Finding Your Why

Before you begin a big endeavor in any part of life, there is an important question to ask yourself… Why? If you go to any seminar on life, or even sit in some multilevel marketing outreach, this is the first thing they will ask you. What is the reason behind this decision – behind starting this journey – behind wanting to get to this finish line?

My why in fitness started when I was 10 years old. I LOVED sports. I loved getting out on the soccer field because loved kicking the ball around. I loved everything about it. As I started to grow, my uncoordinated self decided to give basketball a try, and I fell in love with a new sport. I sucked! But I loved it.  My why became because I didn’t want to get better, I wanted to be the best. Little did I know that I was only going to grow to be 5’9, and my best friend was going to be 10 times the basketball player I was… But basketball became my life, my family.

It didn’t take long to realize I wasn’t made for college ball. And I certainly wasn’t going pro. I took a long hiatus from anything athletic and tried my hand at the booze Olympics. My pants started to get a little tighter, my energy started to dim a little, and I figured I better make my way back into the gym. Slowly by surely, I started lifting and getting back on to the court. Then I did the typical… It’s winter, I don’t need to workout… It’s summer, holy crap I need to be in a bikini dance for a while. 

Fast forward a couple years. I moved over one thousand miles away from anything that I knew. As I went to work and started to meet people, I still felt as though something was missing. I began to find myself again in the gym. Day after day those cravings came back. I’d push a little harder, ran a little farther. I realized that on those particularly rough days, my workouts gave me peace. It became my me time again. Nikes on, headphones in. It became my time of solace where my mind is actually quiet. Literally the only thing that I think about it my lift.

Don’t get me wrong, there are days where I want to pull my hair out. Days where my energy is nill, my emotions are running rampad, and my lifts are disappointing, To me, there is nothing worse in my day then when I hit the gym with a goal in mind and I just barely miss it. But then I remember… If that is the worst thing that happens in my day, life is pretty damn good. In addition to that… If I just barely missed the goal, I am just barely going to make it the next time. And to me, there is  nothing better than using all you have left and pushing right past that goal you had. The success, the endorphins, the adrenaline. When you see yourself doing things that you never saw yourself doing, that’s my happy place.

I recently found a new why. A few months ago, I decided to try my hand in the competition world. This new endeavor has got me so crazy and so busy that there literally have been times where I wanted to throw my hands up, drop a couple of F*bombs, and quit… and maybe I’ve done two out of three of those. But the next day I’m back at it! I love that feeling. I love knowing that I can always go back and I’m always going to be getting better. Through a couple tears, a few aches and pains, and A LOT of help from other people (my gym family will likely never know how much they have actually done for me)… I’ve started to make progress. When I feel like quitting, I remember my why. Because I’m improving and making a new me. Not because the old me was a bad version, but because I know I am capable of so much more! Inone month of hard, sometimes infuriating work… I am down 5lbs, 3.2% body fat, with 1lb gain of lean body mass. 

It is SO important to find your why. I can’t stress that enough. Because when you feel like giving up and throwing in the towel, your why is what keeps you going.