I hope you had an awesome Memorial day weekend, and got to spend some quality time with friends and family to’ recharge the batteries’.  That’s always needed!

I was in Jacksonville competing with 5 of my teammates in the Cross Fit Southeast Regionals (If you don’t know, Crossfit is like super high intensity, borderline insane, tortuous fitness training).

It was an INTENSE yet FUN weekend, and we ended up placing 24^th out of 46 teams-not too bad for our first year -Next year we’ll WIN, the damn thing!

Anyway, I was reminded of some valuable lessons this weekend that apply to both fitness and life, that I hope you will allow me to share with you.

1. Give MORE!- When you push yourself beyond your perceived limitations, only 1 of 2 things can happen 1. You Die 2. You accomplish more than you ever thought possible.  Chances are you won’t die, so when you think you have nothing left to give, dig deep and give a little more.  What you’ll be able to accomplish will absolutely amaze you!

 

2.   Surround yourself with people who are ‘better’ than you.- In order to get better at anything, you’ve got to surround yourself with greatness, not mediocrity.  If you play golf, do you think your  game would get better by playing with Tiger Woods or Paris Hilton (ok, maybe an exaggeration but you get my point)?  Get inspired rather than intimidated by those who have accomplished more than you have, or can do ’more’ than you can. Allow another’s mastery to push you forward rather than pull you back, and one day soon you’ll be an inspiration to others.

3. Celebrate your Victories: For some reason many people have a tendency to dwell on  defeat  rather than celebrate victory. The problem with this, is that you never feel that you’re getting better.  You’re always focused on the horizon, not realizing how far you’ve come from the shore.  ANY and ALL degrees of progress should be recognized and rewarded. Sure, your goal may be to lose 25 pounds or do 20 pushups, but if you’ve lost 1 pounds and completed 2 pushups, isn’t that better than where you started? Celebrate that!

4. Finding a TEAM is MANDATORY- Have you ever heard the acronym for the word TEAM: Together Everyone Accomplishes More ? If not, store it in your mental rolodex, because it’s not only true, but it’s critical to your fitness (and life) success.  You’re not always going to be able to motivate yourself, celebrate your victories, and recognize your mistakes, but when you have a supportive team on your side to cheer you on when you’re ‘on’, and pick you up when you’re not, then its so much easier to stay on course. Don’t be afraid to ask for support- people can, will and most of all WANT to help you.

 

5. Some things just plain SUCK- Some things there are no sugar-coating;they just plain-ole SUCK! I’m sure you’ve been told before that ‘life isn’t fair’  Well, add to that,’ Some things just SUCK’.  Everything cannot and should not be easy.  The things and situations that seemingly SUCK in your life, will most  often bring out the best in you, IF YOU ALLOW IT!. Progress and growth occur OUTSIDE the comfort zone.  If  it happened inside the comfort zone you  would already be and have what you want (and if you do, then at some point you were out of your comfort zone). If you choose to embrace, rather than resist discomfort, the  reward is  strength, resilience, progress and JOY!. In a nutshell: Suck It Up, because what’s won’t kill you, will only make you BETTER!

Train HARD,

Shondelle aka Coach

P.S.  There are still 8 spots available in the Synergize 12-week Weight Loss Study.  Check it out now at www.SynergizeWeightLossStudy.com

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