Trusting the process is something you hear a lot in sports, business, and aspects of training and development. Shoot the Philadelphia 76ers practically coined the phrase a few years ago.
But what does that mean? To truly trust the process. As I began to think about this, a few things came to mind from starting a new company to my time as an athlete, to this blog, or recovery after surgery. Specifically, the surgery analogy hit home.
Some backstory to the surgery reference. My girlfriend got some news a couple of months ago that we have been walking through. She found out she has cancer, a word no one wants to hear. But what I have realized through this is that the process is a fairly well-oiled machine. Though stressful and mentally taxing, the doctor appointments, planning for surgery and recovery, all become a part of the process. There isn’t much that we can take into our own hands, and it has challenged us to really trust the process. For me, I am a fixer and a doer. I want to help, I want to get things done and this has been hard for me because I have had to take a step back, learn and understand and be there as support. And that is where part of the surgery reference comes into play. With the big surgery this week, the recovery process has been somewhat downplayed. Through discussions with doctors we’ve been told, “resume normal daily life once you get home, just no strenuous activity for two weeks.” And we’ve heard, “the next couple of months will be challenging.” All leaving us to wonder what it’s actually going to be like. And as we asked questions the answers never seemed to suffice. This has been a challenge for all of us because it seems odd that the recovery is such an unknown. But now with surgery upon us, we’ve come to this thought that if the doctors are downplaying and somewhat dismissing the recovery process, despite how invasive the surgery is, it must be a good sign that they have everything under control. We’ve trusted the right team had been put together and the plan of action is good. So, all that’s left is to trust that they will guide her through surgery and the recovery process as well.
Trusting the process isn’t easy. It takes work. There’s some sweat equity that goes into the process. For the news we received, trusting the process meant doing the work necessary to get through it. From educating ourselves about the situation to talking to friends and family for support, to praying that God guides the doctors and her through this process. Our faith has played a huge role in this. There’s a saying God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers, and we must put our full faith in him through times like this. I came across a verse, Psalm 28:7 that says, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.” And I thought this is what it’s about, when we are weak, we find strength in Christ. When we need refuge and help, he’s there. This has been a driving force through the process. And we must continue to trust in Him.
As I was writing this, I began to think broader, especially after we discussed last week that training is pivotal to growth. We must ask ourselves if we are trusting the process to become better, to overcome adversity, or are we trying to push a narrative and force things to happen. We’ve talked about it before – that you can only control what you can control. I think this is a really important part of the process. Sometimes I think people confuse trusting the process for becoming a pawn and following orders. Yes, we can only do so much, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a voice and have influence in the process. In my girlfriend’s situation, we’re not the doctors, we can’t force them to do something. But what we can do is stand up and ask questions. Control what we can control by using our voice, gaining further understanding, and working with the team to feel comfortable trusting their plan of action is good.
No matter how big or small a feat. Whatever it is that you are building a process to grow and become better through. Trust it. Don’t force things, don’t try to do differently than what the process is guiding you to do. Control what you can control, have a voice of influence and believe in the process. Trust yourself in the process and you will find success and growth through it!
WORKOUT
We’ve talked about this before, but the fitness journey is a process like none other. It takes dedication and hard work, and typically it takes sticking to a game plan. Whether it’s a program you’ve had built for you or a weekly structure for working out, the process is what allows us to continue to get better and grow, each and every day. So, this week, as I said last week, will be the same structure of isolated block sets (lower body, upper body, core).
For this workout use the WOD app or a stopwatch. We are going to perform 40sec work and 20 sec of rest. Go through each block three times. Take a minute break after each block is complete.
Warm-up
Block 1:
- Air Squats
- Side Lunge – Left leg
- Side Lunge – Right leg
- Burpees
Block 2:
- Push-ups
- Shoulder Taps
- Dips
- Inch Worms
Block 3:
- Crunches
- Leg Raises
- Planks
- Russian Twist
Cool Down
Hammer and Anvil 