commonly-marketed image – that results come purely from increased effort and repeatedly knocking through the pain barrier.

I’m not knocking effort. But I do question effort for the sake of effort and intensity to cause pain and exhaustion. I value efficiency over effort. Training smarter trumps training harder – in most cases.

The Amazing 12 requires hard work on many levels. But the goal is to make you greater, not weaker. The aim is to develop, not crush. The intention is to make you cleverer in your approach. The desired outcome is to create progress, not puddles of sweat.

If my training philosophy resonates with you and you have targets you want to achieve and need guidance on how to make it happen, why not sign up for some personal training? Alternatively, I run a boxing fitness class for women every Tuesday from 1-2pm at Core Results. From next January I start another round of the Amazing 12 and a women’s weight-lifting program on Sunday mornings. Email me at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk for more information or any questions.

Week 7: On the ropes

ANIMAL INSTINCT: crawling is a natural but forgotten movement

I GET asked frequently if everyone on the Amazing 12 does precisely the same thing. The answer is no. Not exactly.

As we’re all unique, a tailored approach is needed for each individual. That’s how effective training ought to be.

Not everyone going into a doctor’s surgery seeking health gets exactly the same prescription. But the healing process works in a particular way and, as with the Amazing 12, the principles for developing strength and fitness and losing or gaining weight are consistent.

There will always be occasions when, for one reason or another (usually because of injury or mobility restrictions or body composition or fitness levels or age), different exercises or movements or levels of intensity are necessary.

It’s happened on the Amazing 12 program many times previously when somebody simply can’t perform an exercise correctly and, rather than plug away and risk injury, I substitute the movement for another that can be executed with better technique.

FLOORED: pressing her way to a stronger body

Stacey, who along with Rich has now come to the end of week 7 on the Amazing 12 Chichester, has, for example, had a niggling pain in her rotator cuff. It’s not so painful that she screams in agony, but it’s restrictive and there’s enough discomfort to suggest we try an alternative.

We’ve experimented a lot the past four weeks with the goal being to continue making progress without worsening the injury.

What makes it undoubtedly tougher for Stacey is her lack of sleep as it’s during sleep that the body does its repair work.

Your training program is only as good as your ability to recover from it.

Having had rotator cuff injuries in the past – mainly from over-use and, when I was younger, not being shown how to lift weights properly (especially in the bench press) – I’m reluctant to take anyone down the path of let’s-push-it-and-see.

Pain in the body is like an internal alarm telling us something is wrong and that we should do it differently or not at all.

But we need to understand the difference between pain and discomfort.

GET-UP AND GO: one of the best movements going

I’ve modified some of Stacey’s program. And, given her sleep issues, I have to be careful not to push her over the edge when her energy levels are low.

On some days she’s brilliant and on others she is completely spent. I can’t expect her to excel on the latter.

But not a week passes when I don’t think what her potential could be if she were to get a good night’s rest every day.

One day this week at Core Results, after about the fifth consecutive night without any sleep, she came in looking wrecked, barely able to keep her eyes open.

Having had insomnia for the best part of 10 years, Stacey has grown used to it yet still looks amazing. She can function in situations where many of us who sleep well simply would fall apart.

SLEEPLESS: Yet Stacey can still crush the deadlift

So for Stacey to look tired, I knew she was seriously deprived of rest. And yet, in spite of the fact that most of our fat-burning takes place during sleep, Stacey still dropped more weight and fat.

Rich and I just looked at each other and wondered how it had happened. Overnight, Stacey looked as if half her body had disappeared. Whether it’s her magical watercress and pea soup she’s concocted that’s doing it or not, she had reached a point where she was as light as she’s been since she was 16!

The main difference, though, is that she couldn’t back squat 70kg comfortably when she was a teenager and can now.

However, having already missed a day this week (through tiredness), Stacey didn’t want to skip another. I was reluctant for her to train. She was keen to see what she could do. So we took it step by step. She got some work done and we agreed when it was time to wrap it up.

SHOPPING PRACTICE: functional training at its best

The important lesson here is to learn to listen to your body. Don’t wait until it breaks to take notice. The body continually feeds back information. There’s a difference between being in a state where you haven’t recovered and can barely stand up and just not being in the mood to move or work.

Understanding the difference requires experience. Some of us wake up with a runny nose and decide to put our feet up and stay in bed, while others put on the running shoes and head outside for some exercise and fresh air.

Rich has been ‘feeling it’ this week also. By contrast, he sleeps really well. But he’s been feeling physically tired from the training (fairly common at the halfway stage). He’s clearly getting stronger and fitter, but not yet as lean as he would like to be (there are still five weeks to go).

NEEDING A LIFT: remaining strong through a tough week

Rich is an interesting case – and this goes back to how we are all so unique. As I mentioned a few weeks back, Rich has had almost every test going to figure out why his body hangs on to fat. Some of his testing has revealed that, for whatever reason, his body clings to fat in circumstances where others will shed it. He has a “moderate fat-burning response to exercise” and a “susceptibility to carry more weight and lose weight slower”, all of which stems from a “severely limited ability to release fat from fat cells and into the blood for energy use.”

For Rich, who loves a question and, even more so, an answer, not knowing the cause is more frustrating than having tried so many different options without success.

Being vegan, he’s on a different diet to Stacey and we’re also experimenting with some other techniques which could accelerate the process of shifting body fat and improving his metabolism.

Training and diet, like life, is often a game of trial and error – working out what is the most effective way to do something. I’m adapting the Amazing 12 program to best suit someone like Rich.

Theoretically, as Rich increases his muscle mass – which he is doing – he should burn more fat. And as he continues to eat a wholefood diet with quality ingredients and in the right proportions, he should become leaner.

Over the next five weeks his strength is going to shoot up and so, too, should his muscle mass.

PREP WORK: getting the muscles ready for a workout

Rich, though, is concerned he won’t be able to maintain pace. He gives his all in every session and, consequently, has felt “battered” and as though he “running on empty”. He admits, though, that following his mum’s passing only a few weeks ago it’s been an emotionally tough time as well.

Although he “feels” like he’s running on fumes, what he’s actually achieving remains impressive.

It’s different for everyone. I’ve had participants feeling fantastic at the halfway point and bouncing with energy, while others feel completed wasted. The key remains to see it through to the end. The Amazing 12 journey isn’t complete at three, six or 1o weeks and there are many cases where the significant changes have happened from week 10 onwards.

What the participants often don’t see is the numbers – the data I collect from every session. Training sessions can feel tough and exhausting. And Rich’s tendency to search for his limits will contribute to that. But as someone’s strength and fitness increases so does the ability to extend themselves.

IMPROVED: Stacey’s way ahead of where she was last time at week 7

Stacey has already surpassed in most of the exercises on the program her performances from the first time she completed the Amazing 12. She’s not finding it any easier, though. The experience feels quite different.

These guys are going through a proverbial storm. If they were boxers, they’d be on the ropes. But they are still in the fight. That’s the main thing and for as long as they are standing they have a chance to share the spoils.

As author Brendon Burchard posted this week, “No-one who has ever achieved greatness avoided struggle. They met it, engaged with it. They knew it was necessary.”