Twice in the last couple of weeks, I’ve had two conversations regarding eagles. They are high altitude, dominant birds, and a symbol of power and freedom. But that wasn’t the point in the conversations I had. In both interactions I had, the other person was explaining to me the way of an eagle and how an eagle is different from any other bird and more importantly… how we as humans, need to be like an eagle.
Let me explain. Eagles have a variety of unique character traits that set them apart from other birds. My brother explained some of these to me in preparation for a “challenge” speech he had to give to the coaching staff he is a part of. Some of these traits include being relentless in the pursuit of prey, they charge into storms to harness the energy, are comfortable being uncomfortable, the list goes on. But for this blog purpose, we will leave it at those.
So what does this have to do with us? First, eagles are relentless in the pursuit of prey. They only hunt live prey and they will stop at nothing to catch the prey. Take out the word prey and insert “goal.” What if we stopped at nothing to reach our goal? To live like an eagle means to be unwavering in the relentless pursuit of our goals. That when obstacles present themselves, we overcome and adapt and keep pressing on. We don’t dwell on the past just as an eagle would not dwell on dead prey. But instead, we focus on our present situation and the future that lies ahead.
Next, eagles don’t fly away from the storm. We’ve discussed before using change, hardship, or adversity to our advantage. This is no different. The eagle uses the energy and wind from the storm to lift them above the storm to allow them to remain on course and on the mission. Like we talked about a few weeks ago, the hard times come, but they pass. If we use that time to better ourselves, we will be better positioned for success.
The last trait to discuss is that eagles are comfortable being uncomfortable. This idea ties in both traits already explained and may be the most important for us. For an eagle this means many things, a mother eagle will make the nest uncomfortable for her babies to encourage flight and separation from the safety net that is home. At an old age, eagles break their beaks and pluck their feathers to regrow newer ones due to decay over the years. Now I’m not saying to go break a bone or leave home for harm’s way, but what I am saying is that being uncomfortable isn’t a bad thing. As we’ve discussed before, unknowns can be good. They can force us out of our comfort zone and prompt us to rely on faith. The discomfort we face also encourages change. The pandemic has caused us to feel like we’re at a standstill (a callback to Vol. 4) and it’s tough. That discomfort can be used to force us to make a change to grow new feathers and fly in a different direction.
In closing, I leave you with two final thoughts, in the conversation with my brother he explained that eagles are referenced 30 times in the Bible. As I’ve heard it told to me before “something worth repeating, is something worth remembering.” The last point is from a conversation with a friend and business leader in my community. He explained that as eagles are high-altitude birds and elevate over other species, we want to do the same. We need to surround ourselves with other eagles to help us elevate and reach our full potential. There’s a saying for that too, “you become who you hang out with.”
Be different. Be relentless in pursuit of your goals. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. Elevate above the crowds.
Be an eagle.
WORKOUT
As an eagle is a high-altitude, high-intensity, dominant bird, we want to also live like that. And when it comes to fitness, it’s no different. For this week we are going to perform a HIIT workout to push us to the limits and test our body as an eagle would when flying into the storm.
HIIT Set-Up
Using a stopwatch or the WOD timer app, we will be doing 40sec of work and 20sec of rest. Go through each block 3 times. At the end of each block take a 1min break.
Warm-up
Block 1:
-Squat Holds
-Squat Jumps
-Static Lunges (R leg forward)
-Static Lunges (L leg forward)
Block 2:
-Inchworms
-Push-ups
-Plank Holds (on hands)
-Mountain Climbers
Block 3:
-Burpees
-Crunches
-Russian Twists
-Wall Sits
Cool Down
Hammer and Anvil 