Monday, 18 September 2022

DAILY MINDSET AF

“Bread today is better than cake tomorrow” - Chinese Proverb

There is a common misconception about drive. That if we pause to celebrate today, that we will lose our fire for tomorrow. We’ll lose our competitive edge. And we’ll be satisfied with where we are.

Something we want to recognize: Gratitude is not linked to a lack of drive. Or a lack of performance. It’s actually quite the opposite.

There’s a hormone in our brain called dopamine. It’s the “feel good” hormone. And it’s released whenever we hit that big lift, PR that workout, or just do something well. Call it the celebration hormone.

When athletes go wrong here, it’s because they fail to see something:

That dopamine is incredibly, incredibly addicting.

Think back to when you were first starting CrossFit, and let’s say you were in class. You’re thinking and working hard on your technique, and coach walks by and catches you with marked improvement to your form. He/She says - “Hey.. freakin’ nice job there. That’s an incredible improvement!”.

How would you feel? Think about it for a moment. I think we would have felt proud, accomplished, and… eager for the *next one*. The next praise. Because that felt good. And I want that next one. So I’m going to bust my ass even *harder now* to get my technique even better.

Now purely for thought - take the opposite. Pretend you never got that praise, ever. It’s only “not good enough” at all times. Fast forward 2 years. Which athlete is thriving?

Dopamine is a weapon. An absolute weapon. We just need to use it properly. Celebrate today, if for no other reason, than because it will make us even hungrier for tomorrow.