CrossFit about pushing yourself to work at high intensity and facing your weaknesses head on. But being bad at things in front of others makes people feel vulnerable and the paincave is a scary place to be. Why is it that some manage to thrive under these conditions and others fade into the woodwork, never to set foot in the gym again? I've come to learn over the years that people, no matter what their fitness level, have one of three reactions to getting humbled by their initial exposure to CrossFit:
Rage Quit
"This is stupid. You guys are stupid. This program is dumb. You people are insane. I'm never doing that shit again."
These people cover their insecurities by externalising the blame. Their reaction to being faced with something they are not immediately good at is a petty, ego-driven hissy fit. They are unwilling to looking inward, and prefer to shift the blame for their shortcoming to the outside world.
Eeyore
"Oh my gaaaaaaawd I'm so out of shaaaaape. I'm so terrible. I'm such a bad person. Everyone must be so disappointed in me. I suuuuuck."
These people are SO caught up in lamenting their shittiness that they forget to ever do any actual work to fix it. They let their lack of self esteem sabotage their own potential to get better.
Work mode.
"Well I clearly have some things I need to get better at. Let's get down to work and start fixing things!"
These people have the ability to separate their physical fitness from their worth as a human being. They see deficiencies and have no ego that gets in the way of addressing them.
Take one guess which attitude makes for the most successful athletes. Mull this over and then head back in that gym with the right attitude. Get ready to see amazing changes in the months ahead if you don't let your own baggage hold you down!