I’m sure you have all heard the phrase, “Practice makes
perfect.”
I started playing softball when I was 8 years old. I
loooovvvveeeeddddd softball. So much that my mom used to say I had little
softballs running through my blood! I played for years and at a very
competitive level, hoping to someday play in college.
I practiced, practiced, and practiced. Batting, pitching,
fielding, and conditioning lessons. You name it and I was doing that here,
there, and everywhere. There were days when I prayed for rain in order to not
practice and days I wished it would stop raining so I could practice. There
were days when just running to first base was an effort and days when running
fifty billion laps around the field were a breeze. I even had a coach tell me I
was never going to be good enough to play in college…
After a lot of blood, sweat, and tears I got a softball
scholarship!!!
That moment I opened my scholarship letter made every single
hard day worth it. I had been playing hard, working my butt off, practicing,
falling and getting back up, making mistakes and learning from them, wanting to
quit, loving the journey, every emotion possible for 10 years… Just to realize
that persistence, practice, focus, and faith will get you results.
You might be wondering, “Where the heck is she going with
this?!”
It takes years for an athlete to learn a sport. Years of
practice and hard work to achieve the skills it takes to win a game. Time to
learn the mental toughness it takes to win, lose, and get over hard mental
blocks (like a batter striking out all the time because they think too much at
the plate).
Doesn’t this also convey into the areas of our life when it
comes to achieving the body composition we are striving for? Whether you are
trying to lose or gain weight, these principles are still the same.
It takes time, practice, patience, and perseverance to get
the fitness results you want! Does a football player just wake up one day
earning a million dollars? Does a skier just wake up one day and say, "Hey! I
think I’ll go to the Olympics this year?" Do you think they take weeks or months
off at a time and come back just as good as when they left? NO! These athletes
work very hard to get their bodies and minds ready for these events and games.
Apply this to your life… How long have you been trying to
lose weight? Have you been consistent in your practices to lose weight or have
you skipped one too many practices and private lessons?
Like I always say, it takes time to reach your fitness
goals. You must practice to reach those goals. Consistently practice, exercise,
healthy eating, and stress relief. All components of a healthy lifestyle!
Ladies and gentlemen, lets start practicing for our health!
Let’s be consistent with our practice and quit taking so many days off! No more
excuses, skipping the team meetings, self doubting at the plate, and lowering
our expectations. Even when you want to quit, keep your head high and your eyes
on the prize. Don’t let yourself or others around you say you can’t reach your
goals.
Your health is in your hands. Always practice the life you
want.
-SLR
