Love, IQ and fit are vague words.

In my spreadsheets, notes and books, I have all the required metrics, data and tools that in theory makes someone extremely fit.

When I was a fragile beginner coach/trainer, I tried to implement everything.

I got nothing from my students.

I got nothing from my teams.

I got nothing from myself.

However…

It taught me a valuable lesson. 

One of my mentors told me to show up without a plan.

I said, “No way! I can’t.”

Clearly I couldn’t see the big picture from a birds eye view, so I man-up and had no plans for all my students the next day. I was navigating through uncharted territory. 

Was I nervous? 

Absolutely!

In my mind, I thought I performed poorly and I told all my students that I would be reimbursing the money. It’s weird, because they loved the sessions. 

Instead of looking at the equipment and focusing on their outcome…

(Because I have already done my homework)

It probably doesn’t make sense… 

But when they walk in, my main priority is to pay attention to their mood. Once I got comfortable, I started to focus on their facial expressions. Once I got comfortable, I started to focus on their attitude. Once I got comfortable, I started to focus on their sweating.

With all the laughing, giving instructions and correcting their form, my mind would calculate the information, process everything and decide whether to push or not to push and keep it steady. 

The valuable lesson was my mentor could confirm their students' pulse without physically touching their neck.

There are different ways to check if someone is in good shape.

There are different ways to check if someone has an impressive IQ.

There are different ways to check if someone is in love. 

Without knowing who Kevin Durant or Mario Lemieux is…

As a narrow minded coach/trainer…

You would say that they are not “fit”.

If you don’t know who they are, they both won the top of the top awards in their fields. They both couldn’t lift 185 pounds at the beginning of their professional career. Emotionally, it probably hurt them seeing other players laughing and strength coaches giggling. 

In the book, Talent is Overrated, “...researchers have found that some chess grandmasters have IQs that are below normal. Top Scrabble player score below average on tests of verbal ability.”

Nevertheless…

Their drive, mental awareness and mindset, just took them to another level. They both knew to block out the outside noise and focus on what really matters.

Honest.

Wisdom.

Social skills.

Sympathy…

has nothing to do with “IQ”.

Willingness to learn.

Being better than yesterday.

Impressive skills...

has nothing to do with “fit”.

All the little nuances in love, I don’t have the capability to type or say it. But, I have seen it in my training. I asked a group separately, and the key message I got was to get comfortable with each other and move on and see what happens. 

A parallel hit me.

Regardless of your previous experience and…

People are watching you and expecting you to perform...

Don’t fix your mind on whether you can do 10, 100 or 1000 pushups for them.

Fix your mind on taking that ONE step for you.

One run. 

One healthy meal. 

One bottle of water.

One workout class. 

One pushup.

Once you get comfortable at 1, focus on 2. 

Once you get comfortable at 2, focus on 3. 

Once you get comfortable at 3…

Not the previous step. 

Not the next step.

Focus on the step right in front of you.

It’s a small win and long term you’ll be better off.

Once you have a solid foundation, have the willingness to learn and be yourself...

I know you will look back at the beginning of your journey and pat yourself on the back that you have accomplished all your goals and milestones.

-Arthur