Kells Blogpost - The Most Important Question You Can Ask Yourself

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He was sprawled out on the floor, literally gasping for air. He was in phenomenal shape for his age, but even so, the fact that he was on the wrong side of 50 made me do a double-take to make sure my friend was doing ok. We had just completed a workout so grueling that we were simply laying on the floor, punch-drunk with fatigue and chewing on that metallic taste that gets in your mouth after you pump your lungs with too much blood over a short, intense period of time.

“We do some fucked up shit here”, he said. “WHY?”

Brilliant. A question so profound yet so simple. Why do we show up? Why do we do what we do? Not just in CrossFit but it life?

The answer to this question should mean everything to you.

What is your "Why"? No matter what it is, we all need a strong, well-defined one, particularly if we are looking to accomplish anything challenging in our lives. I don’t care if it’s going to the gym, going to work, or just getting out of your bed in the morning…if you don’t have a strong Why, things are not going to get done. You won’t do them as hard or as well. If you are going to drive change, in the world or in yourself…if you are going to impact others, you absolutely must have a strong Why.

What is yours? Write it down on a piece of paper and look at it often. It doesn’t particularly matter what it is, as long as it is impactful to you. If you do a good job at identifying it, it will without question serve its purpose as a motivating force in your life.

What drives you? What pushes you? Is there something within you that allows you to say Fuck Off to the snooze button in the morning? If not…find it.

What is the SPIRIT behind why you do what you do? The purpose. Because there are two extremes here, aren’t there? On one end you might be sleepwalking your way through an existence with no discernable goal or purpose. Showing up to a job that you don’t particularly like, checking dogmatic boxes and going through the motions. On the other end, you have a motor; someone or something (or both) that is propelling you forward. And honestly, it could be anything. Maybe it’s your children. Your parents. A mission or a calling. Or the specter of a loved one who is no longer here.

Maybe it’s something material! Fine. Money? The house that you want in the town that you want? If it is driving you to do what you want to do and to get things done…perfect. The concept/correlation of money and happiness is an entirely different argument; all we are considering here is what is driving you through your days to a positive trajectory.

Your Why drives you to take action…today, not tomorrow. Don’t be haunted by the ghosts of your potential when you are lying on your deathbed. Most of what we accomplish in life is just the tip of the iceberg of our capabilities. But if your Why is strong enough, you’re more apt to take that leap…into a new job, or a new relationship. Into a CrossFit gym for the first time. Or to do that thing you’ve been avoiding all of these years…write the first few pages of that book that has been kicking around in your head, or start that business that you know is for you.

I’ll say it again…do NOT let the ghosts of your potential accuse you of not using all of your gifts. This is called “regret”, and regret is a nasty business. Use those gifts now while there is still time.

Are we just talking about an occupation or a gym membership? Hell no. BUT, it is all part of the bigger picture. If you look at somebody who is dialed-in to CrossFit, who puts themselves in that program on a daily or weekly basis, more often than not that person will have a pretty strong Why…someone who has a motor inside of the gym that translates to life outside of it.

Because guess what? We all get tired. We all get to a breaking point where we can’t take another step, run another mile, do another rep or even just get up in the morning because some life circumstance punched us in the face. And when we reach that point, it is the strength of our Why that not only gets us past that point, but allows us to thrive in those circumstances.

On a micro level, you could just be having a bad day, or be in the middle of a grueling workout where you can’t even see straight. On a macro level? Maybe you lost your job. Maybe he or she left you and they’re not coming back. Maybe you or someone you love got sick…really sick.. Life does not use kid gloves when it throws challenges our way. But it is a beautiful thing to watch someone who is so very clearly in the midst of whatever battle they are in handle themselves with strength, poise and grace. The stronger your Why is, the more capable you are of conducting yourself in that manner.

Anybody can be a ray of sunshine when they have a full belly, are in a good relationship, their bills are paid and they have a solid roof over their head. What happens when that’s NOT the case? Same applies to the gym…anyone can show up on the day when whatever is programmed is one of their strengths. But what about when it’s a heavy day and you’re not strong? Or a running day and you can’t run? What do you do then? Again, it is here where your Why carries you.

In “Man’s Search for Meaning”, Viktor Frankl writes that “those who have a ‘why’ to live can bear with almost any ‘how’”. Beautiful words from a man who went through Hell and back, and who was eminently qualified to make that kind of statement.

So, CrossFit friends and future CrossFit friends alike…what is your Why? How do you define yourself, and what talents are you presently leaving on the table?

Keeping in the spirit of this question, CrossFit Kells will be spearheading an extremely unique challenge for the South Shore CrossFit community over the next 6-12 months. It will be hard, cold, wet, slightly expensive, and incredibly rewarding. Those who accept this challenge may even meet themselves for the first time while completing it. This challenge will essentially be offered to anybody, but will definitively not be for everybody.

We will be releasing details in the coming weeks, and if your curiosity gets the best of you by all means come and see me. In the meantime…consider this topic and these questions. Dedicate some time to them and write a few things down. None among you who do this will be sorry that you did…

-Mike

Kells Blogpost - Why Challenge Yourself?

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OK, CFK beasts…going a little deep and personal over the next couple of blog posts, so please bear with me if things go a little heavy in the CFK blogosphere. As we start this challenge, I find myself looking around at people stepping outside of their comfort zones, committing to something that will make them better…and I feel proud and inspired.

I thought I would share an experience I had back in 2012, when I decided to do a personal challenge based on the suggestion of a mentor. The challenge was basically a 10 day gauntlet of no sugar, caffeine, or alcohol, no media of any kind and a few other things. If you’re interested in the particulars (and have a few minutes to kill at the cubicle or in the restroom!!), the complete details of the challenge can be found here:

http://www.brassringfitness.com/2011/03/14/the-agoge-challenge/comment-page-1/

It was called the Agoge challenge, based on the approach that the Spartan society took to living back in the day. The goal of the challenge was to simplify your life for a few days, to look inward, and to sacrifice in the name of personal improvement.

Part of the challenge called for a journaling of the experience, and the reason I am sharing this with you is that I just revisited my entries from the Agoge. It was pretty cool to look at my thoughts during this thing from back then, and the timing is pretty good given the CrossFit Kells challenge upon which we are now embarking. For the food part of this challenge, I basically just ate bread, eggs, chicken, broccoli and almonds for 10 days. This was during a time when I LIVED for my lahhhhge iced regulahhh from Dunks in the morning, crushed a heaping bowl of granola before bed every night, and consistently took down Hawaiian pizzas from Duxbury Pizza. To say I went through sugar withdrawals is an understatement!

Part of the goal of this challenge was to not talk about the challenge, which I did not. The goal was an inward focus, not an outward one. But seeing our Kells community getting fired up for our own challenge, and seeing some folks nervous about committing to this given their diet and lifestyle routines, I thought it might be beneficial to a few of you to share my experience.

Here are a few bullets from my journaling over the course of those 10 days. As we go through our challenge this month, I highly recommend writing down parts of your experience for your own reference. It will make the experience a richer one for you, and it will also be interesting to look back on it at some point in the future.  

 

“Agoge – July 2012”

Days 2&3

“Now that I’ve been eating the same diet for a few days, seems to be an interesting effect. There’s a feeling of fatigue that is relatively constant…wondering if that is a manifestation of the lack of sugar that I am used to? Will be interesting to see if this continues. Given this feeling, there has already been thoughts from that “other side” casting doubt on this challenge. “Why do this to yourself? What will this prove? What will change?” These questions were also posed after seeing/smelling pizza, cookies, and thinking about that next iced coffee. The answer is this….why do it? Because I want to. Because I can. Because the concept that character is built thorough sacrifice and doing things that are hard is an important one. I still have a lot to prove to myself…to challenge myself with”

“Who would know if I quit? I would”

“Of course I want to kick back with a bowl of granola and watch a movie; not happening”

“As you work through UM, start to journal and document more. There is something about putting it in writing that makes the experience more real and enriching.”

“As for Agoge…keep going strong. Today there were certainly questions and doubts cast….don’t listen. Yes, it’s hard and will get harder. That’s why you’re doing it. These are the building blocks for the strengthening of character…do not cheapen that buy quitting. You owe it to yourself and (your future self) to stay the course, suck it up… embrace the suck”

“The hardest part seems to be the fatigue feeling and the food cravings. But there is no question you’re getting enough sleep, so that “fatigue” is your body lying to you.  You’re fueling your body with enough nutrients…keep at it keep at it keep at it. It will be worth it”

 

Day 5

“There did not seem to be ANY of the fatigue today…very interested to know if that was the body’s reaction to no sugar – do some research on this. So, close of day five and still going strong (despite the temptation to go to the beach and have a bunch of beers). It looks like the fatigue issue has passed”

 

Day 6

“Pretty good energy throughout the work day, just a few moments of the fatigue feeling here and there. Body seems to be catching up to the diet. No question getting leaner…165 lbs on waking up this morning. Too thin” (I forgot about this part…165! I looked like I was about to blow away into the Atlantic Ocean if a stiff breeze came)

 

Days 7 & 8

“Strong couple of days, holding strong on the Agoge. Still 5AM wake-up every day; yesterday situps, meditation, and a ball-busting crossfit wod. Interesting part about yesterday was a back/forth going on in the mind. This challenge has had elements of fatigue in it throughout, be it physical or mental. Yesterday, the quitter voice was begging not to go to the gym after work. Rationalizing, justifying, etc….but the strength voice won. Glad I went”

 

  

That's it, guys…just a few simple entries to share. The rest went a little TOO deep and probably best saved for some kind of couch session! But the point is this…doing these little challenges and proving something to ourselves is an important exercise. Doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks…are you doing this for YOU, and how are you going to feel when you’re done?

You just have to have the right “WHY”…which, by the way, is the topic of our next blog.

What is your “WHY”? 

We are going to explore this, as well as offer a challenge to only a few of you that will unquestionably be life-altering…

Good luck this month.

-Mike