I shouted out,
“Who killed the Kennedys?”
When after all
It was you and me
(Who who, who who)~The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”
In January of this year I had an awakening of sorts during which I realized that there might be a reason why I didn’t have a book on the New York Times Bestseller List, why my martial art wasn’t more popular, and generally why I wasn’t smashing goals left and right.
Why? Because I need to write better books, I need to perfect my martial art and I generally need to work harder. 99 times out of 100, lack of success has to do with you — not someone else. And guess what happened when I realized this?
Blog traffic increased. My creativity and courageousness soared and things that had previously seemed like work felt like recreation. I finally founded my non-profit. I started hitting goals I hadn’t previously dreamed I could hit. I know it makes no sense at all, but taking full personal responsibility for success or failure is actually liberating, and restriction — not freedom! — encourages creativity.
And so, in the wake of the Las Vegas mass shooting, here is a video that I could not have made last year because (a) I wasn’t self-critical enough to have the insight, and (b) even if I had the insight I wouldn’t have had the courage to speak my mind on such a controversial subject.
Let me know what you think.
And now for the workout of the week.
Cabal Fang Workout of the Week #75
- Inside/Outside Heavy Bag Drill. Set a timer for 8 minutes. Imagine that your heavy bag is a person — really imagine it! — or else this drill is worthless. Throw combos of 2, 3 or 4 shots against the bag. As you do, imagine what your opponent would be likely to throw back. Get your head off center line while you strike by using slips/shoulder pops simultaneous to your strikes. Move while you hit, hit while you move!
- The “888” Workout. Set a timer for 8 minutes. Complete as many sets as you can in 8 minutes of 8 Prison Push-ups and 8 Jump Squats.
- 8-count Self-Improvement Drill. Sit down with your training journal and a pen and set a timer for 3 minutes. Start the timer. Before it beeps, write down 8 things you could do that would make you a better person and/or would make your life better. Restriction — not freedom! — encourages creativity. Thanks to the time limit you’ll be blurting things out on the paper that have been hiding in your subconscious. Give your 8 ideas consideration and move them to your To-Do List as you see fit.
Did you enjoy reading this? Then the Cabal Fang book will blow your mind. Buy a paper copy on Amazon or from Createspace or download the ebook here.
Robert Mitchell Jr. 
Wow! This is a tough but, I think, powerful and necessary post. I’ve read a lot about the effort to discover the shooter’s motive, but whatever it was it will never really explain the horror. So, yes, let’s each of us take a hard look at ourselves, particularly the worst in ourselves, so that the best may prevail.
Thanks James! One of my least popular posts, likely because it is so hard. And this is what people don’t get: spirituality and religion, when done properly and assiduously, are not the “opiate of the masses” nor are they the methamphetamine of ideology. In Jungian terms, they are about confronting the shadow.