Sunday Story…The Road to the Games Day 1

Dallas-Fort Worth Airport

It’s real now. The plane leaves shortly. Next stop is Los Angeles and the Manhattan Beach Marriott to the athlete check-in. The preparation is in the bag, all done. I have done everything I can do to be ready for this week. The time to perform is coming in just a few short days.

I run into a fellow competitor, Cliff Lewis from CrossFit Heath, as we await boarding. As a 4 time games competitor he had some great insights into the experience that looms in front of us. I must admit to some nervousness as the departure time approaches. Up until this point it has been all about the training, the daily grind of looking at today’s work and getting after it. Now is the time to put all those hours of work into action in 3 days.

Self-doubt is one of the things that always hangs over any of as we get ready to do anything important. Obviously our day to day tasks should not cause trepidation, but the big things in life? The marriage proposals, the big speeches, the really big decisions? Those things have us self-talking and often talking in the wrong ways to ourselves.

You are ready for the moment in front of you. You are the right person, doing the right thing, at the right time. There is no one else but you who can do what you can do. Only you are ready to do this exact thing. Everything you have done before this moment has led you to this exact moment in time. It is incumbent upon you to set aside all other thoughts, all doubt cast aside for the only thing in front of you. In my case there is the work out ahead, nothing else. No room for anything other than that.

The ability to cease debilitating self-talk is crucial to your success. Before you start, in the middle of performance, and post-performance you must be able to talk to yourself in ways that are uplifting and positive. It is ok to be objectively critical. It is not ok to be judgmental and destructive to yourself. Improvement will happen through careful objective analysis not by beating yourself up.

What you say to yourself is more important than what others say to you. You are your worst critic. You are also your biggest cheerleader. So who do you want to be talking to you? The critic or the cheerleader?

Namaste

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.martialartsnevada.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
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