"Hard Work Pays Off"

6.3

"Hard Work Pays Off" is a quote recently made popular by Mat Fraser, CrossFit champion the last three years. He knows the gut-level commitment it takes to make something epic happen... and he truly is one of the greatest of all time. But our hard work doesn't need epic goals to be important. Maybe our hard work is simple, reproducible and right in front of us.

Next weekend is the Super Bowl, and every year I linger on the irony of hundreds of millions of people overeating and passively cheering as the teams battle on the field. A few hundred athletes, representing the two teams in the game, know that it was hard work that got them there. The annual Super Bowl is their payoff. The fans? Some get it; most don't.

What hard work might we be called to this week? This month? For starters, maybe it's the hard work of finally cleaning up our pantry, getting rid of all the faux foods that contribute to metabolic disease world-wide. It's simple, but not easy, to stock our pantry and fridge with real meat, fish, nuts, seeds, veggies and fruits, and ditch the artificial-everything (flavors, preservatives, sweeteners, etc.)

Or if we've made progress in our pantry, maybe our hard work is to get moving, regularly taking a walk, going for a run, a swim or a bike ride. Maybe it's time to get serious about a yoga habit, or martial arts program, or even something like a Planet Fitness membership or CrossFit.

It's hard work. If it was easy, everyone would do it (and I sure wish everyone would.) And then there's a payoff. We invest, we learn, we adjust, we advance. Then one day we wake up as the 'new' person we knew we could be - someone we would not have recognized just years earlier. That's the payoff. We cash in by living into this new life, and never going back to the old ways of poor eating and inactivity.

So make a difference this week. Set a small goal, and start doing some hard work toward it. Change your schedule, make a new habit, find a new wellness tribe to join. Then get to work and don't look back.

By the Way

I'm all for enjoying the Super Bowl! It think it is a great celebration of sport and competition and achievement. And there is nothing wrong with enjoying tables full of snacks, as long as they are whole foods, and our bodies will appreciate the nourishment. If you're having your own party, choose wisely and enjoy. If you're visiting someone else's party, be the one who takes along something healthful.