Principles, Practice, Persistence
Principles - building a foundation based on solid principles will eventually lead to building a solid structure. Without a solid foundation your end result might look more like the Leaning Tower of Pisa than a solid AF brick house. This is where the initial principles play a huge role in any athlete's development. Learning each element of weightlifting can be difficult and even daunting. However, these foundational principles are what make weightlifting such a rewarding sport.Practice - repetition is really the only way to get better at anything in life and weightlifting is no exception. If you aren't putting in the hours your results are going to reflect that. You wouldn't expect to be Picasso if you barely touched a paint brush. Pick up the bar and pick it up often. Persistence - yes you will have a love hate relationship with weightlifting. You can have some really incredible days in the gym and you can have some really terrible days too. These fluctuations come in waves and as long as we understand that and allow ourselves to ebb and flow, persistence will become second nature and something we eventually stop questioning. If you fight against it and hate the process you'll eventually fall out of love with weightlifting or anything else that appears daunting.
Should I Compete?
Weightlifting is a sport based around two lifts: the snatch and the clean and jerk. There are weight and age classes to even the playing field to ensure a fair competition for everyone. Each person competing will attempt three separate lifts in both the snatch and clean & jerk. The highest weight performed in each lift is totalled to give you your overall total for the competition. (This is just a summation of what a competition without getting into all of the finer details).
Why is competing important?
Reason # 1
When you show up and train you are putting a lot hard work in on a daily and weekly basis. That work is done in a very controlled environment assuming you lift in the same gym, with the same bar, same plates and with the same people each session. When you beat a previous personal record in the gym it’s really amazing and took a lot of hard work to get there. Hitting big lifts in a new environment with different equipment on a platform in front of other people is a completely different story. It's a different kind of test to see if all of your training is paying off outside of normal routines.
Reason # 2
This is a very inclusive sport that allows any age, race, and gender to perform to the best of their abilities no matter where they are within that journey. You do not need to be a 20 year old that lifts world record numbers to go participate in a competition. You could be in your 50s and have maybe 1-2 months of experience with the snatch and clean and jerk before competing. Weightlifting competitions aren't only for the most elite level lifters to test their progress.
Reason # 3
It gives you a goal. If you don't have a defined goal for your training, choosing to compete will give you a purpose for showing up and pushing your body to do difficult things day in and day out.
What is your Why?
Without a why, anything you do will eventually start feeling pointless.
You might not be a morning person, but you get up early to walk my dog. That's a solid why.
You might dislike your job, but you want to pay your mortgage or have money to go on vacation. That's a solid why.
Having a why is like having a north start to keep your eye on. Your why is an internal driving force to stay focused on the things you value in life. These are reasons that help you follow through with something, especially when you want whatever it is badly enough.
If a doctor told someone that they were at risk of a heart attack if they didn't clean up their diet and start moving or working out, that would be a great why/north star for someone to stay focused.
If someone else wants to be the strongest version of themselves, or win a competition that's coming up in a few months, that's a great why/north star. This can be coupled with micro goals along the way, such as wanting to PR their clean and jerk by 2 kg in the next 4-6 months.
If you don't have a reason to keep improving in whatever it is you're investing your time and money into, then you probably won't see continued improvement.
Try to find your inner why. Use your why/north star as your guide, and you'll see far more success in your endeavors.