People love January 1st as it marks a fresh start and a goodbye to old habits. With one problem: all new habits usually end in February.
Implementing changes and sticking to new habits is not easy, especially when our focus is the goal – new habit itself, instead of the real issue behind. So let this year be different: pick habits, changes and goals which go deeper and mean something more special to you.
Here’s my list. This is what I’ll tackle on in 2015.
1. Health will be my biggest PR.
As a teenage girl I had no clue what healthy means and what’s the value of it behind. Now as a 28-year-old I am pretty strongly convinced It’s one of the biggest PRs I hold. So every now and then I need to remind myself that I can do Crossfit because I am healthy. That I can be happy I have a choice to decide each and every single day to move and do our sport of fitness. Scores on whiteboards or numbers in my workout diaries will never count as much as the one, true value of being healthy.
2. I will train with passion and drive.
I walked into this sport because I have a passion for it. And a drive to get challenged. Too often I put too much pressure on myself with a demand of being in a high-performance mode 24/7 with no time wasted. My focus gets attached to the big, unrealistic goals, instead to the present enjoyment. I forget to enjoy the training itself; to feel the strength of my body, to somehow enjoy heavy breathing and pain in the middle of a chipper workout, and sometimes to simply just take a short break and acknowledge I am lucky enough to be doing this.
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Don’t just train to lose weight or to hit a big new squat numbers. Or because the health professionals said so. Train because it makes you happy.
3. Not big lifts, small reps will count.
So far I’ve learnt small reps forward counts; big leaps of improvement are a just a sum up of smaller steps. Each rep or kilo more is a little win: a little move closer to our goals and dreams. Training is a slow process combined of small decisions we take every day. I know no big changes will come overnight, but rather they’ll show up over a period of at least one year.
4. I don’t want it to be easier, but I do want to get stronger
Naturally I want things to get easier and more comfortable. It’s like a safety break my mind sometimes pulls. But honestly hanging out in comfort zone has never got me anywhere. I don’t want things to come easy; quite the opposite, I want them to be challenging so I can get stronger. Not just physically, but mentally as well.
5. I’ll try again.
Luckily I’m that kind of a person who gets fired up by failing: if I don’t succeed at first, I’ll get even more motivated to make it next time. I’ll do a deep research to find other ways to solve the problem. I’m not afraid to try again. And again.
You tripped over or didn’t make a lift? It doesn’t matter how many times you fail, it matters more what you do about it. How do you react? There’s no failure, it’s only feedback to remind you change takes effort, time and patience.
6. I’ll respect myself no matter what
No matter what past mistakes I made or wrong decisions I took, I’ll keep respecting myself. Self respect is earned, by deciding to stand up for yourself every single day.
Pushing yourself each day to the limits to get psychically so exhausted you “kill” the evil thoughts inside is not what sport is about. Don’t cross the line where Crossfit becomes an escape and a virtue to feel more worthy. You already are worthy. Don’t get comfortable just with the pain from training effort; get comfortable with your own feelings as well: accept them, acknowledge them and in 2015 try to reflect them from a different perspective.