I met up with a friend yesterday and we were talking about life, our philosophy towards it, events that shape it, you know the usual friend chatter. That usual chatter led me to a light bulb moment. I have been trying to figure out why some of my relationships go bad and why my feelings of frustration end up coming out as harsh or abrasive.

I do think being from the East – NJ does play a part in it. We tend to be a bit more blunt and direct than others but are also OK and actually would prefer people be that way with us. In my mind there is nothing wrong with being direct as long as it’s backed with the right intentions. I am finding as I get older – I get along great with those that ‘get’ that and those that don’t well- It rubs them the wrong way and I usually clash in some way with them.

However, I think it’s deeper than just being direct. I think I am beginning to see that there is lack of work ethic among people in general. I have said this before and will say it again – why not do your best all the time? Why not put in the extra effort so it’s great as opposed to good enough?  The majority of the young set of people I am now interacting with don’t see to understand this approach and are fine with the status-quo. They will do just enough to do the job and any sort of challenge or opposition is not welcome and worse, is cause to disrupt the work flow. When did questioning and challenging things turn into a bad thing?

I love to learn and see progress. For example, when I am in a meeting or workshop, I am taking notes – I jot down things that resonate with me, things I think I can use and should know, or things I don’t get or know so after the meeting, I can go back and do some research or use whatever info I learned in my work. I am finding I am one of the few that does this where I work. The norm seems to be if they dont know something, guess what? So what? Eventually they will learn it.  When did that become OK? When did taking some personal responsibility for your own knowledge and career become a non-traditional approach? There is this feeling of expectation or entitlement that if you want me to know something, teach me as opposed to if I need to know something, I will seek out knowledge and learn it.

This is what is causing me frustration and ultimately what gets me in trouble. I don’t get it – not one bit. And i sit there day in and day out, watching this and seeing the work go in circles and not progress in terms of getting better. The status-quo is OK. Putting in the bare minimum hours is OK. Not having a real interest in what you are doing is OK. Not having passion and a drive to make things better is A-OK. After a while, that frustration that is bottled up just pops and I am like WTF — are you all kidding me? Have we not learned anything?

I am not saying that I know it all and I am always right –not in the slightest–but I expect that everyone will bring something to the table that is progressive and shows they an active player. If you aren’t all in, then why bother? Go Big or Go Home? If your Scared, Go Home….  And this goes back to CrossFit.

Being told by my old CF gym that 80% is good enough when it came to executing projects, I realized, is what began carving the path for me to leave. I remember being told that and thinking WTF? Why would that be ok? If you can do it properly, time and resource wise, why wouldn’t you? It’s not in my nature to do a half-assed job and I don’t get nor have the patience for people that are OK with that. It’s what I love about CrossFit – you enter the gym and you are getting challenged each and every time. You are making progress and you are around people who are never ok with the status-quo. They want to be better than they were yesterday and believe that they can and will do what it takes to be better.

So imagine, every morning I head into CrossFit and am around people who have the drive and passion that I do. They are doing the work that is required to make themselves better. Then I head into my day job and the culture is different. How do you think that’s working out for me? And that’s what hit me yesterday – its about putting in the effort to do the best job you can do. Make progress, learn each and every day, be kind and help others.

I teach my kiddos this all the time — when they are doing chores and they half-ass it. I tell them if you do it right the first time, you don’t have to do it again –so do it again. And same with their grades — if they study and do the work and still come home with a low grade, then we will work on it and bring it up. But if they half-ass it and come home with a bad grade, guess what – you are in trouble. Cut once, use twice and any other saying applies. Put the effort in up front, and it will pay off in the end. I need to be around people who get that as much as possible, otherwise I am not getting what I need.

So that’s the lesson for today folks!

strength
bench 5×5 105#

WOD
7mins
3 Thrusters
3 Kipping Pull Ups

6 Thrusters
6 Kipping Pull Ups

9 Thrusters
9 Kipping Pull Ups

12 Thrusters
12 Kipping Pull Ups

add three until time runs out…
rounds: 4