You could get the best equipment money could buy, have the best shoes and most expensive outfits, but those things don’t guarantee success. Your family name and genetics will only get you so far. Whatever certifications, degrees, or titles you have are just paper. Whatever you look like, the car you drive, or house you live in are all just superficial materialism.

In your workouts, and as in life, success is a mindset. The secret sauce of success is work ethics. Having a work ethic means you understand the process. It means you don’t care about cutting corners. It means you don’t need to cheat. It means you never choose to do less when you could do more. After all, when you take the easy way out the only person you are short-changing is yourself.

Moreover, having a work ethic means you understand that all the hard work you’ve put in could be wiped out by just one bad decision. All those weeks of building muscles could be negated by deciding to binge eat on junk food one night. All the cardiovascular endurance you’ve developed could be wasted by excessive drinking one night out on the town.

A work ethic is self-motivation in the present with a vision of success for the future. So keep your eye on the prize and enjoy the process.