The Chuck Braxton Story by Judd Biasiotto
excerpted from "Search for Greatness" by Judd Biasiotto
with a forward by Joe Weider
Dr. Judd Biasiotto online:
HABIT . . . THE KEY TO SUCCESS
by Chuck Braxton
as told to John Pettitt (1982)
After training your basic hit and miss schedule of "let's see what I can do today," I was introduced to cycle training by J.B. Adams. Later on in my training I was exposed to Bill Starr's programs, and then Doug Young's, and finally Rick Gaugler's programs. The common thread to all these programs is a definite system for increases over a very specific period of time, followed by a short recovery period, followed by a new system with a slightly higher starting level. Old news, right? Right!
The purpose of this article is to simply bring to light a very basic concept that is the cornerstone of every successful business in the world -- that of systematic habit! Every serious lifter plans every training session from the first day of a cycle right up to the attempts desired in competition, weeks and sometimes months in advance. A difference between a champion and any other competitor is the fact that the training program is written down, followed, thought about, visualized day in and day out constantly, right up to the meet. Six factors make these programs work:
1) Current abilities are determined and desired goals are reached.
2) The goals are written down and very specific.
3) The goals are personal and attainable in the mind of the lifter. Their achievement is so real that the lifter can actually see himself performing a perfect lift with the weight in his mind.
4) The goals have a definite date to be achieved.
5) The ultimate goal is reached by achieving smaller sub-goals on the way to the final goal. Success breeds confidence and this insures future success.
6) Unwavering determination to achieve the desired goal is inherent. If the mind is occupied with persistence and positive thoughts toward the desired goal, it will be achieved.
This concept is not new -- what needs to be realized is this:
IF THIS TYPE OF SYSTEMATIC PLANNING CAN MAKE YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN ACHIEVE A CERTAIN GOAL IN LIFTING, THEN WHY CAN'T YOU APPLY THE SAME PRINCIPLE TO THE GOALS YOU SET FOR YOUR LIFE OUTSIDE THE GYM?
These goals may be to earn $100,000 or be a Manager or Vice President, or obtain a new house or anything in the financial, social, mental, family, physical, or spiritual area of our daily lives.
Every Accomplishment of Man Started With An Idea. You would not have the idea if you were not capable of obtaining what you want through faith, determination, persistence. The habits developed to achieve a goal will guarantee its fulfillment. We all know that persistence, belief and the habit of never missing a training session produce results that were predicted to be impossible 10 years ago. As soon as one lifter totaled 10 times bodyweight, the race was on for 11 times bodyweight and hence the tenfold level has become commonplace among the Elite lifters of the world. Now we are looking for 12-fold totals!
Habits alone can not prevent failure, however. One can not guarantee success, because no two people will define success in the same way, but failure is the same for everyone, namely not achieving your predetermined goals. There can be no fear of failure if you control your mind through persistence to attain your goal . . .
by knowing where you are,
where you are going and
how you are going to get there.
Obtaining this is all that is on your mind. There is neither room not time for thoughts of failure. The thing has already happened in your mind and you have determined how to bring it into your life.
Follow an appropriate predetermined plan. If you can control your mind you can control your destiny. If you reach all your goals, are you successful? Yes, but the important question is . . . are you performing at the lever you are truly capable of? Goals have to be set high enough to make you really push. If you bench 300, a goal of 305 is a start, but it does not sufficiently challenge you, not as much as 325 or 350.
What happens if you don't reach your goals? This is not a disaster. These goals are only written on paper, they are not etched in stone. If need be, change them, set up a different schedule and a different time frame based on what you've learned about yourself and start again. If your goals are so low that you attain all of them easily, that may be the real disaster, because you will never really know what your potential is. Think of all the things we have today simply because someone believed that it could be done.
Whatever the mind can conceive and can believe, can be achieved! How, you ask? Follow these steps, after you have decided to change your life:
1) Determine your strengths and weaknesses and be honest.
2) Determine exactly what you want and when you want it, and write it down.
3) Determine a step by step, day by day plan to achieve your goal and write it down.
4) Determine every obstacle you can think of that would normally stop you determine the possible solutions and a time frame to have the solutions implemented.
5) Develop a deep burning desire to achieve this goal no matter what other people say, think, or do.
6) Place on a 3 x 5 card your goal, the date to be achieved, and what you must do on a daily basis to achieve this. Write this every night without fail. [I find a whiteboard on the fridge works well]
7) Read this every morning, noon, and night, out loud. Visualize yourself as though you were in possession of these goals. You will know that this is working when you fall asleep thinking of your goal and awake with the same thoughts!
The question you may be asking yourself is how does this all work? We are all creatures of habit, from prior conditioning in small quantities over a long period of time. Unfortunately most of this conditioning is negative it seems. (NO! You can't do it. It WON'T WORK, and the lot.) The only way to remove a habit is to replace a bad habit or negative conditioning with good habits and positive conditioning. If you feed the conscious mind with positive thought ultimately the 'subconscious' mind will accept the repetitions of subtle positive suggestions, and the more powerfully you believe these suggestions, the quicker and more strongly will they be accepted.
The key is the habit of feeding the mind with positive thoughts, the mind believes what it is fed (you are what you eat, eh) and you begin to act as though you have ALREADY ACHIEVED YOUR GOAL. Faith alone has conquered many obstacles. This repetition (not rote) of positive thoughts reinforces your determination through faith.
Start with a small goal over a short term period and start achieving this goal by making a habit of doing at least one activity each day directed toward that goal. Work on one goal at a time, then go on to the next one. If you desire a better job, get up an hour early and determine what must be done and go about doing just that. If you want to better understand something, put in the effort and be rewarded with knowledge. If you desire a greater appreciation of something, don't expect it to fall from the clouds into your static form. Do something or get nothing and go nowhere.
Procrastination is the worst habit to have, because no goals are achieved and one usually works in constant fear of the inevitable consequences of putting things off. So don't procrastinate, start on achieving what it is you want to achieve, start on your new habits today, the ones that will, over time, yield whatever you want.
