Crabs

Crabs, an excellent article, reprinted without permission from stronglifts.com...

The Crabs

Mar 28th, 2008 by Mehdi

Image credit: bbum
This is a topic a friend of mine & me often talked about when I was employed. A topic he recommended me to write about on StrongLifts.com, but I hadn’t found a way to put it into words until now. The Crabs.

The Crabs story dates back to the days I spend hours surfing on SoSuave at work. I don’t visit SoSuave much anymore, but it opened my eyes on a lot of things. I wouldn’t be doing this today without it.

The Crabs story.

The thing about AFCs are that they’re a bunch of crabs in a barrel. Just as one starts to lift himself out of the barrel, the other crabs will grab him and pull him back in.

AFCs are Average Frustrated Chumps. Guys who don’t get the girls and whine about it. If this sounds familiar, don’t worry it’s curable. Check out Real Social Dynamics (start with Foundations, then The Blueprint Decoded).

The Red Pill. If you watched the movie The Matrix, you’re familiar with the Red Pill. Once you take the Red Pill, you become aware of the system. The rat race, relationships, money, thoughts, feelings, … all start to make sense.

Call it consciousness, awareness, breaking social conditioning. Breaking thought patterns & habits you had for years takes time. Taking the Red Pill is the start, getting out of the barrel is the journey to “enlightenment”.

There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. - The Matrix

The Crabs. Tell your kids for 20 years they’re losers and they’ll become losers. Your environment influences your thoughts. Many of your friends, colleagues & family are crabs. And they’ll repeatedly try to pull you back into the barrel.

Crabs don’t realize what they do. Sometimes it’s jealousy because you have the guts to do what they can’t. Often it’s because they don’t want to be alone in the barrel. Russ showed Tuesday typical Crab behavior: self-limiting belief.

You’re in a very difficult business with many many competitors. You won’t make a living from this site - fact.

Translation: come back into the barrel. Ask crabs why they’re demotivating you or talking you down, and they’ll answer something like “I’m a realist” (which you can only be in the now, not in the future).

More examples of crab thinking you’ll hear daily once you take the Red Pill:

• “You should never Squat below parallel. It’s bad for your knees.”
• “You’ll never get that girl. You’re not ripped/rich/popular enough.”
• “Don’t start a business. Most businesses fail. Keep your day job.”

Dealing with Crabs. 1 reason people fail to achieve their goals is because crabs repeatedly tell them they can’t do it. Never listen to crabs. You are responsible for your future. No-one else.

• Believe. “Your only limitation is the one that you set up in your own mind.” & “You can do it if you believe you can” - Napoleon Hill. Remember these.
• Agree. Leave the crabs in their barrels. No need to get into arguments with them. Agree and focus on your goals.
• Remove. Your environment influences your thoughts. Remove crabs from your life. The more you do this, the better.
• Connect. You can find people who got out of the barrel or are trying to get out of it just like you. Look for them, they’re out there.
• Succeed. Success is the best revenge. Revenge should never be your motivation, but succeeding is the only answer you should give.

Self-Confidence. When I started StrongLifts.com, crabs told me that I was in a difficult business with many competitors. 11 months later this blog counts close to 10k subscribers. AFAIK only Dosh Dosh & zen habits did similar or better.

I’ve already seen the word “luck” popup. This has nothing to do with luck. I’ve NEVER doubted that I’d get 10k subscribers. And I’m confident I’ll make money out of this blog. Time will bring the non-believers proof.

You’ll NEVER achieve something with that kind of retard thinking that you need luck, genetics, money or whatever to get somewhere in life. You underestimate your own capabilities. You can do MORE than you THINK.

I believe I can get whatever I want out of life if I work hard. Sounds arrogant? I don’t care. I don’t care what you think of me. Caring about what people think, say or write is social conditioning and keeps you in the barrel.

I don’t waste time replying to flaws in reasoning, challenges, personal attacks, etc. In the future only forum members will be able to discuss articles. Removing anonymosity brings back civilness. Read what you wrote.

Think well before you speak because your words may plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of some other person. - Napoleon Hill