Listen up… Close the facebook machine, don’t pick up your phone, mute the television, and give me your undivided attention for the 5 minutes it will take to read this.

Why did you start CrossFit?

Don’t jump to a conclusion without careful thought.  Sure, the majority of answers are going to be “because I needed to get into better shape”.  That’s great, truly it is.  But why?

Was a health concern the main reason?   Did you have a life changing experience that made you strive for a change?  Was it time to set an example for your children? Your niece or nephew?  Maybe a parent?  Were you looking for a competitive outlet and thought because you saw some shredded dudes and chicks on ESPN doing pull-ups and weird looking front squats with a press that you could do it…?

Whatever it is, it was motivating enough to do maybe the most difficult part, walk in the doors to the unknown.  You’re here.  You’ve done more than most.  You got started.

If you’ve started recently in your CrossFit journey there is a good chance you are still in the honeymoon phase.  You’re seeing gains (#gainZ) consistently.  You’re setting PR’s almost weekly.  A new gymnastics move may be closer and closer to being a staple in your tool kit.  You’re excited about coming to the gym to see what you can improve on daily.  That’s great.  This blog isn’t for you- yet but continue reading.

This blog is more about reminding those who have been transitioning out of the honeymoon into reality.  Some frustrations may have started to mount.  You’re not setting weekly or maybe even monthly PR’s.  Maybe some of our test/retest benchmark WOD’s haven’t seen the improvement we would have liked- maybe the numbers have gotten a little worse even… yikes.

I’m here to tell you that it’s ok.  It doesn’t matter.  In fact, it’s completely normal.  What you need to do is think back to why you originally walked in the doors.  Put yourself in the mindset you were when you first started.  Something motivated you to do one of the hardest things we can encounter as human beings, start something new.

Maybe you’ve already accomplished the goals you’ve originally set out to conquer.  That’s cool, but that’s not what I mean when I say don’t forget why you started.  Your task is a bit more challenging.  Your task is to find more motivation and you can’t Google search answers like this.  You have to sit down, clear yourself of distractions and dig deep into what matter to you.  Put a goal in your mind and re-motivate yourself to accomplish it.  Whatever it is, I promise you’ll find yourself in a similar mindset from when you started.

So what’s the moral of the story?  When people say, “never forget why you started” you may have to dig a little deeper than the original reason.  Never forgetting why you started means finding that mindset you were in before walking through the doors at ACF.  The goals will change, but the mindset is always the same.