It's wonderful that more and more we hear about women wanting to be STRONG. 
In the gym.
At work.
In their relationships...
These days strength is revered. 

And you definitely see this translating to the fitness world. 
More and more women are lifting heavy weights, engaging in sports and competitions that for decades were considered to be primarily for the dudes. 

I myself have encouraged you here or on social media to try working for strength and not just focusing on shrinking your size, burning your fat. 

The pursuit of strength can be a MAJOR mental, emotional and physical game changer. 

And can help us fall in love with our fitness practice. 
We see our skills and capability growing. 
We see our muscles popping. 
We see our confidence and can-do attitudes swelling and 
WE LIKE IT!


But truthfully-some of you may be reading this and thinking, "I want to be strong, but how do I start."

And others might be saying to themselves, "I see strength in the gym, but it's not translating to my real life...what am I missing?"


And this is the thing. 
What you do in the gym CAN help you grow strength in your real life, but it's not guaranteed. 
Obsessing over physical strength and performance can just as easily make you WEAK in that you character becomes weak. 


So let's talk about THREE ingredients for real life strength. 
Strength that will help you in the gym, but will ALSO just make you more ready for real life!


You ready?

1. Conviction

You gotta believe and practice belief. 
Not that you are necessarily as "strong" today as you would like to be, but that your desire to BECOME stronger is important enough.
That the specific areas of your life in which you want to grow strength, they matter and that your work will get you there. 

If you truly believe that something is important, then THAT conviction will keep you going amidst the set-backs, frustrations and failures. 
Conviction will inspire the other good attributes that you need. Like faithfulness, perseverance, discipline (willingness to do the hard work consistently for a period of time).

If you have no conviction, then it's hard to continually to convince yourself that what you're doing has value. 

How do we get it?
By thinking about the things that you value. 
Making them a priority. 
And practicing believing in them. 

If something is important to you. 
Being convicted about achieving that goal means DEVOTING the appropriate time and energy to it. 

How does conviction make you strong?
It gives you the determination necessary to do Step 2!

2. Diligence.

Diligence in the daily, behind the scenes, non-sexy, work and dedication to something you believe it is a non-negotiable.

We don't get strong but just one day saying, "Tomorrow I'm going to be strong."
It's something we cultivate over time and truthfully, while the type of strength we grow or the context in which we grow it  might change, this is sort of one of those unending projects.


A wise man once said, "Most champions are built by punch the clock workouts rather than extraordinary efforts." -Dan John 

Whether we are talking about fitness or just plain old real life, we don't get to our goal or becoming stronger through one grand beautiful perfect leap. 
It's a series of small steps that are often undetectable to others, riddled with failures, and 

We grow it. 
We practice it. 
We find it by doing the hard, boring work that changes our character and makes us more resilient EVEN WHEN NO ONE SEES our work. 
We consistently show up to chip away at whatever it is that we want, piece by piece and it ain't comfortable. 
In fact if it's TOO comfortable, all of the time, then you're probably not challenging yourself. 

I'm not saying you have to over-commit, over-tax or over-train, but you do have to be leaning into the uncomfortable-even if it's uncomfortable is just because it's sort of boring. 
We need to be doing the hard things we don't want to do.

And it's BECAUSE of all that diligence, that we can perform when necessary. 

And what is performance?
Maybe it is a true performance like in a meet or competition. 
Or maybe it's just a challenging moment in life that we handle better than we had ever hoped we could. 
Maybe it's just that feeling of "I can do this," that we find one day because of ALL THE work that we've put in. 




3. Humility

Being able to look at ourselves and feel pride in our accomplishments, how far we've come, the changes we've made, this is important. 
No.
It's huge!
How will we be motivated to do things in the future if we never take time to celebrate what we've accomplished, how far we've come??!!!

BUT. 
If we allow pride to keep us from seeing the many areas in which we still have room to grow, then we will quickly lose conviction in bettering ourselves and we will then NOT have what we need to be diligent or disciplined. 

"If you see any thing in yourself which may make you proud, look a little further, and you will find enough to make you humble."

WELLINS CALCOTT, Thoughts Moral and Divine

I truly believe that finding that balance between allowing what you can do and what you've survived thus far, to breath courage and resilience into your being WITHOUT over-filling. 
Without humility, we are blind to ourselves. 
When we are metaphorically blind to our weak spots, we are cocksure we are an vulnerable to injury in the worst way. 
We are stunted and no longer growing. 

"Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility. "
-Saint Augustine



Are these the only things you  need to build strength?
Probably not. 
But they are a dang good start!


I worry because there are a LOT of messages in the world of fitness today that promote the idea that STRENGTH comes from showing up and pushing yourself SO hard until you vomit, or hurt yourself or beat your personal best. 

And while as a former track coach and competitor, I think it's fine to push REALLY hard to achieve a goal, at a performance or meet. 
There are even moments in real life when we have to throw EVERYTHING we have against the wall to push through a mental or emotional plateau. 

But the truth is, as Dan John's quote so eloquently shows, you will become a champion in your life from the conviction, diligence and humility you need to face the daily hard work necessary to become great, at anything. 

Persistence over perfection, over the long haul.

I’m still working on all of this.
xoxo
Sarah

PS-If you want to become GREAT at kettlebells or begin to cultivate strength in the gym, then come join Kettlebells For Cool Kids!
I'm an RKC level 2 Instructor. 
I've been training with kettlbells wince 2014. 
I've been teaching and coaching since 2004. 
I build this program to challenge you were you are and help you find your strength and confidence in this training modality through CONSISTENT practice and the pursuit of skills. 
And I give you 90's playlists to workout to. 
So pretty much it's perfect for you, if you're into all those things. 
If NOT, pass the info along to someone who might like it. 

Thanks!! 
Details BELOW!

Tomorrow is the LAST day to grab the program! 
It will not be open again until spring, 2019. 

Learn more about the program TODAY click on the image below!!!