In school, I always liked when a professor started a discussion with a question.

Something to get you thinking. A warm-up for the brain, so to speak.

Well, I have a question to start us off today:

How bad do you want it?

Want what? Anything.

Whatever it is you want right now, think about how badly you actually want it.

Good.

Now I have a second question. This one is more important:

What are you willing to sacrifice to get it?

That’s the real question.

We often think we want something before fully considering the trade-offs required to get it.

We want to get in better shape, but we don’t want to train consistently, improve our diet, or hire a coach to help us get there.

We want to make more money, but we don’t want to work harder, take more risks, or sacrifice time with friends and family.

We want to become great at something, but we don’t want to spend years being average at it first.

This isn’t my way of bullying you with some hardcore nobody cares, work harder message.

It’s actually the opposite.

I want you to honestly think about what you want and then decide how much you are willing to give up to get it.

Because not every goal is worth every sacrifice.

You may want six-pack abs, but not enough to weigh and track every bite of food. You may want to build a bigger business, but not if it means missing every family dinner. You may want to become an elite athlete, but not enough to organize your entire life around training and recovery.

There is nothing wrong with any of that.

The problem comes when your stated goals and your actual priorities don’t match.

Everyone says they are “willing to do whatever it takes” until it comes time to do whatever it takes.

You don’t have to sacrifice everything.

You just have to be honest about what you’re willing to sacrifice and choose goals that fit the life you actually want to live.

Here is what I have for you this week.

Muscular Endurance

I have some fitness goals you might not have thought about in a long time.

Instead of focusing only on maximal strength or improving your physique, I have an idea that can help with both: Build your muscular endurance.

Muscular endurance is a muscle’s ability to repeatedly exert force against resistance. It generally involves higher-repetition work than most experienced lifters consistently perform, typically sets of 15 reps or more.

Most of us spend a lot of time asking how much weight we can lift for one, three, five, or maybe ten reps.

But when was the last time you tested how long you could keep going?

I currently have two muscular-endurance goals I’m working toward:

These goals give me something different to train for. They still require strength and muscle, but they also demand conditioning, technique, pacing, and the ability to tolerate discomfort.

You don’t need to chase my exact goals. Pick a muscular-endurance challenge that matches your current ability and interests.

Here are a few ideas:

Choose one or two challenges and test them.

Then train specifically to improve them over the next eight weeks.

Believe in Yourself

Confidence is the belief in your ability to execute a task or achieve a specific outcome.

While some people are naturally more confident than others, even the most self-assured person can doubt themselves in the wrong situation.

When confidence applies to a specific task, like hitting a heavy single, giving a presentation, or completing a difficult project, it is often called self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy is one of the most important psychological factors in success. When all else is equal, people with higher self-efficacy are usually more successful.

That makes sense.

When you genuinely believe you can do something, you are more likely to attempt it, prepare for it, persist when it gets difficult, and recover after setbacks.

But what about overconfidence?

We’ve all seen it.

A strong favorite loses to an underdog. A team with a massive lead blows the game. Someone walks into a competition expecting an easy win and gets embarrassed.

The assumption is that they were overconfident.

Overconfidence is typically defined as having more confidence than your ability justifies. But not everyone agrees that it truly exists in the way we commonly describe it.

Albert Bandura, a pioneer in self-efficacy research, argued that what we call overconfidence may be an explanation we apply after a poor result.

I tend to agree.

Since confidence and positive performance are so closely linked, poor outcomes probably have more to do with reduced preparation, lost focus, bad decision-making, or insufficient effort than with believing in yourself too much.

In other words, if confidence causes someone to take shortcuts, lose focus, or stop preparing, the problem isn’t the confidence itself.

It’s that they failed to back it up with action.

Whether you believe in overconfidence or not, underconfidence is the far bigger threat.

In more than fifteen years as a coach, I’ve seen far more people lose because they lacked belief than because they were too cocky.

They decide they are going to fail before they have even given themselves a real chance.

Confidence does not guarantee success. You still need preparation, discipline, skill, and effort.

But when the moment arrives, belief matters.

If you’re going to lean one way, lean into belief.

Then put in the work required to justify it.

Jumping on a Trampoline

I got my twins a trampoline for their sixth birthday.

Man, I forgot how much fun trampolines are. I think I’m going to have as much fun with it as they do, possibly more.

It’s a pretty good workout, too.

You’re jumping, balancing, bracing, rotating, and trying not to launch yourself into the neighbor’s yard. What more could you want?

I think I’m going to work toward teaching myself how to do a backflip on it. I’ve never done one before, even as a kid.

Here is a video of me doing a front flip: Watch it here →
https://www.instagram.com/p/DbeRzK-gdpe/?img_index=1

Kyle & Derek Talk for the First Time in 6 Months | EP 549

In this episode, I’m joined by my longtime friend Derek Charlebois for our first conversation in six months—and his first appearance on The Kyle Hunt Show. After recording countless episodes together on the Absolute Strength Podcast, we decided to skip the agenda and simply catch up. We talk about training, business, life, and what we’ve both been up to since we last recorded together.

Listen here:
https://kylehuntfitness.com/the-kyle-hunt-show-kyle-derek-talk-for-the-first-time-in-6-months-ep-549/

You can want almost anything.

A better body. More strength. A successful career. A bigger business. A new skill. A different life.

But wanting something is only the beginning.

Eventually, the goal will ask something from you.

It may ask for time, effort, money, patience, discomfort, or the willingness to look foolish while you learn.

That doesn’t mean you need to adopt an all-or-nothing mentality or sacrifice everything else that matters.

It means you need to decide which trade-offs are worth making.

Once you know what you want—and what you’re willing to give for it—the path becomes a lot clearer.

Believe you can do it.

Back that belief with action.

And then keep showing up long enough to find out.

Have a great week.

-Kyle

PS – Need help? Whether your goal is fat loss, muscle building, or staying strong without wrecking your joints, I’ll build you a plan that fits your life and keeps you consistent enough to see real results.

Apply for Hunt Fitness Coaching