The Process By Nikki Aden Im a volunteer firefighter. I want to be a career firefighter. Every week I attend trainings, public relation events, and work 12-hour duty shifts. I still have a long way to go to get hired. Theres the initial waiting process for the agency you want to work for to announce openings; then there is the application process; the written test; the oral interview; the physical ability evaluation; the background check; the physiological test, and finally the Chiefs interview. Sometimes this is overwhelming. There are times late at night laying in bed, where I think about the hard work and time it is going to take to reach each of those stages. I think about the negative opinions of others, what if you dont get hired?” How long do you plan to volunteer? Or You would make a better Paramedic than a firefighter. These thoughts cause me to stress out, even doubt my abilities. So Ive learned to stop allowing this to happen. Ive learned to concentrate on the present and take each step as they come. I have set a goal for myself. No matter what the future holds I can control what I do with the present moment. Even if I dont get hired, in the end the process behind the pursuit of my goal will be worth it. The great thing about goals is they allow us to dwell on this amazing future moment when everything comes together and we are who we want to become. This is exciting. By comparison, we find the actual process of getting there to be boring and tedious. It is important that we love the process of pursuing the goal, not just the idea of achieving it. This idea is no different in the gym. We all want to compete at a high level but we all have one thing in common; we lack patients. We have this mind set that we found success in our former endeavors and we automatically believe we will find success in CrossFit. We are wrong. There is always the potential for success but there is also the process of getting there. You cannot just pick up running and in one month become an ultra-marathon runner. You have to develop the skills over time with continuous repetition, training and determination. As CrossFit athletes we want to push ourselves to the limit. We dont want to be told we need to lower the weight or modify a workout. But sometimes, there are no magic coaching words or adjustments that are going to make us better. We may not be strong enough or technically proficient to perform the movement, at least for now. Sometimes we have to just go back to the basics. Just like the pursuit of my career, I try to approach CrossFit as a continuing process. I would like to be able to compete at the RX level in competition and I have been slowly working towards this. One day, I am going to do it and when I do, that day is going to be awesome. But the goal isn’t what keeps me going to the gym. I love the routine. I love the people. I love the challenge of the workout and the competitive mentality it brings out in us all. I love pushing my body to do things its never done before. It’s not the goal I love; its the process.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 04:29:43 +0000
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