This morning, we received an application to work with it. The message inside shocked me:
"I think I’m falling out of love with CrossFit"
It didn’t shock me because I can’t imagine feeling that way...
...but because I hear it the WHOLE time, and I remember it well myself.
It happens for a bunch of reasons, some of which are:
-You stop making progress and end up frustrated and wanting growth again
-Something at the box changes - coaches, owners, box politics
-It just loses its excitement
Where has that feeling gone? The feeling of excitement and FREEDOM which comes from an exciting new adventure…?
Because let’s face it, that’s what is so attractive, right?
The unknown and the unknowable.
You turn up to the box and throw yourself into WODs with complete abandon. You have no idea how much it’s going to hurt.
Then you tell EVERYONE about how much it sucks, but with a freaking huge grin on your face.
Where did that go?
How comes you now have to drag yourself to the box instead of racing there?
How comes you don't feel the same excitement or pride?
Well, I can give you one big reason: you’ve plateaued.
Maybe not in performance, but in the mental-emotional adventure that you’ve been on.
As humans (and of course as athletes),we grow by voluntarily confronting the unknown.
We explore our own limits and in doing so, create a better version of ourselves - one which is capable of more than we knew was possible.
This is both exciting and scary. THAT is what makes CrossFit so brilliant.
But now, the box has changed from the unknown, to the known. It’s predictable. It’s BORING even. It’s definitely not captivating.
Competitions, yeah, maybe…
But daily training and the box environment… it can become a little monotonous.
This is where a lot of athletes stop training, or change what they're trying to achieve. This pretty much always leads to a "what if..." narrative and ultimately disappointment with themselves.
So what do you do when your adventure has been completed?
Look at any good novel or movie for your answer.
Harry Potter, Arya Stark and Princess Leia all find another adventure to embark upon, because they know that humans aren’t made solely for predictability and "good enough".
Humans are made for GROWTH and FREEDOM.
That’s what heroes do: they voluntarily set out on adventure - they don’t wait for it to find them.
They put themselves in a situation they aren’t sure they can succeed in.
They EMBRACE HARDSHIP.
And they Aim Up. This is what you must do now too, if you’re at a plateau or simply falling out of love with training.
You must AIM UP.
You must choose to embark upon another adventure.
You must voluntarily take a step into the unknown, fully understanding that you’re going to get at least a little burnt. Also know that getting burnt may be exactly what you need in order to grow.
Whisper it, it may be what you're really looking for - the dance with danger.
That’s just part of what we teach in the Digital Mindset Gym, by the way - how to calibrate your aims truly UP.
Aiming up again, once you’ve come so far feels a little scary.
What if I fail? What if everyone at the box laughs at me behind my back? What if I get injured? What if I lose what I already have?
Well, guess what... your "safety" now (your current ability in training) is just an illusion - just look at how dissatisfied you are with your current performance to understand this.
You are designed to confront the chaos of the unknown and transform it into your abilities.
That’s entirely within your capabilities.
Be courageous. Be the hero. Aim Up (not away from suffering).