If You Want to See Life Differently Ask a Child

It has been a great week and it is only TUESDAY! I hit 2 new Personal Records already. One of them has been a very LONG time coming. I was able to finally string together 8 Toes-to-Bar without any extra swings. It was nice and fluid and let me tell you it felt great. I did not expect it at all. 

In fact, I was dreading this workout when I saw it posted last night and all it said was, "take 10 minutes to work on toes-to-bar." That is not even threatening, right? Gonna be honest with you. I am not the most coordinated person in my movement or my clothes. LOL I decided quickly that I would go to the gym and do whatever my body allowed me to do and move on. I was shocked that I was able to hit 8 toes-to-bar so effortlessly.

I talk a lot about visualization and mindset and I could tell you that was what worked today. That's not true though. What really worked today was that I was not attached to the outcome, I was not worried about how I would do and most importantly as I approached to bar to grab onto it I did not even think about my toes hitting the bar. (Normally, that is my focus. I mean, look at the name). I listened to my coach, Seth, who is awesome by the way, and I simply lifted my knees. I was very relaxed, and I got in a rhythm that felt good and decided to lift my toes and didn't stop until I hit 8 reps. I am so happy! Sometimes mindset is about not thinking too much.

Now back to the title of my blog. "If You Want to See Life Differently, Ask a Child."  I'd like to share a story about my daughter Bella. 

One day she came to the gym with me and as I was in the middle of my workout she asked me if she could jump rope. I said sure and found her a rope that was way too long so I showed her how to wrap it around her hand several times. When she started jumping I asked her if she knew how to jump rope and she said she had done it that year at her school when they had the jump rope fundraiser. Needless to say she has not jumped much. She told me she wanted to jump like we do in the gym (without stopping). Ok, I thought as she started to jump and mess up. I started to wonder if she would get it or not. 

In very little time she went from doing 2-3 unbroken singles to 27 in a row. 
This is what my friend, Randy and I learned:
1. Don’t overthink it. In fact, “think about nothing.” As she progressed and was up to 10 jumps consistently we asked her what she was thinking. She responded with - "NOTHING" and looked at us like what do you even mean. We can get in our heads so bad, not Bella!
2. Smile and have fun. She had fun the entire time even when she missed.
3. If you mess up start again immediately. She said there is no reason to worry or get upset cuz you’ll get it - “DUH, right Mom?”
4. Don’t quit. She didn’t want to go home until she hit 30. She kept increasing her goal: 5,10, 15, 20, 30.

She knew she would do it and get better. And THAT is brilliant!! Thanks for your wisdom, little girl.