Eat the Pain

If the lift was easy, you wouldn't want it.

If the run wasn't hard, you wouldn't race. If breathing was effortless at this pace, then every single person could do it. And then you probably would not want it.

See, easy is easy.

Hard takes effort. Achievement takes effort. Success takes effort. Success comes after the pain.

You know that.

You probably have success in other areas of your life—that's why you were drawn to CrossFit in the first place.

"Forging Elite Fitness" appeals to you because you know what elite feels like, you know what winning tastes like, and you love it.

As much as you say "I'm just competing against myself" there's a person deep down in you who really, really enjoys beating the others. Yeah, you're fighting yourself mostly, but it is a kick to beat someone else.

And it's okay to admit it—if not to others, at least to yourself. Be honest there.

So, why do you start to fold when it gets really hard?

Because there's pain—and because there is weakness in your mind.

Firebreathers do two things in the workout: (1) Minimize their rest, and (2) Go deep into the pain and stay there.

I can teach you how to minimize your rest but I can't teach you how to stay in the pain.

You have to will yourself there. You have to learn to live in the darkness for a while. It's not pretty and it's not fun, but it will end. And it will make you a better person, in that workout and hopefully in your life.

Today, put your effort where your mouth is.

Swallow hard and bite down on that pain.

Bite on your finger, bite on your cheek, do whatever you have to do to get where you want to go in the workout—and maybe in your job and your life.

Bite, chew, and swallow. Eat the pain.

Success is there for the taking.

Take it.