Max Out on Life

For so many years people have stepped in (and still do) with an “I can do that for you.” “Don’t lift that, you’ll hurt yourself.” “That’s too heavy for you, you’re small.” These people were protecting me. I appreciated that and let them do these things for me. I started operating my world around this belief. “Excuse, can you lift this for me? It’s too heavy for me.” “I can’t do that (insert fun, challenging thing) I’m too small.” Then one day I signed up for personal training. Personal trainer: “Right, today you’re going to leg press 100kg.” There was no hesitation, no doubt or challenge in his voice. Just a clear statement. This is simply what you’re going to do. Thoughts flashed through my mind: “Should I tell him I don’t even weight 50kg?” “Can’t he see I’m small and don’t do things like this.” “I guess I’m paying for this so I’d better give it a go. He seems to know what he’s talking about.” Out loud: “So what’s a leg press?” He gave me a demonstration. Then I did it. This pattern kept going. A statement of what I was going to do. A demonstration. Me doing it. Slowly increasing weight each week. Gradually building. Without realising it this became my norm. One day another personal trainer walked past and said “what 200kg!!!!! No way!!! I can’t even do that!!!” (She couldn’t help taking a picture when it was up to 210kg. I’m talking 17 reps at 210kg.) This jolted me into a new reality. When did I become strong? Whatever, who cares. Time for a new belief. My body is capable of more than I can imagine. All this because one person had given me something different to do. I took the step and gave it a go. He saw something in me that no one had. Framed things in a way which were logical and rational. Had a plan. Followed through. Week by week. It’s that simple people. What else are we capable of? Hang out with the people who believe in you. And that includes you.