My day without a 'belt'...

Most mornings, I work out before starting my workday. We have a great fitness facility and locker room at Adobe (#adobelife J). So, I load my gym bag the night before (or early the same morning) and get ready at the office.

While I have a pretty consistent and thorough routine, occasionally something doesn’t make it in my bag. Today, I forgot my belt.

Now, missing a belt is obviously not the end of the world. In fact, it’s really not even a problem. I could have easily driven home, run to the outlet stores up the street, or called my wife to run one down to me. In the end, I decided to just go on through my day without my belt.

Did anything major happen as a result of not wearing a belt? Nope. My pants fall off? Nope. Did anyone even notice? Nope (not that I am aware of at least). But that didn’t stop me from worrying several times throughout the day, or being a little self-conscious about it.

As I reflected on this, it reminds me of how we all have our own insecurities. And generally, we worry about and fret over these internal insecurities far more than anyone else. In fact, others probably don’t even notice most of these insecurities. 

How often do we worry about our own internal inhibitions and let these worries hold us back?

 My takeaway from my day without a belt is that we can’t let self-doubt hold us back. We need to be confident in our abilities, take risks, be vulnerable and push ourselves outside our comfort zone. Just like in the gym, where muscle grows through being stretched and strained, we grow when we stretch and challenge ourselves. 

What do you think? What have you forgotten to take to the gym? What insecurities do you worry about, that others probably don’t notice? How do you keep these from holding you back?

While I did put a belt in my gym bag for tomorrow, I hope this continues to be a reminder to me, and maybe someone else.