04 Jan What’s the Rush?

By Lisa Guggisberg

Ever since I have been with my husband he has always had a tattoo piece in progress.  It’s his thing, he enjoys getting tattoos and they are, in my opinion, beautiful pieces.  The running joke I have with him is what’s the rush to cover all his skin and what is he going to do when he runs out of skin to tattoo?

This got me thinking about myself and powerlifting… What is the rush?

[wa-wps]

Flash back to when I first started powerlifting.  I started competing because it was fun, I enjoyed it.  Powerlifting was my “me time”.   The only goals I had were to hit small PR’s and continue to lift.  I was content.  Before working with Brian Carroll I never thought I could be competitive with some of the best in the sport.  Fast forward to the present and I am chasing numbers and obsessing over meet preps, goals and how fast I can achieve those goals.  Not a bad thing entirely.   What made me stop and think was, what’s the rush and all the stress for?

If powerlifting is something I enjoy so much, why put so much stress on myself to obtain my goals.  Why am I in such a rush? Maybe I should stop and smell the roses, right?  Sometimes taking time to allow for some enjoyment of the process can have a positive impact on reaching your goal. One thing is for sure, it’s all a balancing act.

2016 Arnold Prep

During my meet prep for the 2016 XPC Finals at the Arnold, I set some pretty lofty goals for myself.  I had every intention on reaching those goals on the stage at the Arnold.  Reality check, I ended bombing out.  Looking back, one of the larger problems I ran into: I became so focused, so obsessed with the end goal – I wasn’t enjoying the process nor was I completely focused on the actual process, only focused on the end goal – which in my case, never happened.

I like the idea of setting goals, writing them down and creating a plan to achieve them.  I adhere to the philosophy, like Brian Carroll and Daniel Dalenberg of being as balanced as possible with my life while trying to achieve those goals. However, I tend to have an unhealthy obsession or focus with the end goal – it’s always an uphill battle, especially when you have a family and children. Life doesn’t stop with lifting goals and the world won’t revolve around me.  Life is about being in the present, not stuck in the past or being too immersed in the future.  Becoming too obsessed and too focused on the end of the road causes you to miss opportunities that can be offered every day. When I refer to opportunities I am not talking about adverse or negative distractions that won’t aid your goal, I’m talking about opportunities for new ideas, perspectives, or resources that will help you achieve your goals.  Don’t become so inflexible with your plan that you miss out not only on the enjoyment of reaching your goal. but also on opportunities to learn a new approach or idea.  Sometimes we learn this most during the most epic of failures but we must be present to learn these lessons.

I decided to look at myself and determined my focus was on the outcome, I was never focused on the present moment and fully engaged in the process. When you attach value to the effort then the process becomes exciting and rewarding, regardless of the outcome. In my case, I placed too much stress on the outcome and hated the process.  What I should have been doing was focusing on how to achieve my goal and less on the future and stayed in the present moment, putting forth my full effort into the process.

2017 Arnold Prep

This year’s Arnold prep feels different already. My approach this time since I’ve been here before and made some mistakes.  Yes, I have goals, will I obtain them? At this meet? Who knows but one thing is for sure, I will enjoy the process and do all the things necessary to set myself up for success.  Right now I’m just taking each training session one by one and building the momentum to be in a place to execute.  Who knows I might actually crack a smile and enjoy myself again!

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Lisa Guggisberg

A self-proclaimed former high school band nerd turned meathead nerd, Lisa has been coached and mentored by Brian Carroll using 10/20/Life principals for 3 years. She started CrossFiting in 2006 but gave that up after realizing all she wanted to do was squat, bench and deadlift heavy. She now competes as a raw and multi-ply powerlifter in the 114 and 123 weight classes. Lisa has All-Time top 10 totals in both raw and multi-ply in her respective weight classes with a raw pro total of 936 lbs at 114 and a pro 1118 lb multi-ply pro total at 123 and 1090 lb multi-ply total at 114. She is currently ranked the #1 female multi-ply lifter at 123, #2 at 114 multi-ply female and #3 raw with wraps. Lisa has a B.A. in Political Science and a Masters in Public Administration, but hates politics and political debates. She is a mom of two, a firefighter wife and has worked as a full time litigation paralegal for almost 20 years.

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