SUCCESS JUNKIE

I love to work. And I don’t mean I love my job. No, it’s more severe than that. I love to work. I love to keep going, and going, and going, and brainstorming, and coordinating, and planning, and working, until I collapse in a ball of exhaustion.

And I figured out why finally: it’s because I’m a success junkie.

People with my demeanor are often referred to as “stress junkies”. But it’s not about the stress. The stress is a side effect, a byproduct, of what’s necessary to be a success junkie. End of the day, however, I’m fine being laid back—I’m fine being a slob on the beach, just enjoying the breeze and the crash of the waves on the shore. Stress doesn’t motivate me or push me to be better. Succeeding does.

Being a success junkie explains every single facet of me and why I do the things I do: why I’m a personal trainer who loves to see other achieve their own personal best; why I help people with contest prep, so they can succeed at finally building the physique of their dreams and present it before the world in all of its beauty; why I myself love bodybuilding, constantly trying to push harder, train smarter, combining brains and brawn into a perfectly integrated unit.

I love hard work, because I understand the connection between that work and succeeding. Most people value their comfort. Most people “hate Mondays”. Most people look forward to coming home, vegging in front of the television, and “relaxing”.

For the most part, relaxing sucks. It feels like death. Nobody is getting better when they relax. Relaxing is a weigh-station on the path towards winning. But winning is still the end point, the goal towards which we’re driving.

I’ve never been afraid of the grind, of paying my dues, because I’ve always seen the connection between work and success. And when that connection becomes real, so real you can taste it, so real you can feel it, so real that it keeps you up excited at night brainstorming your next move on the checkerboard of life—it’s not about “not minding” the work. Instead, it turns into LOVING the work, LOVING the grind, LOVING the exhaustion and the dedication and the drive. I don’t “mind” working hard; in fact, I hate NOT working hard.

I thrive on the knowledge that I am outworking every single person out there, every single day, with every breath I take—applying my mind fully, applying my body fully, applying my will fully, to size up situations, brainstorm projects, make connections and integrations amongst facts, learn more, grow more, get stronger, get smarter, get richer, get better. Success. Succeeding. As an abstraction, as a goal in itself—the sense of efficacy, of knowing that nothing on this planet can conquer you, that you are stronger than any challenge that can be thrown your way, because your will for work, your will for effort and strain and productivity, outpaces the laws of reality.

My will cannot be bound by this universe. My vision is greater than should be allowed. My desire to succeed at all things propels me to constantly reinvent and push harder. Because I’m a success junkie. Because I love seeing success in all forms. And because not succeeding, at any endeavor, is not an option.

-David A. Johnston