Team sports aren’t my thing. My non-competitive nature means I don’t care much about winning. Early on in my fitness journey I realized that even once I’d developed the self-discipline and habit of regular workouts, my tendency was to do the minimum required. I’d check that box {workout: done!} but I never went above and beyond.
Once I noticed this tendency in my workouts, I realized I’d been doing this in other parts of life, too. Maybe this is human nature and not just me, but despite my good intentions, I tended to take the path of least resistance. A few years ago, I decided to change this — and my workouts were the first area of life I tackled because they feel more tangible than, for instance, how well I’m doing as a mom.
Now, I challenge myself to do MORE than I think I can.
This means I’ll pick up the 35-pound kettlebell when I think I can only do that exercise with the 26-pound. This means I’ll run a little further before I take that walk break. This means I’ll try something I wouldn’t have dreamed of trying a year ago. Sometimes I can’t do it — yet — but sometimes I can, and it’s a huge confidence boost!
So I might waddle like a penguin after a leg workout, or do weird stretches throughout the day as I try to get my arms loosened back up. The truth is, I like sore muscles because they’re a little reminder that I am a bad@$$. That I tried doing a dragon flag and I almost got it, dang it. That I ran all 6 miles of that trail race, held that handstand longer, or did that pistol squat better than last time.
Yes, I admit I do like looking fit. But what I like best is knowing I am capable of more than I think I am. I was always the skinny kid, the teen who dreaded P.E. class above all things, the mom who struggled just to get the stroller in and out of the car. Decades of believing myself to be an easily injured weakling were hard to overcome. But now? If my body can do these hard things, what more am I capable of — as a wife, as a mother, as a coach, as a human. . . ?
Turns out, I am stronger than I thought.
And I’m willing to bet the same about you.

Owner/Coach. Powered by tea, books, & sunshine. I help people build stronger, more resilient bodies — because fitness isn’t as much about what we do in the gym as what it helps us do beyond the gym.