You either do or you don't; either it's good enough, or it isn't. There's no middle ground, not if you want to improve. Plenty of times I've ended up on the wrong side of that line. The thing that shits me is that this idea gets misinterpreted a lot. A lot of the time you get someone saying that it's a continuum, that as long as there is progress that's what matters. That's plain fucking wrong. Sure, progress is good. Improvement is good. But unless it's progress and improvement from not doing to doing, it still isn't fucking good enough!
Obviously I'm mostly talking about training. Life generally does kind of have a middle ground simply because there's so much shit going on. That still isn't an excuse to do anything other than strive to be on the right side of the line. What that entails is going to differ from individual to individual, and it's going to change over time. But, look at any given person out there and the ones who are more satisfied with their lives and who generally aren't arseholes and you'll be looking at someone who puts their head down and works fucking hard in every aspect of their life to be on the right side of that line.
Back to training and powerlifting. If you go into your training session, or your training cycle, or whatever the fuck to do with a loaded bar and accept progress as good enough - well, you've missed the point as far as I'm concerned. You might say I've got no right to get on my soapbox because I've achieved fuck all, and hell, I won't deny that. But never, at any point, have I said to myself that making progress is enough. I know where I want to get, and that's my business, but until I'm there it isn't good enough. I'm going to be pleased every time I take a step further towards the line. I'm going to enjoy making my way to the line because fuck, why else do it? But I'll be dead and fucking buried before I say it's good enough that I'm progressing.
When progress is enough to satisfy you, you're the problem.
This is where the misunderstanding happens. Generally these days there seems to be a trend to accept things and be tolerant. That's good, mostly. It means people who don't fit the 'norm' have a chance not to get the shit kicked out of them, or to have a decent job, or celebrate the fact that they've found someone to share their life with, or generally get treated the same as anyone else who does fit the norm. That's fucking awesome.
Then comes the problem. Some people latch onto this idea that being decent to everyone is the way to go. They decide that this includes dropping standards. Fuck you. You know what dropping standards does? It disrespects the person or group the standards are stopped in favour of. You're basically saying, look, you're shit, but we've got to be nice to you so instead of putting a boot up your arse until you meet the standard, we'll just lower the standard. How fucking insulting is that? That's saying progress is good enough, because you've dropped the standard. You tell someone progress is good enough and you're essentially telling them they're not worth your time or effort.
Progress is not good enough. It's step in the right direction, and sure as shit that's something to be happy about. It's something to be encouraged. Fuck, moving your squat from 200 kg to 210 kg is a good step - but if your goal is 300 kg isn't good enough. You get satisfied with that 210 kg and you'll never even get close to 300 kg. Moving your total up 40 kg is a good step - but if that means your total was off target by 30 kg is isn't fucking good enough.
I'm drifting from powerlifting and training a bit, but this isn't really about technique or programming or planning for a meet. It's about how you look at what you do that is powerlifting. If you're me, or like me, there are people physically really fucking similar who will wipe the floor with you in a meet. Now, I'm a big advocate of not getting caught up with what the other guy is doing, but that doesn't mean you ignore what your peers can do. It's a pretty rock solid indicator of what is good enough for that group. That, or better, is what's good enough.
You've got to accept that progress isn't good enough. The moment progress is good enough you're done, because you've lost sight of what's important. Progress isn't the goal. It's just how you get there.
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