In a recent email I mentioned the idea of adding acceptance to our “Success Formula.” I also referenced the Serenity Prayer, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Today, I would like to take a deeper look at what is actually under our control and begin to look at how we can apply this knowledge to impact our training and our life.
We can take a generalized view of four things which we can control.
1. Intention
2. Attention
3. Emotions
4. Physiology
Although we will take a deeper dive into each of these in the future, for now I would like touch on each of these briefly.
1. Intention– Socrates was quoted as saying, “ An unexamined life is not worth living.” I interpret this quote to mean that if we aim to live or best life that we need to be intentional and mindful of what we are doing and why. From a training perspective this is why we intentionally choose to refer to exercise as training versus simply working out. It is also why I am more inspired to be a coach than a personal trainer. Our goal as coaches is to educate, inspire, and empower you rather than simply writing a program and counting reps. You are ultimately responsible for knowing your intention for training, but it is our job as a coach to help you connect your training to that intention in order to optimize it.
2. Attention- Once you identify your intention, you can work on determining where to focus your attention.
3. Emotions- This for many, including myself, is the hardest. Knowing you have the capacity to control of your emotions is a vital first step.
4. Physiology- Eating, sleeping, moving, breathing, and managing stress are all important factors when it come to physiology. Again knowing these things are in your control is critical.
Focusing on what you can control and having a creator versus victim mindset is key to living your best life!
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