Today I was at the gym and overheard a trainer talking to their client. What I heard was, “That’s Unreasonable, she’s a machine, let’s be Realistic”. What the client was doing was expressing her goals to their trainer and how they wanted to do better than someone else in a competition. I couldn’t believe the words that came out of thier mouth (the trainer). It really wasn’t my place to say anything, I should have left it alone but I didn’t. No trainer likes to be second guessed or told how to train their client, especially by another trainer. All I got was a half argument and clearly someone defending themselves. I can’t say I would have reacted differently but I would like to think I would have. Either way, however it was meant, I don’t believe words like that should ever be directed towards someone trying to achieve something.
If I could talk to that client myself I would say something like….
Don’t ever let someone tell you you’re not good enough. Don’t let anyone tell you you’ll never make it, you’re too small, too big, uncoordinated, impossible! Don’t let someone you look up to make you believe there’s something you can’t do. A parent, a family member, a teacher, are all in a place we look up to as a child or even when we’re older. Most things we carry as adults came from some place or sometime when we were younger. How many of us have money issues (like we want some) that have heard ‘money doesn’t grow on trees!’, when we were young? Some of us heard at a very young age, ‘you’re ugly’, ‘you’ll never amount to anything’. We hold on to these false beliefs even as adults, as ridiculous as these claims are. At some point, some powerful figure made us believe what isn’t true. We can change those beliefs and we can make new ones and we can certainly make the decision to believe what we choose.
The past does not determine your future, if you don’t let it. Don’t let any past failure live on in you as a failure, let it live as a lesson or not at all.
77 yr old Add Windth is the oldest woman to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, which is the tallest peak in Africa. Do you think she believed people who told her she’s too old to climb a mountain?
Spud Webb was 5’7″ and was not only an NBA player but won the slam dunk contest! Do you think he believed anyone who told him he was too small?
Walt Disney, Donald Trump and a number of other successful businessmen filed for bankruptcy before they became billionaires. Do you think they believed anyone who told them they wouldn’t make it to the top?
You have the choice to believe what others say and you have the choice to prove them wrong. Make your decision carefully, this will determine your future. That’s right, you determine your future.