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How Your Beliefs Shape Your Fitness Results
Last week, during a training, a client told me right before her set:
"I’m not sure I can lift that heavy"
I encouraged her to try anyway, and guess what? She did it. Not only did she complete her reps, but she realized she was stronger than she thought. The next week, she grabbed those same weights without hesitation.
That’s the power of the self-fulfilling prophecy.
"Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right!"
Your beliefs drive your actions, your actions create your results, and your results reinforces your beliefs.
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy ?
A prophecy is simply a prediction. A self-fulfilling prophecy means it’s your own prediction about yourself, one that you subconsciously work to make come true.
When you believe something about yourself, you naturally act in ways that align with that belief, often without even realizing it, whether the belief is positive or negative.
How the self-fulfilling prophecy influences your fitness results ?
Let’s take a fitness example :
Person A believes she can lift heavy weights. She chooses heavier weights during her workouts (action), gets stronger and builds muscle faster (result). Each workout reinforces her belief that she can lift heavy.
Person B believes she’s not strong enough to lift heavy. She sticks to light weights (action), her strength gains are minimal, sees little progress (result). Her belief that she can’t lift heavy grows stronger.
Same gym. Same equipment. Different mindsets. Completely different results.
This is the self-fulffiling prophecy : your belief led to its own confirmation
How to break free from a limiting belief ?
The more you repeat a behavior, the more your belief becomes stronger, until it becomes part your identity.
- Identify your limiting belief : e.g.: “I’ll never run a 5K”
- Challenge it : ask yourself: What if the opposite were true? : e.g.: ''what if I do have the potential to run a 5K ''
Take one action aligned with the new belief : even a small step can create momentum. e.g.: go for a 5-minute jog
Your challenge this week
Take action !