A good friend and member of our gym, Morgan, just produced his own movie.
No exaggeration.
He wrote it, directed it, acted in it, produced it, wrote the music, and created all the sound effects, all while working a normal job. And now that the movie is finally done, he’s learning how to market it and actually turn a profit on it.
It took him three years, a cross-state move, and $12,000 of his personal income to make it happen.
He calls this movie his film school.
I love his story, because it’s a great reminder that overnight successes are rarely overnight. “Overnight successes” only happen after a long period of trial and error and following your desire against all odds.
There are many parallels between his story and the heartbreaking reality of CrossFit:
- It’s not easy.
- It doesn’t feel good.
- It takes time.
- It takes real desire. (I’ll talk about why that’s heartbreaking later on)
If you’ve been doing CrossFit for sometime, you’re either nodding your head in agreement or suddenly questioning what you got yourself into.
Now, these aren’t truths we love to tell people when they first walk in…
We love the feeling of victory people have right after their first consultation. They have the look that says, “I didn’t think I could do it… but I did.”
Because the first step in any endeavor is believing you can.
But we also know, having been open for a few years now, that our new clients have a journey ahead of them.
Particularly in the CrossFit industry, we’re not in the business of selling pleasure. We’re not selling a 90-minute massage or a hairdo that’s going to make you beautiful in three hours or less.
We are selling a lifestyle, and more poignantly, we sell pain.
I know. No one really wants to hear this…
But the truth is, anything worth having in life requires some type of sacrifice. Leveling up doesn’t happen without some type of pain, whether that be physical, mental, or spiritual.
The temporary pain and sacrifice we experience will lead us to more joy and gratification in the long run.
On the other hand, there’s also pain associated with a life where we never take risks, make sacrifices, or get out of our comfort zones.
Being in our comfort zones is not always comfortable.
I’m sure we can all think of one example in our lives where we missed a great opportunity because we let our fears make the decision for us.
Don’t get me wrong, we love to have fun every hour of the day here at CrossFit Lobo.
But we’ll also tell you that the people who stick around and see permanent results at our gym are the ones who know exactly what they want, why they are here, and what it takes to achieve their goals.
Let’s dive in.
1. It’s not easy.
Everyone can do CrossFit, but CrossFit is not for everyone.
Why do we say that? Because CrossFit is inherently hard to do and hard to get better at.
It’s challenging some days to wonder whether or not you’re improving, until someone tells you out of the blue how strong you’ve gotten. Or you see in your workout tracker that you’ve run your fastest 5k.
Some days you might feel like a chump when you look around and see people doing movements that look impossible to do. Then when you stick around afterward to ask them how long they’ve been doing CrossFit, you get answers anywhere from “six months” to “six years.”
No wonder muscle ups continue to elude you during your second week of CrossFit!
At CrossFit Lobo, we challenge everyone who walks in our doors to try a work out because we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that anyone can do it.
We modify every single work out to each person’s abilities and limitations.
Here’s one great example. A lady, I’ll call her Olivia, came to us over two years ago. She was recovering from significant health battles and the only thing her doctor allowed her to do was walk.
If you asked 99% of the population if she should do CrossFit, they would say, “NO.”
But that’s because there’s a lot of negative stigma attached to CrossFit, specifically surrounding the misinformed idea that CrossFit injures people and is only for elite athletes.
Well, on day one, Olivia successfully did CrossFit. How? By simply moving within her own capabilities and limitations.
We had her walk for 20 minutes a day to start, and since then, she has lost 50 pounds and moves better and better with each passing day.
Can you walk?
2. It doesn’t feel good.
If you are a perfectionist and demand to do things perfectly or be better than everyone around you at all times, CrossFit isn’t for you.
What makes you cut out for CrossFit Lobo is not a physical qualification–it’s a spiritual one. And there’s a reason why we have an hour-long, initial session with everyone who comes in.
Because CrossFit is as much a spiritual battle as it is a physical one. You endure physical pain (to lose fat and gain muscle), but the physical sensations of that hour are short-lived.
What resonates with you after the hour is the feeling of humility, and for many people, this feeling is one people struggle with the most.
And why is it so hard to be humbled? Because we want to feel GOOD about what we do.
We want the reward, the recognition, the immediate gratification of seeing numbers go up or down.
Isn’t that what you’re paying for?
No. You’re not paying for immediate results, because oftentimes, those are temporary.
You’re paying for a personal transformation that will last for the rest of your life.
And that’s something you can’t put a price tag on.
So, this is the question you have to ask yourself: do you want to get better or do you want to feel good about yourself?
Know that you can have both, but not at the same time.
3. It takes time.
If you remember when we had CrossFit Regionals, the quality of competitive Regional athletes rose over the years and was never the same from year to year.
Why was this? It was because they had more time to develop their craft. The athletes who showed up in the earlier years simply had more time to get better at CrossFit, and because they continued to put in the time, they did.
CrossFit is not a quick fix that will solve all your problems, and if you are someone who craves immediate gratification or reward, you may not get it.
Within the first few weeks here, if you come consistently, you’re going to see results. There’s no doubt about that.
But did you come to CrossFit Lobo to gain muscle, lose fat, then gain all the weight right back a few months later?
No. You came for a permanent change that would turn you into a happier, more confident version of yourself.
Permanent changes require long-term consistency.
That means committing to a life, not just a chapter, of physical fitness.
At CrossFit Lobo, we want you to see nothing but success. We are so invested in your journey, and that’s why we want to be honest with you about what it takes to find fulfillment that will last you for a lifetime.
4. It takes real desire.
The only thing you need to succeed in any endeavor is the desire to do so.
The reason why this is a heartbreaking truth is because oftentimes we don’t know what we want.
It’s so much easier to have someone else tell us what to do, because we’ve already got so much on our plate…
And in our overly-connected day and age, we look to coaches and social media influencers to tell us how to live our lives. We crave attention and accountability from others, not knowing how to provide that for ourselves.
Here’s the reality: No one can want it for you. You can outsource and delegate many roles in your life, but desiring a better life is not something anyone else but YOU can do.
No amount of coaching, encouragement, or motivation will get you to see results if deep down you aren’t ready to do it yourself.
Now that we’re nearing the end of this post, you might be thinking, “Wow, that wasn’t a lot of fun to read.”
But, as the coaches at CrossFit Lobo, would we be setting you up for success if we misled you into thinking that success was easy to come by?
Big, fat no.
Understanding these tenets is going to help you today and in the long run.
Once you understand what it truly takes to live the life you want, you can start to make real headway–toward the health, fitness, confidence, and longevity you’ve always wanted.
To get started on your journey with us at CrossFit Lobo, head here to schedule a consultation.
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