Starting anything new can be intimidating, but even the concept of crossfit was enough to make me avoid it like the plague. Eventually it was time to try something new and this was the year of saying eff fear so off into the gauntlet I went. This was one of those moments Mel Robbin’s 5 second rule really came to play. I called up my brother in law who was a regular xfitter and said I was thinking of trying it soon. After the, “I’m going this afternoon, come with me” comment I was kind of stuck.
Begrudlingly I got into my workout gear, laced up my shoes and went to what I envisioned might be the seventh circle of hell.
Walking into this gym was terrifying. As an adult my general pattern was if I am not going to be good at something that voice in my head says let’s not today ok? My thoughts weren’t super encouraging. I was out of shape and knew there was no way I can do a super hard workout. I am going to be so slow, look weak and embarrass myself. In reality some of that was true, but to my surprise it wasn’t nearly as bad as I made it out to be in my mind. The group was supportive and the coach scaled the workout so I wouldn’t be left in the dust.
To officially start you had to sign up for some one on one training sessions (some of the olympic weight lifting moves are tricky). Once those were done I was officially part of the gym and could come to all classes. I started going two times a week and then three times a week. It’s still hard, but it gets easier and although I’m not anywhere near a scaled workout I am showing up and getting stronger.
That to me is the key to not sucking at Crossfit and this applies to so many aspects of life – don’t let fear stop you, show up and don’t quit.
It sounds so simple and after starting I love it and it’s an important part of my life. If I hadn’t mustered up the courage to go that first time I’d never know what I was missing.
