Think about the most inspiring person you know… or most inspiring story you’ve ever heard.
Maybe it’s a person who beat cancer against all odds and went on to have kids and live for 4 or 5 more decades.
Maybe it’s someone with multiple / severe disabilities who lived longer than expected, graduated college, became an Olympian, etc.
Maybe it’s a story from a victim of the Boston Marathon bombings who, as an amputee, ran those 26.2 miles the year after.
You get the gist.
What do all of these examples - and the example(s) you’re thinking about from your own life - have in common??
They all have experienced & overcome deep pain.
Physical pain and emotional pain.
I believe that every single miracle is born from overcoming a deep pain.
And, I believe that pain can often be a great teacher or catalyst for explosive positive change.
Pain is something we generally try to avoid. In fact, my general rule about pain as it relates to exercise is this: if it causes you pain, stop immediately.
So the pain I’m referencing here isn’t the kind that comes from improper exercise or poor care for one’s own health.
Instead I’m talking about the emotional pain that accompanies tragedy, injury, and other such situations from which miracles and inspiration arise.
Take the Boston Marathon bombing victim who, just by showing up to watch a road race one day, became an amputee…. Forever changing her life.
She has a choice. She can choose to wallow in pity, and pain. She can choose to use this tragedy and injury as an excuse to give up on her dreams.
Or, she can choose to overcome it by transforming from victim to survivor.
Overcome it by doing the thing that most people probably immediately thought would be impossible for her going forward: running a marathon.
Think about the inspiring person or story you have in your head from your own life.
I guarantee you that the person/story had some element of injury, tragedy, or trauma involved…. And that the overcoming of that pain to accomplish something amazing is exactly what is so inspiring.
Pushing forward in the face of tragedy.
Refusing to give up when you’ve been given a 5% chance of making it.
Being tenacious in managing the pain instead of letting the pain take control.
Looking in the mirror every day and promising to never give up.
These are the traits of the most heroic and inspiring people we know.
And the same applies when it comes to fitness and weight loss.
In fact, when it comes to losing weight and transforming your body/life, there’s usually a painful injury, tragedy, trauma, or string of memories that have been pushed down from the surface and “medicated” by food, booze, and not-so-great self care.
Losing weight, getting fit & transforming your body and life takes more than just having a program of squats, push-ups and planks…..
It takes more than just making healthy nutrition choices.
It also requires getting in touch with the emotional pain or discomfort deep down.
It requires pushing forward when its hard….
Refusing to give up when you doubt that you’ll ever make it…
Being tenacious in managing your stress/pain/emotions in a positive way, instead of letting them take control via binge eating/drinking.
Looking in the mirror every day and promising never to give up.
So, I challenge you to think about the most inspiring person you know…. Read about them, learn more about them…. Even talk to them or be around them as much as you can, if possible.
Channel their inner strength and drive….. It’s extremely contagious.
Doing so will give you something more powerful than any diet or fitness hack ever could.
Maybe it’s a person who beat cancer against all odds and went on to have kids and live for 4 or 5 more decades.
Maybe it’s someone with multiple / severe disabilities who lived longer than expected, graduated college, became an Olympian, etc.
Maybe it’s a story from a victim of the Boston Marathon bombings who, as an amputee, ran those 26.2 miles the year after.
You get the gist.
What do all of these examples - and the example(s) you’re thinking about from your own life - have in common??
They all have experienced & overcome deep pain.
Physical pain and emotional pain.
I believe that every single miracle is born from overcoming a deep pain.
And, I believe that pain can often be a great teacher or catalyst for explosive positive change.
Pain is something we generally try to avoid. In fact, my general rule about pain as it relates to exercise is this: if it causes you pain, stop immediately.
So the pain I’m referencing here isn’t the kind that comes from improper exercise or poor care for one’s own health.
Instead I’m talking about the emotional pain that accompanies tragedy, injury, and other such situations from which miracles and inspiration arise.
Take the Boston Marathon bombing victim who, just by showing up to watch a road race one day, became an amputee…. Forever changing her life.
She has a choice. She can choose to wallow in pity, and pain. She can choose to use this tragedy and injury as an excuse to give up on her dreams.
Or, she can choose to overcome it by transforming from victim to survivor.
Overcome it by doing the thing that most people probably immediately thought would be impossible for her going forward: running a marathon.
Think about the inspiring person or story you have in your head from your own life.
I guarantee you that the person/story had some element of injury, tragedy, or trauma involved…. And that the overcoming of that pain to accomplish something amazing is exactly what is so inspiring.
Pushing forward in the face of tragedy.
Refusing to give up when you’ve been given a 5% chance of making it.
Being tenacious in managing the pain instead of letting the pain take control.
Looking in the mirror every day and promising to never give up.
These are the traits of the most heroic and inspiring people we know.
And the same applies when it comes to fitness and weight loss.
In fact, when it comes to losing weight and transforming your body/life, there’s usually a painful injury, tragedy, trauma, or string of memories that have been pushed down from the surface and “medicated” by food, booze, and not-so-great self care.
Losing weight, getting fit & transforming your body and life takes more than just having a program of squats, push-ups and planks…..
It takes more than just making healthy nutrition choices.
It also requires getting in touch with the emotional pain or discomfort deep down.
It requires pushing forward when its hard….
Refusing to give up when you doubt that you’ll ever make it…
Being tenacious in managing your stress/pain/emotions in a positive way, instead of letting them take control via binge eating/drinking.
Looking in the mirror every day and promising never to give up.
So, I challenge you to think about the most inspiring person you know…. Read about them, learn more about them…. Even talk to them or be around them as much as you can, if possible.
Channel their inner strength and drive….. It’s extremely contagious.
Doing so will give you something more powerful than any diet or fitness hack ever could.
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