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!

Appreciation.

Important: remember at all times, in every situation, you have a choice.  The power of choice is what makes us free.  Do I or don't I?  Yes, or no.  Simple.

For the members walking through the doors at CrossFit Farmland, they have chosen to trust our knowledge, experience, and ability to raise them safely into the ranks of "Firebreather"(or at least nearly to their genetic potential). 

The problem with choice is that there are so many choices we take for granted things that once were an all consuming decision...

The story goes as follows,

First workout is FREE!   "I guess I'll go what can I lose?"

First day of Build-Up class "Am I the most out of shape person here?  I'll stick it out for the month but I can always quit after that."

First Day of Group class "Holy smokes this is tough, I'm fine not doing all of it as RX'd"

First day after completing RX of anything "It's about time!"

and so on..
until the day comes where the value of the effort is outweighed by the numbers on the whiteboard.  Which, unfortunately, is happening a lot.
We measure in CrossFit.  Standards for movements ensure that when we put a couplet to the clock of kettlebell swings and burpees the time we get when finished is a measurement of our work capacity on that given day.  It does not measure your character, your rationale, your reason. It doesn't make you smarter, or appear sexier, or make your manhood hang any lower.  It is a tool that when used correctly, under proper perception, can illuminate exactly what CrossFit is so good at doing... making you better across broad time, modal, and age domains.
A single pound added to your deadlift, or a single second off of your FRAN time indicates to the athlete that they are getting better.  That is the reward.  The ability to do more with less.  The transfer of that ability to life is universal in the sense that we are all going to die, we are only here for a limited time-span, and in this time we want the most out of it as we can possibly squeeze.  The effort, however, is not the person.  And forgetting that we chose this path will sooner or later become a toxin in the athletes mind.
Whether you write RX next to your name or not, almost as important as our ability to choose to pursue this lifestyle of ever-increasing capacities, it is important to remember why we chose to take the first step at all.  To be more, to be better, faster, stronger - in the gym and life.  But is it the end-all?  Nah.

You can leave the path at any time and never again have to be disappointed with an effort.

If you are not happy here and now, you never will be.  ~Taisen Deshimaru