Mid Life Fitness

I believe that for many people, the main obstacle that prevents them from reaching the body that they desire is nothing to do with exercise or even nutrition. The thing which decides if they are going to succeed or fail happens without them even realising it.

After giving a talk to some people about their personal growth, I was reading an article by Geral Blanchard, a respected psychologist, and one part sprung out at me because it fitted so well with the main theme of my talk:

I was particularly challenged one winter night in the North Country by an elder of the tribe. He asked a series of probing questions about my profession and, with storytelling, hinted at other ways to assist healing. He queried, “What is that bible you psychologists use, the one where you call people names?”

Of course he was referring to the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), which only has words for diseases, disorders, and dysfunction, but no diagnoses that suggest a person is resilient and can change. He asked quietly, “Doesn’t that freeze people?” referring to being known thereafter only by the assigned label. He concluded, “We don’t let our children call each other names; we must set an example for them.”

I love the wisdom of that last line and if I could pay homage to the man for that directly then I would do so here and now.

What we can or cannot achieve is in large part decreed by our abilities, the gifts that are unique to us. The problem is that few of us are able to use but a small part of those gifts in any meaningful way because we have limited ourselves. When you look at the history of some of the greatest men and women, surprisingly often they have come from humble beginnings and there has been one thing which catapults them onto the path to greatness.

That trigger could be Lincoln accidentally buying law books whilst working as a penniless grocery clerk, or it could be any one of a large number of similar moment, but always it result in the person discarding a limiting belief. Lincoln could have remained a clerk, but instead he became one of the most powerful and influential men on earth.

When we apply labels to ourselves, those labels can be empowering or disempowering. Call yourself a hardgainer and you sign up to a hundred limiting beliefs and excuses to justify your lack of gains.

What label are you going to create for yourself today?