Leave Your Ego At The Door

An Ego is defined as a person's self esteem or self importance. For the sake of this post we will only be speaking about ones Ego and the affect it can have inside the gym. One common theme you hear or sometimes even seen written on the walls inside CrossFit Affiliates is "Leave Your Ego At The Door." In essence what is being asked of an individual is to leave their pride and arrogance at the door.

In any exercise program our Pride and Ego can be a detrimental piece to our success. Too many times those two pieces are responsible for pushing us past our limits or on the other hand not allowing ourselves to push to higher limits. The voices in our heads will try to push us beyond our capabilities or tell us that we are incapable of the task at hand. Sometimes we let those voices dictate too many of our decisions.

Ego's can be a great thing....if we have a healthy Ego and view of ourselves. An individual who views themselves realistically and recognizes both their strengths and weaknesses is generally perceived to have a healthy Ego. As we develop mentally inside the gym and better ourselves we can begin to see major benefits in our training and even outside the gym. Ego in CrossFit is negative when it interferes with the most important piece of all: to IMPROVE!

Ask yourself:

1. Do you focus primarily on finishing the workout first instead of focusing on your Mechanics and Consistency? This is something I have discussed time and time again with some of the top Coaches in our Community. If there is a secret to CrossFit training, it is to approach your training session with the mindset of improving not just being the best in every workout.

2. Do you get frustrated when a training session doesn't go your way? Maybe you're having a hard time connecting Double Under's that day and you launch your rope across the room! This is not displaying the best attitude to your classmates.

3. Are you afraid to try things outside of your comfort zone? When you experiment with new things, there is a chance you will fail at first. But you cannot allow that to stop you from working to expand your abilities and overall success inside the gym. Don't allow your Ego to prevent you from trying new things.

Sometimes your Ego can make you push to far beyond your limits and put you at risk for injury. Other times it can prevent you from stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying something new! Do not allow your Ego to deprive you of the beauty in CrossFit: getting out of your comfort zone and achieving things you never thought were possible.