For some reason, this year I feel extra inclined and motivated to take care of my lawn; am I getting old? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always made sure it’s cut and edged frequently and the weeds are whacked, but for whatever reason this year I find myself taking that extra level of pride and ownership in our home.
My mission this year is to have ZERO (yes, zero) dandelions in our yard, especially the front yard. This past Saturday, I pulled out the trusty old “deluxe stand-up weed and root remover” (excellent tool, you should look into if you’ve never heard of it) and went to work, picking every one of those wicked weeds off the lawn. After about two hours of solid work and what felt like 1000 removals (seriously though probably closer to ~200), I had succeeded; there was not a weed in sight! The next morning, I woke up early, poured myself a coffee, and headed out front to marvel at the work I’d done, only to find the front lawn absolutely LITTERED with dandelions!
At first, it felt like a bad dream; I had worked so hard the day before on fixing this problem. Although initially discouraged, I then had a quick laugh to myself and my perspective immediately shifted. I realized right then and there that if I wanted a luscious lawn, I was going to have to play the long game, and it was eerily reminiscent of the training process. Although it may feel like a bit of a stretch, we’ll discuss below some lessons from the lawn and how they translate to the training process and life in general!
Consistency
The first obvious connection we can make here is consistency. Anybody can eat one healthy meal or perform one super-intense workout, but it’s those that show up consistently over time and do these things repeatedly that will see profound progress in their overall health and performance. The weeds need to be removed frequently before their growth gets out of hand, and your training and nutrition need to be consistent over time to truly reap the rewards of your hard work.
Motivation vs. Discipline
The first day I began to pick the weeds, I was like a dog on a bone; no dandelions were safe in my yard! Going out to pick them every few days since then has admittedly felt like much more of a chore. No large part of me WANTS to be out on the lawn after a 13-hour shift picking weeds into the dusk, but it’s keeping the end goal of a perfect lawn in mind that is helping me stay disciplined. As we always preach, I’m keeping the OUTCOME in mind (greenery galore) while staying laser-focused on the PROCESS (daily disciplines of picking every weed I see in the yard).
Quick Fix
All too often in life, especially when it relates to health and performance, people look for a quick fix. They may ask themselves: why not just hop on a crash diet and take a fat burner pill to lose some weight? Why not use supplements to attain the physique I want? In the case of the lawn, why not just mow the lawn and knock the yellow heads off the dandelions so nobody can see them? Why not just buy some weed killer and spray the lawn to get rid of the problem? Of course, these are rhetorical questions; they represent the quick fix easy path which we simply don’t believe in and refuse to take!
In Closing
While this may have been a bit of a cheesy example, the point is that we can find examples of discipline all around us if we keep an open mind and look hard enough.
If you need help figuring out how to have better discipline in your daily routine, hit us up! We’d love to help you figure it out!
