To get better at anything you have to, in some form or another, push yourself to do something that you haven’t done before or something that you’re not very good at. So whether that is learning a new skill or job or how to be a parent (that is a tricky one for sure!), or wanting to be fitter or stronger or healthier, or to make any change for the better, you have to feel what it is like to suck at something. Fact!

A quick internet search on pushing yourself will throw up all sorts of “motivational quotes” about how if you believe you can, you are halfway there (sick bag anyone?), or that you have to push yourself because no one else is going to do it for you. Ummm… Hello? Why do people employ coaches?

Seriously though, wanting to make yourself better at anything has to be a conscious decision of realising that you probably aren’t where you would like to be and that you want to do something about it.

Then in doing something about it, you have to simply push yourself to do something you haven’t done before. And then repeat. And repeat. And repeat. Until it becomes easy and you then make it more difficult once again. In my world of strength and conditioning we call this progressive overload.

But this applies to anything you want to get better at. Software engineer Marissa Mayer, who was an early employee at Google and eventually became CEO of Yahoo is quoted as saying, “I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow – when there’s that moment of, ‘Wow, I’m really not sure I can do this,’ and you push through.” 

And this newsletter has touched on the subject before, examining how well known sportspeople became the best in their chosen field:

• Muhammad Ali (“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”), and 
• Michael Jordan (“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.”)

So the quote from arguably the greatest ice hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzky, at the top of this newsletter is absolutely correct. If you don’t attempt something, how will you ever succeed?

Getting better at anything means accepting the suckiness of it all, but carrying on anyway. You might need some motivation to push yourself through it all. And, as intimated earlier, that is where a good coach is invaluable. While you do have to do the pushing, a coach can help you to make progress at the right pace, keep you on track, provide accountability, celebrate success with you, understand what you are feeling, restructure the workouts to keep you achieving, and so much more.

If you would like help with anything health and fitness related that is mentioned in the last paragraph,then please do get in touch. I would love to be that coach for you, and help you work towards your goals of getting fitter, stronger, leaner and healthier.