Two weeks ago my husband wrote a post that was so inspirational CrossFit.com posted it on the main site.
I knew it was good, but it has really gotten me through a lot these last couple of weeks and help me to really put situations in the right perspectives.
It has been my go to blog to “put me back in my place” and I know it will help you all is well!
Here is my blog it forward for Monday March 12th.
Where do you lie in this blog is your competitive nature being used in a positive direction or is it holding you back from what you are truly capable of doing?
Good Competition vs. Bad Competition
With the CrossFit Open in full swing something very good or something very bad can happen to you…
You can become motivated beyond what you ever thought possible.
–OR–
You can fall into the bermunda triangle of COMPARING yourself to others, their scores and begin to
question your training, success you have had thus far and began to self sabotage yourself.
The CrossFit Open is a way to provide context to your training and gives you purpose behind everything you have been working for in the gym day in and day for the past year.
Good Competition
Competition can bring out the best in you. I fully believe that you can not recreate the environment, intensity and your highest level of performance during the heat of this great competition. Participating will put you in the game with 60,000 plus competitors and can result in raising the expectation for yourself. You will operate at a much higher level because everyone else is operating at a much higher level. And by you pushing yourself you in turn will push others around you. It is infectious!
Competition can you show you the light to your potential. You can be a part of something much bigger than yourself. You can see how people really not that much different from you can put up extraordinary numbers.
Competition shows you exactly where you are at today. The mantra of the open is “prove your fitness”. Everything you have done up to this point will result in exactly how you ‘should’ perform in the games. This can be very empowering and motivating. All of the metcon’s, strength work, running, mobility you have done over the last year will show up no matter what workout is announced 2/29/12 @5pm PST. So if you are not satisfied where you end up with your scores and goals, consider this is your BIG WAKE UP CALL! The kind of wake up call that can be a life changing and transform you into a more motivated, focused and dedicated athlete. Not to mention an all around better person:-)
Bad Competition
It is very easy to NOT check your ego at the door. With the high-end focus and atmosphere the Games
season provides do not let yourself fall into the trap of COMPARING yourself to others performances. This kind of comparing is you actually judging yourself against people who you know very little about. You have no idea what type of work these people put into to produce their results. You don’t know what kind of athletic background they have. You can’t compare yourself to someone who is a former competitive gymnast, or has been weightlifting for 10 years, or played college sports, and you just started CrossFitting 6 months ago?!?!
You are exactly where you are supposed to be. All of you efforts you have done in the last year, all of your training prior to CrossFit, your entire fitness/sports history has brought you exactly where you stand today. And the same goes with the people you can’t help but compare yourself too. Be proud of yourself. Your progress. Your results. The potential you have. If you feel the need to compare yourself to others there are plenty of stories on the games site. And plenty of success stories that have people with far less physical advantages in life than you.
My hope is you use the 2012 CrossFit Games Open as a measuring stick for yourself. I hope you use the positive energy of 60,000 plus people across the globe to catapult your mental and emotional inspiration to a level you never thought possible for yourself.
Post your thoughts in the comments below:
Fit Chic