Exercising a Persistence Muscle.

 Have you ever sat and watched your child?  I'm talking about birth up to about 12 ish....do you remember what they were like?  Couldn't crawl, couldn't walk, couldn't run, couldn't push themselves on the swing......

And then all of a sudden they could. But saying all of a sudden really does them a disservice.

Kids PRACTISE.

My youngest is 8 and has just started gymnastics. She can't handstand or cartwheel yet but every single afternoon after school, she is out in the yard trying, over and over and over and over again. Incessantly. And I am summoned every few minutes to see how she has improved.....every tiny little success she has, she recognises it and demands recognition! And you know, she IS getting better.  Doing the same thing every afternoon for an hour or so at a time in the sun, resting every now and then is teaching her body how to move, her brain how to recognise and refine the movement . The following is a Youtube clip, not of my child but these guys are just trying over and over and over!

Well, it's pretty much the same for us.

At some point growing up, we've come to believe we should be able to do things first go.  And if we can't, well then, it's just impossible. So we teach ourselves to just not try anymore. It can't be done.  We can't run.  We can't do gym classes because we are the most uncoordinated person in the world, we can't ride a bike anymore, it's been years, we wouldn't remember how..

Well I was one of the I can't do that anymore people. Over the past year particularly I have challenged that..."I can't swim", well now I can (in my own fashion!), "I can't run"...well now I'm beating my personal bests in funruns and loving running. " I can't do a handstand".....I was challenged by Tanya Carter, a PT and instructor in North Queensland and an old school friend of mine.  She started a Handstand a Day in February On Facebook and challenged me last year.  I declined because " I can't do a handstand"  Well now I can. 

Check out this link.....
On Feb 1 I walked up a wall to do it. 
On Feb 2 I flung myself against the wall.
On Feb 11 I did one all by myself.  For the first time in well over 30 years.  And by just doing one a day  (with 5000 attempts some days LOL) I have gone from "I can't"....to "I can."

http://pinterest.com/kipwil/handstand-month-2013/

So what are you holding yourself back from with the " I can't" loud in clear in your mind?  How do you KNOW you can't? How many times have you tried?  Edison had hundreds of failures before he got the lightbulb....he could have thrown up his hands and said " I can't. It's impossible." But he persisted.

We talk a lot about exercising our willpower muscle and our physical muscles.  How about our persistent muscle?  Why not challenge that to work a bit harder? 

So I challenge you...think of something you haven't done since you were a kid and you think you just can't do now.  Could be a handstand, cartwheel, diving to the bottom of a pool....anything we just did naturally because we could.  Give it a go.  And another one. And another.  Keep trying until you can get it. And then announce it to the world!  Celebrate your success!

Would love to see what you can do!