“To get better you have to step out of your comfort zone. You can’t do the same things you’ve always done and improve.”—Jordan Burroughs
There is a common theme among the “life-lessons” I have chosen. It is perhaps the most life-changing of lessons from the sport of wrestling, and Jordan Burroughs nails it—“step out of your comfort zone”. There is a reason why Burroughs is one of the best wrestlers in the world. He practices what he preaches.
In wrestling, two components of practice are drills and live wrestling. The drills are to practice technique—to construct the neural patterns for “perfect” execution. Live wrestling is far from “perfect”. Sometimes it can be an ugly mess of moves as the wrestlers try things and come into unusual positions. This is where failure educates. This is where the wrestler steps out of his or her comfort zone and gets better.
In exercise science, I preach that one of the most fundamental principles of adaptation is the overload principle (in order for a body system to adapt, it must be stressed to a level greater than that to which it is accustomed). Person growth—“well-centered fitness”—is no different.
In life, as in sport, we have a choice, we can do the same things we have always done or we can step out of our comfort zone and improve.
I tell my children to “go out an fail”. By this, I mean don’t stick to that which you are comfortable—try that which is difficult and out of your comfort zone. This most recent lacrosse season was an example to my son. He was playing midfield in lacrosse, and I see in him the potential to be a good long stick middie (LSM). I bought him a new head for his d-pole (long defensive stick), but he was hesitant to practice with it. When asked “Why?”, he responded that he wasn’t “comfortable with it”. Shortly thereafter, he played a scrimmage game with it and played defense in the following game. He played exceptionally well. The coaches quickly switched him with another defender, who turned out to be the team’s best middie. “Go out and fail” ultimately leads to success because one improves by doing the things they don’t commonly do.
The (extra)ordinary life comes for doing the “extra” in the ordinary. Few will ever be the greatest at what they do (otherwise, it would be ordinary). We can all be better, though. Jordan Burroughs is among the top wrestlers in the world. If you were to watch him practice, you would think he aspired to be one of the best.
I mentioned yesterday that I wrote in a birthday letter to my son (he recently became a teenager) that I want him to surround himself with people who will make your better; to not choose the practice partner he can beat, rather to choose the practice partner he wants to beat. “To be number one, you must train like you are number two” (Maurice Greene).
Improving is not about working harder. One can do more of the same things one has always done and with more intensity, but that will never make them better. Improving is all about moving the boundaries of comfort. We get better by growing our skills and stretching the limits of our performance—by risking failure and doing that which others are less willing.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!
Photo source: http://www.michaelscottslosar.com/asics-jordan-burroughs/