#12 The Down Days

Some people ask me, "G, you just don't ever look like you're down, like you're a machine."  Sometimes it's hard for people to identify with that, so I want to address and talk about the down days.  Here's how I look at it.

Keeping a Baseline

I like to keep a baseline.  Now, if the baseline is in the middle, am I down?  Am I up?  I try to stay as close to that line as I can.  Now, are there days where I'm going to be super hype?  Of course.  People I work with can feel it.  Are there days where I'm running below the line?  Of course, but the key is to be able to manage the swings.

If you live on the extreme ends of the spectrum or yo-yo up and down for extended periods of time, then that’s where most people get into trouble.  Yes, there are days when I wake up and I don’t feel on fire or motivated.  I’m human, right?  That being said, I put safety nets in place to make sure that I can put myself in the best possible mental and physical state I can be in order to execute.

Cancelled Arnold Classic

The Arnold Classic being cancelled.  I've been going to the Arnold Classic since 1999.  The Arnold Expo is such a huge part of my career, and it’s how I was found in the modeling world.  It's how I got into the supplement business.  It’s how I've made relationships in the industry.

The Arnold Classic is like the Super Bowl, especially with my idol running it every year.  Guess what?  We still had events to attend that we were committed to.  We still had things going on, but I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit down.  I couldn't really tell you why other than I think the hype of the event, seeing all the people, meeting all you guys in person, gets me super excited.

I asked myself, "How do I still crush the events that are happening?"  The charity thing with Arnold, a meet & greet at Ruth Chris downtown, and we have things going down on Friday at Old School Gym.  We just keep moving.  We all encounter hard things on a regular basis that you are forced to work through, whether you like it or not.

Daily Perspective

It goes back to daily perspective.  I go back to some of the most difficult days I've ever had.  Now this little thing I'm talking about with the fitness expo, that's not a major crush on my game.  It was a gut punch, like, "All right G, got to keep it rolling."

When things get tough or you’ve been thrown a curveball, you have to lean on daily perspective.  I’m talking extreme type stuff.  When something checks me for a couple of days and I'm feeling down, I think about when I lost my old man and how sad I was.  I think about certain business experiences I've been through and how I persevered.  I reflect to then bring myself back to the baseline.

When I return to that baseline, I go "All right G, where do you have the most fun at?"  Bang.  Let me add that back in my life.  Doing things like this is really fun to me because it brings me back to the baseline.

Minimize

There are certain things I need on a regular basis to keep me there.  When you know this about yourself, you can better manage the down days.  It's just the way it is.  Can you minimize the hard fall off?  The hard fall off is where you get fucked up.  The hard fall off is when shit goes haywire and you can’t stop it.  Find ways to manage the shit that’s thrown your way.  Doing so will better equip you to stop them in their tracks.

What happens if I get up and I step in a pile of dog shit, barefoot, in the morning. Well shit, I used to tell this story about how you still couldn't have a shitty day, even though it started that way, no pun intended.  And then two months later, it actually happened.  I woke up and walked downstairs and the dog shit on the floor and I stepped in it at 3:30 in the morning.  Damn, that's a great way to start today.

Now, most people would be like, "This day is going to suck."  But I was just like, "This shit is kind of funny."  At the end of the day, you have to keep things in place to keep yourself out of the depths.  You have to keep things in place to not pat yourself on the back too much.

You must do the best job physically and mentally possible to keep you running at your baseline.  So, when you dip down, it ain't crazy.  When you dip high, it ain't crazy.  Put those things in place that will put a smile on your face.  That will help you keep a healthy daily perspective, so you can keep this train rolling.

The Net

It's all about the net.  You have the highs, you have the lows, but what’s the net?  The net result of keeping yourself right is the key.  Understand that I have these same exact problems as you do, and my wife has done a fantastic job of helping me on this.  

There have been a few instances where I was having a real hard time when I made the transition out of MP.  I remember there were a few days I strung together where I was crying myself or crying at myself, not actually crying, but you could just tell I wasn't me.

And she just checked me like this.  She said, "Cory, no one is trying to follow this. No one is trying to be led like this."  I kind of looked at her like, "Well you know baby, I got this going on.  It's heavy."  She said, "But this is not you.  You're a victor, not a victim.  You got to stand up.  It's time to get moving."  She gave me a day or so to lick my wounds, but at the end of the day when I talked to Arnold, he said, "It's all how you stand back up."

Get back to baseline.  A couple hours, a couple of days, whatever it is, stand back up and get back to baseline.  Keep moving.