Process over Results

A while ago, one of the coaches who I look up to and learn a lot of good things from, Dave Ward, posted an article that he got from Triathlon Magazine about athletes. It was called Are you a Level 6 Performer. It basically compares mediocre type athletes to "Level 6 Performers", which are those althletes that just have a higher midset for success. There was one point of his review of the article that really struck me and helped changed my mindset of working out. Here it is, word for word:

"Process over Results
This is probably my favorite principle. Level six performers focus on execution. They spend less time thinking about winning and more time focusing on what it takes to win. They are focused on the process, not the result. They understand that the process will lead to the desired result. By focusing on the process, they stay “in the moment” and are not distracted by their emotions.
This is not to say that you should not visualize. Personally, I’m a big believer in visualization, which I picked up from golf. What it means is that you need to focus on what you are doing when you are doing it.
Lower level athletes tend to focus on a desired result, rather than focusing on the
process that will lead them to a result. You simply cannot wish your way to a
higher level of fitness. It takes work and it takes time.
Focus on the process and the results will come. When you achieve your results that’s the time to enjoy them."

When we focus too much on our desired result (losing a certain number of pounds, getting into a certain size, etc) it is too easy to get discouraged because change takes time. Instead, we should be focusing on the process and staying in the moment. Putting every ounce of our energy and thought into what we are currently doing and giving our full 100%. Don't go through the motions and just jump around and do things half hearted. Do everything ON PURPOSE. Give your all so you can look back and say that you did. FOCUS on the process and the results WILL come.

Food is Fuel

Your body is an AMAZING machine. It is filled with miles and miles of blood vessels that carry cells which travel precisely and completely to every single part of your body continuously from the day you were born until the day they stop, and you stop with them. It has many organs that are a team and work intricately together to perform hundreds, if not thousands of functions, from regulating your body temperature, to fighting off infections, to transferring oxygen from the air to all your little blood cells. It has hundreds of bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments that all need to cooperate along with your hugely complicated and extensive sensory network, called the nervous system, in order to make all the millions of movements that you want to make. Without all these things and many many more, that I don't have time to list, you would not function the way you should.

I know that you probably already knew all those things, but I don't think that we think about them enough and truly appreciate the genius creation that is our bodies. Because if we did, we probably wouldn't be filling it with all the sludge and trudge and junk that we drop down our gullets.

Let's say that your body is a Cadillac. Cadillacs are considered high end luxury vehicles. A complex, expensive machine which the manufacture requires that you use a high performance of fuel, Premium Unleaded, in order for it to function they way it should. Your body is your high performance machine. If you want it to keep going and going and going, you have to use the best fuel. If you want to respect your body it is important to give it the fuel that it needs to keep going. It is not about what your taste buds want or what your brain thinks your body needs. Food is fuel. If you give your body the nutrients and clean energy that it needs to function, it will thank you by performing better and longer, giving you the higher quality of life you are striving for.

Know your Options..

And Know what they are NOT.

Once upon a time, my boyfriend asked me a silly question. He said "Do you even WANT to go to work tomorrow?" And I just looked at him, kind of puzzled because honestly, the thought never crossed my mind. Whether I want to or not, I still HAVE to go, and my feelings on the matter doesn't change that, so I don't even bother to think about it. The same thing can be applied to working out. We shouldn't even consider whether we WANT to or not, but just go DO IT! I think I learned that when I was a kid because whenever us kids got all whiney and said we didn't want to do something my dad would say "Well you are going to have to change your want-to-then!"

So what are your options? By saying what your options are NOT, you give your options more power and room to succeed.
Not working out is NOT an option.
Not giving your 100% is NOT an option.
Not meeting or exceeding your goal is NOT an option. (With the only exceptions being injury or death.)
Sugar comas are NOT an option.


Feel free to list yours in the comments or any you think I may have missed.

Kryptonite

From the 3 Doors Down popular song:
If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman
If I’m alive and well, Will you be there a-holding my hand
I’ll keep you by my side with my superhuman might
Kryptonite

What is your kryptonite? You know, that thing or person in your life that makes you week every time you go near it? But the thing about that kryptonite, is that you can't get rid of it on your own. The harder you try to let go, the stronger it is. If you are fighting with your kryptonite, maybe it's time to ask someone to help you get it out of your life. You don't really know how much it is holding you back until you get rid of it. Then you'll wish you had done it sooner.

More Words of Wisdom!

I guess we get an extra blessing of words of wisdom today! I got this in one of the e-mail forwards that some people send around to everyone. Well, this is my way of forwarding it! Except I cut out everything but the words that struck me the most:

God still sits on the throne.

Isn't that true? You could be having a really crappy day, think back and take comfort in this fact. Through the storm, God still sits on the throne. In the aftermath, God STILL sits on the throne. Through our highs and lows, God still sits on the throne. He is the alpha, the omega, the beginning and the end, and no matter what you do, he will still be sitting on that throne!

I'll leave you with this verse:
"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)

Words of Wisdom

I was just remembering something my Pastor told me last Thursday when I was telling him how I was growing and improving in what I was doing, but how sometimes it's still a struggle. He said someone told him a couple weeks ago that:

"If you aren't ready to quit every Monday, then you must be doing something wrong."

That is so true, though. There have been times when I want to quit doing what I'm doing at church because it can be hard and it's a stretch and sometimes I just don't want to go through with it anymore, but if you think about it, that is when you learn and grow the most and when it is the most rewarding.