Last night I did something I’ve never done before!
It was exciting, exhilarating and made me go absolutely crazy!!
I cleaned a PB!
A PB means a personal best. It’s when an athlete, sportsperson or anybody goes beyond the limits of what they have ever done before, whether that be on the track, in the sand pit or over a stick in pole vault or high jump.
For you, you may get a PB if you regularly keep score of how fast you run a mile or how long it takes you to complete a circuit or how many push ups or sit ups you can do in 30 seconds. Whatever your challenge, the aim is to see continual progress. Frustratingly, “continual progress” may happen every six months or even every few years. You may hit a PB and then plateau for a long period of time before you hit another big milestone. Whatever the case, this phrase always serves me well when I find myself frustrated by the long wait between PBs:
Slow progress is better than no progress!
Don’t you agree?
For me, the last time I had a PB in cleans in the weights room was at least six or seven years ago (I think!). It certainly hasn’t happened in the last few years filled with injury and other disappointing mishaps. (See Achilles Rehab posts). But suddenly, like buses, three have come at once! Only the other month I cleaned a PB – 90kg. The following week, I lifted an extra 5kg heavier. And finally (hopefully not my FINAL clean PB ever, though), I lift 100kg. That round number just feels so sweet. My celebration was not so sweet, though. It was an outburst of screams, claps and hysterical jumping; an excellent expression of just how joyous and explosive I felt on the inside. If you can’t quite imagine my ‘victory dance,’ head over to my Instagram (@absisdabest) and check out my latest post!!
Why have I shared this precious moment with you? Because it has made me go to bed with a smile, given me an incredible confidence-boost simply through the fact I’ve conquered a mountain I’ve never surmounted before, and it allowed me to defeat mental demons that dared to say I couldn’t do it; that dared to say it’s too heavy. Nothing is too tough with the right mindset; nothing is too overwhelming with the right level of perseverance, coaching and focus. So, if you too are looking for a confidence-boost and to go to bed happy, let me ask you this…
When was the last time you did something for the first time?