"Choices"
Each day we are faced with choices in our lives. Challenges, obstacles and inner demons come to us through our thoughts, our actions and our emotions. Each of these can have an affect on how we interact with the world we exist in. In our world, in CrossFit, it affects us through our performance.
Our performance is of the utmost importance to us. we must recognize how we are performing as a result of the choices we make in our lives. How we eat, how we sleep, how we prepare for the WOD. Even as little as timing of our food intake can affect us.
We all have the ability to respond (the responsibility) to the events in our lives as we see fit. Some of us, we let shit shut us down. For some of us, we let it fuel us. We have the choice to do with our challenges and our inner demons and obstacles what we want.
I like to think of the gym as having a vacuum that SUCKS the suck right out of our lives. Every time I enter the gym, I imagine there is a vacuum that sucks all of my troubles away when i am ready to perform. I imagine a proverbial "Bag of shit" that I literally take, and place outside the door. It will be waiting there for you when you are leaving the gym.
You have the choice to bring that bag of shit in with you, or to literally leave it at the door. The sign, I will be hanging in FTF, will say, Leave your shit at the door. Because it is a choice to engage with your shit during a workout. It is your choice to ignore it once the bell goes off. It is your choice to allow the little things in life to affect you or not. Our big emotional baggage stays with us, but ONLY if you CHOOSE it. You have the ability to make a difference in YOUR performance through the actions you create in the gym.
If you have a lot of shit, as most of us do, think of your WOD as the sanctuary in which NOTHING can get to you. It is YOUR time, YOUR moment, YOUR island of dreams that you are after. YOUR goals, YOUR athleticism, YOUR performance. No one else's.
You MUST approach your training as a choice to improve upon yourself. Don't haphazardly go through life allowing the shit of the day to get to you. I think we would all be lying if we said at SOME point we have allowed ourselves to have a negative day because of the emotions and demons we have inside of us.
I am an example of what happens when you use those to fuel you. With the choices I have made in my life, I am here, fighting every day to be a better athlete, to not let asthma attacks and allergies to get me down, to not let the baggage of life get to me. I am here every day to improve my coaching skills, my athletic skills and my abilities as a member of a community. I make the CHOICE to ensure I am doing what I need to do to make it right during my WOD.
If you have ever seen me workout, it is very rarely that anything slows me down. I may not be the fastest athlete in the gym anymore, but what I do know is that I am certainly capable of turning everything off when I work out. I am in the zone. I choose to finish each workout and evaluate my performance as an athlete and not let shit get to me. I make the choice to push hard.
If ever you have a day where the demons are winning, stop for a moment, gather your thoughts, and use it to drive you into the next level. Injury, setbacks, limitations, are all in your mind. While an injury is real and exisiting, if you don't take care of it, it will become a limiting factor and then be a REAL issue.
YOU have the choice to complete self care, ice, ice bath, ibuprofen, stretching, SMR. It is YOUR choice how you take care of yourself for recovery. I can't FORCE you to do it, but I can say it will help. If you take care of that which is yours, your body, then you will always perform at optimal levels. If you CHOOSE alcohol over sleep and recovery, then it will affect you.
Be wary of the CHOICES YOU are making in your performance and training. You are in control of what YOU do. No one else is. If something isn't working, then figure out what does. If something DOES work, then pursue that path.
After all, the CHOICE is YOURS.
Coach K
Each day we are faced with choices in our lives. Challenges, obstacles and inner demons come to us through our thoughts, our actions and our emotions. Each of these can have an affect on how we interact with the world we exist in. In our world, in CrossFit, it affects us through our performance.
Our performance is of the utmost importance to us. we must recognize how we are performing as a result of the choices we make in our lives. How we eat, how we sleep, how we prepare for the WOD. Even as little as timing of our food intake can affect us.
We all have the ability to respond (the responsibility) to the events in our lives as we see fit. Some of us, we let shit shut us down. For some of us, we let it fuel us. We have the choice to do with our challenges and our inner demons and obstacles what we want.
I like to think of the gym as having a vacuum that SUCKS the suck right out of our lives. Every time I enter the gym, I imagine there is a vacuum that sucks all of my troubles away when i am ready to perform. I imagine a proverbial "Bag of shit" that I literally take, and place outside the door. It will be waiting there for you when you are leaving the gym.
You have the choice to bring that bag of shit in with you, or to literally leave it at the door. The sign, I will be hanging in FTF, will say, Leave your shit at the door. Because it is a choice to engage with your shit during a workout. It is your choice to ignore it once the bell goes off. It is your choice to allow the little things in life to affect you or not. Our big emotional baggage stays with us, but ONLY if you CHOOSE it. You have the ability to make a difference in YOUR performance through the actions you create in the gym.
If you have a lot of shit, as most of us do, think of your WOD as the sanctuary in which NOTHING can get to you. It is YOUR time, YOUR moment, YOUR island of dreams that you are after. YOUR goals, YOUR athleticism, YOUR performance. No one else's.
You MUST approach your training as a choice to improve upon yourself. Don't haphazardly go through life allowing the shit of the day to get to you. I think we would all be lying if we said at SOME point we have allowed ourselves to have a negative day because of the emotions and demons we have inside of us.
I am an example of what happens when you use those to fuel you. With the choices I have made in my life, I am here, fighting every day to be a better athlete, to not let asthma attacks and allergies to get me down, to not let the baggage of life get to me. I am here every day to improve my coaching skills, my athletic skills and my abilities as a member of a community. I make the CHOICE to ensure I am doing what I need to do to make it right during my WOD.
If you have ever seen me workout, it is very rarely that anything slows me down. I may not be the fastest athlete in the gym anymore, but what I do know is that I am certainly capable of turning everything off when I work out. I am in the zone. I choose to finish each workout and evaluate my performance as an athlete and not let shit get to me. I make the choice to push hard.
If ever you have a day where the demons are winning, stop for a moment, gather your thoughts, and use it to drive you into the next level. Injury, setbacks, limitations, are all in your mind. While an injury is real and exisiting, if you don't take care of it, it will become a limiting factor and then be a REAL issue.
YOU have the choice to complete self care, ice, ice bath, ibuprofen, stretching, SMR. It is YOUR choice how you take care of yourself for recovery. I can't FORCE you to do it, but I can say it will help. If you take care of that which is yours, your body, then you will always perform at optimal levels. If you CHOOSE alcohol over sleep and recovery, then it will affect you.
Be wary of the CHOICES YOU are making in your performance and training. You are in control of what YOU do. No one else is. If something isn't working, then figure out what does. If something DOES work, then pursue that path.
After all, the CHOICE is YOURS.
Coach K
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