Great cartoon!

How many times have you looked at a task and thought, “I can’t do that” or “That is going to be so killer and I won’t try it today”?

Probably too many times.

I don’t like being on a piece of cardio equipment for more than 2 seconds. Honestly, I could never step foot on a piece of cardio equipment and be more than happy.

But one of the basic tasks I have to complete is a quarter-mile on the VersaClimber.

Have I mentioned that the VersaClimber is one of the newest activities that I have a love/hate relationship with?

Well I do.

And since I first tried the VersaClimber and realized I had to spend more time on it than a minute, I sort of had started to tell myself I would never survive the quarter-mile.

I told myself, “I hate cardio.” “I can never zone out when I do stuff like that.” “I always am miserable doing that.” “I won’t be able to do very well.”

Finally I told myself to shut up.

Why was I having such negative thoughts? Why was I psyching myself out!?! I was making the whole thing worse by thinking so negatively.

I needed to JUST DO IT! If I couldn’t do it then I couldn’t do it, but I would never know until I actually TRIED.

And on Monday night, I did it. I didn’t set any expectations, I just did it. Whatever time I got, I was going to be proud that I took on the challenge instead of just saying “I can’t” and never trying.

I took the first step toward success – Actually TRYING the activity!

And I did a GREAT job. (Not to brag, but I’m pretty happy with how I did!). Here I’d thought I’d never survive, but instead I kept a pace that set me up to do a mile in under 40 minutes (which gets you up on our wall at our gym). Of course I’d need a some more training to do it, but I’d shown myself it was possible!

After I finished, I couldn’t believe just how negative I’d been beforehand. Why hadn’t I embraced the challenge? Why had I psyched myself out of even taking the first step?

What if I had let my negative mental attitude keep me from taking on the challenge?

Then I would never have known if I could do it. I would never have tested a new mental and physical limit.

Sometimes you need to cast aside all expectations and JUST DO IT. Don’t say “I CAN’T.” Just TRY IT!

Take that first step.

And this applies to everything in life. Any goal you have, if you don’t take that first step toward achieving it then of course you will never get there! If you want it, take that first step!

If you “fail,” get back up the next time and just go a bit further.

Trying but not succeeding isn’t a failure. It is a learning experience.

Never trying it….well that is a true failure.

Take the first step…Go for it!