Five Years

"Five years from now, you will be exactly the same, apart from the people you meet and the books you've read."

I first read this quote in an article by Alwyn Cosgrove. It was one of those things that just jumped right off the page at you and made you think for a while. At the time I was just getting into the fitness industry. I was an exercise science major (still taking the basic classes). I had studied for and passed the NSCA-CPT and had begun working at a private training facility. I was getting people results and loving my job, but I wanted more. I wanted to learn more that is.


The thing is I was the kid in high school that didn’t have to do much studying and made B’s and C’s (with the exception of weight lifting in which I made an A all four years). The thing is I had no drive to put in extra effort. I played football, had a good time with friends, made a good enough score on my ACT to go to the school I wanted. Why would I put in any extra effort I thought?

Once I began working in the fitness industry I realized this is what I want to do. This is what I wanted to make my career. I got hungry to learn more and more. I wanted to know why and how things worked. I wanted to know details. I wanted to know the newest research. I went from being the typical high school jock that had his girlfriend read him the cliff notes to the book he was supposed to be reading in English. To the guy who had his head in a book any time he could.

I can assure you in the past 5 years I have read a lot. Not only just the books you see in my library, but the e-books on my computer by the likes of: Ferruggia, Evan-Esh, Peele, Venuto, Ballantyne, just to name a few. I also have the daily blogs and websites (T-Nation, Elite FTS, Figure Athlete) I check.

I went from the guy you would last suspect of picking up a book and reading to someone who is always reading a book or three. I can guarantee you if you want to learn more about a particular profession, hobby, or craft then the best way to do it is to start reading.

Read everything you can get your hands on. Read what you believe and what you don’t believe. Remember everything you read isn’t true and some just plain sucks. (I am a bit embarrassed by a few books on my bookshelf). But also remain open minded to new ideas and techniques. At least in the end you will have a lot more knowledge. Then you can come up with your own ideas and methods by using what is useful and rejecting what is not (thanks Bruce Lee for that method).