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From Principles by Ray Dalio: 

Most people react to pain badly. They have “fight or flight”reactions to it: they either strike out at whatever brought them the pain or they try to run away from it. As a result, they don’t learn to find ways around their barriers, so they encounter them over and over again and make little or no progress toward what they want. 

Pain is important. 

It helps our body communicate with us. 

It is temporary. 

But sometimes it lingers. 

It can be loud. 

It can be quiet. 

Pain is a language, not a message.  

Listen to the message.  

Sometimes when we don’t know a language. 

Everything sounds the same.  

Take the time to learn the language. 

The vocabulary and the grammar. 

Then slow down and listen. 

The message may not be what you think. 

When pain speaks to you.  

It may be time to stop what you are doing. 

It may be time to seek outside assistance. 

It may be time to run.  

Or it may be time to stay and fight. 

Most people react poorly to the message from pain.  

It becomes Fight or Flight. 

Do you strike out, or do you run away? 

Listen to the message of the pain. 

The pain may be telling you that you found a new barrier.  

A barrier that can be broken down. 

Don’t just push through the pain. 

Open a dialog. 

Listen. 

Respond. 

Act. 

Do not just run away from it. 

This is how we move around or through the pain. 

To get to what we want. 

Some people call me weird. 

I’m not really interested in working on my strengths. 

A long time ago I had a mentor who told me that in my career I could be tall and narrow or short and broad. 

That I could be successful either way. 

My future became immediately clear. 

Jack of all trades, master of none. 

This is used as an insult to many. 

I wear it as a badge of honor. 

Breadth of skill and breadth of knowledge has served me very well in career and life. 

In my last marathon, I finished in the top 1%. 

Then I never ran another marathon. 

I’ll be the first to admit that it was pretty cool. 

Getting treated like the elites.  

Been there, done that. 

I have no need to do any better. 

I want to get better at everything else. 

I found CrossFit. 

Now I can do anything. 

We are built to adapt. 

Most people don’t like to. 

It’s hard to get better at things we suck at. 

But it makes us better overall humans. 

Most people want to only focus on what they are good at. 

They need reassurance 

I get it. 

We all love to stroke our egos. 

It’s hard to let the world see our weaknesses. 

Every parent has been there.  

Sacrificing everything for our kids. 

This is what we were told that good parents do. 

Give up everything to serve. 

Our children are our future. 

Our children deserve our undivided attention.  

Who told us that? 

Where did that come from? 

Is this attitude really serving our children? 

What will they grow up to believe that life is about? 

They are watching you. 

They are learning from you. 

Children are brilliant. 

Children are powerful. 

Children know far more than we give them credit for. 

Children are full of dreams. 

They have more ideas in in an hour than you have all week. 

Most of them cannot be realized in the real world. 

They will figure that part out later. 

But it only takes one. 

One amazing idea, and a dream. 

Are you teaching them how to follow those dreams? 

When they watch you, are they learning how to succeed? 

Or are they learning something else? 

Are they learning that being an adult means giving up on themselves? 

Are they learning that being an adult means being tired and grumpy? 

Don’t let your children be your excuse.  

They are watching you. 

Let your children be your inspiration for greatness. 

They are watching you. 

They are watching you work hard to build the future. 

They are watching you rebuild your body. 

They are watching you take the time to eat healthy. 

There are many ways to serve. 

Serve by setting an example. 

They are watching you.

Don’t make your children your excuse for mediocrity. Make them your inspiration for greatness. 

Inspired from <http://thirdwaymanletters.com/what-happens-when-dads-sacrifice-their-dreams.php>  

Priorities can be a funny thing 

They can help serve as guiding principles in our lives. Or they can cripple us and direct decisions the wrong way. 

We can get paralyzed when things don’t fit nicely within the priorities that we have defined.  

We get hung up on which choice to take right now, and so we do nothing, or we take the easier choice and claim it is priority.  

The problem is that there are multiple parallel threads in our lives that are competing for our thoughts, our time, and our emotions.  

We simplify our decisions by holding firmly to one thread.  

Far too often at the expense of another.  

Remember, that you have a life, and a body, and a mind. 

You have to take care of all of them. 

Your life is your family, friends, job, charities, hobbies. 

Your mind is your inner self, your spirit, your soul, your experience of now. 

Your body is your physical being, your heart, muscles, bones, and tendons.  

These are all weaved together to create who you are. 

Are any of your threads coming unraveled? 

Have you neglected any of them for too long? 

Priority #1 is taking care of yourself. 

Otherwise you will fail at everything else. 

Priority #1 is keeping the fabric of your existence strong and tightly knit. 

Take some time today to look at your life.  

Are you taking care of yourself? 

If you let your body go, your mind will follow. 

How much more could you accomplish if you felt better? 

How much more could you do if you had more energy? 

Take an hour today to get to the gym.  

Take 15 minutes tomorrow to do some yoga at home before work. 

Take care of your body. 

Strengthen your fabric. 

Let’s talk about supplements.  

First point – and the most important point supplements are just that … Supplements.  

They are not meal replacements. 

They are not a substitute for poor nutrition.  

They are supplementing – or adding – to you plan for fuel and nutritional support. 

Eat real food first.  

Eat quality food first.  

Then figure out where you need to  

The first place I advise people to start is for post workout.  

There is a very short window for recovery fuel after your workout.  

The optimal window is 30 minutes, then it falls off to an hour, and drops precipitously after that.  

You workout hard in CrossFit. 

You lifted some heavy weight. 

You hit that WOD with some serious intensity. 

You want to benefit from that workout? 

Feed your body! 

Your workout has primed your body to accept and process nutrition to rebuild. 

Your body is depleted, and crying out for replenishment.  

In these kind of posts I don’t want to bury you in a dissertation on the science of nutrition or volumes of research.  

Everyone and their brother have done that already. 

Let’s cut to the chase: 

During that 30 minutes post workout you need protein, amino acids, and a little bit of carbs.  

This is the time for a recovery supplement shake.  

I don’t know about you, but I am barely on the road within 30 minutes of my workout. 

Let alone all the way through traffic and home in time to eat a real meal within that critical time window. 

Let’s also admit it… 

As we have gotten older, recovery is a little harder. 

We need all the help we can get. 

As we get older – let’s get smarter and benefit from the giants who have come before and proven this over and over. 

Such an easy thing to fuel our body. 

Get it ready to hit it hard again tomorrow.  

This is how we improve. 

Make it a habit, make it a part of your workout routine. 

You are making a commitment to yourself to workout. 

Make a commitment to yourself to fuel yourself for recovery. 

Let’s talk about the supplement itself.  

I have been doing this for a very long time. 

I have tried A LOT of protein powder. 

There is a lot of shit out in the market.  

Read the ingredients.  

Don’t just look at how many grams of protein. 

Most of the protein powders out there use low quality protein and a ton of fillers. 

They are trying to make it taste better with as cheap of ingredients as they can use. 

You are investing in yourself through your gym membership and your time working out.  

Don’t cheap out on the most critical aspect! 

Would you hire a master Mason and pay him a fortune to build you a house with cheap crumbling bricks? 

After your workout, your cells are sucking up everything you give them during that 30 minutes.  

Give them quality. 

Plan for success. 

Prepare for success. 

It’s really not that hard. 

We have all been there. 

“My story will be different.” 

Those other people’s stories don’t apply. 

“It won’t happen to me!” 

I said that. 

I was wrong. 

It happened to me. 

All the other gym owners said they started losing their fitness.  

They started gaining weight. 

They spend more time in the gym. 

But less time working out. 

I used to go in early to get my extra back squats in.  

Now I go in early and put stuff away. 

Or fold towels. 

Or fix a billing problem. 

Or take a phone call. 

Or clean up the plates.  

Or… 

Now my back squat has suffered. 

And my abs are hiding … 

I need this challenge just as much as you do. 

I am here to help you, and you can help me. 

Let’s do this together. 

I am getting dunked today.  

Now I have a number. 

Now I have a goal. 

Let’s do this! 

Hold me accountable and I will hold you accountable. 

No cheating and no lying to ourselves or each other.  

The past no longer matters.  

Where are we going from here? 

I know where I am going – do you? 

I’ll be there right beside you. 

It’s not us, it’s you. 

People have been telling us more and more lately how we have built a great community.  

To be honest, it makes us cringe just a little.  

We did not build it.  

Jeff and Jackie built it. 

We just nurture this place where the community can thrive.  

It’s not us, it’s you. 

You make the community great.  

When you show up with a smile. 

When you share your problems and celebrate your achievements.  

When you come in the morning to start your day off with energy and empowerment. 

When you come at lunchtime to recharge and refresh before going back to work. 

When you come at the end of a long day to disconnect from work and pivot your mood before going home. 

You make the community. 

You talk to each other.  

You push each other and congratulate each other. 

You listen when a friend had a bad day. 

You give each other tips before the coach even can. 

You make the community. 

When you show up to an event. 

When you share your story on Facebook. 

When you retweet something stupid Coach Alec said. 

When you bring a friend in to workout. 

When you tell your Mom how great your workout was. 

You make the community. 

You are why we are here. 

You are why CrossFit is so successful. 

Our coaches are awesome, but you make the community. 

Thank you – You make this the one place we always want to be. 

Winter of 2011.  

Minnesota.  

It was cold and dark, I was sore and frustrated. 

I wanted to quit. 

After a year of CrossFit, I still sucked.  

Usually things came pretty easy to me.  

I had convinced myself that I was in good shape, a decent athlete for a guy in his late 30’s. 

Then I found CrossFit. 

And CrossFit humbled me.  

I was originally determined to improve. 

I had no idea how far I had to go. 

It is tough to maintain that determination long term. 

I had the worst overhead squat in the entire gym. 

My snatch looked like a bronc trying to buck his rider. 

My pull-ups looked like a drunk orangutan swinging from an electric fence.  

I was a mess.  

I wanted to quit. 

Why was I doing this to myself. 

I should go back to running – I was good at that. 

Laura inspired me to stay.  

All she had to do was look me in the eyes and ask me if I was going to quit.  

That made it real instead of in my head. 

Would I admit to her that I can’t do this? 

Would I let my daughters see that I don’t have the determination to improve? 

Nope, that would hurt more than Helen ever does. 

That would set the tone for my future.  

I don’t quit. 

I turned that corner and never looked back.  

CrossFit became a representation of my life, my spirit. 

I don’t quit.  

Ever. 

Three months later. 

More than a year of CrossFit training. 

I finally did Nancy with women’s Rx weights.  

Five rounds for time of: 

400 meter run 

65 pound Overhead squat, 15 reps 

We did Nancy again last week.  

As I rep’d out the men’s Rx 95 pound OH squats, the memories of my first year flooded back. 

I still fight for that overhead position. 

But when I really work at it – I can get it now. 

This is a journey.  

For some of us it is a long journey. 

Stay on the path.  

Trust your coaches. 

There is a lot to learn.  

About the workouts, and about yourself.  

Keep an open mind. 

It’s ok to want to quit.  

It is not ok to actually quit.  

Use that moment to look inside and decide what you want to be made of.  

That is when you CHOOSE what you will be made of. 

Choose to start. 

Choose to stay. 

Or Choose to quit. 

But admit that you Chose.  

Set goals and give them a place to live a  

Not just wake up and hope 

Be the architect of your words, not the victim of it.  

Don’t play the Victim of what life happens to you 

I’d like to share a secret with you. 

Just one thing. 

This is the one thing that will make the biggest difference in your fitness. 

And your life. 

Consistency. 

That’s it. 

Be Consistent 

Show up. 

Do the work. 

That’s the difference between being successful and not. 

Some days we don’t have 110% to give. 

But we still need to show up. 

Reduce the scope, but stick to the schedule. 

Scale. Row. Work on a goat.  

Stick to the plan. 

Trust the consistency. 

Get to the gym. 

Eat real food. 

Consistently. 

This is a commitment to yourself. 

This is about the discipline to follow through. 

No excuses.  

Don’t play the victim of what life throws at you. 

Don’t let shit get in your way. 

The secret to success. 

Inside the gym and out. 

Show up. 

Do the work. 

Then do it again tomorrow. 

Consistently. 

That’s it. 

I never said it would be easy. 

But it’s not that hard.