The Lie of Balance

STORY

All Or Nothing

I’ve always been exceptional at focusing in on one thing. Turning off the world, nothing else matters. I used to get the same comment over and over:

“where do you go?”

Roommates would say it while I was cooking in the kitchen. Co-workers on the job. Training partners in the gym.
Apparently, they’d be trying to talk to me, and it was like speaking to a wall.

To be fair, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Honestly, I think the ability to truly focus on one task, with complete attention, is a dying skill.
It’s not that I was trying to ignore anyone; it’s that I fixate. When I have a goal in mind, I go all in. Everything else becomes secondary.

Even today, I’m still great at not hearing you. I’ve just become more conscious of being present when it matters. I became less of a robot.

Here’s how I think about it:
Every task I do is either a part of the bigger goal, or something I do to support the pursuit of that goal.
Say if I’m writing the newsletter, that’s the bigger goal. Walking the dog, going into work for a few hours, eating; those aren’t breaks. Those are necessary tasks that allow me to keep moving toward that finish line. My mind stays in goal mode.

So why am I telling you this? And what’s up with the picture of a nurse’s wet dream?

Because somewhere along the way, we bought into this idea of “life balance.” Work/life balance. Training/life balance.
Sounds good. Feels nice.
But it’s a lie.

No great thing was ever accomplished in the name of balance.

Go ask an Olympian how much balance they have.
Ask a couple parents when they last took a vacation alone.
Ask a small business owner how much energy they’ve spent outside their business in year or two.

Greatness lives in imbalance.

When I became a Marine, I spent months immersed in training, learning, developing into that role.
When I launched my business, I was all in. Still am.
But the clearest example? My bodybuilding days..

When I was deep in prep, I was eating seven meals a day, working full time, hitting 5 AM cardio and lifting around 7 PM.
Every minute was accounted for. Music, podcasts, caffeine, all on repeat. With the amount of caffeine I was consuming, you could’ve labeled me as an addict. I didn’t have a life. I had one goal.

One night, a few weeks out from my show, I heated up my last meal, sat down in my dining room, with just the stove top light on, and started forcing down my meal.
Halfway through, I gagged so hard I threw it up.
You’d think call it quits, hit the shower, and go to bed.

No.
I cleaned it up. Cooked another meal. Shoved that one down too.
Because at that point, there was no room for anything done half-assed. Only commitment.

No Fortune 500 company was built in balance.
No high-performing athlete lives in it.
No great parent, leader, or coach created excellence by doing a little of everything.

If you want to do something exceptional, then do it.
Give it your time. Give it your energy. Give it your season of imbalance.

Stay exceptional.

EXERCISE

Front Squat Clusters

Front squats demand full-body tension, posture control, and mental presence. Clusters add a brutal twist. Requiring repeat efforts with minimal rest. Add this into this weeks training!

Example:

-4 sets of 3.3.3 reps at ~80% 1RM

-15–20 seconds rest between clusters (inside each set)

-2–3 min rest between full sets

Why:

• Strength under fatigue

• Lower body muscle & strength

• Core/bracing integrity

• Controlled aggression

FOOD/SUPPLEMENT

Beta-Alanine

It increases muscular endurance in high-intensity efforts. This is ideal for hard and long training sessions . It does comes with a tingling side effect (paresthesia), nothing to be worried about.

Just like creatine, you want to take your dose daily keeping your levels up to actually benefit form it.

-3.2 to 6.4 g/day (split into smaller doses to reduce tingles if needed)

MINDSET

Always Remember

Balance is for people who want okay results. Who want to “feel good” about trying without ever crossing the threshold of discomfort. And that’s fine for some.

But not you.

If you’re chasing greatness; real progress, real change, you need obsession.

You need seasons where the goal comes before everything.
That means saying no more often.
That means missing out.
That means people won’t understand you… and they’re not supposed to.

You’re building something they can’t see yet.

Sacrifice is the rent for exceptional. Pay it gladly.

Testimonials:

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Thank you,

Stephen Holmes Founder, Linking Performance & The Weekly Standard