12 Quotes by Dan John

In a group of five workouts, I tend to have one great workout, the kind of workout that makes me think in just a few weeks I could be an Olympic champion, plus maybe Mr. Olympia. Then, I have one workout that’s so awful the mere fact I continue to exist as a somewhat higher form of  life is a miracle. Finally, the other three workouts are the punch-the-clock workouts: I go in, work out, and walk out. Most people experience this.

As we’re bombarded daily with new ads for pills, diets and ab-doers, we have to protect our wallets and our time.

Embrace lousy days. I’ve learned to remind myself easy days are part of the deal, and a great day is just around the corner.

Make yourself a slave to good habits

If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there!

I never stopped reading. I never stopped listening. I never stopped learning.

If you’re training yourself, you’ll tend to know everything you decide to do. You’ll always push yourself exactly as hard as you feel like pushing yourself. You won’t have any gaps in your training because you have no idea what you’re lacking. Finally, you’ll be able to progress and regress easily in your system since your single follower – you – will know what you want, even if it isn’t something you need to do. I hope I painted a picture of mediocrity here.

Unfortunately, many people think they’re undertraining all the time because they don’t puke every workout, the world record doesn’t fall during the session, or a swarm of reporters from People Magazine aren’t taking their pictures.

The art of progress,” wrote Alfred North Whitehead, “is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.