If you could think of one thing – just one thing that might be holding you back right now, what would that be?

If I could take a guess, I would venture to say that it may be something negative you’re telling yourself.

How do I know? Oh, I’ve been there!  Why do we tend to think that we are the only ones that struggle with things?  Why do we think when someone is making progress or reaching their goals or have become successful, that’s just for them and not for us?

Okay, so here’s the deal – for my first blog post I’m going to get a little uncomfortable and share a story that most people don’t know. It’s the perfect example of how our thoughts, beliefs and even those lies we tell ourselves can hold us back and prevent us from attaining what we really want.

When I was 47, I decided I really wanted to get my personal training certification. But, should I?  Really, I mean, come on, I was 47 already – did this make any sense?  Who was I to think I was young enough to get my CPT (certified personal trainer) certification at that age?  I had almost talked myself out of it.  I’m the type of person that always has to have a plan and know the end result. I wish this wasn’t always the case, but it does have it’s benefits as well as its drawbacks. Maybe you’re the same way.

As I was trying to decide about going for the certification, I started to joke around that as long as my clients were older than me, I would be the young one, so it wouldn’t matter.  After tossing it around for a few weeks, I decided I would go for it…I think…or wait – what’s my plan here?  What will I do with my certification? Where will I work? Will I see clients on location or at a gym or their house?  (See how I drive myself crazy?) I really had no idea.  It was that day I decided to do something different. I decided to make it okay to not have a known outcome and just follow what I was really interested in and what I wanted to do.  I decided it was okay to not have all the answers right then.  Wow, that was liberating!  So, even though I was older than I would have liked to have been for getting my CPT, I thought, ‘what the heck, I’ll just go for it and see where it takes me.’ This was something I was very interested in and wanted to learn more about, both for my own knowledge and benefit as well as to be able to help others.

Long story short, I took my CPT course and passed the exam.  I still remember how excited I was that day when I got the test results. That test was DIFFICULT so I was relieved and proud that I passed it.  I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my CPT certification, but I realized during the course that I was more drawn to the nutrition aspect of health and fitness.  I was glad to have done the CPT program and learn valuable information about fitness and personal training, but I wanted more. Hmmmm here we go again – and by now I’m 48.

After finding the IIN Health Coaching program, I knew this was what I wanted to do.  In a matter of weeks, my whole ‘non-plan’ was coming together.  Because I followed what I was really interested in (fitness), that lead me to a program that seemed to put all the pieces together for me.  Once I was part of the IIN program, I knew this was the path I was supposed to take. I wouldn’t have arrived there if I hadn’t doubted my doubts the year before. I love what I do and I also would never have found a new love which is creating programs and content for other coaches.   I would have never imagined this 2-3 years ago!

It all started with a decision that it was okay to not have a complete plan, not know all the answers yet, follow what I was excited about and not over analyze it all; believe that the pieces would all come together as they should. I remember telling people that I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my CPT certification but that was fine because I would figure it out when the time is right.  This is so not how I normally operate, but I kinda liked it!

You see, I think we ALL tell ourselves lies and believe things that aren’t true about what we’re capable of or what we deserve.  These are the things that hold us back. Our thoughts and our beliefs determine what we do which impacts our quality of life and level of fulfillment.

The past 3 years have been a journey of continual learning, growth and getting out of the ol’ comfort zone more – I dig it! It doesn’t mean I’m not still a planner, because I am, but I also give a little leeway now and then.

Oh and I am now enrolled in a Fitness Nutrition Program (through Precision Nutrition) that I’m excited about and you know what? I’m not EXACTLY sure how that will fit into my plan at the moment, but I’m okay with that!

What thoughts, beliefs and lies might be holding YOU back? Maybe there’s something you just need to ‘go for’ even though you don’t know what the exact outcome might be.

You are meant to do AMAZING things, no matter what your age or other story you may be telling yourself.

I’m rooting for you!

xo