“I am a tiny seed… but I dream of forests.” – Devon Eriksen
My entire life changed the day I finally understood progressive overload.
I was sitting in math class, drenched in sweat and full of adrenalin after setting a huge squat PR during a lunchtime leg workout.
I was so fired up by the feeling of progress that I stopped listening to my teacher, and started creating a chart of my next 6 months of leg workouts:
“If I add 5 lbs every week, I’ll be squatting ### by next basketball season…”
“A ### lb squat should equal about ## pounds of new muscle…”
“My vertical will go up at least # inches…”
“Which means I’ll be dunking fairly easily in games next year…”
It was like someone turned the lights on in my mind:
All at once the real potential of consistent, incremental progress over long periods of time became fully clear to me, and I was hooked.
But not because I actually cared about squatting ### lbs, or jumping higher, or even dunking in games.
(I did care, of course, but only superficially)
What really grabbed me was the deeper feeling of personal evolution:
The realization that I could…
1. Imagine a greater, more powerful version of myself
2. Bring it to life through consistent, targeted actions
3. Continuously, on all levels — physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, spiritually
…Took hold of me like a drug, and planted a single thought deep in my psyche — a thought that became the driving force of my life:
“Who could I become?”
In other words, I wasn’t inspired by what I could gain from growth.
I was inspired by growth itself:
By the process of unfolding, actualizing, and uncovering the deeper potentials of my life…
…Beyond the superficial prizes I might enjoy along the way.
What I didn’t understand at the time was:
Very few people feel this way.
For most of society, growth is a painful inconvenience to be endured along the way to the material prize.
Only a rare few prize the immaterial:
The infinite path of continuous self-mastery…
…A path that has end and offers no reward other than the path itself…
…And yet, is more deeply rewarding than any material gains I have made along the way.
And, while I do teach many of the material aspects of life:
(business, relationships, social dynamics, money, etc…)
…The students that are most successful — including the multiple 7-figure business owners inside The Path…
All share the common goal of never-ending personal evolution.
And, I’m genuinely curious:
Do you?
Honestly, there are no wrong answers here.
One path is not “better” than another — the “best” path that is the one that is true, for you.
I’d just genuinely like to know how this message resonates with you.
Let me know.
– T
