Florida Grid League History · July 27, 2016

Why you need to follow Jeff Evans

I have had the extreme privilege to work with some people that are quite literally the best in the world at what they do. The easiest of these humans to quantify are the names you all know. Crossfit Games athletes and leaders in my sport of GRID.

What they do physically is often beyond comprehension. There are many reasons for this, but the one that intrigues me the most is the mental component. The mentality of how a world class athlete approaches their craft translates into any other aspirations us mortals may have. The ones that draw their success in large part to their mentality, are the ones I am most inspired by. I have learned so much from the way these athletes think, approach their training, each other, and life.

There are a few in particular that have influenced me a lot.
Nick Urankar and Marco Coppola have taught me lessons on
how to communicate in a way others buy into. Brooke Wells is literally never outwardly rattled… and is always calm and positive, even when the chips are way down. She also knows how to filter outside influences for herself in a way that far exceeds her age. Her mentality is so unique among her peers and I believe strongly it helps her overcome her physical differences in workouts that favor other athletes. Jenn Jones has shown me how she sees and leads with her heart. She is quiet by nature, and I don’t think has ever intentionally set out to be a leader, but I personally have relied on her at times to lead me. She probably doesn’t realize it but has brought me to tears with her words in a text message before…. And I don’t cry. She has an inherent ability to demonstrate the passion and vision she ecompasses for her own success in a way you can’t help but be inspired by for your own. It is no mistake that the names I just mentioned are top performers in pretty much whatever they put their mind to, regardless if it is a physical performance or not.

I can’t talk about positive influence in my life without mentioning my sister Ruby. I’m so lucky to have someone I communicate with every day be such a force to push me mentally in the right direction. I’d be nowhere with out her.

But what about Jeff Evans. I know him the least out of everyone just mentioned, and just started interacting with him a couple months ago. I first realized he is someone I need to pay attention to when he described the reasons he decided to create his competition, the Gulf Coast Games. I got chills as he spoke. It came from a place of passion. His extreme appreciation for the gifts he has been given, his community, and his desire to spread positive influence in the world. For me, these are reasons to be a fan of someone. Those reasons resonate with me, and I want to think about the things I set out to accomplish in the same way.

Since that time, I have followed him on social media, and paid attention to the message he sends. He is constantly demonstrating how he continues to learn and grow mentally every day. He pushes the questions, where can YOU draw positive influence to a stronger, smarter, mental approach to the things you do. He also supports a concept that I believe very strongly in. Your mental approach manifests what happens to you. You are in control of your destiny, all by what YOU know you can and will accomplish. Your mindset is the single biggest tool you possess, regardless of your goal. Above all, he is constantly pushing positivity and growth. Not hate, not negative opinions of others, not criticism over something he has no control over. I’m not knocking you if you choose to post about those kinds of things, but I am saying, for me personally, Jeff’s types of messages are what I want to be influencing me on a daily basis. That is a message I support personally.

Jeff and I are a part of the same community, and it’s a great one. The Florida fitness community is something I care massively about. Unfortuna
tely, so many of the leaders, business or otherwise, I have encountered in it are not the type of person I want to get behind to be influencers in my community. So far, Jeff is the type of leader I want to get behind and support. I admit that I don’t know him well, and have been wrong about people before, but my gut is telling me this is a safe bet…. To the point where I wrote this post with no other motivation that to help communicate that if you think like me, you should follow Jeff. If you want to attend a competition, there are so many to choose from, choose one that the organizer’s reasons for doing it are sound and you can get behind the person he is.
One last thing about Jeff. He will be in the CrossFit Games next year. I know that, because he already knows it himself. He told me so.

So follow him and go check out his competition –
https://www.instagram.com/jeff_evans_cf/
https://www.instagram.com/gulfcoastgames/
https://www.facebook.com/GulfCoastGames/

Written by:

Mather Wiswall

Director of Competition
Florida Grid League