Your mind is one of the most powerful things in your being, even though sometimes I think it’s my quads lol My quads won’t perform well without a sound and strong mind.
My thoughts this week were on mindset perspective. There are two ways to think about every situation you’re in. The first is ‘WHOA is me’, why does this always happen to me? I don’t deserve this, I can’t believe this… The spiral can go on and on. The second is a mindset of a problem solver. How can I fix this? What can I do to continue to better myself? Where do I make adjustments to keep moving forward?
One road leads to a long and lonely road of self-pity and the other road leads to a stronger, more motivated and resilient you.
Let me give you an example of one person and two mindsets in two different situations. In 2015 I was training really hard, physically I felt great. I was doing two workouts a day, recovering well, competing well with minimal injuries. At BeachWOD that year I snatched 255 pounds in a snatch ladder that started at 135 pounds and the weight went up every 30 seconds. That was over 10 snatches every 30 seconds, including one part that went 225,230,235,240,245 all back to back. I then went on to do a Muscle up Thruster Workout where they wouldn’t adjust my rings higher and I had to do a strict version of the workout to make it work and still was able to finish.
I was competing with the best dudes in Ontario and I started to get burnt out. My mindset became “I have to do these workouts today” I stopped attacking workouts and started surviving them. I woke up dreading the grind. I was ungrateful for my healthy body and my ability to move. WHOA was me.
Fast Forward and since late 2017 I have a tear in my shoulder labrum that doesn’t allow me to do much in the way of putting weight over my head. I’ve tried rehabbing a lot of times and get so far before running into a wall but my thought process is much different. First off I’d give a lot to be able to snatch heavy, I love snatching heavy haha, it’s actually my favourite activity ever lol but I’m focused on what I can do and I enjoy every training session. The exercises I can do I attack them to be better, my capacity aerobically and leg endurance is way up! I was able to do Karen (150 wallballs for time) in 4:36. Faster then some games athletes scores I’ve seen. But most importantly my thought process is ” I get to do this today” I wake up excited to train and grateful to move. I enjoy the process, I attack the workouts and hopefully after I see the surgeon on August 7th I have game plan to get back competing because thats where I feel best, just in time to be a 35 year old master next year 😉
You have a choice everyday you wake up to live life in a WHOA is me state or to attack the day and get the absolute most out of it. Your mindset will largely dictate how successful you are in whatever you pursue.
The 30 year old me was strong and in good shape but lost his ability to enjoy the process and only cared about the outcome and PR’s
The 34 year old me is stronger mentally and enjoys the process and loves each day and impacting the people around him in a positive way.
The 35 year old me will be stronger both mentally and physically but it’s not just about me but bringing the people around me up and being a support for them and the things they want to accomplish. Now that’s what getting older is all about.
-Coach Dan