Don't like it, or is it just hard?

About being honest with yourself about which one it is

The snatch has been, through all my years doing CrossFit, my least favourite movement. Why? I didn't like it. Why? I can tell you many things, but in a nutshell, because it is hard for me. It's a movement, in my experience, with no room to hide. Bad technique (or the lack of it) will expose your weaknesses immediately; in my case, an inflexible lower back.

There was a point on which I very comfortably accepted that it was not for me, and I was not going to invest time and energy in getting better at it. I have zero interest in becoming a competitive CrossFitter, and the way I approach my training is that it has to serve me, and the snatch was not ticking that very important box. In addition to that, I had no incentive; there are already other movements that I truly love, and that I'm actually good at.

That said...

More recently, the snatch has slowly crawled into my life and my workouts. I didn't see it coming, but I have embraced it. I have embraced the challenge. And I think that is the difference. Rather than treating it as something I have to nail in a session, and focusing on the dislike and discomfort (mental and physical), I shifted, centring my attention on the challenge itself. I reminded myself of my "do hard things" approach. And because of that, it's become more about the progress than the outcome.

Training with a good coach (which also makes a big difference — someone who can guide but also push you) and putting in the training, I just go for it now.

Today, especially, was one of those moments where things started to click. 3-6 months ago, I would have skipped the session entirely. It was solely focused on snatching. Yet I decided to go because "hard things", right? You have to face them. That's how becoming better becomes possible.

I went for it. Didn't feel like it at all during the warm-up, but as things progressed and we got into the actual business, my mind shifted, and all there was, was me, the bar, and some tasty rock n' roll. Snatch baby!

I left the session satisfied. Progressing. Better than when I arrived. Better than I've ever been.

That's it. That's the nature of hard things; that's how they get done. You go for it, even when you don't want to, even when your mind gives you a gazillion excuses or shows you millions of other places you could be instead.

The truth is, I couldn't find my way around it as well as I do with other movements. And then there's my very stiff lower back, which is key to the movement and made the whole thing feel untenable many, many times. It sucked. I didn't enjoy it, at all.

And that's the story here. It was HARD. It felt HARD. Not the movement, the difficulty. That's what I didn't like.

That's what brings us here.

In life, there are hard things, and there are things you don't like. And as obvious as it sounds, almost redundant, it's an important distinction to make. To interrogate the feeling, the experience, the circumstances, and figure out which one it is, and why.

Defaulting to the latter will always be easy. It requires zero effort. But if you don't pay attention, it can become the standard, your standard. The way you will approach everything every time an obstacle, discomfort, friction, trouble, or even pain comes your way. And believe me, a lot of it will come your way throughout your life.

There are things I simply don't like, and that's okay. Accounting, for example. It doesn't matter how much effort I put into it; it's not my thing. So I choose not to do it. However, there's something very important that you need to know. The majority of the things that feel or are hard are not always that way because they're difficult; they're hard because we can't or don't know how to do them well yet.

The key is to learn to identify and differentiate these.

On what you don't like, spend minimal energy on it, or none at all, if possible. Do it when it is necessary. It's not about avoidance, but about acceptance and self-awareness. Ultimately, life is all about resource allocation: where you put your time, energy and attention.

On what's hard and worth doing, put your energy, hard work, time, attention, and most importantly, your heart. Because they are going to be, once overcome, worth the effort, rewarding, and valuable.

The goal, at the end of the day, is that you try. You find out. You know with certainty which one it is, and why you're choosing that direction. Because I believe there's virtue in both, as long as you're clear and honest with yourself about it.

I love you, son. I know you will do great (hard) things.