The Strong Within Affirmation Podcast
Education:Self-Improvement
357 I Put Everything On The Table December 2017 Saturday Week 4
Synergistic Saturdays-#357 December 23 The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast
I Put Everything On The Table
“Being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It’s not about winning. It’s about you and your relationship with yourself, your family and your friends. Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn't let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is you did everything you could. There wasn't one more thing you could’ve done. Can you live in that moment as best you can, with clear eyes, and love in your heart, with joy in your heart? If you can do that gentleman – you’re perfect!”
– Coach Gary Gaines, from Friday Night Lights
I was on an MTV show back in 2011 I believe. It was a show called I Used To Be Fat, and no I wasn’t the overweight person…every time I say I was on that show people jump back and say you used to be fat??? And I’ll say, “no, I was the coach and trainer on the show for a person I was helping.” The whole premise of the show was each episode had a different teenager who had just graduated high school and they had a summer to work with a trainer to change their life before heading to college.
It was a pretty stressful experience at the time…because you are trying to get someone to do something they don’t want to do, in a very short amount of time, all while knowing millions of people may be watching you fail miserably. I had two months with the young lady I was working with, and it was my hope to not just help her lose weight but to change her self-image so she would be doing a permanent change, not something that would last until she no longer was on her diet or not working out anymore.
Well, things were going great…for the first two weeks…until major meltdowns kept happening. I dealt with a lot of crying and upsetness about how this young woman didn’t want to be doing this anymore and how it was too hard. We put in long hours every day…but I kept reminding her that this was only two months of her life. I told her, “you can do whatever you want after this, but let’s commit fully to this moment.” And that’s the problem with reality TV shows, it’s about getting quick results for the ratings of the show. No one wants to watch a slow process of change, the viewing audience wants to be tricked into thinking it happens quickly and with minimal effort. But when you get in crunch time of trying to lose 50 pounds in two months, it’s usually unrealistic for most…and it’s a whole hell of a lot harder than you’d imagine. We spent hours in the gym every day.
In the show we didn’t reach the 50 pound mark in two months, but she was happy with her progress, and that’s all I could ask for as this transition wasn’t really about me, it was more about her. The funny thing is the weight she lost, is the weight she said she would be comfortable losing. She said she wanted to be at a weight she felt comfortable in in high school. And at the time I said, “that’s good you want to get there, by why are you stopping there?” And she said, “oh I am not stopping there I just want to get there first.” And I had heard that sort of statement many times in my training career…I’m not going to stop there… And what happened at the end of the show is she got to the exact weight she said she would be comfortable at.
And that’s what we do in our lives, we look to get back to where we were comfortable…not where we truly want to be…and I believe that’s because we’re afraid of failing, we’re afraid the work will be too hard, we’re afraid it won’t be worth it…and so we settle for mediocrity in our lives giving just enough…by only showing up. I see this day in and day out…how people don’t reach their goals because they only show up at the gym dreading it and doing the work as they fight it the whole time wishing it was easier. I see them showing up at their jobs wanting to make more money or get that promotion when they only do the bare minimum never giving more than what’s asked of them, as they fly below the radar. I see them doing it in their relationships, as they get bored with the status quo and show up thinking that only being there by body alone is enough.
To be better, to have what we want, to live the lives we want…takes a commitment to leave it all on the table. To give what we have at that moment, ready to make as many mistakes as possible and correct them. When I played ice hockey I went to a hockey clinic to better my skills and I was working with a Michigan player who was voted the best player in the state and was the most sought after recruit for college hockey. We were doing a puck handling drill where you had two obstacles and you would stick handle your puck around those obstacles in a figure 8 pattern forwards and backwards.
I was going at a speed that was comfortable to me, so I could hold onto the puck, and this mentor came over and challenged me to sprint through the drill—to make as many mistakes as possible and pick up my pace. He was challenging me to be ok with mistakes and to elevate my play to another level. I made a ton more mistakes but after the week of working on this drill I had drastically improved because I was willing to put it all on the table, I was willing to make as many mistakes as possible, and I was willing to get out of my comfort zone that was keeping me trapped where I was.
Are you putting everything on the table in your life? And if not, why not? What are you afraid of, or what’s the story you’ve been telling yourself that it’s ok to be subpar in what you do? I’m not judging anyone in this life, but you aren’t meant to reach for the minimum, you are meant to do amazing things… not because those things will always be for the world to see, but because you decided to put your every ounce of effort into the tasks you were performing today. Greatness isn’t in the amazing things that happen to us, greatness lies in the willingness to leave everything all on the table in the actions we are performing at the moment. That’s when great things happen, not by luck or things just happening…it comes from our standard operating procedures…and that is where a fulliling life is created…by leaving it all on the table.
Today’s Personal Commitment:
What’s your comfort zone? What’s your standard operating procedure in the things you do? Would you know your comfort zone at work, in your relationships, in your personal life? Because if you can get to in your mind and ALSO feel it in your body when you’re coasting…that will be your own personal book mark. It will be the indicator for your subconscious letting you know that something doesn’t feel right to you. We’ve let our subconscious know that doing the bare minimum feels right, so it operates by what you’ve taught it, so let’s teach it a different way of alerting you to let you know when you aren’t performing up to the standards you want for your life.
It’s not about over doing things or feeling you have to prove something, but it’s about living the lives we were meant to… to be in continual growth. The best times in my life weren’t the comfortable times, they were the times when I was challenged, and the times I rose to the challenge. They were the times when I said I’m not going to settle…I’m going to leave it all on the table today, and see how many mistakes I can make and correct along the way. It’s not that we’re looking to be reckless, but we’re looking to persevere in our betterment. We’re looking to find the marrow of life and drink up all of its beauty. We’re looking to truly live by seeking to always be reaching further than we did yesterday. Not to be anal and never happy, but to create a life that’s in accordance with nature…always growing and seeking the best parts of ourselves.
I Put Everything On The Table
Thanks for listening. I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn
Contact info- email: chris@strongwithin.com phone:865-219-3247
Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide
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