Fit for Life: I Got Kicked in the Teeth Last Week

Fit for Life: I Got Kicked in the Teeth Last Week

Last week was a losing week for me.

It seemed like every time I turned around, someone was handing me a shit sandwich or dumping some sort of problem in my lap for me to solve.

Let me give you some examples.

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First, I loaded up my dirt bike to go riding at some motocross track in Tiverton. I planned it with another buddy that has a brand new $10,000 top-of-the-line dirt bike. (I have a 2005 used beater that I have fun with). When we met up, I said to him, “Life is good when we can make our own schedules and take time to ride in the middle of the day.” He agreed, and we proceeded to unload our bikes.

He gave his a few kicks, it started, then died out. He couldn’t get it started again. I kicked mine 20 times and it started. I took a couple of laps around the track, then went back to help him load his on the truck. When he left, I tried for 15 minutes to get mine started, but to no avail. Damn, I thought, both bikes wouldn’t start, what a waste of time. So I loaded up and went home.

The next day, I went to watch Shea High’s football game. I have been working with the kids to improve their strength and conditioning since the beginning of summer, so I have some sweat invested in the team. The first half went pretty well, and the game was close, however, the second half, we crumbled. It was frustrating to watch because I felt we were the better team, but our effort and enthusiasm was lackluster. We imploded and lost.

The following day, I loaded up my mountain bike to hit the woods for a killer ride. About an hour in, and a mile and a half away from my truck, my chain snapped, so I had to walk out of the woods. I wasn’t having a good week trying to have fun on two wheels. Now my motorcycle and mountain bike needed repairs, and would cost me some cash to get rolling again. The money I didn’t anticipate on spending.

As if that wasn’t enough, one of my staff stumbled upon a member that had been coming to the gym, but their membership had zeroed out, so they hadn’t been billed in 12 weeks. It was a human error on our part, but it still hurts to lose that kind of revenue when our expenses are at an all-time high.

Then I received three consecutive emails from 3 different members canceling their memberships due to being relocated because of their jobs and moving out of state. 3 in one week!! That rates high on the suck factor!!

To add to it, I have been in excruciating pain for weeks due to a tight calf / Achilles tendon that caused Plantar fasciitis. If you have ever had this, you know what I mean. I dreaded getting out of bed in the morning and taking that first step due to the pain it caused.  

Lastly, I had a procedure scheduled (old man procedure) for weeks, yet didn’t look at the prep schedule until the day before. Low and behold, I was supposed to start the prep work 3-5 days before the procedure, so I had to cancel and pay a $100 short notice cancellation fee. (Guess what the procedure was)

Now, if I were reading this, I would say this guy has first-world problems.

He still has a house with running water, a roof that doesn’t leak, food on the table, clothes on his back, and a great network of people in his immediate circle, so what’s the big deal?

Correct, they are first-world problems, however, when you get a bunch of small problems adding up it can get to you.

When you have weeks where it seems like the universe wants you to crumble and nothing works in your favor, you feel like sitting in your car and screaming while you pull your hair out. (I screamed a bit, but the hair stayed intact)

I am not writing this expecting sympathy or wanting anyone to feel bad for me, but I am writing this because everyone can relate to having weeks like this. The weeks where nothing goes right, and we feel like just throwing in the towel and going home to pull the covers over our heads, hoping it all goes away.

So what did I really do? Did I let these things take me into a deeper hole? Or did a counter punch and find solutions?

Hell no!! I got up off the canvas like Rocky vs Drago!!

I have been faced with enough adversity in life, and have done the work needed to help me overcome weeks and situations like this. Through years of self-development, I have been trained to accept adversity and find solutions, so I am going to share with you ways you, too can overcome situations where you feel like quitting.

First and foremost, you need to know that quitting doesn’t help. Nor does letting temporary feelings make permanent decisions for you. So you need to get out of reactive mode and step back and re program your mind, so you can take the proper actions to solve the problems at hand.

The next thing I did was to show gratitude and look at how good life is.

Like I said earlier, I have all the necessities in life, and then some. I don’t need a dirt bike or mountain bike, those are bonuses that some wished they had. Aside from a few nagging injuries, my health is better than 98% of the population. I still have my mother, father, nephew, a few aunts & a 98-year-old grandmother alive and well. I have an amazing girlfriend, team, and network of people in my life.

To express my gratitude, I reached out to several friends to show gratitude for being in my life with a simple text saying, “Have a great day ……You add value to my life and I am grateful for you”. You would be amazed at how that makes someone’s day, and when they respond telling you that it did, it makes your day too!!

Keep doing the work. Setbacks are inevitable whether you make 10 thousand or 10 million a year, however, we need to keep doing the work and taking the steps necessary to achieve our goals or serve our purpose.

The same thing goes for when you fall off your exercise and nutrition routine. It happens to all of us (even the coaches and gurus), so when it does, it’s important to course correct immediately and get back on track.

The longer you let it linger, the longer it takes to get back on the path to success.

Anticipate problems, but don’t look for them. They will be there, but we can’t be scared to face them. Don’t project problems and let the possibilities of issues deter you from moving forward, just be prepared to handle them.

An example would be if you know someone is around the corner ready to jump out and scare you. If you know they are there, you won’t flinch when they jump out at you, however if you don’t know, they will scare the shit out of you.

The same goes for problems.

If you know they will arise, which they will, you are prepared to deal with them. If you think everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows, when that inevitable problem hits, you go into a tailspin because you weren’t expecting it.

Remove yourself from fantasy land and be ready for adversity. If no problems arise, great, that’s a bonus.

Regardless of who you are, and your social status, you are going to encounter winning weeks and losing weeks.

Just remember, it’s how we program our minds and the actions we take that will dictate our ability to handle losses.

You will get kicked in the teeth, knocked down, served shit sandwiches, and face problems as long as you are alive. Just remember life is still good, and facing problems is part of life.

If you don’t have problems, you are dead, so embrace them, solve them and move on.

 

Coach Matt