My workout partner Breanne (aka Bremo) looked at the weight on my bar and said “You can do more than that.”
I said, “Yes, but I am happy with this weight.”
She said, “Crossfit is not about being happy. If all you’re doing is enjoying yourself, you’re not making gains.”
My first reaction was to tease her and say, “That should totally be the next inspiring T-Shirt slogan we get”.
She was right though.
All great success and achievement comes from pushing yourself. It’s rarely all that fun when you are pushing yourself. After a long day at work, do you really want to feed the kids, put them to bed and then sit down for two more hours of work to keep ahead of the competition, learn something new or prepare for a big meeting the next day.
It’s not likely something you do with a silly grin of happiness on your face, yet so often, it’s the very thing you must do to get where you want to go.
When you reach your goal (landing that promotion, hitting a big sales target, running a 10k race …) and maybe even surprise yourself with what you were capable of, the feeling is incredible.
The happiness, fulfillment and a sense of accomplishment you feel when you hit a hard goal are all things you never feel within your comfort zone.
For the record, I listened to Bremo and Coach K and added the weight on. The workout was tough, but I actually didn’t find it anywhere near as hard I expected.
When I was done, I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment. I couldn’t have done that workout with that weight 3 months ago. I also loved the high fives and smiles from everyone – they were proud of me for pushing myself just that little bit more. Afterwards I felt like I could take on ANYTHING and you better believe I was smiling!
Let me be clear here though … I am not advocating day in and day out misery here.
I am suggesting that you push yourself, feel some pain by working harder than you really want to work, AND you do this very specifically in the direction of a goal that moves you closer to your ideal day (or ideal body, ideal transaction, ideal job etc).
Going to a job you hate day in and day out is suffering without a purpose. Boring yourself at the gym and never seeing improvements is pointless. Doing deals that reach a number you’ve set for yourself, but create chaos and stress, is creating pain for no reason.
Pain for a purpose is ultimately where the best gains come from.
That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself. It just means you ALSO have to push yourself. And frankly, doing everything for pure enjoyment and no other reason is fun for awhile, but eventually you won’t feel fulfilled or even all that happy. I actually feel a lot happier when I am pushing myself to a new level (I think I actually felt happy while I was challenging myself with the heavier weight).
I know I feel really happy these days as I’ve hit more PR’s with running times and my one rep max numbers for Olympic Lifting than I’ve ever had in my life. I am stronger, faster and fitter than I was even when I was a competitive swimmer in College. That gives me a bounce in my step every single day.
And, by the way, there’s nothing more attractive to others than someone who has a bounce in their step and feels great about themselves and their achievements.
Success and achievement feel great … give it a go. Set a big goal for the next month and push harder than you thought you could to achieve it. When you get there, let me know. I will send you virtual high fives and big smiles.
And if you’re still struggling to tackle your next achievement … this is for you:
Image Credit: © Gingercprice | Dreamstime.com – Fitness Woman Photo
