The 3 Word Phrase That Changed My Life

Not to be dramatic but this short phrase might have just changed and completely altered my mindset and life, forever. 

I’m sure you and I both have had conversations in our lives or thoughts in our brains something similar to “oh that’s cool but I can’t do that!” Or “OMG no way that’s way too hard I could never!” Sound familiar?

I’m going to tell you a little story about how I exactly used this phrase and changed everything. 

So my exercise/torture/therapy of choice is CrossFit. After being a collegiate volleyball player, I missed the team workouts, cheering each other on, and quite frankly having someone tell me what the hell to do every time I worked out. (Stick with me here you’ll see where I’m going with this.)

I joined CrossFit and fell madly in love. I was used to the Olympic lifts that were done as I would do the same lifts in college and so I felt right at home (in that aspect). Also having a class setting made it competitive but also fun to cheer other people on and feed off everyone’s energy. Instead of going to a standard gym, feeling lost, and bored of my workouts everyday. 

All of that being said, the other side of CrossFit is what you call the gymnastic side. Pull-ups, chest to bar pull-ups, handstand push-ups, toes to bar, etc. These parts of the workouts were and are not my friend. My body composition , height, and build is ideally meant for standard lifts and picking up heavy things. 

So when it came down to doing pull-ups and or things like double unders (like jumping rope but circling yourself twice before touching the ground again). Forget it. I couldn’t do them. I tried and failed and then tried and failed some more so I decided well it’s just not meant for someone “like me” to do. Mind you, I’m 5’ 10” and around 215 lbs, no shame in my body game!  

So first, let me call bullshit. It’s ridiculous looking back now and seeing how my limiting beliefs dictated how far I allowed myself to get. And after years of self depreciating jokes about how someone “like me” just can’t do certain things, I had an epiphany (and enough of my own shit). 

What if I actually start to believe in myself and that maybe just MAYBE I could actually be able to do some of these supposedly unattainable things if I just put my mind to trying?? Groundbreaking stuff, I know. 

So I decided to consciously change the way I spoke to myself and to others about myself. So when it came time for class and the workout involved something I was not able to do I would simply say, “no I need to modify the workout because I can’t do [insert skill] yet.” That was a game changer. 

Stating the fact that I was not at the level at the moment to do the skill but now saying the word “yet” opened the door of possibility. And now I am speaking to myself in a regard of belief, support, and opportunity. All the while, avoiding self depreciation and speaking about myself aloud to others and showing self respect and self belief. Things I think we all could use more of if you ask me. 

Don’t get me wrong, it still took time and practice to even get one pull-up and 2 double unders. But the fact is, I did it. And suddenly the door has opened to be able to do more and expand my skills because I just decided to believe I could. Sure, delayed gratification isn’t always fun but it is ALWAYS worth it. The work. The time. The effort. It’s all worth it to finally stand back and think, well shit, look what happened when I just believed in myself. 

So what’s that thing you swore you could NEVER do??

As of today, you can’t do it... not yet.