Have you ever had a dream or idea that seemed so absurd that people considered it impossible? Those dreams where people tell you to reel back in your imagination and maybe try the “SMART” goal process. Only then could you achieve your smart, realistic, and simple goal to better things in your life.
In this edition, I want to highlight an individual who achieved one of the greatest accomplishments in weightlifting–a feat so great that his record was left unbeatable for years as he was crowned the World’s Strongest Man in 2017. Eddie Hall, a professional strongman from the UK, was the first man to deadlift 500 kilograms (1,102 lbs) off the ground, surpassing the original world record by 35 kilos, or 77 lbs. So how’d he do it?
Eddie hall deadlifts 500 kg.
In 2020, Hall created a short film describing his training and mental processes leading up to the event. Months prior, he had already set the previous world record deadlift at 463 kg. But he didn’t settle there.
The following months Hall trained and met with psychiatrists in order to lift as much weight as he possibly could in the following competition. He studied religiously the human brain and the possibility to gain access to 100% of his muscle fibers, and even studied incidents of parents lifting entire cars in order to save their children from underneath in unheard of feats of strength.
After months of training, he finally did it. In a video of raw emotion, power, and struggle, people witnessed history as Hall broke a barrier that people thought was going to rest unbroken for centuries to come. After the lift, interviewers asked him if he ever had any regrets or things he would change about that day. “If I could do the whole thing over again, I would have added another 10 kilos on the bar. I knew that I had more in me,” he said.
There are times when things get tough and need a new approach. People reach plateaus in performance, or people get burnt out of their work. I don’t want to say that I’m on the same level as these individuals, but in my own personal experiences I have walked in their footsteps as I begrudgingly practiced day in and day out in order to achieve my own sense of greatness in my sport.
Achieving greatness is more than just completing the task at hand. It’s more than standing at the top of the podium holding a big trophy, or the praise afterwards. To me, achieving greatness is the recognition of the path towards an achievement, then moving on afterwards.
When it comes to working towards things that are important in life, nobody said the grind was going to be easy. Sometimes it takes that extra push of adrenaline from those around you in order to be the best you. There was absolutely no possible way that Eddie Hall would be able to deadlift half a ton off of the ground without the undeniable support from his peers and colleagues.
As we continue throughout our daily lives, it is important to recognize that sometimes things aren’t the easiest to deal with. However, one true way to make a circumstance more difficult is dealing with that circumstance alone. To close, make sure you are taking care of yourself. You are not alone in this world, let alone at this daunting place we call college. Thank you, and see you next week for another edition of Achieving Greatness.