The most Simple Plan
June 2021There emotional states that helped Mathew reaching to the top.
2019 Reebok CrossFit Games (Source: Roberto Robles)
“Oh man. What’s happening right now? This is my job, this is my full-time job. And I’m not doing well at it. Oh this isn’t good.”
Thoughts like above were familiar to Mathew Fraser; 5 Time “Fittest Man on Earth” in CrossFit games, while he is in an intense training block. Especially after how his intentions changed from the pursuit of a career in engineering, to doing the sport professionally.
A secure career path was set for Mathew with his graduation, with a double major in mechanical engineering and business in May 2016.
Well, let’s just say, he wanted to do something else than that.
This meant a scary leap to the world of CrossFit.
I know, i know. But hey, you get the idea. (Source: Jessica McGregor Johnson)
This wasn’t a “Hey, what should we have for lunch?” kind of decision for him though.
Although this may sound tempting and exciting to a lot of us as grass is always greener on the other side; there is a lot more involved especially when someone is at the driver seat.
Mathew experienced fear, worry and anxiety in the process, just like any other human being.
He just reacted to them a little different than a regular person.
Through 5 years at the Throne of CrossFit, he always practiced 3 emotional states to keep the “goal & road” simple.
1) Self-Belief
There is no globally applied rule with absolute definite boundaries, about constructing a way to a goal.
So whenever Mathew felt like, nothing’s going right and like everything’s feeling bad in his training (which usually on top of it that’s when it seems like everything is going perfectly for everyone else).
He kept it simple.
“In those moments, when things aren’t going well. Stop. Make them go well. Why are they not going well? Is it I’m not getting enough sleep, is my diet a little bit off, am I traveling too much? You’re in control those things. Make the changes.”
He had this untouchable state of self-belief, that “there is always something he could do”.
2) Being Grateful
Mat and his significant other Sammy, had their very first pictures together in 2015, hiking a trail.
It’s pretty clear that, they affected in each other’s lives deeply.
Sammy summarizes Mathew’s mindset as:
“He really understands that, there are two decisions you can make in any situation. A decision that’s gonna bring you towards your goal or a decision that’s gonna bring you away from it.”
A Cute Couple (Source: Beam)
Mathew talks about having Sammy in his life, as his igniter that pushes him to become better:
“Sammy is like, my people, my network and my support. She’s everything. I think the biggest thing she does is just love me and it’s not dependent on anything I do. How I dress, how I look etc. nothing. So that’s a very big security blanket to me. Pushing me to gamble on myself push me to take a chance of this very risky career, because I know if I fail nothing changes. Nothing. Nothing with her at least.”
Sharing Funny Youtube Videos are Universal (Source: Beam)
Mathew’s unshakable optimism is based on, what sounds like a really health relationship.
Not only with Sammy, but also with himself.
He was, and still is grateful for the people around him.
3) Awareness
Right this moment, you can go and search about something you want to learn or make, %99 of the time for completely free.
For some reason, people that do this a lot in their life, are called passionate.
Mathew was also called “passionate” a lot, because of his work ethic and he was asked about it in many interviews.
His idea about it, never moved away from this quote he has:
“Progress not perfection.”
He also talked about 1% improvement every day for a year, as it is also another well-known method for growth.
Mathew had the awareness that you can shape your future with what you do today.
Two years ago, Mathew was asked about where would he see himself in 10 years? There were no surprises with the reply.
“I just hope that I’m doing something that I’m head-over-heels passionate for. I hope that I’m striving to be better. At whatever it is. I don’t know what the task will be, but I know I’m gonna work my a** off, trying to be better at it.”
So the plan I have in mind, that I can share with you is that;
Let’s never forget these emotional states. Let’s have daily reminders about them, around the place where we live .
At whatever we choose to do.
Let’s get better at it.