Have you ever dismissed an activity or exercise because you couldn’t do it? Or how about this: have you ever dismissed an activity or exercise because you assumed you couldn’t do it? These are obviously 2 very different things.
I’ve been going through rehab for knee pain I’ve had for about 3 years, and I’m seeing lots of improvements with my pain. But that hasn’t stopped me from anticipating pain and modifying my life to avoid it. Is it because I’m currently having pain in those situations? Nope! It’s because I’m so used to getting that pain, that it’s basically become a pattern or habit to expect it. That’s how powerful the mind can be!
As trainers and coaches, we see this with clients all the time. (And if we’re being honest, we’re guilty of doing it, too!) We’ll demonstrate an exercise for a client, and upon seeing it, the client will immediately laugh and say that there’s no way they can do THAT exercise. So what do we do in that situation? After giving some helpful coaching cues, we’ll tell the client to just try it. Now, sometimes, the client just won’t be able to do it and then we’ll laugh together and go through the whole ‘I told you so’ thing. But more often than not, the client will be able to do the exercise, at least to some extent. Seeing that look of confusion, shock and eventually pride on the client’s face in that moment is one of the best things we can ever experience as trainers.
The human body has so much potential for skill and strength, and this goes up even more-so when you start training consistently. So what could possibly be going on in our minds that would hold us back?
Past experiences
Home, School or Work Environment
Negative Self Talk
Low Self-Confidence
Fear of Failure
Comfort Zones
These are all things that get rooted so deeply within our minds, to the point that we don’t even know they exist. So if you want to unleash your potential and get your mind working for you instead of against you, you have to look deep inside yourself, and start trying to identify which obstacles are holding you back so you can start to let them go.
The stories we tell ourselves are very powerful, and they can either hold us back or push us to accomplish things we never thought possible. So the next time you find yourself in a laughing-and-there’s-no-way-in-hell-you-could-ever-do-that situation, take a moment, change your thought process, and tell yourself YOU GOT THIS! Sure, you could fail and you might feel silly or embarrassed, but the body learns beautifully from failure, and nothing fuels progress more than embarrassment, right? 😛
Mrs. Frizzle had it right when she said, “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!”. Now go make her proud!
