"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right." -Henry Ford
-WARNING: REAL TALK AHEAD-
These words were spoken by Henry Ford, and while I have always been more of a Chevrolet guy, I can’t help but agree Mr. Ford. Since I was a kid, I have battled depression and anxiety and have spent my entire life fighting a battle of my own thoughts; the thought that usually won was: “I can’t.” I can also tell you that I have always been ambitious; I’ve always had some sort of dream or new idea that I became very excited about. I would fantasize about it for days, but none of these dreams ever came to fruition. I know now why that is: I didn’t BELIEVE that I could. So when it came to most of my pursuits, even fitness, I failed before I even began.
For those of you who know me, I have been a weight lifting junkie for the majority of my life. I have been involved in the sport of powerlifting for eleven years, and I can think of no better way to illustrate my point than with the deadlift. I don’t know exactly what it is, but the deadlift (much more than squat, bench or any other discipline) is such a mental game! I’ve lost count of how many lifting events I have lifted in or attended, but by now I can almost predict if someone is going to complete a successful deadlift before they even touch the bar. As they are approaching the platform I can see it on their face! With red-hot intensity and fire in their eyes, they approach the bar like they are William Wallace approaching the enemy and it’s all they can do to keep from shouting “I am GOING to win!” This is such an issue in fact, that a technique was used by Louisiana Tech Powerlifting that kept the lifters from knowing what weight they were about to attempt. We just sent them on the platform believing that it didn’t matter how much weight was on the bar! Just pick it up!
This idea wasn’t something that Mr. Ford just came up with; it is a truth that has been sewn into our heart by our Creator! Check out what the Bible and famous authors and motivators have to say:
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when desire comes it is the tree of life. –Proverbs 13:12
“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”
–William Shakespeare
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.” –George Bernard Shaw
“A man is what he thinks about all day long.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering the attitudes of mind,” –William James
“We become what we think about.” –Earl Nightingale
At this point, I’m drawing from the thickest thirty pages I’ve ever read: “The Strangest Secret” by Earl Nightingale. In his book, he explains that “We become what we think about.” He uses an illustration from the Bible that is one of my favorites! It’s so rich in meaning if you will take it to heart.
“The human mind is much like a farmer’s land. “ “Suppose a farmer has some land and that it is good fertile land.” “The land gives the farmer a choice.” “He may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn’t care what he planted.” “It’s up to the farmer to make the decision.”
“Remember we are comparing the human mind to the farmer’s land, because, the mind, like the land, doesn’t care what you plant in it.” “It will return what you plant, but it doesn’t care what you plant.”
“The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way.” “It does not care what we plant…success…or failure.” “A concrete, worthwhile goal…or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety, and so on.”
-Earl Nightingale “The Strangest Secret.”
For most of my life, I planted nothing but fear, anxiety, doubt, and hopelessness. What I reaped was a big heaping pile of failure. I believed that there was no hope. I believed that I was a failure and that all I could do was fail. That’s how powerful the mind is; I believed, therefore I was. And it wasn’t that long ago that I had to make a choice. I had to look at myself in the mirror and decide: “I’ve HAD it!…..I’m SICK of this!” “I HAVE to do something different!” “This is not who I want to be, and it’s not what God designed me for!” Please hear me. It’s in that moment that change can occur. You can’t start with discipline and find motivation later. It’s after you have decided to change your life that you can follow through with discipline.
So why is a personal trainer ranting on about psychology and the mind? I have written many programs for people that were designed to help achieve specific goals and more often than not, it was a complete waste. The person wanted to succeed. They fully intended on following through with the plan, but at some level didn’t believe they could do it. There was no emotion involved; we just crunched the numbers and made a plan and logically concluded that it was going to work. If that’s all there was to it, I would be out of a job.
So find somewhere quiet and turn off your phone. Clear your mind and just have a chat with yourself.
What is it that you want? If there were nothing standing in your way, what would you set out to achieve?
Are you okay with where you are right now? In thirty years, are you ok with the circumstances you live in today?
If not, what are you going to do about it? Decide right now what your one goal is and write it down on a note card. WRITE IT DOWN! Keep it with you every day to remind yourself what you decided and do everything possible to make it happen.
Lastly and most importantly:
Will you believe that you can? Will you believe that you can’t?
Either way, you’re absolutely right.
