Reminder:  The Paint and Sip event, benefitting CrossFit for Hope is only a few days away!  Please check out the website for more information and to sign-up. Great way to enjoy an evening and benefit a great cause!

Pat shares words of wisdom:

I recently finished reading “Moonwalking with Einstein” – a fantastic book about the World Memory Championships and improving your memory. It’s a fascinating story about mental athletes and what it takes to excel at their sport. The most interesting part of the book for me though, was a chapter titled “The OK Plateau” and how it connects to CrossFit. 

The OK Plateau is something we all have experienced whether we recognized it at the time or not. It may have been at work or a school or even something at home. It could have been trying a new sport, learning to ride a bike or swim or climb a rope. It could have been while learning to type or crochet. It’s probably been something different for every one of us – but we have all experienced it.

With every new skill or ability that we learn, there comes a point in time during the learning process that we make a choice. That choice is whether we are OK with whatever level of proficiency we have achieved or that we are not satisfied and we need to work harder and strive to get better. Am I OK with typing with 2-3 fingers? Will “Chopsticks” be my crowning achievement on the piano? You may even have hit the OK Plateau several times during the learning process and said “No, I’m not OK” before eventually saying “Yes, I am OK with where I am.” Your passion for that particular skill was probably the main determining factor as to what choice you made and when you made it.

For me, I am OK with my typing skills, my ability to ride a bike, and swimming. While I was playing rugby, I was OK for a while, then definitely not, and then went back to being OK again. When I started with Karate 24 years ago, I found a passion for something that did not allow me to be just OK. I NEEDED to be better. So I worked at it, trained twice a day, 5-6 days a week and did some running and lifting on the side. I wanted to be better than OK and was more than willing to put in the time and effort to make it happen.

Four years ago, I was having trouble maintaining the fitness levels I desired and getting the response I wanted from my body. I looked for something to add to what I was already doing. When I found CrossFit I knew I had found the key to being more than just OK. CrossFit is all about constantly confronting the OK Plateau and deciding the answer is “No, I’m not OK with where I am right now – I need to do more. I need to make myself a better than I was yesterday.”

It’s about choice – you can either choose to just go along, content with whatever level you are at now and hope that things will work out for you in the long run OR you can choose to work a little harder, push myself a little further, go a little deeper, lift a little heavier, run a little faster or try something new.

When you get to that next plateau, what will you do? The opportunity is there. The coaching is there. The question is there: Are you OK with just being OK?