It happens to all of us. We hit a bump in the road. Things don’t go quite as planned and all of a sudden the train is off the track. Then the negative self talk begins. We beat ourselves up more and do more damage than any opponent could.

At that moment we have choices. We can choose to spiral downward; beating ourselves into a bloody pulp leaving our self esteem in a bloody bucket in the corner. We can choose throw out a life line and call a friend who we hope will pull us out of our tail spin. We can fight back with positive thoughts and affirmations in the hope that positivity will trump negativity.

As you can tell most of those choices don’t hold much allure for me. What do I do to get the train back on the track? How do I re-inspire myself to get up and keep going?

The first thing I do is focus on My Why. Why am I doing what I am doing? What was the original reason to pursue the path I fell off? What was it about doing that thing, the efforting, and trying that drove me to it in the first place? Your Why is your lifeline. If you know your Why, if you believe in your Why you can tolerate any How.

I used to kid and say I wanted to go the Reebok CrossFit Games to wear the cool pants like all the cool kids. That is not a very strong why in the face of puke inducing training volumes, constant nagging injury, and a very solitary existence. When I wanted to quit a work out, when I wondered if it was all worth it I returned to my Why: I Teach Focus and Inspire Transformation. That’s my Why. Being Focused and Transformative, even if I didn’t get to the Games, my Why would not let me quit, would not let me continue the beat down. All I had to do was stop being that and I could stop the pain. I was not and am not willing to stop Being my Why.

Why are you doing what you are doing? In any facet of your life you should have a Why. Your Big Why informs your life. Your Big Why forces the nattering nabobs of negativity into hiding. Your Big Why gets you up in the morning, picks you up after a disastrous experience, and provides the joy in the journey.

Find your Big Why. It isn’t easy. It will take some serious gut-check introspection. It will be worth it. And it will make it so much easier to get up when you get knocked down.

Looking for Why? Call or write me. We can find it together.

John Mariotti

775-338-2412
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
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