The grass is always greener.
I love old sayings and pulling them apart.
‘The grass is always greener’ is obviously from the old observation that people would look at someone else’s lawn and notice that it was greener than their own. This brought in envy, and the wish that their own lawn looked that good. They might even chat with that neighbour and say things like, “Must be nice.”
We hear this in the fitness industry too all the time. Folks look at someone really fit and state that they wish they looked like that, or had a body like that. Someone is always taller, better looking, leaner, stronger, faster, etc. Grass is always greener.
Back to the actual grass example – what if you stopped looking at other options?
I mean, why are you looking at other lawns anyway? Are there always going to be other lawns all around you that are better than yours? Of course there are! (Because someone is taking care of them!)
One has to wonder about something though – what if because you keep spending your time looking around at other lawns instead of weeding your own, or fertilizing it, or mowing it or tending to it – maybe that is why your lawn doesn’t look so great?
What if by contrast, you were so focused on making your lawn the most green and healthy, that you didn’t have time to care about anyone else’s lawn?
What if you were completely, 100% all in, invested in your lawn, and devoted the time and resources it took to making it the best in your eyes? Then your grass would be the green grass everyone was looking at, and you would actually not care about other lawns.
This is true for your body and your health too.
That person you admire or envy is at the gym nearly everyday training their body to be stronger, healthier, move better and improve. That person makes good food choices and picks things that support their goals.
They bring their own snacks to parties many times. Or say ‘no thank you’ to treats that they know are unsupportive.
They never drink pop or sugary drinks, instead having water because it is healthier. They take vitamins, and healthy supplements to support their body. They get enough sleep each night so that they can recover from their training. They have big goals and pick away at them a little each day. They make sacrifices and take the hard road, knowing it has the biggest rewards.
What if you did all of that?
What if you committed 100% to your health and fitness? Wouldn’t that be EPIC?
What if you made the changes that you knew would help you be healthier and stronger in every way? Your attention would be focused on your own improvements and changes so much so that you wouldn’t look at or have time to wonder about what others looked like.
So why don’t we do that? Easy.
That nagging question that sits in the back of our mind: ‘What if I fail?’
What if you put in 100% and your lawn still looked worse than your neighbour’s lawn? That would be sad, embarrassing and whatever else you assigned to it. I believe this is why most people only commit 75%, so that in case they fail, the pre-made excuse is ready at hand. ‘Well, I didn’t give it 100%. If I had really tried, I would have succeeded.’
It’s a self-preservation trick we use to stay safe, play small and avoid risks.
A classic example is this: there was a baseball player that was 100% committed. He gave everything he had, whenever he was at bat. He was at bat 8,399 times. He struck out 1,330 times. Further, out of the over 8,000 times he stood on the plate, he only hit the ball 2,873 times.
Only 34% of the time at bat did he even hit the ball. (What a loser hey?)
But the thing is: he always played 100%. He always showed up and did his best, and during all of that, Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs, a record that stood for 39 years.
So the next time you are afraid to give something your 100%, think again.
At a 34% success rate, Babe Ruth had the most home runs in history for 39 years. Like he was quoted as saying, “It’s hard to beat a person that never gives up.”
Scott McDermott is a personal trainer and the owner of Best Body Fitness in Sylvan Lake.
