Heya, it's Coach Will checking in.
As I watch the Covid-19 pandemic phenomenon unravel, I keep feeling as if I am witnessing a slow motion (and collective) car accident. It's been utterly disorienting to watch as the tiniest of creatures (a virus) gashes a vast wound--physical and social and economic--across our world.
And while I can grasp the stages of recovery involved with healing (or integrating) trauma, I can't yet know how to deal with this one. None of us can, for one reason: it's not over yet.
We are all suspended in time, oriented only by the fact that we are definitely living in the time of Covid. And while we can can comprehend the beginning of this epoch, and we are starting to understand the power of simply living for right now ('cuz that's the only option), none of us can say for sure what comes next, even a little bit.
But along with everything that's been forced to change, I've also begun to notice something subtle going on with our clients, something I hadn't expected. And something that is distinctly positive.
When we used to train people in person--aka The Time Before Covid--Hannah and I talked a ton about how to cajole our peeps into simply doing the thing. We knew that we had valuable skills to teach them, and that if they showed up some magical things could happen to their bodies, but we kept running into the need to convince folks to come train. To inspire without coercion, to invite without the guilt-trip.
And that on-going motivating was, and is, an important role. Sometimes, coaches need to be motivators, plain and simple.
But I also couldn't help but think… the energy that a coach can lend will never approach the fire of someone who is intrinsically motivated, someone who is curious and dedicated to exploring one simple question: "What does it feel like to realize my potential?"
Which brings me back to what I'm starting to see blossom in this post-Covid era, even through the narrow communication channels that our new, mostly-digital lives offer...
By taking away most of the prompts and prods that we used to be able to offer (eg: classes that you had to sign up and show up for, the energy boost of teammates, the in-the-moment encouragement of coaches, etc), clients have only one person to depend on if they are going to train at all: themselves.
Ironically, this is how it always was...but perhaps it was never quite this clear.
The choice to train, to work on your weaknesses and limitations so that you can be stronger and more effective in the future, has always been yours and only yours to make. It's just that our previous "normal" lives used to offer a wide array of distractions from this truth.
But with Covid...those stories no longer apply. With so much stripped away, it's just you and the choice to move, in an epic, daily showdown.
Now don't misread me here: I'm the first to despair at the temporary loss of in-person connection that our classes and training sessions offered, and I have quite a bit to lose personally if this whole thing continues to careen out of control for much longer.
But that doesn't change the powerful stirrings of inner drive that I'm noticing in our clients.
I'm seeing it in their steadily increasing rates of completing workouts (on TrueCoach, our training app) and in their voices during coaching calls. And I'm really noticing it in their texted comments and questions; it's clear that they're engaged and intentional and really grabbing on their own experience.
They're showing up for themselves in a way that was simply beyond reach for many of them before Covid.
And while as a coach I can motivate folks, I live to light the inner fires that burn much longer for my students than just one workout, one training cycle, or hell, even one pandemic. And I'm seeing some inner fires starting burn bright.
Have you noticed stirrings of this more positive kind in your response to the stress you're facing these days?
Have you noticed a shift in your Why's for doing things? Or a change in your expectations? (Remember, lowered expectations can often mean easier short-term wins that you can then build on.)
Have you found yourself, maybe against major inner resistance and lack of any sort of drive, digging into the projects or obstacles of your life, and been surprised not only by the fact that you have any energy at all, but actually that your efforts feel more real, or grounded, or in alignment with your values, then before?
I'd love to hear about it.
Seriously, hit reply and tell me how these times have shifted your inner perspective on doing the hard stuff. I'm sure it's inspiring as hell, even if you don't think so (it's often hardest to see our own heroism).
One more thing: while I'm stoked to see these threads of gold running through the heart-breaking reality that we're all watching--and feeling--unfold out right now, that doesn't undermine the fact that another perfectly normal response is plain ole grief.
I believe that tears--real ones and the inner, hidden storm clouds--are the rain that water the little seedlings of our inner lives. We don't get to grow without being vulnerable, and vulnerability means that we sometimes get hurt.
So if all you're feeling is hurt, that's ok too (here's a good number to call if you're having trouble navigating this hurt: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)).
Either way -- I hope you keep digging away, letting the bounce off, but holding on tight to the gold that you find.
Go be your own hero, Coach Will