Emulation Run Amuck

Inspiration is an invaluable force. If we could bottle it, it’d be expensive and forever in high demand. In fact, some ways inspiration manifests itself are extremely important. Mentorship, for example, is a incredible place to nurture inspiration. When inspirational folks are out of reach, we can emulate heroes and champions, too. As a kid I emulated Nolan Ryan’s big leg kick in an effort to be a hard throwing pitcher in Little League, for example.

Keep in mind that emulation can go too far. When we take more than the lessons and the insights from a mentorship relationship or in an effort to emulate someone who’s inspiring in our lives we forfeit our authenticity. It’s at this point that the emulator crosses that invisible line of being an inspired version of his or her self and ventures into territory that looks like a sad imitation.

Social media is great. It’s a tool that has transformed possibilities and has created unknowable opportunity. It also has created new access to men and women worth emulating. Naturally, this has resulted in a great deal of shared inspiration, unofficial mentorship, and healthy emulation. The math of it all, however, just guarantees that more folks will also find themselves guilty of emulation run amuck.

There’s so much goodness to soak up. While you’re soaking up the inspiration, you’ll follow programs, change how you present yourself, and start sounding like the people you listen to. Just make sure that you’re still more you than you are the program and you present you more than you present your emulation and you say what you need to say and not speak someone else’s inspiration. Fan boys and fan girls are followers. You’re a leader.

Keep in mind that no one really wants you to be a B- version of your fitness hero, anyway. Take the lessons and carry them with you, but make sure you keep yourself true in the process.

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach