I have coached CrossFit for the last 5-6 years. During this time I have had the great privilege of coaching hundreds of people on their fitness journey and watching thousands of reps.
I watch people do things like cleans, or snatches. Sometimes they will make a mistake. Before I can even say anything they will look at me and say something along the lines of “I’m not very good at these”.
My favorite example is when we are practicing handstands or handstand walks. Someone who has never done a handstand, or maybe they have but 20, 30, or 40 years ago, tries one. It is not the same as an Olympic gold medalist handstand performed at the peak of their career. They will look at me and most times say “I suck”.
How many times have you tried?
First, you don’t suck, and maybe you aren’t the best at something. But how many times have you tried? Like really mentally and physically engaged and tried?
Sure, some people have a natural talent or ability to do certain things. Some are naturally good at running, some understand math, some have an eye for photography. Some of us have a mind that just ‘gets’ music (this was not me, I failed the recorder in 5th grade).
But, the majority of people that are good or great at something are not the most talented at something. They are simply the ones who put the time in. Have you put the time in doing handstands, cleans, or working on mobility yet?
Don’t compare your fitness journey to others
Yeah, you are not perfect at something you have never done. So don’t think you will be after 1 try.
Social media is cool (I guess) but it gives us a false idea of work. We see someone do something absolutely incredible. For instance, they throw a ball off a waterfall into a basketball goal. They paint a painting upside down while blindfolded and in a building that is set on fire. Of course in the video they show you the result is perfect. What you don’t see is the 10,000 tries that were way less perfect before that.
Stop expecting to be 21 years old if you haven’t lived for 21 years. Stop comparing yourself to others. You have to put in the time, effort and work. If you want to get better at handstands, you can’t just focus on them for 20 minutes a couple times a month. Of course you will get better at handstands than someone not practicing at all.
But, if you are tired of feeling like you are taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back, start on your fitness journey to 10,000 and put in the time.
Learn deep, not wide
Want to get better at/master something? Dive into that subject. Stop adjusting focus to every shiny thing that enters your field of view.
I think of it as having a teacher mindset. If you need to teach a subject, you try to know everything you can about that subject. If you just have a student mindset, you try to know the bare minimum about a subject.
Start focusing and start working, otherwise you can’t seriously expect to get better. We can help get you from 1 step to 10,000 on your fitness journey. Contact us today to get started.