My CrossFit story is about falling in love. I was alone, pursuing work in Atlanta, and struggling to keep up appearances concerning my relationship with fitness. Things with my gym just weren’t working out. I went for jogs every once in a while, but I spent most of my evenings sitting at home, watching “Mad Men.”

Then I saw a billboard for CrossFit Atlanta. I decided to take the leap and pursue this new and enticing relationship. I’m happy to say that five years later, we’re still together.

CrossFit has not only made me healthier inside and out, but it’s also played a significant role in how I approach my work. Here are six business lessons I’ve learned through CrossFit.

Lesson 1: Learn Mechanics First

Even Olympic lifters start out lifting an empty bar to learn proper mechanics. It’s a requirement to develop consistent technique before putting any weight on the bar.

Don’t feel discouraged if you’re stuck in the “mechanics” phase of business. Get excited – this is your springboard to success! Mastering the basics has a lot to do with building your company infrastructure, getting the right people and systems in place, and getting yourself to a point where you’re excited about growth – not overwhelmed.

Lesson 2: Be the Worst

When I started CrossFit, I was the worst person in my gym. Most were seasoned athletes, and I was the slowest and the weakest.

It would have been easy to give in to my fears of what others would think and not show up. But once I embraced being the worst, the pressure was off, and I suddenly had a lot more fun and experienced huge growth!

Business is the same way. You have to start at the bottom, fight off intimidation, and accept where you are.

Lesson 3: The Barbell Gets Lighter

The first time you pick up a barbell, it feels like this insanely heavy piece of equipment that you can’t imagine lifting over your head. But three months later, that bar feels so light that you can hardly remember the days when it felt heavy.

When you’re starting something new, “picking up the barbell” for the first time is scary. When a project is kicking off, it’s hard to get things moving the first week. But as you keep going, the barbell gets lighter. Soon, you don’t remember what was so difficult.

Lesson 4: Set a Timer

In CrossFit, you spend time warming up and developing technique or strength, but the real work gets done when the timer starts for the workout of the day (WOD).

While everyone around you is multitasking at work (and Facebooking), set your timer and get some real work done. Outside of the warm-up (planning and organizing) and the technique (meetings, coordination, and networking), set the “focus time” timer and actually create something. This is what gets you results.

But don’t fly by the seat of your pants. Enter this time with a plan of attack. Just like I set timed goals for each section of my workout, break down your tasks, and watch the clock so you stay on track.

Lesson 5: Do Just One Rep

When things get really hard and you want to quit, it does no good to fret about how far along you are in the workout. All you should think about is the very next rep. Focus on making that one rep as perfect as you can; before you know it, you’re done.

At work, quit fretting about how far along you are – or aren’t – in a given project. Instead, start giving your all to the very next, tiny task – and before you know it, the project will be complete and juicier than you imagined!

Lesson 6: Record Your Progress

If you don’t record progress, it’s like it never happened. CrossFit is designed with certain baseline workouts and lifts that are repeated systematically so you can see where you’re going and how much you’re improving. This is one of the main features that helps people see results through CrossFit versus a typical gym.

If you apply this principle to business, you will be part of the 2 percent of people who see results. Determine specific things you can measure in your business and write them down. It doesn’t have to be on fancy software; it can be in your diary or on a whiteboard. The ability to see where you’re going and look back on how far you’ve come will keep you passionate, motivated, and successful.

Why These Lessons Are Great for Women

At a typical gym, we women usually end up using the elliptical or running ourselves to death, frantically trying to burn calories. Sadly, this hits me as our subtle but collective insecurity: a feeling that we must lose something in order to be better. This attitude can often lead to hating our bodies instead of loving them, and it certainly doesn’t add to our confidence.

CrossFit offers a paradigm shift. We work to gain, rather than to lose. We want to add more weights to the barbell, improve our times, and add muscle to our bodies. As a side effect, you create your best body, skyrocketing your confidence.

CrossFit made such an impact on me that it led me to open my own CrossFit box, but no matter what strategy you choose to achieve health, take these lessons to heart. Instead of focusing on what you have to lose, think about everything you have to gain.

(This article was originally posted in BlogHer)

As strong, driven women who are bold enough to step into leadership roles, we work our butts off to succeed. But as time goes by, we often fear that if we pause, we’ll fall asleep at the wheel. Unfortunately, this attitude can cause you to miss out on the opportunity to live a truly incredible life. Rather than running from feelings of burnout, you should follow them.

Burnout Is an Opportunity

When I started my company, I was eager to prove that my ideas could succeed. We grew quickly, but after reaching a certain level of success, the thrill was over. I was exhausted. I hadn’t allowed myself to enjoy the process of growth; more importantly, I wasn’t fueled by a larger vision for my life.

That burnout was exactly what I needed to make a change; I took a step back and pursued other endeavors. In doing so, I gained intense clarity on what I wanted. I’m now living a life that energizes me, rather than one that drags me down, and my first company is still thriving. Without the burnout, I might have settled for a life I didn’t want.

Testing Your Burnout

Before you decide to throw in the towel at work, make sure your burnout isn’t simple fatigue. These three habits can deliver dramatic improvements:

1. Get enough sleep. This is one of the first things we sacrifice to a busy schedule, but a good night’s sleep is vital to clear thinking and sound decision-making.

2. Get enough exercise. I recommend joining a community like CrossFit, where you can connect with people outside work, celebrate goals together, and broaden your horizons.

3. Center yourself before diving in each day. Block out at least 30 minutes to journal, meditate, or connect with your intuition or the divine. This will give you reprieve from the chaos and support you throughout the day.

If you’re doing these things and still feeling burned out, it’s time to delve deeper.

Let Your Feelings of Burnout Guide You

Exercising your thoughts will help you understand what needs to change. Here are four strategies to assess your circumstances.

1. Do Some Deep Thinking

Identify a clear thought, such as, “I’m sick and tired of working my butt off at my job without seeing real results.” Write it down, and examine each part, starting at the end. Explore what results you want to see, write down things you like and dislike about your job (e.g., I like finding solutions, and I dislike working with boring people), and discover what specifically is draining you.

Sit on a thought for a day, week, or month. Take however long you need to zero in on your problems and determine what needs to change.

2. Follow a Powerful Practice

Byron Katie has a powerful body of work called “The Work.” It involves identifying a thought (e.g., my job makes me miserable), and then asking four questions about that thought.

Is this true? (If not, go to question three.)
Can you prove that it’s true?
How do you react when you believe that thought?
Who would you be without that thought?
After you’ve written down your answers, you might see that the stress or anxiety you’re feeling exists only in your mind, or only in the way you frame your thoughts. Once you’ve worked through these four questions in detail, you can do what she calls the “turnaround.” Take the opposite thought (e.g. my job makes me happy) and look for examples of where or how that could be true today.

3. Look for the Good

Cultivate a practice of gratitude. You should already be devoting 30 minutes a day to centering yourself; use some of that time to focus on things you’re thankful for. The more you focus on the good, the more good you will see.

4. Write It Out

I recommend buying a pretty, inspiring journal that’s appealing to you and keeping it with a nice pen in a drawer by your bed. I’ve learned a three-step process for journaling:

1) Release: List any negative or anxious thoughts to release them.

2) Love: Write down five things you currently love in your life.

3) Intend: Write at least one thing you intend to experience today: This could include something simple, like a cup of tea, or a feeling you want to have, like connection with your family.

You can try one or all of these strategies, but take your time. Little shifts make huge differences. If you use them to your advantage, your feelings of burnout will lead to a better life. You can do anything you want; you simply have to decide what you want and go for it.