Are You a Contributor or Consumer?
Don’t leave yet—I promise I’ll connect this to weightlifting.
All of us give and take in our lives in a multitude of ways and for as many reasons. Taking ranges from other people providing for us financially, guiding us practically or spiritually, to bailing us out of trouble when we make bad decisions. Giving ranges from simple things like holding doors open for strangers and saying your pleases and thank yous, to donating money to charity or volunteering for charitable causes. And in each case, there are endless little things in between.
Contributors are those who, on balance, give more than they take, while consumers take more than they give. Pretty simple.
In the context of weightlifting, being a contributor is pretty straightforward and really doesn’t demand much time or energy. In other words, there’s really no excuse to not be a contributor. The only two reasons to not be are that you’re either not paying attention to how you’re behaving (problem solved with this video), or you’re just not cool (in which case, you’re likely not still watching this, and instead are furiously composing asinine social media comments explaining to strangers why they’re pieces of shit).
Think of contributing as an athlete as anything that has a positive effect on the people around you or the atmosphere generally. Encouraging other lifters in the gym with cheers during lifts, mentioning to another lifter something you noticed that they should be proud of, offering help to another lifter who’s struggling to perform a lift properly or isn’t sure how to use a piece of equipment… this isn’t complicated stuff, and it’s nothing that’s going to drain you and negatively affect your own training. In fact, regularly behaving this way will improve your own training, I guarantee. Every successful, fulfilled person on earth will tell you something similar—that one of the keys to success is helping others, that it’s energizing and inspiring and helps you maintain a positive attitude and mood, all of which help any athletic endeavor.
And honestly, even if it doesn’t help you… do it anyway.
Pay attention to how you interact with the people around you and what you’re doing to make everyone’s life a little better. You don’t have to be a superstar charity organizer to have a big effect on people—just be the kind of person who takes a moment to consider those around you, thinks of how your words and behavior affect them, and is willing to make even minor efforts to help the people you come into contact with.
Take this next week to see how many opportunities you come across to make a positive impact on someone else, no matter how seemingly tiny. I think you’ll be surprised at how many you find when you’re looking for them, and how good you'll feel for taking advantage of them.
All of us give and take in our lives in a multitude of ways and for as many reasons. Taking ranges from other people providing for us financially, guiding us practically or spiritually, to bailing us out of trouble when we make bad decisions. Giving ranges from simple things like holding doors open for strangers and saying your pleases and thank yous, to donating money to charity or volunteering for charitable causes. And in each case, there are endless little things in between.
Contributors are those who, on balance, give more than they take, while consumers take more than they give. Pretty simple.
In the context of weightlifting, being a contributor is pretty straightforward and really doesn’t demand much time or energy. In other words, there’s really no excuse to not be a contributor. The only two reasons to not be are that you’re either not paying attention to how you’re behaving (problem solved with this video), or you’re just not cool (in which case, you’re likely not still watching this, and instead are furiously composing asinine social media comments explaining to strangers why they’re pieces of shit).
Think of contributing as an athlete as anything that has a positive effect on the people around you or the atmosphere generally. Encouraging other lifters in the gym with cheers during lifts, mentioning to another lifter something you noticed that they should be proud of, offering help to another lifter who’s struggling to perform a lift properly or isn’t sure how to use a piece of equipment… this isn’t complicated stuff, and it’s nothing that’s going to drain you and negatively affect your own training. In fact, regularly behaving this way will improve your own training, I guarantee. Every successful, fulfilled person on earth will tell you something similar—that one of the keys to success is helping others, that it’s energizing and inspiring and helps you maintain a positive attitude and mood, all of which help any athletic endeavor.
And honestly, even if it doesn’t help you… do it anyway.
Pay attention to how you interact with the people around you and what you’re doing to make everyone’s life a little better. You don’t have to be a superstar charity organizer to have a big effect on people—just be the kind of person who takes a moment to consider those around you, thinks of how your words and behavior affect them, and is willing to make even minor efforts to help the people you come into contact with.
Take this next week to see how many opportunities you come across to make a positive impact on someone else, no matter how seemingly tiny. I think you’ll be surprised at how many you find when you’re looking for them, and how good you'll feel for taking advantage of them.
