Transform 'I can't' into 'I can!'

No way! This was my first thought when my team came up with this crazy team bonding idea to run the #RagnarRelay race, a 200ish mile race run over a period of 25–35 hours (depending on the collective speed of the team). The crazier part of the idea was that I should be on the team. Me, who had never even run a single km ever in my life! Absolutely-no-freaking-way! But the team was short one person, and in true team player spirit, I was strong armed into agreeing to take part in this madness.

The guy who came up with this idea in the first place was a fitness freak like no one I had ever met. Since it was his idea to rope me in to the race, he got the coveted role to train me, a complete race rookie. In all seriousness though, that was probably the best thing that happened to me — I accidentally ended up with a phenomenal coach.

The most important lesson I learned from him while we were training was that instead of focusing on what I cannot do (with conviction), what if I shifted my belief to something positive — something I can do. It doesn’t have to be the belief that I can finish the race (at least not yet), but what if the conviction and belief was on achieving one thing every day that moved me just a bit closer to the end line.

So, I put together my goals for each day, and started believing in them:

Day 1, I can walk/ jog 2k.

After 2 weeks, I can walk/jog 5K

After 4 weeks, I can run 4 miles at a stretch

After 6 weeks, I can run twice in 24 hours (this was the toughest to achieve)

Every day, I can hydrate more on my run days

Every day, I can hold 1 min planks to build my core

Every day, I can recover my aching calves with compression socks

Every day, I feel just a bit more confident in what I can do!

Day before the race, I can run the Ragnar! And I did!

I have come to apply this approach to many aspects of my life, especially when I am venturing into a new area. As an #entrepreneur, I am often faced with a challenge, a situation, or a roadblock, where the mind tends to go to a negative belief — ‘there is no way I can overcome that’ or ‘I will never be able to solve it’ or ‘I can never meet that deadline’. Thankfully, over the years I have been building the #mindskill of noticing the negative belief, and then coaxing the mind into realizing that there are many things that I CAN do and focusing my energy and attention only on those areas.

So, the next time you find yourself fixating on something you cannot do, pause and think — what is it that you can do, and believe in it with all your conviction!