Power Your Own: The Definitive Guide
1. Individual Greatness
All of these are going weave in and out of one another, so bear with me. At it's very core, Power Your Own is about achieving YOUR individual greatness. Whatever that looks like. And you can't do it for anyone but yourself. So cliché right?
When I first walked into to Wade's gym, I had been lifting for a couple of years and had a very clear idea of what my goals were. I am going to make this story extremely short to get to the point but understand that I am leaving A LOT out. There was most definitely some tug of war between Wade and myself and I spent way too much time wondering if what I was doing was pleasing Wade (hint: it wasn't) and if he thought I was a good lifter and if he cared I read so much and tried so hard and all the other things (I can say now that he probably did). I was so caught up in this that I lost sight of my why.
My why is pretty simple. I love this freakin sport and I know that I am capable of topping the charts. Now, that is extremely over simplified and it has so much more to offer than that. However, when I first started, I thought, I can be one of the best and I do chase that...AND I DON'T FEEL BAD ABOUT IT.
Now, when I got frustrated enough, I remembered my why and then I let the rest go. I went into to the gym and wanted to crush every training session when I knew why I was there. I was there because I was (am) chasing MY greatness and nothing more. I wasn't chasing anyone else's approval, I wasn't chasing sponsorships, I wasn't chasing praise from my coaches or training partners, I was chasing my ceiling. That's my why.
My greatness is only mine. Only I can determine it. Only I can define it. Only I can accomplish it. I believe whole heartily that we all have a "greatness" that exists within us, some of us uncover it, but so much of it gets buried in feelings, fear, pleasing others, self doubt and time!
Holy shit! How much power do we hand over to Father Time on a fucking silver platter?!?! Seriously, THINK of all the things, all the ideas we've handed over because we don't have time (so lame), because we're too old, too young, the timing just isn't right, not enough time, just need a little more time, because it's not Monday, or it's the end of the year.......ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! JUST TAKE ONE STEP. Then do it again.
What is greatness? Greatness is achieving what you know yourself to be capable of. That's how I define it. If that means getting the promotion at work, perfect. If that means benching a plate, love it. If that means stepping foot into a gym, wonderful. If that means not eating bananas for a year, spectacular! I don't care what it is that you want to achieve, I care zero percent. I care that you take the first step. I care that you remain committed. I care that you remember your why. That is individual greatness.
2. All We Do is Win
I wrote a how to guide on winning. I'll hit the high points here. So, we've determined what greatness is, now we win it! Winning is determining what you want to achieve, then making a plan (with dates and deadlines), and then TAKING ACTION. We must, must, must take action. At the end of the day, the actions that were taken are the only things that matter.
Intentions-DON'T MATTER
Efforts-DON'T MATTER
Feelings-DON'T MATTER
Success-DON'T MATTER
Failure-DON'T MATTER
Ask yourself, did you or didn't you? While all of the aforementioned things are great sentiments, they don't really matter.
Great intentions are just that. Intentions; and who the hell remembers those except the owner of said intentions?
Efforts are efforts. Some people try really hard and achieve little success, some people don't try at all and achieve great success, none of that really matters.
Feelings SEEM to matter A LOT at the time, but at the end of the day I'm left with the actions I took because I did or did not let my feeling manipulate me.
Success. DOESN'T MATTER.
Failure. DOESN'T MATTER.
What matter's is what you did! Did you or didn't you? Did you follow your why? Did you become a better person? Did you learn more about who you are? Did you fail miserably and wonder how the hell you got here? Did you become wildly successful and wonder how the hell you got here?
These questions matter because they emphasize the PROCESS! The process isn't laying in bed thinking about all the great things you're going to do. The process is the actions that were taken. The process is where the greatness happens.
3. Feelings Don't Matter
I am not going to spend a ton of time on this. Repeat after me: ALL FEELINGS GO AWAY. They are not your friend. They are your manipulative, fair weather friend and they will take all of your greatness and not even flinch. They will take perfectly good relationships and destroy them. They will take a great training session and lead you to believe you suck. DON'T BELIEVE THEM. They are fleeting and are drug like. Remember your why, let your insignificant feelings pass over you and don't ever let them in the driver's seat of your actions. Spoken from heart break, poor decisions, and hard knocks.
4. Comparison is The Thief of Joy
We know what greatness is. We know how to win. We know feelings are dumb. Now we must have tunnel vision. The following should be read in your best Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Voice:
-It doesn't matter what anyone else is doing!
-It doesn't matter what societal standards are!
-It doesn't what your family thinks!
-It doesn't matter where you rank!
-It doesn't matter if your form doesn't look like (insert some random name here)!
What matters:
-Are you taking action?
-Do you remember your why?
-Are you getting a little teeny tiny bit better?
Whatever anyone else is doing/achieving/accomplishing/failing/slacking/ does not matter. Put the blinders on and get after your individual greatness.
You must be your own biggest fan. You must care the most about you. You must hold yourself the most accountable. You must compete. You must bring everything you have to the table. BUT, you must not compare.
5. Be The Gasoline
My children walked in the door a couple of days ago, begging me and/or my husband to blow up cheese puff. Cheese Puff is an inner tube that they have affectionately named and given life to. Cheese puff has been deflated since summer and they found him on their first day of spring break and they were eager to give him life once again.
I didn't blow up cheese puff and nor did my husband mostly, because, well, we didn't want to. We were busy doing things like cooking and laundry. However, I also very adamantly believe in giving children the gift of struggle. I knew they were quite capable of blowing up that inner tube, I also knew that it would require team work, patience, and perseverance.
They came in several more times, each trading off who would come in ask for one of us to do it for them. Each time we refused. I stared out of my kitchen window and watched them take turns filling the inner tube with their tiny lung capacity. I watched cheese puff begin to emerge once again. They were very close. Very, very close.
My daughter walks through the door. Defeated. Before she can say a word we say, "Taylor Ann! Did you see how big cheese puff has gotten?! Did you do that?! Did you and your brother work together to get cheese puff that big? I can't believe it! You're nearly done!"
Her face lit up. She marched outside full of pride and filled up cheese puff with every last breath she had.
The best part of this story, is how proud of herself she felt. I could see in her face. I could see it in her actions. I could see the belief in herself grow. We did nothing for her. She and her brother were 100 percent responsible for that success.
Imagine how big your greatness will get with just the tiniest bit of gasoline? Imagine what a gift you have to give to by providing one little sentiment of encouragement?
This is POWER YOUR OWN.
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