I have been notorious for giving my time, effort, feelings, and unconditional love to the wrong people or the right people just at the wrong time. Which led to a light bulb going off one day while I was teaching my INSANITY class (of all things) and repeatedly drilling into the heads of my participants, one of my favorite phrases...
*FORM OVER SPEED.*
I say this when I teach and even remind myself when I do my own workouts. So what does it all mean?
Well, when I really thought about it, it relates to everything in life. Health - nutrition - love - relationships - career. My goodness, it even relates to how you swing a bat and shoot a basketball!
So let me break it all down for you, one aspect of life at a time. I'll start with the very basics.
When it comes to your workouts, 1 proper push-up, even if it's slow, is better than 5 crappy-form, fast, sloppy push-ups.
It doesn't matter how fast you go just as long as you have the proper form. You don't want to injure yourself and when done properly, you will see better results because you use correct form.
It also takes time to get to that point. It took me a VERY long time to be able to do push-ups the RIGHT way. The form is more important than how fast you go. Hence, form over speed.
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OK, next...think about it when it comes to your overall health and fitness JOURNEY.
*FORM OVER SPEED.*
Let's face it, the process is typically slow when you're making changes in your routine as a whole, with exercise, eating habits, and looking to get the results you want. It just doesn't happen overnight, unfortunately. In every aspect of the process, your form is a crucial part of experiencing success.
Over time, that correct form will pay off and you will in fact be able to do more reps, lose those extra few pounds, run longer and faster, or whatever it may be. So take the TIME to do it properly and work on your form.
For example:
Nutrition = you need to fuel your body with the right stuff. (Form)
Fitness = the proper exercise, for what you are trying to achieve and what works best for you, is crucial. (Form)
It takes time to develop these habits and see results. (Speed)
It is important NOT to get discouraged at how slow you might be progressing. Everything worth having takes time. There will be good days and bad days, but the quality and form is more important! Embrace the fact that we refer to it as a journey!
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Now let's look at it when it comes to LIFE in general. (The doozy.)
*FORM OVER SPEED.*
Think of the form part of the equation as quality. We want quality, great things, experiences, and the right people in our life, right? We want to have good form.
The quality, good, important, worthwhile relationships and things take TIME to build and get. Relationships come and go and it becomes more about the form (quality) of those relationships rather than the quantity. This can be a relationship with a significant other, friends, family, or even a working relationship with your boss and co-workers. We deserve quality people and relationships in our life.
What is one of the most important, necessary pieces of the relationship puzzle? Trust.
Trust takes TIME to build and develop. In some cases, people need to earn our trust and vice versa. When trust is achieved, then that means that the form has been perfected and that usually takes time. Once trust has been broken, who knows if it will ever be repaired successfully.
Embrace the fact that it will be worth the time spent seeking and then achieving those quality relationships where the trust will never be broken. Take the time to find the people who have your best intentions at heart and line up with what you want in life. Form over speed. Take that time.
Are you seeing a trend? I, for one, hate waiting, but have learned that TIME is essentially on our side. Even when we don't see it.
If someone or something is not giving you the time you need to reach the point you desire to be, they don't deserve it in the first place.
How about another one? LOVE.
*FORM OVER SPEED.*
Who doesn't want the best kind of love there is? I know I do. That also tends to take time, but the quality/form is more important than how long it takes for you to get there. We are all on different paths and journeys. We all need different things in order to feel safe and loved.
Nothing wrong with that.
I thought I would have been well on my way to a life filled with love and children by now, but it just hasn't worked out that way. Apparently His plan for me is a little different than I intended. That's OK because I care more about the form, rather than the time it takes for me to get there.
(Side note: It took me a LONG ass time to accept this.)
We want to rush to get married. Rush to have babies. Rush to the top of the corporate ladder. Rush to retirement. Basically rushing to die and we may not even have the right people beside us along the way, or have the job we ultimately would love to have day in and day out.
What does this mean? Our form is wrong. When that's all we want to do then that just shows that we care more about the speed. I have been guilty of that. A lot.
Over the years I have become more interested in correcting my form, on all levels listed above (I am sure I missed some), rather than worrying about how long it takes for me to achieve that. So if it takes a little extra time to get there, then so be it. We can't change anything that has happened to us thus far, we can only move forward and spend the necessary TIME on correcting our FORM.
They say practice makes perfect, but I am not trying to reach perfection...only trying to make progress.
From how you do a push-up, what food you fuel your body with, the people you choose to let into your life, your goals and aspirations, your dream job, all of that takes time to learn, achieve, and ultimately perfect to your preferred standards.
Your form matters. Not the speed.
*FORM OVER SPEED.*
