The warnings you ignore become the consequences you can’t escape
You often get a million chances before the universe goes: okay, you won’t listen — here’s a hard lesson.
Finally. I’m putting on size. I’m eating steadily. I’m lifting strong. The weight is compounding and my body said, STOP. I almost injured myself — and I never get injured. I had to roll back before something broke.
What happened? I was neglecting the fundamentals.
The fundamentals you hate but that save you
For anyone who wants to be in the game long-term — whether you lift for life or just want a body that works when you’re 60 — the basics matter more than the ego workouts. A few essentials:
- Foam rolling
- Fascia release
- Static and dynamic stretching
- True rest days
- Balance-focused work
- Adequate calories (not a deficit obsession)
- Flexibility training
- Correct form and alignment
These are some of the things I resent doing. They compound the more you ignore them, though. If I hadn’t rolled my training back to focus on fundamentals, that near-miss would have become a real injury — one that would have shut me down for weeks or months. That wouldn’t just stall my lifts; it would affect my career, my writing, my entire day-to-day.
Short-term flex vs. long-term life
So I did the frustrating thing: I backed off. Instead of chasing immediate size and ego PRs and building strength, I pivoted into sustainability and healing. It felt annoying — like stepping on the brakes when the gas pedal feels good — but it was the right choice.
Ask yourself: what matters more — a six-week aesthetic gain, an increase of strength, or a lifetime of functional strength and health? Are you willing to sacrifice your future for a quick win now?
The universe speaks in escalation
This isn’t just about the gym. The same pattern shows up everywhere:
- Your partner keeps warning you about behavior you won’t change. That’s escalation.
- Unchecked anger keeps rising until it blows up. Escalation.
- Living beyond your means grows into a financial avalanche. Escalation.
- Habitual drinking creeps into dependency. Escalation.
- Refusing to set boundaries lets others erode your identity. Escalation.
- Choosing the wrong partners repeats the same scars. Escalation.
- Ignoring a nagging pain that says “get it checked” — escalation toward a serious health problem.
- Rising stress at work that feels like a siren saying: “This isn’t for you.” Escalation.
- Not investing and watching your net worth stay flat or decline year after year. Escalation.
- Staying with a partner who doesn’t value or respect you. That’s how you lose yourself. Escalation.
- Delaying your dreams until “someday” becomes never. Escalation.
- Your body slowly becoming overweight — clothes stop fitting, energy dips, soreness lingers. Escalation.
- Waking up more often depressed, unhappy, and discontent than you used to. That’s how sadness becomes your baseline. Escalation.
- Your friend is acting out of character more often — you can tell they’re not on a solid path, but you say nothing because you’re too busy. Escalation.
- Never taking accountability. That’s how you blind yourself to growth, sabotage every opportunity, and guarantee the same painful cycles repeat. Escalation.
- You keep setting your standards too low in all types of relationships — romantic, family, friends, even work — and over time you’re left drained, undervalued, and surrounded by people who never rise to meet you. Escalation.
The common denominator? You. You’re the only one who can hear the warnings and decide to stop.
The injury is imminent if you don’t
Whatever is escalating in your life — it’s not subtle forever. The universe will hand you lesson after lesson before it hands you something that forces the change. Sometimes that “something” is a broken tendon, a mental breakdown, total loss, a blown relationship, a bank account in the gutter, or a panic-level burnout.
You still have choices.
Will you stop and course-correct now, or will you keep driving toward a predictable consequence?
Do the small, boring things
Choose fundamentals over flashy wins. Roll the damn muscle out. Take the rest day. Pay the bill you’ve been putting off. Say “no” to the person who drains you. Book the doctor’s appointment. Change unhealthy and toxic behaviors.
These tiny acts compound — but only if you actually do them.
What is escalating in your life right now? The warning signs are there. The injury is imminent if you don’t stop. Will you stop, or will you soon face the cost?
You might still have a chance to pivot. Don’t wait.
The universe whispers until it screams. The question is — will you pivot before it breaks you?
Check out my article on The Law of Exchange: Life’s Hidden Transactions