NEVER GIVE UP!

NEVER GIVE UP!

By Peary Rader

This editorial is written for those who have tried to improve themselves and have failed (in their estimation), or for those who have not yet reached their goal of physical perfection. These classifications will cover most of the readers of Iron Man.

Too many men become discouraged and quit when they don't succeed in attaining perfection with their first effort. Some men even start out expecting to win a Mr. America title or a world lifting title in two or three years, but it just isn't done that way. Many men have tried time after time for years and years to win such titles. They don't give up--they keep coming back year after year and working and working, and finally they make it.

If you don't have an intense desire and if your training is not an absolute obsession with you, don't start out to win these top titles. We have seen many men, all of them with the natural advantages needed to attain Mr. America and Mr. Universe stature, fail to reach those titles only because they did not have a veritable consuming desire to reach those goals that would keep them training hard year after year in spite of disappointments and failures, with nothing slowing them until they reach ultimate success. Yes, there are thousands and thousands of men in America today who could win these titles IF they would train hard enough and long enough.

Now, most of you who read this will have no such ambitions, but only desire an outstanding body in size, shape and strength, as well as vital health, the latter actually being your most valuable possession. You don't demand the finest body in the world but you want to be far above average.  Many of you with these modest ambitions have failed to reach your goal. Some of you give up too easily and remark that if it is going to be that hard you guess it isn't worth it. If you are of this type we feel sorry for you, for you are not developing the character to ever succeed at anything in life. It is time you realize this and take stock of yourself with an objective personal analysis and say, "Look here, Joe Doe, you want to succeed in life and attain the happiness and good heath that is your due, but you've got to snap out of it and admit that nothing worthwhile comes easily. You've got to work for it and you have to be prepared for disappointment and setbacks. But you can never admit that these disappointments are going to whip you. You are going to enjoy this hard work as a real challenge, like a wrestling match where you will never admit defeat but will come back stronger than ever, fighting to the last inch to ultimate victory. You're going to develop a dynamic personality, an inf1exible determination that will never let you look back but only forward with faith and implicit belief in your ability to reach whatever goal you set for yourself." If you will do this YOU CAN REACH YOUR GOAL.

I have so often told of my 12 years of effort to attain physical progress only to suffer failure after failure, but I kept on until finally I found the right training methods for my particular case and then
made miraculous progress. Others have done likewise.

Work and study, work and study, work and analyze, work and believe, work and fight. WORK AND SUCCEED, as long as life remains in your body. KEEP CLIMBING UPWARD. YOU CAN SUCCEED if you will believe you can and will never give up but always keep working toward your goal.

Be assured that Iron Man will point the way, that we will guide you every step of what might be an easy accomplishment or a very difficult one, depending on the individual. We don't promise quick
miracles in every case but we can usually promise miracles in most cases, though it will all depend on YOU. YOU work the miracles, we only tell you the way. We try to shed a guiding light on the pathway that may be dark and beset by many pitfalls and stumbling blocks. We try to guide you  around these and speed you to your destination as quickly as possible. We give you the best information available to date on bodybuilding because we are in contact with all those developing such information and there are no hidden secrets that remain hidden very long. You get the whole thing in Iron Man magazine. We attempt to give you the truth and not some tawdry propaganda dressed in shining tinsel that fades to nothingness as soon as you obtain it at great effort and expense.

REMEMBER -- YOU CAN SUCCEED IF YOU WILL! Do not believe those who tell you there is an easy way to success and happiness! True success and happiness are not to be found on that broad and easy road. Don't be misled to permanent failure by these false guides. Shun them like the plague no matter how plausible or appealing their presentation may be. We are not talking about bodybuilding alone, for while this is a supremely important phase of life, it is only one part of a complete whole. Don't live a narrow life and expect true happiness. Concentrate your efforts on self
improvement of the complete man.