Mindset During the Open and Beyond
By; Sam Stuart – CFL2
I’ve been doing CrossFit for roughly 6 years and I still struggle with self-doubts and negative thoughts at times. I recently found myself making excuses for not doing as well as I wanted to or expected to in training and perseverating on things that were out of my control. These excuses sucked me into a negative thought spiral and one day when talking with Emily I dramatically stated “February 2019 has been the worst month of my life!” She came back with something like, “Umm, did you forget about the two 3rd place finishes you had in your competitions this month?” *insert sheepish emoji here*
Our thoughts attract similar energy, drawing to you whatever you tend to focus on. I quickly forgot how far I’ve come and all that I accomplished because I was so focused on things that were out of my control. I realize February has been a crazy successful month when I look at it through a more positive lens. Working to improve positive mindset has taken continuous work for me and should become something that we all regularly do.
The Open season is an especially important time to practice positive mind. It can be a challenging time as it requires vulnerability to show up and be seen while putting your best effort into something you want to feel successful at. For some of us it takes a lot of courage just to sign up. The Open is meant to be challenging and to push you to accomplish things you never thought you could, while bringing the community closer together. It stops being fun when you become too hard on yourself or bring yourself down.
I wanted to share some tips for practicing positive mindset that have helped me over the years:
- Clearly visualize what a successful outcome looks like. Is it the score you get on a workout? Is it putting in maximal effort? Is it learning something new?
- Repeat an empowering phrase to yourself. Something as simple as, “I can do this” when you feel like quitting. It might sound silly, but you will start to believe in yourself and it will crossover into other aspects of your life.
- Practice gratitude for what your body can do. It’s a privilege to be healthy and to workout no matter what level you are at.
- Remember where and why you started. It’s a journey for all; whether you’re a competitive Crossfitter or you just like to attend classes to boost fitness and make new friends.
- Allow yourself to feel the uncomfortable feelings (i.e.vulnerability, disappointment, dissatisfaction) because it’s what makes us human. It is where courage, empathy, and authenticity grow. Use them to make you better.
Whether you utilize some of these, none of these or all of these… try to look at things as a journey. You are just writing one chapter of your book.
