As you read what follows consider how your thoughts and beliefs drive what you do or do not do. Think about what you are avoiding or what you are not doing as a result of fear.
Same Challenge Different Location and Different Level of Skill
Deep breath in – blow it out. Deep breath in – blow it out.
I peered up at the stairs, noticing a key difference between the new house and the townhouse where we used to live.
At the previous place, there was clear space above my head. Not so much at my current home.
Something else was different. Besides not being carpeted and not having a clear clearance, the stairs at our house are much steeper than the ones at the townhouse.
About six months had passed since I had last done the box jump workout. When we last did the workout, I could easily jump from the floor to the third step then to the landing, which was the equivalent to jumping to a third step again.
So hey, I could start in the new place where I lead off at the old place.
You Will Fall if You Believe You Will Fall
Deep breath in – blow it out. Deep breath in – blow it out.
Certain that Gail was waiting for me to start jumping, I yelled back to the computer” I'm getting my mind right!” I was yelling at the computer because we do our work out via Skype.
Mumbling to myself, “Don't fall. Don't fall,” I took one more deep breath, went into the squat position, then squat-jumped to the third step.
“DEAR JESUS THAT WAS SCARY! THAT'S A MUCH HIGHER AND FARTHER JUMP THAN THE OLD PLACE!” I yelled back to Gail.
Gail confirmed with, “Yes, it is.”
I gathered myself. What I was really doing was hesitating because I was so dang scared of doing that again and falling.
After another moment of getting my mind right, I jumped, cleared two steps, went to land my squat on the third step when it happened.
The tips of my toes slipped on the third step, I tumbled, banged my right forearm on the wall (I guess), then used my abs to straighten me back up before I could fall any farther.
It was official at that point.
I wanted no part of jumping those dang stairs not one more time.
Did you notice what happened there?
My goal was not to fall. I thought about not falling, then fell.
You see, if you tell yourself you can't, then you won't.
Hurt and Mildly Broken
There were more stairs to go to get to the top, however.
My forearm was hurting and I was scared to death. All I could imagine was falling down the stairs.
Gail confirmed that I was ok.
Physically I was not too bad, but mentally I was a hot mess.
Rather than back down, I got back down into the squat position and jumped. This time I only jumped two steps at a time until I got to the top landing.
Having reached the top I ran back down the stairs holding one hand out to remind me to duck so I would not hit my head.
My heart was racing from fear and as a result of the intense exercise.
When I got back down to the basement floor Gail again confirmed that I was not seriously hurt.
My response to her was, “My arm hurts some, but I am mostly afraid of falling.”
Gail said, “Ok. Do it three more times.”
“What??!!”
I knew we had at least five more exercises to do and two more sets of each exercise.
Afraid, I turned around, faced the stairs, took a deep breath and jumped.
This time to the second step. And I repeated that until I got to the top landing, ran back down the stairs and repeated that two more times.
That was over, at least until I had to do it again for the next two sets and each work out after that, even as recent as yesterday.
Belief, Time and Consistency
What hit me after the most recent workout was that I was no longer lingering at the bottom of the stairs.
I had gone from deep breaths that seemed to last an eternity to only one, or two, then I would jump.
Not only that, I was moving through the jumps and rounds faster each time.
I have not tried jumping three steps yet, but that day is soon approaching.
Believing I can, time, and consistency are brining me closer to that day.
Believe You Can and You Will
I believe that for you too.
When you start telling yourself that you can and you add consistency, over time you will be able to do the unfamiliar, what is challenging, and what scares you.
In fact, you will get to the point where you will forget all about how you felt and how you thought when you believed that you couldn't.
Sometimes getting from where you are now to where you want to be you will stumble, you will make mistakes, you will feel uncertain, but do like I did at the bottom of those stairs.
Afraid, turn yourself around, face what you are avoiding, your fears, and your uncertainty and keep trying.
You may not be able to jump to your version of the third step right now, but keep at it and believe that you can and you will do it, one day.
Share your thoughts: What is your third step equivalent? How you are managing it? Share in the post comments, on Facebook, or Twitter.