"Come on! You're gonna kill it, buddy!" Victor slaps himself three times Hops on his toes Boxing shadows. "Ssh, ssh, ssh, tomorrow up at 5am. Cold shower, meditation, bam! Three pages of journaling One hundred kettlebell swings Ten Turkish get-ups. Hah! Max rep on pullups. Pow! Write blog post number one, Hit publish, call it done." One should be spellbound By these two hundred pounds Of bursting willpower. Except it's 3am And the wardrobe mirror As many times before Begrudgingly reflects a scene it knows too well. The worn-off socks and green undies The scent of ashtray and melted cheese Another paused video game Casting shadows on the mayhem. Victor wants success Deep down he has known this for years But he binges on the side-quests Loses himself in the fringes. He wants to walk to the summit Yet won't suffer a step He wants to win the fight Without one adversary met. "Anyone can make it!" Say all the books he reads Didn't Rocky train for three minutes To go beat Apollo Creed? Victor doesn't get it. There is nothing sexy In transcending one's identity. You have to accept your own death, for what it's worth, And on the other side, no promise of rebirth. Friends and family Turned crabs in a bucket Will defend their reality Scared of the fire you've set. It is a relentless struggle Against an old mechanism: Designed for survival Everyone's ego will stand firm. Considering the massive task It seems reasonable to ask: Before considering the climb, What if Victor woke up on time?
Victor waking up on time doesn’t mean success, but it does help in establishing winning patterns. Discipline is something best delivered by a teacher/mentor/parent/drill sergeant at an earlier age, it is perhaps the hardest thing to instill in oneself later in life.