YOU AMOUNT TO MORE THAN JUST YOUR RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS!

As I sit here and scroll through my phones video archives and reminisce over old accomplishments, like successfully hitting my first (and only) 315lbs clean and jerk, finishing grad school, and launching my old apparel line, I can’t help but get down on myself for my lack of recent achievements. 

Outside of routinely cycling through CEU’S to maintain my credentials as both a strength and conditioning coach and certified athletic trainer, I’m not working towards anything profound in higher education… and due to a couple of fairly disabling injuries, I’m no longer able to regularly hoist big weights over my head. 

But after a period of silent reflection, I’ve learned something about myself… 

I root a large part of my identity in recent milestones...I tie my physical identity to my current lifting capabilities and physical conditioning, my financial identity to the number of active clients that I have, and my relational identity to how well I perceive that my partner and I are doing in the present moment. And it also doesn’t help that we live in a “what have you done for me lately” type of society. 

After conversing with a friend about my recent psychological breakthrough, i realize that im not alone. As it turns out, a lot of people think the way i do. And while it’s good to always want to lift more, to look better, to have more money, and to be on good terms with your spouse, your current set of circumstances only paints a fraction of the collage that represents your entire life’s work. 

Life has many seasons. And certain seasons are busier and/or more stressful than others. Certain seasons will pull you out of your groove and demand a slower pace of life and a shift in priorities. So tying your happiness to the immediacy of your productivity is not always fair, because sometimes your lack of productivity isn’t even the result of a lack of effort. Things happen.. 

Yes, i do believe that you should always work towards bettering yourself.. but i also believe that rooting your entire identity in your last 6-12 months of productivity (or lackthereof) can create unnecessarily create psychological warfare if that time frame wasnt your best. Remember, you are the sum of your entire life’s work… and if you're currently in a rut, just know that you’re better than just what you have done for the world lately!