Pressure. Adversity. Perseverance.
These last couple of weeks I have felt an enormous amount of pressure. Pressure from the world, pressure from myself, and pressure from my inner-voice. Pressure can lead you to execute, and pressure can lead you to a negative mindset. The way we view pressure allows us to make decisions on our execution, or make decisions on how we approach our day from beginning to end. At a young age, I have learned that your mindset can take you to a tremendous place. Your mindset can dictate your day, your week, and your life. Your mindset can determine whether or not you have a great day, whether or not you go workout, or whether or not you choose to eat nutritious food, or food that will fog your mind. Pressure can lead you to coaching a class with enthusiastic energy. Pressure can lead you to helping someone out when they have been trying to learn how to properly execute a movement. Pressure can lead you to results, and making a difference. As I clouded myself in this high pressure environment in my head I dove deep into a negative mindset. My workouts were slow, my execution was below my standards, and my mindset was foggy. Sometimes we go through these things because life is allowing us to grow. We are facing adversity.
As I was going through my workouts, through my day, and through my tasks I was constantly reminding myself of how hard I have worked for my fitness. I was constantly reminding myself on what I had to do to get to where I am. I was constantly reminding myself of how many hours I have worked out by myself, and how many hours I have put into self-growth, and self-evaluation. I was constantly reminding myself on providing value, and executing on my vision. My last year in college I slept in a garage. I was miserable. I was scared. I was in a bad place mentally. Two weeks after graduation I went from living in a garage, to my cousins floor. I had just found Crossfit. I slept at the gym, and I slept on my friends couch. I was lost, I was graduated, I was well-known on campus, and I was confused on what my life should look like. I was working multiple jobs that left me miserable because I had no direction. I couldn’t provide the value I wanted to provide and I couldn’t execute on my vision. I did this for 3 years. Nowhere to go, nowhere to sleep, and broke. I was upset, sad, depressed, and vulnerable. All I wanted to do was be around positive people. All I wanted to do was build my best self. All I wanted to do was be happy. Gym to gym, barbell to barbell, workout after workout, I didn’t know if I would make it. I didn’t know if I would be able to continue my quest. But I never gave up, and neither should you. Adversity allows us to persevere.
Perseverance is a beautiful thing. It shows us who we are. It shows us how hard we work. It shows us how bad we are willing to fight for what we have, and what we want. It shows us that we are willing to let go of people, things, and activities that make us unhappy, and unsuccessful. It shows us that we are strong enough to make going to the gym a priority. It shows us that we are good enough to be parents to our children. It shows us that we have the desire to live an amazing life and make positive, healthy choices for our lives, and the lives of others. It shows us that we are on our way to building the best version of ourselves.
My friends…pressure, adversity, and perseverance can lead you to an amazing place. They can allow you to tell your own story. They can allow you to live every day with happiness, and joy in your life. They can allow you to make it to the gym because fitness never stops. At the end of the day, we don’t know if we will ever wake up again, we get one life.
*I chose this photo because it’s a representation of how all of us may feel when we are about to perform a tough workout, or choosing to eat something more nourishing to our bodies instead of food that degrades our bodies, or when we are faced with a difficult obstacle in our life that will be difficult for us to overcome. We face pressure, we face adversity, and we persevere.