Acceptance and Resiliency

Hi everyone, Chris here with my first blog post (about time!). I would like to take this opportunity to talk about two character traits that I believe are vital keys to success when it comes to fitness, nutrition, competition, and can even extend to life in general. These two traits are Acceptance and Resiliency. For myself, fitness is my spiritual journey, or my path to "enlightenment" so to speak. I played soccer and football when I was young, have always worked out, and now I compete in CrossFit which I absolutely love. I found my place in CrossFit because no matter how fit you are, no matter how tough you are, you will always be challenged both physically and mentally. For this discussion, let's focus on the mental implications of acceptance and resiliency.

Acceptance

The pursuit of fitness is never ending and as such, is a journey all about moving forward. That is the goal anyhow, but the reality of the situation is that sometimes we take a step backwards. When this happens, it is critical that we do not dwell on the mishap, because staying in one place within your mind prevents forward momentum. You may eat a cheat meal when you are not supposed to, miss a workout because you were lazy, or score poorly on a test because you did not prepare properly. When this happens, many of us will feel guilt, which is normal and useful, but we will also let these feelings of guilt lead to negative thoughts about ourselves, which is detrimental. Positive thoughts lead to positive feelings and positive actions, so when we make a mistake we need to be sure to acknowledge it, accept that it happened, and somehow find a way to use it to make us better. The road forward is filled with steps backwards, but if we can learn from our mistakes we will limit the amount of steps back we take, and we will avoid making the same mistakes moving forward. Accept the things that happen and continue moving towards your goals.

Resiliency

Resiliency goes hand-in-hand with acceptance. I have found through my own experiences that it is the people who are truly resilient that will achieve success. I witness it at every level of competition, and at one point or another in our lives we have all seen it in professional sports. If acceptance allows us to move forward, then resiliency is the actual method by which we do this. It is the thing about us that does not let us give up, it is what pushes us to make our dreams into our goals, and our goals into our will. When we are in pursuit of self-improvement, the journey will not always go according to plan, that's no fun. Some challenges will seem too impossible to overcome, but if you are sufficiently resilient you will find a way. I cannot tell you how to do this, you need to find it within yourself. Often times I go into a CrossFit competition with a strategy, but sometimes I am wrong and my strategy is not working, it is actually a really bad strategy. At this moment I have two choices: hold the course and perform sub-optimally; or think fast, develop a new strategy, invest all of my belief in it, and pour my heart and soul into the effort. After it is all said and done, I will either feel disappointed in myself and moving forward will be more difficult, or I will be proud of myself for doing everything I could, and I will be fully prepared to move on with the lesson I've learned. This is resiliency. Turn your dreams into your goals, and make them your will.

I hope this helps. I know everyone of you has the capacity for self-improvement, but if you are not on your way to realizing it, ask yourself: Is there something holding me back? or, Am I really doing my absolute best? Feel free to post your thoughts/comments in the "comments" section below, as always on FAB, we appreciate your input.