Own Your Goals
In 2013 our team “Hackspack” set out to defend our title of the affiliate cup at the CrossFit Games. We wanted nothing more than to take first place in Carson and do it with swagger and confidence and in lopsided fashion. Our eyes were set high and with that came high expectations. For me, this doesn’t always come natural, I’m more quiet than boisterous when it comes to competition. I’d rather let my actions speak for me vs. my words. This often leaves me not really wanting to share my goals with people, I usually tend to lean on letting my actions and lifestyle reflect my goals. BUT IN 2013 we went as far as making shirts that in Greek read “Come and Take”. This meant yes, we had the trophy, we were coming back to defend it, and if you wanted it you had to take it. To many this was arrogance, but to us it was simply standing for what we set out to do. Many people have goals in life but are scared to mention them, or let them be known because…well, what if you don’t make it? Then will people judge you? Will they say they told you so? The honest truth is who cares, it isn’t their goal, is it? It isn’t their life is it?
That year I learned a lot about sharing my goals with people, mainly the public vs. just family. And for me, it sparked an even greater fire to rise to the occasion and compete on a different level. Fast forward to the Wasatch Brutes this last year and we made a hashtag that said #stopthemayhem. For those of you that don’t know, Mayhem is Rich Froning’s team. They are amazing and won the CrossFit Games in 2015 and 2016 and were poised for the first ever 3 peat. But I didn’t really want that to happen, since we never did it with Hackspack. I’ll be honest, yes, that was part of my motivation for going team in 2017. None the less, when we made that hashtag people went NUTS. They said we were dumb, they said it would never happen. They said things like, “who are you?” "No one can stop the Mayhem.” Well we know that we did and if you didn’t follow along our team was the 2017 CrossFit Games affiliate cup champs and we did it comfortably. I don’t bring this up to gloat, I bring it up to encourage you to own your goals.
More people in our world NEED TO STAND UP. More people need to be willing to say what sounds crazy to others. More people need to be willing to lose a few followers in order to stay true to themselves. More people need to lay it all on the line and not hold back in fear of failure. I say all of this not to say to live recklessly, but the opposite. Live with intent, live with goals, live with a motivation that is clear and isn’t afraid of hard work and doing all the things necessary to make your dreams a reality. This is what living really is. If you don’t fear your goals from time to time, or don’t say things that sometimes create doubt in those around you or “haters” if you will, then are you ever really chasing something worth while? Or are you just living a safe life? My advice is to think back and consider when the last time was that someone doubted you or simply said…"are you sure thats what you want? That may take a lot of work." OR “That seems pretty unlikely…” If you can’t remember the last time, or no one ever said that, it likely reflects your life in general….safe, secure, maybe even a little lacking or empty? I’m not judging but I’m saying I want more for you even if you don’t want it for yourself. Something should be giving you butterflies making you nervous, sparking your daily fire….find that something to chase, tell someone, tell more people, then go get it….when you get it…don’t relent, let the world know it's yours for them to “come and take” if they dare.
AC