<< I overheard this while watching the Olympics with my kids yesterday and I can’t stop thinking about it.
I’m pretty sure it was part of a Nike commercial, so congrats to their effective marketing team I guess.
I definitely regret that I spent so much of my one beautiful life on avoiding the things I wanted to try, simply because I was worried that I wouldn’t be good at them. The irony of choosing not to try at all is that I guaranteed the very thing that I was trying to avoid. By not allowing myself to be a beginner at things, I insured that I would never achieve greatness in those things either.
I didn't even give myself the chance to try and see what could have been possible.
I see my own kids doing this now and it breaks my heart because I’ve had the privilege of seeing what they are capable of when they choose to put their mind to something.
When my son asks me, "Mom, do you think I could make it to the Olympics someday?" my response is a resounding yes. Followed by an explanation of what it means to work REALLY hard for something that you want. I want him to believe in the impossible, because I know that is the only way he will push the boundaries of what is possible for him.
My son hates to be a beginner at things. He wants to be instantly good at anything he tries, and he often wants to give up even when he is showing improvement. I hope that my constant urgings to let himself be a beginner are seeping in and settling.
Can you imagine a world in which Simone Biles never attempted her first back handspring?
What if Adam Peaty hadn’t taken his first plunge into the pool?
How sad would it be if Noah Lyles and Andre De Grasse took a look at Usain Bolt’s record breaking career and decided that it wasn’t even worth attempting to beat him?
I don’t want to live in that world.
I’m so inspired by watching people push their own boundaries and I’m so grateful to these current Olympians who are willing to do it all in front of a global audience!
It all has me wondering where I’m still holding myself back. What am I not even trying because I’m not yet certain that I’ll succeed?
That’s the discomfort that I am currently choosing to sit in because I genuinely want to know the answers. But I wouldn’t be a very good coach if I didn’t invite you to do it with me.
Is there something that you are interested in but haven’t started yet because you’re not certain that you’ll succeed?
Is it possible that someone is waiting for you to be their example of what is possible (even if that someone is you)?
What if you were willing to be a beginner?