Hey guys, Nate here. I'm proud to announce that I'm now the Program Director of Scrawny To Brawny. From now on all of my blogs and articles will be posted on the brand-new Scrawny To Brawny Blog. So if you enjoyed what you read here, please go check it out. (It's awesome, if I say so myself.) I'm keeping the NGE website alive for resource reasons, but will no longer be actively updating it. The best way to get in touch with me is through leaving a comment on the Scrawny To Brawny blog or by posting on the S2B Facebook page. See you guys over at the new blog!
One Question - Lou Schuler
I ask. Lou answers. We all learn.
With over five books and hundreds of articles, Lou Schuler is probably the most recognized fitness journalist on the planet. He's worked with all of the "greats" - T-Nation, Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Men's Journal - and is my go-to guy when I need advice or a swift verbal ass-kicking. In short, he's smart and generous as hell.
Nate:
What steps should you take or what habits should you adopt to achieve "greatness" in your field?
Lou:
I can't say this for sure, but I suspect I'm the only person in the world who has a bachelor's degree in journalism, a CSCS, and a National Magazine Award. Lots of people in my field have the first and third items in that list. It's the CSCS that makes me unique.
I got into fitness journalism by accident in the early '90s. I was in grad school at USC, paying my rent and buying groceries with credit cards, when I answered a blind ad for an editor at a magazine specializing in health and fitness. The magazine turned out to be Men's Fitness, part of the old Weider publishing empire. I didn't get that job, but I got my foot in the door at Weider as a part-time editor, and got a full-time job at Men's Fitness a few months later.
At the time, 16 years ago, ambitious journalists didn't want to get labeled as the "fitness guy." It was a dead end. If you got stuck on the fitness beat at a newspaper or magazine, you tried to get off it as soon as you could. I was the opposite; I wanted to get deeper into it. One way was to develop more expertise, which is why I started taking classes and earning training certifications. But I also wanted to avoid what some of my colleagues called "Weideritis" -- the belief that, just because you've spent years interviewing bodybuilders, you yourself are an expert on training and nutrition.
That's why my books always have workouts and meal plans designed by real experts in those areas. I do what I'm qualified to do -- research, reporting, writing -- and do it as well as I can.
So here's my three-step plan for success:
* Do something no one else wants to do.
* Take it seriously.
* Do it well.
If there's ever a day when you stop taking it seriously, or realize you could do it half as well and still enjoy the same success, it's time to quit and find something else to do.
Comments for This Entry
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I love all your blogs. There great and have a ton of great content. I actually read alot of your stuff before I go write because I like reading yours and try to make my writing the same style of enjoyment from mine. Thanks alot nate and hopefully I see you at the bootcamp next week.
Jeff Jowers
www.jowerstrainingsystems.com
COMMENT RULES: Critical posts are fine, but if you're rude I'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your personal name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. But most of all, have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Tim Ferriss for the inspiration.)
Jeff Jowers 12:16am Sep 12, 2008