Putting Effort Over Everything When The Odds Are Stacked Against You
august 1, 2021 | WORDS BY jared truby
First off, hi, I’m Jared! I am 39, have a family of 4, own a coffee company with my friends called ‘Cat & Cloud,’ have been obsessed with health, and am semi-new to the functional fitness world. I am going on my 4th year in this arena, which has admittedly stretched me in a number of ways.
I grew up a “super jock” playing all sports, most notably basketball, in high school and early college, being the captain and all that, while not fully buying into the “bro” mentality-- I tell you this essentially to say, I hated lifting weights. The gym mindset felt like the place to showcase your testosterone levels and physique. I didn’t see the point and I didn’t correlate it with skill sets in the sports I was playing. That outlook was 3 parts: naïveté, ego, and that I had more fun playing/practicing shooting, dribbling etc. than I did training.
Fast forward to initially being introduced to CrossFit through helping start Verve Coffee in Santa Cruz, and serving coffee in Aromas at the Games in 2008 (you guys may have heard about the champ that year). Here I was in the birthplace of the whole fitness renaissance, watching “meatheads” crush workouts and trying to tell me “it’s not what you think.” Needless to say, I was intimidated by the idea of participating in a culture like those I thought would be present in boxes.
I was wrong.
I found the courage, partially by being called out…or was it called in… when a friend bought me a 3-month trial! Now, I am the kind of guy who shows up, especially when people share with me something they’re passionate about. So I went.
I was the slowest, the least able to move weight, not the prettiest, but was deemed a “good runner” by the coach. Surprisingly, I felt more connected and engaged than I had been in years. It almost felt like what people hope church to be. Fully accepting, fully in your corner.
I have come a long way, in fact, nearly full circle to falling back in love with basketball. Nearly four years in, I have realized the truth of why we put effort into these amazing workouts: quality. Quality in all places of life, including family time, time spent in and out of the gym, and engaging my game, basketball.
I have set a goal to slam-dunk a basketball, which I have never done, before I turn 40 (just under a year). This is going to be a challenge that will require the right mindset: Effort Over Everything. The odds are stacked against me as a fairly short and an older dude. It is this EOE mindset that will need to be at forefront as I work through pain, frustration, upswings, setbacks and ultimately slow growth.
I am reminded, small steps over a long period equal large distances & I hope you might remember that as well as you journey toward whatever goal you have. The goal could be to hit something lofty that’s “out of reach” at the moment, or it may be to sustain your mental health through working with NCFIT. Point is, Effort Over Everything matters and the journey is ours to participate in.
I’ll be here for the journey sharing mindset, workouts, movements, ideas and whatever else that has been helpful for the progression. I hope it’s helpful or encouraging for you as well.
