Dear Fortitude family,

Welcome back to my midweek motivation! Each day and week brings its own set of experiences and inspirations, compelling me to share my thoughts with all of you.

As we get closer to breaking in the new year, I am excited to continue to take on new projects with Athletic Fortitude. I am involved with multiple podcasts and YouTube channels. I also am expanding the athletes I work with. Previously, I only worked with professional and Olympic athletes; now I am opening the door to collegiate and high school athletes. Things are changing and beginning to grow, which is extremely exciting!

Today, I wanted to share with you the beginning of a new show I am involved in with Michael "Fort" McKenry called Outside the Norm. I couldn't help but write about our first recording, releasing in a few weeks. There were so many different amazing topics in our first episode. However, I wanted to dive into the overarching theme, which is: why do we lie to ourselves?

I know I have discussed this topic in the past. However, I wanted to take a closer examination of it today. From the time we are little, everyone lies to us, so why would we be any different? Our parents tell us how great we are. Our coaches tell us how great we are. Our friends tell us how great we are. Everyone is trying to be nice. Being "nice" is a topic we dive into extensively on the episode. Nonetheless, very few people will actually sit us down and tell us the hard truths of our efforts and performances. If you have those people, keep them close; they're rare. The problem with constantly being lied to is we never learn how to be truthful with ourselves. Once we start to hit adversity, we begin to blame others. We believe it couldn't possibly be our own fault since we've been told we are the best our entire lives. There couldn't possibly be anyone better because we've had wins manufactured for us our entire lives by our parents and coaches seeking out the easiest paths to "boost our confidence." True confidence comes from overcoming difficult challenges.

On the other side of the coin, maybe we naturally were that much better than everyone else. As a result, everyone is constantly stroking our ego, telling us we are the next big thing. We are allowed to skip class, turn assignments in late, skip workouts, etc. We believe we are better than the world. Then, inevitably in every athlete's journey, we get punched in the mouth, literally and figuratively. Things all of a sudden aren't as easy as they used to be. Coaches no longer pat us on the back and tell us how amazing we are. Teammates can't stand to be around us. Yet, it's everyone else's fault. It couldn't be our own. You know, you'd think these issues would stop in middle school or high school. Nope, they persist, especially at the collegiate and pro level. We've been programmed our entire lives to lie to ourselves and push the blame elsewhere. We've never been taught to look inwards. So, how do we learn to tell the truth? Let's take a look:

1. Track your efforts: Begin to document EVERYTHING you do on a daily basis. Are you doing the things you said you were going to do? Are you visualizing? Are you getting your workouts in with your trainers and staff? Are you eating properly? Are you watching film? What's your screen time on your phone? How often are you watching TV? Are you spending time with loved ones?

2. Measure your results: Is your playing time increasing? Are you playing at all? Are you performing at a higher level? Does the game feel easier to you? Are your relationships improving? Do your teammates and coaches think you're a positive influence in the locker room?

3. Compare: If the results aren't improving or where you'd like them to be, then you need to evaluate step one. Are you really doing everything in your power to optimize performance? What changes need to be made? Where can you buy more into the process? What more can you cut out of your life?

When you track and measure everything, it becomes significantly harder to lie to yourself because what you're doing is building an undeniable stack of proof that you either are who you say you are or you aren't. The road will always lead back to you.

To Building Fortitude.

Warm regards,

Colin Jonov CEO & Founder, Athletic Fortitude

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