Steve’s Deep Cuts: A Strong Opinion On Strength

Steve’s Deep Cuts: A Strong Opinion On Strength

The World’s Strongest Man is coming to Northwest Indiana this weekend. His name is Brian Shaw, and he’s more than likely going pull 80,000 pounds of truck across the Muller Acura of Merrillville parking lot.

The dude is strong, no doubt. He’s got muscles growing out of muscles and he could probably bench press a Volvo.

But all the biceps in the world could not match how mentally strong this guy is. Seriously, think about all the Friday nights you have given in and gone out to eat that he has spent in the gym; all of the times when a burger was easier than a salad; all the times you, me, and 99% of the world chooses not to do something because it is just a little incrementally easier to do something else.

To be like Brian Shaw, you have to be that 1%er that doesn’t.

When it comes to the areas of strength, I think of mental toughness like a late night talk show writer who spends a whole day writing, editing, rewriting, and re-editing jokes and monologues... in-between quick bites of three-day-old leftovers and the occasional glance at any breaking news that could be spun into material.

Then the show starts, the lights come on, the star comes out to the stage, and the writer is nowhere to be found. They’re still in their office, still scribbling away, while their jokes captivate an audience who will never know where these jokes came from.

Point is, mental toughness often manifests itself in physical accomplishments, but it takes more than big biceps to pull a car.

Brian Shaw is about to do something incredible this weekend, and pulling 80,000 pounds of truck is a significant feat of muscular strength. But we should all take a second to also realize and appreciate everything he had to sacrifice, do, and overcome in his mind to get him there.

Brian, this water I am drinking instead of a second soft drink, is my cheers to you.