Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Contemplation
September was a month of learning for me. First my course with OPT on Program Design and then our week long adventure with Ido Portal. Learning should always be an experience of discomfort for the student; without discomfort there is only a passive acceptance of information. Of course, there is the extreme opposite of passivity, which is an outright refusal of the new. This brings me to EGO. In my experience as a coach, ego is the primary obstacle for any athlete who wants to excel. Ego manifested looks something like this: "At my gym I am used to doing it a different way," or, "I don't have the flexibility to do that," or "I come from a powerlifting/gymnastics/olympic lifting/yoga/running background so we do not focus on that." These are all EXCUSES that people use to deflect responsibility for failure. My humble recommendation to you is to embrace your weaknesses and attack them with vigour. It is no surprise to me that the folks at flux that were willing to let go of their ego are also the ones that have improved the most over the years.
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Wow ... September was a big month for us here at flux. With our head coach off to OPT, 10 of our athletes competing in the challenge, and then this past week's workshops with Ido, I feel both exhausted and inspired!
ReplyDeleteThe comments above ring true for me as both a coach (I've heard these comments or similar ones many a time) and as an athlete (my ego certainly gets in my own way).
During the Floreio workshop in particular I had to remind myself to get out of my own way and to stop putting up walls. I'm not sure why I can't just let go sometimes. This is one of my frustrations and something I will continue to work on.
Over and over again this past month I have realized that it is so important to embrace the things that I fear - or just generally suck at - in order to break out of old patterns/ habits, to become more efficient, to move better in the world, and to achieve some critical gains within my training.
I look forward to the upcoming weeks/ months of training as we begin to implement the new drills and skills we've learned, as well as the new programming Darci has up her sleeve.
Charity
OMG-- you are on to all of us now!!!! Are you sure you didn't take a psycholgy and motivational class in September as well?
ReplyDeleteBut, But, But,....how will we explain away when we suck at a workout!!!! It always makes me feel better when i think i have a valid excuse--such as "I can't do double unders cause i had two kids and my bladder won't allow it, and i could have done that if I was younger......
Thanks Darci for the inspiration October will be a fresh start.
You should have a "whine Jar" for anytime anyone has an excuse they should have to pay a loonie and when we get enough we could spend it on some real "WINE".
Darci, I have said it before but we are the luckiest crossfitters to have such a wonderful coach. Thanks for your continuing support, inspiration and eagerness to learn and share new techniques..It is obvious in all that you do and say that you care about all of us and truly think we can do better than we ourselves believe
Cheers!!!
Well said, Brenda. I have much gratitude for you sharing your contemplation, Darci. It is a good reminder of all of us. So, I'm going to stop saying, "I'm not built like a runner" and imagine myself flying down the alley like a . . . deer (??). :) My visualising has helped my pullups already!
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