By Samantha Pruitt, Founder & CEO, Race SLO
People call me wild, crazy, fearless, strong and many other colorful adjectives that may or may not be true depending on the day or amount of coffee I have just consumed. I pay no attention. Nor do I pay attention to the other labels from society and the media that get thrown my direction like middle age, middle class or middle weight. Why? Exactly, because I have a rock solid WHY. Let me explain…
My first 35 years of life didn’t go so well. Born of immigrants (and proud as hell), we were always struggling to live the ‘American dream.’ Never quite fitting in, never really getting good at anything, never really comfortable in my own skin, it was like a heavy rucksack of hard knocks I seemed to drag around. Just like many of you, I have had countless goals and dreams with easy to follow instruction manuals from the “experts” including what and where and who to follow directions. However, time after time those resolutions led to more struggles, giving up, failures and then a compounded lack of self-confidence. With this fear of failure I stopped taking risks because clearly there were no rewards within reach. Years past by me in zero motivation gear, layering negative self-worth and chronic health issues, on top of extra body pounds like a caterpillar’s cocoon.
One dark sluggish day I reached my breaking point. Finally at my limit of self-imposed suffering, I knew that this way of life was no longer what, where or who I should be. That is when my personal WHY started to develop. Like a bicep muscle in my gun show, my life’s WHY started to flex, stretch and grow. Day by day and week by week I got up and flexed my way down a different path. Without having any instructions to follow, I made different decisions then ever before in every area of my life. Slowly I was growing wings and becoming mentally, physically and spiritually stronger (and wiser) both inside and out. My WHY was under development just like my body was under remodel.
Like me, your WHERE is important and defines your outside environment, what you’re exposed to and ultimately where your opportunities or challenges await. WHEN and WHO are also important as they affect your precious resources of time, energy and support. All those things matter, but they are easy to answer and eventually will mean nothing if you don’t have a WHY. It’s your deep rooted truth of WHY that will never allow you to fail or give up.
At your core, your WHY can not tell a lie, be swayed by others or be beaten out of you. Even on your worst and dark days, your WHY will bring you joy and shed a light. Your WHY knows no limits nor subscribes to society’s limiting views cast your way. Holding your WHY in your heart and mind each day as you move about this human operated planet will bring you both compassion and connection to others living their own WHY path. Get a WHY, trust me. My WHY is simple. It came to me gradually through pounds lost, sweat and tears poured and hard ass personal & team work invested. My WHY power has literally transformed every aspect of my life.
24/7 in my personal life the WHY (body, mind & spirit) that drives every ounce of my actions is:
“Living an adventurous life without limits, I inspire others to live their best lives and as a result am healthy & confidant in my own skin.”
At Race SLO, my company life has a WHY that drives me (and my team’s) professional actions:
“Through human experience we create social & economic impact to share our legacy.”
When I work with my Race SLO Team, coach my Grizzly Youth Academy athletes or play with my friends & family I like to know their own unique WHY as well. Knowing WHY they are each here, doing life along with me, allows for deeper connection, empowers us both and becomes the north star of all our actions together. Labels slapped on us by the outside world may be funny, hurtful or just plain ridiculous but rarely are they true. Get real, no one knows you like you do! So invest the quiet time and honest effort into getting your own WHY clear. Once you do, you will trust yourself, join me back on team risk taker and together we will all use these strong muscle ripped wings to fly to the next level up. Why? Because we can!
