Trust The Process
In light of being approximately one month into the new year I felt like now would be a good time to discuss a concept that I believe is important to reaching your personal fitness goals, or any goal for that matter. The concept is learning to trust and enjoy the process.
When we embark on a new fitness journey, it can be very easy to become overwhelmed with reaching the goals that we set for ourselves. No matter how big or small your goals may seem, it’s important to allow time under tension to work in your favor. In order to do this, you need to find a way to trust and enjoy the process. Although it’s important to keep your eye on the prize, too much focus on your end game can cause for anxiety or even disappointment if you hit a proverbial bump in the road. To help explain my point let’s put it in a story format.
John has decided that one of his biggest goals is to finally dead lift 500 pounds! John couldn’t be more committed to reaching this goal. It’s all he thinks about, he designs his workouts around this goal, and he knows that nothing is going to stop him! Things are going well! John is getting stronger every week and every month! Little by little he is getting closer and closer; 300lb, 0365lb, 405lb, 455lb, 475lb! Five hundred pounds is so close he can taste it! Next week is going to be the week; he is sure of it! Then without notice… Life happened… John caught a nasty bug that had him in bed for a whole week and sick for two weeks! His strength has dwindled, his energy is low, he feels like he’s back to where he started. John is defeated.
Now even though John experienced a setback, I believe that it would have been less of a setback if he would have spent a little more time trusting and enjoying the process. Part of getting to where we are going is taking the time to focus on and to enjoy the journey. If John would have spent more time focusing on other things than just 500lb, it’s likely that this bump in the road would not have been so demoralizing. Continuing to use John’s goal as an example: He could have spent more time focusing on his form and the movement pattern itself, recognizing that reaching a 500lb dead lift should be done both safely and effectively. He could have taken pride in breaking down the movement pattern piece by piece and creating a textbook lift that anyone would be proud of, no matter the weight. With so much focus only on the end goal, it’s possible that John was missing small little moments that he could enjoy and take pride in along the way. Combining all of our little milestones or victories is important to keep us moving forward and that can help us to be patient and keep things in perspective.
Good things take time. Good things take effort. And good things are worth working for. I encourage you to take smaller bites of this proverbial elephant you’re trying to eat. Trusting and enjoying the process will also open the door for increased positivity. Thoughts become things and I assure you, we become what we think about. Make reasonable goals and set goals along the way that allow you to avoid becoming overwhelmed. Believe in yourself and stay positive, and you will find a way to trust and enjoy the process.