Fortunately, for those that read this post, this WON’T be about actual carrots but rather the idea of chasing a goal, where the carrot represents whatever goal or event that you are leading up to. What is it that keeps us accountable or moving towards something? I have been thinking about this lately as I have heard a number of people stressed about this Throwdown that is coming up next month. After the 7th or 8th team approached me with obvious stress over the event, I figured that although no one asked for my opinion, I will give you my thoughts on why this is such a healthy experience for you guys, both mentally and physically. Now that a few of the events are out, people are starting to question how crazy it was for them to sign up for the event. Although this event was not created to cause additional mental stress to your everyday life, I am not opposed to this result as I think there is some benefit whether you admit to or not, that will have a positive impact on your day to day experiences.
Let’s think about it this way. Since you signed up for the Throwdown, did anything change with the way you are working out, eating, recovering? Whether you admit it or not, I have noticed more than just a handful of people that are putting in extra work on the Assault Bike, Rowers, Barbells, etc. Some people’s motivation is so that they can do really well in the event, while others stem from not wanting to be the last one to finish a workout. The reality is, no one is going to remember who finishes first or who finishes last, but our minds are a tricky animal, it can make us obsess over things that have little to no relevance. The goal for most people is to stay in a relatively comfortable bubble during our day to day lives. This is why, since we were babies, we have craved a routine. We like to know what to expect and how it will affect us emotionally and physically, this being why nearly all humans fear change. Few of us enjoy the unknown and even fewer will step off the edge of the pool without first testing the temperature or checking the depth first. Don’t get me wrong, I am not telling you to dive in headfirst, but many of us spend so much time measuring and evaluating the water, by the time were ready to get in, it’s too late. I have always thought that General Patton said it best when looking at this. He said, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”
There will never be a good time to step out of your comfort zone. There was never a chance that you were going to sign up for this Throwdown and as the events came out, your reaction would be, “Wow, this is EXACTLY what I was hoping for, these workouts won’t be painful at all!”. They were always going to be painful but let’s take a minute and realize why. Why will this be difficult for you? It’s difficult because you have become proficient in this Sport and are a fit human being. You will have the ability to push yourself and because of this, because of your fitness, you will be able to make these workouts painful. You are now realizing that there will be people watching and there will be nowhere to hide on Saturday. People will be able to see if your holding back, which means that you won’t, and that will cause some physical discomfort. Some of your fears stem from those thoughts.
Guess what else happens when you are chasing a carrot….you become accountable. You start to feel guilty when you skip a day of training or decide to eat not only your desert, which would have been fine, but you eat your kids desert….and your wife’s desert, and then it dawns on you the impact this decision will have on your performance, recovery, etc. Accountability is super healthy and something that we all need to find in some way, shape or form. Competitions can be a great catalyst to finding this accountability. It makes us come in that extra day to train. It makes us spend a little more time on our mobility. It makes us push just a little harder during the workouts leading up to the event.
You know what else is healthy? Training your brain. Dealing with some emotional stress and conquering your fears. Leading up to the event, many of you will be nauseous on your way to the Throwdown. You will have butterflies in your stomach, the stress will most likely lead to you telling anyone that you come across that you will never do this again, ever. Then the 1st workout starts and finishes and your brain realizes that there is no reason to fight with you anymore and it accepts the next 4-5 hours. When you finish, you will care less where you finished or what your “Fran” time was. You will feel like you conquered the World and you will enjoy a giant cheat meal and spend a few hours talking about how much fun it was, completely forgetting the feelings you had leading up to the event. You will have a conversation with someone soon after, telling them that you should sign up for another competition. Once you sign up, the ENTIRE cycle starts back over, immediately with regret and the accompanied mental stress:) However, each time you do this, whether it is a competition or any other significant event in your life that takes you out of your comfort bubble, it will get easier and easier to do it again. My advice is that until you can tackle something like this Throwdown with limited anxiety, continue to do everything in your power to keep participating in these types of events.