Supersonic Insta-grati-happy-fun-time

Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.  
-John Wooden

If you are consistently training, facing weaknesses headlong, rising up after getting stapled to the floor from something heavy to try again, and in general trying to out-perform your last 'best' effort, than I would like to extend a notion of thanks your way.

Coffee and Squats is about doing what needs to be done regardless of circumstance in pursuit of making yourself happiest.  No, I did not say strong, or ripped, I said happiest. Whatever you are doing in life will only serve you insofar as it makes you happy.  That is why the secret to happiness is as follows in two points:  1.  Find out what you want in life. 2.  Go get it.  Whatever gets in the way of that can be overcome if the goal sought is clearly something that will yield happiness.

Physical and mental limits often precede the point where people stop pursuing this.  Are you tired?  Drink coffee.  Are you feeling weak physically and mentally?  Put a bar and your back and squat.

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Most often the people that are seeking help are not the ones who need it the most, they have the higher IQ or intuition to know that they need a change and are just going about figuring out how to make it happen.  They just need a little kick in the butt at the right times, a kind word here and there, and someone to make sure they stay on track.

However, every once in awhile someone falls into that group that hasn't done the initial work of realizing the model they use to find happiness is the issue and, that they need to change the idea before asking for help.  These people generally come off as the "do-it-for-me" types who view the money they throw at those providing help is all they need to do to affect change in their lives.

The people in this second group provide unending frustration to a coach who wants nothing more than to give every bit of knowledge they have ever known to help you succeed, while in return the person is not willing to give up the old life for a new one.  That group of people is another blog in itself... however both groups can benefit from the paradigm I am dubbing "Supersonic Insta-grati-happy-fun-time".  

Stop and reflect for a moment, was there a time that you saw some grandiose natural feature (a canyon, or a sunset on an ocean, etc..) and you felt a sense of serenity?  At that instant, if for only an instant, I believe you decided to accept the universe as it was.  You didn't feel it necessary to change the scenery, such as, "What a beautiful waterfall...if only it was a bit larger, then I would be ever-more pleased".  No, that didn't happen because just as it was, you felt it was right.

Now, why don't you have that serene mindset every day?  Why don't you wake up resonating with a feeling of being blessed that you may pursue whatever it is you are pursuing and that each moment an opportunity to get further towards it?  I believe it lays in the fact that the model most of us use to reach happiness is dependent on the "If; Then" model.  If blah blah blah happens, then I'll be happy.  But thats not how it works, is it?

Example of "If; Then":
If I get 10 pull-ups in a row, then I'll be happy with my efforts.  
...Nine pull-ups later you fall off the bar and start deeming yourself an inadequate athlete whom should never have attempted such a feat.

What if you had started viewing it as a process rather than an outcome?

I get to do pull-ups today, I'm going to make these the best pull-ups I have ever done.  I wonder, how many perfect pull-ups am I capable of?
...Nine pull-ups later you think, That was hard but nine perfect ones are more than I had last time!


Anything you can get such as physical strength, material possessions, a circle of friends, etc - you can also lose.  The things you can get can be very nice, and give you a great feeling - for a time - but the feeling accompanied by their loss when you have tied your personal happiness to them is overwhelmingly paralyzing and can lead to a depressed state.

It is vital that you understand that in all of life outcomes are very rarely in our control.  What is in your control is the process by which you live your life.  Doing your best in every situation not only lends itself toward seeing the best outcome, but is also something that won't go away when you look into the mirror.


Remember, you choose to drink the coffee and get under the bar.  It makes you happy.  If it doesn't, then don't.

Coffee & Squats!

Struggle Harder

Do you ever find yourself seeing other people react to something and saying to yourself,

I wouldn't have gotten so excited

I wouldn't have started crying

I would have held my shit together

I would have told them what I really thought!

and so on...

How accurate is that perception?

Let's take it to a place we're familiar with, the gym setting.  Here's the scenario, you are fried from two HEAVY days of conditioning, but need another workout to satisfy your weekly goal.  You go in and its [insert worst fear movement #1] plus [insert worst fear movement #2] and rowing for calories (everyone hates fucking rowing for calories).
What happens?  First, if you haven't handled it already, you probably take a trip to "the office" for a quick read-through of todays paper.  Next, you mull around warming up like a jackass, trying to avoid anything resembling "getting your head in it" because that would only cause you to have to resort back to the first thing you did.
So, there you are, cold muscles, head in the clouds, fearful of your upcoming personal kryptonite workout, and 3, 2, 1...you're fucked now!

It's basically the same thing as watching someone REACT poorly to some external stimulus.  They have some thing that triggers their emotions, usually fear, and from that thing they are now its servant.  They have given up control of their lives to an idea, an object, a person, etc.

Here's my point, we all know things will come up from time to time that are just going to be flat out awful for us to go through.  But therein lies the opportunity.  The problem, as they say, is the solution.
It begins by holding yourself accountable to yourself.  Just because rowing for calories pops up doesn't mean you are no longer great at [insert favorite, most elite-ly performed movement here], it just means you get another shot to fix a part of something not-so-great, and you aren't going to let a movement dictate your ability to struggle and learn a bit.  Accountable to the fact that YOU ACTUALLY SUCK at something.  As I have gone through the last 3 years of training I am more in tune with things that DESTROY me than the things I can pursue with no thought.  I can list 10 things I suck at the drop of a hat.  Its because to get better at them takes tons of focus and awareness that I can tell when I make even the slightest of improvements.

It is very easy to say "I'll never be good at pushups.", it is a REACTION.  That immediately takes the blame off of YOU.  But guess where that blame needs to be?  In order for you to want to be better you have to reject where you are.  If you blanket yourself with the attitude "What's the point?" you will never see the point in trying.  In fact, you will continue to perform shitty warmups (literally) and let opportunity slip past you every time something awful arises because you are afraid of revealing your truest, most inner self.  You are fearful that deep down, you just aren't good enough.  You are afraid that you will be exposed, humiliated, laughed at.

You fear.

I'm here to tell you, it's ok.  You fear, but we all fear.  You will be exposed, but in good company.  You will be humiliated briefly, but will gain humility.   Through the trials you will gain an understanding about yourself that previously eluded you.  And from that confidence will spawn.  As you notch the belt of effort, you will soon see how the buckle will clasp, and hope will fill your heart.

Reaction is for the weak.  Strength comes to those who place one foot in front of the other and learn what it takes to gain footing.  The next time a Death-WOD comes up, embrace it.  Warm-up with purpose.  Take your time seriously and plan a way to make progress.  There is always a way.  Use the unsettled feeling in your stomach and throat as drive, and passionately slaughter your weakness.

Definitely working their weaknesses.