Posted by Stretching yourself is vital.
Not the yoga kind, though – here I’m referring to stretching your abilities in movement and training: asking more of your body and mind so that you find new levels of performance and achievement and reach your true potential. If you aren’t stretching yourself in your practice, whatever it is, you’re going nowhere – and in fact will see your skills deteriorate over time.
So why do so few people actually stretch themselves on a regular basis?
It’s usually due to becoming trapped in that most alluring of places; the comfort zone. This is the bane of all athletes, the enemy of all entrepreneurs and creative, and the graveyard of dreams. You know when you’re in it, and it’s so tempting to stay there: everything is familiar, simple, easy and repeatable… and leads nowhere!
You have to get the hell out of there, and fast.
The way to do this is to challenge yourself in some way during every single training session – maybe only for a small part of the workout, maybe just one movement challenge at the end, but it has to be in there somewhere. Because that zone that lies in the area between success and failure is where the gains are made.
That’s the edge where you find new potential, push your limits, unlock new abilities and discover new skills. It’s the reason adventure sports are dominating the advancement of human physical potential and the home of all the world’s greatest athletes. The reward of finding this zone and spending time there on a regular basis is progress!
And that’s worth the risk.
Dan Edwardes 