Get Your Head in the Game

I have never really been involved in sports or physical activity, besides horseback riding and briefly, volleyball. The most rigorous exercise I do consistently is walking. I have done yoga for a little while – but rarely push myself physically. I don’t like to sweat.

But I know the positive effects of exercise – the physical and mental benefits. I want to be in shape. I want to feel good about myself. So, I joined a gym.

The first day I went in with my friend and we were warming up on the elliptical. We were going to do 1 mile. I was barely 1/3 of the way in and I thought I was going to die! My legs were burning, and my hands were sweaty and all I could think about was how much longer I had and how I wasn’t going to make it! Luckily, my friend was with me that first day and she helped me push through, she encouraged me and appealed to my competitive side. So, I got the mile done. Afterwards, I was exhausted – but I felt good about myself.

The funny thing is – ever since that first day, I have made it through the mile on the elliptical machine without any issues. I have even increased the distance and the resistance.

How? Why?

Because I believed that I could. I knew it was possible for me. And I also have learned to redirect my focus onto things other than my legs hurting, or how much longer I have to go – when I start thinking about those things – I turn my mind onto something else that distracts me.

So, what does this boil down to? Limiting beliefs and focus.

Orrin Woodward says, “The biggest champions in life dare to challenge and replace their limiting beliefs.”

There are so many stories about how important our thinking is; the story about the man dying in the cooler because he believed it was too cold to survive. There is the story of Roger Bannister and the 4-minute mile, the story of elephants who are trained to believe that they cannot escape the chains that hold them so that when they grow-up they don’t even try to escape. Or even the fleas that can be trained not to jump out of a jar even though physically they could.

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, either way your right.” Henry Ford

Once we believe, once we convince ourselves that we can do something – it is basically already done. I have heard it over and over. And yet it took me a couple days in the gym to really understand, and to actually see it in an undeniable way.

What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

What if you could do anything? Would you be living the life you are living now?

Don’t Stop Believing, Jorjia