I Can't Do THAT!

As I have said time and time again, I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to teach an extremely wide range of people how to box. Kids as young as 5, adults as young as 81. People who have fought in the ring before, done EVERY other sport or workout in the world, and people who never played any sport whatsoever and did everything in their power to avoid gym class. I love this! It is wonderful to watch all different people from all walks of life develop these skills, as well as just improved physical abilities.

The tough part can be convincing people that they can do challenging things. That they are stronger than they think. Some people tell me that they can't hit that hard, move that fast, get something complicated like footwork down, that certain combinations are just too long. Then there are many, many others who maybe don't say this out loud but certain think it (I can read minds, btw.) 

While not boxing specific, let’s take the push-up as an example here. Some folks may not have the physical strength to perform a standard push-up. Or can’t do it on their toes. YET. That is the key word- "yet". They may not be able to physically do these things today but what about tomorrow? Or the next day? Or they try a little harder tomorrow and the next day and for several days after that but still, no go? Does this mean that this someone simply cannot do a push-up? If that is the belief they have or the conclusion they come to than yes, they may be correct. 

But I know we get stronger with each one we try. I know there are techniques that can help us get there faster, I know there are other health-related changes that can get us there.. Barring any major physical disability, most of us absolutely can do a push-up. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but some day. That is how training works. And WILL work for you. But you have to believe it. Don’t let the mind hold your body back from achieving something amazing. Instead, turn your own brain into a training tool. A coach. A weapon that can give you the advantage over any challenge.

On the flip side, this does not mean you can go back in time and beat Muhammed Ali in his prime. But if you train hard, as if you really believe nothing will hold you back, I 100% guarantee you that you will be physically stronger, mentally tougher, and with better skills than you ever thought possible when you originally told yourself that you couldn’t do it. That it was too hard.

I’ll go one step further here. We are often encouraged as people to try our best. And rightly so. Putting in a sub-par effort for something that matters to you doesn’t make a lot of sense. But as non-babyYoda once said, "Do, or do not. There is no try". So do your best, don’t try your best.

It’s more than that though. Is your best really ‘your best’? That can be hard to answer. And certainly no one can answer it for you. When it comes to fitness, especially boxing, the hope is that your best is always better than it was yesterday. I hear more and more often are people resigning themselves to the sentiment that life is hard and they are just doing their best to hang in there. They're not wrong but I'm not sure that this approach will help them always do their best. By even telling yourself that life is tough (again, not wrong), it's taking the focus away from you. YOU are tough. You are strong. You can't control what life throws at you but are strong enough to take it on. You CAN do it! And if you're somehow not able to, just remember that you are only not able to do it yet.