Posts Tagged “insanity”

Every wonder why some people fail in their goals? Why some people are not happy with the progress in their lives?

During my physical transformation from the Fall of 2007 through the fall of 2008 I found it easy to achieve my goals and saw dramatic improvements in my health, strength, and fitness levels across the board. Sometime in the fall of 2008 I hit a plateau and the progress just stopped. For me I hit a wall that was the breakdown of my marriage in November of 2008. It was as if a freight train ran me over and I had no focus or drive to achieve my fitness goals, or any other goal in my life.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the mental aspect of sports, and sports psychology and the impact that can have on an athlete. As the world is descending upon my backyard for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in 1 short month, I started thinking what these elite level world class athletes go through in order to maintain their mental game. Every person goes through personal issues in there lives. Whether it’s a failed marriage, a death in the family, abuse, or any other dramatic moment. But how do you get through it? How do you fight through the circumstance and keep your eye on your goals?

Enter community. Have you ever heard of someone go through a drastic change in there life, and be successful without the support and encouragement of friends and family? I have not, and if there is such a person, I have enormous amount of respect for you.

When I was going through my weight loss phase (One year can change your life) I had tremendous support and encouragement from almost everyone I was close too. Everyone from my family in the evenings and weekends, to my friend Sterling during my commute and my business day. Add to this support my ever growing family in the fitness and CrossFit world and I was surrounded with people that encouraged me to succeed. During the year of frustration that was 2009 I lost my mental edge. I became weak and didn’t have the strength to push through at times. My body suffered, my strength suffered, and I was no longer at the top. Hanging in there and having people to help you through these times are ever so important. Imagine the Olympic athlete being faced with a dramatic moment or a life changing experience and telling them to figure it out alone? I would put money on them no longer being on the Olympic team. Instead, surround them with loving family, coaches, teammates, like minded individuals to support them during the emotional time, and also give them the push they need to fortify their minds and allow them to stay at an elite level!

While I am no Olympic athlete, I have chosen to surround myself with others that have the same goals as myself. Get plugged into a community. Get to a local CrossFit affiliate or sports team, or whatever your sport of choice is. Find others that have the same interests and passion you do and befriend them!

Consider nutrition. Are you trying to eat better? Have you ever tried to stick to a pattern of eating (Zone/Paleo/Atkins/Whatever the hell you want) and then surrounded yourself with people that eat pub food 3-5 times a week? Surround yourself with like-minded individuals that will not only verbally support your goals, but also practically support your goals. What do I mean by this? Well imagine going out with someone for dinner and their appetizer of choice is chicken wings, and your idea of an appy while dining out is some green beans (Very good at Cactus club by the way) or a salad. While I LOVE Chicken wings, eating them regularly does not support my long-term choice for nutrition. Go out with people that will CONSISTENTLY not only support you, but also live a lifestyle that is in line with what you consider important. You will be amazed at how easy you can achieve your fitness and nutrition goals when surrounded by a community of like minded individuals.

You are in control of your life, and if you’re not happy in your situation. Change it.

The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing, over, and over again and expecting a different result

Remember: Choose Happiness