Been thinking about commitment lately.
To me, training is a long-term process. It goes in cycles. Sometimes you’re on your game – you’re eating clean and you’re on fire and focused in the gym – and you make great gains. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen. But whatever your motivation level is at any particular moment, you can’t expect greatness in 8 weeks. Strength, speed, endurance – they’re not a place you can reach. They’re a process. Fitness is a journey, not a destination.
Unfortunately, too many of us are looking for an instant fix. We’re focused on the outcomes – the reflection in the mirror, the compliments from others, whatever – instead of the goal, to live better. To keep improving and making progress.
When you focus on outcomes like the size of your muscles or the size of your jeans, gratification is fleeting. Because you’ll never have big enough muscles or a tiny enough waist. But when you’re committed to fitness – committed to the long-term – then you open yourself up to success.
For me, gratification comes from lifting something heavier than expected or from completing that intense crazy circuit one more time. From knowing that I’ve got more in the tank than I thought and from surprising myself with what I can achieve. To me, that’s success. And that requires a certain level of commitment – to myself, to training, and to the long-term.
