We all start from ground zero: the first time you walked into a gym, put on your cleats, or swung a baseball bat – we all start from ground zero. We’ve all been there.
No exceptions.
Competition and comparison
I was by no means an impressive athlete when I began rowing. In fact, I was one of the slowest people on the team in my first year on varsity. What drove me to improve was falling in love with the process; I developed the insatiable thirst to witness my own personal improvement. If I had let comparison guide my journey, I never would have made it to the Nova Scotia provincial rowing team, to winning the first (and second) coastal rowing championships in Atlantic Canada, to competing nationally, or to being invited to internationally compete. It’s true what they say about comparison: it’s the “theft of joy.” Last year, I retired from a successful athletic career in rowing. What did not retire was my insatiable commitment to my personal improvement – and I don’t think I ever will. If anything, it’s only gotten worse.
New journeys
I’m on a new journey competing in Olympic Weightlifting with the goal of qualifying for nationals. Once again, I am starting something new and am nowhere near as strong as those I train with. I have found my “why” and that makes starting from ground zero worth it. David Goggins helped me connect with my “why”: what drives me? What is my purpose? In asking myself why I’m doing it, I connected to the reason for what I’m doing, and this helped drive my success. Finding your “why” commits you to your own personal journey, whether it be in your sport, academics, or career.
Being insatiable
So here I am, a novice in a new sport and committed to my self-improvement – and it is incredibly humbling. It is the most technical sport I’ve ever done; the improvements can be so small – hinging at the hips better, pulling longer, simply looking up. I’ve come to realize that to fulfill my “why,” which is that obsession with personal improvement, I need to learn patience. I need to remember that progress is never linear and that success does not always come from a gold medal. Sometimes success is getting out of bed when you know you have a hard day ahead. Success is remembering to eat enough to fuel your performance. Success is knowing when your body needs a break. Choosing how you measure success, coupled with finding your “why”, are so important to staying committed to whatever goal you set.
This doesn’t only apply to sport: I find myself leaning on this new framing when it comes to trying anything new, even Labour Law.
Set your brain up to savour every small success: you work hard, and you’ve earned it.
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