You Are Stronger Than You Think

Yesterday I experienced the power and the magic of having someone, who I trust and respect, believing in me and not letting me quit.

This happened during one of the last exercises at the gym. Every muscle in my body was already tired after an hour of an intense workout. I was supposed to do ten reps of an exercise that involves going from lying down to fully standing up while holding a weighted ball in your hands. It takes your whole body to propel you forward.

I kept trying and failed a few times. Then I was able to do one rep, followed by a few more failed attempts. This pattern continued until I was able to do five reps. At this point I was not only exhausted, but discouraged at my multiple failed attempts and how long it had taken me to get to only five reps.

I turned to the trainer and tried to negotiate my way out of the exercise. I proposed doing just five reps today and trying to do the whole 10 reps tomorrow. He smiled and looked at me with a certainty I wished I had. He said kindly, but firmly, “I won’t let you go until you complete the 10 reps. I know you’re strong enough to finish.” He also explained how the more I tried doing the exercise the more my body would learn how to do it and I would get better at it after every attempt.

After I tried to plead two more times, with great and valid excuses, he said: “We can stay here the whole night if necessary.”

There was something so powerful about how confident he sounded. He truly believed I could do it. He showed no doubts and no hesitation. And since I know he has always been right about what I can do, I stopped my excuses and kept trying.

Guess what? I was able to complete the 10 reps, and it did not take me the whole night :) I actually got better at it after my 6th rep and it did not take more than a few more minutes to complete the set.

I felt so amazing afterwards! It is hard to describe that feeling. I was amazed, proud and surprised with the result.

This got me thinking how so many of us underestimate ourselves and do not even realize what we are doing. We have so much more potential than we think because we let our excuses get in the way.

We are stronger and more powerful than we realize. And sometimes it takes someone else to remind us of that.