The definition of CrossFit is, “Constantly Varied Functional Movement Performed At High Intensity.” Breaking that down, that means we do all kinds of different movement, that have some connection in real life, and we put in a lot of effort. We could continue to dive into each portion of that definition, and maybe we will some day, but the point for today is that the goal of CrossFit training is never perfection. If we are constantly varying our movement, we will never have enough time and attention to perfect anything. This is different than an Olympic weightlifter or professional cyclist. Those athletes have one goal, one target, one focus. They can dedicate all of their time and energy into one purpose. We, on the other hand, are simply focusing on being better and healthier in life, generally. Thus, our goal is to become “better” across a wide variety of disciplines or modalities. We never expect perfection, only improvement.
Application to Real Life
What we do in the gym also applies to our life. If you take nothing else from this email, remember that. What we do in the gym also applies to our life. When you overcome a challenge in the gym, you gain confidence to overcome challenges outside the gym. When you see improvements in a movement or lift at the gym, you start to recognize improvements you make in life outside the gym.
Perfection is Not the Goal
We all have multiple facets to our life. Very few have the ability to focus on one thing. If we do try to focus on one thing, something else will suffer. You cannot be “perfect” at work and maintain a good home life or social life. You cannot have a perfect diet and be flexible enough to go out to eat with your spouse. If you want that kind of focus, you will have to accept that other areas of your life will suffer. For most of us, striving for perfection is going to result in constant frustration and burnout. Thus, focus instead on trying to improve different areas of your life a little bit at a time. It is called the Aggregation of Marginal Gains. Maybe you start with your diet. You spend some time and energy improving your diet a little. Still not perfect, but much better than it was. Now, maybe you focus on your sleep. How can you improve your sleep a little more. Next, turn to your relationships.
You cannot be perfect at more than one thing. But, you can be really good at a lot of stuff. When we are trying to be the best we can at life, really good is AMAZING.
