Curiosity Gets You In, Purpose Gets You Out

Any reason for starting a long, difficult journey is satisfactory. Even if it’s blatant curiosity that gets you in the game, that’s a win. The trouble is, what inspires us to start a fitness practice, build a business, or gain mastery in something, rarely will carry us through to the end (if there is such a thing) unless it has deep rooted purpose. By definition, flings don’t last.

Just the other day, someone asked me which martial art they should try if they wanted to keep at it as a lifelong discipline. My answer had nothing to do with my beliefs or preferences, but, rather, came as a challenge. I told this individual to find which martial art she believed in.

What I was asking her to do was to find the thing (beyond the surface) that would keep her enrolled when the novelty and excitement wears off. You can imagine the difficulty in showing up to your eight hundredth Kung Fu class only to realize you’re still going to get your ass kicked in the street. Keep in mind, choosing to practice Kung Fu is only a mistake if you want to make yourself a weapon. There are a million other reasons to do Kung Fu, but surviving an attack isn’t one of them.

In my early years into juijitsu, I find that these second and third layers of depth in my purpose keeps me compliant to a practice I know I wouldn’t be as diligent with if I didn’t believe in the utility of what I was learning. Hell, I likely would have quit Kung Fu by now.

For me, I can justify the long, mundane road of mastery in juijitsu because I understand that there is no better solution to grappling, and if there was that’s what I’d shift my pursuit to. I find purpose in the utility. You can find your purpose in anything you wish, but I encourage you to find it if you want to have a chance at longevity.

When it comes to fitness, I’d advise anyone to choose best practices for your desired outcomes over your preferences every time. Said differently, if you want to get strong but you prefer biking over the barbell, you can either choose to cycle your way through a rollercoaster of reluctant commitment or you can go deep down the rabbit hole of strength with the barbell for decades on end.

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach