Motivational Monday: It Comes From Within

A couple weeks ago a friend of mine asked me for help. He was celebrating his 28th birthday and was feeling as though he wasn’t measuring up to the life he had pictured for himself years ago. He was feeling lost at work and unmotivated. He told me he needed my drive and wanted me to be an accountability buddy, checking in with him making sure he was fulfilling tasks.

I told him I would, but that I had hesitations. Let me say first I am all for accountability buddies. There have been plenty of times I have been grateful to have a friend to run with to ensure I got a workout in. However, when you rely on some else for motivation, confidence, and worth, you will never get to where you want to go. Like Anna Freud so eloquently puts it, “It comes from within.”

My friend Ross Hammond, who I met when I lived in Wichita Falls, found the strength inside him. I asked him if he would share his story. So, for the first time, here is a guest writer on my blog. Please give a warm welcome to Ross Hammond.

Let's face it I was never the star athlete nor gifted from birth with a small, lean figure. (To make a long story short) I ended my first year of college in the spring of 2008 at 267 lbs. and extremely unhealthy. In May of 2008 my good friend Steve Dryden had just lost about 70lbs by eating healthier and working out vigorously. I remember him telling me that he did it without any dieting gimmicks or pills, just hard work. His passion for what he did for his own health energized me. We began working out together and eventually landed in Crossfit Wichita Falls. By this point in time in 2011 I had already dropped 90lbs and felt amazing, thanks to Steve helping me workout and eat right. No lie...I was getting burnt out on programming my own workouts, running out of ideas, etc. When I started crossfit I was absolutely, without a doubt, out of my league. Most of these "crossfitters" had been high school or collegiate athletes!!! But one thing always rang true. I may not have the best time or lift the heaviest weight but I was determined to outwork everyone. No quit. Keep going. No matter what. By this time, I was a lean and weak 175 lbs but I had confidence, maybe too much confidence and a drive that stemmed from being last in all high school athletic endeavors. I was a mad man, mentally, every workout. I soon realized that I was not seeing the results I had seen from my first few months of crossfit. It's hard to bring that fire for every workout when it stems from rage and hate. I had to do this for ME not everyone else. Sure I had confidence. But I didn't motivate me, my rage and anger from being teased in athletics all my life, an external resource, did that. Before I'd look at the leaderboard to see what time I had to beat or how many rounds would give me the top spot in the class. Now, I look at the movement fundamentals for the workout and think of how I can have better range of motion, better position, balance, etc. "It was there all the time."

#MotivationalMonday #AnnaFreud