Touched down in Orlando for this years NPC Nationals and I can’t help but offer some advice from personal experience for those stepping on the stage today and tomorrow! To all competitors, it is highly important to be proud of your true self before you expect others to be proud of you. Most of you, I hope, worked relentlessly and sacrificed a ton to get to this stage. I know it can be super difficult to fight off the various emotions one will experience, regardless of how well put together their physique may be, in the hours leading up to the stage. But while easier said than done, being mindful oftentimes can help alleviate even the worst of thoughts. The reality is that tomorrow will be the last time some people compete in the amateur ranks (congrats in advance.. I am sure you all deserve it!) and the last time some will ever get to compete at all (sometimes not by choice). Life changes faster than we ever like to accept. Allow yourself to be proud of yourself and the progress you’ve made. Especially the progress that no one else has seen. We all have a story, and this is written by the words we use. If you tell yourself you’re anxious, you’re going to act accordingly. If you tell yourself you suck, it’s likely that you will. It is, therefore, crucial that you choose your words carefully. I hope you all write a story that makes you proud of yourselves.