My initial thought is that it would be great if I could bypass all the frustrations on this journey and just experience the success. However, the more I think about it, the obstacles and frustration that you work through makes the successes that much sweeter.
People who know me well can tell you that I am often my toughest critic. I can get frustrated easily when I am not able to do something correctly. My frustration takes over my mind and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. I actually convince myself because I didn't do something correctly this time, I never can. Because I will live in that mindset, it becomes reality. That is how I normally operate. Part of this journey has been changing that knee-jerk reaction.
When I started boxing with Espo, I would get frustrated when I couldn't remember a combo, I thought I wasn't going fast enough, or my form was completely a mess. I would shut down and throw my hands down. The smallest mistake would get to me and I would want to stop, even if it was just for the moment. One of the things I appreciate most about my training with Espo is that he never let me give up on the training or myself. When I threw my hands down, I just heard "Hands Up." When my mind started to doubt myself during a break he told me to shake it off. Each time I ignored the frustration and proved my negative mind wrong, it was a happy, peaceful feeling that came over me that I don't have the proper words to describe. It did take some time, but my mind never reaches that point while training anymore. Yes, I still get frustrated when I mess up a combination. But my immediate reaction is to keep my hands up and shake it off. I never thought about it until now, but apparently he was training my mind as well as my body all this time.
During my strength training with Josh I also learned a great lesson about my frustration. I have a bad knee, which causes a bad hip on the other side, plantar fasciitis, limited abdominal muscles (due to a past illness), and a hernia. The poor guy has his hands full with me. Often he would give me exercises to do that I struggled with because I physically could not do them the way he could. The moment I struggled that negative mind of mine would kick in. My thoughts would go from wanting to quit because I should probably accept that I can't do it to being embarrassed about how weak I was. It seems so obvious now but what he taught me was that if I could do it perfectly we wouldn't be working on it. There had to be struggle to improve. He praised my effort and convinced me not be so hard on myself.
With Espo training my mind and body, while Josh supporting me and strengthening my weak spots, I turned a corner without knowing it when it comes to working out. I realize that in order to get better I need challenge. When I am challenged, I am not going to be perfect off the bat. I need to focus and work out it until I succeed. When I succeed, I appreciate the effort that went into it and take a moment to be proud of it instead of just being relieved. And recently, I also embraced the last step which is to make sure I bring on the next challenge swiftly.
Learning how to focus when frustrated has been so valuable in my journey. This is why my number one piece of advice to the other people who ask me is ... do not give in to the frustration. When I see someone get frustrated, my heart goes out to them. As an onlooker, I see there is no need for it. I also know it is not as easy as just being told to not think about it and move on. Most people have more innate athletic ability than I do. So, I know each one of them can surpass me on the road I am on.
Right now I am working on taking this ability of focusing through frustration in my workouts to my diet program as well. I wish I could say I was as positive minded as I am in my workouts, but I am getting there. Although frustrated this past week on the results I saw, I didn't fall into my old traps. I stayed the course. I remained focused. This was a huge milestone for me. I will continue to work on having realistic expectations and not getting frustrated to begin with. But, for now I will celebrate that my focus remained despite frustration.
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