Doug Larson
I’m sure many will disagree, but end results and performance don’t mean everything.
I know this isn’t readily accepted so let me explain…
One day I was watching my friend train for her next powerlifting meet and on this day it was time for her to test her deadlift.
In her mind, she came into training determined to hit a certain number and wasn’t ok with anything less. But this particular day was just one of those days where she couldn’t put it together.
Her performance left her frustrated, angry, doubting herself, her training, and vowing to quit the sport she’s grown to love. All over a few pounds of weight and all the pressure she put on herself.
I think we can all say we’ve been there.
When you’re a competitive, driven person who has goals you want to see go down, you can’t help but to sometimes obsess over your expectations for the end result.
Now obsessing isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For people to truly become great at something, they have to be a little obsessive.
But too much obsession and self-pressure, especially over the wrong things, and you’ll drive yourself nuts when life doesn’t pan out the way you wanted.
So maybe this is just my belief, but the end result isn’t the most important thing. Because really we never truly reach an “end state”. We tend to always be in search of more and better in our pursuit of mastery and greatness.
But this constant obsession over the endpoint blinds you from appreciating the process, the journey that leads you towards your goal.
The process is what you can control, not the end result. And it’s from the process how you learn, grow and in the long run get the most enjoyment. Because even if you don’t “win”, your journey will be what you’ll be most proud of.
But this only works if you allow yourself to let go a bit.
Which brings me to this week’s chat on the show.
This week on Barbell Shrugged we discuss how to chill out and stop overly-obsessing over your training results.
You’ll learn how to truly be at peace with your training progress and have a great time despite the setbacks and speed bumps you’re bound to face.
Enjoy
Alex
For more:
- We continue the discussion from the show on this episode of Nuggets & Pearls – Have You Become Too Competitive?. Watch now on Overtime.
This couldn’t have come at a better time! Thank you!
Great episode! Thanks. Especially enjoyed hearing your about faith motivation and strong belief. Good job.
Thanks for sharing, great episode.
This was a great video until people had to start talking about Jesus Christ. I will never understand you religious fanatics from the south. I think the message is a good one and I love the show but just as there is a separation of church and state… I think there should be an equal separation in podcasts about fitness.
I disagree with you Benjamin. Listeners enjoy hearing about personal beliefs and experiences that drive athletes to perform their best and achieve goals. Strong motivators develop a new level of importance for actions and make training more meaningful.
Keep up the great work Barbell Shrugged Crew!
Good Point Paul. I guess it is just hard for me to understand, but if it helps other people then go for it! Whatever works.
Training takes a backseat to God, family, country. Not even close, actually. I would risk my life for either of the big 3, not training. The good news, is that life is not either/or very often. My family know that I love to train, but they know that I love them more, so training helps family life by releiving stress and keeping me healthy. Getting obsessed about training would create more conflicts. That is the day that I will back off or shut it down.
Maybe a bit of a different angle on this (but in similar spirit), this reminds me of a lesson from my high school basketball coaches: When you stop having fun, you stop playing well. I think there’s something there that’s transferable to other areas of life too.
I also appreciate the thoughts about doing things for Christ. All things. (And why not say it? After all, if you’re going to explain what helps your perspective, there’s not much option but to actually say what helps your perspective.)