Greater Mindset Blogs

I meet up with a good friend over the weekend who I haven’t seen in a while and we got talking about a few things. I want to share with you a topic that can make a 2mm difference in your life now which can yield major results down the track. The topic came up when I told him I started gymnastics again.

For those who I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting, I’m 34 years; Not quite the gymnastics material people have in mind.

When I say gymnastics, people’s first thoughts are I’m too old and then they think I meant gym or gymnasium where people work out, do weights and get fit. I then have to clarify it’s the sport they see on TV when the Olympics are on. I get a number of reactions from “are you crazy?” to “wow, that’s amazing!” and they ask what made me pick it up.

Well Gymnastics was a sport I loved in high school. I learnt very early from it’s a incredibly demanding sport, where I have a huge amount of respect for those who practise it. Last time I did gymnastics was back in high school. A good 15 years ago. I’ve always wanted to get back into it, but never have. Now that I have, I’m loving it immensely. While I’m still at a beginners level, I’m having plenty of fun, building up the strength again, co-ordination and agility again.

I asked if my good friend would like to join in on the fun, and he started to share how he wouldn’t be any good at it. He shares the same thoughts many would consider to be a gymnast, you have to be young, you learn quicker as a kid, etc.

Not being phased, I reminded him of a few stories Anthony Robbins shares. It started when Tony Robbins had just turned 40 years old, he was started to feel run down. Some of his friends noticed it, suggested to him he’s getting old and he’s not as young as he used to be. Clearly Tony didn’t want to adopt that mindset, so he took a year off looking for people who were 60 and above and have a huge amount of vitality and fitness.

He tells one story where Tony would used get up on stage and coach people on overcoming their limiting beliefs. Tony would ask the audience to close their eyes, and to imagine how a person who was totally fit, ripped and muscular would look like. Once people had the image, he would ask his friend to come up on stage and ask the audience if this is what they had imagined. To give you an idea, the person who walked up looked like he was in his late 40s and early 50s who has an amazing body. What then shocks the audience is how Tony then proceeds to tell the audience the person who stepped up on stage is in his 70s (back then). He didn’t start weight training until he was in his 60s. He now benches 450 pounds (roughly 220kgs) which is more than the average 20 year old kid. Talk about blow people’s minds about age being a barrier!

I also reminded him as adults, we’ve learnt to condition ourselves not to failure and to stop trying. As adults, if something doesn’t work out, we say to ourselves “I’m not doing that again”, but as kids, they don’t care. They keep trying until they succeed. It’s one of the main reasons why they succeed.

If anyone has anything they’d like to pick up, but may have thought they were too old, I’d encourage you to do so. One book that may help someone get back on the right track is called “The way of the peaceful warrior” by Dan Millman. It’s one that I highly recommend. One of the important lessons I got from the book is to do what you love, regardless of the challenges or obstacles which may be in your way.

If you’ve got a story you’d like to share about how you started something late in your years, I’d like to hear about it.

In the mean time, have AWESOME week!

Cheers,
Aaron Leung