Hey guys! I decided to start logging my training results as I prepare for my upcoming workout for NFL scouts out in Phoenix, AZ in March. Logging my sessions will allow me to keep track of my progress and help me work out in my mind what I need to improve upon for my next session. I’ve always found that, personally, I am much better at working out problems or situations on my own when I am able to talk to someone about it or vocalize them in some way. Therefore, I’m going to use this platform to basically “self-talk” and get my mind, body and spirit right for this workout in March for the NFL.

Just to get you all caught up to speed – At the end of last year, I did a lot of reflecting and soul-searching, and decided I was ready to do whatever it took to accomplish my goals and dreams. In fact, with about a month of sleepless nights filled with long study hours, reading, journaling, goal-setting and self-affirmations, I raised myself mentally and spiritually to a point where I had decided that success is MY ONLY OPTION. I took on the mantra “Burn The Ships!” which I have now written all over the walls of my “bedroom”, which looks more like the office of a mad scientist or a CPA or something. Anyway, the mantra “Burn The Ships” is in reference to a great success story I read a while back about the great Spanish Conquistador, Hernando Cortes. Without getting into too much detail, Cortes sailed to the shores of Mexico with 500 soldiers on 11 ships with the intentions of overthrowing the entire Aztec civilization and commandeering the mass amounts of wealth they had accumulated over the decades they had been in power. This was quite the daunting task, to say the least. Any sane person would look at the facts – 501 vs. THOUSANDS – and call it a suicide mission, but luckily for us, Cortes was a little nuts! His first executive order to his men, once their ships reached the shores of Mexico, was to “Burn the ships!” His men were quite puzzled by this order, and looked at one another in disbelief. Again, Cortes shouted to them, “Burn the ships men! If we are ever going to sail back home to Spain, we will have to do so on THEIR SHIPS!” This was an incredibly brilliant (and ballsy) move on Cortes’ part. By burning the ships, he and his men were forced into a heightened mental state of survival, knowing that the only options were to succeed or die trying. As you might have imagined (otherwise I wouldn’t have wasted your time with this story) THEY WON!

I really took that concept to heart and adopted that mantra for 2012 and probably the rest of my life.. Burn The Ships! Enough half-assing your dreams/goals and making excuses! Stop living in fear! Commit yourself 100% to the life you’ve imagined and leave no other option. Whatever happened in the past is over. If you have negative feelings about something or someone, come to terms with it, address it, and then LET IT GO! In order to “burn your ships” and make success your ONLY option, you have to be willing to move forward, leaving behind anyone and anything who does not EMPOWER you and help you move forward in the direction of your new life. It took me a while to come to terms with this, but I’ve found now that I’ve committed myself fully to this idea and to my dreams, I feel free! My life has become much simpler and I’ve made tremendous strides in all areas of my life in the past 5 weeks! From a standpoint of my football career, I have been in contact with a representative from the Kansas City Chiefs who, barring a review of my film, has expressed interest in bringing me in for a private workout. I’ve also had a few other exciting breakthroughs, but I’ll save those for another day.

So, from here on out, you know why I’ll be repeating BURN THE SHIPS! in basically every single one of my posts. I know that this will inspire some of you who read this, who perhaps were striving to make changes in your own lives. I encourage you with every ounce of my heart and soul, BURN YOUR SHIPS! Move forward in the direction of your dreams and keep your eyes on the finish line at all times! Your friends, family, social circles, favorite Friday and Saturday night drinking spots, the Facebook drama and people with their “FML” whine and cry bullshit – ALL THAT MEANINGLESS CRAP – will still be there, but you won’t be. YOU will have risen above it and will no longer have a desire to be associated with that shit, because you will be serving a higher purpose. You will truly set yourself FREE, and the world will be yours! THIS IS TRULY LIVING LIFE THE WAY WE WERE INTENDED TO!

Lastly, I realize this started out as a post about my training and football career and ended up as a motivational rant, so if you came on here to read about my football career, I assure you it’s going very well and all of my posts on this site from here on out WILL, in fact, be about football. I have made arrangements to create a motivational website where I can rant like this and inspire people, and I believe this is just proof that I should probably get on that ASAP so I have a forum for that stuff. I’m actually hung up on a name for it though, so if you have any ideas, feel free to leave a comment below!

Thanks for reading guys, and I hope that you all are able to BURN YOUR SHIPS, take control of the wheel and start heading in the direction of life that YOU WANT TO GO IN!

In Lak’Ech,

Dan Huff