Your Greatest Performance Tool

No one would expect an athlete to train for competition by sitting in a chair and thinking about training. Physical sports need to be experienced.  Same goes for performance. Our body needs to be taught the skills that our minds cannot summon with will alone.

There is power in movement.

There is wisdom in movement.

There is memory in movement.

If you wish to summon that power and wisdom at will, you must practice.  You must train. Then in the future, even when your intellect and nerves fail, your body will summon those skills in order to perform.

This brings us to the physical side of performance. Our bodies are our tool. We come in all shapes and sizes – yes. We need all shapes and sizes – yes. Can our shape and size can limit our opportunities?  Hey.  I’ve got what I got.  This is it.  After four decades I’m ok with it cuz spending the time regretting my looks is time wasted.

However, do I want to be limited by my health? Do I want to be limited by my capacity to move? Do I want to feel aged at any age? That is a no. I’m apparently going to claw at the stereotypes of “Age” before I go down. I’m fighting the whole way.

I fight for it in the gym and with good old Mother Nature. That’s how I take care of my greatest tool for performance.  It’s a large part of my life.  But my fitness is not who I am.  When I walk out of the gym, I’m done.  I don’t live, sleep, eat, breathe fitness.  I don’t horde the magazines and obsess over Pinterest.  I let the other parts breathe.  The mother, the wife, the intellectual, the artist. There’s time for them all. My fitness is a facet not my face.  My fitness may not be who I am but it is a great part of how I feel.

My explanation for my continued motivation is: I’ve found my thing. It’s a tangible moment when I lift a weight and it feels lighter than before. In that moment I know I have overcome an obstacle. I have risen to the challenge of resistance. I am stronger. Every time I train, I push myself just enough to feel that resistance. I train until I don’t feel it anymore, then I push myself a little more. Over time, I have gotten stronger. Time has been my companion. I have found health, fitness, and strength because I have had Time.

What else have I learned by giving myself time to become healthy?

• Time has taught me also how to let destructive habits go. I have learned to replace them with something positive or the bad habits always come back.
• I have learned that only by valuing myself does my motivation stay long term. Every other motivator dies. Love is the only inspiration that endures.
• Time has taught me that by listening to the wisdom of my body, finding its natural expression of movement, and by balancing its many needs will I see the body that I crave.
• My body craves its own natural expression. It is MY body that I truly covet, not someone else’s. My body has told me it loves strength, it doesn’t love running, it loves to dance, it moves best with music, and that the type of yoga that challenges my muscles is its favorite form of stretching. I have learned that I CAN eat carbs, I CAN eat any time of day, and I CAN maintain my weight without counting a single calorie if I just listen to its wisdom and maintain balance.
• I’ve learned that above all, human beings need Mother Nature.  My body needs to walk outside in any weather. In every weather.

My motivation need only be that I want to be healthy and strong. And I know that objective, my Why (Obstacles, Objectives and the Why of What we Do), is strong because it pulls me into action.

Isn’t it a shame that Time is the one thing we don’t allow on the journey?

And it’s a shame we place any judgment at all on strength. On “muscles”.  I don’t give anyone or anything permission to make me a stereotype.  Nor should you.  All you “should” do is give yourself permission to find your body’s own personal expression of movement and health.  Instead of judgment, witness each other’s journey to health to learn.

So when you’re training heavy and sweating like a pig, I’ll honor you. When you’re running like a gazelle as if it’s the best thing in the world, I’ll honor you. When you’re doing hot yoga and bathing in fluids, I’ll honor you. When you are shaking every single ounce of what your mamma gave you in your Zumba class, I’ll honor you. I will applaud you for giving yourself time to listen to your own body’s wisdom and honouring its wishes.

What is the one thing you’re going to try today to explore your body’s natural expression of movement? What is the one thing you can change in your thoughts that will change your Why into love for yourself?

It is time to begin taking care of your greatest performance tool.  Rise to the challenge of resistance.  Your story depends on it.