You Can Suck – and Still Succeed

I apologize in advance for using such an informal edgy title, but “stink” didn’t cut it – and it didn’t rhyme with success. LOL

As I was searching for synonyms for “suck”, I discovered where the word came from. Jazz musicians would compliment a horn player by saying “wow, he can really blow!” Since I play trumpet, I can totally relate. It takes a lot of power and control to move air through the horn to reach those high notes. However, if they were really bad, they’d say they were “sucking” on the horn (opposite blowing).

Of course my blog is not about music, it’s about fitness and the reason I chose this title is because I believe there are way too many people who feel like a failure when it comes to fitness, so they quit – or worse, they don’t even try.

I am here to tell you that you do NOT have to be a rockstar in the gym. You do not even have to be in perfect health. I have seen many people struggle through every single workout, put in half the effort as their workout partners, work with physical limitations, have horrible form and even do the bare minimum asked of them – and I’ve seen them still succeed and reach their goals despite their poor performance.

I believe people have a tendency to put too much pressure on themselves to perform well. They compare themselves to other people around them and they let their pride get in the way of their potential.

I’m here to tell you that you have to throw this thinking out the window. Even if you are the weakest person in the gym, even if you are the heaviest person in class, even if you don’t really know what you are doing, you are moving and can be improving!

You don’t have to kill yourself in the gym. Many people are putting themselves through horrendous workouts only because they have a horrendous diet. You don’t need to beat yourself up like that.

My runs are slow as Moses sometimes. On some days, I swear there are some people who could walk faster than I run. There are also plenty of times I want to just leave in the middle of kickboxing class because I feel like I’m dying and failing every single jab, cross, kick and jump. But I leave proud because I didn’t quit no matter how ugly it was.

What matters is that we decide to move and you keep moving. It’s all about consistency and just doing OUR best. As we keep moving, we keep improving.

Don’t let the perfection in you get in the way of your potential. Just focus on progress – one step at a time. 🙂