By Coach Lam
You hear it all the time in CrossFit. The mantra of pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone in order to grow into something better. People talk about getting over that fear of jumping that box, lifting that weight, or hell, just going into that deep dark painful place that you don’t want to get into. Sure, it sounds freaking awesome when you win and you FINALLY accomplish that goal. But what happens when you fail? What happens when you finally get over that GOD AWFUL fear that tightens your chest to attempt this feat and you fall flat? You’ve been working so hard on this nutrition challenge and finally at the end of it, you didn’t hit your numbers. You’ve been lifting outside of classes for months, and when it came time to hit your one rep max in class, you got even LESS than what you attempted last time.
I’ll tell you what I do. I cry, I feel shitty about myself, I lose confidence and I lose myself in some self-pity. I feel those emotions and then I let it pass. It’s important to make sure you let those emotions have its place within your journey through fitness as well as through life. They’ll let you know that this is worth it and it’s important to you. Just don’t hold onto it for too long. The negatives can bring you down more than you’ll want it to, if you let it. Absorb, acknowledge and feel the emotions…then eventually let it pass and run its course.
Look back at yourself and re-assess your fear. Is the fear of failure easier to handle now that you’ve gone through it or is it something that you tell yourself you’re not longer willing to go there. Once is enough. Truly getting a better understanding of yourself is a benefit from failure that most people don’t seem to acknowledge for themselves. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to say….shoot I definitely don’t like that and I don’t want that in my life. I believe it’s even more powerful than being able to say…. YES, I DO want that in my life. Congratulations, you’ve just gotten a better insight into yourself.
When you’re ready to embark on another journey of growth and discomfort, start small. I fall off the bandwagon all the time when I try to be a better athlete. Whether it’s nutrition, going to class consistently or extra lifting work at home. I also go back to the basics and set myself for success. Instead of going full on macro mode 7 days a week, I aim for hitting targets 3 days a week. Instead of starting my squats at 255, I’ll start at 135 and build back up. Start slow and build momentum for success! The easy wins will be the credits that earn now that will carry you through when things get tougher …
Lastly…just keep coming back to it. 75% of the battle is just showing up for the fight. It may hurt, it may suck but in the end no matter what, you’ll learn a little bit more about yourself. The failures is where the learning happens. CrossFit is no different than anything else…well except you have about 15 other people in the class rooting for you.
