Excuses

I hate excuses. My work BFF and I talk about it all the time; this is our most HATED thing about being a teacher in today's generation. There is always an excuse for everything. But I come from the school of thought that ultimately there is no one to blame but yourself. Sure, there may be factors unrelated to you that don't help a situation, but usually, it's your own damn fault. Now, those may be harsh words, but until you can recognize that YOU are the only one responsible for your own successes and failures, you are never going to win. Whether inside the gym or out, you have to acknowledge the fact that you are either your own worst enemy, or your biggest cheerleader. For some people, this realization comes early on in their journey to self improvement, but unfortunately, others will never, ever learn this. As a coach/trainer/teacher, this can sometimes be frustrating. As humans, we are always looking for someone else to blame when things don't go right. "I'm not losing weight, it must be my trainer's fault". "I can't make the class times at the gym, this gym clearly sucks, I'm going to a new one" "It's too hard, and I have too many limitations, I can't do it". I mean, even I used to be the queen of the "I can't do it" club. Seriously, we have heard it all. But I have also seen people who have EVERYTHING in the world against them, and say, "you know what? I am NOT letting these things get in the way of my goals! I am NOT turning every little thing into an excuse". If you can't be resilient in the face of challenging circumstances in a workout, or in making it to the gym, or in eating healthy, then how can you expect to be resilient in life where the hits can often be much harder, and the stakes much higher? This is one of the things I LOVE about Crossfit; it teaches resilience and perseverance in a culture where too many people are far too willing to make excuses for everything. Ever heard one of the following phrases: "Do what makes you happy", "do what makes you feel good" "let go of it if its not serving you".. If I could roll my eyes any further back, they would get stuck in my head. You know what? Sometimes you just need to embrace the SUCK. Sometimes it DOESN'T FEEL GOOD! Sometimes heading to the gym to workout DOESN'T make me happy. But what I have learned is that even on the WORST days where I have failed a lift a million times, where I'm moving slow and not performing as I think I should, I am STILL a better athlete than I was when I walked in. I have probably learned something about myself, and I am maybe a little bit fitter, and most importantly I have not given up. I haven't quit.

Now please hear me out: What I am NOT saying is to go balls to the wall and redline every workout ,and that you suck if you aren't in the gym training 5X a week. What I am saying is you have to show up, put in the work, spend some time working on skills and accessory work, focus on healthy eating, and don't make excuses. Sure, everyone falls out of routine once in awhile, but if you are serious about improving your health and your life, there is no room for excuses. Some of the greatest success stories in our gym are average, everyday people who have come in overweight and unhealthy, who lost weight, can now do some pretty cool stuff in the gym, and have gained a ton of confidence, but they all have one thing in common: they didn't allow their fears of failure to dictate excuses for why they couldn't do something. So the next time you are thinking to yourself, "there is no way I can lift that weight", or "I can't do wallballs so I am going to skip today's workout", remember to be your own cheerleader, not your enemy. You might just surprise yourself!

Coach Kristen :)