Mat Fraser understandably hasn't been in the conversation much since his retirement from CrossFit.
Yet, there's something you can learn from him that I'm going to share today.
It's his ability to balance holding himself to very high standards - standards of excellence - and also practising self-compassion.
Whilst these aren't necessarily opposite sides of the same coin, they can certainly appear to be in conflict to each other.
Without being tough enough on yourself, you will always let your standards slide. You won't have enough fire in your belly. You will cut corners, cheat your macros, and all too frequently walk the well trodden, easier path.
Without practising self-compassion though, you'll always be your own tyrant: never good enough, never strong enough, never enough. You will focus so much on your own shortcomings that they consume you and destine you to mediocrity.
Isn't it interesting how both of those things end up in sub-standard performances and a failure to reach your potential?
When working in tandem with each other though, they serve to push you to new levels, whilst forgiving yourself and learning from any accidental missteps.
Having this balance means that if you make an unintentional mistake, you can quickly adapt, yet you do not allow yourself to make the same mistake twice.
Having this balance means that if you put in 100% of the required effort and you still fail, you don't spend the rest of the month beating yourself up, but you still grow because you don't hide from the harsh truth that you may not be good enough yet.
Fraser - from what I can see - has always done this to a high standards, and Coach Rachel has written more about Fraser's mindset for BarBend, in this article.
Another athlete, who you probably haven't heard of unless you train at CrossFit City Line in Boston, is Grace Mlady, our Digital Mindset Gym Athlete of the Month. She's been working on this balance incredibly well and has been reaping the rewards. Good job, Grace.
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