Do you ever feel like you have run SMACK SPLAT into a brick wall with your training or other goals? For a long time I felt that way about losing more weight. I lost a considerable amount of weight when I first started CrossFit. I was highly motivated and found adhering to my nutrition plan wasn't so hard. I was on a roll. The more successful I was, the more motivated I became, and my success snowballed. But then things changed. Life happened, the weight loss slowed down, and the honeymoon was over! Adhering to my new way of eating seemed to get a lot harder. Try as I might, it seemed I was always off track. I felt as though there was an insurmountable obstacle--the proverbial brick wall--between me and my goal. And rather than scaling the wall, I was banging my head against it. But I hung in there and worked hard to regain my motivation and get back on track. At the moment I'm on track and trying my best to stay there, hanging on for dear life, and scaling that brick wall! And when I get to the top, I'm going to jump up and down, stomp and scream with joy, and never look back.
"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something."
This quote is from The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, husband, and father of three. Professor Pausch presented The Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon on September 18, 2007, soon after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died on July 25, 2008. To read more about Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture, or to watch the video of his speech, click here.
17 comments:
I think we should too, be proud of our brick walls because it means that we have reached and surpassed a previous goal and now another goal most be tackled... progression!
IE: I would not being hitting a brick wall with my pull ups if I had never gotten a pull up in the first place :)
Great post today Pat C. Sometimes I think when we are running full speed towards a goal we need a brick wall to give us time to adjust to where we are mentally and physically so that we can handle the next major step. I agree with Rae- we should strive to take the time at the wall to celebrate our accomplishments that got us there!
Awesome message, Pat. I never really thought of it that way. I guess the higher our brick walls, the harder we must try, but also the more rewarded and proud we feel when we get over them. Right now my brick wall is this back injury that seems to be plotting against me to keep me from reaching further goals. But you know what? I am just starting to realize I will be much better off, and reach higher goals, on the other side. I have really adopted some great stretching and relaxation habits that I believe are the key to getting me back to 100% and prevent future injury. And perhaps more importantly, I enjoy the aspect of stretching that makes me slow down the life pace a bit. It has inspired me to treat my body with kindness and give it some rest!
I hope you are all having a great morning.
I'm glad today's topic is meaninful and helpful. It is helping me tremendously to write about this stuff and share it with all of you. And the fact that it may also help one of you on a particular day, well that's even better!
Rachel, I thought about you and your goal of 5 consecutive pullups when I was writing this. I know you will work hard and reach your goal. You can do it.
Meeks, thanks for your perspective. I hadn't really looked at it quite that way. That makes a lot of sense.
Erica, great attitude about your injury. We miss you at the gym but of course we only want you back when you are ready.
Gnomes, regarding your comment yesterday about eatingwell.com--I often buy the magazine, "Eating Well." I really like it. I haven't checked out the website. I will do that. Thanks for the tip. And congrats on getting your plan set with Erica, getting the kitchen stocked, etc. I know you will do great. Having your birthday just around the corner at about the same time the challenge ends provides extra motivation I bet. Perfect.
Pat, I've seen that lecture, the whole thing on video. It was SO inspiring. That guy could teach all something about heart.
I like how everyone is really digging into this challenge. Eye on the prize. Sometimes it helps to visualize yourself having already made it to the top of the "brick wall." See your success instead of getting bogged down in how far you have to go. It really works!
Great work everyone.
Good point, Shana. Maybe I should photoshop our faces atop the brick wall. :-)
I've also watched the lecture, both the full and abbreviated versions. It's worth your time for those that haven't seen it. You can find them on utube and at the link I provided. I first saw it last fall; this quote about the brick wall has really encouraged me at times when I felt like giving up.
I've found you!I'm in Detroit on a foreign computer and didn't have the web address. Was like starting the day without my coffee!
A comment on the power of positive words. Since yesterday I've been gathering information from client after client for a large environmental case. Many are tired, coming in to see me after a long day of work, have to take a long drive home and, in a nutshell, are grumpy. Thinking about our blog I made a conscious decision to be energetic and use compliments and positive words (mindful that perky can be annoying ;)) WITHOUT FAIL each of those that started out grumpy were laughing and smiling with me by the end. It's really amazing.
That's great, Sheryl! Yes, perky can be annoying; I'm sure you walked that line perfectly.
(Slap me if I'm too perky or Pollyanna)
Perky=annoying?? NEVER!!!! Only if it's ingenuine!
Sheryl, I LOVE your evidence of the power of a positive attitude! LOVE IT!!
"slap me if I'm too perky" that is hilarious.
I sure hit a brick wall last night. It was called "Ryan". Ya'know, when does that moment stop when it's no longer good enough to be "happy" that I can do A muscleup -- because the "prize" becomes doing a million really FAST??!!
Well something happened and I did 5 in a row (new PR) then NADA. Couldn't get a muscleup to save my LIFE. The weird thing is, I wasn't that angry or frustrated, I just was confused. After round 3 I just QUIT. I felt horrible, it felt wrong, it wasn't like I was exhausted.
Then Tommy made me watch the video that Ryan was based on... and whoa-damn. All Tommy said was "you HAVE to finish now" -- and well, crap, I did.
The whole point to this story isn't really about working out, but afterwards, I really wanted to cry. I had the "someone's sitting on my chest" feeling, throat choked up -- but I COULD NOT CRY. It was pretty weird. Then... a lightbulb went off as I was driving home. I have literally drank NO water that day. I drank a protein drink for breakfast, then had 2 packs of pb crackers and some califlower for lunch. I'm positive, I had no hydration in my system to be ABLE to make tears... and I'm prettydurn sure it had a lot to do with my muscles just not having ANY fire-power explosion.
Man did I learn my lesson. Water is a part of our chemistry too.
You are so right Pat - having the big 3-0 right around the corner is a little extra motivation. My best girlfriends from college are all coming in town to help me celebrate and I want to be in killer shape (and take them to CFED to show them how it's done). 210 pullups (assisted) in 2 days is going to help me get to that goal!
And Erica has dumbed down all this kitchen/food/cooking stuff so I feel it is all managable for me now. Yippee!
Good morning! HGB: I saw a pretty rainbow as I was driving to work this morning. :o)
After my comment last night...I did not have any traffic on the way home. Even though it was pouring like a flippin hurricane, people just slowed down a bit, but NO TRAFFIC!! :o)
So, regarding the BRick Wall? I am currently face planted into it at the moment with both my weight loss and my CFED WOD's.
Kath~I cried in the second round of "Ryan" yesterday. I wanted to quit, but those "Perky" Trainer people wouldn't let me! IT took me 1 hour and 22 minutes to finish that damn WOD, but eh...at least I finished.
I'm just full of tears lately! I think I've cried enough for all of us for the next month...at least!
Perky people only annoy me first thing in the morning. Other than that...I can dig it!
I agree with you on the water thing, Kath, it's huge. And Melissa proves it. She drinks water like it's going out of style and has plenty of tears :)
Melissa, great HGB and I'm very glad you took a moment to appreciate the no-traffic-positive.
Love Rae's comment about brick walls really meaning we've surpassed our previous goals.
Erica, I know how an injury can get you down, but let me share an HGB from yesterday. I was on the ATL airport train. It was about to start moving. And I reached up to grab the strap above my head with my left hand. So? So for weeks and weeks and months that would not have happened because of my shoulder. And yesterday I didn't even notice I'd done it til I was at the next stop. I wanted to jump up and down with joy. You will get past it and you are so right to use the meantime to work on other things.
Yes...I LOVE WATER. They are keeping me very busy at work now, so I am actually behind today. I am usually on my second liter by now, but I have only finished 1/2 of the first. I need to get chugging.
Sheryl...That's great about your shoulder! Mine haven't been bothering me either. I started adding a tabelsppon of flax oil to my protein smoothie shake thing in the mornings and have been taking my fish oils daily. Plus, I'm sure the lack of dairy is helping too. So, yay!
Thanks, Sheryl, for sharing your HGB. AND for your story about the positive energy you are passing onto your clients. They both remind me how powerful positive thinking can be. I was thinking very negatively about this injury for a few weeks in there - saying things like "i wonder if this will ever get 100% better," and it seeemed to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. And as soon as I decided to focus on the positive - that this injury may bring clarity to other areas of my life - I had a breakthrough. Last night my neuromuscular massage therapist found the VERY PAINFUL pain trigger point in my hip, that was clearly the cause of pain down my left leg (which had me worried b/c that can also be a sign of a slipped or bulging disc, but I am cleared of that too by my chiro), and in his opinion has played a large role in me not getting 100% better. He relased the trigger point...holy crap the pain....and my back already feels better today!
See? THAT's why I like chiropractic & neuromuscular stuff... it's so SYMBOLIC for life. I see it as very spiritual. Sometimes the "symptom location", is not the real problem. My body-image, my workouts, my food, (my brickwalls lol) -- if I focus too hard on what appears to be, I may be missing that there's an underlying problem that needs to be addressed. Cuz I sure know my wanting food has almost NUTHIN' to do with being hungry HAHAHA
Good for you Melissa! It took me 50mins. But we stuck with it, we ROCK. ;)
I'm with you on the food thing too Kath. If you aren't aware, my nutritional goal for the Pin-up challenge is to not eat any Dairy. I now founfd myself eating things just because it doesn't have dairy in it, and not because I am actually hungry. And...that would be fine if it were fruits, veggies, and protein...but no...it's Whole grain bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta...not the worst, but those tthings affect my weight loss efforts, so...I need to stop that real quick!
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