A big brand uses underweight models and people get mad.
They use fat models… I’m sorry, I meant to say the new “normal” weight models and…
… people get mad.
Why does anyone care what shape models are used?
Social conditioning. Deep inside we know that we’re no match for it.
Children ship from the factory intelligent. Yeah, you’re right, they’ll grab a hot burner… and stick their fingers in light sockets. But don’t mistake unfamiliarity with our world for stupidity.
The intelligence I’m talking about is life’s rarest qualities: total sincerity… and contentment with what they are.
Society strips that from them.
By the time they’re adults they will be like the society that conditioned them… insincere and dissatisfied.
They will drink the same coffee. Eat at the same restaurants. Watch the same tv shows. Wear the same clothes. Argue over the same stuff. Pursue the same dream. Repeat the same platitudes. Quote the same inspirational videos. Follow the same trends. Adopt the same solutions.
And get the same results.
Hell on earth.
AKA the herd mentality.
When you have been conditioned to think in terms of “A”… “A” is all you see.
And in a world where everyone sees “A”… NO ONE looks for “B”.
Shit, no one even thinks there is a “B”.
“A” is the story of reps and hard work and talent.
Twenty-five years ago Anders Ericsson promised that it all boiled down to 10,000 hours. That was cool. We love certainty… round numbers too.
Unfortunately, we’ve recently soured on the 10,000 hours story. Even though it sold a shit-ton of books.
So… we’re back to reps, hard work, and talent.
That being the case, the current thinking is the earlier you start, the better your chances. “Loving” parents turn their young-uns out at five and six years old these days.
“Aimless childhood exploration is pointless. They’ll thank us later.” The loving parents say.
I personally know at least a hundred ‘failed’ athletic projects who did NOT, and will NOT thank their parents.
If your parents didn’t love you enough to start you early… you’re only option is hard work.
Or possibly… hopefully… talent will intervene on your behalf.
Successes are explained through “A”. Failures through not “A”.
There is no other choice.
Oh, and… don’t mistake various training “methods”, like constraints led, or eco dynamics, for alternatives to “A”. They aren’t. They’re ALL “methods” designed to optimize “A”.
And if I were to step up on my soap box in the park… (kinda like I’m doing here), and say that “A” obviously doesn’t work. That practicing to “get better” is the road to nowhere. That “I’m improving” is just a happier way of saying you’re not where you want to be. That practice itself is nothing but a way to feel better… a socially accepted way to fail. That ALL of it is just lipstick on a pig. People would call me crazy.
People DO call me crazy.
Even though 99.9% of them are not getting what they want out of sport… or life.
I may be crazy, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.
Human performance isn’t like flipping burgers during a lunchtime rush at a fast food joint.
No steps, or methods apply. And anyone trying to convince you otherwise is a charlatan.
The magical kingdom of mastery is harmony of thought and action. It is never the same thing for any two people. And for any two people, never the same thing twice.
Too many plates are up at the same time.
And like spinning plates… there may be a “way” to get one spinning. But there is no way… no formula for keeping dozens going.
But… society demands a formula. A well worn path that leads to the “promised land”. (Preferably one that can be bought.)
Society is always the problem.
When will we learn that following is the easiest way to get lost?