“Drop and give me twenty,” I say blowing my trainer’s whistle, knowing my client’s inevitable

reply will be, “I can’t,” before they even try. It doesn’t matter that anyone can do push ups–whether they are strict chest-to-the-floor military push ups or standing-a -foot-from-the-wall push ups. What matters is our nasty human habit of subconscious self-sabotage. Why set yourself up for failure?

The power of self-talk is intense. Before you say, “no it’s not!” The next time your personal trainer, your spouse, or your boss asks you to do something you are a little unsure about, tell yourself, “I can.” Tell yourself,

“I will.” The next time you are doing something and it’s hard, don’t give yourself permission to quit. Tell yourself to push all the way through to the end. The human brain believes anything we tell it. If you don’t believe me, experiment with positive self-talk for a week and amaze yourself. Feel free to post the results of your experiments.

Photo courtesy of Female Gym Motivation

After nine months of pull up attempts, I still can’t perform full body weight pull ups. Soon enough I will belly up to any pull up bar or tree branch and rock out a perfect pull up. I know that I can.