12/15 Mental Toughness Thursday

Today's workout might leave you in a breathless heap on the floor:-) 
We Marines have a saying, "Improvise, adapt and overcome." I remember hearing this many time while I was in the service. My platoon sergeant would tell (yell) at us to do this anytime we tried something that didn't work. As a young aircraft firefighter, adaptability saved my life and my crew-mates. An airplane or helicopter on fire does not behave in a predictable manner. We had to continuously adapt our firefighting tactics to an ever-changing situation. 
Our lives are ever-changing situations. From, year to year, month to month, day to day or breath to breath things change forcing you to adapt or die. Well, perhaps not die, but It is pure human folly to be rigid in our thinking and decisions when our situations change so rapidly. Adaptability is a mental toughness trait that enables you to learn and start to make different choices. 
The more adaptable you can become, the more resilient to change you become. The next time your faced with a change, ask yourself what you have to gain if you don't adapt your behavior to the new situation. Chances are that if you adapt, even if you don't like it, you will have a better experience moving forward than if you stayed rigid. 
For example, your job hours are making it very difficult to make it to the 6:30pm class. Your goal is to make it to the gym Tues/Thurs/Sat. How can you adapt to the new job hour situation? How about attending the 6am classes? You could even come to 6am Mon/Wed/Fri eliminating the need to attend on Saturday. Now your weekend has opened up and you may find you have more time and energy to do other things. By adapting to the new situation you have discovered unexpected benefits. How cool is that? Good luck! 
Today's Workout 
Complete this sequence 5 times
Min 1: Burpee, Max Reps
Min 2: Rest
Min 3: Clean & Jerk 135/95, Max Reps
Min 4: Rest
Min 5: Abmat Sit-up, Max Reps
Min 6: Rest
Today's workout is a metabolic engine burner. It's one of those sneaky ones. The first round or two won't feel too bad, then into the third you might wonder what you've gotten yourself into. 
Breathe, relax and stay calm. You can do this. Those minute rests are there for a reason. The rest time is where your anaerobic systems recharge. It's the anaerobic systems that allow you to go fast. Embrace those systems. 
We're also working stamina, speed, power, agility, coordination, balance, & flexibility. If you care to know, this workout is from CrossFit Linchpin.