Happy National Coffee Day! What a great day! Today, if you’re a Starbucks rewards member, which…why wouldn’t you be? You can order your coffee ahead on the app (has to be a grande or larger drink) and you’ll get a FREE drink loaded onto your app for your next visit. Bet your butt I’ll be doing that today. I know Dunkin and Krispy Kreme are also doing free coffee deals among some others. Check out deals in your area and go get you some free coffee!
You guys, I’ve been reading this book called You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero. It has me so inspired that I needed to talk about some of the things that are resonating with me.
“I am awesome.” Have you ever said that phrase to yourself and TRULY meant it? Damn. I do it everyday. I mean seriously. I feel like that is my mantra. I 100% believe that I am so awesome, and anyone who thinks otherwise can kick some freaking rocks, because they ain’t worth my time! I’ve had friends ask me where my confidence comes from, and it stems from this simple fact right here: I’m confident, because I truly believe that I’m a freaking boss ass bitch, and there’s no other opinion that could possibly change that. Perspective matters. If you have the slightest doubt about your own awesomeness, those insecurities are always going to come up to bite you.
“What you choose to focus on becomes your reality”
Thems some powerful words. Seriously though. Is anything really as dramatic as you make it out to be? Probably not. You may think everyone is judging the big ol' zit in the middle of your forehead when in all reality no one even noticed until you blurted out in the middle of dinner, “OK I HAVE A GIANT ZIT ON MY FOREHEAD, STOP STARING!” Literally no one was staring…until now.
When I used to compete in CrossFit, I always had insecurities in training about different gymnastics movements. Every single time I let that doubt creep in, it would sting the shit out of me. Our thoughts create our realities. I’m talking to the point where I fell off a pull-up bar, broke my back, and ended my competition season one year. I’m talking kept me from feeling successful after brutal training sessions that I rocked, because small failures made me feel like a hopeless pile of poo. I felt like everyone was judging me and that I was letting everyone down by not being perfect at certain things. You have GOT to change your perspective. Let your shit go. If you feel like a failure, you are going to fail. What if, instead, when you fall flat on your face, you get back up, dust yourself off, and use it as a learning experience instead? I may have broken three bones in my back in 2016, but I came back with a damn vengeance in 2017, trained my ass off, changed my perspective, reminded myself that I am awesome and can do anything, and earned my way into my first Regional competition. Choose your thoughts wisely.
It’s about making the decision to do something with your whole being. I’m not talking about the half assed, “man, I need to drop a few pounds” as you walk into the kitchen and proceed to eat 17 Reeces pumpkins. This is the type of decision-making where you absolutely, unwaveringly know that you will do EVERYTHING in your power to make something happen, and no matter how many obstacles, failures, and shit-talkers present themselves along your journey, you power through anyways. Put your WHOLE ass into it, friends. I’ve been whole assin’ through life before I even knew I was doing it. When I was 12, I got it in my head that I HAD to go visit my cousin one week over the summer. Problem was that he lived 3 hours away, and my twelve-year old self couldn’t drive yet. That meant I was bound and determined to convince my Mom to drive me up there to spend the week. While she was at work one day, I spent the entire day cleaning the whole house top to bottom, cooked a full on gourmet dinner and had it laid out on the table when she got home, and created a Powerpoint presentation detailing all the pros (of which there were many) and cons (of which there were zero) of why she should drive me up to see my cousin. Guess what happened?
Do it with your whole ass, and it will come to be. You can quote me on that.
It’s also about giving up the damn excuses, y’all. How many times have you set your alarm, woken up, and started negotiating with yourself over whether or not you should just snooze the alarm instead? We have to stop the negotiations. Unwavering, remember? That means we have made the decision to do this thing no matter what. Do you think you’re the only person who has ever been tired, burnt out, dealing with a lot on your plate, going through some tough times, stressing out more than usual, etc? I’m thinking not. All successful people have dealt with all of these things and then some. The difference is that no matter how tough it got, they got up and did it anyways. You can too. You have the time. Don’t tell me you don’t. You may have to be willing to make some sacrifices in order to have that extra time, but it’s there. What happens when you get a flat tire, or you want to buy a new coffee table, or your dog gets sick and needs to go to the vet? Do you say you don’t have time then? No. You spend the 30 minutes to an hour waiting on AAA, or surfing the web comparing prices and reviews, or you make the damn vet appointment and go because you love your pet and you want them to be healthy and happy. If you can find the time to do these things, you can find time to workout, to take the class, to meal prep, to work on your website, etc. It’s just about deciding that you really want that thing and going for it regardless of how hard it may seem going in.
“The only failure is quitting. Everything else is just gathering information.” -Jen Sincero
It doesn’t have to happen overnight. In most cases it won’t. It also probably won’t happen without a ton of bumps in the road. Have you read about my fertility journey yet? It’s been a ride so far, but I will literally stop at nothing until that little nugget is healthy, safe, and warm in my arms. I think about it, pray about it, manifest it every.damn.day. I also make sacrifices- I gave up caffeine, completely stopped drinking alcohol, toned down my workouts, continuously give up time and money to go to fertility appointments, and I would do it all again, and will continue to give more, to get closer to my goal of being a mom. Because of my unwavering commitment to becoming a mom, I KNOW it’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of time. Keep grinding towards your goals, and refuse to be discouraged by the things that go wrong along the way. Learn from it, make adjustments, and continue along the path to achievement.
Success also comes from learning to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. That is one of my FAVORITE things about CrossFit. The workouts are highly uncomfortable. I’m good at dealing with being uncomfortable, sometimes even enjoy it, while the majority of people will avoid putting themselves in that position at all costs. That is why I excelled in that sport. It’s also why entrepreneurs succeed, why people get the job, why people are able to make tons of money doing what they love. They decided they wanted something and did whatever it took to get there. The funny thing is, anyone can do this, if they just look at things from another perspective. Try thinking about it like this: looking back on this in the future, doing this difficult thing will be a tiny blip on my radar even though I’m making it out to be an enormous ordeal; it’s actually going to lead to bigger and greater things if I can just get through this period of discomfort; maybe it actually won’t be as bad as I’m making it out to be; I feel like if I can get through this, I can get through anything. What if instead of fearing the failure that may happen from doing something that we truly want, we choose to fear what life looks like if we choose to NOT do the thing that we desire so much? Change your perspective and embrace the suck. I promise it will lead to a tremendous amount of growth.
“There are plenty of people out there in the world living the kind of life you only dream about living, many of whom are far less fabulous and talented than you are. The key to their success is that they decided to go for it, they stopped listening to their tired old excuses, changed their lousy habits, and got the fuck on the fuck.” -Jen Sincero
Dude. That one hit home with me. Also she says the F word a lot. Sorry if you’re offended by that. Honestly, I think that word just helps emphasize your point a little more. Anyways, there are a million other lessons to learn from this book. You should absolutely go out and buy it and give it a read. It’s so good. If you need some motivation or a swift kick in the ass to get started with whatever you want to do right now, here’s your answer. I know every one of you can accomplish anything your little heart desires if you make the decision to do it and stay committed to it no matter what. Because YOU ARE AWESOME.
I realize this is totally freaking random, but I’m going to leave you guys with this. I don’t talk about politics EVER on the blog, for reasons we won’t get into now. BUT. I challenge ALL of you to watch the debate tonight- it’s on at 9EST/6PST. I’ll be watching too. Whether you are decided on the election, on the fence, curious, jaded, love, hate, or feel indifferent toward one of the candidates, interested in politics or not, just watch. LISTEN. Do it with an open mind. For real. Learn something, and be more educated going into the election in a few weeks. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk, and enjoy your day!