How the way we talk can change the way we WOD

“How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We WOD”
By: Michael Collette B.S Owner/Head Coach of CrossFit Prototype

Over the past 5 weeks of the CrossFit Open, I have been so impressed with the work ethic, PRs and energy at CFP. All the positivity has made our coaches proud and truly inspired all our members. The positives far outweigh any negatives that take place during the open and I wanted to write about the critical role mindset plays during the Open and really every day at CFP. This can be applied to your workouts, coaching, and to life outside the gym (if you have one LOL). This piece on mindset stems from our coaches meeting last week when we discussed mindset and how important and impactful it truly is..
One of the recurring themes we see with members/athletes (and we do it ourselves at times) is the abundance of negative self-talk. Negative self-talk can exist anywhere and being mindful of it and when it starts to occur is the first step to change. This is where The Open is a great test of your will, confidence and ability to keep a positive mindset. When a workout is announced we tend to hear things such as “I can’t do that” or “that’s stupid, it’s too hard” and even “I won’t finish that under the time cap!” Your emotions can get the best of you and you need to be aware when negative self-talk enters your mind. To combat this, the focus needs to be off of words like “can’t, won’t or weakness” and view these things as opportunities. Weaknesses are areas of opportunities. Your word choice plays a major role in the output, and when you give voice to your fear you’ve already lost the mental edge so many tough workouts demand. After all, it’s just a workout and we need to realize that our value isn’t determined by our ability to do a workout Rx or scaled.
Living with a positive mindset or outlook is a skill and can be trained just like double unders! Another step towards changing the way you think is to avoid comparing yourself to others. The only person you should compare yourself to is you from the previous day. We tend to have a short-term memory when it comes to the positives and a long-term memory when it comes to the negatives. Negative emotions tend to be derived from past failures. Failing, after all, is part of learning. The more you try, fail, and learn, the more you grow. Ask yourself this question:  When was the last experience you had (positive or negative) and you didn’t learn anything from it?  Failure tends to imply that we have stopped. Turn failure into opportunities to grow, learn and move on. If you currently compare your performance to others (think of CrossFit Games athletes), puts energy into all the mistakes you made vs. generating good energy from the things you did well and lets the negatives enter your mind more often than not, you need to make a change! Try mind mapping a solution the next time you are feeling negative::

1. Write down the event/situation/workout/exercise. Words on paper people!
   1. Example: CrossFit Open WOD 17.4 (repeat of 16.4)
2. List all the potential outcomes that could result from the event. For example, if are thinking of a certain WOD, what could come of it? You could set a new PR, only complete 1 round, etc. List good & bad potential outcomes.
3. Map out the feelings you associate to those outcomes.
   1. Example: Angry, Sad, Annoyed, happy, overjoyed, accomplished, confident
4. Identify negative feelings/emotions and jot down a few actions you can take to offset these.

• Avoid saying “I can’t”
• Set goals but avoid being overly focused on the outcome.
• Dwelling on the past won’t change anything.
• Enjoy the journey vs. living in the GAP between where you are now and where you want to be.
• Verbiage: not weaknesses…areas of opportunity. Words make a difference!
• Avoid demanding perfection. The two reasons people fail to change are:
  1. a) Trying to be perfect.
  2. b) Procrastination (AKA avoidance).
• Realize that some things are out of your control. Probably most things.
• Being conscious when you start to go down the negative rabbit hole.
• Suppression and repression is not the answer. Talk about it.
• Turn failure into learning opportunity.