MONDAY MINDSET: THE SHADOW

WEEK OF MAY 6TH 2024

 

Between the idea

And the reality

Between the motion

And the act

Falls the Shadow

–T. S. Eliot

Although Eliot likely did not write his famous poem, The Hollow Men, about the difficulty of sticking to a health and fitness regimen, this excerpt from “The Shadow” really nails one of the trickier parts of getting stuff done.

It can be so easy to confuse the thought of something with the doing of something.

Under stress, we often daydream about proper fixes and healthier lifestyles, and when the dopamine hits our system because we’ve “solved” the problem, we often lose the momentum needed to actually fix the problem.

This is “The Shadow.”

We have to be careful to never give ourselves a pat on the back for a job we haven’t done.  We have to wrench, pull, and heave the ideas out of our imagination, and bring them into the light of the real world.

Too often we become “information junkies” – getting our fix by researching thousands of ways to solve an issue, or comparing dozens of products or regimens that can help us make progress instead of actually just getting started and doing the work.

At the end of the day, it’s all about taking action.  Making a decision, and manifesting that decision into reality.. pulling it through the shadow and into the light.

Have a great week of training everyone.  Looking forward to another productive week on the mats!