15th May 2020
“So what do you do for work dude?” The fellow in the elevator asked me.
Elevator conversations are awkward enough… Now compound that with breathing closely onto three other people (including my girlfriend) and the fact that I didn’t have a job at the time, and you’ve got yourself a toe curling trifecta!
“Well, I don’t have a job at the moment, but I’m hoping to work as a CrossFit coach”, I replied meekly as the elevator reached the ground floor; the “ding” of the doors signalling the end of the awkward encounter.
As soon as our new friends were out of earshot, my girlfriend confronted me:
“Why do you always say that?”
“Say what?” I shot back, somewhat bewildered at the question.
“You keep telling people that you hope to get a job as a CrossFit coach. Serge, you are a CrossFit coach. Start telling yourself that story”.
What an exquisite piece of wisdom and one that I would begin to reflect deeply on over the next couple of months.
You’ve probably heard some iteration of the psychological phenomena that when your brain is introduced to something (don’t think about a pink elephant), you sub-consciously start to become more aware of that in your day to day life (because suddenly, there are pink elephants everywhere!), and therefore:
The significance of story and the stories we tell ourselves become prominent in my life.
A few days later, Traver Boehm, wrote about story on his website, manuncivilized.com:
“What’s the story you keep telling yourself? Is this story helping move you forward or is it holding you back? It’s important to learn that your story belongs to you and you can rewrite it, edit it, or change it at any time.”
As Mark England and Mike Bledsoe, highlight in Enlifted, I learned there are alternative interpretations of the story I was telling myself: I do not have enough experience to be a CrossFit coach.
I learned to gather evidence about the story I told myself: I was a valued member and coach of the gyms I was privileged enough to be a part of.
And finally I learned to verify these stories, just as you would verify an Instagram or Facebook account: Is this really you?
With these fresh revelations in mind, my outlook slowly began to shift. And the crazy thing was, things began to fall into place.
The minute my story shifted from hoping to be a CrossFit coach, to I am a CrossFit coach, I became a CrossFit Coach. An influx of opportunities flooded my inbox and within the week, I had established connections with boxes across Melbourne.
Stories have power, and the stories you tell yourself have the ability to determine your reality.
Spend some time reflecting on the prominent stories in your life. Are they allowing you to pursue your potential, or unconsciously self-sabotaging? I would hope that it’s the former, but if not, in my experience, it pays to pause, refocus and reprioritise.
Who knows what will come of it.
CHANGE IS THE POINT 