Put In The Work
By Douglas Pieterse, Co-Founder & Head Personal Trainer
"It may be simple but not always easy"
Our level of motivation can fluctuate, you might feel a rush of motivation to chase your goals this week, but a busy work schedule and family responsibilities next week might just get you back to where you started. Maintaining motivation takes work, it takes hard work. As much as we understand the value of hard work, how often do we credit the success of others to merely luck and circumstances? While we have no control of whether we will get the opportunities we want and our abilities depends greatly on how far down the gene pool we fall from apes, there is one factor we do have complete control of – HARD WORK! Can you name one successful athlete who does not put in time and hard work? World champions are not created, they are built.
We are constantly looking for shortcuts and quick fixes to get us to our goals, and we set ourselves up for failure every time with this mentality. When we feel like we have put in the time and effort with the right method, and still do not see the desired result in 3 weeks, we cannot help but ask ourselves “Is all my hard work all for nothing?” To make matters worse, we might have taken a few steps back, which could really feel like a kick in the nuts (ladies, it hurts A LOT). The truth is our goals are down the road, be it far or close, the only way to get there is to keep walking. For sure we can speed things up with the right circumstances or opportunities, but at the end of the day it is the amount of effort and time we invest in the journey that are going to get us to our goal.
We are constantly looking for shortcuts and quick fixes to get us to our goals, and we set ourselves up for failure every time with this mentality. When we feel like we have put in the time and effort with the right method, and still do not see the desired result in 3 weeks, we cannot help but ask ourselves “Is all my hard work all for nothing?” To make matters worse, we might have taken a few steps back, which could really feel like a kick in the nuts (ladies, it hurts A LOT). The truth is our goals are down the road, be it far or close, the only way to get there is to keep walking. For sure we can speed things up with the right circumstances or opportunities, but at the end of the day it is the amount of effort and time we invest in the journey that are going to get us to our goal.
Sport and exercise can often teach us the value of investing our time. First attempts are always difficult or even confusing, be it grabbling an opponent in Jiu Jitsu or trying to clean and jerk a basic weight in a CrossFit session. And these are the moments that create a little voice in our head telling us what we are attempting is mission impossible. However, if we just keep going for a few months, reversing a mount position becomes second nature, and lifting your bodyweight from the ground to overhead becomes merely a warm up. It could only happen if we do not give up, keep that hunger for self-betterment, and invest the time to walk down the road that lead us to success.
In order to get to where we want to be, we must stop restricting ourselves with the speed of which we hit our goals, instead we have to learn to enjoy the journey and be open to accepting new lifestyles. There is no shortcut to success, only hard work can get us there. Invest your time and effort, and you will be able enjoy that indescribable sense of satisfaction when you get to your goal.
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