“Immaturity.”
A constant reminder of the athlete I used to be: bent over, defeated, broken, and no purpose.
A constant confirmation of the path I am on, and the struggles I endure.
Posts tagged believe achieve
Birthdays often present an opportunity to look back and reminisce on what the past year (or years) have turned out like. Upon rowing my active recovery row this morning, I decided to use that time to reflect on the past year - afterall, it has been a crazy year, and I’ve encountered the most growth in a year as an individual than I ever have before.
Some growth highlights from 2012 that stand out among the rest:
- Finishing 14th at the 2012 Canada West CrossFit Games Regionals, when I had zero expectations. Further fuelling my fire for this year to fully explore my capabilities.
- Landing sponsorship from Real Xtreme RX, a stellar clothing company out of British Columbia, that would develop into a great business relationship as well.
- CrossFit FUNCTION - the apple of my eye. Buying out my business partner and overtaking the company. Building my brand, and continuing to build my business to grow more in the past four months than it did in two years. Strengthening the family bond within the black & yellow walls. Adding more employees. More equipment. Expansion. All things that didn’t seem like reality until I listened to my heart.
These highlights are things I replay in my head to reassure myself I’ve chosen the right path. That I’m not a kid anymore, and I’m capable of being only twenty-four (soon twenty-five) and owning a successful business.
And on that note, it also came to me that I’ve learned a lot, and I can group these into a list of twenty-five important ones.
“There are certain kinds of people that are purely driven. I can tell who they are simply by looking at them. I have faced so much criticism for my drive that at times it has alienated me from the majority: the people who are comfortable with second place, the people who hate against me because I am not. You know these kinds of people; they are the ones who fear winning, the jealous ones who envy and try to sabotage. They are the people who have been telling me I couldn’t win all my life. Many times my drive to succeed has put me on an island all by myself because no one understood me, or they chose to misunderstand me. They chose to portray me as being something that I was not. I have learned that it is OK for me to be me, and what being me entails. It means that I will not rest; I will not sleep, relax, relent or be satisfied until my goals have been met, the challenges answered and my doubters silenced. I will not give in to my foes; I won’t let down my teammates. I won’t stop inspiring those who look up to me or stop giving motivation to those who motivate me. I will not back off until I’m back on top, back in the place where they say I could never be again.”
Kobe Bryant
A little inspiration to keep with me always.
#StayStrong
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Constant reminder that it comes from within.
Perspective is everything. I remember 185# back squats being a total mind block for me; failing every single time at that number. This week I PR’ed with 4x230# right after 13.3. I remember not long ago a 125# snatch being something that seemed so distant. 150# this week over my head.
See the hurdle in front of you - jump it. Look ahead at the next hurdle. Jump it too. Don’t. Stop. Attacking.
These hurdles will continue to come at you; they’re infinite. You won’t get stopped in your tracks unless you choose to.
And I choose not to. Put it out in front of me, and you’ll have to hold me back. I’ve got that will; that desire. I want it more than you do.
believe. achieve.
That’s the difference one year makes. TRUST - the word written under my rings last year during 12.4. TRUST - meaning, I didn’t trust myself to get up over the rings. Achieving those muscle-ups were only something I half believed in. Last year I finished with four muscle-ups, and seven attempts.
This year as 13.3 was released, I knew it was going to be different. I was frothing at the mouth to get after this one as soon as it was released.
Every moment of struggle is worth it.
Remember that.
And the next five weeks are going to be a measure of that. No better time to prove it to myself than now.
“You can deal with almost any “what”, when you have a deeper more compelling “why”.”
TH
