Practice Makes Perfect

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