The Next GOAT

For my 14th birthday, my Mom took me to the local hair salon for a "back to school" makeover. I was heading to high school and this change was a great idea. At the time, Love's Baby Soft perfume had an ad with a girl who had a shoulder length bob with the front feathered back - everyone wanted a style like Farrah Fawcett. Walking into the salon with my straight dull hair hanging just past my shoulders and clutching my latest version of Seventeen magazine, I proudly showed the stylist the look I wanted. As Jack went to work, sadly so did puberty and as he cut my hair, it began to curl. Women walking past with their hair in rollers wanting to chemically achieve what I appeared to naturally posses, exclaimed how they wished for those curls. I, however, cried as my dreams of the beautifully crafted magazine style fell to the floor with every lock of my no longer straight hair.

I left the salon totally dejected. What I did not realize was that I had been introduced to "The Comparison Game". For years, I continued to cut pictures from magazines (before Pinterest) hoping to get that makeup look or that hairstyle that looked so cute in the magazine but resulted in a far less attractive outcome on me. Well, obviously - because the magazine wasn't me! Even if the style was the same, the overall look wouldn't be. When I save Pinterest ideas, they are just that - ideas! I know the end result will be a very different product. So why is it that when it comes to fitness and our bodies, we can't come to that same realization? Why do we think we can do all the same things and still look like the other person?

September has become the new January as all the Back to School ads are accompanied by "back to the gym" ads. Fitness instructors are all dropping their fall schedules and inviting folks to sign up. Shameless plug - I will be sharing my own ad next week. What you won't see on my flier is a promise of weight loss. I won't be asking for "10 women who want to lose 20 pounds by Halloween" nor will I be offering a "swipe up" for an "amazing lift off tablet". There are no magic formulas. When someone says "I want to look like you" I thank them for the compliment but remind them that I am the only one who will look like me. Two women, same height and weight will look very different if one has a smaller frame or if one is more toned than the other. If you want to be strong and healthy, I can instruct your class, we will have fun doing it, I can remind you to make healthy choices and drink plenty of water. But you, yes, YOU have to do the work. It takes time. It takes commitment. It's something you have to work at Every. Single. Day.

Under Armour recently released a one minute video supporting this point. Counter to Nike's old "Be Like Mike" campaign, this shows Tom Brady sitting down with the voice man himself, Morgan Freeman, and Brady hands him a letter asking him to read it. It begins with Brady saying I've been told you are the next Tom Brady...he goes on to tell the young player to ignore those voices, that is not the way to go. He says, "compare yourself to nobody but the kid in the mirror - the one who goes all in, all out, and has the crazy confidence to know that who you are today is just a piece of who you're going to become". https://youtu.be/rGx5jV4m-pY That is the piece that we often lose sight of "the one who goes all in, all out..." Regardless of your journey, do you go all in, all out? I have since learned how to manage my curls, of course styling products have also come a long way since the late 70's. More importantly, I have learned to compare myself only to the version of me that I was yesterday and the one I hope to be tomorrow. If you call me for support, I'll help you, but only you can live like...