COMPETE EVERY DAY
That Moment
We’ve all had that moment. You know which one I’m referring to, right?
The one where we quit.
It’s that moment when we stopped pushing ourselves because it got really hard. Or it hurt. Or we didn’t think we could handle failure again. That moment. We’ve all got at least one of them.
We quit on a great relationship because it was harder than we “thought” relationships were supposed to be.
We threw away our manuscript because we thought our writing sucked.
We just stopped showing up to the gym because we don’t look like everyone else. (more…)
What If There’s Nothing Special About Me?
But there’s nothing special about my story.
I remember telling my coach that early in our time working together. I was new to public speaking and had hired his team years ago to help me elevate my craft to better serve my audiences. I had goals of becoming a household name as a speaker, but mentally, I was struggling to see myself as one. I wasn’t able to connect my stories with everyone else who carried that “speaker” title. I’d never been homeless. I hadn’t overcome a powerful addiction or had a near-death experience, and I didn’t “live in a van down by the river.” By all accounts, my life was very, well, normal.
And that normal thinking was keeping me in neutral at the starting line instead of taking action for my goal. Normal doesn’t change lives – or so I thought.
Until You Can Do What You Want
I tore my Achilles almost seven weeks ago during a men’s basketball league game. As anyone who has gone through this recovery process can attest, it has not been a fun seven weeks.
I’ve been actively doing physical therapy 2-3 days a week with the awesome team at PMST in Dallas, but have found mentally, it’s been even more of a recovery process. I’m used to working out 5-6 days per week, staying active throughout the day, and overall moving easily.
That’s quite a bit harder with your foot in a boot, unable to put pressure on it.
WORKING THROUGH IT (PART ONE)
I went back to the gym my third week after the injury (when I had the initial cast removed) to start limited upper-body workouts. I could bench press. I could hop over by the dumb bell rack and do shoulder press or flys. There was a handful of core movements and situps I can do. It was enough of a combination to give me a decent workout in the corner of the room while the rest of the class moves through the full body group workout.
And despite my laughter or joking with classmates and the sweat on my shirt from these limited movements, I was damn frustrated. I don’t like limitations. I don’t like being unable to workout with the rest of the class or do the same movements. I’m very limited to what I currently can do for previous six weeks and what I will be able to do for the upcoming six-to-eight weeks.
And as many of you who have dealt with injuries know, it sucks. (more…)
No One Is an Island
“For a long time, I convinced myself that I could will my way to a dream. As long as I wanted it bad enough, I could make it happen. But if there is one great truth I learned from this great game, it’s that no great accomplishment is ever achieved by yourself. Being successful is contingent on others, and it always starts with someone taking a chance on you.” – Kurt Warner, PFT
I heard retired NFL quarterback Kurt Warner say these words Saturday night during his enshrinement into the NFL Hall of Fame with his fellow 2017 classmates.
“…no great accomplishment is ever achieved by yourself.”
I believe a lot of us love the idea of reaching our goals and claiming that “I did it.” I put in the work. I faced the obstacles. I won. Our (long) roads from Day One to eventually reaching our goal can many times feel, well, lonely. We remember the early mornings we woke up and went to the gym, alone. We think about the times we drove cross-country for our dream, alone. And we think about the struggles we went through financially, alone.
Yet, through all that time, we were never actually alone. And the reason we got to that goal was never just us. (more…)
Be Their Reason Why
People all around us are searching for inspiration.
They scout their social media feed, multiple times a day, for the right quote, the right picture, the right spark to help them. The world around us gives enough reasons every day to question if we actually “have what it takes.” Buy this. Do that. Believe this. Each and every one claiming to be the missing ingredient we need, the source of inspiration. They hear the doubts whisper in and wonder, “can I really be a Competitor if I think this?”
They’re desperate to believe that “yes, they are a Competitor, and yes, they can win.”
So what if you were the reason why they did believe? (more…)
Six Years In
Six years ago this past Friday I sold my very first item online for Compete Every Day. What a ride.
I’d almost forgotten our anniversary until Friday night when a Facebook memory showed up in my feed, reminding me of the importance of May 26.
I gave pause and began to reflect on the last six years. The highs, painful lows, amazing people met, and everything in between. I smiled, thanking God for the trip, and started typing a note on my phone about the biggest lessons I’ve learned in the six years. And I think entrepreneurship – just like life – all comes down to this. It comes down to: (more…)
Be Willing to Face Plant
I know you have a goal you’re competing for – but are you willing to take a hard nose dive into the ground for it?
I saw the below two videos making rounds on Facebook this past month. Give them a quick watch and meet me below. (more…)
Better Every Day
“The whole idea is to make progress and get better every day and try and stay in the moment. You do that whether you are in last place or trying to build up or whether you are in position for fighting for (playoff) seeding.” – Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics head coach
Do you ever feel exhausted when visualizing how much farther you have to go?
I remember that day, not too terribly long ago, when I opened my credit card statements and saw that between four cards, I had about $200 available credit. Every one of them were maxed out. How did this happen? I asked myself. And how the hell do I fix it?
I was fighting back tears, anxiety, and if I’m honest, overwhelming fear at what to do next. I had dug myself a hole trying to build a business and now was in a position that I felt would bury me. After a near panic attack, I took a few deep breaths and started to evaluate the situation.
I didn’t get into this situation in one day or with one purchase, so I won’t get out the same way. What can I do today to get into a better situation tomorrow than I am right now? (more…)
Competitors Don’t Cheat Themselves
“All good is hard. All evil is easy. Dying, losing, cheating, and mediocrity is easy. Stay away from easy.” – Scott Alexander
I still remember my coach’s face when he caught me and a teammate cheating reps during our workout.
It was a mix of disappointment and pure hell-fire anger.
Brad and I had cut our 3 sets of 10 reps short by a few here and there. Our coach had been watching us the entire time and waited until the whistle blew (signaling time to switch stations) before using us as an example to the rest of the ninth grade football team.
“Jake, did you and Brad complete every rep before stopping?”
I looked at Brad sheepishly, knowing we’d been busted. He looked back at me with an “oh sh*t” expression. (more…)
But Did You Do Your Best?
The 2017 CrossFit Games Open is officially over.
And for 99% of you, the season has ended. Out of 354,966 adults, (not including teen or masters divisions) athletes who registered up for the RX division of the Open, only 2,2100 advance to Regionals as an individual or team member. That’s 0.6% of the total population.
You actually had a better chance of playing in the NFL if you played college football (1.6%) than you did of making the CrossFit Regionals. And that’s not even making it to the Games.
That percentage drops if you add in the almost 85,000 community members who competed scaled this year.
The Open is an opportunity for everyone in the CrossFit community to test how far they’ve come in the last 12 months as an athlete. It’s a five-week opportunity to get out of your comfort zone, see how much stronger you’ve gotten than last year, and even pick up a personal record or two.
But many athletes have spent the last year envisioning themselves qualifying for Regionals, and today marks the cold reality that their vision won’t come to life. It’s a disappointing day of what they believe to be a failure. It’s tough to come up short in the field of competition, but I have to know one thing: (more…)