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Tapping the Untapped
By Chip | March 30, 2009
I feel that I’ve recently been bombarded with talk about “potential”. During the ongoing NCAA men’s basketball tournament, I constantly hear announcers speculating on a young player’s “potential.” New employees at our jobs are hired on their ”potential” to benefit the organization. I even heard a radio ad in which the great Ben Franklin asked me, “Is there greatness in you?” Sure, he didn’t say “potential”, but that’s really what he’s asking, isn’t it?
This got me thinking about our gym, and more specifically, the athletes that train under its roof. (I know Mr. Franklin wasn’t talking about pullups or squats, but work with me here, ok?) Clearly, we all have athletic “potential”, but what exactly does that mean? Can we ever know what our “potential” really is?
Those few human beings among us who were lucky enough to be professional athletes may have at least approached their athletic “potential”, but what about the rest of us? How do we reach our “potential”? What about those people who have not competed in sport in years, if at all? How do we figure out what we might be capable of, and then reach that goal?
Sadly, I don’t think that any of us truly know what we are capable of… at least not exactly. Sometimes, to be the best we must experience the worst, whether in life or every time “Fran” comes to town. Each time, however, that we face adversity and pull through, we have learned a little bit more about ourselves and what we are capable of accomplishing. Furthermore, each obstacle we overcome makes us ever more capable of taking on the next challenge. It is my contention that our sense of “potential” is dynamic and changes with every small victory we earn.
No matter what type of “potential” we are trying to realize– first pullup, CF Games, new job – the secret to reaching that goal is not a secret at all.
The answer is obvious, simple, and universal.
Hard work.
Focused and dedicated work toward that goal is the ONLY way to get there. There are no shortcuts.
Speaking specifically about CrossFit, reaching our goals means committing to the program. CrossFit will show you the way to your fitness goals, but only you can travel the road there. Showing up once a week, regardless of how athletic we may think we are, is a recipe for failure. Coming in to the gym and “coasting” through the workouts is a sure path to mediocrity. Even if we are hitting up the WODs 5 times a week and pushing hard each day like we should, things like diet, drinking, and lack of sleep will all be obstacles in optimizing our performances.
If your performances aren’t progressing the way you want them to, take that long, hard look in the mirror. Ask yourself why things aren’t going well. Be honest.
Are you coming in consistently and busting your a** every workout? If you can’t make it to the gym on a given day, are you doing some type of WOD at home or at the park to make up for it?
Are you eating “clean”? Have you taken the next step and looked into the Zone or Paleo or both?
Are you taking the time to practice the things you suck at? Are you asking your coaches to help you dial in your technique? Are you still scaling your workout when you don’t really need to?
Are you getting enough rest?
Are you keeping your carousing to a reasonable level, or is it impacting your training?
There are a million things that can get in the way of being our best, but the difference in reaching our “potential” and falling by the wayside lies in actively avoiding hindrances to our training, and working through the inevitable bumps in the road we’ll face.
So is there greatness in you? Let’s find out.
Topics: Articles, Cynergy Central | 4 Comments »
March 30th, 2009 at 6:37 am
I agree that potential is relative. Whenever you reach a new low even getting back to normal looks a little sweeter. Finishing a difficult task is more rewarding than finishing an easy one. And most of us will never settle for just OK. The ‘potential ‘ Bar is always set a little higher…over time!
March 30th, 2009 at 8:22 am
good Monday morning thought, chip!
March 30th, 2009 at 9:59 am
thanks chip…i needed to read that today…time to take the next step and kick it up…a group of folks i know well remind themselves “it works if you do”..and thanks for the “coachin up” on saturday…made a huge difference…
March 31st, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Chip, fantastic post! Your words definitely reinforce this CrossFit info in my head ~ and makes me that much more anxious to kick a** tomorrow.
Thank you.