Mark Bell Wasn't Mark Bell

“Mark Bell wasn’t Mark Bell.”  If you don’t know who Mark Bell is, he’s a former competitive powerlifter and incredibly successful strength coach.  This quote comes from Stan Efferding, an equally successful lifter and coach – and I heard him say this on the JuggLife podcast a while back (which you can check out in full if you’d like below).

“Mark Bell wasn’t Mark Bell.”

I remind myself of this quote often.  You can find it at the 40:00 minute mark below, but start listening at 39:00 to understand the context.

I think so many people avoid taking risks or don’t follow their passion because of a, “who am I?” attitude.  Anyone you see who is incredibly successful, was in your shoes at a certain point and no one knew who they were.

Mark Bell wasn’t Mark Bell.

As Stan so eloquently puts it, “Devil’s advocacy kills success.  We kill our own ideas with doubt.  Be too dumb to see the obstacles.”

The caveat to this is you need to work like hell. Believe in your own ability to manifest your grand vision.  This belief must be built upon the knowledge of the fact, and commitment to yourself – that you simply won’t stop working until this future vision is reality.

Start today. Write. Learn. Blog.  If you’re a young professional, think about how you’d go about your day if you were insanely successful?  How would you act, what would you be working on, how would you treat people?

Don’t wait to be that person once you get there; or you never will be at all.

Mark Bell wasn’t Mark Bell.