As I was thinking about how to present today’s topic, I realized that a philosophical discrepancy seems to exist between the way I coach at the gym and one of my not-too-uncommon recommendations in these tips.
At the gym, I always emphasize completing things successfully: Stop a set before reaching failure. Switch to a different movement if something feels funky (e.g. “hot” callus, odd ache in the back/knee/shoulder/hip, acute injury). Use a lighter weight if it improves movement quality.
Then in these tips I recommend setting challenging goals and participating in events with a non-zero risk of failure, give examples of my own failures, and discuss how it’s supposed to be challenging and falling short doesn’t equate to failure.
So, what gives? Why such an emphasis on success if failure seems to be okay?
Of course, context is important, and it describes the discrepancy here.
Training is what we do at the gym. Here I consistently emphasize success because teaching our bodies to be successful via repetition in simple, tangible tasks builds confidence. And when we’re confident and consistent in simple, actionable tasks, we improve the probability of achieving our more complicated goals.
Alternatively, science has shown that participating in events and having goals which challenge us—meaning that there has to be the potential to fail—is both motivating and a strong contributor to good mental health. So although we want to train our bodies to expect success, we also need to accept the possibility of and learn from failure.
All of which leads me to the actual point of today’s tip.
OMMS—Obstacles Make Me Stronger
An important commonality exists between these concepts of success and failure: the presence of obstacles.
In the context of the gym, the weights that we lift are the obstacles. In order to get stronger we obviously have to lift actual weights that moderately challenge us as opposed to Styrofoam weights that just look heavy.
The same goes for goals, events, and all of the other obstacles that life throws at us daily. Without them, we wither away to shells of what we could be. With them, we grow stronger.
That’s where OMMS comes in. It’s an acronym to which I was introduced a couple of years ago and have used on an almost daily basis since then in order to remind myself that obstacles make me stronger.
(As a brief aside, I’ve also discussed the benefit of rest in past tips. That applies to life’s obstacles too; we occasionally need some down time to recover. Still, it’s important to keep in mind that our bodies repair themselves and become stronger when we’re resting but not by resting.)
Of course, I still find some obstacles to be annoying and frustrating, and I need to come up with actual solutions to overcome them. But cultivating the mindset of actually appreciating them for helping me become stronger—physically, mentally, and emotionally—has completely changed my overall attitude, which keeps my head clearer and often enables me to create and implement solutions faster.
Putting it into practice
Ultimately, my goal is to help you get stronger, in the physical sense (including muscular strength and robust endurance) as well as in the mental and emotional senses. That’s why in these tips I actively recommend that you set challenging goals and seek out events in which a real possibility exists of missing your mark.
So, what has been your perspective surrounding obstacles? Are they something you appreciate or actively avoid?
Whatever the case, I have no doubt that developing the habit of meeting them head-on with a quick, little reminder of OMMS will positively impact your life and make you stronger in every sense of the word.