I will admit to you right now… Everything is a contest to me.  Most of the time I will never say it out loud, and I don’t “play dirty” whatsoever.  No trash talk, no hostility, nothing like that.  I will be sincere and have a smile on my face, but inside my head, I am very competitive.

So, when I say I’m “just doing it for fun” (see: 5k fun run, adventure race, crossfit WOD, etc), I am still going to compare my results to everyone else and be motivated by beating people who would be comparable to me.  Some people might say it’s unhealthy, but I love it.

At crossfit, I know who is “in my range,” and I’ll always look at those in earlier classes as well as those in my same class to size up the amount of weight, number of reps, speed, etc.  Unless I am injured, I will always benchmark myself against them and yes, I do want to be number one.

This applies at work, too.  Like yesterday… my lead had some extra work on his shoulders, and I immediately volunteered to take some of it.  I’ll do it, and I’ll do it well.  1) Because I like being busy, 2) Because it will cause him less stress, and 3) Because then I am doing the most work and will probably still get it all done in the same time as everyone else.  Boom.  Yeah, I’m competitive.

I know that some of you out there are thinking, from that last example, that I’m a brown-noser.  I’M REALLY NOT.  In fact, if someone else also volunteered to take on extra things, I would totally split it with them, or whatever.  I go with the flow.  But I’m still going to make sure that the work I do is the best it can possibly be, and over-deliver.

You see, what it all comes down to is this:  Under-promise, and over-deliver.  That’s the secret to winning.  Accept your circumstances, but do your absolute best no matter what.  Push yourself internally, and if that means comparing yourself to those around you, and those “above” you, then let that be your motivation.  Just keep it classy, folks.  And never ever ever be a sore or bitter loser.  That’s a waste of everyone’s time, and pretty much means you actually do think you are the best at everything.  Haha.  Of course no one is the best at everything.  Keep in mind that I did say I benchmark myself against people who are “in my range.”  If I were to compare myself to someone who has been doing something for way way longer than me, or is naturally gifted in that area, then it would be unreasonable and unattainable to compare myself to them.  This is the reason crossfit has scaled workouts.  Work with what you got, and in time (and with hard work), the results will come.

The motivation for this post, of course, is the Crossfit Open workout that was just posted (14.1).  So many people are already complaining about it, because it is double unders and power snatches.  And I will totally admit, a year ago (and it was almost exactly a year ago that I first joined crossfit), I would not have been able to compete with a workout involving those two movements.  So yeah, I have to admit……. all of those complaining about the DUs who HAVE been in crossfit for a while and just neglected to ever practice them as a skill, I don’t feel bad for you.  I’m excited because I get a leg up.

I know I’m not really “going” anywhere with the Crossfit Games.  Haha.  No way.  But I love competition, and even though I said I paid the $20 “just for fun,” you better believe I’m going 100% during these workouts.  Best of luck to all!!!

Xo