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This Is Why You Should Work Below Your Limits
The top performers of the future will work like average Joes.
To this day, I’ve never been as excited for a challenge as I was for my first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world championships in 2016. Before I began training for the tournament, I made a pact with myself to give it my all, no matter what.
It didn’t matter if training was at 5 am or if I was tired or I had a test that day (I was an undergrad at the time), I was always on the mat or in the gym preparing, fueled by corny motivational videos and excessive amounts of caffeine. To crank up the intensity to 11, I also went on a crash diet and lost 15 pounds in 4 weeks to make weight for the event.
I mean, it was the world championships. I had to give it my all, right?
Wrong.
The effects of the training camp were disastrous on my body. Going into the tournament, I developed some of the most intense depression I had ever experienced along with physical burnout that left me bedridden for days. Worst of all, I began to fear my own capacity for work.
I ended up taking 3rd place in the tournament, but the prioritization of short-term success over my long-term health taught me a valuable, but painful lesson:
What doesn’t kill you…
