The Gap

It’s always interesting to expose yourself to the gap between what your mind thinks you can do and what you can physically accomplish and I find time and time again that competition is such a beautiful and immediate way to bring this out.

Even though mindset is one of my favourite subjects to explore, study, and discuss, I find that my gap is still quite large at times. One on hand I am extremely confident in the skills I have got and back myself in, maybe even a little over confident at times, but on the other hand if it is something that I am not super confident about I seem to go hard the other way and retreat into my metaphorical shell.

We all have a powerful narrative in our heads that produces the stories that we hear and believe. I’m not sure if mine is more powerful or if this is how everyone experiences it but I have a very strong narrative of negative self-talk at times and I have to be very careful not to let it take over.

In general life I think I do let it get the best of me occasionally…. but then there competition.

The negative talk is there.

The chatter in my mind that this workout or movement or event or game is no good for me.

The story starts to build that I won’t do well.

But here’s the beauty, in a competition you can’t just avoid it or back out and say no like you can in life. Well sure, you could but I can nearly guarantee that you won’t.

 

For me, the talk is there right up until that timer starts and then it all goes quiet.

 

There’s only one thing in my mind at this point and that is the direct work in front of me and my willingness to compete as hard as I can at it. 

Competition brings out this alter ego of mine that just gets after it with no excuses and is way more confident than the character from minutes before. This is a side of me that I struggle to bring out in day to day life. It’s a character that is so uninterested with any of the white noise and distraction and is solely focused.

This is a person I need to work on becoming more often. The ice bath helps me face this weekly. So do tough workouts. These things help to force you in to a scenario to bring out that confident self. It’s really hard to complete either of these things if you don’t back yourself. This is a person I need to work on becoming more often and competition is a great way for me to immediately learn about this alter ego. I am the author of the story in my head and I need to trust myself to write it confidently.

For me in the last week it was a deadlift weight that I recently injured myself on and had myself convinced that I wasn’t going to do it in the competition. The mental chatter was there right up to the lift and I was not in the slightest bit excited for this test. However, when the time came, I did do it and I didn’t re injure myself or any of the other few things I was afraid of. I closed the gap.

When’s the last time that you explored the gap between your perceived self and what you can really do? What’s the story that you tell yourself about your abilities? 

Pursue your potential

Dice