Your Inner Athlete: Fitness and Living Your Best Life (Part Two)

“In part one of “Your Inner Athlete,” I tell the story of discovering my own deeply buried athletic ability through the challenge of running.”

Fitness is the most incredible metaphor for pretty much everything else in our lives, not to mention that the actual benefits carry over into other areas of our lives as well. Let’s talk about both of these positive effects – the symbolic and the literal – of living a fit life.

CONFIDENCE: Becoming and keeping fit is an obvious confidence booster. The better you look in your clothes the better you feel about yourself, yeah? But it’s more than that. The confidence you gain from your physical ability can also give you confidence in other abilities you have too – at work, in relationships, in your daily decision making. What could a boost in confidence help you to accomplish?

STRENGTH: A stronger body can inspire stronger emotions as well. I’ve found myself becoming braver in facing potential (or definite) conflict, processing things more carefully and clear-headed, and standing strong in what I believe matters most. I love this quote from Jane Fonda: “Refuse to be afraid that we will no longer be considered attractive & acceptable when we are strong.” Where do you need to show strength in your life?

SWEAT: My favorite aspect of a workout! If I’m not going to sweat through my clothes then why bother?! The choice to give your workout your all, every ounce of energy and power you have, is an excellent life practice. As we say in my beloved spin classes, “the way you ride your bike is the way you live your life.” If you value hard work at the gym, you’ll value hard work elsewhere as well. Where can you “turn it up” in your life to sweat harder?

COMMUNITY: Sometimes you have to feed off of and give to the energy of others. When running in groups, my times tend to be even better as I’m motivated by the force of my company of runners. Other times you have to be your own teammate. When I run on my own, it’s my breath and my thoughts alone that keep me going. In life, the skill of being able to share the work and a common goal with others is valuable. The skill to be self-motivated is as valuable or even more so. Which needs more practice in your life?

CAPABILITIES: “I’m not an athlete. I’m not a runner. I’m not built for that,” are phrases that used to run through my mind or come out of my mouth. Even after I proved those things wrong, I continued to seek limits: “I can’t handle more resistance,” or, “I’m not that flexible,” are things I still catch myself thinking and saying. But one by one, I blast through every limit I create. How? Because those things were never true in the first place. I am capable of so much more than I actually do. I am capable of so much more than I actually believe. Can’t handle more resistance? Put another turn on the wheel. Is that easy? No. Does it hurt? Yes. Can I do it? YES! If you’re capable of more, do more. Where in your life can you learn to see capable where there were limits?

The impact our workouts can have on every aspect of our lives is powerful stuff. At your next sweat sesh, congratulate yourself for not only contributing to a fit lifestyle but to your own inner fitness as well!