My mom told me that when I was a kid on the first day of school, I’d open up my math book to the last chapter and cry when I saw all the complicated math problems at the end. She’d have to explain to me that I didn’t have to know how to do the problems at the end that day, I only had to learn the first chapter, then the second, and so on, and by the end of the school year I’d have the skills, experience, and knowledge to take on those harder problems.

Maybe I still have this tendency today. Do you?

Do you ever want to skip to the end without tackling the problems in the earlier chapters of skill development? Do you look at someone who is running faster than you, has run a marathon or farther, has lost a lot of weight, has gained a lot of muscle or strength, can do gravity-defying Yoga poses and think that it’s not possible for you, or think it’s too scary of a goal? Or it will take too long?

It’s the reason why we train. We train because it’s hard and we don’t have the skills, ability, or knowledge yet.

WHAT IF I FAIL?

What if I tell you that you will fail. Almost for sure. But that failure will teach you how to get better next time, and that’s part of the process.

You don’t have to know how to achieve that big goal today; you only have to start taking the steps so that over time, you’ll have the skills and knowledge to tackle bigger challenges. Take one step at a time, fall in love with the process, put in the work, build daily habits that support your goal, fail, grow, learn, and get better. You can’t flip to the end, but you can start working now. It’s why we train.

WHY WE TRAIN

I ran hill repeats this morning. The temperatures are still in the mid-nineties in Fort Worth (in September!). I was breathing heavy; my legs were burning, my mind—questioning my abilities.

I had to remind myself; training is supposed to be hard. That’s why it’s called training. If it were easy, it would not elicit change. You can’t expect to have all the skills and abilities without the training part.

Then I did my barbell training in the Shred Shed. It made hills in the heat feel like child’s play. I had to replay the lesson in my head: It’s supposed to be hard. The only way to improve is to challenge your current abilities. We train because it’s hard.

TRAINING IS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE

First and foremost, you learn by doing. When you do it wrong, you learn from those lessons. Then you get better; then you stumble again—then you get even better. Repeat forever in no particular order.

There is not a straight line to success; There’s forward movement, then back. Advancement, then decline. Success then failure, then progress again. It’s how you learn and grow. It doesn’t come easy, and that’s why we train.

We train to get better, develop skills, and to reach our goals. Think about your training as a learning experience. Your mindset around training is almost as important as the training itself.

No matter what you training for—a race, a competition, or getting better at life—forget about flipping to the back of the book. Stop expecting perfection. Embrace failure. Get to work.

It’s worth it, I promise.

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