Unstuck
“We are master alchemists: We may not have discovered how to make gold out of lead, but we are able to make heaven out of hell, hell out of heaven, and purgatory out of nothing.” Khang Kijarro Nguyen
Since I started this blog - I’ve had one intention: share my world and my experience to help others. My mission has become more clear around helping people and athletes become the best version of themselves.
We all want to be successful and be important to the people closest to us. However, when it comes to being stuck - it starts with the person in the mirror. I was talking with Katie in bed late one night staring up at the ceiling. I was sharing my frustrations and thoughts. In her response, she reminded me that it starts with the man in the mirror. I had to change what I was doing. We can’t hope something will change, we have to do something about it.
Avoidance
The next morning I realized that my fear wasn’t just one small thing in the corner of my life. It was a big thing I encountered every day and found myself avoiding. Ever since I broke my foot - I started giving myself a little room here, a lax workout there, and eventually found myself avoiding discomfort. It started because I was originally fearful of re-injuring myself. When I started to cut back on my workouts I gained a few pounds and lost some muscle tone so I stopped looking in the mirror. I lost my discipline and my personal dialogue of ‘you can do this.’ I was flat on my back and I was just trying to avoid the fact that I might become the person I had worked so hard to not become.
Callousing
Everyone should have a partner who is your biggest fan. Katie told me I had to deal with the man in the mirror told me everything I already knew but was avoiding. I need to not just ‘toughen up.’ I needed to seek out that discomfort and do things that I had avoided because they were hard or because they were going to push me to be vulnerable. I had to face these things head on. I needed to go out and seek the things that were uncomfortable.
Choosing Comfort
David Goggins talks about being the toughest motherfucker out there, callousing your mind as much as you callous your feet. I have been able to run nearly 40 marathons because I have calloused my mind, my body, and my soul. I didn’t lose that because I broke my foot - I lost it because I chose comfort. I didn’t want to make things real because of a few moments of discomfort. Avoiding a workout, intimidated by a long run, or even just fessing up that I made mistake. My stubbornness mixed with my anxiety around discomfort was not about to take me to the next level. Time will only tell where this experiment goes.
Shaking loose
I knew at that moment staring up at the ceiling that I had to go out and conquer my fears moving forward - that tough conversation? Go have it! That long run? Go do it and revel when it gets hard - it’s supposed to! That workout? You want that sub 2:36 goal don’t you? Then you bet you’re going to have to work for it and hurt for it. No one is going to do it for me. This weekend I started looking in the mirror. Accepting where I am and starting to move forward. I tackled a tough workout on Saturday and a long run on Sunday. We also went through all our clothing and have 3 contractors bags to our hips to give away. It was hard and we’re better for it. I needed to shake myself up and set my standard again. I had to raise my own bar and only accept the best for myself.
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Reflection
I really needed to put this out into the world. I’ve had a few clients lately who are working through life goals as well as physical goals. As a coach, I present to the world a very visible view of what I allow. I cannot allow my athletes to accept mediocrity, I have to teach them to have their own set of standards - a Mission -a Vision. A guideline for their own life. So I ask anyone who reads this: What was your defining moment? When did you realize for the 4th time, the 5th time that it was on you? What did it take to move towards a better version of yourself?