Negativity?!

I'm facing negativity all of the sudden. It's about the weightlifting. I am floored. Two very nice ladies at work are suddenly "you are going to hurt your back", "you shouldn't be weightlifting".  I was excited to share my adventure and can barely get a word in before they are shooting me down.  I'm surprised because the daughter of one lady is a circus performer and very talented gymnast.  She's training to do a hand balancing act and I've seen her do silk aerobatics. The ladies aren't telling her not to do something because there is a risk of injury.  So it leads me to believe that they think I'm either too old or too unfit to do this.  They don't even know that I have a coach, and I've been doing these lifts for 3 years already.  I'm just improving them now. With coaching. They don't know because they don't want to hear.

On the other hand, a good friend asked me all sorts of questions and was super excited with me. She gave me the best compliment. "One thing is certain, Krista, you aren't afraid to try new things".  That was awesome to hear. And I might write more about that later because, while flattering, it's far from accurate.

In any case, I guess I'll keep my training progress and competition to myself at work. Work isn't a happy place at the moment, so it's not a bad time to be silent and to take my lunches out of the office.  I'm surrounding myself with positive people and good influences.  I no longer have room for negativity in my life. I don't want the negative people to hold me back.
I'm still surprised but maybe I shouldn't be.

Competition

I wrote last about setting goals.  I'd realized recently that I don't have a goal to work towards.  I've started a SMART goal (which I still have yet to complete, actually) and I've been feeling GREAT about being at the gym regularly and working hard to improve.  I don't want to be there, just showing up.  I want to be gaining something.

Last week my coach asked if anyone wanted to compete in a local Olympic Weightlifting Competition.  My interest was immediately piqued.  I need to do something like that.  I WANT to do something like that.  I declined.

What??  Yep.  It's something I'm very interested in and I declined to sign up when an opportunity was handed to me.
It is very scary and I declined.  I think I secretly hoped he would try to talk me into it.  Because I'm sure I'd have been easily swayed.  But I also didn't really want him to, because I was embarrassed by my fear.

I put it on my calendar to go watch the others.  I thought I'd find out how a competition for Weightlifting works.  That might alleviate some of my fears for the next time. Right?

This weekend my coaches put on a mock Olympic Weightlifting Exhibition at the gym.  It was last minute and, though I know it wasn't, it felt like it was just for me.  I loved it.  I learned what lifts are expected, who can do it, who DOES do it, and how it all goes.  I joined in as a lifter and had a great time.  By the end of it I was sure that I did want to join.

I've contacted the coach about doing it.  The notice is short, but I feel OK about that, as a beginner.  I am supposed to meet with the coach tonight to talk about signing on.  Tonight I'll find out if he thinks there is time to practice for the upcoming event, or if I should find one a little further out.  Either way, I'm going to do it in 2017.

*update: I got the gym last night and jumped right in to training.  There was no talk about can I do it.  The coach told me what to do and I did it.  There are 3 girls doing it.  I think all of us are first timers.  I loved every minute of it.

**update: I'm now an official member of USA Weightlifting.  Eep!!

Setting Goals

There is some differing advice on setting and sharing goals.  It used to be that people said you should make a goal and share it with someone.  Telling someone what your goal is was supposed to make it more likely that you reach the goal.  It doesn't matter if you tell one person or if you announce it to everyone.  Saying it out loud to someone other than yourself helps you to reach the goal. 

The advice I see the most these days is to set a goal and to keep it private.  It's only your goal and sharing makes it less likely that you will reach the goal. I've read several articles with this advice recently. And it surprised me, because it is exactly opposite of the advice I'd followed previously.

I'm not sure how I feel about it.  Personally, I do a little of both.  

What to you think?  If you are reading this, please let me know what your opinion is.  Do you share a goal or keep it private?  And why? 

I've slacked on making goals of any kind recently.  And that shows. I haven't made any progress in any corner of my life either.  I need to have the carrot and I haven't provided myself with that lately.  It just so happens that it's the time of year that people are tossing out their new years resolutions.  It's ironic that I have reached a point where I need to set some goals. I was reminded recently that I can do hard things.  I have, in the past, made some life changing decisions that weren't easy to make and set the wheels in motion to make the changes.  I have done it.  I can do it again. 

It's spring now. A time of renewal. It seems fresh and clean and a good place to start.  It is now the beginning of April.  So this is the perfect time to find a target and set a goal.  It's time to go <again>. 

I've written before about SMART goals.  

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Record-able, and Time-bound. This resolution will be a SMART one.  I think I'll try the advice of "keep it quiet" and see how it works.  I plan to set a lofty goal and map out the steps I need to take to reach it.  Perhaps I'll share next April, to see if I make it.  Lets see if I remember (feel free to ask me next year).