This is my third “Iron Sharpens Iron” shirt from IronApparel, and like the other two I got it because of the message: Believe in Yourself. Like the other two, it’s made of quality material, and the workmanship is also high quality. It fits well, and is appropriate for a workout or for casual wear. And like the other two, it helps me tell a story.
I regularly hear people default to the negative: ‘I can’t do that’, ‘I would never be able to do that”, ‘I wish I could do that—but I’m too __________”. I want to shake them and tell them to allow themselves some grace and to believe in themselves. I want to remind them of something I once saw: whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.
This picture is an example of what believing in myself recently helped me achieve. Back in January someone posted an online challenge. Do 10,000 pull-ups by the end of the year. I thought about it for a couple of days, and pretty much had myself convinced that such a goal was totally unreachable—for anyone, but specifically for me. But then I decided that I would at least give it a try. Even if I only did one or two a day that would give me several hundred more pull-ups this year than I did last year.
I started and it was difficult. I kept telling myself that I could do it, but it would take time. Many sets of 2 or 3, then sets of 5, and soon I was doing 50 pull-ups a day. Then it was sets of 10 for a total of 60 and up to 75. Gradually the sets got larger and might include 15 or 20 or 25 reps, and I was doing 100 or 125, or on one crazy day 240 pull-ups in a single day.
And each day that I fought through the pain, the laziness, the “I’m too busy or tired”. I got stronger and the challenge seemed more doable. Suddenly I realized that at the pace I was going, not only caould I actually accomplish this goal, but I would finish in May. A few days in the hospital set me back some, but I was so close that I could taste it! So each day I grabbed my oxygen tank and got to the gym. The goal was 10,000 by the end of the year, because I’m learning to believe in myself, and tell myself that ‘I can’ instead of ‘I can’t’, I was able to complete the challenge in less than 6 months.
The moral of the story is that I needed to give myself credit for what I can do, rather than give up just because it’s something I’ve never done before.
When you BELIEVE IN YOURSELF you might just be amazed at what you can accomplish.
