by Noble Brown

What type of person are you?

Most people would give an answer extolling some virtue they claim to have. “I’m honest. I’m hard-working. I’m dedicated.”

Are you?

Because most people are not as habitually virtuous as they would like to believe. Especially when nobody’s watching.

Do you slack off at work, and justify it in your own mind, because, “The company screws people over all the time. Everyone else does it. My manager’s not going to care as long as ‘x-y-z’ is done.”

Do you cheat on your nutritional objectives, because, “I’m stressed. It’s just one meal/snack. I’ll burn it off later.”

Do you skip workouts, because, “I’m tired. I’m busy. I need more time to recover. I’m still a little sore.”

Sure you do. And why not? Nobody’s holding you accountable. You’re a grown adult. You do what you want.

But is that who you are?

Is that who you want to be?

You need to ask yourself. Not once. Not occasionally. Every time.

You’re in the car. You missed lunch. McDonald’s is right along the way. You need to tell yourself, “I am not the kind of person that eats that garbage.”

It’s 5:30 a.m. The alarm goes off, but you need five more minutes. You need to tell yourself, “I am not the kind of person that hits ‘snooze’ and skips a workout.”

You can choose weakness. Or you can choose strength. And you get to choose all day. Every day. There are plenty of chances to be weak. And just as many to be strong.

Choose strength.

Strength of body. Strength of mind. Strength of will. Strength of character.

You can read about it. You can write about it. You can talk about it. But it’s what you do about it that counts. It’s what you do about it that makes you who you are, and who you want to be.

Define yourself. Every day.