Honesty. Ever since you were a little kid, there is a good chance your parents and teachers told you to always tell the truth. Over the years, we all have learned honesty is the best policy.
For the most part, you tell the truth to your parents, to your kids, to your spouse, and to your loved ones. But how often do you tell the truth to yourself?
How honest are you with yourself?
How honest are you with yourself and your training, or your nutrition or your energy levels.
Each of our body's talk to us. It's up to us to listen to what our body is saying and then to be honest with it.
Maybe your body is run down and telling you it's tired, but your telling it to shut the F up because your training plan has 3 hrs on it for today and that's what you're going to do.
If you're caught lying to a friend or family member, they usually get mad at you and you feel badly for lying in the first place.
If you keep ignoring your body and/or lying to yourself that you feel fine and everything is good, soon your body will get mad at you and tell you to F off. Then comes the sore throat, the cough, the stuffy nose, the fatigue, etc.
Be honest with yourself and be honest with your body. Listen to what it has to say and decide the best plan of attack from there. Maybe it's rest, maybe it's less sugar in your diet, maybe both of you need a swift kick in the ass, but you'll never know unless you tell the truth.
