Big shout outย to our Athlete of the Month, John Harder! When it comes to consistency and determination, this guy has it down pat! Takes on goal after goal with a fire! Get to know this BA a little better below!ย
1. Congrats John, you’re Athlete of the Month! Do you have a victory song or pump up music we can play in our heads as we read this?ย
Oh gosh. I grew up in the music world my whole life so asking me to pick music is like asking me to pick a favorite ice cream flavor. I also grew up chubby my whole life.ย I guess if I were to pick pump up music it would be something along the lines of Eminem. You can’t go wrong there right? But if you caught me working out alone it would probably be something someone would listen to while sipping a latte in the corner of the cafe.
2. How long have you been with us now? What was your first workout?ย
3 years ago this coming January 7th was my baseline with Ingrid. That was a train wreck. My first actual workout was February of 2015. I say that loosely. I did the warm up and as the count down started for the actual workout I couldn’t start the workout. I sat on the bench in the corner defeated as Ben who is 9 years younger than me tried to encourage me like I was a child who just failed. Little did I know that was going to be the beginning of an incredible journey.
3. Team Captain America or Team Iron Man?ย
In considering my answer for this question I practically did a psychological evaluation of both characters. Which is probably more telling of who I am than my answer itself. When I think of Captain America I think of a genuine kind man who believes that chivalry isn’t dead. And Iron Man is eccentric but kind of an ass. Can I make a new team that is 3/4 Captain America and 1/4 Iron Man? Captain Iron America? No? I would probably lean more towards Captain America.
4.If you could be any animal in the world, what would you be and why?ย
Off the top of my head I would have to go with a black panther. Growing up I was slow at everything. Frankly I still am. That’s just how I’m wired. It’s not laziness. I am just slower and more methodical than most. Plus I think I’m a bit of a perfectionist which slows me down. My parents, camp counselors, teachers would always be telling me to hurry up. It just wasn’t natural for me though. So I would like to be an animal that’s really fast.ย I want to know what that feels like naturally. But I also like how panthers can be graceful and slow and methodical as well as they hide in the shadows. There is something mysterious about them. At least in my mind that’s my jungle book perception of how they operate.
5. Whats next on your list of things to conquer? Crossfit or non CrossFit related.
Buy a massive house with a huge table for dinner parties where people stay for hours and tell amazing stories?
Learn Italian?
Sing backup for Johnnyswim or Tori Kelly?
Be in a hip hop dance battle and win?
Ok. So maybe my list is long and some are slightly unrealistic.
Crossfit related. I would love to compete in a competition that’s a step past festivus. I love that competition and have competed in it twice but I think that I’d like something that feels unfamiliar a bit.
Non crossfit related. Id like to create a community for entrepreneurs in the greater st Louis area in a co-working space. The idea is significantly more involved than that so if you’re interested ask me and I’ll tell you about it.
6. What would the title of your autobiography be? ย
“The battle for value.”
This year I had a bit of a revelation. In my self reflection of what I wanted to do with my life I asked myself what that was. I realized that what I wanted to do with my life was bring value to everything I do. The way I act. The conversations I have. My work ethic. My business. The way I encourage others. I realized though that if I were to encourage someone to value the things they had they would have every right to look at me and say “Why? You don’t value yourself.” and it would be true.ย For the first time in my life I realized that I’ve always struggled with valuing myself. I have always thought I needed to be stronger, fitter, better looking, more talented, or funnier to be more acceptable. So while I don’t think working towards any of those things are wrong what I’m now working on is valuing myself. That’s the most important. The rest will follow. Now realizing that that is my vice I’ve been working on strengthening that weakness and I’m now happier than I’ve ever been. It’s only taken me 33 years to figure that out.
7. What’s the John Harder Motto?ย
Live well. Love well.
Live well…. A lot of people may not understand why I may make the decisions I make. You hear everyone say “You only live once” and I agree with that. I don’t take that as an opportunity to do stupid things or live without thinking about my decisions though. I heard an author say once to think of your life as a story. Are the decisions you’re making telling the story you want to tell? I kind of live by that. When I choose what I’m going to do I rarely think about how it’s going to affect me tomorrow. I usually consider my trajectory over the next 10, 20, 50 years. Will I be proud of this story and want to share it? Answer….then proceed.
Love well…..If I’ve told you I love you, know this. I mean that with every part of who I am. I don’t freely say that if I don’t mean it. If I tell you that it means I care about you. I pray for you. I’m in your corner. Loving well doesn’t always look pretty. Sometimes it’s saying the hard things when you know it’s going to make the person you love better. It’s serving people when you won’t receive anything in return for it and being completely ok with that. I want to love well. I’m not always good at it but that’s my hope. I want say the hard things. Tell people what they mean to me. Have conversations about topics that we don’t see eye to eye on and do that well.
So crossfit st Charles, live well, love well.
Well said John!ย We couldn’t be more grateful to have you, keep being awesome!ย
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