It’s not just a Michael Jackson song.
It was a pivot point for me.
A year ago this week, I had that uncomfortable look in the mirror. You might know the one, but I hope you don’t. It’s the one where you ask yourself how this happened. That day, I made an ultimatum with myself. No complaining, no excuses. No more fucking excuses.
Later that day, during a very slow and painful first run in almost a year, I began to formulate a plan. When I got back to the house and felt like I wasn’t going to die again, I wrote down 37 objectives that would further these goals. Why 37? I was 37 years old at the time. Seriously. That was it. Being unhealthy is bad for creativity too.
Inspiration came from unlikely places. And the phrase that would come to define my mantra came from the unlikeliest of all, a television show called “The League”.
Based on some friends and their fantasy football competition that has no offseason, they get into shenanigans and hilarity ensues. One of the characters, Jenny, responds to another character Andre, who is complaining about being excluded from a league event due to poor performance in the previous season. Amid Andre’s whining, Jenny cuts him off saying, “Don’t like it? Get better.”
That was the answer.
Don’t like it? Get better.
Bad man vs. Better man.
Don't Like It? Get Better 